Your wish list for a new series

[TrekGuide.com]

If CBS called you and said that you would be a producer on the new "Star Trek" series, and wanted your ideas about the direction of the show, what two or three things would you want included in the show?

For me, if the show is set in an earlier time period than DS9/Voyager, then there should be only familiar aliens on the show -- e.g., Andorians, Tellarites, Orions, Vulcans, Deltans, El-Aurians, etc. (The recent movies have been too much like "Star Wars," with countless random "cantina aliens" in the background. Aliens should be recognizable and be there for a specific reason in "Star Trek," unless the crew is actually visiting a "strange, new world.")

The crew should be more representative of the Federation, with fewer Terrans and more crew members from other UFP worlds. There should definitely be an Andorian in the main cast.

The new show should revisit some great milestones from "Star Trek" history, like the Guardian of Forever, Iconian gateways, and other ancient artifacts and races. What about those invading aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy that Kirk ran into -- did they just give up and go home? What about the brain parasites taking over Starfleet Command in TNG's "Conspiracy"? There are many unresolved plot threads and threats around the galaxy that were never fully explored.

I would also be fine with going a year or two without any more time paradoxes. But another trip to the Mirror Universe would be fun.

 

[Visitor1982]

I do like a show that's connecting the dots if it is a prequel. I'd rather have familiar races and worlds than the 'alien of the week' kind of thing. It should delve deeper into the Federation, its members. I would love to see more intrigue, mystery and drama. A bit like The Expanse series or The West Wing in space. Something like that. Action yes, but only if it serves the plot, not the other way round.

 

[locborg]

- should be set after VOY
- many, many time travel episodes
- many mystery episodes
- cameos from TNG and VOY
- mirror universe episodes (or even better; mirror universe story arc)
- some section 31 episodes
- no holodeck shit
- no children (children are a no go; get rid of the children!)
- epic orchestral intro (Goldsmith TMP theme modification)
- decent storytelling (we are in the golden age of tv after all)
- brilliant cinematography
- famous and competent actors
- epic cliffhanger at the end of each season
- finale has to be regarded as a tv milestone
- nudity with sense
- curse words should be allowed when its getting bad for the crew
- crew should be a mixture of bad-ass and nerd characters
- many references to older Star Trek movies / series
- must catch up (artistically and commercially) with Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Fargo, The Wire, Sopranos, TNG

 

[mlk]

Long story arcs, mixed with random story of the weeks. Of 26 episodes a season about 10 could be standalone but still have the main story in the back.

I'd want the regular cast but I would like them bit deep, don't be afraid to give them some emotional scarring. Make the chief engineer a hardened criminal hiding his past while saving the day, I mean don't be scared giving them real personalities. Don't overdo it with everyone though.

Try not to introduce too many new aliens, we already have enough. The universe is big but c'mon.

Don't make EVERYONE pass some PC test, it'd feel silly if everyone is "something".

Place it after Nemesis, make sure you have a lot of rebuilding from Romulus and the dominion war in the back.

 

[Shalashaska]

Long story arcs, mixed with random story of the weeks. Of 26 episodes a season about 10 could be standalone but still have the main story in the back.

It's not 26-episodes per season, that's a very outdated format. They're going with thirteen.

Try not to introduce too many new aliens, we already have enough. The universe is big but c'mon.

The universe really is big, it's enormously large. We have no where near enough new aliens. The only alien races who've been given a lot of time are the Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Vulcans and Ferengi. There's so much room for new aliens, as well as old aliens who weren't given a whole lot of development.

Don't make EVERYONE pass some PC test, it'd feel silly if everyone is "something".

Oh no, not this again.

If it's a hetero white male, it's not "something", it's just normal, but if it's an LGBTQ character or something else out of the norm, it's just trying to "pass some PC test"? What does that tell us about you?

Step outside in the real world and you'll see it's plenty diverse. It's not a """""thing""""", it's real life.

 

[Commander Keiran MacDuff]

1) Stay away from time travel-- although jumping around different time periods, flashbacks, etc showing how things are connected are AWESOME (see Stranger Things for a good example of this).

2) Star Trek has always endeavored to be diverse by the era's standards. No reason to stop.

3) Exploring new worlds/aliens is cool. It's the whole point. Also better developing older worlds/aliens and giving them a little more depth would also be cool.

4) Endless shoot outs (I'm looking at you, UPN) are tedious and counter to everything that is interesting about Star Trek.

 

[Koo]

We don't know when in the prime universe it's set quite yet, but if they set it in the past, roughly pre-ds9ish, I would tell them to scrap the entire thing and just make a series set post-nemesis. In said series, I would want them to explain what happened with the changelings after Odo cured the Great Link. They would need to explain what happened to the Borg after the neurolytic pathogen infected the hive and the queen was killed, and their Borg unicomplex destroyed. Lastly I want to know the current state of Romulus, how the alliance with the federation during the Dominion war affected relations between them, and whether Spock was able to plant the seeds of reunification or not. Now that Leonard Nimoy has passed, they need a canon explanation for what happened to his character.

 

[Visitor1982]

Didn't Spock travel to the Kelvin universe and die on New Vulcan?

 

[locborg]

Didn't Spock travel to the Kelvin universe and die on New Vulcan?

Nope, that was just a very expensive fan film...

 

[Zonker]

Aliens. Alien aliens. Aliens that aren't just humans with wrinkly foreheads. Star Wars has done a great job of making humanoid aliens that look distinctive and its kind of embarrassing that the franchise lots of Trek deride as pulp or space fantasy has better aliens in the background of their scenes than a show which prides itself on exploration and discovering new life. Hell, I'd love to see some non-humanoid aliens too. Species 8472 was a great way to show how nonhumanoid life would work.

 

[Koo]

Nope, that was just a very expensive fan film...

Pretty much.

 

[Ovation]

We don't know when in the prime universe it's set quite yet, but if they set it in the past, roughly pre-ds9ish, I would tell them to scrap the entire thing and just make a series set post-nemesis. In said series, I would want them to explain what happened with the changelings after Odo cured the Great Link. The would need to explain what happened to the Borg after the neurolytic pathogen infected the hive and the queen was killed, and their Borg unicomplex destroyed. Lastly I want to know the current state of Romulus, how the alliance with the federation during the Dominion war affected relations between them, and whether Spock was able to plant the seeds of reunification or not. Now that Leonard Nimoy has passed, they need a canon explanation for what happened to his character.

I might watch this (as I watched everything that led to these events), but if I were in charge of making the show, I'd avoid, well, pretty much all of the above. I'd want to avoid demanding a 700+ hour "viewing assignment" from the audience before inviting them to join the new show. Might make it more likely that someone will tune in.

Nope, that was just a very expensive fan film...

Pretty much.

 

[T'Bonz]

mlk.

I am getting tired of notifications from you. If you cannot handle posting on a message board without getting your shorts in a bind, I will remove you.

Also - don't threaten to do something if we don't respond to your notification. You're lucky I don't remove you THIS INSTANT as I don't do well with threats.

 

[T'Bonz]

Note to posters for future reference. When I say "stop", STOP. This guy did a bunch of notifications after I told him to stop.

So wave goodbye.

 

[JediMindMeld]

I'm not a difficult man to please when everything is said and done. I want exactly four things from Discovery, and I'm fairly certain the show will give me the last three:

- Set further into the future than any other Star Trek show to date. It's not because Roddenberry said so. It's simply because I find it more interesting. Star Trek is about using the future to reflect parts of the present. It already feels like the other Star Trek eras belong to the decades from which they were sprung. Give Discovery the freedom to define the 2010's the same way TOS defined the 60's and TNG defined the noughties.
- No children, child actors or child prodigies (thankfully this was mostly a 90s thing).
- Stop doing cringy stuff where people feel like they need to shower after watching. If we get another Qpid episode I'm going to climb a tall tower and...
- Respect canon. It's really not that hard. I'll never understand people who feel that canon is a burden. Why are you even watching Star Trek in that case? Canon is the whole point. Exploring the universe and giving it shape is literally what it's about. It's not a disadvantage; it's a unique strength in television history, and it should be revered. Writers who understand world-building don't reboot and rewrite. They add. They use history to make the present storytelling richer.

 

[The Wormhole]

Respect canon. It's really not that hard. I'll never understand people who feel that canon is a burden. Why are you even watching Star Trek in that case? Canon is the whole point. Exploring the universe and giving it shape is literally what it's about. It's not a disadvantage; it's a unique strength in television history, and it should be revered. Writers who understand world-building don't reboot and rewrite. They add. They use history to make the present storytelling richer.

Canon is the beginning of knowledge and storytelling, but not its end. If the writers and producers have a story to tell but canon is in the way, then canon becomes optional and can be jettisoned. Canon is nothing more but a guide, not a requirement.

 

[JediMindMeld]

Canon is nothing more but a guide, not a requirement.

That's de facto not the definition of canon, though. Canon should be respected as fact unless there are extreme circumstances at play. I don't view it as optional or something you sometimes adhere to when you've got nothing better to do. Shows like Star Trek revolve around their canon. Otherwise it would just be any random science fiction show.

 

[Vger23]

1. Set in the 97th Century. MUST MOVE FORWARD!!!!1!!
2. A Gender-fluid Calamarain Captain played by an Al-Queida actor
3. Ship's primary weapon is a Canon Cannon
4. Intergalactic politics!!!
5. Cameos and crossovers with Kes, Geordi, Nog and Pavel Chekov
6. Roddenberry's VISION!!!!1!1!1!!!!111
7. Conference rooms
8. Ship's first officer MUST be a member if the Di-kironium Vampire Cloud species who practices in the Hindu faith!!!! (Or I won't watch)
9. Pilot episode with significant call-backs to Sub Rosa
10. Admiral Nelix
11. Significant tie-ins to Star Trek Online
12. Acknowledgement that they created a universe-destroying bomb and they used that bomb on the horrible JJverse becuz Gene's Vision and Becuz PHILOSOPHY!!!!1!1!1!!!
13. A direct sequel to "Move Along Home"
14. Ships top speed should be warp 47.999993
15. Non-military Starfleet with no money and lots of utopia.

 

[The Wormhole]

That's de facto not the definition of canon, though. Canon should be respected as fact unless there are extreme circumstances at play. I don't view it as optional or something you sometimes adhere to when you've got nothing better to do. Shows like Star Trek revolve around their canon. Otherwise it would just be any random science fiction show.

No. True creativity thrives only when unfettered. A ball and chain won't help you win a race. If canon enhances the show, then yes, adhere to it wholeheartedly. If it stands in the way of a good story, then out it goes. A good story should be the only concern for the writers of this show, not making it conform to canon.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Likeable characters with some common sense. Interesting stories. No rehashes. Build your own mythology in the Trekverse, don't base your episodes around the nostalgia of prior Treks. No decon chamber lube-ups. Alien aliens, with less of the bumpy forehead variety.

...and Vger23's Gender-fluid Calamarain Al-Queida Captain.