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Animated Trek series coming to Nickelodeon

Speaking for myself, I actually disliked Star Trek and thought it was boring until I rediscovered it when I was 13 years old. I was a big Star Wars fan too. So I kind of relate to Kurtzman’s quote.

I personally think it’s about time Star Trek has an animated show for kids. And if it appeals to adults too, like Star Wars’ The Clone Wars and Rebels did, then even better.
I was the opposite. I couldn't get into Star Wars until I was about 13, but was always fascinated with Trek for as long as I remember.
 
Frankly it should be a simple exploration show. Do something wild and have it set in like the 26th/27th/28th century in the Delta or Gamma Quadrant (or maybe another galaxy) on the Enterprise-L/M/N (depending on when its set). Give it distance from the current canon and don't talk about stuff from earlier in the timeline.

Would kids find that interesting? I think you would need some excitement and action to appeal to kids, a pure exploration show could be too dry for kids.
 
Would kids find that interesting? I think you would need some excitement and action to appeal to kids, a pure exploration show could be too dry for kids.

Huh? Exploration stories can be very exciting, because of the dangers you face in unknown environments.

Besides, for children, every day is exploration. Our world is new and alien to them and they're trying to learn about it and figure out how it works. Exploration is the essence of childhood. So I don't believe they'd find it unrelatable.
 
Huh? Exploration stories can be very exciting, because of the dangers you face in unknown environments.

Besides, for children, every day is exploration. Our world is new and alien to them and they're trying to learn about it and figure out how it works. Exploration is the essence of childhood. So I don't believe they'd find it unrelatable.
It depends on what's being explored. If it's Sulu's three-year mission charting gaseous anomalies aboard the Excelsior I doubt that would make for riveting entertainment.

What I'd like to see a return to is an exploration format like TOS. Where you had no idea what kind of new mystery would be discovered each week. And animation is a great way to explore that as there are no to what kinds of aliens or environments can be put on screen.
 
It depends on what's being explored. If it's Sulu's three-year mission charting gaseous anomalies aboard the Excelsior I doubt that would make for riveting entertainment.

What a very odd thing to say. Obviously the writers of an adventure series are not going to tell stories about that kind of thing, so why even bring it up? It is a given in literally any genre that the stories that get told are going to be the most interesting ones. A police drama won't focus on the routine, easy cases, but on the dangerous, challenging ones. A medical drama will focus on the urgent, life-threatening cases or the ones that create difficult ethical questions, rather than the everyday routine. A courtroom drama will focus on the contentious, hard-fought cases rather than the majority of cases where the defendants take a plea before trial because the outcome is open and shut.


What I'd like to see a return to is an exploration format like TOS. Where you had no idea what kind of new mystery would be discovered each week. And animation is a great way to explore that as there are no to what kinds of aliens or environments can be put on screen.

Which is very obviously what they already mean by an exploration-based series, so I have no idea why you're pretending it could mean something more mundane.
 
What a very odd thing to say. Obviously the writers of an adventure series are not going to tell stories about that kind of thing, so why even bring it up? It is a given in literally any genre that the stories that get told are going to be the most interesting ones. A police drama won't focus on the routine, easy cases, but on the dangerous, challenging ones. A medical drama will focus on the urgent, life-threatening cases or the ones that create difficult ethical questions, rather than the everyday routine. A courtroom drama will focus on the contentious, hard-fought cases rather than the majority of cases where the defendants take a plea before trial because the outcome is open and shut.
I was making a leetle joke, sir.

Which is very obviously what they already mean by an exploration-based series, so I have no idea why you're pretending it could mean something more mundane.
I was never pretending it was going to be mundane. I had been trying to back you up. My concern is that it could end up being more about fighting some big bad.
 
Huh? Exploration stories can be very exciting, because of the dangers you face in unknown environments.

Besides, for children, every day is exploration. Our world is new and alien to them and they're trying to learn about it and figure out how it works. Exploration is the essence of childhood. So I don't believe they'd find it unrelatable.

It depends, you still have to make it exciting and not just a purely cerebral experience, there are a lot of Star Trek episodes that kids would find dull. Measure of a Man is a great episode, that may not appeal to kids today. Also, this would be aimed at kids 7 to 14, not really little kids.

Also, even action cartoons aimed at kids have ongoing story arcs, so I think trying to go back to the planet of the week style stories may not appeal to today's kids.
 
Also, even action cartoons aimed at kids have ongoing story arcs, so I think trying to go back to the planet of the week style stories may not appeal to today's kids.

In fact, a number of kids' shows do still have an episodic format moving from location to location, but it's within the context of a larger season-long and series-long story arc. Netflix's Voltron: Legendary Defender and Dreamworks Dragons: Race to the Edge both work that way (Dragons has a permanent base for the characters, but they rove around to numerous different islands). And Dragons is basically a show about exploration and discovery, though also about defending the dragons against the ongoing threat of hunters.

On the other hand, I've thought for a long time that the best way to do a show about exploration is to spend a whole season on a given planet, allowing time to delve into many of its cultures and environments and internal conflicts, rather than just spending an hour dealing with one location or faction or crisis on a given planet. I mean, a planet is a huge place. Considering that most works of fiction ever written have been set entirely on Earth, it should be clear that even just one planet can be an endless well of stories -- so why settle for just one? Really, no true explorers would be content to spend just a few days at a given planet. They'd want to spend months or years learning all they could about it.
 
I a little dissapointed. I was hoping for something more like Pixar were it's family friendly but also has lots to offer to even a adult audience. When I think of nickeloden I think of stuff aimed just at very young kids or stuff that is kind of dumbed down.

Jason
 
When I think of nickeloden I think of stuff aimed just at very young kids or stuff that is kind of dumbed down.

Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra were Nickelodeon shows, although the network was less than entirely supportive of the latter. Those were probably the most brilliant animated shows of the past 15 years. Nickelodeon also aired the excellent 2012 Ninja Turtles cartoon. Although I concede that I don't see anything comparable in their current lineup (I couldn't get through the first 7 minutes of the new Turtles series), so their priorities may have changed. The past few Power Rangers seasons on Nick have been pretty dire, with the exception of Dino Charge.
 
In fact, a number of kids' shows do still have an episodic format moving from location to location, but it's within the context of a larger season-long and series-long story arc. Netflix's Voltron: Legendary Defender and Dreamworks Dragons: Race to the Edge both work that way (Dragons has a permanent base for the characters, but they rove around to numerous different islands). And Dragons is basically a show about exploration and discovery, though also about defending the dragons against the ongoing threat of hunters.

On the other hand, I've thought for a long time that the best way to do a show about exploration is to spend a whole season on a given planet, allowing time to delve into many of its cultures and environments and internal conflicts, rather than just spending an hour dealing with one location or faction or crisis on a given planet. I mean, a planet is a huge place. Considering that most works of fiction ever written have been set entirely on Earth, it should be clear that even just one planet can be an endless well of stories -- so why settle for just one? Really, no true explorers would be content to spend just a few days at a given planet. They'd want to spend months or years learning all they could about it.

I have not seen the Dragons cartoon, but I have seen the first 6 seasons of Voltron.

The thing is though, you can't have this show just be pure exploration, the Dragons cartoon has the hunters as a threat and the Voltron cartoon has the Galra Empire as a threat. You need some sources of action, drama, tension, conflict, so you need stuff beyond just pure exploration.
 
The thing is though, you can't have this show just be pure exploration, the Dragons cartoon has the hunters as a threat and the Voltron cartoon has the Galra Empire as a threat. You need some sources of action, drama, tension, conflict, so you need stuff beyond just pure exploration.

Yes, which is exactly what TOS, TNG, and most other exploration-based shows have already done, so it's not like you're saying anything that isn't immediately obvious. Nobody with any shred of sense is going to do "pure" anything in an ongoing series, because "pure" is too limited to be interesting. Variety of subject matter is essential to make series fiction interesting, and every creator of series fiction already knows that without needing you to fansplain it to them.
 
Yes, which is exactly what TOS, TNG, and most other exploration-based shows have already done, so it's not like you're saying anything that isn't immediately obvious. Nobody with any shred of sense is going to do "pure" anything in an ongoing series, because "pure" is too limited to be interesting. Variety of subject matter is essential to make series fiction interesting, and every creator of series fiction already knows that without needing you to fansplain it to them.

There is no need to be rude.

But anyway, I understand that, but you do have to consider what might appeal to an adult Trek fan, may not appeal to kids, so just trying to be overly cerebral or esoteric would produce a kids cartoon would be dull for kids. I love epsidoes like Duet and Measure of a Man, but they would not be the kind of things that would appeal to kids.

I am not that familar with something like Steven Universe, but that does seem like the kind of show that some deeper messages wrapped in a fun, colorful package. All I am saying, is to make a Star Trek cartoon appeal today, is you are going to create a colorful package and make some compromises while putting some interesting messages. That's all I am saying, I am not ''fansplaining'' to any creators, because no one is attached to the show yet.
 
They've said it's aimed younger from day one. I probably won't watch, but if it gets a new audience interested, more power to them.
 
They've said it's aimed younger from day one. I probably won't watch, but if it gets a new audience interested, more power to them.
I know it's going to be aimed at a younger audience, but it is possible to make something that appeals to kids and adults at the same time. That's how Pixar is so successful. I'm just worried that it will be too dumbed down.
 
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