Should there be a Star Trek "romance" series?

[eschaton]

So, I was thinking about Kurtzman's comment that given the modern demands of serialization, and the desire to not have Trek fatigue by having two Trek series tell the same kind of stories.

One of the classic types of Trek episode is of course romance related. They existed in basically every single Trek series. Off the top of my head:

TOS: The City on the Edge of Forever, The Paradise Syndrome, For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky, This Side of Paradise
TNG: Lessons, Sub Rosa, The Outcast, The Emissary, Half a life,
DS9: Rejoined, His Way, Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places, numerous Worf/Dax episodes
VOY: Someone to Watch Over Me, Human Error, Day of Honor,
ENT: All the T'Pol/Trip stuff, and some various other (not very well done) episodes.

Since Trek spent so much time on romance, it strikes me that a romance-themed Star Trek would be pretty popular in some quarters, and certainly go somewhere the other Trek series have not. Do you think we should see basically a Star Trek version of Outlander?

 

[caseylee4ts]

Let me caveat this by saying that I haven't seen Outlander. But I did just read a brief description of the show. My first inclination would be that I don't think Star Trek should do a romance. My second inclination would be that, if they did, they would have to make us care about the characters and have a reason for being set in the STU. My third inclination is that if it's called Star Trek, I will watch it. All in all, I think having romantic stories within the main series works just fine for Trek. That's just my two (or maybe three or four) cents.

 

[Visitor1982]

Starfleet Academy could be that show.

 

[Qonundrum]

For those incels who want it, go for it.

Trek's current one-off very special coital episodes - either direct or inferred - are usually standalone, and certainly don't hold enough weight for an entire series multi-season run. As standalones, many can and do actually work since there's enough other things of interest going on. But like many, I'm not jonesing for another fix if a month or three goes by without the latest on the 'ship. A whole series dedicated just to that? Forget sci-fi, just make a soap opera. Sci-fi allows so much more than covering the most basic functionality every human relates to - which is as anti-craative as it gets as well.

 

[Qonundrum]

Starfleet Academy could be that show.

I can see the titles now:

"Starfleet Academy 90210" or "1701 Jump Street".

You must wait at least 1 seconds before performing this action.

 

[Armus]

Love Boat in Space, yes!

 

[CaptainXaviOfEarth]

Starfleet Academy could be that show.

Fake Empire are attached to it on IMDB Pro. If that’s true, then it’ll have romance and betrayal.

 

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[fireproof78]

So, I was thinking about Kurtzman's comment that given the modern demands of serialization, and the desire to not have Trek fatigue by having two Trek series tell the same kind of stories.

One of the classic types of Trek episode is of course romance related. They existed in basically every single Trek series. Off the top of my head:

TOS: The City on the Edge of Forever, The Paradise Syndrome, For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky, This Side of Paradise
TNG: Lessons, Sub Rosa, The Outcast, The Emissary, Half a life,
DS9: Rejoined, His Way, Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places, numerous Worf/Dax episodes
VOY: Someone to Watch Over Me, Human Error, Day of Honor,
ENT: All the T'Pol/Trip stuff, and some various other (not very well done) episodes.

Since Trek spent so much time on romance, it strikes me that a romance-themed Star Trek would be pretty popular in some quarters, and certainly go somewhere the other Trek series have not. Do you think we should see basically a Star Trek version of Outlander?

My first inclination is "No" but since I am a firm believer in multiple Treks for multiple people I will simply say, "It probably isn't for me."

 

[Alexander Corrino]

Oh dear no. SO not for me. Wouldn't even CONSIDER watching.

IMO, Trek was always TERRIBLE with its "romances"... which is probably one reason why there is such a huge amount of fan fiction out there. Therefore I'd say leave the romance to us fan fiction writers.

 

[Henoch]

Orville tackles romance quite a bit. Keep it there along with comedy.

 

[Kelso]

I rushed into this thread thinking that you were referring to Planetary Romance.

Ah, no. I probably wouldn't be the Target audience for a love story.

 

[Doc Mugatu]

So, I was thinking about Kurtzman's comment that given the modern demands of serialization, and the desire to not have Trek fatigue by having two Trek series tell the same kind of stories. One of the classic types of Trek episode is of course romance related. ...

Here's the thing, as I see it anyway … Star Trek was, from the beginning though not necessarily on purpose, created in such way that it was not limited in the types of stories it could tell. It could be a romance one week, a legal drama the next and then a medical drama the week after that. It could also mix and match genres if it so wished, The only limitation Star Trek has ever had is the vision (or lack thereof) of those who were charged with making it at any given time.

 

[Cake]

Since Trek spent so much time on romance, it strikes me that a romance-themed Star Trek would be pretty popular in some quarters, and certainly go somewhere the other Trek series have not. Do you think we should see basically a Star Trek version of Outlander?

The first two seasons of Outlander were really great. After that the plot is not quite as interesting anymore. Though I can already imagine the outcry among some people if Star Trek would really go the Outlander route. For non porn the series has quite explicit sex scenes and some people have problems with this for whatever reasons.

Though personally as I really would prefer it if a new Star Trek series would rather be a bit lighter tone wise, if they go the romance route Castle would be a better example to follow in my opinion.

The important thing though is that the romance between two characters should never be all there is. The first two seasons of Outlander were so great as it was about a time traveller first trying to survive in another time and then later on trying together with her partner to prevent a huge battle loss which would have lasting negative consequences for a whole nation for centuries to come. And Castle had like other crime procedurals always a murder to solve, though the cases were a bit more crazy and overall the series was funnier than most crime series. There just must be something interesting not romance related going on. The romance should be in most episodes only a sideplot.

 

[fireproof78]

For non porn the series has quite explicit sex scenes and some people have problems with this for whatever reasons.

I haven't seen Outlander but Witcher bothered me because it never felt organic with its sex scenes. So, there are a variety of reasons why people might not like such scenes. I find them more annoying than anything else.

The romance should be in most episodes only a sideplot.

On this point I generally agree. I am a die hard romantic but Trek has rarely handled romance in character relationships well.

 

[The Old Mixer]

It just might work on a comedic level, if they did it as a full-on spoof of soap operas...dramatic reveals followed by organ cues, that sort of thing.

The main thing that makes "The Icarus Factor" one of my least favorite TNG episodes is that it was done in a particularly soapy style, but with a straight face.

 

[Donker]

Yep, that insanely cringe sock sliding scene definitely made me think "We need an entire Trek series of this".

 

[Gov Kodos]

Go for it.

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[The Old Mixer]

See some Picard spoilers slipping in here (pardon the expression)...not that its a major plot point or anything.

 

[Jesse1066]

Go for it.

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I think it would have been a bit better if Riker clapping had been used for the clapping part. Seems like a missed opportunity.