Given the other thread about a TOS "reboot" (which will never happen, since they're continuing the TOS universe building with all the new series), I think the perfect way to build a series around the TOS Enterprise and tell new stories is to set it post-TMP / pre-WOK. Chronicle the missing 5 year mission(s) of the refit.
I like your thinking here. I missed the vote, but I would've voted in favor. I still think it made little sense for VOY (I recall) to put a definite, or close to definite, date for the end of the five-year mission and the V'Ger incident. I wish they had left that somewhat nebulous. I wish Kirk had done two five-year missions. Feels like after 10 years, as opposed to five, he would've been more amenable to becoming an admiral. Further, faulting TMP here, I wish that it had been stated that Decker had been the captain of the Enterprise longer than he was, which would've opened up the door for the franchise to make more money in telling that story in books and comics.
As it stands, there's over a decade of official untold stories from TMP to TWOK for them to use the Enterprise. Was Spock the captain all those years, after Decker and Admiral Kirk? Did the veteran crew stay on after TMP or go their separate ways again? There's still a lot of unexplored stuff there. Which means opportunities to create new characters. Illia was also short-changed, so it would be nice to see the Deltan culture get its due with another character perhaps. With today's special effects, they could have M'Ress and Arex in live-action, and back on the Enterprise. I also would like to see TOS-movie era Romulan warbirds or birds-of-prey.
As much as I like DISCO Pike, et. al, I do feel like they are going to be squeezing Strange New Worlds into the overall story in a time that is already ripe with stories and canon, and it'll have even less space than DISCO had. An Ethan Peck, as an older, seasoned Spock (or Rebecca Romjin's Number One), in command of the Enterprise from TMP to TWOK would give them a lot more space and basically no issues with canon.
To the OP's question of what I would like to see:
-I would like a reboot of this idea, though with Spock (Ethan Peck) or Number One (Rebecca Romjin) as captain. I would also like to see Decker, Illia, Xon, M'Ress, and Arex in the crew. It gets tricky when it comes to having a mix of veteran TOS actors and new actors, so I would not bring in people to play slightly older (than their TOS) versions of Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, Scotty, etc. I would at some of the better known supporting characters, which I think could be more easily recast, like Dr. M'Benga, Nurse Chapel, etc. and have them fill some of those roles.
-I wouldn't mind having the TOS vets still with us involved in some way, playing different characters or doing voicework. Admiral Kirk could hail Decker from time to time, something along that line.
-I would prefer episodic storytelling, though there would be arcs, involving the Romulans and Klingons (we might get to see the unraveling of the TOS-era Romulan/Klingon alliance) and also catching up with and fleshing out ENT and TOS species like the Andorians, Orions, Tellarites, Suliban, Xindi, TAS's Kzinti, and even TNG's Nausicaans.
