News Kurtzman: Starfleet Academy Series On The Way

[Vger23]

I think this could be a lot of fun if done right. I’m totally up for trying it out. I like Kurtzman saying he wants to keep pushing the franchise into less-explored territory. That’s what will keep me coming back.

Better to try and misstep than take the safe route. Totally not interested in the safe route.

 

[eschaton]

Collecting my various thoughts about Starfleet Academy as a concept:

First, it's important to remember that Starfleet Academy is the Trekverse equivalent of college, not high school. This is important to note because while there are many, many examples of successful shows which take place at a high school, the number of shows which use a college campus as a setting is much more limited. There are of course notable examples out there (A Different World, Felicity, and most recently The Magicians) but still, not super common. I think it's important to keep in mind the differences between college shows and high school shows because a lot of the standby elements of youth coming-of-age dramas don't work as well in the college setting (bullying, social cliques, etc..) and the older characters could mean less of an appeal to younger viewers.

A critical question for such a series is how to thread the needle without seeming too young for Trekkies, but too Trek for new young people. I think leaning into social drama heavily would be a big mistake, TBH, because we can see young people getting drunk and screwing around with one another on any number of shows which aren't genre television (I thought The Magicians got much better, for example, once it stopped making its 20something characters act like they were still 16). Do they have a secondary cast of teachers who are also fleshed out? Lots of possible ways to go here.

In general, when it comes to genre fiction, I think it works much better if the coming of age stuff (either related to classes or interpersonal relationships) is secondary - the B plot to the A-plot of the season. This means you'd need to have grand mysteries which could be uncovered each season right at Starfleet Academy, so the show would have to get creative. Maybe the main characters explore a hidden holoprogram over the course of the episode? Maybe they find evidence of some sort of conspiracy happening within the faculty? There are many possibilities,

 

[fireproof78]

Honestly, I think a coming of age story can work as part of the first season. Personally, I don't get the reticence against coming of age stories currently. Maybe there were far more of them than I realized (a distinct possibility) but I find they are still really relevant to today

Now, I would prefer a larger adventure to come from this show, with the day to day school stuff left largely as a B plot, and hopefully avoiding the romance. But, the whole journey of discovering oneself and purpose still resonates strongly for me.

 

[eschaton]

Honestly, I think a coming of age story can work as part of the first season. Personally, I don't get the reticence against coming of age stories currently. Maybe there were far more of them than I realized (a distinct possibility) but I find they are still really relevant to today

Now, I would prefer a larger adventure to come from this show, with the day to day school stuff left largely as a B plot, and hopefully avoiding the romance. But, the whole journey of discovering oneself and purpose still resonates strongly for me.

Coming of age is fine. I just really want to avoid having any "mean girls" aspect to a Starfleet Academy series. I'm really not interested in watching a Starfleet show which involves awful popular people gossip about others behind their backs and pull pranks on them.

I'd also argue that coming of age is pretty popular currently. I mean, that's much of the appeal of a show like Stranger Things. But it's more - for lack of a better way to describe it - wholesome today than it would have been 20-30 years ago. No one really wants to focus too much on the awful side of being a young person.

 

[fireproof78]

Coming of age is fine. I just really want to avoid having any "mean girls" aspect to a Starfleet Academy series. I'm really not interested in watching a Starfleet show which involves awful popular people gossip about others behind their backs and pull pranks on them.

I'd also argue that coming of age is pretty popular currently. I mean, that's much of the appeal of a show like Stranger Things. But it's more - for lack of a better way to describe it - wholesome today than it would have been 20-30 years ago. No one really wants to focus too much on the awful side of being a young person.

I just don't see a Starfleet show going that way but OK.

 

[Jayson1]

I do think limited episodes and a ongoing story arc actually would hurt the show. If you are going to do this it needs to be very character oriented and also you got avoid the absurd idea that a bunch of cadets are going to save the Federation or anything like that. The stakes have got to be lowered and it can't be like Discovery and even Picard were the whole Universe is in danger ever season. Not only is it played out it will look even more absurd having the universe basically saved by college kids. Though that does seem like something that would play well to the modern day narcissism of today's youth.

 

[fireproof78]

I highly doubt that it will involve saving the Federation. They will probably save Starfleet Academy or the ship or something. They will have to overcome their differences, even the occasional mean or jokster cadet will have value, high five move on to the next adventure.

 

[Commander Troi]

Have any of you seen the new Nancy Drew series? It started off a bit shaky, but the characters are post-college and there's plenty of early 20s growth & drama, but it's subplot to the various mysteries. It *can* be done. They just have to have the right people doing it.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Sounds like Trek is about to go CW. I use to like the idea of a Starfleet Academy show but the idea he is looking towards Marvel instead of Trek or even good classic Sci Fi sounds boring.

Cool,DC heroes on Trek. Hopefully with a nerdy tech guy who makes pop culture references or a tough hardened leader.
"You have failed this galaxy..."

 

[Mogh]

I just don't see a Starfleet show going that way but OK.

I see it going half that way.

A hallmark of the Kurtzman era has been fleshing out the 23rd/24th centuries but filling them full of 21st century sensibilities. Essentially, turning the idea of "humanity evolved" on its head.

We've seen drug addiction (Picard), bad language (Picard, Discovery), "frat humour" (Lower Decks, Discovery), over-emoting (Discovery)... and so on.

It's a very different creative direction that pays far looser homage to Roddenberry's idea of a more "wholesome" future, as a trade-off to what I assume is an attempt to make more relatable characters.

Can I see a Trek version of Mean Girls? No. But can I see a show where the characters are at times are catty, compromised, occasionally mean-spirited all in the name of "at least they'll learn in the end?" Sure.

The TNG era was about showing us a humanity that had already gotten there. This new era seems to be trying to tell us that people haven't changed, but they can get better so maybe we will.

 

[fireproof78]

I see it going half that way.

A hallmark of the Kurtzman era has been fleshing out the 23rd/24th centuries but filling them full of 21st century sensibilities. Essentially, turning the idea of "humanity evolved" on its head.

We've seen drug addiction (Picard), bad language (Picard, Discovery), "frat humour" (Lower Decks, Discovery), over-emoting (Discovery)... and so on.

It's a very different creative direction that pays far looser homage to Roddenberry's idea of a more "wholesome" future, as a trade-off to what I assume is an attempt to make more relatable characters.

Can I see a Trek version of Mean Girls? No. But can I see a show where the characters are at times are catty, compromised, occasionally mean-spirited all in the name of "at least they'll learn in the end?" Sure.

The TNG era was about showing us a humanity that had already gotten there. This new era seems to be trying to tell us that people haven't changed, but they can get better so maybe we will.

And DS9 showed us a humanity that struggled. There is nothing new in Kurtzman Trek that has done that hasn't been done before. Swearing? That's happened. Drug addiction? Yep. Overemoting? I mean, that's what Kirk is known for and sometimes even Picard and Sisko.

Just because these things happen doesn't mean humanity isn't becoming better. Just that there are more struggles. Not surprising, especially in Picard.

 

[Mogh]

And DS9 showed us a humanity that struggled. There is nothing new in Kurtzman Trek that has done that hasn't been done before. Swearing? That's happened. Drug addiction? Yep. Overemoting? I mean, that's what Kirk is known for and sometimes even Picard and Sisko.

Just because these things happen doesn't mean humanity isn't becoming better. Just that there are more struggles. Not surprising, especially in Picard.

Where these happened previously, they were much milder/infrequent and shown explicitly to be a departure from the norm.

Contextually, these are foregrounded in the newer shows. From what we've seen of the crews and a few of their associates (Admiral Swearjar springs to mind!), they represent the new normal.

The context in Picard is of course itself an editorial choice: "break" the future to show a wounded humanity again. This is simply what I'm saying I'd expect some of in a new Academy series, based on the pattern so far.

 

[oberth]

i demand a cadet blutarsky

 

[fireproof78]

Where these happened previously, they were much milder/infrequent and shown explicitly to be a departure from the norm.

Contextually, these are foregrounded in the newer shows. From what we've seen of the crews and a few of their associates (Admiral Swearjar springs to mind!), they represent the new normal.

The context in Picard is of course itself an editorial choice: "break" the future to show a wounded humanity again. This is simply what I'm saying I'd expect some of in a new Academy series, based on the pattern so far.

I disagree. Especially in Picard this is a trajectory that humanity was already on because it was wounded from multiple conflicts that shook humanity to its core. This is not a breaking so much as a recognition of the pain suffered and that it has consequences.

 

[1001001]

i demand a cadet blutarsky

 

[Commander Troi]

View attachment 23546

I remember that!

 

[oberth]

I remember that!

me too (somebody showed it to me about two years ago)

 

[JirinPanthosa]

DS9 portrayed a world just as dark as you ever see in Kurtzmantrek, it just lingered there less.

Not clear if Academy show is live action yet.

 

[Jayson1]

One advantage Ds9 had was that TNG already happened and thus the 24th century was already defined somewhat in what the politics and that world looked like and how the tech worked and so forth. World building was actually a strength of Berman ere Trek and they actually took Roddenberry's ridiculous rules he came up for his vision and somehow made that world make some kind of sense but also inviting and it was a place most fans would want to live in because the tech was cool and the people were also nice and actually cared about things and weren't petty like we modern humans tend to be. Discovery on the other hand never really fleshed out its time period and to be fair they didn't have 26 episodes a year to do that which is one of the drawbacks to shorter seasons. Plus it and Picard are both caked with modern day cynicism. You can tell that these shows don't have much nice to say about the human condition in general. Except for the main characters of course. They see human goodness as a struggle to achieve as opposed something innate to our nature. Which to be honest might be true but it's not exactly inspiring or something that appeals to all humans hopes for a better world someday. It's a more ordinary vision that lots of shows have thus making modern Trek feel less special or unique even when it's good like say Picard until the final couple of episodes.

 

[Mogh]

One advantage Ds9 had was that TNG already happened and thus the 24th century was already defined somewhat in what the politics and that world looked like and how the tech worked and do forth. World building was actually a strength of Berman ere Trek and they actually took Roddenberry's ridiculous rules he came up for his vision and somehow made that world make some kind of sense but also inviting and it was a place most fans would want to live in because the tech was cool and the people were also nice and actually cared about things and weren't petty like we modern humans tend to be. Discovery on the other hand never really fleshed out its time period and to be fair they didn't have 26 episodes a year to do that which is one of the drawbacks to shorter seasons. Plus it and Picard are both caked with modern day cynicism. You can tell that these shows don't have much nice to say about the human condition in general. Except for the main characters of course. They see human goodness as a struggle to achieve as opposed something innate to our nature. Which to be honest might be true but it's not exactly inspiring or something that appeals to all humans hopes for a better world someday. It's a more ordinary vision that lots of shows have thus making modern Trek feel less special or unique even when it's good like say Picard until the final couple of episodes.

Nailed it.