No, there were wheel series in every decade from the '50s to the '90s, though their peak was in the '70s and then they went away until the late '80s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_series
Was there ever a real intent to do Star Trek as a wheel show?
- Thread starter ChallengerHK
- Start date
No, there were wheel series in every decade from the '50s to the '90s, though their peak was in the '70s and then they went away until the late '80s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_series
That's about what I was thinking.
I checked the issues of Star Trektennial News, the Susan Sackett-edited newsletter that ran in 1976-1977, to see if there was any reference to doing the Star Trek revival as a “wheel” series. But by the beginning of 1976, when STN was launched, the chatter was about the upcoming movie that was to start shooting in July, 1976 even though there was no script. (July slipped to September, then November, then mid-1977, then off the schedule as the right story failed to materialize.)
There was a comment in the second issue of STN (issue 14, because they continue the numbering from the original 1968-1969 Inside Star Trek, which ran for 12 issues) that “we are hopeful that there will be television 120-minute specials once the movie is a success.” So the idea of doing more Star Trek TV movies after doing a movie-movie was definitely being discussed.
I recall reading somewhere about 8 Star Trek TV movies per season, but I can’t find it. I don’t recall ever reading that they would be part of a rotating group of series. I always assumed they would be once-a-month standalones — but whatever network aired them would have to schedule SOMETHING between treks.
There was a comment in the second issue of STN (issue 14, because they continue the numbering from the original 1968-1969 Inside Star Trek, which ran for 12 issues) that “we are hopeful that there will be television 120-minute specials once the movie is a success.” So the idea of doing more Star Trek TV movies after doing a movie-movie was definitely being discussed.
I recall reading somewhere about 8 Star Trek TV movies per season, but I can’t find it. I don’t recall ever reading that they would be part of a rotating group of series. I always assumed they would be once-a-month standalones — but whatever network aired them would have to schedule SOMETHING between treks.
My idea for a series, which some of you may remember me bringing up back before Enterprise was even a thing, was a rotation of four different Trek series, one per week, in the same time slot - one set during the Romulan War; one set concurrent with TOS but with a different ship and crew; one showing the adventures of the Enterprise-B; and one set post-DS9 on a Starfleet base in the Gamma Quadrant. I figgered with such a setup, each show would have 4 weeks to turn out a really good, hi-quality TV movie. Individual shows could be serialized or not, but I'd ban crossovers due to the extreme timeline differences. Here's that graphic I did 20-some years ago:
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/trekseries6.jpg
Doesn't sound compelling because you're naming settings, not shows. Easy to say "detective show set in L.A.", but much harder to invent Columbo.
One of the rumors flying around in the Discovery early development days was that the show was going to be a seasonal anthology similar to American Horror, with a different setting and cast each year. That's somewhat similar to Forbin's notion.
That said, I agree with Maurice. There are indeed impracticalities there, but I think those can be overcome. There's not enough information, at least that we're privy to, to produce a show, and huge chunks of it are the information I'd want to see to decide if I wanted that show.
That said, I agree with Maurice. There are indeed impracticalities there, but I think those can be overcome. There's not enough information, at least that we're privy to, to produce a show, and huge chunks of it are the information I'd want to see to decide if I wanted that show.
And along came Tik-Tok.
That was Bryan Fuller's original intent and a point of contention between him and the suits. Hence, one of the reasons that led to him being dropped from the project.*
*Edited for clarification.
Last edited:
That phrasing implies it was Fuller's idea to leave, but it was CBS that decided to drop him. In addition to their differing visions for the show, Fuller was trying to develop both Discovery and American Gods at the same time, splitting his focus, and that slowed down his work on DSC to such a degree that CBS "asked him to step down."
Similar threads
