this is the reason it wouldn’t have been possible so far. Now, with the new virtual backgrounds, it just might.
Tales Of The Federation - Akiva Goldsman wants anthology series with classic characters
- Thread starter Char Kais
- Start date
Roddenberry pretty much disavowing TOS at the start of TNG, Janeway's mis-characterization of the TOS era and to hear some tell it, all of Enterprise.
The idea of "something new" sounds good in practice, but in actuality every time Trek has done it, they've just pivoted back to doing the same stuff eventually. Witness how little import Voyager being in the Delta Quadrant was. Or how the prequel element of Enterprise didn't really amount to much.
Ultimately, there are a set number of plot structures, and a set number of SF scenarios which work within the continuity of the Trekverse. However, there are an infinite number of ways these scenarios can go based upon the characters put into them. When it comes down to it, I'd rather see an anthology which reintroduces old characters than one with one-offs for that reason. Because in the end if we're not seeing established characters or elaborated elements of existing lore - why is it even Star Trek? Why not just have an entirely new SF show?
Well, there can be interesting stories enabled by, or at least taking place in, the Star Trek universe.
I think Discovery from season 3 on HAS been trying to become it's own Trek, being part of the brand while expanding it significantly, but it's not been an easy move and I think the verdict is still in on whether it will work.
PIC on the other hand became a lesson on avoid treading over the same territory better shows travelled before.
There's nothing wrong with using the current lore and characters, while expanding off of it, little by little. There are still al lot of gaps worth filling in.
I agree. That's one of the reasons I think DS9 was the most successful Trek. There were of course some new aspects added via the show, like the Dominion and the Prophets. But much of the concept of the show spun out of a single TNG episode (Ensign Ro), and ultimately it was to a large degree deepening existing Trek lore around the Bajorans, Cardassians, Ferengi, and eventually the Klingons as well. So the show was doing something new structurally, but it wasn't trying to run away from the setting to do so unlike the other Berman Trek series - it was embracing the setting, but telling a different kind of story.
Roddenberry pretty much disavowing TOS at the start of TNG, Janeway's mis-characterization of the TOS era and to hear some tell it, all of Enterprise.
I'm not seeing the same comparisons. Roddenberry really only disavowed the TMP movies and the Klingons, the former because he thought the movies were too militaristic in nature, and the latter because he just wanted to get away from them (and the Romulans too for that matter) to focus on new bad guys. The look and feel of TNG pretty much matches TOS in all ways, as if the TMP movies didn't exist: They went back to the TOS uniform colors, bussards on the nacelles, the many, many references to TOS, etc.
I'm not sure what you mean by Janeway's mis-characterization of the TOS era. Perhaps you could elaborate.
And I'm not sure how a prequel set 100 years before TOS, 'sweeps TOS under the rug.' Elaborate please?
The worst aspect of how the later shows treat TOS is how jumped up in importance The Enterprise and Kirk become.
In TOS, we never really believed The Enterprise was that special. I believe it was one of a dozen ships of the same class. We can imagine the other 11 ships with largely analogous ships getting into adventures of roughly the same scope. Because the TOS scope is small, not epic. It's save the ship this week, or a planet or solar system - never save the galaxy. Also note that none of the antagonists Kirk goes up against have a higher ranking than captain or commander. Kirk is just a Captain, The Enterprise is just a ship.
The TOS movies started "epicing" it up as fanservice, since Kirk got to save Earth twice, but Berman Trek leaned into it hard, making the Enterprise crew into this legendary group of people. I can understand the desire to hang a lampshade, but...I think the franchise ultimately suffered, because it's progressively gotten to be more and more small universe over time. I preferred in a lot of ways the wide open "man adrift in the vastness of space" feeling of TOS to regularly meeting the heads of massive interstellar empires.
In TOS, we never really believed The Enterprise was that special. I believe it was one of a dozen ships of the same class. We can imagine the other 11 ships with largely analogous ships getting into adventures of roughly the same scope. Because the TOS scope is small, not epic. It's save the ship this week, or a planet or solar system - never save the galaxy. Also note that none of the antagonists Kirk goes up against have a higher ranking than captain or commander. Kirk is just a Captain, The Enterprise is just a ship.
The TOS movies started "epicing" it up as fanservice, since Kirk got to save Earth twice, but Berman Trek leaned into it hard, making the Enterprise crew into this legendary group of people. I can understand the desire to hang a lampshade, but...I think the franchise ultimately suffered, because it's progressively gotten to be more and more small universe over time. I preferred in a lot of ways the wide open "man adrift in the vastness of space" feeling of TOS to regularly meeting the heads of massive interstellar empires.
I think they only reason a Star Trek anthology series hasn't been done yet is cost. (build "TV quality" sets to literally throw them away soon)
But with those awesome "Mandalorian-video wall tech", also used on Disco in S4 I believe (albeit not with the same quality production) that helps a lot.
Imagine a format that isn't bound by a specific time(line)/character and allows anything from Short Treks to Mini-Series in both, live action and animated.
So many possibilities to bring mentioned/written characters and stories to life.
But with those awesome "Mandalorian-video wall tech", also used on Disco in S4 I believe (albeit not with the same quality production) that helps a lot.
Imagine a format that isn't bound by a specific time(line)/character and allows anything from Short Treks to Mini-Series in both, live action and animated.
So many possibilities to bring mentioned/written characters and stories to life.
I'm eager for the episode, "Catacombs", which features Shran, Weyoun, and Brunt in the same story.
That just boils down to a lack of imagination imo and falling back on things that once worked rather than doing something new.
Star Trek is the perfect story engine. It can be anything and everything. It's not limited in what it can or cannot be. It can be speculative fiction, social commentary, action-adventure, space western, time travel, and even Hard SF. But for some reason, what Trek can be becomes narrower and narrower.
Hell, @Mark 2000 has proven you can go to new and more interesting places in the Trekverse with his fan webcomic: http://trekcomic.com/
So I don't buy it can't be done. It just no one has really wanted to for whatever reason.
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I'm still holding out hope for The Young Garak Chronicles. The possibilities...
Eh, I feel like there's certain types of SF stories which continuity of the Trekverse more or less boxes us out of.
The most obvious examples of these relate to transhumanism/posthumanism. Trek is very much SF of the time in which it was invented in that humans are just plain old humans, even if the tech is better. So we don't see things like widespread mind uploads, biological immortality, swapping bodies (genders, etc.) on a whim, alteration of ones own consciousness, etc.
There's also a big lack of strong AI in the setting, particularly super-intelligent AI. Part of it might just be budgetary, but humans still seem to do lots of basic scutwork like moving around boxes that you would expect would be fully automated, let alone the more complex tasks. Why not have a system where the ship mostly flies itself and the people are passengers?
In both cases we do get dabbling from time to time, but it tends to be fundamentally conservative "places man does not dare to tread" sort of things. We never see an actual exploration about the positives and negatives of social dynamics which develop due to these massive changes - something which is a major element of much of contemporary science fiction.
No doubt set on a recreation of the planet hell sets.
set the story outside the federation, either on a remote human colony or on an alien world altogether, and you can easily do all this and more. And you can even bring in a couple of starfleet officers as audience stand-ins.
mostly because it would be very boring to see.
But, as you point out, it’s not as if Star Trek *never* did anything along those lines.
Every episode tells a story that's completely incompatible with every other episode.
On a purely textual level, I actually like the idea of Archer becoming Federation President and think it makes sense. ENT basically depicted him as the guy who almost single-handedly brought Earth, Vulcan, Andor, and Tellar together; he's basically already the Federation's equivalent of a Founding Father. It makes sense that he would eventually become President.
For me the problem is that Scott Bakula is a wet blanket whose performances as Archer have never to me conveyed real leadership or charisma.
ETA: Still, it would be kind of cool to do an episode of Star Trek: The West Wing. Especially if it were patterned after author Keith R.A. DeCandido's 2005 ST novel Articles of the Federation. It would be great to see live-action depictions of the Palais de la Concorde and the Federation Council...
and they are all canon. Especially the non canon ones.
From my read Roddenberry looked at TMP and TNG as reboots. His "true vision" of Star Trek.
Never cared for the "cowboy diplomacy", shoot from the hip image Janeway (and the VOYwriters) tried casting TOS as
Fans hated ENT for stepping on TOS toes with an earlier ship called "Enterprise" and a Vulcan XO/SO.
They'll just redress the old Shenzhou bridge/Section 31 bridge/Starbase transporter bay/Federation Headquarters set, like always. Even when it's an episode set in a farmhouse.
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