I for one am shocked to find profit motives in Hollywood.
Tales Of The Federation - Akiva Goldsman wants anthology series with classic characters
- Thread starter Char Kais
- Start date
His phoning it in is better than a lot of actors' trying really hard.
I certainly don't disagree there.
I'd support this only if they wanted to rectify TATV and fix the Enterprise ending.
Could do it by bringing back Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, and maybe Schran.
Could do it by bringing back Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, and maybe Schran.
The way I'd fix TATV's ending is to make a short episode with Trip and Reed stuck in a shuttlepod again.
Star Trek is anthological in nature. So, a Tales of the Federation series would add to that anthological legacy. But it does raise questions about the series. It would depend on who the characters are and understanding why they aren’t getting a multi-season series, a limited series or feature film on Paramount+.
For Sulu, it makes sense to have him as part of the anthology series, since I don’t see Sulu leading a series now. But then there are other characters where it does not make as much sense on paper to give them a single episode in an anthology series.
The Captain Worf idea would definitely work as a series of some sort, especially now that we have entered 25th century Trek. and would be very interesting to see Worf out of Starfleet and working within the Klingon Empire, all while still being influenced by his time in Starfleet.
Then there’s Archer. I’m not opposed to Goldsman idea; a day in the life of Archer seems like an interesting premise, and a way to reset the 22nd century to be a happier era in the vein of ENT S1 & S2, instead of the darker S3 & S4. But the general interest seems to be seeing Archer beyond a single episode, and a West-Wing style show with him to explore the inner workings of Federation politics has been floated around a lot. And if they go that route, there the possibility of a tie in to the planned Section 31 show, since Archer was a Federation President and Section 31 is a part of the Federation Charter. And then to be even more original, it could take inspiration from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and have Archer have a secret life of being a temporal agent for 31th century Starfleet while still being Federation President. Maybe he takes Shran along for his missions.
Then there’s the proposed Ceti Alpha V series that’s been shelved for now, as its not long enough for CBS. Even though it would work as a three hour film, and would be sufficient length to be an arc during ENT S4. But the opportunity is there to expand that story to cover the Eugenics Wars, and include Gary Seven as secretly working to undermine Khan during the war. Getting that Assignment: Earth series accomplished in the process. Seems like a fleshed out limited series like that would be better than doing a single anthology episode on Gary Seven or about the Augments on Ceti Alpha V.
And finally, there’s Starfleet Academy, seems like something that would be better suited as an anthology episode, but they are going full on with it as a series. Exploring the very first class, or a divergence of the pre-Prime Directive graduates and the post-Prime Directive graduates in the mid-late 22nd century seem a lot more interesting than series set in the 23rd or 32nd centuries.
@Dukhat and @F. King Daniel also have a point about fans possibly not happy with how the stories of these various characters progress, and that its better to leave it to head canon. I know I have my ideas that I prefer and have no confidence that whatever ends up on screen will do it justice
For Sulu, it makes sense to have him as part of the anthology series, since I don’t see Sulu leading a series now. But then there are other characters where it does not make as much sense on paper to give them a single episode in an anthology series.
The Captain Worf idea would definitely work as a series of some sort, especially now that we have entered 25th century Trek. and would be very interesting to see Worf out of Starfleet and working within the Klingon Empire, all while still being influenced by his time in Starfleet.
Then there’s Archer. I’m not opposed to Goldsman idea; a day in the life of Archer seems like an interesting premise, and a way to reset the 22nd century to be a happier era in the vein of ENT S1 & S2, instead of the darker S3 & S4. But the general interest seems to be seeing Archer beyond a single episode, and a West-Wing style show with him to explore the inner workings of Federation politics has been floated around a lot. And if they go that route, there the possibility of a tie in to the planned Section 31 show, since Archer was a Federation President and Section 31 is a part of the Federation Charter. And then to be even more original, it could take inspiration from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and have Archer have a secret life of being a temporal agent for 31th century Starfleet while still being Federation President. Maybe he takes Shran along for his missions.
Then there’s the proposed Ceti Alpha V series that’s been shelved for now, as its not long enough for CBS. Even though it would work as a three hour film, and would be sufficient length to be an arc during ENT S4. But the opportunity is there to expand that story to cover the Eugenics Wars, and include Gary Seven as secretly working to undermine Khan during the war. Getting that Assignment: Earth series accomplished in the process. Seems like a fleshed out limited series like that would be better than doing a single anthology episode on Gary Seven or about the Augments on Ceti Alpha V.
And finally, there’s Starfleet Academy, seems like something that would be better suited as an anthology episode, but they are going full on with it as a series. Exploring the very first class, or a divergence of the pre-Prime Directive graduates and the post-Prime Directive graduates in the mid-late 22nd century seem a lot more interesting than series set in the 23rd or 32nd centuries.
@Dukhat and @F. King Daniel also have a point about fans possibly not happy with how the stories of these various characters progress, and that its better to leave it to head canon. I know I have my ideas that I prefer and have no confidence that whatever ends up on screen will do it justice
I wouldn’t mind seeing what causes starfleet to implement their “no captain leads an away team.” policy by TNG. Was that always the policy and kirk just did what kirk does becauses he’s kirk? Or was there a event that caused them to rethink captains joining away teams.
I love the concept of Tales of the Federation. Each episode could be stand-alone but fill in the gaps of Trek lore. I think each episode should cover an important historical moment in Trek or some interesting aspect of Trek. You could do political drama, war action, diplomacy, science etc.
There are so many possibilities:
- Khan on Ceti Alpha V after Kirk exiled him.
- "Day in the life" of the Federation President, maybe involving an important moment like accepting Betazed into the Federation.
- An adventure on the Enterprise B.
- Initial colonization of Delta Rana IV (from the TNG episode "The Survivors")
- 100 years after the end of "DS9", a changed Dominion, thanks to Odo, becomes a friend of the Federation.
- Archer leads a fleet in a pivotal battle in the Romulan War.
I do think animation would be better because I think it would give the writers and producers much more flexibility in the kinds of stories they could tell. For example, they would not be limited by actor availability. Sure you could recast a younger version of the characters to do stories set in the past. Obviously, that has already been done. But I don't know it is ideal. Fans will tend to compare the new actor with the original actor. With animation, you can do an animated version of the original actor with voice-over edited from previous episodes like they did in Prodigy. So it can look and feel more faithful.
But I do think the animation should fit the story. So I don't think the Lower decks animation style would work because I think it is too cartoony. It would not work to tell a serious story. I could see Marvel's "What If" style working pretty well for say a Khan on Ceti Alpha V story.
There are so many possibilities:
- Khan on Ceti Alpha V after Kirk exiled him.
- "Day in the life" of the Federation President, maybe involving an important moment like accepting Betazed into the Federation.
- An adventure on the Enterprise B.
- Initial colonization of Delta Rana IV (from the TNG episode "The Survivors")
- 100 years after the end of "DS9", a changed Dominion, thanks to Odo, becomes a friend of the Federation.
- Archer leads a fleet in a pivotal battle in the Romulan War.
I do think animation would be better because I think it would give the writers and producers much more flexibility in the kinds of stories they could tell. For example, they would not be limited by actor availability. Sure you could recast a younger version of the characters to do stories set in the past. Obviously, that has already been done. But I don't know it is ideal. Fans will tend to compare the new actor with the original actor. With animation, you can do an animated version of the original actor with voice-over edited from previous episodes like they did in Prodigy. So it can look and feel more faithful.
But I do think the animation should fit the story. So I don't think the Lower decks animation style would work because I think it is too cartoony. It would not work to tell a serious story. I could see Marvel's "What If" style working pretty well for say a Khan on Ceti Alpha V story.
How was season 4 dark?
^The Butterfly Men were darker than any Batman movie
They got Nick Meyer to write a 3-part miniseries about this but decided not to make it. According to rumours, there were natives on the planet (presumably undetected by the Enterprise)
Archer suffering from PTSD upon return from the Xindi mission?
Reed secretly working with Section 31 after Phlox was kidnapped by Klingons?
Kelby trying to blow up Enterprise under the influence of Orion slave girls because he’s jealous of Trip?
The scientist that had a graphic death after being poisoned with pathogens by Augments?
Soval being kidnapped and tortured by Shran?
Trip and Hoshi briefly biting the dust?
A crewman that supported a xenophobic group that held Earth hostage and lobbied terroristic threats, and blew his brains out in front of Archer after said xenophobic group failed?
Admitted rise of xenophobia after the Xindi attack, far removed from the more optimistic picture painted in the premiere?
Baby Elizabeth dying?
None of this is dark to you?
S4 not as dark as the Xindi arc, the Dominion war, “Year of Hell”, or DIS S1, but it still dark. Its dark in a way that DS9 and VOY were through their respective run.
Voyager's dark to? The master of the reset button? Personally, for all the dark moments, seasons four overall trajectory of actually leading to the Federation's beginning shines a pretty bright light.
Could be. Especially how it made the Doctor suffer. The reset button makes it worse.
Well, it was worth a shot. Seemed like a worthy successor to Short Treks.
Its odd that they want to go keep going back to the 23rd century and 24th century wells, but won’t consider early 24th century for a Sulu follow up and early 23rd century for an Archer follow up. Especially with the desire to have 52 weeks of Trek airing every year.
Do they think that they could follow up on Sulu and Archer though the Star Trek Logs on Instagram, or is that a no go too? I mean, if they can’t even do a captain’s log entry, a medical log in the case of characters like Phlox, or something to that effect, doesn’t it suggest that there’s just no interest whatsoever in revisiting the characters?
Its odd that they want to go keep going back to the 23rd century and 24th century wells, but won’t consider early 24th century for a Sulu follow up and early 23rd century for an Archer follow up. Especially with the desire to have 52 weeks of Trek airing every year.
Do they think that they could follow up on Sulu and Archer though the Star Trek Logs on Instagram, or is that a no go too? I mean, if they can’t even do a captain’s log entry, a medical log in the case of characters like Phlox, or something to that effect, doesn’t it suggest that there’s just no interest whatsoever in revisiting the characters?
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