Realistically, the first test the show must pass is to convince the honchos that it's a worthwhile project to fund. CBS has the TV rights, and nobody makes shows for competing outlets anymore, so the show must fit either CBS, Showtime or CW.
CBS' audience doesn't want sci fi and especially not sci fi that has nothing to do with cops. CW's audience of teen girls goes more for supernatural elements and vampires. There's a way to do
Star Trek for CW, but it's not what any of us would want to see.
That leaves Showtime as the only sensible option. The biggest obstacle is that premium cable's strategy is to charge premium prices in return for stuff that you can't see anywhere else on TV.
Star Trek is associated with "anywhere else on TV." Oops.
Assuming that Showtime somehow decides to ignore that fundamental disconnect because of the allure of a known brand name that has good connotations because of the movie success, what would
Star Trek look like on Showtime?
-Lots of sex, swearing and nudity? Maybe not. Premium cable isn't mandated to have NC-17 elements just because they can.
Star Trek has been associated with a more restrained broadcast friendly approach, even in movies, where they could just go for an R rating. I'd expect somewhat more sex and nudity, but well short of softcore porn a la
The Tudors, and no substantial increase in swearing, which would be a jarring change. In
Star Trek, humans just don't seem to have swear words. Like religion, that's just for aliens. But the "prohibition" against gay characters will be dropped. The Showtime audience is sophisticated enough that this won't turn a hair (and also won't find it interesting in and of itself.)
-Lots of violence? This is more likely. Violence would be depicted with more abandon than we've seen on
Star Trek previously. Redshirts dying in droves is a long established tradition, and it's not disruptive if they die a bit more messily.
-Back to basics. With space opera almost nonexistent on TV, Showtime's approach is going to be conservative. They're not going to focus on fannish minutae like space medicine or what happens after the Dominion War. It'll be a spaceship going boldly, most likely 23rd C, most likely with your standard American white male human captain in charge, with the diversity happening among the crew and guest aliens.
-Story arcs and thematic complexity. The Showtime audience is used to complex serialized plotlines and capable of grasping thematic development. A wholly episodic series would be too boring for them, reminiscent of the broadcast shows they pay a subscription to avoid. This is where Showtime could really contribute to the resurrection of
Star Trek, with character development and space politics that would put even
DS9 to shame.
-Abramsverse. The Showtime audience will either know nothing of
Trek, or will have seen
Trek XI. The aesthetics will key off
Trek XI, and if there are mentions of Vulcans, it will be in the context of a destroyed Vulcan. Obsessive fans will notice which universe the show takes place in, and nobody else will care. The fact that it's in the Abramsverse will make very little difference anyway.
I think the next Trek series could be an animated one
I'd vote for this as likely, too - why couldn't
Star Trek follow the footsteps of
The Clone Wars? - but I can't envision this airing on CBS, CW or Showtime, and why would CBS make a series for The Cartoon Network, which isn't one of its outlets?
