Thanks for screwing Star Trek, CBS...

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Yes, Prime Trek's heyday is behind it, but the merchandise must still turn a decent profit if they're still willing to churn it out all the time.

Yep, and in 2005 Detroit knew they should just keep churning out those SUVs even though the dealers wouldn't take delivery.

Penny wise and pound foolish. If this is as reported then Abrams is completely right to move on and CBS is run by stupid fucks who will just continue to stumble along in mediocrity.

Actually, the second part is just true regardless.

 

[mos6507]

Was it really necessary to lace this thread with crude expletives and back-handed insults to a large chunk of the membership?

 

[EJD1984]

Hasn't there been some recent talk that Paramount is looking into restarting it's television division?

If they do, hopefully Trek can be wrestled away from CBS, and put back completely under the Paramount umbrella.

Paramount can't wrest away something they don't own.

And any restarted Paramount television division will likely feature only properties Paramount actually owns outright (which automatically excludes Trek--they're only borrowing it from CBS).

You may want to read this.
Star Trek Belongs Back On Television

Much of the problem behind a television show is that it's not fully clear who has the right to make the series. When Viacom split in 2006, Paramount Pictures took the movie rights while CBS Corp. grabbed the television side. However, that doesn't mean CBS has the right to make a new series for television. In fact, that's a question that has never been made clear.

Now that Paramount is considering relaunching its television division, there is some speculation that this could lead to a new Star Trek series, especially if "Star Trek: Into Darkness" outruns its 2009 predecessor at the box office.

I can see a possible future court battle that may go all the way back to when Desilu originally started production of Star Trek.

 

[R. Star]

Was it really necessary to lace this thread with crude expletives and back-handed insults to a large chunk of the membership?

There's a number of people around here that do think that if you don't share their opinions, if you don't think what they do and agree with everything they say that there is something wrong with you, and it's completely justifiable to insult and demean you.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Anyone who doesn't like my opinions is free not to read my posts.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Hasn't there been some recent talk that Paramount is looking into restarting it's television division?

If they do, hopefully Trek can be wrestled away from CBS, and put back completely under the Paramount umbrella.

Paramount can't wrest away something they don't own.

And any restarted Paramount television division will likely feature only properties Paramount actually owns outright (which automatically excludes Trek--they're only borrowing it from CBS).

You may want to read this.
Star Trek Belongs Back On Television

Much of the problem behind a television show is that it's not fully clear who has the right to make the series. When Viacom split in 2006, Paramount Pictures took the movie rights while CBS Corp. grabbed the television side. However, that doesn't mean CBS has the right to make a new series for television. In fact, that's a question that has never been made clear.

Now that Paramount is considering relaunching its television division, there is some speculation that this could lead to a new Star Trek series, especially if "Star Trek: Into Darkness" outruns its 2009 predecessor at the box office.

I can see a possible future court battle that may go all the way back to when Desilu originally started production of Star Trek.

I've read that article before and it's full of errors. The rights to make any Trek TV series belongs free and clear to CBS, not Paramount or anyone else. CBS acquired all former Paramount and Desilu properties long ago.

 

[Flake]

I assume the bulk of Trek went to CBS TV because it started as a television show and it was only a last minute decision to change to movies after Star Wars. Somewhere there is a scrap of paper that clears the whole thing up!

If Paramount was totally in control of every aspect of Star Trek on TV, Internet, Merchandise and Movies then I don't think they would have made TNG HD like CBS is doing. They would've made a botched upscaling job and left it at that. CBS are doing excellent in that regard.

However to just sit on the rights to Star Trek and make a relatively small amount of money with very little investment whilst Paramount invests hundreds of millions is very silly! Paramount are spending all this money on the AD budget for STID worldwide and its CBS who will reap the rewards when this increased awareness means they can simply up their licensing fee and make easy money whilst again contributing nothing to the brand (except the excellent TNG restoration, which I love) it doesn't really seem fair but I suppose nothing is fair in business.

Someone at CBS is intentionally playing it safe with Star Trek and is totally unwilling to either A: Work with Paramount and cooperate on the future of the franchise or B: Allow Paramount to purchase the rights of Star Trek away from CBS so Paramount can build up the franchise.

I think the person who is to blame is... drum roll... Les Moonves. He hates Star Trek. He is unwilling to do anything and frankly its a miracle we are getting TNG HD! Though I suppose the risk in making that is minimal and it is not too expensive compared to what Paramount may have planned.

EDIT: Star Trek is wholly owned by CBS and they allow Paramount to make movies. Paramount owns nothing.. is this true?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Well, I personally make money from the HD release of TNG so I like it.

Nothing in what Abrams wanted to do would have interfered with the sale or marketing of CBS's television inventory.

 

[MOSUGOJI]

I'm an avid model builder and collect ALOT of Star Trek models. The ones that I and alot of the people over at Hobby Talk prefer to build are the Classic Star Trek/TNG Models. I personally won't ever buy any of the models associated with Abramstrek. I do not like the design of the new ships. I know I am not alone in this so I am personallly GLAD that classic Star Trek merchandise is not being done away with for the JJ Abrams stuff. The new merchandise didn't sell well at all and wound up at Big Lots and other bargain outlets at reduced prices. Revell won't even release the model of the JJPrise in the United States because of the lack of demand over here. Yet the 3 foot model of the classic TOS Enterrpise is selling quite well from Round 2 models.

 

[Flake]

I'm an avid model builder and collect ALOT of Star Trek models. The ones that I and alot of the people over at Hobby Talk prefer to build are the Classic Star Trek/TNG Models. I personally won't ever buy any of the models associated with Abramstrek. I do not like the design of the new ships. I know I am not alone in this so I am personallly GLAD that classic Star Trek merchandise is not being done away with for the JJ Abrams stuff. The new merchandise didn't sell well at all and wound up at Big Lots and other bargain outlets at reduced prices. Revell won't even release the model of the JJPrise in the United States because of the lack of demand over here. Yet the 3 foot model of the classic TOS Enterrpise is selling quite well from Round 2 models.

I think that Bad Robot and Paramount would have wanted to perhaps attempt to take Trek to the next level? Perhaps making a TV show and a Cartoon or something? If it worked out I think the merchandise associated with it would take off big time compared to whatever level of $$$ the current models/merchandise/toys are at currently. If I go into the supermarket there are Star Wars toys/legos etc all over the place, maybe they hoped to have Star Trek pushed as a major rival to it?

CBS OTOH are happy to keep their status quo and invest nothing beyond old TV show restorations.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Let people have their toys and watch Star Trek dwindle away again.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I assume the bulk of Trek went to CBS TV because it started as a television show and it was only a last minute decision to change to movies after Star Wars. Somewhere there is a scrap of paper that clears the whole thing up!

You actually had it clear in the beginning--Trek started off as a TV series and although ownership of it changed hands a few times over the decades, it currently is in the hands of CBS. Paramount continues to make Trek movies, but only under license from CBS, and that's really where it ends as far as Paramount's control of Trek. TV rights, merchandising, etc., the rest belongs to CBS.

If Paramount was totally in control of every aspect of Star Trek on TV, Internet, Merchandise and Movies then I don't think they would have made TNG HD like CBS is doing. They would've made a botched upscaling job and left it at that. CBS are doing excellent in that regard.

However to just sit on the rights to Star Trek and make a relatively small amount of money with very little investment whilst Paramount invests hundreds of millions is very silly! Paramount are spending all this money on the AD budget for STID worldwide and its CBS who will reap the rewards when this increased awareness means they can simply up their licensing fee and make easy money whilst again contributing nothing to the brand (except the excellent TNG restoration, which I love) it doesn't really seem fair but I suppose nothing is fair in business.

It may not seem fair to Trek fans, but it seems quite fair to CBS.

Someone at CBS is intentionally playing it safe with Star Trek and is totally unwilling to either A: Work with Paramount and cooperate on the future of the franchise or B: Allow Paramount to purchase the rights of Star Trek away from CBS so Paramount can build up the franchise.

Unlikely given than Paramount took away their film library from the CBS-owned Showtime and started up the EPIX network to compete against it. CBS and Paramount are primarily rivals these days.

I think the person who is to blame is... drum roll... Les Moonves. He hates Star Trek. He is unwilling to do anything and frankly its a miracle we are getting TNG HD! Though I suppose the risk in making that is minimal and it is not too expensive compared to what Paramount may have planned.

Les Moonves doesn't hate Trek, but he hates expensive shows (in general) that only appeal to a small audience, and that's what Trek became towards the end of its last television run. CBS has been successful by producing shows that provide more bang for the buck than Trek shows tend to do. If it could be guaranteed that a new Trek series will produce TNG-era ratings with a TNG-era budget, there would be one on the air right now, IMO.

EDIT: Star Trek is wholly owned by CBS and they allow Paramount to make movies. Paramount owns nothing.. is this true?

They own the right to make money from the movies--both in theatrical and home video release--but they don't own the Star Trek property itself. CBS gets a cut from all the profits the movies make.

 

[ConRefit79]

Hasn't there been some recent talk that Paramount is looking into restarting it's television division?

Didn't they already try to create a network and fail miserably?

 

[Dave Scarpa]

...those asswipes have fucked the Franchise over good with their shortsightedness.

How the Battle Over 'Star Trek' Rights Killed J.J. Abrams' Grand Ambitions

A struggle over the U.S.S. Enterprise's past and future helped sour J.J. Abrams on the "Star Trek" franchise and may have contributed to his decision to take on the "Star Wars" universe.

Competing ambitions between Paramount, CBS and Abrams' production company Bad Robot over merchandising surrounding the first film in the rebooted "Star Trek" franchise led the director to curtail plans to turn the series into a multi-platform experience that spanned television, digital entertainment and comic books, according to an individual with knowledge of the dispute.

"J.J. just threw up his hands," the individual told TheWrap. "The message was, 'Why set up all this when we'll just be competing against ourselves?' The studio wanted to please Bad Robot, but it was allowing CBS to say yay or nay when it came to what was happening with the 'Star Trek' products."

Penny wise and pound foolish.

Yeah and Abrams took it out on the fans with Into Darkness

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Rim shot! Better clean that up, though.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I don't see why TOS merchandise and JJ Abrams Trek merchandise can't both co-exist.

why did JJ want them to stop TOS merchandise?

Because he killed that timeline it doesn't exist anymore, well in his mind at least

 

[mos6507]

Anyone who doesn't like my opinions is free not to read my posts.

This wasn't just a post. It's a new thread that is of topical interest to both fans and detractors of JJ Trek, as it speaks to the general future of the franchise. But the way you started the thread basically sets a mine-field in front of anyone who might do anything other than grab their knives and pitchforks and storm CBS.

Even the thread title is slanted. CBS is "screwing Trek" because of this, in your mind. It's not protecting its options to continue to curate or dust off Prime Continuity. It's "screwing Trek" because the legacy IP should be confined to the dustbin of history and JJ can do no wrong and should be given complete autonomy? That is hardly a universal opinion here, even among those who liked his films.

 

[Commishsleer]

Why would CBS give up $20 million. Whats in it for them?

You can buy both you know.

Abrams missed an opportunity by tantruming. I think Abrams afraid of losing some of his money when someone accidentally buys an old school McCoy. Does he seriously want me not able to buy a TOS NCC1701 if I want to? I suppose I'm not his target market. I have as much ST09 stuff as TOS though.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Still not seeing why you can't have both, but whatever. I like my original Trek merchandise, so it's fine by me.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Abrams missed an opportunity by tantruming. I think Abrams afraid of losing some of his money when someone accidentally buys an old school McCoy.

No.

Anyway, Abrams has missed no opportunities here. He moves on to a better opportunity elsewhere, while Trek's owners snatch mediocrity from the jaws of success once again.