I would love to see them try any Trek animated series to be honest. I always figure that I can like it or dislike it then but even if I dislike it someone else will be the opposite. But I loved the Starfleet Academy comics back in the 90s, which had a Rebels kinda tone, I feel, so something smart and fun would be nice to see.
That's what I read into some of the comments in this and the previous threads of the same subject. And it's pretty much what happened in the book series back in the 1990's.
Hmmm...interesting. That's not what I would imagine nor would I think would be good storytelling. I was thinking more along the lines of Heinlein's "Space Cadet" or "Starship Troopers."
Well, individuals have their own ideas, so I'm not sure. Personally, I think of something along the lines of the later part of "Space Cadet" were the cadets are senior level and out on an apprentice cruise. They function within the chain of command, if at the low end, and have tasks aboard the ship. It could start out on Earth, but then move to other worlds, within the Federation, at different stages of colonization or recovery after a war (Romulan, Dominion, Cardassian, depending on the era). I honestly don't think that Starfleet cadets are treated in the same way as contemporary military cadets. I think that the training is more specialized, but since cadets don't need to work their way through school, have more time to devote to their specializations. Regardless, I do imagine a Captain PIke-esque senior instructor being the mentor character that the cadets report to, as well as department heads. But, the cadets also work together since they are the new kids on the block. Just random thoughts, but that's my concept.
The problem with this thread (if I may) is that people are trying to take a story about cadets at the academy, and figure out how to put it on a starship. Why not have the stories set at the academy? Admittedly it likely wouldn't be action/adventure, but not all Star Trek stories are. The series can explore the future Earth society, Humans and aliens, San Fransisco, and the Academy itself.
^ This. Star Trek can do straight, non-ship-based drama well when it tries ("Family," "The First Duty"). Keeping it grounded in Academy life wouldn't mean that it would have to be angsty CW crap. It's all a matter of execution.
We could finally explore some of those wacky ideas that Roddenberry had for human society in TMP that we never actually got to see. Kor
Well, they could start with their third or fourth year of the Academy, so that if it goes to a third season, we'll have an attachement to the characters as they go off on their first assignment. Seeing a shift in the series where we see them intergrating into a ship already into it's active mission, not seeing the bridge crew for most of it.
It's an interesting discussion here because I'm sure they have had the same one at CBS repeatedly over the years. I like Tenacity's idea of rotating characters out as they graduate. The closest we got to this idea in any televised episodes are TNG's The First Duty and DS9's Valiant. Both were really fascinating as they examined the culture and atmosphere being part of the Starfleet Academy Experience. (Not counting TNG's Tapestry as they are just waiting for assignment.) I think it would make an awesome video game but I'm not so sure it could work as a series. Would love to see an attempt, though. When Star Trek 2009 come out and during the early days of reporting on the soft reboot, the headlines I recall were that film being the "Starfleet Academy film", essentially. It was mostly true, except that we barely saw any of the characters in class, except for the Maru scenario. I wonder if early drafts of that script saw a lot more scenes set at the Academy? In the end, I think they used the right amount.
I'm not saying it can't. If you read the book I referenced ("Space Cadet.") to see an idea of what different pieces could work in what order. My main argument was more to address the idea that an Academy must be centered on Earth. I I have no problem with either setting, but I don't see it as a problem. I mean, why not do both?