50th Anniversary Wish List

[TREK_GOD_1]

I think it's a fair comment to say that the BBC treat Dr Who fans very well during their anniversary which makes me wonder what a billion dollar studio like Paramount will do for us.

I thought it might be fun to make some suggestions or speculations here.

Here's two off my wish list to get the ball rolling:

1) A definitive documentary about the making of Star Trek (TOS) including it's explosion in syndication in the 70's and leading up to the first movie. Lucas had that puff piece "Empire of Dreams" on his SW DVDs, surely we deserve as good, if not better.

2) A new CGI animated adventure written by D.C. Fontana and voiced by the remaining cast with Chris Doohan as Scotty and Karl Urban as McCoy. Something that can bring a close to the original 5 year mission.


Those are my thoughts, what do you guys want to see?

Documentary: A TOS documentary would be great...but I doubt the same, overused GR political myths will be trashed as they should be (the NBC stuff), or too many references to latter day parodies such as The Simpsons, Futurama, etc. (as if that gives TOS a "seal of approval" the series earned decades ago).

A truly serious documentary would dig up as many period references (filmed or print) as possible, and start there, to see the series through the lens of the 1960s, instead of the tired opinions and perceptions of hindsight regurgitated since the syndication years--ramped up with the debut of TMP.

Finally, NO shoehorning TNG-JJ into the piece. That has nothing to do with the origin, production of cultural effect of TOS, and we do not need this to serve as advertising and/or legitimacy of the JJ films (in the way some original Star Wars trilogy pieces had to force the prequels into the narrative, no matter how inappropriate).

Merchandise: Aside from that, some smart company should take another stab at a ready-made, 33 inch 1701 again. Yeah, Unobtanium and Master Replicas already walked down that road, but Unobtanium's miniature was a disaster (no structural integrity), and MR's was too expensive for such a limited production run.

We are aware that Round 2 has this scale as a model kit, but some prefer a professionally built item (and do not have the time to glue something together).

They say "third time's the charm," so another 33-inch 1701 (with FX or not) would be a great hallmark for the 50th anniversary.

 

[Warped9]

Documentary: A TOS documentary would be great...but I doubt the same, overused GR political myths will be trashed as they should be (the NBC stuff), or too many references to latter day parodies such as The Simpsons, Futurama, etc. (as if that gives TOS a "seal of approval" the series earned decades ago).

A truly serious documentary would dig up as many period references (filmed or print) as possible, and start there, to see the series through the lens of the 1960s, instead of the tired opinions and perceptions of hindsight regurgitated since the syndication years--ramped up with the debut of TMP.

Finally, NO shoehorning TNG-JJ into the piece. That has nothing to do with the origin, production of cultural effect of TOS, and we do not need this to serve as advertising and/or legitimacy of the JJ films (in the way some original Star Wars trilogy pieces had to force the prequels into the narrative, no matter how inappropriate).

Completely agree. This is the only proper way to do it.

Merchandise: Aside from that, some smart company should take another stab at a ready-made, 33 inch 1701 again. Yeah, Unobtanium and Master Replicas already walked down that road, but Unobtanium's miniature was a disaster (no structural integrity), and MR's was too expensive for such a limited production run.

We are aware that Round 2 has this scale as a model kit, but some prefer a professionally built item (and do not have the time to glue something together).

They say "third time's the charm," so another 33-inch 1701 (with FX or not) would be a great hallmark for the 50th anniversary.

I think that's fair. I have a Round2 1/350 TOS E, as yet unbuilt. I will tackle it eventually, but it is a bit daunting.

 

[Campe]

Finally, NO shoehorning TNG-JJ into the piece. That has nothing to do with the origin, production of cultural effect of TOS, and we do not need this to serve as advertising and/or legitimacy of the JJ films (in the way some original Star Wars trilogy pieces had to force the prequels into the narrative, no matter how inappropriate).

Oh, I know I'm about to open the proverbial can of worms here but why not include the JJ films? I'm not saying make them a huge part of the documentary but not acknowledging the fact they and the later day series and movies is asinine because they are an effect of TOS... like it or not. Even just a line about "the phenomenon continues today as the thirteenth Star Trek feature film will premiere this year for the fiftieth anniversary of this modern legend" would be enough for me.

 

[F. King Daniel]

It's not just the 50th anniversary of TOS, but the Trek franchise as a whole, which includes TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT and the reboot. Although something celebrating it all couldn't possibly go as deeply as a "really this time it's the TRUE story of TOS" docu could.

 

[Campe]

^ Well, you could, but it would need to be more of a documentary miniseries. I'd be very cool with that. Almost Ken Burns style.

Hell, get Ken Burns to do it.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I'd happily watch it!

 

[Campe]

Unfortunately, it looks like Burns is booked up for a little while. They'd have to find someone else.

Yosemite: A Gathering of Spirit (December 8, 2013) with Dayton Duncan
The Roosevelts (2014)
Jackie Robinson (2015)
Vietnam (2016)
Country Music (2018)
Ernest Hemingway (2019)

 

[Warped9]

It's not just the 50th anniversary of TOS, but the Trek franchise as a whole, which includes TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT and the reboot. Although something celebrating it all couldn't possibly go as deeply as a "really this time it's the TRUE story of TOS" docu could.

And that's the thing. The more you want to cover the less time you have to devote the specifics.

A genuine TOS documentary probably shouldn't go past the decade of the '70s with the announcement and development of TMP.

TOS is a parallel story with GR. Maybe you could cover the franchise up to early TNG and then squeeze in some coverage of what followed GR's passing in the last twenty minutes to half hour.

There are a number of ways you could do this. A miniseries documentary would be ideal. That way you could devote segments to different periods.

The biggest issue for me is the clear debunking of long repeated myths. That and avoiding the sound-byte approach where a question is raised with a reply of a few words from a talking head and then on to the next thing. No, let's flesh this out properly with lots of archival materiel.

Get someone with the right voice to read some of Robert Justman's memos.

 

[Indysolo]

A ten hour theatrical screening of the top ten (as chosen by fans) episodes of the original series.

 

[RapidoTrains]

I think you guys are aiming too low.

I'd like to see the launch of a new series (as in 22+ episodes a year) taking place in the late 24th or 25 century.

There is only so much that the original series can be milked. I'm not interested in seeing JJ Trek move over to television, as it's all old ground. Sure, I love Spock et al but after 50 years we need a new story.

I'd love for the franchise to move forward with a completely new cast, new ships, new politics, new century.

I know it's a pipe dream, but the publicity around the 50th could get it off the ground.

I was in the UK for Doctor Who's 50th. The excitement nationwide was spectacular. I took the train out of Manchester a couple of hours after seeing the anniversary special in the movie theatre, and I would say 75% of the people on the train had just been to see Doctor Who in a theatre. That's how huge it was.

(Unfortunately they followed it up the next month with the Christmas Special, which was one of the worst Doctor Who episodes I've ever had the misfortune of watching.)

-Jason

 

[Bixby]

Some of you mentioned a documentary...I would like to see one done just like this one about another favorite 60s action show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kBDpI9bc7A

 

[Warped9]

Some of you mentioned a documentary...I would like to see one done just like this one from another favorite 60s action show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kBDpI9bc7A

Very cool! I've only started watching this and so far it's excellent.

Something like that style would look cool for a new Trek animation project. Would also have been nice to have seen some of that style in the original TAS. I never appreciated how forward looking Johnny Quest was.

 

[BillJ]

There is only so much that the original series can be milked. I'm not interested in seeing JJ Trek move over to television, as it's all old ground. Sure, I love Spock et al but after 50 years we need a new story.

You do realize that TOS has the least amount of live-action material outside of Enterprise? Sometimes people confuse the amount of time they've spent watching something with the amount of material that actually exists.

For me, I'd love a huge open world adventure game based on TOS.

 

[pfontaine2]

My wish list for the 50th anniversary would be a comprehensive book on the period leading up to TMP, detailing the difficult shoot in as much detail as possible. Essentially I'm looking for a book much like the enormous Making of Star Wars books that have been released over the past few years.

I've read Koenig's diary of the making of the film. There are tons of articles that were printed in Enterprise Incidents, Starlog, Cinefantastique and Cinefex. I know this subject has been covered in other places but the entire story needs to be documented in one huge concise book. Cinefantastique was going to devote a double issue to the making of TMP but it never appeared. Those interviews must still exist and that article would be fascinating reading if it were ever released.

I'm particularly interested in all the visual material related to Phase II development that must exist but has never been released. There must be tons of unreleased photos detailing the Enterprise sets at the moment when Phase II became TMP. I remember Star Trek magazine published a photo of Roddenberry and Wise reviewing photos of the sets but the photo was small and the photos they were reviewing were very tiny when printed.

In print form at least, the making of TOS has been incredibly well documented. I adore the Garfield Reeves Stevens Phase II book. However, I feel that a complete history of the interim period during the 1970's would be fascinating reading.

 

[Warped9]

Some of you mentioned a documentary...I would like to see one done just like this one from another favorite 60s action show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kBDpI9bc7A

I'm going to hazard a guess that I've never seen the original versions. And it's a damned shame the DVD release is edited.

That documentary was excellent although it did seem a touch padded in parts. But what was impressive was this was essentially a lone production. It has the right feel to it though.

 

[Random_Spock]

Bloopers! And plenty of them!

Spoiler: They're fun to watch

I've seen them around on Youtube. So it shouldn't be hard for them to bring them out for the 50th anniversary .

 

[Bixby]

Some of you mentioned a documentary...I would like to see one done just like this one from another favorite 60s action show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kBDpI9bc7A

I'm going to hazard a guess that I've never seen the original versions. And it's a damned shame the DVD release is edited.

That documentary was excellent although it did seem a touch padded in parts. But what was impressive was this was essentially a lone production. It has the right feel to it though.

Glad you enjoyed it. I discovered this excellent documentary a few weeks ago, and it struck me how similar it and TREK are: music-wise, Alexander Courage, Gerald Fried and Hoyt Curtin all had that exquisite Jazz influence (lots of big, bold brass). Each had a unique art direction, great villains, action...

I can certainly picture one person with a flair for filmmaking and access to hours of Trek-related footage from both in front of and behind the camera, that could take it all and easily create a 4-hour doc that could be very similar to this jonny quest feature...

 

[Warped9]

Some of you mentioned a documentary...I would like to see one done just like this one from another favorite 60s action show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kBDpI9bc7A

I'm going to hazard a guess that I've never seen the original versions. And it's a damned shame the DVD release is edited.

That documentary was excellent although it did seem a touch padded in parts. But what was impressive was this was essentially a lone production. It has the right feel to it though.

Glad you enjoyed it. I discovered this excellent documentary a few weeks ago, and it struck me how similar it and TREK are: music-wise, Alexander Courage, Gerald Fried and Hoyt Curtin all had that exquisite Jazz influence (lots of big, bold brass). Each had a unique art direction, great villains, action...

I can certainly picture one person with a flair for filmmaking and access to hours of Trek-related footage from both in front of and behind the camera, that could take it all and easily create a 4-hour doc that could be very similar to this jonny quest feature...

 

[RAMA]

1. Announcement of STDS9 bluray
2. New movie
3. New animated series

 

[Keith1701]

Sounds good to me!!!

Trekkies 3!