Alternative ENTERPRISE Series Concepts
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I have no problem with them discovering or bumping shoulders with the Andorians, Tellarites, Klingons, Romulans, Kzinti. Instead of the Xindi, the main antagonists should be the Kzinti, then Romulans. The Klingons are a big threat but they're preoccupied elsewhere. The Kzinti are closer to home and allow the Andorians and Tellarites to feature more than the Andorian-Vulcan conflict, though there could still be simmers of that. The Romulans are the mysterious end-of-series or new-mid-series threat no one knows about, the 'expanse' would be the beta-quadrant space that the Romulans own that ships go into but don't come out from without battle damage at the least.
Have a lot more powers. Technology at this level might mean every system can readily support and defend itself, so there aren't big empires save one big system and colony worlds. Maybe there's a mystery, did something wipe out civilization a bit ago to 'reset' civilization in the local bubble? Maybe a ancient-berserker drone threat plotline. The local species sans the Klingons and Romulans are basically one big settled system plus colony worlds connecting them to each other, thus the threat of the Romulan or Klingon 'steamrollers' if they don't unite.
No Time Travel. No future stuff. More primitive ships. Stuff like the Icarus fan-design, a modernized Daedalus. No flat Saucers, not yet. Warp rings will be prevalent still, Vulcan influence. Vulcans didn't 'hem' in Earth - other powers did, and what it got was basically lucky, or fighting against 'evil' powers like the kzinti and a few others that were defeated already.
There are Marines, lots of different agencies still on Earth - Martian Space Probe Agency, NASA might still be doing shit, UESPA is the main agency, that stuff. It's a bit of a mess.
A much more varied crew. Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite, Denobulan, Alpha Centauri Human or colony human (merryweather?), Terran. Maybe even a Kzinti comes along by the end.
Have a lot more powers. Technology at this level might mean every system can readily support and defend itself, so there aren't big empires save one big system and colony worlds. Maybe there's a mystery, did something wipe out civilization a bit ago to 'reset' civilization in the local bubble? Maybe a ancient-berserker drone threat plotline. The local species sans the Klingons and Romulans are basically one big settled system plus colony worlds connecting them to each other, thus the threat of the Romulan or Klingon 'steamrollers' if they don't unite.
No Time Travel. No future stuff. More primitive ships. Stuff like the Icarus fan-design, a modernized Daedalus. No flat Saucers, not yet. Warp rings will be prevalent still, Vulcan influence. Vulcans didn't 'hem' in Earth - other powers did, and what it got was basically lucky, or fighting against 'evil' powers like the kzinti and a few others that were defeated already.
There are Marines, lots of different agencies still on Earth - Martian Space Probe Agency, NASA might still be doing shit, UESPA is the main agency, that stuff. It's a bit of a mess.
A much more varied crew. Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite, Denobulan, Alpha Centauri Human or colony human (merryweather?), Terran. Maybe even a Kzinti comes along by the end.
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This would be quite helpful.
I will add more ships. I don't mind having some saucers, but a greater mix of different designs, both alien as well as human styles. I wouldn't mind the NX-01 (not necessarily Enterprise) being the first longer distance explorer ship, with a few more either long haulers, or human colonies in the solar system. Have a few more places the ship can dock rather than just out by themselves fumbling about.
More specialists. Each person on the crew should be a specialist in their field, and used as such in the story. Archer can be the captain but he doesn't have to be the first contact specialist.
No Klingons. More Vulcans. Maybe Romulans towards the end. No Xindi.
First thing is I would make the whole series like season 4.
But really the problem isn’t the concept. It’s the dumbed down disposable writing with oversimplified takeaways and heavy handed metaphor.
But really the problem isn’t the concept. It’s the dumbed down disposable writing with oversimplified takeaways and heavy handed metaphor.
Make it really more of an early warp ship series.
* No temporal cold war. And seriously limit time travel stories. This about meeting aliens, not time travelers.
* Transporter is NOT in regular use. Humans observe that other species use it regularly, but don't have the tech themselves.
* Photon torpedoes aren't available to humans yet.
* Porthos is adorable... but a spaceship of this era shouldn't be hauling a dogg. Enterprise D, fine. I could have even lived with a few critters on Voyager.
* Reinstate JG and LCDR ranks. Mayweather is a JG by Season 2 and an LT by Season 4. Hoshi reaches JG as well. Reed makes LCDR, while Trip goes from LCDR to CDR.
* T'Pol's initial uniform is more like Vulcan robes. When she accepts a commission in Starfleet, she wears the same blue coveralls as everyone else.
* No temporal cold war. And seriously limit time travel stories. This about meeting aliens, not time travelers.
* Transporter is NOT in regular use. Humans observe that other species use it regularly, but don't have the tech themselves.
* Photon torpedoes aren't available to humans yet.
* Porthos is adorable... but a spaceship of this era shouldn't be hauling a dogg. Enterprise D, fine. I could have even lived with a few critters on Voyager.
* Reinstate JG and LCDR ranks. Mayweather is a JG by Season 2 and an LT by Season 4. Hoshi reaches JG as well. Reed makes LCDR, while Trip goes from LCDR to CDR.
* T'Pol's initial uniform is more like Vulcan robes. When she accepts a commission in Starfleet, she wears the same blue coveralls as everyone else.
Hell, I say go ALL IN with the time travel. Maybe one of Jonathan Archer's descendants is a time traveler from the 29th century (who also happens to LOOK like Jonathan Archer, since all descendants obviously look like their ancestors 
). He's sent back to prevent a Suliban from sabotaging Captain Archer's maiden voyage of Enterprise. Something happens, Archer's descendant fails miserably, and Captain Archer dies. So, unable to return to the future because it doesn't exist, Archer's descendant has to take Captain Archer's place and try to recreate Jonathan Archer's voyage. From memory. Without blowing his cover and fighting off temporal agents from the future (don't ask me how there are still temporal agents if the future doesn't exist, something about hating temporal mechanics, or whatnot )
). He's sent back to prevent a Suliban from sabotaging Captain Archer's maiden voyage of Enterprise. Something happens, Archer's descendant fails miserably, and Captain Archer dies. So, unable to return to the future because it doesn't exist, Archer's descendant has to take Captain Archer's place and try to recreate Jonathan Archer's voyage. From memory. Without blowing his cover and fighting off temporal agents from the future (don't ask me how there are still temporal agents if the future doesn't exist, something about hating temporal mechanics, or whatnot )
- An all-human crew. Meaning the space boomer(s) are of great importance to the crew, since they know the trade routes/refueling depots, fledgling Earth colonies, space boomer culture/lifestyle, where space pirates operate, and have managed to get a hold of the Vulcan database.
- A first contact officer in place of a comms officer. And the first contact officer is training someone to take his/her place.
- Make Chef a more prominent character, and the galley and stewards being more important.
- A small medical staff (doctor/vet, nurse, psychiatrist, dentist) is present and not easily replaceable. The doctor can still be as eccentric as Phlox.
- The crew represents different United Earth departments, and are comfortable transferring elsewhere if they do not receive promotions or awards. While they might not care about how much credits they earn as much, they still care about titles and medals. This thought process isn’t abandoned until the aftermath of the Earth-Romulan War and the philosophy of bettering oneself takes off at warp speed.
- No NX class or NX refits. Either a Warp Delta, a Y-class/J-class freighter, XCV-330 class, or a proto-Daedalus class. I understand that the NX class is meant to be state of the art, but the development of the saucer section and the secondary hull should be very big deals when they happen. Revolutionary even. The interior of the NX class remains though.
- Radiation leaks are a common concern with the warp engine. Running out of fuel is another common concern. Being raided by pirates for their warp coils is another conncern.
- Armaments: spatial torpedoes, EM pistols, plasma shotguns, and high yield/low yield plasma cannons. Photonic torpedoes – should they get them – use the spatial torpedoes casings, but don’t pack a large punch, necessitating the development of photonic missiles to pack a larger punch. Tactical officer works in the armory instead of on the bridge.
- Transporters are for cargo only and therefore half the size in height of future transporters. The story of Cyrus Ramsey is a real event - explaining the fear of transporters - and not something hallucinated.
- Grapplers experience wear and tear.
- 2 shuttlepods, 1 aquashuttle and the odd dirtbike in the shuttlebays.
- Suliban, Tandarans, Xyrillians, Wisps, Insectoid/Aquatic/Arboreal Xindi, Vissians, Denobulans, Antarans– if they are supposed to be a great power during this time period, there needs to be an explanation as to how they fell and are no longer relevant by TOS/TNG.
- Eugenics Wars are something other species are experiencing during the first half of the 2150s, with varying outcomes.
- Keep the Vulcan-Andorian arc. Make "Cease Fire" a two parter and rather consequential for Earth-Vulcan relations.
- No Klingons. Vulcans go to great lengths to prevent first contact between humans and Klingons, which strains relations between the two. Vulcans behave similarly in regards to the Gorn.
- Tellarites, Orions, Tholians, Organians, Kzinti, Nausicaans for familiar species to expan upon. No Ferengi, although the Rules of Acquisition are mentioned. First contact with the Trill symbiont. Ambivalent if the Borg episode happens or not. A sneak peak at 22nd Cardassians and the military government that is to come in the 24th century.
- Romulans are pulling the strings behind the scenes as early as S1 and are engaged in a cold war with Vulcans, who try to counter Romulan influence. United Earth are unaware of this for the first few seasons.
- No Temporal Cold War. If they do time travel, its not something that they can solve in an episode. Its either a three-part arc, or a whole season.
- Give them significant others at various spaceports.
It would have been interesting if with a smaller ship of maybe a dozen (if we’re talking ringship) to fifty (if we’re talking the NX), if they used the same fifty actors & extras. If we really got to know them better and felt their deaths or departures or replacements. It would add to the feeling of this being a small ship and them being very alone among so many aliens and ships with hundreds or even thousands in crew out there, so many planets of billions of exotic “others.”
Most the actors would be day-players with recurring roles like DS9 did so well. And who doesn’t like spotting that extra on their favorite show — the spiky-haired woman in gold on TNG, and Crusher’s tall (maybe Polynesian?) male nurse?
Most the actors would be day-players with recurring roles like DS9 did so well. And who doesn’t like spotting that extra on their favorite show — the spiky-haired woman in gold on TNG, and Crusher’s tall (maybe Polynesian?) male nurse?
Does anyone remember Picard's reference to a bad first contact at Station Salem-One that lead to interstellar war? For the longest time I wondered if that wasn't first contact with the Klingons and wonder if that could happen in maybe like the series finale here to lead us into the Trek we know. That would mean no Klingons in this series.
(EDIT: Now that we have the Battle of the Binary Stars in DSC as the start of Klingon war, maybe Salem-One is the start of the Romulan one.)
Maybe no Romulans either. That is, neither the the characters nor we ever see them. It would be cool if we could experience them as the characters did, just combat and dread and paranoia. When they do show up in a chronological rewatching of ENT and TOS, "Balance of Terror" should be a great reveal/rewatch.
None of the races that show up later (Gorn, Borg, Ferengi) or that you imagine were only contacted with the expansion of the Federation down the line (Cardassians, Tzenkethi, Talarians, Miradorn). Also, no Yridians, as they were thought to be extinct until Captain Ransom made first contact with them in the 24th Century, per VOY's "Equinox." Maybe we see an early unofficial “first contact“ with one of these aliens over the course of the series, if only as a lone individual far from home due to whatever sad story that lead them there (e.g. that Cardassian in exile on Vulcan that Dax met during the TOS era that she mentioned in “Trials and Tribble-ations”).
A definite yes to the Orions. They're the remnants of a vast ancient empire and could be utilized in multiple ways. The Kzinti could showcase contemporary makeup and CG techs. Maybe this is the series to blow up the Tholians too. The Malurians were used interestingly in ENT, and they could be troublesome baddies in this century before Nomad blows up their homeworld in TOS. The Tarellians from TNG were still around at this point and could also be updated and reworked as baddies. The old Romulan saying about "never turning your back on a Breen" makes me wonder if they aren't ancient adversaries not too far apart...maybe it's because they turned their back on the opportunistic Breen that they lost the Earth war to the upstart humans.
Speaking of, the humans could (and other good-guy factions) could have different forces within their governments or populations that cause trouble. Maybe there are specters of Earth's past ready to take the reigns again should the good guys falter, or a coup on Andor, or a civil war on Tellar, etc...
Also, there's a lot of other yeses to see and update and expand upon:
Andorians, Tellarites, Ithenites, Coridians, (also from TOS's "Journey to Babel": those tall guys, the purple women, the silver-haired people), Tiburonians, Argelians, Medusans, Ardanans, Rigelians (including the giant ones from TOS's "The Cage," and the Vulcanoid and Chelon variety. I'm so-so on the ENT ones as they weren't visually interesting enough to warrant their further complicating addition), Antarans, Saurians, Caitians, Aurellians, Nasat, Edosians, Deltans, Aaamazzarites, Arcturians, Megarites, Rhaandarites, Arkenites, Arcadians, Bzzt Khat, Xellatians, Pandrilites, Ariolos, Monchezkins, Roylans, Denobulans, Sulibans, Nausicaans, Alpha Centaurians (retro little green men with antennae? "Grey" aliens like from X-Files/Babylon 5? Preserver-planted ancient Greeks as in Worlds of the Federation? A non-humanoid fifth founding-world of the Federation, to be more realistic and showcase special effects tech?), among others...
(EDIT: Now that we have the Battle of the Binary Stars in DSC as the start of Klingon war, maybe Salem-One is the start of the Romulan one.)
Maybe no Romulans either. That is, neither the the characters nor we ever see them. It would be cool if we could experience them as the characters did, just combat and dread and paranoia. When they do show up in a chronological rewatching of ENT and TOS, "Balance of Terror" should be a great reveal/rewatch.
None of the races that show up later (Gorn, Borg, Ferengi) or that you imagine were only contacted with the expansion of the Federation down the line (Cardassians, Tzenkethi, Talarians, Miradorn). Also, no Yridians, as they were thought to be extinct until Captain Ransom made first contact with them in the 24th Century, per VOY's "Equinox." Maybe we see an early unofficial “first contact“ with one of these aliens over the course of the series, if only as a lone individual far from home due to whatever sad story that lead them there (e.g. that Cardassian in exile on Vulcan that Dax met during the TOS era that she mentioned in “Trials and Tribble-ations”).
A definite yes to the Orions. They're the remnants of a vast ancient empire and could be utilized in multiple ways. The Kzinti could showcase contemporary makeup and CG techs. Maybe this is the series to blow up the Tholians too. The Malurians were used interestingly in ENT, and they could be troublesome baddies in this century before Nomad blows up their homeworld in TOS. The Tarellians from TNG were still around at this point and could also be updated and reworked as baddies. The old Romulan saying about "never turning your back on a Breen" makes me wonder if they aren't ancient adversaries not too far apart...maybe it's because they turned their back on the opportunistic Breen that they lost the Earth war to the upstart humans.
Speaking of, the humans could (and other good-guy factions) could have different forces within their governments or populations that cause trouble. Maybe there are specters of Earth's past ready to take the reigns again should the good guys falter, or a coup on Andor, or a civil war on Tellar, etc...
Also, there's a lot of other yeses to see and update and expand upon:
Andorians, Tellarites, Ithenites, Coridians, (also from TOS's "Journey to Babel": those tall guys, the purple women, the silver-haired people), Tiburonians, Argelians, Medusans, Ardanans, Rigelians (including the giant ones from TOS's "The Cage," and the Vulcanoid and Chelon variety. I'm so-so on the ENT ones as they weren't visually interesting enough to warrant their further complicating addition), Antarans, Saurians, Caitians, Aurellians, Nasat, Edosians, Deltans, Aaamazzarites, Arcturians, Megarites, Rhaandarites, Arkenites, Arcadians, Bzzt Khat, Xellatians, Pandrilites, Ariolos, Monchezkins, Roylans, Denobulans, Sulibans, Nausicaans, Alpha Centaurians (retro little green men with antennae? "Grey" aliens like from X-Files/Babylon 5? Preserver-planted ancient Greeks as in Worlds of the Federation? A non-humanoid fifth founding-world of the Federation, to be more realistic and showcase special effects tech?), among others...
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First:
No Klingons! Atleast not at first if need be. Was this "Rumour" of the Federation meeting the Klingons and First Contact not going so well, So would like to keep with that if possible, maybe show first contact and it going pear shaped with an inexperienced Archer. Defiantly don't like the " 100 years of nothing" between Enterprise and Discovery with the Klingons.. I mean.. For 90 years, the Federation had nothing to limit them? Romulans and Klingons just.. nowhere to be seen for 90 YEARS! that's just wack yo.
Vulcans: So for a history of them, they achieved warp flight before most other species, probably after they regressed when the Romulans left, so to me they got back to warp flight around 300 years ago, and they aren't in any hurry. They are in no hurry due to there long life spans. They send out the occasional expedition but not really into exploring.
During the past 100 years they have gotten more militaristic, making a larger fleet, and getting more into other species business. See the humans as going to fast because they took a long time to increase there speed, and getting to the rest of the galaxy.
No Time Travel, at all. Period.
Romulans: See there machinations from Season 1, kind of like the shadows in B5, having influencers going to other species, playing the long game. Something like a Romulan spy, masquerading as a Vulcan in the first episode. Have him/her in a good chunk of episodes, and slowly show them as a bad guy, but not known to the good guys since they "Cant be seen" till Balance of Terror. and by season 4 the war is on.
No Klingons! Atleast not at first if need be. Was this "Rumour" of the Federation meeting the Klingons and First Contact not going so well, So would like to keep with that if possible, maybe show first contact and it going pear shaped with an inexperienced Archer. Defiantly don't like the " 100 years of nothing" between Enterprise and Discovery with the Klingons.. I mean.. For 90 years, the Federation had nothing to limit them? Romulans and Klingons just.. nowhere to be seen for 90 YEARS! that's just wack yo.
Vulcans: So for a history of them, they achieved warp flight before most other species, probably after they regressed when the Romulans left, so to me they got back to warp flight around 300 years ago, and they aren't in any hurry. They are in no hurry due to there long life spans. They send out the occasional expedition but not really into exploring.
During the past 100 years they have gotten more militaristic, making a larger fleet, and getting more into other species business. See the humans as going to fast because they took a long time to increase there speed, and getting to the rest of the galaxy.
No Time Travel, at all. Period.
Romulans: See there machinations from Season 1, kind of like the shadows in B5, having influencers going to other species, playing the long game. Something like a Romulan spy, masquerading as a Vulcan in the first episode. Have him/her in a good chunk of episodes, and slowly show them as a bad guy, but not known to the good guys since they "Cant be seen" till Balance of Terror. and by season 4 the war is on.
Yep. Supposedly, Berman wanted the first year to be set on Earth, preparing for the launch. That might've been an interesting approach.
A series set 50 years before the Federation, following the exploits of the Human-crew only Earth Starship S.S. Yorktown as she explores the outer reaches of what will later be known as "Sector 001." No Starfleet. No transporters. No phase weapons or photonic torpedoes. But there is an Earthfleet, as well as a United Earth government that sometimes wonder if Earthfleet's resources would be better used to solve problems back on Earth. Although there will be occasional alien contacts, the series is less of an exploration show and more of a "Humans getting their act together" story. Quite a few stories will deal with the establishment of various Earth colonies and encounters with other Earth vessels.
As the series progresses, a question emerges of whether or not Humans are really meant to be in space, especially with the growing threat from a newly-encountered alien species called the Andorians...
As the series progresses, a question emerges of whether or not Humans are really meant to be in space, especially with the growing threat from a newly-encountered alien species called the Andorians...
This !!!!
No ship to ship visual communication with newly encountered species. Different species use different visual protocols and encoding methods, and they must be learned or a mutual protocol agreed upon before there can be visual communication.
Nuclear spacial torpedoes.
Phased laser (later shortened to "phaser" but also correctly called "lasers") and/or phased particle beam weapons later called "phasers". No "phase cannons".
Enterprise/The Enterprise is first United Earth Space Probe Agency ship, period...of a planned Earth "Star Fleet".
But there are civilian private and ECS commercial trading vessels that need a UNESPA fleet to back them up.
No tiny little "tricorders". Tricorders need to be bigger, or called sensors, and 3 main types of recording sensors later combined into one "tri-'corder" later.
Smaller ship. 50 crew. More Dadelus like.
Nuclear spacial torpedoes.
Phased laser (later shortened to "phaser" but also correctly called "lasers") and/or phased particle beam weapons later called "phasers". No "phase cannons".
Enterprise/The Enterprise is first United Earth Space Probe Agency ship, period...of a planned Earth "Star Fleet".
But there are civilian private and ECS commercial trading vessels that need a UNESPA fleet to back them up.
No tiny little "tricorders". Tricorders need to be bigger, or called sensors, and 3 main types of recording sensors later combined into one "tri-'corder" later.
Smaller ship. 50 crew. More Dadelus like.
Oh, I like the idea of three recording devices. It’s a cute way to play with what we know came later. Maybe an audiovisual recorder on the lapel, a handheld scanner, and a bio-monitor on the belt?
Or a spatial radar-like sensor on the wrist, a handheld mri-like device, and a camera on the chest?
Nice “reverse flow” idea.
Or a spatial radar-like sensor on the wrist, a handheld mri-like device, and a camera on the chest?
Nice “reverse flow” idea.
Take the storyline on Vulcans curbing Human ambition to explore space and feed it into a series-spanning background conflict about whether we should rather send probes, subspace radio messages, and the odd diplomatic mission rather than Explorers.
Would have made the most of the premise: what does it mean to explore strange new worlds in a galactic neighborhood that seems to be quite well explored actually.
Would have made the most of the premise: what does it mean to explore strange new worlds in a galactic neighborhood that seems to be quite well explored actually.
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