Bryan Fuller is Showrunner on New Trek Series

[Stevil2001]

It's been noticed before - which is why I was surprised how universally positive his reception was, both here and on Reddit.

But I guess, after knowing his work on Hannibal, and seeing him genuinely geek out in that interview, its because he is a genuine fan (i.e. talking about his once encyclopedic knowledge of Romulan politics), has a strong sense of style (Hannibal looks beautiful), is appropriatly intellectual (witness his description of his awakening to film with Alien's psycho-sexual themes for example), seems to be a humanist who supports the general Trekian worldview, etc.

That already seems to put him well ahead of a lot of the competition - although I would have been interested to see what Seth MacFarlane or J Michael Straczynski might have brought to the show. Who he hires for his writing staff will be very interesting. Whether he consults with NASA, or has a science adviser will be interesting.

Yeah, I wasn't excited about this because of his Star Trek work,* but because I liked Pushing Daisies and absolutely loved Wonderfalls. This is a man who makes television with a distinctive voice, knows how to write interesting characters, and can maintain a fundamental optimism that I think Star Trek requires.

* Though I would rank "Living Witness," "Drone," "Bride of Chaotica!", and "Relativity" among my favorite Voyager episodes.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

To add my two cents to the discussion, I dont really think its to important which universe its set in. Personally Im not really interested in reimagining what we have seen before but I don't think we would get that, even if it is set in the TOS era.

Wherever its set it will probably be a new ship and crew which hopefully means new stories, races and villains for the new crew.

I'll be happy as long as its a good show though, I'm open to the possibilities

 

[theREVENGEofKAHN]

Yeah, I wasn't excited about this because of his Star Trek work,* but because I liked Pushing Daisies and absolutely loved Wonderfalls. This is a man who makes television with a distinctive voice, knows how to write interesting characters, and can maintain a fundamental optimism that I think Star Trek requires.

* Though I would rank "Living Witness," "Drone," "Bride of Chaotica!", and "Relativity" among my favorite Voyager episodes.

It's probably best not to get too worked up over his bad Trek episodes. Keep in mind Star Trek was his earliest work. He has obviously gotten better on other shows since. I think his overall talent will shine through on this new series and his writing will be better than his best Voyager episodes.

 

[Shalashaska]

It's probably best not to get too worked up over his bad Trek episodes. Keep in mind Star Trek was his earliest work. He has obviously gotten better on other shows since. I think his overall talent will shine through on this new series and his writing will be better than his best Voyager episodes.

Judging him on his Trek work is very unfair.

He was a junior writer at the time with no other work meaning most, if not all of his scripts would have been heavily rewritten. Wasn't exactly treated well by the Voyager crew either.

He's one of the best and most creative writers in television, a massive Trekkie and has no holds barred as showrunner of this series. We should be judging him on his work in Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies and Hannibal, which give more than enough reason to be excited over this news, rather than some heavily tampered Voyager script from twenty years ago.

 

[Yoda]

I need to go and and watch Hannibal in full. Seemed pretty good from what I saw of it. Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and Pushing Daisies were all pretty fun but were all kind of samey supernatural whimsy.

Not a bad choice among the name-brand guys I guess. MacFarlane would have been interesting, though a potential disaster. JMS is trash at this point. I wouldn't mind Ronald D Moore doing his space war stuff some more but admittedly it might not be the best fit for a Trek reboot.

 

[SpaceLama]

Out of interest, why do so many people hate JMS?

I love Babylon 5.... and now Sense8.

 

[Stevil2001]

I like Babylon 5, but his Star Trek pitch from a decade ago showed a fundamental misunderstanding of Star Trek in my view, and then added in the worst parts of Crusade for some reason.

 

[drt]

I like Babylon 5, but his Star Trek pitch from a decade ago showed a fundamental misunderstanding of Star Trek in my view, and then added in the worst parts of Crusade for some reason.

Really? As I recall it was a TOS reboot where the series arc was essentially the plot of TNG's "The Chase", I'd assume the non-arc shows would have been pretty standard Trek stories and JMS seemed to get the importance of the Kirk-Spock-McCoy relationship.

 

[eyeresist]

I think maybe the thing that makes me uncomfortable about that scene with him in bed with the twin aliens, is how these two women are reduced to a kind of cinematic window dressing.

I agree that felt a bit sleazy, but I like to think there was an unexplored backstory in which the Tail Twins were psychically conjoined and this was the only way they have sex. Maybe their attitude was it was kinky to have sex with only one other person?

Fuller's Star Trek work is a very, very small part of his overall resume. They hired him because of Hannibal and Pushing Daisies and Heroes and the rest, because he's an accomplished veteran producer that they know can do the job of getting a weekly television series made on time, on budget, and with a high degree of quality. The fact that he has Star Trek experience and cachet with the fans is a bonus.

Come to think of it, hiring Fuller is also a smart move in terms of getting non-fan opinion makers on side with the new series. Fuller has what used to be called "indie cred".

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2 hour intervier with Bryan Fuller in which he discusses Star Trek and writing influences.
(Starts around 10 minutes in).

Thanks. I gonna watch that when I have a spare 2 hours!

 

[tomalak301]

Nicholas Meyer is Joining the New Trek Series

I think this is great news. My anticipation for the series just went up another few levels.

 

[Locutus]

Fuller as showrunner, now getting Meyer in too... it really looks like they are trying to do this right! Very excited!

 

[fireproof78]

I agree that felt a bit sleazy, but I like to think there was an unexplored backstory in which the Tail Twins were psychically conjoined and this was the only way they have sex. Maybe their attitude was it was kinky to have sex with only one other person?

That's an interesting thought. We're sitting here calling Kirk names and we are not even considering how other species might regard it. Food for thought

 

[eyeresist]

Nicholas Meyer is Joining the New Trek Series

I think this is great news. My anticipation for the series just went up another few levels.

Pretty amazing news. I guess the producers are following Star Wars's example, though in both cases I do wonder if the old fellers are really up to it. Anyway, it won't do any harm, will help keep the haters quiet, and indicates what kind of a show we have to look forward to.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Fuller has hired Gene Roddenberry's son.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/03/star-trek-reboot-rod-roddenberry

Is this a good morale for fans?

 

[Maurice]

Moral?

It smacks of a publicity gesture, as Rod has no real relevant practical experience to bring to the table.

 

[STEPhon IT]

LOL!!! I meant morale. Its corrected. I agree with you about Rod, I see this as well.

 

[eyeresist]

Pretty strange news. It's starting to look like they are hiring based on what they think will please the fans. Bringing Fuller on makes a lot of sense in terms of skill set, as he has produced multiple shows. Meyer's IMDb page is a bit patchy, but suggests he has been doing a fair bit of writing and producing behind the scenes. I've no idea what Gene Jr might contribute in practical terms.

Rod Roddenberry
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0734473/

 

[Skywalker]

I agree with Maurice. This was probably more of a PR/ceremonial hire.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

On the one hand, he has definitely been credited to some very fantastic episodes for Trek back then. I don't like VOY in general, but episodes like "Living Witness" were among my standout favorites of that series. Yet, he's also credited to some real turds like "Fury". If I were to just judge him by his work here, I'd feel mixed. However, I watched his later works, particularly HANNIBAL, which was fantastic while it lasted. With all that said, I'm very ecstatic that he's going to be serving as the head writer. A lot of quotes from him talking about Trek prior and after his appointment has been music to my ears. I was pretty iffy about the show's announcement at first, especially with that whole CBS Access (if they want to give most viewers "access", just put it on the more popular streaming services that already stream network television shows like Hulu, or better yet, put it over the air!), however, every bit of news I heard regarding this project has sold me so far. I look forward to the development of this show.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I agree with Maurice. This was probably more of a PR/ceremonial hire.

But announcing a 70 years old Nick Meyer was as well, but it's nice to have a Roddenberry credited for the show. It's been a long while.