CBS and Viacom could likely be merging back together
- Thread starter Shalashaska
- Start date
Poor Star Trek, tossed around owners like a cheap tart. 
The question that should be asked is Why would CBS want to? Viacom has more to gain from a merger/reintegration than CBS does.
It wouldn't bother me to see all of Trek back under one roof.
Poor Star Trek, tossed around owners like a cheap tart.
Well, technically, Star Trek has always belonged to the same television studio, but that studio has in turn been acquired and renamed by various owners. It started out as Desilu Studios (well, actually it started out as RKO, but that was before Trek), then it was bought by Gulf + Western and merged with Paramount Pictures, so it was renamed Paramount Television. And it kept that name through one or two other acquisitions ending up with Viacom, which also acquired CBS, so when the company split, the TV arm was renamed after CBS and thus its production company had its name changed to CBS Studios.
So while it's probably an oversimplification, you could say that Star Trek has never changed owners, but its owner has changed owners.
If it means anything, Les Moonves has always said he'd like to control a major film studio. A studio with big franchises like Star Trek, Mission: Impossible and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has to be somewhat enticing, especially considering he'd probably be the one in charge of this new CBS/Viacom conglomerate.
The thing is, CBS already has a film studio--CBS Films. The problem is that CBS doesn't like to spend a whole lot of money on making movies, so Viacom would be better off without CBS on that end.
Yeah that's right to say, I was just being glib.
On the matter you raised though, I'm sure I read a quote from Majel Barrett Roddenberry (perhaps when Vicom purchased Paramount in 1994?) where she talks about the Star Trek people being the only ones who were consistently there over the years, and joked they were the ones who always helped the new owners out.
I don't believe in getting back together, with an ex. Leave her to some ordinary guy ...Poor Star Trek, tossed around owners like a cheap tart.
Not very certain whether it would be good in the medium term.
Hey, I rediscovered my love for Star Trek when TNG and DS9 reruns played all day on TNN/Spike back in the early 2000's. Spike being a Viacom channel. If the two entities re-joined, maybe they'd start running re-runs again, and someone else could full in love with Star Trek all over again.
I say all of that knowing that all the episodes are on Hulu and Netflix and CBS All Access.
I say all of that knowing that all the episodes are on Hulu and Netflix and CBS All Access.
God knows they need some more stuff on Spike other than everyday marathons of Cops, Jail, and Wildest Police Videos.