Could a Trek series from a non-Federation perspective work?

[Turtletrekker]

My idea for a Seven of Nine spin-off is one of her and the Rangers attempting to establish a legitimate, working government in the former neutral zone.

Maybe what's in the best interests of this new nation state isn't necessarily always what's best for their neighbors in the Federation. Not to mention, the Romulan neighbors on the other side. No doubt they would be causing problems as well.

 

[suarezguy]

Well having a whole series with mostly aliens, from alien perspective, would be unnecessarily expensive due to the makeup and would probably generally feel a little too geeky, as I thought some of Deep Space Nine's Klingon-heavy episodes already did, too removed from regular life and so also too goofy.

With humans but outside Starfleet that could work, be interesting, different kinds of being involved in space and missions/tasks, but I wouldn't want it to be as criticism of Starfleet or arguing against the Federation which is what writers would be most likely to do.

 

[Lord Garth]

As much as I like Discovery, I thought Picard Season 1 was better, so I'd have liked if they'd continued in the direction of being a non-Starfleet series.

 

[Mudd]

No.

 

[XCV330]

Deep Space Nine almost was that. I don't know that the show really had a single lead character, and you might find yourself seeing from the eyes of Quark, Kira, or Odo as much as the Sisko. And in the end you even discover that the latter is as much as product of his non-Federation creation.

 

[Trelane_Squire_of_Gothos]

Every Star Trek series so far has at its core the Federation and Starfleet as defining the values the characters are defending, in search of, or working towards. The closest any of them get to coming at things from an alien perspective is Prodigy, and even that is based on a Federation starship with the crew assimilating to Federation ways and in search of it.

I guess this gets into what defines a Star Trek series, but could a series NOT centered around Starfleet and the Federation work and still be accepted by fans as Trek?

Could a series work if it were centered from an alien perspective (maybe in either a different galaxy or another unexplored part of the Milky Way) or a Firefly-esque series (either a group of Tom Paris-like criminals or Seven of Nine's Fenris Rangers) from a non-Starfleet perspective?

Something in depth and properly executed would work. I wouldn't mind seeing a prequel series that explored the politics of "augment" Klingons and other Klingons. Something that gave a reason why they would be segregated on ships from the TOS era. Maybe a series that was focused on the origins of the "Kor" character.

Another interesting concept would be a show about a Romulan crew in space that showed what that world is like. Again, the show would depend on competent writers who properly explore and include canon.

 

[Wally]

I feel that if there was an alien centric show, we would still need a typical human 'gateway' character as our POV, if the aliens are sufficiently different.

Sort of like John Crichton on Farscape.

As an example, for a Klingon-centric show. Sure, have it all about klingons and I'm certain it would be more enjoyable to flesh them out rather than just screaming warriors headbutting each other all day, but it would probably be best to have a token human that maybe they found behind from a raid or something who has to learn the culture along with the audience.

 

[fireproof78]

I feel that if there was an alien centric show, we would still need a typical human 'gateway' character as our POV, if the aliens are sufficiently different.

Sort of like John Crichton on Farscape.

As an example, for a Klingon-centric show. Sure, have it all about klingons and I'm certain it would be more enjoyable to flesh them out rather than just screaming warriors headbutting each other all day, but it would probably be best to have a token human that maybe they found behind from a raid or something who has to learn the culture along with the audience.

I would prefer a token human. Creating a purely alien dominated show sounds great but you'll run in to one of two things: token human, or Klingon is an outsider and able to explain different facets of Klingon culture for the sake of the audience.

 

[FederationHistorian]

Well having a whole series with mostly aliens, from alien perspective, would be unnecessarily expensive due to the makeup

Depends on the aliens used

- Metrons
- Miri natives
- Deltans
- Ardanans
- Betazoids
- El-Aurians
- Organians (disguise)
- Suliban (disguise)
- Changelings (disguise)
- Q
- Half-Vulcan or half-human Romulans
- Bajorans
- Trills
- Barzans
- Individuals like Crewman Daniels

That seems like a cost effective alien crew complement. And that not even counting them owning humans pets at all either to make them more relatable to the audience. or going to the holodeck to do human things.