details on Singer's Trek pitch

[RJDiogenes]

That's because Abrams made a summer popcorn flick. Of course it's all flash and action, there isn't time for anything else. Characterization and substance like you remember from TV can only be delivered by TV. That's why even the best Trek movie can't ever really hope to deliver what was best about Trek. At best, any movie will feel like "Trek-lite" because it is a movie.

That's true to a certain degree, especially if they feel movies must have more action than a TV show (and even the shows became more action-oriented over time as they attempted to hang on to a more attention-deficient audience). But TMP, for all it's flaws, was very intelligent; the trilogy that followed was a nice mixture of adventure and substance. Most of the others had some substance as well; only First Contact and Nemesis really sucked. But the Abrams movie was just garbage; it was basically an Asylum production with a bigger budget.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Well, now we seem to have character breakdowns as well as plots for the first few episodes. Note the name of the sentient computer anyonw?

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/49313

 

[Temis the Vorta]

TMP would have crashed and burned like the Hindenberg if released today, so nobody would have made it today. Movies are made for 12 year old boys, even ones called "Star Trek." That's just the reality of the movie biz. Trek XI is as smart a Trek movie as we could have expected.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Let's face it, Star Trek 09 is a much more character-driven movie than TMP, where its central characters resembled those from the old series but didn't really act like them much. With the possible exception of Spock, they were mostly ciphers.

 

[Maurice]

The piece says:

Singer asked “Free Enterprise” writer-director Robert Meyer Burnett to prepare a Trek TV pitch. Singer never forwarded the pitch to Paramount, according to the story, after he learned J.J. Abrams was preparing a new “Trek” feature.

This explains a lot.

 

[RJDiogenes]

That's interesting information. The situation where the 2nd officer takes over after the captain and exec are killed mirrors a Space Opera concept that I'm writing; it's a metaphor for the Kennedys. With the exception of the Kirk character having a "checked" [sic] past, those characters sound okay.

TMP would have crashed and burned like the Hindenberg if released today, so nobody would have made it today. Movies are made for 12 year old boys, even ones called "Star Trek." That's just the reality of the movie biz. Trek XI is as smart a Trek movie as we could have expected.

Exactly. That's why I call it "Tween Twek."

Let's face it, Star Trek 09 is a much more character-driven movie than TMP, where its central characters resembled those from the old series but didn't really act like them much. With the possible exception of Spock, they were mostly ciphers.

That's one of the main reasons I consider it flawed. But it did a great job of capturing the sense of wonder and mystery of the original series, something that has been mostly lacking ever since.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Yeah, I'll agree that it had a sense of grandeur and scope which a lot of subsequent Trek lacked. But I think the characters were at least as important in Classic Trek.

 

[ColeMercury]

I actually really like the idea of "Star Trek: Federation". I never really liked the whole timeships-from-the-29th-century business -- it always struck me as a sign of the future Federation getting so stagnant that the inhabitants have to look at other time periods to find something interesting. This series could've cut through all that.

And I actually like the ideas of how they'd have changed the Klingons, Cardassians, Vulcans etc. -- remember that over 600 years have passed since TNG/DS9/VOY. Compare medieval Vikings to modern-day Scandinavia.

My only real problem is the way the ship's called Enterprise and the captain's called Kirk -- it just seems too... pat, to me. Too much of a wink and a nod.

JMS's pitch would have basically been Star Trek: The Search for Vorlons.

Actually, it seems to me like it's taking the plot of the TNG episode "The Chase" and turning it into the new show's Myth Arc.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

No, it's just these guys doing what they always do: building a mystery out of trivial nonsense, eventually leading to relevations about nothing much that matters in human terms, as a substitute for any real thematic depth or episodic storytelling that can stand on its own. This week's story just a collection of expository scenes and foreboding looks that don't add up to much? That's okay, it's all feeding the mega-super-fantastic Plot Arc.

There's a Message In Our DNA! Big fucking deal...because if their past work is any indication when we find out what it is, the content will be "meh."

 

[Shatnertage]

It's like the Key to Time season on Doctor Who, where they spent all year building up to the Doctor finding and assembling a key which would hold the forces of light and dark, order and chaos, in check.

Naturally the thing was made out of plastic and the resolution was a bit anti-climactic, to say the least.

Even though some of the shows that I really like are more arc-based than episodic (The Wire is a great example), when the arc is based on a totally contrived concept with no established rules, what's the point?

If they ever do a show again, it really needs to just be about people on a ship exploring and occasionally shedding light on the human condition. Any details about who the Federation President is or who's at war with who should be way, way down the list.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Even though some of the shows that I really like are more arc-based than episodic (The Wire is a great example), when the arc is based on a totally contrived concept with no established rules, what's the point?

If they ever do a show again, it really needs to just be about people on a ship exploring and occasionally shedding light on the human condition. Any details about who the Federation President is or who's at war with who should be way, way down the list.

Exactly so.

I loved Moore's Battlestar Galactica because the main premise was one that created tension and drama ("we're lost, abandoned, being hunted and generally fucked") and because of the characters - not because I ever thought there was much to be mined from "...and they have a plan."

 

[RJDiogenes]

^ Yeah, I'll agree that it had a sense of grandeur and scope which a lot of subsequent Trek lacked. But I think the characters were at least as important in Classic Trek.

I agree. The best approach would be something along the lines of an amalgam of TMP and TWOK.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Ignoring the first ten Trek movies altogether diminishes Trek by a minor fraction at most.

 

[JarodRussell]

Ignoring the first ten Trek movies altogether diminishes Trek by a minor fraction at most.

Say, did they actually treat you badly when you were working on TNG or something?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

All of TNG can be safely ignored. It added nothing to Trek lore except a certain vanilla gutlessness that thankfully now can be forgotten.

...well, okay, I guess the Borg were cool for a while.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Say what?

 

[Agent Richard07]

No, it's just these guys doing what they always do: building a mystery out of trivial nonsense, eventually leading to relevations about nothing much that matters in human terms, as a substitute for any real thematic depth or episodic storytelling that can stand on its own. This week's story just a collection of expository scenes and foreboding looks that don't add up to much? That's okay, it's all feeding the mega-super-fantastic Plot Arc.

There's a Message In Our DNA! Big fucking deal...because if their past work is any indication when we find out what it is, the content will be "meh."

It's like the Key to Time season on Doctor Who, where they spent all year building up to the Doctor finding and assembling a key which would hold the forces of light and dark, order and chaos, in check.

Naturally the thing was made out of plastic and the resolution was a bit anti-climactic, to say the least.

Don't most mysteries end up like that? The excitement is usually in the mystery itself while the explanation is usually pretty mundane.

All of TNG can be safely ignored. It added nothing to Trek lore except a certain vanilla gutlessness that thankfully now can be forgotten.

It added a new century to Trek lore along with some new tech and new races. And I thought it at least tried to introduce us to a future where things have changed and progressed until the next two shows tried to bring its social mores back into line with 20th century mores.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Don't most mysteries end up like that?

Then most mysteries are a waste of time, unless you really enjoy crossword puzzles.

 

[Geoff Thorne]

There's nothing "trivial" or derivative about the pitch. A lot is left out of the article. Quite a lot, actually.

The idea was to serve, somewhat, the core fan base of Trekkies while attracting a mass audience. But serving the mass audience was always primary. Far and away the most important goal to be met.

Gene didn't make TOS for Trekkies. He made it for Americans, generically. The mistake that was made over the years and why the TV series' fell into navel gazing and self obsession was that the holders of the franchise spent too much energy catering to their perception of what the fans wanted or would hate if done. This approach was good for hardcore fans (or not), crap for ratings. Hence,cancellation. Core fans are simply not numerous enough to sustain a property like Star Trek on a network. Not unless 100% of them watch and that simply doesn't happen anymore. There's only one reason series' get cancelled as a rule: not enough viewers.

The idea here was to get back to basics and to do what a TV series is meant to do, i.e. grab its widest possible audience. The problem, sometimes, with diehard fans of a series or of anything, really, is that they assume their concerns, likes and dislikes match those of the mainstream. That is not always the case and, in TV, it's nearly never the case.

This project had a very specific set of goals which I feel were met. It's dead now but, if it had actually happened, it would have been glorious.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

It added a new century to Trek lore along with some new tech and new races.

A boring-ass century until DS9 came along and did something with it.

Oh right, TNG also introduced the Cardies, so they get some credit there but of course the Cardies were just generic villains until DS9 did something with them.