Well, I got round to reading what we can of Geoff's treatment. Here's the thing: some of it challenged me as a ST viewer. A kind of "Seriously? They want to do that?"
But this is NOT a bad thing.
I really wanted to pitch a series idea I had when Voyager finished but before I heard about Enterprise. But I was aware that, even then, the way shows were made was changing, in terms of dialogue, how the action flowed, even the sets and act structure was changing. West Wing was cited earlier as an example, a show I quite liked.
So the idea I had very much in the same vein and structure of the old style Trek, and I just wasn't sure how that would fly in the changing environment. Plus, of course, I had no easy way to get it to Paramount, even though I was invited to pitch story ideas for VOY from Australia via phone conference. After VOY shut down, I lost the contacts I had on the writing staff. At the time I viewed it as a bit of a setback, but not now. It wasn't right, and I've written better pitches since. But I digress.
We don't make programmes now that are imitations of 60s or 70s ones (or if we do, it's ironic). Updates of any old TV shows - Doctor Who and Hawaii Five O come to mind - have to not only have a contemporary sensibility, but challenge us all over again the way the original shows did back then. That's one aspect we seem to forget about those old shows, that they weren't comfortable and cosy back when they came out, they were, as we might say now, edgy.
So shaking things up is good. I don't agree with every decision of ST09 (Vulcan), but wow, it made for a hell of a ride and can take the movies in interesting directions.
As for shooting Kirk out the airlock, I took it like this. Spock was under stress and angry, masked by his Vulcan training. Kirk was not going to back down, not in any way shape or form. Best thing to do WAS shoot him out thew ship, and pick him up later (probably to answer charges). When he somehow made his way back onto the ship, despite the massive obstacles... it was probably time to listen.
Agreement. Aside from simply enjoying the hell out of the Abrams take, I always go into these things with one question in my mind: "Is this interpretation in line with the source material or a departure from it?"
If it's in line, as I believe the Abrams Trek was, then, regardless of smaller issues of deus ex machina here or different characterization choices there, I would support it. And do.
if it's not in line the new interpretation had better knock my socks off such that preconceptions don't matter and the new thing supplants the old. That's a harder trick to pull off but not impossible. Modern BSG beats the living crap out of OBSG in my opinion.
So, I come down on the side that says this is an interesting pitch that might have made a good series.
Thought: why not have the TV series in the Prime universe, and the movies in t'Other universe? As we often say, don't treat audiences like idiots - they'll get it.
Geoff, I'm gathering there's no chance it can be pitched again later?
Not really. I hadn't considered it at all since it was done. When I saw the article i emailed Rob to see if there was some new push underway. There isn't.
I actually pitched another series, one based on the TITAN novels to a big production company and, while it was considered, the feeling there was, now that Abrams is driving, the idea of anyone else getting in is pretty remote.
The project is, as they say, dead.
I cannibalized it for another "space opera" that is sort of underway in short story form right now with a mind to taking into a full novel or, god forbid, to the small screen.
The problem with small screen space-based scifi is that you need to be a big name for any network, even syfy, to even consider it. The only reason BSG saw the light of day was because it was a co-production, saving SCIFI tons of money. Stargate Universe, despite its grittier feel and more expansive approach, actually costs the same or less to make than the other versions since it takes place, nearly exclusively, on the same sets.
The thing about series pitches is, as we've seen in this thread, there are lots of opinions. The people who greenlight projects would certainly have forced changes, lots of them, long before anyone saw this thing.
These documents are as much to sell how the aspiring creators are thinking about the project as they are about the project itself.
It was big fun to do. I was really honored and amazed to be asked to do it and I was thrilled that they basically let me write whatever I wanted. I've developed six projects for TV over the last 10 years. Three were things I was hired to adapt or design; three were just out of my head. FEDERATION never really got out of the gate but I would have been the happiest man in the world if it had.
