Did some productions make future productions harder?

[Ryan8bit]

Sometimes I think that there are various acts of Star Trek that are hard to follow. Whether it's because they were of such high quality or because they stained the franchise in some way. Here's a couple examples of what I mean:

1. DS9 and the war epic. DS9 went the epic route, complete with a great war and good vs evil. It's arguably going to lure more in than just standalone episodes like "Data's Day", and thus is a high standard to live up to.

2. Voyager and the super technology it brought home. Everything was thrown away about preserving timelines when it came to having super batman armor amongst other technology from the future. All of this was mostly rightfully ignored later, but throwing such an idea out there without consequence seems kinda sloppy, no?

3. Voyager and the castration of the Borg. They killed off a villain so that future stories couldn't take advantage. It probably didn't matter at the time of "Endgame" since the Borg were already defanged by the overall run of Voyager, but now they appear to not be a threat.

4. Enterprise. In general it probably broke from continuity more than any other series, and made future productions in doubt as to what to cater to in terms of continuity. In a world where Klingon forehead makeup needs to be explained, it's tough to follow that seriously.

5. Star Trek 2009 and the alternate universe. This one's kind of obvious, but televised and cinematic Trek will probably only take place in the JJverse for quite some time. Sure, novels, games, and other media will continue on with whatever they want, but TV and movies have now been fairly limited.



What bits of Star Trek do you find made it harder to further tell stories?

 

[The Wormhole]

1. DS9 and the war epic. DS9 went the epic route, complete with a great war and good vs evil. It's arguably going to lure more in than just standalone episodes like "Data's Day",

And yet, it did not. To this day, the stand alone episodes of TOS and TNG prove to be more popular among the general public than DS9.

2. Voyager and the super technology it brought home. Everything was thrown away about preserving timelines when it came to having super batman armor amongst other technology from the future. All of this was mostly rightfully ignored later, but throwing such an idea out there without consequence seems kinda sloppy, no?

Seeing as how Endgame is the second last time we saw the 24th century, this is hardly an issue.

3. Voyager and the castration of the Borg. They killed off a villain so that future stories couldn't take advantage. It probably didn't matter at the time of "Endgame" since the Borg were already defanged by the overall run of Voyager, but now they appear to not be a threat.

The Borg can be salvaged, if the necessity ever came. I mean hell, they almost seemed threatening when they appeared on Enterprise.

4. Enterprise. In general it probably broke from continuity more than any other series, and made future productions in doubt as to what to cater to in terms of continuity. In a world where Klingon forehead makeup needs to be explained, it's tough to follow that seriously.

"Future productions"? There's only been one production after Enterprise...

 

[Finn]

^third last time

 

[The Wormhole]

^third last time

Second last time according to linear story telling.

 

[SFRabid]

I think the hardest thing to follow is the level of effects that became common in TV Trek. The big battles in DS9 along with the battle at the end of the Xindi arc in Enterprise were great but expensive. SG Universe is an example of a budget scifi series. Very few multi-ship scenes. Almost no aliens. Very stripped down to the point that the story has to cary the series. It is very seldom that scifi writers create stories that can carry a show without effects.

 

[Ryan8bit]

To this day, the stand alone episodes of TOS and TNG prove to be more popular among the general public than DS9.

I'm not talking about popularity in hindsight, I'm talking about future expectations.

Seeing as how Endgame is the second last time we saw the 24th century, this is hardly an issue.

It's likely not an issue because they were trying to go out with a bang and knew the consequences would be minimal. But if a show were to continue in the 24th century, which it obviously couldn't, it would be an issue.

The Borg can be salvaged, if the necessity ever came.

I dunno. They probably couldn't come back in the sense of a dominant and vicious foe. They'd be relegated to a position like the Borg in "Descent", which were largely ignored.

"Future productions"? There's only been one production after Enterprise...

Theoretical future productions. This is going with the idea that it wouldn't have been canceled. In fact, part of the decline (even if a small part) and cancellation may have been due to these kind of encumbering things.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I dont see how Enterprise would encumber future productions. Nothing in Enterprise prevents TOS or the 24th Century shows from happening. As for a new show,they could either do a TOS based series after that (with a reaction from the "hardcore" similar to the new movie) or jump to a post 24th Century show the same way they jumped from TOS to TNG. If they want to make a show, they will. It will probably more in keeping with the current trends in hour long dramas. (Lost) They wont be trying any sort of SFX extravaganzas but focused on the characters and an overarcing plot/mystery. Though, hopefully the SFX will be better than a SyFy production or the current network fare. If I was king of the world, I'd adapt the Vanguard series from Pocket Books.

 

[Ryan8bit]

I dont see how Enterprise would encumber future productions. Nothing in Enterprise prevents TOS or the 24th Century shows from happening.

It set a trend for explaining things like Klingon foreheads and tying everything together, no matter the logic in the fourth season. There's also the issues of treatment of Vulcan behavior, the technology, the mythology of the Federation, the temporal cold war, and especially there's the cancellation. I can elaborate more on these points if you wish.

If they want to make a show, they will. It will probably more in keeping with the current trends in hour long dramas. (Lost)

I think it would be awesome if they would do that. But hopefully it wouldn't end up like how Enterprise handled the Temporal Cold War.

More of what I was getting at is that they practically limited having a show in the old universe. We've probably seen the last of anyone from the 24th century shows.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I dont see how Enterprise would encumber future productions. Nothing in Enterprise prevents TOS or the 24th Century shows from happening.

It set a trend for explaining things like Klingon foreheads and tying everything together, no matter the logic in the fourth season. There's also the issues of treatment of Vulcan behavior, the technology, the mythology of the Federation, the temporal cold war, and especially there's the cancellation. I can elaborate more on these points if you wish.

None of those thing will prevent a new show from being produced. They really dont matter. And if a new show is produced the folks in charage can pretty much ignore anything they dont like from the previous shows.

Though as a prequel part of Enterprise's "mission statement" would be to answer some of those nagging questions. As for setting a trend? How can the last show in the line be a trend setter? There's nothing after it except the new new movie. . And its going it own way. Also the TrekLit books have been trying to answer those nagging questions for decades, so its nothing new. I see no issues with Vulcan behavior, technology and UFP mythology visa vis a new production. These are fannish concerns not professional ones. Sweating over ENTs take on Vulcans or the use of phase pistols isn't gonna take up much of a producers time. He'll probably have his own take on Vulcans and what sort of weapons his characters will use.