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Do fans want the prime timeline back? Part 2: Poll edition.

Do fans want the prime timeline back?


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    432
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I certainly think the era before Kirk's - either the TOS or Abrams version - has the most potential (along with Kirk's era).

First you say you want Star Trek to evolve and then you talk about going back to the TOS era?

Sticking to the same is not really evolving.

Didn't he just say the era before Kirk's as well? :confused:

Also, I think that TOS era has potential too, by having more things that really are unexplored in TOS itself.

I mean, I like TNG, don't get me wrong, but TOS was so episodic that we never really saw anything beyond Kirk and his perspective. How the Federation works, or its different members or anything like that, beyond one episode.

I think it can evolve, because the human races knowledge has evolved regarding space travel. So, you take that knowledge, and craft more reasons behind the technology that is seen.

Star Trek's evolution can take on many forms, as Abrams Trek has demonstrated. I personally would take it one step further and work more with the political side of Trek, such as the belligerency with the Klingons, the Tholians, or the Orion Syndicate, among other things.

I like TNG, but TOS feels more unexplored to me.
 
I consider myself a Trekkie but...I hope they don't give the fans what thy want. Remember the dumpster fire that was Nemesis? Remember how VOY-ENT declined steadily in ratings to the point where virtually no one was watching ENT?

Does anyone think those were really examples of "giving fans what they want"? Those were examples of "hewing to mediocrity and familiarity and assuming fans would want it;" most of the fans (along with most of the semi-mythical "general audience") went away. I know, I was one of them.

There's way too much neurosis around "what fans want" and trying to appeal to some mythical "general audience" category that's absolutely separate from it. Fans want something good and exciting, especially the latter, much like the "general audience" wants.

I know how I would be completely okay with 'giving the fans what they want' and giving me something exciting. Keep to the major events of Prime, don't overly contradict it, but give me new and exciting storylines within the original framework.

Something like:

2233: Kirk born, father isn't killed
2245: Enterprise launched with Robert April as captain; Chekov born and is not an irritating boy genius.
2251: Captain Pike takes over as captain of Enterprise; Kirk joins the Academy
2264-9: Captain Kirk takes over as Captain of Enterprise; encounters Khan, planet killer, M5 computer, steals cloaking device; Chekov joins crew in 2265 as Ensign and is not an irritating boy genius.
2270-1: Enterprise Refit; V'Ger encounter
2272-2282: two more five-year missions, possibly with Decker or Spock
2285: Khan returns
2286: whale probe comes to Earth, Kirk time travels back to save Earth
2293: Khitomer conference
2294: Enterprise B launches
2264: Enterprise D launches

That'd be my timeline framework, and within that, keeping the major events, there is plenty of room for changing things and modernizing things without destroying the Prime timeline.
 
The problem with "giving the fans what they want" is that we never agree on anything, as this board proves every day! :)

In my experience, when people claim to speak for "the fans," that usually translates to "me and everyone who agrees with me."

Because they're the "real" fans, of course . . . .
 
Indeed. I recall the discussion about Yoda with a lightsaber. Lucas said that the fans wanted to see that, and it is technically true. Yoda with a lightsaber looks sweet. When I was 18 and watching it, I thought it was great. The problem is, it doesn't serve the story or the character that had been previously established. Before the argument begins, Yoda should be so powerful that he doesn't need a lightsaber. That is my point.

My frustration with the Prime timeline revisit is that there is so much continuity that contradictions are inevitable. If a return to the Prime timeline is preferred, then 25th century is a better fit, because we can move out of the current time and technology, and apply more modern technological understandings and predictions to that show.
 
I certainly think the era before Kirk's - either the TOS or Abrams version - has the most potential (along with Kirk's era).

First you say you want Star Trek to evolve and then you talk about going back to the TOS era?

Sticking to the same is not really evolving.

Neither is just picking a random year sometime past the prior series. I believe Dennis is talking about how the shows are made and stories are told.

Kirk and Spock can be the same basic characters but their sensibilities can evolve to match audience expectations. Just like the technology on any new series with Kirk and Spock would be updated.
 
I consider myself a Trekkie but...I hope they don't give the fans what thy want. Remember the dumpster fire that was Nemesis? Remember how VOY-ENT declined steadily in ratings to the point where virtually no one was watching ENT?

Does anyone think those were really examples of "giving fans what they want"? Those were examples of "hewing to mediocrity and familiarity and assuming fans would want it;" most of the fans (along with most of the semi-mythical "general audience") went away. I know, I was one of them.

There's way too much neurosis around "what fans want" and trying to appeal to some mythical "general audience" category that's absolutely separate from it. Fans want something good and exciting, especially the latter, much like the "general audience" wants.

I think they were trying to give the fans what they wanted. Obviously, they failed miserably. They were chasing their tails around and around and lost sight of the importance of telling interesting stories to general audiences and the understanding that it is possible to please fans within that goal.
 
Prime Timeline - without second thought.
A big appeal of Star Trek to me is not just the single episode /movie experience but the whole universe and setting and history of it. That is a big part of my enjoyment.
Moreover I see no compelling reason why one could not make something interesting in the old timeline. It is more complicated than just rebooting everything, for sure, but from my POV absolutely worth the trouble.
And last - NuTrek is not my Trek. It is not the franchise I have grown to be so invested in. I liked the NuTrek movies - but not as Star Trek movies. When NuTrek is all Trek there will be - Star Trek is dead from my POV and a new franchise which happens to be called Star Trek as well is now there, instead.
 
The "eras" are fictional and malleable; there's no going "back" or forward. A Trek series done in a modern and inventive way using the elements that made Trek remarkable to begin with is more likely to be entertaining than yet another iteration of that ahistorical timeline that never changes as it moves "forward" even into the faux 29th "Temporal "Federation."
 
The "eras" are fictional and malleable; there's no going "back" or forward. A Trek series done in a modern and inventive way using the elements that made Trek remarkable to begin with is more likely to be entertaining than yet another iteration of that ahistorical timeline that never changes as it moves "forward" even into the faux 29th "Temporal "Federation."

I would prefer a more modern take on Star Trek, with the idealization of technology and the human future. I don't think the Prime Universe necessarily offers that point. I think continuing on doesn't allow for the flexibility that a more modern reboot could allow.

I like nu Trek and I like Prime Trek, but I don't think either can really continue on in a modern audience in the way that TOS and TNG and the rest capture at that time.
 
Life's too short for purism.
The original universe had it's run, and it was a hell of a run. I still revisit it with all the love I had for it from the beginning.

Bring on more of the new Trek. I'm lovin' it too so far. :)
 
Life's too short for purism.
The original universe had it's run, and it was a hell of a run. I still revisit it with all the love I had for it from the beginning.

Bring on more of the new Trek. I'm lovin' it too so far. :)

This.
 
I want to see a return to the Prime Timeline and such, but what I want and what will happen or should happen doesn't exactly fall in line with each other.
 
I'm really surprised by the results of this poll. Seemed to me like a lot of the posters on here were happy about nuTrek and wanted to stick with it.
 
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