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

[Maxillius]

In order to go back to the prime timeline they'd have to write a story that brings the two together and the only way I can think of that being done is if B&B got back together to write the biggest clustef--k we've ever seen, something that would make "Threshold" look like a masterpiece. Something at TFF-level badness. That said, I can think of a way to do it that would give us our DS9 movie at the same time. It involves "The Sisko" laying the smack down on Pine-Kirk and the phrase, "It wasn't supposed to happen this way..."

 

[Nerys Myk]

Nah, they just make a new film/series set in the "Prime Universe".

 

[T'Girl]

^ Just that.

The Abrams alternate universe would be left where ever he leaves it at the end of the next movie.

Star Trek Fourteen will make no reference to it. Once more there will be a new ship and a new crew, the story line will be set in the prime universe.

")

 

[Tim Walker]

I now think that it would be good to leave the prime timeline for good. The JJ movies have made an alternative timeline canon. More importantly, the JJ movies set a precedent-one can produce Trek stories set in a different timeline now (and not necessarily JJ's, why not a third timeline if it fits the story?).

 

[Blamo]

I'm a fan of Trek, but I think the prime timeline should be left behind.

Too many mistakes (Enterprise and Voyager), too much continuity, too much magic-tech and technobabble.

A relatively fresh start. JJ Trek would have been great for that, if the director didn't want to make it like Star Wars and the writers had some skill.

Instead we got:-
Jerk Kirk
Aesthetic nods to the past, which make the movie look like a parody at times.
Bad dialogue, which makes the story sound like a parody at times ("Khaaaaan!").
Periphery characters getting characterization via jokes that make the movie feel like a parody at times.
An Enterprise that seems to only exist to get pieces of it shot off.
Just badly thought up plots.

Maybe we can have a reboot reboot.

 

[Tim Walker]

Whatever the timeline/century/series/movie, I would keep the original TOS optimism. DS9 is probably as gritty as it can get and still be Trek.

 

[fireproof78]

I think, if it is a reboot, you need an attitude that is optimistic. Go the opposite direction of nuBSG and be more optimistic. If you bring back the Prime Timeline, then have the Alpha Quadrant move towards a period of peace, where exploration becomes more common place.

I think that having a more mixed crew, in terms of civilians and Starfleet personnel, could be fun as well. I'm sure that's come up before, but different point of view than the usual Starfleet lines would be a fun character to have as well.

 

[NOVE9]

I would love the prime back but it couldn't be set in the 24th century (flogging a dead horse and what not). Move it forward 100 years set it with a better mix of characters like fireproof suggested and I think a better mix of aliens and humans (or at least have humans from planets other than earth). have the klingon empire on the verge of collapse fragmenting into houses with the smaller one wanting to join the federation or something and others aligning with the romulans/gorn. Giving more meat to some of the other races besides the stables (klingons/romulans/vulcans) would be a good idea too.
Getting around the techno babble of voy and ent should be easy considering how continuity for the details isn't strong suit in star trek. Focus on character and storyline and the tech shouldn't matter that much anyway.

 

[BillJ]

I think, if it is a reboot, you need an attitude that is optimistic. Go the opposite direction of nuBSG and be more optimistic. If you bring back the Prime Timeline, then have the Alpha Quadrant move towards a period of peace, where exploration becomes more common place.

I think that having a more mixed crew, in terms of civilians and Starfleet personnel, could be fun as well. I'm sure that's come up before, but different point of view than the usual Starfleet lines would be a fun character to have as well.

+1,000,000

 

[NOVE9]

Edit: Someone made a thread about it.

 

[dub]

I think, if it is a reboot, you need an attitude that is optimistic. Go the opposite direction of nuBSG and be more optimistic. If you bring back the Prime Timeline, then have the Alpha Quadrant move towards a period of peace, where exploration becomes more common place.

I think that having a more mixed crew, in terms of civilians and Starfleet personnel, could be fun as well. I'm sure that's come up before, but different point of view than the usual Starfleet lines would be a fun character to have as well.

+1,000,000

-∞

 

[eyeresist]

I think, if it is a reboot, you need an attitude that is optimistic. Go the opposite direction of nuBSG and be more optimistic. If you bring back the Prime Timeline, then have the Alpha Quadrant move towards a period of peace, where exploration becomes more common place.

Curiosity and cooperation have to remain the fundamental values. If they can't get this right, the question of timeline is trivial. "Let's see what's out there."

 

[bbjeg]

Bumping for the new members.

 

[Tim Walker]

Focus on character and storyline and the tech shouldn't matter that much anyway.

Agreed. Focus on character and storyline should be the emphasis of any new Trek endeavor. We are talking drama here.

 

[Orphalesion]

TOS was always working under budget and time constraints and never seemed to have an issue with telling exciting/engaging episodes.

That's debatable. Especially the "never" part.

I'd like the Prime Timeline back because I'm a fan of franchises with a long history and love to see that history advanced. So I'd rather see a 25th century show really building up on all the lore already established and creating new one, making the ST universe ever more complex. I'd like to know how the prime timeline looks 100 years after Nemesis.

 

[fireproof78]

I think, if it is a reboot, you need an attitude that is optimistic. Go the opposite direction of nuBSG and be more optimistic. If you bring back the Prime Timeline, then have the Alpha Quadrant move towards a period of peace, where exploration becomes more common place.

Curiosity and cooperation have to remain the fundamental values. If they can't get this right, the question of timeline is trivial. "Let's see what's out there."

Indeed.

If continuing in the alternate universe or the Prime universe, the characters and world should be well defined. I'm just as interested in a scifi world building in an alternate reality as I am in the Prime time line. The characters, though, are what make it engaging for me.

 

[Makarov]

What if they brought nuTrek into prime's time period instead of Prime into nuTrek? I'm thinking of the multiple episodes where an old ship suddenly emerges into the future in TNG. I'm not exactly that keen on keeping the prime timeline intact, but I liked the more futuristic time period of TNG so it might be cool to see Kirk in a TNG era captain's uniform. In other words just jump the new crew forward in time.

 

[JeffinOakland]

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? If ST is going to survive, it is going to have to continue to appeal to the general public while throwing us fans the occasional bone. Sorry folks; it is just too expensive to make a tv series or movie just to please a niche market. The studios and the advertisers will never pay for it.

 

[ThankYouGeneR]

Yeah, "anti" is probably the wrong way to phrase it. Nobody dislikes the old timeline or thinks it's "bad." Hell, I've written over twenty books and stories set in the old timeline--with more on the way. And I'll be rewatching my favorite Trek movies and episodes for the rest of my life.

Here's the thing, though: Accepting a new, revamped version of an old classic doesn't mean you're rejecting or attacking the previous version. It just means you recognize that times change and beloved characters and series tend to get reworked every generation or so. Trek is no exception.

To cite another example, I enjoyed the 1990's MUMMY movies with Brendan Fraser, but that doesn't mean I stopped liking the original b/w MUMMY movies I watched as a kid. And yet I hardly expect Universal to ever return to the old 1940s "timeline."

(Just wait. When Universal does get around to rebooting THE MUMMY again, younger fans are going to complain because it's not set in the continuity of the "classic" Brendan Fraser movies. )

Trek is not an encyclopedia, full of immutable facts. It's a work of fiction, about an imaginary universe, to be toyed with and tweaked as necessary.

 

[BigJake]

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.