Does anyone really think 2017 will break the mold?

[Jedman67]

It's Worf's being "more Klingon than Klingons" which plays a big role in shaping the Klingon Empire for the future in the last few episodes of DS9. While he got annoying in TNG and declared Data and Geordi's pranks to be "without honor"; etc, in DS9 they really developed it and turned it into an attribute.
Interestingly, Be'lanna didn't care much for her Klingon heritage despite being raised by a Klingon mother; aside from a handful of episodes going into a little depth most of voyager pretty much ignored it.

 

[Belz...]

I think they may abandon the fourth thing - a fixer cast of a certain size. Two to four leads to anchor the series, and a large cast of recurring characters whose storyline come and go.

Yes, I think that's a good way to go. Hopefully it will have a good story structure; either a full series or story arcs like ENT's fourth season.

 

[Tim Walker]

I think they may abandon the fourth thing - a fixer cast of a certain size. Two to four leads to anchor the series, and a large cast of recurring characters whose storyline come and go.

And many guest stars.

This might helped to mitigate a feature of series television-characters who are reset at the end of every episode.

 

[Terok Nor]

I was reading about the New Frontier novels by Peter David yesterday and they seem to be epic in scope, covering several starship crews. Maybe something like that would break the mold but it would be really expensive to produce.

 

[Tim Walker]

I looked at several web sites regarding Wagon Train. The show seemed to be somewhat modular in terms of drama and casting. An episode would emphasize a guest star, typically a member of the train, or perhaps someone they met along the way. It seems that the number of regular characters was relatively restrained.

Of course, the wagon train was on the move

One season experimented with longer episodes, extending to one-and-a-half hours.

 

[Tim Walker]

Thematic Series.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThematicSeries

 

[intrinsical]

I was reading about the New Frontier novels by Peter David yesterday and they seem to be epic in scope, covering several starship crews. Maybe something like that would break the mold but it would be really expensive to produce.

This is the reason why I've been advocating for a Star Trek Television Universe with multiple shows, multiple ships, multiple crew.

 

[Tim Walker]

Irregular Series

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IrregularSeries

 

[RAMA]

The setting from the OP is the one that allows for the widest range of stories within the format, that's why it works.The changes will have to be to tone, photography, style, themes.

One of the few things we've been told about the show is that it's not taking place aboard the Enterprise. A ship is an almost certainty.

 

[Antonovus]

I certainly hope it has a bit more of coherence between episodes and plays on a central story-arc. We don't need more reset tv. I'm not sure how many episodes there will be, but I'd rather have 10 high budget episodes than 25 low ones. Trek has been plagued by a funding lack since its inception.

 

[JoeCabby]

I certainly hope it has a bit more of coherence between episodes and plays on a central story-arc. We don't need more reset tv. I'm not sure how many episodes there will be, but I'd rather have 10 high budget episodes than 25 low ones. Trek has been plagued by a funding lack since its inception.

I think it'll definately be a main central story-arc. DS9 and Enterprise Season 3 are what I'm thinking about. From what Fuller has said it'll be The Final Frontier in tone. A political drama where the federation is at war with some other faction/factions. DS9 did this with drama between many different factions, starfleet, bjoran, cardassian, klingon, changelings, etc. I would expect more of the same with a few "Alien of the week" episodes thrown in for fun.

 

[Mysterion]

Only in the most superficial ways. But it'll just be more of the same. The last Trek Series that came even close was DSN. Voyager was supposed to be this big bold departure and they just did the same Borg and broken holodeck stories that TNG had done for 7 years. ENT made a better effort than VGR, but didn't really hit any new ground until season four when they dumped that whole "temporal cold war" nonsense and embraced the potential of their setting.

 

[Antonovus]

Only in the most superficial ways. But it'll just be more of the same. The last Trek Series that came even close was DSN. Voyager was supposed to be this big bold departure and they just did the same Borg and broken holodeck stories that TNG had done for 7 years. ENT made a better effort than VGR, but didn't really hit any new ground until season four when they dumped that whole "temporal cold war" nonsense and embraced the potential of their setting.

I sincerely hope they don't do any more broken holodeck episodes. I want the show to be about space which means not being stuck in a 20th century noir novel or a Sherlock Holmes scenario.

 

[ancient]

I sincerely hope they don't do any more broken holodeck episodes. I want the show to be about space which means not being stuck in a 20th century noir novel or a Sherlock Holmes scenario.

The problem with busted holodeck episodes is that they don't matter. You have a show set in deep space with aliens, I don't need an episode about how the TV is busted. The only exceptions are the episodes dealing with AI, and that's been played out, no more of that is needed.

 

[Arrrrgggh]

Well, given that the movies have barely had any time spent onboard the ship itself, or even exploring deep space, I imagine the series would be more like that. The ship will mostly just be an actual vessel from getting to point A to point B, but most of the show will be down on planets and being all actiony and whatnot. More politics and more drama than in previous series, at least compared to how much the shows focused on the ship and random technobabble, anyway.

That said, a few things I'm hoping for:
* More alien aliens, which I thin is very plausible giving the updates in CGI and SFX over the years.
* More alien worlds that are actually worlds, not just one environment and one type of species that represents the entire planet. Apparently, Earth is the only planet in the older series that was diverse in pretty much any way whatosever.
* Less focus on gimmick characters. While Spock, Data, Phlox, and the Doctor were all among some of my favorite characters in general, they really were just a crutch for hiding otherwise boring storylines and character development.
* More space battles, and interesting ones at that. I don't want them to be a constant thing, but I would like to see them a bit more often, and actually have them be a bit more believable and awe-inspiring. Stuff like the escape from New Caprica in BSG or the Antarctica battle against Anubis in Stargate are good examples of the kind of stuff I'd like to see.
* A more realistic take on the ship's grew. Enterprise was *almost* there when they started to include marines onboard, but they never quite got there. Sure, Starfleet is technically more about exploration than defense, but it is still a military organization and one in which their ships -- especially their deep space exploration ships -- regularly encounter enemy forces. It's just foolish not to have specialists trained for combat onboard.

All of that would pretty much "break the mold" for me, at least compared to the older series, while still keeping the crux of what made them fun in the first place.

 

[shapeshifter]

This is the reason why I've been advocating for a Star Trek Television Universe with multiple shows, multiple ships, multiple crew.

Careful! Don't let the Anti-Star Trek Plants hear you saying that. They'll start listing literally no good reasons why a Trek themed cinematic universe would never fly and prove you're an idiot for ever hoping such a thing might actually happen. I still bare the scars!

 

[Spider]

Spending an inordinate amount of plot time on being Star Trek instead of good story telling is not to anyone's advantage.

 

[eyeresist]

ENT made a better effort than VGR, but didn't really hit any new ground until season four when they dumped that whole "temporal cold war" nonsense and embraced the potential of their setting.

Not sure you know what "new" means? The TCW may have been ineptly handled, but it was something "new" in Trek, as opposed to the continuity porn that followed.

 

[Longinus]

* A more realistic take on the ship's grew. Enterprise was *almost* there when they started to include marines onboard, but they never quite got there. Sure, Starfleet is technically more about exploration than defense, but it is still a military organization and one in which their ships -- especially their deep space exploration ships -- regularly encounter enemy forces. It's just foolish not to have specialists trained for combat onboard.

Who the hell are all these security personnel then? Worf, Yar, Tuvok? All the redshirst in TOS.

 

[fireproof78]

Who the hell are all these security personnel then? Worf, Yar, Tuvok? All the redshirst in TOS.

Deadmen walking to prove the situation is serious?