Frontier/Colony Show

[dub]

I think any Trek show on TV coming after a hiatus would need to be set on a ship in order to work for the big wigs at the studios who equate Star Trek with space ships. That's my hunch anyway. So I'm not suggesting this as an idea that has any real potential for being developed any time soon. But I do think it would make an interesting show.

Deep Space Nine was originally going to be set on a colony and basically be an old western on a colony during the time of Star Trek with Starfleet characters, etc. From IMDB.com:

Executive Producer/Co-Creator Michael Piller said that when coming up for an idea for the series concept of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, there were initially three ideas toted around: Another starship adventure, a space station concept, and a remote frontier colony. The frontier colony idea was briefly considered, with the idea that since Star Trek was compared to Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. in outer space, the new series would be compared to Gunsmoke, but on a remote planet. The frontier colony idea was eventually dropped since it would've required a lot of on-location shooting, and the space station idea was ultimately developed instead.

While that premise sounds boring to me, I do think they could really make something cool that takes place on a remote planet. A Federation starship crash lands with no way of sending a signal for help for some reason. There is a mystery about the planet and the species/aliens on the planet that proves dangerous/deadly and unravels as the series progresses. Perhaps Section 31 is aware of the crash and is observing the crew on the planet for some reason and also keeping communication from getting back to Starfleet. Something with the same sort of storytelling as Lost or The Event. Anyway, I think that would be awesome and I would watch!

 

[LtChange]

It could work for a few episodes maybe a season. The main problem would be that it could be set in any sci-fi universe not just Star Trek. Going too generic and adding Star Trek to the name would be useless ... But a colony might work, as in Deep Space Nine, like there is a federation colony on a planet and they would be a base of operations too, they could have small ships for exploring the region, maybe bigger ships to some Deep Space missions. They could play around with the idea for example that they found a way (maybe another wormhole?) to travel to Andromeda or some other galaxy and they make there a colony for base of operations. So in that way they could any day come back to the federation for classical adventures with classical races, also they could show brand new and unusual aliens not present in our galaxy ... Problem with my concept is that they can say that it is too close as concept to Stargate Atlantis ... But for Star Trek it could work ...

 

[HoserTrek37]

Any colony story would beswt be restricted to Trek Lit / fanfic for the reasons given, pertaining to on-location shoots. Or, a CG webisode series.

 

[Belz...]

It could work for a few episodes maybe a season. The main problem would be that it could be set in any sci-fi universe not just Star Trek. Going too generic and adding Star Trek to the name

Which is probably true of any of the Trek series so far.

 

[The Emissary]

I think any Trek show on TV coming after a hiatus would need to be set on a ship in order to work for the big wigs at the studios who equate Star Trek with space ships. That's my hunch anyway. So I'm not suggesting this as an idea that has any real potential for being developed any time soon. But I do think it would make an interesting show.

Deep Space Nine was originally going to be set on a colony and basically be an old western on a colony during the time of Star Trek with Starfleet characters, etc. From IMDB.com:

Executive Producer/Co-Creator Michael Piller said that when coming up for an idea for the series concept of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, there were initially three ideas toted around: Another starship adventure, a space station concept, and a remote frontier colony. The frontier colony idea was briefly considered, with the idea that since Star Trek was compared to Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. in outer space, the new series would be compared to Gunsmoke, but on a remote planet. The frontier colony idea was eventually dropped since it would've required a lot of on-location shooting, and the space station idea was ultimately developed instead.

While that premise sounds boring to me, I do think they could really make something cool that takes place on a remote planet. A Federation starship crash lands with no way of sending a signal for help for some reason. There is a mystery about the planet and the species/aliens on the planet that proves dangerous/deadly and unravels as the series progresses. Perhaps Section 31 is aware of the crash and is observing the crew on the planet for some reason and also keeping communication from getting back to Starfleet. Something with the same sort of storytelling as Lost or The Event. Anyway, I think that would be awesome and I would watch!

This is actually where I think Trek needs to go next. I personally do not agree with those that feel Trek = Kirk/Enterprise/solo ship/explore-world-fly-into-sunset-rinse and repeat. Considering that Trek fans are not some monolithic group, it is hard to peg down what Trek really is "supposed" to be.

But I personally feel that the style of the old Treks has come and gone. Trek needs to become more ambitious rather than simply saying "ok, well we're going to do an exploration idea on a ship. Let's just make up a cool new ship, some crew, and a little twist on the story and blam-o." No. That's been done to death.

I think maybe combination of a growing colony plus Starfleet ships could be pretty interesting. Be ambitious with the idea. Expand upon it. No more thinking small with Trek. I know that sounds like a massive cast, but I've seen other shows that pulled it off just fine. More secondary characters than main characters. Push the boundaries on ideas and no reset button. Have "exploration" come from both exploring the deepest recesses of space + the deepest recesses of human nature.

I do like that they were aiming for more frontier, less around the block kind of thing.

 

[surak-toc]

i'm 100% game for this idea, as long as its well thought out and viable, a show like this in the 25th century would be a massive improvement.

 

[Nine of Four]

I think that this premise should come AFTER a new show, such as DS9 is to TNG........

If the new show involves an exploratory vessel, it could even take place on a colony on a planet the vessel discovers....

Another idea; it could take place on a Federation world/asteroid/space station on the former Romulan border, if it's in the prime universe after the destruction of Romulus, its mission to aide Romulan refugees and fight off Romulan attackers into Federation space.....

That may be to similar to DS9, however. But I do like the idea of a show placed on a colony world!!

 

[SolitaryJustice]

You gotta set it after DS9 and Voyager but in the Abrams Verse... in this future, there is an inter-galactic war between the Dominion and the Borg. Humans, Klingons, everyone, are staying off the radar or joining the dominion. Get a Mos Isley feel for the series. Have a "crazy" El-Aurian (Guinan) talk about a different time, where all of the people were happy and have a new rag-tag group trust her and have her help in fixing it. Small ship. Three or four people. Couple of different ships. Rebellion. Whoopi Goldberg. And a restoration of the prime timeline. Hope amid constant fear of assimilation or death by Jem'Hadar.

 

[R. Star]

You gotta set it after DS9 and Voyager but in the Abrams Verse... in this future, there is an inter-galactic war between the Dominion and the Borg. Humans, Klingons, everyone, are staying off the radar or joining the dominion. Get a Mos Isley feel for the series. Have a "crazy" El-Aurian (Guinan) talk about a different time, where all of the people were happy and have a new rag-tag group trust her and have her help in fixing it. Small ship. Three or four people. Couple of different ships. Rebellion. Whoopi Goldberg. And a restoration of the prime timeline. Hope amid constant fear of assimilation or death by Jem'Hadar.

So you want to turn Trek into Star Wars?

"Truth and justice reigned across the galaxy... before the dark times... before the Dominion."

Sorry, no thanks.

Starting a show on a similar premise as Voyager where they're stranded away from the rest of humanity, but instead of the journey home, they decide to build a new home would be interesting.

Interacting with new aliens for survival, aliens that would be more than just a villain of the week, but around and having to cope with them. The hope of trying to contact home from afar, maybe even the idea of building a "new Federation" in uncharted territories. The possibilities are there and it would combine the best parts of exploring the unknown with DS9's exploring cultures we've seen in depth.

 

[David.Blue]

I think Star Trek can be lots of things, depending upon how it is handled.

TOS was touted as "Wagon Train to the Stars" but was really more like "Gulliver's Travels in Outer Space."

Just as DS9 kinda became "Casablanca in Outer Space" and VOY was "The Odyssey with a Starship."

That being said, "Robin Hood in Space" has been done by now, rather a lot.

 

[SolitaryJustice]

Starting a show on a similar premise as Voyager where they're stranded away from the rest of humanity, but instead of the journey home, they decide to build a new home would be interesting.

Dude, they tried that. It was Voyager. Obviously didn't work out too well.

I'm not talking about Star Wars. Star Wars was about the Jedi and the Sith in a huge war. If anything, what I'm suggesting is a BSG/FireFly laden Star Trek. I'm suggesting a Star Trek that has a dark reality, yet an optimistic future. Hiding out, listening to an oracle of sorts, slowly putting this back together, saving humanity (and all of the other familiar races we love), and ultimately restoring the timeline.

 

[David.Blue]

I think almost any scenario can work, if approached the right way. Looking at a time it didn't work and saying "Well, never do that again" just doesn't cut the mustard as valuable analysis. By that measure we should have a rule No More Women Commanding Starships (if you don't like VOY).

Details. Tis all in the details. Consider the second season of Buck Rogers for instance. One might easily look at its failure and conclude "Well, science fiction series aboard starships don't work." In fact I'll bet money some folks did say as much. You can point to Firefly and Crusade as evidence of a pattern. Nope. Series about starships. Don't work.

That being said "A lone remnant of Starfleet tries to preserve the idea of an almost conquered Federation" or "A space station in the Gamma Quadrant" or "A new dreadnought-class starship confronts the Morzak Imperium, devourers of the Borg" are really little more than a single seed in what needs to be a garden. To really judge an idea we need more details.

Just sayin'

 

[R. Star]

Starting a show on a similar premise as Voyager where they're stranded away from the rest of humanity, but instead of the journey home, they decide to build a new home would be interesting.

Dude, they tried that. It was Voyager. Obviously didn't work out too well.

I'm not talking about Star Wars. Star Wars was about the Jedi and the Sith in a huge war. If anything, what I'm suggesting is a BSG/FireFly laden Star Trek. I'm suggesting a Star Trek that has a dark reality, yet an optimistic future. Hiding out, listening to an oracle of sorts, slowly putting this back together, saving humanity (and all of the other familiar races we love), and ultimately restoring the timeline.

Nice of you to demonstrate you didn't read the part of my post you quoted, nonetheless the rest of it.

Oh and the dark reality, yet optimistic future... holding out, listening to an oracle of sorts, saving humanity with all the familiar races we love.

To quote you, dude they did that. It was Deep Space 9.

 

[SolitaryJustice]

I read your post. I just acknowledged the only part worth acknowledging. Redo Voyager because it could have been awesome. Enterprise could have been awesome. You don't see a big push to revisit that show (although starting and covering the Earth-Romulan War would be an EPIC storyline). In fact, using the Temporal Cold War and making it a Temporal WAR would be an awesome way to go. Deep Space 9 wasn't nearly as dark as it could have been. Ronald D. Moore wanted it to be. Berman wouldn't let him. So he said "screw this"... and made BattleStar Galactica. It was a brilliant, beautiful series. Why not do something similar with Star Trek, but not a re-imagining as much as a new direction? We have a messed up future, who knows what's wrong, and when we fix it, we go on from there. Explore different galaxies. (We'll have the technology by then.) Check out the Delta Quadrant in earnest. Restore a stronger Federation and include the dominion races. Make the galaxy a beacon of hope for the Universe. Continue Roddenberry's idea of a utopia, but get us OUT THERE, WAY OUT. Make sense?

 

[David.Blue]

I've somewhat addressed this idea elsewhere, but here's my thought.

First, to make a Frontier/Colony Trek work you need a group of regulars who remain fascinating to watch in and of themselves. In this case, there's a natural tension between the colonists per se and the Starfleet personnel assigned there. Towards that end I would suggest the colonists themselves are a people apart. Perhaps they are the survivors of a notorious POW camp in a war a generation past. Or they endured some kind of natural disaster together, the nature of which genuinely shook their faith in the Federation. Not that either group should come across as homogenous.

Second, let them be pretty much on their own. No whistling up a Quasar-class heavy cruiser every time trouble rears its head. Let them be far away, isolated enough they must work together.

Third, the colony itself should present a mystery, a story in its own right. Not a single mystery either but a multi-layered one that can baffle and tease both characters and audience.

What comes to my mind is a Starfleet Outpost crewed by folks who in another era might belong to the French Foreign Legion--each has a reason they're in the middle of nowhere. Needn't be a dark secret, or even a secret at all, at least not for everyone. Likewise the colonists as builders of a new society struggle to find a compromise between various ideas--about gender roles, about justice, about history. Yet not a brand new community. One that has existed long enough to have some nature of its own, yet for the younger people to feel stifled. A place and community with their own assumptions.

 

[SolitaryJustice]

My friend and I have been playing with the idea of a post-apocalyptic world where the political setting is kind of like Luna in "The Moon in a Harsh Mistress", except more corporate, makes it's money off a substance they've used to genetically enhance themselves, a serum that occurs as a crystal in the ground. The main character is an outsider, not one of the privileged, who begins to manifest the same enhancements naturally. That's about as far as we got.

I wonder if it could take place on a world Star Trek forgot Scott, a colony, that had it's own development without interstellar interference somehow.

 

[David.Blue]

Oh! You know, it would really be good if Starfleet had some reason not to trust the colonists! If they were the equivalent of the Maquis, or all were ex-Borg, or had been on the losing side of a Federation Civil War.

 

[SolitaryJustice]

I think it'd be cooler if the Federation didn't even know they were there. Deleted from the libraries back in the day, TOS-era. And yet, fast-forward a couple hundred years, and there they are.