How would you re-imagine and reboot Enterprise?

[Jedi Marso]

Just what the title says: How would you re-imagine and reboot Enterprise?

I'll start.

1. The lead ship wouldn't even be named Enterprise. The show would have to be called something else.

2. I'd give it a more retro, 70's space-age sort of look. Lots of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson style modeling for 22nd Century Earth.

3. It would be true to previously established continuity, meaning:
a) No Klingons (First contact having happened circa 2212, long after the Federation was established, in a grim encounter between USS Sentry and IKV Devisor.)
b) No Borg, Ferengi, or Organians, Suliban, or Temporal Cold War.
c) No phasers (phase cannons), photon torpedoes (photonic torpedoes), or transporters.

4. Equipment would be suitably rudimentary and clunky. A 'tricorder' would be a large (shovel sized) handheld sensor attached to a full-on computerized backpack.

5. The ship wouldn't launch until halfway through the first season.

6. By 2151, there would be well-established human colonies on Alpha Centauri.

7. The Vulcans would not be oppressive, angry, annoying twats. They would, however, express sort of a silent misgiving at what humanity was setting out to do.

8. I'd hire Eric Henry from the fan production Pacific 201 to design the starships, including the NX-01.

9. Space would be vast, and scary. No starbases, and the first crew are the farthest men and women from home, with no help readily available. Lots of travel time implied between episodes where things actually happen.

10. I'd keep the Tandarans- I thought they were an excellent addition to Enterprise and more could have been done with them, perhaps even replacing the Xindi as antagonists.

11. The Tellarites would replace the Vulcans as antagonists against the Andorians.

12. Andorian and Tellarite first contacts would be major story arcs.

13. No visiting Risa in the 22nd Century- it should be much farther out than that if the crew of the Enterprise-D are hanging out there in the 24th Century.

14. The Orion pirates would be major bad guys. The green slave girls would NOT be retconned into being the masters. We'd just keep that groovy 60's vibe with this one. Wokescolds begone!

15. Weapons would be lasers, projectile weapons, and missiles tipped with nuclear warheads when the big guns needed to come out. Hand weapons would be connected to larger energy packs worn on the belt- again, the rudimentary, 'clunky equipment' concept. Energy rifles would be connected to cyclotron packs worn like a backpack.

16. The controlling agency would be UESPA (United Earth Space Probe Agency), not Starfleet. Starfleet is an arm of the Federation.

17. The crew would be human, at least to start. Dr. Phlox might come aboard in S2.

18. No Vulcan crewmembers.

19. You might see Romulan ships, but you would never see a Romulan, even as a viewer of the show as opposed to a character. They would remain faceless enemies, in keeping with TOS canon.

20. Last but not least (cue thunderous reverb).... NO TIME TRAVEL!!!

What are your ideas?

 

[Kor]

Nobody from the Soong family. No augments from the Eugenics Wars. No story arc establishing how Klingons got smooth foreheads.

And Terra Prime has a bigger antagonistic role throughout the series. Knowing humanity, there would definitely be a lot of opposition to going out and becoming part of the interstellar community, and bringing said community back to Earth. Or maybe have an even more militant faction that thinks humans should be dominant in this region of the galaxy.

Kor

 

[ChristopherPike]

As somebody who loved ENT for the most part the way it was - particularly the cast - but faced with a studio order to reimagine or we'll get someone who will...

Probably find a way of shifting the original run to a different Temporal Cold War timeline and fulfil the premise of a season set on Earth, training while the NX-01 is completed. The tech is reverted back by default to EM33 pulse guns and rifles of the sort used in "Broken Bow". Transporters still cargo only for a few years. Maybe attribute phase pistols to a future Federation faction polluting the past or just leave them in the prototype testing stage for slightly longer.

Without the TCW there's an automatic reset that has knock on changes. No Klingon First Contact. Later launch date. Different crew assignments but obviously Archer, Trip, Reed and so on (played by the same actors) can all still appear in varying degrees of left turns taken in their careers.

They can do reboot Enterprise crosses over with the original version of the show at some point, when the nostalgia for 2001 finally kicks in and recreating the sets becomes like seeing the TOS bridge again after many decades or TNG sets suddenly in a modern context.

 

[dupersuper]

I'd resist the urge to include phasers and photon torpedoes, and transporters would be truly experimental.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I'm against the entire concept of reimagining and rebooting any Star Trek series! But if I did reboot it...

I'd look at series like The Expanse, Cowboy Bebop etc. for inspiration on how to create a more primative science fiction future that's far enough along to have interesting and vibrant space colonies, but still fight with projectile weapons. I'd drop all the lines about hull plating, take away everyone's energy beams, and limit the transporter to cargo only (so they're forced to be more creative about what they use it for). Familiar 23rd Star Trek technology should be something the different races take 100 more years to achieve while working together.

I'd include more colour in the set design and uniforms, I'd have a 50/50 balance between male and female leads, I'd make Hoshi the science officer, whose inexperience and fear is balanced by her boundless enthusiasm, and T'Pol the communications officer. I'd drop Travis entirely, replacing him with a series of extras, and introduce various recurring crewmembers. I'd also have a completely 100% different soundtrack, especially the opening theme, and pull it away from a purely orchestral sound.

Most importantly, I'd have three rules for writers: 1. The teaser has to have a damn hook, 2. The goal is to keep the viewer from dozing off, 3. Shoot outs aren't fun anymore when they happen in every episode.

 

[SimiOne]

Never !
Would be another insult to the Cast after the disrespectful treatment in the series finale

 

[FederationHistorian]

1. Better explanations of the technology present and why certain tech appear centuries head of when they should.

Example 1: the phase pistol/phase cannons

Daniels: Hand me your EM laser.

Archer: It’s called a phase pistol.

Daniels: In my century, we call them EM lasers, or EM plasma pistols. Real phasers don’t exist until the 23rd century. You can thank crewman Rostov in engineering for discovering the rectification process that distinguishes it from your lasers, even if it was by accident and still several decades way from being created.

Archer: And that makes a different how?

Daniels. Your laser only has 2 setting. A phaser has 16 beam settings by the 24th. In my century its up to 47. Also, your weapon is prone to jamming in this century, regardless if you drag it through the mud or not. By the 24th, a phaser only jams when it dragged though the mud. And phasers just don’t jam in the 31st century.

Archer: I suppose your comfortable using the transporter as well?

Daniels: We no longer worry about transporter psychosis, disintegrating transporter patterns, transporter clones, and accidents that fuse crewmembers into a single sentient being in the 31st century.

Archer: *looks confused and terrified at the same time*


Example 2: Klingons using a D7 a century before TOS

T’Pol: Scans indicated it’s a Klingon Warbird. Its design is derivative of a 21st century D2 cruiser, which in itself is derivative of an early 20th century cargo vessel –

Archer: T’Pol?!

T’Pol: Klingons like to reuse starship designs that are proven in battle. Its likely your descendants will encounter this design again under a different name.

Archer: And with better armaments…

T’Pol: You won’t be able to beat the Warbird in combat, as its weapons are too powerful. Even Vulcan cruisers are outgunned in ship-to-ship combat against them. But you can outrun it. Klingon Warbirds can only reach warp 4.


Example 3: Alternative designs for Enterprise like the Daedalus class or XCV-330 that were planned but never used. Explain it in-universe…

Trip: I’m not saying the NX class is a luxury liner, but the Daedalus class is way too cramped. They are unsuited for deep space exploration. Besides, Earth’s been using those spherical designs like that for the primary hull for over 50 years. It was time for a change.

T’Pol. And what of the XCV-330? Vulcans have clearly been able to explore the galaxy with warp ring ships.

Trip: The XCV-330, aside from being a mid 21 century vessel and it turns so poorly not even Mayweather could steer it well, the phrase ‘too Vulcan’ popped up a lot during discussions over what the first warp 5 ship should be like, even though the XCV-330 predates first contact. Enterprise was built to reflect Earth design. Besides, those XCV ships are more suited to one way colonization missions or freighter routes then actual deep space exploration.

2. Progressive character redevelopment for everyone, not just the big three.

For example, Mayweather is promoted to lieutenant due to his role in the Xindi mission, and decides that he want to transfer to the MACOs – partially inspired by Reed joining the MACOs to take over from Major Hayes, a partially because the Xindi conflict made Mayweather release that regardless as to whether it’s a freighter ship or a Starfleet ship, humans aren’t safe out in space. This is despite Archer telling him that more space boomers are joining Starfleet because Mayweather's an inspiration, and that Mayweather's name has been brought up a few times as a potential first officer for the other NX ships since those ships won’t be carrying a Vulcan onboard and he’s the most knowledgeable crewmember of deep space in Starfleet. Then Mayweather goes on a journey of being a MACO and frequently considers either returning to Starfleet or even back to the freighter service.

Similarly, an enlisted crewmember could rise through the ranks and replaced a member of the bridge crew and become the new ensign. Maybe Hoshi returns home to teach in Brazil and recouperate from the Xindi mission, and the new crewmember takes her place handling comms and first contact protocols for a year. And when she returns, in addition to being promoted, she’s more outwardly confident and assertive and tough as nails and dating a captain of another NX class ship. And due to her new personality, its even suggested that she tries her hand at tactical or seek a command of her own. While the ensign moves on to join a different crew.

Also, maybe promotions could callback to Worf’s promotion ceremony in GEN, on a replica of the Enterprize on Earth.

3. Real examples of various events that took place in the holodeck on Voyager.

Their is one simulation where Tuvok chokes Neelix to death as he annoys him. There should have been a real version of this event where T’Pol kills a redshirt for the same reason, or maybe Reed or Phlox to highlight its importance, and must deal with a tribunal under human rules on a human ship, despite being United Earth still being under the thumb of the Vulcan High Command. And afterwards, the crew must adapt to both the fallout of T’Pol conviction and T’Pol’s actions, like they lost their doctor and are torn between relying on a human doctor who is not as familiar with the various alien diseases out there. Or bringing a Vulcan doctor onboard who is more knowledgeable, but the crew is frightened or on edge due to what T’Pol did, in addition to increased Vulcan oversight. And both doctors are infatuated by Denobulan culture, so that particular thread could still be built upon.

There is another holoprogram where Seska programmed a rifle to misfire on Janeway and vaporize her. There should have been a real scenario where the pulse rifles misfire and vaporizes the redshirt or MACO holding it because the tech is not yet perfected.

In addition, Archer should have encountered a human freighter crew that behaves much like what the Doctor wrote for his fictionalized story in “Author, Author” (ex, the captain kills the patient in sickbay with a phaser so that a different crewmember can be treated). Except, its all real for Archer and his crew. Or Archer encounters a human freighter crew in open rebellion against Starfleet and has managed to take over an NX class ship, to parallel Tuvok’s holoprogram of the Maquis in open rebellion against Starfleet.


4. Not rely on WW2 for time travel.

The alien Nazi episodes could have been a WW3 episode set in 2044 instead of WW2 1944 and the Nazis be replaced with the Eastern Coalition, and built up the backstory of Enterprise or further explain how it’s the same conflict as the Eugenics Wars. The WW2 allegories are fine for something like the Romulan War, but as a setting, I don’t think it needed to be revisited during ENT. TOS and VOY already covered it.

5. Dialogue.

The crew either struggles to say the names of new technology, or attempts humor or ribbing with each other in the vein of Lower Decks.

 

[fireproof78]

The biggest one for me is no time travel. Avoid that as much as possible, especially with T'Pol's comments about "time travel being impossible." Let the fans laugh a little at that idea.

More primitive weapons. As others have noted, changing the reasons to some more primitive, and have them developing laser or energy based weapons. The first laser ones being on board the ship, due to the power draws. Then moving towards hand held, kind of similar to Firefly.

More interactions and cooperation with the Vulcans. Joint missions rather than antagonism towards humanity. Build towards a larger threat that Vulcan is trying to shield humanity from but humanity gets drawn in to. Have Terra Prime actively pushing again these cooperatives.

More colonies and use of freighters.

Transporter is still new, and used for cargo at least through season 1.

All throughout the show I would have it be a series of firsts, including struggling to survive on an alien world, managing resources, and the crew having to solve problems of miscommunication. Have a character who is a total political official to represent Earth rather than the captain.

 

[Nerys Myk]

No Klingons (First contact having happened circa 2212, long after the Federation was established, in a grim encounter between USS Sentry and IKV Devisor.)

What's this from?

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

• The series begins in 2162, two years after the end of the Romulan Wars and a year after the formation of the UFP and Starfleet
• The U.S.S. Daedalus will be the hero ship, built by Earth during the war the ship never got to see conflict, and was still in need of a lot of work so she was offered up as a testbed of bringing together new systems, resulting in the most advanced Earth-built ship ever
• She would be the first ship of a new purpose built fleet, manned by a mixed crew from all Federation members, being used as a symbol for the co-operation of the Federation as much as anything else (of course close quarters with multiple different views and approaches to things would make things a little difficult on the crew)
• The characters would also be dealing with their own issues from the war and flaws that the brutal and bloody conflict caused (these ain't the perfect humans of the 24th century)
• The Romulans are behind the iron curtain of the Neutral Zone so likely won't make appearances (other than flashbacks), likewise the Borg, Ferengi, and Klingons won't make any appearances
• The Suliban will remain as the main villain, though the Temporal Cold War won't be a thing (time travel of any sort will be extremely limited), so the source of the hostility will be more conventional resources/territory/ideals/etc
• Later on, the Tholians would start to emerge as the mysterious new threat, one that is far more advanced and alien than anything the Federation has encountered before
• Orions would also be a recurring issue to deal with, mostly as pirates and raiders praying on weaker ships and outposts for their own gain
• As much as I would love to have an alien Captain, it'll probably have to be human, so (in an ideal world) I'd go with Ming-Na Wen as Captain Camille Zhou
• The rest of the characters would include an Andorian XO (most likely Shran), Tellarite navigator, Vulcan communications officer, possibly Rigellian science officer, alien medical officer (happy for that to be Phlox), with humans in place as chief engineer (pretty much definitely Trip), security chief, and helmsman

 

[somebuddyX]

After watching Season 1 recently the only thing I'd do is speed up the show and get rid of the slop. Get to The Andorian Incident by episode 4 or 5, get to Cold Front by episode 6 or 7. Go more in on the myth arcs of the Vulcan/Andorian stuff, the TCW. I'd introduce the Klingons much later or not have used them at all. Get rid of all the boring shit. See if an episode was already something that had been done better on another show, like Oasis, and bin it. Get some teeth and show space is dangerous by having some crew members get killed. Be more true to the premise. Write betterer.

 

[Jedi Marso]

What's this from?

IIRC, The Final Reflection by John M.Ford and maybe also the Spaceflight Chronology, but don't quote me on that.

 

[Jedi Marso]

• The series begins in 2162, two years after the end of the Romulan Wars and a year after the formation of the UFP and Starfleet
• The U.S.S. Daedalus will be the hero ship, built by Earth during the war the ship never got to see conflict, and was still in need of a lot of work so she was offered up as a testbed of bringing together new systems, resulting in the most advanced Earth-built ship ever
• She would be the first ship of a new purpose built fleet, manned by a mixed crew from all Federation members, being used as a symbol for the co-operation of the Federation as much as anything else (of course close quarters with multiple different views and approaches to things would make things a little difficult on the crew)
• The characters would also be dealing with their own issues from the war and flaws that the brutal and bloody conflict caused (these ain't the perfect humans of the 24th century)
• The Romulans are behind the iron curtain of the Neutral Zone so likely won't make appearances (other than flashbacks), likewise the Borg, Ferengi, and Klingons won't make any appearances
• The Suliban will remain as the main villain, though the Temporal Cold War won't be a thing (time travel of any sort will be extremely limited), so the source of the hostility will be more conventional resources/territory/ideals/etc
• Later on, the Tholians would start to emerge as the mysterious new threat, one that is far more advanced and alien than anything the Federation has encountered before
• Orions would also be a recurring issue to deal with, mostly as pirates and raiders praying on weaker ships and outposts for their own gain
• As much as I would love to have an alien Captain, it'll probably have to be human, so (in an ideal world) I'd go with Ming-Na Wen as Captain Camille Zhou
• The rest of the characters would include an Andorian XO (most likely Shran), Tellarite navigator, Vulcan communications officer, possibly Rigellian science officer, alien medical officer (happy for that to be Phlox), with humans in place as chief engineer (pretty much definitely Trip), security chief, and helmsman

I'd watch that show.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

IIRC, The Final Reflection by John M.Ford and maybe also the Spaceflight Chronology, but don't quote me on that.

I remember seeing the 2218 date in the Spaceflight Chronology. According to Memory Alpha is was from an early draft of "Day of the Dove" that mentioned hostility with the Klingons going back 50 years before the events of the episode.

 

[Nerys Myk]

IIRC, The Final Reflection by John M.Ford and maybe also the Spaceflight Chronology, but don't quote me on that.

So, not from the shows. Thought I'd missed something.

 

[Jedi Marso]

So, not from the shows. Thought I'd missed something.

No, not from the shows. As Bry_Sinclair mentioned, there is a mention in 'Day of the Dove' that talks about hostilities going back 50 years, which is probably where those publications derived the dates. You didn't miss anything that way. However, if you've never read The Final Reflection, you have missed out. Fortunately, it's an omission easily corrected.

 

[Nerys Myk]

No, not from the shows. As Bry_Sinclair mentioned, there is a mention in 'Day of the Dove' that talks about hostilities going back 50 years, which is probably where those publications derived the dates. You didn't miss anything that way. However, if you've never read The Final Reflection, you have missed out. Fortunately, it's an omission easily corrected.

I have read it. Sadly I felt it didn't quite live up to the hype. I've pretty much read every Trek book up to the early 2000s

 

[Jedi Marso]

I have read it. Sadly I felt it didn't quite live up to the hype. I've pretty much read every Trek book up to the early 2000s

Well, everyone likes what they like, and that's okay. TFR is my favorite Trek novel of all time, and Ford's version of the Klingons is my 'head-canon' definitive one. Of course, I'd taken all that in long before TNG came on TV and totally re-wrote Klingon culture. Not only that, FASA RPG Trek fully embraced Ford's version of the Klingons, and Ford himself wrote the supplement for the game. My buds and I role-played Klingon characters based on Ford's milieu. Law of primacy and all that good stuff.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Without network interference? Have truly less advanced technology instead of slightly different terminology for the same thing.

Different lead actor and character. Archer sucked, Bakula never clicked in the role and had nothing to differente himself. It's early days, so why not someone REALLY flawed?

A plan. NX-01 was sent into space to "explore" and they made their own way. Except, that would never happen. A mission so expensive and costly would have every step mapped out in detail. They'd never randomly come across a nebula or planet and explore, telescopes exist this stuff would all be known.

A diplomatic team. Or the different captain having a diplomatic background because you don't let just anyone start making first contact on behalf of Earth. 2 years of it and 7 million humans were killed in some weird pre-emptive temporal war attack. It's amazing Earth wasn't a Klingon subject world after the pilot.

 

[Snowdrop82]

1. No Klingon first contact, Temporal Cold war, Suliban, or Time Travel.

2. No Starbases, generally raised stakes a lot higher earlier on, I would want the impression to be that this is truly humanity's first exploration beyond their territories with all the dangers and such involved.

3. No Phlox. Sorry, I just couldn't take to his character in all honesty. I would have a doctor from some other race instead.

4. Archer would have a different personality. I would make him a bit older. I would also have him be prone to a temper, more of a self righteous type of captain who goes against the grain, and learns from his mistakes and mellows out by the end of the show.

5. I would have a different design for the ship itself. It would have the name NX-03, with the first two starships being failed in accidents, so Enterprise has a lot of oversight and a lot to live up to.

6. Vulcans would not have their internal divisions. Distant, cold, and generally disapproving of humanity's actions, yes, but not angrily doing so.

7. Show human colonies on other planets, perhaps the crew gets stranded somewhere and has to see themselves back over several episodes.

8. I would have the Humans at first form an Andorian-Human alliance to convince the Vulcans to back off. After the alliance is signed, the Vulcans are all disapproving but when the Romulans come, they join the alliance, as do the other races.

9. No WW2 scenes. If we have time travel, I would have wanted it During WW3 so we can flesh out that time period more than we have in the show.

10. General development of the characters a lot more. I would have had Tucker been injured in one eye, having a badass eyepatch or something of that sort.

11. First contact with the Klingons in Space over a disputed mining colony, something of that sort, and the firefight that erupts evolves into hostility later on.

12. 5 full seasons, with the ending not being as poorly as it was.