Kirk is from Iowa, Sisko is from New Orleans, Janeway from Indiana, Sulu from San Francisco, Riker from Alaska, and that's just off the top of my head.
If you were in charge of a Trek reboot, what ten things would you change?
- Thread starter eschaton
- Start date
All of the Trek characters. This is place of origin, not ethnicity
Americans (10):
Kirk - Iowa
McCoy - Georgia
Sulu - San Francisco
Riker - Alaska
Ben Sisko - New Orleans
Janeway - Indiana
Harry Kim - South Carolina (this is mentioned on memory Alpha, but I don't remember it in show)
Archer - New York
Tucker - Florida
Tyler - Outside of Seattle (though really he's an alien)
Born elsewhere on Earth (8):
Scott - Scotland
Uhura - United States of Africa?
Checkov - Russia
Picard - France
La Forge - Mogadishu
O'Brien - Ireland
Reed - England
Sato - Japan
Humans born offworld (5):
Beverly Crusher - Luna
Yar - Turkana IV
Chakotay - unknown colony in DMZ.
Seven of Nine - Tendara colony
Mayweather - born abord ship
Unknown origin (8):
Wesley Crusher
Jake Sisko - may have been born on ship
Bashir - Never made explicit, but he lived on Earth up until age 7
Paris
Burnham (born on Earth, but moved to Doctari Alpha as a child, then Vulcan)
Stamets
Tilly
Lorca
Aliens/partial aliens/artificial life forms (17):
Spock, Data, Worf, Troi, Kira, Odo, Quark, Jadzia Dax, Ezri Dax, Tuvok, Torres, Doctor, Neelix, Kes, T'Pol, Phlox, Saru
Americans (10):
Kirk - Iowa
McCoy - Georgia
Sulu - San Francisco
Riker - Alaska
Ben Sisko - New Orleans
Janeway - Indiana
Harry Kim - South Carolina (this is mentioned on memory Alpha, but I don't remember it in show)
Archer - New York
Tucker - Florida
Tyler - Outside of Seattle (though really he's an alien)
Born elsewhere on Earth (8):
Scott - Scotland
Uhura - United States of Africa?
Checkov - Russia
Picard - France
La Forge - Mogadishu
O'Brien - Ireland
Reed - England
Sato - Japan
Humans born offworld (5):
Beverly Crusher - Luna
Yar - Turkana IV
Chakotay - unknown colony in DMZ.
Seven of Nine - Tendara colony
Mayweather - born abord ship
Unknown origin (8):
Wesley Crusher
Jake Sisko - may have been born on ship
Bashir - Never made explicit, but he lived on Earth up until age 7
Paris
Burnham (born on Earth, but moved to Doctari Alpha as a child, then Vulcan)
Stamets
Tilly
Lorca
Aliens/partial aliens/artificial life forms (17):
Spock, Data, Worf, Troi, Kira, Odo, Quark, Jadzia Dax, Ezri Dax, Tuvok, Torres, Doctor, Neelix, Kes, T'Pol, Phlox, Saru
I'm in the same boat -- no reboots needed. Or remakes. Or revisionings. Or what ever phrase or term is used. Now, what I think needs to be done and not done in that respect, is another thread entirely.
The funny thing is, I see that in the TOS Forum, there's a thread going on about Star Trek if it took place in the 1800s while mine is about what if it were made in the 1800s. Great minds think alike!
Common misconception, fortune cookies originated in Kyoto, Japan.
For what it's worth, of the ideas tossed around so far — in terms of actual story potential as opposed to crew composition, storytelling style and structure, and the like — the two that really captured my imagination are these:
In the Trekverse, it seems like nearly every alien race is either less advanced than the Federation, or within a few hundred years of development. ... there should be many truly ancient civilizations which have not advanced into a higher plane yet are still as far beyond the Federation as the UFP is from a stone-age tribe.
...and...
Have the ideas that "Technology might've changed but humans have remained the same" and "Humans are evolved, we're no longer the dangerous, savage child race" as the liberal and conservative ideologies of Humanity.
I think both of those have some seriously thought-provoking story potential. (Although I think the second one might make more sense if we switch which worldview counts as liberal and which as conservative.)
In the Trekverse, it seems like nearly every alien race is either less advanced than the Federation, or within a few hundred years of development. ... there should be many truly ancient civilizations which have not advanced into a higher plane yet are still as far beyond the Federation as the UFP is from a stone-age tribe.
...and...
Have the ideas that "Technology might've changed but humans have remained the same" and "Humans are evolved, we're no longer the dangerous, savage child race" as the liberal and conservative ideologies of Humanity.
I think both of those have some seriously thought-provoking story potential. (Although I think the second one might make more sense if we switch which worldview counts as liberal and which as conservative.)
From somewhere is a lot different than saying one was born there. Sulu was the only character who actually stated he was born in San Francisco. I'm from California, but I was born in NYC.
That's exactly what I'd prefer, it's just not the premise of this thread.
We're supposed to be getting a writing thread in Miscellaneous. Sounds like a fun topic to discuss
I don't have the brain power to come up with Ten things, but I have some time to kill so I'll do what I can. And for the record, I totally don't think a full-reboot is needed. And I certainly should NOT be in charge of one if there was. You'll find out why as you read on. But... again... killing time...
Make the United Federation of Planets more of a United Nations/NATO-like organization, and not the United State of Space
- I never thought it was practical or realistic to have 150+ worlds aligned under one government modeled after Earth/Terran traditions. However, an alliance between sovereign worlds were resources are shared and a collective defense is utilized is a little more believable.
Clearly define Starfleet as an Earth-based hybrid Space Military/Space Agency
- Think of it as if NASA or the European Space Agency merged with a future Space Force or Space Corp to create "Starfleet".
And I used the phrase "Earth-based" to address the real-world issue of casting background extras as crewmen/women. They're going to want to keep costs down, and alien prosthetics and CGI can get pricey. Establishing that Starfleet is a "Earth/Terran" organization solves the issue of "Where are all the non-humans on the ship?" as you wouldn't expect to see too many "aliens".
... However, I would establish that the Terran Starfleet has extended an invitation to all citizens of member worlds of the Federation (or whatever this Alliance would be called) to join Starfleet as part of an "inter-species cooperation or exchange". This way you still can get non-human characters on the show.
Have the crews be as racially diverse as possible
- Filming in Hollywood and Vancouver kind of hinders this a little bit, but with Starfleet being an organization representing all of Earth, it should represent... ALL... of Earth. Even if you have to cast American or Canadian born actors with an ethnic background and have them speak with an accent, it would be better then just having all Americans with American accents. (And I say this as a white guy from rural midwest USA.)
Establish that early Earth/Terran interstellar space craft is retrofitted alien technology
- I don't think it's realistic to have the human race achieve warp capabilities on its own in 45 years (2063) as Star Trek currently calls for. If you want to keep Star Trek in the 23rd century (or 22nd or 24th centuries), you'll have to figure out a way for mankind to get a hold of, and reverse engineer alien technology. Maybe the Romulians or Cardassians briefly occupied Earth for a time, and left behind some technology? Or maybe the Roswell Incident was a result of a time displaced crash-landed Ferengi vessel (Quark!!!), but there were enough parts salvageable to figure out how it worked? Zefram Cochrane could still play a big part here. Maybe he's the one that figured out how the alien technology worked?
... I think this would be interesting as some of the other major alien races in the Federation/Alliance could possibly look down upon the human race, believing that they don't truly belong in interstellar space yet as they didn't achieve interstellar spaceflight on their own. However, you can keep some Star Trek canon and say that Earth served as a detente between the Vulcan and Tellarites during some hostile times and prevented a war, earning at least a little respect among the Federation/Alliance.
Ok, that's about all I have.
Make the United Federation of Planets more of a United Nations/NATO-like organization, and not the United State of Space
- I never thought it was practical or realistic to have 150+ worlds aligned under one government modeled after Earth/Terran traditions. However, an alliance between sovereign worlds were resources are shared and a collective defense is utilized is a little more believable.
Clearly define Starfleet as an Earth-based hybrid Space Military/Space Agency
- Think of it as if NASA or the European Space Agency merged with a future Space Force or Space Corp to create "Starfleet".
And I used the phrase "Earth-based" to address the real-world issue of casting background extras as crewmen/women. They're going to want to keep costs down, and alien prosthetics and CGI can get pricey. Establishing that Starfleet is a "Earth/Terran" organization solves the issue of "Where are all the non-humans on the ship?" as you wouldn't expect to see too many "aliens".
... However, I would establish that the Terran Starfleet has extended an invitation to all citizens of member worlds of the Federation (or whatever this Alliance would be called) to join Starfleet as part of an "inter-species cooperation or exchange". This way you still can get non-human characters on the show.
Have the crews be as racially diverse as possible
- Filming in Hollywood and Vancouver kind of hinders this a little bit, but with Starfleet being an organization representing all of Earth, it should represent... ALL... of Earth. Even if you have to cast American or Canadian born actors with an ethnic background and have them speak with an accent, it would be better then just having all Americans with American accents. (And I say this as a white guy from rural midwest USA.)
Establish that early Earth/Terran interstellar space craft is retrofitted alien technology
- I don't think it's realistic to have the human race achieve warp capabilities on its own in 45 years (2063) as Star Trek currently calls for. If you want to keep Star Trek in the 23rd century (or 22nd or 24th centuries), you'll have to figure out a way for mankind to get a hold of, and reverse engineer alien technology. Maybe the Romulians or Cardassians briefly occupied Earth for a time, and left behind some technology? Or maybe the Roswell Incident was a result of a time displaced crash-landed Ferengi vessel (Quark!!!), but there were enough parts salvageable to figure out how it worked? Zefram Cochrane could still play a big part here. Maybe he's the one that figured out how the alien technology worked?
... I think this would be interesting as some of the other major alien races in the Federation/Alliance could possibly look down upon the human race, believing that they don't truly belong in interstellar space yet as they didn't achieve interstellar spaceflight on their own. However, you can keep some Star Trek canon and say that Earth served as a detente between the Vulcan and Tellarites during some hostile times and prevented a war, earning at least a little respect among the Federation/Alliance.
Ok, that's about all I have.
I'd have this:
1) Takes place at least a hundred years following TNG/DS9/VOY. Earth is no longer really the 'center' of the Federation, as it has grown so large that multiple headquarters have been established. Advancements in space travel have just begun to reach beyond the Alpha/Beta/Gamma/Delta quadrants. This is done so we don't have yet another series farting around with the Borg, Klingons, and Vulcans.
2) As has been mentioned before, no universal translators. At least not translators that work as quickly as the ones that have been established.
3) Step back from the forehead of the week concept. A given species needs to be something else other than humanoid in shape.
4) Make a world encountered more diverse than everyone wearing the same (with slight variations) outfits, drinking the same one or two beverages, and speaking a single language.
1) Takes place at least a hundred years following TNG/DS9/VOY. Earth is no longer really the 'center' of the Federation, as it has grown so large that multiple headquarters have been established. Advancements in space travel have just begun to reach beyond the Alpha/Beta/Gamma/Delta quadrants. This is done so we don't have yet another series farting around with the Borg, Klingons, and Vulcans.
2) As has been mentioned before, no universal translators. At least not translators that work as quickly as the ones that have been established.
3) Step back from the forehead of the week concept. A given species needs to be something else other than humanoid in shape.
4) Make a world encountered more diverse than everyone wearing the same (with slight variations) outfits, drinking the same one or two beverages, and speaking a single language.
Response to lawman....
Why Trek? Trek, at its best, combined action-adventure with social commentary-and an optimistic streak. In these days of grim dark franchises, what other franchise can say the same thing?
Yes, you could develop your own universe, and write novels. Not quite as easy to create your own universe and get it on television, or in the movies.
Why Trek? Trek, at its best, combined action-adventure with social commentary-and an optimistic streak. In these days of grim dark franchises, what other franchise can say the same thing?
Yes, you could develop your own universe, and write novels. Not quite as easy to create your own universe and get it on television, or in the movies.
If a script includes an alien, make that alien eldritch and/or mysterious/engimatic. Maybe something from another dimension, or another universe-almost like something out of science fantasy.
First of all: DON'T make it a hard reboot. Make it a soft reboot. The adventures of Picard, Kirk, Janeway and Archer all happened. But the new show is set in a new, more "realistic" universe. Like, everyone accepts Picard was a famous Captain, maybe even have a cameo by Patrick Steward. But never again show random bumpy-forehead aliens of the week like they had on TNG. Everyone knows the Voyager returned from a voyage from the other end of the galaxy. But the most egregious "magical" technology is replaced with more realistic one.
Havin said that, here are a few things:
1) No site-to-site beaming: Beaming is a fantastic plot device, and one of the cornerstones of Star Trek. But donm't overdo it. Everytime someone beams, at least on one end of the process should be a transporter plate. In the same vain: Don't have mass beaming of hundreds or more people at the same time...
2) No bumpy-forehead aliens: The only one's allowed are the "traditional" ones like Vulcans, Klingons etc. For the rest of the bunch: Have more elaborate make-up. And if you want to tell a story about a planet-of-hats, maybe don't invent an entire new species, just have it be a colony of one of the already known species. Like a human colony under control of a robot god, or a Vulcan one with strict social stigmas (instead of inventing an entire new species for each case that is then forever forgotten)
3) Robots: The original Trek didn't have robots like the original Lost in Space had. TNG either. This was a budget thing back then. If you're going to re-invent Star Trek, have some regular, normal Earth robots omn ship. Not A.I. like Data or anything, just big, helpful machines.
4) All terrain vehicles/Rovers: It's absurd that on Trek the only means of transportation are either a) starship or b) walking. The wheel is the oldest and most revolutionary invention in human history. It's going to be used as long as humans exist. Have a fucking space rover. Not a Nemesis dune buggy. But something that can be used on planets with toxic atmospheres. (-> see: Prometheus, recent Lost in Space reboot)
5) MACOS: Starfleet isn't "the" military, nor should it be. That means the Federation needs to havve a seperate military (as well as a police). You can make Starfleet the "Navy" - aka the thing responsible for ALL space-travel, wars included. Like the coast guard. But all the ground/sea/air fighting should be relegated to actual soldiers. Who shouldn't be stationed "regularly" on a starship, but only for specific military missions.
6) Federation = NATO/UNO hybrid, Starfleet = Earth forces: Make the distinction clear. Starfleet may be the biggest fleet in the Federation (because humans are an aggressive, expansionist little bunch). But other species have their "own" fleets (even if some of the smaller ones are integrated into Starfleet and use the same ship classes).
7) Nobody is perfect: Scrap the whole "humans are perfect" bit, and replace it with "humans try to be perfect". Like, everyone is giving their best. But everyone still has flaws and faults. The main difference is they are aware of them, and try to overcome them, instead of indulging in them. Basically: Humans didn't naturall evolve to be better, but are educated and shaped by society to be better.
8) Action without shooting guns: TOS was a pretty action-heavy show. But how often did you see people fire guns/phasers on it? Or on TNG? Rarely. Star Trek should be an Adventure show with action. Not a "fight the badguy"-action show with wars in it. There are infinite ways of having action in your show without having gunfights: Running away (from monsters, destruction), natural desasters, fistfights, tournaments, climbing, racing, starship action, spacesuit missions, risky space maneouvers, etc. etc. etc .... Star Trek should have a high action quotient. But it shouldnÄt be about good guys shooting bad guys.
9) More grounded tech: Don't make everything magical force fields. Have real airlooks. The holodeck should be treated as a simulation, like a computer programm (that means: operated, not treated as a reality, with people starting over, rebooting it, using ist for training etc.). Make the replicators REAL advanced 3d-printers. Have people on sickbay "spray" new skin on patients with a spray can, instead of shining a magical light on it.
Havin said that, here are a few things:
1) No site-to-site beaming: Beaming is a fantastic plot device, and one of the cornerstones of Star Trek. But donm't overdo it. Everytime someone beams, at least on one end of the process should be a transporter plate. In the same vain: Don't have mass beaming of hundreds or more people at the same time...
2) No bumpy-forehead aliens: The only one's allowed are the "traditional" ones like Vulcans, Klingons etc. For the rest of the bunch: Have more elaborate make-up. And if you want to tell a story about a planet-of-hats, maybe don't invent an entire new species, just have it be a colony of one of the already known species. Like a human colony under control of a robot god, or a Vulcan one with strict social stigmas (instead of inventing an entire new species for each case that is then forever forgotten)
3) Robots: The original Trek didn't have robots like the original Lost in Space had. TNG either. This was a budget thing back then. If you're going to re-invent Star Trek, have some regular, normal Earth robots omn ship. Not A.I. like Data or anything, just big, helpful machines.
4) All terrain vehicles/Rovers: It's absurd that on Trek the only means of transportation are either a) starship or b) walking. The wheel is the oldest and most revolutionary invention in human history. It's going to be used as long as humans exist. Have a fucking space rover. Not a Nemesis dune buggy. But something that can be used on planets with toxic atmospheres. (-> see: Prometheus, recent Lost in Space reboot)
5) MACOS: Starfleet isn't "the" military, nor should it be. That means the Federation needs to havve a seperate military (as well as a police). You can make Starfleet the "Navy" - aka the thing responsible for ALL space-travel, wars included. Like the coast guard. But all the ground/sea/air fighting should be relegated to actual soldiers. Who shouldn't be stationed "regularly" on a starship, but only for specific military missions.
6) Federation = NATO/UNO hybrid, Starfleet = Earth forces: Make the distinction clear. Starfleet may be the biggest fleet in the Federation (because humans are an aggressive, expansionist little bunch). But other species have their "own" fleets (even if some of the smaller ones are integrated into Starfleet and use the same ship classes).
7) Nobody is perfect: Scrap the whole "humans are perfect" bit, and replace it with "humans try to be perfect". Like, everyone is giving their best. But everyone still has flaws and faults. The main difference is they are aware of them, and try to overcome them, instead of indulging in them. Basically: Humans didn't naturall evolve to be better, but are educated and shaped by society to be better.
8) Action without shooting guns: TOS was a pretty action-heavy show. But how often did you see people fire guns/phasers on it? Or on TNG? Rarely. Star Trek should be an Adventure show with action. Not a "fight the badguy"-action show with wars in it. There are infinite ways of having action in your show without having gunfights: Running away (from monsters, destruction), natural desasters, fistfights, tournaments, climbing, racing, starship action, spacesuit missions, risky space maneouvers, etc. etc. etc .... Star Trek should have a high action quotient. But it shouldnÄt be about good guys shooting bad guys.
9) More grounded tech: Don't make everything magical force fields. Have real airlooks. The holodeck should be treated as a simulation, like a computer programm (that means: operated, not treated as a reality, with people starting over, rebooting it, using ist for training etc.). Make the replicators REAL advanced 3d-printers. Have people on sickbay "spray" new skin on patients with a spray can, instead of shining a magical light on it.
As I said, a good way around this, for the races which are integral to Trek and have hybridized with humans (like Vulcans and Klingons) is to have them essentially be human. We know the Iconians built gateways across much of the galaxy 100,000 years ago. Maybe they harvested some early humans, modified them to some degree for their own purposes, and left them on different other worlds spread across the galaxy. You might have to retcon away the Vulcan green blood (and certainly how monstrous the Klingons look in DIS) but otherwise the stories would work okay because the changes would be far back in the prehistory of the different worlds.
It makes more sense than The Chase did anyway.
Yeaaah.... not a fan of this idea.
Star Trek is never going to be 100% realistic. And it doesn't have to be. Some more human-like aliens are okay, I'm a big fan of the looks of Cardassians, all the Xindi, Andorians, Tellarites etc. Make-up on that level would be completely sufficient to pass as "aliens". Star Trek is not hard SF, nor will it ever be. It has time-travel, parralel dimensions and shit.
Klingons and Vulcans are some of the most well known aliens, not just in Trek, but in pop culture in general. They should remain unchanged. Let's keep them that way...
Their similarities are already sufficiently explained by all of them being DNA-based life-forms. Hinting at a common ancestry (like displayed in "the chase", but a common ancestry via microbes or spores on asteroids) is completely enough. Vulcan/Human or Klingon/Human hybrids are then technically as possible as crossing humans with pigs or insects - Something that already IS possible in gene labs, although forbidden because highly unethical. But the morality would look quite different if two intelligent beings decide to have a child between them. I see B'Elanna Torres (and Worf's son Alexander) less as a natural occurence like a mule, and more as a testament to genetic engineering, 24th century morality combined with gene splicing*.
*(Yes, I know B'Elannas and Tom's child was technically an "accident", but B'Elanna already has plenty of human genes. If Torres' parents decided to have a child via genetic engineering [like Alexanders' mother], it would be logical and ethical to "make" her fertile with peers as well)
No, that is not a good enough reason.
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