Is It Time for a Bold New Star Trek Paradigm?
- Thread starter trekfan_1
- Start date
What this thread title makes me think of:
Or consider a hybrid approach, hinted at by TOS and TNG. Some stories told as stand alone episodes. Other stories told as two-parters, or even three-parters.
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Seems to me that, whether one likes or dislikes them, every single Trek series (with the sort-of exception of TNG) has been a bold new paradigm or attempt at one: space station! lost far from home! first steps onto the galactic stage! a not-captain protagonist! being old and getting back into the game! alien kids discover the Federation! a sitcom! the Academy! Whereas ideas like jumping to a new era or galaxy or avoiding old continuity are nothing new (TNG and DISCO both did the former, and the latter wouldn’t change anything but the names). Which is why I’d be happy enough to see a plain old episodic “Starship Enterprise explores the planet of the week at the latest point in the chronology because Starfleet feels like it” show, whatever else they do.
Yeah though a bigger jump forward. Enterprise J would be interesting, if not looking at AI (including friendly AI), multi-galactic travel (both kinda like Andromeda).
Would definitely like a serious look at AI and the concepts without tropes like human looking androids, etc. More in the ether, ghost in the machine, etc.
Would definitely like a serious look at AI and the concepts without tropes like human looking androids, etc. More in the ether, ghost in the machine, etc.
Wagon Train to the stars!
The original Wagon Train was a Western. It was based on a "walking the land" trope. The cast included a few regular characters, lending the show a bit of continuity. But the show would tend to focus on guest stars, as members of the wagon train, or people met along the way.
Which makes for a fairly versatile format.
I think one might invent a semi-anthology format that is unusually versatile, second only to Dr. Who.
The original Wagon Train was a Western. It was based on a "walking the land" trope. The cast included a few regular characters, lending the show a bit of continuity. But the show would tend to focus on guest stars, as members of the wagon train, or people met along the way.
Which makes for a fairly versatile format.
I think one might invent a semi-anthology format that is unusually versatile, second only to Dr. Who.
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Give that a little bit of Horatio Hornblower military flare, and you just might be onto something!
Yes Turtletrekker. I believe that if you carefully design a format for versatility, there could still be life in the old Trek franchise.
Ninja'd.
I see I missed it by months. We're still here?
Actually, 90% of VOY's episodes could easily have taken place in the Alpha Quadrant.
Isn't that a Springsteen song?
This point was more or less contained in the post I quoted, but, yes, absolutely.
Ideas for a soft reboot:
If the Prime Timeline, set perhaps a few years after the Dominion War. Further big leaps into the future (as with TOS to TNG) brings up a potential problem-technology becoming almost magical. Making it harder to write drama.
New ship, new crew.
Canon references should be rare.
Use of Star Dates to obscure the time period.
If the Prime Timeline, set perhaps a few years after the Dominion War. Further big leaps into the future (as with TOS to TNG) brings up a potential problem-technology becoming almost magical. Making it harder to write drama.
New ship, new crew.
Canon references should be rare.
Use of Star Dates to obscure the time period.
It’s a genuine conundrum. In many ways, Discovery - despite being set in the 23rd century - was the radical storytelling reboot Star Trek needed after Enterprise. While it was placed in a familiar era, it dramatically changed the visual style, tone, characterisation, and narrative approach compared to the TNG-era shows. In fact, Discovery arguably represented a more significant departure from the Berman-era than TNG did from TOS. I would argue that what made TNG a new paradigm wasn't that it was in a new era, it was the production itself was different. Disco was the same.
Yet, despite its innovations, Discovery was divisive. Many fans disliked it - but it still ran for five seasons, which suggests it was successful in its own right.
So the question remains: how do you make Star Trek feel new again?
One option is to radically shift the perspective - do a DS9-style swap out of the setting and narrative formula. But that’s already been done. VOY tried a different location and the concept of heading home, not outward - but the storytelling format remained very familiar. There are only so many ways to reinterpret the “wagon train to the stars” formula. To truly create a new paradigm, Star Trek would need to break from that mold entirely. But then, you risk losing what makes it Star Trek in the first place. You also risk catching "this is a spin-off" fever - e.g. the sense "this is an off-shoot of ST, not ST in and of itself" which can make the series feel less "prime" to some viewers as "main" ST. DS9 suffered that a little initially, being wedged in-between VOY and TNG as the darker grittier spin-off not on a ship.
The franchise has already explored several new approaches to doing this in the modern era:
The truth is, Star Trek has already tried so many different paradigms. Unlike the leap from TOS to TNG, there’s now a lot of ground that’s been covered, some more successfully than others. That makes it harder to find a truly fresh direction that still feels authentically Star Trek. A new setting like a new galaxy can be part of doing that, but ultimately the storytelling, the visuals, the entire production needs to be refreshed and rethought as well. You can just rename the Delta Quadrant the Andromeda galaxy, or call the phasers phase pistols, or have the little science ship crippled by a bird or prey instead of the big bold Enterprise going up against the Borg, with everything ultimately serve the same narrative purpose. Literally everything we know has to be rethought, and thats bloody hard work. TNG in many ways had it easier - just do TOS, with a new crew and a new ship, as it hadn't been done before. It was only when it moved towards more of an ensemble feel and its own identity with Berman coming in that it really took off.
What I do feel - as much as I would love Legacy personally - is that the key thing is a clean move and update away from this new modern era's production style. The Abrams-esque gloss established by ST09 and Disco has been a consistent production style across all of the modern era shows, and whilst overall I've enjoyed it, if they want to do a "shake-up", now would be the time to consider overhauling the entire production style again.
TBH though - I do think that what Disco did back in 2017 or so is what they need to be thinking about again now. New production. New writers. New feel - but for now. Experiment like Disco did, but make it 2025.
Yet, despite its innovations, Discovery was divisive. Many fans disliked it - but it still ran for five seasons, which suggests it was successful in its own right.
So the question remains: how do you make Star Trek feel new again?
One option is to radically shift the perspective - do a DS9-style swap out of the setting and narrative formula. But that’s already been done. VOY tried a different location and the concept of heading home, not outward - but the storytelling format remained very familiar. There are only so many ways to reinterpret the “wagon train to the stars” formula. To truly create a new paradigm, Star Trek would need to break from that mold entirely. But then, you risk losing what makes it Star Trek in the first place. You also risk catching "this is a spin-off" fever - e.g. the sense "this is an off-shoot of ST, not ST in and of itself" which can make the series feel less "prime" to some viewers as "main" ST. DS9 suffered that a little initially, being wedged in-between VOY and TNG as the darker grittier spin-off not on a ship.
The franchise has already explored several new approaches to doing this in the modern era:
- Change the tone and style for a modern audience – Discovery did this (love it or hate it)
- Blend classic Star Trek with modern production values – Strange New Worlds.
- Lean into nostalgia, continuation, and legacy – Picard.
- Experiment with format and target audience – Lower Decks and Prodigy.
- Explore new angles and institutions – Starfleet Academy (upcoming), Section 31, and to some extent Lower Decks and Prodigy.
The truth is, Star Trek has already tried so many different paradigms. Unlike the leap from TOS to TNG, there’s now a lot of ground that’s been covered, some more successfully than others. That makes it harder to find a truly fresh direction that still feels authentically Star Trek. A new setting like a new galaxy can be part of doing that, but ultimately the storytelling, the visuals, the entire production needs to be refreshed and rethought as well. You can just rename the Delta Quadrant the Andromeda galaxy, or call the phasers phase pistols, or have the little science ship crippled by a bird or prey instead of the big bold Enterprise going up against the Borg, with everything ultimately serve the same narrative purpose. Literally everything we know has to be rethought, and thats bloody hard work. TNG in many ways had it easier - just do TOS, with a new crew and a new ship, as it hadn't been done before. It was only when it moved towards more of an ensemble feel and its own identity with Berman coming in that it really took off.
What I do feel - as much as I would love Legacy personally - is that the key thing is a clean move and update away from this new modern era's production style. The Abrams-esque gloss established by ST09 and Disco has been a consistent production style across all of the modern era shows, and whilst overall I've enjoyed it, if they want to do a "shake-up", now would be the time to consider overhauling the entire production style again.
TBH though - I do think that what Disco did back in 2017 or so is what they need to be thinking about again now. New production. New writers. New feel - but for now. Experiment like Disco did, but make it 2025.
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DS9 had serial arcs and character growth around a episodic stories (and a handful of 2/3 parts. Sure the "final chapter" was 10 episodes but even then it had standalone episodes)
I'll happily rewatch almost any episode of TOS, TNG, DS9, Voy and most of Enterprise, but Discovery and Picard very much sit as a single super-long movie in 10 parts.
I like SNW's star dates. They are present, yet they also random.
However I don't think you can obscure the time period. TNG anchored itself with TOS, with McCoy's age, references to "The Naked Time", and then of course the actual date showing up in The Neutral Zone. Inevitably you will get a reference to X years since Event.
When TNG aired, there had been 79 episodes, 22 animated saturday morning cartoons, and 4 films, about 85 hours.
Today there's about 700 hours of material.
Absolutely! This is the issue really - you can't really compare what TNG did to TOS, because more or less it was just a new crew, on a new Enterprise, doing more TOS things with an 80s sensibility. There was plenty of new things to do with that concept. Since then, a helluva lot more ground has been covered.
To put 700 hours into context. The Simpsons has less than 300 hours of content, yet "The Simpsons Already Did It" and the "Never fear we've got stories for years" song from Gump Roast was after just 100 hours of content.
Doctor Who and spinoffs about 500. The Arrowverse -- Arrow, Flash, Legends, Supergirl etc about 500 hours. The Stargate franchise reached about 250 hours.
The only television canon I can think with more content would be soap operas, JAG/NCIS, and Law and Order.
Doctor Who and spinoffs about 500. The Arrowverse -- Arrow, Flash, Legends, Supergirl etc about 500 hours. The Stargate franchise reached about 250 hours.
The only television canon I can think with more content would be soap operas, JAG/NCIS, and Law and Order.
Gunsmoke had 635 episodes and seven TV movies, which is impressive.
Ship, station, school, colony, service, politics, civilian, medical, leaving home, going home. What else?
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