Jonathan Frakes..."CBS turned down my ST TV series"

[ClayHefner]

They should finally get rid of all conventions and start afresh when they are making a series.
Things like Klingon look and culture, future history, all remade and open for change.

Would the nuTrek fans even care? I mean even if they did a series of the nuTrekverse, I doubt they'd tried anything fancy.
It would be Kirk and Spock and the Enterprise, except played by other actors than in the movies.
Riker on the Titan- i'd watch it, but it's not what Star Trek needs to be successful again on TV imo. A reimagined Riker in a totally reimagined TNG remake however...

 

[JRoss]

I love George Takei and his ego. I remember when he was in Portland in '01 and someone shouted "What about Excelsior?"

He replied, "Well, I wasn't going to mention it, but come to think of it, I do remember that a fan made me a shirt..." and he proceeded to unbutton his shirt revealing an Excelsior t-shirt beneath.

He wanted an Ensign Picard, and I volunteered, but alas, that show never panned out...

 

[JRoss]

One thing about animated. I'd love to see it, but if it was marketed to young adults, and it almost certainly would be, then it would end up as terrible as Clone Wars.They would ruin it with Ashoka/Neelix "for teh kiddies" characters and someone like Capote the Hutt.

 

[bigdaddy]

CBS is pretty stupid.

There was Star Trek 5 and Star Trek 6 that came out at the same time as TNG was on the air. ST5 was crap, but that's because of it's own issues and didn't do anything to hurt Star Trek TNG. Star Trek 6 is considered one of the best, and a favorite of mine and once again had no issue with TNG.

I think the problem really is now if you make a Star Trek series now the stupid people who only know of the new movie will get confused and that will hurt the show and the movie.

 

[Ssosmcin]

But Trek 6 was not a huge hit. It cost $55 mil to make, but brought in $74 mil at the domestic box office. A decent showing, but not major by any means. It was less than expected. Star Trek movies were, generally, more successful when there were no Trek TV shows on the air. You can say, "well Star Trek V was awful" but Trekkies would have probably supported a shitty movie if TNG wasn't giving them their fix for free at home with better stories.

I think oversaturation was indeed a huge part of it. There's a difference between multiple CSIs and multiple Star Trek shows. Shows like CSI and Law and Order appeal to a larger segment of the population than sci-fi does. Cops shows are a dime a dozen, so yet another L&O show is not only accepted, but expected. Nobody expects cop shows to be imaginative or different. A crime is committed, cops solve it and bring criminal to justice. All that differs is the cast and the police organization.

By 2003, we were on our 4th Trek sequel series and it wasn't doing well. The whole franchise felt tired. When Nemesis was released, nobody cared enough to even see it opening night. For everyone who says "Nemesis sucked, that's why it tanked" you forget that Star Trek 5 sucked and people STILL came out opening weekend to try it, enough that it broke records for that weekend (only - it tanked the following week). Nemesis NEVER had a strong night. It debuted at number 2, behind a Jennifer Lopez film! Maid in Manhattan crushed Nemesis. Good God. So you see, by the time Nemesis saw release, the audience was tired of Star Trek. There was no more excitement and it felt like "more of the same crap." Nobody bothered to try it to see if it sucked or not.

The Abrams movie made Trek an event again, on a very large scale. I can absolutely understand CBS wanting to preserve that right now.

 

[Tomalak]

Basically the only reason Nimoy did Unification was to promote Star Trek VI. It turned out to be the most watched episode of TNG, so it worked pretty well from their point of view.

 

[Distorted Humor]

Since I didn't hate the new Star Trek movie (It was a lot better then the last two movies) What I expect is another movie, if it does well, expect a third movie, then looking into doing another series, but with a TV series they need a home, First run Syndication is dead, as is UPN.

 

[RAMA]

Since I didn't hate the new Star Trek movie (It was a lot better then the last two movies) What I expect is another movie, if it does well, expect a third movie, then looking into doing another series, but with a TV series they need a home, First run Syndication is dead, as is UPN.

So the question is, who will CBS sell it to? Demographics will probably mean it could survive somewhere, but not on network TV. Fox, Syfy(still hate typing that), or possibly even some cable channel all seem more likely.

RAMA

 

[Distorted Humor]

For a TV series, you would need CBS to buy a cable channel, decide that they want to have original programming, and then have someone pitch a good TV show.

What I expect is if the next abrams movie does well, then we will see a third movie before they would even think of doing a TV show....

However, CBS does own Showtime, and if CBS thinks there is a million people who would sign up to showtime to see a new Star Trek Series, then you might have a show (though that would most likely be a lot darker then most trek people would want.) or if CBS buys say, Spike TV. I don't see CBS licensing a show to a Non-CBS owned station. Right now they love the fact they can have a move 2-3 years apart, and then sell a lot of the older shows as well on DVD/instant play.

 

[RAMA]

For a TV series, you would need CBS to buy a cable channel, decide that they want to have original programming, and then have someone pitch a good TV show.

What I expect is if the next abrams movie does well, then we will see a third movie before they would even think of doing a TV show....

However, CBS does own Showtime, and if CBS thinks there is a million people who would sign up to showtime to see a new Star Trek Series, then you might have a show (though that would most likely be a lot darker then most trek people would want.) or if CBS buys say, Spike TV. I don't see CBS licensing a show to a Non-CBS owned station. Right now they love the fact they can have a move 2-3 years apart, and then sell a lot of the older shows as well on DVD/instant play.

Studios used to do this all the time, I don't think its out of the question.

RAMA

 

[MrPointy]

I honestly would rather CBS wait until Abramstrek 3 before doing a new TV series.

 

[RAMA]

I honestly would rather CBS wait until Abramstrek 3 before doing a new TV series.

I agree, but its not too early to think of concepts.

RAMA

 

[BillJ]

I honestly would rather CBS wait until Abramstrek 3 before doing a new TV series.

I agree, but its not too early to think of concepts.

RAMA

Three years between films... you'd be at least five years away from something going to series at this point.

 

[Anji]

CBS doesn't understand Star Trek, Paramount barely understood it.

Look, if they want to resurrect this thing from the dead, and no matter how much I hate to admit it, Star Trek is dead, they'd better get a face in there that people identify and respect from Star Trek.

And CBS is a fool, complete fool, because this Star Trek thing has made more money than I think any of us can imagine and they sure could use the bucks at this time.

Frakes would be perfect. Even a mini-series about his time on the USS Titan. Bring Siritis in as his wife and turn the damn project over to Roddenberry's son, a kid who understands what his father did and would put the kind of care and love into the series that his dad did.

My God, the answer is so simple.

 

[MNM]

I honestly would rather CBS wait until Abramstrek 3 before doing a new TV series.

I'll say here and now. No way will Abrams actually do a third Trek movie.

 

[BillJ]

Frakes would be perfect. Even a mini-series about his time on the USS Titan. Bring Siritis in as his wife and turn the damn project over to Roddenberry's son, a kid who understands what his father did and would put the kind of care and love into the series that his dad did.

My God, the answer is so simple.

You had me going there for a moment.

 

[Jonesy]

I read the article and I am left scratching my head. This is another reason why I hate what I hear from studio "suits". They, for whatever reason, cannot see that Trek doesn't work when it is written and/or directed badly, which unfortunately was hugely obvious in the last series and Trek 10. It doesn't have anything to do with oversaturation or competition between television and film.

To me, the best Star Trek has been done on the small screen. The faster they can get back to that, and put talented people in, the better.

 

[JennaL]

Frakes would be perfect. Even a mini-series about his time on the USS Titan. Bring Siritis in as his wife and turn the damn project over to Roddenberry's son, a kid who understands what his father did and would put the kind of care and love into the series that his dad did.

My God, the answer is so simple.

"The Rikers in Space" I'd watch it

 

[Admiral Bear]

Frakes would be perfect. Even a mini-series about his time on the USS Titan. Bring Siritis in as his wife and turn the damn project over to Roddenberry's son, a kid who understands what his father did and would put the kind of care and love into the series that his dad did.

My God, the answer is so simple.

"The Rikers in Space" I'd watch it

Don't forget Troi's little dog called Woorrf.

 

[Tomalak]

Of course, the mistake Paramount made was ending TNG in 1994 and starting Voyager instead. They should have treated it like any other procedural show, which is effectively what it was. It's a ship, have a revolving door cast policy. Stewart wants to move on? Cast a new captain. If someone wants to leave, or the producers want to write them out, fine.

You keep the essential spirit and brand recognition of the show intact, and give it more longevity and potential for renewal. Don't go all Stargate with numerous diluted spin-offs which can only confuse people. I'll just pop in my time machine and tell Sherry Lansing.