on how to make Trek viable again. Required reading
http://io9.com/how-to-turn-star-trek-into-the-next-marvel-movie-univer-1643498264
http://io9.com/how-to-turn-star-trek-into-the-next-marvel-movie-univer-1643498264
Mark Altman Describes the Path
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More like debasing Star Trek even worse than it was in the Berman 90s. No thanks.
As much as I love Star Trek, I don't believe the demand exists for it on the scale of the Marvel universe.
Seth McFarlane appeared on Enterprise; he is also associated with Family Guy, which had Family Guy/animated versions of Star Wars.
Ron Moore is associated with both Trek and nuBSG. The other day I was looking at a nuBSG DVD, and in an interview Moore described how they came up with the look of nuBSG-they based much of the ship on actual battleships and aircraft carriers. They gave the ship a lived in appearance, with people cleaning up spills (shown on a raptor in Blood and Chrome), paint jobs that haven't been done yet, repairs that aren't completed.....
Ron Moore is associated with both Trek and nuBSG. The other day I was looking at a nuBSG DVD, and in an interview Moore described how they came up with the look of nuBSG-they based much of the ship on actual battleships and aircraft carriers. They gave the ship a lived in appearance, with people cleaning up spills (shown on a raptor in Blood and Chrome), paint jobs that haven't been done yet, repairs that aren't completed.....
So pretty much everything we saw on the original version of the show. That Ron Moore is one creative dude!
Well, there are the JJ movies-isn't there a third one in the works?
Question is, could we get a live action television series in addition to the JJ movies?
I wonder what other producers/directors/writers are fans?
The thing is Star Trek did this in the 90s already, multiple TV shows and movies set in the same continuity.
We'll have to see where the MCU is after 15 years. I'm thinking that some level of audience exhaustion will have to have set in my that point and it will likely be similar to Star Trek today, good returns on the occasional movie (although, I suppose there will probably be more of an animated presence with superheroes for the kids, an audience that Star Trek never really cultivated after TAS).
We'll have to see where the MCU is after 15 years. I'm thinking that some level of audience exhaustion will have to have set in my that point and it will likely be similar to Star Trek today, good returns on the occasional movie (although, I suppose there will probably be more of an animated presence with superheroes for the kids, an audience that Star Trek never really cultivated after TAS).
Right off, he's wrong about the declining rating being merely about quality. The ratings curve was downward from the end of TNG on, and since so many people laud DS9 as this wonderful high point, that's a specious argument.
Furthermore, Marvel's success with this entwined "mega-franchise" is a fluke, even in Hollywood. Angry Birds lucked into hitting a winning formula, and there are thousands of games that copy their playbook and come up empty handed. So just because some guys have beat the odds doesn't mean copying them is going to work for you.
Furthermore, Marvel's success with this entwined "mega-franchise" is a fluke, even in Hollywood. Angry Birds lucked into hitting a winning formula, and there are thousands of games that copy their playbook and come up empty handed. So just because some guys have beat the odds doesn't mean copying them is going to work for you.
There is a another thread on this article over in the movies section so I'll copy what I said over there...
This article is along the lines of some of the things I've been thinking about recently. I think Star Trek has suffered from a lack of overall creative direction in the franchise. Now I'm not really a fan of Marvel, (the only superhero I even like is Batman which is a DC property) and I don't think Star Trek should be overexposed on the big or small screen with many disparate movies and TV series happening all at once. Superhero franchises don't have the same concerns of world building and continuity as science fiction and if the Marvel model was attempted with Star Trek, it would all come crashing down eventually.
I think the better example to follow would be Star Wars which has always benefited from a centralized creative team that oversaw all of its media (books, comics, games, TV and movies). The Lucas organization made sure that all of this fit together to create a coherent universe with a rich history. Shadows of the Empire is a great example where Lucas Arts and Lucas Books came together in a joint multimedia project to produced a great story spanning a novel and comic series and a very entertaining video game. Disney is now following this model in continuing the franchise.
Star Trek is drifting without any larger direction, split between multiple license holders all doing their own thing. CBS is happy enough collecting its fees for these licenses and milking out TOS and Berman era Trek. No one seems to know or care about what to do with the franchise beyond the occasional film entry and churning out non-cannon and incongruous novels, comics and games. Star Trek needs a centralized creative team directing it and most of all it needs a return to television, if it is to have any success in the future. The current film series will putter out eventually after another entry or two, once it runs out of nostalgia to exploit.
This article is along the lines of some of the things I've been thinking about recently. I think Star Trek has suffered from a lack of overall creative direction in the franchise. Now I'm not really a fan of Marvel, (the only superhero I even like is Batman which is a DC property) and I don't think Star Trek should be overexposed on the big or small screen with many disparate movies and TV series happening all at once. Superhero franchises don't have the same concerns of world building and continuity as science fiction and if the Marvel model was attempted with Star Trek, it would all come crashing down eventually.
I think the better example to follow would be Star Wars which has always benefited from a centralized creative team that oversaw all of its media (books, comics, games, TV and movies). The Lucas organization made sure that all of this fit together to create a coherent universe with a rich history. Shadows of the Empire is a great example where Lucas Arts and Lucas Books came together in a joint multimedia project to produced a great story spanning a novel and comic series and a very entertaining video game. Disney is now following this model in continuing the franchise.
Star Trek is drifting without any larger direction, split between multiple license holders all doing their own thing. CBS is happy enough collecting its fees for these licenses and milking out TOS and Berman era Trek. No one seems to know or care about what to do with the franchise beyond the occasional film entry and churning out non-cannon and incongruous novels, comics and games. Star Trek needs a centralized creative team directing it and most of all it needs a return to television, if it is to have any success in the future. The current film series will putter out eventually after another entry or two, once it runs out of nostalgia to exploit.
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I was thinking about a comment on another thread-that if you bring in a new team, they will want to put their own stamp on the series. The JJ Klingons come to mind, as an example. If you were to bring in a new team for a new series, I imagine they would put their particular stamp on it, creating a product somewhat different from either Prime or JJ.
But that's not exactly what Altman said. He said:
DS9 may have been good at what it did—or in other words, it was a very high-quality production for what it was aiming for—but what it strove to be was not engaging enough to hold a steady audience. Even though the audience was never below the threshold for the show to be considered a failure, it was of course still steadily in decline over the whole run of the show.
As for Altman's other ideas, I have no comment at this time.
An Academy series (partially/increasingly set on ships as more characters graduate) could be the best bet, I could see a lot of viewers thinking that was more relatable and, since it wouldn't seem too tied to the events of past series, not so intimidating.
Otherwise Altman's ideas of revisiting what we've already seen would bomb, I don't think enough people are interested in an all-Klingon or Section 31 or especially a Harry Mudd direct-to-download, indeed they would make the stereotypes of the fans being obsessive worse.
Otherwise Altman's ideas of revisiting what we've already seen would bomb, I don't think enough people are interested in an all-Klingon or Section 31 or especially a Harry Mudd direct-to-download, indeed they would make the stereotypes of the fans being obsessive worse.
These seem like tiny niches, things that would likely appeal to only a fraction of the fans, let alone the general public.
So basically, Star Trek needs a unified direction and for CBS/Paramount to stop being assbutts with the IP. Nothing we didn't know before, and nothing that I see happening in the near future.
http://io9.com/how-to-turn-star-trek-into-the-next-marvel-movie-univer-1643498264
Glad to see someone else suggest giving Bryan Fuller a Trek series. And putting Trek on Showtime or CW is forward-thinking. The sci-fi Game of Thrones idea has legs, but putting Trek on the CW is a gamble. I don't want to see Trek largely concerned with the love triangles of pretty brats.
An all-Klingon movie could work, I think, if it was done whole-heartedly. Among the general public there is at least a vague idea of Klingons as fierce warriors, which is seen as a cool thing. This could be capitalised on. But it couldn't be cheap-looking, or too talky. Something with the mood of Guardians of the Galaxy would be effective. It might be contrary to the traditional Trek ethos, but it would (if done well) kick ass and make money.
Glad to see someone else suggest giving Bryan Fuller a Trek series. And putting Trek on Showtime or CW is forward-thinking. The sci-fi Game of Thrones idea has legs, but putting Trek on the CW is a gamble. I don't want to see Trek largely concerned with the love triangles of pretty brats.
An all-Klingon movie could work, I think, if it was done whole-heartedly. Among the general public there is at least a vague idea of Klingons as fierce warriors, which is seen as a cool thing. This could be capitalised on. But it couldn't be cheap-looking, or too talky. Something with the mood of Guardians of the Galaxy would be effective. It might be contrary to the traditional Trek ethos, but it would (if done well) kick ass and make money.
It certainly does, but I don't think Star Trek or Star Wars would really fit the bill. Maybe something more like Firefly.
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