Next Series: does it have to be an "official" series?

[TheSubCommander]

This is more of a question that the many threads in the Future of Trek forum that are titled or related to "what is the next series you want to see?"

At this point, I think it is pretty clear that the Prime Universe is done, as far as an official, CBS/Paramount point of view. It ain't ever coming back, folks. The Reboot films have made sure of that. CBS/Paramount doesn't even seem interested in a series, and even if they were, it won't be a return to the prime universe. It would likely be a continuation of the Abramsverse, or perhaps more likely, another reboot.

But for the fans who want a return to the prime universe, there are a plethora of fan series out there. At this point, why isn't that enough? Some of those films have an intentional production quality equal to TOS (though it could be higher, they want to have the TOS look and feel), with the potential of being on par with DS9/VOY/ENT, at a minimum. Axanar seems like it may even be on par with the reboot BSG, as far as production quality and FX.

And besides, what has CBS/Paramount done for you lately, anyway? They won't even convert DS9 and VOY to Bluray. Not to bash on the reboot films, because to me at least with Star Trek 2009, it's a good film, and a lot of people like them both. Star Trek Beyond may in fact be a good film, as well. So far the reboot films have made a lot of money, after all. They can still exist, too. But CBS/Paramount clearly doesn't care about the fans who want to see more prime universe. The bone that was thrown to those fans was basically Star Trek Online, and not suing Trek Fan series out of existence. Why not take advantage of it? With crowdfunding, basically the potential is limitless.


So why then, must the "next series" have to be a syndicated "officially sanctioned" show? Isn't fan projects enough? Many people consider books canon, why not these fan series? In fact, at this point, wouldn't it be fair to say that such an "official" show would be encumbered by many of the things people didn't like about Voyager or Enterprise, that a fan series just won't have? At least the fan series make an effort to be what prime universe Trek fans want Star Trek to be.

SO why then, is it important for some fans to worry about the "Next Trek Series" coming from CBS/Paramount? Is it because of branding and it has to be "official" for you to like it? Or is it another reason?

 

[Warped9]

Fan productions simply can't put out the same quantity as a studio and network backed series. They just don't have the time and money. As much as we can enjoy a fan production it can be a looong wait between episodes.

JJtrek simply showed Trek could be rebooted, but really we already knew that since TNG.

 

[C.E. Evans]

At this point, I think it is pretty clear that the Prime Universe is done, as far as an official, CBS/Paramount point of view. It ain't ever coming back, folks.

Unless one works for CBS or Paramount, one can't really predict what either will do, though. Otherwise, the only ones saying the Prime Universe is done are fans when the truth is that nobody actually knows that for certain. Heck, for all we know, even the Abramsverse could only have one or two more films left to it before it's done and something else follows it.

So why then, must the "next series" have to be a syndicated "officially sanctioned" show?

Legal ownership (i.e., CBS getting paid millions).

Isn't fan projects enough? Many people consider books canon, why not these fan series?

Many people--if not more people--don't consider books canon.

 

[BillJ]

SO why then, is it important for some fans to worry about the "Next Trek Series" coming from CBS/Paramount? Is it because of branding and it has to be "official" for you to like it? Or is it another reason?

From a quality standpoint, the fan offerings suffer rather badly.

 

[Dukhat]

And besides, what has CBS/Paramount done for you lately, anyway?

CBS has done all kinds of things for us lately. They just don't have anything to do with Star Trek.

But CBS/Paramount clearly doesn't care about the fans who want to see more prime universe. The bone that was thrown to those fans was basically Star Trek Online, and not suing Trek Fan series out of existence.

This, and the above quote, sound like you believe we as fans are entitled to having Star Trek the way "we" want it ("we" is quoted to make point that no one fan is going to agree totally with another fan as to what "we" want.) We aren't entitled to shit. TV studios don't make shows for fans. They make shows to make money. If they made shows for fans, then shows would never get cancelled because of low ratings.

Isn't fan projects enough?

Hell no.

Many people consider books canon, why not these fan series?

Not even the authors of those books consider their books to be canon.

So why then, is it important for some fans to worry about the "Next Trek Series" coming from CBS/Paramount? Is it because of branding and it has to be "official" for you to like it? Or is it another reason?

Simple: because whatever CBS/Paramount puts out will be infinitely better than a fan production.

 

[DeMilburn]

I think Mr SubCommander has a valid point to some extent. I see were he is coming from. However I think the reason a lot of fans want the universe to carry on with CBS/Paramount is because it would be part of the trek universe whether that be reboot or not.
I think we can look at the Star Wars situation here, many fans followed the exploits of the expanded universe for many years in books and comics all of which where considered cannon of the main film series. Then Disney bought it and decided that everything that came before it is now not considered cannon. So all those amazing stories are now just fan fiction. That can be dissapointing. At least with Trek we know the 'expanded universe' has always been none cannon.
So the unofficial series and specials and movies, although may be really good (and sometimes poor) they will never be considered cannon and part of the universe we love.
Personally I dont care who makes the next offical series. I would love CBS to sell the rights of to another network who would make a series but that will neveer happen
I also personally think there will be another TV series soon, once the JJ verse films are done, whether that be after ST Beyond or a couple of more films. Maybe in 5 years or 10 years, bit I do think it will come back to TV.

 

[TheSubCommander]

Thanks for the responses, thus far. To be clear, I am not particularly advocating one way or another. I am being sort of a devil's advocate I suppose, but mostly curious to responses for discussion's sake.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I have to admit I'm looking forward to Axanar far more than I am NuTrek 3, but it's still not the same as having an actual series, with regular episodes and high production values.

Yes the new movies and flashy and shiny, but they don't really have much in the way of substances. Trek is first and foremost a product of/for television, which is where it needs to return too.

 

[Tarek71]

Regular Doctor Who was off TV for 16 years. TV Trek will be back eventually. I enjoy some of the fan productions, but there is a painful quality gap. There's no real comparison.

 

[fireproof78]

For me, I think consistency is part of my enjoyment. Regardless of if the episode was a comedy or more serious drama, there was also a certain feel of consistency to the performance and production than fan productions. This isn't a slam against any fan production, because they really are two different playing fields. Most fan productions I enjoy will see inconsistencies in terms of acting, production values, etc. Professional productions do to, just no in such swings.

I enjoyed Abrams Trek and the character development and social commentary that runs throughout, but that could have been done through a TV series too. Regardless, I think Trek benefits from a TV show's pace, and that is something that professional shows do very well, and consistently.

 

[TheSubCommander]

I have to admit I'm looking forward to Axanar far more than I am NuTrek 3, but it's still not the same as having an actual series, with regular episodes and high production values.

Yes the new movies and flashy and shiny, but they don't really have much in the way of substances. Trek is first and foremost a product of/for television, which is where it needs to return too.

See Axanar is exactly the type of fan series I am talking about. Point taken on if you want to see a more regular production schedule, but Axanar is doing exactly what I was talking about: crowd funding. Not to mention they are drafting professional actors, some of whom actually were in past Star Trek series, as well as from what I can tell, the FX are pretty damn good. Maybe not JJ movies level, but certainly at the very least, on par with Nu-BSG, or maybe Nemesis.

 

[JoeZhang]

[. Maybe not JJ movies level

By maybe surely you mean 'absolutely'.

 

[Mudd]

Isn't fan projects enough? Many people consider books canon, why not these fan series?

"Enough" for what? People who want to, watch fan series now.

If you want to engage a mass audience like previous "official" Trek shows did, fan series would have to improve by several orders of magnitude.

 

[sojourner]

Does it have to be an "official" series? no. Just watch The Last Ship. It's the best Star Trek show of the last 15 years.

 

[uniderth]

This topic really strikes at the heart of how canon is defined. Traditionally this has meant "everything seen on screen." But then that would mean that gender bender Shatner commercial is canon and in-universe the Enterprise-D really had jokes on the door labels. So I think you can't just say, "everything seen on screen is canon." There must be other stipulations that define the "facts" of the Star Trek universe. Is being "official" one of those stipulations?

Just look at Enterprise. It had four season seen on screen and it's not canon.

 

[Nerys Myk]

This topic really strikes at the heart of how canon is defined. Traditionally this has meant "everything seen on screen." But then that would mean that gender bender Shatner commercial is canon and in-universe the Enterprise-D really had jokes on the door labels. So I think you can't just say, "everything seen on screen is canon." There must be other stipulations that define the "facts" of the Star Trek universe. Is being "official" one of those stipulations?

Just look at Enterprise. It had four season seen on screen and it's not canon.

Sure it is. Canon isn't continuity. Canon is the collected work: The movies and TV shows. It's not Kirk's serial number, the shape of Enterprise-D nacelles or the color of McCoy's eyes.

Anyway Enterprise is currently part of the continuity.

 

[Esirprus]

This is more of a question that the many threads in the Future of Trek forum that are titled or related to "what is the next series you want to see?"

At this point, I think it is pretty clear that the Prime Universe is done, as far as an official, CBS/Paramount point of view. It ain't ever coming back, folks. The Reboot films have made sure of that. CBS/Paramount doesn't even seem interested in a series, and even if they were, it won't be a return to the prime universe. It would likely be a continuation of the Abramsverse, or perhaps more likely, another reboot.

But for the fans who want a return to the prime universe, there are a plethora of fan series out there. At this point, why isn't that enough? Some of those films have an intentional production quality equal to TOS (though it could be higher, they want to have the TOS look and feel), with the potential of being on par with DS9/VOY/ENT, at a minimum. Axanar seems like it may even be on par with the reboot BSG, as far as production quality and FX.

And besides, what has CBS/Paramount done for you lately, anyway? They won't even convert DS9 and VOY to Bluray. Not to bash on the reboot films, because to me at least with Star Trek 2009, it's a good film, and a lot of people like them both. Star Trek Beyond may in fact be a good film, as well. So far the reboot films have made a lot of money, after all. They can still exist, too. But CBS/Paramount clearly doesn't care about the fans who want to see more prime universe. The bone that was thrown to those fans was basically Star Trek Online, and not suing Trek Fan series out of existence. Why not take advantage of it? With crowdfunding, basically the potential is limitless.


So why then, must the "next series" have to be a syndicated "officially sanctioned" show? Isn't fan projects enough? Many people consider books canon, why not these fan series? In fact, at this point, wouldn't it be fair to say that such an "official" show would be encumbered by many of the things people didn't like about Voyager or Enterprise, that a fan series just won't have? At least the fan series make an effort to be what prime universe Trek fans want Star Trek to be.

SO why then, is it important for some fans to worry about the "Next Trek Series" coming from CBS/Paramount? Is it because of branding and it has to be "official" for you to like it? Or is it another reason?

Because the fans don't have a leader. A conglomerate which is what CBS is. As a result I myself who am working on fan fic don't want it out there online but television. CBS is in the roll of a coordinator saying 'but this series flies in the face of that one! You can't do this!' Or more accurately should be in that roll. And the fans like me don't want to watch conflicting Star Trek. The beauty of Star Trek was that unlike most sci-fi, it carried with it a feel of 'this could be our future!' And a hopeful one at that. With conflicting plot-lines however it takes on a twilight zone type feel which is NOT why I watch Star Trek. Sotelevision produced is more along the lines of something stamped with the USDA seal. You know it's largely meaningless but it makes you feel better anyway.