Non-Trek Trek?

[David.Blue]

Okay, we all know Star Trek Discovery is headed to the small screen next year. Star Trek Beyond is out and another movie may or may not be made.
But more, we know Paramount is at least making noises (sometimes very loudly) about fan productions, not least (at least imho) because they seem be increasingly high-quality. Axanar is merely the most obvious. The posted guidelines for "permissible" Star Trek fan productions boil down to--make it tiny, make it crap and pay us for it.
This makes me wonder if perhaps the franchise we all celebrate might be in the process of giving birth to something new? Consider how Renegades has dropped all references to things overtly Trek (well, as much as possible). Might the fan production community find a legally safe and also compelling direction to go? Simply avoid those details which can be definitely nailed down as belonging to Gene Roddenberry's creation and then--well, legally, the sky is the limit. Doesn't matter what mood Paramount might be in, or whether you pay your crew or sell t-shirts or dvds or what. Keep in mind the technology to create high-quality special effects and the like are only going to get easier and easier as time goes by...
So.
Is it possible fans will create the next iteration of Star Trek themselves, but do it by (just barely) not making it Star Trek at all?
Think about the basic premise--a starship crewed mostly by humans or some variations thereof, with a name from earth history, representing some kind of interplanetary alliance, commonwealth, hegemony, union, etc. The are explorers who also serve as the first line of defense for their multicultural civilization. Words and societies to discover. Secrets and mysteries to uncover. Dangers and phenomena to be faced. The crew of this starship in effect are heroes, a blend of the Argonauts with Gulliver, Horatio Hornblower meets Professor Challenger--in outer space. What about any of this violates copyright?
What do you think?

 

[Tenacity]

Generic enough and it might pass.

People in uniforms, with ray guns, space ships, transporters, etc. , there are certainly enough Youtube scifi videos with these.

Perhaps a "Forbidden Planet" story would fit what you're proposing.

 

[F. King Daniel]

To me, Stargate SG-1 felt more like a spiritual successor to Star Trek TOS than any of the sequel/spin-off series.

 

[kguru]

As long as it is original art it would probably be okay, though they would need to use unique ship designs for example as the design of the Enterprise is CBS intellectual property. The stories and technologies that exist could be used, though they couldn't call it Star Trek.

 

[Kor]

"High-quality" is subjective. Excellent special effects do not make a good movie or TV show.

Fan films often have issues with both acting and writing/storytelling that are simply weak and not up to the caliber of productions made by experienced industry professionals. This is why I am continually amused by the notion that fan films might be confused for the real thing, just because they might happen to have some cool visual effects.

Kor

 

[David.Blue]

My point is that by forcing all of us (or many of us) to create a Trek-esque franchise of our own, we might stumble upon something with real legs. Something that could lead to real quality. After all, lots of good actors out there who happened to appear in Star Trek. Lots of good writers. The raw ability to make films and series have widened dramatically, a trend that looks to continue.

 

[The Wormhole]

To me, Stargate SG-1 felt more like a spiritual successor to Star Trek TOS than any of the sequel/spin-off series.

Indeed, when Stargate did its starship based episodes, they did the "Star Trek in contemporary day" thing a lot better than Enterprise ever did.

 

[Tim Walker]

The transporters in SG-1 seem an obvious imitation of Trek. However, the Air Force ship used rail guns instead of phasers. Generally, using projectile weapons would set a show apart from Trek.

Distinctive uniforms, of course. Different symbols.

These are simply details. More important would be the tone of the show. Will the new show have an optimistic streak, like Trek? Or will it be grim dark?

 

[acappellasaurus]

If anyone is watching The Last Ship, I am finding a lot of the Star Trek "heart" going on there, even though it is a US military, conflict based show. A very Kirk-like Captain, some civilian "advisor" types in the mix, etc.

 

[Jedman67]

The transporters in SG-1 seem an obvious imitation of Trek. However, the Air Force ship used rail guns instead of phasers. Generally, using projectile weapons would set a show apart from Trek.

Distinctive uniforms, of course. Different symbols.

These are simply details. More important would be the tone of the show. Will the new show have an optimistic streak, like Trek? Or will it be grim dark?

Had SG-1 started off with Season 9 spaceships and transporters, they may very well have received a C&D from CBS. With the previous 9 seasons showing how the different technologies evolved, where they come from as well as a nice mythology to follow, it certainly carried the spirit of TOS for a bit without being overtly too "star trek-ish". Atlantis kind of blurred that line a bit more.

 

[wayoung]

Master and Commander : The Far Side Of The World is the best Trek movie not called The Wrath Of Khan.

Not quite what the OP is going for, I know, but still that's my response to best trek film not called Trek

 

[David.Blue]

DAvid Weber has generated a mini-industry by creating his own space opera Horatio Hornblower. Why not others doing some variation of the same? The US Civil War in outer space about the use of androids for instance?

 

[Jedman67]

DAvid Weber has generated a mini-industry by creating his own space opera Horatio Hornblower. Why not others doing some variation of the same? The US Civil War in outer space about the use of androids for instance?

Honor Harrington was heavily influenced by Horatia Hornblower. The whole plot starts to unravel in the last couple books with all the wacko Mesan Alignment business. But you forget, Honor Harrington was written by an established author who already had some solid successes under his belt, and had planned for something of an epic series.
His lesser known Dahak Trilogy (AKA Mutineers Moon) in my opinion is a much better series despite being only 3 books and leaving you wanting for more.

 

[David.Blue]

Honor Harrington was heavily influenced by Horatia Hornblower. The whole plot starts to unravel in the last couple books with all the wacko Mesan Alignment business. But you forget, Honor Harrington was written by an established author who already had some solid successes under his belt, and had planned for something of an epic series.
His lesser known Dahak Trilogy (AKA Mutineers Moon) in my opinion is a much better series despite being only 3 books and leaving you wanting for more.

Yeah, established authors have it easier.

And?

 

[Tim Walker]

Awhile back I posted about FTL communications. Two consideration: 1. bandwidth 2. rate of transmission

The point of FT: communications is to advance the plot.

I'm thinking in terms of very low bandwidth, with very slow messaging. Slower than a telegraph.

In effect, giving wagon-train-to-the-stars high tech smoke signals.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Seems like this thread really wants to be in Fan Productions, so....

 

[uniderth]

I find that concept really interesting of having a show that is Star Trek just without the Star Trek(TM). You could have the show fit perfectly into established timeline, continuity, etc. Just avoid the big (C).

 

[Matthew Raymond]

I find that concept really interesting of having a show that is Star Trek just without the Star Trek(TM). You could have the show fit perfectly into established timeline, continuity, etc. Just avoid the big (C).

An alternative would be to create a "spiritual successor". Star Trek is 50 years old, and a lot of its history and technology make less sense as time goes by. (I'm looking at you, colorful proto-floppy disks that are already obsolete!) We might want to keep the morality play format, optimistic tone and hopeful space exploration theme, but totally reinvent some aspects of the show and incorporate elements of modern sci-fi such as cyberpunk and transhumanism.

The down side of such a spiritual successor is that it's a lot of work to create a universe from scratch. A squishy, vague sorta-Trek that doesn't directly contradict Star Trek lore would be much easier, though probably less satisfying in the end.

 

[uniderth]

(I'm looking at you, colorful proto-floppy disks that are already obsolete!)

I'm guessing you don't use flash drives much.

But as see what you're saying. Though I don't know why those things could be incorporated into a Star Trek production. I actually prefer the Kirk era, simplified, lack of explanation tech. Because it lets your mind fill in the blank as to what it does and how it operates. And that allows the technology the option of being more advanced than it seems, or was intended. The Enterprise bridge can still be advanced, becasue we don't know what's in all the nooks and crannies.

 

[Phoenix219]

Master and Commander : The Far Side Of The World is the best Trek movie not called The Wrath Of Khan.

Not quite what the OP is going for, I know, but still that's my response to best trek film not called Trek

I just read the description, and now I must go watch this movie.

I would love to see the outer space re-imagining of that storyline. Wow, that would be perfect.