Ok. What is the chance of a Picard spinoff?
- Thread starter ELCHawk
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It's replacing Disco.
Yes, but the concern is that Paramount+ probably needs to generally cut costs and therefore might not be able to afford to produce three live-action Star Trek shows (in this hypothetical, the three would be Strange New Worlds, Starfleet Academy, and Legacy) simultaneously anymore.
I think something else Paramount+ is almost certainly considering is whether the fan hype over Legacy will actually be sustainable without the cast of Next Generation starring in it. The only "legacy" character (no pun intended) would be Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine. She's enough to carry a show as the lead, but that doesn't mean she's enough to bring in PIC S3-level numbers. Fans are hyped now, but I'm not convinced they'll be as hyped in two or three years when Legacy would premiere if it were greenlit tomorrow.
On the other hand -- if Prodigy ends after S2, Starfleet Academy is designed to be cheaper to producer from the start, and they cut costs on Strange New Worlds, maybe that would free up enough budget for Legacy? This is pure speculation, though.
One thing to remember is that as far as casts go...Picard S3 was *really* expensive. All the main TNG actors are either active actors on screen or on stage or have constant fairly lucrative non-screen industry jobs (writing, producing, voice overs, teaching, etc)
Not having them all together at the same time for the entire series will be a little less spendy
Not having them all together at the same time for the entire series will be a little less spendy
Actually, they have enough legacy Trek character to help for the first season that aren’t the TNG cast. And these characters don’t need to be on screen at the same time for multiple episodes either.
Kira. Captain Harry Kim. Fenris Ranger Naomi Wildman. Admiral Janeway. Maybe even Tom Paris, Chakotay, The EMH Doctor. Maybe Odo appears and is played by Remy Auberjonois. Point being all of them have been suggested to appear on PIC at some point, though for various reasons never materialized. If each character get a couple of episodes a piece in Legacy’s first season, that would draw in a lot of fans. And then from there, the focus can be on the Legacy crew and not the guest actors
I don’t see Prodigy ending anytime soon, just because its voiceover work and some actors, even if they want to come back to Star Trek, don’t want to go through the makeup process again.
For example, you might not get Garak in Legacy, but you could get him for PRO or LD.
Sure, bringing some of them on as recurring guests or individual guest stars is a possibility, but you can't build a TV series with multiple seasons around bringing back one special guest after another. That's not a TV show, that's a band's Boomer nostalgia reunion tour.
All I know is, it hasn't been renewed for S3 yet, and they had to cut costs on S2 because the animation isn't cheap.
I think, eventually, Prodigy will be the gateway to the Legacy show. The kids will learn more about Voyager, Chakotay, etc.
Academy is surely replacing DISCO. Glad to see Trek staying in the 32nd.
Picard (LA shooting & actor pay) and DISCO (effects) were the 2 most expensive shows, by far. I get the feeling Academy could be more ground bound/DS9 ish. Less expensive.
I think 3 live action, ship shows may be too expensive. But 2 ship shows and a station show, all filming in Toronto, could be done. Especially if SNW is killing it.
Academy is surely replacing DISCO. Glad to see Trek staying in the 32nd.
Picard (LA shooting & actor pay) and DISCO (effects) were the 2 most expensive shows, by far. I get the feeling Academy could be more ground bound/DS9 ish. Less expensive.
I think 3 live action, ship shows may be too expensive. But 2 ship shows and a station show, all filming in Toronto, could be done. Especially if SNW is killing it.
As well as a good secondary jumping off point in to Star Trek not necessarily aimed at children.
Ugh. I've said it before and I'll say it again...
Boldly Going Where We've Already Gone Before.....
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Children are often regarded as both our legacy and future, this Sidney LaForge and Jack Crusher would be considered "legacy" characters as they carry TNG character namesakes into the future.
Seven of Nine is one of the better-developed characters in Star Trek history. She has transformed from a Borg drone to a Star Fleet Officer that was instrumental in defeating the Borg once and for all (maybe).
There is enough connection to those characters to build upon without relying on characters past and fan service. I don't think it will happen, but there is great potential.
Seven of Nine is one of the better-developed characters in Star Trek history. She has transformed from a Borg drone to a Star Fleet Officer that was instrumental in defeating the Borg once and for all (maybe).
There is enough connection to those characters to build upon without relying on characters past and fan service. I don't think it will happen, but there is great potential.
If Legacy does happen I hope it’s not a TNG, DS9 and VOY character of the week show. I love nostalgia and call backs but in moderation. Too much of a good thing is not good for long. You don’t want to overeat sugar or you’ll get a stomach ache.
Yeah but without them the Terry uberfans will turn on Terry and deem his Trek not-Trek and question the canonocity of it all.
It is actually the answer. It's explanation by comparing the media strategies of two long time peer franchises. In this respect, they are the same.
I like Prodigy and LD a lot, but they are absolutely accessories. Same as Bad Batch and Tales of the Jedi. Doesn't make them any worse. They're all great! But they orbit the live action core.
There you have it. Enjoy my answer.
I think Kelvinverse is dead. At this point it's an answer to a question no one asked. Paramount won't want to risk $200 million (or more) on shooting the film + $200 million in marketing for a film that will need to turn half a billion dollars globally to be marginally profitable. That model is seeing failures left and right with sci-fi and fantasy films. If it isn't Marvel (or evidently, Avatar), it's a roll of the dice if it makes many. Some work out like Mario. Some don't, like D&D (which despite being well reviewed, won't make back it's production + marketing budget).
Instead, Paramount will figure it wiser to do make films for Paramount+, which they are committed to, for a fraction the cost.
It's worth recalling how the Kevlinverse came about. Les Moonves became CEO of CBS 1.0 and President of Viacom 1.0, it's parent company. All Trek TV shows and movie plans were killed. Then Viacom split into CBS 2.0 + Viacom 2.0. The rights to Star Trek got split off. Moonves became CEO of CBS, while Viacom 2.0 was under Sumner Redstone's control (not gonna get into the weeds with National Amusements here). Viacom 2.0, which inherited the film rights to Star Trek (the TV rights stayed with CBS) initiated development of the Kelvinverse and it's 2 sequels. Star Trek stayed blocked at CBS until 2016, when in planning for Paramount+ and with Moonves planning on leaving, approval for Discovery got made. In 2019, several years after starting CBS All Access, CBS 2.0 + Viacom 2.0 merged with CBS 2.0 into a new company, ViacomCBS (renamed to Paramount Global), and CBS All Access became Paramount+.
Yes this sounds ridiculous, but it was about creating shareholder value during the conglomerate deconsolidation phase and as far as Trek fans are concerned, screwed up the rights to Star Trek. They're still sort of messed up, thanks to deals signed in advance of the merger, which is why the films are going up and down Paramount+ and doing runs on other services.
It will still be up to Paramount pictures to organize a new Kelvinverse film, whereas CBS Studios does TV Trek. They're still separate houses, but the financing is approved centrally (like all media companies like this). I just don't see it happening ever. If it was the 2012 or 2013 movie environment, sure, but the streaming era and the pandemic has blown everything up.
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In my mind, it would be much more a "character / theme of the season" type show. Season 1 = "Julian Bashir, section 31 leader and all the wonderful things he's done lately", Season 2 = "The Search for Neelix", Season 3= "Checking on on General Martok and the Klingons". Something like that, and roping the relevant characters in. Miles for S1, various old Delta Quadrant friends for S2, Martok, Worf, Alexander, and whoever else is Klingon adjacent for S3.
Picard Season 3 was largely bottle shows and Star: Trek Enterprise-level Space battles (with some CGI flourishes). That side of things was reportedly quite cheap compared to a show like Discovery and the challenge of doing Legacy would be to keep it similarly affordable (let's face it, redoing the enormous DS9 promenade set, like the Enterprise D bridge, will be hugely expensive). Legacy will want to probably follow that path if it is to co-exist with a lavishly produced SNW and whatever Starfleet Academy is (assume, like Discovery Season 4), which will necessitate creating art and having casting choices that last for all 10 episodes.
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