Ok. What is the chance of a Picard spinoff?

[TerryTrek]

Is it?

Discovery gave the world Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

And? Cheap reality TV that gets some bank for the network. Sounds like a business move that Zaslav would go for. Has nothing to do with expensive scripted programming.

Warner has its own debt issues to deal with stemming from ITS merger with Discovery Networks.

There's nothing to be gained from piling debt upon debt.

Netflix has been angling for a studio (it's been staring longingly at Paramount's studio in L.A.).

David Ellison's Skydance Media is also a contender (and yes, he is the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison).

Regardless, Warners (Zaslav) has actually had reported official talks with Paramount (Bob Bakish).

The Trades, CNN, CNBC, and all the outlets all reported on this WB/Paramount discussion intentionally. Whether it's a negotiating tactic or not. It wouldn't have gotten out there in this manner if there wasn't real legitimacy to it.

 

[James Cole]

I'd rather not speculate (I've gotten burned in the past when I've done it. )

Ahh half the fun in sticking around here is the speculation.

You mean WB Discovery. Zaslav will produce Star Trek, but thankfully it's unlikely to be Secret Hideout.

New regime if this merger happens.

Paramount will have to merge/be absorbed with someone in order to stay afloat, so change is coming in 2024 : ) It will be fun to see how this plays out.

I guess, I'd put it this way...

What are the odds that at the end of December 2024, Paramount Global still exists as a standalone entity with standalone streaming service Paramount+Showtime still under Sheri Redstone / National Amusements? <20%

What are the odds WBD takes over Paramount Global in its entirety? <10%

More likely, maybe... WBD and Skydance divvy up Paramount Global.

Netflix has been angling for a studio (it's been staring longingly at Paramount's studio in L.A.).

David Ellison's Skydance Media is also a contender (and yes, he is the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison).

Skydance is also very close to Tom Cruise. So if we really really want to get into crazy speculation territory... does Cruise have a long memory with Kurtzman over The Mummy? Whereas Christopher McQuarrie (who gradually took over the Mission: Impossible films from Bad Robot) is a known major Star Trek fan. Who also just co-wrote the last M:I film with the guy who did the Earth-Romulan War script in the mid-2000s.

But, more back down to Earth, Skydance taking over Paramount would make a tie up with Apple+ more likely, as Skydance makes many of Apple+'s shows.

 

[TerryTrek]

Skydance is also very close to Tom Cruise. So if we really really want to get into crazy speculation territory... does Cruise have a long memory with Kurtzman over The Mummy? Whereas Christopher McQuarrie (who gradually took over the Mission: Impossible films from Bad Robot) is a known major Star Trek fan. Who also just co-wrote the last M:I film with the guy who did the Earth-Romulan War script in the mid-2000s.

A McQuarrie Star Trek film... damn. Sign me up.

That would be the right type of approach to give Star Trek the 4-Quadrant appeal it would need to succeed theatrically.

MI Fallout was brilliant.

 

[Lord Garth]

Hmmm. I'm unconvinced anything will change -- for the streaming shows -- before 2027.

As far as the movies... a McQuarrie Star Trek film sounds like the type of thing that would put them back on the cinematic map.

 

[Danja]

More likely, maybe... WBD and Skydance divvy up Paramount Global.

Warner wants Paramount's local CBS affiliates (The CW is too small for Warner's liking).

 

[somebuddyX]

I'm in favour of a spinoff and I think they should do a prequel series to Picard but actually go back a bit and have it set aboard the Enterprise-D

 

[The Wormhole]

I'm in favour of a spinoff and I think they should do a prequel series to Picard but actually go back a bit and have it set aboard the Enterprise-D

We've already got seven seasons and one movie set aboard the Enterprise D covering the ship's launch to its destruction. There's nothing else to do there.

 

[HotRod]

We've already got seven seasons and one movie set aboard the Enterprise D covering the ship's launch to its destruction. There's nothing else to do there.

It'll be like one of those home restoration shows on HGTV, only it'll be about Geordi restoring the Enterprise-D.

 

[Citiprime]

We've already got seven seasons and one movie set aboard the Enterprise D covering the ship's launch to its destruction. There's nothing else to do there.

We've had 5 seasons (across 2 different TV series) and 6 movies (in 2 universes) set aboard the original NCC-1701 Enterprise, using many of the same characters.

How would a TNG update or series set in a interstitial period be any different than Strange New Worlds?

 

[Lord Garth]

The original Enterprise (original, don't give me that NX-01 crap) had gaps in its history. The ship has a 40-year history, and we didn't see all 40 years. So, it makes sense for SNW to take place during one of those gaps.

The Enterprise-D is something we saw for its entire seven-year service history. No gaps.

If they ever do a prequel series with Picard, it'll be on the Stargazer. If they want to do a series aboard another Galaxy Class Ship, it'll be another Galaxy Class Ship. It wouldn't be the Enterprise-D.

If Legacy is made and the Enterprise-G ever visits the Enterprise-D, that's how you'd see it. If Picard is visiting the Enterprise-D in his Picard movie, that's another way you'd see it. But it would be the Enterprise-D during Picard or Legacy's time, as a museum ship.

 

[Citiprime]

There are small gaps in the Enterprise-D history that if you wanted to do a limited series you could wedge a story into. For example, if we go with the pretty well established idea that 1,000 units of a stardate equals 1 year. There's about a 6-8 month gap between All Good Things and Generations, or roughly the equivalent of 2/3rds of an entire season of TNG there.

 

[somebuddyX]

We've already got seven seasons and one movie set aboard the Enterprise D covering the ship's launch to its destruction. There's nothing else to do there.

I still think there's something to it. I think we could do 7 seasons, maybe 170 or so episodes. Give it a late 80s or early 90s aesthetic.

 

[fireproof78]

How would a TNG update or series set in a interstitial period be any different than Strange New Worlds?

Less interesting, more time on the ship, and the characters are not the same.

Hard pass.

 

[The Wormhole]

We've had 5 seasons (across 2 different TV series) and 6 movies (in 2 universes) set aboard the original NCC-1701 Enterprise, using many of the same characters.

Completely wrong. There were only three movies with the original 1701. TVH is set primarily on a Klingon BoP while TFF and TUC are set on the Enterprise A. And besides, as mentioned above, that's five consecutive years, plus one adventure set two years later and two more set a dozen years after that of a ship which had a forty year service history spanning four captains and command crews. Compare that to the Enterprise D, which was in service for eight years with the same captain and command crew (more or less) the entire time.

There are small gaps in the Enterprise-D history that if you wanted to do a limited series you could wedge a story into.

Very small gaps. There's what, a few days, maybe a week of the ship being in service prior to Farpoint? Maybe a handful of months between seasons 1 and 2 and 2 and 3 (as the first and second seasons didn't end on cliffhangers). Maybe another couple months between seasons 4 and 5. That's not a lot to build a TV series around.

There's about a 6-8 month gap between All Good Things and Generations,

The ship would have been getting a refit during that time period to have its interior match what we saw in Generations. Factor that it, you have considerably less time to work with.

 

[Citiprime]

Completely wrong. There were only three movies with the original 1701.

You didn’t count the Kelvin Universe movies, which would make 6.

That’s a version of the NCC-1701 (as much as the Enterprise in Strange New Worlds is), and it’s variations of the same characters as much as the Kirk and Spock in SNW are.

 

[The Wormhole]

You didn’t count the Kelvin Universe movies, which would make 6.

They take place in a different timeline, so that's not really the same ship and crew.

Or is that what we're really discussing here, the Enterprise D in the Kelvin or some other timeline? If so, some clarity earlier on would have been nice.

 

[HotRod]

That’s a version of the NCC-1701 (as much as the Enterprise in Strange New Worlds is), and it’s variations of the same characters as much as the Kirk and Spock in SNW are.

No.

 

[Citiprime]

They take place in a different timeline, so that's not really the same ship and crew.

Strange New Worlds isn’t in the same timeline either. The show itself has made that explicitly clear that the timeline has changed.

Is it not the same ship and crew?

To differentiate it from Kelvin at this point is to make a distinction without a difference.

 

[The Wormhole]

Strange New Worlds isn’t in the same timeline either.

It is according to all official sources.

The show itself has made that explicitly clear that the timeline has changed.

They must not have gotten that memo in the Lower Decks crossover episode.

 

[fireproof78]

Strange New Worlds isn’t in the same timeline either.

Yup, it is.

To differentiate it from Kelvin at this point is to make a distinction without a difference.

Not really, no. Kelvin is set up to be very different, and the characters are eventually made aware of this due to time travel shenanigans. But, SNW is portrayed, and has been since Pike showed up on Discovery, as part of TOS. So, yes, it is important to make a distinction between them and the Kelvin crew.