Okay guys. *This* really IS a good idea for a new series.

[Warped9]

TOS and TNG periodically had dark and chilling elements and there's nothing wrong with it. I could certainly see a new Star Trek delving into some X-Files like territory depending how it's handled.

 

[JarodRussell]

If you're going to make that level of change, why not go all the way and call it something else entirely?

That's what they did in TNG. If you change the characters, they aren't the same. So you have to rename them. Had they kept Kirk's name for the bald French captain who always stays on the bridge, or had they called the android Spock, and the black blind engineer Scotty, it would have been silly.

 

[2takesfrakes]

So introducing a little darkness into Star Trek is wrong?

It's just that there is a tendency in fictional entertainment, regardless of the genre or format, to get to a certain point with a character, institution, or whole 'universe,' maybe, and then to deconstruct it. On one hand, this can be - and many times is - a very interesting exercise. STAR TREK's Mirror Universe, for example. On the other hand, it comes across as laziness and bereft of creativity, for one thing. Like having an alien "spirit" possess an established character on a television series, as if trying to get even more mileage out of its main cast. Despite the assurances of many Creative People - and young parents, in particular - "imagination" does have limits and this sort of thing is a case in point. Can't think of anything new? Start deconstructing, screwing around with and cheapening what you've already established.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

If S31 is a competent organization then I suspect they never would have put all their eggs solely in London and upon the Vengeance.

Hell, the events of ID may be what lead it to become a covert organization in this timeline.

Or some "patriot" will establish a new organization and simply appropriate the name. Finding people who believe the ends always justify the means has never been a challenge.

That said, it's not a storyline I care to pursue.

Simply because your idea of the Federation and Starfleet is that of a thing that can't be anything but pure, it seems.

If that's the case, then why are you a fan (if you are one) of DS9, where this subplot was generated?

 

[DonIago]

Where are you getting your understanding of my ideas of the Federation and Starfleet? I'm hardly the type to link every corrupt admiral, etc. to S31, for instance. In fact, it bugged me when the novels linked the events of INS to S31.

And even if I was opposed to the S31 storyline in general, which I'm not, I'd hardly be the first fan of a franchise who neverthless disliked certain aspects of the franchise. You might as well say, "If you dislike Wesley Crusher, why are you a fan of TNG?"

 

[Hober Mallow]

Between this

"The Section 31 Protocols"

...bear with me...I hear your eyes rolling.

Setting: NuTrek universe
Time: About the same as NuTrek
Premise: My fanboy theory that Spock had to allow himself to be debriefed on future threats. The reasoning being that events as he knows them have been obliterated. Polluting the timeline? The timeline is a Legos Enterprise stuck in a barrel and sent over Niagra Falls. It would be incredibly irresponsible not to tell the Federation about the pancake creatures or that the Gorn have claimed Cestus III. And it's naive to subtly push the Enterprise towards any lingering threat and hope for the best.

No, Starfleet would need to create an entire division to deal with these threats. And that's where our heroes come in. One starship (among many) to deal with threats familiar to our audience.

...bear with me....

It doesn't just HAVE to be the USS Chekov's Gun boringly shoving a fusion bomb hidden in an asteroid down the Doomsday Machine's maw. No, the reasoning behind familiar threats is keep the audience grounded in the familiar and give them anticipation. Our heroes would also get into their own adventures.

Another running plot could be, "Can the Feds be trusted with this info?" It only took them two years to grab some augments, tap Khan's brain, try and start a war and render their entire fleet (including the brand new Enterprise) obsolete.

There's several ways this could go.

and this

Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise explore strange new worlds.

which do you think has more audience appeal?

Understand, I'm not trying to s*** on your ideas, but I think sticking to the source material and to a broad scope allows more storytelling possibilities. You could do the kind of story you want to do one week, then switch gears and do something like a classic SF tale. Why limit the storytelling possibilities, potentially limiting the audience?

 

[BillJ]

Understand, I'm not trying to s*** on your ideas, but I think sticking to the source material and to a broad scope allows more storytelling possibilities. You could do the kind of story you want to do one week, then switch gears and do something like a classic SF tale. Why limit the storytelling possibilities, potentially limiting the audience?

I think people really undervalue the flexibility of the format Roddenberry set up with TOS and TNG. You can tell essentially any type of story without it seeming forced into the show. Medical drama one week, court drama another week and spy drama another then mix in light-hearted fare here and there.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I think people really undervalue the flexibility of the format Roddenberry set up with TOS and TNG. You can tell essentially any type of story without it seeming forced into the show. Medical drama one week, court drama another week and spy drama another then mix in light-hearted fare here and there.

So very true. What other series can boast such a feat?

 

[OpenMaw]

The anthologies of Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. The westerns that preceded Trek were quite flexible. Which is why Gene used that as part of his pitch.

I really do enjoy re-reading that original 1964 pitch by Gene. The palpable enthusiasm and wide scope for ideas is very apparent. There's still quite a lot of material that could be extrapolated from it.