Honestly, a Short Trek showing Prime Lorca arriving in the MU would be frigging GOLD.
Perhaps Pike mini series is better?
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Honestly, a Short Trek showing Prime Lorca arriving in the MU would be frigging GOLD.
Maybe he isn't in the Mirror universe. That could be an interesting twist.
Unfortunately it feels like CBS doesn't want to do any more TOS era stuff.
People on Reddit speculated they spent lots of money on building the Enterprise set for a reason, and that reason is for a spinoff, but I could see that reason simply being, this is THE END of live-action TOS stuff, so they decided to go out with a bang.
Similarly I could see this new Picard series being the swansong for TNG era.
Aside from the known issues of cast availability / negotiations and creative decisions, format would be be a big choice for this show.
I’m not sure what the right answers are but I guess the potential issues are these, in no particular order...
1. Mini-series vs. Full series?
Given that a full series often runs to 10-15 episodes these days, rather than the 22 per year we saw around the TNG era, what would that make a mini-series...?
2. Fully serialised story-arc vs. individual story-per-episode?
Either could work, and so could self-contained stories following an underlying arc.
3. Stick to roughly hour-long episodes or go for longer to expand story-telling potential?
For a primarily streamed service, the need to fit a one-hour or 90-min broadcast slot (including commercials) is much less relevant. I guess this choice also depends on 1 and 2 and cast availability.
4. Where is the threshold of audience saturation?
With DSC ongoing, the new Picard series and maybe the Section 31 series (+/- a fourth Kelvinverse movie...?), how much would be too much before it becomes counter-productive? If there is a fourth movie (rights and contractual implications aside), how would the general non-fan audience react to two parallel iterations of the Enterprise with Spock?
Personally, I’d rather see a Pike series than JJ-4 or S-31but I accept that may not be for everyone.
My feeling would be that if Mount / Romijn / Peck weren’t available for a full season shoot then up to half a dozen 60- to 80-minute episodes could work well. If DSC remains at 12-14 episodes per season then there’s plenty of time to delay the schedule of release dates so that the two don’t clash or overlap, even if some of the shooting did.
I’d also be inclined to suggest that whichever story format one follows, then the other should do something different — full arc vs. individual episode/hybrid. Some degree of story arc is probably better in terms of maintaining audience interest and I suspect that, given the way small-screen story-telling has matured since the idea syndicated story-of-the week in fixed time-slots, it’s also likely to be expected by a large proportion of the potential audience.
Is the Picard series intended to be a single story-arc over a one-off season single season? Accepting that this might change if it’s very popular (and if Sir Pat wants to keep doing it), then presumably any Pike series would fill that “slot” in the Trek line-up the following year...?
The BBC had a lot of success with Sherlock which ran as a number of short series of feature-length episodes. Availability of the stars and the duration and complexity of the shoots restricted their frequency to one series every few years — but that seemed to work in their favour in terms of maintaining audience anticipation of each series. That sort of approach might work very well for a Pike series.
I’m not sure what the right answers are but I guess the potential issues are these, in no particular order...
1. Mini-series vs. Full series?
Given that a full series often runs to 10-15 episodes these days, rather than the 22 per year we saw around the TNG era, what would that make a mini-series...?
2. Fully serialised story-arc vs. individual story-per-episode?
Either could work, and so could self-contained stories following an underlying arc.
3. Stick to roughly hour-long episodes or go for longer to expand story-telling potential?
For a primarily streamed service, the need to fit a one-hour or 90-min broadcast slot (including commercials) is much less relevant. I guess this choice also depends on 1 and 2 and cast availability.
4. Where is the threshold of audience saturation?
With DSC ongoing, the new Picard series and maybe the Section 31 series (+/- a fourth Kelvinverse movie...?), how much would be too much before it becomes counter-productive? If there is a fourth movie (rights and contractual implications aside), how would the general non-fan audience react to two parallel iterations of the Enterprise with Spock?
Personally, I’d rather see a Pike series than JJ-4 or S-31but I accept that may not be for everyone.
My feeling would be that if Mount / Romijn / Peck weren’t available for a full season shoot then up to half a dozen 60- to 80-minute episodes could work well. If DSC remains at 12-14 episodes per season then there’s plenty of time to delay the schedule of release dates so that the two don’t clash or overlap, even if some of the shooting did.
I’d also be inclined to suggest that whichever story format one follows, then the other should do something different — full arc vs. individual episode/hybrid. Some degree of story arc is probably better in terms of maintaining audience interest and I suspect that, given the way small-screen story-telling has matured since the idea syndicated story-of-the week in fixed time-slots, it’s also likely to be expected by a large proportion of the potential audience.
Is the Picard series intended to be a single story-arc over a one-off season single season? Accepting that this might change if it’s very popular (and if Sir Pat wants to keep doing it), then presumably any Pike series would fill that “slot” in the Trek line-up the following year...?
The BBC had a lot of success with Sherlock which ran as a number of short series of feature-length episodes. Availability of the stars and the duration and complexity of the shoots restricted their frequency to one series every few years — but that seemed to work in their favour in terms of maintaining audience anticipation of each series. That sort of approach might work very well for a Pike series.
I think too much Pike Enterprise wouldn't be great because people would just lose interest, but a mini-series would be perfect. Either as a 4-6 episode serialised story or split into a couple of stories like S4 Enterprise, or BBC Sherlock style 2-3 feature length self contained episodes.
The Section 31 series is set in the TOS era though.
You don't know that with any certainty.
A mini series is the way forward imo
Three or four 50+ minute shows and maybe a 90 minute finale to set the path on the way to Kirk's era.
Maybe a 90 minute reimagining of "The Cage" and a sign post to "The Menagerie"
Three or four 50+ minute shows and maybe a 90 minute finale to set the path on the way to Kirk's era.
Maybe a 90 minute reimagining of "The Cage" and a sign post to "The Menagerie"
That would be awesome
I would even settle for a Prime Lorca takes over the Terran Empire short-trek
Streaming series, Mini-Streaming series, or hell, one or two CBSAA streaming Star Trek Pike-based feature length films on occasion is fine with me. I like what they did with the character, and don't mind see that 1701 Bridge set over and over and over...
If they do go ahead with a Pike series (of whatever format), I suspect the showrunners and writers won’t necessarily have a definite end-point in mind, at least initially, but I guess this one will always be tricky, given that there really is some predestination established for Pike.
This character — and particularly Mount’s portrayal of him — has become very popular, both within the fan community and with the broader audience. Given that they have already touched on the accident and the injuries that led up to the events of The Menagerie, perhaps it would be kinder to the character to allow him to go out on a high instead — and without overshadowing that ending with a character from another series.
My instinctive feel for this is that they should aim to finish the last season of a Pike show with Pike’s promotion / appointment to Fleet Captain (it’s referred to directly as a promotion in the dialog of The Menagerie) and the handover of command of the Enterprise to Kirk. Better yet, have the last few beats of the series be Pike talking to Spock, who’s staying aboard, and then close with the two of them then heading off down the corridor to the change-of-command ceremony, without ever actually needing to show JTK.
The general reception of the character is very positive and it certainly sounds like the producers are open to the possibility of developing this. Given that The Cage has already happened and they are free to just have whatever adventures from a Pike five-year mission (or something if that sort), I'd have thought the ideal would be something like three or for seasons of mini-series (maybe five if it really flies) but not necessarily over directly consecutive years. They really should allow time and space in the production scheduling to facilitate cast availability around other commitments, to avoid the late TNG-era overload, to keep each new short season of a recurring Pike mini-series as something special treat!
This character — and particularly Mount’s portrayal of him — has become very popular, both within the fan community and with the broader audience. Given that they have already touched on the accident and the injuries that led up to the events of The Menagerie, perhaps it would be kinder to the character to allow him to go out on a high instead — and without overshadowing that ending with a character from another series.
My instinctive feel for this is that they should aim to finish the last season of a Pike show with Pike’s promotion / appointment to Fleet Captain (it’s referred to directly as a promotion in the dialog of The Menagerie) and the handover of command of the Enterprise to Kirk. Better yet, have the last few beats of the series be Pike talking to Spock, who’s staying aboard, and then close with the two of them then heading off down the corridor to the change-of-command ceremony, without ever actually needing to show JTK.
The general reception of the character is very positive and it certainly sounds like the producers are open to the possibility of developing this. Given that The Cage has already happened and they are free to just have whatever adventures from a Pike five-year mission (or something if that sort), I'd have thought the ideal would be something like three or for seasons of mini-series (maybe five if it really flies) but not necessarily over directly consecutive years. They really should allow time and space in the production scheduling to facilitate cast availability around other commitments, to avoid the late TNG-era overload, to keep each new short season of a recurring Pike mini-series as something special treat!
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