Rebooting TOS: What must stay the same?

[ancient]

If they started a "phase II" all they need to do is keep the futuristic setting and optimistic world outlook. And the mini-skirts. And the tight pants and easily ripped shirts for the lady watchers. Notice how the ratings plunged around the time they put most of the crew in those black cover-alls?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I would keep Kirk, Spock, and McCoy and keep the concept of exploring strange new worlds. In all honesty, everything else could change (not that I'd want it to, I'm usually opposed to a Trek reboot).

 

[Ssosmcin]

Let them reimagine it. Who cares? It won't change the 79 classic episodes at all, no more than the current BSG changes that classic show. Although, I'm not fond of the de-technologizing of the Galactica (no lasers coming out of the vipers and so on), they took a concept and modernized it quite well. Let them do the same with Star Trek all they want. Nobody's erasing the original show from existence.

And a reimagination is not going to be current continuity, but a whole new continuity. What's the big deal? If you don't wanna watch it when the movie comes out, then don't. I'm actually very curious as to what they will accomplish.

EDIT: Just so ya know I am totally a fan of the original series and love even the worst episodes. I just have an open mind.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

I don't mind changes as long as the story is good and the character interaction works. I'd like the producers (and whoever else is involved) to keep some basics (peace on Earth and all that stuff that's already been mentioned), but I would not run away screaming if they didn't.

I want it to be a good Star Trek movie with as little cliches as possible. If the original TOS imagery is kept, good. If it isn't...oh well, let's just wait and see.

 

[Admiral2]

A beaker full of death said:

Admiral2 said:

A beaker full of death said:
Only canon nazis believe in reboots.

Wrong. Canon nazis (those that are uber-protective of existing canon) are usually the ones that run screaming when you mention the word "reboot." It is in fact physically impossible to be both a canon nazi and a pro-rebooter because you cannot protect canon and change it at the same time. (Which is essentially the point of my first post.)

Noo, canon nazis need the excuse of a "reboot" so they don't feel compelled to run around like idiots saying "but in episode 57 he said it was spelled with a b!"

Odd. There are several reasons why I think Trek needs to be rebooted and not one of them involves me giving a flying shit how something was spelled in episode 57. It has, however, been my experience that whenever I mention reboots the loudest opposition comes from those who do give a flying shit how something was spelled in episode 57.

In other words, canon nazis, by their very nature, cannot be pro-reboot. They will always, as you so eloquently illustrated, try to defend something about the original canon, and a proper reboot treats everything in canon as fair game.

BTW, KeepOnTrekking, just adding yet another AU isn't any more of a reboot than making the movie about Young Kirk is. Why should rebooters be satisfied with that?

 

[thumbtack]

Anthony said:
They are "rebooting" it. It's called Star Trek XI.

Well, yes, but they're not going to come right out and admit it's a reboot. See "Batman Begins" and "Casino Royale" for the wink-and-a-nod approach to rebooting.

 

[Therin of Andor]

thumbtack said:
See "Batman Begins" and "Casino Royale" for the wink-and-a-nod approach to rebooting.

And that's a proven method of drawing in not just the avid fanbase, but the general public as well.

TMP, ST II, ST IV and "First Contact" did extremely well because lots of fans went back to see those films over and over again, but lots of the general public went at least once, and told their friends to go and see it, too.

ST movies need that wider demographic, especially now that DVD releases mean that very few people go back to the cinema run more than once.

And if that's the way to ensure that future generations can get to see current day actors playing classic pop culture characters into the 22nd century and beyond, so be it!

 

[TiberiusK]

I agree. I think Paramount is being extremely smart. Many hardcore fans would love a post-Dominion War movie, or some kind of complicated after Enterprise before TOS Romulan War that fits with Canon, but the general public would avoid it like the plague.

Cater to the masses Paramount. Ignore the fans. Tell a great story, and take risks.

 

[gastrof]

TiberiusK said:
Putting this here, because it seems like more of a discussion of TOS than of Trek XI.

If they are to "re-imagine" or "reboot" TOS, what must never change? In other words, if you peal away all of the layers of TOS (ship design, character traits, alien species, etc) what is at the core of what makes it Trek? Morality plays? An ensemble dynamic? A hopeful vision of the future?

Any ideas?

Simplest approach.

If TNG, DS9 and ENTERPRISE could refer back to the original and show the uniforms, tech, and ship exactly the same, then that's what the so-called reboot should do too.

Recast the roles, and do nothing else. (Even try to stay true to the characters' personalities.)

If someone wants to complain about the look of things being "sixties-ish", I say "No".

TOS looks like the 23rd century in the TREK universe. If some things about it remind you of the 60's, so? That's how things end up looking then.

Styles change over time, and what's old can be new again.

LEAVE TOS alone. Recast the roles, and give us more!

 

[cooleddie74]

Don't reset the established dates and years, and leave the names and tech descriptions/functions alone.

 

[Neopeius]

TiberiusK said:
I agree. I think Paramount is being extremely smart. Many hardcore fans would love a post-Dominion War movie, or some kind of complicated after Enterprise before TOS Romulan War that fits with Canon, but the general public would avoid it like the plague.

Cater to the masses Paramount. Ignore the fans. Tell a great story, and take risks.

Why can't there be a Romulan War series?

 

[cooleddie74]

^
The way CBS/Viacom/Paramount has talked since the premature cancellation of ENTERPRISE, I doubt any new, weekly TREK series is on tap anytime in the near future. The TV franchise---except for TOS Remastered and the usual, unaltered reruns---seems to be stuck in a holding pattern for now with no available stretch of runway in sight.

 

[davejames]

ssosmcin said:
Let them reimagine it. Who cares? It won't change the 79 classic episodes at all, no more than the current BSG changes that classic show. Although, I'm not fond of the de-technologizing of the Galactica (no lasers coming out of the vipers and so on), they took a concept and modernized it quite well. Let them do the same with Star Trek all they want. Nobody's erasing the original show from existence.

And a reimagination is not going to be current continuity, but a whole new continuity. What's the big deal? If you don't wanna watch it when the movie comes out, then don't. I'm actually very curious as to what they will accomplish.

EDIT: Just so ya know I am totally a fan of the original series and love even the worst episodes. I just have an open mind.

Agreed 100%. I'm a huge TOS fan, but I'd love to see a complete reimagining, with a more sophisticated and detailed Enterprise, cooler uniforms, cooler weapons, Klingons and Romulans that have a totally different look, new music, etc.

Like everyone else, I'm a bit nervous about the idea of a new Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, but with all the OTHER changes around them I'd probably adjust to them pretty quickly.

All that sounds a lot more exciting than yet ANOTHER visit to the over-familiar 23rd and 24th centuries we've already seen to death (and the only thing really different with the 24th century was the uniforms and Ent-D).

 

[Therin of Andor]

Neopeius said:
Why can't there be a Romulan War series?

Because Star Trek is not about war.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Neopeius said:

TiberiusK said:
I agree. I think Paramount is being extremely smart. Many hardcore fans would love a post-Dominion War movie, or some kind of complicated after Enterprise before TOS Romulan War that fits with Canon, but the general public would avoid it like the plague.

Cater to the masses Paramount. Ignore the fans. Tell a great story, and take risks.

Why can't there be a Romulan War series?

Because no one cares.

 

[Therin of Andor]

davejames said:
I'm a bit nervous about the idea of a new Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, but with all the OTHER changes around them I'd probably adjust to them pretty quickly.

As a school-based teacher-librarian, may I mention that the Kindergarten, Year 1 and 2 students are studying fairy tales this term. We've found and read at least four versions each of "Goldilocks", "The Ugly Duckling" and "Hansel & Gretel" - and the students have been exhilerated by the innumerable differences. Of course, we've only really glanced at the length and complexity of the original texts since our library lessons (and young attention spans) aren't long enough to serialize the many long original words of Grimm, Andersen, et al.

The students are excited to talk about how these tales were originally told orally, eventually collected and written down, rewritten and rewritten, and have become part of society's collective memories.

Gene Roddenberry once said he was very satisfied that Star Trek had become modern mythology. So have "Superman" and "Batman", I would say. Tinkering with mythology, finding ways to make it appeal to current audiences, making and remaking them, is umm... the stuff of legends.

 

[Ronald Held]

Yes, recast but tech, dates, etc must remain as they were.

 

[KeepOnTrekking]

Admiral2, I was just in a very facetious mood when I wrote that. They could do a complete reboot with ST XI and people could appreciate as a complete reboot but I was just throwing out one way thast the "canon nazis" could rationalize it away as an alternate timeline/universe within the already established canon (like the mirror universe stories).

 

[gastrof]

davejames said:
...I'm a huge TOS fan, but I'd love to see a complete reimagining, with a more sophisticated and detailed Enterprise, cooler uniforms, cooler weapons, Klingons and Romulans that have a totally different look, new music, etc....

But why would you have to have this done in the era of Kirk and Spock, thus over-writing all that came before?

Why not do what you want, but introduce a new crew in the 25th or 26th century?

WHY change (destroy) what was? Why not just add to it?

 

[gastrof]

Therin of Andor said:

Neopeius said:
Why can't there be a Romulan War series?

Because Star Trek is not about war.

Tell that to the writers and fans of DS9.