Replacing Star Trek and Star Wars

[Valenti]

Does anyone think that could happen? They are just generic space operas - one's metaphysical, one mythological. They have their differences but can say something just as iconic or game changing come along and throw a monkey wrench into the whole greedy system?

You see it can't be reinvented or reimagined because there's too many mediocre cooks in bed with each other fanning the flames, well the flicker now. Is it possible something can come along to knock them off their high horse perches or are they too big to fail?

 

[JD]

I think at this point they're pretty solidly a part of the pop culture landscape, and while their popularity might rise and fall, I don't think they'll be completely gone for a very long time.

 

[MacLeod]

Who can say, as long as they can change with the times they might continue.

Will they be what we remember/like in the future perhaps not.

 

[Greg Cox]

There are plenty of other SF franchises which are still going concerns: Doctor Who, Planet of the Apes, Aliens, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar (supposedly), maybe Mad Max. And who knows? One of these days LOGAN'S RUN might finally make a comeback.

It's not just Pepsi and Coke.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Sure it's possible, but very difficult. It'd be like a new superhero replacing Superman and Batman at this point. They're not just 'Generic space operas', they have fully realized, complex vibrant worlds that are greater in the minds of the fans than anyone ever actually put on screen.

Something becoming as large in the minds of the fans as Star Trek and Star Wars would take decades. But sure, it could happen.

Getting what Star Trek and Star Wars have takes lots of different visions from lots of different writers in lots of different media and years of discussion, debate, roleplay and speculation to seep so far into the fans' minds that they template your very imagination.

 

[JD]

Of the stuff going on right now, the MCU is probably one with most potential to possibly reach ST and SW level. Dr. Who is probably pretty close already.

 

[safarial]

for me personally, it's the orvillefor me.

 

[Valenti]

Thanks for your kind replies. I got an award for the red shirt that didn't get it. Whew.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

Does anyone think that could happen? They are just generic space operas - one's metaphysical, one mythological. They have their differences but can say something just as iconic or game changing come along and throw a monkey wrench into the whole greedy system?

You see it can't be reinvented or reimagined because there's too many mediocre cooks in bed with each other fanning the flames, well the flicker now. Is it possible something can come along to knock them off their high horse perches or are they too big to fail?

If Hollywood studios were to adapt the more classic sci-fi novels (one candidate is this series) and give space opera a rest, I'd say that both franchises could be supplemented/replaced.

 

[Ridcully]

I wish there could be more space based stuff!!
There is after all a huge amount of stories avaible...
But Hollywood is not really the place that likes to try something beyond a proven formula.

And to be honest....people complains if it is something that they feel is too different from what they are used to.

 

[.:: TSN ::.]

Of the stuff going on right now, the MCU is probably one with most potential to possibly reach ST and SW level. Dr. Who is probably pretty close already.

MCU is too disjointed. Too much separate stuff to really make it a cohesive universe. And it doesn't help that there are characters in the comics that are often totally different from their movie counterparts. So you can be a fan of comics Spider-man, but hate the movie versions. But in Star Trek Picard is Picard, no matter the medium.

Doctor Who, Babylon 5, even Stargate are still small compared to ST and SW.

So I dont think that they can be replaced. There is too much history. They are the classics. Like LOTR is a fantasy book everyone first thinks of.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

MCU is a more cohesive universe than Star Trek. Or have you missed all the endless debates about which timeline is really the real prime timeline and whether Enterprise/First Contact/Discovery are really in separate timelines (not to mention the Abrams movies literally existing in a separate timeline and the massive continuity issues between TOS and the TNG era shows).

And the claim that Picard is Picard no matter the medium is laughable. 'Action Hero Picard' is by far one of the biggest criticisms people had of the TNG movies.

 

[Valenti]

I guess like Dune said, many have tried and died but one will come from the outer world...
Not like Jupiter Ascending or Avatar though. A unique premise that allows for space opera to thrive again.

 

[MacLeod]

And to be honest....people complains if it is something that they feel is too different from what they are used to.

That's only half right

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItsTheSameNowItSucks

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheyChangedItNowItSucks

We are just never happy after all you can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time.

 

[Mudd]

They'll be around for a very long time because they're cash-generating machines. Neither of them is doing anything innovative or worth noticing except generating fairly predictable, mainstream content.

People like them. People like cheeseburgers. Nothing wrong with cheeseburgers.

 

[JD]

MCU is too disjointed. Too much separate stuff to really make it a cohesive universe. And it doesn't help that there are characters in the comics that are often totally different from their movie counterparts. So you can be a fan of comics Spider-man, but hate the movie versions. But in Star Trek Picard is Picard, no matter the medium.

Doctor Who, Babylon 5, even Stargate are still small compared to ST and SW.

So I dont think that they can be replaced. There is too much history. They are the classics. Like LOTR is a fantasy book everyone first thinks of.

I wasn't really talking about cohesivness or anything like that, I was purely basing what I said on the popularity, and cultural awareness. Right now the MCU is on probably on top or second right behind Star Wars, the big question would be how long it can hold out.

 

[tharpdevenport]

The way the franchises have both been handled for over a decade now, it's entirely possible for something to come along and over take one of them. Or both. Or two things to come along.

But I don't see that happening any time soon, since most of Hollywood is steeped in polished turds. If anything does comes along, I suspect it might originate from something like a streaming service like Amazon.

 

[Greg Cox]

At one point it looked like THE MATRIX was going to be the next big thing, but it seems to have petered out for the time being.

I assume we're not counting fantasy series? 'Cause otherwise HARRY POTTER is the eight-hundred-pound unicorn here. It's pretty much the dominant franchise for an entire generation that's only just now inheriting the world.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

I assume we're not counting fantasy series? 'Cause otherwise HARRY POTTER is the eight-hundred-pound unicorn here. It's pretty much THE dominant franchise for an entire generation that's only just now inheriting the world.

I definately agree with the above, particularly as the Harry Potter franchise is very much a dynamic and growing franchise whereas Star Trek (as much as I love it) sometimes comes across as a little stagnant.

Doctor Who, Babylon 5, even Stargate are still small compared to ST and SW.

I agree that B5 and SG were/are failed attempts to rival Star Trek in the long term. However, I'd question whether Doctor Who is that much "smaller" than Star Trek, given that it's been in production for three years longer overall than latter, and it's longest continous run (1963 to 1989) was eight years longer Star Trek's longest TV run (1987-2005), in fact Star Trek barely matches it if you also include the first four movies. I'd even go as far as too suggest 'post-millenium' that Doctor Who is bigger than Star Trek given that since 2000, Star Trek has produced 5 1/2 seasons of TV, and four movies (which isn't bad), whereas Doctor Who has run 10 seasons of Doctor Who, two seasons & two mini-series of Torchwood, 5 series of Sarah Jane Adventures, one season of K9 (tho this probably doesn't "count" as it wasn't official BBC) and one season of Class.

 

[Valenti]

Are there any elements of fantasy left in Star Wars now that the force has been explained with midi-cloreans or whatever. I used to say that everything was science fiction including Singing in the Rain and don't forget Zardoz, or a subset of it just like everything could be a science even the movies and tv themselves. It's a smart box that few know how it works. Most people will say magic just like how the eye works and the mind perceives.