I think I just oversaturated my pants.
Rick Berman on 76.5 Million Dollar Trek
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I think I just oversaturated my pants.
Funny, that's probably what Berman would say after waking up hung-over on Abrams's front lawn.
"You thieving bastard, give me my Star Trek back! Oh wait, I'm gonna be sick!"
Thank you! I will be the first to say season 1 could have been Voyager. Season 2 was terrible, but Season 3 from around episode 10 onwards and the almost perfect Season 4!
Season 3 was like 24 in Space (in a very good way), and season 4 was what Season 1 should have been (Thank you Manny Coto), except the last episode, the only one Berman had a hand in writing.
Season 4 was essentially a new Trek Movie every 2 - 3 weeks. Brilliant!
Of course .. by then there were so few of us left :-(
and UPN was essentially aiming at a young female audience, so no help there.
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I will say this: I'm surprised First Contact didn't do better, moneywise. It really was an excellent story with intense scenes and some humor -- specifically re: Cochrane and the hero worship. Of course, it wouldn't have had the accessibility of ST-XI because you really needed to know the backstory to "get it."
Still, I'd put it in my top 3 pre_XI Trek movies, along with Wrath of Khan and Voyage Home.
Still, I'd put it in my top 3 pre_XI Trek movies, along with Wrath of Khan and Voyage Home.
Quite simply, the new Star Trek is doing so well because Paramount has been promoting the hell out of it.
During the Berman years, Paramount's marketing efforts regarding Star Trek were nearly MIA, including the TV shows and movies, and Nemesis was left to flounder in the breeze.
It also didn't help that Nemesis, which could have been the culmination of a great saga, also ignored years of established storylines.
During the Berman years, Paramount's marketing efforts regarding Star Trek were nearly MIA, including the TV shows and movies, and Nemesis was left to flounder in the breeze.
It also didn't help that Nemesis, which could have been the culmination of a great saga, also ignored years of established storylines.
Not necessarily. Sure, there appears to be an Archer with a fondness for beagles in that timeline... but no proof of much else. Both surname and breed of dog are fairly common. Consider also that the Next Generation crew effectly restarted First Contact with the Vulcans and they might not even exist in this Star Trek's future. That's a linch pin to the NX-01 existing, at least in the form we saw on TV.
Now if we ever see a portrait hanging on a wall, or a lineage of ships all called Enterprise, then I'll get excited.
I have only one thing to say to Rick Berman:
Rick - NOW we are all very pleased.
Rick - NOW we are all very pleased.
Yes, but given how egos work in Hollywood, he's probably feeling a bit of a sting.
However, he probably also realizes that the blame doesn't rest soley with him. There is plenty to shift around to Baird, Logan, Stewart, and Spiner. As well as the general appeal of the TNG cast (though why they never tried bringing in newer, more interesting characters is a mystery to me) and the lack of a budget (though more capable film makers have done better with far less, IMO).
I have to disagree. While Paramount may have paid a bit more in marketing, it certainly isn't the sole reason the film has done well. The media of its own accord immediately jumped on the film, being a remake of the original series by JJ Abrams, which has helped the hype immensely.
If I recall correctly, Generations and First Contact were just as heavily publicized (don't remember Insurrection). I can recall seeing serial boxes, candy bars, toys, ect. for both films all over the place! In fact I still have a set of Hersey bars with the First Contact Enterprise and characters on the wrapper! They kinda smell now, but they look neat!
The moral is, if any of the TNG films had done anything different, or had any reason to be hype-worthy, they would have done immensely better.
I must confess that Berman has nothing to do with the new Star Trek. I do wish him well in his future endeavors.
Sorry for the misleading thread title. I wanted people who'd be interested in Berman to respond. I didn't ask these questions because I hate Berman. Far from it. I think he was a very good steward of Star Trek but in the later years he refused to do anything big and I think the first two (and most of three) seasons of Enterprise show how he misunderstood what about Star Trek actually attracted people. But I respect him and the history he has with Star Trek, that's why I wanted people to muse on what his reaction might be to Trek XI. Recall that he had been working on a Trek XI of his own that involved the Romulan War and was meant to be a trilogy involving a new cast, written by Erik Jendresen.
There's some discussion on John Eaves' blog about whether this movie had a huge budget or not...
http://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009...ig-wait-is-over-starfleet-purchases-sky-high/
Scroll down to the comments
IIRC, Berman actually slashed the Nemesis budget by ~$10 million or so, arguing that he could spend Paramount's money more efficiently. As a result, among other things, the proposed fleet battle between Starfleet and other forces was written out, and the fleet was given just a small mention.
Say what you will about Berman love or hate, but I don't think the issue of budget has much of a comparison between Berman and Abrams here.
Additionally, Generations was the first movie to ever have its own promotional website, something that virtually all big budget movies (even romantic comedies) these days take for granted. Time Magazine had Kirk and Picard on the cover to promote it as well. If anything Generations was just as hip in the 90s as Abrams' Trek is now (then again, how do you quantify "hip?").
JoeyDeacon
Lieutenant Commander
Rick was rolled.
Wasn't Rick Berman the one that mentioned "franchise fatigue"? And he was right. Even a really well-written, well-directed TNG movie would have had problems succeeding at the time. The fanbase was angry, jaded, tired... just gone. Americans weren't even curious about "Nemesis", or it wouldn't have been beaten by J-Lo's trashy movie.
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