Okay, now... to be fair, I'm going assume Larris is serious here (nothing worse than being serious and having people assume you're NOT serious... so even if I'm wrong, I'm erring on the side of "good" so..)
larris said:Ok, if you want to make fun of me, go ahead. I'm a 48 year old who has watched all the Star Trek series and movies from the very beginning; how many of you can say that?
You might just be surprised how many of us here can say that. You're guilty of exactly what you're evidently assuming we're doing.
As for me, I'm a handful of years younger than you... I was born January 1st, 1966. I'll hazard a guess that I know at least as much about this stuff as you do, and very likely more. Not bragging (this is TRIVIA in real-life terms, after all!). You might be surprised just how many folks here are similar. Yeah, there are also some "kiddies" here... but be careful of your assumptions.
Anyway, I just wanted to elaborate on my idea for what the series would relate to; and it has nothing to do with kids or hormones or any immaturity that obviously seems to be present.
Uh... you're totally missing the point of the prior posted response to YOUR post here.
(Part of letter sent to Majel R.)
You DO realize that she has literally NO authority over anything Trek-related at this point. Which, I'd have to say, is probably not a bad thing... no offense, Majel, if you're here and reading this, but c'mon...
I've watched the TV shows that went through the history and continuity of each of the different series that was based on your husband's ideas, seeing how each series moved forward, as well as backwards; in other words, starting with the original Star Trek, then going to The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and on forward in the timeline to Voyager. Then the idea took a huge step backward with Enterprise, starring Scott Bacula. I had strangely thought that there would still be another series that would follow, but so far never has, maybe because no one has thought of an idea for another series element that could continue to sustain the Star Trek universe, at least for a few more years; which is when I began to think...
Ummm... a suggestion. You might want to avoid "run-on sentences" when you're trying to convince people of your position. Unreadable english generally doesn't give a positive impression, and run-on sentences are pretty much universally acknowledged as unreadable. Of course, since Majel Roddenberry's opinion matters to the folks at Paramount even less than yours or mine does... in this case it's fairly irrelevant. But still, a point worthy of your future consideration.
I thought back on all the different episodes I could remember from all the different series, and tried to find a common element that was used or discussed or referred to on a regular basis, yet never really stood out distinctly in any one of the episodes, where writers could find numerous story lines based on that element, and further still, have a completely new set of characters and identies, and situations, completely different from the regular Star Trek scenarios, but still be based on the principal of all the series as a whole.
Yes, even that would qualify as a run-on, and technically it's part of the same sentence I referred to above! YOIKES!
I thought of two Next Generation episodes that would describe that element.
One, where a parasitic life form infiltrated all the way to Star Fleet Command, and the Enterprise eventually was able to thwart the invasion. The other is the Nova Squadron incident involving Wesley Crusher at the Academy. You may already see where I'm going with this.
Not too bad... these were two fairly interesting stories, though flawed in some ways. And either could be used as the basis of a new story (though I personally doubt that the combination of the two could really carry an entire series).
I would propose for your consideration, a series called "Star Fleet Academy", based on the events of a squadron going through four years together at the Academy. Since the series would only last four years, (the first episode is when they are introduced and placed together to be a squadron; the next four years would deal with things like class situations, alien race relations, pranks gone wrong, problems with authority, etc.), until the series finale, where the squadron finds they must now separate from each other in order to assume their new assignments as graduated officers in Star Fleet.
Here's where you got some "rolling eyes" responses. There have been not just one but TWO different OFFICIAL proposals for "Starfleet Academy" storylines, already. And many people have (incorrectly) assumed that this upcoming movie, if it involved a younger Kirk, would inevitably be "90210 in Space" (a reference to the uncomplimentary prior description used by many fans to describe those prior proposals).
So the negative response you get is that (1) this is FAR from an original premise, and (2) the proposals put forth previously were pretty much roundly rejected as being, well... pretty sad.
Your story MIGHT be different, but from your description, it really doesn't SEEM that way.
Now I can only imagine that you have probabally been more than bombarded with people coming to you with ideas for new series for a number of years,
Possibly she has been... but only by people who have no idea AT ALL how TV and movie production works. Again, Majel Roddenberry has ZERO... ZIP... NADA... NOT ONE BIT... of influence over what Trek gets made, or doesn't get made. Hell, in later years, GENE RODDENBERRY had no such influence, and became largely a "persona-non-grata" on the Paramount lot!
but as you can obviously tell by the way this proposal was brought to you, I don't think you would argue with me if I told you this is the first time I have considered doing anything like this.
Evidently yes. And please take this for what it is... a relatively GENTLE "teaching experience" rather than mockery. Seriously... go elsewhere on the 'net and you'd get bloodied throwing this sort of thing out!
However, I still think this proposal has some level of merit, even if you are unable or unwilling to persue
Spell-check is your friend... mis-spelled words, or bad grammar, in "formal proposals" result in the document going directly into "file 13." The word is "pursue."
another series for the fans, I would be grateful if you would consider "taking the baton and running" to persue producing one more series for the sake of the Star Trek fans, and if not, allowing the concept to be passed along to Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, or Brent Spiner, all of which, if I'm not mistaken, have directed Star Trek episodes.
And not ONE of which has the slightest influence with Paramount's management. There are channels for this sort of thing... going to an actor from a series which is currently considered ... ungenerously... by the current Paramount management team is not going to gain you ANYTHING.
You want to make a proposal... work it up into an acceptably written, professional document. Get an agent. Get your agent to present this to the director of programming (since you're talking TV) at CBS (since CBS now owns all rights to televised Star Trek). Do anything else and you're basically pissing into the wind...
And with the help of someone like Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, or Rick Berman helping in story and technical aspects, I feel the series would be very successful.
Shatner doesn't "get" the adulation felt by many people for Trek... Nimoy is retired, basically does "art photography" now... and is only agreeing to come back for this film because he feels it's an outstanding script (and because he's not going to be subjected to the rigors of a full production project, only a few scenes!). And Berman is basically the one, rightly or wrongly, who is blamed for the decline of Trek over the past 15 years... and was FIRED from his "Trek" job by Paramount's board of directors. SO... again... pissing into the wind.
I believe the "Academy" series can help complete a final piece of the Star Trek universe.
Potentially, if done VERY well... but based upon the lack of understanding of the industry which your letter shows... you stand no chance of convincing the people whose opinions actually MATTER on this issue.
Which is not to say that you can't revise it, make it look good, and present it to CBS, and that they wouldn't CONSIDER it. You'll just have a VERY "hard sell" to make.
Of course, if this was all supposed to be parody... NEVERMIND!
