We need more Short Treks

[Dukhat]

All the more reason why something like short treks would help the franchise. Clearly the creators are struggling (as they always have) in figuring out how to appeal to fans. They could test out so many ideas with short treks to see what fans want and maybe breathe some new life into the franchise.

Putting fans in control of what gets produced is a recipe for disaster, because no two fans think alike, and producers should never cater to what fans think they want. And producers who adopt the attitude that they can't come up with their own ideas and need fan input shows that those producers suck at their job.

 

[Chives]

Putting fans in control of what gets produced is a recipe for disaster, because no two fans think alike, and producers should never cater to what fans think they want. And producers who adopt the attitude that they can't come up with their own ideas and need fan input shows that those producers suck at their job.

True, but a franchise with no fan interest is hardly a franchise at all. I’m not suggesting letting fans run the series, but merely the age old practice of using a pre existing show or format to debut a concept and see if it would get the viewership required to make it worthwhile to produce.

 

[Dukhat]

As long as Star Trek exists, there will always be fans, even during the low peaks. The trick is not to give them what they think they want, but give them what the person making the show wants, in a way that will keep their interest. I never knew I wanted a show about corrupt superheroes until I happened to wander across The Boys.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

As long as Star Trek exists, there will always be fans, even during the low peaks. The trick is not to give them what they think they want, but give them what the person making the show wants, in a way that will keep their interest.

That only really works if I'm the one making the show.

 

[Dukhat]

That only really works if I'm the one making the show.

What's stopping you from buying the IP from CBS?

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

What's stopping you from buying the IP from CBS?

I don't think it's what they want.

 

[Ovation]

That only really works if I'm the one making the show.

Then how did you come to be a Trek fan in the first place?

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Then how did you come to be a Trek fan in the first place?

The real question is 'How did I stay a fan?' And the answer is, because the artists creating the series knew how to craft stories that appealed to the people who were already on board.

 

[fireproof78]

A fascinating idea.

I never felt I couldn't stay a fan. What made me a fan always exists.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

We went a good three years between the end of TOS and the beginning of TAS.
We went another five years between the end of TAS and the debut of TMP.
We went another two to three years between TMP and TWOK.
Then we went for over a decade without having to wait more than about a year before something new came out, and for most of that time, there were two overlapping series.
Then we went four years between the end of ENT and the release of the first Abramsverse movie. They continued without more than a couple of years between movies.
Then DSC began another period of overlapping series.

And that doesn't even begin to cover the novels, from the children's novel, Mission to Horatius through the Bantam era, through the beginning of the Pocket era, through the 21st century Novelverse, that filled in the gaps in TNG, DS9, and VOY, and extended them into the "First Splinter" reality that ended with the Coda trilogy.

We'll probably see more ST after SNW and SFA end. It's really just a matter of what and when.

And to drag this back on-topic, I think Short Treks can be a part of that.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Maybe they could take some inspiration from Star Wars and rework Short Treks in their own version of the 'Tales of the...' series, which spotlights a character and gives them three short episodes. The more episodes set in the same place, the more likely they can afford to build new sets and the more of a story they can tell.

I'd certainly prefer to watch a story that isn't blatantly recycling the existing sets of whatever show is filming.