What if Star Trek DSC is the first season of an anthology?

[USS Triumphant]

My concern if DIS had been an anthology show, or if it were to become one as the OP suggests, is that it would run afoul of the same issue that "Heroes" did - supposed to be an anthology, but TPTB end up too afraid to let go of the most popular elements and/or characters to actually do it right, so they wreck the show. And yes, I know "American Horror Story" has shown it can be done correctly, but, it's also a huge mainstream hit. Which (I hope I'm wrong, but) I don't see being in the cards for DIS. I expect it to be a huge hit with fandom and a moderate hit with the mainsteam audience, as a best-case scenario.

A Khan show would by nature be more akin to something like LOST (except everyone is ultra-fit and beautiful) and probably not do much to help bolster interest in space-based scifi.

I think you're assuming a Khan mini-series would take place between "Space Seed" and Star Trek II. What if it's actually set before/during/at the end of the Eugenics Wars?

 

[Krandor]

I think you're assuming a Khan mini-series would take place between "Space Seed" and Star Trek II. What if it's actually set before/during/at the end of the Eugenics Wars?

I would prefer the eugenics war, but the rumor that is out there (not confirmed though) is that it would be ceti alpha 5/6

 

[Kevin Wolff]

My concern if DIS had been an anthology show, or if it were to become one as the OP suggests, is that it would run afoul of the same issue that "Heroes" did - supposed to be an anthology, but TPTB end up too afraid to let go of the most popular elements and/or characters to actually do it right, so they wreck the show. And yes, I know "American Horror Story" has shown it can be done correctly, but, it's also a huge mainstream hit. Which (I hope I'm wrong, but) I don't see being in the cards for DIS. I expect it to be a huge hit with fandom and a moderate hit with the mainsteam audience, as a best-case scenario.

I think you're assuming a Khan mini-series would take place between "Space Seed" and Star Trek II. What if it's actually set before/during/at the end of the Eugenics Wars?

That's true. I didn't even consider the Eugenics wars as the possible setting. I would love a show like that set in the 90's.

 

[Starbreaker]

Probably too expensive at this point.

 

[Mirror Mirror]

Probably too expensive at this point.

It was always far too expensive, which I say is why the studio killed that at once.

 

[mattyhugh]

That's true. I didn't even consider the Eugenics wars as the possible setting. I would love a show like that set in the 90's.

That's not really Star Trek though

 

[Kevin Wolff]

That's not really Star Trek though

Also true, and neither would a Ceti Alpha 5 series really be Trek. Unless the Packleds drop by from time to time and get massacred. I really don't want to see Khan again. I'm hoping the idea fizzles.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Not crazy about the anthology idea. It could work, I guess. I just hope with DSC, characters die or move on and it feels like nobody safe (like Walking Dead at it's peak). We could have a radically different cast or even another lead ship by season 4.

If they do the anthology, I can picture them having one bridge set and redressing it over and over to become ships of every era just by changing the paint and graphics. Actually, come to think of it they already did that in TNG (the battle bridge, made from parts of the TMP bridge, which was also the Stargazer, Hathaway, Bozeman and a few alien ships) and Voyager (the Excelsior bridge, which became the Equinox and Prometheus)

 

[Cake]

Personally, I'm also calling for 4-5 seasons. But not because I think the show will fail. Most shows these days tend to last about that long don't they? I was surprised Arrow got a 6th season, since I was under the impression it wasn't doing so well. Mind you, I only just started season 5. I think the only real exception these days is Supernatural (also just started season 5 there).

And really, 4-5 is a good run. I loved both TNG and DS9, but both shows had a decline in quality during seasons 6 and 7. Same for Voyager.

Despite falling ratings Arrow was last season still CW's 4th best show. Supernatural was the 5th best and was therefore renewed for season 13. So they will add some more to their already 264 episodes. A 0.6 rating is really good for a CW series. They renewed a bunch of series which didn't even have a 0.4 rating. One even with only a 0.2 rating.

http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/cw-2016-17-season-ratings/

And by the way all kinds of series last longer than 5 seasons. NCIS was even renewed for season 15. All kinds of crime shows last endlessly on TV or hospital shows or comedy series. There are fewer long running genre shows, but they have the problem that they already start most of the times with not so many viewers. They just don't have the same mass appeal.

That said this all doesn't matter when it comes to streaming. CBS or Netflix would love countless million viewers for DIS, but less than that will be enough to declare it a financial success. It is just that they don't completely depend on commercial money. They make money from the viewers directly.

 

[mos6507]

Also true, and neither would a Ceti Alpha 5 series really be Trek.

It would definitely be a detour from the optimism of Trek but maybe that's a good thing for a 50+ year old franchise.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

I was hoping that an anthology show would follow multiple characters aboard the same ship through the ages. We know that ships can easily last through decades of service, why not show one ship that DOESN'T pull an Enterprise, and follow her adventures and crews from Pre-TOS through to post-Dominion war? Or two ships named Discovery, each lasting fifty or so years and 2-3 seasons apiece?

There are stories of B-52 bombers who have had three generations of family serve aboard them, and fathers and sons who have served aboard the same US aircraft carriers in different times of war and peace. Why not do THAT with Star Trek?

Mark

 

[Kevin Wolff]

It would definitely be a detour from the optimism of Trek but maybe that's a good thing for a 50+ year old franchise.

It's not just that. It would qualify as a different genre so it could be good for the corporation. It would be cheaper and have a tropical setting and perfect people running around half-naked (at least before the orbit shift). None of which would help the space-based side of Trek. Same with a Eugenics war show although I wouldn't mind seeing a mini-series of that.