Well. What I would do is jump waaay ahead and focus on that Enterprise-J (you already have a spiffy design ready!). I see a Federation where technology allowing interspecies unions to produce offspring (like Spock and all the other improbable "half"-somethings) has created a super-cosmopolitan interstellar society where there are no longer specifically "Humans" or "Vulcans" or "Andorians" etc.--where Ensign Kelvick would not be "Mostly Human with Vulcan and Rigellian, a wee bit of Xindi" but would just be, simply, Ensign Kelvick. (This allows for a wide variety of mixing and matching of make-up pieces and allows for unique one-off designs specific to characters). You already have ready made enemies, the Sphere Builders and everyone else involved in the "Temporal Cold War". Heck, even those silly Enterprise Space-Nazis might make interesting antagonists, stripped out of their historical uniforms with a culture of their own. I see a slowly re-emerging Borg (but weren't they exterminated centuries ago? Apparently, not thoroughly enough.) as a counter to the benign integration of the Federation. With time travel technology in existence (but presumably heavily restricted), you can even do missions to other time periods, you guest star any character from any period that you want. I'd have long distance transporters, through transfer stations, so anyplace you can get a subspace signal to, you could beam to (with a receiving platform). Ships are used for those far frontiers or less developed areas. Civilization has largely moved off planet and into space habitats (okay, yeah. I sort of liked Beyond's Yorktown. guilty.). Planets are mostly preserves now, allowing other species to develop naturally in the absence of highly evolved competitors. A new version of the Prime Directive? "Give the Raccoons their shot at evolving into a technological species!" Speaking of the movies and such. I'd play coy with historical continuity. It's several centuries from TNG, after all, all sorts of things may have happened, and temporal tinkering could alter and re-alter established timelines. Say, Vulcan and a couple of other major planets have been destroyed, but not say WHEN that occurred. Could've been in the Reboot Era, could've happened way after Nemesis. Don't know, not going to say! Let the fans dicker about what, exact, timeline it's in while feeling free to do whatever the creative team wants--with an excuse. Like those damn STD "Klingons?" fine. Part of the Klingon Empire has rebelled against this whole "diversity" and "race mixing" nonsense and gone as purely Klingon as they could, even to the point of re-editing their genes back to an imagined "Purer" state. So's you can use the same masks and costumes, if you REALLY want to. sigh. That kind of jump and that kind of elasticity in the timelines would let antsy Hollywood creative types "put their own stamp" on "their" Trek without necessarily thumbing their noses at huge swathes of fandom. Really believe that "Canon" is a straight-jacket instead of a resource? fine. Here ya' go. Use what you like, don't mention the rest, write the story you want to write. If your "Andorians" don't match up with another Director's preferred design, then they just represent a different genetic lineage. or alternate historical spin-off. etc. stuff like that. still. Enterprise-J, 'cause.
You are welcome. And I think that such a disreputable ship and crew would be a good choice for an X-Files version of Trek. In X-Files, the tiny department for investigating strange phenomena was not a prestige assignment.
@Tim Walker, I have you to blame for given me a crazy notion to go off and conceive yet another potential project! See what you think of another motely crew The U.S.S. Scully (a refitted Oberth-Class surveyor) is one of the ships attached to the often overlooked Starfleet Science Section 10 (nicknamed ‘Section X’ by those that serve in it), a small unit that are tasked to look into the truly strange and bizarre things in the galaxy. The Scully is one of only a handful of active ships Section X still utilises, as such the crew often have a lot of space to cover and mountains of work to do, but with little resources and support. Character: Captain [name TBD] Species: Andorian, thaan Details: A dependable and level-headed officer, he has had a steady progression through the ranks and held his current rank for the last eight years, two of which onboard the Scully. He isn’t a glory seeker, or someone whose exploits have garnered praise and recognition, he’s just good at what he does and likes to keep a low profile. Character: Commander [name TBD] Species: Deltan, female Details: A woman who oozes charisma and sensuality, which has gotten her into trouble with allegations of violating her Oath of Celibacy (something she neither confirms nor denies). As such she has been black-listed by many and wound up in Section X as there weren’t many other departments that would take her. Character: Chief Science/Research Officer – Lieutenant Commander [name TBD] Species: Human, male Details: He is brilliant and he knows it. With a great sense of his own abilities and knowledge has led to a high degree of arrogance, which many others find hard to deal with. One of the newest members of the crew, he was attached to Section X so that his “skills and expertise could be utilised to their full potential”, but it was only after arriving onboard that he discovered the real reason. Character: Chief Operations Officer – Lieutenant [name TBD] Species: Non-Human, Female [species TBD] Details: Though technically proficient and with a knack for logistics and resource management, she can get a little overwhelmed with the realities of a life in space—especially after the hardships of war, which has led to her wanting to resign (which she can’t do with a stop/loss order in place). Assigned to the Scully so that her skills could be put to use until she can leave. Character: Chief Flight Control Officer – Lieutenant (j.g.) [name TBD] Species: Human, Female Details: One of many cadets pressed into service before graduating during the war, she has however excelled (even if she is a little rough around the edges). A gung-ho type of person, she is always willing and eager to volunteer for missions and has ambition to see Captain pips on her collar by the time she is 32—something she may well achieve. Character: Chief Medical Officer – Provisional Lieutenant (j.g.) [name TBD] Species: Non-Human, male [species TBD] Details: A civilian doctor from out with the Federation, though well-known across the quadrant for his work, who signed up with Starfleet Medical to help out during the war—a decision that proved tougher than he once thought though not one he regrets. With the fighting over, he was reassigned to Section X where his skills as a researcher could prove useful. Character: Chief Security Officer – Ensign [name TBD] Species: Non-Human, non-binary [species TBD] Details: They are one of many who found themselves pressed into service without being ready, seeing out the last weeks of the war before finding themselves onboard the Scully in a senior post—not that the science ship has much in the way of a security department. Determined to prove themselves and show that they have what it takes in the role. Character: Chief of Engineering – Master Chief [name TBD] Species: Non-Human, male [species TBD] Details: A grizzled and crabby non-com who was dragged out of retirement for the war and did all he could to get himself on as easy a posting as he could, until he’s allowed to go back to his workshop back home. He has little time for rookies and even less for day-to-day admin, but thrives when handed a problem and given free rein to look for a solution. Character: Researcher – Doctor [name TBD] Species: Human, female Details: One of the many civilian* scientists onboard, she has made a name for herself exploring scientific avenues that most others scoff. Passionate about her work, she can come across a little obsessed at times, but given the incredible and inconceivable leaps her mind makes then most who work with her know to go with the flow. * She may not be in a Starfleet uniform but under no circumstances would she ever be in a catsuit!
This may sound harsh, but to avoid accusations of plagiarism I would avoid obvious references to The X-Files. I would rename the ship, and rename the department. That being said, I think that your proposal has a lot of potential.
I looked at the wikipedia article for Project UFO. Quoting: "... Project U.F.O. anticipated many of the themes of the X-Files, which aired 14 years later, but without the latter show's romantic subtext or its anti-government (or for that matter, its anti-alien) paranoia.... "...the series eventually settled into a pattern in which the investigators would spend most of an hour uncovering some conventional explanation for a UFO sighting, only for the last five minutes to reveal that UFOs (or some similarly unexplained phenomena) were involved after all." I recall a comment, awhile back, that some Trek episodes had plots similar to Twilight Zone episodes. Another show that came to mind was The Outer Limits. And another show just came to mind-Johnny Quest.
I have been thinking about "good flaws". A lack of self esteem/self confidence implies character development-the characters learn to value themselves, and their contribution. An alcoholic/drug addict? Character development-characters struggle against their addiction. Gambling? Okay, there might be a slight problem if the future no longer uses money. Awhile back, in the public library, I came across a book about the use of Predator drones in Iraq/Afghanistan. The author, one of the very few to volunteer for the program, described a situation similar to that of the Orion. Drones were a low prestige assignment; officers who were deemed deadwood, incompetent, or no good were dumped into this program. And they knew it. Morale was poor, and some became bitter. The author and a fellow volunteer worked to turn things around, bring a sense of professionalism to the program.
I'd like to see a new Star Trek that takes place much further in the future. I would like it to "feel" like Star Trek, so I would want the same core federation values, but even more evolved. I'd like them to keep the same core Star Trek aesthetic for the ships and technology, but have it be much more advanced. Instead of making it dark, which seems to be the trend, I'd like them to really be radical and make it the opposite of dark...I'm talking about both tone of the stories and look of the technology, and the whole aesthetic. Bright bridge. Cool uniforms. I'd love the plots to be heavy about science and bending the mind, rather than be just "federation meets hostile alien, federation shoots at them, federation wins," which tend to be the most repeated and boring plots. I would like them to have futurists and philosophers in the writers room. I'd like them to come up with technology we've never imagined. I'd also like to see creative links to TNG and Voyager, either though time travel episodes, or other creative plots twists. What could they invent that would make the holadeck look outdated? I'd like to see the Borg having evolved into a highly advanced, peaceful species, who no longer assimilate but instead procreate, in order to honor Gene's vision of Hope for evolving into a higher, better "people".
Well going off of what Star Trek is, save for Discovery, they are stories following the daily lives of crew members and what not. I mean we've got multiple seasons covering multiple stories and themes. It's hard to think of where to go next. Adding a new threat from an alien race would be an easy way to go but not fun enough, or original. A reimagining of Star Trek with current technologies and science would be interesting but has a possibility of being as disastrous as Discovery. A thought occurred to me, why not have a series so far in the future that the federation has succeeded in everything it's been trying to do, but the series follows a crew of some unnamed ship from the federation as they see the federation falling apart, not due to corruption but, just ending. Kind of all I have, not sure because I don't know the universe, and I'm sure covering story lines that are only mentioned within the universe is a safe bet but something truly original will be tough.
I'd like a new star trek to have a gentleness, geekiness to it. That's when star trek is at it's best. The least interesting are character's that are snide, cynical, dark...they are predictable and a dime a dozen, and oh so easy to write for. It is much harder to write a show where you have to write dialog that does not depend on angry, snarky people with giant chips on their shoulders. That is sooooo 20th century TV.
For my Trek series, I'd start shortly before the Hobus supernova and with the Dominon War having been over for years and Shinzon dealt, the Federation, the Klingons, and the Romulans are all at peace. As a way to try to continue to promote that peace the three governments decide to start a joint exploration program and they send out a new explorer ship with officers from all three governments serving together. The ship would also feature technology from all three governments, it would have be a Starfleet ship, with a Romulan engine, and Klingon weapons. We'd go back to the more traditional exploration stories, but now we'd have the added complication of former enemies all now serving together, and the philosophies of the three groups coming into conflict. So our main cast would be a combination of Starfleet, Romulan, and Klingon characters. Our crew: Captain: A Starfleet veteran who has fought both the Romulans, and the Klingons in the past. Despite his complicated history, he has actually embraced his new assignment wholeheartedly. First Officer: One of the most open minded Klingons we've ever encountered. He spent a lot of time with both Starfleet officers, and Romulans during the Dominion War, and has come to respect members of both groups. Chief Engineer: A Romulan who is constantly struggling to get the Romulan engine to work smoothly with the Starfleet ship. Navigator: Romulan Ops: Starfleet Doctor: Starfleet Tactical/Security Chief: A Klingon warrior who constantly has to fight the urge to perform his duties the same way he would on a Klingon ship. The first season would end with the Hobus supernova, and then the first several episodes of the second would be an arc dealing with it's aftermath.
I really want to see it go further into the future. We've only seen into Next Generation. All the awesome new technology that could be brought about with the kind of effects we have now; wouldn't have to worry about timeline canon problems, etc. It could fully be its own thing again. That's where I really want it to go.