Okay. This theory might sound a bit crazy, but bear with me for a minute and then you can mock or praise it as you will.
If we all take a step back for a minute to April 2006, what do you envision as going on in JJ Abrams' head? Abrams saw, as several fan film producers already have, that TOS is a powerful--perhaps the most powerful--of the several Trek settings. Perhaps this is some special magic of the era; perhaps because it was the first; perhaps it is only because it was the least used, with only 79 episodes and a handful of movies being the full knowledge we have of the era. Regardless, he saw at once that his movie, his revitalization of the franchise, would have to take place in the era of the Original Series.
Yet at the same time he needs to connect with youth. A jaded youth this is that widely sees the Original Series as, frankly, a joke. So how is he going to do this without alienating everybody and his mother? This is just speculation, but I think it's pretty likely that he tried to find some single thread within the franchise that he could rely on to connect today's youth with Star Trek.
Now, here's a surprise to I think a great many of you, but TNG no longer connects with today's youth. Shocking, but true. The Next Generation is now the previous generations; early TNG especially is regarded by today's new voters as an artifact of the horrifying decade called the eighties, along with yuppies, Atari, and Darkwing Duck. I speak as a college student who dimly remembers fragments of Season 7 only because he was a rabid fan by the age of 4 who referred to Sundays as "Star Trek day."
And, of course, no one watched DS9. Bloody unfair, but true.
And now I speak purely anecdotally, but I have every reason to believe it--and, what's more, if it's true, it might explain many of the franchise's poor fortunes in recent years. The thread of Star Trek that connects today's youth to the franchise? A little show called Voyager.
Really. I have friends who have never heard of Kirk vs. Picard but who to this day squeal in a masculine fashion at the mere mention of "Barge of the Dead" (which I saw for the first time tonight on DVD... good ep)--who never much cared for the fandom or the spockanalia, but who religiously watched Voyager with their families during grade school and to this day don't realize that they're not supposed to like "Threshold." When I mention Trek to one of my peers, they are nearly as likely to identify "that woman captain" as they are "that bald dude" or "the pointy-eared captain" (Spock. And, no, I never have the heart to correct them on it). And I continue to uncover fans who have never watched an episode of another series--or maybe glanced at one once like any other American--but who worship the Janeway Factor.
Once, I even met a C/7 fan. Let's not talk about that.
Anyhow. I don't know if JJ's this savvy or if I'm even right, BUT... just assuming that both conditions are true... what would be the first surprise I would expect in Star Trek XI?
Kate Mulgrew as Admiral Janeway. Her cameo being heavily promoted after its eleventh-hour revelation in the full trailer. It would take in all the fans who can't stand TOS and say, "Hey! No! We get what you love about Star Trek, too! And this movie is for you, too!"
Might be worth 75 million dollars in additional revenue alone. Six quatloos to anyone who can prove me wrong.
Oh, and, yes, this one was all for you, archeryguy1701http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showflat.php?Number=8530007#Post8530007.
If we all take a step back for a minute to April 2006, what do you envision as going on in JJ Abrams' head? Abrams saw, as several fan film producers already have, that TOS is a powerful--perhaps the most powerful--of the several Trek settings. Perhaps this is some special magic of the era; perhaps because it was the first; perhaps it is only because it was the least used, with only 79 episodes and a handful of movies being the full knowledge we have of the era. Regardless, he saw at once that his movie, his revitalization of the franchise, would have to take place in the era of the Original Series.
Yet at the same time he needs to connect with youth. A jaded youth this is that widely sees the Original Series as, frankly, a joke. So how is he going to do this without alienating everybody and his mother? This is just speculation, but I think it's pretty likely that he tried to find some single thread within the franchise that he could rely on to connect today's youth with Star Trek.
Now, here's a surprise to I think a great many of you, but TNG no longer connects with today's youth. Shocking, but true. The Next Generation is now the previous generations; early TNG especially is regarded by today's new voters as an artifact of the horrifying decade called the eighties, along with yuppies, Atari, and Darkwing Duck. I speak as a college student who dimly remembers fragments of Season 7 only because he was a rabid fan by the age of 4 who referred to Sundays as "Star Trek day."
And, of course, no one watched DS9. Bloody unfair, but true.
And now I speak purely anecdotally, but I have every reason to believe it--and, what's more, if it's true, it might explain many of the franchise's poor fortunes in recent years. The thread of Star Trek that connects today's youth to the franchise? A little show called Voyager.
Really. I have friends who have never heard of Kirk vs. Picard but who to this day squeal in a masculine fashion at the mere mention of "Barge of the Dead" (which I saw for the first time tonight on DVD... good ep)--who never much cared for the fandom or the spockanalia, but who religiously watched Voyager with their families during grade school and to this day don't realize that they're not supposed to like "Threshold." When I mention Trek to one of my peers, they are nearly as likely to identify "that woman captain" as they are "that bald dude" or "the pointy-eared captain" (Spock. And, no, I never have the heart to correct them on it). And I continue to uncover fans who have never watched an episode of another series--or maybe glanced at one once like any other American--but who worship the Janeway Factor.
Once, I even met a C/7 fan. Let's not talk about that.
Anyhow. I don't know if JJ's this savvy or if I'm even right, BUT... just assuming that both conditions are true... what would be the first surprise I would expect in Star Trek XI?
Kate Mulgrew as Admiral Janeway. Her cameo being heavily promoted after its eleventh-hour revelation in the full trailer. It would take in all the fans who can't stand TOS and say, "Hey! No! We get what you love about Star Trek, too! And this movie is for you, too!"
Might be worth 75 million dollars in additional revenue alone. Six quatloos to anyone who can prove me wrong.
Oh, and, yes, this one was all for you, archeryguy1701http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showflat.php?Number=8530007#Post8530007.
