Why do they keep going back to the Kirk era?

[Balok's Decoy]

I'm part of the generation that grew up with TNG and came of age with VOY and DS9, but I always appreciated TOS the most. I got burned out on 24th-century Trek a long time ago. I never want to see any more of it again for as long as I live.

To me, the 23rd century era is true Star Trek. Since we got so little material, there is still a wellspring of untapped storytelling potential, a whole universe that we barely got to explore.

Kor

Good point. We've had 21 seasons and 3.5 movies of the 24th century. We've had 3 seasons (6 if you count TAS) and 6.5 movies (prime) in the 23rd century, and 4 seasons of the 22nd century. And people are worried that there are no more stories to tell in the TOS era. That just doesn't make sense.

 

[Vger23]

You seem to have a lot of faith in these studio projections. If one presented an example of a studio doing their homework, investing a great deal of money, and producing an utter flop, would that cause you to question the idea that studios "know what's going to appeal?" If other studios have failed to forecast audience tastes accurately, is it possible Paramount and CBS suffer from the same lack of information?

Respectfully, I trust professionals whose job it is to determine these things far more than I trust a few guys on a message board who are advocating for their own personal desires and trying to turn that into reality.

It's clearly a mix of two things:

1. Vastly superior brand recognition with the iconic era associated with Kirk/Spock, etc.
2. Fuller has a story to tell that is specific to that timeframe (so the setting is actually integral to the story they want to tell

It's not going to be "Wow- we're really going to disappoint our 24th Century era fans, so we should make a 24th Century show."

They're going to tell the best story they can and draw the most people they can all at once. That's how the game works.

 

[Voth commando1]

At the QMX booth at Comic Con, I overheard from an employee that their TOS Master Series figures were flying off the shelves (so to speak) but they were having a hard time moving their TNG Master Series Picard figure.

Shame-the bulk of Trek takes place in the 24th century.

 

[KennyB]

It appears there may be a mirror universe episode on Discovery. On IMDB, for episode ten under the cast and crew, there's an actor playing "ISS Discovery Captain"

http://m.imdb.com/title/tt6011050/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_1

Would not put much stock in that.

 

[Greg Cox]

Would not put much stock in that.

Good point. IMDB is not 100% accurate when it comes to projects that are still in production. It's too easy for on-line editors to add "facts" based on rumors or misunderstandings. Take anything IMDB says about upcoming movies or TV shows with a huge grain of salt.

 

[Prax]

but yet it appears there may be a mirror universe episode.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

but yet it appears there may be a mirror universe episode.

It wouldn't surprise me if there were at some point. And if they're as good as the DS9 mirror episodes, I'm all for it.

 

[Voth commando1]

Wouldn't that be a continuity violation? As the mirror universe was discovered by Kirk and Co.?

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Wouldn't that be a continuity violation? As the mirror universe was discovered by Kirk and Co.?

This is a perfect example of me not caring about canon consistency across shows and more about canon consistency within an individual show.

Also there are ways you could get around it, same as ENT did with the Borg and the Ferengi.

 

[Greg Cox]

Shame-the bulk of Trek takes place in the 24th century.

It's not necessarily about quantity . . .

Mind you, I'm biased because I mostly write TOS books--and grew up on the Original Series. In my heart, that will always be the core of STAR TREK to me.

 

[J.T.B.]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but my impression has always been that a main reason for TNG's time setting was because the original cast movies were still a going concern, and a too-similar series might weaken the movie market. If that had not been the case, I imagine a TV sequel to TOS would have been in the same time frame without question.

 

[The Wormhole]

Wouldn't that be a continuity violation?

So what if it is?

 

[Voth commando1]

So what if it is?

Then fans will have fits over it and it will cause headaches for those take continuity seriously.

You can always retcon it-using ENT examples you can argue Archer's encounter with the Ferengi for example was an isolated encounter with Ferengi Raiders far from what would have been their "natural raiding space." And with the Borg you can argue it would be an isolated encounter with a hostile cybernetic species. IU historians might not even realize the connection until they do some cross referencing and extensive research.

With the MU-it will depend on how Discovery handles it. It could be something only a few people experience and either classified or not widely publicized. Even in DS9 Julian expressed ignorance of the MU after Intendant Kira explained what it was(though history wasn't Julian's strong suit.

You can argue in the DS9 era it would have been classified something very few captains or Starfleet personnel ever experienced.

To be clear-I'm fine with them doing a MU episode but they should know they will probably upset some fans by doing so.

 

[MacLeod]

TOS only lasted three seasons on NBC, true, but then it was rerun in syndication forever, which is when it really caught on.

Granted, this is partly a generational thing. I suspect that TNG will get rebooted eventually, when the people who grew up on that show are running the studios. All you really need is one Big Name director or producer, with plenty of clout, to decide that his dream project is a new version of TNG and, voila, you have a green-light. (I believe that's basically why a new DOCTOR WHO finally happened, after the show had been off the air for a generation or so.

I would tend to agree apart from 1 TV movie (which was an atempt at a new series I believe) it was 16 years until the show returned from it's hiatus.

If you look at some of the sequels, reboots etc.. A generation or so passed since they fisnihed. So the people who grew up on them are now the people in charge. Give it another decade and we might see more reboots etc.. from the 1990's.

It's not also unheard of executives to take a dislike to a show and try and get it cancelled.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

To be clear-I'm fine with them doing a MU episode but they should know they will probably upset some fans by doing so.

Well this ship sailed a long time ago.

 

[The Wormhole]

Then fans will have fits over it and it will cause headaches for those take continuity seriously.

Not seeing a problem with that.

Even in DS9 Julian expressed ignorance of the MU after Intendant Kira explained what it was(though history wasn't Julian's strong suit.

Bashir was very familiar with the Mirror Universe when it was explained to him in Crossover:

KIRA: (sotto) Are you all right?
BASHIR: Learning a new trade. Do you have any idea what happened?
KIRA: Have you ever heard of a Starfleet Captain named James Kirk?
BASHIR: Kirk? Of course. The transporter accident. Read about it at the Academy. So that's where we are.
KIRA: That's where we are.
BASHIR: Is there another me here?
KIRA: Not on this station. I haven't found Dax or Sisko.
BASHIR: O'Brien's been tinkering around with the machines. Major, if Kirk got here using a transporter, do you think we can get back the same way?

It's public enough that cadets read about it at the Academy.

 

[Prax]

Everything in the MU should directly parallel normal reality. The original episode was the best one, I think. McCoy saw that a stain on his desk from a spill he made a year ago was there. Everything was the same, but different. Their mission was the same-to get dilithium from that planet.
I guess you could explain the ds9 episodes by saying that Kirk changed everything by influencing Spock, and that the MU was no longer a "MU." The Enterprise episode, while fun, didn't make much sense at all.

If there was some crossover in Disc, it should be like it was in Mirror Mirror.

 

[The Wormhole]

Everything in the MU should directly parallel normal reality. The original episode was the best one, I think. McCoy saw that a stain on his desk from a spill he made a year ago was there. Everything was the same, but different.

Not quite. Sulu was chief of security, the Enterprise had other Vulcans serving aboard, Kirk apparently served as XO under Pike and assumed command by assassinating him, and the computer's voice was male.

 

[Voth commando1]

Not seeing a problem with that.

Bashir was very familiar with the Mirror Universe when it was explained to him in Crossover:

It's public enough that cadets read about it at the Academy.

I'm not sure he was being honest here-when the intendant explained what happened to him he acted as if he was ignorant.

Given he was talking to prime Kira while doing slave labor, he may have lied about his knowledge both to bolster his ego and make light of the situation.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

If there's a Mirror DSC episode and it's as fun and entertaining as the Mirror DS9 episodes, they can break as much continuity as they please.