Would a Captain Sulu series have killed trek?
- Thread starter mahler5
- Start date
A Sulu series might have worked some years ago. It would be more a matter of writing scripts the cast could deliver and Takei's chops are good enough that he, like any other actor, would rise to the quality of the scripts provided him. Come on, plenty of so-called supporting players have risen above that station and gone on to bigger and better things...
But what interests me more is this idea for a different direction in Trek...
Yeah we can set it on a space station just above a Federation protectorate just outside a stable wormhole. You could have a character that sits in the station's bar who's supposed to be a chatterbox, but (you will LOVE this) HE NEVER SAYS A LINE ON CAMERA! Toss in a war, maybe focus on the Captain in later episodes on the series, but really spend a ton of time on the majority of the cast, especially the first officer's religion, culture and love life with various significant others...
Oh, AND get two women to kiss on camera before the series goes off the air...
Now THAT might be a pretty decent show after a few seasons...
Of course we'd have to come up with a name for it, kind of dramatic like Space: 1999 but with Star Trek tossed in there somewhere...
Tongue planted firmly in cheek, I'm outta here...
Later!
Ali
But what interests me more is this idea for a different direction in Trek...
Yeah we can set it on a space station just above a Federation protectorate just outside a stable wormhole. You could have a character that sits in the station's bar who's supposed to be a chatterbox, but (you will LOVE this) HE NEVER SAYS A LINE ON CAMERA! Toss in a war, maybe focus on the Captain in later episodes on the series, but really spend a ton of time on the majority of the cast, especially the first officer's religion, culture and love life with various significant others...
Oh, AND get two women to kiss on camera before the series goes off the air...
Now THAT might be a pretty decent show after a few seasons...
Of course we'd have to come up with a name for it, kind of dramatic like Space: 1999 but with Star Trek tossed in there somewhere...
Tongue planted firmly in cheek, I'm outta here...
Later!
Ali
TOS.
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TOS.
The Great Bird himself did a perfectly fine job of that with the first two seasons of TNG. It could probably be argued (and certainly has been in other forums) that Berman actually helped save Trek from Roddenberry's influence.
Compared to what version of Trek?
TOS.
The Great Bird himself did a perfectly fine job of that with the first two seasons of TNG. It could probably be argued (and certainly has been in other forums) that Berman actually helped save Trek from Roddenberry's influence.
Shit, what else could he say?
Would it have killed it? Probably not. Would it have helped? No freaking way. It's too same old same old.
TOS.
Nope.
With respect to the kind of criteria you laid out in your post, it fails. By the standard of nuBSG or your "crew at each others throats" or "rock-hard crew" etc. TOS was just another squeaky clean world of skiffy action heroes.
So McCoy and Spock snapped at one another and Kirk sometimes emoted a little much when he had a tough decision to make. So what?
Compared to what version of Trek?
TOS.
Nope.
With respect to the kind of criteria you laid out in your post, it fails. By the standard of nuBSG or your "crew at each others throats" or "rock-hard crew" etc. TOS was just another squeaky clean world of skiffy action heroes.
So McCoy and Spock snapped at one another and Kirk sometimes emoted a little much when he had a tough decision to make. So what?
C'mon, dude, TOS! !960s! What did you expect? TV had nothing BUT one dimensional, celluliod, action figures. Batman and Robin. The Green Hornet and Kato. Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuriakin. Jim West. Mannix. T.H.E. Cat. The entire troupe on Lost in Space. With sensors back then, you weren't going to get anything different.
All I'm saying is that if someone wanted a scenario in which you would have a Sulu commanding a ship, especially in a Voyager kind of setting, this is one way in which it could have worked.
If I say anything else, I'm get in trouble with someone because they'll insist I'm flaming Voyager...
On another note, I seem to recall an episoe in which a ship commanded by someone named Captain Sulu dropped of Chakotay,as a boy, and his father somewhere.
I do agree, Takei taking the captain's chair probably would not have been as exciting as someone else.
I think Captain Sulu works better in novels than as an ongoing show. And remember, even if it were Star Trek: Excelsior, the same tired creative team probably would've been behind it. So we'd have 7 years -- or less -- of a somewhat weak ST entry, once again.
I wonder if Tuvok would've been in an Excelsior show, though? And if any of the actors cast in VOY would've been cast in different roles in the show? Hmmm!
Red Ranger
I wonder if Tuvok would've been in an Excelsior show, though? And if any of the actors cast in VOY would've been cast in different roles in the show? Hmmm!
Red Ranger
All true, which doesn't make TOS something it's not. One could easily argue that the final failing of modern Trek producers is that they did so little to correct the "emasculation" of Trek characters that was required in earlier decades of television, rather than that they somehow introduced it - they really didn't.
Time simply finally caught up with the inherent conservatism of Trek's storytelling style. I'm hoping the new movie will begin to correct that.
It would have been the same mistake as "Enterprise". It wouldn't have killed Trek but it would have lead to the same result as "Enterprise".
There was nothing wrong with the idea of making Voyager and the show had excellent characters. Voyager was the logical step after TNG and DS9.
The problem with Voyager was that it was somewhat sloppy handled by the writers and producers. They had the chance to come up with something really good but they never used the potential the series and the characters had. Maybe they also should have waited a year or two before launching Voyager it came too close on TNG and DS9.
Voyager wasn't bad. It was a good series. But some things couldd have been better.
Making a retro series like "Enterprise" after Voyager was the big mistake and a Sulu series would have been even worse. They should have continued in the 24th century. I mean, they had created that wonderful universe with all those interesting species, developed what was started in TOS and expanded it and what did they do then? They abandon it all and go back to a TOS state oreven worse a pre-TOS state with only Klingons, Romulans and such.
It would have been like the record business should have abandoned all the modern technology and gone back to mono recordings and 78 rpm records which crashes if you drop them. A Sulu series would have had the same result.
TOS was a wonderful series with wonderful characters. They should let it rest in peace instead of those futile attempts to milk the last possible money out of iit.
There was nothing wrong with the idea of making Voyager and the show had excellent characters. Voyager was the logical step after TNG and DS9.
The problem with Voyager was that it was somewhat sloppy handled by the writers and producers. They had the chance to come up with something really good but they never used the potential the series and the characters had. Maybe they also should have waited a year or two before launching Voyager it came too close on TNG and DS9.
Voyager wasn't bad. It was a good series. But some things couldd have been better.
Making a retro series like "Enterprise" after Voyager was the big mistake and a Sulu series would have been even worse. They should have continued in the 24th century. I mean, they had created that wonderful universe with all those interesting species, developed what was started in TOS and expanded it and what did they do then? They abandon it all and go back to a TOS state oreven worse a pre-TOS state with only Klingons, Romulans and such.
It would have been like the record business should have abandoned all the modern technology and gone back to mono recordings and 78 rpm records which crashes if you drop them. A Sulu series would have had the same result.
TOS was a wonderful series with wonderful characters. They should let it rest in peace instead of those futile attempts to milk the last possible money out of iit.
The character is pretty cool in novels.
Seems like he'd be kind of a personality cross between Kirk and Picard.
Lord knows I'd watch.
-Rabittooth
Seems like he'd be kind of a personality cross between Kirk and Picard.
Lord knows I'd watch.
-Rabittooth
I think they should have stranded a post TUC Excelsior in the Delta Quadrant. Less high tech flashy crap than Voyager, they would have been more even in a fight against the Kazon. They could have dropped the whole Maquis angle that they so badly misused. Plus they could use the cool movie transporter effect from the movies every single week. Takei is a good enough actor to pull the lead provided he had good enough scripts. They could have even had Demora Sulu visiting when the Excelsior got its ass pulled to the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker. What do you do with a visiting officer and daughter, could add some tension. You would have had drop the Holodoc, but you could easily replace him with an alien Doc no problem. You still could have had Kes and Neelix too. With Sulu at the command you could have the first officer be a woman or during the pilot they could have the first officer use the array to send Sulu back to Alpha Quadrant via something like an iconia gateway effect against his orders because she wants to save an injured Sulu, but there is only enough energy to send one person back to Starfleet HQ via the damaged array etc.... That would only be the case if you wanted to have Sulu for the pilot and flashbacks etc....
It could have worked quite well.
It could have worked quite well.
And yet, ENTERPRISE is what finally killed Trek.
Eighteen years of repetition killed "Star Trek."
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