Star Trek - Its future on televison (1 Viewer)

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Rub downs almost every week are pretty sexual. Did Seven or T'pol need these outfits for any other reason than to show off their figure. Did Vulcans ever wear things of this nature?

 

[Andy_Bu]

I agree. Just as nearly every female on TOS did not need to show their panties for any other reason than to show off their a$$ and legs.

I am not arguing that T'Pol and Seven of Nine did not dress sexy. I am just saying that acting like this did not occur in the orginal TOS is wrong.

Andy

 

[todd stone]

no more Klingon. Played out entirely.

 

[David Forbes]

Or time travel! NO MORE TIME TRAVEL! EVER!!!

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

So they put them in skin tight uniforms for the Woman demographic? Braga played the titilation card all the time instead of good storytelling. TOS used it in addition to.

 

[Lewis Besze]

So your complaint is about the writing not the catsuits?
I hate to say this but almost any show feature charaters for their looks and not for their "charisma" be it male or female.
Believe it or not there are viewers who watch this or other shows, who preffers to see that kind of "exposition" regardless of anyone's opinion of the writing quality of those shows, which is why they're being put into those shows in the first place, to attract those viewers. Of course you can complain about it but at the end it won't matter to those who produce shows.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

My complaint is poor writing and using catsuits to make up for it.


And that's exactly who the makers of Enterprise and Voyager were going after, pre pubescent boys and others who liked this type of "exposition." not caring about the quality of the show over all.
This type of thinking finally backfired on the makers of this show.

 

[EricRWem]

I'll have no confidence in any Trek product that Rick Berman and/or Brannon Braga are assoicated with.

I really don't want to see a new Trek until some new blood is involved, and by that I mean: People that know Trek and LOVE it. If that means 5 years, then so be it. However long it takes, I don't want to see ANY more Berman Trek, or anything like it.

DS9 was a quality show. Certain episodes were arguably some of the best Trek I've ever seen. My only complaint with Ds9 was its rushed ending story arc over the last several episodes. That final episode was a joke, imho.

 

[Lewis Besze]

Well, that's a matter of opinion, but like I said this is not exclusive to Star Trek.

 

[Jonathan_Clarke]

I wonder why they never pulled Nick Meyer in closer. He did all the best films of the TOS era (II, VI and wrote IV) but is still considered an outsider. I watched VI and Nemesis recently and wondered how much better Nemsis would have done if Meyer had been let loose on the TNG era.

I'd like an animated series based on Riker's new ship, the Titan. I'm sure you could get Frakes and Sirtis to do voices. Put it on Cartoon Network like Clone wars and you'd get a response.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

When TNG was on, I remember going to a convention and seeing drawings for a animated series based on Picard and the rest of the crew. It's ashame it never came to fruition.

 

[Justin^W]

I believe Paramount is going to let the Trek series rest for awhile. I personally think Enterprise has got much better as of late and hoped it wouldn't get cancelled, but oh well.

 

[Francois Caron]

A side note. I referred in a previous post the fan production site known as "Star Trek New Voyages". In the Enterprise two- parter "In a mirror, darkly", we see a tactical viewer automatically come out of the helm station's console. The production team didn't have enough time to make a viewer of their own so they asked the New Voyages production team if they could borrow theirs for the show, which they kindly did.

Maybe the future of Star Trek IS in the hands of the fans. The only catch is being able to find enough fans that can see beyond the past and not necessarily repeat everything that has already been done.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Well, it's obvious that there are a wide variety of opinions over what should be next for the franchise. And I've got some, too :p)

Personally, as much as I've enjoyed the 4th season of Enterprise, I do think it's time for a rest, and one of some significant length.

And to be honest, I don't know how the last 3 seasons of Voyager were, really, because I hardly ever watched it. The show had just bored me to the point that I just didn't care anymore. I did catch the last few episodes, though, and was very underwhelmed (even with low expectations). Enterprise was the same way for a while (though it was usually better than most of the Voyagers I had seen).

Again, this is just my opinion, but I think the reason that TOS, TNG, DS9 worked so well is that they each tried new things. DS9 definitely flirted with contradicting some of Roddenberry's ideas, but there were other ideas of his that I think the show nailed. DS9 was a thoughtful, carefully written show about characters and ideas. Sure, there was plenty of action thrown in and it was basically a soap opera, but then so is almost every other show on TV nowadays.

I'm not saying that a dark tone and story arcs are the only thing that can save the franchise, but it was just the idea of trying something new. That's the main reason why I think the franchise needs a rest; there needs to be some time taken to come up with some truly fresh ideas.

As for Berman and Braga, let's try to have a little perspective on things before we form the lynch mob. I'm actually a little tired of the unconditional hatred that so many people have for them. I don't like the direction they've taken the franchise in anymore than the next fan, and I too, think it's high time for them to move on.

However, they should be given their due: Berman helped (along with Michael Piller) save TNG in its 3rd season, and he did it by finding some good writers. So in fact, I guess it was the writers that did most of the saving, but Berman helped orchestrate it. Say what you will about him, he's a pretty good producer. He just needs to stay out of the creative department, because he's obviously out of ideas.

One of those writers was Braga, who was behind some of the more creative episodes from TNG's 3rd, 4th, & 5th seasons. He's a very talented writer. However, as we've seen, he apparently isn't that good with story arcs, and try as he might, he just doesn't seem to understand why Trek fans have such affection for the show. He understands that they do, just not why. I actually think he'd be perfect for a Twilight Zone or even Tales From the Crypt-like anthology series.

So yes, they need to be out of there and doing something else, but enough with demands for their heads.

Back on Trek itself, the far-flung future where the Federation is a memory might lend itself to some decent drama. However, that's sort of what Enterprise has been trying to do this season, but it might be neat to see an entire series with that direction.

What I would love to see is a modestly-budgeted theatrical trilogy, featuring as many actors from the TNG-era series as would commit. And it would need to be done by a team with a true understanding of the franchise, and someone who could sweet-talk certain actors into taking a slightly smaller salary than they have before. The trilogy format would allow time to be taken for all the characters to have their moments. And the story would need to be something that would involve all of them realistically, and possibly tie up some (but probably not all) of the loose ends. For example, what has been the aftermath of the Dominion War? What was the impact of Voyager's return from the Delta Quadrant? What are some of the fruits of the friendship forged by Picard and Donatra at the end of Nemesis?

Also, a trilogy like this could set up events and even some new characters for a possible new TV series.

Of course, this is all just fanboy dreaming. But if they do decide to do something with the TNG era, to give it a true send-off, then it needs to be completely and unashamedly for the fans. One of the things that brought Nemesis down, IMO, was a confusion of who the target audience was. John Logan tried to write something for the fans, Stuart Baird came along and tried to make it "for people who had never seen a Star Trek movie before," and Rick Berman let him. I actually think Baird is a decent director (not to mention a fantastic editor), but he appears to be another one that doesn't "get" Trek. I get this feeling mainly from his comments on the Nemesis DVD commentary. However, at least he had an excuse, being a newbie.

If the powers-that-be decide on a new TV series, I think they need to do another jump ahead. Show us Trek's 25th century. Whatever they do, they need to go forward. That's what Star Trek has always been about anyway, right?

Of course, they could finally do the Assignment: Earth series starring Teri Garr and someone to play Gary Seven's successor. :alien: Ay, what a geek am I. :p)

 

[Justin_Waine]

I think that they (Paramount) needs to bring back Ira Steven Behr and give him the reigns along with Manny Coto to the Star Trek franchise. Anyone know what Behr is doing right now? He did great work on DS9 and this season of Enterprise has been amazing thanks to Manny Coto.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Behr's the showrunner of The 4400 - or at least on the staff.

Supposedly Manny Coto's got his pitch for the next Star Trek series ready, with the Reeves-Stevenses ready to jump on board. Of course, I gather he's already been hired on to steer 24 next year.

I've heard rumors that one of the reasons Paramount is willing to stop production dead even though Enterprise could probably make a profit on DVDs and tie-ins for a few more years is that it's what's necessary to rid themselves of Berman's contract, so maybe after a couple years of 24, once any obligations to Berman are dead, dead, dead, Coto will see if Paramount is ready for more Trek.

I think this is also an indication that television is more of a meritocracy than we give it credit for. Coto and the DS9 guys found work quickly once their series ended, and Michael Piller's been working fairly consistently, too. The Voyager guys? Not so much. I'll be fairly shocked if we see Rick Berman or Brannon Braga's name on a regular series anytime soon (because we all know Threshold won't be picked up).

 

[Kwang Suh]

I'm not too keen on the high-concept ideas (Federation gone, etc). There's plenty of stuff to do and tell within the existing framework without having Yet Another Nifty Idea.

Oh, and this is not directed at any of you at all, but I *hate* fan ideas. Sorry.

 

[Britton]

How can you say a thing like that? Only the fans can come up with something great like the second Bring Back Kirk trailer! :wink:

 

[Michael Harris]

The "Washington Post" held an on-line chat today on the end of "Enterprise" and the future of Trek. Good reading.

 

[JonZ]

New Voyages

http://www.newvoyages.com/news.html

check out how many times some of these episodes were downloaded.