Star Trek: Ideas for New Series
As the date of the new Star Trek movie draws nearer and I begin to get to see the trailers the desire for new Star Trek begins to grow and I suspect that if this movie does well Paramount will take that as a sign that it might be time for another Star Trek TV series.
The fear I have of this is that because the movie is set in the original series time that they will decided they need to continue in that timeline. I think Enterprise already established how difficult it is to do a prequel in a series with hundreds of hours of history that you have to adhere to, so I decided to write down a few of the series that I would like to see.
Idea one: Star Trek: Trans-warp
Set a few years after Voyagers return the federation has built its first ship designed from the ground up to use trans-warp. This is the most advanced ship in the federation and because it can go so many times faster than any other ship it is often far out of range of any other star fleet vessels.
One of the key features of this advanced ship is the full integration of holodeck technology. Thanks to advancements in holodeck technology nearly all nonessential systems in the ship are built using holodeck technology allowing for the inside of the ship to be reconfigured for unique situations as well as encouraging the use of holographic crewmen.
In most ways this show would be most similar to Star Trek the Next generation, but thanks to trans-warp technology the crew would be able to make contact with species from the Gama and delta quadrant allowing for connections to all the modern series.
Star Trek:Renegades
One of the major problems in telling stories in Star Trek is that all the conflict is from outside of the ship. Even on voyager when they had a crew made up from two enemy ships everyone got alone. The answer to this seems to be to move outside of the realm of Star Fleet.
A merchant vessel that operates on the edge of federation law seems perfect. these are people like Harry Mudd. Self serving, but smart, interested more than anything on staying outside of the grip of the federation.
The key advantage of this type of show, beyond having characters on the ship who don’t like each other is that you could know everyone on the crew. One of the things that most disappointed me about enterprise was that they had too big of a crew. The show would have been better if there had only been 10 people on the enterprise and every one was a main character.
With a ship that is falling apart and a crew that is on the edge of the law we could explore the darker edges of the Federation, while still having people who at least on occasion are good people.
Star Trek: The not a series series.
There are a great many things that people would love to see in Star Trek, but that wouldn’t carry a full series. The idea of this not a series series it to have a miniseries and one shot episodes each one in a differnt part of the federation.
This would require truly skilled writers, but the possibilities would be great. You could have a four episode arch on the Klingon home world with no humans in site and the next week be on Risa where William Riker and Wesley Crusher have started a private detective agency.(It’s called Risa Nights and I stole the idea from Make it So).
Well written this type of a show, even with different actors and story lines each week could tell a grander scale ongoing story of the federation. Perhaps a war which is brewing, and each week some element of that story is explored.
In addition this makes guest stars easier than in any other Star Trek. If Brent Spiner is free for a week no need to come up with some contrived plot to put him on, just write an episode about B4 becoming Data.
With this you could even tell the history of the federation. Rather than having a entire series dedicated to these characters you could do an episode about the founding of Star Fleet.
The major downfall of course will be that this type of series could be spotty. Even the twilight zone which was the best of this style of series had week episodes and that was without the Star Trek writers.
Star Trek: New Frontier
If you haven’t read anything by Peter David you’re missing
out. He is one of my favorite authors and he spends considerable time writing Star Trek novels based around the ship Excalibur and its crew.
The advantage of making this into a series is three fold. You have numerous stories already written with interesting characters. This allows for less of the first season troubles that most Star Trek series face.
Second you have a built in audience. These books have been coming out for quite some time so there is a built in understanding and excitement about this idea.
Third, you have a really good writer who understands and loves and understands Star Trek in Peter David and the any star trek show could only be improved by having him involved.
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All great ideas for shows, in my humble opinion :)
Had an idea several years ago for a spinoff, since they seemed to be running out of inspiration.
It was to have a handful of Starfleet officers, probably led by Worf, to be placed upon a Klingon Battlecruiser for research/observation. Kind of like an exchange program with Starfleet.
This whole series would look and feel different because 90% of it would be seen through the eyes of Klingon exploration. They are much more aggressive, obviously. The whole tone of the show would be much darker…much more confrontational. More battles. More anti-Starfleet perspective. It would be Klingon adventures…
…as seen through the eyes of the few humans (and Worf) that are constantly struggling with the Klingon crew. Klingon tactics. Klingon missions. Klingon over-aggressive engagements.
Obviously, there would be cameos on occasion by Picard & Co. All kinds of Starfleet related storylines as well, but not neccessarily. There might even be Klingons we come to know and respect on the ship, etc.
Don’t think the powers that be in creating the television series would ever go for it though. Unfortunately, they keep reproducing the same stories over and over. Not that Star Trek doesn’t have great episodes…it’s the recycling that kills them in the end.
Frank
Sounds like a good idea. Have to agree though that it is unlikely to be made as a series. That’s one of the reasons that having a show set in the Star Trek universe but without a set story or crew appeals to me. Would love to see all the other races, especially Klingons get their chance to be in the spotlight for a while.
All of those are greats ideas. I especial liked franks exchange program ideal. I personally would love to see a Terran empire miniseries.
Having been a star trek fan for years and going to every movie I am left wondering why there are no Native Americans in any of the movies. There was an episode from the TV series that portrayed Native Americans (hokey as it was) which recognized the existance of Native People at least. It needs to be noted that Native Americans have survived Columbus and are still a viable people and I am sure we will still be here in the future posessing talents worthy of a place on the Enterprise. There is great diversity in Star Trek which is great but please do not marginalize Native Americans as we have been historically.
New Star Trek Series
The past series of star trek the audience has fallen in love with characters who have over come personal demons and faced off against armies of evil empires. However we have yet to have a series where the characters fail to overcome these demons, or how the events surrounding the character brings out their darker side and leads them to their downfall.
In the darkest series of star trek we would have characters that not only show their strengths and nobility but also their weaknesses, such as alcohol or other addictions. As events in the series affects the characters evolutions and turning the most loyal men traitorous.
This series would be different in the sense that where seven seasons of voyager was set over seven years in that timeline. This series would be set over a much longer period with many gap years in between seasons. We would have some major and minor cast changes due to promotions, deaths and transfers throughout the series, promotions would happen mainly between seasons due mainly to the gap years in between.
To highlight the major points of this series:
- Much darker than any other
- Be set over a larger period of time
- periodic major and minor cast changes
- Instead of having that confidence that the main characters will survive all dangerous situations, there will be times when characters are killed off. Keeping the audience on edge
- The series will have an overall story, with each season having its own story arc and each episode focused on certain characters at a time.
- Character development will be a huge part of the series.
The setting
*Please note that the following does not take in any cannon, such as the novels, games or the upcoming star trek online. It may take from previous movies or series and I’m not against it being modified.*
With the absorption of many new worlds into the federation, it was necessary to create a faster form of travel. The reopening of trans-warp drive research lead to disaster with the prototype destroyed with all onboard, instead large trans-warp conduits were build which propel a ship into trans-warp space. This technology was used to cause the greatest cataclysm in history, which resulted in the federation being split in two by a massive nebula, impassable and unable to communicate the two sides were left to fend for themselves, This series takes place decades later onboard the run down starship the USS Phoenix, focusing on the crew from the command deck to NCOs and enlisted. Just prior to the event Starfleet received intelligence on a large fleet of unknown origin near Federation space and dispatched several armadas to intercept. Just after arriving at the co-ordinates the admirals discovered there was nothing there, not even on long range sensors. Several hours later the Cataclysm took place, a massive explosion that caused unimaginable levels of energy to travel through several Conduits, destroying them as it continued and creating a massive nebula.
The series is about survival of the crew, the ship, the Federation. Member worlds have seeded and formed there own alliances. While there are many worlds who are still loyal to the Federation they are still recovering and are beginning to doubt the Federation can be salvaged or reformed. Minor races in the series are now major players in the quadrant and are not missing the opportunity to ally, manipulate or take advantage of the Federations weakened state.