[Unknown Target]

I was just watching some TOS movies (Star Trek II and VI to be exact), and it got me thinking. I went and browsed the official Star Trek website and started thinking some more...what does everyone think that Star Trek should do to remain relevant and new? Let's assume that they continue the rest break they're taking until, oh, 2010, and then they want to do something. What would bring Star Trek back to being a household name?

I'll save my opinions for a little later, after some people post some of their own.

[Ford Prefect]

It should retain its surviving dignity and never come back again. In my opinion, Star Trek survived intact only through The Next Generation. After that, it begins to resemble El Cid-- dead but propped up on a stake. Its humanist philosophy is outdated and no longer fits.

[Rictor]

What are you talking about? I personally thought DS9 was the best of the lot (though that might have something to do with it being on when I was of the "right" age for it to make an impression). Look, if hundred or thousand year-old stories can be made relevant, I'm pretty sure a fourty-year old license can. It's just that someone should do it right, that's all.

[Turnsky]

It's just that someone should do it right, that's all.

therin lies the question, who'd be the right person?

to me, it'd haveta feel right, like "epic", the star-trek universe has a lotta life left in it, just gotta be pulled off correctly.

[FireCrack]

DS9 wasn't trek though, it was "Somthing else in the trek universe"

That said, i agree TOS and TNG were the only dignified parts.

[Dan1]

DS9 wasn't trek though, it was "Somthing else in the trek universe"

That said, i agree TOS and TNG were the only dignified parts.

Dominion War!?  The closest any other series had to this was the Borg of NG / Klingons of TOS.

I don't know how many of you watched Enterprise but I would like to see the future that Daniel's lived in w/ the ships and their problems etc. 

Or maybe see a future where some of the tech involved in Armada/2 are actually made and put to use.

[Ford Prefect]

I think the mass media--especially television-- tends to act more as a reflection of a society's direction than as a forum for real discourse, and I just feel like American culture has grown out of Star Trek, (and make no mistake, Star Trek is about as American as a show can get.) It had an ethical and scientific innocence about it that just hasn't kept up with the evolution of our society. The notion of a committed group of heroes travelling to spread freedom and justice feels simplistic now, as does Star Trek's liberal use of science and technology to the point of it being just magic. The Federation is a society in which people have overcome their differences to work towards a model civilization. Well how the hell did that happen? What was the catalyst for this complete shift in humanity's collective psychology? Space travel? Superior alien beings? That doesn't cut it anymore. We have too many questions to ask and answer about how, or if, such a world is even possible. The paradigms of American culture have suffered too much of a beating for us as a society to believe in Star Trek's universe anymore. Some people argue that we can change Star Trek to fit the times. But what's the point? It's not Star Trek anymore. I say just box it, enjoy it for what it is, and make way for people with new ideas.

[Nuclear1]

I agree with Ford here. The whole idealist communism setting just doesn't work anymore. Frankly, I'd better settle for the Firely "can't make humans better" idea. Star Trek appeals because it is what people want to happen--an idealistic society where everyone works for the common good and not for personal gain. Firefly, on the other hand, is more real and understandable, being anti-war and anti-government, as well as being against the idea that humans can be made better than they are.

[Rictor]

So you're saying that Star Trek-as-BSG wouldn't be Star Trek? Maybe, maybe not. Like I said, stories and themes are immortal, if they're any good that is. Romeo and Juliet is as relevant today (aside from the "thous" and "arts", but that's just the skin) as it was when it was written, as it will be a hundred years from now. Exploration, the final frontier, that will never go out of style, because there's always another final frontier. Likewise, idealism 'n all that may not be "in", but you're looking through a very narrow lens, spanning months or years. It has endured for millenia, and probably will for many more.

Go and read Orbiter by Warren Ellis (which you should do anyway, cause it's awsome (anyone notice how I'm the only one around here pimping comics)) and tell me Star Trek is no longer relevant.

[Ford Prefect]

Romeo and Juliet is relevant because it addresses themes independent of specific cultural traits, as is arguably the case with most of the greatest literature. I have yet to see a television drama that achieves that kind of universality with a tenth of the artistry that Shakepeare's work had. In fact, I have yet to see a television drama that does this at all. Television is an extremely culture-driven medium. It speaks mostly to the people of its time and place.

[Ace]

Actually what would make Trek work are two things:

Go back to the initial 'Next Gen' idea of "no technobabble because we're too high tech for it" (i.e. no dilithium crystals breaking down every episode).

Have a large ship that's almost like a city which is self-sufficient but has all of the bells and whistles of all previous Trek serieses. (slipstream, phased cloaks, you name it)

Have this ship as part of the Federation's new voyages of exploration though the galaxy and add in a curveball:

Another civilization has made contact with the Milky Way, and this ship goes through their foothold on a mission of exploration.

A culture that is very technologically advanced, consists of millions of species and dozens of galaxies but one major issue: highly individualistic and hedonistic- they interfere with everything.

Both the feds and this group are well-intentioned but most episodes deal with the culture clash. While this new ship goes around discovering and contacting new species, it's also dealing with the reprecussions of this other culture. (and they reprimand the Federation for not intervening in genocidal wars, etc. on less advanced planets)

Pretty much the metaplot would look at colonialization v.s. non-interference and the reprecussions of both. Tons of tech for geek mastrubation, but also it's a sideline to the reprecussions of such tech. (sure you have that particle of the week, but you blew up half a star system MacKay...)

The Federation meddling in these people's galaxy, and their meddling in the regular 'Trek one is another big issue. What happens when these people meet the Borg and feel that experiencing being a drone is a good idea? Sure they leave the Collective, but now the Borg have assimilated some of that tech and use it on a rampage.

What are the side effects of these people encountering the Kelvan Empire and a few decide to conquer some planets for them and also mention what happened to their scouting party?

What about the V'Ger machine planet?

etc. etc.

Pretty much establish a few new species as main players, but mainly look at dropped plot threads that deal with the inter-galactic politics.

[Turnsky]

or go way beyond the scope of the previous treks and kick things off in other galaxy, such as a federation expedition made up of multiple ships, tons of new opportunities for races, tech, and character building. and if you go slightly beyond the next-gen era (TNG, Voyager, DS9, etc) new ship classes would be evident.
if it hadn't already been done, i'd go for something equivelant to elite force, but stargate already has that covered, really.

[an0n]

They should:

• Do a series based around a front-line fleet, set during and just after the Dominion War, featuring all the little-seen aspects of Starfleet. Ground assaults, covert ops, fighter squadrons, hit-n-run attacks - that kinda thing. They could fill the post-war seasons with the fleet trying to defend the Romulan Star Empire from the Breen and/or policing actions against pirates and rogue powers trying to capitalise on the beating the Federation Alliance fleets took by invading border worlds.
• Do a series set back during the Federation-Klingon War and show lots of old-school BOP-Constitution battles.
• Borg Invasion.

[Turnsky]

They should:

• Do a series based around a front-line fleet, set during and just after the Dominion War, featuring all the little-seen aspects of Starfleet. Ground assaults, covert ops, fighter squadrons, hit-n-run attacks - that kinda thing. They could fill the post-war seasons with the fleet trying to defend the Romulan Star Empire from the Breen and/or policing actions against pirates and rogue powers trying to capitalise on the beating the Federation Alliance fleets took by invading border worlds.
• Do a series set back during the Federation-Klingon War and show lots of old-school BOP-Constitution battles.
• Borg Invasion.

that works, also. it'd be also chance to see the little known details of various races/factions, particularly the borg, like how they started, etc.
and given how after the dominion war, the alliance between the feds/klingons/romulans would begin to crumble really quickly.

[an0n]

I seem to remember someone saying something about the Klingons invading and conquering the Romulan Star Empire in a possible future.

And the Klingons have the most experience fighting the Breen. So it'd be a nice tie-in if the Breen invaded the RSE, the Klingons moved in to defend (as some lingering part of the Alliance treaty obligations), the Remans revolted and took control of the Empire during the chaos, the Klingons drove the Breen off, the Romulans as a race collapsed and fled to Vulcan and the Federation, the Klingons annihilated the Reman fleet and took the Romulan Empire under Alliance control.

[Turnsky]

I seem to remember someone saying something about the Klingons invading and conquering the Romulan Star Empire in a possible future.

And the Klingons have the most experience fighting the Breen. So it'd be a nice tie-in if the Breen invaded the RSE, the Klingons moved in to defend (as some lingering part of the Alliance treaty obligations), the Remans revolted and took control of the Empire during the chaos, the Klingons drove the Breen off, the Romulans as a race collapsed and fled to Vulcan and the Federation, the Klingons annihilated the Reman fleet and took the Romulan Empire under Alliance control.

that seems far more logical than anything we've seen in recent trek, that's for sure.

[Nuke]

one thing that can save startrek is to drop the libral hippie nonesence. i very much doubt it is possible for one political idea to reign supream. there needs to be other political perspectives expressed in the show, else everyone looks like an ignorant heard follower. also the mood of the show could stand for some change. its generally too happy and is seldom dark. ds9 came close to sheding that aspect but it didnt catch in other series. shifting ds9 to the dominion war was a good plan, but it didnt stick very well in following series.

stop running starship-central plots. theres 4 series revolving around starships and their crews already and i dont think we need anymore of those. ds9 is an example of a sucsessful implementation of a new idea in trek. spacestation-central plot added a new perspective to the startrek universe but its still too similar to starships. perhaps a plot involving civilians, or another spiecies all together (like klingons or romulans). perhaps a war central series. also there are eras in the trek universe that are completely uncovered by any show or movie. like the era between kirk and picard, where of intresting stuff supposidly happened. enterprice b and c dispite being shown a couple of times are completely ignored. perhaps something post 24th century. a full out borg-federation conflict in the 25th century would be a good one. something where the borg have control of a majority of the galaxy and the federation and its allies must band together to stop them.

voyager and enterprise were failures in my opinion because of poor character design. enteprise had slightly better characters but still suffered the same problem. opossed to shows with really good characters (b5 and more so bsg, which had characters that intrested me from day 1). so additional effort must be put into cast selection and character design. id also like to see more of the classic aliens rather than a bunch of new spicies being introduced.

otherwise its dead. i never bothered to watch the end of voyager and i watched a few episodes of enterprise. none the less il give startrek another chance should a new series come up. none the less i thonk the coffins done been nailed.

[Turnsky]

one thing that can save startrek is to drop the libral hippie nonesence .

perhaps a political rift between those who want to uphold the laid-back "wait and see" approach, and those who want to take a more direct approach to how the federation does things.
kinda what separates the kirks from the picards, as it were.

[Bobboau]

"i never bothered to watch the end of voyager"
Janeway went back in time and gave herself ubber weapons of the future and killed all the Borg singlehandedly

[Mefustae]

one thing that can save startrek is to drop the libral hippie nonesence. i very much doubt it is possible for one political idea to reign supream. there needs to be other political perspectives expressed in the show, else everyone looks like an ignorant heard follower. also the mood of the show could stand for some change. its generally too happy and is seldom dark. ds9 came close to sheding that aspect but it didnt catch in other series. shifting ds9 to the dominion war was a good plan, but it didnt stick very well in following series.

If you change that, it's not Trek anymore. The fact of the matter is, Trek was first created to be an idyllic telling of the future, where everyone is happy and works to better themselves, all set in our little corner of the Galaxy with political intrigue and soforth. DS9 went a little dark, and it payed off, but if you want something nice, dark and dirty, go watch Galactica.

stop running starship-central plots. theres 4 series revolving around starships and their crews already and i dont think we need anymore of those. ds9 is an example of a sucsessful implementation of a new idea in trek. spacestation-central plot added a new perspective to the startrek universe but its still too similar to starships. perhaps a plot involving civilians, or another spiecies all together (like klingons or romulans). perhaps a war central series. also there are eras in the trek universe that are completely uncovered by any show or movie. like the era between kirk and picard, where of intresting stuff supposidly happened. enterprice b and c dispite being shown a couple of times are completely ignored. perhaps something post 24th century. a full out borg-federation conflict in the 25th century would be a good one. something where the borg have control of a majority of the galaxy and the federation and its allies must band together to stop them.

I highly doubt that anyone other than the Federation are going to play centre stage in any Trek. Moreover, it'll always be spaceborne, whether it be a station or starship, that's one of the core facets of Trek. It would be kinda cool to see the exploits of the Ent-B [If I remember that ep of TNG correctly, the Ent-C gets destroyed relatively early in her career defending a Klingon station or something], but there is no way to bring back the Borg, like it or not Voyager killed 'em.

voyager and enterprise were failures in my opinion because of poor character design. enteprise had slightly better characters but still suffered the same problem. opossed to shows with really good characters (b5 and more so bsg, which had characters that intrested me from day 1). so additional effort must be put into cast selection and character design. id also like to see more of the classic aliens rather than a bunch of new spicies being introduced.

Voyager... i'll give you that one. The characters were wooden all the way through, and the amount of change was effectively nill [see: the fabled Voyager reset button]. Ent on the other hand was just mishandled for the first few seasons, its potential going thoroughly untapped. However, it really managed to shine in its fourth season when someone who actually knew what they were doing took the reigns [Koto I believe].

otherwise its dead. i never bothered to watch the end of voyager and i watched a few episodes of enterprise. none the less il give startrek another chance should a new series come up. none the less i thonk the coffins done been nailed.

Just go watch Ent season 4, it's got some damn good episodes, and - while it was already dead - it goes out kicking [save for the final episode which was reigned by the previous guys, and as such it was so beyond trash it's not funny]. Anyway, it's definitely a good idea for it to just take a few years off and consolidate.