Posted 20 August 2017 - 02:27 PM
Alteran, I get your frustration and I respect your view. I can see where you're coming from.
From where I sit, I see a badly damaged franchise that hasn't recovered from Enterprise. I see two studios with varying ideas on how Star Trek should be handled and neither one of them with the right ideas on how to move it forward.
The rumours surrounding discovery may or may not turn out to be true but more often than not, whilst rumours aren't always 100% accurate, there is usually some truth to them.
I guess we will find out in due course as to the fate of Discovery. All I can say is how I feel about Star Trek right now and I have to say that I feel frustrated by it.
I'm frustrated that the studios can't work together, I'm angry that they've decided to reimagine/reinvent Star Trek when there was nothing wrong with Star Trek's look before Abrams took over. Yes new writers needed to be brought in to freshen the storytelling up but at least everything looked like it was mean to be in the Star Trek universe, I'm annoyed that this is a series set a mere 10 years before Kirk and Spock and nothing looks like it's from that era except the phasers.
I'm dubious that so much of what I've seen looks too generic sci fi and not unique to Star Trek. I'm worried that this version of Star Trek will have lost the optimism and the hope that made Star Trek a household name. I'm disappointed that both Paramount and CBS have copied other franchises to make Star Trek more accessible, instead of being truthful and respectful of Star Trek's past.
Most of all though I'm ashamed of both Paramount and CBS for not having any confidence in Star Trek and have instead tried to reshape it into something it isn't - a Star Wars knock off on the big screen and a game of thrones in space serial on the small screen.
They've failed to understand Star Trek and that is so disappointing. In 12 years, all Star Trek has had to show for it is 3 movies, each more mediocre than the last. Discovery should of been an easy and triumphant return. Instead it's another desperate reimagining of something ALREADY POPULAR.
In my opinion, being a prequel to TOS, Star Trek: Discovery should of looked as though it was a collection of lost episodes of TOS. Uniforms, props, aliens, sets, ships... each costume, prosthetic, ship meticulously recreated for this triumphant return of Star Trek, new characters, new stories, episodic television at its absolute finest, as if an historian from the 25th century was looking through old tapes of a period in the Prime Timeline - not a confusing mesh of different designs, something reimagined to look like everything we expect sci fi to look like these days - that's not Star Trek.
Star Trek leads the way for others to be inspired by it.
With all the talk over Star Trek: Discovery and over the right and wrong way to produce a Star Trek production, how would you do it?
In my opinion Star Trek is an episodic adventure that may incorporate the odd two part story or arc that runs in the background throughout an entire season.
First and foremost though Star Trek is about one crew, one ship on a pioneering exploratory adventure through the vastness of space, boldly going where these heroes come into contact with contemporary issues that in some way shape or form reflect our own world through the eyes of the fictional Star Trek universe. Whist stories can be as complex as any writer wishes to make them; the premise to Star Trek is clearly quite a simple one.
My idea if I were CBS would be to employ the talents of those who have worked on Star Trek over the 50 years and a fan base who have shown their credentials already through Star Trek: Continues and New Voyages to guide this series but to also reach out to Netflix to ensure that production values were high. No more All Access but a dedication to Star Trek that CBS won't use it to launch their fledgling streaming service but to ensure that Star Trek was given the best.
My idea for a series would be to go back to what everyone loves Star Trek for: bright, enjoyable, whimsical, intelligent and cerebral storytelling. A new generation will be inspired as we return to a legendary universe of characters and aliens as well as introducing new worlds, new species, new characters to an ever expanding universe of stories.
Set onboard a new starship Enterprise packed with new technologies for a new generation to be inspired by. A series set in the early 25th Century, a new crew takes command and is thrust into a pioneering adventure to seek out new worlds, new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no one has been before...
Simple.
