How would you "fix" Star Trek?

[Pyrodrew]

Trekkies Fight End of 'Enterprise' Series

LOS ANGELES - Trekkies are uniting to win a reprieve for "Star Trek: Enterprise," slated to end its mission on UPN in May. "Save Star Trek" was the headline of a full-page ad in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times that called on fans to get the show a new TV home through a petition campaign and rally.

"Captain Archer and the crew of the NX-01 need your help to continue their journeys!" the ad read, calling the "Star Trek" franchise a "cultural icon."

The ad asked viewers to commit to watching the show, now in its fourth season, if the Sci Fi Channel — "its logical home," according to the ad — agrees to pick it up.

A call requesting comment from the New York-based channel Tuesday evening was not immediately returned.

The ad contained clip-and-mail pledges addressed to the channel; Paramount Network Television, which produces the series; and to parent company Viacom Inc.

A rally is planned for Feb. 25 outside the Paramount lot in Los Angeles, according to the ad, which says it was paid for by worldwide fan donations.

"Star Trek: Enterprise," which debuted in 2001 as a prequel to the original 1960s "Star Trek" series, stars Scott Bakula (news) as Capt. Jonathan Archer. It begins reruns in syndication this fall.

For the first time in 18 years, however, no first-run "Star Trek" series will be airing.

The franchise included "Star Trek" (1966-69, NBC); "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987-94, syndicated); "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1992-99, syndicated); "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995-2001, UPN) and "Star Trek: Enterprise."

The current series averaged about 2.9 million weekly viewers for the season, half the audience it drew in its first year. But the ad cites "a highly praised peak in creative vigor and audience enthusiasm."

___

On the Net:

http://www.saveenterprise.com

[Q Classic]

JMS himself wants badly to have a stab at ST. Personally, I think that's what is needed at this time. Dump Berman and crew and return to Gene's original vision.

yeah, it's old news (well, not that old, but from late last year...)...

it'd be much better than the little **** called "enterprise" and would probably rejuvenate the series.

seriously? imagine b5 with better production resources, bigger budget, stronger casting...

[gunkulator]

I stopped watching ST somewhere around Voyager season 3 when it was clear that the producers completely lost touch with what ST was about. Some more fixes off the top of my head:

- No more holodeck
- I don't ever want to hear the word "tacyon" again.
- How about some non-bipedal aliens for a change?
- Story arcs please.
- Revamp the entire ship. It looks essential the same as the original series. At least install some seatbelts forcrissakes.
- Toilets. Do they have them or not? I wanna know!
- Oh, and more hot chicks.

[Provost Harrison]

Seatbelts? They have inertial dampeners for goodness sake

[Edan]

They could make it the anti-Trek: Blake's 7

STAR TREK                               BLAKES 7

 1. The triumph of morality.             1. The triumph of amorality.
 2. The Federation is good.              2. The Federation is evil.
 3. The Federation is an instrument of   3. The Federation is a fascist
    democracy and free speech.              military dictatorship.
 4. Everyone on the ship gets along.     4. Don't turn your back.
 5. Reliable friends.                    5. Betrayal.
 6. Goal: "to explore strange new        6. Goal: to survive, destroy the
    worlds & civilizations", assist         Federation and make a fast
    Federation colonies and promote         buck whenever possible.
    Federation growth.
 7. The basic crew don't die; in fact,   7. The basic crew dies, disappears,
    they come back from the dead.           and finds better things to do.
 8. The Captain has a receding           8. The Captain has a perm.
    hairline or no hair.
 9. The heroes chase things.             9. The heroes are chased.
10. Electric shavers that can stun.     10. Cattle prods that kill.
11. A new planet every episode.         11. A new plot every episode.
12. Special effects.                    12.
13. When nothing else works, the        13. When nothing else works, the
    Captain will try deception.             crew will try a little truth.
14. Disposable extras.                  14. Disposable regulars.
15. The Boy Scout mentality.            15. Niccolo Machiavelli.
16. Occasional sarcasm.                 16. Occasional straight dialogue.
17. Stand by your friends.              17. Stand behind your friends.
18. Love will save the day.             18. Love = carelessness = death.
19. Choosing between good and evil.     19. Choosing the lesser of two evils.
20. Mind-meld.                          20. Telepathy.
21. Transporters are commonplace.       21. Transporters are amazing.
22. Helpless females.                   22. Ball-busting females.
23. An alien crew member.               23. An alien crew member.
24. Computer personality problems.      24. Computer personality problems.
25. Justifying pacifism.                25. Justifying your right to live.

[Dr Strangelove]

I was hop;ing that when DS9 ended that they would make a series where DS9 ended with the remaining characters going off to their new posts. The chief and the doctor were supposedly going back to Star Fleet Academy. They could have made a good series based around Star Fleet Academy following a few cadets in the early years of their careers, while the chief and the doctor were occassionally assigned to their old assignments as undercover agents infiltrating the Orion gangs and foiling area 31. They also might have occassionally brought Quark and Nog back in episodes involving the reformed Ferengi regimes strugle to change the way business is done by the Ferengi.

[atomant]

Originally posted by ravagon
B5 wasn't just a special effects extravaganza though - season 1 in particular didn't have large scale fleet engagements but did have many very very good episodes that hinted at what was to come - 'Midnight on the firing line' (No really big fleets fighting it out but it did show off the Narn war machine and introduce the Narn-Centauri feud in a major way), 'Mindwar' (that closing scene with nothing more than an ant on a flower still gives me chills), 'The coming of shadows', 'A voice in the wilderness' (well, this did have a few FX thrown in but very low-grade by the later seasons standards) were huge episodes.

JMS just managed to hit on a near-perfect blend of story-telling, mysticism and FX that produced one of the best sagas of all time.

My favourite B5 episode was where they actually used that defence grid. Bring it on baby....

[Verto]

Get rid of holodeck and other methods used to avoid creating a real plot. Using time travel for this reason works only when you have Kirk, Spock and McCoy; for everyone else, it sucks.

Do not turn Star Trek into a bland, BOOM BAM EXPLOSION action series. Create plots reminiscent of the theme of TOS, ones that exclude waste-of-space characters such as Neelix. I'm sure there are some good Star Trek Phase II plots lying around.

Actually, just put Star Trek TOS on the air, not just on Sci Fi. Maybe people need to remember that there was a time Star Trek was a worthwhile franchise, before a new movie/series is started.

[Bkeela]

I'm fairly happy with Star Trek the way it is.

The juvenlie, comic book story lines can get a bit monotonous, but the sci-fi atmosphere, along with the good looking women on display is enough to sustain my devotion.

What needs to be changed is the expectations of morons. All these fools in society and at this site, who moan and whinge about Star Trek: they can go and jump head first into a tree mulcher, please. They are the ****ers who brought down Enterprise.

Star Trek could do with less wild west storylines though.

[Edan]

Oh, and one rule of thumb any star trek show should take:

No children! Especially smart children saving the day.

[Verto]

So true.

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Verto
Get rid of holodeck and other methods used to avoid creating a real plot. Using time travel for this reason works only when you have Kirk, Spock and McCoy; for everyone else, it sucks.

Do not turn Star Trek into a bland, BOOM BAM EXPLOSION action series. Create plots reminiscent of the theme of TOS, ones that exclude waste-of-space characters such as Neelix. I'm sure there are some good Star Trek Phase II plots lying around.

Actually, just put Star Trek TOS on the air, not just on Sci Fi. Maybe people need to remember that there was a time Star Trek was a worthwhile franchise, before a new movie/series is started.

:d

JM

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Sikander


As in, "I thought he had three legs, but it turns out the big one is a sexual organ."?

Well, I was also thinking about job opportunities for sideshow performers.

[Cruddy]

One thing I'd do to improve Star Trek is to avoid it's use of aliens to represent negative human traits.

Examples; boors Vulcans, violence Kilngons, thieving Ferrengi, etc etc etc etc.

[gunkulator]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Seatbelts? They have inertial dampeners for goodness sake

Yeah, but Star Fleet must have bought them all at the dollar store or something. The darn things are always going off line so we still get those cheesy shake-the-camera shots every time the ship takes a hit.