A_3PO If they came out with another series in the Star Trek franchise, would you want any bridging back to DS9?
That wouldn't be important. A completely new storyline would be fine with me. Quality would be the main thing. When watching DS9, I had no idea of any bridge with TNG. To answer your question, my gut says no.
I agree. Watch the first 4 seasons of Babylon 5 and then you can partake in geek discussions on which is the better series... As for a new spinoff, I think they've tapped all they could from the 24th century viewpoint and the leadership behind the franchise is more interested in making money than great stories. Ron Moore left Voyager because of disagreement over the franchise's direction and eventually got the nod to make Galactica. That last horrid Star Trek movie probably clinched it. Other ideas to jumpstart the franchise has been to focus on other points in time, like some supposed Starfleet Academy or an Original Series reboot with WB-like teen actors...
Maybe I need to go back and watch DS9... I tried getting into it, but never could. Too much crap going on. It was more like a soap opera than TNG (my favorite) was. I enjoy watching TNG because I can pick up any episode and watch it without knowing anything else. The Borg episodes are incredible (some are anyway). As for Sisko... Avery Brooks' best character was and will always be Hawk. That was the baddest man to ever grace the tv screen. He made Mr. T look like a sissy.
THANK YOU. I was beginning to think i was crazy because i read through the thread and you are the only one who wasn't gaga over DS9. I'm not a huge Star Trek guy or sci-fi guy at all but i thoroughly enjoyed th next generation and even voyager. I completely agree with the "soap opera" comment. I assume thats why everyone gets hooked after watching a few episodes. I think someone mentioned some of their favorite shows: Highlander, scrubs, death note, etc. All of those shows give me the instant gratification i need but DS9 shows seemed to crawl at a snail's pace.
Lexx. I didn't like this one much at first but it grew on me. lol, i can't stand the new series, especially the ones with chris eccleston.
From time to time, I think about what a new Star Trek series could be... it has to be FRESH and original.. so no direct ties to star fleet or star ships or space stations or anything like that... the only thing i can come up with that could realistically work (imo).. is something that focused on Section 31.. like the show would flesh out a 'squad' or 'unit' of 6 characters that work secretly behind the scenes (doing good and bad stuff) throughout the federation.. anyone want to write the pilot w/me
The cool and challenging thing about making a Star Trek that people would want to watch is the importance of the characters/actors making the situation/premise secondary. Every Star Trek will have the technology, but making characters that aren't compared to ones already done seems ridiculously hard. You can only watch so many second rate equivalents until losing interest. I'm not sure who to blame more for the failures of the most recent couple of series, the writers for being unoriginal and recycling storylines or the casting directors for not finding the right talent. Also they tried to sex it up like a cheap USA cable show. Sexy shouldn't be an approach. Us nerds don't need it shoved down our throats. We don't need another Seven or T'Pol. We can make due with a Doctor Crusher or a Dax. We're very imaginative.
I was a big DS9 fan and thought it was very underappreciated. The thing I liked about it was that it really had a sense of drama that was helped by the long story arcs along with a sense of the evolution of the characters. TNG did that to a certain extent but the short story arcs didn't really keep you that involved in and some ways felt like a procedural like Law and Order. IMO Voyager was the worst at and I often got the feeling when both Voyager and DS9 were on that Voyager was the one for kids where the story lines were dumbed down while DS9 was more for adults and had more complicated and darker story lines. In a way I think DS9 and Babylon 5 helped pave the way for shows like Battlestar Galactica, Lost and Heroes by showing that Sci-Fi fans are interested in following long plots and character development rather than just gee-whiz technology or space explosions.
I think that was one of the best DS9 episodes and I think you're talking about the Picard episode where he experiences about 50 years on another planet and has a family in the span of about 40 minutes. That episode, "The Inner Light" is one of my all time favorites along with a DS9 episode called "The Visitor" which dealt with Jake Sisko living a lifetime while Captain Sisko is stuck in a timeless parallel dimension only appearing every 20 years or so. Both of those episodes had very little special effects and no space battles or even sexy aliens but what they had was GREAT acting and a story that really made you care about the characters. Its stuff like that makes great science fiction where the fantasy technology sets the background to a great human drama.
The problem with trying to do Star Trek well is that a lot of TV sci-fi takes either two routes. The first is it is mostly about action, entertainment, and generally not very cerbreal(Stargate and Farscape). The second is it is a lot about character, story and more philosophical (Battlestar Galactica, Lost, X-Files). Star Trek tries to encompass both and what made it appealing, was that it grew out of what was originally sort of a joke series when Rodenberry first created it, wagon train in space, to something much more that tackled philosophical and moral questions. Since then shows like the current Battlestar Galactica have come around that are primarily centered about those issues but the Star Trek also has one other burden it has to deal with in that at its heart it still is about Roddenberry's vision of a hopeful future for humanity. A dark Battlestar Galactica vision of a horribly flawed fragment of humanity quarrelling with itself, and unsure of its own direction won't cut it for Star Trek but as Enterprise showed neither will just focussing on space battles and sexy aliens do it either. Star Trek needs to find a balance between great character and story where the foibles of the characters are shown but never to the point where it is dystopic and retaining a sense of wonder and hope for the future. That's a pretty tall order and you need good writers to come up with the plots and great actors and directors to execute it.
I've always thought that a Star Trek show centered around a non-Federation ship/crew would be the next logical step. Something like "Star Trek: Bird of Prey", and it takes place on a Klingon ship. They've done a lot to both vilify and legitimize the Romulans, Klingons, etc., but it would really be interesting to delve a little deeper into their society, etc. They did this a little bit with the Cardassians on DS9, and we've obviously seen a lot over the years from the other civilizations, but I think it's pretty clear that the Federation has become pretty stagnant. Of course, they've kind of type cast the Klingons/Romulans at this point anyway, so it would be difficult to remain true to what we already "know" and make it interesting. Having said that, I watched all of DS9 and really enjoyed it. Okay, that felt nerdy.
I don't think a show based on Klingons is possible. They are basically a laughable side-show (even Warf sometimes) to be brought up once/twice per season. Romulans, maybe. Or perhaps something new from the Gamma quadrant. There are infinite possibilities but good acting and a solid storyline are most important. With the Enterprise debacle, they blew a great chance to lay the foundation after building the structure. The concept was sound but it was a missed opportunity due to sorry execution. HAYJON02, what they did with T'Pol on Enterprise was a crime. I thought her character was far and away the best when the series started but, out of desperation, they just had to turn her into a mentally fragile sex-kitten.
I always thought that Q was the most interesting character and would be a great place to take a new series. The first and last TNG episodes points the way. Humans beginning to touch omnipotence. It's a macrocosm of human arrogance... Plus you could cameo Delance and Stewart since he was the first to "see with God's eye".
Ugh. I always hated Q. Had he been a "cool" character, it would've been really interesting... instead they made him some comedian/psycho spaz that just wanted to torment Picard. It almost seemed like Jerry Lewis with a lot of power sometimes watching his shenanigans. Absolutely could not stand most of the episodes he was in. When he got serious in those episodes, it became interesting. For example, when he introduced the Enterprise to the Borg to show them they were not as powerful as they thought. But that trial? That was so lame - getting judged by circus clowns - lovely. lol.
DS9 is nothing less than my favorite all-time TV show. Like every new show, the first season has some bad patches, but it rolls like a train as you get into the Dominion war. Anyone looking for something DS9-ish should try the new Battlestar Galactica. It's executive producer, Ron Moore, was also one of the main people behind DS9. It's not nearly as good as DS9, but nothing really is. It's a fair substitute though.
I know what you're saying, and with the exception of one episode where Q is a delivery boy looking for a Jean-luck-pickard?? He wasn't funny... Other appearances by the continuum are also lacking. I mean conceptually, that is where a new franchise should lean. Write the burgeoning omnipotence of Humans into the Star Trek world and it is easy to see it shaking the Federation to the core, along with all the bit players. Back in the day, Star Trek had a "conversation piece" quality to it... tribbles not withstanding. That is where the show was at its best imo.
Still my favorite Star Trek. Yes, the original had cheesy special effects, but so what? The cast was incredible and the scripts were often outstanding. A ground breaking series that changed television. I'm a big fan of Babylon 5. I recently bought the first season on DVD, and they did a nice job of remastering it, with the 5.1 sound being especially nice. Anyone who is a SF fan, and missed it the first time, should check it out.
