Thursday, April 15

Thoughts On The Next Trek Series... (Warning this may bore non-Trek readers!!)

The Next Star Trek Series...

I know that most critics think that Paramount should give the franchise a rest before trotting out another series, but I disagree. What they should do is give the usual Trek scenarios a rest. I think it is time to get a little bolder and looser with the franchise. How about this...

Star Trek: Fellowship (Note to self: Need Better Title)

Basically, it would be a cross between Babylon 5 and Love Boat . It would focus on a ship that travels throughout Federation space but has regular stops on Earth, Risa and Bajor (for wormhole travelers) and serves as a mobile liaison to all the Federation planets and their allies. The ship would be huge... a mobile city. It would have decks that had mini-embassies and quarters for traveling dignitaries, decks for private citizens, and decks for traveling and vacationing Starfleet personnel. It would have many decks of a recreational nature... holosuites, holodecks, bars etc. It would have a deck that served as a galactic bazaar for traders. It would have a security deck for prisoner transfers and ship security. It would have hospital decks for the ship and for planetary missions. The ship would have vast cargo holds and many docking bays for smaller ships.

The ship would have the most advanced defensive capabilities but would have little in the way of offensive capabilities. It would, however, have it's own squadron of fighters for protection that are kept on the ship.

The captain and first officer of the ship would be insulted, at first, to be assigned to the ship; they think of it as little more than a cruise ship. Over time they would learn that most of the universe's important work gets done during a card game or thru other unofficial means; this ship is where the real deals are made or broken; What happens on the ship, stays on the ship. Yes, it is a cross between the U.N. and Las Vegas.

This backdrop would allow for any kind of story to be told about anyone in the Trek universe. From week to week we would not no if the episodes would be action/adventure, espionage, romance, hospital drama, comedy etc (a lot like DS9, now that I think of it). The crew would be the only regular characters and they would not always be integral to the story. This could also be the Trekker's continuity heaven without interfering with the casual viewer's enjoyment of the series. If set in the STNG, DS9 and Voyager time period, any character used on those show could show up on Fellowship. Imagine a baseball game between Jake and the DS9 crew and the Voyager crew during sweeps. There could be a Quark's Bar franchise on the ship with a holoQuark greeting the patrons at the entrance.

All you need is a regular cast for the crew... Captain, First Officer, Doctor(s), Security, Concierge, Bartender and anyone else one might need on such a ship. The guest stars would be the focal point of the show and could be new faces or old characters from episodes of the other series'.
There could be story arcs for the season or the overall series that allow for individual and multi-part episodes to work within the framework of the story.

Other than a name for the ship and a title; what do ya think (I know you think I have too much free time on my hands; what about the idea)?

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