Overhauling Star Trek

[Baffalo]

This is a kind of "What if?" post, and the question posed is thus: If you were brought in by Paramount to overhaul the Star Trek universe and get in touch with the "Core Essentials" of the universe (Exploring the human condition in space), what would you do to overhaul the universe, and how would you go about doing it? Please keep in mind this is a pitch for a new show or movie, and you're being asked how to fix it.

The only requirements are that you cannot remove a major faction (like the Klingons), only alter them. You cannot use time travel to create a new timeline, nor can you make segments of established canon simply disappear (Such as all seven seasons of Voyager). You are, however, allowed to set your new story far enough apart from the existing canon to allow these changes to occur.

I won't be posting my ideas right away, but I would love to see what you guys come up with.

[The Romulan Republic]

We've done an exploration ship. We've done a space station setting. We've done a lost ship on its own (albeit very badly). We could redo all those things, particularly in the reboot universe (you said we couldn't create a new timeline, but that one already exists), but I'd like to try to think of a way to push the envelope a bit more.

One thing that occurs to me is a ship with a specific mission rather than general exploration plus whatever happens to come up. Say a ship charged with patrolling the Neutral Zone or rebuilding after a war. I might go with something a bit more action-oriented, but the action would serve to create drama and moral dilemmas. I'd go for idealism, but try to avoid being preachy/heavy-handed about it. And the crew might be much more diverse than usual- probably mostly non-human.

Or, hell, maybe set a show outside of Starfleet altogether. Something other than the Federation, perhaps? A post-destruction of Romulus show (or post-destruction of Vulcan show in the new universe) focussed on the survivors trying to rebuild their civilization (this might have something to do with my fondness for parts of the Romulan storyline from Star Trek Online)? Or what about a show centred around a group of scientists or politicians or something like that rather than officers? Maybe a civilian freighter (Star Trek meets Firefly).

Edits: Mind you, probably none of these are very original. I'm sure I've seen at least some of these ideas on this forum before, so I can't take credit for them, much as I'd like to.

Basically, though, it boils down to doing something new. That's always a good thing, as much as it may make some fans whine.

[Borgholio]

I'd like to see a show with the Maquis as the main characters. A rebel-scum type survival story set in the ST universe is not a worldview we ever really see in ST. or like Romulan Republic said, we could have a show just about the Klingons or something like that. In fact, a show about the Klingons would be a great way to improve their image as it currently is (mindless Viking-ish barbarians who quite literally bring knives to gunfights because it's dishonorable to use a weapon that actually works). Just show that the Klingons who serve in the navy are mindless brutes while they can actually be quite cultured and sophisticated back home.

[Enigma]

Whatever show that is pitched, I'd like to see Starfleet have a more solid divide between military and non military objectives. One part of Starfleet dedicated to protecting the Federation through whatever means necessary and the other part deals mainly non military objectives like science, exploration, diplomacy, search and rescue, etc...

On a starship, the military aspect of Starfleet would encompass the roles of Security and Tactical with the use of something like ENT's MAACO instead of the current use of pajama troopers.

My mind is a bit muddled due to lack of sleep but you get the idea? I hope.

[Sidewinder]

I think there should be more interpersonal conflicts between the crewmembers. Say the Federation is still recovering from a war that ended one decade ago. Starfleet just launched its first mission of exploration since the war ended, but the "explorer" is a warship with additional modules to aid in the exploration mission, not a "dedicated" (and unarmed) explorer. The ship's captain is ordered to defer to the chief science officer (who may be a civilian) on matters pertaining to the mission of exploration, but the captain remains in command of the ship, and refuses to remove torpedo launchers and phaser mounts the chief science officer deems "useless" to the mission.

There will be conflicts between the captain and the chief science officer due to their different ideals and experiences, e.g., the captain ordering, "Raise shields," when encountering the unknown (the captain fought in the war, and the lessons learned from this experience is to be prepared), the chief science officer (an idealist) protesting such actions may be provocative, and the ship's crew (awkwardly separated into "operations" and "mission" departments, the former servicing the warship, the latter servicing the modules for the mission of exploration) forced to take sides.

Eventually, the two sides will earn each other's respect, reconcile their differences, and to compromise when negotiating for what they believe is right. But it will be a gradual process, the differences noticeable only when you view a Season One episode and a Season Five episode back-to-back.

[Borgholio]

I think there should be more interpersonal conflicts between the crewmembers.

That's what Voyager SHOULD have been. A Federation ship stuck halfway across the galaxy with the very people they were tasked with capturing and imprisoning as part of the crew. That lasted for all of half the first season when they all became the model Starfleet officer.

[Crazedwraith]

I think there should be more interpersonal conflicts between the crewmembers.

That's what Voyager SHOULD have been. A Federation ship stuck halfway across the galaxy with the very people they were tasked with capturing and imprisoning as part of the crew. That lasted for all of half the first season when they all became the model Starfleet officer.

Tangentially related, but I've been reading some shatnerverse trek novels recently. And Kirk on occasion comments that he dislikes the command bench on Voyager. (well the USS Soveriegn which has the same set up he's seen on a mirror verse Voyager.... yeah the books are odd sometimes) Because it's command-by-committee. Which I thought would actually be the perfect bridge symbolically for voyager, if only they'd played up Janeway as an idealistic, inexperienced commander and chakotay as the more pragmatic man with real experience of roughing it. They could literally have been near equals with episode subplots devoted to who's way they were going to take out of the problem of the week. And they could have switched up who was 'right' and who's way they ended up taking. (and even have those not be the same thing occasionally)

But yeah not saying what's not been said there.

---

To answer the main question. My answer used to be 'hire Peter David and turn the New Frontier novels into a series' but I'm not quite the NF fanboy I used to be.

The Captain Worf thing that made the news I think last year would make a good series. In the hands of someone who knew Worf and could write him well and with more dimensions explored seeing him as a Captain rather than the security cheif.

But that's the key. If you have good writers behind it, any premise can work. My own preferences would be to do an exploration series and not marquis or a civilian ship to not try be star trek doing firefly. That's just me. I'd love to see a series that similar to Stargate Sg-1 or Atlantis in there best years. Some story arc but not serialised. Plenty of room for silly sci-fi plot of the weeks. A touch of humour but still being able to be serious when it wanted to. And while I'm ripping stuff off other shows, try to be a little more ambitiousness with your aliens. Like Farscape.

I think the post war going to rebuild an area idea gives most scope for different stories both episodic and on going. You could even go for the differnce between war-torn vets and more idealistic newbies/officers that didn't see action. Though I wouldn't make the divide as explicit as Sidewider. Have it very much behind the scenes and in the character's history, show it through the interactions, don't spell it out sort of thing.

But yeah anything with good writing, production values and good actors for when the first two fall through I would say. But goodness sake if you do set up some kind of arc. (temperoal war, a cylon plan etc) know where you're going to go with it. (unless you're breaking bad and can wing it...)

[Crazedwraith]

crud, double post.

[Elheru Aran]

Yeah, it doesn't much matter how you set up the show as long as you have the outer-space thing, some notion of literary progression, and decent writing. Things should not be the same at the end of the series as it was at the start, and don't have people standing around yapping about nothing (or technobabbling about nothing for that matter; if you're going to technobabble, have it be semi-relevant at least). Add a couple of existential crises along the way, a long-standing enemy behind the scenes, and try to wind it up in a nice little knot-- don't just string it out. That's the big problem with television series, they just keep going for the most part. Nobody really tries to do a self-contained story anymore except places like HBO and what not.

[Gandalf]

I'd do the exploration idea again, but I'd make the ship almost completely unarmed, with no military style trappings. It would be a show about the people aboard the ship trying to solve problems and explore big ideas.

[Purple]

I'd set it on a general purpose ship like the original TOS but in the beta quadrant. Just so that we get some new planets. The time would be right after the dominion war. Starfleet has been polarized by the conflict. One one hand, you have the old guard officers from Picards era who preach peace and on the other young hawks, fresh out of the academy promoted through the ranks by merit in the war. The captain of my ship would be one of these young people. His XO would be an officer of the old guard who did not want command for some reason. The other officers would equally be divided up among these camps with variations thrown in. The main interpersonal conflict would thus spring off this divide. And with a good writer there would be plenty of cases to say that neither is always right nor wrong.

[Baffalo]

The problem you get into with Star Trek, at least in dealing with people, is you either get the people who advocate a more militant stance vs those who believe it's all about peace and exploration. It's not so much an issue when you're just talking, but any series would have to be careful where the writers stood or else the personal dynamic of one faction against another goes right out the window. If you have one episode where the peaceful guys win, then the next writer adds to that so that the peaceful guys win, and it goes on and on, then what's the point of having the other side at all except as strawmen?

Same things happens other way around if only the militant solution works. The peaceful group comes off looking like idiots for wanting to be peaceful with the aliens when they're clearly out to kill us. Hell, just look at Riker or Chikote's "Kick my ass for a few minutes" policy. They need to DO something, but they're clearly unwilling to.

[Borgholio]

You can have the peace vs conflict if you just have the ship be patrolling one of the least safe areas of the galaxy. For instance, when Riker was offered command of the USS Ares, Deanna literally broke into tears at the thought of him going out there. Picard said the area was obscure, but Deanna wouldn't have gotten so broken up if it was obscure and SAFE.

So let's say you have a ship patrolling an area that is riddled with pirates and other minor hostile species. Lots of combat, lots of indication that diplomacy isn't going to do squat. Yet among the crew there are a few doves who, although the recognize the need for combat in such an area, repeatedly try to prove that sometimes diplomacy is more effected and on occasion they succeed, making the area a bit safer over time.

[Batman]

Um-if you know enough about an area of space to deem it secure it's not all that obscure anymore...

[SilverDragonRed]

I had been thinking about where Star Trek could go while I was watching Voyager. So, I wrote a skeleton of a script for a pilot episode of a new show.

It was the Federation government-in-exile living in the former Unimatrix complexes of the Borg. The show would've opened up at the point where they finally got past merely surviving, but able to thrive and attempt to build a force to reclaim their territory from the Klingons who defeated them.

[Baffalo]

I had been thinking about where Star Trek could go while I was watching Voyager. So, I wrote a skeleton of a script for a pilot episode of a new show.

It was the Federation government-in-exile living in the former Unimatrix complexes of the Borg. The show would've opened up at the point where they finally got past merely surviving, but able to thrive and attempt to build a force to reclaim their territory from the Klingons who defeated them.

I saw two ideas and one I hate with the fiery passion of a thousand stars. The other I wholeheartedly embrace because I wanna see how dark this gets. If you guessed I love the government in exile due to invasion, you know me oh so well.

[Baffalo]

Ok I should probably get to know the idea a little better first, and for that, I need a few questions answered.

1. Why is the Federation government hiding out in a Borg Unimatrix? I'm assuming that the unimatrix is either uninhabited or the Borg have achieved independence.
2. What's one doing so close to the Federation that it's considered suitable enough to host what amounts to a government in exile fighting an occupying enemy?
3. What is the source of the latest Klingon/Federation conflict? Is it a unanimous decision by the entire Klingon Empire? Or is it something done by one faction with a big opposition from the other side?
4. What remains of Starfleet and what are they doing? Are certain outposts like Deep Space Nine still fighting the good fight? Or has most of Starfleet rallied to defend what's left?
5. Has the entire Federation been conquered? Or have only the key areas like Earth, Vulcan, Andor, etc. while other areas, like Bajor, still standing?
6. What are the other powers, like the Romulan Star Empire or Cardassian Union doing? Are they sitting idly by and letting this happen? Or are there border skirmishes as they try and take a piece of the Federation pie? Are the Romulans fighting the Klingons to keep from being trivialized by what now amounts to a huge empire?
7. What remains of the Federation government? Is the President of the Federation sitting on a starship, trying to keep hopes positive while the Commander in Chief plans and coordinates strategy? Or is it, say, a junior member of the Council with very little experience in Federation politics but the only ranking member of the government left to give direction?
8. What organizations are actively resisting the Klingon invasion? Is Section 31 sitting on their butts doing nothing? What about retired members of Starfleet, are they trying to organize a resistance? How would someone like Sisko's father take the resistance?

Sorry, I know this is a lot but these are the questions that would be absolutely vital to establishing a series bible, which would determine the direction of the show. And sorry if I came across a little strong there with my negatives towards the unimatrix. It could be interesting if done right.

[biostem]

It'd be interesting if the captain was a veteran of the Dominion war, who saw plenty of combat, and though he or she achieved many victories, these were costly wins, (in terms of lost personnel and/or as a result of morally dubious acts). After the war, and the attempted coup of Starfleet, public opinion is at an all time low. This captain, having made a name for his or herself, is not someone Starfleet can afford to simply charge with the aforementioned questionable conduct, so instead decides to place them in charge of some high publicity new exploration mission, (one with a clear non-military focus), and which is to include some members of the press, in order to keep the Federation populace appraised of the situation. You'd have a scenario where concerns over the scientific/exploratory thrust of the mission comes into conflict with different situations they encounter, along with the mandatory "open door to the press" that Starfleet has foisted upon the ship...

[FedRebel]

Starfleet Marines

Set in the original timeline after the Dominion War, the Starfleet Marines have the job of keeping the peace in the post-war Quadrant after diplomacy fails.

More or less Space: Above in Beyond done right, with solid doses of nBSG and SG-1, with a dash of JAG.

[SilverDragonRed]

Ok I should probably get to know the idea a little better first, and for that, I need a few questions answered.

1. Why is the Federation government hiding out in a Borg Unimatrix? I'm assuming that the unimatrix is either uninhabited or the Borg have achieved independence.
2. What's one doing so close to the Federation that it's considered suitable enough to host what amounts to a government in exile fighting an occupying enemy?
3. What is the source of the latest Klingon/Federation conflict? Is it a unanimous decision by the entire Klingon Empire? Or is it something done by one faction with a big opposition from the other side?
4. What remains of Starfleet and what are they doing? Are certain outposts like Deep Space Nine still fighting the good fight? Or has most of Starfleet rallied to defend what's left?
5. Has the entire Federation been conquered? Or have only the key areas like Earth, Vulcan, Andor, etc. while other areas, like Bajor, still standing?
6. What are the other powers, like the Romulan Star Empire or Cardassian Union doing? Are they sitting idly by and letting this happen? Or are there border skirmishes as they try and take a piece of the Federation pie? Are the Romulans fighting the Klingons to keep from being trivialized by what now amounts to a huge empire?
7. What remains of the Federation government? Is the President of the Federation sitting on a starship, trying to keep hopes positive while the Commander in Chief plans and coordinates strategy? Or is it, say, a junior member of the Council with very little experience in Federation politics but the only ranking member of the government left to give direction?
8. What organizations are actively resisting the Klingon invasion? Is Section 31 sitting on their butts doing nothing? What about retired members of Starfleet, are they trying to organize a resistance? How would someone like Sisko's father take the resistance?

Sorry, I know this is a lot but these are the questions that would be absolutely vital to establishing a series bible, which would determine the direction of the show. And sorry if I came across a little strong there with my negatives towards the unimatrix. It could be interesting if done right.

1. Honestly, this was a last minute addition I came up with when I was watching Voyager's Endgame two months ago. After the Janeway Pie virus got a root user exploit against the Borg, I figured they were all dead. Plus, showing them in the ruins of former Borg territory (assuming, of course, that the Unimatrixes didn't all explode like the one in the show) would have been a quick way to show how drastically things have changed.
2. None of them are close to the AQ/BQ. It's that they were able to reach them with the Arturus drives (AKA slipstream).
3. It was a series of events that tipped that unbalanced things politically. Voyager returns, and what do they bring back? Knowledge (and a bit of experience) of a vastly superior ftl drive, the advanced sci-fi batmobile armor, and the child of Klingon prophecy. How would the others feel if the Federation tries to keep these things to itself? Plus there also the collapse of the Romulan Star Empire that further unbalanced things.
4. The war is over. The elements of Starfleet that didn't surrender either fled with the government, or went to hiding. DS9 is in the hands of the Bajorans.
5. The entirety of the Federation has capitulated. There are places, like Andoria, that survived relatively unscathed while others (such as Zackdorn) that are husks.
6. Romulus blew up (thanks to that supernova), the empire fell into infighting between petty warlords, and it ended with the Klingons absorbing all of their turf with the Klingon-backed faction became the puppet government. The Cardassian Union joined with Bajor; and they are either part an allaince with the other minor powers to stay the Klingons, or they became part of the Dominion for protection.
7. The Council still exist, but not the Presidency as we know of it from Homefront/Paradise Lost.
8. There are resistance and terrotists groups that formed from the various peoples that inhabit the region. I had posited such a thing would start about 30 to 50 years after Nemesis, the best damn creol chef of New Orleans is long dead.

[Baffalo]

Hmm. Ok so based on all that, here's where I'd see the Federation being.

The Federation as a whole is a conquered nation. The parts not devestated by war simply surrendered, letting the Klingons land occupation troops and take over, similar to WWII France. The government in exile has a very limited force available and is mostly banking on what little support it can get from the shattered husks of other powers, notably the Cardassians and others. While the Cardassians have no real love for the Federation, it's a great way to kick the Klingons a bit while claiming they're innocent of any wrong-doing.

Federation Slipstream drives let the Federation warships that still exist outrun any force that can kick their asses and still pounce on anything undefended, mostly Klingon transports. Hit a few of those, steal what you can, and haul ass. It's not very honorable, but it at least has results. The Klingons will respond with aggressive tactics such as trying to kill large portions of the population in a disproportionate way to discourage attacks, leading to a morale crisis as people realize that innocent civilians are dying because they're trying to keep up the fight. Meanwhile, back on Kronos, the Klingon government is almost solidly in the camp that declared war against the Federation. Those in opposition know they can rely on some to come back when the time comes, but it's a dangerous political game. If they advocate pulling out now, they'll lose all support and probably be ousted from the High Council. So there's lots of politics and drama there.

Meanwhile, back on Occupied Earth, there are protests and fear as people are rounded up into slave camps to work. There's too many to do this with all, but anyone who causes trouble is either killed on the spot or sent to work until they fall over dead. The resistance works to fight back, taking out targets of opportunity and leaving Klingons dead in their wake. This is happening on other worlds but the results are similar: butcher people to stop the resistance, only to have them keep going. It's a frustrating prospect given that most species would likely capitulate, and the Federation was always seen as weak and pathetic. Turns out they have stones after all!

And in the Government in Exile corner, you have a frightened council who has no real authority anymore but they still represent their worlds. Many are worried about resisting and even a few consider surrendering to the Klingons to avoid trouble. A young firebrand could emerge, trying to unite the Federation's remaining leaders as best he/she can to keep the fires alive. Starfleet is given carte blanche to do what must be done to keep them alive, and to never give up the Slipstream drive under any reason. If they lose that, they lose and it's all for naught.

[Elheru Aran]

Something that would be very nice: Establish a realistic economy where if you lose supplies or have some sort of shipboard disaster, actually show where the fixes are coming from. If a Klingon blows a hole through your saucer in one episode, for the next couple episodes have a shrinking hole in your saucer while it's being fixed, or have an offhand comment about "that damn torpedo really holed us, but fortunately we found some extra hull plating material in Hold 14A, so it should be fixed by the next two cycles".

Or if, say (this comes from the Galaxy design thread) you ditch your warp core because it's going boom, take an episode out where you're sitting in space waiting for the resupply ship to bring you a new core and your crew is getting antsy so they get into all kinds of shenanigans to kill time while the officers try to keep them busy with make-work and bitch about how they can't run the replicators because the impulse reactors don't have enough power for *that*... and so forth.

No more post-scarcity economy, which while nice, was simply not realistic. You aren't going to, IRL, get your ship/crew fucked up in one episode and be perfectly fine in the next.

[Sidewinder]

Something that would be very nice: Establish a realistic economy where if you lose supplies or have some sort of shipboard disaster, actually show where the fixes are coming from. If a Klingon blows a hole through your saucer in one episode, for the next couple episodes have a shrinking hole in your saucer while it's being fixed, or have an offhand comment about "that damn torpedo really holed us, but fortunately we found some extra hull plating material in Hold 14A, so it should be fixed by the next two cycles".

Or if, say (this comes from the Galaxy design thread) you ditch your warp core because it's going boom, take an episode out where you're sitting in space waiting for the resupply ship to bring you a new core and your crew is getting antsy so they get into all kinds of shenanigans to kill time while the officers try to keep them busy with make-work and bitch about how they can't run the replicators because the impulse reactors don't have enough power for *that*... and so forth.

No more post-scarcity economy, which while nice, was simply not realistic. You aren't going to, IRL, get your ship/crew fucked up in one episode and be perfectly fine in the next.

This is well-thought up.

[Crazedwraith]

Interestingly enough Enterprise already did that. One second season episode has the ship damaged by a romulan mine and the next is about them finding an automated shipyard to fix the hole.

And they kept any hole that put in them in the third season. Thouh I think they mainly occured in one episode. BSG did the same thing. Of course they have an advantage in effects are cheaper with CGI now and you can occasionally affort to revise your hero ship model and redo your stock footage/establishing shots with the ship's new appearances.

[SilverDragonRed]

Hmm. Ok so based on all that, here's where I'd see the Federation being.

The Federation as a whole is a conquered nation. The parts not devestated by war simply surrendered, letting the Klingons land occupation troops and take over, similar to WWII France. The government in exile has a very limited force available and is mostly banking on what little support it can get from the shattered husks of other powers, notably the Cardassians and others. While the Cardassians have no real love for the Federation, it's a great way to kick the Klingons a bit while claiming they're innocent of any wrong-doing.

Federation Slipstream drives let the Federation warships that still exist outrun any force that can kick their asses and still pounce on anything undefended, mostly Klingon transports. Hit a few of those, steal what you can, and haul ass. It's not very honorable, but it at least has results. The Klingons will respond with aggressive tactics such as trying to kill large portions of the population in a disproportionate way to discourage attacks, leading to a morale crisis as people realize that innocent civilians are dying because they're trying to keep up the fight. Meanwhile, back on Kronos, the Klingon government is almost solidly in the camp that declared war against the Federation. Those in opposition know they can rely on some to come back when the time comes, but it's a dangerous political game. If they advocate pulling out now, they'll lose all support and probably be ousted from the High Council. So there's lots of politics and drama there.

Meanwhile, back on Occupied Earth, there are protests and fear as people are rounded up into slave camps to work. There's too many to do this with all, but anyone who causes trouble is either killed on the spot or sent to work until they fall over dead. The resistance works to fight back, taking out targets of opportunity and leaving Klingons dead in their wake. This is happening on other worlds but the results are similar: butcher people to stop the resistance, only to have them keep going. It's a frustrating prospect given that most species would likely capitulate, and the Federation was always seen as weak and pathetic. Turns out they have stones after all!

And in the Government in Exile corner, you have a frightened council who has no real authority anymore but they still represent their worlds. Many are worried about resisting and even a few consider surrendering to the Klingons to avoid trouble. A young firebrand could emerge, trying to unite the Federation's remaining leaders as best he/she can to keep the fires alive. Starfleet is given carte blanche to do what must be done to keep them alive, and to never give up the Slipstream drive under any reason. If they lose that, they lose and it's all for naught.

That is, funny enough, everything I had thought of for the premise of a series formed from my idea. Except for the slave camps, but that would make a kinda of weird sense considering that it would be harder to pay for the war with a captured Feddie world than with a Cardie planet claimed for compensation.

Something that would be very nice: Establish a realistic economy where if you lose supplies or have some sort of shipboard disaster, actually show where the fixes are coming from. If a Klingon blows a hole through your saucer in one episode, for the next couple episodes have a shrinking hole in your saucer while it's being fixed, or have an offhand comment about "that damn torpedo really holed us, but fortunately we found some extra hull plating material in Hold 14A, so it should be fixed by the next two cycles".

Or if, say (this comes from the Galaxy design thread) you ditch your warp core because it's going boom, take an episode out where you're sitting in space waiting for the resupply ship to bring you a new core and your crew is getting antsy so they get into all kinds of shenanigans to kill time while the officers try to keep them busy with make-work and bitch about how they can't run the replicators because the impulse reactors don't have enough power for *that*... and so forth.

No more post-scarcity economy, which while nice, was simply not realistic. You aren't going to, IRL, get your ship/crew fucked up in one episode and be perfectly fine in the next.

Which is exactly how things would be with a no longer dominant, broken, Federation and the scraps of Starfleet that fled.

Interestingly enough Enterprise already did that. One second season episode has the ship damaged by a romulan mine and the next is about them finding an automated shipyard to fix the hole.

I believe you are talking about episodes Minefield and Dead Stop.