Who will be the Captain of the new Star Trek?

Big shoes to fill as Starfleet's next Captain

The Captain's chair is up for grabs again and there has been plenty of speculation on who the new Captain will be in the upcoming series. Will they be up for the task of following in the footsteps of the previous Starfleet Captains? At this point we can only guess. One rumor floating around the internet is that Bryan Fuller really wanted Angela Bassett to play the role, but unfortunately she is to busy with American Horror Story at this time. Michael Dorn also pitched an idea to CBS about a series called Captain Worf  and as exciting as that possibility would be, Dorn confirmed that CBS turned it down.

 Other casting suggestions have been:

1. Mekhi Phifer - Torchwood, Divergent, Dawn of the Dead
2. Kevin McKidd - Trainspotting, Greys Anatomy
3. Liam Cunningham - Game of Thrones, Merlin, Doctor Who
4. Carrie-Anne Moss - The Matrix, Jessica Jones, F/X The Series
5. Michael Kelly - House of Cards, Criminal Minds
6. William Fichtner - Entourage, Prison Break, Elysium
7. Amy Brenneman - The Leftovers, Judging Amy, NYPD Blue
8. Lance Reddick - The Wire, Fringe
SOURCE: Eight casting choices to lead the new Star Trek TV series

Out of that list of potential Captains I would say my absolute favorite would be Carrie-Anne Moss.

Carrie-Anne Moss as the next Starfleet Captain??

So far there has been no word from the production team about who the cast will be, although Tony Todd did say he was on the casting short-list. Maybe he'll reprise his role as Worf's brother. He did play alot of characters on the other Star Trek shows. The adult version of Jake Sisko on DS9, Klingon Kurn on TNG, and Alpha Hirogen on Voyager. If Tony Todd is cast he most likely won't be the only Star Trek alum involved. With Bryan Fuller as the showrunner, we can only hope that he will get more of them involved. Maybe even Kirk and Picard as Admirals.
 

To Pay or Not to Pay for the New Star Trek Series

Offering the new Star Trek series online could be less risky, more cost-effective, and reach a larger global audience.

As many of you know, the new Star Trek series will be offered on the digital CBS All Access platform for a monthly fee of $6/month and fans are definitely divided about this news. Facebook fan pages & Internet Forums are buzzing with banter about whether to pay or not to pay for the new Trek. So in this article we will break it down and try to see the argument from both perspectives.

What is a Web Series?

A web series is a series of scripted videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet and part of the newly emerging medium called web television. A single instance of a web series program can be called an episode or webisode. The rise in the popularity of the Internet and improvements in streaming video technology mean that producing and distributing a web series is relatively cheap by traditional standards and allows producers to reach a potentially global audience who can access the shows 24 hours a day.  Source: Wikipedia

Why do Network TV Series get cancelled?

Ultimately, TV series get cancelled for a very simple reason — not enough people show up to watch them. Networks have high expectations and with alternative cable channels and internet media to compete with these networks, the viewership numbers seem small and begin to fall, and yet the networks do not adjust their expectations.  Source: Huffington Post

Star Trek Enterprise

Star Trek Enterprise is a good example of a series that got cancelled before it's time. Some say the show was just starting to get good when it got cancelled. Some blame "Franchise Fatigue" while others blame the Xindi story arc. In Season 3 the Xindi attack Earth with a deadly probe, cutting a swath from Florida to Venezuela killing 7 million and Gene Roddenberry didn't like the Star Trek story-lines to be about mass death, revenge and conflict. Whatever the reasons for the cancellation of Enterprise it left many fans disappointed and the Enterprise story-line, which was a prequel to the Original series, unfinished. The last episode 'These are the Voyages" was labelled appalling and a very sad ending to a show that had potential.





So that was over 10 years ago and Star Trek fans are eager to see a new series, but upon hearing that the show will be distributed on CBS All Access many have refused to pay for this service. The question is why? Well many fans say they already pay for cable network tv and don't want to pay for another service just to watch one show when they are already paying for CBS via their cable package.

As one fan on Facebook put it: "I already pay $60 a month for DirectTV and another $8 a month for Netflix. I'm not going to shell out more money to pay for CBS' greed. If I got rid of DTV, that's at least 30 different shows that I would lose access to." While that is a fair argument, I don't think this fan sees the whole picture. CBS has already revealed to the media that the new series is already 60% funded and are confident that Season 2 will be guaranteed. Putting the show on network TV might not get enough viewership which would put the nail in the Star Trek coffin once again.

Offering the new Star Trek series online is less risky, more cost-effective, and reaches a larger global audience. Sure some fans may feel that they will have to pay for a CBS service twice but fans need to realize that this is an evolving medium that is going through some growing pains as it tests the markets for profitability and longevity. Let's do some math to really break down how cost-effective it is for networks to offer digital subscriptions for new shows.

Let's assume the new trek will have 10 episodes per season, if aired weekly that would be  approximately 3 months. As a guesstimate each episode costs approximately $6 million  x 10 episodes = $60 million per season. According to GuruFocus on Forbes.com who is a shareholder, he broke down some numbers:

Scenario 1:
11.5 million subscribers x 6 months x $5.99 = $414 million for 2017 
-based on peak numbers of TNG & Enterprise viewers 

Scenario 2:
8 million subscribers x 4 months x $5.99 = $192 million for 2017
- Some will watch all episodes as released and then cancel service immediately
- Piracy and password sharing risk taken into account
  
Scenario 3:
6 million subscriber x 3 months x $5.99 = $108 million for 2017
- Others will binge watch and only pay for one month of service
- Piracy and password sharing risk taken into account


These figures don't include any revenues from advertising fees, merchandising, or international distribution, but at least with these estimates we know it will cover the cost of producing the new Star Trek series and guarantee it won't get cancelled after Season 2 because of low viewership and ratings on a network that relies on advertising revenue.

Now let's say they do 4 weekly episodes per month at a cost of $6.00. That's approximately $1.50 per episode to the subscriber. That seems fair to keep Star Trek going for a long time. An episode of The Walking Dead is $3.49 per episode on iTunes. So the subscriber fee per episode for the new Star Trek is well below that amount. Let's hope most of the Trek fans can see this perspective and keep the series alive by contributing instead of demanding that CBS take a risk broadcasting  it on network TV.

What will the new Starfleet Ships and Uniforms look like?

 

While searching online for news about the upcoming Star Trek series, I noticed there was lots of speculation and rumors about what the new Starfleet ships and uniforms will look like in the new Star Trek series. So I thought it would be fun to do a little speculating of my own for this blog. Starfleet has many classes of ships for a variety of different purposes, but to keep things simple let's assume the new crew will be exploring space in uncharted territory and may need to defend themselves against new enemies. For that kind of mission I would choose the Galaxy-class starship.

According to Memory Alpha Wikia:

The Galaxy-class was a Starfleet vessel first introduced in the late 2350s. It was one of the largest and most powerful Federation starship classes of its time, with many serving in the Dominion War. This was the second known Galaxy-class starship, with the first being a little known class, which was in operation in the 2250s, that was mentioned in the Treaty of Armens.

A galaxy class starship has many technical capabilities including: saucer separation, a command bridge, science labs, tactical technologies with high capacity shield grid,  transporter rooms, a medical bay, and crew quarters. Assuming the new Star Trek series will not be using a starship from the past shows, I looked around online to see what others were designing and I really like the galaxy class retrofit created by lead designer for the role-playing game Star Trek Online by Al “Captain Geko” Rivera.

 

Galaxy Class Refit - Credit: StarTrek.com

Galaxy Dreadnought Cruiser - Credit: StarTrek.com

Saucer Separation - Credit: StarTrek.com

Now let's move on to Starfleet Uniforms. We have seen many variations of Starfleet uniforms over the years in the Star Trek movies and television series and one thing has remained consistent. The uniforms were broken down into colors. The colors varied over time but for the sake of this article we will assume Red is for Command and Helm, Blue is for Science and Medical, Gold is for Engineering and Operations. In some instances for social functions the black was replaced by white.

History of the Starfleet Uniforms - Credit: conventionfansblog.com

 My favorite Starfleet uniforms was the Delta Flyer Flight Suits only seen once in the Star Trek Voyager episode 'Drive'. "Sleek, tight-fitting jumpsuits, the flight suits were black and gray with stark white shoulders and red trim. The uniforms featured high collars and distinctive closures running down the front."

Harry Kim and Tom Paris Flight Uniforms - Credit:Memory-Alpha Wikia

The Flight Suits:

During their participation in the Antarian Trans-stellar Rally in 2377, USS Voyager officers Tom Paris, B'Elanna Torres and Harry Kim donned special flight suits. It is unclear whether these suits were official Starfleet wardrobe or whether Tom Paris or somebody aboard Voyager created them for such an occasion. While they do not seem to correspond with any existing uniforms, it is possible they were designed by Starfleet and thus available to Voyager officers before their launch in 2371 

Source: Memory-Alpha Wikia

So I searched around and found some really interesting Starfleet uniforms created by fans for various reasons. I chose some that looked different from previous uniforms seen in the past. Alot of fans don't like the onesies uniform and for good reason, they don't look good. But some may also remember the 2-peice variation of the uniform that had Captain Picard constantly pulling down on his jacket. So while the uniform must be aesthetically pleasing it must also be functional. Here's are a couple of my favorite designs created by some Star Trek fans.

Starfleet Uniform Concept by Corem via Deviant Art

Starfleet Uniform Concept created by JJohnson via Starfleet1701st

While it's been fun speculating what the new Starfleet ships and uniforms will look like in the new Star Trek series coming in January of 2017, we probably won't see the real deal until the fall of 2016. In the meantime feel free to post what your favorite starship designs are and what kind of uniforms you'd like to see the future Starfleet officers wearing.

Social Issues and the Modern Star Trek

Captain Kirk and Hhura kissing in the episode Plato's Stepchildren

Interesting article regarding new trek .. and the comments posted afterwards are a little wild and speculative. If the producers and the writers of the new Star Trek series follow the tradition of pushing the envelope when it comes to social issues, politics, racism, etc. what do you suppose these modern issues will be? Obviously alot different than the 1960's trek where an interracial kiss was considered shocking....


Where Are the Radical Politics of Modern Star Trek?
by Frank Tavares  

This year is a big year for Star Trek. There’s a new movie, Star Trek Beyond, on the horizon, details about the new TV show coming in 2017 are trickling in, and it’s the 50th Anniversary of the franchise. It’s a year for us to look forward to the future but to look back, as well, and remember what made Star Trek special to begin with. 

Continue Reading: http://www.themarysue.com/modern-star-trek-politics/ 

Star Trek Series must wait 6 months after Star Trek Beyond

"The decision was made to avoid confusion in the marketplace"

With the new movie Star Trek Beyond set to be released July of 2016, CBS President Les Moonves revealed that a deal was made to wait 6 months before the release of the Star Trek TV series.

"When [CBS] split from Viacom ten years ago, January 1, 2006, one of the big sticking points, as you can imagine, was "Star Trek", said Moonves, You know, we both wanted it. [Paramount] said "It's a movie!" and I said, "No, no, no, it's a TV show." Actually, we're both right. So they kept the feature film rights, we kept the television rights; they have [Star Trek Beyond] coming out July 22. Our deal with them is that we had to wait six months after their film is launched so there wouldn't be a confusion in the marketplace."

The series is not connected to the movies whatsoever even though it is being produced by Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness co-writer Alex Kurtzman. Paramount will have the option in the future to create a 4th movie, if it chooses, before the franchise gets passed to the series.

3 Reasons to get Excited About the new Star Trek Series

Bryan Fuller

1. Bryan Fuller 
Writer for Star Trek DS9 and Star Trek Voyager

22 episode writing credits for the Star Trek franchise.

Won 1 Award and was nominated for 8 Awards

"I got into writing to become a "Star Trek" writer. I was a rabid fan."

Nicholas Meyer

 2. Nicholas Meyer
Director for Star Trek: Wrath of Khan

Co-wrote Star Trek VI and Star Trek IV

Won 5 Awards and was nominated for 11 Awards

"The really great villains are the ones that you root for".

Rod Roddenberry

 3. Rod Roddenberry 
Director of Documentary: Trek Nation

CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment

Son of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett

"I think the next great thing could come out of a fan's mind".

Will the new Star Trek Series Re-Boot TNG??

Will they Re-Boot Star Trek TNG??

Now that Bryan Fuller from Star Trek past has come aboard the new show will it be Star Trek from the old universe that Fuller helped create or will it be Star Trek in the new universe that Kurtzman helped create? Or maybe they will mix the old with the new.

Alex Kurtzman made his name in the Star Trek franchise through the JJ Abrams directed films of new, whereas Bryan Fuller has been part of the television series from the past like DS9 and Voyager. What does this mean exactly?? Well Fuller was quoted as saying: "I think there's something very exciting about the new J.J. Abrams-verse, and there's also kind of an interesting reinvention, how would ('Star Trek: The Next Generation') evolve from that? Where would that be? Where would that go? Star Trek is such a big universe, and there are so many places to go with it. I have a very specific idea that I would love to do."

It has been rumored that the new series from Kurtzman and Fuller will "introduce new characters and civilizations, existing outside of the mythology charted by previous series and the current movie franchises." So technically a JJ-verse TNG reboot would probably fall outside the existing mythology but maybe not enough to do a new TV series. What do you think about this premise? Would you like to see a JJ-verse TNG??