Re: This week\'s poll at scifi.com
I think they should have had an additional choice of: "None, I think Paramount has milked the franchise to death"! Just my thoughts.
Frank
As much as I like Trek...I sort of have to agree here. I'm really not disappointed with Paramounts overall treatment of Trek the last 10-15 years or so. I think they had some good solid ideas to keep the franchise moving, but only in the last couple attempts did the EXECUTION of those ideas fall short. Heres a recap and my opinions:
Star Trek: TNG
Loved the series. It was fun, it was exciting. There was more character development than the original (although still not a ton by todays standards). It also got back to the original Trek theory where you can tune into the show week after week and ANYTHING can happen. Some episodes had some truly amazing wonders and discoveries. This was the PERFECT way to bring back the franchise to TV in my opinion.
Next step: Deep Space Nine
At first I was skeptical about a station based series for Trek. But seeing as if Paramount was to do a Trek spinoff...they had to do something
different. Where this Trek incarnation set itself apart was BETTER characterization than TNG. But what really drew me to this series was the story arcs. First the Maquis plots, then the Dominion threat arc which was emerging. I was really impressed with the storytelling. This was something different than TNG...arc driven and political plot threads. Either way, next logical step was a good one.
Third step: Voyager
I think the IDEA of this step was very solid also. Take a Trek ship and toss it halfway across the galaxy and strand them there. It gets back to the adventure of the TNG series, but still has an overall goal: survival and get home! There was SO much potential here with wonderous and amazing sights that could have been seen and done. This is one case where I think the franchise started to fail. Great idea, and a logical next step for the franchise...but I think they didnt execute on it properly. Had a ton of potential, but poor in realization.
Final step: Back to the Future (Enterprise)
Another logical step. We have a spinoff which was similar to the original in theme and concept (TNG), an arc driven political theme (DS9), a crew trying to get home and exploring parts of the galaxy where literally no one had or could have been (Voyager), and now you have a pre-qual series. Unfortunately this failed in its execution right out of the gate. It was a solid idea, but they didnt even try to execute it until Season 4. Should have been all about the TOS tie-ins and founding of the federation...instead of the early discovery and wonder of exploration and building the foundation of what was to come in TOS...we got crap for the most part. SOLID idea...pretty much no execution.
So after you look at all those ideas, which were solid...where do you go next? Either way, I think we need a permanent vacation...or at least a break until something really solid can be decided and then properly executed. In any event, it may be a bit before everyone is ready for another Trek. Have to let this sour taste from Voyager and early Enterprise get out of everyone's mouth...
I think society has reached a Trek-overdose point.
