JMS/Bryce Zabel Star Trek Treatment

[Jan]

Bryce Zabel has posted a link on his blog to the treatment that he and JMS did for Star Trek. The download is a .pdf file and the treatment is 14 pages long.

I don't think it could have been done any earlier than 2004 but I think it's feasable now and I'd love to see it done.

Jan

[vacantlook]

If jms was involved, what's described in the treatment sounds like it would be very good.

[Dr Maturin]

I'll read it later and see if it's better than what I came up with that would successfully reignite the ST franchise.

[Dr Maturin]

::Thumbs down with a farting sound::

Gul Ocett, in "The Chase": That's it?!

If you will click on the above link to a TNG episode synopsis, you will find that JMS's treatment is just a stretched out version of it, with a reimagined Kirk & crew on the chase.

The treatment talks about a reboot, but going back to the old -- with however "clever" an arc device installed -- isn't what will turn things around. It's obvious that they drew a lot of inspiration from BSG, and that's exactly how this "reboot" would appear.

Star Trek has always been successful when they shake up the format. The Voyage Home and First Contact kicked ass at the box office because they forewent the old "bad guy of the year" formula and changed up the format, adding comedy (TVH) and horror/thriller aspects (FC).

DS9 did well in the ratings considering that the buffoons at Paramount debuted it during TNG's sixth season (crossover opportunities missed, to boot) and started Voyager in the midst of its third, and then wondered why a show with superior acting and storytelling didn't do as well in the ratings.

No, this idea for a reboot would not work. Things need to shaken up, yes, but shaken up for real.

[vacantlook]

I can't see how saying goodbye to the confines of all the continuity of past Star Trek stories wouldn't shake things up. "The Chase" had great story potential, but for a single episode it was too big of a topic for it to have any real meaning or impact on anything, since things of importance rarely extend past a single or pair of episodes in most of Star Trek that's been made. We all know jms doesn't do revelations that should change the world but don't the way "The Chase" ended up being. And while it would now probably appear that rebooting Star Trek would be in the tracks of BSG's reimagining now, with how much jms is involved in the comic world the past several years, I imagine their inspiration for doing so does come more from something like the Ultimate Marvel universe instead of BSG revival.

[Dr Maturin]

Uh, I was referring to the original BSG.

And you can buy into JMS's idea or you can face reality and admit that this isn't an original idea and isn't a genuine reboot.

JMS strikes gold at times, but he is responsible for some bad stuff. This would've been another example of the latter.

[vacantlook]

I'm not as familiar with the old BSG as with other things, can you elaborate on how this Star Trek rebooting is similar to the old BSG?

How does one define "reboot" anyway? When I reboot my computer for example, my entire computer doesn't change. I still have the same programs available to run, etc. Sounds the same to me with the rebooting of Star Trek. They'd have the same programs, if you will, in that they'd be telling stories of Kirk, Spock, the Enterprise, etc. They just wouldn't have all the old runnings of those programs still all up in the computer's memory, i.e. past continuity. (To be a bit overly analogous.)

[Dr Maturin]

I'm not as familiar with the old BSG as with other things, can you elaborate on how this Star Trek rebooting is similar to the old BSG?

Finding Earth/finding some ancient race...same thing.

How does one define "reboot" anyway? When I reboot my computer for example, my entire computer doesn't change. I still have the same programs available to run, etc. Sounds the same to me with the rebooting of Star Trek. They'd have the same programs, if you will, in that they'd be telling stories of Kirk, Spock, the Enterprise, etc. They just wouldn't have all the old runnings of those programs still all up in the computer's memory, i.e. past continuity. (To be a bit overly analogous.)

But I want a new computer, not a rebooted old one.

[vacantlook]

Finding Earth/finding some ancient race...same thing.

That doesn't seem anything near the same thing to me beyond the mere base concept of searching for someone. The hunt for others like yourself that just happen to be in some far off location and the hunt for life vastly unlike yourself are two totally different storypaths.

[Jan]

Finding Earth/finding some ancient race...same thing.

Hate to be the one to break it to you but the concept of going on a quest is hardly unique to BSG or any other genre. Any more than the 'warrior/priest/doctor archetypes are. What made original Trek what it was, was the dynamic between them.

Forty years later, fans are still writing about and making their own episodes about these characters. It would have been nice to actually give them what they so clearly *want*.

Guess that makes too much sense, though.

Jan

[Dr Maturin]

Hate to be the one to break it to you but the concept of going on a quest is hardly unique to BSG or any other genre. Any more than the 'warrior/priest/doctor archetypes are. What made original Trek what it was, was the dynamic between them.

Forty years later, fans are still writing about and making their own episodes about these characters. It would have been nice to actually give them what they so clearly *want*.

Guess that makes too much sense, though.

Considering the innate cynicism characteristic of sci-fi fans, the concept would be shat upon in principle alone: How DARE these guys replace our heroes!

Hmmm...the TMoS debacle comes to mind.

No, they need to come up with something dealing with more contemporary issues. The Hero's Quest is played out in the information age. A rehashed TOS with an arc and maybe a few "It's A-OK to be gay" (thank God JMS never did one of those with B5) moral episodes won't work.

[Jan]

Considering the innate cynicism characteristic of sci-fi fans, the concept would be shat upon in principle alone: How DARE these guys replace our heroes!

Hmmm...the TMoS debacle comes to mind.

Apples and olives. With TMoS, they wanted to replace actors who were fully able to play their original characters as originally seen. I don't thing there's any stretch of the imagination that would manage to conceive of Shatner and Nimoy playing their characters as originally seen. Even Hollywood makeup can't do that kind of miracle.

No, they need to come up with something dealing with more contemporary issues. The Hero's Quest is played out in the information age. A rehashed TOS with an arc and maybe a few "It's A-OK to be gay" (thank God JMS never did one of those with B5) moral episodes won't work.

I'm not sure why you think that the original Trek characters wouldn't translate well to stories dealing with contemporary issues. Care to elaborate?

Jan

[Dr Maturin]

Apples and olives. With TMoS, they wanted to replace actors who were fully able to play their original characters as originally seen. I don't thing there's any stretch of the imagination that would manage to conceive of Shatner and Nimoy playing their characters as originally seen. Even Hollywood makeup can't do that kind of miracle.

It's not a stretch to presume that fans would go apeshit, regardless of the inablity of Shatner, Nimoy and (obviously) Kelley to play the roles. They'd want the roles left alone.

I'm not sure why you think that the original Trek characters wouldn't translate well to stories dealing with contemporary issues. Care to elaborate?

Same old format. Flying around on a ship. The concept behind Voyager was supposed to be fresh, but what we got was another "flying around on a ship" show. Before Enterprise was announced, there was talk of a Sulu show. It wouldn't have mattered. People were sick of the format.

Star Trek needs something DRASTICALLY different. Too bad I don't have the clout of a Hollywood writer, because I have what they need.

[vacantlook]

I think people are tired of the way so many story-on-a-ship series are told, as if everything has to happen inside that tincan and that that's the extent of the universe. jms has proven that he can have a story with a primary set location that easily reaches out beyond that location to the rest of the universe and have profound effects therein.

[Jan]

It's not a stretch to presume that fans would go apeshit, regardless of the inablity of Shatner, Nimoy and (obviously) Kelley to play the roles. They'd want the roles left alone.

Really? I've been reading a lot lately about a fan group who's been making new episodes with the original characters recast available for download. I don't have the link right now but I'll post it when I find it. They have permission from Paramount as long as they never make a profit and apparently they're doing well enough that Walter Koenig and George Takai are willing to guest star.

Same old format. Flying around on a ship. The concept behind Voyager was supposed to be fresh, but what we got was another "flying around on a ship" show. Before Enterprise was announced, there was talk of a Sulu show. It wouldn't have mattered. People were sick of the format.

Really? The New BSG was 'flying around on a ship' for the first two seasons and probably will be again. It's a means of moving the cast to the story. Otherwise all you'd have is people stuck in a tin can sniping at each other.

Jan