Nicholas Meyer: “I think it’s going to be a different Star Trek”

Meyer

Fresh off the surprising announcement that he would be writing for CBS’s new Star Trek series, Nicholas Meyer spoke to Den of Geek about the project and gave some clues about the kind of tone it might have.

Meyer spoke to Den Of Geeks’ Ryan Britt, and while he was cryptic in many instances, two answers in particular stood out.

Britt asked him whether the new series would adopt the popular trend of longer story arcs or do standalone stories, and while he doesn’t really answer the question, what he does say is interesting:

I think it’s going to be a different Star Trek. It will go in a different direction. And I think that is probably good. Because the thing that mainly troubles me about Star Trek is the fear of it being maybe re-treads of itself. And to the degree that I had any influence on the thing [Star Trek] at all was that at least while I was there, we were fooling around. And if you’re not fooling around, then things can become stale. And I think that Bryan [Fuller]—who is a very clever fellow—has ideas—some of which I’ve heard—that are innovative and different. Different is what got me interested.

Britt mentions that both The Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country had very obvious political undertones, and Meyer indicates that the latter film may influence the new series:

The one thing I can relate to you is that The Undiscovered Country—according to Bryan [Fuller]—is a real sort of taking off point, or touchstone for how I guess he’s thinking about the direction of the new show. I don’t want to be misquoted and I don’t want to misquote him, but he’s fond of that film. Let’s put it that way.

The rest of the interview can be found here.

 

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Cautiously optimistic! (First? Really??)

TUC *for me* is right behind TWOK as my top 2 Trek favorite Trek films so…..this is awesome news!!!! Just gets better and better!

100% this

Yep me too! :)

What about LUTD or YS?

Hard to parse out much. However, since Nic is obviously dressed for his audition to be the next Doctor, i’m guessing there will be time travel involved.

CmdrR, I took one look at all those earth tones and the wide tie and thought

“The seventies! They’re baaaaack”

I hope it is not a prequel or reboot, and I hope it is set in the prime timeline. Star Trek is about moving forward, not backward. But to remain true to the small screen i think it needs to be in the prime timeline and not in JJs universe.

You apparently did’t read the article? It’s going to be a new timeline — a re-imagined Star Trek.

@Prodigal Son: “You apparently did’t read the article? It’s going to be a new timeline — a re-imagined Star Trek.”

The article doesn’t say that at all.

Prodigal Son -The Grand Return: You’re finding out how popular you are with this new like-dislike system. haha.

Super interesting how I had about 8 upvotes on this on the first day, NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN I HAVE -23.

Yea, right!

LOL — somebody is gaming the system.

Yeah exactly. No more prequels or reboots it starts to feel lazy after awhile and both Enterprise and the reboot did both of those already. Lets get back to knowing the unknown and not just rehashing the same characters and events from before.

I personally dont care what universe but obviously prefer the prime one.

I agree!

Wouldn’t it be great to have a Trek series where all the exploration of the unknown happens outside our galaxy? That would be pretty sweet. (IMHO)

The tone of this interview suggests that he’s all on board for the concept that he was shown, which is great news for the fan base as a whole. It sounds like KURTZMAN has a hellva project on his hands here, that so many Trek alumni will be able to contribute to.

Is there a reason you put that guy’s name in caps? Is it like how in MAKING OF STAR TREK all of GR’s words are in caps, a distractingly self-important gesture?

It just makes me think ‘little man’ or ‘short man’ when I see it, thinking of German version of Kurtz.

Yeah, there’s a reason

AS I PREDICTED

A completely fresh approach with minimalist canon

Yep!

BTW, anyone who gives me a negative vote for saying this — you are essentially admitting that I am right here.

I’ll give you one, if it makes you feel better.

Whoever is gaming the system — NICE TRY.

LOL

TUC story is steeped in history, not sure where you got minimalist canon.

“Because the thing that mainly troubles me about Star Trek is the fear of it being maybe re-treads of itself.”

“And I think that Bryan [Fuller]—who is a very clever fellow—has ideas—some of which I’ve heard—that are innovative and different. Different is what got me interested.”

Regarding TUC, to me his point was he liked the theme and other elements of TUC — not that they were going to pick up Trek at that point in the prime universe.

Just sounds like fresh characters to me. ST09 didn’t overwrite canon, after all, just opened a parallel continuity.

8 upvotes the first day, now -19.

Whoever is gaming the system — you went completely overboard by making is so obvious. LOL

I do not care if it is based on a ship or focused on one person. As long as the stories are good and the majority of them examine the human condition I will be happy.

See, that’s where I disagree. . . Just the last part there, everything else is fine, but, they aren’t going to be stories of “the human condition” they are going to be stories of some “other” human condition. Stories not from my past and not what could be my future. The Prime universe is where we all get that attachment to the shows and pre-JJ movies. The Mirror universe I would amend and bend that because we’ve had interaction there, but this, “Prime, Mirror, JJ, BF-verses” it’s got to be reined in sometime, now is a good time to begin!

The TUC reference from Fuller is really far beyond my imagination for what he’d say. I was way more excited about Meyer than Fuller, but that TUC reference is very interesting. One possible interpretation is that they’ll embrace the ‘Enemy Mine’ angle of TUC, a story about enemies forced to unite against an elusive third party threat. Maybe even a fleet show with different empires. That sounds like a lot of fun.

That is why you’ll fail.

This really intrigues me, as the TUC/GEN-prologue end-of-frontier-era is what I find most compelling in all of TREK in terms of unexplored territory of interest, as I’ve often said in the last 2 decades.

The idea that they might even treat this as a period piece, like making THE WILD BUNCH in 1969 was, say, is even more exciting, as it would be placing it in context of a future that the characters haven’t lived through but we have (either for real or through seeing TNG-era stuff.)

I hope I’m not missing the boat on this, cuz it is exactly in my wheelhouse creatively as well as being of most interest to me as viewer. I also think this means that the notion that threats are as much from within as from without has to be a factor, which probably p.o.’s a lot of you but shoot, doing 7 DAYS IN MAY on Trek can be seriously cool stuff, you don’t need to have weird foreheads or worms doing the manipulating. You could have empire-building aspects as a background or result of the interpersonal conflicts and the impact of tech, but not as the main go-to … naw, I’m going to think on this before saying more.

and just to clarify, while I strongly dislike SFS (mainly for IMBECILE plot turns) and TUC too (for character assassination mainly), I find the dramatic premise hinted at in these films — that Starfleet and Federation have gone retro in a worst of the 20thcentury kind of political paranoia way — to be rife with potential.

It all feeds (intentionally or not) off the unused Sowards TWOK notion that Starfleet abandoned the ‘to boldly go’ mission statement after TMP and have just settled for protecting what they have, which would have huge ramifications on Kirklike folks who have their whole universeview called into question as a result. There’d be a moral imperative to demonstrate the value of exploration, which could be a subtext for writers of the series to show the value in telling stories that aren’t just about technobabble and the newest kind of torpedo, but show the impact of that tech and how that tech works in the context of the verse and with the characters.

In other words, if you invent Genesis or decide warp drive destroys spacetime, you LIVE WITH THE RESULTS, you don’t retcon it or pretend it didn’t happen.

Maybe it’s the unification of all the Alpha Quadrant Powers

Federation
Klingon
Romulan
Cardassions

New Tech
planetary shielding…can’t beam down unless given permission ….obviously only for tech planets….and I know they had this in ST VI

Please set it in the prime timeline, set it after the events of star trek 09, all the events leading up 09, tell good star trek stories, yes please with an on going storie line

How do you have events set in the prime timeline AND after events of 09? In Prime, events of 09 never happened.

I think he means after the destruction of Romulus

Yeah this is what I said in another thread as well. Set it in the Prime universe but after Romulous destruction and that way it ties into the 09 film but still set in the Prime universe and we see the consequences of what happens like a power grab or a new situation with the Romulans similar to the Klingons in TUC and watch it play out. That would be fun IMO.

My question is why do you guys want more Kirk & Spock and that time frame. What Star Trek was about after next gen was a new show when Paramount wanted one ,no rehash ,a new show and new people with different names.Let’s let Kirk and Spock rip.

Please ,no Kirk and Spock..enough already.Star Trek is about moving forward and the future. A new captain and crew and set beyond the 24th century

My two cents:

1. There is still no clarity regarding timeline. “Different Star Trek” can mean all sorts of things.

2. The TUC reference, to me, is more about tone than a potential setting for the show. The political intrigue and paranoia present in the film might possibly inform the new show.

Whatever this is, it’s going to be fun trying to piece it all together.

Yeah, #2 is exactly what I’m hoping for (both ‘graphs.)

If you think about it, Kirks ‘you’ve restored my faith’ speech aside, for the events of TUC to have actually occurred, the movie closed with some unresolved ominous overtones in Federation society. There was serious racial strife, overt mutiny and possibly treason in Starfleet, and apparently quite the nationalistic streak in civilian leadership as well. Now, fast forward to the TNG era, that readily refers to the TOS era, and yet this period of strife merits hardly a mention in the 24th century.

So, how to account for this disparity? Though not specifically mentioned, if TUC is an alternate universe tale, then this could be a jumping off point for new Trek. Time will tell, but it’s not that hard of a stretch to imagine a ‘different Trek’ using the TUC mythos as a jumping off point….

Even just telling the story of the resolution of the nativist elements in the Federation into what eventually became TNG would be interesting. Remember the tension between the Federation and the Klingons wasn’t resolved until the destruction of the Enterprise-C

None of that is true. Yes, some higher ups engaged in the conspiracy. But Id place it more in line with modern views on the Middle East.

The head of Star Fleet wasnt shown to be involved. In fact he seemed rather happy to make peace. Clearly the President was down with it. The Vulcan Ambassador was too. They had a couple of bad seeds, as did the Klingons and they over-came them.

We know peace didnt come quickly as it took until the time of Enterprise-C before things fully turned.

None of what is true? That it wouldn’t be an interesting story, or that tensions between the Federation and the Empire weren’t resolved until the destruction of the C? If you think that the whole collection of people in the story who despised rapproachment consisted of Cartwright, Chang, and Valeris then I’d urge to look at our current world to see the potential for citizens sympathetic to their cause.

“If Nicholas Meyer was your parents’ Star Trek, then your parents’ Star Trek was awesome” — This is true.

However, there was only one clear moment in Nicholas Meyer’s scripts that I did not like. For comic relief, in The Undiscovered Country, he has Uhura, a seasoned communications officer, need an ancient, old book to speak Klingon. I always thought this was a failure of imagination from the original series. Uhura should have been a linguist and polyglot from the beginning. Happily, that was corrected in the 2009 reboot.

Many others complained about the fact that Meyer had the primary characters in TUC say blatantly racist things. Nichelle Nichols, the black woman who played Uhura, expressed her displeasure with this. That, I think, given her generation, is to be expected. Humans in Star Trek were supposed to be past such things. I think Nicholas Meyer got that right. Even if I was uncomfortable hearing it, we needed these characters to still be human, that is, biased and blind to their own prejudice. So bring it on, Nick!

Just don’t make them stupid.

(I posted the same thing on trekcore.com.)

I agree about the Klingon scene. It didnt bother me so much when I first saw it as I was younger and it was played for laughs and sort of in keeping with Chekov’s character. Uhura was not shown to be a linguist, but rather the girl that answered the phone, which was a failure of the original concept so Meyer and Nimoy mostly kept her in line with that.

I dont have a problem with the racial overtones and I dont find the characters blatantly racist. I think people have told themselves that and its a myth that has become fact. Watch the film. The most racist remarks seem to come from the assassins which would fit their motivations.

Clearly, the crew is not racist in the traditional sense. The point of the film is to explore xenophobia and show the crew, an old crew who are stubborn and set in their ways, are still able to see in themselves that they harbor some bigotry without even realising it. And its not malicious. And its not even really xenophobia because they obviously embrace many aliens, its the years of mis trust impacting their feelings about an entire race. This is meant to counter the same feelings among the Klingons who arent able to overcome this.

And the twist is, its the “bad guy” Chancellor who is the one imploring Kirk to see the bigger picture.

Chekov’s argument at dinner isnt racist. He makes a remark about human rights and he means it. He’s basically saying that they are cool with Klingons because even Klingons have human rights. Sure, he put his foot in his mouth but not maliciously. That’s the point.

Kirk’s remark about not forgiving the Klingons is also the point. He took the mission, without much choice but still he conducted himself properly – didnt raise shields, invited them for a “state” dinner, beamed himself over and made a point about not starting war when peace was so close. The arc for Kirk was not racism. It was his bitterness and anger over David’s death and seeing his place in the new universe. its one thing for him to hate the Klingons but act appropriately and another to actually lose the hate in his heart. That was his arc.

People that tear TUC down as racist and having characters acting out of character need to watch the film again. They are simply wrong.

Very well said.

While it never made a ton of sense, it was probably a necessary moment of levity in an otherwise dour film.

The end of TUC had the original crew about to hand over the Enterprise to a new crew. So, that’s the new series?

Thought they were handing it over to a scrapyard or a museum?

the ship was set to be decom’ed, but Kirk does mention passing it on to the next crew… presumably the namesake “Enterprise” not the actual E-A.

E-B

It always bugged me. The ship is pretty new!

2286 to 2293 isn’t too bad… not as long as the original E, but still…

I’m pretty sure Meyer and Fuller are talking about the political and personal themes, not the fact that it was the last TOS film.

I expect that those who don’t like their Star Trek on the grittier side will, at first, be disappointed. I think the series will probably be much more like DS9. Of course, as much as TNG was the beloved Star Trek of my childhood and adolescence, I do think DS9 was overall the best television.

Oh yeah if this thing is ANYTHING like DS9 I’m so there. Its my favorite show too because it WAS political and spiritual at the same time, two things the rest of Trek stayed far away from most of the time.

I think if they can position it to another cold war type situation with another species that would be amazing. OR something that strikes a war between the Federation and someone else like how DS9 created a war between the Federation and the Klingons. And what was great about DS9 they did it after the Federation was at peace with them but thats why that show was so great it wasn’t afraid to ‘go there’ with its story telling.

I hope they leave out the spiritual stuff. It was interesting from time to time, but the emphasis on gods and religion really dragged DS9 down a bit for me, particularly in the final season, even if the overall narrative worked.

Fair enough. I wasnt saying the new show NEEDED to be spirtual only that it was nice DS9 was the one show that tackled religion head on. And while I liked it I didnt love every episode that dealt with it either. I just liked the idea we had a Trek show that was willing to be different in a very innovative way. Not just throw them on a space station but gave them other challenges instead of just finding a new alien every week.

This new show needs to be set after Kirk and Spock ,even after Voyager.There is no need to rehash the TOS in anyway. What made Trek tops was new shows, different crews like DS9 .We don’t need any of those casts now. This romance people have with Kirk and Spock needs to be put to rest…move the %*&$ on!! It’s been Over done ,it would only hurt the show.

That’s my take as well. Writers would speak of overall themes, not necessarily plot points. They wouldn’t give up the ghost on plot. TUC was about overmining a moon causing a natural disaster on the Klingon’s homeworld, and forcing Starfleet and the Federation to respond to this, either in a good way or bad way. They choose the good way, but perhaps this new show, like most of the good Treks, I hope, will reflect and comment on current social and political strife going on right now, whether it be immigration, racism, nationalism, monetary policy, religion, etc., while redressing it in Star Trek garb. I wish them all the best.

=A=

The themes driver…the themes.

Second interpretation of the TUC comparison and Meyer hire: age. What if the next Trek is not a beginning-of-career narrative, but an end-of-career narrative? Fits with the Angela Basset/Rosario Dawson model.

Different is good. He does make a point about that. With Voyager and Enterprise, it was too much of the same thing and it was starting to show. Although, Enterprise was showing signs of getting better before it hung its hat up. Curious to see how this new series goes. It would be nice if they based it on the TMP era. I feel like that could have been touched on more. The Next Generation got the most exposure, in my opinion.

No ,its needs a overhaul top to bottom.You put it in that era ,now your have to find actors that look like Kirk and Spock and the rest of the crew and were back to TOS . I want a new show with new people new stories, a new mission. Trek needs to evolve into something new and different .I been a fan all my life, but the Kirk and Spock thing is so done. If CBS has the balls and really cares about their ” crown jewel ” , they will do something new.If not it’s a money grab and I’m not interested in a new rehashed show.

Prime timeline

Star Trek: 3G

Noooooooooo not TUC! The film of a yoooge conspiracy at SFHQ! An operative who is the unwitting Spock’s protoge! The subsequent mind-r@pe! U G H .

Unless he simply means that Fuller liked it bc of its political undertones.

At its best, Star Trek has always been socio-political. Asking the Big Questions. But IMHO TUC was not the best of Trek, for the above reasons… I did like the delicate negotiation process with the Klingons but disliked the racism from Chekhov and the continual quoting from Shakespeare.

I’m taking Meyer here based on the whole of his resume, not part of it. TUC wouldn’t be where I’d think to start, but it’s such a departure from Trek norm and left piles of lose threads at the end that if you are looking to explore the Federations Dark Ages, that might be a good place to start.

What racism from Chekov?

My guess is the ‘Guess who is coming to dinner” line which some people took from Chekhov that he was really uncomfortable being around Klingons as the line that came from the title of the 1960s film was about. And of course I assume everyone knows that line was suppose to be given to Nichelle Nichols but she refused to say it because it felt insulting for her so Walter Koenig got stuck with it.

Sure. I’d argue its not overtly racist and fits into the rest of the tone. Unless we’re to believe Chekov, a Russian, knew the genesis of the line and still said it, sitting a few feet from Uhura. It would have had a greater impact from Uhura though. Its too bad she didnt understand the point of the story was not racism.

Well in Star Trek myth they were uncomfortable with Klingons. So Walters line was OK according to the myth.
This is the PC gang out there that has gone too far with PC. I believe they are just trying to be cool and current to keep up with the world.But I suspect behind close doors they are choking on their own PC NESS . I’m uncomfortable with a few people in real life events ,like Trump and there is some un pc remarks going around about him.

Um, it wasn’t necessarily racism. I know that’s the in thing today, accused everyone of racism. The Klingons where their sworn enemy and they were coming on board their ship. Not rocket science.

“I think it’s going to be a different Star Trek.”

This can either go really well (DS9) or really badly (Voyager)

Or really well (Voyager) or really badly (DS9).

Or really well (DS9) and really well (Voyager)

Whenever I hear words like ‘reimagined’, ‘reinvented’ or ‘new trek’, all I’m hearing is. “We don’t like the original shows that all the fans do, so instead we’re making something different and calling it trek.’ How about delivering a show we want to watch and stop distorting Genes creation.

All Gene had was a an idea for a TV show and true, a great one. But what made Trek great was all the people after Gene. Do your homework and you’ll find Gene wasn’t who you think he was. For one thing he was a control freak and as much as he bitched about later Trek movies and TV shows ,didn’t really care about Trek anymore.

My guess:
It takes place in another alternate reality in which Kirk lives after Star Trek VI. He sends a new team away to a part of the universe where no one has gone before.
This way Shatner and others from TOS could have a guest appearance for the 50th anniversary and then the series would stand on it’s own in a new part of the galaxy with new aliens and new civilizations.

That is not going to happen. reading ,I believe Nick was talking about the tone of that movie, not rehashing yet another Kirk ,Spock time frame. This would be a bad idea. With the J.J TREK MOVIES, fans wanted new stories, a new mission and didn’t get it. Next Gen didn’t need Kirk & Spock, nor did DS9 or any other Trek shows. This new one doesn’t need them to stand alone on their own.

Pay the man and let him get writing!

It’s seems he’s been assimilated into the JJ collective. Oh well, more fool me for thinking we’d get more “real” Trek.

Im seeing no sign of that. Relax.

Definitely time for a clean slate, and delighted that Meyer is on board. The old timeline – and the Abramsverse – has too much canon baggage and is too steeped in a 1960s view of space and the future. Too many knobbly foreheads on the faces of too many races who are coincidentally at the same stage of technological development as Earth.
Mostly I’d like to see the whole ‘it’s-the-future-so-we’re-perfect people-now’ idea explored a little more dramatically and realistically. In a time when we’re relatively new at contacting and interacting with truly alien cultures (not just thinly veiled or slightly altered versions of human cultures, please – I don’t want to see some lizard in a robe intoning ‘on our planet we consider dead food…most uncivilised’ or something of the kind ) it would be vitally important to present humanity as unified and co-operative. This would mean setting high standards for ourselves and bringing high expectations to each individual, perhaps rigidly enforced… but how would that sit with a culture that also has to be accepting of variety and different ideas, such as whether one’s responsibility to himself as an individual is greater than his responsibility to his society?
In short I’d like the whole ‘perfect-people-future’ thing to be more about the challenges of living up to high ideals than the vague, pompous and dramatically vacuous, Next-Gen view that we’ve somehow just become a better species in 400 years and shifting the burden of fallibility to the Zorlons or someone.

This impresses me. If Fuller was going to choose any film as his jumping off point, I’d suspect he’d say Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home or even 09. To choose TUC is tremendous.

It shows a desire to be topical, political, smart, mysterious etc. We can debate the specific content but the point is, even if TUC didnt fully deliver, the premise was wise.

Now what world event that is topical would be the basis for this series? One can only speculate that the War on Terror would be the main one. And if its done with more balance, fairness and quality than Bob’s Hug A Terrorist Opus STID, then it could work. It could also be telling a story of helping the Klingons when they were down and now they’ve rebounded into a threat while the Federation is seemingly weak and all the current event political mumbo jumbo that comes with it…

There’s another Paramobius-type (for all I know it’s the same guy) at TrekCore, saying that he has inside knowledge that is potentially very exciting. TrekCore mods are apparently discussing his sources privately with him and I have asked them to report back after they have done so. It’s worth noting that most of Paramobius’ rumors have eventually borne out true, though I’m not sure this is him. The new rumors from a user named “The Fox”:

“Basically Bad robot own their license to that universe and CBS and bad robot clash. (CNN backs this up about the license).
The merchandise for the JJverse doesnt sell so thats a big factor. [sounds familiar]”

“The series itself is set in the 23rd century. But the series is an absolute mess at the moment, and Kurtzman may be on the chopping block again as he and fuller are clashing.”

http://trekcore.com/blog/2016/03/nicholas-meyer-says-2017-star-trek-show-will-go-in-a-different-direction-in-new-interview/

Please click the [thumbs-down] button if you wish to express disapproval at what JJ Abrams has done to Trek.

I’ll give you credit for having the brassy balls to dust off the nonsense you were peddling last year – it doesn’t matter how much lipstick you put on that pig, though, it’s still a pig.

The short summary, a year back Cyg was pretty much peddling this same rumor, form that unnamed reliable source, that all sorts of horrible stuff was going on behind the scenes, the third movie was in jeopardy, legal action was pending, yadda yadda yadda…..and all of it was bullshit. So, now, here he is again, peddling the same nonsense because he can’t abide anyone currently or formerly associated with Bad Robot being associated with Trek. Nonsense then, nonsense now.

@Phil,

As usual, you’re ignoring the facts!

The core elements of ‘Para Mobius’ claims, which he posted on October 29/30 in 2014, were:

1- Paramount rejected Orci’s first draft, he submitted another draft, was rejected as well.
2- Paramount removed Orci from the project as director & writer.
3- Pre-production was shut down in October 2014.
4- Disagreement on the movie budget.
5- CBS is planning a new Trek series.

‘Para Mobius’ posted these claims on October 29, 2014, no other sites reported it.

Then Deadline reported on December 5, 2014 that Orci was out as a director! Trekcore confirmed that Paramount shut the production down in October.

Orci confirmed in a comment on trekmovie in December 2014 that Paramount rejected his first draft.

On January 21, 2015 it was reported that a new writing team came on-board to replace Orci, McKay and Payne.

And on November 2, 2015 CBS announced a new Trek series.

In summary, most of ‘Para Mobius’ initial claims turned out to be correct.

Ahmed is 100% correct.

The very CBS Trek series that we’re now discussing was leaked by Paramobius over a year ago. He just got the date of the announcement wrong.

The record could not be more clear, and yet people like Phil don’t seem to have any compunction about continuing to put forth falsehoods so flagrantly that they can only be regarded as willful lies.

In fact the vocal aboblogists here very much said it was all BS and there would be no new series. Not to mention they said Bob wasnt canned/

So Cyg, if I understand you, the series would generally have to be a Prime Universe series? And taking place in the 23rd century puts it in the time of Kirk et al. Hmmmm…

Yeah, and if you read the rest of what “The Fox” said at TrekCore, the issues of copyright ownership (I assume it’s master rights) and merchandising with regard to the BR Trek movies comes up again. BR Trek merch doesn’t sell well, and allegedly CBS doesn’t want to have to share any of the revenue streams from this new series with Paramount or BR. So, they’re avoiding the BR universe altogether and setting the series in the Prime Universe.

That’s very good news. Perhaps Les will eventually see that the split is no good for Star Trek, especially with what Bad Robot did and bring it back to CBS. Let new films tell stories about the world (Universe) we’re used to and not some weird alternate reality.

The more I think about that, the stupider that concept sounds.

As above said: Trekcore doesn’t seem very convinced of the credibility of these rumors.

Credibility isn’t an issue with Cyg and TUP. If ‘the source’ is promoting dissent at the expense of BR or their former associates, then as far as Frick and Frack are concerned, it’s as good as gospel.

@Stephan,

Even if they were convinced, they will need time to check with their own sources to verify it. Also as a Trek news site, they want to keep a good relationship with CBS/Paramount it won’t make sense for them to publish any rumors like that before reaching out to the companies for comments.

@Ahmed:

That’s for sure but I always find it suspicous when someone has a clear opinion, in this case, clear dislike of BR Trek, and then somehow has “insider” information without any proof. Further, as I mentioned, in another thread he was asking, in which universe the series is set. This question came at the same time as he was sure about the setting in another thread because of his sources. So why did he even ask?
Maybe one day I will make my own stuff up and post it on every board because, you know, my uncle works at paramount and my aunt at cbs. ;)

It seems, trekcore isn’t so sure about his credibility. They imply he is making up his facts and doesn’t offer any source.

What I find interesting is that he seems to be very sure about the series being set in the 23rd century of the prime universe in the trekcore thread while at the same time he is asking about the setting of the series in another discussion thread.

Yep, its amazing just how right Para Mobius was with so much in the end. The only thing he seemed to have gotten wrong was the fact BR wasn’t producing the third film but EVERYTHING else basically came to fruition down to CBS actually announcing its own show. Like it was said it came much later than what he claimed but the fact one got announced made his credibility sore higher.

I mean Orci was here for MONTHS and you would’ve never known there were any problems with him on the film. Para Mobius revealed all of that and Orci was still here trying to put a nice spin on it that even though he was no longer director but claimed he was still writing and producing it and look what happened to that in the end?

I remember asking the guy a dozen times was he still writing it and it was odd how he avoided that very basic question lol. Now we know why obviously.

Para Mobius was right with almost all of it save for 1 or 2 points.

There is no ‘as usual’ about it, particularly as long as you want to cherry pick whatever information happens to suit your narrative. Several people, myself included, reviewed the whole of his …comments, to put it charitably, and found it to be a disjointed mess. The fact that Star Trek Beyond exists pretty much laid to rest any validity the claims, as the point of the claims was that the production was hopelessly mired in creative and legal squabbles, and as such, doomed. Most of his ‘predictions’ were either known information, or inferred from known information on the state of Trek at the time. There were a couple of business publications I came across that were commenting on CBS’s lucrative business of licensing existing content for foreign markets, and they also concluded, correctly, that CBS was going to have to create more content to satisfy demand. So, pardon me for not getting excited about that, getting giddy about someone predicting a new Trek series is about as silly as predicting the sun will rise tomorrow. It doesn’t really require any particular insight to accomplish, when you aren’t busy yanking comments out of context to pursue a contrary narrative.

@Phil,

You just can’t bring yourself to admit the simple fact that Para Mobius claims were mostly accurate. To say that “Most of his ‘predictions’ were either known information, or inferred from known information on the state of Trek at the time.” is simply FALSE! And to pretend that the production of ‘Star Trek Beyond’ was a smooth ride is laughable.

No one, not Trekmovie, TrekCore or any other sites reported the information. Deadline reported the replacement of Orci TWO MONTHS after Para Mobius initial comments in October. They reported the hiring of new writing team THREE MONTHS after Para Mobius made his claims & they announced a new Trek series, the series that you & everyone else insisted not happening, a YEAR LATER.

So yeah AS USUAL, you’re ignoring the simple fact that he got it right. The facts are out there, you can choose to be as closed minded as you want, I’ve no problem with that.

Even in your weak rebuttal you miss the point – in a rant where he was wrong with his point, all you want to see are the quotes that prop up your talking points. I’m one of the most open minded persons here, because my reading materials list don’t begin and end with everything Cyg recommends, which is why I can sit here and laugh at your juvenile defense of predictions that only Miss Cleo could love. Bloomberg writers have been saying for a couple of years now that new Trek wasn’t a question of if, but when. So, I’ll impress everyone and predict that op-ed writers will be writing their blogs about Super Tuesday, Trump, and the imploding Republican party tomorrow. Here’s another news flash your for, your very appropriate response to that should be ‘bulls**t, anyone who is conscious shouldn’t get credit for predicting the obvious.

As these things seem to impress you, though, the sun will rise tomorrow. Bet on it.

@Phil,

Keep deflecting and ignoring the facts all day long, the fact remains that ‘Para Mobius’ posted about the problems with STB, the rejection of the draft script, the removal of Orci as writer/director, the shutdown of the production etc TWO MONTHS before the media got a word of it. These are FACTS!

“I’m one of the most open minded persons here”

You actually believe that? You’re the same guy, who won’t lets a day go by without name-calling the ones who disagree with you; almost every comment of yours must end with an attack on the ‘haters’, ‘peanut gallery’, ‘constipated complainers’, ‘whiners’, ‘naysayers’ ..etc and on other days either calling for “a restraining order” against someone, or to put another one in jail!
Open-minded indeed!

@Cygnus-X1,

I finally got around to read what ‘The Fox’ said on TrekCore. the comments are more generic than ‘Para Mobius’, so I’ll wait until I hear something more specific from him/her.

The only verifiable info that ‘The Fox’ posted is the one concerning the financial problems at Paramount. Apparently Viacom in such a deep financial hole that they are thinking of selling Paramount!

===============================

Viacom Putting Crown Jewel on Sale Signals Big Media Dilemma

After buying the parent of Paramount Pictures in an epic $10 billion takeover battle in 1994, Sumner Redstone said he wanted to own that business “forever.”

Last week, his successor as chairman of Viacom Inc., Chief Executive Officer Philippe Dauman, said he’s looking to sell a slice of the storied studio, a crown jewel of the movie industry that produced “The Godfather” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”….

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. expressed interest in Paramount Tuesday at a Morgan Stanley investor conference in San Francisco, with CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg saying a combination of the companies would be valuable.

The independent animation studio is only interested in a full merger and not just a stake in Paramount, Katzenberg said. A Viacom spokesman wasn’t immediately available to comment.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-01/viacom-s-hunt-for-partner-foreshadows-big-media-s-tough-choices

Thanks for the article, Ahmed. Very interesting. And I can’t say I’m surprised, given the way that Paramount has been run—or, how it looks from the outside to be run, anyway—for the past several years. The reference in that article to Paramount as a “crown jewel” seems oddly inappropriate. They’re neither the biggest, nor the most profitable, nor the most innovative, nor the most…anything…studio. They’re mediocre in every measurable regard these days. And the great movies that they have produced in the past ain’t doing anything for me lately, if you take my meaning. Maybe it’s best for that studio to become part of Hollywood history and get folded into a better run organization, at this point. As a brand, Paramount has no differentiation. And as a studio, they’re entirely underwhelming and redundant in today’s entertainment market. I can’t see any reason for the continued existence of Paramount other than maintaining the status quo.

I thought it would be great if at the Big Convention at the Javits center Shatner would announce he was going to be guesting on an episode of the new series. However it seems they are going to stay as far away from what we have seen in the past. It would not surprise me if they will be writing with a rule that would not allow any guest appearances from past Treks

By “different direction”, I hope that he means a character-based series that focus on exploring new frontiers out there in the space as well as within the Federation. I’ve faith in Meyer & Fuller to deliver a great Trek series.

The best part in the ‘Den of Geeks’ interview was this :)

====================

Ryan Britt: What can you tell fans of Star Trek or fans of yours to look forward to?

Nicholas Meyer: Tell them to cross their fingers! [Laughs]

TUC is my favorite Trek. Hearing that it’s the jumping off point is golden, a real treat. *suddenly having a better day*

Hi,

great to hear from Nicholas Meyer, obviously his involvement is fantastic news. I just hope people don’t expect to get something from this show that is an exact copy of what Meyer did for Star Trek before. From this quote, it’s clear that he’s not interested in repeating the past, but wants Trek to be different. Now let’s hope Trek fans can accept that without a big outrage when some part of canon (maybe even established in Meyer’s own movies!) is violated.

For me, right now I don’t care anymore whether this show is in the new timeline, the Shatner timeline, or something else altogether. I was interested in this show before, but with Meyer doing some writing for this, I’ll happily preorder the entire series on DVD ;-)

(No disrespect to the other people involved, but “Khan” and “Undiscovered Country” are my favorite pieces of Star Trek, so when he’s there, I’m in!)

Peter

The Undiscovered Country is my personal favorite Trek movie, and I am a big fan of what Meyer brought to the movie franchise. I had pretty much dismissed this new Trek “TV” outing mostly because it wasn’t going to be on TV and I would be forced to watch it on my laptop. Not optimal.
Now I’m interested. Keep talking.

Ahmed Today 11:25 am

By “different direction”, I hope that he means a character-based series that focus on exploring new frontiers out there in the space as well as within the Federation. I’ve faith in Meyer & Fuller to deliver a great Trek series.

I have faith in those two guys as well. If it’s them deciding the creative agenda, I give them a wide berth to take the series in whatever “new direction” they think of. It’s only the involvement of Kurtzman that gives me pause, but we’ll see what happens.

Please click [thumbs down] if you feel that Bob Orci is a little too friendly with certain people and you want to express your disapproval.

Why would Kurtzman give you pause? He was one of the ones who felt that ‘Trek was not on the right track, in the aftermath of the STiD debacle.

Because he co-wrote ST09 and STID and a plethora of mediocre TV shows. His whole style of fiction writing/producing thus far has not lent itself well to Trek. Trek just ain’t his style.

Please click [thumbs down] if you want to express your wish that Leonard Nimoy is suffering miserably in the afterlife.

I clicked thumbs down, but my vote negated by a thumbs up. Do I still win a special prize, squire? Besides, I SO dislike the idea of human shields…

It’s possible Meyer is messing with folks, too. Remember his first comment about TUC was that it ‘was a small story about Spock in love.’

I’m not sure I’m very happy with this news. This is of course the director (and writer) of The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country, but Meyer actually opposed Gene Roddenberry, the man who created and envisioned the whole thing in the first place (TOS and TNG, respectively), whenever he could. I think Meyer’s view of the future may be somewhat cynical and not at all as the one envisioned by the Great Bird of the Galaxy. Every time, Meyer introduced a more militaristic tone in Star Trek and a more cynical portrayal of the characters and the future. I personally don’t regard those things as positive. I wonder whether the series will go that path and have a more military tone and a less utopian view of humanity’s future. I hope not. Hopefully it won’t be a series full of political intrigues, conspiracy, and militarism. We had that already in DS9 and to a certain extent in ENT. It’s not that I don’t like DS9, on he contrary, it’s one of my favorite Trek shows, but we’ve seen a great deal of conflict and political schemes already in that very series, and Trek in its essence was about exploration; exploration of space while dealing with various issues, human nature, etc. Something tells me that the chances that the new series will be more like TOS/TNG have diminshed drastically. But we’ll wait and see.

I agree with your fears. I’m one of those rare Trekkies who loathes TUC deeply because it felt like Meyer was mocking Trek, IMHO, and especially emphasizing the militaristic side to do so. Then again, Star Trek has been run by people who mock Roddenberry’s vision for years now, so…who knows?

Starfleet is a military. They wear uniforms, have ranks, go to cadet and officer training, fly around in ships that are heavily armed and come to the physical defense of other ships and planets.

Starfleet is a military. Meyer correctly defined it so the narrative within the franchise would make sense and have some consistency.

Hmmm…
Starfleet has a military command structure (naval), but it’s not military. Far from it. It may have some military tasks, and its military aspect may be accentuated especially in times od war, but its primary function and mission is exploraiton, not waging war, whether defensive or offensive one. I dislike Starfleet being portrayed as military and I disagree about Meyer being right in defining Starfleet as military.

With Fuller in charge I’m still very VERY concerned about the types of characters he’s going to include. If he uses this show as a platform to fix all of the perceived injustices (you know what I mean) of Star Trek characters in the past I’ll probably pass on this show.

It’s a larger problem. Our society is split right down the middle. We really need two countries. The Hollywood uber-liberal types believe things the normal folks find horrifying.

TOS was like ‘racism is bad’. Yeah, nice point to make, pretty much everyone can agree on that.

But if they try to shovel ‘gender is a social construct’ crap at us….it’s going to fail miserably.

Bob,

Hmmm…so you’re saying that true conservatives only believe in asexualism because that’s what came first and is the oldest form of reproduction? It’s even going on in our own bodies as we speak.

Also, wouldn’t you have to deny the very real fact that hermaphrodites are born into the human population, as they are into most sexual animal populations, and that historically, for them, human society does, indeed, reduce sexual identity to a mere physical construct? A “choice”, if you will, made by others than the individuals themselves and ultimately determined by prevailing societal whims?

And from the science of evolution, we know random other than the average common sex permutations will indeed arise. When these alternate forms of being human come, what are we as a society to do to address your desire that they conform to basic simple concepts with which you are “comfortable”?

Thank you for proving my point. Maybe two countries wouldn’t be enough, maybe we should go for four or five.

@Bob,

If I may, what attracted you to ‘Star Trek’ in the first place?

Well one of the points of “states” as in these “United States” was to allow for a diverse social environment. You can only unite by what you share in common, and diversity by definition means you do not share everything in common.

An overall healthy united society is able to respect differences of opinion and ways of life. It is able to respect different value systems as long as they do not threaten to overgrow all boundaries and co-opt all the rest.

But overgrowth is exactly what IS happening.

In fact it has always been happening, since the beginning of America. The United States government destroyed the ways of life of hundreds of Indian tribes so that it could remove them as a threat to what it thought was its destined way of life across the continent. The plains tribes economy turned around the Buffalo, so the government hunted it nearly to extinction so that the plains tribes became dependent on the government and could be controlled. As a result the cultures were destroyed, and to this day the tribes have not recovered and they struggle to survive.

What I saw in Star Trek was the peaceful coexistence of many different ways of life and value systems — not the domination of all systems by one, which is what we have been moving toward all this time.

We have the beginnings of a technological totalitarianism. It is going to squeeze all human life through a sieve so that it comes out looking pretty much tastelessly the same on the other side.

The only thing that is slowing it down is the diversity and popularity of the many religions that exist; because religion is the older and more robust moral system, it is able to successfully resist the sway of technocratic pressures, which is also why the technocrats are trying to slowly replace religion with one that they think all people can belong to, centered around — of course — Mother earth.

I don’t care how many countries, as long as I don’t have to share one with you. Your narrow-minded, biased nonsense is completely contrary to everything Star Trek stands for, so why are you trolling a Trek board?

Who are you talking to?

@dmduncan – I was replying to Bob, but it’s my first comment on the new comment system, so I guess I didn’t do it right. Oh well.

Would you be interested in a Star Trek series where technology evolved to the point that the gene that determines sexual orientation could be manipulated pre-birth to ensure everyone born was physically one gender or the other with a sexual desire to match? And that people actually did this…

Lol. That’s politically incorrect.

Certainly but think about it. We’re almost at the point of pre-birth gene manipulation. They say a time could come when parents could order up designer babies. Choose the hair colour, height etc. by manipulating genes. There has been reports of discovery of the “gay gene” so its not a stretch that scientists could “turn off” the gene.

Why is no one in the future (in Star Trek) gay? Maybe because they “cured” it.

Dont flame me for that…Im somewhat of a gay activist and organized Pride events. Im playing devil’s advocate.

When my best friend came out, his dad said well of course I love you and that will never change but being gay isn’t what I would have chosen for you. And he meant it from the perspective that he felt it was a tough life and had been difficult for my friend. Now go back 40 years…if the doctor said well your son is “gay”, do you want us to turn that off? How many parents would say no?

Well why should they choose their baby to be gay if they don’t want that for their child? I mean if you are going to say that a woman can abort her child for any reason or no reason, then it’s going to be awful hard to say she shouldn’t be able to choose the sex of the baby. Personally I think we should steer clear of all this Brave New World stuff and let nature take its course, but it’s hard to make the argument against such things when people embrace technology as an unmitigated good.

I don’t know exactly why this is, but there are a LOT of Star Trek fans who have this idea that the future is inevitably guaranteed to be a technological paradise, and I think it is more likely to be a technological totalitarian state, based on current trends.

Our political system is being eaten from within by a technocratic termite. At some point the husk is going to crumble and in its place will be the machinery of an entirely different structure of governance that controls almost every aspect of our lives.

That’s not the future I saw in Star Trek, but maybe Star Trek has helped to brainwash people into thinking that a good future was inevitable and didn’t have to be safeguarded into existence.

Well, everyone but Donald Trump. Who is, like, about to win the nomination of a major political party.

With Tony Todd on the casting-call short list, and all this talk of the Undiscovered Country being the launching point, I hope we’re not heading for some sort of, off -the-beaten-path, Klingon-centric series dealing with all of their race struggles after Praxis. It sound slike just the sort of prententious cleverness some types would come up with just to be different and look “fresh”.

And I also hope they aren’t afraid to be creative…I rather enjoy the duels with Greek Gods and god-like moody treenagers who can melt faces. If they start to focus on the day-to-day soap opera of the characters and “explore” their many ups and downs of life, I may bail. I don’t watch Star Trek to see real life. If the creativity and imagination is gone, if the element of the fanstastic and awe and danger of the unknown has given way to the “human condition” then count me out. There is a fine balance they need to strike between the two, I hope they find it.

I tend to doubt it. If the rumors are true it would seem to indicate a Prime Universe setting and 23rd century so to me that is going back to a TOS-era (probably a bit after).

I think CBS understand the power of merchandising TOS and wont make the series so far out of the norm that it impacts that.

I hope you’re right, fingers are crossed! Personally, I would love a pre-TOS series, but nothing like Enterprise, but more like a prequel to the Cage…when it truly was a raw an dangerous frontier to explore, not like the comfy setting of Enterprise. And if it has to take place in an alernate universe to make that happen, so be it, I’m not at all hung up on all this Prime versus altnermate timeline business. If’s all fiction at the end of the day, Eugenics Wars in the 90’s? World War 3? Not in this reality…just make the new series good!

This is exactly what I suggested awhile back. A Robert April series. Set on a brand new, just out of space dock Enterprise which is the cream of the crop of advanced technology but of course, is still a “risk”…truly going out there into the final frontier.

The Enterprise becomes the hook in a way it wasn’t on the series of the same name. We know the ship will make it back but we don’t know the fates of anyone on board including the captain.

You could probably “adjust” some canon elements for “stunt” as well such as have Chris Pike as a young junior grade lieutenant on his first assignment…we know he eventually takes on the ship, but watching the journey would be pretty cool.

Lots to explore there. If the rumours of it taking place in the 23rd century are true, it doesn’t preclude this era…

I’d be on that like white on rice! Enterprise was a good idea, just poorly executed.

I agree. Enterprise was a great concept. Lousy execution.

The trek core guy says he thinks its either Captain April, Captain Pike or Enterprise B.

Damn, I’ve got a whole 6-8 hr miniseries mapped out for the E-B, have been sitting on it for over two decades now (and I have steadfastly refused to read CAPTAIN’S DAUGHTER because I want to honestly be able to say that Peter David was no influence on this.)

I wish I had access to how they’re developing this!

Taking it back to TOS would be great, they wouldn’t have to change the aesthitcs much to be in line with 99% of the merchandising that is already out there..eliminating any adjustment period to aclimate a new audience. Just put the crew on a new startship…the Yorktown, Lexington, who cares, just givem them a great crew. That’s why Exeter was the best fan film out there…they didn’t try to recreate the original crew, they just took the sensibilities of the original series onto a new ship, and in the process, proved it’s a viable idea.

You mean like a “Game of Thrones”, but with Klingons?

Somehow I doubt that Fuller & Meyer would be making a show about “duels with Greek Gods and god-like moody teenagers who can melt faces”!!

Pity! I hope we don’t lose the creative and imaginative inspirations of science fiction, that the original series had, to the serialized soap operas where we get to struggle with our dysfunctional crew. I can go visit General Hospital any day of the week…or attend any family gathering for that!

Perfect casting for Fuller’s other upcoming series.

===============================

Bryan Fuller’s American Gods series just found its Mr. Wednesday

American Gods, the Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s bestselling novel from showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, is finally taking shape…

Fuller and Gaiman announced today that Golden Globe-winner Ian McShane has been cast as Mr. Wednesday…

American Gods is expected to air sometime later this year.

http://www.blastr.com/2016-3-2/bryan-fuller-american-gods-series-just-found-its-mr-wednesday

I just wanted to try out the new posting format. Testing..testing. Sibilance, Sibilance!

That “it’s going to be different” remark has me worrying, the TUC relations leaves me cautiously optimistic.

Of course both remarks can mean a lot of things. Different from what? From all previous Trek including TOS? Different from (most) of the spin-offs, especially VOY and ENT? Different from the cinematic reboots?
What I hope it DOESN’T mean is a special, all-too-limited, political premise that would narrow down the creative options for the series to a couple of ongoing plotlines. I still hope that it somehow returns to the roots of the franchise by going boldly where none had gone before.
Fooling around just for the sake of it is not a good idea, especially in our day and age where audiences flock for blockbusters that do the exact opposite by giving us nostalgia-ridden retellings of classic plots (Star Wars, Jurassic World).

As for the TUC aspect…wow, hard to translate that into an idea for the show. If it’s LITERALLY the starting point, we might be getting Captain Sulu after all, or Enterprise-B… it might also focus on the Klingon peace process, featuring Col. Worf and young Tuvok.
If it’s just FIGURATIVE, it might all be about the idea of “new generations” continuing our mission, a remark which was originally intended to be a link to TNG…

It’s an interesting time to be a Trekkie again…

In other words it will have liberal themes. Then you can count on a Peter Kirk in the show. Sorry, I’m out.

What do you mean by “liberal themes”? And who is Peter Kirk?

It will be interesting to see if Meyer made theTUC reference because it is an actual jumping off point or because the tone is similar to TUC.

I bet he’s going for tone, to take advantage of all the current geo-political turmoil: Dysfunctional nations/globalization becoming an elites-only club(another name for Empire)/global Great Depression threatening/ internal Factional strife and old political parties splintering/ talk of Deep State-Shadow Government shenanigans/small wars breaking out here-n-there/Cold War II-WWIII looming on the horizon/various groupings trying to bring the World back to sanity/etc…yeah, I can see why the reference to TUC; lots of drama and conflict to be mined (and opportunity for suggesting solutions, offered in palatable story-telling format).

As long as it’s more TOS and Ent and not TNG or DS9 I’ll be happy.

CBS is making all the right moves, as far as I am concerned. I haven’t been this excited about TREK in a long time!

Thank you so much for taking ST out of dry-dock once again, Mr. Meyer. I’ve been a fan of ST since it first aired in 1966, and confess to being reticent in embracing the succeeding Treks (always ended up loving them though). I’ve learned my lesson now…any TV Trek is better than no TV Trek; it’ll just get better as it goes along. My name says it all (you can call me Kit, or Mr. Canon). Just re-create it. Fool around with it (the right attitude…right stuff). Forget Canon, Timelines, Primeverse, etc…My favorite ST era (in RealWorld/RealTime) wasn’t the TOS sixties, the Movie era 70s-80s, or the NewTV era 80s-00s. It was that Fallow Era 69-79 when Trek was tossed into the trashcan, and it became the plaything for us fans, to do with as we pleased. We’ve had a similar Fallow Era now, since Enterprise ended. Show us what’s sprouting & growing in this plowed-under field.

As a life long fan of 50, I think I’ll wait before I make assumptions about this new Trek.

I will say that Trek has always been a better TV show, allowing characters to be fleshed out within the background of the story telling – that’s what separates it from Star Wars (sci-fi vs sci-fantasy).

And the people who have signed on so far make me very optimistic about the future.

Maybe we’ll get a captain Sulu show afterall – Hmmmmm.