Once again Bryan Fuller is talking about his goal of bringing Star Trek back to the small screen. The Star Trek writing and producing vet is currently busy launching two other TV series, but in a new interview he expressed his hopes that after the 2013 Star Trek sequel he could work with JJ Abrams on a new Trek TV series.
Fuller talks Trek and Abrams
Bryan Fuller is currently developing two new TV series for NBC: a reboot of the Munsters (called Mockingbird Lane), and a drama called Hannibal about the famed psychiatrist serial-killer Hannibal Lector. Speaking to EW about the latter, the conversation turned to Fuller’s often talked about goal of returning to Star Trek and bringing it back to TV.
Fuller talked about how he and director Bryan Singer are hoping to collaborate with JJ Abrams, saying:
"Bryan and I are big fans of Trek and have discussed a take on what we would do, and we would love to do it,” Fuller says. “I don’t think anything is going to happen in any official capacity until after the next movie comes out. And I’m sure it would be wisely under J.J. Abrams’ purview of what happens. He’s the guardian of Trek right now.”
With regards to Fuller’s Mockingbird Lane, EW has a first look at the Munster’s new spooky house.
Bryan Fuller is currently bringing the Munsters back to TV – he wants to do the same for Star Trek
Thanks to Stelios for tip
I have to say I’m ready for any new Trek on tv. Can’t even find a space show of crappy SyFy.
Bryan Fuller is one of the guys that worked on Voyager, right?
Uh…. that’s OK, man. Really; you don’t have to.
I think JJ Abrams and co are doing just fine, thanks. ;-D
As for the Munsters reboot?
While I don’t see any necessity for it whatsoever (they’ve tried several times in the ’80s and ’90s to resurrect this show; it’s never really succeeded), I’m still curious to see what new stuff they are bringing to it….
Well, makes me wonder how much behind the scenes discussion may have gone on for him to be so frank about timing…
good on him
No one from the bad old days, please.
Meant to say” Can’t find a space show on crappy SyFy”. Anthony you really need a edit button or set up your comment section with Disqus.
I’d rather Fuller to Abrams working on TV trek to be honest!
Bryan Fuller did indeed work on Voyager, but remember it was his first big job as a writer. He was such a big Trek fan he really wanted to work on Trek and in the late 90s VOY was all the Trek there was. He wrote some good episodes, got frustrated and left to go on to create some very imaginative shows like Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies.
Bryan is very much not someone who was part of the problem. People like him and Ron Moore and Rene Eschevaria were part of the solution that Rick Berman squandered by dismissing their ideas and letting them leave to go on to great success outside of Star Trek.
8: “Bryan Fuller…wrote some good episodes,”
On Voyager? I must have missed those.
“got frustrated and left to go on to create some very imaginative shows like Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies.”
And now he’s rebooting The Munsters and trying to get in the Dexter game by having a serial killer piece of his own.
I am serially underthrilled.
I would rather see Bob involved if it had to be a choice between Abrams/Fuller and Abrams/Orci.
And I would like to see a return to the 60’s practice of SF writers coming up with episodes.
I didn’t reckon much to their Federation 6th live-action series idea.
I would hope for a 22nd or 23rd Century setting, whether Abramsverse or not.
@ #4 LOL Amen!
On to my comment:
If it’s not about Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Chekov, Sulu, Uhura and THE Enterprise I’m not watching.
There is a reason that the new Star Trek movie did so well: It brought back the LEGENDARY characters that made Star Trek a phenomenon in the first place.
Sorry, I know that offends some, but that’s my opinion. Take with a grain of salt.
I don’t want to open a can of worms here, but I’ve always wanted to ask this question and I think this place would be a great place to do so. I grew up in the 90’s (I’m 22) and watched all of VOY and tons of TNG re-runs and I loved both shows dearly. TNG was my first taste of Trek and I grew to love VOY, too. I thought both shows were thought provoking and dealt well with real world issues and were both an overall joy to watch. So here’s the question: why does VOY have such a bad reputation? Is it my age? haha Just curious.
TV serie from JJ-verse? Please no.
Much as I want new Trek on TV, Mr. Fuller’s comments don’t inspire my confidence. My impression is that Paramount and CBS, not Abrams, are keepers of Trek. JJ doesn’t seem easily sold on projects, or emotionally vested in the future of Trek. Even if Fuller could bring him on board, Abrams might then have the first meaningful word on the project, but both Paramount and CBS would tangle for the last word. Add to that entanglement the costs of such a production, the ratings game, and the lure of easy, sleazy reality TV dough, and I think the hurdles to Trek being on TV are overwhelming. Still, I hope it’s worth a try…
id say a firm ‘NO!’ followed by a sharp and painful slap on the wrist to anyone who attempts a trek tv show in the next couple of years.
let Trek BREATHE as movie series I-IV style before turning it back into McDonalds and milking the cow dry once again with spin offs of spin offs of spins offs, treknobabble, bumpy headed aliens of the week, recycled plots, bland characters and themeparks in Vegas etc etc
id like another tv show at somepoint (notice i said TV SHOW not TV SHOWS) so id have to say DO NOT attempt a tv show until 2016 at the earliest (following Trek 3)
but if there is a new tv series it wont be chris pine, zacahary quinto, zoe saldana, karl urban, alice eve, john cho and simon pegg that will be on the show…they are all huge movie stars now especially chris , zoe, simon and zachary.
You have to get a whole bunch of new young fresh faces again.
THAT IS WORK.
@ 9 dmduncan. You said it: “And I would like to see a return to the 60’s practice of SF writers coming up with episodes.”
That’s what made the old Star Trek so imaginative. Many of the writers who wrote for Star Trek were established Sci-Fi writers who had proven their mettle elsewhere. They wrote stuff that people would actually pay money for. The same group of Southern California writers also wrote for Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits.
I’m all for a new Star Trek as long as:
1. It doesn’t look like fan-based entertainment.
2. It is not so slavishly devoted to “canon” that we end up with a wax museum of a show.
3. There are not too many “fanciful creatures,” which Pocket Books seems to think is very, very important.
4. It doesn’t degenerate into simply a Spock/Uhura soap opera. (A little mint-chocolate chip from time to time is OK, but not as the main event.)
5. It’s not written with 8 year olds and the potential toy market in mind.
If there are great sci-fi writers out there, somebody please use them.
And if there are none, then Harlan Eillison is still alive, no?
9. dmduncan… “On Voyager? I must have missed those.”
“Living Witness” was one of the best episodes of “Voyager”. “The Raven”, “Course: Oblivion”, and “Relativity” were very good, too.
Of course, Mr. Fuller also inflicted “Bride of Chaotica” and “Spirit Folk” on us, and he blatantly ripped off Stargate SG-1 with “Workforce”
I honestly don’t expect to ever see another Star Trek live action series, but if there is one, I think we could do a lot worse than Mr. Fuller.
Talking to JJ is obviously crucial, as cost will be a huge issue, and any sets, ship shots, extra Pepsi, or anything he’s got left from his shoots, would be necessary to re-use and recycle in a new version of Trek.
I remember the days when they said CGI brought costs way down. Nowadays ‘they’ say the exact opposite. However, when you look at anything from ST Phase 2 even to ‘Cats in Space,’ you see what kind of quality work can be done on the cheap.
Of course, good ‘Trek’ thrives even without space battles. The best ‘Trek’ has taken place in courtrooms, briefing rooms, planetside, and on the Bridge. Intellectualizing the series back up to its TOS roots with the help of real SF authors as suggested above in #9 by dmduncan would be extra special.
How about a series that never was but could have been. The Pike years. After Archer and before Kirk. Lets get into Klingons who look like humans, Andorians , Orions, the forming of the federation. Some interesting shows can be done…why not..
I want Trek on the small screen. 1 movie every 4 years or so isn’t nearly enough.
We’re not getting “Kirk and company” on TV at all, without another reboot/recasting.
I’m not interested in waiting until after 2020 to see trek on TV again.
That’s where it belongs.
I think until the economy improves no TV network or cable channel will want to take a chance on a new Trek TV series because of how much it will cost per episode. Wouldn’t it be something like $2- $3 Million an episode? If so a new Trek series would have to keep at least 11 Million or more viewers a week to justify keeping it on the air? NYC 22 series premiered with 8.9 million viewers and that was considered a low ratings number.
And @17, Ellison wouldn’t “lower” himself to do Trek again, I’m quite certain. The disdain he’s shown for the show and the genre is pretty clear (Babylon 5 nothwithstanding). I’d prefer to keep him far away from Trek in the future.
You don’t think that his version of City on the Edge of Forever actually aired, do you?
The only reason he wasn’t credited there as “Cordwainer Bird” (his code for “this is crap and I won’t put my name on it) is because Roddenberry refused to change the credit line.
@15 KHAN 2.0
I’m going to get on my knees every night and pray for an early Federation/ Earth/Romulan War era story.
TOS R.I.P.
Also does Fuller’s statement confirm that Abrams is also incharge of TV Trek?
#24, I am for that also. They could do something like the new BSG or that old show Space Above and Beyond. To appeal to the teeanagers they could have Starfleet Cadets fresh out of the Academy and thrust into War and see how they culp with it but not have it be like a Soap Opera. However a Romulan War series could be expensive also.
Does that mean if he is working with Abrams that a new show would be in the new universe rather than the prime universe. I always wanted Star Trek to return to its proper prime universe if it was to return to TV.
Also I remain adament that although Voyager was not the best show that it still have great episodes. Yes things could have been done better and with Enterprise I really wish the fans gave it a chance.
I know you all think I am a hater of JJ Abrams take on Star Trek, But I am not and look forward to next movie. But my heart wil always belong to the prime universe and I still remain adament that a lot of stuff produced in the Berman era is still stronger than the Abrams movie.
What Abrams suceeded in brilliantly is making Trek appeal to the mainstream but I think its unfair how Berman gets treated, yes he made mistakes but he kept Trek alive and he did work with Gene Roddenberry and had his input.
I hate the bashing that other Treks get on this site.
I would take Trek TV right now, whether JJverse or not. But I do agree with Anthony that Bryan Fuller was one of the more better contributors to Trek. And while I would love a new show in the TNG era, I am not opposed to his and Bryan Singer’s “Federation” idea either. Just my two-cents :-)
#12- I’m not sure why VOY gets a bad rap either! I think it was a very entertaining and worthwhile show and wish we would have seen more of the VOY characters in TNG movies after the show ended too. But then we didn’t know that the next post-VOY movie would also be the last TNG-era movie either! At least we got a Janeway cameo!! :-)
@23 claypool2011. I’ve read both teleplays. The one he wrote and the one that aired. I really don’t care whether it was his original story or not. The point is, he at least had some imagination.
And I suspect, if the paycheck were big enough, he’d hold his nose and type ’til his fingers bled.
I seem to remember another veteran of Star Trek who said he’d never put on those bleeping ears again. Never say never seems to be the order of the day when it comes to Star Trek.
Star Trek should not come back to TV in a long time. Its too soon still. The time difference between TOS and TNG is best.
28
Agreed, Voyager had its flaws but still great stories in that show.
The new movie has it flaws but still entertaining.
Overall, I can’t say that I care about what the show is as long as it’s Star Trek, but my preference is something not related to the new series simply for the fear of not being able to keep the same actors. But I guess we’ll see what happens
You know, I would love Trek to be back on TV, but… When I say Trek, I mean the kind of Start Trek that I actually enjoyed, that is, the intelligent, adventurous kind of Trek that tickles the imagination. TOS, TNG and DS9 fit that description. If it’s going to be more 2D characters and dumbed down ‘entertainment’, please go right ahead, but it won’t be Star Trek in my book and i’ll ignore it like I did the last so-called Trek TV-series.
34
As long as the TV series regained what was on the previous shows and regain the heart of Trek which has been sacrificed for the mainstream then I am up for a new show.
@34. Ah, Captain, there you go again, just like in your prime in the good ole days on this sites. Cap, you are getting me all misty-eyed again….
“Memories, light the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories of the way we were.
Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind
smiles we give to one another
for the way we were.
If we had the chance to do it all again
tell me would we? Could we?”
Seriously folks, I don’t want ANYONE WHO WORKED ON VOYAGER to come with 1000 miles of production on a new Trek series.
23. claypool2011 – April 20, 2012
And @17, Ellison wouldn’t “lower” himself to do Trek again, I’m quite certain.
***
I don’t think you know Ellison as well as you think.
Ellison actually reached out to JJ Abrams to work on Trek again. There’s a post on it, this site.
Fuller co-wrote “Bride of Chaotica!” on Voyager which is in my top 3 Voyager episodes of all time. Yeah, it’s not as if every ep he wrote was like THAT but I still loved it tons.
But movies are fun and all but Star Trek is an inherently TV-ish idea. Needs to be back on the tube. Not on network TV, I’d be happy with only 13 ep runs on a cablenet somewhere. And I’d love to see the “Supreme Court” involved somehow. And set it in the JJ-verse, lots of areas to explore.
Of course, it’d probably be a non-Enterprise show which may be a tad dicey but I can live with it.
I would love to have Singer and J.J and maybe even get Bob Orci to come on board to do a Trek T.V Series. I think with these guy’s doing it it would be a fantastic series. Here’s Hoping.
Seriously. Are people really clamoring for a MUNSTERS reboot?
I think a Trek Series that start’s right before the Romulan War and the founding of the Federation would be a good thing. Have The New Constitition Class Enterprise just being launched and have have a few other ship’s as well. Someone could play a young Sarek and maybe have a Kirk in the series and a young Chris Pike and of course Admiral Archer come in. I think this would work really well.
Mike don’t you mean Dadelous Class Enterprise? The Constitution Class ships were after the Romulan War. I wonder with Abrams new Universe would the number of Enterprise’s matter? In the Prime Universe having a Dadelous Class Enterprise in the Romulan War would go against cannon, not sure about Abrams Universe.
No to Bryan Fuller. I’d take Manny Coto and Ronald D. Moore, though.
But, I have to say that the guy who I think would spice up tv Trek is Duncan Jones, the director of great recent (and criminally underrated) sci-fi flicks “Moon” and “Source Code”. His abities to combine cgi and physical models in a space environment as well as his skill at crafting an emotionally resonant time-travel story would serve “Star Trek” really well. Not sure if he wrote any television scripts, but even if he didn’t, or doesn’t want to, he’d make a great producer.
What about, Abrams. Orci and Lindelof incharge of a new Trek TV Show?
All this Voyager and Enterprise hate really needs to stop. If you think they are such horrendous series, go back and watch every episode with an open mind and then come back and say what you think.
It’d be just as easy for a brand new viewer to watch a few random TOS episodes and declare the whole series cheesy crap television.
@45. It is what it is.
Well Craiger. it was never said in the Tos what Ship was in the Romulan War. Just the mention of A Captian Styles and a few other officer’s. So I don’t think it would be against canon to have one. Or a eariler design.
And also add Kurtzman incharge of a new Trek TV Series
Get the whole court to do the Trek T.V Series and have Singer in charge
Mike, I guess it could be another non Federation ship named Enterprise like the NX-01 but would you want controversy right out of the gate like their was the last time with the Trek fans complaining about NX-01 Enterprise being before Kirk’s. I accepted the non Federation explaination. Unless they also say forget the fans kind of like how they did with the ST 2009 and just payed homage to them with the new series if their is one.