Last week CBS shook the world of Star Trek by announcing plans to expand the television franchise, all under the eye of Star Trek: Discovery, co-creator and executive producer Alex Kurtzman. One of the potential new TV projects in the works, at least according to The Hollywood Reporter, involved Sir Patrick Stewart returning to play Jean-Luc Picard. This possible TNG era project could be one of the potential “limited series” that Variety reported on last week.
Now a new report from the UK’s Mirror, is citing inside sources saying Sir Patrick is in talks, noting “The star is keen to reprise his most famous part – and deals are close to being struck.” The report, which should be considered a rumor at this point, quotes an “LA source” saying:
“Patrick is looking pretty good to get back on board the Enterprise. There are some aspects of the deal to be finalized, but there is a verbal commitment from all parties.”
Patrick Stewart last played Picard in the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis, which was a box office disappointment and brought an end to the four-film TNG movie series. Since that time the actor has been vague about returning to Trek, including being rather dismissive of the notion when speaking to TrekMovie at a film festival last year. However, later reports of Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek project, did spark some interest from the 77 year-old actor.
Stewart hasn’t spoken publicly or on social media about Star Trek since last week’s revelation that CBS was expanding Trek on TV. However, the reports about his potential return to Trek add some possible context to his cryptic remarks in early June about having a good reason to watch the latest Star Trek TV series.
Animated Picard too?
As noted in our report last week, one of the projects being considered, according to Variety, is a new animated Star Trek series. The new Mirror story also quotes their LA source saying “Patrick could easily lend his voice” to an animated show. Last week’s report had no indication that the potential animated series was even set in the TNG era, so take this bit from the Mirror with even more grains of salt.
Patrick Stewart has played an animated Picard before, spoofing himself for Family Guy
According to the Mirror, some kind of announcement regarding Stewart’s return to Trek could be made in the next few weeks, for a show to be released in 2019. With San Diego Comic-Con coming in a month, any major announcements regarding CBS’ plans for an expanding their Star Trek television offerings could come then. As of now, CBS has yet to announce their plans for SDCC.
Keep up with all the possible upcoming Star Trek TV projects at TrekMovie.com.
It would be great news, but the Mirror in the UK is one step away from being a tabloid, so I’ll wait for more sources.
One step away? It IS a tabloid.
Well … unlike People it does have some news ;-)
People is a magazine, not a tabloid.
Not so obvious, Mr Obvious!
From Wikipedia …
“A tabloid is a newspaper with a compact page size smaller than broadsheet. A tabloid is defined as “roughly 17 by 11 inches (432 by 279 mm)” and commonly “half the size of a broadsheet”, although there is no standard size for this newspaper format.
The term tabloid journalism refers to an emphasis on such topics as sensational crime stories, astrology, celebrity gossip and television, and is not a reference to newspapers printed in this format. Some small-format papers with a high standard of journalism refer to themselves as compact newspapers. Larger newspapers, traditionally associated with higher-quality journalism, are called broadsheets, even if the newspaper is now printed on smaller pages. In common usage, tabloid and broadsheet are frequently more descriptive of a newspaper’s market position than physical format.”
I think I can speak for El Chup when I say we were referring to the quality of the reporting, and not how much desk space the paper takes up.
So its it’s like huffpost
It does have a bit of news, but an equal balance of content that may be gossip, or news that may not be wrong but has been sensationalised.
For example, they reported a year ago that Kris Marshall from My Family was on set filming his scenes to be the new Doctor Who, and would be revealed before the Christmas special. Both of which ended up being wrong.
Yeah the Mirror is what we class as a tabloid newspaper in the U.K. so it’s probable that they’ve seen the reports on Stewart coming back and they’ve fabricated sources to print an exclusive. However, it’s worth noting that The Mirror is one of, if not the only British Newspaper to have solely supported the Labour Party in the U.K. and Patrick Stewart is a long term member of said political party. It’s therefore not inconceivable that if he wanted to promote this story that he would choose to leak it to this particular publication.
No argument there.
Not particularly exciting for me. I sorta feel like the TNG crew is done. (for the record I feel the TOS crew is done, too) Trek needs new blood to boldly take it into the future. Perhaps if they have some sort of “old man Picard” mini-series. But a full fledged show? I don’t know…. Maybe but that is not the direction I would take the franchise.
You never seem to consider business. One of the most iconic characters in the franchise. Arguably the best actor ever in the franchise. And a big time mainstream Hollywood superstar who is also legitimately respected as a very fine actor.
That’s huge for cbs.
We will likely get the usual posts about him being too old too. Which are absurd.
A good show, well written and promised starring Patrick Stewart? What could possibly be the downside of that?
I guess he may have reached the “iconic” state with Picard. And for sure the best actor to be in any series. No argument there. But I would say Kirk, Spock and McCoy resonate outside of Trekdom better than Picard does. It just feels a bit tired to return to TNG characters. That’s all. Bringing Stewart back in some capacity feels almost like similar reasons STD brought the Enterprise in at the end of season 1.
Kirk, Spock, and McCoy may have the visual and name recognition, but most people I know in my age range (mid-30s) remember watching TNG at some point, even if they weren’t die hard fans. A lot of people may recognize the TOS characters, but they’re more likely to have actually watched even small bits of TNG.
No guess work needed. Iconic.
While Kirk and Spock are certainly the most well known generally they are featured characters in a film series not controlled by CBS.
Makes perfect sense to go wirh Picard.
If the idea here is to create content which it seems to be, of you’re looking at multiple ideas why wouldn’t this be an obvious one? Especially if Stewart was up for it.
It would be like reading Ewen Mcgregor wants to play Obi Wan and being confused that Disney would consider it. Ofcourse they would.
There is literally no drawback.
Look… I would certainly tune in to a Stewart Trek project. I’m just saying it would not be MY first choice. And I am fully aware that these things are not made for ME. If they were, precious few would watch them. They are going for the lowest common denominator. Not trying to please a handful of Trek fans.
It wouldn’t be my first choice either ML31. But we can probably agree this will be a bit more interesting for long time fans instead of Discovery. At least the ones who have been disappointed with that show so far.
I have no problem with watching both the proposed miniseries starring Stewart and Discovery.
Confirmed here, Tiger. Give me a show with as much as a cameo from Picard to kick-off a post-NEM series, I’ll likely not watch DSC again.
Other choices are available.
I totally agree and as for him being too old I think it’s important to remember that Picard was written to be significantly older than Patrick Stewart’s real age as a means of showing that in a future age is not a barrier. What better way for Trek to show that age is not a barrier in the present than to have a septuagenarian headline a big budget franchise TV show.
Seriously. Too old to what? Act? Actors (usually) hey better with age. Related to? This is Picard, fercrisakes!
I was responding to JAM’s post in which he speculated that we’d be getting the usual complaints that he’s too old to be playing the role.
I think a mini series would be good and maybe a good death scene to end the character properly. Perhaps he will go back to the nexus and… ;-)
I think if this show materializes then there is a very good chance this might happen. I have a feeling Patrick Stewart might want to retire the character in some way like he did with Professor Xavier in Logan.
Considering the video game Star Trek Online is considered canon, this series would most likely focus on his time as an ambassador to Vulcan after resigning from Starfleet, since he’s visually too old to pick up where the movies left off for his six remaining years as the Enterprise’s captain.
Is Star Trek online canon? I don’t think there is any official word on that and I’d be surprised if the feel beholden to it when producing the new shows.
Darf god. There is no Universe in Which sto should ne considered canon.
the “story” is Really bad.
I appreciate the desire to move forward, but declaring the TNG crew done 16 years after their last movie isn’t exactly groundbreaking opinion.
A Picard show as the sole standard bearer? It wouldn’t be by a long shot. And that character deserves a better send off than the poorly directed Nemesis.
Well we disagree here. I think Nemesis was a very appropriate send off for the TNG crew. Far FAR better than what they got from All Good Things. Nemesis totally felt like a final TNG film. And it was very enjoyable. Right up there with First Contact.
I just watched Nemesis again for the first time in a long time, and enjoyed it quite a bit. I agree it was a proper sendoff for the TNG crew, but have to say I enjoyed FC quite a bit more.
I really only have one complaint about Nemesis. There was a scene early on that didn’t really belong in the film. I get why it was done… The film needed to be punched up a bit at a point where it was slowing down. But it didn’t feel right for Trek. Apart from that, it was quite good. No problems with you enjoying FC more. I liked it a lot too. I just consider both films to be on pretty even footing. Maybe FC gets the nod as a penalty for the afore mentioned out of place sequence in Nem.
Two early unnecessary scenes which come to mind are Data singing (which does resonate at the end, however) and the dune buggy scene.
Data singing seemed right in line with the character. The wedding scene seemed pretty important, too. But yeah, the entire Argo sequence of appearing in front of a pre-warp culture seemed to be a HUGE disregard of the PD. But that could have been repaired with just a line of dialog.
I’ve been putting this off for a longtime but I’m hoping that time will make me more forgiving when I do get round to it.
Oh god…. Please unsay that.
No way. No how. In fact, I’m doubling down. It was a VERY appropriate send off. I’ve always felt that the people didn’t like it were mainly TNG fans who were unhappy their final film was not as good as TOS’s final film.
Fandom aside, Nemesis is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, Star Trek or otherwise.
Different strokes then. I can think of 9 ST movies Nemesis was better than.
I agree. NEMESIS wasn’t that bad. It’s easy for TREK fans to blame the demise of TREK on NEMESIS–and Berman–looking to attach a reason for the fall of STAR TREK, not realizing and accepting, that TREK was already dead WAY before NEMESIS. It just became an easy target.
I don’t think it’s possible to have a better send off than All Good Things, it’s one of the best finales there is
Again, we will have to just agree to disagree. All Good Things was a VERY pedestrian episode (and that is being generous) where Q pretty much held Picard’s hand throughout the entire process. It was NOT good. Nor did it feel like a finale of any kind. It pales in comparison to What you Leave Behind. Even the final Newhart and Mary Tyler Moore episodes were FAR better finales. In fact, I could go on and on with what show’s had better finales. Grim was better. The Americans was better. The list seems endless…
I have to disagree with your agreement. I’m a HUGE Deep Space Nine fan. It’s my favorite TREK series… far and away. However, All Good Things had a superior finale over all TREK concluding series… even my beloved DS9. Most people would agree. AGT was wonderfully entertaining, nicely suspenseful, intertwines the TNG series itself–and bookends the series itself like NO finale anywhere ever has or even approaches. It’s also worth noting that TNG had the worst pilot than any TREK series–Farpoint–but ended up having the best finale. They more they made up for it.
It would be kind of weird if he is still captain of the Enterprise E at this point.
Whatever his role will be, it’s good to have Sir Patrick back on board.
Make it so!
Yes. It always was a stretch to a degree. Even with the originals that they’d essentially assemble an all star team of captains and commanders on the enterprise.
I imagine the story will be age appropriate and pick up Picard later in life. With something drawing him back to the big chair. They can always use some archival footage or audio of Picard contemplating it and recalling the advice Kirk gave him….
My guess he may be an admiral by now. And they may pull a Captain Kirk and make him command of the Enterprise for a specific mission and he ends up staying.
I wouldn’t mind him being an Admiral that is a reoccurring character on a new series that features a new crew and a new ship.
The daily mirror is an EXTREMELY over exaggerated piece of sensationalised trash. This is probably just as valuable as “I heard a guy in a bar talk about him returning to trek” .
They seemingly have just added extra spice to the original story from last week.
More sources required!
Yes. The Mirror: churning out clickbait with zero real sources to gullible mush heads.
“Over exaggerated”? Is there a proper amount of exaggeration?
I’m on board.
So long as there is a good Star Trek story that occurs post-Nemesis, it would be worth it. The original Star Trek Continuity CANNOT all lead and end with Nemesis.
This ^, 100%. Enough with prequels.
Yes! While I personally love the idea of having Picard back I am more interested in just going forward again. I think that’s why so many people are excited about this news, especially if DIS isn’t doing it for you so far.
The original Star Trek Continuity does not end with Nemesis. It ends with the destruction of Romulus and the disappearance of Spock. Those are all canon events that occurred after Nemesis.
Although we do not know exactly how long after…
This new series doesn’t have to follow that. If they want Romulas to still around, it can still be around. Might actually be better that way since one of the few points I liked about Nemesis was that the Romulans were lightening up a bit.
Love that this could really be happening :-)
This is far bigger than Discovery for most us, I’ll reckon.
Very much so, here.
An original character returning is always good and big news. Let’s not forget that the success of discovery is likely directly related to this potential development
Also Picard might just be the tip of the iceberg. If the reports are true he’ll almost certainly bring company.
As long as Troi or Wesley don’t join the party then go for it.
You really don’t like those two!
The two most worthless characters in all of Trek.
Yep. They’re free from Canon if it’s set post Nemesis. It could be huge.
Not really. There is still 50 years of Star Trek to respect. It might make it easier for writers intent on telling a story about an established item from canon but they can’t suddenly pretend everything that happened never Happened.
They’re never free from respecting the franchise.
And there is the pesky little destruction of Romulus to contend with.
That’s the real elephant in the room. Unless the merger is back on again I suspect they won’t acknowledge Romulus one way or the other.
Yup and for many it will signal the true return of Star Trek.
For those who feel that way, it would be more like a revisit, it is only a miniseries.
‘Miniseries’ today only mean shorter number of episodes, it doesn’t mean its only a one time thing. Shows like Big Little Lies, X Files revival, American Horror Story, Black Mirror, Defenders, etc have all been classified a miniseries because they had shorter number of standard episodes.
If the show is a hit it will get more seasons, easily.
I think the reports suggested this would be a limited series so I think it’s likely a one time thing for Stewart. However, I do agree that if it is successful it could spin off in a while host of ways so I very much doubt that it will be the last we’ll see of the late 24th/early 25 Century. I think the idea of having shows in different time periods is quite exciting and it creates some crazy possibilities for crossovers. For the first time you could have a story that starts in a 24th Century show and finishes in the 23rd Century series. Alternatively you could have an episode of Discovery that in no way involves time travel but features characters from the TNG era appearing as nameless extras with no explanation given and than have a 24th Century Trials and Tribblations episode in which the characters have to travel back in time to that episode.
I don’t know what the official definition is at the TV Academy of Arts and Sciences but to me, any show with 13 or fewer episodes in a season ought to be deemed a “mini-series”.
I don’t dispute that it is a mini series, indeed I’ve described it as such myself in this very thread. The reason I made the distinction is that I interpreted the choice of calling it a limited series as implying that it isn’t being planned as ongoing. I could of course be be misinterpreting this description and I’d be happy if we did get more than one season of Picard.
Gotcha. Perhaps part of the definition is that the show is not ongoing. But I still would personally put it in the “mini-series” category. Even though the Academy does not. I feel they often get comedy and drama confused, too.
Yes if the reports are true and I think they were saying that it’s going to be around 8 episodes then I would agree that is still a mini series.
A mini series that will open up that period for future series and exploration.
Oh definitely! It certainly is for me. This is something that will truly excite fans.
A few ifs and maybes but I hope that if Patrick ends up appearing in both a TV project and potentially the Tarantino film that we don’t end up with two different takes on the visual look of TNG. Nevertheless it’s pretty exciting and perhaps the rest of the TNG cast will be invoked but they wanted to be sure they could get Patrick first.
Just wondering here… If there is indeed some sort of ‘thing’ separating the use of movie things vs TV things between CBS and Paramount, then how can they use Picard and other TNG characters that appeared in 4 Paramount movies? I guess there is either a way around it or it’s not quite the hurdle I had read it to be.
My guess is CBS can do what they want but Paramount have to licence the property from them?
We don’t know if QT actually wants to do TNG yet?
It’as just a rumour because QT said he likes Yesterday’s Enterprise and Sir Patrick says he wants to work with him. There’s nothing to suggest Paramount has approached Sir Patrick.
I thought I read Tarantino’s Trek would feature KT crew
I would’ve been fine to see Picard pop up on the Tarantino movie but if he comes back to TV I would like that film to be something completely different. It sounds like it may be another Kelvin film but I would like a new crew entirely although I know the odds of that happening are very low.
But I want Star Trek to feel truly diverse and expand.
As for the rest of the cast I’m sure plenty will be on board once they get Patrick Stewart. He’s clearly the key if its going to happen or not.
I have a great deal of affection for Captain Picard. I have mixed feelings about this news (if it happens – pinch of salt with the mirror and all that). On the one hand I think Star Trek should look forward and to post-nemesis. Despite waning ratings for the post-TNG shows. Going forward in time allows for more possibilities and doing more with the sociopolitical landscape of the alpha quadrant than doing another prequel does. On the other hand I wish Picard wasn’t necessary (although I suspect he is). TNG was the most popular Trek ever, so it makes sense from a marketing perspective to bring him back. But I prefer the Trek universe to be massive and expansive so that it’s not centred on a small group of Skywalkers and Solos. Then again, I enjoyed “Caprica” and would love a Trek show in a similar vein, so what do I know.
I agree with a lot of your points. I too want Star Trek to be expansive. I don’t want it stuck in one time period. I certainly don’t want it to just be prequel after prequel which we been getting for awhile.
I think having Picard is the same reason they brought back Nimoy when the Kelvin films started and that is to get the fanbase attention. I have a feeling if this is a TNG project it will help spur other time periods in the future. This is just a jumping off point and to get back in that period again.
And as you said TNG is the most popular Trek show in the franchise. It makes sense to bring it back at least for a short time. If this was the ONLY show on then I would actually be a bit hesitant (but still excited) because I do want Trek to grow. I don’t want just TOS and TNG stories, but it does sound like they are trying to grow the franchise in general even if we end up with a boring Khan show.
Agreed. And it seems like they can only do one thing in the TOS prequel era: “we must defeat this eeeeevil villain” (Nero, Khan, Krall, Klingons/Kol/Voq/entire organisational structure of the Mirror universe). Member when Star Trek had shows about ethics (who watches the watchers, measure of a man, etc) or legal dramas (that one where Worf blows up that Klingon ship in DS9, or “court martial” in TOS)?
If Picard is simply one jumping off point to grow the franchise I hope it works – as I also agree that it makes sense from a marketing perspective. And the only way the Khan show would work for me is if it was set on Ceti Alpha V and it was basically orange is the new black.
…
Which we’re not going to get haha!
Wow you actually hit the nail on the head for me and why the newer Trek stuff like the Kelvin movies and DIS just don’t quite do it for me like early Trek because as you said its all just been used to basically stop the next uber-villain. Kelvin movies have done the exact same villain plot in every film and that is stopping someone from taking revenge on the Federation because reasons. ENOUGH already!
And now DIS first season was nothing but taking down Klingons, Mudd and MU characters. I don’t have any problems with that but when that’s literally every episode and nothing else yes I can see where the frustration is coming from with fans. Star Trek also uses conflict by challenging others ideas, ethics and morality. Thats why TNG was so loved because it probably did that the best out of all of them.
In SOME ways I don’t mind the Starfleet Academy show if we get stuff like that and students being challenged on the values of being a Starfleet officer. The best example being (not surprisingly another TNG episode) The First Duty where Wesley tries to cover up an accident at the Academy and Picard gives another barn burning speech on what it means to serve and take responsibility. I would love stories like those but I have a feeling its going to be Riverdale Academy instead and a surprise villain at the end of the season who committed the murder.
As for Khan…ugh. I just can’t get motivated at all for it.
Totally agree. Next Gen dealt with those issues really well. I think DS9 did a fair job as well, especially in the later years. Was it ok for Worf to kill Kurn on a Bajoran station even though it was ok in Klingon culture? Was Winn right to argue for religious dogma in a science class? Was Dukat awesome? (Ok that one isn’t an ethical dilemma – it’s cold hard fact haha!).
As for the academy show I’m not sold. They did an ok job in ST09 but that’s as much of the academy as I want to see really. Unless they’re going to spread it across multiple campuses (e.g. we see Vulcan and Andorian academies) and they send the cadets on field trips and whatnot, but even then – how they became starfleet legends is less important to me than seeing starfleet legends in action. A bit like how we didn’t need to see the origin story of Darth Vader. I’m hoping the academy thing is just a rumour and it never comes to fruition.
As for Khan – what about Khan solves a new mystery every week? Or a culinary show: “Khooking with Khan: 47 ways to prepare Cetacian eels”
DS9 did a lot of those great stories, the best being In the Pale Moonlight. The decision Sisko makes is anti-Picard in every way but completely worked for DS9. They played with the grey areas a lot more. Gul Dukat was a great character and tested people’s resolve. He was a villain but he never saw himself as one and after awhile neither did the audience. I loved the fact you had someone like Kira who didn’t look at things through the rosy Federation glasses and had no problem telling Sisko not everything can be solved through the starfleet diplomatic playbook. They DID try to do some of that on DIS but it just paled in comparison. The last episode of Burnham convincing Admiral Cornwell not to blow up an entire planet felt like classic Trek but do you seriously need to argue why its not OK for Starfleet to cause mass genocide even in war time? But at least they tried I guess.
I’m not thrilled about the Starfleet Academy idea either but if I have to choose between a show being at least in a starfleet setting vs Khan playing lord of the augments on Ceti Alpha V I would choose Starfleet Academy. The problem with Khan idea besides the fact we ALREADY knows how it end (assuming that’s what they are doing) is that its not Star Trek. Its just a very side story of non-Starfleet characters surviving on a planet. I want star ships, other aliens, prime directive, cool tech, etc. The Academy one might suck but it at least feel like Star Trek. Khan is another boring prequel filling in a story we already know.
Now if they go the eugenics war direction I can certainly be a little more excited about that. I have heard some suggestions if it is them stuck on Ceti Alpha, we may get flashbacks of them during the Eugenics war and play it out that way. I can get on board if they at least go that direction but its still my least favorite idea out of all of them. I’ll even take the cartoon over that if its just not an updated TAS.
The rest of you are so deluded if you believe this article in The Mirror and that this might bring back the TNG era.
As for how better TNG was over the recent movie and Discovery, that’s a matter of opinion, and one that’s in the minority; clearly, a lot of people have forgotten how despised TNG was back in the first and second seasons, and how it took a while until its third, forth, fifth, and sixth seasons to find itself. You all need to stop being so trapped in the past (which is where TNG is now) and accept that the franchise needs the movies and Discovery to go forward.
With regards to how nobody wanted to see a Darth Vader movie, obviously the high grosses of the prequel trilogy throws that assertion down a black hole where it belongs (even if Solo: A Star Wars Story didn’t make a lot of money.) Also, with regards to Discovery, I think that people’s racism and sexism is showing, a lot.
Ah I remember when new Trek on tv was described as a delusion. Fortunately sometimes these delusions come true. Also much of the discussion I’ve been party to has focused on the issue of the extent to which the TNG visuals would need to be updated – probably not as much as the TOS ones.
Also, it is indeed fortunate that people have forgotten how disliked tng was in its early years. Maybe the fact that it went on to be really successful had something to do with that? Is trying to recapture or recreate something that was really popular being “trapped in the past”? Have you seen Jurassic world? Also there is some irony in saying that the franchise needs to move forward when DSC is another prequel that relies on the brand recognition of TOS but I’ll breeze past that…
Also for clarity’s sake I’ll reiterate my point about the story of Darth Vader. I didn’t say “nobody wanted it” – I said that the story didn’t need to be told. It’s all up there if you want to check.
Finally, I’ve been as disappointed as you with some of the intolerant comments about DSC. Fortunately these haven’t been the majority. I also find describing other fans as “deluded” similarly unpleasant but I suppose not everyone has the same idea of what a respectful comment looks like. A bit like how not everyone has the same idea of what good Star Trek looks like.
Yes, we were totally deluded Dusty lol!
Well, if done RIGHT they could do plenty with a prequel series. Just because Discovery was a spectacular failure in that regard does not mean it could not be done.
Definitely. I think the same is true of Enterprise to a large extent. And I liked Enterprise. But it rarely felt like a true prequel – although it didn’t share the pew pew pew problems demonstrated by DSC.
I think a new series could go forward post-Nemesis and have Picard. It’s time for Admiral Picard.
Just out of curiosity what do you envisage Picard doing as an admiral? Most of the tng admirals just sat about lecturing captains about how terrible they were or trying to take over the whole of starfleet and militarise it. With the exception of admiral Ross I guess but he wasn’t exactly an action hero.
Unless they make Picard an ambassador and have him doing all sorts of negotiation things like he did with the Sheliak in “ensigns of command” I don’t think I want to see old Picard swinging across engineering in a vest a la first contact.
Don’t get me wrong I’d love to see Picard again but I keep thinking about “these are the voyages” – I was excited to see Riker in Enterprise. And then I saw the episode.
This is great news. However I really hope they try to do at least one short series ( a few hours) on bringing in William Shatner. With the added content opportunity i think it would be great to bring back Both Stewart and Shatner
You guys do know that the Mirror is a UK tabloid right? Plus why the hard on for old man Picard?
Because Stewart is a brilliant actor and CBS is at least making an attempt to please some of more traditional fans. I think an Old Man Picard mini-series could be great, as long as the writing is solid. We know Stewart can carry the dramatic ball, but he needs good material to work with.
Agreed J_Randomuser,
I think they need to get the fan base excited again as well. DIS is OK and I know people were just happy to have Star Trek back on TV (you know what I mean) but something like this would reverberate through out the fanbase. Picard is iconic and to see him again and back in the 24th century would probably be the most exciting thing for the franchise since people heard Nimoy was coming back for the Kelvin movies.
If it happens or not is another thing altogether but its certainly clear most want it to happen.
Yeah he’s a brilliant actor. That doesn’t mean I want see him play a role he did over 25 years ago.
The same reason they keep bringing back old actors in iconic roles. It’s a trend. And a money maker.
It’s a stupid tread. I hate reunion shows. At least Twin Peaks season 3 did it with style.
Then don’t watch them. [shrugs]
Hollywood is nothing but reboots and revivals these days. Look at TV and nearly all the projects that have brought back the old casts to shows from Will and Grace to Rosanne and X Files have become big hits again. People like nostalgia and for studios they figure if something was a big hit once, it could be again. And they usually been right. Its like welcoming old friends you haven’t seen in awhile and want to know what they been up to.
Thats why we have so many franchises like Star Trek on now. People just love the familiar.
I rather see something new.
I guess we all love ‘member berries.
Because he was the best captain and best character overall to ever be in Star Trek.
Best actor, yes. Best character? Not even close. Picrard was dull and it was only Stewart’s amazing acting chops and charisma that made him even close to watchable. Everyone on TOS, even backgroud players and most of every cast on every other Trek show were more interesting characters than Picard was. But none were played by better actors either.
I wonder if Frakes will direct ?!
Hopefully direct AND star in. ;)
I REALLY want this to happen and not stall!
Hooray for Sir Patrick! Now if it wasn’t a Mirror article… but that has been pointed out before.
I wonder whether it would be the Fleet Admiral Picard show then. Kinda hard to imagine Picard as a Starfleet REMF though. But if there’s a chance that my favourite TV character of all time makes a return, I’m not gonna stop and worry about those things, oh no! I would be SO on board. It might very well be about the scientist and/or diplomat Picard rather than the military man, after all.
That’s nice, but I want to see Shatner back. I don’t care if it’s Shatner as an older Kirk, or he provides the voice for a CGI Kirk, as long as it’s post-Generations. Let’s have a Kirk/Picard story that doesn’t end with one of them dying.
The Animated Show? I’d love it to happen but I’ve given up on the idea on Shat coming back as we’ve had so many opportunites but been let down every time!
I still think that if CBS wanted to do something with TNG or TOS characters an animated show is the best way to go.
So true. Way too many times. Yet another opportunity is in front of Kurtzman
They really should do something cool with Shatner. This is yet another opportunity to bring him back in a meaningful way. They are looking for more content so here it is. Even if it is a one and done few hour tv movie it would be worth it.
When’s the next big annversary? Right now it’s DSN25, TNG have just had their 30th last year. 55th Anniversary of Trek isn’t until 2021 when Shatner’s 90!
I wonder if they’d dare to wrap Enterprise!? The 25th Anniversary of Generations is next year…
Tremendous news!!! Can’t wait!!!
If this is true, and the UK’s Mirror is one step away from the National Enquirer … it would be nice to return to the ‘future’ and not these laboured prequels nobody asked for. I just hope if Trek does return to moving the story forward, it’s an optimistic and bright vision for humanity – not the slit your wrists dark and angst-ridden style of Discovery.
Absolutely agree, Martin.
DIS definitely could lighten up a bit lol. But I’m with you I’m just tired of prequels and it sounds like all the rumored shows minus the Picard one are just more prequels. The Khan one is a complete eye roll to me. I have NEVER been less excited for any future Trek project than that one. Picard at least gives me hope they don’t want to just rehash TOS era stories into infinity.
It seems unthinkable that the Acadamy show will not be in the TOS era, in fact it would hardly be surprising if they went the ST:09 route of showing classic characters at Starfleet Acadamy. However I’m going to play devils advocate here and it’s not completely out of the question that this show will be set post Nemesis. I’m with you Tiger2 in that I’m not particularly inspired by an Acadamy based show but I’m trying to remain positive. I remember there being a series of young adult novels by Peter David set at Starfleet acadamy that I recall enjoying. He used this series as a springboard for his New Frontier series with several characters graduating to serve onboard the USS Excalibur. Maybe they could take a similar approach with the new shows. Picards mini may launch an Enterprise F series and The Starfleet Acadamy show might populate some of it’s crew positions possibly allowing for a kind of Hornblower in space saga with a bit of Lower Decks thrown in.
Wow I admit it never occurred to me until now that the Academy idea could just be an excuse to bring back the old TOS characters like the 09 movie. Harve Bennet will finally get his wish lol. I REALLY hope that’s not the thinking. There is already too much regression in these ideas but we can’t put it past them either.
But your idea of a post-Nemesis Academy show, while still not great, would DEFINITELY be a plus. If they were thinking as big as you are and we see these guys go from studying to working on a starship with Picard instructing them then that actually sounds like an innovative idea. I honestly get the feeling though no one is thinking that big unfortunately. Because of the people behind it, it does sound like they want a teen show and the usual tropes. I’m going to remain positive until we hear something more but the whole thing feels like its going in the melodrama and soapish direction based on the writers they hired.
This for me is superb, I mean unbelievably exciting news!
He was one of the most talented and charismatic actors ever to be apart of Star Trek in my opinion, and his return to it would be fantastic. It’s been 17 years now, it’s long overdue in my opinion.
Animated, live action, movie, whatever. I’ll take it if it’s of good quality.
I hope the deal with Patrick Stewart to return as Jean-Luc Picard comes true. This could open the door for the rest of the TNG cast to return as well.
I also wonder if Patrick Stewart possibly coming back would also open the door for William Shatner to have his own deal to return as Captain Kirk as well.
Please don’t bring him back like they brought Mark Hamill back. Keep him the character we know, but don’t also make it about him. Maybe use him like Pike was used in ST09, as a fatherly mentor only around for part of the movie yet nonetheless an essential character to the story.
I think Patrick Stewart himself would protest if they bring the character back like Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi. He is a British Knight now, he has some power to say something about his character if the opportunity rises.
I hope you said that in jest. His knighthood means nothing when it comes to getting gigs and what he can demand for the part. His title and $5 get him a cup of Starbucks.
I am not saying it in terms of being a real knighthood, but just that I think he would be aware of the fact that his character would be altered and protest accordingly. He certainly is a respectable actor with enough clout to at least make some producers see his way.
I think anyone who has been playing a part from quite some time would have their opinion of what becomes of that character taken quite seriously.
Definitely, ML31. But Mark Hamill’s opinion meant nothing when Disney went ahead with Rian Johnson’s script, and he’s been very outspoken about his dissatisfaction with the direction of his character. Patrick Stewart will most likely be happy to be reprising his role, no matter what it is. We’ve already seen him play TV show philosopher Picard and movie action hero Picard, so who knows what the writers will have in store for him this time?
True. There is “My character wouldn’t say that” and then there is “I do not like what you are doing with my character.” Hamill reacted in a very professional way in telling Johnson that he will do his best in the part but that he disagreed with where they took Luke. If he wanted to wield some power he totally could have said, “I’m not doing this. That’s not who Luke is. Rewrite it.” Stewart’s situation could be very different. For all we know they were pitching concepts to him for a year before he found one he felt was good. Of maybe he was willing to play Picard again no matter what the project. We just don’t know yet.
Just a thought? It would be an actual opportunity to bring back Kirk. Undo what happened on Veridian III and let Kirk sail off into the sunset. I would love to see them undo Kirk’s death while Mr. Shatner is still with us. And Picard later in life could be very interesting; as we finally get to see what happens after TNG, Voy and DS9 as both Enterprise and DSC are prequels. Just my 2 cents. No flames, please. I would love to see the two captains on screen again.
GOD NO !
I have no issues with bringing Shatner back but that would probably be a much bigger discussion and create more issues, mostly who ELSE would that film/show involve? It obviously can’t be TOS characters since he died in the 24th century and all the important TOS actors are now dead. This has always been the problem and becomes a bigger one as time passes and that is WHO would even be the people to make him undead? Who could he relate to at this point? All the characters that mattered to Kirk are no longer around, both in real life and in the series. So there would have to be a big discussion on not just bringing him back and how you do it but WHY would you do it? It has to be something beyond mere fan service and yet that seems like all it would be if there is nothing beyond that.
Picard coming back is just an extension of TNG and everyone can imagine those characters still around and part of Starfleet in the future. I don’t know if we will ever get any VOY or DS9 stories but I can definitely see characters being referenced just like DIS references characters from TOS and ENT. Janeway showed up in Nemesis as an admiral, its not far fetched she can’t make a cameo in the new show. Or any of them.
….as a giant Kirk/Shatner fan, well put, Tiger. Good points. I think Shatner’s Kirk time is done. He sealed that deal in 1994. Now, Stewart returning as Picard? Bring it on!
I still see the Kelvin movies as the best way of having Shatner appear. I apologise to anybody that’s seen me suggest this as I always dredge up this idea but I would have the pre credits scene of the next movie start right at the end of this universes version of ‘The Deadly Years’ where several of the crew have contracted a virus that resulted in them aging rapidly. Before McCoy injects them with cure there could be a crisis that results in the older versions of the characters being called into action and perhaps Chekov could heroically sacrifice himself to save the crew.
…I kind of like where you’re going there, Corinthian.
Thanks Danpaine. It avoids time travel and the noticeable fact that Shatner is 25 years older than when he last played the role. Whether or not The Shat would be willing to do such a small role is debatable but you could bring in any or all of the surviving TOS cast members. Chekov’s sacrifice would resonate with the crew and serve to honour Anton Yelchin in much the same way as Prime Spock’s off screen death payed respects to Leonard Nimoy’s passing.
Make it so.
I think this will be like McCoy in Farpoint. A cameo for a new series, or maybe like the opening of Generations but Picard seeing the new Enterprise with whomever the new captain is.
Very possibly. We’re all convinced Patrick Stewart is going to be the star but this makes just as much sense.
Give me a more distant future — perhaps one that borrows liberally from Ian M Banks’ Culture novels: Data does not serve in a star ship, he *is* a star ship. How does a near-utopia Federation deal with less evolved and outright barbaric societies? How do you reconcile the Prime Directive with the power to banish pain and suffering in a large chunk of the galaxy?
Now that would be interesting.
Wow that does sound interesting. I never heard of those novels but I agree I would be happier with a more distant future too. For all the people that moan they don’t want a Star Trek where the technology is too advanced, believe it or not thats what a lot of us watch the show for BECAUSE we love seeing all the advance tech on it. I never cared how ‘close’ Star Trek is to us, none of this stuff will happen either way and even now so much of Treks future don’t align with ours unless I missed the bit where super humans tried to take over the world.
Its a sci fi show, I like weird and cool sci fi stuff in it.
Well put, Tiger2.
The further you push the tech, the less likely the people will be relatable, because of the effect the tech has not just on them, but also the storytelling.
Shoot, doing a story about modern people living on their smart phones would look weird to 80s era viewers.
I hear this all the time but I don’t buy it personally. People watch shows about people from the 1500s and have no problem relating to them. We watch pure fantasy shows like Game of Thrones that has zip in common with us, low tech and dragons and people seem to relate to them fine as well. Superheroes are the in thing right now that has everything from supersoliders, human flying tech, God like aliens, sentient robots, talking trees and characters with the ability to cross into other dimensions. No one blinks.
I don’t get just because you do a story that takes place a thousand years from now and every one can transport between galaxies and have chips embedded in them that accesses the internet would make the characters themselves less relatable? As long as its about people who have conflict, emotion and care/fight against others I don’t see it being any less relatable then every other sci fi and fantasy show or film.
Data is one of the most popular characters in Star Trek and he’s an android. Its not the technology, its how its written that makes all the difference. I can’t say this enough.
Tiger2 are you FCTIGER from IMDB?
I agree with Tiger2, the advancement of the technology doesn’t really have anything to do with it. Given how fast technology should progress and the impacts it should have on people, people from the 24th century should realistically be very different compared to us and to how they are portrayed in TNG-era. Longer lifespans, improved medicine, bio-implants, transporters, subspace communications, replicators, post-scarcity, and all the other out there tech should have the TNG-era characters “realistically” being very different such that they might be unrecognizable to us. But that is not how Trek works.
Trek puts slightly post-modern people in a distant future and plays allegorical stories with them. The level of tech or the century the story is purportedly set in doesn’t really matter. Create dynamic, interesting characters and set some limitations on the tech (so that you don’t always just end up “teching the tech” to solve problems and thus eliminating actual drama) and you will be just fine. Look at the characters in Voyager’s “Relativity”; were the 30th century characters portrayed any differently than the 24th century ones? Did it matter? (Now one might reasonably criticize Voyager for being lazy and for not making the future characters more different, but the episodes still works.)
Thanks!
And obviously I get what Kmart and others mean but it really makes no sense on its head as if people can’t identify with characters or issues because the era is too far ahead of us. I mean that’s what GOOD science fiction does! Its been doing it for a long, long time.
Best example for anyone here who call themselves science fiction fans is Foundation. Even if you never read it, you probably heard of it. Its a series of novels that is about humans colonizing the entire galaxy tens of thousands of years into the future. These stories were written by Issac Asimov in the 1940s and still regarded as the best sci fi stories ever told. It basically created the basis for shows like Star Trek in the first place (and was also used as inspiration for creating the Dominion War on DS9 according to Ira Steven Behr ;)).
Asimov was writing stories about ultra advanced humans literally tens of thousands of years ahead of us using concepts like robots, computers and spaceships during an era where none of that existed in every day life. And yet people dug it just fine. The humans in those stories still had the same problems as we do today and that is no matter how advance, educated and cultured we become, we can still fall into chaos at any moment.
But I am to believe going another century past TNG would somehow have viewers feeling disconnected because Starfleet have found a way to transport through sub-dimensional space or can now use communicators to talk to people in the Delta quadrant. I’m pretty sure as long as they are still firing phasers at evil aliens while making out with the hot ones it’ll feel like the same Star Trek we all know and love.
Oh and Foundation is suppose to be getting a TV show soon. HBO was making it before but now its Apple doing it for their new streaming site. I definitely plan to watch it whenever it shows up.
Didn’t Asimov had a “consultant” credit on Star Trek The Motion Picture? I have a vague memory of this, I have to check it out. Yes I looked at IMDB and he has a “Special Science Consultant” credit on the film. Now I know some people didn’t like that film, but it was the purest Science fiction film of whole Star Trek. I think we need at least one show that gets back to this purer form science fiction that Star Trek used to do so well.
He only really consulted about the ‘living machine’ angle, at the behest of Paramount, and I think he weighed in on the wormhole negatively — either he or Jesco suggested calling it a temporal tunnel rather than wormhole.
Wow had no idea Asimov was involved with Star Trek. It obviously makes sense and while TMP was quite boring lol it was Star Trek in its purest.
Forced to agree Tiger2. TMP was probably the most pure Star Trek of ALL the features.
“Shoot, doing a story about modern people living on their smart phones would look weird to 80s era viewers.”
No weirder than time travelers using whales to talk to a futuristic space cigar. The movie seemed to do well.
They need to have a really good story to justify returning to TNG, otherwise it will just feel like a cash grab. But if they had a great story, and could actually give those characters a solid send-off after the bitter taste of Nemesis, that would be wonderful.
Everything since TOS has been a cash grab. The only reason we got the motion picture and everything after was to cash in on Star Wars popularity.
Especially that verbal agreement stuff.
Far from Stewart signing a contract.
Love the original trek.1960,s.Picard and crew are awesome.Great show.wish all former stars of TNG the best.Keep STAR TREK Alive forever.
Make it so!
Based solely on the Stewart picture above. No.
Plus JJ destroyed Trek and the transition to pay-per-Trek was unwarranted.
Either that or we would get another neutered one on CBS, or CBS would actually have to slowly spiral to obscurity by putting it on Netflix world wide.
Don’t believe in rumors.
BRB Changing underwear.
Yawn
Make it so Number One!
As I said before….Bring Picard back but when he Captained the Stargazer..
Stewart looks good for his age but he doesn’t look THAT good lol. Picard was in early 40s when he left that ship.
You can have the blueprints to theTaj Majal, but if you hand those plans over to Moe, Larry and Curly’s Construction R Us….well…just sayin’…
I imagine that it would make more sense for it to be a Picard who is more senior (or perhaps a lecturer on the Academy series that’s been mooted).
One thing that might be a nice touch is to have had him become a father in the intervening years. It would follow-up well to his trauma in Generations.
Well we have seen Star Wars get ruined for a lot of people, so perhaps a resurgence in Trek is in the pipe, and the timing might be ripe…
MAKE IT SO!!!!!
Then bring back Shatner as Kirk
Yes bring him back already!!!
If it happens, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an Ambassador Picard close to what was seen in the Countdown to Trek 09 comic book.
If this turns out to be simply voicing an animated series, I’ll be crestfallen. That would be so f’ing lame.
Stewart is 77, he won’t be returning as an action hero/captain. Unlike every other trek alumni, Stewart does have the chops and gravitas to carry a new series though. I’d like to see him as president of Starfleet, in a political thriller style series. And make Riker VP.
I have a feeling if they bring Picard back, they will somehow bring Q back too. Perhaps they can get John de Lancie’s son back as Q2 if John Delancie considers himself too old for the role. I always thought Q and Picard had a certain link that they shared between them throughout the whole series.
Ugh… Q was another TNG thing that was just bad. Like what they said on Chaos on the Bridge… GR felt there would be no need for humans to have a God in the future yet the very first TNG episode they essentially meet God. And God turns out to be a dick. No. The Q character was just dumb in every way except when DeLancie played it for laughs.
You just hope they don’t turn Picard into a Q :)) I don’t think the concept of Q is really bad, I think the problem can lay with execution, it is actually quite a difficult character to pull off. You have to be menacing but humourous at the same time so you need to find the balance between not being too much of one or the other. I think DeLancie played it the best among the various other Q actors. Actually you could see how the concept didn’t work with the only Q episode of DS9, that was a dismal and an unnecessary episode in my opinion and DeLancie definitely didn’t have the necessary chemistry with Avery Brooks.
OK. Fair enough. My opinion is the Q character just never worked. The only time I enjoyed him was that Robin Hood one. And that episode played as close to straight on comedy as TNG ever got. He works if you are trying to be funny. When he is being serious, it’s just lame. In that sense, if Orville ever ran into a Q-type being, it has potential to be funny as hell.
That Robin Hood episode was hysterical. Worf: ‘Captain, I am NOT a Merry Man!’
That, and don’t forget… ” Sorry. “
Hmm, I had previously just seen your opinions on Discovery and the in-discussion Kurtzam Treks and thought “hmm?” Now I see this and I think a-ha!
You may be on to something here (although Riker would do better as something like chairman of the joint chiefs, or what STVI called “the CinC,” which was presumably the equivalent).
Bad idea, unless he is an admiral at the acadamy or something small- I do not want Picard to go out in some grim lame Logan wannabe- Lets not repeat Kirks Death in Generations. Don’t kill our heros, lets let them walk off into the sunset & keep them out there somewhere.
At first, CBS fired Harberts and Berg. I said, “Heck yeah!” Then I saw Sir Pat is maybe coming back as Captain Picard and I was like, “Is it my birthday?”
A few weeks ago Patrick Stewart was reported as making a sly, cryptic comment about how he hadn’t seen DSC yet but it would be a good idea if he did so now.
So, putting everything together, maybe this is what’s in the pipeline:
It’s been established that the Discovery can time-travel. At some point in DSC Season 2 — possibly towards the end — the ship temporarily jumps forward into the post-NEM era, Patrick guest-stars as Picard and plays a major role in events, and those episodes are also a bridge to a post-NEM spin-off (with Picard appearing in the pilot, but not the rest of the show).
If it’s just for a cartoon, color me uninterested.
I always thought limited run series or two-hour tv movies were they way to go post enterprise’s cancellation. Especially with voyager, that show was ripe for specials after the show ended.