JMS says Star Trek is not dead. Only needs to be done right. (I agree)

[Deja Q]

http://www.craveonline.com/scifi/stories.php?sid=1237


i'm trying this via google to see if I can access the groups, since I've been offline since AOL stopped carrying newsgroups.

I don't normally do this...in fact, I don't think I've ever done this in any group before, because I've always kind of waited to make sure it was worth doing, and that it would make a difference.

I'm sending this to both the B5 folks reading this and any Trek fans looking on.

Bryce Zabel (recently the head of the Television Academy and creator/executive producer of Dark Skies) and I share one thing in common. We are both long-time Trek fans, from the earliest days, who felt that the later iterations were not up to the standards set by the original series. (I'm exempting TNG because that one worked nicely, and was in many ways the truest to the original series because Gene was still around to shepherd its creation and execution.)

Over time, Trek was treated like a porsche that's kept in the garage all the time, for fear of scratching the finish. The stories were, for the most part, safe, more about technology than what William Faulkner described as "the human heart in conflict with itself." Yes, there were always exceptions, but in general that trend became more and more apparent with the passage of years. Which was why so often I came down on the later stories, which I did openly, because I didn't feel they lined up with what Trek was created to be. I don't apologize for it, because that was what I felt as a fan of Trek. That's why I had Majel appear on B5, to send a message: that I believe in what Gene created.

Because left to its own devices, allowed to go as far as it could, telling the same kind of challenging stories Trek was always known for, it could blow the doors off science fiction television. Think of it for a moment, a series with a forty year solid name, guaranteed markets...can you think of a better time when you take chances and can tell daring, imaginative, challenging stories? Why play it safe?

When Enterprise went down, those involved shrugged and wrote it off to "franchise fatigue," their phrase, not mine.

I don't believe that for a second. Neither does Bryce. There's a tremendous hunger for Trek out there. It just has to be Trek done *right*.

MOre from the abovementioned link...

[Neoma]

1. Damn right!

[Swede]

2. If done right,I'd be all for it.

No more phasers won't shoot,shields down 30%,transporters off line crappolla,please.

[KG]

3. give up the 'time travel' story lines

time travel story lines = we've run out of ideas.

with all the science fiction i see on book store shelves, surely there's more plot ideas out there.

[MidwestMomma]

4. Star Trek done right...I'd be good with that

I think a good set of writers could have a universe of fun reminding our current culture of the Prime Directive.

"As the right of each sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred, no Star Fleet personnel may interfere with the healthy development of alien life and culture. Such interference includes the introduction of superior knowledge, strength, or technology to a world whose society is incapable of handling such advantages wisely. Star Fleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to save their lives and/or their ship unless they are acting to right an earlier violation or an accidental contamination of said culture. This directive takes precedence over any and all other considerations, and carries with it the highest moral
obligation."

Who else thinks the world would be a better place if all governments, especially ours, followed this directive?

[blackcat77]

5. Absolutely!

I still love B5 and the idea of putting the creator of that series in charge of the moribund ST franchise is thrilling.