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Registered: Dec 2003
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WizArtist II
"How can you have a yellow alert in Spacedock? "
Member # 1425
posted
I guess what I am trying to get is a "Star Trek / Earth 2" type of secenario instead of a Voyager theme. Basicly, there IS NO WAY home or hope of help. Without the Federation being Big Brother, would the social acceptance of other species begin to dissolve? How would crew interaction really be when the only goal is self-preservation? Would the old interspecies rifts beging to reform and fracture the "Crew" mentality?
What happens to a Fed crew when there is no Starbase nearby and they have to start doing things without all the conveniences of ship's supplies, processors, replicators and such?
I think that might actually take Trek back to the stories of the "human condition" that have seemed to be lacking.
-------------------- There are 10 types of people in the world...those that understand Binary and those that don't.
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Seriously though Wiz - I know what you are saying - it sounds like what Voyager SHOULD have been. Also sounds a little Lost-esque. Thing is with Voyager it too was a little "Lost-esque" - people stranded away from home etc. etc. Thing is Lost works because of the flashbacks - and we get to see more and more of these people's lives BUT we still get their interactions in their new environment. One of the BIGGEST mistakes that was made with Voyager - was that (and I should try and track down that interview) Berman and Braga and probably Taylor did NOT want ANY character backstories - actually I think the interview was with Berman. He said that Voyager was NOT going to look at any crewmember's lives before the events of "The Caretaker". BIG mistake. People's history is what makes them. The background to characters are what make them real and believalbe. From that moment Voyager was a damaged show. The only two characters that really worked were the two who's lives had no backstory (really) and whose lives sort of "began" on the ship - that is the EMH and Seven of Nine.
Actually with Seven of Nine was saw quite a bit more of her background than a lot of the other characters. (Even though that consisted of her being a little girl "Dark Frontier" and life as a borg - when she was an individual for a small part in "Survival Instinct".
From season 1 they should have been exploring the backgrounds of Janeway, Chakotay, Kim, Tuvok, B'Elanna etc.
They only really touched briefly on Tuvok - which was a good episode - where we saw that early in his life he couldn't supress his emotions.
To know the character's backrounds is to know what makes them tick, which allows a viewer to empathise with them and understand where they are coming from. This also allows the writers to develop the characters. Voyager had basically NO character development (Except for the EMH and Seven). The series suffered, and continually reverted to actioned-laced/T'n'A-peppered/technobabbly episodes that were poor copies of TNG episodes in a lot of cases.
ANYWAY - back to what I was replying about. Might be a good idea in theory - but from history we've seen that in the wrong hands - like Berman and Braga - it wouldn't work and every episode every character would return to a near-carte blanche state - and the ship would never change and they would never worry about supplies or rations or energy or weapons etc. etc. etc.
Just going back to characterisation - look how much more INTERESTING DS9 was when you could actually enjoy and empathise with the characters - in two minutes I could write a blurb that would explain each of the main cast:
Sisko: originally a broken man, lost his wife, single father, put in charge of a backwater station, thrown into the unlikely positition of the Emissary of the Prophets to the Bajorans which conflicts with the Prime Directive of the Federation. Eventually takes on the immense task of being the first line of defence for the Alpha Quadrant against the Dominion.
Kira: Resented the Federation presence after the cardassian withdrawl from Bajor, very passionate about her planet and people. Very passionate about most things. A Spiritual woman who was hardened by what she did and saw during the occupation. A Woman that was actually quite influential on Bajor due to her situation yet didn't like that idea at all.
Dax: (Sadly the least developed - and I dont know why) A young woman with the wisdom of 8 lifetimes. Smart and beautiful, previous host a mentor of Sisko. Has hidden secrets about her previous hosts. Has the heart of a Klingon and captured the heart of a Klingon. Has a unique perspective and relationship with the Ferengi people.
Bashir: Naive brilliant Doctor who slowly is revealed to have many "human" flaws. Intruiged by intruige, works tirelessly to heal people friend or enemy. Eventually revealed to be genetically enhanced which actually ties in very well to his original characterisation.
O'Brien: The everyman, trying to raise a family in a not very welcome environment. A "miracle worker". Doesn't take fools kindly. Loyal to friends, family and Starfleet. Has seen action and atrocities previously by Cardassians.
Quark: Odo: Jake: Worf: Garak: Dukat: Kai Winn: Weyoun: The Founders: Damar: Rom: Nog: Ishka: The Nagus: Leeta: Morn: - yes even Morn! I think he was a more fully developed character than Harry Kim!
One could go on and on and on.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine v Star Trek: Voyager - you could write a thesis on that!
Andrew
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
quote: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine v Star Trek: Voyager - you could write a thesis on that!
But please don't. Please. Think of the children.
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Notice AndrewR's list of characters form DS9 and try to match the same amount for Voyager. With a ship of 100 crewmen we saw very little repeat characters.
Also a mini-series idea would not be bad but i would only worry about designing the bridges. You can replace sickbays with a standard one, look at First Contact, they used Voy's sickbay. As for the hallways, i would just green room that. They might just green room a lot of sets and save cash.
All in all a new trek series should be syndicated. No more network crap. esp for sci-fi. national networks just dont get sci-fi. I would syndicate the series or just limit it to cable. At least when paramount was paramount they supported Trek, but when viacom bought it, they did a horrible job (like fox with firefly [dont get me started on that]).
Registered: Jul 2005
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Who does? The fall (network) schedule is thick with sf shows of one stripe or another, the common element apparently being please God, deliver us another Lost. None look all that interesting, but who can say?
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Actually I'll revise that to say, networks like Viacom and Fox don't get sci-fi. Even more specific, networks aiming at the younger views will move to dumb down their shows, and that doesn't work. Sad to say it but with all the good ideas from fans for the next star trek series i can picture the networks going for a Star Trek reality tv series.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
And I can picture it killing off even us diehard fans as a result.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
OMG A Star Trek reality series? Ugh - what have some odd-ball sci-fi freak (all of us included of course) try to audition for a new Sci Fi Series?
Oh hang on isn't that that online TOS '4th series'? or "Exeter"?
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
quote:Originally posted by wingsabre: i would only worry about designing the bridges.
Really? You think that would be the most worrisome production issue?
I think that would be the most costly production issue. The casting should not be a huge problem because it'll be a Twilight Zone type of a show, so they'll be able to cast no name actors.
Enough advances have been made with green screens that they could do basic sets with it, like the teleport room. The corridors could be a simple hallway with modular parts.
Registered: Jul 2005
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