Star Trek: 10 Things A New Series Must Have

Peter Markowski's concept art for a new Star Trek animated series Ever since the Enterprise went off the air in 2005, people have been wondering what could possibly be in the next Star Trek production. While the 2009 Abrams film has pretty much defined what most of the audio/visual Trek media of the next few years will be (at least until the third film€™s release), that hasn€™t stopped people from speculating about a new Star Trek TV show. Even Brannon Braga, the somewhat unfairly criticized producer of Voyager and Enterprise, has pointed out that Trek is a definitively TV franchise. But the TV landscape has changed a lot since Enterprise has gone off the air. Things that applied then aren€™t so applicable to a new show, especially when you remember the scores of sci-fi/fantasy shows that have been cancelled in that time. Ratings expectations are lower, but so are budgets; streaming and DVR watching are common, to the point that companies are lobbying Nielsen to add more items to their ratings metrics; and piracy is expected for any big hit TV show. For Star Trek to survive on TV today, whether it€™s an animated or live action series, there need to be some fundamental building blocks in place, going from the top of CBS (who has the TV rights to Trek) to the people working on the show itself. Shows missing one or more of these items, be they animated series like the Thundercats reboot or live action series like Stargate Universe, have all failed without them. No matter which universe they use, these things will increase the odds of a new Trek show at least staying on the air for the entirety of its first season. And now, 10 things a new Star Trek needs to have.
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Living in Florida, enjoying the weather when its good, writing for a living. TV, Film, Animation, and Games are my life blood. Follow me on Twitter @xbsaint. Just try not to get too mad when I live tweet during Toonami.