Star Trek The Next Generation Sequel: 10 Things It Must Have
Who doesn't want the return of Q?!
More than 30 years after it beamed onto TV for the first time and reinvigorated the Star Trek brand that had initially died with the end of the kitsch but beloved Original Series - and almost 25 years after it ended itself - Star Trek: The Next Generation is getting a sequel.
Like it or not, the choice by CBS to focus on Captain Picard (or Admiral Picard as he will more likely be known by the time the series kicks off) sets expectations that the newly announced CBS All Access (and hopefully Netflix in the UK) show will be a sequel to that flagship show. It will take up the story of arguably the most iconic Starfleet captain of them all and of the organisation itself and hopefully, it will establish a new dawn that is both reflective of old and welcoming of new.
This is the kind of exciting opportunity that The Next Generation fans have deserved ever since the movie series (which was sadly rather a lot more disappointing than it should have been) ended prematurely with Nemesis. But there's a lot riding on it. Discovery wasn't entirely universally loved and there will be questions over whether CBS have waited too long for this Picard revival. And there's already a lot of things fans could say the show MUST have...
10. The Old Star Trek Feel
Star Trek: Discovery is a great sci-fi action series. The characters are great, the action is great, the science-fantasy in there is even great and it was watched in huge numbers (becoming a reason to get CBS All Access in the States at least). But it wasn't Star Trek.
At least, it wasn't the Star Trek of old, which perhaps wasn't a bad thing for everyone. It certainly made it more of a mainstream concern the same way JJ Abrams apeing of Star Wars helped the new Kelvin Timeline movies.
By bringing in Picard, the show is potentially making a rod for its own back if they choose to make his show more like Discovery and less like TNG. So they need to bring back the space soap opera feel and the nostalgia. Fundamentally, they need to go and watch The Next Generation from now until production starts properly.