6. Great Writers
Star Trek lived and died on its writing long before TV executives had any idea it could draw in viewers. The Next Generations third season, with its stronger and more human writing, helped make up for the shows poor first and second seasons and transformed the show into a breakout success. Deep Space 9s strong characterization and continuity heavy writing made the show distinct from the rest of Trek family. Voyager and Enterprise, forced into the TNG planet/alien of the week formula, are far less memorable, although they both have standout episodes worth watching. For Trek to survive past its first season (barring some weird contracts that guarantee two or more seasons), the writing needs to be great the minute the show starts. The best way to do that is to tap some of the best scifi writers of our time, people like John Scalzi and Greg Bear, for story ideas and pair them with strong screenwriters, like Bradley Thompson and David Weddle. While great writers dont always produce great work, teaming up strong writers with proven track records in the genre is one way to make sure the next Trek series doesnt mess up the fundamentals of storytelling like so many other cancelled scifi shows.