For those not in the know, there has been a lot of talk this year about the creation of a brand new Star Trek TV show, one based around the continuing missions of everyones favourite Klingon, Mr. Worf. The idea has been floating around at Paramount for a couple of years now, but renewed interest in the proposed series last year marked the first time that most of us took it seriously as a prospect. As it turns out, a brand new show starring the eponymous Son of Mogh is actually more than simply the pipe dream of Trek fans unhappy with the rebooted film series, quite a bit more, in fact. Star Trek: Captain Worf, as the show is tentatively titled (but would almost certainly not be called if greenlit), has a lot of Trek fans excited, and with good reason; the series launch would mark the first new Star Trek show since Enterprise wrapped in 2005. With that in mind, here are 10 reasons that Star Trek: Son of Mogh (another proposed working title - OK, I confess, I just made it up) would not only work, but could also be a huge success.
10. It Could Happily Co-Exist With The 2009 Reboot...
Yeah, the reboot: the elephant in the room whenever the subject of Trek comes up. Maybe you loved it; maybe you hated it. Frankly, I for one am sick of arguing about it. The truth is that (love it or hate it), the Abrams-verse isnt going away anytime soon. The last two movies (Star Trek and Into Darkness respectively) sold a lot of movie tickets and reignited interest in Star Trek as a mainstream entertainment franchise. The films were generally commercially successful, even as fans angrily contested their (admittedly dubious) artistic merits. It is precisely this interest that demonstrates that there is (and probably always will be) an audience for Star Trek, in any incarnation. Some people may argue that, with a new timeline established by Abrams in 2009, there is no way to get back to the original history of the future, as laid down by Gene Roddenberry et al from 1966 2005. Those people are wrong. Abrams movie took great pains to ensure that we all knew it was set in a parallel reality to the original storyline. Ergo, it is logical to assume that the unfolding continuum that is Star Trek continues unabated, which ought to allow any/all fans to enjoy both versions without too much bother. So, this hypothetical TV show would follow Worf from the original timeline, whilst the movies would do their own thing. How hard is that to grasp? Another question that needs to be asked here is, would it be better to launch a new series based on the 2009 movie, instead of one spinning out of a series that ended more than 10 years ago (DS9)? My opinion? Almost certainly not. Many of the 2009 movies all-star cast would likely be unavailable (or unwilling) to do TV work - and the last thing fans want to see is one actor/actress playing Uhura in the TV series and another playing her in the movies (that would suck for more reasons than Im going to list here). In addition, interest in what would essentially be tantamount to a TV remake of TOS (The Original Series) would likely wane over the long term. Fans have already seen what happens when Kirk and Spock venture out to explore strange new worlds, so it is probably better to get on with telling fresh, new stories (albeit with an established character at the helm). It would also be better for the series to develop new characters and scenarios for a new show than it would be to try to re-create the big-budget feel of the Abrams-verse on the small screen.
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
I don't generally read or reply to comments here on What Culture (too many trolls!), but if you follow my Twitter (@heyquicksilver), I'll talk to you all day long!
If you are interested in reading more of my stuff, you can find it on http://quicksilverstories.weebly.com/ (my personal site, which has other wrestling/comics/pop culture stuff on it).
I also write for FLiCK http://www.flickonline.co.uk/flicktion, which is the best place to read my fiction work.
Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
