RE: It's Just Not Financially Viable... (a rant followed by a good tho | Report this post to moderator
By: who1 (Odo's file, contact) @ 00:37:03 on Jul 11, 2004

By that logic, your argument is sensible. If people weren't interested in seeing 'Nemesis,' an action-packed film starring the cast of arguably the most popular Trek series, why would they see a show which will at most have a cameo by Scott Bakula (or worse, Dwight Shultz!). Even if you take into account the overbearing 'The Two Towers' competition and the possibility that the film wasn't promoted properly/enough to get noticed in the holiday shuffle, it's still plain to see that the core fanbase has been shrinking dramatically. How else could a mediocre Jennifer Lopez comedy top this franchise? The film's script needed another draft, the last two television series needed to be more than ratings hemmorages with no critical buzz and even though it was 4 years since the last film, 'Nemesis' needed to be perceived as an event rather than another symptom of oversaturation. TNG was the 'in' phenomenon of the early to mid nineties and it peaked as Ron Moore said with the TIME cover for 'Generations.' The franchise saw DS9 cementing fan and critical loyalty to that show, but it was still a shrinking audience in the dying syndication market, 'First Contact' and Voyager briefly got the public excited about the Borg and then catsuits, but 'Insurrection' and Voyager's erratic writing reestablished the dwindling returns. 'Enterprise' performed similarly to the last two series in the ratings, but had an even more dramatic fall in the ratings as UPN and even TV Guide seemed to give up on it. One is tempted to say 'Voyager' should have been delayed several years, and Paramount should have resisted the urge to flood the market with product and maerchandise, but who is to say Trek still wouldn't have diminished? It's a testament to the strength of the premise and universe created and expanded upon that it has survived this long and not died the death of many other fad show phenomenons from Nielsen cemeteries past. Only 'Law and Order' and 'CSI' can match Star Trek's ability to spawn successful drama spin-offs, and the achievement is allt he more remarkable given the nature of sci-fi TV - there's never been a huge market for it, and it is riskier than doing a show about doctors, lawyers or cops in the real world.
This turned into a sermon or something... I think my point was going to be that ordinarily you'd be right, an eleventh film would make no sense, and my sum up of why turned into a rant.
But I will assume that in addition to being an accessible war-story (I still say 'Insurrection' should have been a mini-DS9 crossover with an action-heavy Dominion War story), this fresh start will be the perfect opportunity to cast some Hollywood stars with wider appeal than Messrs. Christopher Lloyd, Christopher Plummer or Laurence Luckinbill. We've all heard the stories about how plans to get Sean Connery, Eddie Murphy and Tom Hanks in various films fell through, so I expect now Paramount will take this chance to really make sure someone with similar star power will be signed on.

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RE: It's Just Not Financially Viable... | Report this post to moderator
By: G. (Odo's file, contact) @ 03:05:45 on Jul 11, 2004

Hopefully Paramount will see the sense in dumping B & B's copycat of George Lucas' idea. Berman inherited great ideas, scripts and concepts from Mr. Roddenberry, however it seems that he has developed disdain for the great creator of the Star Trek franchise. Enterprise could have worked, but Berman seems to lack the eye for choosing the talent that Trek fans have come to know and like, instead opting for a single piece of eye-candy. Not-to-mention his idea to attach a rock score instead of some dirivative of either of the Star Trek franchise themes.

Secondly, a flick teaming the STNG crew with the DS9 crew would work with a very strong and fast paced storyline, the right music and mood and a whole new threat to everyone, from outside the Alpha and Delta quandrants--with a strong cameo from the Voyager cast narrowly escaping this unseen-to-us threat and getting a message off just before the Old Janeway arrives aboard Voyager with her plan to get the Voyager crew back in one piece to their timeline on Earth.

I'm not a Hollywood script-writing genius, but I believe I know what works for Trek and I think Berman has become stale and is only holding on simply to put more money in his bank account. Too bad for us Trek fans.

After-all, one's love for what they do shows in their work, ala Roddenberry, Spielberg, Jonathan Frakes, Sam Raimi and such...



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G. Bjay
{"Beam Me Up"} Did Kirk say that?

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