Paramount has hated Trek ever since they acquired the rights with Desilu. Paramount stalled all through the 70s, when the fans were clamoring for a new series. They chose instead to milk the reruns without paying the original cast any residuals. Then they fed the fans a string of mostly-disappointing movies. Somehow, years after the initial excitement was gonne, the studio stumbled into TNG and subsequent shows. Except for bright spots like DS9, the studio managed to mostly botch that. Over the years, P-mount has agressively sued fans who wrote fanfic or published fanzines, and later, set up Trek web sites. P-mount has done nothing but bite the hands that feed it, from day one. After 35 years of greed, mismanagement, and wasted opportunities, why should the studio start doing anything right at this time?
--------
GET A LIFE, will you people? I mean, for crying out loud, it's just a TV show!.... You've turned an enjoyable little job, that I did as a lark for a few years, into a COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME! -- William Shatner on Saturday Night Live (1986)
Quote:"Currently, there's no one here at the studio who's really a fan of the franchise, so there are no champions here right now."
I like how Scott has the balls to say this. It is true and if Paramount doesn't like Star Trek despite the fact that it has brought in over $1 Billion dollars then they are 1)incredibly stupid and 2) just sell Trek to another studio and go back to producing all that shit on UPN.
It is very clear that the management of Paramount are incompetent fools because to sit there and watch your #2 cashcow die just shows a complete lack of good business sense.
-
Like others have said below, I do think Paramount is actually doing the smart thing for once. They're perfectly well aware that Star Trek has an audience, which will bring in money for them. First Contact showed them that it can still be a big draw at the box office, and Enterprise's 12 million viewers for the pilot showed them that it can still pull in viewers on TV as well.
Remember, there's a new crop of people running Paramount now, and Bakula's right, none of them seem to be fans of Star Trek. At least, THIS Star Trek. This Star Trek has been seen as only watchable by nerds, geeks, losers, and people of below average intelligence who like bright shiny explosions and bumpy head aliens. Oh, and lets not forget female main characters in skin tight jumpsuits. No, the new Paramount has determined that Rick Berman's Star Trek must go.
I suppose they could just buy out Berman's contract, send him on his merry way, and replace him tomorrow if they wanted to. But why spend the money to do that when his contract will expire all by itself at the end of 2006? By that time, the current writers will have moved on, people will start looking at the franchise as something they might want to tackle (as JMS and Coto have already done), and it will become something Paramount can market again. Right now, to the general public, when you say Star Trek they usually groan. In a few years, with someone new at the helm, the time will be right for that to change.
-
I think it's not so much that Paramount isn't a fan of Star Trek per se, but rather they're not a fan of THIS particular incarnation of Trek, so they pulled the plug in order to wait out the contracts of this current crop of writers, producers in order to start fresh in a few years' time. Not too bad an idea when you consider the massive size of the franchise and the unacceptable level of risk that has come to be associated with ENT.
Quote:
It is very clear that the management of Paramount are incompetent fools because to sit there and watch your #2 cashcow die just shows a complete lack of good business sense.
Contrary to your statement, I think THIS is Paramount's way of saving the franchise, by not sitting around and risking yet another season to thinning audiences. Let's face it, the show debuted with an audience of around 12 million, and by the time of cancellation barely 2 million were tuning in each week. These 2 million, we can safely assume, are the true, die-hard Trek fans, but as admirable as their loyalty is, a shrinking audience of 2 million nerds is not an attractive prospect for advertisers who increasingly find it difficult to support a series that no longer attracts the niche market for their products.
Pullng the plug on the franchise seems to have been the best way to actually save it in the end.
-
Quote:
I think it's not so much that Paramount isn't a fan of Star Trek per se
That's right - the new management might not be a fan of Rick Berman's STAR TREK, not necessarily STAR TREK.
Paramount must bide their time to allow his contract to expire and absence grow fonder for the franchise to rekindle potential value amongst fandom and the larger mass audience.
And certainly UPN was not a fan of the show; yet, they're going to reap revenue returns for their share of ENT S4 production costs from syndication and DVD rentals and sales.
And if Paramount sells STAR TREK - you know they are hard up for cash, especially with the stock split-off this year: Paramount must prove its value rather than relying on other Viacom entities to support it.
-
Your logic is sound. I'm inclined to believe that you're absolutely right about this.
The nerd factor needed to change. Star Trek (TOS) was actually kind of hip for it's day. ENT was anything but hip, the same for VOY. Those two series were simply retreading the same old thing that was begun with TNG, but the producers lacked the vision and insight to what made the original such a popular show. Coto was able to draw out some of those elements in the final season.
Star Trek needed a little rest. How long that may be, I don't know. But a nap every once in a while is a healthy thing. TOS was a little dangerous, a little revolutionary for it's time. TNG continued to "boldly go", and DS9 took a lot of chances. But VOY and ENT were succesively dumb and dumber. The focus had been lost because the producers were simply losing their grip. A new hand is needed to guide the franchise toward success. The old guard, if they can be called that, were failing to do the job effectively.
No Trek is better than bad Trek. Not having Star Trek on the air for a while is not the end of the world. I have no doubt that Star Trek will return. I don't believe that people are going to forget about it anytime soon. It has had such an impact on people that it's part of the culture now.
I'm anxious to see what the next incarnation of Star Trek will be like. One thing is for sure, it will be a sight for sore eyes and welcomed with open arms by the faithful, and those numbers will certainly be more than 2 million.
--------
To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And, at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between, plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big 'thing.' This is truth, to me.
-
I agree with the two previous posts. Paramount is aware of their 'cash-cow' franchise and are waiting out the contracts of a few producers. They are counting their losses for the short term and playing it smart. That's my opinion. Unfortunately most of us on this board love Trek so much our patience is difficult to maintain, at least it is for me.
Quote: "Currently, there's no one here at the studio who's really a fan of the franchise, so there are no champions here right now. But the fans aren't going to go away. There's a desire for more journeys, whether it's with my crew or another crew or a new version of STAR TREK. I don't think the world has seen the end of it at all."
Then why the hell don't they just sell it to somebody who does care. It ain't gonna make them any money if they just allow it to die on the shelf. Sell it to WB! I'm sure they would love to get their hands on the franchise, and would pay handsomely for it. Think about it:
-It would actually be on a network that people can see it on.
-WB owns DC Comics, and would be able to automatically be able to do their awesome comics again.
-Berman's contract stays with Paramount, and new management can be put in place with WB immediately.
That would be cool!
-
So maybe the Paramount execs are indifferent and don't really care about Trek. Maybe they have made a billion dollars while driving Trek into the ground but who has allowed them to do it? Well, there is only one place to point the finger and that is directly at ourselves. After all, we the fans kept the franchise alive by watching.... and buying... and buying... and buying. We created a cash cow for Paramount despite all the supposed neglect on their part. We pretty much guaranteed that the money was going to roll in despite the quality as long as ‘TREK’ was pasted on it.
I once heard Bill Gates respond to a journalist who asked him if he felt guilty making so much money from selling software. He responded that he didn't feel guilty because in a capitalist society, people only buy something if they find value in it at whatever price it is being sold. Otherwise, consumers have the option not to spend their money.
Well, it’s the same thing with us. Paramount cannot be blamed for making money off the franchise. Up to now, we have been the ones that have found enough value in what was being produced to pay for it and in doing this, we were telling Paramount that it was OK.
Only now that the franchise met with a premature demise has the viewing public sent the message that enough is enough. Maybe when the franchise is resurrected next time, they will recall that the fans have become far less forgiving. However, the responsibility to set the threshold for what is acceptable quality remains ours. If you don't like it, don't buy it.
-
In a business course I'm taking, the professing keeps stressing that if a company has copyrights or properties that they are not using, they MUST license them out to at least get some value for it. What's the point of keeping such a property and not making money off it?
Paramount, give Trek to someone who cares.
-
I doubt Paramount would entertain bids from other studios on the rights to Star Trek, though that might be good for the fans.
It's obvious Paramount isn't run by Trek fans. If it was, then Berman and Braga would have been fired years ago. It's really a shame.
(1)
| 
