Straczynski’s Star Trek – Boldly Going Where Star Trek Had Gone Before November 7, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in scifi.Tags: Sci Fi, science fiction, scifi, Star Trek, straczynski
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J Michael Straczynski is one the greatest storytellers of this generation…the original run of Babylon 5 is proof positive of that fact.
Turns out in 2004 he sent a proposal to CBS Paramount for a rebooted version of Star Trek that would have been a re- imaginging of the classic series.
Although fan accusations of burn-out and story-repetition from the creative teams may be part of the explanation, and certainly any team may need a time away after nearly sixteen years at the helm, there’s a simpler answer at hand, one that need not paint these accomplished people in any kind of negative light.
The best solution is to go back to the original and start again.
It’s time to re-boot the Star Trek Universe.
Concept
What we propose is not Star Trek: Another Generation, or Star Trek: A New Ship, or even Star Trek: The Search for Plots. In other words, not a copy of a copy, or a distillation of a variation.
We want to re-boot STAR TREK. The original. Pure and simple. The characters, universe and situations that have attracted, and continue to attract, a worldwide audience. Re-set…re-imagined… re-invigorated…
Personally i think the Straczynski proposal is ABSOLUTE MADNESS AND LUNACY. Unlike Battlestar Galactica where the classic series was campy nonsense. Classic Trek while camp was incredibly well written and conceived. Look how well the new HD series shapes up for FRAKS sake!
Check out the full proposal at IESB
oH and filming for Star Trek XI – which doesn’t re-imagine but is a prequel to Classic Trek – starts today!
Show Me SciFi 
I completely agree with you…
original BSG: campy crap.
original Trek: should not be messed with.
I’m sorry but I have to completely agree with JMS. This new movie is a step in that direction already, new cast etc. But they should have let it lie for a few years more and then come back with a *total* revamp, from the core upwards.
Babylon 5 revealed Star Trek as it had always been: formulaic, predictable, tired, cliched…and it is telling that DS9 is the only show in the Trek canon that dared to take a few risks: the series that most fans hate (I adore it), the series that most resembled Babylon 5…! TNG was too corporate goody-goody (although I loved it at the time), Voyager was still-born from day one, and Enterprise? God, don’t even get me started. The time for safe, rehashed plots and rehashed tech is OVER. JMS’ idea is possibly the only way to save the essence of that pioneering series without killing off your audience through boredom.