But definitely mute the theme song.
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If a song coukd get a show cancelled⌠that was the song.
The animated series can be fun. Alan Dean Fosterâs novelizations can be enjoyable, too. He did a good job of fleshing out some of the ideas that may not have quite made sense at twenty or so minutes an episode.
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What I would like to see a series set some time after Voyager. Certainly not because I think that era is especially compelling, but because that would allow the show to develop and break real new ground. I just donât believe that any prequel, midquel or reimagining will be able to do that well. And I want a strict no-time-travel and no-cameo policy.
Years ago I read an idea that I liked although it will never happen: standalone Star Trek movies.
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The animated series had some good big name science fiction writers. Larry Niven did one that featured the Kzinti, status boxes and a slaver weapon. .
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Oh yeah, I wasnât trying to belittle their work. Itâs just they didnât have the biggest canvas to work on. On the other hand, concepts that would have been impossible live-action due to budget constraints, etc. were easy in animation.
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Indeed, evidence from Star Trek, from Star Wars, from Alien and Prometheus, suggests prequels will disappoint. Regular old forward-in-time sequels seem to work better.
Iâd watch Wil Wheaton play a grumpy middle-aged Wesley Crusher causing mischief with his âtravelerâ talents, with Starfleet as his antagonist. Like The Fugitive in space? Or like Doctor Who, but with Wil Wheaton.
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At least give it 4 episodes. You know pilots are rough!
And do come back and tell us how you found the opening music. 
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Knowing both of those examples though - they werenât disappointing because they were prequels. Their respective universes are huge enough to handle it. And in both cases, fans had clamoured for backstory. The problem started with poor writing. Bad story structure, characterization, dialog, etc. The stuff that simply takes some creativity and skill, and should be crafted well before people start trying to realize anything.
Franchises simply tend to be controlled by risk-averse people who like quick cash-ins and avoid creativity. Long-running franchises have it worse, but I think itâs a problem with Hollywood generally.
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In all fairness, Firefly has a pretty awful theme song too, and that was an okay series.
I liked these titles better:
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I miss fireflyâŚ
You guys need to watch the first two seasons of
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I never watched an episode of âEnterprise.â
The theme song was just so repulsive: I could tell nothing good could follow such an intro.
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My main issue with this is that, like any modern drama (that isnât specifically a lawyer / cop / doctor show) in the post-Lost era, the show will invariably have a âcentral mysteryâ. This looks great to advertisers for the first half-to full-season, since dozens of sites and thousands of fans will buzz about their pet theories. The result is always the same, though.
The central mystery will drag out the show, eschew storytelling for vagaries that never pan out, and give up the main premise that drove Star Trek and TNG to be the fan favoritesâŚmostly self-contained yet topical stories with continuity primarily coming from character development.
Why is this okay for Greyâs Anatomy, The Good Wife, or Law & Order, but not scifi?
Heh.
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There are a few things that more recent series have done that I hope the new Star Trek picks up on:
- Less noise in space (viewers are more savvy and no longer expect it)
- Less artificial gravity, or at least more instances reminding us that there is no up and down in space
- Getting rid of universal translators
- Space is vast. Starships should be expensive to build and maintain, meaning that often you really canât count on reinforcements.
But this is the Trek franchise, where even subspace communication taking time as it did in the 1960âs has been thrown out the window. But I would like to see them return to an era of loneliness on the final frontier, where communications would say âmessage sent, Captain, but it will take weeks until they receive, let alone answerâ.
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Soooooo good!
The theme Iâm convinced was forced by marketing trying to get that middle america audience. Itâd be impossible to prove but Iâm half convinced that song was a large factor in Enterprise not being more adopted (you were not alone in being scared off, I too hate that song). The show really does not fit it and you shouldnât let it stop you if you enjoyed any of the other trek shows. Later seasons they even shortened it (I think changing it altogether would have forced them to admit it was a mistake but clearly they felt they had to lessen the damage). My wife who watches it all the time just skips the theme (itâs funny Iâve seen her fall asleep and wake up to forward the theme which apparently annoys her so much itâs like an alarm going off even at low volume)
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