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Star Trek is about the galaxy. That galaxy is, ironically, portrayed smaller than a typical city. That treatment is part of canon. Star Trek isn't a cop show and can't be treated like one.

*WHOOOOOSH*

That was the sound of the point of my post going over your head.

Here is the point again:
There have been dozens of cop show TV series made.
There have been hundreds of crime drama movies made.

Yet the writers never seem to run out of material as you claim the Star Trek writers have.

But fans hated it because it required that wiggle room.

I watched the pilot and decided to skip it after that. Why do guys need to take off their shirts to get the decon gel on them ... but the female did not? Right then I could tell that it would be about titillation and really bad stories.

Here's a site for you on that very subject:
http://www.firsttvdrama.com/enterprise/index.php3

The existing canon is massive and hugely restricting.

And the "canon" for crime drama is even larger and more restrictive.

Yet series after series and movie after movie continue to be produced. And some of them are very good.

And that's just crime drama. Medical dramas are an entirely different genre that keeps being produced as well.

On one planet. With one intelligent species. Without time travel. Etc.

Establish a core set of major powers? A new one isn't going to appear overnight.

And that is the kind of thinking that ruins Star Trek. Why do you need ANOTHER alien race in ANOTHER empire?

No contact between the Romulans and Federation for 50-ish years? You can't set a story in that era and have Romulans.

Why would you NEED Romulans for that story?

Aligned with the Klingons? Not going to be fighting them, then.

And ... ? Given that point of view, no current day crime dramas would ever be produced because we aren't fighting the Japanese.

It makes no sense.

New alien race? Sure, but where'd they come from?

Again, why do you NEED another alien species? Crime dramas turn out story after story after story using only humans.

Star Trek has over a dozen major species. And you want more?

The time has come to create something fresh. Maybe it shouldn't be Star Trek anymore; maybe Star Trek should be left dead. Maybe what comes next should have been brand new.

Yeah, maybe someone could do that and maybe call it "Firefly". Or maybe "Babylon 5". Or "Stargate". Or BSG or Dr. Who or Farscape or .......

It's been done. It has been done.

The question, as I originally stated, is:
Is it really too much to ask that a story in an established franchise stick to previously established material?

No, it is not too much to ask. All it requires is a few TALENTED WRITERS. And that is where the problem is with Star Trek. The current writers seem to be encouraged by people with your viewpoint to just skip the canon and write a "sci-fi movie" with available slots to plug in some basic Star Trek items / names so that it will bring in the fan base. They are mediocre writers. They are NOT good writers.

Miami's Drone

vs

the Imperial Probe Droia

you decide...

tm

http://www.firsttvdrama.com/enterprise/index.php3
Excellent reviews of Enterprise and WHY it sucked. Not really about the Star Trek universe. More about telling the stories in that universe. And isn't that what this is all about?

http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/trek/0.html
I hope that guy's bandwidth can take the hit. He has GREAT ideas about how to "fix" the Star Trek universe itself. Why DOES a phaser heat rocks AND vaporize enemies? How does a trasporter work? "Logically" within the framework provided.

The problem that Star Trek had ... well there were two problems.
#1. It was episodic and the "technology" was altered from episode to episode to suit the writer of that episode.

#2. Roddenberry was fixated on the current (at the time) social issues and how to portray them in his series. That's why you have the first inter-racial kiss and a Russian working with a Chinese on a "USS" ship. Where's the gay captain today? The Islamic first officer?

Star Trek sucks now because the stories suck. And the stories suck because they aren't challenging. And the stories aren't challenging because Hollywood doesn't want the RISK of challenging stories.

If they want to bring back Star Trek they need to completely change the WRITING. Get the best writers and give them 4 hours to fill. With the only limitations being that all the techno-babble needed to be vetted by a real Star Trek geek and they couldn't alter the established time lines.

Each month you'd get an entirely new, but still coherent, Star Trek. Some would suck. Some would not. And the ones that didn't suck could be expanded.

Laser conduits for power??? Finally!

You mean that look like this?

Umm...I'm looking for passage off this rock. As long as it's a fast ship. And no questions asked. Let's just say I'd like to avoid any imperial entanglements...

Personally, I think they're a scapegoat by the "hard-core" fans

Yeah, I hear [Star Trek: Enterprise] was a good show.

You're being sarcastic, right? Please tell me you're being sarcastic. The only good part about it was the First TV Drama website. Too bad he started slacking.

Oh, and the last episode sucked. Someone tell me again why Trip had to die a senseless death?

Initially, I thought it might be a remake of V. It wasn't until I saw the cover picture and recalled that I'd seen it on the Space channel, on one of their comic book vignettes, that I realized it was YACBFA (Yet Another Comic Book Film Adaptation).

P.S. The poster was not stupid, merely uninformed.

You say that like it's a bad thing. Eye candy has been the only reason to watch star drek ever since they introduced 36 of Double-D on Voyager.

1. T'Pol is fugly. Hoshi is attractive, but why invent obviously-contrived situations to show it off? The TNG females simply wore attractive clothing. No need to go all Beavis and Butthead.

2. Some of us still remember the suspense and glory of Best of Both Worlds. That, my friend, was theater at its best, even if it was on TV. As the First TV Drama guy is fond of saying, "No, no, no! Build UP the suspense!" BoBW was all about suspense and drama. Enterprise is all about "History needs a dumbass!"

Yet TNG was truly special because they didn't just stop at BoBW. They went on to do earth shattering episodes like Darmok and Inner Light. They developed characters such as Barkley, and Dr. Brahms. They gave us entertainment and a future to look forward to. Even Voyager, in all its ridiculous moments, managed to produce gems like "Year of Hell" and "Equinox".

Name ONE episode of Enterprise that you actually walked away from without feeling gypped, confused, or just plain disgusted. I can't. In fact, I believe that B&B have screwed up the basic premise to such a degree, that a Big, Fat, Giant, Red, RESET button is the only way to make the show interesting again. Let's reset the time stream, start with a new crew (Maybe someone who ACTS like a Naval commander?) and modified ship (nukes instead of torpedos, Das Boot style), and let's go and fight some Romulans who can't cloak!

Do I hear an Amen?

Hmm... maybe I should have toned that down a bit.

Anyone who's interested in even minor changes that could improve Enterprise should visit First TV Drama. The guy gives a very good analysis of what is wrong (and sometimes right) about each episode.

And it suggested This picture ...

To be fair this isn't Joe Denomenator at work it's Kevin-Sorbo is a complete retard at work.

And calling Wolfe just the producer is wrong, he's more the creator than Roddenberry. He was just a producer of DS9.

Mashed potatoes are way way better than Andromeda.
Scifi screwed entry for Andromeda

Really?

The last box on this page is fascinating. I also happen to agree with it. If B&B had actually planned this story arc, we wouldn't have such stinkers are last week's "Boredom Street". I keep hoping that things will turn around for the show, but in my heart I know better.

*sigh*

I'm using this category as a yardstick for how much to care about the Hugos in the future. I'm not demanding that Firefly win, as I don't watch Buffy and can't fairly compare the two. But Enterprise should lose.

A Night in Sickbay and Carbon Creek are absolutely atrocious and pretty bad, respectively. Neither is a shining example of drama.

Do read the links, and note that while there is some continuity criticism that you might be willing to ignore for the sake of a Hugo (though even that should count against them; why is it only Star Trek, of all the shows on TV, gets to ignore and even actively contradict continuity whenever it feels like it? it's in a league all its own), the criticism is mostly about the piss-poor dramatic structure of the episodes. (Admittedly Carbon Creek is the best the show had to offer, which isn't saying much; poke around some of the other critiques on that site and you'll see what I mean. He sold me pretty thoroughly on his opinions, and the only reason I'd watch Enterprise now is to see him deconstruct it.)

I'm using this category as a yardstick for how much to care about the Hugos in the future. I'm not demanding that Firefly win, as I don't watch Buffy and can't fairly compare the two. But Enterprise should lose.

A Night in Sickbay and Carbon Creek are absolutely atrocious and pretty bad, respectively. Neither is a shining example of drama.

Do read the links, and note that while there is some continuity criticism that you might be willing to ignore for the sake of a Hugo (though even that should count against them; why is it only Star Trek, of all the shows on TV, gets to ignore and even actively contradict continuity whenever it feels like it? it's in a league all its own), the criticism is mostly about the piss-poor dramatic structure of the episodes. (Admittedly Carbon Creek is the best the show had to offer, which isn't saying much; poke around some of the other critiques on that site and you'll see what I mean. He sold me pretty thoroughly on his opinions, and the only reason I'd watch Enterprise now is to see him deconstruct it.)