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William Shatner Pitches 'Starfleet Academy' Show
Tycoon Guy writes "TrekToday reports that William Shatner recently pitched an 'Academy' show to Paramount. The series would feature teen versions of the Classic Star Trek characters Kirk, Spock and McCoy, and be set at Starfleet Academy. The studio turned Shatner down, but he's not letting go of the idea: Pocket Books has asked him to write a two-novel series based on the 'Starfleet Academy' concept. Also, Shatner apparently went over the head of Trek head honcho Rick Berman to pitch his idea straight to the head of Paramount - maybe after Enterprise ends and Berman leaves the franchise, the studio will be more inclined to listen to Shatner?"
Beer me up Scotty!
I wonder if Shatner will use the same ghost writer this time?
Um.. I read this and immediately had a disturbing vision
The series would feature teen versions of the Classic Star Trek characters Kirk, Spock and McCoy, and be set at Starfleet Academy.
Ah, not what I thought, but not exactly a thrilling concept.
The studio turned Shatner down, but he's not letting go of the idea: Pocket Books has asked him to write a two-novel series based on the 'Starfleet Academy' concept. Also, Shatner apparently went over the head of Trek head honcho Rick Berman to pitch his idea straight to the head of Paramount - maybe after Enterprise ends and Berman leaves the franchise, the studio will be more inclined to listen to Shatner?"
Maybe if he pitched it as a reality show, a la The Apprentice. That might be entertaining...
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Just let Kirk die already!
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
You gotta give Shatner credit for totally dissing Berman like that. :-)
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
"They're tiny, they're toony,
they're all a little loony"
I think Shatner is by far, by far, my favorite Trekker. He's got a sense of humor about himself and his work, yet he's not even remotely afraid to take chances.
Luck favors the prepared, darling.
The OC meets Star Trek. May God save us from such garbage.
(Its not like the women's starfleet uniforms are all that revealing anyways)
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
Which one of them will be doing all of the crazy sound effects? And what about the crazy gun nut? "Tackleberry!"
On a more sobering note, I find it deeply disturbing that I was able to remember this much about Police Academy, at a moment's notice.
concrete5: a cms made for marketing, but strong enough for geeks.
I think, as sad as it might be, that StarTrek has really come to an end. It has had a good 50 some odd years of episodes. Let it die with at least some dignity.
...the idea would be better served in the pre/post TNG/DS9 time frame and with new characters....perhaps with camio here or there from the established charaters.
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
This is a horrible idea. Just what would be needed to completely kill off the franchise. How about a whole show full of Wesley Crusher teen angst in a Federation uniform.
Visually it would be hard to jive with the old series, and having actors who are trying to potray the old characters might lead to pure campiness.
Ok so now everyone can tell how it would be great if they did it right - but come on people, you KNOW they wouldn't do it right.
I'm just hoping whatever new series comes out has Shatner singing the theme song. Hell, just have him sing the lyrics to the orignal theme from the '60s series.
Sometimes my arms bend back.
Frat parties with green slave girls and rumulan ale.
All these new teen shows on the alternative networks are the big ratings getters because of 'teen girls'. Purely a niche play.
I think he is putting money before the vision of Rodenberry.
Maybe he will have a ton of models be the crew. Should get good ratings for a while until teen girls viewers get bored by scifi which takes about a year for these demographic shows.
Instead, why not do it with new characters? The only problem there is getting all the horrible "Next Generation" style moralizing out of it and keeping every character from being a different version of Wesley Crusher (jock Wesley, flirt Wesley, misunderstood loner Wesley, etc.) Hell, if you did it right, you could even bring back Wesley as an Academy instructor... why not?
Not sure I'd actually watch such a show, mind you, but it certainly doesn't sound any worse than the crap that's been passing for Star Trek in recent years.
Breakfast served all day!
While top officials at Paramount were unavailable for comment at press time, William Shatner has released this official statement in regards to Paramount's dismissal of his show concept:
"KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN"
What about the twinkie? - Dr. Peter Venkman, PHD
I can't get behind that.
Come.. now......... It has long been.. recognized.. that William Shatner is an actor, of amazing... talent, a talent that simply dwarfs... all of the rest of his contemporaries. Who.. else.. could have figured out that the way to display.. ultimate.. pain, is to half kneel, and thrust your elbows as far forward as... physically.. possible.. ?
I once listened to a Philip Glass record for an hour and a half before I realized it was skipping.
It's like Muppet Babies. Only preachy and more farfetched.
Promote civility: mod down any post starting with 'ummm'.
Do NOT do a prequel to the TOS cast. If enterprise has taught us anything, it's that trying to write history to canon is full of pitfalls, and the nerds will never forgive even the smallest of errors. You'll also run into the problem that people had with enterprise in that the technology looked more advanced than TOS, simple because computer graphics were more advanced.
Also, it's a bit of a stretch to presume that all the TOS cast would be at the academy together. Kirk and Spock maybe, but all the junior officers are much younger than Kirk, Spock, and Bones (McCoy would have been at starfleet medical anyway).
An awesome show would be an academy show during the dominion war of an unknown group of cadets. So rather than being a futuristic "Saved by the Bell", you can follow these cadets in some of the extended duties they would have had to undertake during the war. We could even see how the attack on Starfleet Headquarters happened, since we only saw the aftermath in DS9.
I personally think that J. Michael Straczynski should have a go, he pulled off B5 on a shoestring. See his comments here http://www.joeuser.com/Forums.aspx?ForumID=10&AID= 65211. Imagine what he could do with Paramounts financing and marketing muscle.
Like wise I would like to see Jose Whedon thoughts and Quentin Tarantino's ideas. Even Jonathan Frakes has demonstrated enough talent as a director and producer with Roswell to put together a good team.
I think Shatner is by far, by far, my favorite Trekker. He's got a sense of humor about himself and his work, yet he's not even remotely afraid to take chances.
Really, I think that's a bit shortsighted. Shatner has only become that way in the last decade or so. Prior to that, he's tried to distance himself from the Trek fans as much as possible. Compared to how much he has benefited from Trek fandom, Shatner has given very little back. Contrast this with George Takei, Deforest Kelly, or Jimmy Doohan who have always been big supporters of Trek fandom. In a previous message, I talked about how Jimmy Doohan took it upon himself to use his fame to help a single fan back to health. Shatner would never do anything like this -- then or now. I'll admit that Shatner is likeable but that's been a recent thing. Read Takei's book sometime and listen to the shit that Shatner used to do. Shatner didn't even show up at Roddenberry's funeral, for chrissake!
You're entitled to your opinion but I'm baffled how you can consider him a Trekker at all, let alone your favorite.
GMD
watch this
"I could care less about what happened BEFORE"
:)
Who cares what you want, I wanna see the Earth-Romulus War already! I wanna see the humans take all their anti-Vulcan aggression out on the other green-blooded, pointy-ear bastards!
In the episode where the Romulans were first introduced in TOS, they show a map of the Neutral Zone and it has Romulus on it, and yet Earth is nowhere on the map, as if the Neutral Zone is a whole lot closer to Romulus than it is to Earth. I wanna see that happen.
"give me BORG again."
God... why not ask for more Janeway while you're at it? The Borg were introduced as a whim to make a particular Q episode a little more interesting, and now the dead horse has been beaten for the better part of a decade. They can't even stay consistent for three seconds. How do you resolve the whole lustful Borg Queen with the way the Borg were originally portrayed, for example? They're supposed to be Daleks on legs, not the latest pin-up of the month!
they're all a little loony" And Sunday afternoony,
We're invading UPN!
Rick Berman's adventures,
Complying with the censors,
With schedule misadventures,
It's Starfleet Academy!
So here's UPN, where crappy bling bling makes for art,
Black sitcoms and reality shows - it's like FOX, but dark!
We're spitting invective, the phasers are defective,
The franchise isn't dead, Jim, but it's lost. it's. heart.
(Kirk's toupee's from Wal-mart.)
Lets just let the whole thing be done and do something new. The problem with the trek universe is the TREK UNIVERSE every time someone tries to do something new it conflicts with the history or the prime directive or what someone thinks aught to be done. I say start fresh and different.
You can legislate morally you can't legislate morality
One of my favorite Star Trek books, called The Kobayashi Maru, involved several of the main characters re-telling stories of their academy days. It is really a compelling little book and extremely well written.
Several of the stories focus on the Kobayashi Maru doomsday scenario that's referenced in one of the Star Trek movies, but several deal with other aspects of a Star Fleet Academy education.
If Shatner had this type of material in in mind then the project might actually be worth while. Anyway, it's a great read for any Star Trek fan -- the author really captures each character's own nuances.
Just remember, it can't be any worse than the first (and for me, last) episode of Enterprise.
I used to hate Superman. I liked Batman and human superheros better. What kind of a turtured soul can you have when you can't even be hurt? How about being uncorrupted by ultimate power? No, Smallville gets it right. Internal conflict between a evil destiny and being raised with a apple pie morality. Good stuff. It also helps explain his relationship with Lex Luthor.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
Did Shatner play him or something in an obscure show and it's an "in" thing to bring it up? Kind of like bringing up Cat from Zero Wing?
I mean, come on! Shatner will always be known for one character and one character only: Denny Crane!
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
The only issue is that it has to be story with a clear beginning and a clear end. Just like a novel.
The problem is that Hollywood isn't interested in that format for TV. They want it episodic so there's always room to wiggle and try to squeeze more money out of it.
Think of it as filming a movie, in 26 blocks.
Just found this: An endless loop of Shatner shouting you-know-what.
Just open it up in a separate window and let it play in the background all day long.
Always keep a sapphire in your mind
If Shatner's efforts at Star Trek V are any indication, he should stay far, far away from the creative process of any show.