Slashdot Mirror
Is Enterprise Heading To Canada?
Tycoon Guy writes "TrekToday reports that the TrekUnited fan campaign a few weeks ago partnered with a group of Canadian production companies to pitch a co-production deal for 'Star Trek: Enterprise' to Paramount. As part of this deal, production would be moved up to Canada, and TrekUnited and the Canadian group would share the costs of a fifth season with Paramount. Apparently Viacom executives are considering the proposal, despite another branch of Paramount saying the cancellation was final just a few days ago."
Trek needs to take a break, and come back in a year or two or three with fresh blood. I rather like the idea of J. Michael Straczynski - he did a great job with Babylon 5, and Jeremiah, and The Real Ghostbusters ;-}
American TV is really quite low quality. You have your sit-coms, where a heavy storyline is when one of the characters is in the hospital for 2 episodes, your cop dramas which exaggerate and glamorize the work of cops/investigators, and then you have your "reality TV" which often bears less resemblance to reality than the other two categories of shows. Sci-fi doesn't seem to have a place in the US because people there can't seem to relate to it. I'm shocked as hell a "fantasy" show like Joan of Arcadia has lasted this long, but that's probably the God-angle.
Sci-Fi traditionally makes you think (although much American sci-fi isn't even about thinking, any more than just trying to break outside of yourself and into the future/past/whatever) and that's not what most Americans want when they get home from the daily grind.
So you've got this money.
And you've got all this energy.
And what are you doing with it?
Trying to save a TV show that even its defenders rarely describe in terms nicer than "it wasn't THAT bad", and whose plot is going to be wrapped up at the end of the season whatever you do.
While you've got all this excitement and energy and potential funding, why not direct it into more potentially productive efforts-- like, trying to get Paramount or some other production company to put together a new, GOOD show? (Preferably maybe even one Rick Berman is not associated with!)
There were rumors about William Shatner trying to go over Berman's head and pitch a series set at StarFleet; I think that would be pretty damn cool. Heck, there's a lot of potentially cool ideas within the Star Trek universe, continuity-error-ridden as it is, you could set a show around. You don't necessarily need Enterprise. And even without Star Trek (though I realize that's what the people pushing for enterprise to continue really want) I'm sure there's no shortage of directors, actors etc who would jump at the chance to do a sci fi tv show, if only some people could talk some studio into greenlighting it.
Television is allegedly a passive medium. Yet for once, for this moment, you've got a huge number of television viewers to stand up and decide that they want to participate. I think that has the potential to be pretty cool, if that were directed toward some productive end. But that potential is currently being wasted on lost causes.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
The reason why the whole Star Trek universe (besides Enterprise) was fairly successfull was due to the fact that the Star Trek Universe was re-imagined 75 years into the future. The difference was fresh and COMPLETELY different from the old series.
I think they should do it again...jump into the future...but this time, don't jump 75 years...jump 750 years! or maybe even a couple thousand years!
It would give the writers the latitude to imagine how the federation (and the Star Trek Universe) would evolve far into the future and create some REALLY interesting storylines.