On the next Star Trek series. in Whey and Sonic Screwdrivers.

(In no particular order.)

Greater representation for women. No series has had an initial cast of more than 3 women. TOS had one. (Chapel and Rand were never regulars.) TNG had three initially. DS9 had two. Voyager had three. Enterprise had two.

While lgbtbdsm needs representation, I think the easiest way is to tell an actor “Pretend you’re Captain Jack from Doctor Who.” Technically, Phlox from Enterprise was bisexual in addition to being polyamorous, but this isn’t talked about enough. Having some (younger?) character sleeze up the galaxy would bring this facet a bit more to the forefront.

Less white people. Oh sure, it’s so simple to say “ethnic diversity.” Maybe in the 60’s, a “scotsman”, a “russian” and a “vulcan” are all different, but by today’s standards they’re all played by “white” actors. B’lanna was played by a latina, but she was always labeled half-klingon. You want a vision of the future? Have a jew and a muslim be bffs. I don’t care who plays the captain, just don’t make it a white guy. Hell, cast an Indian woman and toss in an arc about her parents are still trying to get her married.

Character arcs and character stories. After the second season of TNG, the style shifted to focusing kind of one character at a time. A “Riker” story or a “Data” story. Ronald D Moore was fantastic at threading ongoing events in “Battlestar Galactica.” Oh sure, there’ll be the Alien of the Week, but we should see how it effects someone, rather than the crew just being wooden and replaceable.

Dare to use allegory to current events. There’s a TOS episode where the klingons are arming primitives on a planet, so the Federation debates arming their enemies to make it “even.” Hello, allegory to Korea and Vietman. It doesn’t need to be heavy-handed, but it shouldn’t shy away from issues like TNG did. That agender species episode got close but got scared.

Don’t be afraid to make changes if the show doesn’t feel right. Remember how bad the first season of TNG was.

HAVE A WRITING STAFF ESTABLISHED AND BE CLEAR WHAT YOUR WRITING PARAMETERS ARE AND WHO IS IN CHARGE. Sorry, saw a documentary on TNG, and they had a packard of how many writers were fired the first season or two. It was a LOT.

Revisit old concepts but don’t abuse it. The mirror episodes in DS9 and Enterprise worked because it was still a twist on an old concept.

Avoid the tendency for things to be GRITTY. This isn’t battlestar galactica. It shouldn’t be as perfect as the TNG universe, but at some point that theme of Roddenberry optimism should be present. Hope, man. We should have a hopeful future, even if you stutterstep to get there.

At least one alien who has some level of make-up.

A betazoid male who had issues handing his feelings. What did I say about allegory to modern times? Watch the difference between Troi in the first couple seasons and then the later seasons. She used to actually ACT. Maybe he’s friends with a resident vulcan who help each other.

More objectification of men. See: Trip Tucker of Enterprise.

Less technobabble. We got shields, a deflector dish, torpedoes, and tractor beams. If they need some random THING to cause something, fine. But that should lead to a story, rather than the technobabble BEING the story. See the next paragraph as an example of technobabble done right.

Less time travel. Though, that episode where Miles O’Brien keeps seeing DS9 destroyed and mutters to himself “I hate temporal mechanics” was a fantastic way to use time travel as a plot device rather than a quick fix. Temporal loops or alternate timelines, okay. But don’t have them voluntarily go “Hey, let’s just go back in time.”

Did I say have tension between characters? Roddenberry had a rule for TNG that in his “perfect” future, none of the cast could have tension. This is why TNG is accused of being wooden at times. Meanwhile, DS9 was written with Kira resenting Sisko, Odo distrusting Quark, O’Brien being annoyed by Julian, and Jake and Nog wondering how they could be friends. Voyager had the incorporation of the Maquis into their crew, but the writers COMPLETELY dropped the ball on creating any tension.

While not a requisite, a thought is to do a complete reimagining. Just throw away the entire prime timeline, set it some “far” time in the future, and create a new future. Borrow things, but no longer are they bound to all of this built up “future history” that fanboys like me know like the back of my hand. Ten movies and six series will always be there. Jar Jar Abrams proved that the creative energy of what was Star Trek might be dead, and it may be time to move on.

The warp core should look like a goddamned warp core, not a brewery. Take cues from TOS, TNG, AND Enterprise’s submarine style, but don’t make it look like a luxury liner.

And whatever they do, NO DAMNED LENS FLARES.

Last updated November 28, 2015