>> RANTS > FROM THE PEN OF THE MASTER GEEK

Pissing Off Fans in 3...2...1...

Long ago, I admitted to giving in on the Battlestar Galactica "re-imagining". I had to... Not because I had forgiven Glen Larson for cashing in on Geeks and the name recognition, but because watching the damn show was the only way to get you people off my back! (I'm looking at you Ersogoth and Patrick)... I knew the show was good, but I didn't know it was that good. Critics and fanatics aren’t lying when they say it is the best show on television, period. I don’t know if the current season is as strong as the first 1 – 2.5... I can only catch them on DVD. I know I can use iTunes or other forms on viewing, but with a show as strong as BSG (nerd) I want to watch them on my television screen while I sit on my Geek butt. (Yes, I know, there are ways I can do that now... Just get off my back)...

Anyway, this series got my Geek senses flowing... Is it wrong to take a show concept and create a new vision more suited to today’s audience? Well, the purist in me says, "hell yes it is wrong". However, with Paramount and J.J. going ahead with Kirk and Spock: The High School Years, I can’t help but wonder if something better could come from the Final Frontier...

Like a re-imagined Original Series!

Ah! Stop! STOP!!! Look... I am only thinking out loud... Just sit the hell down and let me follow this train of thought to its logical conclusion. Damn, friggen Trekkies... (Yes, I said Trekkies, Trekkers is a stupid name... You know it and I know it). I am just trying to think of ways to save our beloved Trek. We all know this J.J. Abrams flick is going to be a terrible movie. In a way Paramount and J.J. are correct. To the common audience member, Star Trek will always be Kirk and Spock. Actually, let me rephrase that. In the mind of a soulless Hollywood suit, an audience member only thinks of Kirk and Spock... I would argue that Picard and gang have just a strong a connection to popular culture as their 23rd Century counterparts. Indeed, if Paramount is attempting to cash in on that under 40 crowd, the Next Generation cast is the more recognizable of the two.

However, this isn't a rant about which series is better... Hell, even I am not that geeky. (Plus, Deep Space Nine trumps them both... Nooch).

Anyway, back to giving the Final Frontier a bit of a makeover. Why couldn't a group of talented writers and filmmakers get together and crank out a new version of TOS? Lets be honest, deep down we all know that that era of the Trek universe has the potential to be the most fun... Humanity is making its first real trips into deep space. They really are experiencing “new lives and new civilizations” for the first time... Plus, there is something to be said for the look of TOS. It had that perfect mix of future tech, with just a hint of old school military... As if we were just a few decades past sticking engines on submarines and launching them into space.

Plus, like TOS (and to an extent TNG and DS9), there is a plethora of real-life events that creative writers could draw upon... While still spinning some fantastic science yarns. (Or, speculative fiction as my snootier compatriots might say). That being said, would you have to dump the concept of Roddenberry’s original vision? To an extent, no. I think if you change the core of Star Trek too much, then you are simply telling another allegorical sci-fi series... With Warp Drive and dudes with pointy ears. The people behind Battlestar Galactica have been walking that line for a few seasons now, I am curious to see if the show can maintain its roots while continuing to grow as a series.

So, what kind of Star Trek 2.0 would your friendly neighborhood Geek create?

Honestly, I don’t really know... I know, you were all hoping for some deep vision of Roddenberry’s future... The options are almost too limitless... For instance, what if there was a graver reason behind all these five year missions? What if humanity, at the genetic level, was a dying race... Nothing and no one within the Federation knows how to prevent the genetic degradation of the human race. As such, ships are sent to the far corners of the universe in hopes of finding a cure... But scientific estimates give humanity just about 6 years before irreversible damage occurs at the cellular level... Humans can no longer have children... Diseases once cured with a simple hypospray blast are now killing at an alarming rate... Would Kirk and crew still adhere to the laws of the Federation if it meant the fate of humanity? Could the crew of the Enterprise condemn another race if it meant our salvation? How would other races respond to humanities plight?

Too dark?

Okay... Then lets go another route... Starfleet, with very few exceptions, is an Earth only group. Although humanity has taken to the stars, it still isn’t ready to play in the big game. The concept of a galactic federation is terrifying to some... After all, they have just now fixed all the damage caused by the Earth - Romulan Wars... Wars that lasted decades longer then what was hinted at in the Original Series... As such, there are groups who wish for the new Starfleet to be heavily armed. A galactic Navy in the truest sense... No exploration crafts... No colonization ships... Battlecruises and Destroyers are the call of the day. However, there is hope... A small group of leaders allow for the creation of a special type of craft... A craft that will balance peace with conflict... A craft that will prove that the galaxy isn’t as dangerous as we believe... However, what they aren’t telling the masses is that the Romulans are regrouping., having learned their lessons from the past, they open talks with their long lost ancestors... That these few exploration crafts are seeking our members to join a United Federation of Planets...and the clock is ticking...

I know what you are saying, “Aaron, you really need to get a life”, and you are probably correct... However, how do you think the newest version of BSG got started? You think they just tossed some darts at a giant “show bible” board? Nope, the show creators sat around and tossed one idea after another until the ideas themselves slowly came to life. Tada, Emmy winning series! In the end though, this really is just the semi-mindless rambling of a admitted Trekkie. A Trekkie who has all the faith in the world in the power of fandom... But not a shred of it when it comes to the people who created the fans...

(Note - all the fantastic images used in this article were created by Gabriel Koerner and are his alone. If asked, they will be removed post haste - AD).