>> RANTS > FROM THE PEN OF THE MASTER GEEK

Star Trek is Dead...Long Live Star Trek!

You know, I caught a lot of flak from folks online when I began to say that Star Trek needed to go away. Well, as much flak as a bunch of Geeks can give…which, if you know any Geeks in your life, can be a good amount (we just can’t back it up beyond flame wars). There were exceptions, of course, but for the most part I was treated like a modern day Baltar…Which is, I guess, like a modern day Richard Hatch (not the fat one from Survivor…the OTHER fat Richard Hatch, you know the one that, Lorne Greene’s kid… Screw it; just go ask a Battlestar Galactica fan). Anyway, I stood by my statement that I made all those years ago, and I stand by it still. Then, I began to hear rumors that Paramount was ready to tell Berman and Braga to go pound it. This was music to my ears; it was music to the ears of any true Trek fan.

Why?

Berman is the devil and Braga is his *FCC deleted* sucking toady. (Just ask Wil Wheaton). But, it turns out that B&B weren’t going completely away, they would still have control over Trek, they just wouldn’t be active in the day to day writing (unless it involved a story during sweeps week…Yea, cause THAT makes sense). A few months went by and I began hearing rumors that Paramount was actually in line with a few right thinking fans. Trek was going to go away for a bit. They understood the power of the franchise, but knew it was time to give it a rest, James Bond style. Little sad, but like I’ve stated in the past, I have my shows and movies on DVD, and I have a handful of the better novels, what more did I need? Remember, fans that had a child the year Next Generation debuted now have kids who can damn near VOTE! (Sweet Lord almighty, I feel completely and utterly ancient, but see you my point, plenty of Trek to watch). Trek would live long and prosper. The Geeks again blasted me. Said I was full of crap, Paramount would never pull the plug on Star Trek.

Well…They did, and I for one am glad!

Everyone knows me reasons for why I think Trek needs to go away. If not, either drop me a line or just hit the archives, I’m sure I’ve mentioned the reasons a few times now. The main reason however can be summed up in one example given to me by my friend Jim Colvill. Braga was asked a question about the future of Trek and how he would respond to fans that felt he wasn’t taking Star Trek in the proper direction:

The fans will take the Trek I give them, or they won’t have any Trek at all.

Eat it Braga.

The fans DID speak; they spoke in the forms of ratings. Enterprise was (is) the lowest rated Star Trek of all time and also happens to be the most expensive. Is it any wonder that the show has been canceled by the powers that be? Braga has the same attitude that network television and FM radio have. They see themselves as the gods of entertainment. They believe that the people are so hungry for entertainment that they will take whatever crap they feed us. That may have been true for a good long while, but it is not the case anymore. There are simple too many options for people now. As a result, Trek is no more.

Fine.

So now what? While Enterprise is going the way of the Dodo, Paramount is nowhere near ready to pull the plug completely on a franchise that has made them so much money. What should Paramount do to win back the fans whom at one time were the reason the word fanatic was created? While this might be fanboy dreaming, a good start might be to talk to this guy, Eugene Roddenberry, he seems to know the vision his father had. Now, I’m not some fan who thought Gene was some golden god who had no faults, he did, but his idea of Star Trek is wormhole away from what the current Trek management is doing. Another thought would be to try and tap some authors who have written some great prose stories in the Final Frontier; like Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, and Diane Duane. Finally, and this I know will come off like Geek wanking, but so be it… Tap some of the ever-so creative fans that have a real passion for Star Trek and the writing skills to back it. Think I missed an idea? Feel free to drop me a line.

Until next time…Set them phasers to stun baby!