To boldly go where several series have gone before…

It’s been six years since Star Trek: Enterprise was cancelled, marking the first time since Star Trek: The Next Generation’s premiere in 1987 that there wasn’t a television program set in that universe. Shortly after its cancellation, X-Men director Bryan Singer actually set out to pitch a new series to executives, but scrapped plans when J.J. Abrams was hired on for a new feature film. And Trek writer Roberto Orci has claimed via Twitter that there have been talks – if nothing else – of a possible animated series, much like Star Wars: The Clone Wars (but hopefully, unlike Star Trek: The Animated Series, which ran from 1973-74).

But Trekkers around the world can take solice in the fact that David Foster of 1947 Entertainment is closer than anyone else has been in bringing Starfleet back to living rooms. Foster began working on the idea with the late Kevin Severson, who died last year of a stroke, but has moved forward and is looking to create a Star Trek series that harkens back to creator Gene Roddenberry’s original ideals. However, he also promises that it won’t be too “old fashioned”, and that some of his inspiration comes from such noted people like Joss Whedon (Firefly), Ron Moore (the rebooted Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation), Manny Coto (Odyssey 5, Star Trek: Enterprise), and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5). And he’s even gone to great lengths to create a program worth watching. According to Foster:

“The series concept is fully developed, subject to change of course, with a solid 5-7 year series plan, pilot script and a conceptualized finale that intends to define Star Trek for generations, extensive character bios, costume and ship/set designs, and more. This is a drastic departure from the typical 8-10 page treatment of the previously pitched Star Trek series ideas that have not included even a pilot script.”

The show itself will be set sometime after Voyager, and will remain faithful to the pre-alternate timeline (as created in Abrams’ 2009 film) canon, so as to appeal to older Trek-fans, and to not intrude upon the new film series. This is a pretty interesting idea, and as a Trekker for many years, I would love to see this happen. He also offered this idea for the series: “If evil wore the face of a hero, would you recognize it? If freedom came in the likeness of your oppressors, would you accept it? If you were your own enemy, who would be victorious?” He has even said that there would be two openly gay characters, something that has never really been addressed in the Star Trek universe. He also goes on to say:

“The series is highly energized with a much younger cast, and uses cutting-edge future technologies with newly envisioned special effects and designs. It includes Klingons, Ferengi, Andorians, Vulcans, Trill, and many more. The Klingons are getting very restless since the Praxis incident forced them to come to the peace tables, and are tired of having to rely on the Federation for support. The Ferengi have discovered a vast new resource that has propelled them towards instant riches and power beyond anything they have previously experienced.”

Foster has garnered support from others who have been involved with previous incarnations of Star Trek, and he is currently looking for an Executive Producer to help pitch the series. [Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me), who's a huge Star Trek fan and has experience working on the franchise, would be a perfect choice. - News Ed. (Calvin Peat)] This is brilliant news, and I certainly hope his vision for a new Star Trek series sees the light of day. Hopefully a network will be convinced by his pitch, and decide to make it so…

/Film

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