Star Trek sequel co-writer/producer was a call-in guest on a Southern California radio show over the weekend. He didn’t give away any big spoilers for the Star Trek movie, but he did rule out the appearance of a number of classic Star Trek characters. And perhaps more intriguingly, Orci discussed in detail some of the discussions that have been going on regarding bringing Star Trek back to TV.




Orci talks possible Star Trek TV series

Bob was on guest on the Ask Mr. Kern (on KERN radio) over the weekend, and was asked questions by "Mr. Kern" AICN’s Hercules, and call in guests. One of those callers was TrekMovie reader Sean who asked Bob about bringing Star Trek to the small screen. Bob said it could happen but he also laid out the issues with Trek on TV, saying:

There are two major issues. Alex and I and Bad Robot want to make sure that nothing gets in the way of the movies, but number 2, Paramount controls the movies and CBS controls TV. So there is a little bit of power struggle there in terms of what happens. I have mentioned to CBS the idea of a Star Trek series and they are interested in it, but they would have to coordinate with Paramount and they would have to coordinate with Bad Robot. It is something we we are trying to figure out. If we can figure out a beautiful timing for it, it is something we would all love to do. It is tricky, with multiple chefs in that kitchen. It is something many of us are thinking about and I want to see one too.

Regarding the setting of any potential Star Trek TV series, Orci said:

We haven’t even got to that point. We haven’t even gone in to pitch, because the rights of how to get it done are so complicated that we are sort of waiting to see what can really happen. And see where the avenues of freedom are. For all I know maybe it would be better to make it separate or maybe it is better to tie it into the [movie] universe. I don’t know yet.

Orci also noted that an animated series was "the first thing they asked" about.

Today TrekMovie clarified with Orci that subsequent to the initial discussions about an animated series, the team has also talked about a potential live-action Star Trek TV series. This is actually a bit surprising. Launching an animated series (something Orci has talked about in the past over the last couple of years and has already done with Transformers) is a no-brainer. It seems every other recent or active movie franchise has an animated show like Tron, Star Wars, Green Lantern, etc. Such a thing could compliment the Trek movie franchise and setting an animated show between 2013 Star Trek sequel and a third film seems like a logical choice.

However, a new live action Star Trek show is an intriguing possibility as well. It would likely require a different approach than an animated series. An animated show would really be a compliment to the live action films (like the video game and comic books), but a live action show should really stand on its own. Therefore it would probably make sense to wait until the series of ‘JJ-verse’ films wraps up, before launching a new TV series.

So while talking about this with Bob I suggested, do animated JJ-verse TV series launching in 2014 and a live action TV show in the fall of 2016, following the third JJ Star Trek movie and just in time for the 50th anniversary. Bob said "that’s worth considering."

Orci on Sequel characters, title & ‘moving’ Delta Vega

Bob also talked a bit about the title for the movie. Orci said in the comments section here at TrekMovie that he thinks the team have nailed down a title for the sequel. On the radio show he said there was a "75% chance" this title will contain the words "Star Trek."

From Trekmovie:

Bob also ruled out some characters/races that are not in the sequel…

Janice Rand
Gary Mitchell ("Where No Man Has Gone Before")
Charlie X ("Charlie X")
Ruk the android ("What Are Little Girls Made Of")
The Borg
Bob also said that he considers the use of "Delta Vega" in the Star Trek movie (a planet that was not supposed to be anywhere near Vulcan) was the most nitpickiest thing he gets called out for. He said they knew where it was supposed to be, but "we did it because we could, I’m sorry!"

You can listen to the entire show, including the Bob Orci interview where he talks a good amount of Ender’s Game at askmrkern.com.

I really hope it's a live action series... In this case then, most probably they will opt for the 10 episode format like in Game of Thrones, Falling Skies and The Walking Dead. Also, its success will greatly depend on how many of the main cast will reprise their roles

Here is some background on the "Measure of a Man" episode on the blue ray dvd at trekmovie
http://trekmovie.com/2012/06/25/writer-star-trek-tng-s2-blu-ray-to-include-extended-measure-of-a-man/


It would all look different but some how the same

Wired posted an extensive interview with former Star Trek producer Ronald D. Moore on 25 years of Next Generation and here is an excerpt.

Moore: People have to understand that the Star Trek films are a different animal. And that goes for the original series’ movies, as well as those from The Next Generation, and from J.J. By their nature, the Star Trek films are much more action-oriented, with space battles, big villains, lots of running and jumping. The stakes for Earth and the universe are always enormous.



But the lifeblood of Star Trek’s television shows is its morality plays and social commentary. It’s sci-fi that provides a prism on human society and culture. The movies are never really going to do what the episodes do, like split Picard into two in a transporter beam and then talk philosophically about the nature of humanity, which parts of our strength come from good and which from evil. The movies are never going to do that. Star Trek: The Next Generation was about those moral issues, about how societies grow and are differently affected. None of these are topics that the movies are going to tackle.

To create Star Trek in the form that people are familiar with requires another television series, and I think it will be successful again in that medium. You have to spend some time talking about its form and structure, and how to update it again for a new audience. You still want the “boldly go where no one has gone before” part with a ship, crew and ongoing mission. That’s part and parcel of the franchise.

But you have to be able to tackle big ideas, which are larger than chasing the villain of the week. That’s really not what the series was very good at. I mean, you could look back at the original Star Trek series or The Next Generation and find some cool action-adventure episodes with space battles, but the show is about so much more than that. If you were trying to do that flavor of Star Trek on television every week, it would just fail.

I agree that Trek is much more than the space battles etc but DS9 in the later seasons somehow managed to have awesome action-packed episodes every week. In any case, I really hope they make a new Trek series...

That and philosophical implications of it.