Interesting, very interesting! click here for the original
Next Trek Series: Star Trek Mariner?
Entered by Vinnie Goodson 10/6/2002 8:09:13 PM
Vinnie landed a big one here, folks. I had heard similar rumors a few weeks ago, but nothing as detailed, or as definitive. Expect confirmation from the other rumor outlets on at least parts of this. WARNING: This blog has some minor Star Trek: Nemesis spoilers in it.--- FACER
Take this with a heaping bag of salt, but my Hollywood contacts have some very important things to say about Star Trek: Nemesis.
As you'll recall, the script leaked on the Internet did not have an appearance by the 'Titan,' Riker's new command. My scooper, let's call him Jeffrey, says that it was originally a Galaxy-class starship seen departing from the same spacedock the Enterprise-E is being dragged into. Why would that change?
Scooper 2, 'Beatrice', says that the design team behind the Prometheus and Equinox were brought in for an emergency ship design two months ago. An inhouse FX crew at Paramount was also 'set aside' to 'touch-up' Digital Domain's final CGI shot (the 'gaping hole' in the bridge with Blue Skies playing in the background).
Now you're probably saying, 'Who cares? Paramount just wants a new ship to sell models with.' Normally I'd say you're right, but a new scooper who wants to call himself 'the Bendmeister' says that Paramount wants to bleed Trek dry a little faster.
That's right, Series 6 ... while Enterprise is still filming. Since Picard and Co. are too expensive, they'll be reserved for feature films, while Riker, Troi, and the Titan (expect the name to change; Bendmeister says 'Mariner' is a top candidate) will start on Series 6.
What's more, Paramount execs, reportedly 'very disappointed' with the first season of Enterprise, want to continue the 'fresh blood' idea that brought Stuart Baird and John Logan into Nemesis and shift B&B to Series 6, if Dumb & Dumber don't clean up their act by the fourth season. If they don't, they're shifted to Series 6, along with executive producer Jonathan Frakes.
But who'll take over Enterprise? REALLY fresh blood. Paramount wants someone not involved with Trek at all in control, with a few veterans in charge of continuity and stuff. Who would the veterans be? Stewart and Spiner, who no more then a few years ago were rumored to be behind a 'takeover' of the Trek franchise, would be 'punished' with babysitter duties. B&B want them out entirely (not just their characters) and S&S want both series under control. Apparently, Paramount's idea of a 'compromise' is everyone's unhappy.
What's more, Enterprise will parallel the formation of the Federation with Series 6's fall of the Federation, in which "the UFP will lose over half its territories to a new, completely alien foe that Future Guy works for." The Titan/Mariner, an untested ship, will be in charge of making sure established threats (like the Remans, Borg, and Dominion) don't cause any trouble. If all goes as planned, Series 7 will chronicle the restoration of the UFP to its former glory, with "a fan favorite enemy from TOS joining the Federation."
That's about as far as anyone's established the franchise, but the real questions are: Will B&B be able to prove themselves and Enterprise to Paramount? And Who will land in control of Series 7? A franchise can't compete against itself and if the two Treks a week don't work (and from DS9 and Voyager, we know they probably won't), then the winning successful production team will take over Series 7.
Of course, this is all hearsay, unverified rumors, but it has a slight ring of truth. Paramount bringing in new-comers suggests an unhappiness with B&B and Spiner's recent 'assimilation' of the story in Nemesis shows that the usurpers still have a desire to dethrone the reigning writers. Is this the real future of Trek? Only time can tell.
