Strange New Worlds trailer

[Mallus]

You have been cooped up in a flying tin can for years, why would you not want open space?!

Right. Who wouldn't miss Earth nature? On alien planets it seems like ever flower and muddle of mud is trying to kill you!

 

[Ryujin]

Right. Who wouldn't miss Earth nature? On alien planets it seems like ever flower and muddle of mud is trying to kill you!

Some are trying to make you happy.

 

[Umbran]

Not sure if I'm remembering correctly

Sorry, you aren't.

...but I think that was what the network told him they wanted

That's incorrect.

Roddenberry presented a treatment to Desilu Studios, using the "Wagon Train to the Stars" as the working title. Lucille Ball was head of the studio, thought it had promise, and had the studio work with Roddenberry to develop his treatment into a script, which they then pitched to NBC.

NBC paid to make a pilot ("The Cage") which they rejected. But seeing promise, they commissioned a second pilot ("Where No Man Has Gone Before") which eventually was shown as the third episode of the first season.

Note that there's a divide here: the network and the studio are two different entities. Desilu studios eventually became Paramount.

 

[Ryujin]

Sorry, you aren't.



That's incorrect.

Roddenberry presented a treatment to Desilu Studios, using the "Wagon Train to the Stars" as the working title. Lucille Ball was head of the studio, thought it had promise, and had the studio work with Roddenberry to develop his treatment into a script, which they then pitched to NBC.

NBC paid to make a pilot ("The Cage") which they rejected. But seeing promise, they commissioned a second pilot ("Where No Man Has Gone Before") which eventually was shown as the third episode of the first season.

Note that there's a divide here: the network and the studio are two different entities. Desilu studios eventually became Paramount.

I still feel blessed that I got to see the first aired episode, on CFTO (our local CTV affiliate) two days before folks in the US

 

[Willie the Duck]

That was Gene Roddenberry’s original pitch.

To clarify, it wasn't 'wagon train to the stars,' it was 'Wagon Train to the stars.' As in, a very specific show that Roddenberry wanted to emulate, just in space. The primary comparison isn't that Star Trek would be a space western, but that it would have the same format -- protagonist group is mobile and every episode goes to a new location with new guest stars and a local conflict (or one generated by their presence) to resolve by the end of the episode. If Star Trek had been initially pitched in the mid-late 70s instead of the 60s, it would have been 'Love Boat to the stars.'

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well, each individual story would have to be in a particular time setting, and you'd need to communicate that to the viewers in a satisfying way, which could get awkward.

But broadly - a Star Trek anthology series could be interesting. It could be really interesting if they made it a venue for prominent or upcoming sci-fi writers to engage with Trek.

I’m thinking a stardate prominently displayed at the beginning with the episode title should do it, especially if the prerelease ads & trailers made it clear it was an anthology show. If the fanbase see unis & ship designs from a variety of eras, they’ll get it, and hopefully pass it along to newer viewers. Good teaser clips for upcoming episodes would help, too.

And as you suggest, using it as a gateway for bringing talent- old and new- into the setting, it would be a very good idea. (I hadn’t considered that myself, TBH.)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Right. Who wouldn't miss Earth nature? On alien planets it seems like ever flower and muddle of mud is trying to kill you!

Welcome to Spacestralia!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If Star Trek had been initially pitched in the mid-late 70s instead of the 60s, it would have been 'Love Boat to the stars.'

Considering James Tiberius Kirk’s love life, Love Boat was almost Star Trek at sea.

 

[Umbran]

I’m thinking a stardate prominently displayed at the beginning with the episode title should do it...

No, that would definitely not do it. Only a small segment of very detailed oriented fandom remembers what Stardates are associated with TOS, or TNG, or other series.

 

[Rabulias]

I’m thinking a stardate prominently displayed at the beginning with the episode title should do it...

No, that would definitely not do it. Only a small segment of very detailed oriented fandom remembers what Stardates are associated with TOS, or TNG, or other series.

Maybe a standard Earth year instead would help? Or a relative date like "12 years before Kirk's 5 year mission" or "During Star Trek II, in another part of the galaxy."

It will still be confusing to new audiences only familiar with the Kelvin timeline films. :-/