Yahoo News Bryan Fuller’s Star Trek - Five Things We Might See
So, it’s been about a week since the news that Bryan Fuller will be acting as showrunner on CBS’ new Star Trek TV show. At the minute, very little is known about the program, and where it will boldly go; however, we can make a decent guess at what it might look like…
5) It’ll probably be set in the Prime Universe
That likely warrants explaining, of course.
At the minute, Paramount is making a series of movies featuring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana (you may have heard of them; JJ Abrams directed the previous two, and Justin Lin is set to direct the next movie, Star Trek Beyond), and part of the hook for these movies is that they’re set in a different timeline to the original television series.
Interestingly though, CBS has the rights to the television series, but not the movie universe; seems likely, then, that they’d stick with what they already own, as opposed to creating a new timeline again for this series. Plus, in continuing the timeline from the show, there’s the potential for cameos from old cast members, like Michael Dorn or Patrick Stewart, which would certainly be fan pleasing.
4) It probably won’t be set on the Enterprise
A few years back. when doing interviews, Bryan Fuller revealed that he “would love to do something on the Reliant.” The Reliant, of course, is simply another starship - the Enterprise is one of a whole fleet, after all.
What’s interesting, though, is what this might indicate when taken into account with Bryan Fuller’s recent statements about returning the series to its 60s roots - perhaps we won’t be watching The Next Next Generation, but a series running concurrently with the original Star Trek from the 60s?
It’s an interesting prospect, and although it’s not one I’d necessarily consider my first choice, it does open a lot of opportunities - it’d be irresistible to have a Trials and Tribble-ations style episode, surely?
3) We’ll definitely see some greater diversity
Of course, his starship of choice isn’t the only thing Fuller has commented on - he’s also given an indication of his preferences for the crew…
“I want Angela Bassett to be the captain, that’s who I would love to have, you know Captain Angela Bassett and First Officer Rosario Dawson. I would love to do that version of the show and but that’s in the future to be told.”
It’s an idea that’s already been immortalised in the above art by Rob Cabebra, and you can understand why it’s an attractive proposition; Star Trek has always been a programme that strove for diversity, and this is another way to advance that.
Notable as well is the fact that Bryan Fuller is openly gay, and has demonstrated concern for various LGBT issues in the past; I’d say it’s a certainty that we’ll finally see Star Trek’s first gay crew member in this upcoming series.
2) There’s probably going to be a move towards serialised storytelling
I mean, in many ways, this is kind of an obvious one; it’s something TV in general has started to move towards more, and with the new Star Trek series taking place on an online streaming service, it seems likely that the model will be adapted to suit. (At the minute we don’t know how many episodes the series will receive but I’d be inclined to guess that it’ll be a run of 13 rather than 24.)
More to the point, though, that’s the direction we’ve already seen Star Trek begin to adapt to. Enterprise did it in it’s final years; one of the biggest criticisms levelled against Voyager is the fact that it never truly was serialised, and Bryan Fuller’s own favourite Star Trek spinoff series, Deep Space NIne, practically pioneered the serialised format for television drama. I’d argue that following this trend is almost a certainty.
1) It’ll definitely be fantastic
Everything I’ve said so far has been speculation, but this is something we can attest to for certain - whatever choices Bryan Fuller makes, this show is going to be fantastic.
Though I’ve never actually watched any of his programs, Bryan Fuller is an auteur I’ve respected for a long time - you only have to look and see the critical acclaim his programs have recieved to know that he’s an individual who knows exactly how to create interesting and compelling television. That, coupled with the fact that he’s a huge fan of Star Trek - come on, look at that photo of him cosplaying - means that he’s evidently a safe pair of hands for this series.
Personally, I can’t wait - I’m ready to, once again, boldly go where no one has gone before…
