Things we want to see in the new Star Trek series

Our wish list includes Tholians, the 25th century, time travel and stand-alone episodes. What do you want to see?

November 4, 2015, 3:32PM By MeTV Staff

There is a new Star Trek series coming in 2017. At last. A decade has passed since Enterprise disappeared. So far CBS, who will air the as-yet-untitled new series exclusively on its CBS All Access streaming service, has released scant details about the show. Here's what we do know. The show will feature "new characters seeking imaginative new worlds." It will not be directly related to the new films. That's about it.

Star Trek

11/23 11:00PMThe Enterprise Incident
"Captain Kirk becomes increasingly erratic and orders the Enterprise into Romulan space where the ship is captured by a beautiful Romulan commander."
11/30 11:00PMThe Paradise Syndrome
"Stardate 4842.6: Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to a planet to inform any inhabitants that they must evacuate the planet due to an approaching asteroid's imminent collision. A society similar to Native American Indians has arisen on the planet, but near their villages, the landing party finds a strange obelisk whose design and construction is far beyond the capabilities of the planet's natives. Kirk finds that the monolith can be opened by the combination of sounds found in the order "Kirk to Enterprise," but when he enters the obelisk, he is attacked by waves of energy that erase his mind. With no time to spare, Spock and McCoy have to return to the Enterprise without Kirk, and begin trying to use the ship's tractor beam to divert the asteroid. Meanwhile, Kirk becomes the tribal chief, takes a wife and even expects to become a father, but the Enterprise may not be able to save her former captain's future."
12/7 11:00PMAnd the Children Shall Lead
"The Enterprise travels to a planet where a scientific team has killed themselves except for the children, who began to act oddly."

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So, while we wait 14 months, we are left to speculate and dream. As MeTV airs Star Trek every Saturday night, our tastes tend to run to the classic original. With that, here are things we hope to see in the upcoming Star Trek series. Tell us what you want to see!

1) An episodic series, not an ongoing narrative.

This is a complaint that can be levied against most modern television. We miss the days when each hour of television was a self-contained story, with a beginning, middle and end. It forced the writers to be a little tighter. While a running story can be great, ending each episode in a cliffhanger, it limits the options of what can happen. Also, if you miss an episode, you are not lost. Also, it's not Lost. Each original Star Trek was a mini-movie, and we want that again.

2) A new ship that is not the Enterprise.

The Enterprise is one coolest spaceship designs of all time — right up there with the Millennium Falcon. (Commence debate.) That being said, we've seen constant design tweaks over the decades on the Enterprise A, B, C, D, E… It's time for a new design. Star Trek was built upon new ideas. Voyager was different-ish. Let's get a bold, fresh look. The Deep Space Nine station was gorgeous design.

3) New technology we have not seen.

Part of the brilliance of the 1960s series was the science in the fiction. The show inspired budding brainiacs to grow up and build some of the technology seen on the show. Today, we live in a world of smartphones and virtual reality headsets, and seemingly every day there is some announcement about a new tractor beam or skin healing device inspired by Trek. Let's have similar inspiration. A camera in your head that captures human-eye-quality images? Why not.

4) Philosophy and optimism.

Philosophy is what sets Trek apart from Stargate and Star Wars. Not everything conflict needs to be waged with phasers, a mere echo of a myth. Sometimes, intellectual struggles are more gripping. Also, too much of modern sci-fi is set in an apocalyptic future. Part of Star Trek's allure was its hope for a peaceful, fantastic future.

5) Time travel.

We love the episodes that sent Spock and Kirk to our Earth (Mayberry, specifically). The Star Trek films dabbled with this in the fourth installment. The Deep Space Nine crew played baseball. We want to see characters engage in a world filled with Google and Tesla cars.

A Tholian from the original series.

6) A woman captain.

Janeway was awesome. Let's have another to begin to balance out Kirk, Picard, Sisco and Archer. This is a franchise known for its diverse casting.

7) The 25th century.

In previous series and films we've seen the 22nd (Enterprise), 23rd (TOS) and 24th (TNG, DS9, Voyager) centuries. The 25th remains largely untapped and unmapped.

8) Tholians and Tribbles.

Wild, non-humanoid aliens in general, really. We can bet that the upcoming series will feature Vulcans, Romulans, Klingons, the Borg. Let's dig a little deeper into the old school for some cool creatures. We always liked the Tholians, because they looked like something from video games or Tron two decades early. Enterprise gave us a better look at their bug-like anatomy. Also, Tribbles! Please!