Where is Gene Roddenberry when you need him?

Yes, I know that’s a rhetorical question, but in all seriousness…we are in desperate need of some good Trek! The world is going to hell in a hand basket.

War, famine, intolerance, prejudice, poverty, strife, gluttony, all those things that would be solved if the Vulcan’s would just hurry up and get here…I wonder how many Cochrane families out there named their son Zefram…
I was watching ST:DS9 and ST:Voyager the other day, since both of them are in syndication on SpikeTV (the testosterone version of Lifetime), and I realized that Trek has been with us for a LONG time (except for a dearth right now).

Starting way back in the late 60’s, we were introduced to the world of Captain Kirk, and his crazy adventures. I just recently purchased the entire ST:TOS series on DVD, because I had never seen a single episode of the show, and I felt it was my duty to support the franchise. David and I have started watching the show, and it’s actually quite good for the time period, if you can get beyond the acting, costumes, set design, and “alien” worlds. They introduced several concepts which subsequent shows built off of, and I like that.

Let me segue for a brief moment into some of Gene’s other great work, that you may or may not be familiar with. Aside from the world of Star Trek, we’ve also had the opportunity to experience Earth Final Conflict (the first 4 seasons were excellent, while the last season was abysmal), and Andromeda. Now I have to say, that I absolutely LOVED these shows (both are out of production now). The Taelon’s were a wonderful creation (Leni Parker and Anita La Selva were splendid), and anyone who doesn’t get a little hot looking at Steve Bacic and Gordon Michael Woolvett doesn’t deserve to be on this planet.

If you’re not familiar with these shows, I encourage you to beg, borrow, or steal them from a friend who has them. (and I’d like to add a little plug in here for Majel Barrett, who is by far one of the most entertaining empaths in the universe, and who has appeared in nearly every single Roddenberry creation)
But back to Trek, because that’s the most well known creation of Gene’s. The original series introduced us to new possibilities: diversity of an incredible nature – every race, gender, species, working together for a common goal. Next Generation showed us that the universe is even bigger and more exciting, and that the enemies of earth are even nastier than we originally thought. DS9 showed us that living in space could be a reality, but also a great risk. Voyager taught us that when you’re stranded on the other side of the universe, the chain of command becomes a family structure instead (and that CG can be used to create some really cool creatures).

Enterprise didn’t teach me anything, because I’ve never watched a single episode. Now don’t get me wrong – Scott Bakula…WOO WOO! But it’s not a good enough reason to watch a show that should never have existed. What is the deal with this desire for prequels? You make a few movies/shows, then realize…hey we can’t go forward in time any more because people are bored. Let’s go backwards and see what happened before this all started! How many prequels can you come up with off the top of your head? Batman Begins? Star Wars Episodes 1-3? The Hobbit? Enterprise? Why can’t we just do things in order?? But that’s not what this is about.

We need a new Trek right away, and we need a new Trek with Q.

Q threatened at the end of ST:TNG that he would be watching us; he would check in on us from time to time. Aside from visiting ST:Voyager to torment Janeway a couple of times, where has he been? He hasn’t appeared in any of the feature films, and so we’ve never had the opportunity to explore the ‘unknown possibilities of existence‘…

Where is our next Star Trek movie that brings together the best of Old, Next Gen, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise Q? Where is our exploration of the species and our existence in the universe? What the world needs now is Trek! A new, exciting, groundbreaking Trek, that takes us into the next evolution of our minds.

Are you with me?

from startrek.com, on the new movie: According to Variety, the proposed story will focus on the early days of James T. Kirk and Spock, including their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and their first mission in space. UPDATE 04.27.06: Abrams has since indicated this may not be the case; see this article for his recent comments.

Thank goodness. Perhaps he feels the same way I do about prequels… [ratings]