How would you have felt if JJ Abrams had rebooted Trek based on the original pilot rather than TOS?

lordrezeon

We all know how the reaction and impressions of the reboot have been very mixed. With many impressed by the aesthetics and cinematography but being less impressed by reimagined characterizations. Its simply the nature of a reboot, making changes to established material tends to garner mixed reactions a lot of the time.

However I got to thinking what would the fan base's reaction have been if JJ had chosen to base the rebooted universe entirely on the original pilot episode "The Cage"? Steering completely away from the TOS cast (with the sole exception of Spock) and instead making the reboots about Captain Pike's adventures rather than Kirk's.

I think this would have been a very interesting way to reboot things, you would get to revisit the classic 23rd century, while at the same time being able to stay fresh without having to trample over the classic characterizations of the TOS cast.

khan5000

The new movies are in a different reality. They are not supposed to behave like the characters from the tv shows and movies because they are having different life experiences. The brief flirtation between Spock and Uhura in the early TOS episodes is now a full blown relationship in the new movies.

markhawkman

I think people would have complained MORE.

khan5000

Star Trek fans hate new things. TNG was hated up until Best of Both Worlds.

markhawkman

TNG was "hated" until it was no longer the new thing and the haters moved on to the next new thing.

khan5000

Watch the documentary "Chaos on the Bridge". It's about the early TNG and they talk about the hate they got at conventions and that the hate mail stopped after BOBW aired.

lordrezeon

*sigh* I never intended for this thread to be about who doesn't like which part of the franchise... Everyone has their own opinions on the matter, I've personally never felt the need to judge others for liking different parts of Trek than myself.


Back to the actual topic though, so is nobody even remotely interested in the idea of how a reboot focused on Captain Pike would have been? He was honestly my favorite character in the rebooted universe, so sad that he was written out before his time. With only the stuff from "The Cage" (later recycled into the two parter "The Menagerie") there was plenty of vagueness to allow JJ to define the characters in his own way and take Trek in a new unexpected direction.

evilmark444

Might have been interesting for some of the side characters to make an appearance at least, like the original female first officer.

rattler2

Eh... redoing The Cage... didn't they already sneak that episode into another episode because The Cage was a failed pilot?

Also... They kinda did something similar with the reboot Battlestar Galactica I think. The attack on the colonies by the Cylons was pretty much the same.

khan5000

Maybe a series showing Pike and Marcus and maybe even Garth during their prime days in Starfleet. I could see it.
Do I think the fan base would accept it over the current films? Nope. Probably the same complaints would arise

artan42

lordrezeon wrote: »

*sigh* I never intended for this thread to be about who doesn't like which part of the franchise... Everyone has their own opinions on the matter, I've personally never felt the need to judge others for liking different parts of Trek than myself.


Back to the actual topic though, so is nobody even remotely interested in the idea of how a reboot focused on Captain Pike would have been? He was honestly my favorite character in the rebooted universe, so sad that he was written out before his time. With only the stuff from "The Cage" (later recycled into the two parter "The Menagerie") there was plenty of vagueness to allow JJ to define the characters in his own way and take Trek in a new unexpected direction.

It would have been great. It still wouldn't have stopped the crybabies, but nothing ever will.
Any new ST ever will garner the exact same reaction. You can set it in TAR, post Nemesis, between TUC and TNG, between TMP and TUC, between TOS and TMP, between ENT and TOS, between ENT and the Kelvin period, the far future (29th, 31st century) whenever and they will still moan about how their one true Trek has been irrevocably destroyed by this new Trek.​​

khan5000

Which is probably why they haven't revealed too much about the new show.

jonsills

You wanted to know if said reboot would have garnered as much hate.

The answer is "yes, if not more."​​

rattler2

artan42 wrote: »

...and they will still moan about how their one true Trek has been irrevocably destroyed by this new Trek.​​

Quoted for Truth. Some of these diehard fans just hate change. Doesn't matter if its an improvement or not, they will rage against it because it is different then the "purity" of their favorite series as if it is something holy.

It gets that rediculous. Pretty sure I've said it before, but there are honestly people out there who believe that anything that Gene Roddenberry didn't have direct control over is not Star Trek. Which basically wipes out everything after TNG s2. They act like Rodennberry is some kind of Saint. While I enjoy Star Trek, I don't see its creator that way. I accept all Trek. Not just his. While he set the foundation, it is up to future generations to build upon said foundation.

khan5000

While i appreciate everything Mr Roddenberry did I find myself drawn more to Mr Meyers take on it.

warmaker001b

rattler2 wrote: »

artan42 wrote: »

...and they will still moan about how their one true Trek has been irrevocably destroyed by this new Trek.​​

Quoted for Truth. Some of these diehard fans just hate change. Doesn't matter if its an improvement or not, they will rage against it because it is different then the "purity" of their favorite series as if it is something holy.

It gets that rediculous. Pretty sure I've said it before, but there are honestly people out there who believe that anything that Gene Roddenberry didn't have direct control over is not Star Trek. Which basically wipes out everything after TNG s2. They act like Rodennberry is some kind of Saint. While I enjoy Star Trek, I don't see its creator that way. I accept all Trek. Not just his. While he set the foundation, it is up to future generations to build upon said foundation.

Sorry, but that's pretty stupid. JJ rehashed long established characters, characters that were "it" for the franchise for its first 20-something years before TNG even went on the air. Characters that had onscreen several years of TOS and 5 movies with them as the core group. JJ didn't need to reinvent them.

I firmly believe it would have been better off if JJ took Star Trek into a new direction instead of chopping up and recycling something that was done before. TRIBBLE TOS era. TRIBBLE TNG/DS9/VOY era. Do something new and not regurgitate, swirl around, then spit out what was done before. It was annoying watching caricatures of the TOS characters.

As for the criticism of whatever new Star Trek arose? Hell yeah, because those productions deserved it.

Please tell me "The Motionless Picture" was good stuff.

Please tell me those first 2 seasons of TNG were great.

Please tell me those early DS9 seasons were exciting.

Etc.

Quite a bit of Star Trek started off rocky but they sometimes turned it around into something good. We got "The Wrath of Khan" following TMP. TNG turned it around and became a great show, capably standing on its own apart from the TOS crew. DS9 found its groove and never let up afterwards. Doesn't always happen to turn out for the better over time, but it can.

evilmark444

azrael605 wrote: »

All Trek is good, even the bad stuff.

So you like Threshold?

evilmark444

azrael605 wrote: »

And Spock"s Brain too.

markhawkman

The concept of Spock's brain was actually very interesting. But some aspects came off as silly.

khan5000

I love all Trek. I think if we can accept some of the outrageous episodes of TOS, TNG, Final Frontier and pretty much all the TNG movies...then we should accept the KT

mustrumridcully0

I would probably have enjoyed that.

Though I still am more a fan of the idea of continuing the story where we last left it. (At the end of DS9... *ahem*)

lilchibiclari

lordrezeon wrote: »

However I got to thinking what would the fan base's reaction have been if JJ had chosen to base the rebooted universe entirely on the original pilot episode "The Cage"? Steering completely away from the TOS cast (with the sole exception of Spock) and instead making the reboots about Captain Pike's adventures rather than Kirk's.

I think this would have been a very interesting way to reboot things, you would get to revisit the classic 23rd century, while at the same time being able to stay fresh without having to trample over the classic characterizations of the TOS cast.

I agree with the idea that the biggest annoyance of the "JJ" reboot is that he took the established characters from the TOS cast and took them in a radically different direction. To many fans, Kirk will always be Shatner, Spock will always be Nimoy, etc. Making the rebooted stories revolve around some other characters (e.g. Pike's Enterprise instead of Kirk's Enterprise) would have given much more freedom to make new stories without everybody yelling "that's not Kirk/Spock/etc.".

evilmark444

lilchibiclari wrote: »

lordrezeon wrote: »

However I got to thinking what would the fan base's reaction have been if JJ had chosen to base the rebooted universe entirely on the original pilot episode "The Cage"? Steering completely away from the TOS cast (with the sole exception of Spock) and instead making the reboots about Captain Pike's adventures rather than Kirk's.

I think this would have been a very interesting way to reboot things, you would get to revisit the classic 23rd century, while at the same time being able to stay fresh without having to trample over the classic characterizations of the TOS cast.

I agree with the idea that the biggest annoyance of the "JJ" reboot is that he took the established characters from the TOS cast and took them in a radically different direction. To many fans, Kirk will always be Shatner, Spock will always be Nimoy, etc. Making the rebooted stories revolve around some other characters (e.g. Pike's Enterprise instead of Kirk's Enterprise) would have given much more freedom to make new stories without everybody yelling "that's not Kirk/Spock/etc.".

I actually thought the crew was pretty well cast

markhawkman

Even Bones! Casting Judge Dredd as a doctor was an interesting choice, but he's got the skills.

mustrumridcully0

lilchibiclari wrote: »

lordrezeon wrote: »

However I got to thinking what would the fan base's reaction have been if JJ had chosen to base the rebooted universe entirely on the original pilot episode "The Cage"? Steering completely away from the TOS cast (with the sole exception of Spock) and instead making the reboots about Captain Pike's adventures rather than Kirk's.

I think this would have been a very interesting way to reboot things, you would get to revisit the classic 23rd century, while at the same time being able to stay fresh without having to trample over the classic characterizations of the TOS cast.

I agree with the idea that the biggest annoyance of the "JJ" reboot is that he took the established characters from the TOS cast and took them in a radically different direction. To many fans, Kirk will always be Shatner, Spock will always be Nimoy, etc. Making the rebooted stories revolve around some other characters (e.g. Pike's Enterprise instead of Kirk's Enterprise) would have given much more freedom to make new stories without everybody yelling "that's not Kirk/Spock/etc.".

I think good characters transcend their actors, and they should be revisited at some point. We do it with classic plays, with Sherlock Holmes or James Bond. We can do it with the Star Trek characters, too.