TMP continued…

[Warped9]

While I had quibbles with TMP when it was released in 1979 I still liked it overall, particularly after a decade of TOS reruns no matter how much I loved the series. Quibbles aside it juiced me sufficiently to hope for new adventures in this new era, new adventures set within a new 5-year mission.

But thats not what we got.

There was a lot of excitement when TWOK premiered. It promised more action and drama of a different kind from TMP. I was there on opening night in my area. I was juiced by the opening fanfare when the screen lit up…

But TWOK wasn’t what I had been really hoping for. Make no mistake, TWOK was a roller coaster action/adventure with good lines and decent character moments. It is arguably Star Trek’s most popular film throughout the franchise. But it also feels like something of a reboot. Instead of our heroes aboard a newly refit Enterprise embarked on a new 5-year mission we get the beginning of our heroes being put out to pasture over the course of the next five films. Even the Enterprise was turned into an outdated vessel ready to be decommissioned and eventually destroyed.

I saw each of the successive films when they came out and enjoyed them all in varying degrees, but they weren’t the movies I had hoped for. And over time I’ve found I have no real desire to revisit those films—there just a part of me left disappointed with how the film era evolved.

Flash forward forty years and we finally got the completed version of TMP—the version we should have gotten back in ‘79. No, it’s not perfect, but it is so much better than what was originally released. And it has reaffirmed my feelings about what I had hoped to see following TMP.

There is no way to know how much better TMP would have been received if it had been properly completed in 1979. And there is no way to know if what we had gotten afterward would have indeed been better than what we got. Nonetheless what we actually got still leaves me wanting and wondering…

Several years ago I even sat down and worked out treatments for TWOK-TUC, but set within the TMP era and within context of a second 5-year mission. I really should try to dig those out for curiosity’s sake…

Anyway, does anyone else wonder about what we might have had if they had continued in the TMP era?

 

[NCC-73515]

I enjoyed some of the comics they made (or take place) between TMP and WOK

 

[Warped9]

I enjoyed some of the comics they made (or take place) between TMP and WOK

As crazy as it might sound I never got to read any of those. I did read some of the Pocket Books novels that came out around that time.

 

[Therin of Andor]

While I had quibbles with TMP when it was released in 1979 I still liked it overall, particularly after a decade of TOS reruns no matter how much I loved the series. Quibbles aside it juiced me sufficiently to hope for new adventures in this new era, new adventures set within a new 5-year mission.

But thats not what we got.

There was a lot of excitement when TWOK premiered. It promised more action and drama of a different kind from TMP. I was there on opening night in my area. I was juiced by the opening fanfare when the screen lit up…

But TWOK wasn’t what I had been really hoping for. Make no mistake, TWOK was a roller coaster action/adventure with good lines and decent character moments. It is arguably Star Trek’s most popular film throughout the franchise. But it also feels like something of a reboot. Instead of our heroes aboard a newly refit Enterprise embarked on a new 5-year mission we get the beginning of our heroes being put out to pasture over the course of the next five films. Even the Enterprise was turned into an outdated vessel ready to be decommissioned and eventually destroyed.

I saw each of the successive films when they came out and enjoyed them all in varying degrees, but they weren’t the movies I had hoped for. And over time I’ve found I have no real desire to revisit those films—there just a part of me left disappointed with how the film era evolved.

Flash forward forty years and we finally got the completed version of TMP—the version we should have gotten back in ‘79. No, it’s not perfect, but it is so much better than what was originally released. And it has reaffirmed my feelings about what I had hoped to see following TMP.

There is no way to know how much better TMP would have been received if it had been properly completed in 1979. And there is no way to know if what we had gotten afterward would have indeed been better than what we got. Nonetheless what we actually got still leaves me wanting and wondering…

Several years ago I even sat down and worked out treatments for TWOK-TUC, but set within the TMP era and within context of a second 5-year mission. I really should try to dig those out for curiosity’s sake…

Anyway, does anyone else wonder about what we might have had if they had continued in the TMP era?

The novel, "Ex Machina", by Christopher L Bennett, is a great sequel to TMP.

But in 1980, as a newbie fan, I recall some tidbits in various professional reviews that had me very excited for more TMP-era movies using the uniforms, the new aliens (and their gorgeous costumes, barely glimpsed in TMP) and maybe some of the "Phase II" stories sitting aside. Yeah, the scripts were early drafts, but it would have been fun to finally see Lieutenant Xon.

One of the mags suggested that a new theatrical movie might need a strong humanoid villain this time, such as "a renegade Andorian". Having only just seen "Barbarella" on TV, I immediately imagined John Phillip Law in such a role. If only.

 

[Warped9]

Given Spock was back for TMP there was no need for Xon. The actor who would have played Xon was given the role of Lt. Cmdr. Branch in command of the Epsilon 9 station and he was killed when the station was destroyed. That said Xon could have been recast if they felt they needed another Vulcan.

 

[arch101]

I have championed a post-TMP animated series for decades. I'd adapt Ex Machina as the pilot and go from there...

 

[Vulcanoid]

As crazy as it might sound I never got to read any of those. I did read some of the Pocket Books novels that came out around that time.

I recommend giving them a go, or at least the Marvel 5-issue series. Despite having all the obvious cheeky nods of 'Oh that's going to happen in TWOK and the sequels' through some dialogue and developments, I think it works things out in a nice way that gives a good sampling of how it must've been at that time during that second 5 year mission. Also it's some reasonably good art of them and when it comes to TMP uniforms that's all I ever ask for.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Given Spock was back for TMP there was no need for Xon. The actor who would have played Xon was given the role of Lt. Cmdr. Branch in command of the Epsilon 9 station and he was killed when the station was destroyed. That said Xon could have been recast if they felt they needed another Vulcan.

And yet Lieutenant Xon essentially morphed into the male Dr Savik, who morphed into the female Lieutenant Saavik, who morphed into Lieutenant Valeris.

Poor David Gautreaux had put in several months of study and meditation preparing to play Xon.

 

[FredH]

I don’t think TMP would’ve been received much differently, because the “finished” version really isn’t much different at all. Nips and tucks and fx improvements that wouldn’t have mattered to ten year-old me aside, it’s the same film: which I liked, and a lot of people didn’t because they wanted basically something more like TWOK turned out to be. TMP simply hit at a time when people had been primed by Star Wars for something more actiony.

 

[CoveTom]

I don’t think TMP would’ve been received much differently, because the “finished” version really isn’t much different at all. Nips and tucks and fx improvements that wouldn’t have mattered to ten year-old me aside, it’s the same film: which I liked, and a lot of people didn’t because they wanted basically something more like TWOK turned out to be. TMP simply hit at a time when people had been primed by Star Wars for something more actiony.

Also, remember that TMP wasn't a failure by any means. Adjusted for inflation, it was the most financially successful Trek movie of them all until the J.J. Abrams films. It drew a very large box office return. It's just that Paramount had allowed its costs to skyrocket and insisted on folding all the Phase II costs into it as well that made its financial returns less than the studio would have liked.

 

[Admiral Archer]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record...

I think, once Strange New Worlds finishes, the cast members from that series who portray characters that appear in TMP should continue into a spinoff set during Kirk's second five year mission. Paul Wesley is already too old to play a Lt. Kirk, but he's nearly old enough to play Admiral Kirk from TMP. Ethan Peck, Celia Rose Gooding, Jess Bush and Martin Quinn could reprise their SNW roles aboard the refit Enterprise just a few years down the road. And imagine a Paramount Plus series with the refit Enterprise! It would be glorious.

Most Trek fans want Legacy to be the next Trek. I want Kirk's second five year mission. (Although it would be nice if we could have both lol)

 

[CoveTom]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record...

I think, once Strange New Worlds finishes, the cast members from that series who portray characters that appear in TMP should continue into a spinoff set during Kirk's second five year mission. Paul Wesley is already too old to play a Lt. Kirk, but he's nearly old enough to play Admiral Kirk from TMP. Ethan Peck, Celia Rose Gooding, Jess Bush and Martin Quinn could reprise their SNW roles aboard the refit Enterprise just a few years down the road. And imagine a Paramount Plus series with the refit Enterprise! It would be glorious.

Most Trek fans want Legacy to be the next Trek. I want Kirk's second five year mission. (Although it would be nice if we could have both lol)

I would love to see the refit Enterprise in action again, though I must be honest that I fear they would not do it justice. Every time the TOS Enterprise has been in something, they want to tweak it. The refit does not need any tweaking. It was perfect. If they go back to that era, they need to leave it alone and use it as it was in TMP.

 

[NCC-73515]

They'd redesign everything, inside and outside, props and costumes (that one I could at least understand), so I hope they don't

 

[Procutus]

Back in 1980, after TMP had been out for a few months, I had high hopes that Paramount might proceed then with the Phase II series, using the movie as a launch point; in essence, exactly what Warped9 suggested in his original post, a series of movies (or a show) set in a new 5YM, using the sets, costumes and various other elements from the movie. That would've been the cat's ass but it was not the road taken.

I too, enjoyed the other films when they were released, but after all this time, I don't really have the urge to revisit them either. TMP is the exception, which I usually try to watch each December, on the 23rd (the day I saw it in 1979). It's definitely the kind of Trek that I would've enjoyed seeing more of.

 

[Riley]

I grew up with TOS reruns and the TOS films and love them all. However, as I've gotten older, I've come to feel the same as you do. TMP beautifully restores the TOS crew, bringing Kirk, Spock, and McCoy back to the Enterprise and ends with "the human adventure is just beginning." TWOK then jumps ahead roughly twelve years and we miss that adventure.

Instead, we did indeed get a soft reboot. Kirk is obsessed with his age, even though he's only fifty. It seems to me that this shouldn't be the big issue it was made into in a 23rd century setting, but I get why Meyer went that way. It's a shame, though, as we didn't get to see the Enterprise crew go boldly ever again, at least not as explorers. This is why I always passionately defend TMP and TFF, as both capture that TOS spirit in ways that none of the other TOS films did aside from TVH.

I know Paramount wanted to compete with Star Wars, but I often find myself saddened by the fact that Phas II didn't happen. We could have had so much more time with the TOS crew. Thankfully, as others have mentioned, there are solid comics and novels that do a good job of somewhat filling that void.

 

[Procutus]

In my opinion, one of the very best post-TMP novels is Christopher Bennett's Ex Machina. It truly felt like an extension of the events from the movie, and I also loved how Christopher slipped in a reference to Jonathan Archer's ship (in a very appropriate spot). But what I really think I appreciate the most is how well he writes the Enterprise crew, and the manner in which their relationships fell back into place after being apart for three years.

 

[Warped9]

Back in the day after seeing TMP I started reading some of the books from Pocket that looked to have TMP tie-in covers. Initially I thought these were a way of continuing onward from Tmp, but I soon realized a lot of the stories were still set in the TOS era.

It's been so long I don't think I really remember much of those titles. Of course, seeing a list would jog my memory. I recall thinking The Wounded Sky made a good post TMP adventure even if it wasn't written that way.

 

[Procutus]

I worked at the now long-gone chain Waldenbooks back in the time period we're both remembering, so I had the advantage of knowing about ST novels ahead of their release. And yeah, I was jazzed at some of the initial covers that Pocket Books did when they first acquired the rights after Bantam, but very few were actually SET after the events of TMP. A good one that was set in that period was
Covenant of the Crown by Howard Weinstein, which lived up to the cover image, showing the TMP field jackets. There were a few others, but most were set during the original 5YM.

 

[Warped9]

I read quite a few of those books back then, but then my interest started to wane. Back in the ‘70s a new book was a treasure, but the nonstop books from the ‘80s-‘90s onward got to be too much. I still read the occasional book, but the dedicated interest just wasn’t there anymore.

 

[Procutus]

Back in the ‘70s a new book was a treasure, but the nonstop books from the ‘80s-‘90s onward got to be too much.

My feelings exactly! Back in the 70s, each new one (which were so sporadic) was a treasure to enjoy and cherish. But like you, there reached a point where I did feel a bit over-saturated by what Pocket was churning out and eventually, I became much more selective in my Trek reading.

One that I do remember fondly from the pre-TNG era is Strangers from the Sky. While the story no longer fits into canon events, it was very entertaining and thought-provoking and based much of it's background on the old Star Trek Chronology from 1980. I still have a hard-cover edition of it, which I may just fit into my reading pile for the coming year, just for nostalgia.