Why would it be set on Earth?
Why not set it on a parallel Earth where crime is more prevalent? And Starfleet has set up a starbase on the planet.
What would you say to a weekly procedural show in the Trek universe like police or CSI type of show?
- Thread starter Gingerbread Demon
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Why not set it on a parallel Earth where crime is more prevalent? And Starfleet has set up a starbase on the planet.
Maybe I'm out of touch, but I'm hard pressed to think of a current top rated American TV show that qualifies as "political drama".
Because we've hardly ever seen how Earth operates in Star Trek, and I think it would be interesting to move away from the Starship/Starfleet installation paradigm. I wouldn't necessarily have any Starfleet characters.
Setting it on a crime-ridden parallel earth defeats the whole purpose. You can do that in any dystopian sci-fi.
I'd rather TREK would take the multi-plotted HILL STREET/ST. ELSEWHERE approach........but perhaps BABYLON 5 and THE ORVILLE already did to a limited extent.
Or the lack of scarcity might make for a more compelling drama. Crimes are committed for other reasons than poverty or need. Greed, jealousy, and lust for power and control are strong motives for crime and, despite Roddenberry'ideals Star Trek is populated by characters that have such motives despite humans supposedly being more enlightened than our century.
So, a 10, 12 episode season featuring law enforcement investigating one crime a season could allow for a deep dive exploring the motives and ramifications of crime in the 24th century on "paradise" where everyone's needs are met and humans are supposed to be more evolved to the point such crimes supposedly don't happen.
Next season, another criminal investigation.
What he said.
Just because a society is labeled "post scarcity" does not mean that there is zero crime. Humans are funny things and crime I can guarantee can and will happen even in such a society. But yeah we never get to see Earth life beyond a few quick scenes here and there. I'd love that for a series hence why I suggested my idea in the OP and to see what other people think.
Yeah, it' not like Trek hasn't done murder mysteries before. It's staple of the franchise. Often combined with a trial episode. Star Trek: Law & Order dun dun!
You mean a Samuel T. Cogley show. Yeah, I'd be in for it 
that type of soft serialization should have been what TNG was, to be honest. DS9 was late to the party. LA Law, and NYPD Blue were already firmly taking that approach, Murder One did the one-crime-per-year thing, X-Files introduced the mythology mix, which by the late 90s was taking over TV, with more complicated stories being told on shows like The Pretender, The Profiler, Buffy, etc...
Personally, thats my preferred type of tv; monster of the week episodes, mixed with a b or background plot eeking out mythology tidbits and cliffhangers at the end of each episode. 2000s tv, basically.
yeah, that was one i was thinking of but lumped it in with the gluttony of 2000s shows that follow that formula. For awhile just about every show on TV seemed to follow it. And they were just about all fantastic.
smallville, fringe, supernatural, grimm, person of interest, most of the arrowverse, the blacklist, blindspot, final seasons of elementary and castle. case-of-the-week balancing season long arcs. I love the serialization but most modern serialized shows are just so dark, serious and dramatic. I prefer the balance. Other ENT's latter half, Trek has never really done this. DSC was too heavily serialized for me. Lower Decks hits a good mix. SNW not quite enough, but enough progress in the backgroud that its passable.
I missed a lot of Castle. What happens to Alexis and what was that talking pyramid thing he had?
I'm a third into the final season. I slowed down and am only watching one a week and taking hiatus breaks where i am "supposed to" to stretch it out. She seems fine, he has a detective agency and she is working with him early in the season. I'm sure they go away from that, but I could totally have seen it becoming a spin-off of itself. The pyramid was just their own non-proprietory version of Siri or Alexa. I am about to finish Elementary tonight, but wish I had stopped at Season 6 - the perfect ending.
I have about 15 episodes left. It might? Lol.
I don't watch procedural cop shows, so I wouldn't really have any interest in any Star Trek-themed variation they could come up with. Same goes with hospital dramas, lawyer dramas, crime dramas etc.
Star Trek: The Next Generation was already procedural enough for me.
Star Trek: The Next Generation was already procedural enough for me.
It’s funny, but I’ve noticed in the past the basic dynamics and formula of a Star Trek series fits the story structure of most lawyer/hospital procedurals. I first noticed it while watching a David E. Kelley drama called The Practice, and realized how the dynamic between the characters who were ostensibly the two lead attorneys of the firm at the center of the show reminded me of the captain-first officer dynamic in Star Trek. I think the story structure similarities are especially true for lawyer series (which may be why William Shatner was so great in Boston Legal).
But usually in legal dramas you have:
- A rag-tag group of people from various backgrounds, who may have specialities in certain areas, and are led by someone who’s able to balance their opinions in the same way Kirk or Picard finds consensus and provides direction for their crew.
- Each legal case is similar to the “planet-of-the-week” stories, where the team of lawyers work to find a solution, and in doing so it provides insight on their characters, perspectives, and sometimes the larger cultural issues at play.
- The format allows individual characters to have their own “spotlight” episodes where they have to deal with a case on their own the same way Star Trek has episodes centered on just Spock or Scotty and how they deal with a problem when separated from the group.
- The group dynamic of the legal drama depicts the same team/found family dynamics in Star Trek. These people who have been thrown together through common purpose, both find ways to hopefully help other people, and in doing so help each other and grow closer as friends and family.
What if such a show focused on a different department of the same starship each week? Although I suppose most Trek plotlines require contributions from multiple departments.
The USS Anthology?
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