What would you say to a weekly procedural show in the Trek universe like police or CSI type of show?

[JesterFace]

The topic title made me think STNG episode 'Aquiel', it's a murder mystery in its own way.

 

[The Wormhole]

This honestly just sounds like Star Trek to me. Star Trek, at least in the classic format laid out by The Original Series, IS a procedural. The Enterprise goes on a new mission every week, often to a new planet. A lot of their duties overlap with the police or the military. And McCoy occasionally has to solve a medical mystery like on House or CSI.

Harlan Ellison once derisively described Star Trek as "a cop show." And you can certainly draw parallels with how Star Trek is set up with how crime procedurals are. The Captain and XO are the lead detectives, the medical officer is the medical examiner. Science and engineering officers are the forensics people, security officers the uniform cops. Admirals and other Federation officials like ambassadors or whatever are stand-ins for police brass and city officials.

 

[Frontis]

Data would like to play Sherlock Holmes again

 

[Nerys Myk]

Would make for a good Lower Decks bit

Boimler; Well I'm off to Paris!

Mariner: Be sure pick up a wallet at the Transporter Terminal

 

[Phoenix219]

More like the rogue CIA.

So, just like the real CIA then.

 

[Citiprime]

Harlan Ellison once derisively described Star Trek as "a cop show." And you can certainly draw parallels with how Star Trek is set up with how crime procedurals are. The Captain and XO are the lead detectives, the medical officer is the medical examiner. Science and engineering officers are the forensics people, security officers the uniform cops. Admirals and other Federation officials like ambassadors or whatever are stand-ins for police brass and city officials.

There are a lot of times you can see Star Trek's roots as a "Western in space," and there's a lot of similarities to the modern cop show formula (i.e., agents of government solving mysteries) just in a frontier setting where weird alien shit happens..

If I remember correctly, Paramount executives referred to Deep Space Nine as "The Rifleman in space," since you have a widower who comes to a frontier town with his son and tries to bring order to a place rife with corruption, a weak government, and multiple forces vying for power.

 

[at Quark's]

Harlan Ellison once derisively described Star Trek as "a cop show." And you can certainly draw parallels with how Star Trek is set up with how crime procedurals are. The Captain and XO are the lead detectives, the medical officer is the medical examiner. Science and engineering officers are the forensics people, security officers the uniform cops. Admirals and other Federation officials like ambassadors or whatever are stand-ins for police brass and city officials.

I'm not sure I'd want to go that far, but the 'mystery/problem solving' plot ('what the heck is going on? / how can we solve problem X/defeat antagonist Y? ') is really common. I think there not too many episodes that don't have that in some form.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

After all, space is a mysterious place. Filled with strange, new, unknown, scary, wondrous things. It may be where no man has gone before, but you certainly find plenty of allegories for things man has seen before.