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CBS Considering New Animated Trek Series For The Web

December 13, 2006
by Anthony Pascale , Filed under: Exclusive, New Animated Trek , trackback

Star Trek may be set for a comeback into yet another arena, this time in the 2nd dimension. TrekMovie.com has learned that there is a new animated Trek project under consideration at CBS, but it has yet to get the green light. The series would most likely be broadcast on the web and be made up of ‘Clone Wars’ like 6-minute mini episodes. The yet-to-be-named project was originally pitched by long-time Trek producer David Rossi (well known to TrekMovie.com readers as a producer on Trek Remastered) along with his producer/writer partners Doug Mirabello and José Muñoz. Rossi sat down with TrekMovie.com for an exclusive look at how he and his partners hope to create a different kind of Trek set in the 26th century.

The idea for a new animated Trek started back around the time that Star Trek Enterprise was cancelled. Rossi and his partners didn’t buy into the notion that Star Trek ‘needed a rest’. "We wanted to spark a little life into Star Trek and to keep it alive in people’s eyes," explains Rossi. They knew CBS and Paramount weren’t going to be keen on a new (and very expensive) live action show so they decided that animation was the way to go. Their first notion was to do a show set in the Original Series era (but not on the Enterprise), however that notion didn’t sit well with the people at CBS. Rossi then took the advice he got from LeVar Burton on how ‘Star Trek should always be about moving forward and what is next in the human adventure.’ So the team came up with the notion of taking a big leap forward and setting a show 150 years after the time of Picard and Star Trek Nemesis, but in a very different and somewhat dark Trek universe. CBS were more open to that idea and over the last year and a half have asked the team (now formed into Zero Room Productions) to flesh out their idea. Although CBS have not committed to the series, they have asked the team to develop test artwork and scripts for 5 mini episodes
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http://trekmovie.com/2006/12/13/cbs-considering-new-animated-trek-series/

The idea is interesting, and worked for the Clone Wars TV series, which is very different and in many ways better to the prequel flicks. But the two franchises are also very different beasts.

I've always wanted to see Trek pushed into the future, and not the continuity minefield that is its past, and I also liked the ideas, (which tie into some of the Gene Roddenberry ideas that formed Andromeda).
 
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Could a whole Trek series be meaningful in 6 minute installments? I mean as "extras" yea, that could be cool, but, what kind of Trek story could be told in 6 minutes?
 
[...]what kind of Trek story could be told in 6 minutes?

Star Trek: The Motion Picture ;)

6 minutes does seem too short though, yes. Even the Animated Series seemed rushed with its 25-ish minutes.
 
Its all this 'new media' nonsense, with iTunes video downloads, webcasts and shorter MTV lead attention spans.

I guess it would mean different types of Trek story, or one split up over the whole run. Either is ok by me.
 
The BSG "webisodes" were pretty darn short, but told a good story over time, and some of them told tiny stories of their own.
 
If an animated Trek series were to be done, The BSG webisodes are a better model, because I found Clone Wars annoyingly repetitive and horribly written. It was little more than an excuse for Jedi to go nuts with ninja/wizard tricks.
 
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