Richard Arnold Talks Series V
By ChristianApril 17, 2000 - 1:18 PM
Cirrus just sent in the following report about the Starfest 2000 convention, which took place this weekend in Denver, Colorado. One of the speakers present at the con was Richard Arnold, former friend of Gene Roddenberry and currently a consultant for the Star Trek franchise, who gave a lecture on the future of Trek on Sunday:
He was quite adament in saying it wasnt likely to be the case... too expensive... and "too different"
When I asked the logical follow up question concerning Berman and Braga's repeated statements that Series 5 would have to be different to keep the franchise alive, he replied by telling me that the plan was for DS9 to be "new and different", as was the plan for voyager... in both instances, the ratings dropped... something which has made the studio reluctant to go w/ "new and different" again.
Hhe DID however, in his explanations as to why BotF won't happen, drop some lines about what the future could hold...
1. Due to monetary constraints, he says the next series will be set near the current 24th century... (reuse props, set pieces, etc)
2. the next series will definitely NOT bring back any of the old series for a new run.
3. The next series will definitely NOT be on the enterprise... to keep movie options more open
When asked about the Excelsior campaign, his reply was "it is only wanted by a minority of a minority [minority of trek fans, which are a minority of the general viewing], no chance"
So, from his statements, one would gather that the next series will be a traditional starship based series, set in the current timeline
I asked him specifically about TrekToday and TrekWeb reporting that the 'Birth of the Federation' premise had been approved.
It seems as if Arnold was only speculating, and not really speaking with any inside information, but it's always interesting to hear someone with a background in Trek talk about its future. I'm not sure if he's really right in his predictions, though - Berman and Braga have stated so often the new show will be 'dramatically different' that I doubt they'd be able to get away with just another starship series. Anyway, thanks go out to Cirrus for this!
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