How would you fix Star Trek?

[Deledrius]

If Ferengi are not funny as a whole they stopped being Ferengi.

I think both of those episodes still allowed them to be funny. That's just not all they were.

There's also a difference between being funny, and being a joke.

[Beastro]

I think the best for them would be to get rid of them, but within some framework that can give them some closure. Like they realize some Lovecraftian monstrosity is invading our universe that could wipe it all out in an instant thanks to something one of them did (similar to the Voyager Q dicking around trying to find ways of killing himself). So they finally show their superior nature by taking the bullet and attracting the thing after they find a way to leave this universe to lure it away. Some may finally die by doing so, all of them are terrified, but behind it they're thrilled that they finally have a challenge with risks as well as a path beyond everything they know into the unknown beyond our universe.

I like that, and it could work, but it's really hard to see how you could tell that story from the point of view of (even Federation-level) humans and have it either make any sense whatsoever, or else not be laughably less-epic than it should be. It would take some very cunning storytelling, with the consequences being seen and felt and only inferring or being told the broad strokes at regular intervals.

Sorta like the Temporal Cold War story. Except, you know, good.

I think the best way would be to take a page from Star Control 2 around the disappearance of the Androsynth and the best protection against such a threat is not knowing about it.

What works in one setting it might not work in an another. Trek did not portray Federation leadership the way Babylon 5 did.

No, they pussy footed more around doing the realpolitik thing and it butting heads with their ideals, especially around the Cardassians in later TNG. It's been awhile since I watched those episodes, but the whole matter reeked of not only the Feds leadership being weak willed, but Fed culture being so as well as being naive when tit comes to matters of national interest.

[Karha of Honor]

No, they pussy footed more around doing the realpolitik thing and it butting heads with their ideals, especially around the Cardassians in later TNG. It's been awhile since I watched those episodes, but the whole matter reeked of not only the Feds leadership being weak willed, but Fed culture being so as well as being naive when tit comes to matters of national interest.

What is so wrong with having one major mainstream franchise that does not spread politcal misery, preemptive wars, and bad but necessary shadowy black ops?

[Yukaphile]

You know, Beastro strikes me as a nationalist. I find this attitude of putting my nation before yours as really, stupidly petty. Cuz we're all human beings. And sticking to tribal mindsets is just one more thing that holds us back as a species. I'd destroy American culture if it meant we could come together as a happy race in peace and love and cooperation. PERIOD.

[Karha of Honor]

You know, Beastro strikes me as a nationalist. I find this attitude of putting my nation before yours as really, stupidly petty. Cuz we're all human beings. And sticking to tribal mindsets is just one more thing that holds us back as a species. I'd destroy American culture if it meant we could come together as a happy race in peace and love and cooperation. PERIOD.

Clearly the culture that brought you the First Amendment needs to be smashed so we all understand eachother. Not Chinese Confucianism, Islamic Fundamentaism, Japanese Xenmophobia...

Based on the historical willingness to grant access to immigrants American culture has the strongest track record as a peace and cooperation culture despite all the bad thing the US Government did.

[Darth Wedgius]

I think most any nation will have national interests that it will put above the interests of others.

TNG mostly danced around the question of what happened to all those worlds held by the Klingon Empire who hadn't wanted into it in the first place. If the treatment of the Organians was typical (up till when they were revealed to be ascended energy beings) then some of those worlds could be rather desperate places.

When the Khitomer accords were signed, was the Empire required to let those worlds go? Would the Empire have agreed to that? I doubt it, seeing as a faction of their government wanted to respond to the Praxis explosion by going to war with the Federation, for victory or death. Would those worlds be allowed complete freedom, including the right to join the Federation? Russia was less than thrilled seeing NATO grow eastward. Imagine if nations the Soviet Union held were applying to become new U.S. states. And while some of those worlds would probably be untrusting of alien governments such as the UFP, others might appreciate being a member of a government that could actually keep the Klingons away.

Or did the Federation leave those worlds under Klingon rule in exchange for peace? They traded in some Federation colonies for attempted peace with Cardassia, though they offered to move the Federation citizens.

If I were a member of the Federation Council and had to decide between accepting that those worlds would continue to be harshly-treated possessions of the Klingon Empire in exchange for helping to safeguard the lives of trillions of citizens I was responsible for, I'd make that bargain. I wouldn't feel great about it, but I'd do it.

[TGLS]

Maybe the Klingon Empire reformed itself like how Gorbachev wanted to reform the Soviet Union into the Union of Sovereign States. Some of their possessions may have left (analogous to the Baltic States), while others would chose to stay.

[Darth Wedgius]

That might be. In TNG's The Mind's Eye there was talk of letting a colony world exit the Empire, with rebels attacking. We don't know if the world, Krios, was more like Czechoslovakia, which the U.S.S.R. grabbed, kept by force,but eventually let go, or like Alabama, which joined voluntarily and which the U.S. didn't let go, or something else.

[Yukaphile]

Here's another way I'd fix Trek - LEAVE THE MILKY WAY. Adopt the Voyager mindset, but do it right this time. Have the crew be marooned in not the Milky Way, but the Andromeda Galaxy. And show the Kelvans, what's happened to them since TOS. Imagine the potential for a new series with that? Let's say it's around the late 24th century. And you have this wondrous background for exploration and survival situations. Hell, today's entertainment model is very cynical and dark, so it's like DS9, and you don't even really have to change anything. That's Voyager's problem. They tried to stay too true to the optimism of TNG. But times had changed. I think strained resources, new alien species, while exploring a new galaxy, could have so much potential if it's executed properly. And hell, while you're at it, bring back some of the legendary Trek writers like Ron Moore. He always had his hand on the pulse of what the Trek fandom wanted. He'd be a perfect choice for a Voyager type do-over.

[Karha of Honor]

I think most any nation will have national interests that it will put above the interests of others.

In ths century invidual interests > national.