SyFriday: Why it would work for Star Trek

(November 13 2006) - I think the beginning of the 21st century can now be officially known, at least in Hollywood, as the era of the reboot. Don’t think so? Then let’s take a look.

— Although it was hardly the first reboot ever done, Ronald D. Moore took a cult favorite science-fiction show of the 1970s and turned it into a mainstream favorite of the 2000s, keeping the "Battlestar Galactica" name despite completely rebooting the series.

— Christopher Nolan had to face a Batman universe that either continued from the disaster that was George Clooney or that would start the franchise all over again less than 15 years after the last time that was done, but successfully did it with "Batman Begins."

— MGM, looking at audiences considering James Bond to be too much a product of his time, decides to reboot one of the most famous film franchises of all time, bringing in a shorter (and more blond) hero, and starting right from the Ian Fleming beginning with "Casino Royale," which comes out later this month in theaters everywhere.

So why would anyone be surprised if J.J. Abrams, the man now charged with bringing Star Trek back to life, feels the best way to do it would be through a reboot? Now, don’t start sending me e-mails telling me that that’s just pure speculation. It is, and I won’t deny that. But it’s been talked about so heavily, and to me, it makes so much sense, why not do that?

Despite Star Trek’s continuous life over the last 40 years, the fact remains that Star Trek, as a canonical body, remains a product of its time — a 1960s utopian dream of Gene Roddenberry. I am not talking about its sociological messages or even its stories. But the overall concept of having a starship with a perfect crew of mostly humans, sitting in a room with a big-screen television in front of them showing them stars, and using future science to solve the day’s problem involving bumpy head aliens are quite passe here in 2006. To be honest, it was really becoming passe in 2001.

What does reboots mean? One thing it doesn’t mean is that just because we have something new, we still can’t enjoy something that is classic. I mean, I love "Batman Begins." I think Christian Bale was perfectly cast as the The Dark Knight, and it was an amazing reboot. But it doesn’t mean that I am not once in a while going to pop in Michael Keaton’s reboot of 1989 into the DVD player and enjoy it just the same.

When the new "Battlestar Galactica" premiered, I was a major public proponent of the new series, but I still own the original series on DVD, and I still enjoy it from time to time.

Rebooting is a way to bring the basic ideas of classic shows and movies to a new generation of audiences. It’s not always the most welcome thing for many fans, but when there are still stories to tell, wouldn’t you rather those stories reach as broad of an audience as possible? If they don’t, then there may not be any medium left to tell the remaining stories.

I wish that Star Trek could continue in the 40-year-old canon, but I’m also for a reboot of Star Trek. Let’s give it a chance before we condemn it. Who knows, Abrams could surprise us, either in a good way ... or even a bad way.

SyBits

We had a few questions this past week about, of all things, whether a new "Serenity" film is in the works. While I loved the first movie, and felt it was a great tribute to the fans, unfortunately it was too much of a tribute to the fans and did not appeal to the broadbase audience that movies have to do. Joss Whedon seems to have moved on to other projects like "Wonder Woman" and has not really talked anything about the future of our favorite Browncoats. If he and Universal decide to move forward on another incarnation of the Firefly vessel, I would personally welcome it, but I don’t expect it.

Finally, you may have noticed that the SyFriday column is coming out on Monday rather than Friday. For those of you not on our mailing list, I found myself in an emergency appendectomy very early Thursday morning after spending all day Wednesday with stomach pains. It was not fun at all, but they were able to remove my appendix before it did any further damage.

The hospital released me early Sunday, and I’m still recovering at home. Thanks to everyone for their well wishes! I received so many of them that it’s impossible for me to respond to each and every one of them personally, but it means a lot, and I am getting better as we speak!