Star Trek takes another fall... [Archive] - Comic Book Resources Forums

Scorpion13

12-07-2005, 07:57 AM

Apparentally due to the fall of Paramount digital, the Star Trek official website will be discontinued.

Hasn't been a good year for this franchise, has it?

Itll be back up in some form, but Im not that bummed. There are about a thousand better fan sites than the official one.

Sean Walsh

12-07-2005, 08:38 AM

Wow.

And just yesterday, it was announced that the Star Trek Communicator magazine was being cancelled.

Sanagi

12-07-2005, 12:43 PM

Wow.

And just yesterday, it was announced that the Star Trek Communicator magazine was being cancelled.
I can understand why a magazine with no real news to report on would be seen as not worth doing, but it seems odd that the website has to go, too.

The Batman

12-07-2005, 12:48 PM

was the official website all that good? i really never found it particularly useful - i tended to get most of my trek updates from trektoday or a friend of mine who was able to keep track of Trek better than i could. the Star Wars Insider magazine is still going strong without a new movie to talk about(though there is the TV show and merchandise) so it seems that a Trek magazine could work, in theory at any rate. perhaps this is a finacial decision, maybe Communicator wasn't doing enough numbers?

ChrisII

12-07-2005, 04:47 PM

^There's also still a lot of Star Wars spin-off material, such as games, novels, figures etc. that the magazine can cover. Granted, Star Trek has some of these as well, but not to the extent Star Wars has at the moment (I think "Elite Force II" was the last major Trek game release, and that was in 2003). Plus, the Star Wars prequels, although disliked by quite a few, were financial sucesses while Enterprise didn't do well in the ratings.

Dr. Banner

12-07-2005, 04:50 PM

perhaps this is a finacial decision, maybe Communicator wasn't doing enough numbers?

Speaking of that Trek friend...

Decipher, the company that publishes the magazine, has been facing lawsuits and complaints about delays in the publication and the lack of info about the schedule (people haven't received their issues in months, and their questions were going ignored). So, Decipher's calling it quits.

HOWEVER, the editor said that Paramount doesn't want the magazine to die, and that there still might be a future, even with another publisher and, therefore, under new management.

http://www.trektoday.com/news/051205_02.shtml

On the plus side, both Patrick Stewart AND Bryan Singer have expressed interest in another movie, even though Mr. Stewart for the longest time has been saying he's done. If Bryan Singer's career skyrockets after Superman, who knows what can happen if he asks for it. Something to think about with the franchise...

http://www.trektoday.com/news/051205_01.shtml

Oh yeah, and Star Trek has been working on a huge MMORPG to come out in 2007. Down but not out!

Dr. Banner

12-07-2005, 04:52 PM

Gah, see above.

ChrisII

12-07-2005, 04:53 PM

Wasn't singer in one of the films?

Apparentally Russel T. Davies (Who's producing the new Doctor Who and the spin-off Torchwood) has also expressed some interest in reviving the franchise.

Dr. Banner

12-07-2005, 04:56 PM

^^
Yup, while visiting Mr. Stewart (his friend from X-Men, of course) on the set of Nemesis, he was asked if he wanted to be an extra. Thrilled, Mr. Singer jumped at the chance. He's only in for a brief moment (no lines), but at every viewing of a new cut Mr. Stewart would see, Mr. Singer would beg to know if he was still in it or not (knowing how quickly movies get trimmed down).

Despite the butchering of that editing, he's still in it. :)

SUPERECWFAN1

12-07-2005, 04:57 PM

Its really been a bad year Star Trek wise. The series and genre in general needs a rebirth of some kind.

GremlinClr

12-07-2005, 05:35 PM

I can understand why a magazine with no real news to report on would be seen as not worth doing...

You'd think so but the Twin Peaks magazine Wrapped in Plastic lasted many, many years after the show was cancelled.

sehthan

12-07-2005, 06:16 PM

Paramount may be feeling the sting of years of mismanagment, but the fans will never let it die.

http://www.newvoyages.com/

Anyone familiar with that project? Basically, a group of fans are doing their own Season 4 of TOS. I just read about it the other day, but it sounds fun. I'm impressed they got Koenig to do an episode.

Nate Grey

12-07-2005, 08:12 PM

Speaking of that Trek friend...

Decipher, the company that publishes the magazine, has been facing lawsuits and complaints about delays in the publication and the lack of info about the schedule (people haven't received their issues in months, and their questions were going ignored). So, Decipher's calling it quits.

HOWEVER, the editor said that Paramount doesn't want the magazine to die, and that there still might be a future, even with another publisher and, therefore, under new management.

http://www.trektoday.com/news/051205_02.shtml

On the plus side, both Patrick Stewart AND Bryan Singer have expressed interest in another movie, even though Mr. Stewart for the longest time has been saying he's done. If Bryan Singer's career skyrockets after Superman, who knows what can happen if he asks for it. Something to think about with the franchise...

http://www.trektoday.com/news/051205_01.shtml

Oh yeah, and Star Trek has been working on a huge MMORPG to come out in 2007. Down but not out!

All this is a good news to me. My dream is either a DS9 movie (I miss Sisko! :(), or a movie with a combo of the casts, but neither will probably ever happen. But I'd be just as happy with a good TNG movie with Singer at the helm.

Cyke

12-07-2005, 08:46 PM

The Mirrorball Man

12-07-2005, 08:57 PM

Its really been a bad year Star Trek wise. The series and genre in general needs a rebirth of some kind.
Does it? Do we really need more Star Trek? What's left to say in this franchise that hasn't been said in the previous 600+ hours?

SUPERECWFAN1

12-07-2005, 09:13 PM

Does it? Do we really need more Star Trek? What's left to say in this franchise that hasn't been said in the previous 600+ hours?

Theres always something to say. This question should go with " Is there anything left for Superman,Batman or Stargate ? " as a whole too. Odds are with good creative people you always find something worth to say.

DoubleWide

12-11-2005, 11:20 AM

I still say give the franchise a rest. No new movies or TV series for a few years, novels excepted, and then start fresh.

Hiromi

12-11-2005, 12:05 PM

On the plus side, both Patrick Stewart AND Bryan Singer have expressed interest in another movie, even though Mr. Stewart for the longest time has been saying he's done. If Bryan Singer's career skyrockets after Superman, who knows what can happen if he asks for it. Something to think about with the franchise...

http://www.trektoday.com/news/051205_01.shtml

Considering the quality of the last couple of Trek movies I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing.

DDM

12-11-2005, 12:10 PM

I want to see Star Trek meet the Care Bears. :p
Captain Kirk & Captain Picard need a hug. Rainbow Brite can help them meet the Care Bears after they escape the evil Starwberry Shortcake.

SUPERECWFAN1

12-11-2005, 12:43 PM

I really wanna see them relaunch the series with a Starfleet:Academy deal. In the vein with Smallville which some predicted failure. I think if they find the right writers they could really make it click.

Greg Hatcher

12-11-2005, 12:56 PM

spideyguy0

12-11-2005, 01:08 PM

Decipher, the company that publishes the magazine, has been facing lawsuits and complaints about delays in the publication and the lack of info about the schedule (people haven't received their issues in months, and their questions were going ignored). So, Decipher's calling it quits.

Okay, I'm very familliar with Decipher for a number of reasons, and there is more going on here that led to the cancelation of the Communicator. The short story is, Decipher is broke and probably going to be out of business in the next year. Decipher recently layed off almost their entire staff, (I think they're down to like 5 people) and could be facing a lawsuit sometime soon from players of their Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game who have been owed several thousand dollars in prize money for a year now. Decipher has cancelled almost all of their games, and refuses to give up any info to anybody about anything. There are also rumors that Decipher is suing someone for stealing money from the company. The truth is they just didnt have the resources to deal with this. The Insider is continuing because it is run directly by Lucasfilm and George Lucas will never pass up a chance for more money.

Deathstroke

12-11-2005, 03:21 PM

Wow.

And just yesterday, it was announced that the Star Trek Communicator magazine was being cancelled.

I never liked that magazine. I picked it up a few times.

I preferred the squarebound Star Trek The Magazine.

Deathstroke

12-11-2005, 03:25 PM

Personally I'd love to see them give Peter David the Keys to the Kingdom and let him do a New Frontier TV series.

cactusmaac

12-11-2005, 03:43 PM

I really do think it's been long enough that they could just RE-MAKE the original series. Let's see Kirk and Spock and McCoy and the gang on the first five-year mission. A real honest-to-God reboot. It worked for Galactica.

It worked for Galactica because apart from a small hard core of fans, most people didn't remember much about the original series beyond the premise and the stars.

Star Trek TOS is in a different category of popularity. Rebooting it would be creative bankruptcy.

Greg Hatcher

12-11-2005, 05:16 PM

It worked for Galactica because apart from a small hard core of fans, most people didn't remember much about the original series beyond the premise and the stars.

Star Trek TOS is in a different category of popularity. Rebooting it would be creative bankruptcy.

You're probably right. I just want to see a Star Trek with some swash in its buckle, really. I'm tired of all this self-important, yes-we're-an-SF-legend, talky stuff. I want a Trek where Starfleet captains stop a war by handing out a punitive beating to the local head of government or blowing up a megalomaniac computer god. Something FUN.

Michael P

12-11-2005, 05:18 PM

Personally I'd love to see them give Peter David the Keys to the Kingdom and let him do a New Frontier TV series.
Would be wonderful, but about the only way it would ever happen is if one of his kids became head of Paramount.

He is doing the pilot episode for Gene Roddenberry's Starpoint Academy, though.

o1pickleboy

12-11-2005, 05:29 PM

I think a few quality movies need to happen before Star trek gives the green lite for a new TV show. Something dealing with Mirror, Mirror and the son of Mog would be great movies.

TheUnknownZombie

12-11-2005, 06:25 PM

You're probably right. I just want to see a Star Trek with some swash in its buckle, really. I'm tired of all this self-important, yes-we're-an-SF-legend, talky stuff. I want a Trek where Starfleet captains stop a war by handing out a punitive beating to the local head of government or blowing up a megalomaniac computer god. Something FUN.
But surely Star Trek is more about the complications of alien/human romantic relationships, when the cultures are so different?

Or at least that's what I've seen in the show since Voyager started.

Captain Jim

12-11-2005, 07:19 PM

Mark me as another one who always preferred the Trek fan sites to the official one. Still, it's a shame to see it go. My understanding is that this has less to do with Star Trek's drop in popularity than with Paramount/Viacom's own reorganizing.

Same thing with the Communicator (which I always liked and of which I have a complete collection from #100 on). This isn't about Star Trek's problems, it's about Decipher's. (And for the record, I always thought Decipher's acquisition of this magazine marked a step downward in quality anyway.)