Orci, CBS and the Golden Age of Television

~ Happy Happy Joy Joy ~ 
BEST TWEET of the WEEK from @joemichalczuk. Bob Orci just told me they've had a meeting with CBS to revive @StarTrek on TV...


Roberto Orci had a meeting with CBS to bring Star Trek back to Television.

A sudden twist when last week, Mr. Abrams said 'they (CBS) are not interested.'

Also around last week CBS asked, "Is this the the Golden Age of Television?"  My answer was "no" after hearing they did not want Star Trek, as it is one of the few properties that can bring about this Golden Age.

The Star Trek fan base as a unique sub-culture has developed psychological needs related to canon that can now be satisfied through the use of Television and Online Experiences.

Others are trying and finding it may not be the 'Holy Grail' without pre-existing, strong icons and a fan base as described above.

Since 2003 I have been chatting and interviewing Star Trek writers, artists, creators, and the executives and developers from Paramount, Perpetual and Cryptic on the subject of Television Show/MMO (Massively Multi-player Online) tie-ins. At that time there were too many hurdles to prevent it before 2010.

Syfy/Trion were not able to do it till just this year.

Most of all those problems have now been solved and can continue to be solved until after the third, Abrams Star Trek movie when CBS should move on bringing it back

The mission to show people what is coming in the next one hundred years is more important than ever.

Knowing that you can mobilize a national and international identity with The Orignal Series icons is a powerful thing.

Being able for the first time to satisfy the psychological needs of this fan base to create, connect with and shape canon for record profits is the win/win.

That to me represents the power and (for better or worse) the glory of what is, 'The Golden Age of Televison'.

--Tony T.
Illustrator/Designer/Broadcaster: The Hailing Frequency Podcast, Argus Array Podcast, STO-Zone Live, Subspace-radio.net, STO-Radio, Startrekradio, Trekradio.net, Trekradio.com, ST:Oned Cartoon Series.

Into Darkness: NIBIRU & the Anunaki.

 Circa 2010-2012

     As a reader of Zecharia Sitchin and follower of Sumerian tablet translations I recall Tweeting, Roberto Orci a number of times about including information about the ANUNAKI from NIBIRU in what would be the second Star Trek movie and with hopes it would be a continuing story-line in the NEXT TREK TV series..

     Into Darkness opens on the planet NIBIRU where, in this alternate timeline it would be us humans that impacted their development and violated the Prime Directive.

     During the mid 1990's stories gathered from hundreds of clay tablets began to paint a comprehensive picture of alien involvement and alien manipulation of human-kind's evolution. A race of beings whom we called the ANUNAKI had come to Earth for resources and began establishing settlements and mining operations at various locations around the globe.

     A revolt among the miners and those here on Earth threatened the lives of those back on Nibiru and a solution was needed to continue the mission. It was decided that early human DNA should be altered so that mankind would become a viable and suitable work-force for the Anunaki.  In doing so, and if the 'Federation' does exist (See: Exopolitics), the Anunaki violated the Prime Directive.

   It was wonderful to see Nibiru, a ziggurat, and the early Anunaki as THE opening scene for the Into Darkness and WHEN Star Trek does come back to TV it would be very nice to see how the story continues to play out.

     Thank you, Mr. Orci.

Apologies, Mr. Orci. Sort of.

     I feel the need to somewhat apologize to Mr. Orci after lashing out at him on Twitter shortly before he decided to close his account.

    I did not bash him for, 'Into Darkness' as many had. I was bashing him for lying in general.

    He had made a Twitter post stating that is was hard to believe anything anyone in Washington said because they all LIE. I posted it was hard to believe anyone in Hollywood since they all seems to lie too.

   At the time Orci and company were gathering to write the script for what would be the second Star Trek movie he assured us "WE ARE NOT DOING KHAN!"

   To be clear I am one hundred percent in-line with the direction they have wanted to go from the start.  I was one of the first on the bandwagon yelling "REBOOT!", "Bring back Kirk and Spock!" and "You need a new timeline/universe so that you can re-do Star Trek and approach old stories with a new twist."

   Despite the lie, Into Darkness was, for me an incredible Star Trek film and experience.  In an interesting way it also felt more like the universe I was experiencing in Star Trek:Online!

   So. After hearing Mr. Orci stopped Tweeting or in fact did terminate his Twitter account I felt just awful for getting into his face for the initial lie... ...mostly.  He could have told us any number of things without saying, "We're not doing Khan."

   I was deeply into politics the last few years and felt Mr. Orci was one of the only kindred souls out there and miss his view points...especially these days.

   If it matters at all and despite what the majority seems to feel, I  believe in what you are doing and trying to do with Star Trek, Mr. Orci. Don't change direction.  If anything is needed, it is that I ask you please continue to look at Star Trek: Online (and the idea of TV show MMO tie-ins) as a vehicle to bring everything together to fulfill everyone's needs. Help CBS see the light.

And THANK YOU for, NIBIRU. I get it now. :)

JJ Abrams: "CBS is not interested in Star Trek". World's Greatest Business Mistakes.

     In another recent interview, JJ Abrams was asked when Star Trek will be on TV again. His reply: "CBS said they were not interested."

     The statement reminds me of when, Mr. Les Moonves stated, "Star Trek needs to be put out to pasture."

     If true, why in the world would CBS not want Star Trek back on TV when bringing back the most powerful science fiction icons in modern times HAS brought the audiences back out, has brought in record profits and has rejuvenated the franchise?

     How is it that CBS still seemingly has no clue that Star Trek:Online exists despite wanting to micro-manage all content that would appear in the MMO?

    Why do I bring up, Star Trek:Online with regards to the CBS statement?  Folks constantly tell me "It's all about the money."  Yet they must not see the potential profit in leveraging the primary psychological needs of the Star Trek fan base with a TV Show and MMO to make more money than the franchise has ever seen.

     A number of psychologists including ones from M.I.T. have studied and reported on the (at one time) 'unique' sub-culture that is the Star Trek fan base and had concluded that there does exist some primary psychological needs this fan base has.

   Interestingly one of the primary psychological needs of the Star Trek fan is to connect with the canon content by creating their own content:  Fan fiction, music, art, game content, etc. etc.

   The one vehicle that potentially allows viewers to connect with AND help shape canon content is STAR TREK:ONLINE.

    Star Trek on TV has always been good about providing 'open-ended' story-lines. These open-ended story-lines are the perfect content for Star Trek:Online missions and episodes that would allow the viewers and subscribers to help determine the outcomes or help shape the course of canon story-line.  How the majority of the fan base reacts to or how the majority solves the problems could then be fictionalized in future episodes of Star Trek on TV.

  The MMO solves the problem of: "How do you allow every fan a way to directly connect with, shape and help create canon content?"

   I began pushing the idea of TV Show/MMO to Harry Lang (then, the Executive Producer of ALL Star Trek games at Paramount) in 2004. When SYFY/TRION got wind of this they claimed it was "The HOLY GRAIL of ideas." and wanted to do it with Battlestar Galactica and Stargate.  Yet at that time there were too many technical and many legal problems that prevented this and it was stated that it would take, at least till 2010 to begin getting something off the ground. I also felt this idea would ONLY work for the most well established properties and especially for Star Trek.

     In an interview I did with Perpetual Studios around 2006, I  presented the idea of TV Show/MMO to the Executive Producer Daron Stinnet who stated. "That is a good idea! Let me write that down!" Over the following years as they began to work with CBS I continued to ask about the development of this idea and was told it was gaining ground.

     Perpetual Studios went bankrupt and when I did the world's first interview with the next developer of Star Trek:Online in 2008 I continued to follow up on this idea with them. They assured me, "The relationship between us (Cryptic/CBS and JJ Abrams) is strong."

     Yet now Mr. Abrams tells us, "CBS is not interested."  Not interested in leveraging the primary psychological needs of the world-wide fan base through a new TV show and the MMO to see more profit than the franchise has seen in it's entire operating history?

     The legal and technological roadblocks that had prevented this from being a reality have almost all been cleared. CBS is now well positioned around the world  New FFC laws allow a North American broadcast to been seen simultaneously world-wide, keeping all viewers 'on the same page'.

 CBS recently asked: "Is the the Golden Age of TV?"  Until CBS and Abrams move to help the Star Trek fan base AND themselves in this matter, the answer remains, "NO!"

JJ Abrams: 'Star Trek video game did not satisfy'. Shuns ST:O.

     In a recent JJ Abrams interview on the Star Trek video game associated with the movies he stated it did not fulfill his needs as a vehicle that expanded the story or bridged the two movies successfully.

     While that is an artistic bummer for Mr. Abrams it makes one wonder why he continues to dismiss Star Trek:Online, the massively multi-player online game as the perfect vehicle for such purposes.

     Before Abrams took the center seat, most of the Star Trek gaming community was gathered in the forums at Startrek.com where we asked then, Executive Producer of all Star Trek games, Harry Lang to help ensure whomever took control of Star Trek had enough understanding of the coming MMO to leverage it, not only for expanding the content of the new movies but mostly to begin working out the details that would one day allow for Star Trek TV show / MMO tie-ins.

    James Cameron had just finished a stint at NASA and was looking for his next big project. I suggested him right away as one that could helm Trek and do it justice and leverage a MMO. Most laughed and dismissed this. Yet a few months later, Cameron stated his next project would be something called 'Avatar' and that he had decided to do it because 'some gamers' called him up and pitched an idea that would work as a movie and as an MMO.  Well, Avatar most certainly worked as a movie but without a solid name brand in a bad economy I had no faith it would work as a profitable MMO... ...and to this day no Avatar MMO has come to be.

   When JJ Abrams came on-board he made plenty of statements that he was into 'video games' and would do 'something'. He knew about Star Trek: Online as early as 2007 and 2008 and when interviewing Cryptic Studios CCO, Jack Emmert described the relationship between Cryptic and Abrams as 'strong'.

     Other than Romulus being destroyed in Star Trek:Online there has been very little if any tie-ins to JJverse in the three years it has been in operation.

    One of the biggest WTF moments came at the release of the Star Trek:online when Zachary Quinto was asked to provide voice overs and NOT be the voice of Spock.  He instead was to be (and is) the voice of an, Emergency Medical Hologram that assists new players on their very first mission.

   So what has become of this once supposed 'strong' relationship?  Why has JJ and company seemingly walked away from leveraging the MMO for his artistic needs when it has the ability to do everything the stand alone video game could not?  Is it because he and the CBS do not own it or control it directly and therefore only get their licensing fees and do not get the lion's share of the profits?  Many including myself said CBS/Paramount should have bought a MMO developer and should have owned it from the start. Rick Berman later suggested they should do it as well.

   Could this be related?: If what I have heard is true, Abrams asked that all prime universe merchandise be pulled from store shelves so his new content would not have to compete. CBS Consumer Products declined.

    It is unfortunate. MMO's need constant content and JJ has these unfulfilled artistic desires the Star Trek video game could not satisfy.  Star Trek Online and JJverse remains a potential match made in heaven that can serve not only his movies but the NEXT TREK on TV.

Why do you continue to shun Star Trek:Online, Mr. Abrams?