Jonathan Frakes was talking to UGO to promote something he directed called “Bar Karma,” and there was an interesting bit buried deep in the interview:
UGO: It’s been a few years since Star Trek's been on TV. How much longer do you think until it makes the leap back to the medium it started on?Frakes: I had a Star Trek that I developed for TV, and we were told in no uncertain terms that they said no to a Bryan Singer television Star Trek, they said no to a William Shatner television Star Trek. They feel at CBS Paramount that they don’t want to make the same mistake that’s been made before, which was watering down the brand by having a TV show and a movie. That’s what happened with Star Trek: Nemesis, and that’s why I think Star Trek: Enterprise didn’t last the way they expected to. It was the classic corporate greed of “we've got something good, so let’s continue to milk it” and we milked it so dry that the fans had no appetite for a movie. So I think what they’ve done by taking time off before the Abrams Star Trek, and they're doing it again because they haven’t even begun to shoot the second one, is a much smarter business plan. Much to my chagrin! Not that I wouldn’t love the Titan, or the Rikers in Space, or any of those shows on the air.
Bryan Singer is the guy who directed “X-Men” and “Superman Returns” and has been trying to get a “Battlestar Galactica” project off the ground for more than a decade (never mind that Ronald D. Moore just finished doing that). Singer’s no stranger to TV -- he had a hand in the creation of “House” and “Dirty Sexy Money” -- but I think this is the first I’m hearing of Singer’s interest in Star Trek.
Could Frakes be talking about Bryan Fuller (creator of “Dead Like Me” and “Pushing Daisies”)? Because I know Fuller, a veteran of “Voyager,” has long been public about his desire to launch a post-Abrams “Trek” TV series.
If anybody out there gets a chance to talk to Frakes, Shatner or Singer, kindly ask what kinds of shows they were pitching.
Was Frakes pitching a series based on the “Star Trek: Titan” novels
Was Shatner pitching a series based on his novels about a resurrected James Kirk?
Find all of UGO’s interview with Frakes here.
