ccrse@ucdavis.UUCP (Steve Ehrhardt) (08/21/85)
Given the format of certain recent successful shows, there would seem to be an interesting way to deal with the apparent contradiction of the captain always risking his life in each situation. If the show were re-done as an "ensemble show", similar to "Hill Street Blues", for example, it would be possible to implement the idea of contact teams, while still retaining the captain-must-make-big-decision type of format. As in HSB, there would be two different groups of people - in this case the contact teams and the command team - each of which would deal with a given problem at their level, with occasional overlap between the two. This would also permit the continued use of any of the original cast who wished to contiue, since their age would be less of a factor in these types of roles. HSB has shown that there can be just as much drama involved in command-level decisions as in physical action, and the results can be just as satisfying while retaining greater accuracy. I think that this would be an interesting approach to reviving ST as a series, or to continuing the movies as the original actors increase in age. Does anyone else agree, or have further comments on the matter? (Please, no flames on the subject of HSB! I do not think that it is necessarily the greatest show on television, but it has shown that this type of format will work for a show with plotlines similar in some ways to ST. Constructive criticism/comments are invited, however.)