Create a new series premise

[PointyHairedJedi]

I have idea. It's quite a simple one. Give Aaron Sorkin a pot of money and let him get on with it.

The show wouldn't last more than two seasons, of course, but they'd be two damn good seasons.

[Nate the Great]

Plotdevicium, that's a new one. I'm so used to Macguffinite.

You're right, that's a miniseries. Not too bad of a premise by itself, but you'd never be able to get 178 episodes out of it.

It's that "nearest ship" thing that irks me. The premise as you set it up doesn't really compell action NOW, no matter what the ship, no matter what the commander. You'd have to come up with a new twist. I'd prefer something like in ST:V, "you're the best commander for the job, we need YOU out there NOW." Perhaps Jacobsen has some weird quirk that makes her (?) most qualified.

[PointyHairedJedi]

Perhaps it could be set in that period of TNG when high warp travel was prohibited?

[ijdgaf]

Ha.

I dunno, I thought the threat was pretty grave. If there was any possibility of a Romulan threat, they'd need a ship there ASAP. And that's the whole reason they have those ships patrolling the Neutral Zone in the first place.

Oh, and Jacobsen is a dude. Though come to think of it, it doesn't really matter.

[Nate the Great]

Oh, did I HATE the warp speed limit. Hate hate hate. First of all, any reasonable plot requiring high warp would by its very nature be worth breaking the limit for. Second of all, it lead to those UGLY variable nacelles on Voyager. Quick poll, how many times did those things actually move outside of the credits?

[Chancellor Valium]

The one that I am sure will annoy the purists: DS9 II.

Let's say..ten years later. The Emissary is expelled suddenly from the Celestial Temple (i.e. carried in a shiny figure-of-eight to DS9), stripped of their favour, the wormhole seals, the Bajoran government is in disarray following embezzlement accusations leveled at First Minister Shakaar.

Meanwhile, the new Kai faces three major schisms, an ascendent Pah-Wraith cult, as well as an aggressive secularist movement bent upon removing any trace of the Bajoran faith from the business of the state, and with the final aim of destroying the faith altogether.

The Federation appears to be on the brink of recession, and, discovering a bill in the Council of Ministers to resurrect ancient moral strictures on Bajor that are deemed to go against the Federation Rights charter, threaten to pull out, while Section 31 is uncovered to have links to three major players at the top of Starfleet and the UFP government, and is embroiled in a failed assassination attempt against Supreme Chancellor Mar'tok.

The Romulans, with their usual timing, decide to angle towards the annexing the still-crippled Cardassia (and, presumably, the intervening sectors), and President Elim Garak is facing impeachment for the assumption of executive and directive power following the defeat of the Dominion. This may well cut Bajor and DS9 off from Federation space.

The Klingons have a war debt totalling quadrillions, and face ruin.

The Breen sign a compact with the Romulans.

The Mirror Universe Alliance, meanwhile, in a desperate bid to reverse the tide of the Insurrection, attempt to alter the timeline, and in so-doing, damage space-time in both universes.

Not sure how you get out of this one, but I would stagger each shoe dropped through the first three seasons. I'm thinking that DS9 is in a considerable shambles following terrorist bombings by anti-Federation mobs from Bajor (more of the colossal civil unrest), and that of the original crew, maybe only Kira, Ezri and either Bashir (who, if not, is on Cardassia and facing charges for aiding and abetting Garak), or O'Brien (otherwise assigned to the Enterprise G or whathaveyou), and a depressive Sisko, who may be having a nervous breakdown, but is definitely struggling with faith, hope, and even love. Jake and Cassie are driven away by the change in him.

Possibly he should come to a sort of Job-like resolution on the issues of his faith, with which he heals the schisms/dampens the Pah-Wraith cult - "The Prophets give, the Prophets take away. Blessed are the Prophets." Or something.

Bleak, I know, but I prefer that kind of dark thing. Once you resolve all of that, you could probably have the Dominion reinvade or something to kill off the last two seasons or somesuch. I'm envisaging a ten-year run.

O_o.

That was longer than I thought it would be.

[NAHTMMM]

That could be quite interesting and even timely as well.