Earlier this Summer I started a rather ambitious project. I decided to re-watch Star Trek The Next Generation from the be very beginning and keep a log of my journey in the form of YouTube videos. So far I've made 3 videos and covered the first 8 episodes. You can watch these 3 videos below.
You might notice that I made the last video almost 2 months ago. So... what happened? Have I just been lazy and abandoned the whole thing? Well I've watched another 9 episodes but haven't found the inspiration to make video blogs about them. To be honest, I look back on my videos and am not very happy with them. I have a few interesting thoughts- a couple memories that watching these shows brought up again. But these videos still lack something--- and I think that thing is entertainment value. Even when I watch them I skip around and don't watch the whole thing.
So... I'm faced with a choice. Do I abandon this project? OR do I re-tool it to make it better? Here are some thoughts.
Maybe what I really need is a co-host. Someone else who is either a Trekkie like me-- or maybe someone who can provide a fresh perspective.
The format could also change. When I started out I was going to do one video per episode. But that idea quickly went away. Making the videos is actually rather time consuming. Putting together my notes, setting up the camera, shooting the video, loading it into iMovie, editing it, loading to Youtube, then further editing it there.... the whole thing takes a lot of work.
Maybe my re-watch shouldn't be logged entirely on YouTube. Maybe I should do it here on this blog! I could still throw in the occasional video. Though I should make it clear on my YouTube channel that you can't get the whole picture there- you have to read the blog entries as well. Hmm..
Another more radical option-- I could switch to a podcast format. Like what the guys over at Mission Log Podcast are doing. Of course I have no idea how to make a podcast.
Part of the problem is starting with season 1 of TNG. It's THE WORST. I wonder if I should jump ahead? I'm not sure. OR- I could break it down into 7 blogs-- one for each season. Hmm...
There's a lot for a Geek to do in Orlando, Florida. Harry Potter fans that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter & Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Orlando. Star Wars fans have Star Tours, Star Wars weekends (and hopefully much more soon) at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Transformers fans at the Transformers: The Ride 3D, also at Universal. Avatar fans will be getting an Avatar land at Disney's Animal Kingdom soon. Well, what about us Trekkies?? A few years ago we had Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas, but it's been closed for years now. And the museum tour (Star Trek: The Exhibition) is fun-- but it's no theme park attraction! There seems to a huge hole in the geek world. A hole that can only be filled with a Star Trek Theme Park!
On the international level, this problem is being solved. The Paramount Studios Park in Murcia Spain that's under construction now will have a Tomorrowland type section called Plaza Futura that has a great Trek presence. Here are some images. You can find much more over at Trekmovie.com.
This land includes a motion simulator ride and a "warp speed roller coaster". Sounds great! More of that, right? A few years ago there were reports of Star Trek being a part of a Red Sea theme park in Aqaba, Jordan-- it sounds like that that idea might be dead now.
But what here in the US? Sadly, there are no Paramount parks here anymore (they sold them a few years ago). But Paramount/CBS could still license Star Trek to a theme park. Paramount did just that with the Transformers film franchise and Universal Studios, Orlando! I think they should do that with Trek as well! It's a perfect fit, right? These two companies are already friends!!
I'm not the only one to have thought of this. In fact, back in the late 80s / early 90's Universal Studios totally did have attraction called "Star Trek Adventure". According to Wikipedia, it was
"A $7 million attraction located inside the Panasonic Theater based on the Star Trek TV series where guests volunteer to put on costumes and be placed on sets from the show. Once all scenes were captured, the finished product was shown to the audiences. The audience members were also to be able to buy a copy of the video."
Curious? Of course you are! Lucky for you, a number of these VHS tapes were so loved that they've been digitized and uploaded to youtube. The resulting 10 minute clips are... well pretty terrible. But still fun in a vintage "when green screen seemed like a magic" kind of way. And it's great that they got all the original actors to shoot this! Here you go:
Why am I bringing all this up now? Am I just whining? No! I'm bringing this up because according ThemeParkTourist.com, some patrons at Universal Studios were recently asked to take a survey. On that survey they were asked what properties they would be interested in seeing in the park. What was on the list (along with many other things)? STAR TREK! This might seem like nothing- but the guys over at Pardon the Pixie Dust Podcast seem to think otherwise. And so do other theme park bloggers and excitable Trekkies like myself. I think that this idea has a lot of potential. Hear me out:
They don't need to build a whole land (ala Harry Potter). They can just build one amazing attraction (ala Transformers) and I'd be pretty happy.
There is a built in fan base. This property is coming up on it's 50th anniversary and while it's not as popular as it was in the mid-late 1990's, it's still a potential cash cow.
There's no end in sight for this property. A 3rd "JJ-verse" movie is in the works. Most people in the know say that a new TV show will probably follow soon once the movies wrap. Not to mention the books, comics, and other creative content that's still being produced.
Speaking of, there are several crowd funded fan films out there and more being shot as I type this--- professional quality films funded 100% by fans. WE WILL SPEND MONEY ON STAR TREK!
Speaking of cash cow, the 2009 and 2012 films have grossed a combined $486,508,680 (according to boxofficemojo.com)
Disney owns Star Wars now and is highly likely to roll out plans for a new Star Wars land at Disney Hollywood Studios soon. Star Trek would be a great property to compete for those vacation dollars.
Currently the biggest Star Trek convention in the US happens in Las Vegas. Build a Star Trek land in Orlando and I bet a a huge convention could happen there and bring in more money for the city.
