So Star Trek blew up in cinemas over the summer and, with it set to be released on DVD this coming week (and blu-ray, for us cool folks), the question has come up many a time as to when Trek might return to its native roots – that is, to say, television.

While I don’t think we’re going to see a return to TVland for our beloved Enterprise (or any Federation ship, honestly) in the near future, I’d venture to say we might see one eventually.  Probably after a third movie is released in theaters, I’d imagine.  Paramount knows they’ve got a good thing going with the movies, and the way those corporate types work is that sometimes they’d imagine that TV (especially in the case of Trek, which was killed by poor TV shows) will dilute the experience of the movie series, which is their cash cow right now.

Still, with Trek‘s hopefully inevitable return to television, what new can be brought in that we haven’t seen before?  I’m sure we don’t want to just see alternative universe portrayals of The Next Generation, or Deep Space Nine.  Do we need a new series about exploring new life and new civilizations?  The stationary space station thing has been done before, the “lost in space” thing has been done before…what’s left?

• Star Trek Undercover: Okay, so the title is stupid, but I’m serious about the premise.  The deleted scenes for Abrams’ recent Trek movie show a much more militaristic, almost terrorist take on Klingons.  While the scene was deleted and, thus, not in continuity, how about a Wire-type series based within the Klingon terrorist ranks?  A young cadet in Starfleet, or an outcast from Klingon, must join ranks with a Klingon terrorist group to thwart their attacks?  While I admit the premise doesn’t lend itself to seven seasons of television, with enough effort, we could get a very striking, almost gritty edition to the new Trek mythos.
• Star Trek – The Adventures of Dr. Bones: Out of all of the cast members of the new Trek movie, I think we all were most impressed by Karl Urban’s portrayal of Bones the most.  And with Urban’s theatrical career kinda shaky (I mean, I like the guy, but has he EVER been the headliner in a hit movie?), I think it might be time for him to look at headlining a television show.  And what better television show could there be than a medical drama….IN SPACE!  If this comes after movie three (and, let’s be honest, do we expect more than three movies with that cast?), it would be more than fine to see Bones leave the Enterprise to start a medical clinic, perhaps in the alternative universe DS9?
• Starfleet Academy: While I’m not entirely sold on this idea, it would probably be the most likely route the franchise would take.  A Starfleet Academy series/movie has been suggested for years (since the days of Star Trek V), and with the focus on the Academy in the new Trek movie, it might be interesting to see a class go through the paces, and the drama that unfolds.

What say you guys?  Any ideas? (PS – any comments on this post will be automatically entered into our Star Trek glass giveaway!)