Having forged an empire out of Family Guy, the show that wouldn't die, Seth MacFarlane has gone on to put the "domination" in Fox's Sunday night Animation Domination line-up. The guy has three shows on Sunday nights, and he's become Fox's juggernaut when it comes to animated programming as The Simpsons has faded into mediocrity and decrepitude. This is the guy with the stones and the pull to reboot The Flintstones. Like him or not, at this point, Seth MacFarlane can do pretty much whatever the hell he wants to. And what does he want to do? According to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he wants to get Star Trek back on the air:
MacFarlane is particularly eager to reboot one of his favorite franchises, Star Trek, for TV. 'I don't know who would give me the keys to that car,' he jokes, acknowledging that the films have been so profitable for Paramount that he isn't so sure they have a lot of interest in getting back into the TV business. 'But I’d love to see that franchise revived for television in the way that it was in the 1990s: very thoughtful, smartly written stories that transcend the science fiction audience.'
It may just be a wishful aside, but if anybody in Hollywood could get a new Star Trek TV series on the air through sheer force of will, it would be MacFarlane. He certainly wouldn't be the first to try and return the iconic science fiction series to the small screen. Everybody from William Shatner to Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski has cobbled together their own ideas for how to save the floundering TV franchise. But with J.J. Abrams having reinvigorated the Trek universe on the big screen, it seems like it's the perfect time to get the brand back on its feet on TV. If Trek is ever going to return to its former glory, it's likely going to need new blood, somebody with passion and a unique take on how to make Trek relevant again on the small screen.
While at the moment this is just wishful thinking and speculation, it's certainly not implausible. In addition to the Flintstones reboot, MacFarlane is also shepherding a new incarnation of the beloved 1980s PBS series Cosmos, originally hosted by the late and much-lamented Carl Sagan. That alone should earn MacFarlane plenty of nerd goodwill, as well as proving that he's got the clout to make even the unlikeliest of projects happen. And given that MacFarlane also states in the interview that he's getting tired of doing Family Guy, the possibility of a MacFarlane-headed Trek TV reboot doesn't seem quite so distant after all. I mean, hell, the guy already works with Patrick Stewart all the time, and had the entire Next Gen cast turn up on Family Guy...
Are you listening, Paramount? Somebody get Seth on the phone. We want our Trek TV.
