The traditional monologue, as used in TOS, TAS, TNG, Strange New Worlds, as well as the endings of Enterprise and several movies, can be taken as a sort of overall mission statement for the Enterprise, possibly even one that takes place in-universe.
If the other series-- Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, and Prodigy-- had similar mission statements, how might you phrase them?
Every one of them should start with: “Space, the final frontier…” and in some way echo the new life and new civilizations motif, just to remind everyone out there this is supposed to be Star Trek.
DS9
Space, the final frontier.
It was the dawn of the Third Age of MankindOn the edge of an unknown part of the galaxy stands Deep Space Nine: a place to explore new worlds, a home to welcome new life and new civilizations, and the first defence against the dangers to come.VOY
Space, the final frontier. The USS Voyager is lost in the Delta Quadrant, 70 years from the Federation. Joining forces with our former enemies, the Maquis, we’re doing everything we can to survive, to continue Starfleet’s mission to seek our new life and new civilizations, and set a course for home.
ENT
Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the first starship Enterprise. Our mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.
DIS
Space, the final frontier. The galaxy is filled with wonder and danger, and the Discovery is ready to face both. With our ship and our crew, we will continue to find new worlds and seek out new civilizations, in this time or beyond. We are explorers. We are Starfleet.
PIC
Same as TNG. No other narration and no other narrator would feel right.
LD
Space, the final frontier… (Boimler, what are you doing?) These are the voyages of the starship Cerritos (Wait, are you seriously…) Its ongoing… (oh for the love of…) Will you stop interrupting me?! (Dude, we’ve got to scrub the carbon filters!) Sigh Fine! (Aw, come on, we can still boldly go after we’ve cleaned up everyone else’s mess) That’s all I wanted to say…
PRO
Space, the final frontier… the USS Protostar has been “borrowed” by these young people trying to find the Federation. As their holographic training advisor, it’s my job to guide them through the galaxy, where they’ll deal with new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where they’ve never gone before.
I think this tribute video which paraphrases Janeway’s eulogy for the NASA astronaut, does an excellent job feeling like a Star Trek intro without plagiarizing the Enterprise creed.
I’m not sure how a Lower Decks intro would work. Despite being a comedy, Lower Decks plays Star Treks tropes straight and with dignity, even if they have some fun with them. The monologue would have to go to Mariner, or maybe Boimler. But Mariner, as she has yet been portrayed on screen so far, would be incapable of giving the intro the gravitas the monologue would demand. Freeman certainly could, but that would steal the focus from the Lower Deckers.
I think a monologue could work really well with Prodigy… more like a recap of how the kids stole the Protostar and that they intend to reach the federation… That said… the mission changes episode to episode… so maybe a dynamic Monologue would work?
this tribute video
You may want to adjust the link here; currently it skips to the 66 second mark, after Janeway’s speech. Otherwise though, this is a good callout.
I’m not sure how a Lower Decks intro would work. Despite being a comedy, Lower Decks plays Star Treks tropes straight and with dignity, even if they have some fun with them. The monologue would have to go to Mariner, or maybe Boimler. But Mariner, as she has yet been portrayed on screen so far, would be incapable of giving the intro the gravitas the monologue would demand. Freeman certainly could, but that would steal the focus from the Lower Deckers.
I think it has to be Boimler. And I expect they would go for something clearly riffing off the classic structure, but inserting some comedy by referencing the relatively unglamorous work the Cerritos does. Something like:
Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Cerritos. Our continuing mission: to support known life, and known civilizations. To boldly go where others have gone before.
They could tack on a closing quip, such as “…and clean up whatever mess they left behind.” Carefully timed to line up with an embarrassing part of the opening credits sequence, of course.
I love that Cerritos quote. I would ammend “boldly go” to somthing more like “dutifully support”. They do what the federation needs to keep working
Did you mean to make this a top-level post? It sounds like a reply to another comment.
