Harve Bennett was as responsible as anyone other than Gene Roddenberry for the rebirth of the Star Trek franchise back in the 1970s so I generally take what he has to say at face value. Sometimes, though, he pops one up and out of play behind the plate as in a recent interview. Bennett says he likes the idea of a new Trek series idea that has made the rounds for a few years now: Kirk and Spock as 17 year olds at Star Trek Academy.
All well and good, possibly an interesting reboot even, except for one little detail: Spock is something like 100 years older than Kirk! I realize we’re talking about fictional characters but if they want to play by the rules than this is a pretty crucial one to follow. A large part of Spock’s backstory in the original series comes from his age and prior experiences. Indeed, if the ratings get dire enough, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a very young Spock pop up as a character on Enterprise even though this would be something of a continuity violation.
Sorry Harve. A series set at the Academy might work just fine and even one where young Kirk is the lead character. Just leave Spock’s pointy ears out of it, knowwhatImean?
BillSaysThis 