Chris

The same team has been writing and producing Star trek since they resurrected it in the late 1980s. 15 years is a long time to expect the same people to keep coming up with original ideas, especially when they haven't actually had that many original ideas. The fact that they have shifted through four completely different scenarios in that time has disguised the fact that the same basic plotlines keep coming back again and again.

For proof of this, look at Enterprise. This of all Trek incarnations should have been the most original and interesting, set as it is in a completely different era, with different technology, different politics and so on. But what do we find? First, that it was Archer who first met the Romulans and not Kirk; second, that 'first contact' with the Klingon empire wasn't nearly as disastrous as Picard once claimed it to be; third, that transporters, phasers and photon torpedoes were all around 100 years before Kirk, which leaves us wondering how Earth technology managed to effectively stagnate for almost two centuries .... essentially the scriptwriters of Enterprise have proven themselves unable to write Star Trek without relying on the usual kitbag of cliches, two-dimensional aliens and technological get-out-of-jail cards.

Star Trek has just grown tired. The only way of rescuing the franchise is to create a completely different series, set in the same universe but departing completely from the usual focus of interest (i.e. Starfleet/Federation/exploration). I would suggest they head back to the 24th century if they are going to have a go at this, and to try a little harder to keep away from 'particles' as an explanation for everything (a la most episodes of Voyager).