So Richard Donnor made Red Storm rising and Lethal Weapon at the same time?Here is the regular January update. Since I'm writing it on short notice I'll just pick three of the better TNG episodes from Season 1 IRL and attach them to the end of the update.
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BRENT SPINER: I COULD PLAY DATA FOREVER
Of all the Star Trek actors and actresses interviewed during the first season, nobody was more enthusiastic about his role than Brent Spiner, the uber-popular android science officer Data. Spiner talked about the possibility that he could play the role forever. "The showrunners have given me so much to do in the first season and I'm thrilled with my role so far. As long as they make Star Trek: The Next Generation, I'll be first in line to play my part." Spiner's favorite episode was his collaboration with John Larroquette, who played his evil android brother Lore in Datalore, one of the first episodes in the series. "I absolutely love working with John," Spiner said. "We wrote some of the funniest comedy bits in Night Court, and when David Gerrold said John was playing Lore, I knew they were looking out for me." Spiner was concerned about Denise Crosby and Marina Sirtis, who feel underappreciated in terms of their roles on the series. "I agree with Denise and Marina about their complaints because their characters have not received enough depth so far. But Gerrold is a very receptive showrunner who always listens to his actors and actresses, and we've filmed three or four episodes where they take center stage."
Spiner's character seems to be most closely connected with Dwight Schultz's Reginald Barclay and LeVar Burton's Geordi LaForge. "Barclay is also an introvert who has difficulty understanding people and is not what I would say neurotypical," Spiner explained. As for LaForge, he tends to look out for the android. "Geordi is kind of a shield between me and Dr. Pulaski when we are in character," Spiner said. "Diana Muldaur is extremely nice to me on set, but isn't so nice to Data as Katherine Pulaski, and I'm talking to Gerrold to change that." Spiner explains that his closest relationships were with Schultz and Burton, which helps with on-screen chemistry. "Dwight and I are the practical jokers on set," Spiner laughed. "Gerrold is a complete mark and always gets caught when we pull our pranks, but he takes it in good fun. LeVar Burton sometimes gets pranked and sometimes gets involved in the prank." As for Patrick Stewart, Spiner feels that he is slowly warming up to being Captain Picard. "Patrick takes it personally when he is unfavorably compared to William Shatner. However, the entire cast believes that when all is said and done, Patrick will be a legendary Star Trek lead. The fans love when Picard goes into his monologues and speeches, which give authority to the character."
CBS, PARAMOUNT ALMOST MADE SHOCK DEAL FOR STAR TREK RIGHTS
RODDENBERRY NIXED DEAL
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If you were wondering why Starfleet Intelligence stars Nichelle Nichols and Ron Perlman showed up on the NFL Today, a CBS production, we now have the reason why. CBS and Paramount were about to make a shock deal which would have given the Eye Network rights to make future Star Trek television programming after The Next Generation ends its run, whenever it ends. Sources inside Paramount believe that Star Trek will become a depreciating asset sometime during the middle of The Next Generation's run and were looking to cash out while Trek's popularity is at its peak. "Paramount believes it is milking the Star Trek IP for everything it is worth and feels like Trek will run its course in five years or so," an insider on 5555 Melrose Avenue on the Paramount lot said. "Star Trek: The Next Generation is popular and a new cornerstone for the television division, but the suits at Paramount, especially Frank Mancuso and John Pike, do not believe that the franchise can be extended out once the series wraps in about four or five years. The original Star Trek actors, especially James Doohan and DeForest Kelley, will no longer be able to make movies into the 1990s, and Paramount does not foresee The Next Generation becoming a movie franchise of its own," the insider continued.
CBS reportedly offered Paramount $100 million for the rights to the television side of the franchise; Paramount countered with an offer of $150 million. The two networks agreed to a $135 million deal which was about to be consummated with the approval of Gene Roddenberry. Unfortunately for both sides, Roddenberry was dead set against Star Trek on CBS. "Gene pitched the original Star Trek idea to CBS and was laughed out of the room back in the 1960s," an insider in Roddenberry's orbit said. "He will never permit CBS to televise Star Trek at any point in his lifetime." Roddenberry reportedly was furious with John Pike, the CEO of the Paramount Television Network, regarding Trek's future. The mercurial Trek creator reportedly said to Pike, "I signed a deal with Desilu and later Paramount 20 years ago. CBS tried to kill my idea when it was in the cradle and the suits over there haven't changed one bit. They want Star Trek because they want to kill it and take your most valuable property away from you." Pike reportedly countered, "We can't foresee a future for Star Trek after 1991 or so, and Paramount is trying to make the best deal from the studio's point of view. Our plans are to televise Star Trek: The Next Generation and wind down the franchise in five years, which is hopefully how long Next Generation will last." Roddenberry then told Pike, "Star Trek will last virtually forever because there are thousands of writers out there who dream of seeing their stories produced into episodes and even new television series. You are making one of the biggest mistakes in television history if you let this deal go through. I believe there will be at least one or two series of Star Trek in the future. Heck, I think you could make a series right now with George Takei as captain of his own ship if he ever decides to get out of politics. I also think you could make a series on the Federation frontier, perhaps on a space station instead of a starship."
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1988 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS
The Academy Award nominations for movies produced and filmed in 1987 were announced on January 21, 1988. The two main contenders for Academy Awards this past year were Red Storm Rising, the Tom Clancy thriller, and The Last Emperor, a biopic of Puyi, the last emperor of China. Red Storm Rising was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, and the relevant categories are listed below.
Best Picture:
Red Storm Rising--Mace Neufeld
The Last Emperor--Jeremy Thomas
Fatal Attraction--Stanley R. Jaffe and Sherry Lansing
Hope and Glory--John Boorman
Broadcast News--James L. Brooks
Best Director:
Richard Donner, Red Storm Rising
Bernardo Bertolucci, The Last Emperor
Adrian Lyne, Fatal Attraction
John Boorman, Hope and Glory
Lasse Hallstrom, My Life as a Dog
Best Actor:
William Shatner, Red Storm Rising
Michael Douglas, Wall Street
William Hurt, Broadcast News
Jack Nicholson, Ironweed
Robin Williams, Good Morning, Vietnam
Best Supporting Actor:
Tom Cruise, Red Storm Rising
Sean Connery, The Untouchables
Morgan Freeman, Street Smart
Denzel Washington, Cry Freedom
Vincent Gardenia, Moonstruck
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Red Storm Rising--Tom Clancy
The Last Emperor--Mark Peploe, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Henry Pu Yi
Fatal Attraction--James Dearden
Full Metal Jacket--Stanley Kubrick, Michael Herr, and Gustav Hasford
My Life as a Dog--Lasse Hallstrom, Reidar Jonsson, Brasse Brannstrom, and Per Berglund
Best Original Score:
Basil Poledouris, Red Storm Rising
David Byrne, Cong Su, and Ryuichi Sakamoto, The Last Emperor
Ennio Morricone, The Untouchables
George Fenton and Jonas Gwangwa, Cry Freedom
John Williams, Empire of the Sun
Best Sound:
Red Storm Rising
The Last Emperor
Empire of the Sun
Lethal Weapon
RoboCop
Best Art Direction:
Red Storm Rising
The Last Emperor
Empire of the Sun
Hope and Glory
The Untouchables
Best Cinematography:
Red Storm Rising
The Last Emperor
Empire of the Sun
Hope and Glory
Broadcast News
Best Costume Design:
Red Storm Rising
The Last Emperor
Empire of the Sun
The Untouchables
The Dead
Best Film Editing:
Red Storm Rising
The Last Emperor
Empire of the Sun
Fatal Attraction
RoboCop
Best Visual Effects:
Red
"Barclay is also an introvert who has difficulty understanding people and is not what I would say neurotypical," Spiner explained.
I could change it to "atypical" (I'm on the spectrum too)As someone who's on the spectrum (I'm Aspergers) I'm not certain that that term was being used in 1987.
Usually I'm careful with language from the 21st century that wasn't used in the 20th
49ers will most likely get there like OTL. I'm debating about the AFC. The Bengals did take the 49ers to the brink IRL Super Bowl XXIII. Cleveland with the potential for redemption is a good story. Maybe the Bills get there in 1988 as they were in the AFC championship against the Bengals IRLSuper Bowl XXIII Cleveland Browns vs san francisco 49ers
Of course, but from their perspective they think Star Trek is reaching the end of the line because they don't foresee any more series, any movies with TNG, plus the TOS era is wrapping up. They would still get money out of the deal from any episode they produced in syndication (as the original producer). Paramount is thinking they'll get an extra $135 million from CBS because they don't think CBS would produce a successful Trek series after TNG. The thing is, the deal fell through in the storyDoesn't Paramount already have their own network?
Maybe import Kamen Rider as an replacement?Of course, but from their perspective they think Star Trek is reaching the end of the line because they don't foresee any more series, any movies with TNG, plus the TOS era is wrapping up. They would still get money out of the deal from any episode they produced in syndication
Of course, but from their perspective they think Star Trek is reaching the end of the line because they don't foresee any more series, any movies with TNG, plus the TOS era is wrapping up.
Actually Paramount thinks that ITTL, so it's a profound failure of imagination on their part, not CBS. And it's actually not an unreasonable opinion from Paramount's point of view...This shows a profound failure of imagination by the CBS board.
before they grudgingly accept DS9 as a successor series to TNG
The Memory Alpha links are great for the general plots, but with the changes made you might want to add some notes where the different characters change the plot.Here is the regular January update. Since I'm writing it on short notice I'll just pick three of the better TNG episodes from Season 1 IRL and attach them to the end of the update.
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION EPISODES
EPISODE 14: HIDE AND Q. Airdate: January 5, 1988.
Hide And Q (episode)
Q returns to the Enterprise, testing Commander Riker by giving him the power of the Q. Having dropped Deanna Troi off at Starbase G-6 for a shuttlecraft ride to Betazed, the USS Enterprise-D is fortunately close to the Sigma III solar system, when its Federation colony transmits an urgent call...memory-alpha.fandom.com
EPISODE 15: THE BIG GOODBYE. Airdate: January 12, 1988
The Big Goodbye (episode)
Captain Picard and some of the Enterprise crew get stuck on the holodeck while on their way to an important diplomatic mission. The USS Enterprise-D is en route to a meeting with the Jarada on a diplomatic mission. Captain Picard has been appointed by Starfleet to attempt to establish a...memory-alpha.fandom.com
EPISODE 16: COMING OF AGE. Airdate: January 19, 1988. With Ben Pulaski in Wesley Crusher's role ITTL.
Coming of Age (episode)
As Wesley Crusher faces the Starfleet Academy entrance exam on Relva VII, representatives from Starfleet Command conduct an exhaustive investigation into Captain Picard and the Enterprise-D crew. Wesley Crusher runs through a corridor to catch up with his friend Jake Kurland and tell him he's...memory-alpha.fandom.com
DS9 had the Dominion War Arc dominating the last half of the show, though I'm wondering if that will be repetitive. The Borg could be a more powerful threat in this timeline and their actions more of an overarching threat.Talking about DS9 (I hope you still have Avery Brooks ITTL playing sisko because he was awesome, I first saw him on TV when he was playing Hawk in "Spencer for Hire") will you also have Babylon 5? IIRC Paramount basically ripped off the idea for DS9 from J. Michael Stravinsky, JMS created B5.