WI: The Enterprise completes its five year mission (Star Trek survives for 5 seasons)

[wietze]

Leaks out of Paramount indicate that the new Star Trek series, entitled Star Trek: The Next Generation, will portray a vastly different universe to the original series. Potential characters include a female doctor with a personality similar to Doctor McCoy, an android science officer, a Klingon marine, a female security chief, an African-American first officer, and a captain of French descent. We can also report that LeVar Burton, the Emmy winner from the Roots miniseries, is the leading candidate for the first officer role on the new starship Enterprise. The captain's chair is down to four potential candidates: Patrick Stewart, a Shakespearean actor from England who had a role in Dune and was first officer in the Andromeda series; Patrick Bauchau, an accomplished Belgian actor who speaks fluent French, Yaphet Kotto, a 1970s movie star who surprisingly expressed interest in the role, and Rutger Hauer, who played Roy Batty in Blade Runner. The female doctor's role is rumored to be down to two actresses: Diana Muldaur, who appeared in the original Star Trek series in two different roles, and the relatively unknown Gates McFadden. The android role is down to two actors, both of whom appeared on Night Court: Brent Spiner and John Larroquette. Lastly, it appears that River Phoenix is close to an agreement to play a Starfleet cadet, meaning that The Next Generation will have a teenage/young adult character. We will continue to report on Star Trek: The Next Generation's casting call as actors sign onto the series.

i'd say go for Hauer as captain and Muldaur as doctor, it certainly will resulting some interesting things. (with ST intelligence being there as a precursor, TNG might a little more character based, and thus a less unhappy Muldaur than otl)
Hauer is pretty versatile, and in general comes across a little more intense & serious as Stewart, Bauchau seems to be in the upper end of the age range for the role though
could shake things up a little, instead of having a female security chief, have a female chief engineer (def would be a better role for Denise Crosby), and instead the klingon is the security chief.
with an african-american 1st officer the chances of Kotto for the captains role are slim, maybe as a nod to TOS he could play a doctor M'Benga (grandson/son of the one in TOS)
edit: although if Stewart or Bauchau would play the captains role, Hauer would also be solid for the Chief-Engineer role (imagine him then later moving on to DS9)

 

[dsp19]

i'd say go for Hauer as captain and Muldaur as doctor, it certainly will resulting some interesting things. (with ST intelligence being there as a precursor, TNG might a little more character based, and thus a less unhappy Muldaur than otl)
Hauer is pretty versatile, and in general comes across a little more intense & serious as Stewart, Bauchau seems to be in the upper end of the age range for the role though
could shake things up a little, instead of having a female security chief, have a female chief engineer (def would be a better role for Denise Crosby), and instead the klingon is the security chief.
with an african-american 1st officer the chances of Kotto for the captains role are slim, maybe as a nod to TOS he could play a doctor M'Benga (grandson/son of the one in TOS)

Rutger Hauer in 1987 would probably remind audiences of Captain Kirk, as 1967 William Shatner actually looked similar. Shatner was actually younger in 1967 (36 y/o) than Hauer was in 1987 (43 y/o), although Hauer doesn't look 43 at all in this poster:

Patrick Bauchau is two years older than Patrick Stewart. Here is a photo of Bauchau from 1987. If he's in the center seat, TNG is probably going to be a lot grittier than OTL:

Yaphet Kotto would probably be a good guest star as a TNG admiral. Here is Kotto from 1987:

 

[wietze]

Rutger Hauer in 1987 would probably remind audiences of Captain Kirk,

which might be a selling point for the studio execs

 

[dsp19]

which might be a selling point for the studio execs

And the point to bring in Stewart as captain would be BOBW part II, where Hauer's character is killed off instead of surviving the Borg. IRL there were rumors that Patrick Stewart would leave TNG after BOBW part I, and the writers had to write two different endings.

If I go with Hauer as captain I'll probably name him something different so when Stewart takes over he'll still be JLP

Also I would need someone to photoshop Hauer in a Star Trek captain's uniform (I'm not good at photoshop)

 

[vandevere]

And the point to bring in Stewart as captain would be BOBW part II, where Hauer's character is killed off instead of surviving the Borg. IRL there were rumors that Patrick Stewart would leave TNG after BOBW part I, and the writers had to write two different endings.

If I go with Hauer as captain I'll probably name him something different so when Stewart takes over he'll still be JLP

That would be interesting to see. BOBW Part II could be a lot like OTL "Chain of Command" with the officers, crew, and new Captain coming to terms with each other as they struggle to contain the Borg Menace...

 

[wietze]

And the point to bring in Stewart as captain would be BOBW part II, where Hauer's character is killed off instead of surviving the Borg. IRL there were rumors that Patrick Stewart would leave TNG after BOBW part I, and the writers had to write two different endings.

If I go with Hauer as captain I'll probably name him something different so when Stewart takes over he'll still be JLP

Hauer is pretty versatile though , he probably would be good in another role too. As chief-engineer, or in a few years - as captain or #2 (instead of chakotay) of voyager.
and with him being more intense/serious would create a good tension with a more mellow captain.

 

[dsp19]

Hauer is pretty versatile though , he probably would be good in another role too. As chief-engineer, or in a few years - as captain of voyager.
and with him being more intense/serious would create a good tension with a more mellow captain.

I've created a poll--who should be captain of the Enterprise-D ITTL's TNG

 

[phx1138]

I work for a living

Gibbs can say that, because he's a (former) noncom.

Uhura is commissioned.

And she'd be called "Sir", not "Ma'am", given "TMP" is canon...

Also, there shouldn't be any "Enterprise bloody A, B, C, D, or Q", because the name can be reused without it. (The NCC number, which AIUI is a contract number, wouldn't be reused in any event. That it was is because the OTL writers were stupid.)

Also, nitpicks: she's not "the Enterprise"; no "the" required. And you serve in a ship, not on one.

 

[reluctantuser]

Having the casts' klingon start out as 'just' a Marine could offer a neat character arc. TTL's Worf starts out as a security grunt, which is where the audience would expect him to be. Over the course of the show he gains depth - revealing more character traits - and is finally made new security chief when the old one dies/leaves ship to be stationed elsewhere.

If Hauer dies in alt BOBW, that would make Stewart's Picard the Jellico.

Compared to OTL, your Star Trek has a lot more recurring cast members. So it wouldn't be a fixed requirement that people always stay in the same position. So Burton's Riker likely won't hog the XO position for seven years. Who knows, the commander could leave after a few years but then have meaningful arcs on other future Trek shows.

Heck, that's a way to have your cake and eat it too, by having multiple captains. Collect them all!

 

[dsp19]

Gibbs can say that, because he's a (former) noncom.

Uhura is commissioned.

And she'd be called "Sir", not "Ma'am", given "TMP" is canon...

Also, there shouldn't be any "Enterprise bloody A, B, C, D, or Q", because the name can be reused without it. (The NCC number, which AIUI is a contract number, wouldn't be reused in any event. That it was is because the OTL writers were stupid.)

Also, nitpicks: she's not "the Enterprise"; no "the" required. And you serve in a ship, not on one.

You're killin' me Smalls!

But in all seriousness, I can take the constructive criticism

 

[wietze]

Compared to OTL, your Star Trek has a lot more recurring cast members. So it wouldn't be a fixed requirement that people always stay in the same position. So Burton's Riker likely won't hog the XO position for seven years. Who knows, the commander could leave after a few years but then have meaningful arcs on other future Trek shows.

Heck, that's a way to have your cake and eat it too, by having multiple captains. Collect them all!

it also may prolong the life of the series, if they are not as stuck to the same characters.
and people moving on/promoting is more realistic. the riker situation otl did feel a little forced

 

[Denliner]

I'd say there's a very high chance Diana Muldaur starts out as the doctor and River Phoenix's character is related to Pulaski in some way. I'll probably get Gates McFadden in there somewhere around season 3 (killing off Pulaski perhaps?)

I'd rather not kill off Pulaski unless there's a justifiable reason why Muldaur wants to retire from the role. McFadden could play as a Starfleet Intelligence officer as an alternative since there's a precedent for making that division of Starfleet important in the franchise.

Riker I imagine as either a helmsman or an engineer ITTL's TNG

I'm assuming you're talking about Jonathan Frakes, but I did suggest him as a weapons officer, IIRC. Just gotta add a new name for his new character, I guess.

Yaphet Kotto would probably be a good guest star as a TNG admiral. Here is Kotto from 1987:

I agree with that. Either this or wietze's idea (making him a descendant of Dr. M'benga).

it also may prolong the life of the series, if they are not as stuck to the same characters.
and people moving on/promoting is more realistic. the riker situation otl did feel a little forced

This would no doubt bring a different dynamic to TNG. The cast changes over the course of the series but the Enterprise-D is still the D.

 

[wietze]

This would no doubt bring a different dynamic to TNG. The cast changes over the course of the series but the Enterprise-D is still the D.

you get more the sort of dynamics of long running series such as the world turns or coronation street. and even the D can be upgraded to E

 

[dsp19]

you get more the sort of dynamics of long running series such as the world turns or coronation street. and even the D can be upgraded to E

Or Doctor Who (which I’ll try to save by putting Hinchcliffe in charge and keeping it away from Coronation Street’s time slot)

 

[phx1138]

You're killin' me Smalls!

But in all seriousness, I can take the constructive criticism

It's so minor, I hesitate to bring it up, but I'm also obsessive enough about detail to not want to let it go. (More as an aid to the next guy not to make that mistake than to get you to retro-fix it, especially at this late date.)

It's not put me off reading further... I'm just way behind.

 

[unclepatrick]

I'd say there's a very high chance Diana Muldaur starts out as the doctor and River Phoenix's character is related to Pulaski in some way. I'll probably get Gates McFadden in there somewhere around season 3 (killing off Pulaski perhaps?)

Riker I imagine as either a helmsman or an engineer ITTL's TNG

My take on Next Gen has Riker as the Ship engineer .

 

[dsp19]

My take on Next Gen has Riker as the Ship engineer .

That was my thinking, beard and all. He grows it out from Day 1.

It's so minor, I hesitate to bring it up, but I'm also obsessive enough about detail to not want to let it go. (More as an aid to the next guy not to make that mistake than to get you to retro-fix it, especially at this late date.)

It's not put me off reading further... I'm just way behind.

Don't rush, there's a lot of different strands in the story

 

[Derek Pullem]

I've created a poll--who should be captain of the Enterprise-D ITTL's TNG

Rutger would be badass but wouldn't work with Gene's vision. I voted for Patrick but Rutger would be a great alt-Tasha Yar or Worf

 

[wietze]

Rutger would be badass but wouldn't work with Gene's vision. I voted for Patrick but Rutger would be a great alt-Tasha Yar or Worf

but ittl gene has no influence over TNG, so totally possible the studio go against that vision partly

 

[dsp19]

Rutger would be badass but wouldn't work with Gene's vision. I voted for Patrick but Rutger would be a great alt-Tasha Yar or Worf

I was thinking Rutger Hauer would be an alt-Riker