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

[dsp19]

"Bob Dole would vote for Bob Dole, and Bob Dole is right!"

I'm not sure I'm allowed to bring him up but a certain New York real estate guy was considering running for President in 1988. But to keep on the safe side, the major GOP candidates are Dole, Papa Bush, Howard Baker and Pat Robertson.

I could have certain said New York real estate guy say "I'm not running for President" and make him smarter than OTL (or at least content about staying a real estate guy)

 

[ajm8888]

I'm not sure I'm allowed to bring him up but a certain New York real estate guy was considering running for President in 1988. But to keep on the safe side, the major GOP candidates are Dole, Papa Bush, Howard Baker and Pat Robertson

yup

And I will give you some issues to use.

 

[Otakuninja2006]

Paramount airs a lot of Disney cartoons in the early afternoon and on Saturdays because of their merger. They could import anime to fill in some overnight programming but the cost right now exceeds the profits.

Ok. Then they could buy some for SatAM or afterschools.

And I know of a few that could do well.

Fox is probably importing more anime than Paramount right now.

What anime do they have at this point?

Transformers is likely to switch to Paramount once they buy the rights,

Buy the adaption rights?

but Voltron is airing on Fox

Cool.

DuckTales, Star Trek, Thundercats, and now Transformers? Paramount has it going ON!

However, Voltron on Fox is actually a good pickup for the newest network on the street.

Right.

 

[dsp19]

Previewing TNG, here are some ideas that will likely replace some RL episodes in S1

1. Blood and Fire is definitely getting made since David Gerrold is in charge.
2. Deadworld by James Van Hise (if I can find more info on it. Sounds very intriguing)
3. The Dream Pool by Tracy Torme
4. Genius is Pain (also by Tracy Torme)
5. A Mirror, Mirror sequel written by Jerome Bixby (who wrote the original). NOTE: I'm only doing one Mirror Universe episode in TNG
6. A sequel to The Neutral Zone (which means ITTL The Neutral Zone is somewhere in the middle of S1 instead of at the end)
7. Once A Klingon, by DC Fontana and Herbert Wright

Plus I'll come up with a few to replace some of the S1 episodes I wasn't fond of

The first 7 season 1 episodes on the chopping block:

Code of Honor
The Last Outpost
Justice
The Battle
Haven
Angel One
Too Short a Season

 

[Ogrebear]

Do you want story ideas for TNG here or in PM?

Also some of s1/2 crappier stories ideas could be saved, just nothing like how they went out.

 

[Ogrebear]

Since it is canon that he cheated on one exam one could extrapolate that he might have weasled his way through other topics as well.

Webfind unrelated:

View attachment 836092

Here's an idea for an episode @dsp19 - preempt that Lower Decks episode by some decades.... heh.

Too silly for an 'serioius' episode? Perhaps do it as a holodeck accident or a cool dream sequence....

 

[SubparLario]

Here's an idea for an episode @dsp19 - preempt that Lower Decks episode by some decades.... heh.

Too silly for an 'serioius' episode? Perhaps do it as a holodeck accident or a cool dream sequence....

Good lord, that Worf Muppet is PERFECT! Speaking of the Muppets, is the planned 1990 Disney buyout of the Muppets butterflied? Since Paramount owns Disney and I'm uncertain if they'd be interested in the Muppets or even allowed to purchase them. It might save Jim Henson... Frank Oz attributed that to what caused Jim to not get diagnosed with pneumonia quickly enough.

 

[dsp19]

Good lord, that Worf Muppet is PERFECT! Speaking of the Muppets, is the planned 1990 Disney buyout of the Muppets butterflied? Since Paramount owns Disney and I'm uncertain if they'd be interested in the Muppets or even allowed to purchase them. It might save Jim Henson... Frank Oz attributed that to what caused Jim to not get diagnosed with pneumonia quickly enough.

I don’t want to copy or lift anything from @Geekhis Khan and his wonderful work so I might mention it in passing, but I won’t develop butterflies off it.

If I save Jim Henson all I’ll probably do is come up with a few more Muppets that don’t exist IRL

 

[SubparLario]

I don’t want to copy or lift anything from @Geekhis Khan and his wonderful work so I might mention it in passing, but I won’t develop butterflies off it.

If I save Jim Henson all I’ll probably do is come up with a few more Muppets that don’t exist IRL

Yeah, that's completely fair and I definitely respect you for that.

Small Trek related question: has the LEGO Star Trek line continued into 80's? Are there now proper Star Trek minifigures, since those were created in 1978 OTL? Even if not, the collaboration probably helps Lego a lot in the long run; the LEGO Star Wars line was detrimental in OTL, since they couldn't fulfill demand prior to The Phantom Menance coming out and when they could, the film was already out and they had a surplus. Even though the prequels won't come out until the 2000's from the way things seem, LEGO will likely have a better idea of how to deal with licensed properties. Star Wars was but one part of why they almost went out of business in the early 2000's.

 

[dsp19]

Yeah, that's completely fair and I definitely respect you for that.

Small Trek related question: has the LEGO Star Trek line continued into 80's? Are there now proper Star Trek minifigures, since those were created in 1978 OTL? Even if not, the collaboration probably helps Lego a lot in the long run; the LEGO Star Wars line was detrimental in OTL, since they couldn't fulfill demand prior to The Phantom Menance coming out and when they could, the film was already out and they had a surplus. Even though the prequels won't come out until the 2000's from the way things seem, LEGO will likely have a better idea of how to deal with licensed properties. Star Wars was but one part of why they almost went out of business in the early 2000's.

The answer is yes to the mini-figures.

Star Wars Episodes I, II and III will be made about the same time as OTL but we're getting a Thrawn trilogy before that (early to mid 1990s) and I think I had someone reading this thread who was willing to expand upon that

 

[vandevere]

The answer is yes to the mini-figures.

Star Wars Episodes I, II and III will be made about the same time as OTL but we're getting a Thrawn trilogy before that (early to mid 1990s) and I think I had someone reading this thread who was willing to expand upon that

If we get a Thrawn Trilogy before the Prequels, the Prequels might be very different beasts from OTL...

 

[dsp19]

This is some amazing history (real life)! Fans in the Kansas City area saw The Wrath of Khan almost a month before its release

 

[dsp19]

Next update will be August 1987 so there will be a big TNG section (probably half the update). I'll also get Paramount to buy the rights to Transformers and possibly Voltron. It'll probably be a short update, then September 1987 will be longer because TNG will start right after USA Labor Day (1st Tuesday in September)

 

[TheFaultsofAlts]

Next update will be August 1987 so there will be a big TNG section (probably half the update). I'll also get Paramount to buy the rights to Transformers and possibly Voltron. It'll probably be a short update, then September 1987 will be longer because TNG will start right after USA Labor Day (1st Tuesday in September)

Okay. I'll be looking out for it.

 

[Professor Finklestink 2.0]

Next update will be August 1987 so there will be a big TNG section (probably half the update). I'll also get Paramount to buy the rights to Transformers and possibly Voltron. It'll probably be a short update, then September 1987 will be longer because TNG will start right after USA Labor Day (1st Tuesday in September)

ooh

 

[dsp19]

Very short update today, focused almost solely on Star Trek: The Next Generation. We'll have a full Star Trek update for September when TNG premieres and Starfleet Intelligence gets its final chance to win Emmys. We will reveal the first three episodes of TNG in the next update and one, maybe two, will be completely different from OTL.

RECOLLECTIONS FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

Patrick Stewart: We desperately wanted to be accepted as Star Trek in season one, but even with David Gerrold's leadership, the shadow cast on us by the popularity of the original series was a huge handicap and difficult to escape. It took us two seasons to be legitimately accepted as Star Trek. One of the best episodes we produced in that first season was Blood and Fire. David Gerrold really wanted to churn that one out at the start of our run, and it was critically acclaimed. We earned Emmy nominations in our first season for that episode. Overall, the first season was a little uneven, and some of the storylines seemed a little rehashed from the original series. We were criticized for rehashing episodes like The Naked Time (The Naked Now) and Where No Man Has Gone Before (Where No One Has Gone Before). Overall, the ratings were strong, which is what the studio really cared about, and my character was developed nicely. However, I didn't really click with the rest of the cast in the first season because my personality was a lot more serious than everybody else's. I think Brent Spiner tried to force me to tell jokes every day on set because he had a comedic background. Eventually, I fell for Brent's jabs and meshed well with my cast, which was important because they took cues from me.

LeVar Burton: Dwight Schultz and I were the most famous member of the cast when we were first put together. When I met Dwight, I said, "Hi Murdoch!" He really grew into his own as the chief engineer, and I think David Gerrold made an inspired casting decision. I was struck at how Dwight became the glue that kept the cast together. When we were languishing through some marathon filming days, Dwight and Brent Spiner, who is also a friend forever, always kept it light. Playing the first officer brought me into contact with Patrick more than the rest of the cast, and our chemistry was a little weird that first season. I tended to enjoy myself on set while Patrick felt a little burdened by the weight of carrying a billion-dollar franchise as the lead. I remember one day Nichelle Nichols was on set as a guest star late in the first season and she wanted to talk to Patrick about how he was handling the pressure. I could see Patrick's personality change; he opened up to the rest of us and sometimes even joined in our hijinks. We were much more friendly towards each other than the original cast was because of how the responsibilities were shared. Patrick was the lead but there were more character stories featuring the supporting characters. I think that helped all of us develop an identity, and we actually behaved like our characters at times on set when we weren't fliming.

Dwight Schultz: I was a huge fan of the original Star Trek growing up, especially James Doohan. When I got the call to become the chief engineer of the starship Enterprise, I was living a dream. That was always the role I wanted to play on television, and I was on top of the world. At one point Michael Piller in the third season wanted be to be assimilated permanently by the Borg, but I didn't want to be killed off. Patrick volunteered to be assimilated instead, at least temporarily. Although we were a close cast, I always though there were three distinct groups: Patrick by himself, LeVar, Brent and myself, and the rest of the cast. That being said, we were never really cliquey like the original series cast, especially with Shatner there. My most enjoyable experience on the show was when I got to meet Mr. Doohan when he filmed a couple of episodes for us late in the series run. I had a good character but I felt they could have done more with it other than constantly keep me attached to Brent's Data. I love Brent like a brother but I should have interacted with the other cast members in those scripts a little more.

Brent Spiner: Playing Data was extremely hard at first. I was a comic and it was a completely different role than Night Court. I was the prankster who always kept everyone occupied on set. One time, right before we finished a day of filming, I placed my white make-up on the bottom of Patrick's boots and he got it all over the Enterprise bridge floor. Patrick was incredulous and knew right away it was me. David Gerrold made me clean up the make-up, and I had to stay on set for two hours after everybody else went home. Needless to say, I never put my make-up on Patrick's boots again. As for the first season, my most enjoyable interactions were with LeVar, Dwight, and John Larroquette, who I knew from Night Court. Gene Roddenberry initially had an idea where I was to play both Data and his evil twin android Lore, but John wanted to play Lore and Devid Gerrold was a fan of his work. So Lore wasn't my twin android brother, just my older android brother.

Jonathan Frakes: I remember the cast splitting itself into social groups in the first season, and I was in the "lowest ranked" social group with Michael and River Phoenix. However, we really bonded as a cast during that first season. River had some personal troubles so Michael and I were guiding him through. He thought about taking drugs to calm himself but we kept him on the straight and narrow. Michael told River that if he found drugs or the hint of drugs on River, he'd be off the cast immediately. So River, who really wanted to be in Trek, stuck around for the first two seasons and went on to superstardom once he left the series. To this day, River credits us for saving his life when he was at an extremely vulnerable point as a teenager. As for David, he was an incredible showrunner for those first two seasons before he got exhausted working on the show late in season two and Michael Piller took over. Michael was also great but a little more detached, not because he was actually detached, but nobody could possibly be more attached than David. Lastly, Marina Sirtis and I hardly knew each other before season 1, and our characters hated each other early in the show's run, but we eventually became close friends on and off set.

Michael Dorn: Initially I only wanted to play Worf because I wanted the paycheck. However, I think Worf was the most developed character in the entire show. We had at least two Worf-centered shows every season. I had huge shoes to fill as the Klingon on set, because Ron Perlman really knocked it out of the park as Karlax on Starfleet Intelligence. I got to meet Ron a few times on set, playing an aged Karlax, and we eventually hit it off, but Ron has a strange sense of humor. I liked how my character started as a non-commissioned officer, a Klingon marine, and eventually rose through the ranks. What once was a job for the paycheck eventually became over a decade of constantly working on Star Trek. I didn't mind the typecasting. I was meant to play Worf.

Denise Crosby: I didn't want to be killed off, but the cast was too large and eventually two Betazoids on set (me and Marina) became one. There was an implied lesbian relationship between Yar and Troi at the start of the series, which was too much for the Paramount brass. They could only stomach one gay character on set and David wanted more, so there was friction, and the studio was going to sack David if he went too far. So David killed me off, but promised to bring me back in future episodes, and as it turned out, Yar survived Armus.

Marina Sirtis: Jonathan and I really, really did not like each other in the early going. He thought I was a little prissy and I thought he was full of himself, a macho man. Little did we know that our characters would become lovers as the series progressed. I was OK with the planned relationship with Denise's character, but the studio threw a fit and they sent Rick Berman in to fire David. However, David was smarter than the average bear. He kept Troi's relationship with Tasha implied while he developed the relationship between Troi and Riker. David also threw the audience a swerve when they thought we killed off Tasha. That was one of the best storylines of the first season.

Diana Muldaur: I didn't really get along that well with the rest of the cast, but I kind of felt a responsibility to River. He was struggling with drug abuse when he first came on set. Jonathan and Michael gave him tough love. I gave him tougher love. I told River he had a responsibility to the rest of the cast because he was a pivotal character as the teenage prodigy. As my on-set nephew, he had a specific responsibility to me. I checked on River every day to make sure he was on the straight and narrow, and he held it together, at least until he left the series after the end of season two to become an A-lister. My experience on Star Trek was only OK, not perfect. I also left the show with River at the end of season two.

River Phoenix: Wil Wheaton once told me that he thought Star Trek saved my life. He was right. I wouldn't have this Academy Award or anything else if it wasn't for Frakes, Dorn or Diana Muldaur. I'd either be dead or in jail.

 

[Ogrebear]

Interesting round up and some fun teases about TNG plot-lines to come.

Since TNG is coming off a lot of existing Trek and not being built entirely from the ground up that will effect the quality of S1/2 a lot more than the OTL situation. Roddenberry effectively being out will help - the high quality music from S1 will stay, along with all the Trek illumani that were chased off in OTL.

To repeat my eariler question - do you want story pitches for TNG by PM?

 

[dsp19]

Interesting round up and some fun teases about TNG plot-lines to come.

Since TNG is coming off a lot of existing Trek and not being built entirely from the ground up that will effect the quality of S1/2 a lot more than the OTL situation. Roddenberry effectively being out will help - the high quality music from S1 will stay, along with all the Trek illumani that were chased off in OTL.

To repeat my eariler question - do you want story pitches for TNG by PM?

Sure. I think I have 7 episodes off the top of my head that I’ve got ideas for which are replacing the worst 7 episodes IRL plus a part 2 to Skin of Evil because Tasha won’t get killed off

 

[dsp19]

Here are the two S1 episodes that will change a little from OTL because Roddenberry is only involved with Farpoint ITTL

Hide and Q
Datalore

(Roddenberry had writers credits on these two episodes). I don't want to replace them because both of them were OK. Datalore was actually pretty good).

Blood and Fire will probably pop up pretty early in S1. The Neutral Zone will have to occur in the middle of S1 because there will be a story arc that adds an episode or two to it (and that's where Patrick Bauchau will appear as a villain)

 

[Scorpius72]

and that's where Patrick Bauchau will appear as a villain

Yes! Sydney from The Pretender. When I checked his wikipedia page it said that in 1987 he was seriously considered to play Captain Picard on ST:TNG.