AG Monday
TNG Part 2!
In the mid-1980s, we heard that a new Star Trek series was on the way. But it wouldn’t include anyone from the cast of the original series. It was to be set decades in a future, with a new Enterprise, a new crew, and a new adversary, but still helmed by Gene Roddenberry. How did we feel about the series, when it was announced? And what were our initial reactions, when it premiered?
In this episode, we journey back to the 80s to answer these questions, and provide some background on what was happening behind the scenes of the new series, including Roddenberry’s role in the franchise.
Teaser trailers! Actors we knew, and others who were new to us! Klingon on the bridge! A weird-looking Enterprise! Day care centers on a space cruiser! It’s all here.
Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of popular culture. We were geeks before it was chic!
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I first heard about it on Entertainment Tonight. My first impression is that the set design alone made it look like it would take place in the future.
As to characters, I liked Dr. Crusher (yes, very poor choice of surname*) from the start. Wesley was meh. I like Will Wheaton better than TNG Wesley, especially late Wesley. he was much better, as Wesley, in Picard and Prodigy.
*She’s a professional, an officer, and a widow. Why doesn’t she go by her maiden name?
@Kathy: I liked Wesley in Prodigy quite a bit.
Finished listening on an errand (short ep).
Around the early 90s, I recall reading on the pre-internet message boards, that Wesley was like Roddenberry’s conception of himself at that age. I don’t vouch for that claim.
Also that Marina Sirtis had been cast as Tasha, and Denise Crosby as Troi, but the producers switched the characters before shooting began. Others claimed they’d auditioned for those roles, but were cast as seen on the show.
Last, IMO, the ep to dissect in season one is The Naked Now. It’s not a great ep by any menas, and it’s totally a remake of an earlier TOS ep, but it has the main cast playing against type that early in the series (second ep to air). What’s interesting is seeing how the characters ultimately evolved,3 to 4 seasons in, and then compare them to what they’re like when they act “drunk” in that ep.
I forgot to mention I had a copy of the Enterprise D technical manual at some point. At some other point, I lost it. I probably lent it to someone (I’m pretty free loaning out books and DVDs; that’s how I lost season five of Babylon 5, too).
And this reminds me of a joke I heard once:
Q: What’s the difference between a fool and an idiot?
A: A fool is someone who lends out a book. An idiot is someone who returns it.
As always, various thoughts…
They were obviously thinking about the ramifications of having families on board a ship that could end up in combat, hence the saucer separation idea. Which they ignored soon after.
Also dropped.. Data’s initial catchphrase of “Indubitably”.
Wonder if the bible entry for Troi mentioned Gene’s desire for her to have 3 breasts…
Funnily enough, just today I read an article online where Marina Sirtis commented, on a panel on the ST Cruise, that she often got production notes telling her she was too fat. :O
Too bad Denise Crosby didn’t stick around, Tasha would undoubtedly have gotten better stuff later. Unless there were other factors involved in her leaving(like Rick Berman?).
I have not, but I assume you’ve seen the “Chaos on the Bridge” documentary?
The major with Wes is of course, not that he is a character but that he is often coming up with the solution to the problem of the week, beating out veteran and (being on the Enterprise) best-of-the-best Starfleet personnel. Compare with Jake Sisko, also a youth character.
And yes, Wesley is soooooo much better managed in Prodigy.. they even gave him a reunion scene with his mom!!! That was an amazing show.
@Assad K:
As I recall, the saucer separation happened 4 times. In the pilot ep, later in the first season when Geordi winds up temporarily in command (I forget the ep or why, though I saw it a few months ago). In Best of Both Worlds as a tactic against the Borg, and in the first TNG movie, to be sacrificed for visual effects in the destructive finale.
It was not a terrible idea, but suffered from three problems:
1) They made a very big deal about it in the pilot, with the theme music going full brass and all. This sets up big expectations that cannot be met.
2) The saucer lacked visible warp engines, which you know will set of the worst of Trekkie nitpicking every time it’s used. “Yeah, the saucer will meet us at Far Point, in about ten thousand years!”
3) The rest of the ship without the saucer looks like a headless chicken.