In December 1991 they were as follows:

William Shatner 60
Leonard Nimoy 60
DeForest Kelley 70
James Doohan 70
Walter Koenig 55
Nichelle Nichols 59
George Takei 54

The TNG cast are now:

Patrick Stewart 68
Brent Spiner 60
Gates McFadden 60
Jonathan Frakes 56
Michael Dorn 56
Marina Sirtis 54
LeVar Burton 52

Realistically, that’s too old for Patrick Stewart to play a major action role (the insurers alone would forbid it!) and ridiculously old for Brent Spiner to be an android unless they do a Jar Jar Binks on him! The rest of the cast are a bit younger, but there seems to be something wrong when the ‘next generation’ of characters are now older than their forebears.

Thing is, TNG did sail off into the sunset in ‘All Good Things . . .’ meaning everything else was a bit of a pointless add-on!

While I won’t disagree that it is unlikley we’ll see another TNG movie, I do have to disagree about your premise. The TOS cast members were far older than the NG cast when they made ST VI TUC. VI, in my opinion, was one of the better film deliveries of the original cast… (I rank it third behind TMP (#1) and the WOK (#2) — and in that order).

I think ‘Nemesis’ sealed the fate of the TNG cast as to future endeavors. Sad, really. Picard and crew deserved a far better ’sailing into the sunset’ than what that film delivered.

I am sure if the film had delivered the goods that we would have seen a canon-accepted rebirth of DATA.

The same could be said of the finale on ‘Enterprise.’ I refuse, to this day, to believe that Trip’s death was to be of a permanent nature (and am happy to see the writers of the books feel that way too).

Ronny Cox as full-time captain of the Enterprise would have been brilliant. Apparently, we were supposed to see Jellico as some sort of bad guy, but not once did he show any poor judgement. He simply had an inherited first officer who behaved like a highly unprofessional prima donna and had to sack him!

If you ask me, any actors who were signing up for Trek shows had their agents baying for seven year contracts just in case they’d go to the cinema. I reckon the main reason TNG actors sat around in the show for the duration was purely the movie carrot-on-stick.

While I enjoyed TNG, this element (or lack thereof) always bothered me. That some of the stuff these characters endured…..and by next week…they’re back to normal. Picard should’ve been written out after BoBW or Inner Light as both were profound life changing experiences. Riker should’ve been captain, others should’ve moved on etc, etc.

There also seemed to be this mindset that what worked for one show, would work for another, even when it didn’t. So on Voy. they had the main cast signed for seven years……but certain characters, like Kim, didn’t initially resonate with people….so they did nothing with him….so he didn’t resonate with people…so they did nothing, well you get the point.

Sadly, instead of getting rid of him and bringing in a character that could generate stories, they kept him around. It’s like they thought that just by being there, he’d achieve the status of Chekov and Sulu, characters with much less development.

Mayweather on Ent was the same way. Should Trek ever return to the small screen, I’d love to see them take the Law and Order approach where characters come and go and the show has different “era’s” within itself. It would’ve been cool to have the “Picard era” and the “Riker era” or even “Jellico era” on TNG.

Yes, definitely! People need to stop thinking that taking a TV show to the cinema is an upgrade.

‘It worked for me because it had an ensamble cast that needs more than a two hour block every 2-3 years.’

Right on the money! More than that, the cast should have been more fluid. Most ensemble TV shows have characters moving in and out, doing a couple of seasons here and there, characters get different jobs and leave, get killed or whatever. The moment Bland Bev came back to TNG, the whole point of the ensemble cast died!

TNG should have carried on beyond season seven, by which time Riker should have been captain for example. Stuff like the Dominion War should have been part of the TNG storyline. You could even have stranded the Enterprise in the Delta Quadrant for a couple of seasons.

‘I want to know more about the characters from all three 24th century shows in the form of semi-annual minseries. Leave the epic films to TOS cast with its well-known triad of heroes and the others to support the story.’

Having a TV series set in the future of the the current incarnation is a mistake. It completely handcuffs the original team. I mean look at Star Trek VI. Suppose they’d wanted to blow up Qu’Onos or destroy Vulcan. They couldn’t because it’s still there in TNG.

As I’ve said before, the 24th century era (now bordering on 25th century) has been done. Twenty-one seasons of TV and three and a half films. Everything that can be said has been said. It’s time to let it go and embrace the new!

I really don’t hate it! I just think it’s had its time.

‘A majority of fans on this site wishes a return of TNG (on TV or at least on DVD).’

Yeah and that’ll pay for the production and distribution costs!

‘If there will be ever a new TV-show, it will be something like TNG, a continuation of Enterprise perhaps, or a show, 50 years after TNG.’

I’d like to see your crystal ball!

‘They will not make a show in the movie-era, to prevent any interfering with possible movies.’

How do you know they’ll make a TV show at all! Or that they won’t follow a different ship in the same era.

‘So or so, TNG will return in some way – no doubt witn a new look and design. I would like to see a reunion of the old cast. They are in their 50’s (only Stewart is older) and far away from beeing too old.’

2+2=5

‘You’re an only-TOS-fan, as far as I can see.’

In fairness, I’ve got TAS and DS9 on DVD as well . . .

‘So, if the TNG-crew is too old by now, what’s with Leonard Nimoy?’

He’s guesting as a very old man.

‘He’s in his 80’s if I’m correct.’

70s.

‘And everyone looking forward for his return in the new movie.’

Yeah, but he’s there in a small capacity to introduce a new cast.