TNG@20 – EW’s ‘Oral History’ Of TNG

Yes folks…the aintitcool site has a lot to answer for… ;)

God, that really took me back.

Macht would have been an interesting captain.

Great article. Good to see TNG getting its due. :)

We’ve had hundreds of tell all books from TOS, cushy behind-the-scenes tie-ins and backslapping making-ofs. But I really feel the true story of TNG and the modern era of Star Trek has yet to be told.

And this article just shows how interesting and diverse the creation of TNG was. I would love to see some insider articles like this expanded into full texts and published. Especially now that we are entering a completely new era of Star Trek.

It must have been cool to work on that show. :)

Rick

#8
It sure was fun to watch it. Thanks.

#11 Jeffrey Combs! Wow! That would have be an interesting choice. He’s comes off as pretty quirky. Playing a first officer against Stewart’s Picard would have been very interesting.

Regarding the set-design concept for the Enterprise-D bridge:

“One way that people try to show that things are advanced is you have a lot of blinky, flashing lights. I wanted to go in the opposite direction. I wanted to show that this ship was so advanced that it was simple.”

This reasoning I understand. But, this, on the other hand….

“We were criticized by the fans, who said it looked like a Hyatt Regency hotel. I was okay with that. Gene wanted light colors, he wanted space, he wanted it to feel like home. He did not want it to feel like a submarine.”

I’ve never understood the motive behind wanting the Enterprise-D bridge to look homey. I have no complaints about it, so, I suppose that it worked.

But, it seems counterintuitive to me – antithetical to a Sci-Fi adventure show, in fact – to have a calm, placid-looking look bridge, on which the likes of Martha Stewart might seem at home. I’d like to see a bit of elaboration as to the rationale behind that choice, i.e. WHY did they want the bridge of the new ship to be more open, homey, tranquil and inherently less exciting?

I’m SOOO glad that they didn’t cast Eric Menyuk – The Traveler – as Data. That really might have been a deal-breaker for me.

Not only did Brent Spiner bring more to the show, particularly in the way of humor, than I can imagine most actors bringing, but, while I’m sure that Eric Menyuk is a lovely fellow, The Traveler was THE most annoying character on TNG, for me.

The only thing more annoying, in the scenes with The Traveler, than The Traveler, himself, was Wesley exclaiming in his Mid-Western, epiglottis-exposing accent, “The Traaaveler!!!”

And, I’m by no means a Wesley-hater. But, that one line grates on my nerves.

Running a close second, in measure of annoyance, was the character, Darmok.

I will not watch that episode. And, hearing that character frustratedly reiterating, “Darmok. At. Tenagra!!” is a special form of torture.

Great article, by the way.

I remember reading that Christopher MacDonald (was in Yesterday’s Enterprise) had auditioned for the role of Riker. Personally, I think he would have been a much better choice than Frakes. MacDonald always seemed to have more charisma and better acting chops than Mr. Frakes. The bar of quality during the seven year run of the T.V. show would have been raised by Mr. MacDonald’s involvement!

Looking back at some of the episodes, I wonder whether the uniforms restrained some of the physical action that should have been there. In the early seasons, I can see awkward movements at times, as the actors try not give themselves wedgies. From season 3 onward, there’s a noticeable effort not to show the actors’ backs (and that GINORMOUS seam) which seems to affect the blocking at times. There are exceptions of course. But, there’s a lot more who-gives-a-poo-about-$2-velour in TOS. I miss all the gratuitous shirt ripping. (There are at least two times where Picard is wounded without his shirt getting mussed that really bother me — “Who Watches the Watchers” and the horrible one where Troi gets aged into a crone and stabs Picard.)

I walked into my English class yesterday, and my teacher handed me the mini-magazine version of the article which was included in the Entertainment Weekly Magazine!

– WHY did they want the bridge of the new ship to be more open, homey, tranquil and inherently less exciting?

To contrast the dramatic nature of the show. It’s far more comforting driving into battle in a tank, than it is in a sedan! It made the audience feel at home, and in that sense..it brought the sense of comfort, awe, suspense…further into the living room than it would have had if the ship were more like the future sterile spin offs.

#22 – New Horizon

— It’s far more comforting driving into battle in a tank, than it is in a sedan! It made the audience feel at home, and in that sense..it brought the sense of comfort, awe, suspense…further into the living room —

Interesting theory. The spacious, living-room-esque bridge lulls the audience into a false sense of security, as though they might be visiting with Grandma, and then….

BAM!! The Borg come along, in their technophobia-inducing Cube-ship and invade the sanctuary of Grandma’s living room, thus the creep-factor is maximized.

I’m not sure if it worked quite that way on me, but it seems plausible.

That’s an awesome article, and its really neat to see Rick Sternbach posting on here.

Personally, I’ve always really liked the TNG bridge, cushy chairs in all…really, I love almost everything about the series (from season 3 onwards, that is…), so I guess I’m not exactly the most objective evaluator.

As for Jeffrey Combs as Riker, I’m a big fan of his, and especially of his Weyoun character, but I have to say I can’t imagine him as the true-blue Kirk substitute that is Riker. Ditto for the Traveler… really, I like Jonathan Frakes’s Riker better than I would any other actor’s take on the role.

So yeah, I’m a Trek apologist…but at least I’m not a rabid TOS-Kirk-Shatner fanboy….