How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? - Page 3

R. Star · January 14 2013, 05:44 AM

^ Oh come on, regardless if you like it or not the age/rank ratios in ST09 were absurd.

Nerys Myk · January 14 2013, 06:04 AM

R. Star wrote:

^ Oh come on, regardless if you like it or not the age/rank ratios in ST09 were absurd.

Chekov-17 year old Ensign. Since he is some sort of wunderkind, makes sense.

Uhura and Sulu- Lieutenants in their early 20s.

McCoy and Scott- Lt Commanders in their 30s.

Spock- 30ish Commander

Pike- 50ish Captain/Admiral

The only ratio I find odd is Kirk as a 25 year old Captain. Though for most of the movie he is a Lieutenant.

middyseafort · January 15 2013, 06:48 AM

I've often thought about what I would do to "reboot" TNG. Believe I've outlined my thoughts before in this forum. That being said here are a few of my ideas.

I'd mine the original TNG bible, using many of the ideas that were either altered or dropped when the series actually went into production, such as the Enterprise being on a 15 to 20 year mission, alone and without much contact with Starfleet Command. I would explore the community that would be built around the idea that the ship was alone, with only each other to truly rely on.

Starship Life

In other words, I'd find stories among the crew, both Starfleet and civilan, what life truly would be like on a great starship sailing the stars. Much like the movie MASTER AND COMMANDER really portrayed what life was like on an 18th century Royal Navy frigate.

While I wasn't overly fond of the families concept, I'd keep it since it's a great source of conflict and something that would add occasionally tension on the ship. TNG never really dealt with the concept well.

Who are the people that would bring their families? How does that come into conflict with other characters? Does that create strife between the "military" officers and the civilian population, both of whom will occasionally have competing agendas and, of course, different worldviews?

The Crew

One thing that always bugs me about TNG is the lack of conflict, or Roddenberry's "perfect human" idic. The "band of brothers", which can be squarely rested at David Gerrold's feet since he wrote the original bible, was something I never quite understood. Sure they can get along, even like each other but that doesn't mean they aren't going to disagree.

Human beings whether today or 400 years from now will still have their own personalities, their own experiences that shape their worldviews. Conflict isn't who slept with whom — that melodramtic, soap operish idea of conflict. No, it's when one worldview rubs against an opposing one. Or how those worldviews approach problems. Think about McCoy and Spock, who had an underlying conflict because of the different worldviews. Even Kirk and Spock didn't always see eye-to-eye. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" had a wonderful tension between the two, which I wished had been seen more in the actual series.

That's what I mean by conflict. How each character views a problem and how they'd solve it, how that differs from another characters? How one character's goals may stand in the way of another?

TNG missed the boat by eliminating any tension between Picard and Riker. EaF set up a potential strife with the idea that Riker didn't allow his former captain to beam down. You were waiting for something like that to happen with Picard and him, but it never did only the lip service of "you can't beam down, regulations, blah blah."

Not to say they'd be entirely the same characters from TNG. There'd be some changes.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard:

Much younger than in the original. Perhaps late 30s. This would allow him to drive much of the show's action. Still thoughtful, perhaps not as reserved. He is still very much of a different era of Starfleet where captains lead away missions, didn't hesitate to put themselves into harm's way. An era that is slowly going away.

He is primarily driven by the need to protect his ship and crew at all cost, even at the sacrifice of his own life. This worldview has been shaped by the loss of his previous command, the Stargazer, which nearly resulted in his being booted out of the fleet. He is an explorer at heart, who has learned to be a warrior. And those two personality traits often cause him internal conflict.

Commander Wilhelmina T. Ryker, aka "Number One":

Yes, a woman. TNG lacked a lot of strong women in command roles. Always wanted to see Shelby as first officer after BoBW. Either replacing Riker or becoming his XO.

She is ambitious. She is driven by her desire to get her own command. She believes that she should be the captain of the Enterprise. She is very much an officer of the new era of Starfleet, which is less military and less formal. Her worldview and her own ambition often puts her into direct conflict with Picard.

They don't always see eye-to-eye on command decisions. She occasionally challenges him in front of others.

Like Riker in the original bible, she'd find it a little hard to accept ...

Data:

Never liked that a human built Data. Really liked the concept that his origins were a bit more mysterious in the original bible. I'd bring back that concept. I'd return him to being more an artificial biological being as he was in the early episodes, rather than the mechanical automaton he later became.

Still a childlike quality, Data would make some humans uncomfortable. Yet he'd be a reasoned, logical creature, which could at times make him dangerous and a bit unpredictable. He could use reason to sacrifice a life because it was logical to do so to save a greater good. Without empathy, he'd be someone that could do harm but not realize that he is doing so.

Deanna Troi:

She'd be a civilian First Contact specialist. An advisor to Picard on contact with alien lifeforms. Bring back some of the more reserved aspect of the character from the first season. Yet that aspect would only be for when she's on duty. Off-duty she is very much aware of her own sexuality, especially since there are little taboos regarding sex on Betazed. She is a sensual creature, sultry but very much in control of it.

However, there are those humans that are intimidated by Troi because of her telepathic skills. Since she is from a planet without inhibitions, some fear that she'd invade their privacy.

Dr. Beverly Crusher:

Less Janice Rand with a medical degree. While she'd still have a past with Picard, she'd be a research scientist in her own right, aboard Enterprise because of that.

Slightly older than Picard, her husband, Jack, was his mentor. Picard replaced him as captain of the Stargazer when he was killed on an away mission. Part of Beverly blames him for Jack death since it was his duty to protect his captain. The other is guilt for having an affair with Picard while her husband was alive.

However, she is driven by a need to save life, no matter what, to uphold her oath as a physician. More than that, she is also strongly driven to complete a comprehensive work on xenomedicine. This agenda creates conflict between her, Picard and Ryker.

Midshipman Wesley Crusher:

Roddenberry gave lip service that Picard, Riker and Wesley represented the three stages of an officer's career. Less genius, Crusher is truly Mr. Midshipman Hornblower. Eager, unexperienced and a bit of a self-doubter, who is constantly thrown into situations where he has to prove himself. Picard can be overly hard on him, as he trains the young Crusher to become an officer.

And the Rest ...

Haven't really given much thought to the other characters. I much liked Geordi on the bridge rather than when he was the chief engineer. I'd maybe explore him a bit and how having a device as an extension of himself informs his worldview.

Not sure if there would be a Tasha. Although, I'd probably make her Hernandez to make the cast more ethnically diverse. Worf would be there, not sure how.

Stories

Less episodes per season, to stretch the budget and tighten up the storytelling. The series would still be episodic, but with the occasionally planet exploration taking place over the course of several episodes.

It would be episodic like MAD MEN, where each episode stands on its own but pushes the conflict between characters a bit further or to a head in the last episode of the season. You can watch an individual episode and still get the story, but watch the entire season and you see a greater tapestry.

The characters would change and evolve over the episodes, much like MAD MEN. I'd bring the sophistication of today's television storytelling to the action-adventure of STAR TREK.

I'd also buy LitSF short stories, from today and yesteryear, and adapt them. Bring on contemporary writers like John Scalzi, Cory Doctorow and Neil Gaiman as contributors. Maybe even as consultants.

Australis · January 16 2013, 12:51 PM

Nooo, it's all in the casting!

Jason Statham IS Captain Jean-Luc Picard!

The Rock IS Worf!

Sasha Alexander IS Deanna Troi!

Gillain Anderson IS Dr Crusher!

Molly Quinn IS Wendy Crusher!

Hugh Lauire IS William T Riker!

David James Elliot IS Commander Data!

You're welcome.

The Mirrorball Man · January 16 2013, 02:19 PM

I love your list, Australis, but actually...

Vincent Cassel is Jean-Luc Picard

Rashida Jones is Billie Ryker

Jamie Hector is Data

Anwan Glover is Worf

Julia Voth is Deanna Troi

Julianne Nicholson is Beverly Crusher

Joel Courtney is Wesley Crusher

middyseafort · January 16 2013, 08:41 PM

The Mirrorball Man wrote:

I love your list, Australis, but actually...

Vincent Cassel is Jean-Luc Picard

Rashida Jones is Billie Ryker

Jamie Hector is Data

Anwan Glover is Worf

Julia Voth is Deanna Troi

Julianne Nicholson is Beverly Crusher

Joel Courtney is Wesley Crusher

That's pretty solid casting.

Nerys Myk · January 16 2013, 09:38 PM

Richard E. Grant- John-Luke Picard ( None of that French stuff, Picard is British)

Tahmoh Penikett-William Riker

Christina Hendricks-Dr Beverly Crusher

Dichen Lackman-Deanna Troi

Katee (Help I'm being type cast) Sackhoff- Tasha Yar

Jason (Help I'm being type cast) Momoa- Worf

Donald Glover-Geordi LaForge

Jim Parsons-Data

Kodi Smit-McPhee-Wesley Crusher

Australis · January 17 2013, 01:30 PM

Those are some pretty good lists. Still stand by mine but damn!

You have to admit: Statham would rock the Picard.

NeedsOfTheMany · January 19 2013, 03:40 AM

Australis wrote:

Those are some pretty good lists. Still stand by mine but damn!

You have to admit: Statham would rock the Picard.

Picard walks onto the bridge and Riker's first words are, "come on Jean Luc put on a shirt"

Australis · January 19 2013, 08:09 AM

Picard would respond with a 'Glasgow kiss'. "Right! Let's get going!"

Eris · January 21 2013, 01:09 AM

Dukhat wrote:

This would depend on how realistic you'd want to be. In reality, by the late 24th century in the Abramsverse, things would have changed so fundamentally from the prime universe that the time period TNG would be in would bear little resemblance to how we know it.

But if what you're really asking here is, how would the prime universe TNG characters act like if they were in the Abramsverse but still somehow together on a nuEnterprise-D in the same setting as TNG, then I'd have to say that they'd act exactly the way they act now, only with Vulcan destroyed 100 years before, and a nuEnterprise-shaped model on the Enterprise History Wall instead of the original Constitution class. And probably no Dr. Selar.

But it wouldn't need to be set in the Abrams alternate universe to be rebooted. The original timeline is already rebooted at the start of ST XI.

It might be interesting to see a series or film set in a rebooted prime universe around the time of the destruction of Romulus. Alternatively, it's easy to imagine a rebooted TNG crew establishing contact with the Abramsverse and striving to avert the destruction of Romulus... (Abramsverse would still exist seeing as we're now working on a multi-timeline model - I think).

LobsterAfternoon · January 21 2013, 04:10 AM

What do you mean by "the original timeline is already rebooted"?

Eris · January 22 2013, 12:14 AM

I mean that Abrams rebooted the prime universe. The universe we see in his film is not the familiar universe of TOS even before the temporal pollution. The ships are different, Romulans look different etc... That's what a "reboot" normally is - it's just updated and made to look cooler. In Abrams trek, the primary timeline remains in existence, so it's legitimate to imagine what that rebooted universe would look like by the time it got round to TNG era.

LobsterAfternoon · January 22 2013, 04:13 AM

But the Prime Universe is the one Spock is from. It's intact. The one that changed is the alternate timeline, the one we're currently seeing unfold in the JJ movies.

Australis · January 22 2013, 12:34 PM

Prime Universe - not rebooted.

JJ verse - reboot from birth of Kirk forward (apparently)

January 14 2013, 05:44 AM	#31
R. Star Commodore Location: Terra 3	Re: How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? ^ Oh come on, regardless if you like it or not the age/rank ratios in ST09 were absurd. __________________ "I was never a Star Trek fan." J.J. Abrams

January 15 2013, 06:48 AM	#33
middyseafort Rear Admiral Location: The Bay Area	Re: How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? I've often thought about what I would do to "reboot" TNG. Believe I've outlined my thoughts before in this forum. That being said here are a few of my ideas. I'd mine the original TNG bible, using many of the ideas that were either altered or dropped when the series actually went into production, such as the Enterprise being on a 15 to 20 year mission, alone and without much contact with Starfleet Command. I would explore the community that would be built around the idea that the ship was alone, with only each other to truly rely on. Starship Life In other words, I'd find stories among the crew, both Starfleet and civilan, what life truly would be like on a great starship sailing the stars. Much like the movie MASTER AND COMMANDER really portrayed what life was like on an 18th century Royal Navy frigate. While I wasn't overly fond of the families concept, I'd keep it since it's a great source of conflict and something that would add occasionally tension on the ship. TNG never really dealt with the concept well. Who are the people that would bring their families? How does that come into conflict with other characters? Does that create strife between the "military" officers and the civilian population, both of whom will occasionally have competing agendas and, of course, different worldviews? The Crew One thing that always bugs me about TNG is the lack of conflict, or Roddenberry's "perfect human" idic. The "band of brothers", which can be squarely rested at David Gerrold's feet since he wrote the original bible, was something I never quite understood. Sure they can get along, even like each other but that doesn't mean they aren't going to disagree. Human beings whether today or 400 years from now will still have their own personalities, their own experiences that shape their worldviews. Conflict isn't who slept with whom — that melodramtic, soap operish idea of conflict. No, it's when one worldview rubs against an opposing one. Or how those worldviews approach problems. Think about McCoy and Spock, who had an underlying conflict because of the different worldviews. Even Kirk and Spock didn't always see eye-to-eye. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" had a wonderful tension between the two, which I wished had been seen more in the actual series. That's what I mean by conflict. How each character views a problem and how they'd solve it, how that differs from another characters? How one character's goals may stand in the way of another? TNG missed the boat by eliminating any tension between Picard and Riker. EaF set up a potential strife with the idea that Riker didn't allow his former captain to beam down. You were waiting for something like that to happen with Picard and him, but it never did only the lip service of "you can't beam down, regulations, blah blah." Not to say they'd be entirely the same characters from TNG. There'd be some changes. Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Much younger than in the original. Perhaps late 30s. This would allow him to drive much of the show's action. Still thoughtful, perhaps not as reserved. He is still very much of a different era of Starfleet where captains lead away missions, didn't hesitate to put themselves into harm's way. An era that is slowly going away. He is primarily driven by the need to protect his ship and crew at all cost, even at the sacrifice of his own life. This worldview has been shaped by the loss of his previous command, the Stargazer, which nearly resulted in his being booted out of the fleet. He is an explorer at heart, who has learned to be a warrior. And those two personality traits often cause him internal conflict. Commander Wilhelmina T. Ryker, aka "Number One": Yes, a woman. TNG lacked a lot of strong women in command roles. Always wanted to see Shelby as first officer after BoBW. Either replacing Riker or becoming his XO. She is ambitious. She is driven by her desire to get her own command. She believes that she should be the captain of the Enterprise. She is very much an officer of the new era of Starfleet, which is less military and less formal. Her worldview and her own ambition often puts her into direct conflict with Picard. They don't always see eye-to-eye on command decisions. She occasionally challenges him in front of others. Like Riker in the original bible, she'd find it a little hard to accept ... Data: Never liked that a human built Data. Really liked the concept that his origins were a bit more mysterious in the original bible. I'd bring back that concept. I'd return him to being more an artificial biological being as he was in the early episodes, rather than the mechanical automaton he later became. Still a childlike quality, Data would make some humans uncomfortable. Yet he'd be a reasoned, logical creature, which could at times make him dangerous and a bit unpredictable. He could use reason to sacrifice a life because it was logical to do so to save a greater good. Without empathy, he'd be someone that could do harm but not realize that he is doing so. Deanna Troi: She'd be a civilian First Contact specialist. An advisor to Picard on contact with alien lifeforms. Bring back some of the more reserved aspect of the character from the first season. Yet that aspect would only be for when she's on duty. Off-duty she is very much aware of her own sexuality, especially since there are little taboos regarding sex on Betazed. She is a sensual creature, sultry but very much in control of it. However, there are those humans that are intimidated by Troi because of her telepathic skills. Since she is from a planet without inhibitions, some fear that she'd invade their privacy. Dr. Beverly Crusher: Less Janice Rand with a medical degree. While she'd still have a past with Picard, she'd be a research scientist in her own right, aboard Enterprise because of that. Slightly older than Picard, her husband, Jack, was his mentor. Picard replaced him as captain of the Stargazer when he was killed on an away mission. Part of Beverly blames him for Jack death since it was his duty to protect his captain. The other is guilt for having an affair with Picard while her husband was alive. However, she is driven by a need to save life, no matter what, to uphold her oath as a physician. More than that, she is also strongly driven to complete a comprehensive work on xenomedicine. This agenda creates conflict between her, Picard and Ryker. Midshipman Wesley Crusher: Roddenberry gave lip service that Picard, Riker and Wesley represented the three stages of an officer's career. Less genius, Crusher is truly Mr. Midshipman Hornblower. Eager, unexperienced and a bit of a self-doubter, who is constantly thrown into situations where he has to prove himself. Picard can be overly hard on him, as he trains the young Crusher to become an officer. And the Rest ... Haven't really given much thought to the other characters. I much liked Geordi on the bridge rather than when he was the chief engineer. I'd maybe explore him a bit and how having a device as an extension of himself informs his worldview. Not sure if there would be a Tasha. Although, I'd probably make her Hernandez to make the cast more ethnically diverse. Worf would be there, not sure how. Stories Less episodes per season, to stretch the budget and tighten up the storytelling. The series would still be episodic, but with the occasionally planet exploration taking place over the course of several episodes. It would be episodic like MAD MEN, where each episode stands on its own but pushes the conflict between characters a bit further or to a head in the last episode of the season. You can watch an individual episode and still get the story, but watch the entire season and you see a greater tapestry. The characters would change and evolve over the episodes, much like MAD MEN. I'd bring the sophistication of today's television storytelling to the action-adventure of STAR TREK. I'd also buy LitSF short stories, from today and yesteryear, and adapt them. Bring on contemporary writers like John Scalzi, Cory Doctorow and Neil Gaiman as contributors. Maybe even as consultants. __________________ A mild-mannered reporter Literary Masturbation Last edited by middyseafort; January 15 2013 at 07:33 AM.

January 16 2013, 12:51 PM	#34
Australis Writer Location: The Electric Age	Re: How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? Nooo, it's all in the casting! Jason Statham IS Captain Jean-Luc Picard! The Rock IS Worf! Sasha Alexander IS Deanna Troi! Gillain Anderson IS Dr Crusher! Molly Quinn IS Wendy Crusher! Hugh Lauire IS William T Riker! David James Elliot IS Commander Data! You're welcome. __________________ I will not accept tyranny, any tyranny, even that of Heaven - Terry Pratchett. Always choose cognac over cocaine. -- Jon Lord

January 16 2013, 02:19 PM	#35
The Mirrorball Man Vice Admiral Location: Switzerland	Re: How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? I love your list, Australis, but actually... Vincent Cassel is Jean-Luc Picard Rashida Jones is Billie Ryker Jamie Hector is Data Anwan Glover is Worf Julia Voth is Deanna Troi Julianne Nicholson is Beverly Crusher Joel Courtney is Wesley Crusher __________________ Check out my deviantArt gallery!

January 16 2013, 09:38 PM	#37
Nerys Myk Admiral Location: House of Kang, now with ridges	Re: How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? Richard E. Grant- John-Luke Picard ( None of that French stuff, Picard is British) Tahmoh Penikett-William Riker Christina Hendricks-Dr Beverly Crusher Dichen Lackman-Deanna Troi Katee (Help I'm being type cast) Sackhoff- Tasha Yar Jason (Help I'm being type cast) Momoa- Worf Donald Glover-Geordi LaForge Jim Parsons-Data Kodi Smit-McPhee-Wesley Crusher __________________ Nerys Myk's Midnight In Never Land A novel of Dark Fantasy @ Amazon.com

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January 17 2013, 01:30 PM	#38
Australis Writer Location: The Electric Age	Re: How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? Those are some pretty good lists. Still stand by mine but damn! You have to admit: Statham would rock the Picard. __________________ I will not accept tyranny, any tyranny, even that of Heaven - Terry Pratchett. Always choose cognac over cocaine. -- Jon Lord

January 19 2013, 08:09 AM	#40
Australis Writer Location: The Electric Age	Re: How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? Picard would respond with a 'Glasgow kiss'. "Right! Let's get going!" __________________ I will not accept tyranny, any tyranny, even that of Heaven - Terry Pratchett. Always choose cognac over cocaine. -- Jon Lord

January 21 2013, 04:10 AM	#42
LobsterAfternoon Commander	Re: How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? What do you mean by "the original timeline is already rebooted"? Last edited by LobsterAfternoon; January 21 2013 at 08:53 PM. Reason: dropped letter

January 22 2013, 12:14 AM	#43
Eris Ensign	Re: How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? I mean that Abrams rebooted the prime universe. The universe we see in his film is not the familiar universe of TOS even before the temporal pollution. The ships are different, Romulans look different etc... That's what a "reboot" normally is - it's just updated and made to look cooler. In Abrams trek, the primary timeline remains in existence, so it's legitimate to imagine what that rebooted universe would look like by the time it got round to TNG era.

January 22 2013, 04:13 AM	#44
LobsterAfternoon Commander	Re: How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? But the Prime Universe is the one Spock is from. It's intact. The one that changed is the alternate timeline, the one we're currently seeing unfold in the JJ movies.

January 22 2013, 12:34 PM	#45
Australis Writer Location: The Electric Age	Re: How Would You Reboot TNG Into The Abrams-Verse? Prime Universe - not rebooted. JJ verse - reboot from birth of Kirk forward (apparently) __________________ I will not accept tyranny, any tyranny, even that of Heaven - Terry Pratchett. Always choose cognac over cocaine. -- Jon Lord