What If TNG Had a Rotating Cast

[valkyrie013]

Well, Lets take voyager, yes there stuck there with the mostly same crew, that ship was the only show who had a reason not to change characters. However, Harry Kim.. 7 years latter.. still an Ensign.. Bless his heart..
Lets take that ship, in real life, say someone is on the command track, or gets bored of his current billet, they rotate to another division. So, lets take Ensign Kim.. First year or 2, he's in Ops, but then move him around (and others) have him take Beta shift Security under Tuvok, then next year, he's in Engineering with Belana, then maybe hes beta shift conn officer. and he moves up in rank.

On Tng, Riker moving on to another ship, Laforge, Picard would have been at the peak of there profession, so they wouldn't have moved to another ship ( they were serving on the Flagship, no better posting) Worf would have continued on the command track, cycling through all the departments, ending up as a first officer canadite, probably move to another ship if Data was moved up when riker left. Data may not be on a comand track, he's a science/ops officer, and at the top of his track. Or he may move to another ship. One may stay in place for maybe 5 years or so before moving up or over.

Plenty of ideas on how to change up things!

 

[Grendelsbayne]

There were half a dozen. We saw at least MacDougal, Argyle, Logan and Lynch.

One in universe excuse is they were cycling chief engineers of future galaxy ships through some practical engineering experience on a real ship

It's explicitly stated early on that the Enterprise has multiple 'Chief Engineers'. Then later in the show it's stated that there's only one (Geordi). I always assumed that the Enterprise was launched with an 'experimental' roster with a bunch of Chief Engineers in charge of different sections of Engineering, but that the 'experiment' was considered unsuccessful when evaluated, so they were phased out.

It's also a solid explanation for Geordi's weird promotion. He clearly already has engineering experience even while he's still Conn Officer, so he could have been on the engineering track from the start and his sudden promotion was actually to a junior Chief Engineer position, with him ultimately getting the actual Chief Engineer job over time as the other ones were transferred out.

 

[Arpy]

It wouldn’t have worked at the time, but it’s interesting to consider what-if. The frequent idea that pops up is what if Riker took over for Picard after BoB, but here’s another. What if Riker left to captain the Drake in “Arsenal of Freedom” and then returned to captain it after Picard was lost in BoBW? Picard’s first officer in the interim could have been Thomas Halloway, who was the captain instead of Picard in “Tapestry.”

Chief engineers could have been MacDougal, Argyle, Logan and Lynch as Geordi slowly rose through the ranks to the position, and chief tactical could have been Tasha for a few years before Worf. We already got a couple CMO’s in Pulaski and Crusher, too.

Maybe Wesley left after BoBW too, when Crusher tells him Picard was his actual father, and now they’ll never know each other as such. A bit much? Well, it’s a way to rotate people.

Maybe Data could have took over as first officer after BoBW (he always looked good in red) and concluded the series as the first Enterprise artificial life-form captain.

Riker leaves the Big Chair to be with Deanna on Betazed. Maybe when Lwaxana dies and she’s now head of their House?

 

[STEPhon IT]

I thought Insurrection should've started the process of a rotating cast because I was shocked at how long in tooth the crew looked and the plot invited such a thing. Riker deserved a Galaxy Class ship; its the reason why he never left the Enterprise and I can't believe he wanted to stay after seeing the new one. A rotating cast, if made interesting, would allow Worf to have an organic return to the crew than the ridiculous and at times lack of effort to provide a reason why he was at the right place at the right time to be with Picard and Co.. Deep Space Nine is far far far far away from everything Starfleet; it would be highly unlikely for Worf to meet the Enterprise based on the Stardates given from the films and the series... unless he was transported by the fastest ships in the Galaxy... it doesn't have to be a Starfleet ship.

 

[flandry84]

Make Riker captain and have Picard on board as an “ ambassador at large”.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Looking at the series, there were a few potential times characters could've been removed and replaced throughout the series, for eaxample:

Wesley Crusher - Passes the Starfleet Academy Entrance Exam on Relva VII (Coming of Age). He could always come back to the ship in Season 4/5 as a newly commissioned Ensign.
Beverly Crusher - Appointed Head of Starfleet Medical (The Child). She wouldn't return after a year.
Data - Sentience not recognised and taken away by Bruce Maddox (The Measure of a Man). This could lead to another android crewmember joining the ship in a later season (e.g. Lal). I'd like to see Mendon replace Data at Ops.
William Riker - Accepts command of the U.S.S. Aries (The Icarus Factor). Of course Thomas Riker could be discovered in a few seasons time and join the ship. This could also see the introduction of Elizabeth Shelby as the new 'Number One'.
Worf - Transfers to the U.S.S. Aries with Riker (The Icarus Factor). This could've paved the way for O'Brien to become the new Chief of Security perhaps.
Katherine Pulaski - Retires from Starfleet (Evolution). She would be replaced with Doctor Selar.
Jean-Luc Picard - Assimilated by the Borg (Best of Both Worlds). The question would be if Shelby would then take the spotlight or if another character would be introduced as the new Captain.
Geordi La Forge - Transformed into a Tarchannen (Identity Crisis). Replaced by a promoted Sonya Gomez?

The only character that doesn't really seem to have an episode that would see them leave the ship would be Troi, she could be the glue that holds all the new crew combinations together over the years.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

The only character that doesn't really seem to have an episode that would see them leave the ship would be Troi, she could be the glue that holds all the new crew combinations together over the years.

Which might have been an interesting for them to actually develop the character into someone more interesting.

 

[bolak]

There was a plan to write-out Troi in Descent in the original story of the saucer crashing on Lore's planet.

So by the seventh season they could have had a full change of cast versus Farpoint.

 

[Tenacity]

Make Riker captain and have Picard on board as an “ ambassador at large”.

Recurring role only?

So by the seventh season they could have had a full change of cast versus Farpoint.

Would have made All Good Things interesting, with the return of all the prior characters for the segment on the young Enterprise.

 

[suarezguy]

Data - Sentience not recognised and taken away by Bruce Maddox (The Measure of a Man).

The show wasn't meant to be dystopian, that kind of fate/twist would lead a lot of viewers to stop watching.

Geordi La Forge - Transformed into a Tarchannen (Identity Crisis).

That would also feel too much like mean-spirited shock value.

 

[Tenacity]

The show wasn't meant to be dystopian ...

Then why was there even a court hearing on the matter? The judge stated she was willing to summarily find against Data.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

That would also feel too much like mean-spirited shock value.

I was planning on having Geordi trapped on the other side of the Barzan Wormhole.

 

[Sgt_G]

Take a look at the history of the show E.R. They replaced the entire cast probably twice over. That show never suffered for losing original cast members. You can look at Law & Order as well to see how many times they replaced personnel.

In real-life, people get promoted out of their jobs and/or get tapped for new assignments. I was at one location for six years in a unit with only 15 or 16 people, but during my time there I worked with 55 or 60 people, what with all the turn overs we had. Typical assignments used to be about two years for officers, three to four years for enlisted. I already had a short-tour overseas assignment, at a remote location no less, which is why I got to stay put for so long.

 

[Arpy]

Again, it’s the nature of television at the time, but here’s another thought: they knew they’d be on a Galaxy Class starship, which could go out for 20 years at a time. Maybe they were settled for the long-haul. Given they live to about 140+, 20 isn’t as long as it might be for us.

Also, I wouldn’t get rid of characters just to get rid of them. It’d be nice if characters remained and others came back, either long term (my idea to have Riker leave on the Drake, then come back after BoBW) or intermittently (flandry’s to have Picard be an ambassador, who might cross paths with the flagship, time to time). ER may have changed casts entirely, but it was also on air more than twice as long.

For first officer, it could have gone Riker, Halloway, Shelby (comes for the position after her Borg weapons work is done with the launching of the Defiant), Data.

 

[Roundabout]

TNG could have done more "Lower Decks" type of episodes. I suppose it would have been a variation of a rotating cast scenario.

I saw "Lower Decks" the other night. One scene that caught my attention was the shift change on the bridge. Maybe the show could have done 3 to 5 episodes a season focusing on the (recurring) characters of the night shift, 3rd shift, or whatever. The show would still have some or all of the main characters show up in these episodes, to keep the audience from becoming too disoriented with the format.

Inserting "Lower Decks" type of episodes throughout the seasons might have been a nice change of pace for the series.

Of course, that wouldn't have resolved the Will Riker situation. Some characters should have been replaced for the sake of playing out a character's story arc to its logical conclusion, like having Riker move on to something else.

 

[bolak]

Inserting "Lower Decks" type of episodes throughout the seasons might have been a nice change of pace for the series.

That would have been a nice way of previewing future 'main cast' for the audience and for the production team to find actors who 'got' Trek.

 

[Nyotarules]

TOS also had a senior team that stayed on The Enterprise for 25 years, at one time they even ended up with two Captains, Kirk and Spock and Chekov gave up being a XO to go back on the Enterprise (all the post STWOK movies). Their career moves in universe made no sense at all.

 

[Farscape One]

Regarding Picard never leaving or getting promoted...

I think he knew he always wanted to just be a starship captain, and we see this long before Kirk gives him that advice of never leaving the bridge.

In "The Icarus Factor", he tells Riker that there is 'no substitute for holding the reins', even if it's a small, insignificant ship in a remote area. Like Kirk, I think that he knew it was his first, best destiny to command a starship. And he can bemuch more useful to Starfleet as a captain... he said as much to Admiral Quinn in "Coming Of Age" when he was offered the Admiral job and as Starfleet Academy Commandant. And he was right, I think.

 

[Paul Weaver]

Picard is at a peak of his career, Geordi is too, and Crusher (sure she could move to, but being out on the edge), and Troi. There's nowhere 'up' in that field of field-counciling or whatever she does.

So that leaves Data, Worf and Riker

Data graduated the Academy in 2345 and spent 3 years as Ensign and 12 as Lieutenant.

He was Lt Cdr from 2360 and spent 19 years in that rank and role before being promoted to Commander and getting First Officer.

Compare with Picard, who went from Graduation to Lt Cdr in 6 years. Sisko was similar, and Riker did it in 4. Data clearly wasn't capable, so no wonder he didn't get promoted or move on. Normally it looks like you spend the same amount of time as lt cdr as you do going graduation->lt cdr. That would have put Data's promotion to Commander around Generations, perhaps his behaviour there with his emotion chip pushed this back, and wanted to experience emotions more on the Enterprise before leaving.

Worf took 5 years to Lt and 5 more to Lt Cdr, a total of 10 years, and at least 8 more years as Lt Cdr before resigning to try out Ambassading for a couple of years. Seems fair enough, he did a decent stint as security chief, then moved into strategic operations.

So it's just Riker who really should have moved on He was offered promotion to Captain 3 times. The first he'd only went for the Enterprise commission instead, fair enough that he wanted to prove himself and learn from Picard. When it came to Season 2 and the Aries it was a tough decision, his emotions were conflicted with leaving Troi and his estranged Father, and he only had 12 hours to decide.

The third offer was the Melbourne, and he should have left then. After that, he wasn't offered anything more.

With the exception of Riker, I think it makes perfect sense for everyone else to stay on the Enterprise, especially for the 7 seasons.

 

[Tenacity]

With the exception of Riker, I think it makes perfect sense for everyone else to stay on the Enterprise, especially for the 7 seasons.

Dr. Crusher, replaced by Dr. Pulaski, replaced by Dr. Selar, replaced by ....

First episode of every new season have a new chief medical officer.