What If TNG Had a Rotating Cast

[Grendelsbayne]

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.

I don't think that follows at all, nor does it make any sense in light of a good 70-80% of TNG.

 

[Farscape One]

Data was a Lt. Cmdr. in 2364, TNG's first season. STAR TREK NEMESIS was 2379, so he was that rank for 15 years, not 19.

And Data was VERY capable. He simply didn't have ambition.

 

[Paul Weaver]

Data was a Lt. Cmdr. in 2364, TNG's first season. STAR TREK NEMESIS was 2379, so he was that rank for 15 years, not 19.

And Data was VERY capable. He simply didn't have ambition.

He was promoted to Lt Cmdr in 2360 having spent 15 years as ensign + lieutenant

 

[somebuddyX]

I think it could have worked but I don't see the producers ever trying it at the time. I wondered once about a timeline where Picard survived Best of Both Worlds Part 2 but didn't return to the show except as a guest star, with Riker becoming Captain and Shelby becoming first officer. Picard returns in Redemption II to command the Federation Taskforce and everyone splits up to command the different ships (the Sutherland, Excalibur etc) but at the end of episode they don't all come back to the Enterprise and we follow different ships in different episodes from then on. It's more an in-universe idea but it's still intriguing to me.

 

[Tenacity]

Data was a Lt. Cmdr. in 2364, TNG's first season. STAR TREK NEMESIS was 2379, so he was that rank for 15 years, not 19.

And Data was VERY capable. He simply didn't have ambition.

The events of Pen Pal (my theory) resulted in Data receiving a official reprimand, which delayed his next promotion.

Riker stopped being offered commands after turning down three, and taking into consideration his actions during Best of Both worlds.

Let's face it, he really didn't do much to effect the situation.

The fourth command offer (that we hear of) was the Titan, and that might have been a older Excelsior class. Suitable to head up a small task force to Romulas, but not a new, cutting edge, starship.

but at the end of episode they don't all come back to the Enterprise and we follow different ships in different episodes from then on

As a fan I would find this interesting, but I could also see how it would be confusing to a casual viewer.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

The fourth command offer (that we hear of) was the Titan, and that might have been a older Excelsior class. Suitable to head up a small task force to Romulas, but not a new, cutting edge, starship.

The cross-platform consenus for licensing is that it is a Luna-class vessel, essentially the "Miranda" to the "Soveriegn's" "Connie" (and roughly the same size and capabilities as an upgraded Nebula-class). The only other pre-consensus option offered by a licensee was Prometheus-class, which makes sense as Prometheus was one of the Greek Titans.

 

[Dukhat]

The fourth command offer (that we hear of) was the Titan, and that might have been a older Excelsior class. Suitable to head up a small task force to Romulas, but not a new, cutting edge, starship.

I'm pretty sure the intent during the production of Nemesis was that Riker's ship would be the newest, biggest and baddest thing to come out of Starfleet, hence the "Titan" name referring to the powerful mythological Greek gods, and not the moon of Saturn.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'm pretty sure the intent during the production of Nemesis was that Riker's ship would be the newest, biggest and baddest thing to come out of Starfleet, hence the "Titan" name referring to the powerful mythological Greek gods, and not the moon of Saturn.

It's a class of ships named after comic book teams. You should see the USS X-Man

 

[MAGolding]

...
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...
W

Data was a Lt. Cmdr. in 2364, TNG's first season. STAR TREK NEMESIS was 2379, so he was that rank for 15 years, not 19.

And Data was VERY capable. He simply didn't have ambition.

He was promoted to Lt Cmdr in 2360 having spent 15 years as ensign + lieutenant

According to the TNG episode "Datalore" in the first season:

LAFORGE: This once was rich farmland. I'd say something like twenty to thirty years ago.
DATA: I was discovered twenty six years ago.

So Data was discovered "twenty six years ago", which should be 26.00 to 26.99 years.

LORE: Promises he later proved to be true. Which made you and me possible, brother. Our beloved father. Will I soon have a uniform like that, brother?
DATA: If you get one the way I did, Lore, it will mean four years at the Academy, another three as ensign, ten or twelve on varied space duty in the lieutenant grades.

If Date was promoted to lieutenant commander immediately before "Encounter at Farpoint", he would have been a lieutenant for tenor twelve years -10.00 to 12.99 years before. Thus Data was promoted to Lieutenant 10.00 to 12.99 years before before "Encounter at Farpoint". Data graduated from the Academy and was commissioned an ensign three years - 3.00 to 3.99 years- before that, or 13.00 to 16.98 years, And Data entered the Academy four years - 4.00 to 4.99 years - before that, or 17.00 to 21.97 years before "Encounter at Farpoint". Which would seem to indicate that Data spent about 4.03 to 9.99 doing something unknown between being discovered and entering the Academy.

So on one hand, Data might have been promoted to lieutenant commander immediately before "Encounter at Farpoint".

And on the other hand, Data might have entered the academy immediately after being discovered.

If Data entered the Academy immediately after being discovered, and if four years there were 4.00 to 4.99 years, Data graduated and was commissioned an ensign about 21.01 to 22.99 years earlier. If Data was an ensign for three years - 3.00 to 3.99 years - he would have been promoted to lieutenant about 17.02 to 19.99 years earlier. If Data was a lieutenant for ten to twelve years before being promoted to lieutenant commander, he would have been promoted to lieutenant commander about 4.03 to 9.99 years before "Datalore".

So on one hand, Data could have been promoted to lieutenant commander immediately before "Encounter at Farpoint", and on the other hand Data could have been promoted to lieutenant commander about 4.03 to 9.99 years before "Datalore". Or sometime in between those two hands.

According to the official, though sometimes incorrect, chronology "Encounter at Farpoint" and "Datalore" happened in the year 2364 of the calendar used in that era, and Data was "killed" in the movie Star Trek: Nemesis in the year 2379.

If Data was promoted to lieutenant commander right before "Encounter at Farpoint" sometime between 2364.00 and 2364.99 and was killed sometime between 2379.00 and 2379.99, Data was a lieutenant commander for about 14.01 to 15.99 years. If Data was a lieutenant commander for up to 9.99 years before "Datalore", he might have been a lieutenant command for up to 24.00 to 25.99 years.

Therefore, a rough estimate is that Data was a lieutenant commander for about 14.01 to 25.99 years.

 

[Paul Weaver]

Data Graduated in 2345 according to the on-screen graphic in "Conundrum", although Data did claim he graducated in the "class of 78". Perhaps that meant a class with 78 people in it.

'The Neutral Zone' was set in 2364

Drumhead was about 3 years after Conspiracy, which was the episode before Neutral Zone. It was also about 3 years after Picard took the post of Enterprise Commander on 41124, which puts Conspiracy under a year after Encounter at Farpoint. It's fair to say that the earliest Data could have joined the Enterprise was 2363, leaving 18 years between graduation and enterprise, of which at least 3 must have been as Lt Cdr.

 

[USS Triumphant]

If TNG had a rotating cast, I think they'd get dizzy.

Good, I'm not the only one who immediately pictured everyone standing on the bridge spinning on one toe.

This was also my initial thought. But my next one is that maybe the whole ship is rotating, with them inside, to provide gravity. Which would have made TNG a prequel to TOS, with a very strange name.

 

[Mojochi]

Despite the liberty it might offer the writers, a fully rotating cast is actually harder to keep viable, because the audience loses sight of who to care about, especially with shows that were like Star Trek. Fan favorites are replaced by new cast, & the audience is reticent about attaching themselves to these new people, particularly once the dynamic of expecting them to be eventually gone is established. The perfect example is The Walking Dead. As people come & go, the ratings decline

There's nothing wrong with a show that has room for replacements. It's actually a smart format, & viewers can still engage with some people missing/replaced, but when season after season, the there's decreasingly fewer to tie you to where it all began, it leaves the show's audience drifting. I'm of the opinion that you're better off telling the story of a set group of people, until that story is told, & maybe that includes some people being added or removed, but ultimately it must still fell like a tale of a group. There is no secret formula for an endless serial. The writers may find new characters refreshing, but the audience will eventually not

I'm pretty sure the intent during the production of Nemesis was that Riker's ship would be the newest, biggest and baddest thing to come out of Starfleet, hence the "Titan" name referring to the powerful mythological Greek gods, and not the moon of Saturn.

Yeah, because naming a ship after that particular Greek god hasn't even been a tragic height of Human hubris before lol

 

[Tenacity]

which should be 26.00 to 26.99 years.

Wouldn't "26.99" be more 27 years, rather than 26 years? A lot more?

The cross-platform consenus for licensing is that it is a Luna-class vessel

Only if you place a ounce of legitimacy in the novels.

I'm pretty sure the intent during the production of Nemesis was that Riker's ship would be the newest, biggest and baddest thing to come out of Starfleet,

I've never read anything along that line in behind the scenes materials of Nemesis.

Given how long Riker's career advancement (and ambitions) stalled out, it would be quite easy to see him being assigned to a "second tier" ship like a Excelsior or some such. A good ship don't get me wrong, Excelsiors are hardly garbage. but not a hot young state of the art ship.

There could easily be doubt on Starfleet's part that Riker had what it took to be a first class captain ... therefor he won't be assigned to command a first class ship.

 

[Farscape One]

Starfleet doubting Riker could also be a result of his involvement with the Pegasus. It wasn't a huge involvement, but he did keep quiet about it his entire career until Pressman came aboard.

And there could have been enough of Pressman's friends high up that might have shifted things enough to keep him stalled as XO.

I think the lack of experienced officers after the Dominion War to captain ships that would be built was the biggest thing that got him the Titan offer, and Riker knew he would not get another chance.

 

[Dukhat]

I've never read anything along that line in behind the scenes materials of Nemesis.

That's because it was my opinion, based on the name of the ship.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Only if you place a ounce of legitimacy in the novels.

The Star Trek Encyclopedia 4th Edition (2018) also identifies it as a Luna-class, and it also appears as a Luna-class in a bonus issue of Eaglemoss' Offical Starships Collection thus confirming my "cross platform consensus".

Therefore it is reasonable (as the other OSC models are all "canon" AFAIK) to assume that the Titan is a Luna-class unless a subsequent production (mostly likely the "Picard show" shows us a different Titan.