If the producers kept the concept of the Ferengi eating their busines partners...

[Christopher]

Yeah, but the rumors were already there since EoF. And if they further went this way, sooner or later there would have been an episode with either a confirmation or a denial if the rumors were true or not...

There already was -- "The Last Outpost." It started out making the Ferengi look scary, the huge sharp-toothed guy called a "DaiMon" (like demon) on the viewscreen... and then we see them in person and they're small, laughable figures. The whole idea, consistent between "Farpoint" and "Outpost," is that the Ferengi projected a frightening image of themselves to conceal the less intimidating reality.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

Regardless of differing portrayals, Quark still cherished his collection of Ferengi marauder action figures in the DS9 episode "Ferengi Love Songs" (which is weird... Armin playing with mini-Armin).

 

[Unimatrix Q]

There already was -- "The Last Outpost." It started out making the Ferengi look scary, the huge sharp-toothed guy called a "DaiMon" (like demon) on the viewscreen... and then we see them in person and they're small, laughable figures. The whole idea, consistent between "Farpoint" and "Outpost," is that the Ferengi projected a frightening image of themselves to conceal the less intimidating reality.

Actually i had the impression that the way the Ferengi were presented in that episode, especially the ferrality of the members of the landing party, even if it was played out for laughs was actually in line with a species whose dietary habits don't necessarily exclude other sentient species...

 

[Dukhat]

Actually i had the impression that the way the Ferengi were presented in that episode, especially the ferrality of the members of the landing party, even if it was played out for laughs was actually in line with a species whose dietary habits don't necessarily exclude other sentient species...

Where in that episode was there any indication about what the Ferengi ate, other than dancing around acting buffoonish?

Side note: the reason why the Ferengi on the viewscreen was surrounded by bright white light and nothing else wasn’t because the producers were too cheap to make a backdrop; it was because the original intention was that the Ferengi had extremely poor eyesight (which explains why their hearing is so much better with those giant ears) and needed very bright lighting to see well. That of course went away after the episode.

 

[MAGolding]

It was always my impression that Picard was claiming that the Ferengi found some of their business partners tasty in a figurative way by gobbling them up in a figurative way and taking over their businesses and societies. I always assumed Picard was speaking a mataphor.

There already was -- "The Last Outpost." It started out making the Ferengi look scary, the huge sharp-toothed guy called a "DaiMon" (like demon) on the viewscreen... and then we see them in person and they're small, laughable figures. The whole idea, consistent between "Farpoint" and "Outpost," is that the Ferengi projected a frightening image of themselves to conceal the less intimidating reality.

DaiMon sounds like demon, but it also sound like daimyo, the lords in the shogunate era of Japan.

 

[Christopher]

DaiMon sounds like demon, but it also sound like daimyo, the lords in the shogunate era of Japan.

Yeah, but even if the Ferengi's developers knew that, they were making the show for an American audience, most of whom wouldn't know that. And the first syllable is pronounced like "day" rather than the Japanese dai ("die"), so it only looks like daimyo (in romaji) rather than sounding like it.

 

[Unimatrix Q]

Where in that episode was there any indication about what the Ferengi ate, other than dancing around acting buffoonish?

Side note: the reason why the Ferengi on the viewscreen was surrounded by bright white light and nothing else wasn’t because the producers were too cheap to make a backdrop; it was because the original intention was that the Ferengi had extremely poor eyesight (which explains why their hearing is so much better with those giant ears) and needed very bright lighting to see well. That of course went away after the episode.

Just thinking, i wouldn't have been surprised if there had been a reveal that these Ferengi wanted to eat the captured away team...

 

[Christopher]

Just thinking, i wouldn't have been surprised if there had been a reveal that these Ferengi wanted to eat the captured away team...

The teleplay for "The Last Outpost" was by Herb Wright, and the article you linked to quotes Wright explicitly saying that he objected to any hint of Ferengi cannibalism. So there was no way that was going to happen.

 

[Unimatrix Q]

The teleplay for "The Last Outpost" was by Herb Wright, and the article you linked to quotes Wright explicitly saying that he objected to any hint of Ferengi cannibalism. So there was no way that was going to happen.

I didn't knew any of this, way back in the beginning of the 90s, when i first saw this episode and only knew Picard's comment about them during EaF. So it seemed to be a realistic possibility for me, at that time.

 

[Christopher]

But it's not that time anymore. We know better now.

 

[Unimatrix Q]

But it's not that time anymore. We know better now.

Yeah, we do. I'm just wondering what the Ferengi would have become like and if it would have been better if the producers had really had made the Ferengi into sophontophages. And if in this case Ferengi like Quark and his family as main characters for a show like DS9 would still have been a possible option.

 

[Christopher]

I'm just wondering what the Ferengi would have become like and if it would have been better if the producers had really had made the Ferengi into sophontophages.

No, I think Wright had a good point. Establish that about them and audiences would just see them as evil monsters, and the nuance would be lost.

I think they eventually made the right decision by backing away from painting the Ferengi as a hostile military force in the vein of the Klingons and Romulans. That just got in the way of the intent of showing them as a reflection of our modern capitalist culture. The later shows made good use of that, showing them as a culture like ours, with many of our flaws and excesses, but with the potential to be better.

For that matter, I always thought it was a bad idea when DS9: "Blood Oath" established that Klingons ate the hearts of the enemies they'd killed. Even ritual cannibalism like that seemed excessively grisly, especially for a culture that was supposed to be a Federation ally by then.

It could've worked with the Hirogen, though. After all, they were already hunters who killed sentient prey and turned their body parts into trophies, so eating them as well would've fit right into that. This was even suggested as a possibility in "Prey," though I don't think it was ever confirmed.

 

[JesterFace]

In the long run it might not be a good idea to eat your business partners, it may complicate the future of a business relation.

 

[Qonundrum]

I can just hear the voice-over now:

"This week on Staaaaaaaaar Trek The Ferengi Generation, sponsored by Heins 57 Sauce..."

In seriousness, Picard ribbing Zorn is the sort of thing Mara was talking about in "Day of the Dove" regarding spreading unfounded rumors. The idea the Ferengi would actually take and eat other species for (whatever reasons, remained undefined in TNG) could have been interesting. If not a partial hark to "V". But imagining the Ferengi as opposed to the Borg? Lots of ships invading Federation territory and whipping out their BBQ pits? That might have almost worked if the Ferengi came across as a genuine threat and not half-baked (and unintentional) comedy relief.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Picard may have been jesting, but imagine the idea of a Ferengi eating their partner's brains with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

 

[Unimatrix Q]

To break a lance for "The Last Outpost", ignoring the goofy and actually stupid way the Ferengi landing party was portayed as consisting of braindead imbecils, i really liked the Ferengi DaiMon that appeared in this episode.

He really behaved like a member of an alien species, with a different mindset, culture, customs and traditions and another unfamiliar philosophy.

Something that was lost later on when the Ferengi just became a parody for capitalistic business people.

Say what you want, but if they didn't mess up the scenes on the planet, the Ferengi could have had a lot of potential for being a serious and interesting species and a good adversary for the Federation.

 

[Jayson1]

Perhaps Ferengi in the mirror universe do. Calpin goes good with tube grubs, perhaps. Of course it makes me wonder what exactly was Rom enjoying eating so much the mirror Brunt gave him now during the DS9's last mirror universe episode.


Jason

 

[Christopher]

Say what you want, but if they didn't mess up the scenes on the planet, the Ferengi could have had a lot of potential for being a serious and interesting species and a good adversary for the Federation.

I actually kind of liked the way "The Last Outpost" experimented with portraying the Ferengi as alien not only in their physical appearance, but in their body language as well. It was an unusual idea to attempt to convey alienness through movement and posture. Although it wouldn't really have worked in the long term, not unless you only cast dancers or mimes to play a given species, say.

 

[Unimatrix Q]

I actually kind of liked the way "The Last Outpost" experimented with portraying the Ferengi as alien not only in their physical appearance, but in their body language as well. It was an unusual idea to attempt to convey alienness through movement and posture. Although it wouldn't really have worked in the long term, not unless you only cast dancers or mimes to play a given species, say.

Yeah, if only the way the Ferengi talked like on the planet wasn't so dumb and childish.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, if only the way the Ferengi talked like on the planet wasn't so dumb and childish.

Amusing, though, that the leader of the group was played by Armin Shimerman. Quark was his third Ferengi role (he was also DaiMon Bractor in "Peak Performance").