The One Thing You Could Change, TNG Edition...

[Frightscape One]

I decided on a thought exercise for myself, and wanted to see what other people would come up with. I am going to do this for each series, except DISCOVERY and PICARD, as they are still currently in production.

Come up with only ONE thing you would change about a series. It can be something about a character, a storyline, or even something physical, like a different ship design. It can be anything you like, provided it would be used for more than just one episode.


For TNG, I would like to have seen more focus on La Forge. LeVar Burton is a good enough actor that he can be given more meaty material, and as proof, he handled technobabble very convincingly. Possibly the most convincing of everyone in the franchise.

But we didn't see a great deal of him on a personal level outside his friendship with Data and a string of failed romances. I know Troi and Crusher were also criminally underused, but I can only pick one thing.

How about you all?

 

[Orphalesion]

I'd overhaul Troi's character like this:

I'd make her a telepathic human from a colony where the inhabitants developed psychic powers. I'd create a clearer outline about what her powers can do and their drawbacks and boundaries, so that the writers would have a better idea how to use them.
And I'd change her position to be the ship's Chief Science Officer and Second Officer. As such she'd wear the uniform form the start.

Does that still count as one thing? :-P

 

[Herbert]

I would cut down on the character development episodes, especially in the later seasons, and replace them with more ensemble episodes focusing on TOS 'where no one has gone before' type stories.

When you watch the original series you get the sense that the exploration of the galaxy is still in its infancy. However, in TNG, it seems all so civilized, even though they still haven't charted much of space. It's a definite change in tone.

 

[Lynx]

They shouldn't have killed off Tasha Yar. She should have been transferred to another ship and could have showed up in later episodes.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Any time a character (usually Picard) makes a sanctimonious speech about how evolved humans are? Take it out.

 

[Orphalesion]

Alternate idea:
Make Geordi and Data lovers, then they end up marrying in season 3/4.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Have female characters higher on the chain of command.

 

[A beaker full of death]

The idiot Berman's edict that music should be wallpaper.
Before Berman:

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[Tribble Threat]

Replace all the episodes where they hem and haw about the prime directive, with episodes with various other moral quandaries.

 

[Boo-khat!]

I would have given the Enterprise-C's crew new 'intermediate' uniforms and phasers rather than recycling the old monster maroons and STII phasers from the TOS films. I understand that they probably didn't have the budget to do this, but it would have been nice.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Keep the original Willam Ware Theiss uniforms.

I'd overhaul Troi's character like this:

I'd make her a telepathic human from a colony where the inhabitants developed psychic powers. I'd create a clearer outline about what her powers can do and their drawbacks and boundaries, so that the writers would have a better idea how to use them.
And I'd change her position to be the ship's Chief Science Officer and Second Officer. As such she'd wear the uniform form the start.

Does that still count as one thing? :-P

I like the idea of Troi being the Chief Science Officer. Originally, Troi was supposed to be the new Spock character with a high intelligence. In the first season, Troi is rather blunt, rational, reserve and cool. She often approaches things with more of a logical, psychologist perspective. And isn't shy airing the crew's true feelings, such as clocking Yar for actually being attracted to Lutan.

But as Marina Sirtis once said, the more cleavage Troi had, the less brains she had. When she got back into uniform, her brains suddenly returned, the actress has joked at many a convention.

For me, I would've made Troi a First Contact specialist as her primary duty, who would be after Riker, Picard's closest advisor. I do like the idea of a ship's counselor. I mean after all away missions can be traumatic and the crew would need a psychologist.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Tasha Yar lives. Her continued existence would also have a knock on effect for others, such as, Worf becoming Conn Officer from season two with Wesley at one of the aft science stations or helping Geordi out in Engineering.

 

[JesterFace]

No TNG movies. TNG had a near perfect final episode. Let that be the bookend. Not those weird movies.

 

[PhotoBoy]

Dump the Worf/Troi relationship of Season 7. While it wasn’t too egregious while the show was airing, the way it was subsequently dropped entirely and completely ignored by the movies and DS9 served to make it pointless.

Coupled with the fact it took up quite a lot of screen time in season 7 and always felt random and unlikely (to me anyway) it wastes a lot of precious final season time on irrelevance.

I’m no shipper, but it would have been far better to get Riker and Troi together as it would have tied up a long standing thread running throughout the show.

 

[JesterFace]

Dump the Worf/Troi relationship of Season 7. While it wasn’t too egregious while the show was airing, the way it was subsequently dropped entirely and completely ignored by the movies and DS9 served to make it pointless.

If DS9 hadn't borrowed Worf that relationship might have evolved into something good.

 

[Orphalesion]

I like the idea of Troi being the Chief Science Officer. Originally, Troi was supposed to be the new Spock character with a high intelligence. In the first season, Troi is rather blunt, rational, reserve and cool. She often approaches things with more of a logical, psychologist perspective. And isn't shy airing the crew's true feelings, such as clocking Yar for actually being attracted to Lutan.

But as Marina Sirtis once said, the more cleavage Troi had, the less brains she had. When she got back into uniform, her brains suddenly returned, the actress has joked at many a convention.

For me, I would've made Troi a First Contact specialist as her primary duty, who would be after Riker, Picard's closest advisor. I do like the idea of a ship's counselor. I mean after all away missions can be traumatic and the crew would need a psychologist.

Yeah the original concept of her being, as Marina Sirtis' put it, "the Brains of the ship" is why I'd make her Chief Science Officer. And as Second Officer she'd be high enough in the chain of command to justify her sitting in the centre seats with Picard and Will.
As for the Ship's Counselor. I agree that it's a very important position...form a world building perspective (frankly there should be a whole team of psychologists on a ship as large as the Enterprise, it must have been a nightmare to get an appointment with Troi) But I think from a storytelling and dramatic perspective it was not a good idea to have one as a main character and bridge officer (what was she even doing 90% she was on the bridge? Playing Tetris on that little console next to her seat?)
I agree that in the first season they did, on a rare occasion, sometimes get creative with her position (like when she used hypnosis to uncover memories) but after first season she devolved into a cliche headshrink.
If anything the ship's counselor should have been a character we only see occasionally, when the story really calls for it. And now that I think of it, that would have made Guinan a good candidate for the job. Since Whoopi Goldberg was only available on occasion they wouldn't have had to shoehorn her into every episode, but save her appearances for episodes when a counselor could shine, like the Barclay and Ro episodes, and for giving Picard and Riker their pep talks during BoBW.

Troi meanwhile could have been the expert on biology, alien cultures, astronomical phenomena and so forth. And I really think they should have capitalized on Marina Sritis sharp wit to give the character more life.

 

[Qonfounding Ghooool]

The one thing...

Replace the inane, self-indulgent, preachy and often hollow navel gazing from seasons 5-7 with more adventure and action and proper character interplay. Berman brought a lot of good to the show, but some of the later seasons are even more off-kilter and bizarre than what Roddenberry's excesses were in season 1.

And/or get rid of Data's contraction at the end of "Datalore". It's one of the few intended choices that falls incredibly flat. But Data wasn't fully fleshed out yet.

 

[Boo-khat!]

I already posted, but another thing I would change would be to commission new models for Starfleet and Klingon vessels, and perhaps a new space station, along with the Enterprise-D. The constant reuse of the movie models and stock footage of Spacedock, Regula One, etc. just made the show look cheap in my opinion.

 

[Qonfounding Ghooool]

I would have given the Enterprise-C's crew new 'intermediate' uniforms and phasers rather than recycling the old monster maroons and STII phasers from the TOS films. I understand that they probably didn't have the budget to do this, but it would have been nice.

They sadly didn't have the budget so they scavenged. A shame no other sci-fi shows' costumes were available. Maybe a TNG pahser prop with used chewing gum glued on would help differentiate without looking archaic. Had enough money been available, I'd rather have seen Probert's original 1701-C design put to screen. The compromise version made is not bad, but the original was magnificent.

They shouldn't have killed off Tasha Yar. She should have been transferred to another ship and could have showed up in later episodes.

^^this

I'd overhaul Troi's character like this:

I'd make her a telepathic human from a colony where the inhabitants developed psychic powers. I'd create a clearer outline about what her powers can do and their drawbacks and boundaries, so that the writers would have a better idea how to use them.
And I'd change her position to be the ship's Chief Science Officer and Second Officer. As such she'd wear the uniform form the start.

Does that still count as one thing? :-P

Troi is a thing - or rather, a noun: A person, place, or thing... Especially as all the good stuff she would have had then went to Guinan, who was cool in enough ways (Q tops it all) but she didn't need to be Troi's personality stunt double. Just change a few lines, swapping Guinan's mystery talk to Troi's straightforward stuff (think her tea cup scene with Picard in "Ensigns of Command" where she's straightforward. Guinan could do the same thing, albeit replacing the direct stuff with introspective stuff. Or how Guinan talks of Geordi's shiny new VISOR in "Booby Trap" where she's almost Q-like in juggling verbiage. Troi would cut to the chase. Or Guinan being on the Bridge and asking the captain "What do you think, captain?" as opposed to "Captain he's hiding something obvious."

 

[Qonfounding Ghooool]

I already posted, but another thing I would change would be to commission new models for Starfleet and Klingon vessels, and perhaps a new space station, along with the Enterprise-D. The constant reuse of the movie models and stock footage of Spacedock, Regula One, etc. just made the show look cheap in my opinion.

An unsold show like TNG season 1, they were also trying to look big and say "we can do it too!" (Indeed, 11001001 lacks the ship and lounge mask misalignment that SFTF was loaded with...) Or it's homage, since season 1 also has models of NCC-1701A and TOS shuttlecraft in some rooms for no reason. Yet no 1701-B or C (or D!) models anywhere. Show the complete series to flesh out the wider history, or not do it at all. Picard did get 'Stargazer", which was a kitbash of 23rd century era ships... (but the show being untested and all... not until season 4's opener did we see new ship designs, albeit all destroyed...)