What's the worst non-canon decision in the history of Trek?

[JD]

Naturally, since that is the generic name for the theoretical concept, with various subtypes like claytronics/catoms, or the quantum wellstone featured in Wil McCarthy's fiction. If anything, it's surprising that screen Trek took so long to get around to using the idea -- nearly three decades after the term "programmable matter" was coined in 1991.

Are the 31st century ship controls programmable matter, or something else?

Wonder why. Guess i'm not the only one who would have liked to read a novel about Ishara and/or about the history of Turkana IV.

There was Survivors, a novel about Tasha and her personal history, released during the first years of TNG. But this novel isn't really compatible with canon.

Well, with the continuity reset, the planet will probably be back, so there's a chance it could be revisited in the new continuity.

Initially titled "Teenage Wasteland" and later "The Kids Are Alright". Both names were references to songs by The Who, so legal issues prevented their use. The show was eventually announced as "Feelin' Alright", but because that name had few supporters, a search for a new title began. After noticing that audience members in focus groups would say, "I like that show about the '70s," or, "I like that '70s show," it was eventually decided to simply call the series "That '70s Show". [IMDb]

Ah, thanks.

like, Dina Elfiki has been part of the Enterprise crew for a decade of real time, and her biggest feature was in DTI. Post-Destiny TNG and DS9 both seemed to gain more of a focus on the Events as opposed to the characters.

I thought the last few book did a better job of giving her some more attention. The character I really wanted to see more of was Joanna Faur. She was the Enterprise navigator in pretty much every post-Destiny TNG, but she was just there, and never seemed to do more than say "yes sir" and push a few button when Picard gave an order.

 

[Christopher]

Are the 31st century ship controls programmable matter, or something else?

Yes, they're programmable matter. Most of the 31st-century tech seems to be, from phasers to furniture. Which is kind of the point of PM, that it can be reconfigured to be almost anything.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Initially titled "Teenage Wasteland" and later "The Kids Are Alright". Both names were references to songs by The Who, so legal issues prevented their use.

Are those issues different for song names, as opposed to TV episode titles?

Because TNG got away with doing an ep called "The Schizoid Man" and didn't have to pay one red cent to do it.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

Then again, regarding Tasha and Rene's lack of deep involvement in the novelverse...

Spoiler: Shatnerverse

Maybe they were trying to avoid a repeat of the Shatnerverse finale, where Jim Kirk's child turns out to be the key to all the mysteries of time and space and saves the universe. At age six.

Good god there has to be something in between what we got and that, lol.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Are those issues different for song names, as opposed to TV episode titles?

Because TNG got away with doing an ep called "The Schizoid Man" and didn't have to pay one red cent to do it.

Lots of TV series' episodes have the same title as other TV series' episodes. When you're doing a new TV show that has a focus on the 70s - and using a 70s song title as your thematic series title - requires permissions to be sought and granted.

Certainly, TNG ran into trouble with its first Sherlock Holmes episode and had to wait for red-tape clearances betfore they could revisit Moriarty.

The Australian TV series "Prisoner" (set in a women's prison) was renamed "Prisoner: Cell Block H" in USA and UK, and "Caged Women" in Canada, to avoid confusion with UK's "The Prisoner", but it wasn't ordered to do so.

 

[Christopher]

Certainly, TNG ran into trouble with its first Sherlock Holmes episode and had to wait for red-tape clearances betfore they could revisit Moriarty.

I think that was actually a misunderstanding -- they thought they needed permission from the Doyle estate, but eventually figured out it was public domain and they could've done another Moriarty episode anytime.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I think that was actually a misunderstanding -- they thought they needed permission from the Doyle estate, but eventually figured out it was public domain and they could've done another Moriarty episode anytime.

Yep, but I think, IIRC, there had been a communication from the Estate, causing TNG to err on the side of caution. Another series was similarly affected.

 

[David cgc]

The Doyle estate is infamously litigious. A favorite move of theirs is to argue Holmes never expressed any kind of affection for his friends, or other identifiable emotions, in the stories that are public domain, and that's an invention of the later Doyle stories that are still under copyright. So every time someone adapts one of the earlier stories, they come around and go, "Ah, ah, ah, you have Sherlock Holmes experiencing at least one identifiable emotion, money please."

I'm not sure exactly what their move would be since Data was playing Sherlock Holmes, so it's possibly the only time they couldn't get away with arguing Holmes was insufficiently emotionless. Though I guess Data did get a bit shouty in the role.

 

[Stevil2001]

I think that was actually a misunderstanding -- they thought they needed permission from the Doyle estate, but eventually figured out it was public domain and they could've done another Moriarty episode anytime.

Yep, but I think, IIRC, there had been a communication from the Estate, causing TNG to err on the side of caution. Another series was similarly affected.

MA says that there was a legal dispute between Paramount and the Doyle estate, but it was mostly over the film Young Sherlock Holmes. They paid and credited the Doyle estate to use Moriarty in "Ship in a Bottle."

 

[Greg Cox]

Short version: the Conan Doyle estate famously kept insisting they had the rights even after Holmes was arguably in public domain, and many folks chose to pay them off rather than fight them in court. TNG assumed Moriarity was in public-domain, then received a letter from the estate (which may or may not have had a legal leg to stand on), and eventually struck a deal with the Estate -- because, again, sometimes it's easier just to settle than go to court.

That was decades ago, of course. Nowadays the courts have pretty much conclusively ruled that (aside from a handful of later stories), Holmes is public-domain these days.

 

[Christopher]

That was decades ago, of course. Nowadays the courts have pretty much conclusively ruled that (aside from a handful of later stories), Holmes is public-domain these days.

And the last of those stories will enter public domain less than 17 months from now, on January 1, 2023.

 

[zarkon]

That was decades ago, of course. Nowadays the courts have pretty much conclusively ruled that (aside from a handful of later stories), Holmes is public-domain these days.

Companies are still leery. I bought a video game released this month called "The Great Ace Attorney", which uses Sherlock Holmes as a character. Or at least it does in its original Japanese version. The western version changes his name to Herlock Sholmes (I guess since it worked for Maurice Leblanc lol) to avoid any US issues. I believe the thinking is that although Holmes himself is in public domain, any emotions or character development he showed only in the last few stories could still be legally in play, and they decided to just err on the side of caution, even though their take on Holmes is, uh, rather different.

 

[Christopher]

I believe the thinking is that although Holmes himself is in public domain, any emotions or character development he showed only in the last few stories could still be legally in play, and they decided to just err on the side of caution, even though their take on Holmes is, uh, rather different.

That whole "emotion" argument the Doyle estate makes is ridiculous, and they (or their lawyers) should be ashamed of themselves for lying so blatantly just to make a buck (or a quid or whatever). Holmes was hardly a robot in the pre-1923 stories. He purported to disdain emotion, but he often showed fondness for Watson and compassion for victims, especially female ones, and he often displayed a quirky wit and a love of theatricality, not to mention his frustration and foul moods when he lacked the mental stimulation of a good case. And there were stories where his motivation in catching a bad guy was not merely intellectual curiosity but outright revulsion toward the crime, as with Charles Augustus Milverton.

 

[zarkon]

That whole "emotion" argument the Doyle estate makes is ridiculous, and they (or their lawyers) should be ashamed of themselves for lying so blatantly just to make a buck (or a quid or whatever). Holmes was hardly a robot in the pre-1923 stories. He purported to disdain emotion, but he often showed fondness for Watson and compassion for victims, especially female ones, and he often displayed a quirky wit and a love of theatricality, not to mention his frustration and foul moods when he lacked the mental stimulation of a good case. And there were stories where his motivation in catching a bad guy was not merely intellectual curiosity but outright revulsion toward the crime, as with Charles Augustus Milverton.

Absolutely. But as is often the case, they're just banking on companies not wanting to go through the courts. Thankfully as you mentioned they won't be able to do that for much longer though.

 

[Christopher]

Absolutely. But as is often the case, they're just banking on companies not wanting to go through the courts.

Which just underlines the sleaziness and dishonesty of the tactic. What a lousy thing to do in the name of literature's greatest crimefighter.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Which just underlines the sleaziness and dishonesty of the tactic.

Of course. These are lawyers we're talking about here.

 

[dupersuper]

For that matter, what about a meeting between Lwaxana's son Barin and Riker and Troi's daughter Natasha? When was the last time he was mentioned?

I'm way behind on the novels, but the last time I remember reading about him was "Battle for Betazed".

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

I'm way behind on the novels, but the last time I remember reading about him was "Battle for Betazed".

I'm caught up and that's honestly the last time that sticks out for me as well.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

He's been rather absent in general, which probably stems from Lwaxana's overall absence - he's only around... what, fourteen or so (born in 2372, we're roughly at 2386 in the Litverse). So still a minor, still likely to be spending most of his time with his mother. And with no real appearance from Lwaxana, no real involvement on her part, Barin himself doesn't have much room to appear either.

 

[Charles Phipps]

If Restoration or Stone and Anvil had been the finale -- and I hated Restoration -- I'd look back on New Frontier with genuine fondness instead of disappointment. It's historically significant for what it is, rather than for what it did.

New Frontier remains a favorite but the final books confused me. Calhoun is going for some genocide and everyone treats it like it's perfectly normal.

So that gets my vote.

Some other ones (YMMV as always)

1. I admit I think getting rid of the Borg was a big mistake but I understand why it was done. You want the novels to have stakes. However, I think they missed a big opportunity not connecting them to V'Ger, though.
2. Iliana Ghemor's entire plotline kind of drifted in several weird directions, which is something I note is a problem in novels.
3. The Ascendants plotline's awkward wrap up.
4. No Klingons in the Typhon Pact. Impossible as that should be. Blame ST:O for warping me on them.