How would you change or Re-Write TNG?

[Vale]

I thought a lot of "The Neutral Zone," including Picard's dislike of the resuscitations, at least subconsciously, but probably deliberately, echoed "Space Seed" and how badly those events turned out.

That's a great shout-out that never occurred to me before. Just a slight tweak in dialogue would have made that more obvious, as well as preventing Picard from coming across as being quite so mean-spirited. Just something like "historically, reviving humans from suspended animation that have been lost for centuries in deep space has had decidedly mixed results" would have been enough of a nod to Khan to please the fans without confusing casual viewers, as well as indicating that Picard was thinking "bigger picture" rather than just "I can't be bothered" (though this was fairly in keeping with his season one "martinet" characterisation).

 

[remember...]

Worf would be a orphan never
Knowing his parents but adopted by humans and not security officer but science.

Tng would take place in the same time as the tos era films but the ship would obviously have a diffrent name.diffrence differences in uniform would be explained this a diffrent branch of federation like the navy is diffrent then merchant marine.there mission is to study a new territory of space. The klingons are also in this territory that is why worf is with them.actors from tos could be brought in to direct. Walter koeing wrote animated tos.family .land of the lost.the two crews could be kept separate but still on the same era.









Also would liked too seen a Hispanic regular castmember.

 

[Admiral Archer]

Something worth considering...

In "The Inner Light", Picard has an extraordinary life-altering event, in the form of 30 or 40 years (subjectively) living another life. Despite this extreme mental and emotional alteration, he resumes commanding the Enterprise like nothing happened.

In "Rascals", nothing about Picard's mental capacity is diminished. But he is quickly bullied into ceding command to Riker simply because he looks like a 13-year-old kid.

I mean... what gives?

What was the episode after "The Inner Light"? If I remember correctly it was "Time's Arrow, Part I". Considering they found Data's head under San Francisco in the opening of that episode, Picard may have not had time to process the fact that he had lived another life. Also, I've long had a theory that the effect of his other life on him was something like having a very realistic and emotional dream: regardless of how 'real' it must have felt in the moment, after a few hours, the effect generally wore off and he was able to easier process his old/new surroundings and adjust quickly to being Captain of the Enterprise again. Sure, he still had the flute, but slowly and steadily his memories of his other life became a little fuzzy. He could retain the basic details and to a degree the emotions, but it was essentially a cliff notes version of what happened to him that remained in his mind. I still don't think it should have affected him more than the Borg assimilation, and I'm sure without the flute he would have eventually forgotten what happened. Perhaps that's why the people of Ressik chose to send the flute out in the probe, as a reminder to whoever it reached that "hey, you had this experience, this is really all we can give you to remember us by, but hopefully it will remind you of us when you see it."

 

[Vale]

What was the episode after "The Inner Light"? If I remember correctly it was "Time's Arrow, Part I".

It was, I'm on a TNG rewatch right now and I saw those episodes just this last weekend

 

[dupersuper]

What was the episode after "The Inner Light"? If I remember correctly it was "Time's Arrow, Part I".

Given that they are technically still supposed to be an exploratory vessel, you could say there's a lot of time for Picard to work things out (with some conversations with Deanna,/Beverly/Guinan/Riker) on a long trip back to Earth after they get recalled.

 

[at Quark's]

Something worth considering...

In "The Inner Light", Picard has an extraordinary life-altering event, in the form of 30 or 40 years (subjectively) living another life. Despite this extreme mental and emotional alteration, he resumes commanding the Enterprise like nothing happened.

In "Rascals", nothing about Picard's mental capacity is diminished. But he is quickly bullied into ceding command to Riker simply because he looks like a 13-year-old kid.

I mean... what gives?

Would it actually go differently in our world?

I mean, there might have been a few military commanders and politicians in history that could have qualified as clinically insane, yet never were asked (or forced) to step down because of that.
But had one of those people experienced such a transformation into the body of a 13-year-old, removal from power (by agreement or by force) could very well have been the result.

 

[Oddish]

The same thing would likely happen, and it would be equally questionable in this century. If Picard looks like Picard, he must be Picard, even if he's been Kamin for 40 years. If Picard doesn't look like Picard, he must not be Picard... even if it's known that he is.

 

[WarpTenLizard]

• Reduce Wesley to recurring character, and play up his being an irritating little twat as a deliberate character flaw and use it for humor
• Keep Tasha Yar, at least for a few more seasons. If she dies, make it way more badass. And stop trying so hard to shove into the audience's face how totally into men she is.
• Give Lt. Jae some lines
• Give the Trill their spotted DS9 look right away.
• In the Scotty episode, have everyone actually act like they just rescued a living legend from transport-limbo, instead of treating him like an annoying retiree at the gas station asking for help with his Piggly Wiggly Points.
• Make Polanski less of a biggoted twit to poor Data. Maybe after becoming friends with Moriarty.
• Show the dolphins!

 

[yotsuya]

I would prevent them for starting DS9 until TNG had its finale. They split the writing talent and it shows with the decline in quality in the last two seasons and the movies.

 

[JesterFace]

One change that I just thought of, Beverly Crusher for all seven seasons.
And another one, STNG doesn't belong or work on the big screen, either end it with 'All Good Things...' (amazing final episode) or season 8?
Although, the last episode we got is so amazing final episode I wouldn't risk losing it with possible season 8.
If the next season would end with 'All Good Things...', then maybe.

 

[Mudd]

Unlike some other Treks, I feel like TNG had their shit together. I'd just make adjustments to specific episodes, like a different director for Code of Honor, a less draconian interpretation of the prime directive in Pen Pals and especially Homeward, Picard not being like "Why'd you save these losers?!?" in Neutral Zone...

"Data, they were dead. What more could have happened to them?" may be the greatest line of dialogue in all post -TOS Trek.

 

[Arpy]

"Data, they were dead. What more could have happened to them?" may be the greatest line of dialogue in all post -TOS Trek.

Oh haiiii long time no see hope you’re well.

It’s a funny line and explains her perspective on the matter, but look at what did happen to them. They were revived into a future paradise and lived long interesting lives going by the Trek lit and even canon — the musician was still putting on shows LD tells us. Whether they meant to or not, and two of the three did, why not do that for them? Death isn’t was it used to be in the future, both the fictional and maybe in the real ones going by some of the research being done even today.

 

[serdogthehound]

Done Yar's backstory right kid for a failed backwater with a drug addiction could have really worked out well

 

[Oddish]

I thought about starting a topic on this, but it kind of fits in this one. Besides, topics I start have a way of dropping off the list with a one-digit number of replies.

If I could eliminate one episode per season, these would be my choices...

Season 1: Hide and Q. Riker gets all self-righteous and lets a kid die, then uses his powers to give everyone what they don't want. "Code of Honor" might be lousy, but I'll take it over this.

Season 2: Loud as a Whisper. Most of S2's episodes are undistinguished but not horrible. I even sort of liked "Shades of Gray". This one... the resolution just felt too contrived to me.

Season 3: The Bonding. This one was just strange, in the greater context. Worf "adopts" a human kid, who promptly disappears forever.

Season 4: Half a Life. Not everyone knows that the Holocaust began with the killing of the sick, elderly, and mentally defective... but it did. This abomination presents a world where this is routinely done, and paints it in a sympathetic light. If I could only delete one episode period, I would choose this one without hesitation or regret.

Season 5: New Ground. Most S5 episodes are solid, with this one being a rare stinker. They could defend another way to get Alexander on the Enterprise... or not. Were there any good Alexander episodes?

Season 6: Rascals. Yes, the kids are cute, and they do good work (little Jean Luc nails it). But watching him get bullied out of the captain's chair is annoying, the Ferengi capturing the ship is ludicrous, and the fact that old age has basically just been defeated here and no one ever notices is just crazy. Goodbye and good riddance.

Season 7: Force of Nature. While Sub Rosa was arguably worse in and of itself, this one introduced the whole "warp speed limit" thing, only to have it either violated or ignored afterwards. Better to just have it never happen.

 

[TayJG]

Bridge Design would be that of this here, but there would still be 3 chairs. Red chairs.

I think your bridge is a very bad one. That transparent thing in the back is totally not practical. The Enterprise bridge has 2 seats next to the captain and two stools. You're going to want your first officer and (in the case of The Enterprise), Counselor Troi with you on the bridge a lot of the time. So you'll want at least 3 seats in the middle, plus if you ever need other people there who specialize in a various mission, you'll want them to be seated as well. Honestly, it's kind of insane to have your top officers or VIP's or special personnel to be standing for hours.

I always thought it was not realistic for anyone to have to stand on the bridge, but just accepted that it was done this way for the style of the show.

 

[TayJG]

Bridge Design would be that of this here, but there would still be 3 chairs. Red chairs.

I think your bridge is a very bad one. That transparent thing in the back is totally not practical. The Enterprise bridge has 2 seats next to the captain and two stools. You're going to want your first officer and (in the case of The Enterprise), Counselor Troi with you on the bridge a lot of the time. So you'll want at least 3 seats in the middle, plus if you ever need other people there who specialize in a various mission, you'll want them to be seated as well. Honestly, it's kind of insane to have your top officers or VIP's or special personnel to be standing for hours.

I always thought it was not realistic for anyone to have to stand on the bridge, but just accepted that it was done this way for the style of the show.

I'll reply to the rest later.

 

[JesterFace]

I might take away the saucer separation ability, it could solve many situations but is used rarely.

 

[DarKush]

Some of my thoughts:
-Get rid of "Code of Honor." Rework most of the first season, except for "Heart of Glory", "Conspiracy," and the Q parts.
-Revisit the "Conspiracy" parasites, and I would've liked to have seen Tryla Scott back as well.
-Revisit the Devidians and Schism aliens.
-No families on starships.
-I'm iffy about getting rid of Picard after "Best of Both Worlds". I like the idea of Captain Riker and Commander Shelby. Perhaps I would've settled on having Picard get treatment for like the fourth season or half of it, while we got Captain Riker, and then have Picard come back. That might create some Kirk-Decker like tension between the men. I also like the idea I've read here of Admiral Picard.
-Replace Will Riker with Thomas Riker. I think a little shake up would've been nice. I've liked the ideas I've seen over the years about that change. Will could've gone on to captain another ship and Thomas could've stayed on the Enterprise-D, rekindled his romance with Troi. Data could've moved up to XO which would've strengthened the Picard/Data dynamic from the movies, and that exists in ST: Picard. Tom Riker as part of the crew also could've led to some nice character moments for the crew as they have to readjust to him.
-Start Geordi off in engineering from jump. He's like the youngest engineering chief in Starfleet. I would've had his family on the series much sooner. And he wouldn't be as unlucky with the ladies.
-Keep Sonya Gomez around longer. Maybe go forward with the idea of her and Geordi becoming romantically involved.
-Would've had Troi in a standard uniform from jump. Made her the diplomatic/first contact officer. I don't see why a ship's counselor needed to be on the bridge, despite Troi's empathic abilities.
-I didn't mind the idea of Leslie Crusher. But in any event, I would've made the character a bit older, a cadet or ensign, and they would hold a grudge against Picard for Jack Crusher's death.
-I like the idea of an Andorian on the ship. As ship's doctor would've worked for me as well. I was fine with Gates McFadden in the doctor role and hoped she wouldn't mind blue makeup.
-Have Tomalak as a recurring villain. If they couldn't get him, then create a new Romulan recurring villain. Fleshed out Romulan culture like they fleshed out Klingon culture. And I would've borrowed a lot from the Diane Duanne books.
-I would've still had Tasha leave the show, with the crew presuming she was dead, but really she had been captured by the Romulans and brainwashed into believing she was "Sela". I think the first season finale "The Neutral Zone" with the return of the Romulans and the barest hint of the Borg would've been the best place for her "death."
-Had a Mirror Universe episode or two.
-Made "I, Borg" the last Borg episode for TNG. I like the idea I've seen of the Borg not having a queen. It worked for First Contact, and the actresses who have played the queen have all been good, but I was more chilled by the impersonal force of nature the Borg were in "Q Who" and "Best of Both Worlds."
-Made "Best of Both Worlds" a three-parter, with the middle part focused on the Battle of Wolf 359.
-In earlier seasons, mentioned the wars with the Tzenkethi and Cardassians.
-I also liked the idea of developing more of the races introduced on TNG more, but also some TOS races that weren't explored much. The special effects might not have been there but it would've been nice to see a Caitian or Edoan. It would've been easy to bring the Efrosians, Deltans, and other TOS movie species back, if nothing else in background roles. There were quite a few The Motion Picture species that could've been fleshed out.
-A Stargazer flashback episode.

 

[Qonundrum]

Some of my thoughts:
-Get rid of "Code of Honor." Rework most of the first season, except for "Heart of Glory", "Conspiracy," and the Q parts.

HoG is solid, though I'd find a better time to explore Geordi's VISOR transmitter than during a mission of extreme urgency where the ship they beam onto might explode at any given minute, so what do they all do - apart from standing there blabbering about how slick it is... the scene in of itself is still good, but juxtaposed against the main plot and the urgency of the rescue, it still doesn't fit.

Roddenberry could be hit or miss with his ideas... Q was not a miss.

-Revisit the "Conspiracy" parasites, and I would've liked to have seen Tryla Scott back as well.

The actress for Tryla had a charisma and a strong character personality. Would loved to have seen more of her; she'd be strong enough for a spinoff as lead as well.

A sequel never did get made for these space crawdads, which were to be revealed as an agent of the Borg - before the writers' strike clobbered the ideas for an insect species, hence the (less expensive) cybernetic gestalt instead. The galactic prawn wouldn't have been as lasting...

-Revisit the Devidians and Schism aliens.

Definitely Devidians.

-No families on starships.

But we'd miss out on that kid, little Harry "Sheldon" Cooper, whining about taking advanced calculus at ate 14!

-I'm iffy about getting rid of Picard after "Best of Both Worlds". I like the idea of Captain Riker and Commander Shelby. Perhaps I would've settled on having Picard get treatment for like the fourth season or half of it, while we got Captain Riker, and then have Picard come back. That might create some Kirk-Decker like tension between the men. I also like the idea I've read here of Admiral Picard.

A three-parter BOBW would have allowed time to explore that idea, if not longer. I loathe "Family" after BOBW2, as that sort of generic soap opera can be found in "The Waltons". A lot of early season 4 is a condensed shtick version where a crewmember has some traumatizing thing happen - Data meets daddy and Lore shows up, Beverly is sent to a shrinking domain, let's get Picard stabbed by that kid from "Our House" (read: "The Waltons, on valium"). That said, BOBW2 is surprisingly robust, especially with the need to deliver a script quickly.

-Replace Will Riker with Thomas Riker. I think a little shake up would've been nice. I've liked the ideas I've seen over the years about that change. Will could've gone on to captain another ship and Thomas could've stayed on the Enterprise-D, rekindled his romance with Troi. Data could've moved up to XO which would've strengthened the Picard/Data dynamic from the movies, and that exists in ST: Picard. Tom Riker as part of the crew also could've led to some nice character moments for the crew as they have to readjust to him.

It'd allow the actor to stay, which would be a plus. Never cared for how Thomas was handled in DS9.

-Start Geordi off in engineering from jump. He's like the youngest engineering chief in Starfleet. I would've had his family on the series much sooner. And he wouldn't be as unlucky with the ladies.

To be a fly on the wall; he spends a lot of time down there to begin with, despite the wordless gag about "blind man driving the ship". Add in the merry go round of chief engineers, all of which make a log cabin's primary constituent more exciting by comparison...

-Keep Sonya Gomez around longer. Maybe go forward with the idea of her and Geordi becoming romantically involved.

There wasn't much screen chemistry there in any form. Maybe more episodes would have improved, but Gomez feels like another example of "The Cousin Oliver Trope" where they bring in a new castmember to boost ratings.

-Would've had Troi in a standard uniform from jump. Made her the diplomatic/first contact officer. I don't see why a ship's counselor needed to be on the bridge, despite Troi's empathic abilities.

^^these

-I didn't mind the idea of Leslie Crusher. But in any event, I would've made the character a bit older, a cadet or ensign, and they would hold a grudge against Picard for Jack Crusher's death.

^^this

-I like the idea of an Andorian on the ship. As ship's doctor would've worked for me as well. I was fine with Gates McFadden in the doctor role and hoped she wouldn't mind blue makeup.

Hmmm, Dr Pulaski from Andoria...

-Have Tomalak as a recurring villain. If they couldn't get him, then create a new Romulan recurring villain. Fleshed out Romulan culture like they fleshed out Klingon culture. And I would've borrowed a lot from the Diane Duanne books.

^^this

Or give the role to Sela, with better dialogue. Her season 4 finale/5 opener treats her decently enough, but "Unification" treats her like a looney tunes character.

-I would've still had Tasha leave the show, with the crew presuming she was dead, but really she had been captured by the Romulans and brainwashed into believing she was "Sela". I think the first season finale "The Neutral Zone" with the return of the Romulans and the barest hint of the Borg would've been the best place for her "death."

Interesting.

-Had a Mirror Universe episode or two.

I'm glad TNG didn't go there, yet I'm surprised they didn't think of it by season 7 - or 8 had it been commissioned, but too much of 6 and 7 were so coasting on fumes, especially when writers went to give the A-grade good stuff to DS9.

-Made "I, Borg" the last Borg episode for TNG. I like the idea I've seen of the Borg not having a queen. It worked for First Contact, and the actresses who have played the queen have all been good, but I was more chilled by the impersonal force of nature the Borg were in "Q Who" and "Best of Both Worlds."

"Descent" grew on me, at least for the Borg splinter faction being psychotic sociopaths. The rest of the story is snoozeville at best, complete with awful acting.

Ditto for not having a Queen, the purer gestalt nature where they're all capable to work out issues and come to a decision without needing a generic leader figure to do it for them.

-Made "Best of Both Worlds" a three-parter, with the middle part focused on the Battle of Wolf 359.

With the budget, wouldn't that be hard to do?

-In earlier seasons, mentioned the wars with the Tzenkethi and Cardassians.

Maybe throw in the Tarellians; "Haven" lays some pretty dark groundwork, but the episode spends more time showcasing "80s hair" than anything else. Riker and Troi were still too new and the relationship stuff felt a bit tacked on that early into the show.

-I also liked the idea of developing more of the races introduced on TNG more, but also some TOS races that weren't explored much. The special effects might not have been there but it would've been nice to see a Caitian or Edoan. It would've been easy to bring the Efrosians, Deltans, and other TOS movie species back, if nothing else in background roles. There were quite a few The Motion Picture species that could've been fleshed out.

^^this

-A Stargazer flashback episode.

Other than "The Battle", which is one of TNG's earliest examples of a robust story. Or what could be one given the behind the scenes issues. The second near-classic after WNOHGB, IMHO... maybe as a later episode, seasons 6 and 7 needed better ideas to tinker with. Assuming Picard stayed, which he did...

 

[Guy Gardener]

I would have given Gomez a third boob to cash in on all that Total Recall money.