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What If TNG Was Based During the Lost Era?

MikHutch

Fleet Captain
Fleet Captain
I know many fans want to know more about the era between Generations (the beginning) and TNG. And basing TNG 75 years later is quite unprecedented for it's time. But it has me wondering: what if TNG came right the Voyage Home? How different would it be? Idk, I feel like it would be an interesting What if scenario

Some ideas I assume would've happened:

1. Picard would've commanded the Excelsior or another Excelsior-class ship

2. More TOS aliens would show up so I'm curious how that would affect TNG/DS9 aliens.

3. On that note, maybe a few more crossovers with TOS main characters.
 
I think it would be pretty inevitable that the captain would have to be more like Kirk (probably Riker as Captain with an additional moving up bad boy/reforming more like Paris also on board), the whole crew more similar to the original crew (including more crew conflicts, more skepticism and possibly some outright dislike of, ribbing of Data), and also overly fanboy-ish interactions with original series aliens, so quite a bit blander and less interesting than what we did get.
 
It's an interesting idea and one a couple of posters have have brought up before. I know Bry Sinclair mentioned the TNG crew wearing the big red uniforms and they made some fanart of it https://www.deviantart.com/bry-sinclair/art/Alternate-Star-Trek-The-Next-Generation-847565294
Also worth mentioning is the the pre-Roddenberry version of The Next Generation concept by Greg Strangis which maybe was set more close to the TOS time but would have had different characters. Some fanart here: https://www.deviantart.com/bry-sinclair/art/Star-Trek-The-Next-Generation-Odyssey-730775610

It is interesting as a what if but it wouldn't have worked in real life as a production universe, simply because around 1986 the film arm and the TV arm were like two different worlds, more like Arrowverse and DCEU than MCU. Roddenberry wanted something he could control again after the films were taken over by Harve Bennett and so I feel he set it so much later so he wouldn't be bound too anything going on contemporaneous in the films. I think he even originally wanted to use the Enterprise-G so it would have been even further in the future.
I like the idea of Picard knowing or serving under Kirk. In one of my stories I have the TNG crew serving under Kirk on the NCC-1701.
 
I think it would be pretty inevitable that the captain would have to be more like Kirk (probably Riker as Captain with an additional moving up bad boy/reforming more like Paris also on board), the whole crew more similar to the original crew (including more crew conflicts, more skepticism and possibly some outright dislike of, ribbing of Data), and also overly fanboy-ish interactions with original series aliens, so quite a bit blander and less interesting than what we did get.

I think that's a good possibility but I wonder if it would've been inevitable considering, as somebuddyX said, Roddenberry wanted control. I feel we still would've gotten Picard but with the Klingons still antagonistic I wonder if we'd get the Ferengi, the Borg and the Cardassians. I imagine the Bajorans might end up under Romulan control and the Andorians would be more common in the background instead of the Bolians as originally intended (although supposedly Berman disliked the antennae). Still, seeing Kirk encounter the Borg intrigues me. And maybe the Betazoids might actually be interesting

It's an interesting idea and one a couple of posters have have brought up before. I know Bry Sinclair mentioned the TNG crew wearing the big red uniforms and they made some fanart of it https://www.deviantart.com/bry-sinclair/art/Alternate-Star-Trek-The-Next-Generation-847565294
Also worth mentioning is the the pre-Roddenberry version of The Next Generation concept by Greg Strangis which maybe was set more close to the TOS time but would have had different characters. Some fanart here: https://www.deviantart.com/bry-sinclair/art/Star-Trek-The-Next-Generation-Odyssey-730775610

It is interesting as a what if but it wouldn't have worked in real life as a production universe, simply because around 1986 the film arm and the TV arm were like two different worlds, more like Arrowverse and DCEU than MCU. Roddenberry wanted something he could control again after the films were taken over by Harve Bennett and so I feel he set it so much later so he wouldn't be bound too anything going on contemporaneous in the films. I think he even originally wanted to use the Enterprise-G so it would have been even further in the future.
I like the idea of Picard knowing or serving under Kirk. In one of my stories I have the TNG crew serving under Kirk on the NCC-1701.

Picard serving under Kirk would've been fun. I imagine Picard' s previous ship would've been a Constitution Class instead of a Constellation class.

The canary is interesting and I'd like to know more about Strangis' TNG. But why's Wesley a Bolians with hair?
 
Ideally, that would have been our Captain Sulu series. I think there might be some argument over whether Takei had the star power to carry a series as lead, but his history as Sulu would have helped. (Known, beloved character and an actor famous for that role.) I also suspect his character would have been retconned as gay or at least bi.

I doubt the monster maroons would have carried over to a new TV show. Uniforms would probably have been some simpler derivative of those.

In any case, I'd definitely have watched it.
 
I will echo others' sentiment that this never would have happened, as Roddenberry wanted to get as far from TOS and the TOS films as he could timeline-wise. However, had someone other than Roddenberry been put in creative control...

I think it would have been more realistic to have set TNG only 20 years in the future (of The Voyage Home) rather than almost 80. First of all that would have fixed the issue of almost 70 years going by in which relatively little happened, because Roddenberry's time jump was too long. The Enterprise-A under Kirk's command has been decommissioned, and the new Enterprise-B (the same studio model as the D, obviously) would be commissioned with a new crew. Picard would be feeling anxiety about following in Kirk's footsteps and commanding his namesake vessel, because Kirk is still alive and Picard is feeling contantly judged (which was actually a plot point in the Encounter at Farpoint novelization.)

There was really nothing shown in TNG that couldn't have happened 20 years after the TOS films rather than 80. The only thing that springs to mind is "Yesterday's Enterprise," but they could have used the Enterprise-A for that rather than the C.
 
I do agree it wouldn't have happened under Roddenberry but that time jump does skip by a huge amount of time.

I'm mainly curious about how Berman era Trek races would've been done differently.
 
In one of those "what would you change about TNG" threads I've actually speculated about this scenario, setting TNG about 10 or 20 years after "The Undiscovered Country".

My idea was that one of the things the show would deal with was with the fallout resulting from the Praxis Crisis, the Klingon Empire would have broken up into several independent polities, with many worlds directly joining the Federation, most of the rest being associated with it, some of them getting subjugated by the Romulans and only a few Klingon worlds on the far edges of the old empire remaining independent, and often antagonistic to the Federation (that way the show can have both friendly and antagonistic Klingons) While all Klingons would have the updated makeup, there would be diversity in culture among them, with some resembling more the TOS/Movie Klingons in cultures, and others resembling the "spake Vikings" from TOS.

I'd keep the Enterprise being a Galaxy class and the general aesthetic of both the TNG ships and the uniforms, the changes from the Movie era aesthetic would be explained as a reaction to the Federation losing their biggest rival (the Klingons) and the Alpha Quadrant being perceived as more peaceful as a result. It wouldn't go as far as Early TNG Riker declaring that "Combat is only a minor part of being a Starfleet officer", but it would be more science/exploration focused.

Worf, in this continuity would still exist and be a member of the crew, but instead of a Klingon raised by humans he'd be the son of Klingon immigrants into the Federation, who came to Federation Space with his parents as a kid.
Troi would be changed to a telepathic human like Miranda Jones and, in fact, instead of Lwaxana we'd have Miranda Jones appear as Troi's mentor on occasion. She'd also be the science officer of the Enterprise instead of a "counsellor"

Like suggested above I'd also have more TOS aliens appear, alongside new ones. For example, I'd have the Ferengi and the Orions be in an alliance causing trouble for the Federation (that way the Ferengi can be the behind-the-scenes guys and the Orions can be their more active, more intimidating 'muscle', or alluring diplomats)

The rest of the characters would largely stay the same or have changes that aren't directly tied to the shift in time period.For instance I actually like the idea of casting Avery Brooks as Riker and changing the character accordingly, and also casting somebody else as Tasha/Marsha/Other Name and making her a much more prominent character. Data would definitely be compared to the various androids encountered in TOS and I'd possibly stick with the idea that he was built by an unknown civilization.

There could be an option for various characters, both major and one-off, from TOS to appear in cameos and minor roles. I'd might even go for a bit of small universe syndrome and have Picard state that he knew Kirk and worked with him to some extend when they were younger.

The whole "no interpersonal conflict or dark sides to the characters" stuff from the early TNG seasons would, of course also be nixxed, but that, again is not related to the shift in time period.
 
I think having Picard work under Kirk is a good point.

I feel like setting it that soon after ST6 might be too soon for the Galaxy class though

That does sound like a better version of TNG Ferengi than what we got though
 
Set in 2305 on the Enterprise B, and.. nothing much would change, not really. Enough of a time skip to explain some of the differences like kids on ships etc. but not 80 years.
 
I will echo others' sentiment that this never would have happened, as Roddenberry wanted to get as far from TOS and the TOS films as he could timeline-wise. However, had someone other than Roddenberry been put in creative control...

I think it would have been more realistic to have set TNG only 20 years in the future (of The Voyage Home) rather than almost 80. First of all that would have fixed the issue of almost 70 years going by in which relatively little happened, because Roddenberry's time jump was too long. The Enterprise-A under Kirk's command has been decommissioned, and the new Enterprise-B (the same studio model as the D, obviously) would be commissioned with a new crew. Picard would be feeling anxiety about following in Kirk's footsteps and commanding his namesake vessel, because Kirk is still alive and Picard is feeling contantly judged (which was actually a plot point in the Encounter at Farpoint novelization.)

There was really nothing shown in TNG that couldn't have happened 20 years after the TOS films rather than 80. The only thing that springs to mind is "Yesterday's Enterprise," but they could have used the Enterprise-A for that rather than the C.
This is almost word-for-word what I was going to post, lol.

I sometimes wonder, based on the title, if the original plan was to be 20-30 years after the 80s movies, before deciding distance themselves even further.
 
This is almost word-for-word what I was going to post, lol.

I sometimes wonder, based on the title, if the original plan was to be 20-30 years after the 80s movies, before deciding distance themselves even further.

No, I believe the original plan was to have the show take place even further into the future, but Roddenberry felt that 100 years after TOS was good enough.
 
I know many fans want to know more about the era between Generations (the beginning) and TNG. And basing TNG 75 years later is quite unprecedented for it's time. But it has me wondering: what if TNG came right the Voyage Home? How different would it be? Idk, I feel like it would be an interesting What if scenario

Some ideas I assume would've happened:

1. Picard would've commanded the Excelsior or another Excelsior-class ship

2. More TOS aliens would show up so I'm curious how that would affect TNG/DS9 aliens.

3. On that note, maybe a few more crossovers with TOS main characters.
That's just a plot device. They could have easily had Data say it was 2294 in The Neutral Zone..... And there's absolutely no reason they couldn't say the Galaxy Class came out in the 2290s in response to the Whale Probe Incident.
 
That's just a plot device. They could have easily had Data say it was 2294 in The Neutral Zone..... And there's absolutely no reason they couldn't say the Galaxy Class came out in the 2290s in response to the Whale Probe Incident.

Yeah I suppose that's possible.
 
Ideally, that would have been our Captain Sulu series. I think there might be some argument over whether Takei had the star power to carry a series as lead, but his history as Sulu would have helped. (Known, beloved character and an actor famous for that role.) I also suspect his character would have been retconned as gay or at least bi.

I doubt the monster maroons would have carried over to a new TV show. Uniforms would probably have been some simpler derivative of those.

In any case, I'd definitely have watched it.
I've wondered about a Sulu show recently but I always keep thinking of it in terms of the entire B-team starring or guest starring in the show. I know that's probably not where they would have gone but I like imagining Chekov as his first officer and Uhura and Scotty making appearances. As to being gay or bi, George said something like he believes his Sulu was straight back when they said Kelvin Sulu had a husband in Beyond, so I feel like they wouldn't have changed it. Like he was flattered but didn't like it. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/george-takei-reacts-gay-sulu-909154/
Nowadays I wish there was Captain Sulu series to continue the Kelvin timeline in some fashion.
There being another uniform at the same time as the film ones is a good idea. We've seen multiple uniforms at the same time in other parts of the franchise. I keep thinking of black jumpsuits, like mixing Seaquest with TNG Season 1 for some reason.

Anyway not at all related but when TOS film versions of TNG are brought up I think of Mavek's "Age of Warp" thread, let's say because it's also Lost Era stuff, I guess.
 
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