Spoilers Variety about the future of Star Trek

[The Wormhole]

BnB produces TNG: Relics, or at least under them, release date: Oct 10, 1992
BnB produces TNG: Generations, release date: Nov 18, 1994

"BnB"? I take it you're going in for the old abbreviation referring to Berman and Braga? In which case, Braga had absolutely nothing to do with Relics. He was only a staff writer at that time on TNG, and Relics was written solely by Ron Moore.

Now yes, the script for Generations was written by both Moore and Braga and they and Berman developed the movie's story. But Moore and Berman are the only ones who were involved with both Relics and Generations. Braga had absolutely nothing to do Relics, so this "BnB" stuff has no place in this thread.

And it's not laziness but rather a reality of how TV shows and movies are made. If you think this is lazy, I imagine you must consider entire swathes of TV shows across the history of television to be lazy as well.

 

[cooleddie74]

Frasier's dad was dead in Cheers until he suddenly wasn't in Frasier.

That's how television and movies sometimes work. It doesn't always make sense, but it's a creative choice and a gamble is taken.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Frasier's dad was dead in Cheers until he suddenly wasn't in Frasier.

That's how television and movies sometimes work. It doesn't always make sense, but it's a creative choice and a gamble is taken.

Exactly. People forget it's a TV show, not some intricately pre-planned saga. And even those get stuff wrong.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Exactly. People forget it's a TV show, not some intricately pre-planned saga. And even those get stuff wrong.

That can't be right. All are taken from the holy texts of The Great Bird of the Galaxy.

 

[cooleddie74]

The Great Bird thought both TFF and TUC were apocryphal. With all due respect to his overall legacy his "texts" can get stuffed.

 

[Nerys Myk]

The Great Bird thought both TFF and TUC were apocryphal. With all due respect to his overall legacy his "texts" can get stuffed.

And the checks cleared.

 

[cooleddie74]

Which is all he usually cared about.

 

[Firebird]

I'm just amazed that a dialogue exchange like this:

RIKER: That's a pretty big margin of error.
PICARD: Much too big.

Made it into the final script, was filmed, and nobody caught it until Rick Berman's son pointed it out to Moore, Braga, and Berman after the premiere.

 

[The Wormhole]

I'm just amazed that a dialogue exchange like this:

RIKER: That's a pretty big margin of error.
PICARD: Much too big.

Made it into the final script, was filmed, and nobody caught it until Rick Berman's son pointed it out to Moore, Braga, and Berman after the premiere.

IIRC, Moore and Braga crack a few jokes about that on the DVD commentary.

 

[StarTrek1701]

Missing an obscure line of dialogue from years previous because you haven't memorized everything you've ever done as you're racing to write a complicated script with way too many production notes and restrictions as you also write the series finale while the specific character you wrote that line for is recast last minute without any rewrites isn't any definition of lazy.

Oh it is the very definition of lazy, but to each their own.

 

[Tosk]

Imagine if they had Doohan about to sign the contract when Moore busts into the room.

"Wait! Stop! Scotty thought Kirk was still alive when they found him in TNG's Relics! Sorry Jimmy, you can't be in this movie!"

They should have fixed it by having Scotty say in his final shot, "I can't believe the Captain is dead. I bet over time I'll start to forget this even happened. Y'know, as a coping mechanism or something..." and then have Chekov look at him with confused scorn.

Now that's art.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Oh it is the very definition of lazy, but to each their own.

"Unwilling to work or use energy"

Writing that movie script literally took work and energy. By every single account, it was a stressful time.

We don't personally change definitions to suit our needs. That's not how words work.

You may not like the oversight. But calling it lazy is disrespectful to the people and profession.

 

[Danja]

People forget it's a TV show, not some intricately pre-planned saga.

GR is not JMS.

Babylon 5 was SO tightly plotted, any change in dialogue necessitated looking at scripts from forthcoming seasons!

 

[Firebird]

Babylon 5 was SO tightly plotted, any change in dialogue necessitated looking at scripts from forthcoming seasons!

Was it really, though? I can't imagine any writer hemming themselves in so much that they handicap the actors from having any freedom on the set.

 

[Dukhat]

Oh it is the very definition of lazy, but to each their own.

I'm assuming you're a scriptwriter, so that there's actually some merit to your opinion, yeah?

 

[StarTrek1701]

I'm assuming you're a scriptwriter, so that there's actually some merit to your opinion, yeah?

I don't have to be a chef to critique badly made food or a race car driver to understand which sports car is better suited to my needs.

 

[Dukhat]

I don't have to be a chef to critique badly made food or a race car driver to understand which sports car is better suited to my needs.

A chef doesn't need to remember a completely different dish someone else made years before when sampling a new dish. A race car driver doesn't need to remember a sports car from years ago when purchasing a new one. That's not being 'lazy.' Just like a scriptwriter not needing to remember some throwaway line someone else wrote years before for a completely different story.

 

[Danja]

Was it really, though? I can't imagine any writer hemming themselves in so much that they handicap the actors from having any freedom on the set.

He'd always intended Babylon 5 to be something akin to a "televised novel".

It was always planned to only run for five seasons. It was one of the most meticulously plotted series ever created.

 

[F. King Daniel]

He'd always intended Babylon 5 to be something akin to a "televised novel".

It was always planned to only run for five seasons. It was one of the most meticulously plotted series ever created.

And even that got a rushed season 4 epic series finale and then a final season they weren't too sure what to do with!

 

[Starry-eyed]

And even that got a rushed season 4 epic series finale and then a final season they weren't too sure what to do with!

Wasn't that because season 4 was suppose to be the last season & then they got renewed for a fifth and that caused some issues with the stories & cast. J.Michael Straczyski has commented over the years, that if he had known they were getting a fifth season, he would have changed some stuff from season 4 like Marcus dying. As Claudia Christian had decided not to sign for the fifth season & it was touch & go if Mira Fulan would sign for the season 5 too. I think if the network had guaranteed 5 years, then the final season would have been alot better.