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The Making of ST-TNG...

Warped9

Warped9

Admiral
Admiral
I'm revisiting some older books in my library regarding when Star Trek (TOS) was first developed and later about its popularity. In the '70s and '80s we got a decent number of those books. Indeed it's fun to revisit them from time to time as they're a kind of time capsules, windows to what fandom was like back then. They were also one of the very few authoritative sources of information besides magazines like Starlog or catching some news at a convention.

Today we have the internet, but back then it was quite different. Today's younger fans would probably find it strange, but then it was all we knew and we were fine with it. For myself usually the only notice we had a new book was available would be to see it suddenly appear on the shelves of the local bookstores.

But is it me or is there a scarcity of books about the making of TNG? I'd be interested in a book like that. Something rather equivalent to The Making Of Star Trek, The World Of Star Trek, The Making of ST-TMP (and other films) and Inside Star Trek.

I know there is some information in books like The ST-TNG Companion which is more of an episode guide (and I've got that one).

But isn't there anything out there more about the development of the show?

Anyone?
 
I haven't looked at it in a while, but I think "The Continuing Mission" by Judith Reeves-Stevens and Garfield Reeves-Stevens covers some of this ground.

"Captain's Log" by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman offers a little more material on this subject (culled from their magazine articles on the series, I believe).

Finally, I think "The Finest Crew in the Fleet" (which is a collection of biographies of the TNG cast) might have a bit more information.

There isn't a comparable making-of book that was written during the production (like "The Making of Star Trek" or "The Deep Space Nine Companion"), though, nor anything as definitive as "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story" from an insider's perspective.
 
During the original run of the series, Starlog press put out a TNG magazine concurrent with the production. I believe there were four or six issues a year. There were pull-out mini-posters, episode synopses, and so on.
Each issue would highlight a particular actor or maybe some aspect of the series (Klingons, FX, etc.)

The issues would have articles about the wardrobe department or Zimmerman's production design or Sternbach's spacecraft or interviews with the directors. That sort of thing.

What I'm getting at is, if you had the complete set of magazines (which I have packed away somewhere) it might well serve as some sort of compendium of TNG series production as it was airing.

I'm sure someone here will recall these publications, I'm dragging all this up from memory now. And I'm pretty sure it'd be near impossible to dig up all these old magazines, so maybe this isn't helping anybody.
 
^^^ Son of a gun. Well there you go. I didn't know Memory Alpha had that.

Yeah, that's what I was referring to. All those issues together is a "Making of TNG" of sorts?
 
Harvey said:
I haven't looked at it in a while, but I think "The Continuing Mission" by Judith Reeves-Stevens and Garfield Reeves-Stevens covers some of this ground.
Click to expand...

I love this book, and often browse it or refer to it to refresh my memory.

I also recommend Larry Nemecek's ST TNG Companion.

Doug
 
I strongly recommend Creating The Next Generation by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, where the authors explore the early drafts of the first season episodes and detail exactly how they were all neutered in the process of being rewritten. Comparing those superior original drafts of things like The Naked Now or Justice to what we eventually got on screen is absolutely fascinating. :vulcan:
 
Lance said:
I strongly recommend Creating The Next Generation by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, where the authors explore the early drafts of the first season episodes and detail exactly how they were all neutered in the process of being rewritten. Comparing those superior original drafts of things like The Naked Now or Justice to what we eventually got on screen is absolutely fascinating. :vulcan:
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
I loved the old Starlog series. Being in the UK, the only way to get them was my very occasional (once, twice a year) family day trip to Bournemouth. There was a specialist shop there called Wonderworld.

The Marvel UK TNG comic also reprinted much of the material, which was probably my first exposure to it.
 
The Captain's Logs books were great for behind the scenes info. I also recall Cinefantastique being a great source of info back in the day.

RAMA
 
Have any of the post-TOS Trek stars besides Wil Wheaton written autobiographies?

Most of the TOS cast did -- I've read Shatner's, Nimoy's, Takei's, Nichols' and Koenig's -- but I can't think of any from later shows.
 
The entirety of the cast of the original series -- save Kelly and Barrett -- wrote autobiographies (Shatner and Nimoy, more than one). As far as I know, none of the actors from subsequent series have done so (except Wheaton).
 
I had quite a few books on the making of TNG and behind the scenes stuff back in the 90s. Having moved around so much I've lost most of those books. I did manage to keep the Continuing Mission book and my blue prints of the Enterprise D somehow. The rest have gone missing.
 
When I was much younger, I used to love going into Borders or B&N to the Trek section to check out the latest coffee-table sized TNG books. Many of these books were unauthorized releases and Paramount cracked down on their sale in the later 90s.

I still have all of my extensive collection. One of the best, by far, is the Continuing Mission book. Excellent behind the scenes info. Captains Log is also great for that. I also highly recommend The Art of Star Trek if you can find it online. Lots of behind the scenes photos of the sets/models/props etc. I've also got the Companion, Technical Manual, Chronology, and a few other more rare ones like "Trek vs. The Next Generation."

Oh and don't forget the Nitpickers Guides vol. 1 and 2. Classics.

Finally, I've got a huge stack of the Star Trek Communicator (later, Star Trek, the Magazine) issues as well as Trek TV Guides spaning the TNG era all the way through Enterprise. Believe it or not, TV Guide often was one of the first outlets to get info on the new series/movies.

Maybe I'll lay them all out and post some pics.
 
Mott the barber said:
When I was much younger, I used to love going into Borders or B&N to the Trek section to check out the latest coffee-table sized TNG books. Many of these books were unauthorized releases and Paramount cracked down on their sale in the later 90s.

I still have all of my extensive collection. One of the best, by far, is the Continuing Mission book. Excellent behind the scenes info. Captains Log is also great for that. I also highly recommend The Art of Star Trek if you can find it online. Lots of behind the scenes photos of the sets/models/props etc. I've also got the Companion, Technical Manual, Chronology, and a few other more rare ones like "Trek vs. The Next Generation."

Oh and don't forget the Nitpickers Guides vol. 1 and 2. Classics.

Finally, I've got a huge stack of the Star Trek Communicator (later, Star Trek, the Magazine) issues as well as Trek TV Guides spaning the TNG era all the way through Enterprise. Believe it or not, TV Guide often was one of the first outlets to get info on the new series/movies.

Maybe I'll lay them all out and post some pics.
Click to expand...

I think I still have the art of Star Trek. I loved going to the book store and finding all the Star Trek stuff. It's too bad that 1. There no more book stores in my area and 2. They don't really mass produce Star Trek stuff anymore.

I also have four years worth of that Star Trek magazine, all in plastic covers. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away.
 
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