It was Gene Roddenberry who insisted -- almost right up to production of the pilot -- that they avoid ever showing familiar races like Vulcans, Klingons, or Romulans. He had to be pushed to include the character of Worf.
1986... before TNG...
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
My clearest memories of the TNG pilot (I was 17) are:
1. I wish this were airing on a network that my rabbit ears actually picked up properly, and not a crappy Fox affiliate 100 miles away.
2. The captain is a wuss.
3. Yar and Beverly are shrill and annoying.
4. Data and Worf are cool.
5. The saucer and nacelles are beautiful, but the deflector is butt-ugly.
6. I bet they separate the ship's sections every week, to kill five minutes.
1. I wish this were airing on a network that my rabbit ears actually picked up properly, and not a crappy Fox affiliate 100 miles away.
2. The captain is a wuss.
3. Yar and Beverly are shrill and annoying.
4. Data and Worf are cool.
5. The saucer and nacelles are beautiful, but the deflector is butt-ugly.
6. I bet they separate the ship's sections every week, to kill five minutes.
I was also 17!
1. It was on FOUR times a week in my area, and I watched it all 4 if i could back then!!! Usually reception was ok.
2. Loved Picard!! Was worried when I saw the photos in Starlog. Thought his accent and acting added a lot to the series...and he did become the best actor ever to star in ST!
3. Yar....Crosby is a terrible actress. Beverly I didn't mind.
4. Data stole the episode with 3 great scenes!!
5. Didn't like the red deflector at all, but came to make my peace with it.
6. LOL They padded Farpoint because the studio wanted a 2 hr premiere. It was originally a 1 hr show.
RAMA
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My clearest memories of the pilot (I was also 17) were:
1. The surprise of the McCoy cameo
2. After two months of listening to my mom's excitement over a new Star Trek series, the sound of her snoring ten minutes into the showtime. It was a good thing I taped it, she borrowed my tape the net day--and slept through that viewing too.
My clearest memories of the pilot (I was also 17) were:
1. The surprise of the McCoy cameo
2. After two months of listening to my mom's excitement over a new Star Trek series, the sound of her snoring ten minutes into the showtime. It was a good thing I taped it, she borrowed my tape the net day--and slept through that viewing too.
Geeez...the stations couldn't WAIT to show STNG...they aired it 5 days EARLY! I was helping my dad do some work on the house...and because I didn't expect it, had no idea it was on..I passed by the TV that was on and saw STNG accidentally...thought it was a commercial...only to realize THEY WERE airing it early!! I never even made it to help my dad...I was excited every minute, certainly never fell asleep. I hadn't been so excited for Trek in my life..not even the movies!
It would have been dumb to avoid EVERY non-Human race shown in TOS.
To do so, one might as well as call it a different sci-fi universe.
Keep in mind that Australia had a "12 month video holdback", meaning that no TV station could air episodes until Season One had been out on sell-thru video (2 eps per tape) for a whole year.
The first pic of the TNG cast (without Worf) appeared in "Time" magazine.
And you missed my TV ads:
http://therinofandor.blogspot.com/2008/08/theyve-seen-it.html
My clearest memories of the pilot (I was also 17) were:
1. The surprise of the McCoy cameo
2. After two months of listening to my mom's excitement over a new Star Trek series, the sound of her snoring ten minutes into the showtime. It was a good thing I taped it, she borrowed my tape the next day--and slept through that viewing too.
Geeez...the stations couldn't WAIT to show STNG...they aired it 5 days EARLY! I was helping my dad do some work on the house...and because I didn't expect it, had no idea it was on..I passed by the TV that was on and saw STNG accidentally...thought it was a commercial...only to realize THEY WERE airing it early!! I never even made it to help my dad...I was excited every minute, certainly never fell asleep. I hadn't been so excited for Trek in my life..not even the movies!
Yep. My reaction too. In our area it was shown twice, first on a Monday night, then repeated the following Saturday--the night the rest of the seven year run would be shown.
On my mom's third attempt to watch "Farpoint" she stayed awake all the way through it. She told me later that she was covering for an injured co-worker that week, in addition to her own work, and that was why she fell asleep the first two times. As a first-generation Trekkie going back to 1966, she was VERY excited about TNG, and watched it religously through the seven years.
I remember learning about a new STAR TREK series, hearing that it was going to be syndcated, not on a network, and that it was to premiere in the fall of 1987. Short of finding out that our local FOX affiliate was going to carry it, I purposely stayed away from all news about it.
That year was the year we moved into our new house, in a development without cable yet. I knew my priorities upon settling into the house in July had to be to make sure I had an outdoor antenna to pick up a stable signal. I couldn't stand the thought of trying to fuss with rabbit ears week after week trying to get a decent VHS recording.
The antenna thing worked perfectly and now all I had to do was wait until the fall and the premiere of a new STAR TREK. I was excited about it, having lived through the TOS era and the pain of having the show cancelled. Having movies was somewhat of a vindication, but I still yearned for weekly adventures on the small screen. This was to be what I'd waited for.
Though I struggled to avoid spoilers, I did manage to see a picture in a paper or TV Guide showing the new crew. Like others, I reconized the name LeVar Burton, but all of the others were total unknowns. For some reason when I think of that picture of the crew on a planet set, I can still see the face of Denise Crosby as Tasha Yar, and that of Marina Sirtis and her bun hairdo. The gawking Wesley was already starting to annoy me in that shot too.
Then the day before the premiere, I caught a snippet on a newscast that showed the initial shot of the Enterprise-D. It looked all out of balance with a too-large saucer section and a stubby rear. I couldn't tell if it was a special effect I was seeing, or if in fact they wanted me to believe the ship really looked like that.
Then came premiere night. Philly, where I watched it, did indeed show it on the earliest possible night, and I was all set up. The music started. "Space...the final frontier..." with an unfamiliar voice. The theme began. "Wait a minute - that's the theme from STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE!" "How come they ripped that off?"
I enjoyed the two-hour presentation. It was great to have STAR TREK back again, even if this new crew was going to take time to get used to. It was nice to have Dr. McCoy in it as a send-off - that was a welcome surprise. A lot of it felt like the old STAR TREK, a lot didn't. I didn't care for Q in that opening, but I grew to love that character later on.
I stayed with it, dutifully recording every episode, through DEEP SPACE NINE, through VOYAGER, through ENTERPRISE. In fact, after continuing my DVD purchases, I just tossed out the last three seasons of VOYAGER on videotape this past week.
My STAR TREK VHS collection is now pretty much just ENTERPRISE.
Harry
That year was the year we moved into our new house, in a development without cable yet. I knew my priorities upon settling into the house in July had to be to make sure I had an outdoor antenna to pick up a stable signal. I couldn't stand the thought of trying to fuss with rabbit ears week after week trying to get a decent VHS recording.
The antenna thing worked perfectly and now all I had to do was wait until the fall and the premiere of a new STAR TREK. I was excited about it, having lived through the TOS era and the pain of having the show cancelled. Having movies was somewhat of a vindication, but I still yearned for weekly adventures on the small screen. This was to be what I'd waited for.
Though I struggled to avoid spoilers, I did manage to see a picture in a paper or TV Guide showing the new crew. Like others, I reconized the name LeVar Burton, but all of the others were total unknowns. For some reason when I think of that picture of the crew on a planet set, I can still see the face of Denise Crosby as Tasha Yar, and that of Marina Sirtis and her bun hairdo. The gawking Wesley was already starting to annoy me in that shot too.
Then the day before the premiere, I caught a snippet on a newscast that showed the initial shot of the Enterprise-D. It looked all out of balance with a too-large saucer section and a stubby rear. I couldn't tell if it was a special effect I was seeing, or if in fact they wanted me to believe the ship really looked like that.
Then came premiere night. Philly, where I watched it, did indeed show it on the earliest possible night, and I was all set up. The music started. "Space...the final frontier..." with an unfamiliar voice. The theme began. "Wait a minute - that's the theme from STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE!" "How come they ripped that off?"
I enjoyed the two-hour presentation. It was great to have STAR TREK back again, even if this new crew was going to take time to get used to. It was nice to have Dr. McCoy in it as a send-off - that was a welcome surprise. A lot of it felt like the old STAR TREK, a lot didn't. I didn't care for Q in that opening, but I grew to love that character later on.
I stayed with it, dutifully recording every episode, through DEEP SPACE NINE, through VOYAGER, through ENTERPRISE. In fact, after continuing my DVD purchases, I just tossed out the last three seasons of VOYAGER on videotape this past week.
My STAR TREK VHS collection is now pretty much just ENTERPRISE.
Harry
Some further thoughts:
I remember an interview with Patrick Stewart before the premiere; I don't recall having any negative thoughts about it. (I was just wondering how it was going to turn out).
I recall Channel 13 (for those in Southern California) showing the premiere and the news doing a little segment afterward...even showing a ST fan club who did a screening.
I thought it was cool the TMP music was being used; as well as having a Klingon on the bridge....a female security officer....the TOS-inspired uniforms....
At the time, Picard seemed cranky having a child-phobia...but I was wondering how this show was going to turn out, how this commander will fare against Kirk.
I remember an interview with Patrick Stewart before the premiere; I don't recall having any negative thoughts about it. (I was just wondering how it was going to turn out).
I recall Channel 13 (for those in Southern California) showing the premiere and the news doing a little segment afterward...even showing a ST fan club who did a screening.
I thought it was cool the TMP music was being used; as well as having a Klingon on the bridge....a female security officer....the TOS-inspired uniforms....
At the time, Picard seemed cranky having a child-phobia...but I was wondering how this show was going to turn out, how this commander will fare against Kirk.
I'm surprised you had to "struggle" with this. It was pretty easy to do back then, what with no internet and all.
And I agree with you about the main theme. I was disapointed as hell when they stole it from TMP, which today remains the worst theme Star Trek ever had.
If they were gonna rip off a movie theme, why not rip-off their own from First Contact? The best theme in the history of Star Trek.
That would be a bit difficult, since First Contact came out several years after TNG hit the airwaves.
And as for the best Trek theme in Trek history; IMO, I would give that honor to the original Courage theme....with Giacchino's theme a close second....
Can't argue with that....
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