"Apotheosis" - the unproduced episode?

[TemporalFlux]

You guys been following these developments over at the replica prop forum?

http://www.therpf.com/f45/star-trek-next-generation-unseen-162624/

Features concept art for the Enterprise K among other things.

 

[dg1379]

That's amazing! I hope the OP can publish the script soon!

 

[Ian Keldon]

Bleh...just...bleh...

 

[Michael]

Am I the only one who thinks this doesn't look legit?

 

[BillJ]

Am I the only one who thinks this doesn't look legit?

I'm calling bullshit.

Neither 'writer' has any credits and each is only mentioned twice on Google. Once for TrekMovie, as posters and then on the board the original post links to. Neither has any credits to their name, according to IMDB.

Why would Paramount spend two years developing this as a possible finale when the show was renewed for season two in November 1987?

EDIT: And the 'Enterprise-K' just looks like the Millenium Falcon going in reverse without the pod.

EDIT (x2): Easiest way to find out if its real is to ask Dan Curry. His name is on storyboards they present in the thread.

 

[Captain Fine]

It looks interesting. But some confirmation that this is/was real would be great.

 

[Tosk]

Why would Paramount spend two years developing this as a possible finale when the show was renewed for season two in November 1987?

EDIT: And the 'Enterprise-K' just looks like the Millenium Falcon going in reverse without the pod.

EDIT (x2): Easiest way to find out if its real is to ask Dan Curry. His name is on storyboards they present in the thread.

I will admit, I was surprised to see "Commander Ryker" on a script from as late as 1988. I didn't want to be the one to call it out, but I am dubious.

 

[Dukhat]

Easiest way to find out if its real is to ask Dan Curry. His name is on storyboards they present in the thread.

I'm actually in email contact with Mr. Curry (for a completely different reason). When he replies to me next I'll ask him about this.

 

[BillJ]

Easiest way to find out if its real is to ask Dan Curry. His name is on storyboards they present in the thread.

I'm actually in email contact with Mr. Curry (for a completely different reason). When he replies to me next I'll ask him about this.

 

[TemporalFlux]

I was hoping you guys could shed some light on it; I figured you would know or be able to find out. Look forward to seeing what Mr. Curry has to say.

The thing that really jumped at me was the coffee cup stain on the script page; it seemed artificial to me, and the stain on a script page is a big cliche' at this point. However, I've hunted a great many ghosts in Sliders production; and I know from there that sometimes apparently obvious b.s. turns out to be the truth.

 

[BillJ]

Easiest way to find out if its real is to ask Dan Curry. His name is on storyboards they present in the thread.

I'm actually in email contact with Mr. Curry (for a completely different reason). When he replies to me next I'll ask him about this.

I was hoping you guys could shed some light on it; I figured you would know or be able to find out. Look forward to seeing what Mr. Curry has to say.

The thing that really jumped at me was the coffee cup stain on the script page; it seemed artificial to me, and the stain on a script page is a big cliche' at this point. However, I've hunted a great many ghosts in Sliders production; and I know from there that sometimes apparently obvious b.s. turns out to be the truth.

I just think the misspelling of Riker, the anime sailor on the cover sheet and the fact that the writers have absolutely no other writing credits make me skeptical.

 

[Maxwell Everett]

I will admit, I was surprised to see "Commander Ryker" on a script from as late as 1988. I didn't want to be the one to call it out, but I am dubious.

And the script looks nothing like an official TNG script... it looks like it came off an actual typewriter. They used word processors on TNG.

EDIT: And you're right, according to the ST: TNG Companion, Ryker became Riker sometime between the February 4th, 1987 revision of the writers' guide and the final version dated March 23rd. Meaning no teleplay was ever written with his name spelled "Ryker."

Therefore:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qKcJF4fOPs

 

[Unicron]

The model on the first page looks very interesting, even if it's not legit. I'm skeptical of this too, but it would be nice to have more details.

 

[Tosk]

I will admit, I was surprised to see "Commander Ryker" on a script from as late as 1988. I didn't want to be the one to call it out, but I am dubious.

And the script looks nothing like an official TNG script... it looks like it came off an actual typewriter. They used word processors on TNG.

EDIT: And you're right, according to the ST: TNG Companion, Ryker became Riker sometime between the February 4th, 1987 revision of the writers' guide and the final version dated March 23rd. Meaning no teleplay was ever written with his name spelled "Ryker."

Therefore:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qKcJF4fOPs

Some more digging...as noted, "Lennart Roche" and "Sydney Bodeen" have almost no net presence at all.

On August 3rd 2010, Sydney made an off-hand comment on the Trekmovie board, and on that very same day Lennart made contact with him, seemingly with a "long time no see" type of message. Coincidence? They exchange email addresses, (which of course conveniently makes them available to anyone) and that is that.

ProfKSergeev, the one sharing this stuff, registered on the rpf just ten days after that. Another possible coincidence?

The notes have it that the episode starts in 4x3 then widen to 16x9 (approximate) in scene 33, which I find fairly unlikely.

Like the writers, there are no real credits for Artie Procter(n) or for Ben Myers (the one who made the atelier.)

This sentence, "the team that developed this episode answered to a different boss at Paramount and was more or less sequestered from the regular TNG staff." seems to be a simple way of trying to stop anyone from being able to say, "How come no one knew about this before now?"

Why would there be a "break glass in case of cancellation" script in the first place? And why would such a script have an astronomical budget?

Here's a tidbit that makes the whole thing fall apart, in my opinion..."According to Syd Bodeen, one of the writers, the script got as far as a table read" Really? An unfinished, three-part budget buster that was written and developed away from the regular production team and that no one has ever heard of before got as far as a table read? No way.

So, what do you think? Is it fans trying to get attention by getting their work out there "virally", or fans who tried to get noticed by TNG back in the day and finally decided to share all the stuff they made back then?

Let's see what Dan Curry says.

 

[RAMA]

None of the production artwork is in the style of any of the contributors of the time. This seems obviously fake.

RAMA

 

[Maxwell Everett]

The notes have it that the episode starts in 4x3 then widen to 16x9 (approximate) in scene 33, which I find fairly unlikely.

That's the part that really made me laugh. Those boards were obviously concocted to play right into to the modern "controversy" about TNG in widescreen on Blu-ray. A TV show broadcasting letterbox widescreen in 1990 is definitely unlikely. It's about 7 years too early. It wasn't until widescreen TVs and DVDs were introduced that letterboxed broadcasts started to appear.

In fact, the short-lived CBS TV series "Feds" was the first show to be broadcast in letterbox 16:9:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118313/news?year=2000
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...80134_1_joss-whedon-david-greenwalt-letterbox

 

[ALF]

Even though it smells, a book which consisted of entirely lost episodes from the TNG era would be a godsend. It would be amazing to see what got pushed into production and how far on that show... especially after watching and re-watching the same 178 episodes about a trillion times!

And... a trillion times more to come on Blu ray!

 

[FreddyE]

Even though it smells, a book which consisted of entirely lost episodes from the TNG era would be a godsend. It would be amazing to see what got pushed into production and how far on that show... especially after watching and re-watching the same 178 episodes about a trillion times!

And... a trillion times more to come on Blu ray!

Well..there is a book that with treatments to lost episodes and movies. It´s mostly TOS...but there is also some TNG stuff in it. I don´t know if its still in print though. I don´t know the english title because I bought the german translation.

 

[Michael]

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds all of this more than just a little fishy. As someone else said upthread, these sketches look nothing like the art we know from the real people working on the show. This seems to be a massive practical joke. I'm not laughing, though.

Well..there is a book that with treatments to lost episodes and movies. It´s mostly TOS...but there is also some TNG stuff in it. I don´t know if its still in print though. I don´t know the english title because I bought the german translation.

Yes, I own that book, too. The presentation is rather dull, but the stories themselves are great. And, this seems to be the original english version.