"Fixing" TNG

[JJohnson]

I grew up on TNG and loved watching it growing up, but it hasn't aged well to me at least. The couch-fabric clothing, shoulder-pads, the crew acting kind of like a clique (their treatment of Shelby, Jellico, etc), quite a few scripts, especially in season 1, 2, and 7 being a bit stale, I thought I would create a 'fixing TNG' thread. This is partly inspired by the 'That Wacky Redhead' thread which imagines a full five-year run of TOS, with better writing and a bigger budget. So, I thought I'd present this thread here as a 'what if we could make TNG better?' thread. So, most scripts change and some episodes don't happen.

To start off: season 1.

Which episodes are the strongest, and which are the weakest? Which ones should we keep and which should we leave off?

 

[Butters]

The Naked Now can be ditched for starters. Ugh. The plot, the acting, the contrivances. How uptight must the crew be if, after losing their inhibitions, they're happy to roll about in a handful of isolinear chips like they're, well, PC isn't my thing, but
If we're going for the rewrite, that episode should end with a lot of torn shirts, black eyes, awkward silences, urgent transfer requests, and no eye contact between the main characters.

Next up, Code of Honor. Only one thing to do with that script. Print it on double ply quilted paper and hang it in the Privy.

 

[LJS1138]

Redo the Last Outpost to change the Ferengi into their modern DS9 version, keep the basic plot of the mystery planet with the "guardian" on it and do more of what happened to the T'Kon and who they were.

#1 Fix: Change Wesley from an annoying Mary Sue to what his character was like in S3 and on. Not as a super-duper, smarter than all grownups Wiz Kid (you can keep some precociousness and competence), but as a Starfleet Brat, raised on ships, and pressured into following his parents' footsteps... eagerly at first, but then as he gets older, he questions whether it's what he wants.

 

[Herbert]

Redo the Last Outpost to change the Ferengi into their modern DS9 version, keep the basic plot of the mystery planet with the "guardian" on it and do more of what happened to the T'Kon and who they were.

Those Ferengi whips were pretty dumb. Not an efficient weapon at all.

 

[Prax]

And the Romulans were pretty useless in TNG. They'd show up, make threats, and retreat...always always.
And they said "We're baAAAaaack." I would change that line. There's some exceptions like "The Defector" and "Face of the Enemy" to some rules, like "Sub-Commander Yar" and a bunch of other evil Romulans.

Oh, and more Pakled episodes, but don't spend half the episode disparaging them, like when Geordi, without ever seeing or talking to a Pakled says "What? Did their rubber band break?"

 

[Shawnster]

Speaking of Geordi... the banana clip must go. His eyes were cool in the later movies. A lot could have been done with just contact lenses, I think.

 

[2takesfrakes]

"Hide and Q" is the only episode of TNG which I really cannot stand watching, mainly to do with Riker's reaction to receiving The Power of Q. It's not just because I'm a fan of Jonathan Frakes and Riker, it's also - and mainly - to do with how absurd and irritating his character is made to behave, in a manner similar to Gary Mitchell's in TOS' "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Only without the coolness of that episode. I do not watch entertainment to get annoyed, that's all. The Lwaxana Troi episodes I could do without, but they're not as atrocious as this. In fact, with "Manhunt," for example, I liked Rex and his bar, very much. I also like various aspects of "Haven," including - as much as it pains me to admit it, Lwaxana's insightful chat with Wyatt Miller. Valeda Innis was exceptionally lovely in her little Art Nouveau Absinthe Advert outfit and hairstyle ... not to mention that sexy accent!

The only other episode of TNG that gives me pause is "The Outcast." I do not completely despise it, as I do "Hide & Q," but I rarely watch it. The only scene in it that I really like is when Bev tells Soren that, basically, all Men want is sex. I just thought it was an amusing exchange. Otherwise, had TNG never tackled this show's attempted themes, I honestly would not have noticed it. Let me see what else? I know there's one more that I find irksome, somehow. Oh! I like "11001001" very much - especially Picard's speaking with Minuet, in French - but I really hate how Riker falls so head-over-heals for what he fully knows to be a computer programmed trick of light display. And he doesn't just casually mention it ... he's rails on about it, even after he can't retrieve her hologram anymore, in the holodeck. Riker bellyaches to Picard about how he's lost the love of his life and whatever ... I cringe! Outside of these very few examples, I love TNG just the way it is and am proud to own it in total -- to have & to hold, until death do we part!

 

[Handsomeyoungensign]

OH WOW. BANG ON @Prax
haha just realized that now too ha. even Sela.. wow are those episodes quite useless.. NEVER REALLY HAPPENED.. takeovers of territory... Thank god for that non idle threat in Chain of Command. Guess thats why I love that one so much... finally some intense scenes that depict dire situations... but wait.. he tortured Picard for what exactly... HE DIDNT EVEN FRIGGIN KNOW THE DAMN PLANS FOR MINOS KORVA.. hmmm.. but one thing is for sure.. those pages that keep getting lit up here on Cause and Effect and if Tasha Yar were to live. anyway

TOM PARIS RULES.

And the Romulans were pretty useless in TNG. They'd show up, make threats, and retreat...always always.
And hey said "We're baAAAaaack." I would change that line. There's some exceptions like "The Defector" and "Face of the Enemy" to some rules, like "Sub-Commander Yar" and a bunch of other evil Romulans.

Oh, and more Pakled episodes, but don't spend half the episode disparaging them, like when Geordi, without ever seeing or talking to a Pakled says "What? Did their rubber band break?"

 

[Phoenix219]

Off topic, but I've always been curious as to what a thread rewriting TNG with the TOS cast would be like. Given the same scenarios, how would the episodes have played out differently? Lets say, if TNG's episodes were actually a 7 year run of TOS episodes bridging the first 2 movies? Starting with Encounter at Farpoint, starting after TMP with Kirk and a new/hybrid crew... how do things play out? Would anyone be interested in starting a thread like this?

 

[Prax]

Like a TOS part 2? Or maybe a...phase...2?

 

[Phoenix219]

I guess I'm not off topic... because to me, the only way of truly fixing TNG is redoing it with the TOS cast to begin with..

 

[Dukhat]

To start off: season 1.

Which episodes are the strongest, and which are the weakest? Which ones should we keep and which should we leave off?

Here's the thing about season 1 of TNG: most of the episodes were heavily rewritten by Roddenberry and in many instances were not even close to what the original writers intended. That's not to say Roddenberry didn't have some interesting ideas too...the whole reason for the existence of the Ferengi was because he was trying to show the evils of capitalism in a society where materialism was a thing of the past. Unfortunately, the execution of that idea and many others did not live up to the expectations of the original premise.

I think that if TNG debuted about five years later than it did, it would have been a very different show.

 

[at Quark's]

And they said "We're baAAAaaack." I would change that line.

Well, it's still better than DS9's : It's a faaaaaaaaaaaaaake!

I guess I'm not off topic... because to me, the only way of truly fixing TNG is redoing it with the TOS cast to begin with..

Even though TNG hasn't aged as gracefully as I thought it would, I liked that it showed that the 24th century AQ was markedly different from the 23rd century, and asked for a different breed of starfleet officer. So while I'm not against new episodes following the TOS formula (and a duplicate of their cast), I wouldn't want them to replace (or reboot, or whatever) the TNG we've got.

 

[NigellaDeanna20]

I grew up on TNG and loved watching it growing up, but it hasn't aged well to me at least. The couch-fabric clothing, shoulder-pads, the crew acting kind of like a clique (their treatment of Shelby, Jellico, etc), quite a few scripts, especially in season 1, 2, and 7 being a bit stale, I thought I would create a 'fixing TNG' thread. This is partly inspired by the 'That Wacky Redhead' thread which imagines a full five-year run of TOS, with better writing and a bigger budget. So, I thought I'd present this thread here as a 'what if we could make TNG better?' thread. So, most scripts change and some episodes don't happen.

To start off: season 1.

Which episodes are the strongest, and which are the weakest? Which ones should we keep and which should we leave off?

For me here are some of the my favourites and ones which i consider pretty bad.
The Strongest:
1. Where No One Has Gone Before (The first introduction of the Traveller)
2. Coming of Age / Conspiracy (The whole 2 story arc involving Admiral Quinn and Commander Remmick, I thought was great.)
3. The Arsenal Of Freedom (love the story and great ep too IMHO)
4. 11001001 (Love the whole thing with the Bynars)
5. We'll Always Have Paris (Love the whole Time repetition thing as well as the whole Picard and Janice love story.
6. The Battle (Love the whole mind-conrol thing.)

The Weakest:
1. The naked now (continuation of the TOS Story The Naked Time)
2. Code Of Honour (because of the whole racist vibe to it)
3. Angel One (not the best but like all the others here, could have been developed a lot better.)

To be fair to TNG though, one should try and remember that this show was just trying to finding its feet and it eventually did, thank goodness.

 

[Prax]

"Where No One..." is like one of the most amazing episodes, but has the most astonishingly cringe dialogue.

Something TOS and early TNG have over all other series(imo)is the music. Some might call it corny at times, but it is so much more emotional.

 

[Nakita Akita]

"Hide and Q" is the only episode of TNG which I really cannot stand watching, mainly to do with Riker's reaction to receiving The Power of Q. It's not just because I'm a fan of Jonathan Frakes and Riker, it's also - and mainly - to do with how absurd and irritating his character is made to behave, in a manner similar to Gary Mitchell's in TOS' "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Only without the coolness of that episode. I do not watch entertainment to get annoyed, that's all. The Lwaxana Troi episodes I could do without, but they're not as atrocious as this. In fact, with "Manhunt," for example, I liked Rex and his bar, very much. I also like various aspects of "Haven," including - as much as it pains me to admit it, Lwaxana's insightful chat with Wyatt Miller. Valeda Innis was exceptionally lovely in her little Art Nouveau Absinthe Advert outfit and hairstyle ... not to mention that sexy accent!

The only other episode of TNG that gives me pause is "The Outcast." I do not completely despise it, as I do "Hide & Q," but I rarely watch it. The only scene in it that I really like is when Bev tells Soren that, basically, all Men want is sex. I just thought it was an amusing exchange. Otherwise, had TNG never tackled this show's attempted themes, I honestly would not have noticed it. Let me see what else? I know there's one more that I find irksome, somehow. Oh! I like "11001001" very much - especially Picard's speaking with Minuet, in French - but I really hate how Riker falls so head-over-heals for what he fully knows to be a computer programmed trick of light display. And he doesn't just casually mention it ... he's rails on about it, even after he can't retrieve her hologram anymore, in the holodeck. Riker bellyaches to Picard about how he's lost the love of his life and whatever ... I cringe! Outside of these very few examples, I love TNG just the way it is and am proud to own it in total -- to have & to hold, until death do we part!

I thought that they had Riker act so silly over a hologram was that possibly they had already written the episode where the alien was supposed to be his son and Riker's wife , Minuet, had died.

 

[Nebusj]

I thought that they had Riker act so silly over a hologram was that possibly they had already written the episode where the alien was supposed to be his son and Riker's wife , Minuet, had died.

Oh, heavens no. First-season Next Generation could not have imagined an episode as sophisticated as the one with Riker's fake holo-future family, let alone made an episode to stockpile an idea for a much later season like that.

(Gads, now I'm trying to picture how they would have made 'Future Imperfect' in the first season if they had that story idea.)

 

[Nakita Akita]

Oh, heavens no. First-season Next Generation could not have imagined an episode as sophisticated as the one with Riker's fake holo-future family, let alone made an episode to stockpile an idea for a much later season like that.

(Gads, now I'm trying to picture how they would have made 'Future Imperfect' in the first season if they had that story idea.)

Lol!
My bad.
I'm not as knowledgeable about all of the Trek workings.
I seriously thought this.
I guess it was fortuitous then that they had him act do silly!

 

[2takesfrakes]

I thought that they had Riker act so silly over a hologram was that possibly they had already written the episode where the alien was supposed to be his son and Riker's wife , Minuet, had died.

I am in complete agreement about Riker's instant - and intense - infatuation with Minuet. Unfortunately, the Holodeck was a brand new idea for "live" STAR TREK (as opposed to the cartoon of it) and, so, much "To Do" had to be made over this fantastic "new" invention of the 24th Century. This little room was meant to allow for fantasies so real that anyone knowingly going into it could be confused as to whether the experience was "real" or not. Picard made quite a fuss over these very aspects in "The Big Goodbye," where he introduces us to Dixon Hill, of course. At one point, Picard expresses genuine concern over the murder of Dix's client and has to be reminded by a no-name crewman (!!!) that all of this is make-believe and nobody really got murdered.

So, here we are, now, watching Riker getting confused over what kind of a "relationship" he can expect to have with Minuet -- how FAR can it GO?!! Will ... come on. Really? I mean ... REALLY?!! The worst of all this is that it's for the audience's "benefit," it's just to play up this new platform of storytelling TNG wants to employ. They really need not have bothered, because it wasn't going to be too long before the Holodeck became the show's haven for every dolt who can't get laid, or accept Reality, on the ship. Humiliations galore, for what was initially touted as being so amazing and ahead of its time. And Riker had to be the only cool guy to get suckered into that in the beginning, to make it look good. This aspect is kind of lost now, as TNG is so old and there's been so much STAR TREK since ... that Riker ends up looking even more foolish, unfortunately. Still, in all, the actress playing Minuet has these amazing cat-eyes that just blow me away! It's no wonder she would've struck Riker's fancy. Had Minuet been an actual woman ... I don't know how Riker could've (realistically) ended up letting her go. A babe that hot comes along rarely ... so very rarely.

 

[Kor]

Lol!
My bad.
I'm not as knowledgeable about all of the Trek workings.
I seriously thought this.
I guess it was fortuitous then that they had him act do silly!

Episodic TV of the late 1980s had no concept of planning that far ahead with such specific follow-up continuity.

Kor