The consensus seems to be that season seven had more clunkers than other seasons. I'm not sure if I think that's true, though. I'm wondering if, instead, season seven just had more episodes that went in very different, sometimes very weird and unusual, directions. And not always directions people liked.
How long could TNG have lasted?
- Thread starter MichaelDornFan
- Start date
TNG crew stops at DS9. Picard and Data go aboard DS9 (and well, all those actors who don't want to be on TNG anymore, go aboard DS9). Riker remains on the ship. Get's a sudden distress call. Goes investigate and bam... Caretaker takes him and Enterprise to DQ. I'd say Crusher should also go aboard DS9, because killing TNG main cast would just be too much, and thus we could have the Doctor.
Picard and Data look outside the window - Enterprise is gone. Picard goes: "Damn that Riker."
Then Riker and the remaining actors get tortured and stuff. Then they meet Neelix. And...
Would have been interesting.
Isn't that redundant?
(I kid!)
I would have loved to seen them try the L&O method of rotating actors (and writers). I know it would at least make the military vets happy who are always pointing out that in the modern military "command crews" don't stay together for very long. Plus, bringing in new characters would prevent the writers from shoe-horning ridiculous back-stories into a main cast member's history or suddenly elevating a lower decks officer just for that episode to tell a different kind of story.
Heck, maybe they could have even rescued Tasha Yar from another dimension to give Denise Crosby another chance on the show.
For what its worth, Majel Roddenberry did announce to loud cheers at the '88 Shore Leave Con that there was to be 10 years and 250 episodes. She also mentioned that a contract (or contracts) were signed to that effect. Since that obviously didn't happen, one can wonder why things changed.
Insufficient or unenforceable liquidated damages clauses therein?
Well, FWIW, there was new Star Trek on the air for 18 years in one form or another (from the beginning of TNG in '87 to the end of ENT in '05).
While I think it could have continued, I don't want to say it SHOULD have continued. The stories after a while began to fall too much into a formulaic pattern, which I feel Voyager and Ds9 later really suffered from (acting too much like extensions of TNG but with a different setting).
I think it quit at the right time. It could have lasted another year but would have seemed stale. DS9 and Voyager and Enterprise can get away to a degree rehashing the storylines from time to time because a different ship, a different crew and a different setting et el.
I do think many of the characters could have gone on and been in a separate series. The transition of Chief O'Brien is a prime example as is the later transition of Worf.
But I'm thinking Riker finally takes a command and maybe Troi or Geordi go with him as well as a new crew and cast. Whether they get hurtled to the DQ instead of Voyager is another matter. But imagine if it ran in tandem to DS9 and we saw the whatever ship [Titan?] exploring the Gamma Quadrant and/or fighting the Dominion War from a different perspective.
I do think many of the characters could have gone on and been in a separate series. The transition of Chief O'Brien is a prime example as is the later transition of Worf.
But I'm thinking Riker finally takes a command and maybe Troi or Geordi go with him as well as a new crew and cast. Whether they get hurtled to the DQ instead of Voyager is another matter. But imagine if it ran in tandem to DS9 and we saw the whatever ship [Titan?] exploring the Gamma Quadrant and/or fighting the Dominion War from a different perspective.
In answer to the OP:
In theory, it could still be running today.
In theory, it could still be running today.
MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
It would still be running today, with Wesley Crusher (Will Wheaton back!) as chief engineer. The longest consecutive cast member would've been Marina Sirtis, who have left by 2005. I'm not sure which is any spin-off characters would've moved to TNG after their shows ended. Which actors would be the most desperate? Garret Wang? Aron Eisenberg?
If TNG had continued, VOY would in all likelihood have never happened. Mainly because most if not all of VOY's episodes could have been adapted to TNG fairly easily. And without even going to the delta quadrant. And with no VOY, there would be no ENT, and so on.
I agree with those who say that, without Captain Picard & Data, The Next Generation is dead & buried. The show would have only lasted for as long as they could have paid Stewart & Spiner enough to keep them interested.
If any show could have survived despite multiple cast changes, my vote is for DS9. I think that show easily had another 4 years left in it, maybe more. The only characters I would have strongly insisted on keeping were Col. Kira & Quark. While I enjoyed the rest of the cast, I also had faith in the DS9 writers to create compelling new characters. Just look at that show's rich stable of supporting characters. And late addition Ezri Dax was one of my favorites.
It certainly had some of the show's most spectacular misfires-- "Force of Nature," "Sub Rosa," "Masks."
If any show could have survived despite multiple cast changes, my vote is for DS9. I think that show easily had another 4 years left in it, maybe more. The only characters I would have strongly insisted on keeping were Col. Kira & Quark. While I enjoyed the rest of the cast, I also had faith in the DS9 writers to create compelling new characters. Just look at that show's rich stable of supporting characters. And late addition Ezri Dax was one of my favorites.
It certainly had some of the show's most spectacular misfires-- "Force of Nature," "Sub Rosa," "Masks."
It could've gone on another 40 years for a total of ... 47! I wish it had stayed on TV. While I found First Contact to be a great movie with action, drama, and humor, the other three were lacking for feature films.
With DS9 in full swing by TNG's 7th season, I wouldn't have minded the series becoming a miniseries aired twice a year in 4-6 hour blocks. If that had happened, some of the general plots of the four films might've become that of the miniseries. Better yet, novels such as Q-Squared, Crossover, Dark Mirror, Reunion, and others could've been the basis for their screenplays. I can also see how the miniseries could've allowed the crew to move on. Perhaps Riker would've gotten his own ship sooner, married Deanna, and started a family. Maybe Geordi would've gone with Wil as his XO. Worf might have stayed on the Enterprise with Picard as his XO. Beverly might've gone back to Starfleet Medical, and Data might've left to be XO of another ship. Not that all of these things would've happened in one miniseries, but maybe over 4 or 5 of them. Yes, Voyager probably wouldn't have been done but perhaps Voyager is the ship that Data goes to so his character would've replaced Chakotay, a relatively boringly written one. Perhaps FC's story could've been expanded to include the discovery and rescue of 7of9 by Janeway, Data, and Tuvok. Other VOY characters might've still shown up on that ship and some others could've become crewmen on the Enterprise, Riker's ship, or at Starfleet Medical. Imaging strong-willed Beverly having disagreements with the EMH as she programs and develops it. I can also easily imagine Bashir as Riker's CMO. Like Wil, Julian is a smart, young upstart with eagerness, drive, and ambition. That could make for some great conflict.
So many possibilities. While not a Doctor Who fan, I was taken in by the commercials for Torchwood: Children of Earth this past summer. It was shown as 1 - 1.25 hour episodes on BBCA in one week, Monday thru Friday. On Monday they aired "Day One" at 8pm, on Tuesday theyaired "Day One" at 7pm and "Day Two" at 8pm. This went on until Friday when they aired "Day Four" followed by "Day Five." Later, the episodes were aired at different times. This was an excellent way to show a miniseries and how I would want a Trek one to be done.
With DS9 in full swing by TNG's 7th season, I wouldn't have minded the series becoming a miniseries aired twice a year in 4-6 hour blocks. If that had happened, some of the general plots of the four films might've become that of the miniseries. Better yet, novels such as Q-Squared, Crossover, Dark Mirror, Reunion, and others could've been the basis for their screenplays. I can also see how the miniseries could've allowed the crew to move on. Perhaps Riker would've gotten his own ship sooner, married Deanna, and started a family. Maybe Geordi would've gone with Wil as his XO. Worf might have stayed on the Enterprise with Picard as his XO. Beverly might've gone back to Starfleet Medical, and Data might've left to be XO of another ship. Not that all of these things would've happened in one miniseries, but maybe over 4 or 5 of them. Yes, Voyager probably wouldn't have been done but perhaps Voyager is the ship that Data goes to so his character would've replaced Chakotay, a relatively boringly written one. Perhaps FC's story could've been expanded to include the discovery and rescue of 7of9 by Janeway, Data, and Tuvok. Other VOY characters might've still shown up on that ship and some others could've become crewmen on the Enterprise, Riker's ship, or at Starfleet Medical. Imaging strong-willed Beverly having disagreements with the EMH as she programs and develops it. I can also easily imagine Bashir as Riker's CMO. Like Wil, Julian is a smart, young upstart with eagerness, drive, and ambition. That could make for some great conflict.
So many possibilities. While not a Doctor Who fan, I was taken in by the commercials for Torchwood: Children of Earth this past summer. It was shown as 1 - 1.25 hour episodes on BBCA in one week, Monday thru Friday. On Monday they aired "Day One" at 8pm, on Tuesday theyaired "Day One" at 7pm and "Day Two" at 8pm. This went on until Friday when they aired "Day Four" followed by "Day Five." Later, the episodes were aired at different times. This was an excellent way to show a miniseries and how I would want a Trek one to be done.
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I thought they kinda did that anyway; Along with rotating the show's title.
The answer would be twenty five seasons.
The answer would be twenty five seasons.
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