If TNG had been first...

[Warped9]

Here's a thought exercise for you.

What if TNG had been the first Trek? Except, of course, it wouldn't have been "the next generation."

Now there's no TOS and '80s Trek films to draw upon. You're starting from scratch and TOS references wouldn't exist.

How different would it be?

 

[Shazam!]

I imagine it would have been pretty similar save for some of the aesthetic design and naming conventions.

 

[Shazam!]

Oh, but I guess Data may have been Vulcan if we're too assume that Gene had been sitting on the Star Trek idea for the past 20 years.

 

[Shatnertage]

If the show's world is shaped by the geopolitics of the late 1980s/early 1990s instead of the 1960s, we might have seen a monopolar galaxy--no "empires" fighting against the Federation, just several cultures existing with some tensions between them, with the Fed as occasional policeman.

 

[JoeFromEarth]

hmm.... TOS would equal "Star Trek: The Previous Generation"

 

[Warped9]

hmm.... TOS would equal "Star Trek: The Previous Generation"

TOS doesn't exist is what the idea is. However, what if TNG cooked up some sort of glimpse of backstory from a century prior? It likely would be little different than the kind of 22nd references we got from TOS' "Balance Of Terror"--just scant details.

 

[Snaploud]

As much as I love TNG...it probably would have been canceled after one season. It's connection with TOS is what allowed the show to continue long-term (despite a relatively lackluster first season).

 

[RandyS]

The most obvious would be:

The Enterprise would simply be the Enterprise. No "D".
No McCoy cameo in the pilot.
No Spock episodes.
No Scotty episode.
The Naked Now would have been The Naked Time, if it had been made at all.

 

[BillJ]

The most obvious would be:

The Enterprise would simply be the Enterprise. No "D".
No McCoy cameo in the pilot.
No Spock episodes.
No Scotty episode.
The Naked Now would have been The Naked Time, if it had been made at all.

Also no Worf.

And a ton of other things that were created in the original Star Trek that the spin-offs took for granted.

 

[MrJimbo]

No Picard vs. Kirk debates! There is an entire industry devoted to this!

 

[T'Girl]

Instead of getting Enterprise after Voyager, we would have gotten TOS. And everyone would have complained how lame it was in comparison to TNG.

Also, http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...lt&cd=1&ved=0CBgQBSgA&q=Leonard+Nimoy&spell=1Leonard Nimoy would have been dressed in a cat suit.

 

[Arpy]

As much as I love TNG...it probably would have been canceled after one season. It's connection with TOS is what allowed the show to continue long-term (despite a relatively lackluster first season).

What? I like the first season...more or less... And the ratings I don't think were that bad. Was cancellation ever a concern or is this opinion clouding history?

 

[kitsune]

There would be an episode called Data's Brain.

Troi might have been logical instead of emotional (initially, Troi was going to be highly intelligent, but I guess that got dropped).

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Bok.
Picard would yell "Boooooooook!"
Data would manually re-align the dilithium crystals in the articulation frame, the big door would drop in Engineering, with Data on one side and Geordi on the other. And Data's positronic brain would be fried.

Star Trek III: The Search for Data.
The Excelsior would be a Sovereign-class starship.
Picard would lose his false son (the one Bok genetically altered)
In the end, Data would be taken to Dr. Soong to be rebooted.

In Star Trek IV, the Cytherian probe would threaten Earth.

Worf would look like a TOS Klingon.

 

[Snaploud]

As much as I love TNG...it probably would have been canceled after one season. It's connection with TOS is what allowed the show to continue long-term (despite a relatively lackluster first season).

What? I like the first season...more or less... And the ratings I don't think were that bad. Was cancellation ever a concern or is this opinion clouding history?

Opinion could be clouding history. Ratings were never terrible, but my thinking is that the show started out with a huge fanbase. I question whether that first season could have pulled in enough viewers without TOS coming first.

As for the quality of the show: I've actually enjoyed the first season more on repeated viewings, but I still think it would have been a tough sell.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

There would be an episode called Data's Brain. :

It's funny.That episode would actually work with Data's artificial brain and robot body. I think pretty much everybody can buy a robot being remote controlled and reconnected with his "brain" hours later with no problems at all.

 

[JarodRussell]

During its run, it was nominated for 55 Emmys and won 18 of them, and it was the first syndicated show in history that was nominated for Best Drama.

So it wasn't all just because of a pre-established fanbase that the show had a good run.

 

[Mary Ann]

During its run, it was nominated for 55 Emmys and won 18 of them, and it was the first syndicated show in history that was nominated for Best Drama.

So it wasn't all just because of a pre-established fanbase that the show had a good run.

True, but the first season probably got a boost due to the existing TOS fanbase. Provided it wasn't cancelled after the first season I reckon it would have had its full run.

 

[clint g]

I doubt it would have been cancelled after the first season. Cable wasn't as big of a factor back then and there was no internet for people to bitch about things.

 

[Shatnertage]

Also, Leonard Nimoy would have been dressed in a cat suit.

At first, I thought this was an M'ress reference. Then I got it.

But I can't quite unthink the image of Leonard Nimoy dressed up like a cat, purring "Innnterestinggggg."

 

[Too Much Fun]

There would be an episode called Data's Brain.

Troi might have been logical instead of emotional (initially, Troi was going to be highly intelligent, but I guess that got dropped).

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Bok.
Picard would yell "Boooooooook!"
Data would manually re-align the dilithium crystals in the articulation frame, the big door would drop in Engineering, with Data on one side and Geordi on the other. And Data's positronic brain would be fried.

Star Trek III: The Search for Data.
The Excelsior would be a Sovereign-class starship.
Picard would lose his false son (the one Bok genetically altered)
In the end, Data would be taken to Dr. Soong to be rebooted.

In Star Trek IV, the Cytherian probe would threaten Earth.

Worf would look like a TOS Klingon.

Thank you, I enjoyed all of that very much. I get the connection with Kirk's son, but I would have preferred Tomolok or Gul Madred as the big movie villain, because they had much more charisma and were much more memorable than Bok.

kitsune wrote:
There would be an episode called Data's Brain.

It's funny.That episode would actually work with Data's artificial brain and robot body. I think pretty much everybody can buy a robot being remote controlled and reconnected with his "brain" hours later with no problems at all

Plus, they already kind of did that in "Disaster" and it lead to some very fun scenes with Riker and Data.