If You Could Rewrite TNG

[Bry_Sinclair]

To show proper fairness, following the threads on how fans would rewrite VOY and then DS9 I thought I'd do the same for The Next Generation as well.

How would you have done the first Trek TV show in twenty years? What characters would you have on the next legendary ship to be called Enterprise, or would it even be the Enterprise?

Be creative and have some fun with it!

 

[Nakita Akita]

I love it just the way it is.
Except I'd have Troi wearing a regular uniform from start to finish.

 

[Twilight Phoenix]

If I could rewrite TNG, I'd write a real, coherent story ark about Lore. I'm not happy the way it is. Questions aren't answered properly.
I'd also add more Borg sub-plots, I honestly missed that in the 7th season.

 

[Armus]

I'm a bit more reverent towards TNG than some of the other Treks since it was my introduction to Star Trek as a youngster. There's very little I'd change in the first three seasons except maybe those baggy redesigned uniforms that the men wore after "Booby Trap". Never liked them.

After Wesley left, there should have been a recurring character at the helm to interact with Data.

Worf and Troi should have never hooked up. She's Riker's woman.

A sequel to "Conspiracy" would have been nice.

Denise Crosby should not have come back as Tasha's half Romulan daughter.

There should have been more alien exploration, more danger in space, but less technobabble, and less soapy stories in the later seasons.

 

[Tosk]

I would make Wesley a reoccuring character instead of a regular.

Troi's "powers" would be much weakened, to the point where they were a sometimes asset, but her real worth on the ship would be as counselor/morale and bridge officer.

Lose the aspect of the Enterprise being so close to Earth so often. Keep her far out on the fringes of known space for the most part.

Data would not get an emotion chip, his emotional awakening would come as part of his journey.

I would bring in Jellico as a replacement for Picard post-BOBW, and have Picard step down for an extended period. Play it as though Picard as a main character was gone for good. Spend some time with the crew and Jellico getting used to the style of each other before Picard's triumphant return.

I'm not the biggest fan of The Inner Light, but I would have loved a version without any of the "now" stuff. Just have Picard wake up to a new life and spend the entire episode treating it as though he's here to stay. Only at the very end reveal what really went on.

 

[Jayson1]

I would have have gave Yar more to do so you would have a strong female character on the show and I would give her a higher rank than Data for a reason I will mention later. Worf would have started off as pilot and LaForge would have started off as chief engineer. Around season 3 I would bring the Thomas Riker character into the show and after another 5 or 6 episodes I would promote Will Riker to captain and have him leave the show but you still get to have a Riker around in Thomas Riker. Yar would be made first officer, Worf would become chief of security and Riker would be the new pilot and Captain RIker would be a reacurring character. I would have made the Riker/Troi romance a bigger thing because the actors have chemistry and I like them together.

Wesley would be more of a bad ass and less of a nerd. He would still be feeling the trauma of his dad being killed. Barclay would become a regular also in season 3. For the love of all that is good I would add more extra's and make the ship fill alive like it does in "Generations."

Jason

 

[Mojochi]

1. Scale back the Riker is soon to be a captain angle. It ruined any chance of that character making sense, & if it still becomes an issue over time, switch him out with Tom Riker. Make Will & his new ship a recurring character
2. Reduce Data's rank, if the plan is to have him be a simpleton who's exploring his personhood. It's pretty hard to reconcile
3. Pull Yar's entire backstory. She might've lasted had they come up with something better, like they did with Ro
4. Put Worf at the helm, assuming our new Tasha sticks around
5. Scale back Wesley altogether, & take him out of the driver's seat. Send him down to engineering with Geordi, if you want to have a prodigy story for him.
6. Eliminate Troi's touchy/feely therapist angle. Make her strictly cultural attaché/captain's advisor. Give her rank & a red uniform. It could even be a dress, if you want. Also rework her abilities to be more like Spock's, where physical contact is needed. That solves a lot of the "Sometimes it works & sometimes it doesn't" issue, with her current empathy thing
7. Scale back the utopia talk, & the self-righteous BS, especially Beverly's bleeding heart
8. The prime directive doesn't apply if extinction events are the result ... duh.
9. & don't try any of that Pulaski crap, but DO try having more stuff like Barclay, Ro & Lower Decks.

 

[Valenti]

Have Data be created by aliens. Picard should have been a side character - an Ambassador or comm officer. Have Troi be either or too and wear a different uniform. In fact change all the uniforms and the phasers and for God's sake, no windows on the damn enterprise. It looked like a damn ugly computer card. No number one named Riker - nobody called Crusher. The bridge was too big and warped (slanted). No touch screens, just toggle switches and other cool things. No padded walls and slanted chairs. Man I could go on forever. And this was all my very first reaction. No bumpy headed Klingon - or walking milky way bar head.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Finally get around to adding one version I have had some thoughts on:

The Galaxy-Class U.S.S. Enteprise-D is launched on a deep space exploratory mission, her voyage will see her blaze a trail into the unknown for the foreseeable future as she goes further out than any other Starfleet ship to date (this would mean far less contact with Starfleet and not nearly as many returns to Earth). They would see things no Federation citizen has dreamed of and make contact with aliens no one has heard of.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Commanding Officer. A born explorer whose exploits have changed Starfleet and become the stuff of legends, following the decommissioning of his last ship he was the only candidate to command the Enterprise-D.
Commander William Riker: First Officer. As an infant he was found on a crashed alien ship by Lieutenant Kyle Riker, who took the baby in and raised him as his own. Young, cocky and ambitious, there is no denying his ability though is in need of a little more 'seasoning'.
Lt. Commander Deanna Troi: Second/Diplomatic Officer. A full-blooded Betazoid who specialises in xenology, linguistics and sociology she is a composed and measured adviser to Picard, so her former romance with Riker is something that surprises many.
Commander Beverly Crusher: Chief Medical Officer. A strong-willed woman, she puts her duty as a doctor above that as an officer. Though she has misgivings about serving with Picard, following the death of her husband under his command, it was too good an opportunity to pass up.
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Chief Engineering Officer. A technical wizard, the only thing more important to him than his engines is his wife and daughter (who live onboard). He quickly develops a good friendship with Ensign Data, both fascinated by her design as well as eager to help her integrate with the crew.
Lieutenant Natasha Yar: Chief Security Officer. Growing up on an outlying planet beyond Federation rule where humans were rare, she learned how to take care of herself and those closest to her, something she continues to do so with great intensity.
Lieutenant Worf: Chief Flight Control Officer. Raised on a colony bordering Federation space he developed a deep interest in his peoples former enemy, so much so that he dishonoured his family when he joined Starfleet, a shame he must now live with.
Ensign Data: Chief Operations/Science Officer. Discovered on a destroyed human colony, she was a blank slate but her brilliance has seen her come along in leaps and bounds, though she still doesn't understand emotions or the "human condition".
Cadet Ellie Crusher: Field Trainee. She joined Starfleet like her parents, wanting to be an adventurer like her father. At the top of her class she has amazed her instructors and peers with her brilliance.
Cadet Ro Laran: Field Trainee. A troubled young man who has gone through much in his short life and been left scarred by it. He may have issues with authority but he has also shown signs of being a remarkable officer in the making.

 

[Marynator]

The only things I can really think of that I would change from the beginning, would be to improve Tasha Yar so that Denise Crosby would stay, and I would have gone with the original idea of Leslie Crusher. I would worry too much that messing with the overall formula would change the beauty of the later seasons.

I think another fun exercise might be creating "Star Trek: The Third Generation" (someone more creative could come up with a better name!). The idea would be to pretend that there was no Star Trek after "All Good Things", and we'd be creating a new series as a sequel to The Next Generation, and how we would do it (it's been 25 years!).

 

[Marynator]

Oh and yes, sorry, a third thing is that I agree with many people and I would definitely better define Deanna Troi's role as more professional and have her wear a uniform from the beginning.

 

[Qonundrum]

Any changes I'd make would be in season 1, "Justice" and "Angel One" easily could have been handled much better. Even "Code of Honor" has snippets of good ideas let down by misfire after misfire after "WTF casting" (more on that in a moment), and it's ironic that Roddenberry fired the casting guy given how racist "Justice" is (all guest cast are deliberately near-blond (or bleach wigged), haired blue eyed, oily greasy hornballs on a planet that somehow lacks STDs (and yet Riker didn't join in?!)... and not many whites - blue-eyed or otherwise - were as in much fervor over that, not even when the lady Edo (a diminutive of "Eden" and "Libido"?) calls Worf "the huge one" as if she's got a prejudice with size or something) - though keeping in mind "Justice"'s original story was a lot more developed than the rewrites that turned it into a brainless sexfest, not that there's anything wrong with that I suppose...

But "Code" and "Justice" both show why TNG would, in later stories, show multiple skin colors. No matter how jaw-droppingly bad "Code" got, Jessie Lawrence Ferguson put in a strong and highly engaging performance that kept the story even watchable and from falling apart. Even the garbage that Patrick Stewart had to put out could have been a lot worse if someone else had been cast. Give them both real material and make the plot more than a rolling cliché with racist overtones (imagine if the guest cast were all white, would it make any real difference? Well, no... )

I'm a bit more reverent towards TNG than some of the other Treks since it was my introduction to Star Trek as a youngster. There's very little I'd change in the first three seasons except maybe those baggy redesigned uniforms that the men wore after "Booby Trap". Never liked them.

After Wesley left, there should have been a recurring character at the helm to interact with Data.

Worf and Troi should have never hooked up. She's Riker's woman.

A sequel to "Conspiracy" would have been nice.

Denise Crosby should not have come back as Tasha's half Romulan daughter.

There should have been more alien exploration, more danger in space, but less technobabble, and less soapy stories in the later seasons.

Definitely the last one!! Too much soap, the technobabble did get up there, and definitely more danger in space - which season 7 did try to steer the ship back into after the soapy 5th and 6th seasons. (Season 2 really had the exploration and danger things going for it, IMHO...) And Worf/Troi felt forced, but back then there was no idea of Worf going over to DS9 (much less marry Dax).

Data did need a foil and they couldn't just bring Geordi back. Imagine if Data and Geordi talked on the intercom with Picard looking exasperated all the time.

Though I like to believe Sela would have worked had she been written properly. By "Unification", she's so badly written that it's no wonder she magically disappears.

I would make Wesley a reoccuring character instead of a regular.

Troi's "powers" would be much weakened, to the point where they were a sometimes asset, but her real worth on the ship would be as counselor/morale and bridge officer.

Lose the aspect of the Enterprise being so close to Earth so often. Keep her far out on the fringes of known space for the most part.

Data would not get an emotion chip, his emotional awakening would come as part of his journey.

I would bring in Jellico as a replacement for Picard post-BOBW, and have Picard step down for an extended period. Play it as though Picard as a main character was gone for good. Spend some time with the crew and Jellico getting used to the style of each other before Picard's triumphant return.

I'm not the biggest fan of The Inner Light, but I would have loved a version without any of the "now" stuff. Just have Picard wake up to a new life and spend the entire episode treating it as though he's here to stay. Only at the very end reveal what really went on.

Wesley = quality over quantity and certainly we wouldn't get Wesley's idea of how thick a baseball bat isn't...

Troi's powers were rarely used effectively. "Farpoint" uses them just right, but week after week of seeing facial expressions so obvious that even an Aspie like me can also tell the captain what he already knows ("He's upset about something, captain"), etc... amazed that given how she's set up to have to deal with a thousand peoples' thoughts on the ship that when she's infiltrating Romulus ("Face of the Enemy") she doesn't pick up on anyone second guessing her performance as "the new crewmember who appeared out of nowhere" trope.)

Like all the TOS movies, any ship named "Enterprise" always seems to be hanging near Sol way too often.

The emotion chip was so inconsistently used in the movies... but, either which way, it's hard to write for a computer.

Jellico would be a bold move. Or promote Riker and have Shelby be the new #1 for a few episodes to keep the audience wondering if he survived the (extensive) Borg implants being removed. But Picard is irreplaceable either way, and Sir Patrick is a reason the show didn't get axed.

"The Inner Light" - nice ideas. Adds a bit more to the story. And the ending, get the townspeople to not be so limited to having the probe reaching out to only one special person and then self-destructing, leaving the special person telling this story that absolutely nobody is going to believe apart from the 3 people surrounding him in the episode, and even then...

 

[Qonundrum]

The only things I can really think of that I would change from the beginning, would be to improve Tasha Yar so that Denise Crosby would stay, and I would have gone with the original idea of Leslie Crusher. I would worry too much that messing with the overall formula would change the beauty of the later seasons.

I think another fun exercise might be creating "Star Trek: The Third Generation" (someone more creative could come up with a better name!). The idea would be to pretend that there was no Star Trek after "All Good Things", and we'd be creating a new series as a sequel to The Next Generation, and how we would do it (it's been 25 years!).

Except there'd be no DS9 and DS9 has managed to age better than the two Trek series that preceded it... (IMHO, YMMV) I otherwise agree, the 90s/2000s did get Trek burnout and the few good episodes VOY and ENT too easily get overshadowed by the less effective material...

 

[Nyotarules]

1. Less 'we are so righteous' Picard
2. Troi in uniform from season 1
3. Less Wesley saves the day episodes
4. More sense of the Enterprise is far, far, far from Earth
5. Show Federation v Cardassian war episodes
6. Promote Riker to Captain on another ship and keep Thomas Riker as a new officer
7. Promote Data to XO
8. Have a Worf, Troi, Riker triangle from the start and resolve in final season ( the crew needed some personal conflicts)
9. Have Picard missing presumed dead and Jellico takes over for a whole season
10. More Andorians, Tellarite and Vulcans on the bridge, too many humans in the show
11. No desk filled with PADDS it looks ridiculous, one PADD can do everything IT related.

 

[JesterFace]

I would end TNG with 'All Good Things...'.

And when I watch TNG, that's how it goes.
No TNG movies for me.

 

[Marynator]

I would end TNG with 'All Good Things...'.

And when I watch TNG, that's how it goes.
No TNG movies for me.

I feel the same way. I like to think of the Enterprise flying off into the sunset, so to speak. I especially do not like what happened in "Nemesis" when they killed Commander Data. It is too heartbreaking for me to accept, so I just continue to think of him living forever.

 

[JesterFace]

I feel the same way. I like to think of the Enterprise flying off into the sunset, so to speak.

Fortunately it's possible to end TNG with 'All Good Things...', the movies add nothing, just take away.
'All Good Things...' is a perfect ending.
The movies are easy to skip, just like some weak episode you don't want to revisit.

 

[Twilight Phoenix]

I feel the same way. I like to think of the Enterprise flying off into the sunset, so to speak. I especially do not like what happened in "Nemesis" when they killed Commander Data. It is too heartbreaking for me to accept, so I just continue to think of him living forever.

I'd like to rewatch Generations for the sheer pleasure of seeing Data using the emotion chip ! But I don't want to watch Nemesis...Ever XD

 

[JaxsBrokenHeart]

Lot of good ideas in this thread about Troi and the suggestion of Wesley being Geordi's protege feels like a great concept.

The episode Second Chances occurs in early/mid season 4, but ends with Will being promoted to Captain and leaving to command his own ship. Data for his role in repelling the Borg back in Best of Both Worlds, gets promoted to FIrst Officer and Thomas Riker takes over for him at Ops. Character development for Will, a logical promotion for Data, a shake up to the status quo, and the chance to keep Frakes on as a cast member.

Have a definitive ending to the recurring Romulan threat in season 5 other than just foiling Sela's invasion. Perhaps tying in the Cardassian/Bajoran story with the Empire shifting its focus onto them rather than the Federation and the Klingons.

Give Data a genuine dilemma in Descent Part II with Lore threatening to internally disintegrate the emotion ship if the former tries to prevent his escape, When Data does it anyway, his brother follows through with the threat, and the chip is destroyed before Lore is successfully shut down. However with Data already growing beyond his internal subroutines, there's a hint that he will reach a point of achieving real emotions on his own eventually.

Incorporate Picard's recovery from the Borg, even in small snippets over the course of season 4 and 5.

 

[Takeru]

• Picard is pretty much the same but with more focus on his interest in archeology, make him a history buff.
• Riker doesn't exist
• Troi is the first officer instead, she's not a psychologist but a first contact specialist and diplomat.
• Worf is the chief engineer a d second officer, Worf didn't have a defined job in the first season and the show lacked a regular engineer. I would not make Worf the pilot, he always looked too big for those tiny consoles when they had him sitting there.
• Data has a lower rank, Lt. j.g. would be good, he's not completely fresh out of the academy.
• Geordie is the pilot, he and Data have been friends since the academy.
• Tasha loses her stupid rape world backstory, she can still be from a rough colony at the edge of federation space far away from utopian earth but not as cartoonishly evil as what TNG gave us.
• Crusher has more of an edge to her, like 75% Crusher and 25% Pulaski mixed in.
• Wesley is not a genius, he's just a 16 year old living with his mom, he has a part time job as a waiter in Ten Forward, later in the series he'll open his own little shop in the ship's mall, he has zero interest in becoming part of starfleet, a starfleet ship just happens to be his home.

There would be way more people on the Enterprise, around 15.000, at least half of them civilians and many aren't there because of family members in starfleet, the ship has a healthy civilian community of people living and working in space. The ship would mostly operate at the edge of federation space, represent the federation and support smaller exploration vessels that go further into the unknown, the Enterprise would almost be a mobile starbase.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Make it like DC Comics' first Next Gen miniseries.

Make it like Diane Carey's Ghost Ship

Make it like FASA's Next Gen Officer's Manual


All of which were, IMHO, far more colourful versions of the universe than we got.

 

[Mudd]

I'd have started with Worf at security and just not had Tasha Yar at all. The actor didn't work out and the writers were never good with the character.