The truth behind Andy Probert's departure from STTNG

[treknician1701]

Does anyone know the REAL reason behind Andy Probert's sudden departure from the end of the first season of STTNG?

I have heard stories, but it seems that they could be just that, considering that Andy has only said great things about all people he worked with on STTNG.

If you know something, please let me know.

 

[BillJ]

Why don't you just send him a PM? He is a member here.

 

[Ro_Laren]

Who is Andy Probert?

 

[Melakon]

Who is Andy Probert?

He's usually credited as Andrew Probert. He's one of those who started as a fan, much like Doug Drexler and others, and wound up working for the franchise. Great artist.

I think he's the one who did a painting of the TMP Enterprise over a mirror, and the reflection is the TOS Enterprise. Or vice versa.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

Who is Andy Probert?

He's a guy who left ST:TNG after the 1st season.

Sorry... I was in a facetious mood. He is a tremendous talent.

 

[Dukhat]

Does anyone know the REAL reason behind Andy Probert's sudden departure from the end of the first season of STTNG?

Who is Andy Probert?

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Andrew_Probert

His own quote pretty much answers why he left the show.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

His own quote pretty much answers why he left the show.

Very understandable. I once worked for a fellow like that. A nice enough guy, but creatively I got to realizing that every single thing I produced or designed would get shot down like that. "It looks like this" or "It reminds me of that" can get pretty frustrating. I think it's simply a default position of some who are in charge, as a way of reinforcing that they are in charge.

 

[Melakon]

Why don't you just send him a PM? He is a member here.

I'm half expecting him to show up in here just to say "I'm Andy Probert."

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Another Trek vet that jumped ship after the first season. Makes me wonder how the show would have evolved had Probert, Fontana, Gerrold, Justman and others stuck around. I'm glad Piller, Moore, Braga and others eventually took over, it's just an interesting what if.

 

[Robert Comsol]

Who is Andy Probert?

He is a multi-talented artist who finalized the design of the TMP Enterprise, he created the designs for the Enterprise-C and Picard's Enterprise-D and plenty of others (he is also the guy who created the iconic look of the Cylon centurions from the original BSG, by the way).

He was (and still is) a Star Trek fan who always cared for continuity and to make Star Trek look technologically as credible as possible - which most unfortunately and undeservedly got him into more than just one confrontation with some "suits" and TPTB (as far as I can tell he was never an opportunistic yes-man, yet I can tell from personal experience that he is unusually courteous, generous, friendly, decent and humorous - and for ALL of the above reasons I consider him my mentor and role-model).

He didn't "jump ship", I rather think he was made to walk the plank.

Him and Gene Roddenberry had a great and professional relationship before Rick Berman took over things and Andrew found himself confronted with a guy who apparently didn't understand a lot of science fiction.

Regarding his departure after TNG's first season I'm okay with what he officially stated.

My personal belief, however, is that he was made to go like some others because he wasn't the kind of yes-man TPTB expected everyone to be or become after Season One.

Bob

 

[Melakon]

I suppose we could just say the truth is they had what's known as "creative differences".

 

[Probert]

Does anyone know the REAL reason behind Andy Probert's sudden departure from the end of the first season of STTNG?

Sure,... I was a pain in Berman's ass - because I knew what the fans wanted in Star Trek and kept trying to give them that. I mentioned to him, for instance, that in every episode, the Enterprise flies away, horizontally,... suggesting that maybe it could rotate and fly upwards out of frame, or angle downward to veer off to some other destination,... anything but flat. He told me that could never happen (quoting) "because it would confuse the audience". When I suggested using 'Captain's Yacht' (in dialogue only) when the Captain was returning to the Enterprise in the (scripted) Captain's shuttle,... David Livingston told me they couldn't change the wording because it sounded too much like a "pleasure craft" - after I explained that Gene had approved it and it was akin to a 'Captain's Gig' or 'Admiral's Barge' in today's Navy. When the Producers decided to use the movie footage of the spacedock (an 85 year-old facility) I asked them how the much larger Galaxy Class ship could fit through those doors,... I was told that the station would now be bigger. When I mentioned that the warp engines would never be running when the ship was in orbit (like a jet fighter parked on a runway apron with it's afterburner blasting away), Rob Legato said: "The ship looks better with the lights on". BUT THEY'RE WARP ENGINES!!!!

When Berman took charge of the show, none of us were allowed access to Gene Roddenberry, any more, unless we went through Berman first. By the time the first season was coming to an end, I had had it with the lack of understanding what this show was all about. My attitude had deteriorated and I was thinking of leaving the show.

When the show was picked up for another season, I was told that Sternbach would be taking my place - fine with me. I soon became a Walt Disney Imagineer and enjoyed a much happier situation-

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

Hmmmm, seems to be a reasonably credible source. ;-)

 

[Melakon]

It's interesting how it always seems to be the creative people who show up here on the board. Writers, artists. I don't think I've seen any of the producers show up to explain anything.

 

[Alrik]

MSR
Ya think?

What a wonderfully honest and open answer. Thank you for that peek behind the curtain. I'm happy things worked out for the best for you.

 

[Trekker4747]

Does anyone know the REAL reason behind Andy Probert's sudden departure from the end of the first season of STTNG?

Sure,... I was a pain in Berman's ass - because I knew what the fans wanted in Star Trek and kept trying to give them that. I mentioned to him, for instance, that in every episode, the Enterprise flies away, horizontally,... suggesting that maybe it could rotate and fly upwards out of frame, or angle downward to veer off to some other destination,... anything but flat. He told me that could never happen (quoting) "because it would confuse the audience". When I suggested using 'Captain's Yacht' (in dialogue only) when the Captain was returning to the Enterprise in the (scripted) Captain's shuttle,... David Livingston told me they couldn't change the wording because it sounded too much like a "pleasure craft" - after I explained that Gene had approved it and it was akin to a 'Captain's Gig' or 'Admiral's Barge' in today's Navy. When the Producers decided to use the movie footage of the spacedock (an 85 year-old facility) I asked them how the much larger Galaxy Class ship could fit through those doors,... I was told that the station would now be bigger. When I mentioned that the warp engines would never be running when the ship was in orbit (like a jet fighter parked on a runway apron with it's afterburner blasting away), Rob Legato said: "The ship looks better with the lights on". BUT THEY'RE WARP ENGINES!!!!

When Berman took charge of the show, none of us were allowed access to Gene Roddenberry, any more, unless we went through Berman first. By the time the first season was coming to an end, I had had it with the lack of understanding what this show was all about. My attitude had deteriorated and I was thinking of leaving the show.

When the show was picked up for another season, I was told that Sternbach would be taking my place - fine with me. I soon became a Walt Disney Imagineer and enjoyed a much happier situation-

Good to see your contribution, Andy! I do wonder what the show would be like if you had stayed on board and Berman hadn't been such an ass and "not wanting to confuse the audience" and "wanting sonic wallpaper."

I will quibble that the ship does look better with the engines lit and just because they're glowing doesn't necessarily mean they're providing propulsion and are just representing the energies being generating inside the engine was the warp-core generates power for other ship systems/stores energy for warp drive so it's always "at the ready."

It was more annoying, for me, when late in TNG and more particularly in Voyager when we were TOLD the ship's warp core was down and we still saw the engines glowing. (Like the episode when Voyager's core had been ejected. We see the engines glowing which should be impossible considering the warp core is gone. This extend to "Insurrection's" ending as well.)

 

[jimbotron]

When I mentioned that the warp engines would never be running when the ship was in orbit (like a jet fighter parked on a runway apron with it's afterburner blasting away), Rob Legato said: "The ship looks better with the lights on". BUT THEY'RE WARP ENGINES!!!!

I notice that at the start of season 1 episode Skin of Evil, the warp engines are offline (not lit up) because the warp core is temporarily offline. Nice touch. I appreciate attention to detail.

Fast forward to season 4's The Drumhead where the warp core suffered an explosion and is most definitely out of commission for a long time, yet the warp engines are glowing throughout the whole episode.

 

[Armored Saint]

I've never paid attention to that, now I will have to. "The ship looks better with the lights on". Why do I see a Pakled saying that?

 

[Melakon]

The stories about Berman and his sonic wallpaper, and his dislike for what he called "mickey mouse music" sort of show he didn't understand the effectiveness of music in film at all. "Mickey mouse music" in the sense he was using it includes composers like Max Steiner and Erich Korngold, who were among the very founders of what we consider film music. Yet Berman thought the style was trite and old fashioned and didn't belong on his show. That means he probably hated the music on TOS as well.

It makes you wonder how sometimes stupid people rise to a position of power.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Makes sense about how the lights should be off. Much like how the TMP Enterprise always had the engines only glowing when at warp, so it should have been the same for the Enterprise-D. Funny thing is that in the pilot the Excelsior class ship had its lights properly turned off, yet the Enterprise-D's was on. Yay for consistency.