Theoretical Season 8

[tharpdevenport]

The recent talk about the Deep Space Nine documentary having the writers talk about what another season of the show would have done, got me wondering a tad about what another season of TNG might have brought.

We'll put aside the quality issues since season seven wasn't exactly full of winners, and we'll put aside the TNG films since they hadn't occured yet. If the show had been approved for one more season, Generations undoubtedly would have been changed in a number of ways so it didn't sabotage the new season; I can't even say the film would have happened or ended up being pushed aside.


So, what should another season (or final extra season) have done?


Personally, I'd have liked Riker to try and do something with his career. I seem to remember reading that First Contact was going to have Riker with his own ship (the Titan? The Endeavor?) being destroyed in the battle battle (of course Riker lives). So, given that film wouldn't have happened, perhaps Riker actually persues a command of his own. This could even had lead off to a (sorry Dorn) Captain Riker spin-off series. Or at least a potential TV movie.

Obviously something needed to be finally done about Riker and Troi. We never really got the behind the scenes (in verse) explination why thye shift from Worf to Riker again, or the re-blossoming of their relationship. It would have been nice to actually explore that in a depth never before done, so the getting together was more realistic.

This does lead to a problem. With an extra year in, it becomes less belivable the Enterprise didn't become part of the Dominion battle, which also could have affected D.S.9..

And with no First Contact, what to do about Worf. Does he stay away with Sisko, make some guest appearances, or maybe a two-parter with the Borg that doesn't suck like the movie? Who knows.


Your thoughts, ideas?

 

[suarezguy]

I don't think another season would have been a good idea, the best parts of season 7 were generally that it seemed to be concluding aspects of the characters' stories (and/or giving them setbacks) and setting up big changes for the spin-offs.
If there had been another season I think they would try to do more political conflict stories (particularly more with the Cardassians, Klingons and Romulans, maybe improving relations with the latter), maybe some thematic or direct crossovers with DS9 and more developing the romantic relationships between Picard and Crusher and Worf and Troi or showing why one or both would be a bad idea, otherwise just more episodic adventures. Edit: Especially with the anomalies Braga loved.

 

[Armus]

The recent talk about the Deep Space Nine documentary having the writers talk about what another season of the show would have done, got me wondering a tad about what another season of TNG might have brought.

We'll put aside the quality issues since season seven wasn't exactly full of winners, and we'll put aside the TNG films since they hadn't occured yet. If the show had been approved for one more season, Generations undoubtedly would have been changed in a number of ways so it didn't sabotage the new season; I can't even say the film would have happened or ended up being pushed aside.


So, what should another season (or final extra season) have done?


Personally, I'd have liked Riker to try and do something with his career. I seem to remember reading that First Contact was going to have Riker with his own ship (the Titan? The Endeavor?) being destroyed in the battle battle (of course Riker lives). So, given that film wouldn't have happened, perhaps Riker actually persues a command of his own. This could even had lead off to a (sorry Dorn) Captain Riker spin-off series. Or at least a potential TV movie.

Obviously something needed to be finally done about Riker and Troi. We never really got the behind the scenes (in verse) explination why thye shift from Worf to Riker again, or the re-blossoming of their relationship. It would have been nice to actually explore that in a depth never before done, so the getting together was more realistic.

This does lead to a problem. With an extra year in, it becomes less belivable the Enterprise didn't become part of the Dominion battle, which also could have affected D.S.9..

And with no First Contact, what to do about Worf. Does he stay away with Sisko, make some guest appearances, or maybe a two-parter with the Borg that doesn't suck like the movie? Who knows.


Your thoughts, ideas?

TNG could have gone for years longer if it still stayed creatively fresh. The trouble is the writers often make dumb choices to keep things going, such as the Troi-Worf romance and the soap opera conflict it created in "All Good Things". I would not want to see more of that in a season 8. A season 8 would have required an influx of fresh talent and energy. A new character or a change in personnel on The Enterprise would be the place to start.

 

[Sakonna]

You know, it's hard to imagine a season 8, given that season 7 had such a "final season" feeling all throughout. All those family members showing up, "Attached", "Journey's End", "Dark Page", "Preemptive Strike", I don't think Worf/Troi is something they would have done in a non-final season, even "Emergence" was supposedly some way of doing a final ultimate holodeck episode.

But at the same time, it's true that the show could have kept running for years -- there was a sturdy story engine there. They could have just kept going around and having adventures indefinitely, but it was in such an episodic way. It's easier to imagine the forward momentum of a more serialized DS9-type show.

 

[Mojochi]

Yeeeeeaaaah... Trorf was much better off left unexplored, & really all she had going for her. Post-Pegasus Riker would've been a drag. They weren't steering it toward captain, more like toward introspective melodrama (like TATV). Picard's stuff became kind of tiresome. Geordi & Crusher had become dull as a sack of mud. Worf's Klingon stuff had run dry, & the young son stuff had grated on all our nerves too long already. They had normalized Barkley, exiled Ro, written off Wesley, & mothballed Guinan. They were done, man.

They had to get out while there was still something left worth putting in cinemas imho. I'm not saying they didn't have good stuff in S7, but clearly that writing staff had gone deeper into a rut than ever before, & were just burned out on writing these characters & scenarios. They wanted the kind of breathing room offered to them on DS9, which I'm not entirely sold is all that much more liberating, but hey, what do I know?

 

[xanne]

They could have gone back on time to start again from season one in a different reality where their roles/gender were changed for instance. (that's just my mind writing that down for fun)
Another issues they could have considered: poliandry, matriarch society (a fair version), nudism, specism (human diet by extension), sexuallity (of ANY kind), religion (from a very critical point of view), fanaticism, society systems (non-lineal system for instance, anarchy as a good solution), non-economical system (how it works), penal system (if there's any), health system (how they treat the unstable people or disabled people), education and re-education, robotic and genetic engineering (any good point of view if there's any), body implants limits, death as a viable solution for a race/species, intervening in a society ending up being the worst choice, another forms of communication (visually, movements, sounds), a member of the crew traveling through the rest of them...

 

[somebuddyX]

I've always been fascinated by the idea of a TNG Season 8. As a kid I had a dream about a sequel series called "The Next Generation 2" where Crusher was promoted to Captain, Tom Riker returned as Ops guy, Geordi was wearing the blue uniform and the Enterprise was renamed to Pasteur. I also remember reading an interview in Captain's Logs: The Complete Trek Voyages where someone jokingly suggests William Shatner will join TNG in a limited role in a hypothetical Season 8, but I took that as serious

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

TNG could have gone on a few more years, and should have. DS9 & VOY showed that the Writers had some good stories left in them.

But TNG would have needed to shake things up, and take more chances to inject some life back. It got stale.

If TNG continued though, they certainly would have lost Patrick Stewart. That would be unacceptable. He was irreplaceable.

 

[Armus]

TNG could have gone on a few more years, and should have. DS9 & VOY showed that the Writers had some good stories left in them.

But TNG would have needed to shake things up, and take more chances to inject some life back. It got stale.

If TNG continued though, they certainly would have lost Patrick Stewart. That would be unacceptable. He was irreplaceable.

I think the show could have gone on without him as long as most of the other cast remained to give the audience continuety. I think TNG(and Star Trek) is bigger than any one character.

 

[GabyBee]

I've always kind of considered Generations to be a condensed "TNG Season 8". It was a good movie, but it seemed like something the writers had thought of for a new season, and then re-tooled into a movie, which is why there are a few big plot holes that don't ever really get resolved in the film.

 

[Orphalesion]

I've always kind of considered Generations to be a condensed "TNG Season 8". It was a good movie, but it seemed like something the writers had thought of for a new season, and then re-tooled into a movie, which is why there are a few big plot holes that don't ever really get resolved in the film.

A argument could be made for all the TNG movies constituting a "Season 8" Isn't that one of the most common criticisms of said movies? That they feel more like "big" show episodes than proper movies?

 

[Mojochi]

A argument could be made for all the TNG movies constituting a "Season 8" Isn't that one of the most common criticisms of said movies? That they feel more like "big" show episodes than proper movies?

But there's also the argument that, for good or ill, the movies, & characters within, don't feel like the show at all, but more like an attempt to stuff the TNG concept into the TOS movie mold. Certainly though, we're meant to feel a sense of continuity with the show, which is surprisingly different than the TOS movies & their respective tv show. The Riker/Troi arc continuation, the Data emotion arc, the Picard family arc & then his inner Borg assimilation demons etc... & even the far more subtle evolution of Geordi's eyes, after they were used to destroy the Ent-D, and even earlier, were used as a method of mind control. Whether you believe these elements were played well enough, or in any way significant enough to have worked or been a useful influence, they did continue you along in the saga. In that respect, I always felt that the one thing missing from the TNG movies, as a continuation, was ultimately... Q

 

[RAMA]

Here's my sense.

Season 7 started to deviate from the original idea established by Gene Roddenberry. Yes, that meant less conflict and lots of rules, but they managed to make it work.

If season 8 happened, we would have seen a continuation of rule breaking, ie: Riker who had broken UFP law in the past in "Pegasus". The whole Maquis storyline. Ro Laren type characters, etc. Lots of stuff they used later in DS9.

Now those were some good storylines, there's no question about it, but it would have seemed a much different show than earlier on if they kept going in that direction.

RAMA

tharpdevenport, post: 11951698, member: 1634"]The recent talk about the Deep Space Nine documentary having the writers talk about what another season of the show would have done, got me wondering a tad about what another season of TNG might have brought.

We'll put aside the quality issues since season seven wasn't exactly full of winners, and we'll put aside the TNG films since they hadn't occured yet. If the show had been approved for one more season, Generations undoubtedly would have been changed in a number of ways so it didn't sabotage the new season; I can't even say the film would have happened or ended up being pushed aside.


So, what should another season (or final extra season) have done?


Personally, I'd have liked Riker to try and do something with his career. I seem to remember reading that First Contact was going to have Riker with his own ship (the Titan? The Endeavor?) being destroyed in the battle battle (of course Riker lives). So, given that film wouldn't have happened, perhaps Riker actually persues a command of his own. This could even had lead off to a (sorry Dorn) Captain Riker spin-off series. Or at least a potential TV movie.

Obviously something needed to be finally done about Riker and Troi. We never really got the behind the scenes (in verse) explination why thye shift from Worf to Riker again, or the re-blossoming of their relationship. It would have been nice to actually explore that in a depth never before done, so the getting together was more realistic.

This does lead to a problem. With an extra year in, it becomes less belivable the Enterprise didn't become part of the Dominion battle, which also could have affected D.S.9..

And with no First Contact, what to do about Worf. Does he stay away with Sisko, make some guest appearances, or maybe a two-parter with the Borg that doesn't suck like the movie? Who knows.


Your thoughts, ideas?

 

[Mojochi]

Here's my sense.

Season 7 started to deviate from the original idea established by Gene Roddenberry. Yes, that meant less conflict and lots of rules, but they managed to make it work.

If season 8 happened, we would have seen a continuation of rule breaking, ie: Riker who had broken UFP law in the past in "Pegasus". The whole Maquis storyline. Ro Laren type characters, etc. Lots of stuff they used later in DS9.

Now those were some good storylines, there's no question about it, but it would have seemed a much different show than earlier on if they kept going in that direction.

RAMA

Yeah, it's pretty clear that they felt the format of TNG was too stifling. I don't necessarily agree. I mean just compare it to how stifling it must've been to write for TOS. When you consider the source material is an entire galaxy, it's seems a little short sighted to be stymied by some character arc or set up restrictions

 

[suarezguy]

Yeeeeeaaaah... Trorf was much better off left unexplored, & really all she had going for her. Post-Pegasus Riker would've been a drag.

Picard's stuff became kind of tiresome. Geordi & Crusher had become dull as a sack of mud. Worf's Klingon stuff had run dry, & the young son stuff had grated on all our nerves too long already.

Yeah I'm not sure what more they could have done with Worf, other than some major change like what happened in DS9 the Klingons outright going against the Federation (a little too out-of-line with the series) or Troi or Riker or LaForge, where they could interestingly go after respectively being promoted and grappling with a big early mistake and discovering that warp drive was damaging space. Picard was still interesting through season 7 but was arguably becoming more unlikable.
They might have tried to do more message episodes but it makes more sense to just do them in a new spin-off.
On the other hand if a season 8 was made but there were to be no movies or at least not for a while it probably would have included Riker and maybe some other characters deciding to leave the ship (although Riker wouldn't have been believably promoted soon after "The Pegasus").

I've always kind of considered Generations to be a condensed "TNG Season 8". It was a good movie, but it seemed like something the writers had thought of for a new season, and then re-tooled into a movie, which is why there are a few big plot holes that don't ever really get resolved in the film.

I like that in some ways it continues some of the themes and plots from the series, kind of like further episodes would but more unusual, intense, climactic (mainly Data going through with the emotion chip and Picard's dealing with his family history).