TNG episodes re-imagined with the TOS crew

[Phoenix219]

Imagine: The end of Star Trek IV gives the original cast a new ship and crew. 1987, a new series begins on TV! They set out on a new set of missions, with a new crew - the next generation of space exploration! The set up remains the same - they find an android, they start to make peace with the Klingons and end up with one as part of the crew; the ship's new counselor is the spouse of a former crewmate of Kirk's, who died during the original five-year mission, and has her son with her. Kirk, having just lost David, is skeptical about having families on board, but sees a lot of himself in the young cadet. The new helmsman replacing Sulu is blind with cybernetic enhancements. Uhura is the first officer, Chekov head of security and Scotty the engineer who befriends the Android. Spock would be set up in the McCoy role of bantering with the android, while McCoy's level of grouchiness and attitude are approaching "House MD" by this point. This gives us the original crew, plus Data, Worf, Geordi, (Troi or Crusher) plus Wesley. Maybe Worf would get to be the one to argue with Kirk and be the first one down on landing parties instead of Riker.

Now, the game:

Given the same scenario or general plot beats, how would Kirk and company handle the same situations? How would the episodes differ? How could they be the same? Would the series have worked? How much would have to be drastically altered?

Encounter at Farpoint: The sequel to Squire of Gothos, where Kirk learns that he comes from a race of beings known as the Q, and the past is coming back to haunt him. Trelane may have been a child, but his parents weren't, and they now have taken a closer look and special interest in the history of humanity - and it is time for judgement!, Meanwhile Spock senses a strange presence after being pushed by Dr. McCoy to take leave on the new station. (Keep in mind, Spock is still recovering from his resurrection. This should be an ongoing thread in the series.)

 

[Phoenix219]

Nothing?

 

[Ronald Held]

Maybe Phase II instead of TOS may generate more posts?

 

[Phoenix219]

Phase II implies the 70s TMP series, when I am speculating on the TOS actors actually being given the '87 show after the completion of their trilogy and return of (a) vessel, hewing closer to TNG tropes then the usual Xon/Ilia/Decker ones that are associated with Phase II. If someone would like to alter the title, go for it. (Can one alter one's own thread title?)

 

[Pauln6]

The Phase II dynamic was geared up for the possibility that any member of the troika (bearing in mind that Nimoy was already out) might decide to move on.

I think your cast is possibly a bit male heavy, with only two women and a whopping nine men. While I think the character needed to branch out more, I struggle to see Uhura in a first officer role when Spock is around, although given her expertise with computers, maybe in a training role for the android, more akin to Seven and Janeway, might do better. I'm surprised that you forgot Saavik as a potential addition. Her Romulan heritage could have been a great plot thickener.

I've never really understood why everyone got so excited about Data when EXO II had androids capable of emulating human behaviour right off the bat. I think I would have linked any new Android to this, and Chapel's backstory, maybe with her as a guest star as his 'mother', building on what she learned from the V'Ger probe. She could have popped up once per season in her mommy role much the same as Lwaxana.

I actually like the idea of an exotic alien telepath, I just find the implementation of telepathy in Babylon 5, or Is there truth in no beauty, or even Blake's 7 would have been preferable to the rather dull, plot-busting, and unethically intrusive Beatazoids. Ship's counsellor always seemed quite a redundant role to me too, better suited to an occasional guest star than a regular. Troi was more fun as a cultural attache in season one than as a counsellor subsequently.

Most of season one would be simple to adapt and, yes, Q could easily have been Trelane without missing a beat.

Using Captain Sulu as the character to warn Kirk about the infiltration of Starfleet could have been a good way to use his character, maybe featuring Chapel and Rand as members of his crew.

I think as season two started to play towards the strengths of the new characters, it becomes harder to visualise the old crew, but Kirk as Locutus? Awesome. Uhura taking a lead in a few episodes could have been awesome and just having Scotty instead of a series of forgettable chief engineers in season one would have been far preferable.

 

[Phoenix219]

TNG only had two female characters, so I said screw it and go with the organic characters at that time. Spock still is reassembling his psyche, so putting him in a command position is a little iffy; Chekov had the Ceti Eels. It would make more sense for Uhura to get the nod (I liked how she handled lower ranked officers in III hehe) and Spock can deal with philosophy and science as part of his path to full recovery. I figured it would make the "telepathic counselor" character more interesting to give her Crusher/Wesley's backstory, but the character's name and actress could be either one. Saavik already had been written off in IV, and I figured with Spock and Data, it might be too much; She can guest appear as needed, but doesn't need to serve as part of the crew, especially as Robin Curtis. I'm quite open to her addition, but was trying to stick to the actual TNG template in terms of comparison. Not everything is a perfect match.

La Forge could still shift to engineering after season 2 to work WITH Scotty, which would be much preferable to the way he was treated in Relics.

Haha... Kirk as Locutus, would be ironic in that Kirk finally found a computer he coudln't short circuit with a logic trap. Or, would they have given the role to Spock? He had already mind melded with V'Ger. He could have been the "unique" life they wanted to add to their distinctiveness.

There could be a plot thread connecting Data to a Korby android, with the "new" twist being it is the first time a *unique consciousness* is created and taught instead of being based on human engrams like Corby or Kirk. It could still be Soong's life work, imprinted onto a Korby android, or something.

I'm most open to reimaginging medical services, since swapping in an aging McCoy, and shifting Crusher's story to the counselor, changes things completely.

Chapel as Data's embarassing mother figure, leaving the family drama of the boy wonder and the telepathic alien connected to Kirk's past as a completely separate thread. It keeps Majel ironically in the same role, but as her original character. (It would be a different kind of embarassing, of course.... an android would not understand the need of a mother.... to *mother* him... lol.)

This is all awesome fan-fiction alt-universe stuff and i love it, but I also wouldn't mind a more precise episode by episode tear-apart or reimagining, either.

Some things would just never be the same, like Kirk vs. TNG's Prime Directive.

 

[Pauln6]

TNG actually had three women and six men 33/66 in a crew that was meant to be 50/50 so your 22/88 ratio is still quite a bit off. You could make Data a fembot and go with Lesley instead of Wesley like the early TNG draft I suppose.

TOS did not use the whole cast in every episode, so having spare recurring characters like Saavik could be fine.