Why introduce the Klingons so soon?

[Timo]

And as an aside, the mere fact that it started as 'The Gorn Incident,' ignoring the fact that 'Arena' was the first contact situation, appalls me.

To be sure, nothing in "Arena" really nails it down as a first contact. The Gorn might simply be a species that has stayed relatively quiet as of late, so that Kirk has little knowledge of them - just like he has very little knowledge of Romulans in "Balance of Terror", even though the first contact with that species is decidedly old news in that episode.

Of course, I greatly appreciate the move from Gorn to Andorians. Otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten Shran. Or then everybody's favorite Trek villain actor would have had to wear a rubber lizard suit... Although I'm sure Jeff Combs would have pulled that off, somehow!

Picard did say the first contact with the 'space cavemen' LED to decades of warfare.

But he also considered that first contact "disastrous" by itself. Either he was bending the truth a little to better convey his message, then, or he was referring to some other event that later history came to know as the true first contact between the Klingons and the...

...Indeed, and whom? Picard never says it's humans. He's representing the Federation, not Earth - perhaps he is speaking of a disastrous first contact between Klingons and Vulcans.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[JustKate]

Ah yes, Back when men were real men and women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.

Sorry, I am inexcusably late to this, and I don't actually have much to add (except that I, too, think that Klingons were hackneyed choice), but I just had to react to this where Kodos could see it:

 

[SFRabid]

I'm not sure any other race would work. It needs to be a major, agressive race for the story line to make sense. The point was to divide the empire. The Andorians or other close races don't have an empire. Not like the Klingons. It could be the Romulans, but then we would SEE a Romulan so that cannot work. No, if the premis comes down to future guy trying to divide a large empire it almost has to be the Klingons.

 

[Odon]

Plus people who hadn't seen Trek for a while, or were only vaguely familiar with it from the movies, would remember Klingons. We have to keep in mind that the Powers That Be were trying to bring in new viewers.

 

[Praetor]

Personally, I think introducing characters less familiar (such as the Andorians) might be more inviting to new viewers. You don't have to know much about them because you're learning about them as you go.

 

[JustKate]

I agree. And the thing is that while Klingons, along with Vulcans, are probably the Trek aliens best known outside of Trekdom, they are also the most...stereotyped? That's not quite the right word, but what I'm trying to say is that I would have thought that a non-Trek-person's reaction to a new series that included the same old bad guys would not be positive. That's just a guess, of course.

 

[miraclefan]

Becuase the SUIT'S came up with the idea and B&B ran out of ideas?

 

[Norrin Radd]

I think people here are forgetting that the Klingons did appear later on in Enterprise in addition to the first episode. I'm merely suggesting that they should have saved their introduction for later. Possibly it could have occurred as a "one-time event" after which they may have appeared but little.

 

[SFRabid]

Personally, I think introducing characters less familiar (such as the Andorians) might be more inviting to new viewers. You don't have to know much about them because you're learning about them as you go.

I agree. And the thing is that while Klingons, along with Vulcans, are probably the Trek aliens best known outside of Trekdom, they are also the most...stereotyped? That's not quite the right word, but what I'm trying to say is that I would have thought that a non-Trek-person's reaction to a new series that included the same old bad guys would not be positive. That's just a guess, of course.

Why would new viewers care one way or another if they never watched enough Star Trek to know about Klingons to care if they are seeing Klingons, Andorians, or some new race? The only way Andorians would be more inviting or Klingons would not be positive is if new viewers prefer "blue with antini" over "brown with ridges".

 

[Myasishchev]

Personally, I think introducing characters less familiar (such as the Andorians) might be more inviting to new viewers. You don't have to know much about them because you're learning about them as you go.

I agree with this, and also question the rationale that dictates that a casual viewer, who doesn't care about Star Trek generally, would somehow care about Klingons specifically.

Edit: apparently I am not the only one, and that's what I get for replying without reading through the end of a thread.

 

[Praetor]

Personally, I think introducing characters less familiar (such as the Andorians) might be more inviting to new viewers. You don't have to know much about them because you're learning about them as you go.

Why would new viewers care one way or another if they never watched enough Star Trek to know about Klingons to care if they are seeing Klingons, Andorians, or some new race? The only way Andorians would be more inviting or Klingons would not be positive is if new viewers prefer "blue with antini" over "brown with ridges".

I was responding to this post:

Plus people who hadn't seen Trek for a while, or were only vaguely familiar with it from the movies, would remember Klingons. We have to keep in mind that the Powers That Be were trying to bring in new viewers.

... specifically the suggestion that Klingons would be accessible because they might be peripherally memorable, even from a pop culture avenue, if a person was unfamiliar with Trek. I think the odds are greater that the general viewer is less likely to have been familiar with Andorians due to their low use, and there fore possibly less turned off by seeing 'the same ole thing' again.

I agree. And the thing is that while Klingons, along with Vulcans, are probably the Trek aliens best known outside of Trekdom, they are also the most...stereotyped? That's not quite the right word, but what I'm trying to say is that I would have thought that a non-Trek-person's reaction to a new series that included the same old bad guys would not be positive. That's just a guess, of course.

That's exactly my thought process.

 

[JustKate]

^ We reach!

 

[I am not Spock]

One problem with Ent's premise from the get-go was that they were in a Catch 22. If they gave us Klingons or a well-worn adversary again, the fans would go 'Oh, they're out of ideas'. If they gave us a new race (like the Suliban, Denobulans, or Xindi), the fans would say 'But those races were never mentioned by Kirk, Picard, Sisko, or Janeway. ENT isn't cannon, OMG, etc'.

Broken Bow gave us old faces (Klingons, Vulcans) and some new ones (the afore-mentioned Suliban and Denobulans).

Personally, I would have gone with a little seen, TOS era race like the Andorians, Tellarites, Gorn, et ali. Is there any reason Klaang couldn't have been a Tellarite, without the plot being altered too much?

 

[Praetor]

One problem with Ent's premise from the get-go was that they were in a Catch 22. If they gave us Klingons or a well-worn adversary again, the fans would go 'Oh, they're out of ideas'. If they gave us a new race (like the Suliban, Denobulans, or Xindi), the fans would say 'But those races were never mentioned by Kirk, Picard, Sisko, or Janeway. ENT isn't cannon, OMG, etc'.

Broken Bow gave us old faces (Klingons, Vulcans) and some new ones (the afore-mentioned Suliban and Denobulans).

Exactly, with just those mixed results.

Personally, I would have gone with a little seen, TOS era race like the Andorians, Tellarites, Gorn, et ali. Is there any reason Klaang couldn't have been a Tellarite, without the plot being altered too much?

I see no reason preventing it.

Or better yet, an Andorian.

 

[sunburn800]

This is just my thinging on enterprise time line andeverthing we have come to understand about star trek. I think the whole time line was warped when lily got a good look at the enterprise E in first contact after wasn't she an engineer? Could she have seen and learned enough about the enterprise to tell cochran and could they have worked together to change the future?..... or maybe i'm just too sober.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

I'm not sure any other race would work. It needs to be a major, agressive race for the story line to make sense. The point was to divide the empire.

Yeah, but that part can be rewritten or reworked. Instead of weakening an empire, it would be about driving the Andorians and Vulcan into open war.

Plus people who hadn't seen Trek for a while, or were only vaguely familiar with it from the movies, would remember Klingons. We have to keep in mind that the Powers That Be were trying to bring in new viewers.

New viewers who historically don't stick around. I mean, viewer numbers after Trek pilots drops off pretty fast, don't they? It never helps that the post-pilot episodes stink (DS9 and Voyager's forgettable bottle episodes)

 

[Mossura]

You'd think they would've saved them for a season ender or something. You know...hype it up. Make it an anticipated event: When will First Contact with the Klingons take place? How will it happen? Please, we can't wait! You know...

They introduced the Klingons right away because the writers had no faith in their skills.

 

[cooleddie74]

Klingons are usually a slam-dunk in the TREK universe. When in doubt, whip them warriors out. It was lazy as hell, but sorta worked since the supposed 2218 first contact date from TOS never actually existed in canon and the calendar could be tweaked a little and still make sense.

 

[Praetor]

But its still so painfully lazy.

 

[Anwar]

Personally, I would have gone with a little seen, TOS era race like the Andorians, Tellarites, Gorn, et ali. Is there any reason Klaang couldn't have been a Tellarite, without the plot being altered too much?

Well, yes. It wouldn't have made any sense for Earth to end up forming a Federation with these very adversaries of theirs when the Federation was only like 9 years away from being formed. But for the guys they encounter in the pilot end up being their enemies for over 100 years? THEN it works.

Same reason they didn't focus more on the Andorian/Vulcan war thing: The fanboys were howling their guts out over "That was never mentioned in TOS! HORRIFIC CANON VIOLATION!"

Every time they tried to do something new that didn't really violate anything, the fanboys hated it because it WASN'T some continuity porn moment. ENT was a lose-lose situation from the get-go.