Would TNG Have Worked Without Picard?

[drt]

I'm sure they could have added endearing qualities or softened the edges if she was a regular. A lot of times characters get introduced as a lot less likeable as they end up being - it gives them room to grow.

Undoubtedly that would have been the case. She was obviously introduced to be a foil for Riker to demonstrate how complacent he'd become as first officer, so of course she was going to rub the audience the wrong way.

I think Paramount just wanted their own TNG to be the anchor for UPN and get 15-20 mil viewers a night. Didn't work out that way though. There was less pressure on DS9 due to it being in syndication.

It's totally understandable, DS9 was never as popular as TNG, so UPN would of course try and walk back what DS9 was doing and try to make their new show more like their super-successful one. They were probably battling diminishing returns by that point, but I wonder if they had stuck with their original plans would VOY have done better or worse?