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Star Trek The Next Generation appreciation thread (1 Viewer)

Ockeghem

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Nelson,

 

Those are some funny clips. I actually own the TNG blooper reel (on VHS tape), which includes what you've posted here. I recall years ago that Patrick Stewart wasn't thrilled at having them released. And if I recall correctly, they were released quite early on during the run of the series.
 

Nelson Au

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Hey Scott, I recall I got that tape in the late 80's too. I had not known Patrick Stewart was not happy about that, but I can see that. You don't want people to see you mess up.

 

The part I really remembered was Spiner doing Jimmy Stewart, that was really good!
 

Ockeghem

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Have a peek at this TNG Cast Memorandum. Fun stuff. :)

 



 

The Memo That Never Was To Be Seen
November 1, 2006 by Sam Sloan

We were able to get our hands on this little nugget (don’t ask us how) that reveals some interesting behind-the-scenes casting goings-on when STAR TREK: The Next Generation was first proposed back in the late 1980’s. This information might be nearly 20 years old but it still makes for interesting coffee table chat.

This memo was not suppose to ever see the light-of-day, but after almost 20-years who could possibly get their feelings hurt?

The Memo That Never Was To Be Seen

November 1, 2006 by Sam Sloan || Category: TV News We were able to get our hands on this little nugget (don’t ask us how) that reveals some interesting behind-the-scenes casting goings-on when STAR TREK: The Next Generation was first proposed back in the late 1980’s. This information might be nearly 20 years old but it still makes for interesting coffee table chat.

This memo was not suppose to ever see the light-of-day, but after almost 20-years who could possibly get their feelings hurt?

It should be noted that Eric Menyuk did star in episodes of TNG as the Traveler who ended up tutoring Wesley Crusher. Rosalind Chao ended up on TNG and DS9 playing Miles O’Brien’s wife. Cheryl McFadden is the same actress who portrayed Doctor Beverly Crusher, her full name being Cheryl Gates McFadden. Tim Russ went on to star in the motion picture “Star Trek VII: Generations” and became Commander Tuvok on the “Star Trek: Voyager” series.

Several of the other stars listed as possible candidates for main cast parts ended up guest starring in the seven year history of the show.   http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2006/11/01/the-memo-that-never-was/
 

Nelson Au

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Yeah, I saw that list on Trekmovie yesterday.That's a real treat to see now!

 

What is puzzling is who is Reggie Jackson, the ball player?
 

We know the story of how Troi and Tasha Yar's actresses swapped roles so Crosby became Yar instead of Troi and Sirtis became Troi. I can't see Chao as Yar!
 

And I can't see Wesley Snipes as Geordi. But that's easy to say given we're so used to LeVar Burton! Kevin Peter Hall is a surprise too.

 

Kotto might have been interesting as a Captain, but not Picard.
 

SilverWook

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Don't think this has been mentioned around here yet. Someone has posted the "Journey's End" tv special from 1994 on Youtube. AFAIK, this never made it to home video, except in one of the Japanese Laserdisc box sets!

 

 

mattCR

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If I remember right, between the second to last episode and "All good things" there was a week of no new eps.. our local station ran a marathon, every day at 6, there was an episode, they did the "countdown" of the five most popular episodes ever or something. But before that, the Saturday before, they aired this.

 

Just a great find. I'm hoping it shows up on a DVD/BD somewhere. I also miss the little "behind the scenes" inserts that accompanied each of those five episodes and introductions. I wish I could find those somewhere.
 

Sam Favate

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Wasn't this released on videotape back around '94 or so, before Generations? It certainly was never issued on DVD, but I think it was on VHS.
 

Nelson Au

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I posted this link in the Music section. Here's a preview of the Ron Jones TNG score CD set.

 

http://trekmovie.com/2010/08/31/first-look-at-fsm-ron-jones-project-14-cd-tng-music-box-set-available-for-pre-order/
 

Sam Favate

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Well, after 12 months (or, 5 months longer than I expected it would take), I finished re-watching TNG on DVD. It was a very enjoyable experience, and you can really appreciate how a show evolves and changes when you watch it straight through on a regular basis. It seems to have started out with low expectations of itself, only to really burst out in the middle of its second year and then again in its third season and beyond. But by the seventh year, the show really slowed down. Far too many retreads on the "what is reality" (a favorite of one of the writers) and other weak storylines. I think Rick Berman summed it up well in one of the documentary features on the 7th season set: He said by TNG's last season, they were producing not just TNG, but DS9 as well, on a weekly basis, were in pre-production on Generations and were developing Voyager. It's no wonder the work suffered. The studio may have simply been asking too much of the creative people behind the shows.


I came out of this viewing with renewed appreciation for Stewart, Frakes and Spiner, who are consistently good. Sadly, Burton, McFadden and Sirtis are never really given enough to do (but are very good when they are). And Dorn really shows the greatest growth on the show, starting out as pretty much a one-note background character, and quickly growing into part of the ensemble and eventually becoming the most complex and interesting character on the show. It is further a shame that he was never given a chance to shine in the feature films (although I suppose they felt he was doing that on DS9).


There's a thread in the blu-ray TV section about TNG being remastered and coming to BD. That can only be a good thing. Maybe it will shake loose CBS/Paramount into one last voyage of this crew.
 

Ockeghem

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Sam, We just started both TNG and ENT again. We're about four or five episodes into both series at this time. Did you watch the show in production or air order? Just curious. I am choosing to watch them in production order, although I've been told over the years that it really does not matter all that much with TNG.
 

Sam Favate

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Originally Posted by Ockeghem

Sam,

We just started both TNG and ENT again. We're about four or five episodes into both series at this time.

Did you watch the show in production or air order? Just curious. I am choosing to watch them in production order, although I've been told over the years that it really does not matter all that much with TNG.

Watched them in broadcast order, but you're right - it doesn't matter much (unless you consider that Unification II was before Unification I). We watched the whole of Enterprise last year, before TNG. I really enjoyed that - it left me with a much greater appreciation for that show than I had when it aired. In a few weeks, I will start watching Voyager, a show I haven't seen at all since it aired and one that I didn't care for the first time. We'll see if this changes my opinion at all; I am hoping it will. Watched TOS-remastered and all of DS9 a few years ago, and am eager to do so again.
 

Ockeghem

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Sam, I too had a much greater appreciation for ENT when I watched it again a few years after it first aired. That series (IMO) really is a show one ought to view on DVD. The network airing of the show did not do it justice. Besides the obligatory screen clutter, I didn't find the audio all that satisfying at the time. The DVDs seem to clean up and/or enhance both aspects nicely. Yeah, once we're through with ENT and TNG, we'll probably move on to viewing DS9 and VOY again. (I watch an episode of TOS just about every night before I hit the sack, and I also watch that series and TAS with my children on a regular basis. So there's really no need for me to go through those two series systematically all that often.)
 

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After watching "Unification III" on "Discovery" this week, I revisited "Unification I" and "Unification II" from the fifth season of TNG tonight.

It was a frustrating experience; on one hand, it does take some major swings with regard to the mythology of Star Trek and set up a more interesting direction for the Vulcans and Romulans. On the other hand, TNG only got one two-parter with Leonard Nimoy as Spock, and I feel like it didn't make the most of the opportunity.

For all the faults of J.J. Abrams's 2009 Star Trek, Nimoy doesn't actually have a ton of screen time but the movie makes the most of every second of it. You really feel the journey of Spock over the course of the original series and the several movies with the original series cast.

His depiction in this two-parter feels a lot more shallow. There's a whole lot of talking but very little with real impact is said. Making Picard an avatar for Sarek, and making the episode about Spock's daddy issues, felt like a mistake. You've got Spock together with the newest captain of the Enterprise. Why wouldn't you make the story about the legacy of the Enterprise, how Spock's time aboard the original Enterprise and the Enterprise-A shaped the man he'd become in the decades since?

The casting of Denise Crosby as Sela is also really distracting. It's just too obvious that it's the same actress who played Tasha Yar, and the character's convoluted origins as a hybrid daughter of a Tasha Yar from an alternate future just draw more attention to it.
 

Nelson Au

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Wow, I’d totally forgotten I’d started this thread! It’s been a while since someone posted on it.

Adam, I have to say that it’s interesting to hear your impression of Unification. I liked the 2 parter, it explored the continuing rift between Spock and Sarek and they already set up Sarek’s illness in an earlier episode. I didn’t like what happens to Sarek. There’s some good scenes between Picard and Spock and Data and Spock.
 

Sam Favate

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The one part of Unification III that I liked was the acknowledgement that Spock's efforts worked. It's even more likely to have happened since we know the Romulan homeworld was destroyed.

Unification I and II weren't perfect episodes, and maybe everyone expected too much of them, being the ones to co-star Spock, but they were good episodes that were satisfying. (I could have done without Denise Crosby too.) Unification III was not satisfying.
 

Josh Steinberg

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That does seem a missed opportunity. It would have been interesting to see her tagging along with Q on one of the many occasions he pestered Janeway.
 

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