What would you have 'fixed' on Star Trek: TNG?
https://www.quora.com/What-would-you-have-fixed-on-Star-Trek-TNG/answer/Kevin-Winslow-6
I’d have included more of the “Navy” feel as done by Nicholas Meyer in “The Wrath of Khan” and “The Undiscovered Country”.share
NO KIDS ON THE ENTERPRISE! Seriously, you’ve seen the danger the ship gets into! Diseases, hostile takeovers, time travel paradoxes, and hell, there was a section of the ship that was removed by the Borg! You want to put kids through that?! It’s one of the most insane decisions I’ve seen. On Deep Space 9, a space station orbiting a planet, having kids around makes sense given the circumstances… but on a Starfleet vessel heading out into the unknown, it does NOT.
The uniforms. They’re not practical or functional. I’m sorry to people who like jumpsuits and onesies, but if you’re exploring new places, you need some pockets and utility.
The attitude/smugness. TNG was decidedly smug about themselves, sometimes almost to the point of arrogance.
I really appreciated Nick Meyer’s interpretations of the Star Trek universe, where people make mistakes, science can be overwhelming, and space is a dangerous place. Even when these lessons were driven home, the effect was temporary, at best. I really appreciated the original series films because life and death were constantly hanging in the balance.
Actual fighting.
I can’t even say how sick to death I am of the lame hand-to-hand combat on Star Trek shows. It’s had already been about 20 years since the original show when TNG came out, and somehow, they made fighting look even WORSE than the silly fistfights Kirk used to get into. TNG’s fight choreography was abysmal. These people are supposed to be explorers, yes, but they should know how to fight, too. I’m so sick of a single palm strike or a Tai Chi class on TNG supposedly being some ‘advanced Klingon martial art’.
Keep the optimism… but temper it with the knowledge that humanity isn’t perfect yet, and needs to keep working hard.
It’s actually why Ben Sisko is my favorite Star Trek character. In the course of “Deep Space 9” we see him as a character grow and change. It’s hard to argue that Kirk, Janeway, or Picard really change very much in their shows; by contrast, Sisko has to with being a grieving widow, a Starfleet commander, a religious icon to a religion he doesn’t even believe in, (while being a Federation citizen, which appears to value atheism over religious ‘superstition’), and a father. By the end of the show, he’s grown in every area, has explored his brighter and darker elements to his personality, (seriously, watch “In the Pale Moonlight”) gotten re-married, and actually considers retiring to Bajor. More like Ben Sisko, please!
More transfers, and more promotions! Starfleet should be able to shake up the roster as needed.
Captain Jellico became Captain of the Enterprise while Picard was on a dangerous mission. He was only the Captain for two episodes, but he quickly became one of my favorite Captains in all of Star Trek! Even though he was only there for a short time, his demand for professionalism changed Deanna Troi for the rest of the series, (and the films), as she stopped wearing her casual clothes and dressed in uniform ever since… she even became interested in chasing a promotion and being in command!
Jellico also had a completely different management style, outlook, and history than Picard. For two glorious episodes, the social dynamic on the ship was completely turned around… and personally, I would have loved to have seen more of this! Characters got pushed and changed by a Captain with a different outlook… I would have loved to have seen what would have happened if Jellico had stayed. Would Riker have finally decided it was time to become a Captain himself and left the ship? Would Data have been promoted permanently to first officer where he was now in charge of Riker’s old job… but without Riker’s charm?
It was also amazing to see a very competent, very capable, yet very different Captain step onto the Enterprise. There’s no doubt in my mind Jellico could have been an excellent Captain for the flagship for the long haul, and it would have been a very interesting switch.
Ensign Ro Laren is another great example. She came in with fire and rebellion, and had a character arc that took her many different places. Her presence also started challenging other members of the crew and opened up a lot new possibilities. Like I said, I loved TNG because they DID have good ideas, they just always kept coming back to the status quo with the main cast instead of letting these characters continue to evolve.
Not everyone should be on the ship forever; but if they’re in our line of sight, we should be seeing them growing and changing.
I love Geordi! Levar Burton was one of my favorite TV show hosts on “Reading Rainbow” when I was a kid, and THE reason I tuned into every episode I could of “TNG”. But what killed me was that Geordi never really changed… ever.