#tv: star trek tng

[ilikethequiet]

I was going through Memory Alpha looking at a thing and I did not realise that 11,000 people died during the battle of Wolf 359. 

[andyoullhearitagain]

I'm fine.

[writergeekrhw]

In the special features for Star Trek, the producers and writers often refer to Trek as a "period piece" in the same vein as Jane Austen or Bonanza, just set in the future instead of the past.

With this in mind, 90's Trek had very distinctive language usage. It is formal, even stilted at times, but it comes off as erudite and evolved. Even Patrick Stewart has commented how he could always tell when Star Trek was on TV because he'd hear the dialogue and recognize that distinctive formalness.

From a narrative perspective, this choice falls in line with the whole "humanity has evolved" theme. But from a technical writing standpoint, it seems to have served a much more important purpose of setting the time period by scrubbing the dialogue of any time-stamped, current slang.

So in this future universe setting, casual, current language (such as F bombs) would be akin to one of us using slang from the 1600's. It's jarring not because it's crass (for some it is), but because it cracks the suspension of disbelief that what we are watching is set in different time period because they are using our language, not theirs.

I apologize for the massive run up to this question (maybe I've completely missed the mark with my musings) but what were the instructions you were given that gave DS9's dialogue that "period piece" feel?

Good observations regarding language use in Star Trek.

There were no specific instructions on how to write "proper" Star Trek dialogue. It was mostly learning by doing. But we adhered to the same unwritten rules as TNG, and that could be gleaned from reading scripts and watching episodes. Once I started on the job, a few things became quickly apparent to me:

Avoid slang.

Avoid religious expressions.

Generally, dialogue between Starfleet characters should be respectful (or even warm), slightly formal, and thoughtful.

Playful is fine, but not too goofy.

Use metric units.

Most aliens don't use contractions or use them minimally.

There are probably plenty more that I learned (and adhered to) unconsciously, but those were the ones that jump out in memory.

[papanowo]

soooo these started out as me doodling to get used to my new tablet but 2 months later here we are

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Michael Dorn and LeVar Burton - Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991)

[reusedtvseriescostumes]

This Lovely silver shirt is worn on Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lessons (1993) and later worn on Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim in Star Trek: Voyager, Prime Factors (1995)

[frogshunnedshadows]

Some photos of the Star Trek The Next Generation Enterprise-D sets, from the STTNG Interactive Technical Manual CDROM, 1994.

[rosalie-starfall]

"I am Worf, Son of Mogh, House of Martok, Son of Sergey, House of Rozhenko, Bane to the Duras family, Slayer of Gowron. I have made some Chamomile Tea. Do you take sugar?"

[circleturk]

P. Stew just throwing thee sluttiest pose for TV Guide cir. early-mid ‘90s

[olivrsm]

[star-trekster]

MSPaint Geordi + Data Engineering Screen shenanigans

[old-type-40]

Red alert for the Trek fandom! The free Pluto TV service has added a second dedicated Trek channel. The first channel has been there a number of years and normally shows TNG 24x7. Recently, it has started showing TOS in its entirety about once a week. The new channel is currently running DS9.

So if you're looking for a free, legal way to watch Trek, Pluto TV is currently the way to go. Paramount owns Pluto TV and maybe they're finally getting a clue that only catering to those who are willing and able to pay for their streaming service is cutting off too much of the potential audience.

[writergeekrhw]

I just learned that Fist Full of Data's was the first script submitted by you to star trek but Brandon Bragga rewrote it. Can you tell us about your original story?

Just to be clear, I didn't submit "A Fistful of Datas" as a script. I sold the story as a pitch, then broke it with the TNG team, then wrote the script based on their approved outline. Brannon rewrote it pretty thoroughly, as was common with freelance scripts back in those days. That said...

Things that were the same: The set-up (including basically my entire Teaser), the way the system accidentally got corrupted by Geordi and Data's experiment, the idea that Worf would have to beat Data in a gunfight then kiss Data to end the story.

Major differences:

I had Troi as the school marm. Brannon (and the TNG team) changed her to a gunfighter, which was much better.

My Western story was about an evil railroad trying to take over a town by force. The staff changed it to something closer to Rio Bravo.

Most of the middle is Brannon, including my favorite scene in the script, which is Troi talking to Eli in the hoosegow.

My version of the showdown took place at high noon instead of 6pm. In mine, Worf has no force field. Instead, he just allows gunfighter Data to shoot him five times, trusting his Klingon physiology to allow him to survive the shots. Then, as Data looms over him and prepares to finish him with a final head shot, Worf struggles to stand. Data says: "Why don't you just lie there and take it like a man?" Worf responds: "I am not a man. I am a Klingon!" Then Worf springs to his feet, rips open the back of Data's head and hits his off-switch.

This was all way too violent and bloody for TNG, so they created the force field to avoid hitting Worf with bullets.

Finally in my version, Worf kisses barmaid Data full on the lips to end the program. They changed this to a cheek kiss for obvious reasons.

[angiedceu23]

Brent Spiner being made up as Data ❤️

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard - Star Trek: The Next Generation (1989)

[trek-tracks]

There should have been a version of TNG's "Time's Arrow" where they run into Doc Brown in the late 1800s, but everyone's confused because wasn't he a Klingon?