#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.

[mistermistyyy]

I find the opinion that religion wouldn't exist in Star Trek kind of extreme. The notion seems to rely on the idea that, in the enlightened future Star Trek proposes, religion is too barbaric of a concept to survive.

This is, first of all, untrue within the text of the franchise. Pike is said to have had a religious upbringing in SNW, McCoy seems to have some connection to Christianity, Picard is agnostic, a lot of the Bajorans including Kira are religious, there is a Muslim background character in Lower Decks, and the crew seem pretty open to the idea of God existing in Star Trek V. Hell, there are tons and tons of biblical references in TOS. There's a whole episode called Journey to Babel.

But even aside from canon evidence, the idea that religion is something that humans must evolve past in order to reach their full potential is pretty uncharitable. People aren't all going to believe the same thing. The best thing we can hope for in the future is not that people will stop having these different beliefs, but that (so long as they do not condone poor treatment or devaluing of others), we will stop seeing certain religions as barbaric and we can simply believe them and express them without pain. A world where you could walk down the street and see an atheist, a Christian, a Hindu, and any other religion, all treating each other's beliefs with respect, not forcing their views on others. Just listening and understanding.

Quite frankly what we need is more representation of religions in Star Trek. Religions from indigenous peoples, African nations, Asian nations, etc. have seen little coverage or reference in Star Trek at all. And I think that's a shame. Star Trek has always been about growing as people and educating ourselves as times around us change. It doesn't matter if a religion has 100 followers or 100 million followers. People can always learn more about them, and I'd love seeing a future where they are all equally valued and get to be seen.

[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)

[atomic-chronoscaph]

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

[papanowo]

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

[frogshunnedshadows]

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

[nerds-yearbook]

The first episode of Deep Space Nine aired on January 3, 1993. DSN was the first spin-off of the Star Trek the Next Generation universe. There were plans to feature the STNG character Ro Laren, but the actess Michelle Forbes did not want to commit to the series at the time. In place of Ro, a new character was created named Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor). Colm Meaney continued in this series as his STNG character Miles O'brien. Patrick Stewert made a cameo in his role as Captain Jean Luc Picard. The episode introduced several new characters, including Commander Benjamin 'Ben' Sisko (Avery Brooks), Constable Odo (Rene Aberjonois), Doctor Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), Lt. Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell), Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton), Quark (Armin Shimerman), and Nog (Aron Eisenberg). Felicia M. Bell appeared as Jennifer Sisko, the wife of Ben and mother of Jake, who died in this episode. The events in the episode took place in 2367 and 2369. The show took place at a space station on the edge of a wormhole. The episode also portrayed the Battle of Wolf 359, which previously had only been referred to due to budget restraints. The episode also introduced the Runabouts vehichles. ("Emissary", Deep Space Nine, TV, Event)

[rosalie-starfall]

Doctor Beverly Crusher

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Sub Rosa

[mentallyillmindmeld]

Sorry for mentioning Star Trek 4 times in the last 5 minutes can you still tolerate my presence

[kenconffetti]

Hey, Mirrorverse(Qcard?)

Idk I was looking through my photos and remembered mirrorverse Q's little fan design and my brain came up with this, maybe it's set during the Q civil war or something akin to it so the Q's are a bit vulnerable and various alien species are taking advantage of that (to do what exactly, who knows 👀) so it's rough out here

[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.

[circleturk]

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

[olivrsm]

[atomic-chronoscaph]

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