It’s so bizarre to read this in the present, knowing how incredible TNG was, but I get it - the original crew WAS Star Trek to them.

The dedicated fans revived this series in syndication, well after it had gone off the air in 1969, and felt attached to the characters that they had obsessed over between then and the 1980s. Like modern fans, they thought that departure from what they knew would ruin it.

I wish I could go back in time and tell them that TNG is going to rock.

  • @Asymptote@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    202 years ago

    If you’ve seen the original Battlestar Galactica you’ll know why they were worried.

    Only good thing about that show was that in space, bras were unpopular.

    • @EhList@lemmy.world
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      42 years ago

      They made a soft scifi show that little kids could enjoy featuring the guy who likes animals and did Alpo commercials. BSG wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t great like Dr Who or Buck Rodgers were at the time.

    • GratefullyGodless
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      52 years ago

      That’s because, according to renown space expert George Lucas, wearing a bra in space would strangle the wearer, which is why Princess Leia jiggled her way around the Death Star. So, it’s not that they were unpopular, just that they were a safety issue.

      • @AEsheron@lemmy.world
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        42 years ago

        I mean, she wasn’t jiggling. Carrie had often complained about how tightly bound she was, he specifically didn’t want that look either. Nothing at all in that outfit would have honestly made a huge difference in how the whole thing felt I think, at least in hindsight it would really cheapen it.

  • maegul (he/they)
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    22 years ago

    Hmmm. Came back here looking for the snippet but the image link seems to be broken … any chance of digging it out again?

  • takeda
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    112 years ago

    I wish I could go back in time and tell them that TNG is going to rock.

    Don’t worry, they know now.

    • Jo Miran
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      52 years ago

      Seriously, how old do people think Gen-X is? Some of us haven’t even hit fifty yet.

      • The Picard ManeuverOP
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        2 years ago

        I mean that I wish I could tell all the people who were worried back then that everything was going to work out great, not that they’re all gone and dead now - lost to the sands of time, from the forgotten age of the 1980s

  • The Picard ManeuverOP
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    872 years ago

    It’s also funny that the article suggests that Laforge is the new Spock, and not obviously Data.

    • @transwarp@startrek.website
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      72 years ago

      If you read the initial material, Data is drastically different. There is no explicit mention of being unemotional, just that he tends to speak more formally. He’s supposed to be more like the Ilia probe than Spock.

      Worf didn’t exist at first, so Geordi the teacher with bionic vision would be the most “other” character. If they’d seen any of the early press material for Phase II, Spock’s replacement there was a very junior officer.

        • @transwarp@startrek.website
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          42 years ago

          The idea was that the Klingons had joined the Federation and we’d see Klingon Starfleet personnel in the background. When they did add Worf, he was to be more frequently Data’s relief than Yar’s.

  • Julian
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    412 years ago

    It’s always funny looking back at stuff like this. I remember looking at old articles about Catherine Tate becoming a companion in doctor who and people were furious - and in retrospect not only was she one of the best companions, but that was probably the greatest era of the show.

    • @runjun@lemmy.world
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      242 years ago

      Heath Ledger is another classic example. I remember the Internet being so confused and mad about the choice. ‘The 10 Things I Hate About You guy!?’

      • Andy
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        62 years ago

        I came here to post this. I remember someone insisting it was like casting Gary Coleman as Two-Face.

        Although the response wasn’t as strong, there were fans who were also convinced that Robert Downey Jr. was a poor fit for Tony Stark.

        • @cogman@lemmy.world
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          92 years ago

          Iron man was a hail mary by Marvel. Their IP was failing. RDJ was a lucky casting. Given where he was at at the time he was a pretty risky pick. Marvel didn’t really have the budget to be too picky at the time.

          There’s a reason Spiderman is owned by sony and the hulk by universal.

          • Zorque
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            32 years ago

            And FF and X-Men by Fox before their acquisition.

  • @ramble81@lemm.ee
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    1272 years ago

    “unknown British Shakespearian actor…” Wow, I never thought I’d hear Patrick Stewart described that way.

  • @MoistTummy@lemmy.world
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    92 years ago

    Might be wrong but I think they used a picture of Bronson Pinchot instead of Brent Spiner. Now I really wanna see Data acting like Balki from Perfect Strangers.

    • ArtieShaw
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      42 years ago

      I really want to see both characters and actors swap shows.

      “Back on Meepos, Unlcle Kalvash would reconfigure the deflector relays to reinforce phasers at random intervals, thus disrupting the enemy’s shields. That certainly keep sheep on their toes!”

      “Cousin Larry, before you approach that woman I must inform you that your chances of dating her are approximately 1.78X10^48 to one.”

      I would watch the hell out of that. So many wacky mixups!

  • I Cast Fist
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    182 years ago

    The only thing I wish TNG did from the get go, or kept from season 2 onwards, was Dr. Pulaski. She was simply a much better character and doctor than Crusher, she fit in with the rest of the crew much better as well.

      • maegul (he/they)
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        122 years ago

        Including, most importantly probably, naturally having the believable ability to stand up against the captain. There’s natural chemistry in that sort of dynamic, you’re almost waiting for a plot line to come along that splits them against each other.

    • @xT1TANx@lemmy.world
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      12 years ago

      I was fine with the character but hated the actress. She was an old crone and didn’t mesh into the ensemble IMO. The same for Natasha. Her acting chops were simple subpar.

      • @Maho@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        32 years ago

        I don’t remember Tasha being more subpar than the rest of the cast, the first two seasons were abysmal compared to seasons 3+.

        • @xT1TANx@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          I may be biased. I started in s4 and then went back to watch everything. I had no idea who Yar was and then didn’t like her acting. Her reactions to things seems forced. Her character had a rough upbringing but how the actress tries to portray it felt disjointed to me. The same for when she was trying to be attractive in scenes. I felt like she didn’t know how to act. And then when she was made to play a Romulan omg. She was terrible.

  • @BlinkAndItsGone@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Were you really a Trekkie if you thought TNG was going to be good in 1987?

    Kidding, sort of. I remember thinking it was going to be a cash grab, and I still think I was right to think so at the time. Keep in mind, you couldn’t go on the Web and instantly know everything about an upcoming TV show. I think I learned it was in production from the back of a cereal box. I didn’t even know Gene Roddenberry was involved. The Enterprise-D design was pretty weird, and the cast of characters was more than a bit out there–a Klingon? On the Enterprise crew? Come on.

    • @LedgeDrop@lemm.ee
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      102 years ago

      As a kid, I saw a contest on a box of cheerios(?) where you could be an child extra in one of the first TNG episodes. So for most of the first season, I sincerely thought Wil Wheaton/Wesley was the winner.

      Anyway, the first few episodes during season 1 were not great, but I was content to finally get some new material. I’m glad TNG had enough time to “find its own groove”.

        • Siliconic
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          62 years ago

          Well, he didn’t have much of an acting career after TNG. I would highly recommend Wil Wheaton’s book Still Just A Geek that he just published a few months ago, I’ve been listening to the audiobook (read by Wheaton) and it’s really good, and there’s some stuff that’s “exclusive” to the audio version (stuff he thought of as he was reading it again lol)

    • @MajorHavoc@lemmy.world
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      32 years ago

      It’s fair to have expected TNG to be a cash grab. I’m sure TNG was a cash grab among all the other things it was. We all want to get paid, after all. I’m just glad it turned out to be so much more as well.

      I’m reminded of the letters page of Aquaman in the issue after he lost his hand.

      “To those of you saying we did it for the shock value, we have this to say for ourselves: we sure didn’t do it for the boredom value.”

  • maegul (he/they)
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    142 years ago

    Honestly, those people, or rather their opinions, can all go to hell.

    A new star trek series then or now won’t take away, alter or affect in any way TOS and their ability to enjoy it. Not to mention how incredibly un-Trek like it is to literally avoid “explore[ing] strange new worlds” like the plague.

    I get that Trek is comfort food for many of us, and that probably creates a strong form of protective nostalgia, but staying in the past to the exclusion of the future is just awful (not to mention that I’m personally bothered at the extent to which this has happened with modern Trek and it’s proclivity for reboots and prequels, SNW becoming increasingly both).

    Also, is that picture of Stewart from Dune (1984)?!

    • @Screwthehole@lemmy.world
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      52 years ago

      There is one legit worry in the article, that the new show would impact TOS movies. But the rest of the article is spent talking about how it would be impossible for the new show to be good. It’s wild to read it with the benefit of hindsight lol

        • @drewx0r@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Two of them were made after this article came out (he mentions four movies being made. Star Trek IV came out in 1986, TNG premiered in 1987). So Star Trek V 😬 and Star Trek VI 👍 were yet to be made.

      • maegul (he/they)
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        42 years ago

        how it would be impossible for the new show to be good. It’s wild to read it with the benefit of hindsight lol

        But also, so what if it turns out to not be good? You can’t know ahead of time in the same way no one knew TOS would be good. Plus, if being progressive was remotely anything these fans valued in Trek, there was plenty of room for improvement. Like, how has Trek fared against the Bechdel test? I’d imagine it takes up until Voyager that you start to get consistent episodes that pass (I’m not sure how often Jadzia-Kira and Troy-Crusher conversations happened)

    • @Holzkohlen@feddit.de
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      12 years ago

      I thought that was a Star Wars thing, but I guess it’s just a thing in general. For reference I like it all, Star Wars, Star Trek, TOS, TNG

    • @PuppyOSAndCoffee@lemmy.ml
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      122 years ago

      LOL. The TNG hate was ridiculous, but one other thing - nobody ignores a Star Trek fan better than other fans of Star Trek.

        • @T156@lemmy.world
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          22 years ago

          I remain slightly miffed about how Dr Pulaski, one of the few characters that received any development in TNG S2, was so hated by some fans that it caused to Diane Muldur to swear off of Trek altogether.

          She might not have entirely understood Data to begin with, but she did become better at that later on, a stark contrast to much of the rest of the Federation, which would still be arguing whether he, or his children had personhood, and is the only Starfleet Doctor in RetroTrek to actively take an interest in and engage with her patient’s cultures.

          I can’t envision early Dr Crusher taking part in Worf’s Klingon tea ceremony, for example.