posted February 11, 2001 04:12 AM
TPTB could've handled Voyager a lot better than they actually did.
I think we've seen that while some members of the TNG cast wanted to leave the show, others haven't.
We come upon the Enterprise-D a few months after All Good Things. The ship is being retrofitted for a special mission, with a distinct new "saucer" section fitted in place of the old oval one. The saucer section is more angular.
We find out that the ship has been in drydock for a few months now, and that most of the senior staff has been reassigned. Newly minted Captain Will Riker will be commanding the ship on her next mission, after which Picard will resume command (he's on an archeological dig for an extended period), and Riker will move on to command of another starship.
The Enterprise-D will be assigned to hunt down a band of Maquis, which has been infiltrated by a Starfleet Inteligence agent named Tuvok. Riker tries to piece together the Enterprise's command staff, but Worf is busy meditating (the following season he will join the cast of DS9), Dr. Crusher is also unavailable. Riker is able to bring Troi, LaForge, and Data along. Alyssa Ogawa comes aboard as CMO. He also recruits former Maquis Tom Paris to help track down the other Maquis. With Data as First Officer (a position he will maintain when Picard resumes command), Riker sets out.
The new saucer makes the Enterprise a bit leaner, and easier to manuever through the badlands. The bridge is still spacious, and similar to the original, but a bit more functional.
(Okay, either this, or Riker assembles some people to take command of the Intrepid-Class Voyager to go hunt the Maquis ... something along those lines)
The Enterprise pursues into the badlands and is thrown to the opposite side of the Galaxy. Data is severely damaged by the trip, and the crew is unable to make repairs. He is placed into a storage locker where he will remain until the ship returns to Federation space and is able to effect repairs.
Ogawa is dead, and the EMH is activated to replace her.
The Security Officer -- Lt. Rollins -- is killed as well.
Essentially the rest of the story follows the basic script. The Maquis are assimilated into the crew.
Maquis captain (and former Starfleet Lt. Commander) Kathryn Janeway becomes the first officer of the Enterprise.
Maquis engineer B'elanna Torres becomes the ship's new Ops officer.
Tuvok, the undercover intelligence agent, becomes the new security officer.
Neelix comes aboard as guide with Kes.
Paris is "frocked" to warrant officer to act as helmsman.
Command Crew
Capt. William T. Riker -- Commanding Officer Lt Comm. Kate Janeway -- Acting Executive Officer Lt Comm. Geordi LaForge -- Chief Engineering Officer Lt Tuvok -- Chief of Security WO Tom Paris -- Helmsman/Navigator WO B'elanna Torres -- Operations Deanna Troi -- Ship's Counselor EMH -- Ship's Doctor Neelix -- Ship's Pain in the Ass (ok, morale officer) Kes -- Neelix's lover
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 6.27 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with four eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Forum Member Who Shall Be Nameless. 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
posted February 11, 2001 07:49 AM
My exposure to YOU guys has actually made me change my mind about Riker. He DOES seem to jump the gun a bit often, if only when the writers wanted but to give Picard a reason to come up with something better. But Riker was good in BoBW...
I think Voyager's journey home would be pretty erratic if Commander Janeway had to talk him away from the fire controls and 'revert' into diplomacy every three episodes... Besides, Janeway's a driven woman, for her to settle for second chair would be to change her whole way of being... That and she's old.
Hmm, Mulgrew's a -55, Frakes is a -52. Interesting, aside from Trek, Frakes has never been in another movie, just TV. Not that he and the other fatcats he hangs out with would need to...
------------------ Here lies a toppled god, His fall was not a small one. We did but build his pedestal, A narrow and a tall one.
posted February 11, 2001 08:17 AM
Er...just my opinion, but having Voyager be the junior adventures of the Enterprise seems like the second single worst thing you could do to Star Trek.
I mean, there are already charges leveled against the show for simply being a TNG retread, some of them fair, some of them not. I can hardly imagine the outcry if the show actually WAS a TNG retread.
posted February 11, 2001 04:29 PM
This is a good alternate plot set-up for Voyager, I admit, but it is a bit too much like TNG. And besides of which, if the Enterprise had been transported into the delta quadrant rather than Voyager, then there may have been some alternate plot for Generations.
*shrug* As long as we're coming up with alternate plots, though: My alternate plot for Generations, assuming your plotline had occured, would be a combination movie/pilot for TNG and Voyager. It would show what happened to he enterprise and also allow us to see what has happened to picard, worf, crusher, and whomever I left out of that list.
Come to think of it, you could merge the whole nexus plot with the caretaker plot by revealing that the nexus is a creation of the caretaker, designed to transport ships to him in his quest to find a heir, thereby combining the two COMPLETELY different plots together more smoothly, and giving us a reason to make a combination movie/pilot.
------------------ A wise man once said: "The most dangerous man is the one with nothing more to lose." Obviously the wise man didn't consider that a man with everything to lose could be equally as dangerous.
posted February 13, 2001 02:25 AM
Jeez, why is everyone so obsessed with Riker Getting a Command?
Go back and watch "The Pegasus". Go on. It's a good episode.
Notice that Picard tells Riker he's in a lot of trouble, that he'll have lost most of the kudos he's built up over the past few years. Notice that he's IN THE FRICKING BRIG at the end of the episode? They are implying that Riker did A Bad Thing.
You really think Starfleet will promote him, and give him a captaincy six months later? Sheesh.
Plus, I think the cast were, by and large, perfectly happy to do movies every couple of years. For most of them, the biggest worry is when THAT will stop, as it's a fairly large source of income. But you really think they'd want to do anyother 7 solid years of the same thing? Pah.
------------------ "And Mojo was hurt and I would have kissed his little boo boo but then I realized he was a BAD monkey so I KICKED HIM IN HIS FACE!" -Bubbles
posted February 13, 2001 03:40 AM
Remember that Riker asked to be put in the brig. He was not sent there by Picard's wishes.
------------------ [Bart's looking for his dog.] Groundskeeper Willy: Yeah, I bought your mutt - and I 'ate 'im! [Bart gasps.] I 'ate 'is little face, I 'ate 'is guts, and I 'ate the way 'e's always barkin'! So I gave 'im to the church. Bart: Ohhh, I see... you HATE him, so you gave him to the church. Groundskeeper Willy: Aye. I also 'ate the mess he left on me rug. [Bart stares.] Ya heard me!
I'm sure some would've been. Michael Dorn was -- you know, he was on DS9 for four seasons.
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 6.27 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with four eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Forum Member Who Shall Be Nameless. 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
posted February 14, 2001 01:34 AM
I think there's a hefty difference there. O'Brien wasn't really a semi-regular. Overall, he was hardly there. And he didn't get character development until at least season 3. Stepping up to a regular position would be an improvement. And Dorn? I dunno. Maybe they just made him a good offer. Or he was desperate for work. Did he sign up for 3 years, or 4, considering that the rest of the cast only had 6 year contracts?
Also, there's the wages to consider. Every year, the actors got paid more and more. While Colm Meaney's wage packet at the start of DS9 was probably a lot higher than his TNG one, it wouldn't have been much different that the rest of the casts (it was probably below Brook's). But if they kept the TNG cast on for another 7 years, can you imagine how much their wages would have been? Most of them held of signing for season 7 to get more money. If Paramount wanted them for another series, they could have demanded elephant-sized paycheques.
------------------ "And Mojo was hurt and I would have kissed his little boo boo but then I realized he was a BAD monkey so I KICKED HIM IN HIS FACE!" -Bubbles
posted February 14, 2001 06:03 AM
Dorn agreed to be in DS9 with the understanding that makeup time would be limited and that he would have limited screen time, I believe.
He probably had some deal about shooting all of his scenes at once or in some special way so that his time on set and in makeup would be limited. That and he was probably making a ton of cash.
I remember reading that he was having skin prblems after 7 years in TNG makeup.
------------------ "You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. You don't pull the mask off the ole' Lone Ranger And you don't mess around with Jim." Aban's Illustration www.alanfore.com
posted February 14, 2001 07:19 AM
There's a profile picture of Data in AGT, and he's got a huge belly.
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 6.27 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with four eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Forum Member Who Shall Be Nameless. 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
quote: Dorn agreed to be in DS9 with the understanding that makeup time would be limited and that he would have limited screen time, I believe.
I read somewhere, where Dorn said that he was promised so many episodes written for Worf, and they didn't do them, like three or four episodes short. He wasn't very happy at the end of DS9, and I don't blame him. They could have done more with him.
------------------ Not to state the bleedingly obvious, but if you open attachments contained in e-mails received from people you've never heard of, then you're a moron. Jeez, these pop up every few months, and people STILL think that complete strangers are sending them dirty pics/rude jokes/tennis stars just out of kindness. PsyLiam