TLIAD -- Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-2002)

[ColeMercury]

Season 11 (1997-1998): Noteworthy developments

• A new main character was introduced in the season premiere (resolving the previous season's cliffhanger): former Borg drone Seven of Nine, played by Jeri Ryan. Seven of Nine becomes the Enterprise's astrometrics officer, while remaining a civilian.
• Recurring character Eugene Marr was promoted to the main cast (and to the rank of Lieutenant junior grade), taking La Forge's position at ops.
• The relationship between Torres and Marr was officially established.
• Seska made one more guest appearance this season, in which she was definitively killed off. At this point in the show, the producers were intending to soon bring the Enterprise back to the Alpha Quadrant and wished to tie up loose ends.
• The season ended on another cliffhanger which introduced a new technology that could get the Enterprise home: a quantum slipstream drive.

Season 11 cast for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Suzie Plakson: Cpt. Paula Shelby (Captain)
Lou Diamond Phillips: Cmdr. Chakotay (Executive officer) [rank provisional]
Alexander Enberg: Lt. (j.g.) Eugene Marr (Ops officer)
Annabeth Gish: Lt. (j.g.) Belanna Torres (Flight officer) [rank provisional]
Gary Graham: Lt. Cmdr. Hadrian Brant (Chief engineer)
Ethan Phillips: Neelix (Civilian)
Robert Picardo: The Doctor (Chief medical officer)
Tim Russ: Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok (Security chief)
Jeri Ryan: Seven of Nine (Astrometrics officer, civilian)

Elsewhere in the franchise, 1997-1998:

• Deep Space Nine continued the Dominion War arc, concluding it in the season finale with the defeat of Cardassia. Paramount initially intended to end the show here, after six seasons; however, the showrunners (together with fan support) persuaded them to allow the show to return for a TV movie to wrap up existing plot lines.
• The film Star Trek Excelsior (note absence of colon), starring George Takei as Captain Sulu, was filmed, to be released later in 1998.

I think I'll stop for tonight now. I'll need to think about the knock-on effects of how I've changed the cast for the later seasons. But I think this timeline will be finished by this time tomorrow.

 

[ColeMercury]

Me too I feel it cheapen the whole show. And the sovereign-class is awesome. I don't think a smaller enterprise would be meet with a positive response from the audiance.

Was OTL's Enterprise-E the flagship? Was the Enterprise-B? (I doubt it -- it was another Excelsior-class, about ten years after the class was first developed.) The Enterprise-A definitely wasn't -- it was just a Constitution-class ship essentially given as a "Thanks for saving Earth" gift. The only Enterprise that we know was the flagship was the D.

And by the way -- the Sovereign-class is smaller than the Galaxy-class too.

 

[Xgentis]

Was OTL's Enterprise-E the flagship? Was the Enterprise-B? (I doubt it -- it was another Excelsior-class, about ten years after the class was first developed.) The Enterprise-A definitely wasn't -- it was just a Constitution-class ship essentially given as a "Thanks for saving Earth" gift. The only Enterprise that we know was the flagship was the D.

And by the way -- the Sovereign-class is smaller than the Galaxy-class too.

Yes but the Sovereign-class look cooler.

 

[ColeMercury]

Yes but the Sovereign-class look cooler.

I agree. But this isn't a wish-fulfillment timeline. If it was I wouldn't have killed off Worf, or made Picard leave, or severely reduced the Klingons' presence, or cut DS9 short, or any number of other things.

 

[Queeney]

I don't agree with making the Enterprise-E smaller (at least not on the scale of OTL Voyager), I don't think that makes sense in the context of the show. I can see why they would want a different ship design, but considering the Enterprise is the flagship...

Indeed.

The Enterprise has always been the Federation's flagship, and turning it into a small Intrepid class vessel seems rather illogical. Besides that, having a Sovereign class vessel such as OTL Enterprise-E in the Delta Quadrant would have made for so much more interesting plots.

 

[ColeMercury]

You know what? Fine. Let it be known that in TTL, the Intrepid-class is about the size of OTL's Sovereign-class. The main point is, it's still smaller than the Galaxy-class, so the crew aren't bringing their families and shit with them. There, ya happy?

 

[Queeney]

You know what? Fine. Let it be known that in TTL, the Intrepid-class is about the size of OTL's Sovereign-class. The main point is, it's still smaller than the Galaxy-class, so the crew aren't bringing their families and shit with them. There, ya happy?

Our remarks aren't meant with any malicious intent, it's just to give some suggestions to you as the author. But ultimately, it's of course you to decide what to do with your timeline. So don't get upset about our comments, you're doing a very good job so far.

And I agree with your point about the families-on-a-starship thing; that's something that always annoyed me about TNG too.

 

[TheDimensionalWatcher]

I agree. But this isn't a wish-fulfillment timeline. If it was I wouldn't have killed off Worf, or made Picard leave, or severely reduced the Klingons' presence, or cut DS9 short, or any number of other things.

You reduced the Klingons' presence in TTL?

 

[EvolvedSaurian]

There were like 20-30 years between the E-C and E-D, and I'm pretty sure Starfleet had a flagship during that hiatus.

Also, IIRC from the Star Trek Encyclopedia (nerd street cred), the Sovereign class is 150 or so meters longer than the Galaxy class, although it might not have as much height.

As for the TL itself, I have found it quite enjoyable, even though I was unsure about tacking on the Voyager storyline. Turns out, it rather works. Can't wait to see where you go next!

Sulu movie fuck yeah!

 

[DTF955Baseballfan]

It is indeed very interesting; it makes me wonder about the size of Voyager in "Shuffling the Treks."

I think it's the same size as OTL's Enterprise, and since the model is probably similar if not the same, it is probably of the same class as the OTL Big-E. What likely happens is that Kirk and company use this model becasue of success on previous missions and as a rewrd, and it is still one of the top ships - but there may be more of them, as the others are all probably pretty similar.

Then again, I'm legally blind so there might be significant differences between the Enterprise and Enterprise-D OTL and I just don't notice.

As to bringing families on board, with lower warp speeds possible and just starting out exploring, it actually makes *more* sense for them to be on board int he abortive "First Generation" of my TL. then, when they could get back and forth faster, they decided, sometimes in the early 2200s, to stop tohe practice.

Which means logically Archer's ship should have had them and Picard's not OTL.

 

[ColeMercury]

You reduced the Klingons' presence in TTL?

Well, yeah, I couldn't directly address it because of the TL's format, but a side effect of killing off Worf early is that most of his storylines get eliminated or repurposed. So: no K'Ehlyr, no conflict between Gowron and Duras, the fourth/fifth season cliffhanger is different, no Alexander, no Worf on DS9 or Klingon-Cardassian War in DS9 season 4 (hence the changes I've made to what happens on DS9, including the Dominion War both starting and finishing one season earlier), and of course the half-Klingon B'Elanna Torres has become the half-Romulan Belanna Torres. The Klingons as featured on TNG and DS9 stay very much like they are portrayed in Star Trek III and Star Trek VI, only they're allies of the Federation now.

 

[WanderingWanderer]

After so many changes to the timeline, we still get BOTH useless Kes AND the Borg Barbie??? Man, Voyager just can't get a break And slashfic writers everywhere will lament the lack of Tom/Harry

I love what you did with the main TNG parts though. What's Patrick Stewart career like with a shorter time in TNG, is he still Prof. X, does he go back to Shakesperean stuff?

 

[ColeMercury]

Season 12 (1998-1999): Noteworthy developments

• With the Dominion War now over in Deep Space Nine, the decision was made to bring the Enterprise back to the Alpha Quadrant as soon as possible. The cliffhanger ending of season 11 was thus resolved over the first two episodes of the season, and the third episode was a story involving time travel that ended with the Enterprise successfully using the quantum slipstream drive to return to the Alpha Quadrant (with the help of Lt Marr's future self).
• Suzie Plakson and Lou Diamond Phillips both announced their intentions to leave the show between seasons. However, both stayed until the fourth episode of the season, which was a transitional episode showing the aftermath of the Enterprise's return. In the show, Cpt Shelby was promoted to the Admiralty while Chakotay, issued a blanket pardon along with all the Maquis crew, resigned to return to the former Demilitarised Zone along with his young son.
• The fourth episode introduced two new main characters, who became credited in the opening titles as of the fifth episode. The new captain of the Enterprise was Cpt. Robert T Boone, a much more Kirk-like character even than Riker was, played by Jeff Kaake (former lead actor on the show Viper). Tuvok was promoted to Commander and became the new executive officer. (The introduction of Captain Boone and promotion of Tuvok was a demand from Paramount, who wished to replicate the success of the Kirk-Spock dynamic.) Replacing Tuvok as the security chief was another new character, Lt Cmdr Sarah Watts, played by Rosalind Allen.
• As of the fifth episode of the season, the series underwent another retool (beyond the obvious point of the ship having arrived home). With the quantum slipstream drive now a viable (if still experimental and unreliable) piece of Federation technology, the Enterprise now had the capacity to explore further reaches of the galaxy than had ever been seen before -- the Enterprise was thus given the new assignment of exploring an uncharted region of space far away in the Beta Quadrant. (This was a decision partly to prevent the Enterprise from getting bogged down in Dominion-War-aftermath stories, although the quantum slipstream drive did allow for a few.)
• The 100 episodes of TNG from S08E09 (the first part of "The Caretaker) through to S12E04 (the conclusion of the Delta Quadrant arc and transition to the show's new premise) were later collected and sold as a separate syndication package, retitled Star Trek: The Delta Quadrant.

Season 12 episodes 1-4 cast for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Suzie Plakson: Cpt. Paula Shelby (Captain)
Lou Diamond Phillips: Cmdr. Chakotay (Executive officer) [rank provisional]
Alexander Enberg: Lt. (j.g.) Eugene Marr (Ops officer)
Annabeth Gish: Lt. (j.g.) Belanna Torres (Flight officer) [rank provisional]
Gary Graham: Lt. Cmdr. Hadrian Brant (Chief engineer)
Ethan Phillips: Neelix (Civilian)
Robert Picardo: The Doctor (Chief medical officer)
Tim Russ: Cmdr. Tuvok (Security chief)
Jeri Ryan: Seven of Nine (Astrometrics officer, civilian)

Season 12 episodes 5-26 cast for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Jeff Kaake: Cpt. Robert T Boone (Captain)
Tim Russ: Cmdr. Tuvok (Executive officer)
Rosalind Allen: Lt. Cmdr. Sarah Watts (Security chief)
Alexander Enberg: Lt. (j.g.) Eugene Marr (Ops officer)
Annabeth Gish: Lt. (j.g.) Belanna Torres (Flight officer)
Gary Graham: Lt. Cmdr. Hadrian Brant (Chief engineer)
Ethan Phillips: Neelix (Civilian)
Robert Picardo: The Doctor (Chief medical officer)
Jeri Ryan: Seven of Nine (Astrometrics officer, civilian)


Elsewhere in the franchise, 1998-1999:

• Deep Space Nine: What You Leave Behind aired in first-run syndication in the week before TNG's season 12 premiere. The two-hour TV movie concluded the story of Sisko, Dukat, the Prophets and the Pah-wraiths, while also showing various other main characters from DS9 leaving the station (e.g. Odo rejoining the Great Link, O'Brien transferring to an assignment on Earth, Garak returning to Cardassia to work with the post-war occupation, etc.) Notoriously, the TV movie did not include Terry Farrell as Jadzia Dax, who was fired after the sixth season (supposedly for leading the actors' negotiations for better working conditions); Dax's absence was explained by her being away on sabbatical, with the implication she would remain part of the station's crew. Including the TV movie as two episodes, Deep Space Nine lasted for a total of 152 episodes from 1993 to 1998.
• Star Trek Excelsior was released in December 1998 to mixed reviews. A common criticism was that George Takei was simply too old to be the dynamic lead actor for the movie, as well as the story being poorly conceived.

 

[ColeMercury]

Season 13 (1999-2000): Noteworthy developments

• After the new main character of Captain Robert Boone proved very unpopular with fans, with the relationship between him and Tuvok regarded as a pale imitation of Kirk & Spock (not to mention the fact that Jeff Kaake happened to have a Shatner-sized ego that quickly alienated him from his co-stars), Jeff Kaake was fired between seasons and the character was said to have been reassigned to a different command. The season premiere began with a new captain already in the chair: Captain Thomas Maxwell, played by Vaughn Armstrong (a recurring guest actor on the show, who was now playing a human for the first time).
• The characters of Torres and Marr married during this season.
• Although the character of Captain Maxwell was far better received than Captain Boone, the show was still criticised for not being as good as it used to be.
• Gary Graham left the show at the end of the season. His character Hadrian Brant was given a farewell scene at the end of the finale, in which he transferred to a new assignment on a starbase.

Season 13 cast for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Vaughn Armstrong: Cpt. Thomas Maxwell (Captain)
Tim Russ: Cmdr. Tuvok (Executive officer)
Rosalind Allen: Lt. Cmdr. Sarah Watts (Security chief)
Alexander Enberg: Lt. Eugene Marr (Ops officer)
Annabeth Gish: Lt. Belanna Torres (Flight officer)
Gary Graham: Lt. Cmdr. Hadrian Brant (Chief engineer)
Ethan Phillips: Neelix (Civilian)
Robert Picardo: The Doctor (Chief medical officer)
Jeri Ryan: Seven of Nine (Astrometrics officer, civilian)

Elsewhere in the franchise, 1999-2000:

• The financial success of Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace led Paramount to consider capitalising on the brewing prequel craze to revitalise the ailing Star Trek film franchise. A Kirk-at-Starfleet-Academy movie was pitched but rejected. TNG & DS9 executive producer Rick Berman, together with fellow current showrunner of TNG Brannon Braga, pitched their own film idea for a movie set over a hundred years before Captain Kirk; their proposal was accepted.

 

[ColeMercury]

Season 14 (2000-2001): Noteworthy developments

• A new chief engineer was introduced in the season premiere: Lt Cmdr Tigan Kerim, an unjoined Trill played by Alex Datcher.
• Several continuing storylines were introduced in this season to help address the criticism that the show had fallen into an unimpressive Alien-Of-The-Week formula: a new recurring antagonist from the Beta Quadrant called the Fen Domar were introduced, Torres and Marr had a daughter, and Seven of Nine entered into a romantic relationship with the Doctor. Reaction was mixed.

Season 14 cast for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Vaughn Armstrong: Cpt. Thomas Maxwell (Captain)
Tim Russ: Cmdr. Tuvok (Executive officer)
Rosalind Allen: Lt. Cmdr. Sarah Watts (Security chief)
Alex Datcher: Lt. Cmdr. Tigan Kerim (Chief engineer)
Alexander Enberg: Lt. Eugene Marr (Ops officer)
Annabeth Gish: Lt. Belanna Torres (Flight officer)
Ethan Phillips: Neelix (Civilian)
Robert Picardo: The Doctor (Chief medical officer)
Jeri Ryan: Seven of Nine (Astrometrics officer, civilian)

Elsewhere in the franchise, 2000-2001:

• A new Star Trek film simply titled Enterprise (the title having a double meaning) entered production and was filmed for release later in 2001. Set in the year 2151, the film starred Scott Bakula as Captain Henry T Archer, the first human captain of a starship capable of Warp 5 (the eponymous Enterprise NX-01). (The film's cast also included Tony Todd as the elder experienced "space boomer" Lt Joseph Mayweather.) The first half of the film took place primarily on Earth, dealing with the Vulcans obstructing the mission launch; the second half took place in space and was mainly centred around the crew's first away mission to a habitable planet.

 

[ColeMercury]

Season 15 (2001-2002): Noteworthy developments

• No major cast changes this season.
• The decision was made before production began that this season would be the show's last. The main reason the show was renewed at all was to bring the episode count since the end of the "Star Trek: The Delta Quadrant" block up to 100 so it could similarly be sold separately.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation did not have any clear definitive end in its final episode as Deep Space Nine did, instead ending on a note of "And the Adventure Continues..." Proposals that the show could continue in TV movies or Direct-to-DVD ended up coming to nothing.
• The 100 episodes from S12E05 to the series finale, encompassing all the episodes of Captains Boone and Maxwell, were later collected together and sold under the new title Star Trek: The New Voyages.

Season 15 cast for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Vaughn Armstrong: Cpt. Thomas Maxwell (Captain)
Tim Russ: Cmdr. Tuvok (Executive officer)
Rosalind Allen: Lt. Cmdr. Sarah Watts (Security chief)
Alex Datcher: Lt. Cmdr. Tigan Kerim (Chief engineer)
Alexander Enberg: Lt. Eugene Marr (Ops officer)
Annabeth Gish: Lt. Belanna Torres (Flight officer)
Ethan Phillips: Neelix (Civilian)
Robert Picardo: The Doctor (Chief medical officer)
Jeri Ryan: Seven of Nine (Astrometrics officer, civilian)

Elsewhere in the franchise, 2001-2002 and beyond:

• Enterprise was released to theatres in November 2001, and was a financial and critical success. The decision was made to continue the story in a new spinoff series titled Star Trek: Enterprise, which would succeed TNG, as a way of "shaking up" Star Trek on TV. In the series, the ship's registry was changed to Enterprise NCC-01. The show premiered in September 2002 (with its first season set in the year 2152); it lasted for three seasons before being cancelled by UPN, with two seasons of 26 episodes each followed by a shortened 13-episode final season.

And that's the end. Star Trek: The Next Generation -- 386 episodes over fifteen seasons, from 1987 to 2002.

 

[NoOneFamous]

Would have loed to have seen CCH Pounder on TNG

 

[WanderingWanderer]

Considering they made Enterprise as a film, couldn't they get someone better than Bakula? Even Nicholas Cage would be better! Please tell me the timeline removed the American Idol-reject singing the sappy theme song....

And it sems in this TL, TNG will probably be remembered similarly to X-Files, there were some good episodes but at the end of the day it just went too long. Fans will likely argue where exactly it jumped the shark (post-Picard, post-Riker, all the Delta Quadrant parts, post-Delta Quadrant...).

Still, interesting TL, feel sorry for Takei and his Elxelsior movie. I'm surprised they didn't make him the mentor role with some white male lead as the protagonist

 

[TheDimensionalWatcher]

And the 2009 JJ Abrams reboot would still happen in TTL.

 

[EvolvedSaurian]

I'm surprised the EMH didn't get replaced after the return to the Alpha Quadrant.

Wonderful idea, brilliant execution, but honestly, I'm kinda glad things happened as they did.