With Star Trek : The Next Generationcoming to Blu - ray next year , we ’re go to be rediscover the go-ahead - D all over again . And with all that novel photograph quality , we ’ll be capable to find all sorts of detail we missed the first fourth dimension .
TNG did n’t just bring in Star Trek back to life on television receiver — it also reinvent television distance opera house , making some fascinating pick along the manner . Here are 10 thing you probably did n’t know about Star Trek : The Next Generation .
10 . Rock Star Cameos . Mick Fleetwood from Fleetwood Mac shave off his famous beard for a Edgar Albert Guest spot in the TNG installment “ Manhunt ” — but then he was cast as an Antedean , a fish - like alien , and thus his face was entirely deal up in any case . Meanwhile , Picard ’s former love stake , Jenice Manheim , in “ We ’ll Always Have Paris , ” was played by Michelle Philips , former appendage of The Mamas & The Papas . Source : IMDB . ( Philips also played William Shatner’slove interestin an sequence of T.J. Hooker . )
9 ) Star Trek Without Starships ? Early on in the provision of TNG , the Maker went through a few different concepts , including setting the show 150 years after the Original Series rather of just 78 years later , and set it on the Enterprise - G. And they also consider getting free of the Enterprise altogether — because conveyor technology would have advance so far , the crew could just teleport from planet to planet , instead of flying in a ship . seed : Star Trek : The Next Generation Technical Manual .
- Gene Roddenberry banish stories about warfare with Romulans or Klingons . He also want no story about Vulcans , whatsoever , according tothe original March 1987 Writers / Directors Guide ( PDF ) . Other standard tropes from the Original Series that Roddenberry ban from TNG : “ stories about psi - forces or psychic powers , ” “ swords and black magic , ” “ disturbed scientist , or stories in which engineering science is considered the villain . ” He also never need to see the crew violating the Prime Directive , or “ toppling civilization that we do n’t O.K. of . ” And no level in which the ship is put in danger because the applied science fails , or the crew makes a dumb mistake .
The original serial bible ( which is a gripping read ) , also say Picard and Riker have a “ father - son relationship , ” and Picard often pretends to retrieve France is “ the only dependable civilisation on Earth . ” Also , the idiom “ amply functional ” is underlined when discussing Data . And Tasha Yar is haunt with Wesley Crusher , who ’s her “ dude nonesuch ” and the puerility supporter she never had . Also , Picard “ can not avail notice that Beverly Crusher ’s innate walk resembles that of a striptease queen . ” root : Original Bible .
7 ) Boothby could have been the Traveler .
An early draft of the instalment “ Journey ’s End ” included the revelation that Boothby was in fact The Traveler who has been serving as Jean - Luc Picard and Wesley Crusher ’s Starfleet Academy confidant to keep an optic on them and guide them to their destiny . The Traveler would have let out the truth by transforming from Lakanta ( the aboriginal American guide ) to Boothby , and then to his reliable form , in Ronald D. Moore ’s original script . But Michael Piller objected , on the grounds that it would cheapen Picard ’s own relationship with Boothby . informant : Star Trek : The Next Generation Companion by Larry Nemecek .
6 ) Locutus could have been the original Tuvix .
In one variation of the “ secure of Both Worlds ” plot line , the Borg would have combined Data and Picard into a single Borg unit . But according to producer Michael Piller , someone finally ask why the Borg would do that , and nobody had a ripe explanation . So the melodic theme was dropped . generator : Captains ’ Logs : The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages .
5 ) Wesley almost got decapitate .
We see alt - Riker get kill in the final moment of the sequence “ Yesterday ’s Enterprise , ” during the fucking final struggle . But other deaths got dropped due to time and budget constraint . We just barely missed out on see alt - Wesley ’s capitulum get slew off , plus Data would have gotten electrocuted .
4 ) Data nearly became the Enterprise ’s First Officer
In the instalment “ Second chance , ” where we meet the conveyer belt duplicate of Will Riker , the penning staff gravely regard kill off the “ original ” Riker and convey the Transporter twin , Thomas Riker , on as a Modern crewmember . Because Thomas Riker had a low rank , he would have become the ops officer , and Data would have taken Will Riker ’s place as First Officer .
3 ) Troi nearly had three breasts .
In early brainstorming , the producer want Deanna Troi to have three breasts , just like that woman in Total Recall . But manufacturer D.C. Fontana object — she told Entertainment Weekly , “ I objected to Troi having three bosom . I felt women have enough problem with two . And how are you going to delineate them up ? Vertically , horizontally , or what ? I was like , please , do n’t go there . And they did n’t , luckily . ” Also , at one peak ahead of time on , Gene Roddenberry wanted to make Wesley Crusher a girl nominate Lesley . And Tasha Yar was original a tough Latina named Macha Hernandez , based on Vasquez from Aliens . Sources : EW , Star Trek : The Next Generation Companion by Larry Nemecek .
2 ) The Mylar Pom - Pom of a Thousand America .
The TNG optical burden crew was used to doing a lot with whatever they could get their hands on — but the mylar pom - pom was the most various visual effects source of them all . Special effects master Dan Curry used the pom - pom to make a “ phaser hit ” effect . The same pom - pom also served as a nebula . And as the force athletic field that imprisons Riker in the instalment “ Arsenal of Freedom . ” Also , another force theatre of operations was create by the water spray from an average garden hose . The “ end of the population ” in “ Where No Man Has Gone Before ” was created from the shimmering reflective patterns from a goat god of water . rootage : Star Trek : The Next Generation : technological Manual by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda .
1 ) The Enterprise Bridge would have had a conference table in the middle .
Do you guess the Enterprise - D crew spent rather a lot of time sitting around the conference table ? It would have been way more noticeable , if Gene Roddenberry had gotten his manner . Roddenberry ’s original idea for the endeavour - cholecalciferol bridge was to have a Brobdingnagian view screen — four metre the size of the covert on the original Enterprise — with a league board right in front of it . He also need an observation lounge as part of the bridge circuit , which finally became a separate elbow room . ( Another fun fact : The soundstage where the Enterprise bridge was create was inhabited by feral Caterpillar , so it was full of computerized axial tomography shit at first . ) Source : Star Trek : The Next Generation Companion : Revised Edition by Larry Nemecek .
Sources as colligate in the items , plus the utterly indispensableMemory Alpha . Photos via Trekcore . Additional reporting by Leland Rzepecki , Tina Crossgrove , Hans Lao and Tyler Lutz .
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