Friday, May 28, 2010

Question: Promotional Opportunity

Star Trek TNG characters never seem to get promoted. And frankly, that might be a good thing. I'm not sure any of them are ready to sit in the big chair. . . talk about people with issues! But if you had to choose one of them to promote, which one would it be? And why? Engage.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

If I had to pick one, I'd pick Data. But to commander, not captain. I imagine being a starship captain requires that extra bit of ingenuity and creativity that a synthetic lifeform lacks. Data could make a good first officer aboard a science research vessel.

Having read the post-Nemesis TNG and Titan novels, I can say that, right now in the non-canon Trek universe: Riker is captain of the Titan with Troi as his "chief diplomatic officer" and Picard is still captain of the Enterprise with Worf as first officer and Crusher and LaForge in their posts as chief medical officer and chief engineer.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, I can see Data as an effective commander, but not a captain either -- not only does he miss the ability for creative thinking, but he's strangely erratic too often.

Riker is the obvious choice because of his First Officer position, but he doesn't seem to have the desire to be captain?

So who would you ultimately promote?

Anonymous said...

I would say Riker. Sure he didn't have the desire during the series (that's what contracts are for) but had TNG continued, it's possible he would've finally decided it was time. By the time we got the last TNG movie, obviously he had.

I've often said it would be interesting if TNG were made today, with today's storytelling (multiple plotlines, non-linear stories, etc.) It's possible a TNG made today could chronicle the adventures of Picard AND Riker aboard their respective ships.

JG said...

Riker - but mostly because he was obviously modeled off of Kirk. :) He was always my favorite. More fight than Picard but also good with the diplomacy.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, "that's what contracts are for" -- LOL!

It would have been interesting to see how they would have done the show differently if they'd done it today. In fact, if would be interesting if they tried to revive the show using modern story telling techniques, which would probably make very different than the four versions (TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise) from the 1990 era.

So you're sticking with Riker huh? Nobody else strikes you as command material? What about Barkley? (just kidding)

AndrewPrice said...

JG, You're right about Riker being the most like Kirk (who is easily my favorite -- there's not even a close second).

As Riker's character was originally cast, he definitely stood out from the rest in terms of the nature of his character. The rest struck me as very much happy to be bit players in the system (even Picard seemed that way, as he seemed intent on running the Enterprise by committee (at first)), but Riker seemed much more adventurous than the rest.

Out of all the TNG crew, I liked the way Picard evolved the most. He really gained a gravitas and a toughness that was missing when the show started. I think Riker got wiser, but they kept throwing in the "why doesn't he have any ambition" plot lines that I thought weakened his character.

That said, I have wondered many times why they never tried to spin Riker off into another show? It would have made sense during the show's heyday to create a spinoff and Riker was the obvious choice to run whatever ship that was. i don't know why they didn't?

Anonymous said...

I think they did too many Trek spin-offs when all was said and done. Or rather, they did them too soon. Even franchise overlord Rick Berman wanted to wait a few years before doing Enterprise but the suits at UPN wanted a new Trek show for the fall after Voyager ended.

As for a Riker spinoff, Paramount could do a series of TV movies aboard the U.S.S. Titan: "The Adventures of Captain Riker" or something like that. There are plenty of fans who have mentioned it and I'm sure it would do reasonably well and not cost too much. Plus Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis could be convinced. They even have their own idea. :-)

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, The thought about the spin off actually arose before DS-9 and the rest came around. But you're right that there have been too many spin offs and they've were too close in time. I also think they were all too similar.

I was under the impression that Frakes was done with acting, though I admittedly don't keep up with him. At this point, I'm not sure doing a TNG spinoff would be a good idea -- it's time seems to have passed. They might be better off doing something new and with a very different feel to it.

Anonymous said...

Frakes shows up in things once in a blue moon. I think he was actually teaching at one point and of course he directs a lot of television.

Thankfully, we'll always have the novels. :-)

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, I never got into the novels.

I know he's directed a couple of movies, but I haven't seen him on film in some time. Of course, I haven't seen the others either -- except that they are starting to show up on the sci-fi channel now. I think there was a sale on former sci-fi actors. . .

CrisD said...

Mr.Spock was my hero.

Please stop with the Star Trek NG. I take it personally.

AndrewPrice said...

CrisD, LOL! Sorry to hear that. :-)

But I have to agree, there is only one Star Trek. . . all the rest are imitators.

And I do agree that Spock would have made a great captain. Not as good as Kirk, but still great.

BevfromNYC said...

What about Wesley Crusher? He would be old enough now to be captain of his own ship.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Wesley's probably joined a cult at this point.

USArtguy said...

Natasha "Tasha" Yar "Chief of Security" 1st season.

Butch hair cut or not, I could never accept as her as "security" let alone "Chief of...". Nothing against her as an actress, but about 25 years ago I paid a very short visit to San Diego and wound up close to the Naval base and saw one of the largest human beings ever out jogging near the gate. I was very glad he was on our side. That's the kind of chief of security I want.

Promote her to... I dunno, Ship Librarian... Chief Chef?

AndrewPrice said...

USArtguy, I couldn't stand her. Not only was her acting poor, but her whole character was a walking contradiction. I like Worf much better as a security chief.

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