The Episode that saved Star Trek: The Next Generation by Warren Bull
Image by Stephn Cosma on Upspalsh
I am always fascinated by the process of writing for different venues. Thirty years ago, one frantic writing endeavor saved a popular television program. I enjoyed finding out about it and I hope you will too.
From the Hollywood Reporter February 21, 2020 by Phil Pirrello
The episode that saved the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation was titled “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” Co-writers Ira Steven Behr and Ronald D. Moore described their experience with the one of the greatest and most difficult episodes they ever wrote.
At that time the show, which was in season three, was behind in episodes and writing was like putting out fires. Moore reported he was told to see if he could pull a usable story from a script submitted on speculation. In that script, Captain Pickard and the Enterprise crew found the long-missing Enterprise-C when a time anomaly brought them together in the 24th century. In that version of the century, the Federation has nearly lost a long war against the Klingons. Pickard believes if the Enterprise-C returns to its original timeline it might short circuit the war.
Scenes from the script were parceled out to different writers. Moore said he was reassured by a scene he wrote that did not make it into the final script. His boss complimented him on the scene, which gave him confidence. He made the Captain of Enterprise-C a woman and added that the Enterprise crew knew Enterprise-C had been destroyed, which they tried to keep from revealing.
To fit the schedule of Whoopi Goldberg, who was a major character in the episode, the writers had to spend Thanksgiving weekend hacking away at the script. Moore said he enjoyed creating a different version of the Enterprise bridge that was darker and starker than the usual one. He also wrote an ending with the entire crew dying by their own choice, sacrificing themselves to save millions of lives in the future. The death scenes were shot but excluded from the show because they were judged to be too depressing. Only the gruesome death of one crew member in an explosion made it into the show.
The head writer was not enamored with the result. His remark was, “this doesn’t look terrible,” but he approved what has become one of the most beloved and classic episodes. Successfully pulling together despite the short time available and the surrounding chaos reenergized the writers and the cast. The show continued for seven seasons and inspired the new series Star Trek: Pickard, which is in its first year.
Interesting post, Warren. It's amazing how many times rushed writing becomes some of the best writing. Perhaps because we don't have time to keep second-guessing our first instincts.
ReplyDeleteFascinating. I agree with Grace--rushed writing (or in college, writing enough words to fill a blue book) can be terrific, inspired writing.
ReplyDeleteI've long been a big fan of Next Gen. That was a great episode.
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