Comments on: Frakes: Early TNG Seasons Were ‘Not Real Fun’

By: worldwideshorts

worldwideshorts — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 11:22:00 +0000

Roddenberry, Moore and Berman were all geniuses. As an example, probably true that Roddenberry was too controlling. I think the episodes get better because you bring more people into the fold, many new writers, newer perspectives. Roddenberry was just one guy and he may have just run out of ideas and if he didn’t let too much control get away from him, then you’re just left with him.

A lot of people praised Harve Bennett for Khan. He saw every episode of the original series and honed in to Ricardo Montalban. I think bringing new directorial blood into the movie series helped and it started a new trend. The second trend was letting Nimoy direct some of the movies and that was a big plus. I even think Bennett had some reservations about Nimoy directing but bringing new blood or new perspectives into the star trek masterpieces helped shape expanding its universe.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 12:24:00 +0000

I find I now enjoy seasons 1 and 2 almost much more than 6 or 7. By the end I felt everything had gotten so safe and bland. And now that I’m a little older I find myself really enjoying the much more dramatic music and lighting of the very earliest seasons. I’m even think the early uniform was a much more stylish cut.

By: Tremblingblustar

Tremblingblustar — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 01:25:00 +0000

I remember quite a few interviews with the TNG crew early on focusing on how incredibly uncomfortable those skin tight uniforms were. I can imagine that constant discomfort has something to do with how they were acting on screen.

By: Patlandness

Patlandness — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 19:14:00 +0000

I have to disagree. I’ve seen footage of Frakes in the 1st season blooper real–and he was being a real cut-up. And I also have to disagree about the early seasons being “stiff” and the later more relaxed. I’ve seen the first two seasons in comparison, to say, season 7, were *way* more relaxed and cordial. Do you think they would have had an episode like “The Naked Now” in season 7 with the limerick: “There once was a lady from Venus…”?

By: nevilleross

nevilleross — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 00:56:00 +0000

Sorry, but I think that RDM is a raving egotist who wanted to do to the franchise what he later did to Battlestar Galactica-except that he couldn't, at least not while Berman & Braga were around and running things. Most likely what he wanted B&B to do is what ended up on Battlestar Galactica; characters being not as Starfleet-like as most people know them, plus all of the other stuff we've seen on Battlestar Galactica and other shows. The results of what RDM did for Battlestar Galactica, are, at best, debatable, and while most people love what was done with Battlestar Galactica, the long-time fans of the show aren't in love with it-this well-known critic and Big Name Fan of SF was pretty harsh about what RDM got to do to Battlestar Galactica that he couldn't do to Star Trek. In a sense, I think that TV changed, but the Star Trek franchise couldn't change with it to make it's characters like the ones on the most popular shows, and it suffered-although season four of Enterprise was somewhat like Battlestar Galactica enough that it should be well-regarded by most of the detractors of the B&B era, I'd think.

By: Seventhbeacon

Seventhbeacon — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 22:46:00 +0000

Except that it went off the rails a lot earlier than that… most of Voyager was a stilted rehash of Next Gen episodes, and not just the format, but the script-writing and character inconsistencies of Enterprise really piled up. Yeah, I think the heart was definitely in the right place… and the fourth season turned out to be amazing, one of my favorite seasons of ANY of the Trek shows… and then it ended with probably the crappiest, crappiest episode of sci-fi TV I have ever had to watch (worse than TNG’s Season 2 finale) written by… yep, Berman and Braga.

Paramount had years of poor performance going back, and I’m of the opinion that DS9 succeeded in spite of Berman rather than because of him. A lot of the same people that made it so good also came in at series end and actually turned the last 2-3 seasons of Voyager into something exciting and fresh.

Manny Coto, bless his heart, also helped Enterprise find its legs in that last year.

Also, it didn’t help that the show was also on a fake network. UPN/CW… whatever you want to call it, has always been the ugly stepsibling of network television.

By: AirElephant

AirElephant — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:40:00 +0000

I’m afraid I have to break with conventional wisdom and aver that Berman didn’t do Trek as much of a disservice as people think. Yes, I think he stayed TOO long with the franchise and ran it into the ground with too much same-ness.

But he was the impetus behind my favorite Trek series of all time, DS9. I think the key mistake he made with Voyager was to hand the reins to Braga who, at least if you listen to folks like Ron D Moore, was a less than capable showrunner. (I tend to give RDM credit since he is behind most of the Trek stuff I like, as well as BSG.) I think Enterprise’s heart was in the right place, but the format was dated compared to the new, hot shows that emphasized the serial approach to television instead of the episodic.

I really do think Berman tried to keep Trek on track, but in the end it got away from him. He should have stopped after DS9 and First Contact and the whole Trek backlot should have been mixed up to give new voices some control. Of course, that’s all hindsight and certainly nothing anyone could have seen before the whole thing went off the rails with Enterprise and Nemesis.

By: Kang the Unbalanced

Kang the Unbalanced — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 17:03:00 +0000

Bring me the head of Rick Berman.

By: Seventhbeacon

Seventhbeacon — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:31:00 +0000

That I didn’t know, but I’m glad to. Generally it’s been easy and accurate to blame Berman and Braga for the bad judgments in later Trek TV years too. To quote redlettermedia, “What is it with Ricks?!”

(referring to Rick Berman AND Rick McCallum of Prequel fame)

By: Bass Guitar Hero

Bass Guitar Hero — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 09:22:00 +0000

Roddenberry passed over the reins to TNG to Berman half-way through the first season. Quite a few things people find at fault about early TNG really only involved Roddenberry in the sense that he gave approval of what Berman was doing.