Star Trek: The Next Generation
You may be looking for the trope: Next Generation.
| Fandom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name: | Star Trek: The Next Generation | |
| Abbreviation(s): | STTNG | |
| Creator: | Gene Roddenberry | |
| Date(s): | 1987-1994 (the TV show) 1994 Star Trek: Generations (seventh film) | |
| Medium: | Television series, movie series | |
| Country of Origin: | United States | |
| External Links: | ||
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | ||
| ||
Star Trek: The Next Generation was similar to the original Star Trek concept: a large, diverse crew on a ship called the Enterprise travels the galaxy, meets aliens, and spreads goodwill. This time, the ship was even bigger, and there were more aliens.
The main members of the TNG crew were:
| Name | Position | Species |
|---|---|---|
| Jean-Luc Picard | Captain | Human |
| William Riker | First Officer | Human |
| Geordi La Forge | Conn Officer; later, Chief Engineer | Human |
| Worf | Chief of Security and Tactical Officer | Klingon |
| Beverly Crusher | Chief Medical Officer | Human |
| Data | Second Officer | Android |
| Wesley Crusher | Conn Officer | Human |
| Natasha "Tasha" Yar | Chief of Security and Tactical Officer | Human |
| Deanna Troi | Ship's Counselor | Half-Betazoid (mother) / half-Human (father) |
Q, an alien with god-like powers and a rather flouncy and queenly mien, was a frequent guest star, especially in later seasons. Other recurring characters included Keiko and Miles O'Brien.
Fans spent hours deciding the exact one-to-one relationship between the original Star Trek characters and the TNG versions of them.
Early Casting
From the March 1987 issue of Comlink:
- "I would be negligent if I didn't pass along some information about the new ST TV series... from a fanzine, 'This is It' by Rich Volker. I present an abbreviated version for you to read and digest. Captain Julian Piccard -- a caucasian man in his fifties who is very youthful and in prime physical condition. Born in Paris, his Gallic accent appears only when deep emotions are triggered. He is definitely a romantic and believes strongly in concepts like honor and duty. Number One (aka William Ryker) -- 30-35 years old caucasian born in Alaska. Number One, as he is usually called, is second-in-command of the Enterprise and has a very strong, solid relationship with the Captain. Lt. Commander Data -- He is an android who has the appearance of a man in his mid-30s. Data should have exotic features. Lt. Macha Hernandez -- 26-year old woman of unspecified Latin descent who serves as the ship's security chief. Macha has an almost obsessive devotion to protecting the ship and its crew and treats Capt Picard and Number One as if they were saints. Lt. Deanna Troi -- An alien woman who is tall, about 30 years old and quite beautiful. She serves as the starship's Chief Psychologist. She and Number One are romantically involved. Wesley Crusher -- An appealing 15-year old caucasian boy. His remarkable mind and photographic memory make it seem likely for him to become, at 15, a Starfleet acting-ensign. Otherwise, he is a normal teenager. Beverly Crusher -- Wesley's 35-year old mother. She serves as the Chief Medical Officer. If it were not for her intelligence, personality, and beauty, and the fact that she has the natural walk of a striptease queen, Capt Picard might not have agreed to her request that Wesley observe bridge activities, therefore letting her son's intelligence carry events further. Lt. Geordi LaForge -- a 20-25-year old black man, blind from birth. With the help of a special prosthetic device he wears, his vision far surpassed anything the human eye can see. Although young, he is quite mature and best friends with Data."
This was also published in March 1987, this time in The Propagator, note the major differences are that Wesley Crusher was supposed to have been a girl named Leslie, the further description of Data, more description of Hernandez, more physical description of Troi, and more on Geordi's voice:
- "CAPT JULIAN PICARD — A Caucasian man in his 50's who is very youthful and in prime physical condition. Born in Paris, his gallic accent appears onlv when deep emotions are triggered He is definitely a romantic and believes strongly in concepts like honor and duty. Capt. Picard commands the Enterprise. He should have a mid-Atlantic accent, and a wonderfully rich speaking voice. NUMBER ONE (A.K.A. WILLIAM RYKER) — A 30-35 year old Caucasian born in Alaska. He is a pleasant looking man with sex appeal, of medium height, very agile and strong, a natural psychologist Number one, as he is usually called, is second-in-command of the Enterprise and has a very strong, solid relationship with the Captain. LT. COMMANDER DATA -- He is an android who has the appearance of a man in his mid 30's Data should have exotic features and can be anyone of the following racial groups: Asian, American Indian, East Indian. South American Indian or similar racial groups. He is in perfect physical condition and should appear very intelligent. LT. MACHA HERNANDEZ -- 26 year old woman of unspecified Latin decent who serves as the starship's security chief. She is described as having a new quality of conditioned-body-beauty, a fire in her eyes and muscularly well developed and very female body, but keeping in mind that much of her strength comes from attitude. Macha has an almost obsessive devotion to protecting the ship and Its crew and treats Capt. Picard and Number One as if they were saints, LT. DEANNA TROI — An alien woman who is tall (58" -6') and slender, about 30 years old and quite beautiful. She serves as the starship's Chief Psychologist. Deanna is probably foreign (anywhere from Italian, Greek, Hungarian, Russian, Icelandic, etc.) with looks and accent to match. She and Number One are romantically involved. Her alien "look" is still to be determined. LESLIE CRUSHER -- An appealing 15 year old Caucasian girl (need small 18 or almost 18 year old to play 15). Her remarkable mind and photographic memory make it seem not unlikely for her to become, at 15, a Starfleet acting-ensign. Otherwise, she is a normal teenager. BEVERLY CRUSHER -- Leslie's 35 year old mother, She serves as the chief medical officer on the Enterprise. If it were not for her intelligence, personality, beauty and the fact that she has a natural walk of a striptease queen Capt. Picard might not have agreed to her request that Leslie observe bridge activities, therefore letting her daughter's intelligence carry events further, LT. GEORDI LaFORGE — a 20-25 year old black man, blind from birth. With the help of a special prosthetic device he wears, his vision far surpasses anything the human eyes can see. Although he is young, he is quite mature and is best friends with Data. Please do not submit any 'street' types, as Geordi has perfect diction and might even have a Jamaican accent Should also be able to do comedy well."
TNG Meta
Paramount wanted to make more money out of the Star Trek concept. Fans were...cautiously optimistic. Star Trek had been ahead of its time in many ways; fans expected TNG to update that image, and continue to make statements of its own, but TNG was a profoundly conservative creation. One place where that became very obvious was homosexual inclusion. Gay SF fans organized a national letter-writing campaign to urge Paramount to acknowledge a queer presence in the 24th century future represented on TNG. Roddenberry publicly committed himself to do so shortly before his death, but the producers never made good on that promise.[1] Another reason TNG was not taken very seriously by many SF or media fans was the way the show didn't seem to realize that Wesley Crusher was a horribly obvious Mary Sue character.
TNG Fandom
Much TNG fanfic was posted on ASC and, later, ASCEM. Picard/Crusher and Riker/Troi were popular het pairings, with a number of communities such as BONC and the Imzadi mailing list developing around them. The Data/Yar pairing also attracted some fans, including some who usually considered themselves slashers.
TNG was a less popular slash fandom than its predecessor, although there was some f/f fic, especially Crusher/Troi and Tasha/Troi, and some m/m fic, including Data/LaForge and Picard/Riker. The relatively small amount of slash may be a result of the fact that two of the central male characters, Picard and Riker, had well-developed romantic interests in canon, Crusher and Troi, respectively. Late in the series, a Picard/Q fandom also started to develop.
For an overview of Star Trek fandom's online activities from the early 1990s, including show commentary, episode guides and fan fiction, visit the textfile directory.
TNG Zines and Stories
Timeline:
- It appears that the fanzine, This is It! published in May of 1987, was the first TNG fanzine. "In fact, it had such complete details of the characters in its stories that Paramount asked us to stop it's sale after just one issue." ~ T.A. Chafin in Early Science Fiction Fanzines: A Cover Gallery, Jan 25, 2010. Following close behind was the newsletter Data Entries, which began publishing in October/November 1987, as was The Hive, published in November 1987. A very early TNG story appeared in a Star Trek: TOS anthology was "The Keys" in Elysia #2.
Notable in content:
- Several TNG fanworks considered among the best by some fans are actually crossovers with other fandoms, including:
- In The Dark series by Kellie Matthews and Julia Kosatka, an X-Files/Highlander/TNG crossover with Duncan MacLeod and Guinan becoming lovers.
- Married Dance by Jane Carnall, a novella-length slash Highlander/ST:TNG/The Persian Boy crossover -- a deft mix of three fandoms, marred only by, in some Highlander fans' views, the author's too-evident disdain for Duncan. (See Hero Bashing.)
- One novel that is still searched for as a used zine is Pulse of the Machine by Jean Kluge, a Data/Tasha novel gorgeously illustrated by both Jean and Marty Siegrist.
Slash:
- In the early '90s, SF fans who'd heard of het and slash Trek fic, brought out a ST:TNG zine called Science Friction, which highlighted the gay subtext of the Borg episodes. Most long-term media fans disliked it a great deal. This led to much discussion about the difference between erotica in media fandom vs. professional erotica/pornography of the time.
Pairings:
- Picard/Q was probably the biggest slash pairing:
- A famous pair of early netfic stories -- His Beloved Pet & At the Centre of Things by Ruth Gifford and Atara Stein -- was published on alt.startrek.creative.erotica back in 1996. They told a love story with a very heavy s/m dynamic, featuring Q as top, Picard (relaxing from the cares of command) as bottom, with chains, whips, collars, and leather all over the place.
- The King Who Would Be Man was a P/Q zine story by M Fae Glasgow in an Pæan to Priapus #2 (1990). Q decides he wants to experience sex after "Deja Q" (the episode where he becomes human). He picks Picard to experience it with; Picard patently refuses to cooperate and Q starts shape-shifting trying to push Picard's buttons.[2]
- A Picard/Data story that is still recommended is Mental Traveler, also by M Fae Glascow, in Concupiscence, a Manacles Press zine.
More zines:
- For more TNG zines see: Star Trek: The Next Generation/Fanzines and Category: Star Trek TNG Zines
TNG art
When TNG came along, Jean Kluge had already been a fan artist for years, but she fell hard for Tasha Yar/Data, and it's possible that her art for that pairing is her best ever. One of her Tasha Yar/Data pictures was used for the cover of Textual Poachers.
TNG vids
- Tapestry by Mary Van Deusen, a sad Tasha Yar vid, that told her whole first-season story through a frame of Data putting away her things.
- I think I'm a Clone Now by ? On one level, a profoundly silly vid to Star Trek and TNG clips; on another, a lovely commentary on how much TNG ripped off original Trek.
- Kandy Fong's classic Riker vs. Kirk vid, "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better", a rare early vid with professional video effects
Archives
References
- ↑ Jenkins, Henry. "'Out of the closet and into the universe': Queers and Star Trek" in The Audience Studies Reader, ed. by Will Brooker and Deborah Jermyn, p. 172.
- ↑ The King Who Would Be Man, on the Oblique Press site, in pdf
