The brainstorming sessions continued, out of which emerged some ideas that made it to the show — a more thoughtful, diplomatic captain who remains on the bridge rather than joining the away team; a much largerEnterprise that housed over 1,000 people, including families. Other ideas, well, didn't quite make the cut.
FONTANA I objected to Troi having three breasts. I felt women have enough trouble with two. And how are you going to line them up? Vertically, horizontally, or what? I was like, please, don't go there. And they didn't, fortunately.
THE DESIGN
By Christmas 1986, the essentials for the new Trek were settled. Fontana was hired to write the pilot episode, a mystery about a strange alien outpost called Farpoint Station, while Roddenberry went about finding craftsmen to design the 24th century.
HERMAN ZIMMERMAN, production designer The rumor around the [Paramount] lot was that this was another one of Gene Roddenberry's attempts to re-create his original television series and as such was probably not going to be anything more than a pilot. When I met Gene, my whole attitude changed dramatically. Gene is — I'm talking about him as if he's still alive — a humanist with a capital H. Gene had a way of making you feel very important to his project.
MICHAEL OKUDA, scenic artist Gene was very open to innovation, to looking at things from original angles. He also very much depended on the people working for him. He knew the feelings he wanted to evoke, but he didn't necessarily visually know how to evoke it. That's what we get paid for.
ANDREW PROBERT, consulting senior illustrator I was hired to design the bridge. Gene wanted something that was rather large, very comfortable, had a lot of earth tones in it. He did not want people hunched over computer consoles. He wanted it to look more like a living room than an IBM center.
OKUDA One way that people try to show that things are advanced is you have a lot of blinky, flashing lights. I wanted to go in the opposite direction. I wanted to show that this ship was so advanced that it was simple.
ZIMMERMAN We were criticized by the fans, who said it looked like a Hyatt Regency hotel. I was okay with that. Gene wanted light colors, he wanted space, he wanted it to feel like home. He did not want it to feel like a submarine.
PROBERT While I was doing the bridge, I was also doing sketches, on my own, of the new Enterprise. David Gerrold — he's the guy who [wrote the original Trek episode] ''The Trouble With Tribbles'' — saw my sketch, pulled it off the wall, and showed it to Gene and Bob. It got approved on the spot. I'm still flabbergasted Gene seemed to like it so much.
NEXT PAGE: ''Gene thought [Patrick Stewart] was a charming and delightful guy, but said, 'I'm not going to have a bald Englishman in his 40s become my new captain.'''
You Might Also Like
- Video Review Star Trek: The Next Generation | Steve Simels
- Video Review Quantum Leap;Star Trek: The Next Generation; Northern Exposure | Ken Tucker
- Sci-Fi: Special Coverage ''Star Trek: TNG'': Where are they now?
- Countdown ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'': The top 10 episodes
- Message Board What are the best eps of ''Star Trek: TNG''?
- Pop Culture Commentary We admit it: We love LeVar Burton | Neil Drumming
