If Picard was killed off in "The Best of Both Worlds"

[indycar]

Since part one was written without the conclusion (part two) determined, there was a chance that Picard would get killed off. This was because Patrick Stewart was in contract negotiations and if they couldn't come to an agreement, they would have a way to write out the character. If Picard was killed off, how do you think the rest of the show had been with Riker as the captain/lead character and Shelby as the first officer/second lead? What do you think about the movies, if they would still be made?

 

[Terok Nor]

I was under the impression the entire cast had 6 season contracts but I could be wrong. If that was the case there was no chance of Picard dying.

I would've liked to see Shelby continue on the show but she was likely promoted to captain soon after Best Of Both Worlds. She could still have appeared from time to time.

I didn't find Riker likeable enough to be the captain so I'm glad that never happened.

 

[Lance]

I was under the impression the entire cast had 6 season contracts but I could be wrong. If that was the case there was no chance of Picard dying.

You're not wrong about the 6 year contract, but even that still isn't a locked-in deal. Actors can make a case to be released from the contract, as indeed Denise Crosby did as Tasha Yar in the first season (she signed the same 6 year deal that everybody else did, but she went to Gene Roddenberry and asked to be released early, which he obliged -- he could have just told her to shut up and report back to the set as per the terms of her contract, but he decided to let her go). And then there's actors being fired and rehired, eg Gates McFadden. One wonders if her return in season three was covered under the original 6 year deal signed in season one, or whether a new contract was drawn up just for her.

The way Michael Piller used to explain it, there were some murmerings back and forth that Patrick Stewart wasn't entirely satisfied in the role. Whether that's just the usual fluff that an actor's agent sends along to a studio as a way of puffing up their 'star' in the lead-up to a new production block or not is anyone's guess, but if the situation were really that dire then Stewart could have said "thanks, but no thanks" and walked. 6 year contract or no 6 year contract.

(It's a matter of public record that Stewart made several requests for the production team to embolden the Picard role over the years, and that the writers certainly did everything they could to accomodate them.)

 

[bbjeg]

Though I think Picard is the backbone of TNG, it would have been a bold move if they killed him off and I think I'd be OK with Riker as captain if Worf was his commander and Shelby his chief tactical officer.

 

[LeadHead]

The Best of Both Worlds was a critical moment for TNG and Trek in general. Picard's rescue from the Borg maintained the status quo of the series and with all of the new viewers brought in, kept the earlier seasons accessible.

I think Frakes could have led the show well, he did lots of good work with Riker. However, he never had as many iconic statments or catchphrases as Picard, Data or Worf. Engage, Make it so, Fully Functional, Merry man, etc. While the small things like this are unlikely to make or break a series, everything contributes to the success.

I'm not sure if they would've kept Shelby around. Given how popular a character Data was, it's probable that he would've moved up to First Officer. Maybe with Wesley taking over Ops (not sure if Wheaton would have stayed on the show longer because of this, possibly they would've gotten him to stay through the 4th season, not wanting to have 2 regulars leave in the same season)

 

[TheSubCommander]

I didn't for a minute think they were going to kill off Picard when I saw BOBW in first run. I was more like wanting to know how they were going to get out of that one. But if they had, I think they would have brought Shelby in as First Officer, and left the rest of the cast where they were. That said, had they killed off Picard, I think that would have killed the show.

 

[Shikarnov]

If Sir Patrick was let go, I think they would have tried to return to formula as quickly as possible.

Riker, as captain, would quickly get comfortable making "the big decisions" and accepting of the risks associated with them. He might be a somewhat less cerebral CO than Picard -- I doubt we'd see him quoting Shakespeare to Q -- but nonetheless would follow in his footsteps with conferences and discussions, and I'm sure we'd see him once or twice trying to read some of that high-brow literature that his mentor found so valuable.

I also think Shelby would remain onboard... mainly because promoting any of the regulars would mess with the formula a bit too much.

While it was cool seeing Data take charge in Redemption and smackdown Hobson, it wouldn't do much for the show overall to either remove their resident explorer of humanity or have a naive XO who constantly expresses childish wonder at the motivations of others.

And Riker's other choice of Worf would probably end up creating the same kind of redundancy that existed while Yar was still alive: two very aggressive "warriors" on the bridge, advocating for the same approaches, both eager to apply their skills. I'll grant that my opinion discounts Worf's ability to grow, but at this point in TNG's run, I don't think he was ready for command.

Shelby, on the other hand, is exactly how Riker was originally conceived. She's an ambitious risk-taker on her way up. She'd be the perfect foil to the newer, calmer Riker -- just as Riker was a foil to Picard (at least that was the intention). And while I think it'd be interesting to watch her push Riker in his new role, I would probably expect the producers to have him temper Shelby's energy. And by the end of the fourth season, we'd have Jonathan Frakes as Captain Jean-Luc Riker, and Elizabeth Dennehy as Commander William T. Shelby.

Formula: restored.

 

[CrazyMatt]

From a series production standpoint, the character of Picard had a gravitas that Riker lacked. Also, Riker's vibrant character would now be removed from away missions, which would have stunted his character.

From a realism standpoint, it's hard to imagine that Riker's first command would have been the Enterprise under any other circumstances than those portrayed in BOBW. And remember, the admiral promoted him thusly:

HANSON [on monitor]: "Commander Riker, I hereby promote you to the field commission of Captain."

I'm not exactly sure what a field commission is, but I assume it's like a battlefield commission, and lacks permanence. This jives with the fact that Riker's rank reverted to commander after Picard was returned to duty. If he had remained a permanent captain, he would have been compelled to take another posting whether he wanted to or not.

ALSO.... Given that the E-D was the flagship of the federation, and the two other Galaxy-class captains we saw (in TNG (Varley) and DS9 (Keough)) were obviously quite a bit older (and presumably quite a bit more experienced) than Riker, it stands to reason that Starfleet would put a new captain of similar age and experience in the captain's chair of the E-D.

 

[at Quark's]

I'm glad they let Picard survive, as I suspect I like Picard's Enterprise just a little more than I would have liked Riker's, though TNG still would have been a great show.

Also, though I would have hated to see Frakes leave TNG at that point, I think for Riker's own career, and for the rebuilding of Starfleet, he should have accepted captaincy of some vessel after Wolf-359. (Though I don't think it would have been realistic, had he gotten the Ent-D as his first command permanently in the event of Picard's death. I suppose he'd be transfered to some smaller vessel. Something the size of Voyager, perhaps )

 

[Marc]

Actors can make a case to be released from the contract, as indeed Denise Crosby did as Tasha Yar in the first season (she signed the same 6 year deal that everybody else did, but she went to Gene Roddenberry and asked to be released early, which he obliged -- he could have just told her to shut up and report back to the set as per the terms of her contract, but he decided to let her go). And then there's actors being fired and rehired, eg Gates McFadden.

If you listened to the Marina Sirtis intervew that posted a few weeks back, the studio wanted to get rid of one of the women cast members so I don't think there was much resistance when Crosby wanted to go.

I'm not exactly sure what a field commission is, but I assume it's like a battlefield commission, and lacks permanence. This jives with the fact that Riker's rank reverted to commander after Picard was returned to duty. If he had remained a permanent captain, he would have been compelled to take another posting whether he wanted to or not.

I think it can be permanent but can depend on the situation afterwards (for example if there are too many captains and not enough billets some-one might get bumped back down to Commander).

However as Riker has previously been offered a captaincy (the U.S.S Melbourne) it's not like Starfleet didn't have the confidence in him so I don't think his field commission would have been reversed. When Picard returned he was probably given the option - keep the 4 pip and transfer to another ship or reduce in rank to stay on the Enterprise.

Don't know how normal to have to line officers with the rank of captain on the ship (Kirk and Spock) though in even in the real world you can have two captains when one is a seperate division (for example on an Air Craft carrier the C.O will be a four strip captain as will the Commander Air Group).

Sometimes an office will be happy to reduce in rank to stay or return to a ship.

Spoiler: In the novels

La Forge is promoted to Captain and command his own ship. Following it's loss, he takes a rank reduction to return to the Enterprise.

 

[STEPhon IT]

If Patrick Stewart left TNG, it would've been the end of TNG, none of those actors could've filled his shoes. None. Sorry Brent Spiner lovers, but he would be looking for a new gig. Stewart carried that show, and there was a reason why he was nominated for best actor. He delivered lines like a leading man, and help support the limited talents from the rest of the cast.

Stewart was contracted for 6 seasons with a possible 7th, and I'm glad he stayed for the entire series; he's my favorite TNG character.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I deeply respect Jonathan Frakes' contributions to STAR TREK and would've loved to have seen him be given an even larger role in TNG, had Sir Patrick Stewart left the show. Riker's persistent, almost irrational insistence on remaining in the Number One position was handled very poorly, by the show. This would've been nicely remedied, had Riker taken over as Captain. But that didn't happen and I'm glad about that, because the original cast ensemble looked great together, complemented eachother well and were a real team.

There was something for everybody, from youngsters to oldsters keeping the original format. I'm doubtful that Sir Patrick Stewart was really going to leave such a high profile show, just to return to The Old Vic. I've even read somewhere that he, personally, intervened to have Gates McFadden return to the show. That doesn't sound like someone who's interested in leaving it, to me. Still in all, I'm enough of a Jonathan Frakes fan to have been glad to see his name at the top of the credits, every week, if it came to that.

 

[Scotchy]

The vague impression they give the viewer in Parallels (Worf's journey through a few different alternate realities) is that in most of the timelines we're shown Picard was killed and replaced by Riker. There's even at least one where Locutus is victorious, leading to the frazzled, Grizzly Adams-looking Riker begging for help from the other universes.
Nothing to do with actors or contracts, I know, but it is of interest since it underlines the small probability that Riker would beat the Borg and save Picard.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I thought it was a missed opportunity not having Beverly Crusher marry Picard (In real time) in the last episode "All Good Things..." or in 1 of TNG movies. It was a subplot which was never resolved.

 

[at Quark's]

The vague impression they give the viewer in Parallels (Worf's journey through a few different alternate realities) is that in most of the timelines we're shown Picard was killed and replaced by Riker. There's even at least one where Locutus is victorious, leading to the frazzled, Grizzly Adams-looking Riker begging for help from the other universes.
Nothing to do with actors or contracts, I know, but it is of interest since it underlines the small probability that Riker would beat the Borg and save Picard.

Not most. I believe we see Worf 'jump' 5 times in the episode, making for 6 successive different realities- or 7 (*) , only the last of which seems to have no Picard. And then of course the 'desparate' enterprise in the 'multiple Enterprises popping up'-part that doesn't want to return to its own timeline in which the Borg are everywhere. So that would make 2 out of 7 (or 8) we're shown.

(* I'm uncertain whether the first reality we're shown in the episode is Worf's original universe, or not. On the one hand, it has his birthday celebration whereas there later is none on 'his' enterprise, but on the other hand, Geordi was nowhere near between crossing the quantum fissure and reaching the Enterprise ).

 

[Bagofmostlywatr]

I've always liked the idea that was hinted at for a moment in the episode with Hugh, that maybe picard wasn't totally deassimilated, but the idea of that is probably way, way too dark for TNG which needs to have everyone smiling at the end of the episode.

 

[ItIsGreen]

If he had remained a permanent captain, he would have been compelled to take another posting whether he wanted to or not.

Spock served as First Officer of the Enterprise-A in STV and STVI while holding the rank of Captain.

 

[at Quark's]

I've always liked the idea that was hinted at for a moment in the episode with Hugh, that maybe picard wasn't totally deassimilated, but the idea of that is probably way, way too dark for TNG which needs to have everyone smiling at the end of the episode.

The very first time I saw that scene as a teenager, I actually thought for a second that Picard still might be working for the Borg. In a way, it would have been a brilliantly daring move. But you're right, it wouldn't have fitted in with the spirit of TNG. (I think it would even have gone way too far for a show like DS9).

 

[Bagofmostlywatr]

Caught me the second time I watched it (about 15 years later) as well.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The series was better for not having lost Patrick Stewart, but it certainly would have changed and revitalized the show. Maybe lead to more 'seat of your pants' style adventures and some interesting conflicts with Riker commanding a female version of season one Riker.