Chaos on the Bridge (TV Movie 2014)

Chaos on the Bridge: Directed by William Shatner. With William Shatner, D.C. Fontana, David Gerrold, Maurice Hurley. The story of the struggle to create the television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).

“So, Gene Roddenberry was human!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLeave it to William Shatner to dredge all this up and confront the actors, producers, writers, and studio executives which he interviews in this film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSomebody suggested that the music was inappropriate, however, since this movie was kind of made to look like it was based on a poker game which is totally appropriate for the next generation, the music is 100% spot on.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI remember when this show first aired, when I watched Encounter at Farpoint, I was thinking to myself that there was some kind of dichotomy, some kind of split going on within that episode.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe first part deals with exploring the new ship and showing its capabilities. The holodeck, the saucer separation. Gene had actually considered doing this in a possible fourth season of the original show, in the book u0026quot;the making of Star Treku0026quot;, Gene talks about a holographic recreation area for crewmembers and also the fact that the original Enterprise saucer section was detachable, just like the u0026quot;Du0026quot;- so none of that was new to me- as a matter of fact I was thinking congratulations for finally getting to these things.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt was wholly ironic for William Shatner to produce and direct this documentary. When I was watching the first season of next generation, I just felt that there was something wrong. But I couldnu0026#39;t put my finger on it. Until I watched this documentary, and now I understand and I can even in my mind go through the seasons and the episodes and identify what was probably happening based on what I have been told through this documentary.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd I also never realized that Tracy Tormé was the son of Mel Tormé- there is a great resemblance there. And Tracy is basically the one who thought up the Borg, originally they were going to be connected to the parasite-aliens from Conspiracy, but that never happened. But from the last two episodes of season one, we are set up for the possible invasion from somebody.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSome people have complained bitterly about this movie, feeling that it degrades Gene, but I donu0026#39;t agree. This movie in no way changes how I feel about the man, he was the creator of Star Trek and he was always the great bird of the galaxy to me.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eExcept that I donu0026#39;t agree at all with Maurice Hurleyu0026#39;s contention that Geneu0026#39;s ideas about the future of mankind were u0026quot;Whack-a-doodleu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI actually thought some of Mauriceu0026#39; episodes were fairly good. But now that I know that he was elevated to the show runner position above two veteran Star Trek writers, and that he really didnu0026#39;t appreciate Geneu0026#39;s vision? To me that explains everything that was wrong with the first two seasons. And it wasnu0026#39;t Gene.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNow I always thought the second season was a huge step up from the first season especially from the start with Riker sporting a beard and Geordi being elevated to the engineer. Good ideas. And despite what is said about Dr. Pulaski, I liked her more than Dr. Crusher. Because she was caustic and acerbic just like bones. She was a female bones. I loved her character and I love the actress Diana Muldaur – except that in the documentary she kind of looked like how she looked in the episode u0026quot;Unnatural Selectionu0026quot;. I wish they would have tapped her for the new Picard series.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnyways this doesnu0026#39;t make me hate the show or like it any less, this movie shines the light of truth onto something that we love, it explains a lot of things. And this could not have been done by anybody but William Shatner. God love William Shatner.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlso one thing is very clear, during the whole production of next generation where Gene was involved, he was ill the entire time. The show definitely took itu0026#39;s toll on him, he wanted to retire, not make a new Star Trek show. But he did it, selflessly and at risk to his own health.”