The next generation was forbidden to use the name of the Spock

Summary

• TNG succeeded in carving its own identity from TOS with the help of a bizarre rule prohibiting the “bond”.

• The rule against the “Spock” was forced by executive producer Rick Berman to maintain TNG separate from TOS.

• TNG eventually accepted Spock in its fifth season, reflected the success of the show and shift in attitude to the connection of Tos.

Few sci-fi franchise had a cultural residential power at the level Star Trek. The original series created by Gene Roddenberry introduced the world to Captain William Shatner Kirk, Mr. Spock Leonard Nimoy and the rest of the USS Enterprise crew. The show prepared a stage for the whole universe of narration. So when Star Trek: Another generation went to production, had a hard job: honor the inheritance Tos while carving his own identity. The general consensus between trekkies is that it succeeded. But behind the scenes, TNG Also had some strange rules designed to distinguish it from its predecessor, one of the strangest beings Direct ban to say “spock”.

At a time TNG The star fleet reached its third season and found its groove. Next generation He made some of his most interesting and brain episodes and managed to get out of TosShadow. But when the show tried to bridge the narration Tos and TNG In the episode “Sarek”, writers came across a great time against the rule of No-Spock.

Why was Spock outside the limits?

It seems that the forbidding the name Spock was not arbitrary. In fact, it was a deliberate decision that was strongly forced TNG Executive producer Rick Berman. In an oral history Fifty years of mission: Another 25 yearsWriter Ira Steven Behr remembers how Berman is unattended about keeping TNG separate from Tos. His justification? He did not want the newer series to rely too much on nostalgia or feel as if living in the shadow of a story that came earlier.

It wasn't a one -time thing. Soon, TNG impressed a strict approach to exclude links Tos. Deforest Kelley made a short portrait as an aging Dr. McCoy at a “Farpoint meeting”, but the show avoided the show. So when Behr worked on the emotional episode “Sarek”, he came across the main backer – an impossible task of telling the story of Spock's father without mentioning Spock.

In the book Behr says he was pushing back against Berman and claiming that the omission made no sense and demanded a one -off exception. The tense relationship of Sareka with the Spock was an essential part of his character, as seen in Tos as well as movies Star Trek 3 and 4. The writers should somehow solve Sarek's insight and not recognize one of the most important characters in his life: his own son.

When we did the “sarek” rewriting, the fight for the word “Spock” was mad. I was absolutely not allowed to use the word “spock”. Rick has made it a big problem and said we can't do it. There is no way.

Although it is commendable that TNG The creators wanted to distance a new series from the success of the past, the complete exclusion of the name in the episode so internally tied to the Spock itself seems to be arbitrary and potentially even confusing for fans.

Name

Although Berman kicked heels, Behr was not ready to give up. During one of his many visits to Berman's office, he decided to raise her again and asked why they couldn't say “Spock”. Berman apparently leaned on a chair, angry. Instead of giving a reason, he just sighed and finally relaxed: “Okay, you can say it once.”

That was it. One mention of Spock and Behr won. Thanks to his fight, trekkies can still hear the name Spock buried in the “Sarek” dialog – once.

Spock's surprising return of the season 5

Despite the mission of the show to stand by itself, only two seasons later, TNG He made a complete face with the “unification” of two parteries. Not only did they name Drop Spock repeatedly, but in fact they brought Leonard Nimoy to a show for visiting performances. Suddenly there was a thing that was in “Sarek” outside the border, now in front and in the middle.

It was clear that something had changed in the minds of producers. By season 5, TNG He was no longer trying to prove – it was a huge success. Unable to take care of Tos overshadowed because it has become a definitive Star Trek show your time. In addition, Star Trek VI: undiscovered country was in the production and involvement of Nimoy in the franchise appeared TNG Natural adaptation. However, for Behr and others who fought against the bonding ban, the sudden conversion was probably frustrating.

To make it not even worse, some of the writers Star TrekIncluding Michael Piller, they were not satisfied with the episode of “unification” at all. He remembered the feeling that he could do a spock TNG He will appear more interesting and that he could do more than just diplomacy. Fans may have loved this episode, but Piller not:

It is no secret that I was disappointed with my own work more than anything else. I thought it was a historical opportunity, and I don't think we have published the potential. […] It was our feeling when you are going to knock out a pension, it must be something that is space meaning.

TNG's effort to build on your own merit

While the prohibition of compound may seem to be unnecessary restrictions, especially in the Adjacent Spock episode as “Sarek”, some claim that Berman and his many rules have actually helped TNG Become a success. By distance from each other Tos, Next generation He was forced to establish his own identity rather than lean on familiar faces, names and nostalgia in general. At a time when many franchises rely on constant call back to keep viewers in involvement, TNG It reminds us of a bolder approach: it focused on building new iconography.

There is no doubt that the show created its own heritage and introduced iconic characters such as Captain Patrick Stewart Picard and Data Brent Spiner. Before the “unification” was broadcast, TNG He was strong enough to bring Spock to his world rather than rely on him to verify his existence.

On the one hand TNG separate from Tos allowed him to create his own link. On the other hand, it seems that the forced omissions of the “sarek” compacts are almost absurd, especially with regard to how the character was freely used in “unification” and later in shows as Deep Space Nine and Discovery. Finally, whether the link ban was a mistake or a strategic step is on fans to decide. Either way, TNG He has shown that he does not need nostalgia to succeed – it becomes legendary himself.