Star Trek: The Next Generation : What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

I think that most people are aware that Star Trek: The Motion Picture was initially going to be a different sort of relaunching of Star Trek. Around 1977-78, Paramount was planning a Star Trek series that would've reunited the Original Series cast, sans Leonard Nimoy called Phase II. Phase II would've been the flagship program for a network called the Paramount Television Service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Television_Service

Of course, this sort of thing (i.e. Paramount launching its own TV network w/ Star Trek as the main linchpin) wouldn't actually happen until the '90s with Voyager on UPN. But what if Paramount launched their own network about a decade earlier with The Next Generation as the flagship? It was around this same time that the Fox Network was starting and trying to cement itself as the fourth major network.

From what I've heard, Fox considered carrying TNG but would only commit to 13 episodes instead of the 26 that Season 1 actually did get in first-run syndication.

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

More than likely the "braniacs" in charge of the network would have heavily involved themselves, the show would have been worse for it and it would not have found success.

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

Yeah like UPN and look how that turned out by 2000 they had lost over $800 million because of insufficient viewers.

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

And a few years later wanted to put a flavour of the week band on Enterprise!

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

Yeah you read that silly idea too I actually heard it in an interview with Berman & Braga when they were interviewed about ENT where they also explained that most things fans didn't like(and for which Berman & Braga got the blame)came after direct instructions(or rather orders because they did challenged these decisions)from the head office.

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

I did like the response of how do all these musical crewmembers keep getting aboard?

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?


More than likely the "braniacs" in charge of the network would have heavily involved themselves, the show would have been worse for it and it would not have found success.



Considering how bad S1/S2 were all on their own, those "braniacs" (sp) sure would have earned a very strong, special "E for effort" to somehow have made those first seasons even worse!

While S1 does have one redeeming ep (Symbiosis), it would have to take a specific, intentional effort to sabotage a show to have made S1 worse than it was.

We certainly wouldn't have gotten Undiscovered Country.

And I'm not sure what's worse: not even getting Final Frontier... or Trek ending on the pathetic note of Final Frontier.

I still remember getting jabs from people in 1989 for not understanding that Final Frontier... was the final Trek film. I had trouble believing they'd just end Trek with... that. Regardless of the "final" in the name. Glad I was right!

(Yes, I know Shatner wanted to make a different film, but the final product was the final product. There's no "Shatner's Cut" to save it.)

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

You mean, at roughly the same time as FOX? Hard to say, but I'd lay odds that it would fail. If they started at the same time as FOX, they would've been up against Married With Children, The Simpsons, In Living Color, not to mention everything that was on prime time on the other three networks. If Star Trek TNG was all they had to go on, they would've been sunk, because, in reality, there aren't enough Trekkies around to keep the ratings up against all of that. By having Star Trek TNG on a FOX affiliate, at the least they had less to compete with along the same time slot.

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

Married...with children believe it or not, never really had high ratings. Never top 10. Or top 20 even.

Movie Theater: Young Frankenstein 10/10. RIP Gene Wilder. One of the funniest people of all time.

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

It was quite popular over here CJ.

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

Well, it was popular enough over here too. It was on for 11 seasons. Just never had the juggernaut ratings Cheers or The Cosby Shoe, or Roseanne or whatever had at the time.

Movie Theater: Young Frankenstein 10/10. RIP Gene Wilder. One of the funniest people of all time.

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

I would say for a certain period Married with Children was even more popular than those Rosanne was never that popular to begin with.I was always kinda hoping there would be a spin-off series called Psycho-Dad.

Re: What if Paramount launched their own TV network in 1986-87?

Over there, maybe. Not over here. Rosanne was a number one show for like 4 seasons over here in America. 2 at least. MWC never sniffed the Top 20 like I said.

Movie Theater: Young Frankenstein 10/10. RIP Gene Wilder. One of the funniest people of all time.
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