Some of Star Trek TNG's best episodes wouldn't have been made if Gene Roddenberry had his way

Important takeaways

• The fans saved Star Trek from being canceled, which led to The Animated Series and the first movie.
• Paramount wanted to cut Roddenberry from The Next Generation (TNG), but eventually brought him back.
• Despite initial strict rules, Roddenberry's TNG restrictions were eventually broken for better stories.

When Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) was canceled in 1969, fans of the show thought they might never see the crew of the Enterprise again. But the fans themselves made sure it didn't happen that way. The series was so popular in syndication that Paramount developed a second one Star Trek series: Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS). Fixed TAKEN lasted only a season and a half, the continued interest in Star Trek led to the development of a second live action show. This eventually turned into the first Star Trek film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

As the 20th anniversary of the show's premiere approached in 1986, Paramount decided to launch a brand new Star Trek series. According to Star Trek: The Next Generation — The Continuing MissionParamount wanted to develop the new show without Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the franchise, at the helm. The studio had always struggled to work with Roddenberry, who was very protective of his creative vision and whose personal lawyer was best described as a ruthless shark. After much consideration, the studio decided it was impossible to do Star Trek without Roddenberry. So they brought him on board for the new series, which would be Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG).

Roddenberry's Rules

True to form, Roddenberry took creative control of the new show as soon as the ink dried on his contract. To ensure that the new show would implement his vision to his high standards, Roddenberry brought with him several of his loyal writers from TOS to help develop the show.

When the Author's Guide for Star Trek: The Next Generation was complete, it contained several pages of rules about what was not allowed in the program, a list informally known as the Roddenberry Rules. Several writers who worked on TNG said that any script that did not follow Roddenberry's rules was immediately rejected, regardless of its quality. This led to many conflicts in the writer's room, especially because even Roddenberry's most loyal writers disagreed with some of his rules for the show.

It turned out that there were good reasons for the disagreements. If the writers had followed all of Roddenberry's rules to the letter, some of the most beloved episodes of TNG would not exist.

Rule #1: No TOS Characters or their descendants

One of the things that Roddenberry was particularly insistent on was not including characters from The original series. The TNG'pp In the Writer's Guide it says:

As much as we love our original role […] we need our audience's attention centered on our new characters.

Roddenberry believed that guest appearances by the original characters would overshadow TNGs characters, and he was sure this would doom the new series. This belief was not unfounded. Trekkies had already made it clear they weren't happy with a new one Star Trek with a different set of characters. They were so unhappy that when news of the new show leaked out, they actually picked on Paramount Studios. Trek fans are nothing if not dedicated. So, all familiar faces from TOS was banned TNGs stories — though Roddenberry broke his own rule TNGs very first episode when Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy made a cameo.

Avoidance TOS Superstars may have been necessary in the early seasons, when Trekkies met and learned to love the new characters. But it didn't make sense when the show was established. Fortunately, the writers realized that and started writing cameos for the most loved ones TOS sign. If they hadn't, fans would never have gotten the excellent episodes “Sarek”, “Unification Parts 1 & 2” and “Relics”.

Rule #2: No Vulcans

In the same spirit as the ban on TOS character, this Roddenberry rule was codified with a very clear statement:

We are determined not to copy ourselves and believe that there must be other interesting aliens in a galaxy filled with billions of stars and planets.

The sentiment is correct; no argument on that point. By not relying on stories with Vulcans, the writers of TNG had to imagine some amazing new species. To date, over 300 alien species have been seen or mentioned in the franchise. But this would have happened even with some Vulcan-centric episodes in the mix. And apparently the principle of “not copying ourselves” only applied to characters, as several early episodes of TNG were remixes of TOS section.

The TNG writers followed this rule quite well, and TNG is it Star Trek view with at least Vulcans. But they broke the rule for the aforementioned “Sarek” and “Unification Parts 1 & 2,” and fans are glad they did.

Rule #3: No conflict with the Klingons or Romulans

Roddenberry didn't outright ban Klingons and Romulans from TNG as he did with the Vulcans, but he insisted that writers avoid stories about the Federation's conflicts with these species. Although this ban was partly motivated by not relying on the same concept as TOSit was more motivated by Roddenberry's idealistic vision of the 24th century. He believed that by then, 100 years after the Enterprise's first crew, the Federation would not engage in large-scale conflict with an entire species, especially ones as familiar as the Klingons and Romulans.

But the authors broke this rule quite early, at least for one of these species. Since the Klingons were allied with the Federation in the 24th century and there was a Klingon on the bridge of the Enterprise-D, the Klingons could not be major antagonists in TNG. But the Romulans could, and they make such good villains. So the ban on conflict with the Romulans was lifted at the end of TNGs first season.

By the third season, the ban on conflict with the Klingons was also abandoned. Although they remained allies of the Federation, several incredible episodes featured tense encounters with the Klingons, suggesting that peace was uncertain.

The list of episodes that would have been excluded from TNG if this rule was followed is huge. Some of the best include “A Matter Of Honor”, “Redemption, Parts 1 & 2”, “Birthright, Parts 1 & 2”, “The Mind's Eye”, “The Defector” and “Face Of The Enemy”.

Rule #4: Follow the Prime Directive

Roddenberry was convinced that Starfleet would avoid interfering with the natural evolution of species and cultures on other worlds. This guideline was mentioned, but rarely followed, i TOS. IN LPG, but Roddenberry insisted that it should be upheld. In fact, he was so insistent that the in-universe rule formerly known as General Order One became the Prime Directive.

But the minds behind TNG soon discovered that forcing the Enterprise crew to decide whether to obey the Prime directive made for compelling stories. Should the crew obey the Prime directive if it meant allowing an entire planet to be destroyed? Should they violate it to prevent genocide? By the second season, the Prime Directive was a frequent source of dramatic tension in the TNG episodes, and Captain Picard made the decision to violate it on a surprisingly frequent basis.

The writers made the right decision by breaking this Roddenberry rule. If they hadn't, fans would have missed out on excellent episodes like “Pen Pals,” “Who Watches the Watchers,” and “Homeward.”

Although Roddenberry had solid justifications for most of his strict rules about what wasn't allowed in TNGthe writers eventually proved that most of them could be broken without harming the success of the show. And ultimately, the fans benefited from that decision.

Sources: Writer's Guide for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Next Generation — The Continuing Mission