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Chaos on the Bridge (2014)

The story of the struggle to create the television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).

Director:

William Shatner

Writer:

William Shatner
Reviews
2 wins & 1 nomination. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Shatner ... Self - Host
D.C. Fontana ... Self - Writer & Script Consultant, Star Trek: TOS (as Dorothy 'D.C.' Fontana)
David Gerrold David Gerrold ... Self - Writer, Star Trek: TOS
Maurice Hurley Maurice Hurley ... Self - Television Writer & Producer
Rick Berman ... Self - Vice President, Paramount Network Television
Jeffrey Katzenberg ... Self - Executive, Paramount Pictures
Richard Arnold Richard Arnold ... Self - Research Consultant, Star Trek: TNG
Jeffrey M. Hayes Jeffrey M. Hayes ... Self - Television Producer, Paramount Network Television
John Pike John Pike ... Self - President, Paramount Network Television
Susan Sackett Susan Sackett ... Self - Secretary to Gene Roddenberry
John de Lancie ... Self - Q, Star Trek: TNG
Denise Crosby ... Self - Lt. Tasha Yar, Star Trek: TNG
Patrick Stewart ... Self - Capt. Jean Luc Picard, Star Trek: TNG
Ronald D. Moore ... Self - Writer, Star Trek: TNG
David Livingston David Livingston ... Self - Producer, Star Trek: TNG
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Storyline

Canadian acting legend William Shatner takes viewers inside the creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the bold attempt in 1986 to recreate the success of the original television series, in which Shatner played Captain James T. Kirk. The documentary, directed, written and presented by Shatner reveals the drama, chaos and controversy behind the scenes as producers tried to make lighting strike twice. Not only were the beloved original characters of Kirk, Spock and McCoy excluded from the new series, the studio also attempted to block the involvement of the creator of the original series - Gene Roddenberry. Few believed it would work including those closest to the production. Yet Star Trek: The Next Generation went on to enormous success lasting seven seasons and spawning the multi-billion dollar Star Trek franchise, which continues to the present day. Now, more than 25 years later, William Shatner brings together the cast, crew and fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation to present...

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

The Untold Story Behind an Iconic Sci-Fi Franchise


Certificate:

TV-14 | See all certifications »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

According to an interview with Larry King, William Shatner's original title for this documentary was "Wacky Doodle". He heard the phrase used by one of the show's writer-producers, to describe the intensity of the conflicts that occurred during the making of "Star Trek: The Next Generation". See more »

Quotes

William Shatner: Did you realize that the Next Generation it possible to characterize it as Gene Roddenberry's dream of Heaven?
Brannon Braga: I would never have thought that at the time, but now that we're talking, with his conception of the future and human beings in the future and Q, Q is GOD. Just look at the character, look at everything about the character
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Connections

References Star Trek: Voyager (1995) See more »

User Reviews

 
Love Shatner
22 November 2015 | by michael-phippsSee all my reviews

I really enjoy having Shatner lead the documentaries for the development of star trek. My only wish is that they had delved into the writers issues developing TNG more... It just, maybe in hind sight, appears obvious to me that the creation of story conflict is easy between the federation values and of its characters against an antagonist. I think there is more to the story of the first two seasons of TNG than they could have dug into..

I'm happy this documentary was made. The interviews with the contributing cast and etc were very I intriguing as both a trekkie and an outsider interested in TV or movie production.


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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 2014 (Canada) See more »

Also Known As:

William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge See more »

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada See more »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1
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