Here be spoilers.
Chaos on the Bridge is a documentary written, produced and directed by William Shatner, Star Trek’s legendary Captain Kirk. When this title first popped up on Netflix I was intrigued but wary. Shatner’s equally legendary ego had me wondering how he was going to handle a documentary about Star Trek: The Next Generation, a television show in which he had no direct participation. Still, kudos where they are due. The film is a fascinating and thoughtful look at how a TV legend was resurrected 25 years after it was cancelled and despite the nearly unimaginable in-fighting and dysfunction between its creator Gene Roddenberry, studio executives, writers and actors.
Chaos on the Bridge is a documentary written, produced and directed by William Shatner, Star Trek’s legendary Captain Kirk. When this title first popped up on Netflix I was intrigued but wary. Shatner’s equally legendary ego had me wondering how he was going to handle a documentary about Star Trek: The Next Generation, a television show in which he had no direct participation. Still, kudos where they are due. The film is a fascinating and thoughtful look at how a TV legend was resurrected 25 years after it was cancelled and despite the nearly unimaginable in-fighting and dysfunction between its creator Gene Roddenberry, studio executives, writers and actors.
This is not a film about the creative process of getting STTNG on the air, but rather about studio politics. Shatner equates the process to a high-stakes game of poker, punctuating this with some amusing graphic novel type illustrations. What it comes down to is the struggle of a visionary (Roddenberry) who no longer controls his own vision, but whom Paramount Pictures knows is vital to a Star Trek relaunch. After all, loyal Trekkies would never embrace a new Star Trek if it didn’t receive the Roddenberry seal of approval. Shatner provides a vivid account of the painful first two years of the shows production through candid (often catty) interviews with its producers, directors, writers and stars. What emerges is a dynamic quite different from the humanist view that the show so carefully cultivated. Roddenberry is often described, sometimes by the same people, as being both a lovable genius and a cold-hearted tyrant who was not above stealing other people’s scripts or having his attorney rifle through their offices.
The cast, whom by all accounts went on to be good friends, also had a tough transition. Patrick Stewart couldn’t accept the antics of his costars, which he admits he found unprofessional. Gates McFadden was fired after the first season for speaking her mind, probably without much diplomacy. And Denise Crosby quit the show half way through the first season after whining about how she wasn’t getting enough screen time. (Somebody should have told her she wasn’t the star, I guess.)
While I wouldn’t normally consider a documentary about office politics to be something I’d want to watch, Shatner does a great job at making it both absorbing and fair-handed. If you’re a Star Trek fan, you’ll probably find Chaos on the Bridge both intriguing and inspiring — especially since STTNG went on to become one of the longest-running syndicated shows of all time and, according to most critics, also surpassed the original. Sometimes adversity is the mother of invention.
Check it out.
The cast, whom by all accounts went on to be good friends, also had a tough transition. Patrick Stewart couldn’t accept the antics of his costars, which he admits he found unprofessional. Gates McFadden was fired after the first season for speaking her mind, probably without much diplomacy. And Denise Crosby quit the show half way through the first season after whining about how she wasn’t getting enough screen time. (Somebody should have told her she wasn’t the star, I guess.)
While I wouldn’t normally consider a documentary about office politics to be something I’d want to watch, Shatner does a great job at making it both absorbing and fair-handed. If you’re a Star Trek fan, you’ll probably find Chaos on the Bridge both intriguing and inspiring — especially since STTNG went on to become one of the longest-running syndicated shows of all time and, according to most critics, also surpassed the original. Sometimes adversity is the mother of invention.
Check it out.
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