Star Trek: The Next Generation made Paramount a fortune and was one of the single most financially successful television programs of the last thirty years. It revived the franchise and created a cash cow Paramount is still milking.
So needless to say Paramount treats everything Trek like it’s got herpes.
What you’re about to see is the second version of Enterprise D’s deck set. The first version, made of wood, was torched for Star Trek: Generations. This is the second set, built by Paramount to put on display. This includes original elements of the set, some of which could probably fetch thousands at auction. Kirk’s chair was valued at six figures ten years ago.
Now, Paramount knows Star Trek fans are insane and obsessive. They could have sold this set in a charity auction and made a fortune. They could have donated it to Make-A-Wish. They could have just shipped it to the Smithsonian, or some other Americana museum.
Instead they did this.
If you’re pissed off, you’re not alone. The good news is that Trekkies, being Trekkies, grabbed the stuff Paramount chucked in the dumpster and are currently raising money to restore it, and maybe, you know, sell it for charity, or put it in a museum, or maybe put it somewhere sick kids who love the show could pretend to be Picard for ten seconds, you know, something a human being would do with it. Most of it is fiberglass, so its withstood the test of time with minimal damage.
I know in the grand scheme of things it’s stupid to get ticked off over a set being junked, but at the same time, it seems like a hell of a waste when Paramount could have done something good with it. Leave it to the fans to, once again, pick up the slack.
