ALL SCI-FI

[Pow]

According to the September 8, 1987 Writers/Directors Guide for "Star Trek: The Next Generation, there is a line regarding Data's background.

"He was manufactured by highly advanced (and never seen) aliens who intended him to serve as a repository of all the memories of a doomed Earth space colony."

So Data's origin story was really the transferring of the android Questor from Gene Roddenberry's SF TV-movie "The Questor Tapes" to Data which served as a backdoor pilot.

I believe it was either Herb Slow or Robert Justman (former ST:TOS producers) who suggested to GR of rebooting the Questor concepts and recycling them into the brand new character of Data.

I'm unsure of why ST:TNG producers altered Data's origin story from his being created by an unknown alien race to being created by the human Dr. Soong.

I suppose this change was able to create & explore the dynamics of having a human creating Data and what were the creator's intentions, responsibilities, obligations to Data; and the Federation of Planets.

It also created the "father-son" drama we'd see between Dr. Soong & Data; as well as the whole evil Lore, Data's brother, story line.

Fine, it worked out well in that regard.

However, it always struck me that Data (and Lore) we're far too sophisticated A.I.'s for humans to be able to create. Yes, even in the era of ST:TNG.

And Data was not created by the resources of a multitude of planets like the FOP.

Nope, just one man in his laboratory, all by his lonesome.

This all stretched my suspension of disbelief for the character.

I enjoyed the character of Data very much.

One human being came up with him just never seemed feasible to me.

An unknown alien civilization offers the possibility that they are more advanced with their technology than the FOP, and they could have been able to engineer a Data.

[Gord Green]

That germ of an idea was recycled in THE ORVILLE.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Krel]

We know that G.R. didn't like robots, particuarly human form robots, as he thought them to be too Space Opera. So we never see robots in the Federation. That doesn't mean that there aren't any, there are jobs that would be too dangerous for people to perform. But there seems to be a prohibition on human form robots that has never been explained.

There is also a prohibition on genetic engineering of humans because of the Eugenics War. But we also know from DS9, that some Scientists kept doing research.

What if there is in the Federation an underground of Scientists doing forbidden research, including robots and androids. If that were so, then it could be that Dr. Soong wasn't exactly acting alone, but using his genius to add the work of others to his project. Lore was a failed project, and we don't know how many falures Dr. Soong had before Lore. it could be that Data was a happy fluke, and Dr. Soong quit while he was ahead.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

[Pow]

Hmmm, so Roddenberry felt that robots were "space opera" but ray guns were acceptable?

Talk about arbitrary.

I get it, robots can be done very well or very badly depending on the script writers.

Most SF TV shows of the past mainly avoided having any robots as a regular part of the series.

Made sense from a production standpoint alright.

If you created a robot suit for an actor to wear back then, they usually looked pretty corny. In fairness, TV show budgets were limited.

On "Andromeda" they had actors in suits as robots. Pretty bad looking.

Now the robot on Lost In Space was impressive; the Cylons on the original Battlestar Galactica weren't half bad.

If you attempted to have a robot on a show that really was some kind of remote control device, you could have mechanical issues.

Nowadays, they can create CGI robots that are fantastic looking!

The rebooted Battlestar Galactica and rebooted Lost In Space proved that point hands down.

Future SF TV series that wish to ignore robots as common and indispensable in the future may have their reasons for doing so.

Perhaps it still remains quite costly on TV budgets even with the marvel of today's CGI.

The problem is that it reeks of being unrealistic to have a future where 'bots are never, or seldom seen.

We see here & now in the 21st century the reality of robots in our lives. And we see scientists and engineers continue to design and build sophisticated 'bots of all kinds.

Some pretty darn awesome ones now exist.

So whenever we SF fans watch a new SF TV show that takes place in the future and there is no place for robots, the eyes roll begin.

[Krel]

[johnnybear]

The episode The Innocent had two robots, Nanny and Friend!

They were programmed to protect the complex in which they lived. Lisa, the girl with the magical powers who became attracted to Logan, but when he rejected her she was prepared to give him to Francis and the Sandmen outside!

Friend looked like a proto-Cylon to be honest, but without the hard metallic facial mask. In fact his face was just a black stocking with two washers for eyes, but he was a great character which was emphasized by his feud with Rem, the resident android of the show, played by Donald Moffat!

JB

[Krel]

Thanks Johnnybear, I had forgotten about the second robot. Didn't the Nanny robot roll rather than walk? I also believe that Nanny was an existing robot that they rented. One of the things i liked about Friend was the blank face, where they they didn't try to make it look human.

I haven't seen the episode since the show was first broadcast, so maybe my memory is making the robot look better than it did.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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I'm sure Gene wouldn't have objected to a robot as beautifully designed as the one I created with Paint.net, shown below.

It doesn't look the least bit like a man in a suit, and it has the added advantage of including a very subtle bit of "product placement" that a certain potential sponsor would be delighted to see!


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Mr. Coors would fit right in perfectly in a "Flash Gordon," or "Buck Rogers" movie serial from back in the day.

[Bud Brewster]

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Krel mention "Gort" in connect with the robots in the old serial, and I thought he'd made a typo.

Silly me, he had NOT!

I asked him about it in a PM, and he answered with this.
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Nope, no typo. According to Robothut, the name of the robot in "The Mysterious Doctor Satan" (1949) is Gort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D51K9j0acw8
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Wow . . . . who'd a thunk it!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Krel]

But Bud there is a typo in my reply, in that I wrote 11949 for the year instead of 1949. Looks like I need to proofread better.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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Damn, I could have sworn I fix that when I pasted it above.

Sorry . . .
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]