Star Trek: The Next Generation really captured the 1980s.
Whoa. That’s all I had to say after I saw these Star Trek: The Next Generation wardrobe test shots that included Wil Wheaton, LeVar Burton, and Marina Sirtis. Of course, Star Trek fans may know them better as Wesley Crusher, Geordi La Forge, and Deanna Troi respectively, three of the more well-known characters from the Star Trek revival series of the 1980s.
And the 1980s it certainly was, especially with Burton’s hair and Wheaton’s pants. To say those, and Sirtis’s hair was a product of their time would be an understatement. Maybe nothing is as bad as that sweater-thing that Wheaton is wearing in the photo.
There’s also what appears to be a Deep Space Nine photo test of Terry Farrell as well, with the first look at what a Trill was going to look like. That was obviously changed by the time the series started.
The look made sense at the time, as another species, the Kriosians, had a similar look to what the Trill would end up having.
https://twitter.com/StephanieSermon/status/1467192201734152195
Always great to see what Star Trek could’ve looked like
It’s always great to see what the world of Star Trek could’ve looked like had different decisions been made. We know that Star Trek’s Deep Space Nine and Voyagers had somewhat different casts, with DS9 featuring Ro Laren instead of Kira Nerys, and Voyager having a completely different Captain Kathryn Janeway.
Since Star Trek has been around for close to 60 years, it’s not surprising at all to have so many of these different looks or different casting ideas. In fact, Trek probably has more than any, considering how many shows and films they have. We probably don’t even know about all of them yet either, which is the best part.
Learning about what could’ve been fuels the fandom. It puts things in perspective and makes you realize that things could’ve been way worse. To be fair, there are probably some instances where you hear a casting or design choice go a bit differently and you may wonder “man, what if?”, like with Laren replacing Nerys.
We love the Major, but most people probably would have wanted to see an alternate timeline version of DS9 where it’s Laren and not Nerys. Not because it would’ve been better but it may have been vastly different.
That’s what these behind-the-scene photos help provide, a look into what could’ve been.