Fans Save Enterprise D Bridge From Dump

[Karloff]

Fans Save Enterprise D Bridge From Dump

A full restoration project is underway to rebuild a forgotten piece of Star Trek: The Next Generation history.

What would you do to save a memory? It's usually pointless to ask what happens to old props and properties from shows and plays long gone. Sometimes they get re-used, sometimes they get sold; and sometimes, as happened to the bridge of the Enterprise D, they get thrown away. A group of dedicated fans discovered the bridge replica, more or less in bits, just as Paramount was about to shuffle it off to the dump. After extended negotiations they persuaded Paramount to give them its remains. Then the fans - now known as Project Enterprise Restoration - set about saving memories, and restoring what nearly was lost.

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"A highly skilled group of Hollywood professionals are in the process of completely restoring this set to its original splendour," says the group's Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/EnterpriseRestoration], and the intent is to turn it into a complete bridge display, open to the public. There will be a Kickstarter at some point, but only after Project Enterprise Restoration has a better idea how much this will cost; just looking at their photos is a reminder that much needs to be done to make this work. The Restoration group hope to get some of the actors and perhaps some famous fans of the show to lend their support.

The set is a mid-90s build intended for display, put together after Star Trek: Generations comprehensively trashed the original. Much of it was fibreglass, which survived reasonably well despite neglect. The group are currently working on Captain Picard's chair, hoping that once they have a demonstration piece to show they'll attract more support. Currently they're on schedule for chair completion in October 2012. Meanwhile if you'd like to show them support, maybe because you've memories of your own you'd like to refurbish, the group has a website [https://twitter.com/thenewstarship]; why not send them a hail?

Source: Whatculture [http://whatculture.com/tv/star-trek-fans-rescue-enterprise-bridge.php]


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[aceman67]

Awesome. Absolutely awesome.

 

[Scrustle]

That's great they are restoring it and not letting it disappear. It's kind of strange that it was left to rot in the first place. I'm sure some fans would have payed a lot to acquire it.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

Nobody thought to sell any of this? Nah, there is no way Picard's captain chair will ever sell, just chuck it.

 

[cjbos81]

Brings a tear to my eye.

 

[John the Gamer]

Though I like Star Trek quite a bit, I really wish they'd found some other Enterprise bridge.

Mostly because I really like Harry S. Plinkett.

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-trek/

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Yay!

They saved it from total destruction!

It's cool that they're making an effort to save all that stuff and restore it to what it was before. If all goes well, maybe they can show case it somewhere, and then maybe Paramount can think about what it was about to do and never do it again.

 

[SlamDunc]

Why was this not sold at retardedly high prices in the first place? Who thought that throwing it away was smart?

 

[Deathlyphil]

I wonder if they can save any of the other sets? Each one had it's own charm. I'd like to see them save the DS9 bridge if it's still intact somewhere.

 

[crazyrabbits]

I actually used to run on the ST official forums back when Enterprise ended. Paramount scrapped the sets for that series, despite an ardent group of fans (called TrekUnited) that tried to persuade them to save the sets for possible use in the future.

I'm not exactly surprised that they wanted to do the same thing with a TNG set.

 

[Veylon]

I...what? What was Paramount thinking!? This is stupid on so many levels. What sense does it make to pay someone to take and down and pay someone else to haul it away when they could get fans to pay them to do both? It's not like there's only a few cult followers where they could be honestly mistaken in thinking that nobody cared.

 

[Icehearted]

"There will be a Kickstarter at some point"
There's that word again. Goddamnit.... goddamnit....

 

[matrix3509]

That's great they are restoring it and not letting it disappear. It's kind of strange that it was left to rot in the first place. I'm sure some fans would have payed a lot to acquire it.

Dude this is Paramount we are talking about, they respect the Star Trek franchise like a pimp respects his hooker. OT: I'm glad that they caught it before it was sent off to the dump.

 

[Triaed]

Man, what a bunch of junk. But if it brings happiness to someone, hey, go for it!

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

anc[is]Nobody thought to sell any of this? Nah, there is no way Picard's captain chair will ever sell, just chuck it.

To be fair, it's not really Picard's captain chair. The original set was destroyed in the process of filming Star Trek: Generations[footnote]Yeah, a big part of the point of that movie was to destroy the Enterprise D so it could be replaced with a model that looks better in widescreen. They decided to go whole hog with it and actually destroy the sets, too. When you watch that movie and you see the destroyed bridge, it's actually the bridge from the TV show that was wrecked beyond repair just for that scene.[/footnote]. This was a replica that Paramount made for something else. I'm guessing they made it for that Star Trek Experience thing in Vegas, since the site linked in the article has a picture of the bridge from that mixed in with all the pictures of the set that's being restored.

It's still cool, though. I wonder what they'll do with it once they're done restoring it?

 

[Sniper Team 4]

So, as we've all established, this is rather weird that it got to this point. Why would anyone think it's a good idea to throw away a classic set from a major franchise?

What I want to know is what Paramount was negotiating about. They were throwing it away and had no use of it. Then, some people come along and want it, and they apparently decide that this needs to be negotiated. If there are legal hoops and that sort of thing, I can understand, but I get the feeling that it was just Paramount going, "Oh, you want this? How much you willing to give for it?"
"But...you're throwing it away..."
"How. Much."

 

[The_Darkness]

anc[is]Nobody thought to sell any of this? Nah, there is no way Picard's captain chair will ever sell, just chuck it.

To be fair, it's not really Picard's captain chair. The original set was destroyed in the process of filming Star Trek: Generations[footnote]Yeah, a big part of the point of that movie was to destroy the Enterprise D so it could be replaced with a model that looks better in widescreen. They decided to go whole hog with it and actually destroy the sets, too. When you watch that movie and you see the destroyed bridge, it's actually the bridge from the TV show that was wrecked beyond repair just for that scene.[/footnote]. This was a replica that Paramount made for something else. I'm guessing they made it for that Star Trek Experience thing in Vegas, since the site linked in the article has a picture of the bridge from that mixed in with all the pictures of the set that's being restored.

It's still cool, though. I wonder what they'll do with it once they're done restoring it?

Seconded.
Although that said, they should have realised that this was worth more than, well, trash. It is and official set of the Enterprise-D's bridge, just not the official set.

I wonder if they've still got the Enterprise-E's set hanging around somewhere...

 

[ScruffyMcBalls]

Holy shit. And I've been looking for an excuse to go back and watch Star Trek again. Whelp, that does it, anyone needs me I'll be in my basement!