Measure Of A Man Extended Version?
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For those waiting for the Blu-ray release of Star Trek: The Next Generation beginning next month, news has emerged that one of the classic episodes from Season Two may be released as an extended cut.
According to a tweet by Melissa Snodgrass, the episode in question has twenty extra minutes than was seen in the original broadcast.
“Need to send first cut of The Measure of a Man back to CBS today,” Snodgrass tweeted. “Version is twenty minutes longer than broadcast. Will be on DVDs.”
A Measure of a Man is the episode in which Data’s existence is threatened when Commander Maddox, who considers Data to be the property of Starfleet, wishes to disassemble the android. Data will not cooperate and the result is a court case to determine Data’s legal status.
Season One of Star Trek: The Next Generation on Blu-ray will release on July 24, with more seasons to follow.
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That is the episode that got me into TNG, and really, into Trek as a whole. I guess this means I gotta cave in and buy a Blu-Ray player.
Will the extra 20 minutes show the inevitable retrial that would have resulted from the obvious conflict of interest in assigning Riker as the prosecution?
Does this mean some other episodes will be extended cuts too?
I think Measure of a Man is a fine episode, and I know very popular one, but not one that I particularly love.
But I love the concept of new footage to be seen so long after the fact… I do hope they consider this for other episodes too.
It was a court martial. Having one of your own superior officers as part of the proceeding is not uncommon, especially when you are at a distant base with few officers of appropriate rank available. I believe Picard explained all this in the episode.
I’m intensely curious now to know what is in the extra 20 minutes.
This was for me the episode when TNG stopped being the Wacky Remake Machine, and started showing the potential to be a worthy successor to the original series.
Picard may have explained it, but it doesn’t make it logical in this case. Riker already expressed his prejudice, he should not have been allowed to proceed. And what’s the point of allowing something into Starfleet that you don’t view as a true life-form in the first place? This episode stands on wobbly legs.
From what I read, possibly.
That actually is the key question, and what really knocks the hat into the soup.
Data applied for and was admitted to Starfleet Academy, and graduated. That alone is de facto acknowledgement of his status as a sentient being, and should have been enough to keep the issue from going to a hearing. You have to ignore that very key point in order to watch the episode at all.
In a later season, with more time to rewrite before shooting, the writer or story editor could have caught this and maybe addressed it in the story; even something along the lines of:
“Wasn’t this question settled when Data was admitted to the Academy?”
“Maddox is challenging Starfleet’s decision based on the recent XYZ ruling by the Federation Council about the Tickytockys of planet Casio.”
it’s still shaky but it ought to pass.
(Also if I’m not mistaken, military law relies less on implications and assumptions than civil law does.)
As for Riker. I hate to say it, but military law is not always logical or even consistent. In a court martial situation, the US UCMJ for example requires that when military lawyers are not available, you to have a minimum number of officers of sufficient rank regardless of who they are or what their relationship to the defendant is. (Or their legal experience for that matter. The UCMJ assumes that if you are an officer, you know what you are doing. Like I said, not always logical.) This has historically resulted in some… interesting rulings.
In the absence of an accredited military lawyer, Data as a lieutenant commander had to be represented by and prosecuted by a superior rank, in this case no less than a full commander. There are only two officers on the Enterprise of a higher rank. The only way out would have been if Riker and/or Picard were incapacitated or dead; than and only then could they have postponed proceedings.
Thinking about it now, I bet Maddox sprung it on them when they were at a remote starbase to try and prevent Data from having adequate representation in what is a hugely precedent-setting landmark case. Truly, a dick move of epic proportions.
Oh holy hell yes. This sounds awesome. I hope there are other episodes extended! New old trek after all these years! *Happy Flail*
I need to rewatch this episode soon! I remember not liking this episode much when I saw it originally, and now I can’t understand why. According to Memory Alpha’s synopsis:
–> The legal proceeding is initiated by Picard, in response to Maddox attempt to transfer Data off the Enterprise, thus explaining the haste.
–> Maddox was the sole dissenter on the committee that initially approved Data’s admission into Starfleet, and his position has always been that as a human-created mechanism, Data is not sentient as defined by Federation law.
–> Picard appeals to the sector JAG, whose preliminary finding is by golly, Maddox is right based on this older precedent which was never overturned or revised. This is not uncommon in law.
–>Louvois (the JAG) compels Riker to prosecute Maddox’s position by explaining that alternative is to appeal the ruling later in a properly convensed court– by which time the damage will have been done.
Wow, time to fire up the ol’ VHS and peruse some legacy media.