Star Trek: The Next Generation

[Kyng]

Okay - we have a thread about people's favourite Star Trek series. And we have threads about some of the more modern series (such as Star Trek: Picard). However, we don't have threads about any of the older series... so, I'll kick that off with a thread about Star Trek: The Next Generation (from here on out known simply as 'TNG' ).

To give a brief overview, TNG had a 7-series run, beginning in 1987 and concluding in 1994. It's set in the years 2364-2370, around a century after the original series from the 1960s, but with much the same concept: it follows a 24th-century incarnation of the USS Enterprise (numbered NCC-1701-D), captained by Jean-Luc Picard (played by Sir Patrick Stewart). Unlike in the original series, the Klingons are now allies of the Federation - but there are plenty of new threats out there, as they boldly go where no one has gone before...

I had wanted to watch this for some time, but I was a bit hesitant, as I heard that the first two series weren't very good (and it only really got into its stride from series 3 onwards). Nevertheless, I decided I'd best give it a go... and so far, I've watched the first 5 episodes (counting the double-length pilot as one episode). I'm quite enjoying it - but I'm not enjoying it enough to sit through every single episode: I want to get to the good stuff, and I want to watch other things too . So, with 20 episodes left in series 1... I think I'll be picking 10 to watch, and 10 to skip. If there are any that I should definitely watch (or any that I should definitely skip), then please let me know!

Otherwise, who here has seen TNG - and what did you think of it?

[Tiger Eyes]

TNG is one of my favorite series in Star Trek. 

Great episodes:

Season 1: 2, 8, 11, 13, 21, 23
Season 2: 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10

There are more, which I may share later.

[Opal Fruit]

I watched this when they used to show it on BBC2? around about after the children's programmes. I quite liked it. Some episodes better than others. I haven't properly watched it in some time and I'm not sure if I prefer that or the original.

[Kyng]

TNG is one of my favorite series in Star Trek. 

Great episodes:

Season 1: 2, 8, 11, 13, 21, 23
Season 2: 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10

There are more, which I may share later.

Interesting that you list The Naked Now as one of the great episodes from season 1 . It's one of the few I've seen so far, and I liked how goofy it was - but apparently a lot of people hate it, either because they thought it was too silly or because it was so similar to an episode from the Original Series .

I will say, however, that I think it would've worked better later in the series, when the characters were better-established (so seeing them act out of character would be more amusing), and when it would provide a welcome break from more serious episodes that preceded it.

[Jarkko]

Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.

I actually still have some of my ST:TNG toys But yeah, this was one of my favourite shows when I was younger, and I can still appreciate it, even if some of the episodes in the first two seasons and in the last season were stinkers. Best episodes IMO:

Season 1: When The Bough Breaks, Heart Of Glory

Season 2: Loud As A Whisper, A Matter Of Honor, Contagion, Q Who, Pen Pals

Season 3: A Matter Of Perspective, Sins Of The Father, Sarek, The Best Of Both Worlds, Part I

Season 4: The Best Of Both Worlds, Part II, Reunion, The Wounded, The Nth Degree, Redemption, Part I

Season 5: Redemption, Part II, Darmok, Unification (both parts), Cause And Effect (I even managed to get an invented word out of this episode ), I, Borg, The Inner Light

Season 6: Relics, Chain of Command (both parts), Starship Mine, Frame of Mind, Timescape, Descent, Part I

Season 7: Descent, Part II, Masks, All Good Things...

[Kyng]

Thanks for the recommendations !

Anyway, I probably won't skip as many episodes from series 3, 4, 5 and 6: I'll probably only skip the worst ones. But since I'm still making my way through series 1, that'll be a while off yet .

[Jarkko]

Oh, you want a list of ones to avoid too? Humour me. These were the ones I found the most cringey:

Season 1: Code of Honor, Hide and Q, Angel One

Season 2: The Dauphin, Up The Long Ladder, Shades of Gray

Season 3: Only one I could say is even close to cringe is "Allegiance." This is a generally good season.

Season 4: Remember Me, Devil's Due, Qpid, In Theory

Season 5: Violations, Cost of Living, The Perfect Mate

Season 6: Aquiel, Suspicions

Season 7: Inheritance, Sub Rosa (one of the worst episodes of the series), Emergence

[Kyng]

Oh, you want a list of ones to avoid too? Humour me. These were the ones I found the most cringey:

Season 1: Code of Honor, Hide and Q, Angel One

Season 2: The Dauphin, Up The Long Ladder, Shades of Gray

Season 3: Only one I could say is even close to cringe is "Allegiance." This is a generally good season.

Season 4: Remember Me, Devil's Due, Qpid, In Theory

Season 5: Violations, Cost of Living, The Perfect Mate

Season 6: Aquiel, Suspicions

Season 7: Inheritance, Sub Rosa (one of the worst episodes of the series), Emergence

Thanks for the advice !

Sadly, I've already seen Code of Honor (well, half-watched it but drifted off and did something else for the most part ). But I won't be in a hurry to see either of the other two .

[Kyng]

At this point, I've seen to the end of season 2.

This time, I didn't skip episodes: I saw all 22 of them. And, for the most part, I'm glad I did: there's a noticeable step up in quality from season 1. My favourite episode of all was "Q Who", which gave us our first introduction to the Borg, as well as teaching Picard a valuable lesson about not getting overconfident . Another highlight was the third episode of the series: "Elementary, Dear Data".

However, a word of advice to anyone who hasn't seen TNG yet: you can safely skip "Shades of Grey". It was the last episode of the season, and easily my least favourite: it was just a clip show. Granted, this was in part because the money ran out, after some earlier episodes ran over-budget - but, it does mean season 2 ended with a whimper rather than a bang. Fortunately, I then learned that this was the only clip show in TNG's entire 7-year run - so, it's not something I'll have to worry about again .

I'll switch to watching something else now, but I am looking forward to seeing season 3 (which, from what I've heard, is where the really good stuff begins !)