Star Trek: The Next Generation

The occasional campiness of the 1960's Star Trek series was not at all evident in Star Trek: The Next Generation, arguably the best science fiction television series to ever be aired. It's funny TNG wound up so brilliant, considering the first two seasons were a bit iffy in terms of quality. The show ended up the ultimate representation of Star Trek, with an immensely engaging crew with a great sense of camaraderie, intelligent and intriguing stories, and special effects that were excellent by television standards.

With the exception of Wil Wheaton, the cast was uniformly superb. Patrick Stewart had a lot to live up to as a successor to William Shatner's Kirk. With his magnetic presence and wonderful acting chops, he's crafted a very different individual from Kirk, and probably my favorite Trek character, period. Jonathan Frakes made for a likeable, intriguing Commander Riker, who's occasional rowdiness reminded me a bit of good old Kirk. Brent Spiner is simply terrific as the android, Data, who aspires to be more human. I can't imagine anyone else in the role, which is probably the highest praise you could give to an acting performance. Michael Dorn excelled as the tough Klingon Worf, Levar Burton was immensely likeable as chief engineer Laforge, and rounding out the cast were the series' two sexy and smart women, Marina Sirtis as Counselor Troi and Gates Mcfadden as Dr. Crusher (the latter of whom looks even more beautiful now than she did in her first season on TNG).

The series has had a barrage of standout episodes, whether it was with suspenseful ventures into the unknown (the first appearance of the Borg) to the ultimate cliffhanger in The Best of Both Worlds, The Next Generation was an exercise in masterful storytelling and vivid characterization. Since then, three shows have spawned from Trek lore: Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. I have only seen one episode of Enterprise (and clearly, it didn't make much of an impression on me), but I had sporadically watched DS9 and Voyager, enough to know neither of them were overall quite as compelling as TNG (the only aspect they definitely had over TNG were in the sets and visual effects). For me, that's rather odd, since I often have a preference for a TV series that follows through a central storyline, as both DS9 and Voyager have, but it simply goes to show how each stand-alone episode of TNG made an impression.

I love TNG so much. All the characters are superb and Captain Picard is the best Captain ever. My favourite episode is always have been The Inner Light. 10/10.

People that watch science fiction seem to forget that Star Trek: The Next Generation was filmed from 1987 to 1994, and that it accomplished the breakthrough technical wizardry we now see in other sci-fi movies and television shows.

It was Star Trek: The Next Generation (STTNG) that accomplished the "orange screen", reducing by 2/3 the cost of shooting space sequences. It was STTNG that finally allowed for a very advanced and yet BELIEVABLE "evolved" human behavior involved in space travel.

I admired Captain Jean-Luc Picard for his reserved Brit style, and the tension between him and Dr. Beverly Crusher. Who did not like watching Lieutenant Commander Data and Lieutenant Geordi LaForge spar over human behavior? What about the short brilliant life of Lieutenant Natasha Yar? Who didn't tune in to see that? Commander William Riker was amazing to watch, as he grew a beard and a conscience -- while still being able to keep up with the great Lieutenant Worf, the only Klingon (as yet) in Star Fleet!?

Those of you out there trying still to wage the Star Wars - Star Trek battle for supremacy -- grow up! They are both inspiring stories in different universes.

I love this series so much. I like the characters, how they interact with each other and just the plot alone. This is pure genius. Going on adventures with the crew and having a bit of humor along the way. The acting is supreme and the soundtrack is nice too. I ❤ this series very much and can only recommend it !

It's depressing to read a comment from one ST fan bashing another. Can we all agree on one thing: that the universe of Star Trek changed (perhaps in a modest way) not only the way people viewed sci-fi but also how they envision the future?

Each of the four series is excellent in their respect ways:

(1) ST-TOS for starting it all and for revealing Roddenbury's creative genius. TOS has influenced American culture in many subtle ways ("beam be up, Scotty"). Sure, some of the old episodes were weak ("brain, what is brain?") but compare those to the many excellent, thought-provoking episodes. TOS stands on its own (much like the original "Star Wars") and all other ST series are compared against it.

(2) ST-TNG resurrected the series with fresh characters and technologies (can you forget the always malfunctioning holodeck?). Patrick Stewart was a bold choice to play the captain and the supporting cast was excellent. While the first two seasons were weak, the series was going full steam by the third year. The story lines overlapped episodes (which many of you deride as soap opera-ish, but I loved it) providing a sense of character development. While I love all the ST's, TNG is my favorite.

(3) ST-DS9 overlapped and continued where TNG left off. A darker vision, it also maintained the continuous story line technique. Like its predecessor, it was weak in the beginning but soon came into its own. While I will miss DS9, I feel that seven seasons is enough; any longer and you will weaken the production values.

(4) ST-V departs from the other three series (where the players start from Earth and move outwards), Voyager has an original twist: start far away and revolve the show around the characters getting home (moving inwards). And while there's a certain "Melrose Place in Outer Space" feel to it, Voyager is a fine show (I can't quite get myself to call it "excellent" yet). Starting in June ST-V has a new, critical mission: it will now carry the ST franchise alone.

In summary, I believe that each show has brought its own unique contribution to creating/continuing the ST phenomenon. They are all great creative efforts and each should be admired.

I say down with "the Force" and up with "live long and prosper." Make it so, Number One. Engage.