# Star Trek The Next Generation is 30 years old today **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538 "2017-09-28T19:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/21 "2017-09-29T02:41:04Z")
> [@Trafalgar\_Laura](#): > > I can’t argue that episodes like _Angel One_ or worse, _Code of Honor_ don’t make me cringe now, though. I really don’t get what all the fuss about “Code” is. Immediately prior to it, there was an episode with shiny, happy Aryans in frilly white frocks who lived in a perfect society (where the tiniest infraction was automatically punished by death). Nobody I can recall ever raised an eyebrow at that. Populate a planet with virile black men and voluptuous black women dressed in faux African and Middle Eastern garb, and every SJW crawls out of the woodwork and cries **“RACIST!!!”** Why? Because the Grand Poobah had the hots for a tall white woman?\* :dubious: 😕 Candidate for the dumbest line ever: \*"Troi! You’re my **friend** , and you \*\*tricked \*_me!"_ \*Oh, yeah. Tell me I’m wrong! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/22 "2017-09-29T02:43:08Z")
I was very young when TNG premiered, so this show was the Science Fiction that was being watched in the house as I developed sentience - my dad has been and shall always be a Trekkie. The first episode of TNG I clearly remember watching live was Part 1 of “The Best of Both Worlds.” Specifically, I remember the end of the episode. Riker gives the command to fire, and this conversation ensues. Me: What does ‘to be continued’ mean? Dad: It’s a two-part episode. We’ll find out what happens next time. Me: Oh. Okay. When will that be? Dad: After the summer is over. Me: … I learned about the fundamental unfairness of the universe pretty early on. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/23 "2017-09-29T02:46:02Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > I’m in the first few episodes of season 1, never having watched it before. The sets can be nice for 80s TV. Someone mentioned the scripts but does the acting get better in the following seasons? Would you say that the first season is skippable? You can safely fast forward until you see Riker with a beard. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/24 "2017-09-29T02:50:58Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > You can safely fast forward until you see Riker with a beard. This is the correct metric, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/25 "2017-09-29T02:54:08Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Candidate for the dumbest line ever: \*"Troi! You’re my **friend** , and you \*\*tricked \*_me!"_ It’s a good candidate, but it loses to Voyager’s “Get the cheese to sickbay” which is dumb _and_ hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/26 "2017-09-29T03:01:47Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I loved De Lancie himself, and I loved the concept. He wasn’t some stodgy judge, but he wasn’t just some trickster they could outwit by the end of the episode. I enjoyed the little mystery he put them on, and how they solved it. He was like Loki in Norse mythology. I always thought they should have treated him with more respect. > [@](#): > > I enjoyed seeing the ship separate, and how Riker had to put it back together (or something). Sorry, but this was one of the dumbest ideas ever, for reasons that have been thoroughly expounded in other threads. Almost as dumb as having nonessential personnel (children and adult civilians) on board. > [@](#): > > Spock had always interested me, but Data was even more interesting. That lack of emotion but trying to become like others? That was a new one after Spock’s trying not to feel (which I had tried). If the \*\*\*Phase II \*\*\* series had gotten on the air back in the '70s, they would have had a full-blooded Vulcan, Xan (“A young Michael York with ears”), as Science Officer. Trying to understand emotions and be more like humans would have been his shtick too. > [@](#): > > Having a Klingon on the bridge was neat too. It was much better when Klingons were treacherous pond scum and Romulans were the Federation’s noble-but-poorly-understood adversaries, instead of the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/27 "2017-09-29T05:32:06Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > You can safely fast forward until you see Riker with a beard. Yup. There’s a Trope for that. There’s a Trope for _everything_ [Growing The Beard](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GrowingTheBeard) > [@](#): > > The key to this trope is seeing a dramatic “before and after” difference along the life of a series. The element can sometimes be attributed to a single, outstanding episode that defines the show. Other times it is just a general improvement, like the Trope Namer Star Trek: The Next Generation. Fans of the series noticed a sharp increase in quality and consistent stories and it coincided with Commander Riker, Jonathan Frakes, growing a beard and helping the show gain its own identity, even though it still took a little more time before it really took off. The term has spread into internet vernacular to the point that Frakes has even brought it up. History repeated itself a few years later when fans noted a marked improvement in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine after lead actor Avery Brooks grew a beard (and shaved his head, to boot). I was stationed in Germany at the time, and consistently getting American TV shows was problematic; I caught some reruns, and wasn’t impressed. The first episode I saw “as it aired” (after I was back in the U.S., stationed at Ft. Hood) was S2’s “A Matter of Honor.” That was it; I was hooked. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/28 "2017-09-29T05:53:19Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I really don’t get what all the fuss about “Code” is. > > Immediately prior to it, there was an episode with shiny, happy Aryans in frilly white frocks who lived in a perfect society (where the tiniest infraction was automatically punished by death). Nobody I can recall ever raised an eyebrow at that. > > Populate a planet with virile black men and voluptuous black women dressed in faux African and Middle Eastern garb, and every SJW crawls out of the woodwork and cries **“RACIST!!!”** > > Why? Because the Grand Poobah had the hots for a tall white woman?\* :dubious: 😕 > > Candidate for the dumbest line ever: \*"Troi! You’re my **friend** , and you \*\*tricked \*_me!"_ > > \*Oh, yeah. Tell me I’m wrong! Well, no. I won’t tell you you are wrong. Because that’s exactly it. They used racist black stereotypes of them being primitive tribesmen who go after the white women. The mostly white Federation had to be civilized against the black tribespeople. Not even TOS tried that bullshit.\* Having an entire race be white may arguably be racist, but it’s also just the norm for TV at the time. Many shows were also all white, even into the 90s. (Seinfeld, Home Improvement, and Friends come to mind.) And, what’s more, there was no negative stereotype about white people in the episode. And with the main characters all mostly white, it’s pretty much impossible to see the idiocy of the Edo or their justice system as being negative about white people. I have a bigger problem with their blatant violation of the Prime Directive. They just found these guys on a planet and beamed down. And then they have the audacity to invoke the Prime Directive for the actual conflict of the episode? Also, the ending sucked, and the attack on religion isn’t unnoticed. Though, oddly, they have a utopian dictatorship, which only had a problem due to outsiders coming in. Very off message for Star Trek. \*Though they got close with Native Americans. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/29 "2017-09-29T06:01:49Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I still actually like Encounter at Farpoint, even if I admit that it’s not as good as later episodes. > > As a kid, I never thought of it as anything particularly bad. I didn’t come in with any expectations, because I was watching it in reruns, as the show they ran right after the TOS repeats were over. I’m not even sure I actually saw the premier first, though I do know it was the first time I saw Q. > > And I loved the guy. I loved De Lancie himself, and I loved the concept. He wasn’t some stodgy judge, but he wasn’t just some trickster they could outwit by the end of the episode. I enjoyed the little mystery he put them on, and how they solved it. I enjoyed seeing the ship separate, and how Riker had to put it back together (or something). I remember enjoying Troi in the outing as well. And the apple. > > I don’t know if this was part of the episode, but Data definitely intrigued me when I first saw him. Spock had always interested me, but Data was even more interesting. That lack of emotion but trying to become like others? That was a new one after Spock’s trying not to feel (which I had tried). Oh, and having a Klingon on the bridge was really cool, too. > > I remember being quite satisfied at the end. And, to this day, I consider it one of the good episodes of the early seasons. Not the best, but still good. Scarier still is to look at John DeLancie in Star Trek continues latest episode. Has he ever aged:eek: ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/30 "2017-09-29T06:06:56Z")
I remember the goo monster killing Denise Crosby…and the vibrartor jokes people made after the drunk sickness redux episode … ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/31 "2017-09-29T13:26:00Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I really don’t get what all the fuss about “Code” is. > > Immediately prior to it, there was an episode with shiny, happy Aryans in frilly white frocks who lived in a perfect society (where the tiniest infraction was automatically punished by death). Nobody I can recall ever raised an eyebrow at that. I will quibble about one thing: “Code of Honor” was the third episode aired. The only episodes aired before it were the “pilot” episode, “Encounter at Farpoint” and the First Actual Episode, “The Naked Tim…” er, that is, “The Naked Now”. “Justice” aired a month after “Code”. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/32 "2017-09-29T13:32:03Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > I’m in the first few episodes of season 1, never having watched it before. The sets can be nice for 80s TV. Someone mentioned the scripts but does the acting get better in the following seasons? Would you say that the first season is skippable? Yes, the acting gets better (amazingly, even Troi reaches a point you can stand her “acting”). It helps that the scripts get better, not just in the sense of plots, but in the sense of the writing. Later seasons have some of the most memorable TV show lines ever (“Sir, I protest! I am not a merry man!” 😃 ) As for skipping the first season, I wouldn’t do that. Not only are there several episodes that have events which inform later events in the series, you do get a sense of the interaction of the characters in that season, and watching the season helps invest you into the show, and its characters. The fifth season episode, “The Inner Light” is poignant only if you have already invested enough of your emotional self into the character of Jean-Luc Picard. Besides, Riker’s beard is only really satisfying if you’ve spent time watching him without one. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/33 "2017-09-29T13:45:02Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I remember the premiere of TNG. Since I’d cut my teeth on TOS, watching every episode as it premiered for the first time (starting at the tender age of almost 9), I had high expectations for it. > > And was pretty disappointed by that premiere. And the rest of the first season. > > I wandered back about season 3 or so, sort of enjoyed a few of the episodes, but was an intermittent observer at best. Same for the rest of the ST series. > > You can’t go home again. > > But I still feel an echo of the same rush from some of the TOS episodes. I had much the same experience, though I didn’t get to watch most of TOS on first run (I was about three years behind you, with a firm 8pm bedtime :mad: ). I do think that some of my reaction to TNG’s episodes by comparison came from watching them in my late 20s, rather than my pre-teens. Similarly, my feelings about later incarnations of ST were affected by my much more cynical viewpoint about TV shows as I reached my 40s (_Enterprise_, I’m looking at you!). It’s too bad you didn’t stick with it. Fourth and especially Fifth Season scripts were much, MUCH better. “The Inner Light” is easily the equivalent of “City On the Edge of Forever” for quality of script, and “I, Borg”, combined with “Descent” and “Descent, Pt. II” should be watched by anyone who wishes to explore the interaction of moral imperatives with survival instinct. And I would be much the poorer person if I had never met Ensign Ro, and watched her struggles with loyalty and duty. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/34 "2017-09-29T13:55:11Z")
Loved how upbeat and positive the show was about the future; nothing since has come close to that IMO. And the characters were believable in that setting i.e. better than me. As for the first season…it passed into “so bad it’s good” territory a long time ago IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/35 "2017-09-29T14:24:01Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > For some reason these days TNG gets a lot of guff but it is still my favorite Trek. TOS was first and gets extra credit for that and DS9 was probably more consistently good but the Highs of TNG were higher than the other series. > > Picard is one of my favorite fictional characters. A good and thoughtful person who did what he thought was right and wasn’t afraid to take action when it was necessary. I would love to see Patrick Stewart play the part again. > > Yeah its a little preachy and somewhat dated but I love it. Happy 30th TNG. I was a fan and remember the first aired episode. I thought the special effects and music were fantastic, but the trial for humanity was a little uneven. The show was rocky for the first season, but found its groove at the very end of season one and stayed strong for several more seasons. 30 years…WOW. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/36 "2017-09-29T14:36:54Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I will quibble about one thing: “Code of Honor” was the third episode aired. The only episodes aired before it were the “pilot” episode, “Encounter at Farpoint” and the First Actual Episode, “The Naked Tim…” er, that is, “The Naked Now”. “Justice” aired a month after “Code”. Okay, I stand corrected. The point is, the two episodes were aired in close proximity to each other. And some people were outraged they had a planet populated exclusively by blacks, but no one I recall ever took offense at a planet populated exclusively by blonde, blue-eyed, pearly whiter-than-whites. You know, the kind of world the Nazis wanted to have. Both stories were dumb, but I don’t see how one was more offensive than the other. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/37 "2017-09-29T14:45:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Well, no. I won’t tell you you are wrong. Because that’s exactly it. They used racist black stereotypes of them being primitive tribesmen who go after the white women. Wouldn’t you? I mean, it wasn’t as though they presented him with a wide variety of options. (Personally, I would have gone with Troi or Beverly.) :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/38 "2017-09-29T15:38:36Z")
There were good ones, not to skip, in season 1. The Big Goodbye is not bad. 11001001 is a great episode. Too Short A Season is good Home Soil isn’t bad Coming of Age sets up Westly’s character (for better or worse 🙂 ) Heart of Glory is a good Worf/Klingon episode, (but not as good as A Matter of Honor) The Arsenal of Freedom is really good Skin of Evil is necessary to understanding Tasha, and Yesterday’s Enterprise (and Selar…ugh) We’ll Always Have Paris is an awesome episode Conspiracy is good, and connects to Coming of Age The neutral Zone sets the groundwork for the Borg, and reintroduces the Romulans ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/39 "2017-09-29T15:39:32Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I remember thinking when the show first aired: “Aw man, why did they cast such an old fart for captain?” > > I am currently they same age Patrick was when the show aired. I’m three years older than Stewart was at the time TNG premiered. :eek: The beginning was rocky as hell, of course, but even in that first season there are some little moments where you can see the promise of what was to come. One thing that people often forget was the early perception that TNG could do nothing but ape things the original had already done. It didn’t help that after the first episode introduced Q (who was and always will be an obvious rip-off of the “The Squire of Gothos”), the second episode gave us a complete remake of “The Naked Time.” For awhile there, it was impossible not to compare the shows, and find TNG lacking. I was in college at the time, and was part of a group of Trek fans who regularly gathered to watch TOS whenever it was on. We were really ambivalent about this new upstart show. The special effects were obviously better, and the supporting cast a bit more fleshed out, but my friends and I looked at everything else pretty skeptically. But then, slowly but surely, it wormed its way into our hearts and began to overshadow the original. I can still remember the jolt I felt the first time I heard someone say “Star Trek,” with no further qualification, and realized that they were talking about TNG. The original series was no longer the default meaning of the words “Star Trek.” I was surprised at how sad that made me feel. William Shatner, of all people, produced and hosted a documentary about the first three years of TNG, called _Chaos on the Bridge_, which I would highly recommend. It’s available on Netflix (or at least it was–I haven’t checked recently to see if it’s still there). There were a lot of power struggles going on behind the scenes, particularly as Roddenberry’s health degraded and various writers jockeyed to fill the void. I found it very illuminating. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-next-generation-is-30-years-old-today/797538/40 "2017-09-29T15:50:21Z")
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