| Star Trek: The Next Generation | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Gene Roddenberry |
| Showrunners |
|
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | |
| Composers | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 178(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Cinematography |
|
| Running time | 44–46 minutes |
| Production company | Paramount Television |
| Budget | $1.3 million per episode |
| Original release | |
| Network | First-run syndication[1][2] |
| Release | September 28, 1987 (1987-09-28) – May 23, 1994 (1994-05-23) |
| Related | |
Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) is an Americanscience fiction television series created byGene Roddenberry. It originally aired from September 28, 1987, to May 23, 1994, in syndication, spanning 178 episodes over seven seasons. The third series in theStar Trek franchise, it was inspired byStar Trek: The Original Series. Set in the latter third of the 24th century, when Earth is part of theUnited Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of aStarfleetstarship, theUSSEnterprise (NCC-1701-D), in its exploration of theAlpha quadrant andBeta quadrant in theMilky Way galaxy.
In the 1980s, Roddenberry—who was responsible for the originalStar Trek,Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1974), and the first of a series of films—was tasked byParamount Pictures with creating a new series in the franchise. He decided to set it one century after the events of his original series.The Next Generation featured a new crew:Patrick Stewart as CaptainJean-Luc Picard,Jonathan Frakes asWilliam Riker,Brent Spiner asData,Michael Dorn asWorf,LeVar Burton asGeordi La Forge,Marina Sirtis asDeanna Troi,Gates McFadden as Dr.Beverly Crusher,Denise Crosby asTasha Yar,Wil Wheaton asWesley Crusher, and a newEnterprise.
Roddenberry,Maurice Hurley,Rick Berman,Michael Piller, andJeri Taylor served as executive producers at various times throughout its production. The series was broadcast infirst-run syndication with dates and times varying among individual television stations. Stewart's voice-over introduction during each episode's opening credits stated the starship's purpose:
Space: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the StarshipEnterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.
The show reached almost 12 million viewers in its fifth season, with the series finale in 1994 watched by over 30 million viewers.[3][4] Due to its success, Paramount commissioned Rick Berman and Michael Piller to create a fourth series in the franchise,Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which launched in 1993. The characters fromThe Next Generation returned infour films:Star Trek Generations (1994),Star Trek: First Contact (1996),Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), andStar Trek: Nemesis (2002), and in the television seriesStar Trek: Picard (2020–2023). The series is also the setting of numerous novels, comic books, and video games. Itreceived many accolades, including 19Emmy Awards, twoHugo Awards, onePeabody Award, and sixSaturn Awards, including aLifetime Achievement Award for the entire cast in 2024.[5][a]
In 2013, theWriters Guild of America rankedStar Trek: The Next Generation #79 on their list of the 101 Best Written TV Series, tying it withUpstairs, Downstairs,Monty Python's Flying Circus andAlfred Hitchcock Presents.[6]
Due to the popularity of the original series in syndication,Paramount Pictures began to consider making aStar Trek film as early as 1972. However, with 1977's release ofStar Wars, Paramount decided not to compete in the science fiction movie category and shifted their efforts to a newStar Trek television series. TheOriginal Series actors were approached to reprise their roles; sketches, models, sets and props were created forStar Trek: Phase II until Paramount changed its mind again and decided to create feature films starring theOriginal Series cast.[7][8]
By 1986, 20 years after the originalStar Trek's debut onNBC, the franchise's longevity amazed Paramount Pictures executives. ChairmanFrank Mancuso Sr. observed that "The shelf life in this business is usually three days. To flourish for 20 years..." He and others describedTrek as the studio's "crown jewel", a "priceless asset" that "must not be squandered". The series was the most popularsyndicated television program 17 years after cancellation,[9] and theHarve Bennett-produced,Original Series-eraStar Trek films did well at the box office.[10]William Shatner andLeonard Nimoy's salary demands for the filmStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) caused the studio to plan for a newStar Trek television series. Paramount executives worried that a new series could hurt the demand for the films, but decided that it would increase their appeal on videocassette and cable,[9] and that a series with unknown actors would be more profitable than paying the films' actors' large salaries.[11] Roddenberry initially declined to be involved, but came on board as creator after being unhappy with early conceptual work.Star Trek: The Next Generation was announced on October 10, 1986,[12] and its cast in May 1987.[13]
Paramount executive Rick Berman was assigned to the series at Roddenberry's request. Roddenberry hired a number ofStar Trek veterans, includingBob Justman,D. C. Fontana, Eddie Milkis andDavid Gerrold.[14] Early proposals for the series included one in which some of the original series cast might appear as "elder statesmen",[9] and Roddenberry speculated as late as October 1986 that the new series might not even use a spaceship, as "people might travel by some [other] means" 100 years after theUSSEnterprise.[15] A more lasting change was his new belief that workplace interpersonal conflict would no longer exist in the future; thus, the new series did not have parallels to the frequent "crusty banter" betweenKirk,Spock, andLeonard McCoy.[11] According to series actor Patrick Stewart, Berman was more receptive than Roddenberry to the series addressing political issues.[16]
The series' music theme combined the fanfare from the original series theme byAlexander Courage withJerry Goldsmith's theme forStar Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). Some early episodes' plots derived from outlines created forStar Trek: Phase II.[12] Additionally, some sets used in theOriginal Series-era films were redressed forThe Next Generation, and in turn used for subsequentOriginal Series films.[17] Part of the transporter room set inTNG was used in the originalStar Trek's transporter set.[17]
DespiteStar Trek's proven success, NBC and ABC only offered to consider pilot scripts for the new series, and CBS offered to air aminiseries that could become a series if it did well. Paramount executives were offended that theBig Three television networks treated their most appealing and valuable property like any other series.Fox wanted the show to help launch the new network, but wanted it by March 1987, and would only commit to 13 episodes instead of a full season. The unsuccessful negotiations convinced the studio that it could only protectStar Trek with full control.[9][15]
Paramount increased and accelerated the show's profitability by choosing to instead broadcast it infirst-run syndication[18][11][19]: 123–124 onindependent stations (whose numbers had more than tripled since 1980) and Big Threenetwork affiliates.[9] The studio offered the show to local stations for free asbarter syndication. The stations sold five minutes of commercial time to local advertisers and Paramount sold the remaining seven minutes to national advertisers. Stations had to commit to purchasing reruns in the future,[18] and only those that aired the new show could purchase the popular reruns of theOriginal Series.[20]: 222 [21]
The studio's strategy succeeded. Most of the 150 stations airing reruns of the originalStar Trek wanted to prevent a competitor from airing the new show; ultimately, 210 stations covering 90% of the United States became part of Paramount's informal nationwide network forTNG.[18][22] In early October 1987, more than 50 network affiliates pre-empted their own shows for the series pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint". One station predicted that "Star Trek promises to be one of the most successful programs of the season, network or syndicated".[22] Special effects were byIndustrial Light and Magic, a Division ofLucasfilm.[23] The new show indeed performed well; the pilot's ratings were higher than those of many network programs,[22] and ratings remained comparable to network shows by the end of the first season, despite the handicap of each station airing the show on a different day and time, often outside prime time. By the end of the first season, Paramount reportedly received $1 million for advertising per episode, more than the roughly $800,000 fee that networks typically paid for a one-hour show;[18] by 1992, when the budget for each episode had risen to almost $2 million,[24] the studio earned $90 million from advertising annually from first-run episodes, with each 30-second commercial selling for $115,000 to $150,000.[25][26] The show had a 40%return on investment for Paramount, with $30 to $60 million in annual upfront net profit for first-run episodes and another $70 million forstripping rights for each of the about 100 episodes then available, so they did not need overseas sales to be successful.[25]
Star Trek: The Next Generation ran for 178 episodes, over seven seasons, from the fall of 1987 annually to the spring of 1994. At the end of that season, the cast switched over to production of theStar Trek filmGenerations which was released before the end of 1994.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 26 | September 28, 1987 (1987-09-28) | May 16, 1988 (1988-05-16) | |
| 2 | 22 | November 21, 1988 (1988-11-21) | July 17, 1989 (1989-07-17) | |
| 3 | 26 | September 25, 1989 (1989-09-25) | June 18, 1990 (1990-06-18) | |
| 4 | 26 | September 24, 1990 (1990-09-24) | June 17, 1991 (1991-06-17) | |
| 5 | 26 | September 23, 1991 (1991-09-23) | June 15, 1992 (1992-06-15) | |
| 6 | 26 | September 21, 1992 (1992-09-21) | June 21, 1993 (1993-06-21) | |
| 7 | 26 | September 20, 1993 (1993-09-20) | May 23, 1994 (1994-05-23) | |
The Next Generation was shot on 35 mm film before being converted to analog tape for post-production, and the budget for each episode was $1.3 million, among the highest for a one-hour television drama.[27][18][28] While the staff enjoyed the creative freedom gained by independence from a broadcast network'sStandards and Practices department, the first season was marked by a "revolving door" of writers, with Gerrold,Fontana and others quitting after disputes with Roddenberry.[20]: 222 [29] Roddenberry "virtually rewrote" the first 15 episodes because of his "dogmatic" intention to depict human interaction "without drawing on the baser motives of greed, lust, and power". Writers found the show's "bible" constricting and ridiculous and could not deal with Roddenberry's ego and treatment of them. It stated, for example, that "regular characters all share a feeling of being part of a band of brothers and sisters. As in the originalStar Trek, we invite the audience to share the same feeling of affection for our characters."[11] David Gerrold claimed that at one point, Roddenberry's lawyer came aboard and started taking apart six months of work, including the removal of a gay couple that Roddenberry had promised would be included in the series, which made Gerrold decide to leave the show.[30]
Mark Bourne ofThe DVD Journal wrote of season one: "A typical episode relied on trite plot points, clumsy allegories, dry and stilted dialogue, or characterization that was taking too long to feel relaxed and natural."[31] Other targets of criticism included poorspecial effects and plots being resolved by thedeus ex machina ofWesley Crusher saving the ship.[32][33]Patrick Stewart's acting won praise, and critics noted that characters were given greater potential for development than those of the original series.[31][32] Actors and producers were unsure whetherTrekkies loyal to the original show would accept the new one but one critic stated as early as October 1987 thatThe Next Generation, not the movies or the original show, "is the realStar Trek now".[34][35][36]
While the events of most episodes of season one were self-contained, many developments important to the show occurred during the season. The recurring nemesisQ was introduced in the pilot, the alien Ferengi had their seminal appearance in "The Last Outpost", theholodeck was introduced and the romantic backstory betweenWilliam Riker andDeanna Troi was investigated. "The Naked Now", one of the few episodes that depicted Roddenberry's fascination (as seen in the show's bible) with sex in the future, became a cast favorite.[11]
Later episodes in the season set the stage for serial plots. The episode "Datalore" introduced Data'sevil twin brotherLore, who made several more appearances throughout the series. "Coming of Age" deals with Wesley Crusher's efforts to get intoStarfleet Academy while also hinting at the threat to Starfleet later faced in "Conspiracy". "Heart of Glory" explored Worf's character,Klingon culture and the uneasy truce between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, three themes that played major roles in later episodes. Tasha Yar left the show in "Skin of Evil", becoming the first regularStar Trek character to die permanently (although the character was seen again in two later episodes) in either series or film. The season finale, "The Neutral Zone", established the presence of two of TNG's most enduring villains: the Romulans, making their first appearance since theOriginal Series, and through foreshadowing, the Borg.
The premiere became the first television episode to be nominated for aHugo Award since 1972. Six of the season's episodes were each nominated for anEmmy Award. "11001001" won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, "The Big Goodbye" won for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series, and "Conspiracy" won for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for a Series.[12] "The Big Goodbye" also won aPeabody Award, the first syndicated program[18] and onlyStar Trek episode to do so.
The top two episodes for Nielsen ratings were "Encounter at Farpoint" with 15.7, and "Justice" with 12.7.[37] The season ran from 1987 to 1988.
The series underwent significant changes during its second season.Beverly Crusher was replaced as Chief Medical Officer byKatherine Pulaski, played byDiana Muldaur, who had been a guest star in "Return to Tomorrow" and "Is There in Truth No Beauty?", two episodes from the originalStar Trek series. The ship's recreational area, Ten-Forward, and its mysterious bartender/advisor,Guinan, played byWhoopi Goldberg, appeared for the first time. Owing to the1988 Writers Guild of America strike, the number of episodes produced was cut from 26 to 22, and the start of the season was delayed. Because of the strike, the opening episode, "The Child", was based on a script originally written forStar Trek: Phase II, while the season finale, "Shades of Gray", was aclip show.
Nevertheless, season two as a whole was widely regarded as significantly better than season one.[38] Benefiting from Paramount's commitment to a multiyear run and free from network interference due to syndication, Roddenberry found writers who could work within his guidelines and create drama from the cast's interaction with the rest of the universe.[11] The plots became more sophisticated and began to mix drama with comic relief. Its focus on character development received special praise.[38] Co-executive producer Maurice Hurley has stated that his primary goal for the season was to plan and execute season-longstory arcs andcharacter arcs.[39] Hurley wrote the acclaimed episode "Q Who", which featured the first on-screen appearance of the Borg. Season two focused on developing the character Data, and two episodes from the season, "Elementary, Dear Data" and "The Measure of a Man", featured him prominently.[40]Miles O'Brien also became a more prominent character during the second season, whileGeordi La Forge took the position of Chief Engineer. Klingon issues continued to be explored in episodes such as "A Matter of Honor" and "The Emissary", which introduced Worf's former loverK'Ehleyr.[41] Five second-season episodes were nominated for six Emmy Awards, and "Q Who" won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series.[12] The season ran from 1988 to 1989.
Season 2 marked the addition of the "Ten Forward" set at Paramount, located at Stage 8 at the studios.[42] The set was designed by Herman Zimmerman, and in the show was a place for the crew to relax, hang out together, and eat or have drinks.[42] Inside, it featured a bar looking out on large windows, and outside it featured a star field, or with use of green-screen special effects, other scenes.[42]
Before the production of the third season in the summer of 1989, some personnel changes were made. Head writer Maurice Hurley was let go andMichael Piller took over for the rest of the series. Creator and executive producer Gene Roddenberry took less of an active role due to his declining health. Roddenberry gave Piller and Berman the executive producer jobs, and they remained in that position for the rest of the series' run, with Berman overseeing the production as a whole and Piller being in charge of the creative direction of the show and the writing room. McFadden returned to the cast as Doctor Crusher, replacing Muldaur, who had remained a guest star throughout the second season. An additional change was the inclusion of the fanfare that was added to the opening credits of the second season, to the end of the closing credits.[dubious –discuss]Ronald D. Moore joined the show after submitting aspec script that became "The Bonding". He became the franchise's "Klingon guru",[12] meaning that he wrote mostTNG episodes dealing with the Klingon Empire (though he wrote some Romulan stories, as well, such as "The Defector").Ira Steven Behr also joined the show in its third season. Though his tenure withTNG lasted only one year, he later went on to be a writer and showrunner of spin-off seriesStar Trek: Deep Space Nine.[43] Six third-season episodes were nominated for eight Emmys. "Yesterday's Enterprise" won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and "Sins of the Father" won for Best Art Direction for a Series.[12] After a chiropractor warned that the cast members risked permanent skeletal injury, new two-piece wool uniforms replaced the first two seasons' extremely tight spandex uniforms.[44] The season finale, the critically acclaimed episode "The Best of Both Worlds", was the first season-endingcliffhanger, a tradition that continued throughout the remainder of the series. The season ran from 1989 to 1990.
The Season 3 finale and bridge to Season 4, "The Best of Both Worlds" went on to be one of the most acclaimedStar Trek episodes noted byTV Guide's "100 Most Memorable Moments in TV History", ranking 70th out of 100 in March 2001.[45] It has routinely been ranked among the top of allStar Trek franchise episodes.[46][47]
Brannon Braga andJeri Taylor joined the show in its fourth season. During the fourth season, the series surpassed theOriginal Series in series length, with the production ofTNG's 80th episode, "Legacy". A new alien race, the Cardassians, made their first appearance in "The Wounded". They later were heavily featured inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine. The episode "Final Mission" marked the last regular series appearance ofWil Wheaton, who played wunderkind Wesley Crusher. The season finale, "Redemption", was the 100th episode, and the cast and crew (including creator Gene Roddenberry) celebrated the historic milestone on the bridge set. Footage of this was seen in theStar Trek 25th-anniversary special hosted by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, which aired later in the year. Seven fourth-season episodes were nominated for eight Emmys. "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" won for both Outstanding Sound Editing in a Series and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Series.[12] "Family" is the onlyTNG episode where Data does not appear on-screen. The season ran from 1990 to 1991.
The fifth season's seventh episode, "Unification", opened with a dedication toStar Trek creatorGene Roddenberry (though the prior episode, "The Game", aired four days after his death). Roddenberry, though he had recently died, continued to be credited as executive producer for the rest of the season. The cast and crew learned of his death during the production of "Hero Worship", a later season-five episode. Seven fifth-season episodes were nominated for eight Emmys. "Cost of Living" won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Series and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series, and "A Matter of Time" and "Conundrum" tied for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects. In addition, "The Inner Light" became the first television episode since the 1968 original seriesStar Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" to win aHugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.[12] Season five had the introduction of a jacket for Picard, worn periodically throughout the rest of the show's run. The observation lounge set was altered with the removal of the gold model starships across the interior wall and the addition of lighting beneath the windows. Recurring character EnsignRo Laren was introduced in the fifth season. The season ran from 1991 to 1992.
With the creation ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, Rick Berman and Michael Piller's time were split betweenThe Next Generation and the new show. Three sixth-season episodes were nominated for Emmys. "Time's Arrow, Part II" won for both Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Series and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series, and "A Fistful of Datas" won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series.[12] The highest Nielsen-rated episode of Season 6 was "Relics", with a rating of 13.9.[48] The episode featuredOriginal Series character Scotty played byJames Doohan. Additionally,NASA astronautMae Jemison played Lt. Palmer in "Second Chances".[49][50] The season 6 finale cliffhanger includes a cameo byStephen Hawking (Part I of "Descent"). The season ran from 1992 to 1993.
The seventh season wasThe Next Generation's last, running from 1993 to 1994. The penultimate episode, "Preemptive Strike", concluded the plot line for the recurring character Ensign (now Lieutenant)Ro Laren and introduced themes that continued inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine andStar Trek: Voyager.The Next Generation series finale, "All Good Things...", was a double-length episode (separated into two parts for reruns) that aired the week of May 19, 1994, revisiting the events of the pilot and providing a bookend to the series. Toronto'sSkyDome played host to a massive event for the series finale. Thousands of people packed the stadium to watch the final episode on the stadium'sJumboTron. Five seventh-season episodes were nominated for nine Emmys, and the series as a whole was the first syndicated television series nominated for Outstanding Drama Series. To this day,The Next Generation is the only syndicated drama to be nominated in this category. "All Good Things..." won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects, and "Genesis" won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series. "All Good Things..." also won the second of the series' two Hugo Awards.[12] "All Good Things..." also achieved the highest Nielsen rating for all of Season 7, with a rating of 17.4.[51]
Although the cast members were contracted for eight seasons,[52]Paramount endedThe Next Generation after seven, which disappointed and puzzled some of the actors, and was an unusual decision for a successful television show. Paramount then made films using the cast, which it believed would be less successful if the show were still on television.[53] An eighth season also would likely have reduced the show's profitability due to higher cast salaries and a lower price per episode when sold asstrip programming.[52]
The show's strong ratings continued to the end; the 1994 series finale was ranked number two among all shows that week, between hitsHome Improvement andSeinfeld,[52] and was watched by over 30 million viewers.[3]TNG was the most-watchedStar Trek show, with a peak audience of 11.5 million during its fifth season prior to the launch ofDS9. Between 1988 and 1992 it picked up half a million to a million additional viewers per year.[4]
Adjusted Nielsen ratings forStar Trek TV shows:[4]
| Series | Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | TV season | Avg. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Next Generation | 1 | 26 | Fall 1987 | Spring 1988 | 1987–88 | 8.55 |
| The Next Generation | 2 | 22 | Fall 1988 | Spring 1989 | 1988–89 | 9.14 |
| The Next Generation | 3 | 26 | Fall 1989 | Spring 1990 | 1989–90 | 9.77 |
| The Next Generation | 4 | 26 | Fall 1990 | Spring 1991 | 1990–91 | 10.58 |
| The Next Generation | 5 | 26 | Fall 1991 | Spring 1992 | 1991–92 | 11.50 |
| The Next Generation Deep Space Nine | 6 (TNG) 1 (DS9) | 26 (TNG) 20 (DS9) | Fall 1992 | Spring 1993 | 1992–93 | 10.83 |
| The Next Generation Deep Space Nine | 7 (TNG) 2 (DS9) | 26 (TNG) 26 (DS9) | Fall 1993 | Spring 1994 | 1993–94 | 9.78 |
| Deep Space Nine Voyager | 3 (DS9) 1 (VOY) | 26 (DS9) 16 (VOY) | Fall 1994 | Spring 1995 | 1994–95 | 7.05 |
| Deep Space Nine Voyager | 4 (DS9) 2 (VOY) | 25 (DS9) 26 (VOY) | Fall 1995 | Spring 1996 | 1995–96 | 6.42 |
| Deep Space Nine Voyager | 5 (DS9) 3 (VOY) | 26 (DS9) 26 (VOY) | Fall 1996 | Spring 1997 | 1996–97 | 5.03 |
| Deep Space Nine Voyager | 6 (DS9) 4 (VOY) | 26 (DS9) 26 (VOY) | Fall 1997 | Spring 1998 | 1997–98 | 4.53 |
| Deep Space Nine Voyager | 7 (DS9) 5 (VOY) | 25 (DS9) 26 (VOY) | Fall 1998 | Spring 1999 | 1998–99 | 4.00 |
Science fiction authors noted howStar Trek: The Next Generation influenced their careers.[54]
Star Trek: The Next Generation aired for seven seasons beginning on September 28, 1987, and ending on May 23, 1994.
The series begins with the crew of theEnterprise-D put on trial by an omnipotent being known asQ, who became a recurring character. The god-like entity threatens the extinction of humanity for being a race of savages, forcing them to solve a mystery at nearby Farpoint Station to prove their worthiness to be spared. After successfully solving the mystery and avoiding disaster, the crew departs on its mission to explore strange new worlds.
Subsequent stories focus on the discovery of new life and sociological and political relationships with alien cultures, as well as exploring thehuman condition. Several new species are introduced as recurring antagonists, including theFerengi, theCardassians, and theBorg. Throughout their adventures, Picard and his crew are often forced to face and live with the consequences of difficult choices.
The series ended in its seventh season with a two-part episode "All Good Things...", which brought the events of the series full circle to the original confrontation with Q. An interstellar anomaly that threatens all life in the universe forces Picard to leap from his present, past, and future to combat the threat. Picard was successfully able to show to Q that humanity could think outside of the confines of perception and theorize on new possibilities while still being prepared to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the greater good. The series ended with the crew of theEnterprise portrayed as feeling more like a family and paved the way for four consecutive motion pictures that continued the theme and mission of the series.
| Season 5 | Season 6 | Season 7 |
|---|---|---|
|
|
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For a more complete list, seeAppearances
| Character | Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6 | Season 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jean-Luc Picard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| William T. Riker | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Worf | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deanna Troi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Geordi La Forge | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Beverly Crusher | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Katherine Pulaski | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Wesley Crusher | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2 ep. | No | 2 ep. |
| Tasha Yar | Yes | No | 1 ep. | No | No | No | 1 ep. |
| Guinan | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Star Trek had a number of story arcs within the larger story, and oftentimes different episodes contributed to two or more different story or character arcs. Some are epitomized by the aliens the characters interact with, for example,TNG introduced the Borg and the Cardassians. The Klingons and Romulans had been introduced inThe Original Series (1966–1969); however, the Klingons were somewhat rebooted with a "turtle-head" look, although aretcon was given to explain this in anEnterprise episode. Other story arcs focus on certain peripheral characters such as Q, Ro Laren or characters projected on theHolodeck.
Certain episodes go deeper into the Klingon alien saga, which are famous for having an actualKlingon language made for them in theStar Trek universe. The Klingon stories usually involve Worf, but not all Worf-centric shows are focused on Klingons. The Duras sisters, a Klingon duo named Lursa and B'Etor, were introduced onTNG in the 1991 episode "Redemption". They later appeared in the filmGenerations.
One of the science fiction technologies featured inStar Trek: The Next Generation was an artificial reality machine called the "Holodeck," and several award-winning episodes featured plots centering on the peculiarities of this device.[58] Some episodes focused on malfunctions in the holodeck, and in one case how a crew member became addicted to the environment created by the technology.[58] The dangers of technology that allows illusion is one of ongoing themes ofStar Trek going back to the 1st pilot, "The Cage" where aliens' power of illusion to create an artificial reality is explored.[59] One of the plots is whether a character will confront a reality or retreat to a world of fantasy.[60]
Several episodes in the show also deal with the concept of time, including narrative structures aroundtime travel,temporal loops,parallel universes,alternate universes, and more. In some episodes, the character Q is responsible for the shifts in time.
The Next Generation's average of 20 million viewers often exceeded both existing syndication successes such asWheel of Fortune and network hits includingCheers andL.A. Law. Benefiting in part from many stations' decision to air each new episode twice in a week, it consistently ranked in the top ten among hour-long dramas, and networks could not prevent affiliates from preempting their shows withThe Next Generation or other dramas that imitated its syndication strategy.[24][19]: 124 Star Trek: The Next Generation received 18Emmy Awards and, in its seventh season, became the first and only syndicated television show to be nominated for the Emmy for Best Dramatic Series. It was nominated for threeHugo Awards and won two. The first-season episode "The Big Goodbye" also won thePeabody Award for excellence in television programming.
In 1997, the episode "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I" was ranked No. 70 onTV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.[61] In 2002,Star Trek: The Next Generation was ranked #46 onTV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time list,[62] and in 2008, was ranked No. 37 onEmpire's list of the 50 greatest television shows.[63]
On October 7, 2006, one of the three original filming models of the USSEnterprise-D used on the show sold at aChristie's auction for US$576,000, making it the highest-selling item at the event.[64] The buyer of the model wasMicrosoft co-founderPaul Allen, owner of theMuseum of Pop Culture in Seattle. The model is on display within the Science Fiction Museum.
In 2012,Entertainment Weekly listed the show at No. 7 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years", saying, "The originalStar Trek was cult TV before cult TV was even a thing, but its younger, sleeker offspring brought, yes, a new generation into the Trekker fold, and reignited the promise of sci-fi on television."[65] Although TNG did develop a cult following, it was noted for its prime-time general audience viewership also.[4]
The flute from "The Inner Light" was valued at a maximum of US$1,000 when it went to auction in late 2006, but was sold for over $40,000; in this case the auctioneers admitted they had underestimated the appeal of the prop.[66][67] In the days leading up to the auction,Denise Okuda, formerStar Trek scenic artist and video supervisor, as well as co-writer of the auction catalog, said: "That's the item people say they really have to have, because it's so iconic to a much-beloved episode."[68]
DS9's "The Emissary", which came out half-way through season 6 ofTNG achieved a Nielsen rating of 18.8.[69]Star Trek's ratings went into a steady decline starting with Season 6 ofTNG, and the second to last episode ofDS9 achieved a Nielsen rating of 3.9.[70]
In 2017,Vulture rankedStar Trek: The Next Generation the second best live-actionStar Trek television show.[71]
In 2019,Popular Mechanics rankedStar Trek: The Next Generation the third best science fiction television show ever.[72]
In 2021,Empire magazine ranked it the 17th greatest television show ever.[73] They point out it was hard to follow in the reputation of the original series, but the series found its footing and paved the way for more spin-offs.[73]
The Next Generation was first broadcast on British terrestrial television onBBC2 starting September 26, 1990.[74] The sequence remained the same as the US releases for the first four episodes,[75] but after this they were somewhat shuffled about.[76]
Video games based onThe Next Generation TV series, movies, and characters include:
TheEnterprise and its setting is also in other Trekiverse games likeStar Trek: Armada (2000). For example, inStar Trek: Armada voice actors fromThe Next Generation returned to their characters in the game includingPatrick Stewart reprising the roles of Jean-Luc Picard and Locutus,Michael Dorn voiced Worf,Denise Crosby reprisedSela, andJ. G. Hertzler[80] voiced Chancellor Martok. Several other voice actors who had been previously unaffiliated withStar Trek also voiced characters in the game, among them was Richard Penn[81]
Star Trek: Armada II was set in theStar Trek: The Next Generation era of theStar Trek universe[79]
Star Trek: Hidden Evil (1999) included voice acting byBrent Spiner asData and Patrick Stewart as Picard,[82] and was a follow-up to the ninthStar Trek filmStar Trek: Insurrection[82]
Board Games:
Pinball:
(includes other series)
Four films feature the characters of the series:Star Trek Generations (1994),Star Trek: First Contact (1996),Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), andStar Trek: Nemesis (2002).
An ancestor of Worf, also played by Dorn, appeared inStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.[85]
I think it was kind of an honor they had my character be sort of the link between the two series. It was wonderful to be working with the other cast (from the originalStar Trek series). It was kind of a fantasy because who would have thought when I was watching the original show that I'd be working in the movie? Beyond that, it's like professionalism takes over and you just kind of do the best you can and not make yourself look bad.
— Dorn on his role inThe Undiscovered Country[85]
| Film | U.S. release date | Director(s) | Screenwriter(s) | Story by | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Trek Generations | November 18, 1994 (1994-11-18) | David Carson | Ronald D. Moore andBrannon Braga | Rick Berman, Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore | Rick Berman |
| Star Trek: First Contact | November 22, 1996 (1996-11-22) | Jonathan Frakes | Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore | Rick Berman,Marty Hornstein andPeter Lauritson | |
| Star Trek: Insurrection | December 11, 1998 (1998-12-11) | Michael Piller | Rick Berman and Michael Piller | Rick Berman | |
| Star Trek: Nemesis | December 13, 2002 (2002-12-13) | Stuart Baird | John Logan | John Logan, Rick Berman andBrent Spiner |
Star Trek harnessed the emergence of home video technologies that rose to prominence in the 1980s as new revenue and promotion avenue.[86]Star Trek: The Next Generation had release in part or in full on VHS, Betamax, LaserDisc, DVD, and Blu-ray media.[86]
All episodes ofStar Trek: The Next Generation were made available onVHS cassettes, starting in 1991. The entire series was gradually released on VHS over the next few years during the remainder of the show's run and after the show had ended.
The VHS for TNG were available on mail-order, with usually two episodes per cassette.
Some episodes had releases on the tape videocassette formatBetamax.[86] Releases of all Betamax publications including those of theStar Trek: The Next Generation was halted in the early 1990s.[87]
Paramount published all episodes on theLaserDisc format from October 1991 using an extended release schedule that concluded in May 1999. Each disc featured two episodes with Closed Captions, Digital Audio, and CX encoding. Also published were four themed "collections", or boxed sets, of related episodes. These includedThe Borg Collective,The Q Continuum,Worf: Return to Grace, andThe Captains Collection.[88]
For example, the "Q Continuum" collection of LaserDisc featured 4 episodes.[89] The collection was released on July 30, 1997, and was published byParamount Home Video; it retailed for US$99.98.[89] The set included the 2-part "Encounter at Farpoint", "Hide & Q", "Q Who?", and "Deja Q" on 12 inch optical discs inNTSC format with a total runtime of 230 minutes, with stereo sound.[89] The collection came in a Tri-Fold jacket that also included a letter from actor Jon De Lancie (Q).[89]
There was a production error with episode 166, "Sub Rosa", where a faulty master tape was used that was missing 4½ minutes of footage. Though a new master copy of the episode was obtained, no corrected pressing of this disc was issued.[88]
Star Trek: The Next Generation was also released on LaserDisc in the non-US markets Japan and Europe. In Japan, all episodes were released in a series of 14 boxed sets (two boxed sets per season), and as with the US releases were in the NTSC format and ordered by production code. The European laserdiscs were released in the PAL format and included the ten two-part telemovies as well as a disc featuring the episodesYesterday's Enterprise andCause And Effect. The pilot episode,Encounter At Farpoint, was also included in a boxed set calledStar Trek: The Pilots featuring the pilot episodes fromStar Trek: The Original Series,Star Trek: The Next Generation,Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, andStar Trek: Voyager.
The first season of the series was released on DVD in March 2002. Throughout the year the next six seasons were released at various times on DVD, with the seventh season being released in December 2002. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the series,CBS Home Entertainment andParamount Home Entertainment releasedStar Trek: The Next Generation – The Complete Series on October 2, 2007. The DVD box set contains 49 discs. Between March 2006 and September 2008, "Fan Collective" editions were released containing select episodes ofThe Next Generation (andThe Original Series,Deep Space Nine, andVoyager) based on various themes. The individual episodes were chosen by fans voting onStarTrek.com. In total, six "Fan Collectives" were produced, along with a boxed set containing the first five collectives. In April 2013 all seven seasons ofStar Trek: The Next Generation were re-released in new packaging featuring a silhouette of a different cast member on each box. However, the discs contained the identical content that was previously released in 2002. Another full DVD set was released in 2020 but it also contains the same content from the previous 2002 release.
CBS announced on September 28, 2011, in celebration of the series' twenty-fifth anniversary, thatStar Trek: The Next Generation would be completely remastered in 1080p high definition from the original35mm filmnegatives. The original show was edited and post-processed instandard definition for broadcast, as were all the show's visual effects (e.g. all exterior shots of theEnterprise, phaser fire, or beaming fade-ins and -outs). For the remaster almost 25,000 reels of original film stock were rescanned and reedited, and all visual effects were digitally recomposed from original large-format negatives and newly created CGI shots. The release was accompanied by a new 7.1DTS HD Master Audio remix.Michael Okuda believes this is the largest film restoration project ever attempted.[90] The process of making high-definition versions of the series was an extraordinarily labor-intensive ordeal that costParamount Pictures over $12 million. The project was a financial failure and resulted in Paramount deciding very firmly against givingDeep Space Nine andVoyager the same treatment.[91]
An initial disc featuring the episodes "Encounter at Farpoint", "Sins of the Father", and "The Inner Light" was released on January 31, 2012, under the label "The Next Level". The six-disc first season set was released on July 24, 2012.[92] The remaining seasons were released periodically thereafter, culminating in the release of the seventh season on December 2, 2014. Season 1 sold 95,000 units in its launch week in 2012.[93] The Blu-ray sets include many special features and videos, such as a 1988 episode ofReading Rainbow where LeVar Burton (who plays Geordi onTNG) documents the making of aStar Trek: The Next Generation episode.[94]
The entire re-mastered series is available on Blu-ray as individual seasons, and as a 41-disc box set titledThe Full Journey. Eventually, all remastered episodes became available for television syndication and digital distribution.[95]
| Season | Release date[96] | Special features |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | July 24, 2012 | Documentaries "Energized!" (about the VFX remastering) and "Stardate Revisited" (Origin) |
| Season 2 | December 4, 2012 | Extended version of "The Measure of a Man", Reunification: reunion interview with entireTNG cast. |
| Season 3 | April 30, 2013 | Inside the Writer's Room, Resistance is Futile: AssimilatingTNG, A Tribute to Michael Piller |
| Season 4 | July 30, 2013 | In Conversation: TheStar Trek Art Department, Relativity: The Family Saga ofStar Trek TNG, Deleted scenes |
| Season 5 | November 19, 2013 | In Conversation: The Music ofTNG, Requiem: A Remembrance ofTNG, Deleted scenes |
| Season 6 | June 24, 2014 | Beyond the Five Year Mission- The Evolution ofStar Trek: The Next Generation, Deleted scenes |
| Season 7 | December 2, 2014 | The Sky's the Limit – The Eclipse ofStar Trek: The Next Generation, In Conversation: LensingStar Trek: The Next Generation, deleted scenes |
WhenTNG was remastered in high definition, several episodes were released as stand-alone single show Blu-ray products.[97] "The Best of Both Worlds" is split between two seasons, whereas the standalone product includes parts 1 and 2.[98] "The Best of Both Worlds" single was released in April 2013 coinciding with the release of Season 3.[99] Other singles of TNG HD include the two part shows "Redemption", "Unification", "Chain of Command", and "All Good Things…".[99]
"The Measure of a Man" was released in HD in 2012 with an extended cut.[100] The extended version includes an extra 13 minutes of footage as well as recreated special effects.[101] It was released as part of the Season 2 collection set.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on various streaming video services, includingAmazon Prime Video,Apple iTunes, andParamount+, under various qualities and terms. The Netflix version included some additional special effect improvements.[102] One service stated that by 2017 the mostre-watched episodes ofStar Trek:The Next Generation among the most re-watchedStar Trek franchise shows in their offerings, were "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I", "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", "Q Who", and "Clues".[103] Streaming offerings were noted for binge watching, includingStar Trek: The Next Generation 178 episodes among the overall 726 episodes and 12 movies that had been released prior toStar Trek: Discovery in late 2017.[104]
As of the late 2010s,Star Trek: The Next Generation is syndicated to air in the United States on the cable networkBBC America and the broadcast channel networkHeroes & Icons.[105]
Star Trek : The Next Generation episodes have been featured in TV specials and marathons.[106] For example, forSaint Patrick's Day BBC America planned a marathon with the episodes including "The Best of Both Worlds", "Time's Arrow", "Chain of Command", "Tapestry", and the series finale, "All Good Things...".[106] On the launch of Paramount+ streaming service, on March 4, 2021, a freeStar Trek marathon was presented, featuring the pilots of the variousStar Trek television series, including TNG.[107] The marathon started at 7 am PT/10 am ET and streamed on the YouTube internet video platform and ran all day.[107]
Star Trek: The Next Generation spawned different media set in its universe, which was primarily the 2370s but set in the same universe as firstStar Trek TV shows of the 1960s. This included the aforementioned films, computer games, board games, theme parks, etc. In the 2010s there were rumors of a Captain Worf spin-off, the Klingon bridge officer that debuted onTNG and was also featured in theTNG spin-off showDeep Space Nine.[108]
A documentary calledJourney's End: The Saga of Star Trek – The Next Generation was released in 1994.[109] Directed by Donald R. Beck, it featured the cast of the show and explored the last season and the then-upcoming filmGenerations.[109]
Star Trek: The Next Generation-era novels (examples):
Series
| One-offs
|
|
In 2005, the last episode ofStar Trek: Enterprise called "These Are the Voyages..." (S4E22) featured aholodeck simulation on theUSSEnterprise (NCC-1701-D) fromStar Trek: The Next Generation during the events of the episode "The Pegasus" and the return of CommanderWilliam Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and CounselorDeanna Troi (Marina Sirtis).[110] It was written by Berman and Braga, who noted "... this was a very cool episode because it has a great concept driving it".[111]
Star Trek: Enterprise was the TV show launched following the conclusion ofStar Trek: Voyager and was set 100 years beforeTOS and 200 years beforeTNG, in addition to including some soft reboot elements with an all new cast. Some episodes connected toTNG directly including guest stars by Brent Spiner and connections to the events inTNG's fictional universe. The three-episodestory arc consisting of "Borderland", "Cold Station 12", and "The Augments", with a Soong ancestor portrayed byThe Next Generation regularBrent Spiner provides some backstory to Data's origins. Also, theEnterprise episode "Affliction" helps explain the smooth-headed Klingons that sometimes appeared, aretcon that helped explain this varying presentation betweenTOS,TNG, and the films.
Star Trek would not return to television as a show for over 12 years, until the debut ofStar Trek: Discovery initially on CBS but thereafter exclusively available on the Internet serviceCBS All Access (Netflix internationally) at that time. The film franchise was rebooted in2009, essentially a grafted on fork off of the timeline known inStar Trek: The Next Generation. That movie contains an event from theTNG timeline, which is the destruction of Romulus and the flight of Spock's special ship to the time fork. In theStar Trek franchise, witnessing the events of time shenanigans is a common plot device.
On August 4, 2018, Patrick Stewart stated on social media that he would return to the role of Jean-Luc Picard in a project with CBS All Access.[112]
Stewart wrote, "I will always be very proud to have been a part ofStar Trek: The Next Generation, but when we wrapped that final movie in the spring of 2002, I truly felt my time withStar Trek had run its natural course. It is, therefore, an unexpected but delightful surprise to find myself excited and invigorated to be returning to Jean-Luc Picard and to explore new dimensions within him. Seeking out new life for him, when I thought that life was over.
"During these past years, it has been humbling to hear stories about howThe Next Generation brought people comfort, saw them through difficult periods in their lives or how the example of Jean-Luc inspired so many to follow in his footsteps, pursuing science, exploration and leadership. I feel I'm ready to return to him for the same reason – to research and experience what comforting and reforming light he might shine on these often very dark times. I look forward to working with our brilliant creative team as we endeavor to bring a fresh, unexpected and pertinent story to life once more."
In January 2019, the producer said that the Picard series will answer questions about what happened to Captain Picard in the 20 years afterStar Trek: Nemesis.[113]
This infographic shows the first-run production timeline of variousStar Trek franchise shows and films, includingStar Trek: The Next Generation.
The writers were being rewritten by Gene, and there was a lot of tumult because people didn't know where they stood.
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