While watching TNG for the first time..

..What was your impression of William Riker?

 

Man that guy is tall! Why is he always leaning?

 

Good character that should've been moved on after The Best of Both Worlds.

 

He was very moody.

 

From the pilot, my first impression was... "Looks like Kirk don't get to be captain this time"

 

I had a very warped view of him, as I started to watch TNG during season 7, before it looped back to season 1. So with the change of uniform, the beard, some weight gain, and being seemingly less stiff, I wondered if the actor had changed!

I like him anyway. I enjoyed how he had more of a role during the first two seasons, even though that would later be supplanted by Picard, Data and Worf. I agree with BillJ - his lifespan as the Enterprise's first officer had expired after Best of Both Worlds, as he should have been promoted. He just sort of stalled at being Commander until Nemesis over ten years later.

But I suppose that's television for you. Still, he had a lot of charm about him, so even though he was just stuck in a career rut, he was likeable.

 

I don't recall. I like Riker, though.

 

That he was kind of bland, actually. He didn't seem to have much of a well-defined personality, he was just sort of wooden and boring. Still one of the least interesting TNG characters all these years later.

 

I was a casual viewers during the first few seasons. I used to think the beardless one was a different actor/character than the one with the beard until I started watching TNG regularly.

 

Riker's a jerk.

 

I remember thinking he was alright, nothing too special. Competent officer. But as I've rewatched the series over the years, he's growing more into one of my favourites for some reason.

 

He looked like Potsie from "Happy Days"

 

He was! And then demoted after saving the Earth and Picard! You're correct, would have made more sense for him to keep his promotion and have him or Picard move on to other things. But then if Stewart had left, could Frakes have held the show up by himself?

I would have loved to have seen how the idea the writers toyed with in "Second Chances" would have played out...

 

Because of that horrid beard. It was made of lead, you know.

Men, take your lesson from that! Beards will cause you grievous back problems! And chopped off sword hands!

 

Man! This guy likes doing his crew evaluation reports!

 

It is the call of duty, damn it!

 

Not to derail but what idea with "Second Chances"?

OP I liked Johnathan Frakes. I did not care soo much for Riker.

I preferred Tomas Riker of er Will, any day.

Ask me why--it's all in "Hollow Pursuits"

 

They, evidently, momentarily toyed with the idea of replacing Will Riker with Thomas Riker.

 

I'm glad he stuck around, but I DO think they should have done a better job rationalizing why he stayed with the Enterprise. Because every time the subject came up, it just made him look really weak and timid as a character.

Shit, all he had to do was just confidently say "The Enterprise is the flagship of the fleet with a lot of tradition behind it, and it's got the best Captain and crew in Starfleet. Why the hell would I WANT to leave that??"

Instead of hemming and hawing all the time like he usually did.

 

Even that makes him look timid and weak. If I'm Starfleet, I see an officer who doesn't think he can be a leader unless he has the best and brightest both above and below him in the chain of command.