Seasons 1 & 2.

Discussion in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' started by Gojira, Sep 19, 2013.

  1. Praetor

    Praetor Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah. I think the amber gels in the first/second seasons somehow gave it more warmth. TOS's work with varying light colors kind of did the same thing.
     
  2. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    I'd thought of adding that "A Matter of Honor" (Made in America, dammit! :p ) would have been under consideration for that list, but figured that I'd be able to find 9 other episodes that were better. Definitely one of the better Season 2 episodes.
     
  3. MickStrange

    MickStrange Cadet Newbie

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    Here's the thing, the actors became more secure in their roles and the writers better understood their style and direction after season 2, but, I saw TNG before TOS, it was those first two seasons that got me hooked on the entire universe. I felt that writers especially were really willing to take some risks, making even the crappy ones at least interesting. It was a beautiful blend between the two views of space from TOS to TNG. Space was still a magical place where philosophy is explored through universal settings but the hard science of Data and Geordie were quick to follow.
     
  4. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    There is very little hard science in any version of Star Trek. :lol:
     
  5. Praetor

    Praetor Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I think he meant "technobabble." ;)
     
  6. HaventGotALife

    HaventGotALife Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I didn't like how happy everyone is and how fast the crew bonded in the first season. The music is next to terrible. It is grand and optimistic and every scene feels like a trumpet before a king enters his court.

    The second season ditched the bad music and the happy faces all the time. There was actual exploring going on. REAL strange, new worlds. Pulaski is my favorite doctor outside of Bones, and I really enjoyed her scenes (especially with Data). It built his character. There weren't cheesy story lines with Wesley as there was in the first season. "The Measure of a Man" and "Q Who?" remain greatly written episodes. The only season finale I hate, Shades of Gray doesn't do justice to the performances they had throughout that year. Season 2 is my 4th favorite season and it's a big distance between 4 and 5.
     
  7. IPTC

    IPTC Cadet Newbie

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    I agree. Season 1 did get a bit cheesy sometimes but they still were trying to gather what TNG will be.

    Season 2 is where they started to go off the charts.
     
  8. CrazyMatt

    CrazyMatt Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Exactly... Season 2 is where TNG became interesting. Season 1 suffers too much from the influence of GR's idealism, which drown out a lot of the drama (and could be overly preachy).

    Season 2 kept TNG on the air... then Season 3 made it "Can't miss TV."
     
  9. LMFAOschwarz

    LMFAOschwarz Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    That is hilarious. :lol: I never thought of it that way before.
     
  10. RandyS

    RandyS Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well, that's because it isn't true. In the first couple seasons the music was good. It was only later when Rick Berman's "sonic wallpaper" took hold that it became bland and boring with only occasional moments of good stuff.
     
  11. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    I think the bland lighting and terrible music that took hold once Berman was solidly in control really hurt Modern Trek.
     
  12. TheGoodStuff

    TheGoodStuff Captain Captain

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    To be honest, there is not a season of the franchise that I do not enjoy. Seasons 1 & 2 for me, are too simplistic like TOS, I feel come season 3 TNG realised it could be deeper and began to benefit from that. Once it branched off on its own it thrived.

    Seasons 1 & 2 have a bunch of interesting, fun episodes and EVERY show has its 'finding its legs' period.
     
  13. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Berman also dictated a shooting and editing style that was pretty conservative, too.

    Compare the franchise to the shooting and editing styles being tried on Miami Vice ('84), Homicide: Life on the Street ('93) or The West Wing ('99) and you'll see what I mean.

    Heck, compare the series to the look of Star Trek ('66) and you'll see what I mean.

    By the time Berman was willing to take any aesthetic chances (on Enterprise) the franchise was way behind the curve.
     
  14. Makarov

    Makarov Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I like how the early seasons are different, just so that I can look and say, oh that's an early season episode. It's a bit harder to do that with the later seasons. Also, Time Squared and Elementary Dear Data are awesome.
     
  15. LMFAOschwarz

    LMFAOschwarz Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    You're right, of course. I was thinking in more of a "stereotypical" way, because it is easy to envision those "trumpet" moments, such as a few highlights of the Farpoint chase with the Q grid.

    I particularly remember the music in Datalore, when they searched the planet and the underground lab complex. Really good stuff, which I still remember even not having seen the episode in about 20 years!
     
  16. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    You're absolutely right. Trek definitely wasn't a trend setter the second time around. :techman:
     
  17. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Firing Ron Jones was one of the worst mistakes Rick Berman made. Many of the later episodes in all the series had some of the blandest crap music I've ever heard on television.
     
  18. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    Somebody above mentioned "Time Squared", and while I don't consider it that great an episode, it did remind me of something about Season 2. It seemed to me that Season 2 had more episodes that captured that elusive feeling of the ship being out there alone on the frontier that most of TNG was lacking.
     
  19. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yeah... just imagine Best of Both Worlds with the bland Berman danger music instead of that epic score Jones did.