I am a new fan to the Star Trek franchise and recently purchased the complete series of TNG on the advice from a friend but an now wondering if I should watch the original series first before I start watching TNG. I know that the characters are different between the two but I am wondering if it would be beneficial from an historical context to watch the original series first?
It certainly wouldn't hurt, but I don't think it's necessary. TNG stands on it's own independently of TOS fairly well.
No, it isn't necessary at all to have watched The Original Series before watching The Next Generation. And that's coming from a huge fan of both shows. There are some episodes (especially later on) where some prior knowledge of Star Trek history wouldn't hurt (like Sarek, Relics or Unification), but even these can be easily understood without having watched The Original Series first. By the way, welcome to the Trek BBS! It's always nice to have new folks around.
Agreed. TNG does not need TOS. And if you're like me, TOS might turn you off of trek entirely... Oh the wasted years!
If you happen to have TOS lying around, do watch it first. I think you will enjoy TOS more on its own merits than compared to TNG, and there will be the occasional reference to TOS in TNG that was meant to be fun for fans who had seen it that will just blend into other comments if you haven't seen it. (It isn't like a joke that's only funny to some, and therefore unfunny to others, it's like noticing that a character in your favorite tv show has a coffee mug that references your favorite movie: it tickles you if you get it, and if you don't it is just a mug.) But don't put off watching TNG to wait for TOS. That would be like not eating the cheesecake because you don't have any strawberries. (Actually, bad metaphor, as strawberries improve cheesecake far more than TOS will improve TNG.)
Welcome to the board. It wouldn't hurt to watch TOS first, but its not a must. As others have said, TNG stands up on it's own pretty well. There will be some references to TOS in some episodes that you'll miss, but other than 'Relics', you'll be fine.
I've been religiously watching TOS and TNG with my dad, from the beginning. I always liked TOS, but recently got the TOS Remastered series and decided to see it from the beginning. I also have practically seen every TNG episode at least 20 times each, perhaps more, but seeing it sequencially right after TOS (and the TOS movies) has made TNG so much more enjoyable to me. I can't believe how, at least in spirit, the shows are so similar to each other.