Things that TNG brought to the table

[Lance]

I've said elsewhere my feelings about how there seems to have been a very specific time when Star Trek ceased to be about 'The Original Series or The Next Generation', and instead became kind of accepted as this cross-platform phenomenon. STV:TFF was made at a time when there was still this kind of distance between TOS being legitimized Star Trek and TNG being this kind of fledgling spin-off, and as such there's still this kind of feeling of them keeping the two at an arm's length of each other. By contrast, STVI:TUC was made at a time when TNG had become fully accepted by the masses and the script was seasoned with little nods to mythology established in the sequel series (but hithero unknown to TOS), while 'Unification' provided a settling agent towards joining the two iterations of the franchise in a solid way.

In terms of TNG inventing new parts of the mythology that hadn't existed in TOS, it's undeniable that this happened. While TOS and its movie brethren did much to create and expand the mythological universe of Star Trek, it was TNG was ratified and codified certain concepts which we all now, retroactively, apply backwards to TOS as well as forward to other spin-offs and movies.

But, what WERE they? What were the things that TNG brought to the table, things which only started to appear from 1987 onwards, but which we all now see as quintessential elements of Star Trek as a whole?

Here's one I came up with:

- The "four quadrants" idea. This is a big one. TOS seldom chose to define it's boundaries, beyond basic terms like "Federation Space" or "The Romulan Neutral Zone" or whatever. It was TNG which conceptualized Alpha/Beta/Gamma/Delta, which was then retroactively applied backwards to TOS via a line or two in The Undiscovered Country.

Likewise, I think maybe the name 'Khitomer' was another one? invented for TNG, then retroactively used in TUC.

Can anyone else here think of other examples?

 

[erastus25]

Honestly, TNG probably brought more to the table than TOS, by your definition. TNG is, more or less, a reboot of TOS and shares very little in common, whereas all the subsequent shows are clear sequels to TNG. So, yeah, I guess my answer would be "worldbuilding," in that TNG created most of the Star Trek universe.

 

[Mudang Harada]

A captain who was an intelectual and was not afraid to show it. it was his man characteristic. It was not repeated often. iI like this sort of atypical stuff, like accountant-like Coulson on Shield.

 

[BillJ]

A captain who was an intelectual and was not afraid to show it. it was his man characteristic. It was not repeated often. iI like this sort of atypical stuff, like accountant-like Coulson on Shield.

Kirk was every bit the intellectual that Picard was. Kirk could beat Spock at Chess, Kirk was only one of three people able to reprogram the Enterprise computer (Spock and Ben Finney being the other two).

 

[Mudang Harada]

Yeah, but Picard also looks like one right away. It was a big risk to take.

 

[erastus25]

A captain who was an intelectual and was not afraid to show it. it was his man characteristic. It was not repeated often. iI like this sort of atypical stuff, like accountant-like Coulson on Shield.

Kirk was every bit the intellectual that Picard was. Kirk could beat Spock at Chess, Kirk was only one of three people able to reprogram the Enterprise computer (Spock and Ben Finney being the other two).

He also quotes, Milton, Shakespeare, and other major literary figures.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

True, but Kirk would often cite history, and the parallel lessons learned relative to 'today'. The man has read his share of books, and judging from what we know of his studious past, he may in fact have been more like Picard in his youth! That's actually an interesting thought.

 

[BillJ]

True, but Kirk would often cite history, and the parallel lessons learned relative to 'today'. The man has read his share of books, and judging from what we know of his studious past, he may in fact have been more like Picard in his youth! That's actually an interesting thought.

Of course, we also know that Picard was more like Kirk in his youth.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Kirk was as smart as Picard was but he wasn't the classical definition of 'Intellectual'. He was more a brilliant tactician.

I would agree that having a character like Picard is a huge contribution made by TNG. It paved the way for other older introverted lead characters like Gil Grissom.

TNG also found this balance between action and contemplation that made it both smart and accessible whereas most shows try to go for one or the other.

 

[BillJ]

It definitely brought a very emotionally sterile feeling to the franchise.

 

[Mojochi]

Off the top of many head

The executive officer being a post unto itself. Even Pike's #1 manned a station, same as Spock did for Kirk. It made the TNG & VOY crews seem more officerial. I actually liked the old way better. Everybody is more hands on

Counselors... For good or Ill
The holodeck... For good or ill

 

[DS9forever]

Connecticut... in space!!!

 

[nightwind1]

Kirk was as smart as Picard was but he wasn't the classical definition of 'Intellectual'.

Gary Mitchell said the Kirk was "a walking stack of books".

Sounds pretty damned intellectual to me.

 

[T'Girl]

Of course, we also know that Picard was more like Kirk in his youth.

And Kirk was more like Picard in his youth.

Picard was the only hero ship captain who wasn't an American, or at least from inside the current borders.






.

 

[Melakon]

Ferengi and Borg. Though they didn't appear in TOS series or films, both showing up in ENT suggests they were known but unidentified races in Kirk's day.

 

[BillJ]

Of course, we also know that Picard was more like Kirk in his youth.

And Kirk was more like Picard in his youth.

Yeah. That exact point was what I was responding to.

 

[Mojochi]

Earth's Solar System. Not much talk about what's going on in the solar community prior to TNG. Hell, even Earth isn't featured much in TOS, unless it's time travel or something.

 

[Melakon]

^ That was mostly a conscious decision by Roddenberry during TOS though. Given the budget restrictions and technical limitations, he didn't think it would be possible to present a satisfying look at Earth's future. People would have been expecting flying cars and all sorts of things.

 

[BillJ]

The executive officer being a post unto itself. Even Pike's #1 manned a station, same as Spock did for Kirk.

The idea itself came from Star Trek: Phase II, the aborted 70's TV series. Decker would've been an XO only.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It definitely brought a very emotionally sterile feeling to the franchise.

As opposed to sterily emotional like most television.