When was TNG generally accepted and liked by Trek fans?
- Thread starter Shalashaska
- Start date
Well, it was an interesting take on the dynamic, but one geared to a show in which Riker should be the lead character. That was the original idea. The problem is that Frakes was bland, and Stewart was both more compelling and insistent on being given more to do than sit around on the ship.
I think Hide and Q got the tone right: Riker is given a life-changing choice, while in the background Q and Picard play chess for Riker's soul.
Yeah, she holds a grudge.
I think Nimoy was semi-supportive, but skeptical. I believe he was quoted in Starlog that he doubted they'd be able to capture "lightning in a bottle" a second time.
TNG debuted during my sophomore year of high school. I don't think I loved it right out of the gate, but it was certainly good enough for me to keep watching. I really loved Data right off the bat, and I quickly developed a crush on Tasha Yar. I don't recall either loving or hating either Picard or Riker at first. I know I didn't find Wesley annoying at the beginning, probably because I was a 15-year-old boy myself at the time.
Looking back now, TNG was a fairly mediocre series when it launched, but it managed enough impressive episodes like "Datalore," "11001001," "Heart of Glory," "Elementary, My Dear Data" and "The Measure of a Man" to keep me watching.
By the '90s, I'd developed a much more critical eye. I finally gave up on VOY after the Captain Sulu episode when I realized that I was watching a show I didn't particularly enjoy just because it had "Star Trek" in its title. I decided that two words in a title were a pretty silly reason to watch a show, and I gave up on it cold turkey.
I loved it from the start, but was hardly an existing fan. I was nine years old when I first saw a rented version of "Encounter At Farpoint" (BBC2 didn't start showing the series in the UK until September 1990). I had seen the TOS movies but that was about it.
I just loved everything about TNG from the get-go. My favourite season is Season 2 but I enjoy them all for the most part.
I just loved everything about TNG from the get-go. My favourite season is Season 2 but I enjoy them all for the most part.
I'm always a little amazed when anyone says that "Datalore" was a good episode. This may be one of my most disliked episodes in the entire series. I like "Shades of Grey" and "Code of Honor" better than "Datalore."
Nothing about Datalore makes any sense. In fact, there's one part where Lore says "And you want to be as stupid as THEM, dear brother??" and that pretty much sums up the writing on that episode, as if the writer was acknowledging that for the episode to work, everyone had to behave like a moron. It's so hokey and contrived...and the crew act like blind, bumbling idiots through the whole thing. Lore is potentially a murderous, dangerous, evil being and has proven so in that he's attacked Data and stolen his identity. So...what does Data do when the Crushers wake him up...? He invites Wesley (a 14 year old boy) and Dr. Crusher (the least useful person on the ship in a conflict) to come with him to the cargo bay where Lore is preparing to have the Enterprise destroyed.
Then, it is clear that Lore's whole plan is a ruse to get the Enterprise's shields down so he can use the transporter to beam a tree into space (which is also really silly). Then, when Lore is thrown onto the transporter pad by Data, Wesley beams him out into space with NO need to drop the shields. So....ummmm....what just happened? Then, they'd made a specific point of saying that Data doesn't use contractions...and that's a good way to tell the brothers apart, and in the very last scene, Data says "I'm fine sir."
I actually really like S1 and S2. There is a nostalgic charm about those episodes that I really enjoy. I actually enjoy the later seasons of TNG less than the earlier ones.
But, I'm also the guy who likes S3 of TOS, TMP, and TFF...so my opinion never really seems to be aligned with the popular winds when it comes to Trek.
But, I'm also the guy who likes S3 of TOS, TMP, and TFF...so my opinion never really seems to be aligned with the popular winds when it comes to Trek.
I never said it was perfect. Just that it was better than most of what we got in the first season. Like most of TNG, I haven't watched it in a LOOOOOOONG time.
As a Trekkie since the early seventies, I was a faithful viewer of TNG from the get-go, but I didn't actually start liking the show until the third season. Though I still had issues, "The Survivors" was the first episode in which everything started clicking for me.
I liked it from the get-go as well...I thought it was a little sterile and preachy, and too obsessed with avoiding action or conflict at first, and the contrast between Picard and Kirk annoyed me to no end, but I never thought it was a bad show. I watched every single episode "first-run" for all 7 seasons.
I was born 1972 and saw it around 1988 or so I guess in Germany.
There had been a video release of the first eight episodes, which didn't work well because of the synchro (which was always an issue). Then it went to TV.
TOS I had seen since I was a toddler and TNG didn't work for me for the first two seasons (more or less). I mostly disliked the ship and still am not too fond of the Galaxy Class.
People of my generation and older might know this: "to grant a tv show the honour of being recorded on vhs!"
TNG recieved that honour when Q introduced the Enterprise to the Borg.
After that I became a fan but I never idealized TNG like people that were younger.
Funny sidenote about TOS: In Germany there were only aound 35 TOS episodes shown prior to 1988 (or so) because they didn't buy any more around 1970. A private channel ordered the rest and showed the missing episodes (except for Patterns of Force) so I had "new" episodes from TNG and TOS at the same time.
There had been a video release of the first eight episodes, which didn't work well because of the synchro (which was always an issue). Then it went to TV.
TOS I had seen since I was a toddler and TNG didn't work for me for the first two seasons (more or less). I mostly disliked the ship and still am not too fond of the Galaxy Class.
People of my generation and older might know this: "to grant a tv show the honour of being recorded on vhs!"
TNG recieved that honour when Q introduced the Enterprise to the Borg.After that I became a fan but I never idealized TNG like people that were younger.
Funny sidenote about TOS: In Germany there were only aound 35 TOS episodes shown prior to 1988 (or so) because they didn't buy any more around 1970. A private channel ordered the rest and showed the missing episodes (except for Patterns of Force) so I had "new" episodes from TNG and TOS at the same time.
I'm going on a week long ski trip mid-February, and was planning to finish season three just before then.
I only now know that the season ends on a cliffhanger with The Best of Both Worlds: Part One, though, instead of both parts as I originally thought.
Is it necessary to watch TBoBW as one long two-parter episode, and therefore, get started on season four, or is it better to watch Part Two some time after letting Part One sink in?
I only now know that the season ends on a cliffhanger with The Best of Both Worlds: Part One, though, instead of both parts as I originally thought.
Is it necessary to watch TBoBW as one long two-parter episode, and therefore, get started on season four, or is it better to watch Part Two some time after letting Part One sink in?
Well, those of us who experienced it the first time around had to wait all summer--Suck it up! 
Most consider the set-up of the first part to be better than the resolution, so it wouldn't hurt to allow the former to sink in as you say.
Most consider the set-up of the first part to be better than the resolution, so it wouldn't hurt to allow the former to sink in as you say.
Whoops! I didn't mean to post that in this thread. Oh well, I'll just discuss it here I guessWell, those of us who experienced it the first time around had to wait all summer--Suck it up!
Most consider the set-up of the first part to be better than the resolution, so it wouldn't hurt to allow the former to sink in as you say.
Yeah, the fact that the two parts were originally aired so far apart made me think that maybe I should try and experience something like that. I kind of want to hold off on starting season four before I leave, for perfectionist purposes, but at the same time, it'd feel weird only watching one part.
Then again, like you said, you guys had to wait all summer, lol.
Indeed. The arrival of Michael Pillar, and the fresh look of the cinematography (I'm thinking of episodes like "The Survivors"), Troi's new turquoise outfit, the return of Crusher, the departure of Maurice Hurley, and the exciting season's cliffhanger with the Borg. Lots to like.
It's also interesting to see what happened around this time in UK/Australasia, with the commercial magazine "Doctor Who Bulletin". Suddenly, there was no more new "Who", and all their reporting fodder dried up, so the magazine changed its banner, shrinking the font down to simply "DWB" and began to cover a lot of TNG, Eventually, the mag's banner became "Dream Watch Bulletin". Lots of Who-less fans gravitated to TNG, and many of these fans had never seen an episode of TOS in their lives. Interesting times for SF media fans.
Yes, exactly. Once season three started hitting us with great episode after great episode, all my dislike of TNG faded into the mist....
I pretty much took to TNG almost straight away. loved it from the start aqnd stayed with it right through to the finale in 1994. still love watching it now.
I loved it from the second episode. Starting with a Q episode was a rocky start for me.
Similar threads
