We don't tend to have much pinned in this forum, so I think that we can get away with having one of these introductory threads. If you're a regular poster or visitor here, or a recently arrived newbie, then take a moment to post in here, and give us a few words telling us which characters/actors and aspects of TNG are your favourites to discuss.
I will start us off ... I like to think of myself as fairly flexible in my TNG viewing, but have come to have a slight preference for the more character driven stories in recent years. I also like finding good qualities in some of the more often critisised episodes ("Justice", "Shades Of Gray", "Sub Rosa" etc ...).
While I consider Picard and Data to be the best written characters, Riker is nonetheless my favourite, with Q my favourite guest star.
Howdy!
I'm new here. Long-time TOS fan, was around in 1987 when TNG premiered and - back then - I wasn't much of a fan of "the beige hotel in space as commanded by Captain Picknose"... I remember the book covers handed out in school, somehow it was weird putting a cover with the photo of the 1701-D onto a history book...
It took a while but I did grow to love TNG, even more than TOS for a number of episodes (more than 0 and far more than just "The Best of Both Worlds").
The 1701-D ship design being my third favorite (1701-E and a tie of the 1701 from the first three motion pictures and the Defiant being, in that order, the best IMHO and it didn't stop me from buying the 1701-D's 36x24" blueprints set because the 1701D's overall look, saucer separation, along with all the exterior windows and other deft little features, are very cool. And after seeing the "D", it's almost hard to look at older designs, even if said older designs were groundbreaking, iconic, and ultimately timeless at the time they were created. The Jeffries original is magnificent, so anything that one-ups on the original is no small feat.)
But those early days were rough at times, as for every episode with some ideas behind it they would rip off a TOS episode and ruin the TOS original in the process. "The Naked Now" was as atrocious as it was brainless, and yet "Home Soil" was pretty decent sci-fi as well as being solid Trek. And both came from the first season!
My favorite Trek franchise is still DS9, though. DS9 shows a lot more to show the nitty gritty and deeper nuances that TNG, etc, can't begin to touch. Seasons 1-3 are usually good, but 4-6 set the bar far higher and, indeed, outdo every Trek before and even after. "In The Pale Moonlight" being the culmination and epitome of the richness that DS9 brings to the table but also requires knowing enough backstory to fully appreciate said richness.
But TNG, as early as season 2, found its way. Eps like "The Outrageous Okona" became the exception and not the norm, having "Maury in Space" does not make for good sci-fi and they make for not-so-good Trek. "Time Squared", "Contagion", "Peak Performance", "Where Silence Has Lease", "The Emissary", "Q Who", "Elementary Dear Data", "The Schizoid Man", and - yes - "Unnatural Selection" are all decent or fantastic episodes in my book. Along with others, but those come to mind first. Season 2 is almost like DS9 in terms of being dark and menacing, though season 3 would refine and excel and take TNG along the rest of its run (though I also feel season 7 is an improvement rather than a letdown.)
Dr Pulaski was desperately needed and the backlash of "McCoy ripoff" was undeserved, since Trek since then has a habit of making the doctor trope have McCoyisms at times. Whatever else went on behind the scenes, Dr Crusher just felt too bland as a character. Though "Attached" is one of the few episodes where she's used better.
"Unnatural Selection" clearly is influenced by TOS' "The Deadly Years" and tries to improve on the formula. Maybe it helps to be a fan of Pulaski, but I could feel for her regarding the premature aging (and in a situation that is set up better than TOS' original comet radiation stuff, IMHO) far better than for Kirk, McCoy, et al. The transporter trick was a neat solution as well, which added to the tension because she pretty much never used the thing.
Q is easily my favorite character. For such a villain, he's saved humanity plenty of times despite doing nothing to put them in danger (or obeying the Continuum with the judgment against humanity!). Forget "All Good Things" and his pointing out Picard's self-made whoopsie that would have temporally annihilated all of humanity. With no Borg introduction = no defense or hope prior to their big invasion since the Borg were hiding in the shadows as far back as season 1. Captain Janeway snides at Q for the introduction as if that started that all, but she wasn't there for the events of "Q Who?", so as refreshing as it was (it was!) for another command figure to now get to be eyewitness to such an entity, she still went by inference and without 100% of the facts - Picard may or may not have logged both Q's discussion to him, Guinan's, and Shelby and co's discussion about the previous Borg encounter. Much less her having enough time to find every detail. A very human thing
but she still wrongly blamed him, believing he introduced them when "The Neutral Zone" described what would later be confirmed in TNG as Borg methodology, and "Dark Frontier" (or was it "The Raven") had as well. So Janeway, who I usually like as Captain, didn't have all the facts.
Check that, maybe Data and LaForge are since I can relate the most to them. They're, in my humble opinion, one of the sci-fi genre's best double-acts.
And Guinan. Her double-act with Data is also solid, and she added a lot more to the show. Pity she was unused later in TNG's run and utterly misused in "Generations".
I like to amuse myself by disturbing people with Picard/Q pictures like
this one. 
Anyone else?
LOL, context is key
