How popular is TNG in 2020?

[RAMA]

Well, if you've wondered about a quantifiable answer, here is your chance!

In the USA TNG still manages to get its fair share of reaction, comparing favorably with other shows in the drama and sci-fi category. It's "demand" numbers are up 5.3% in the last month and 13.4x the market avg in the same period, and:

Star Trek: The Next Generation ranks at the 97.8th percentile in the Drama genre. This means Star Trek: The Next Generation has higher demand than 97.8% of all Drama titles in the United States

https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/US/star-trek-the-next-generation-syndication

In the UK, it's numbers are similar:

https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/UK/star-trek-the-next-generation-syndication

Not bad for a 33 year old show!

 

[Alexander Corrino]

Glad to see it’s still popular!

 

[Vger23]

That's pretty cool.

I think we (fans) beat our franchise up sometimes simply because it isn't Star Wars or MCU...but it's sill pretty damn important and visible in pop culture.

 

[JesterFace]

A friend from my youth told me about a week ago that he's a Trekkie now.
He's a fan of X-Files, Twin Peaks, the new Battlestar Galactica and at least some point a viewer of Babylon 5, to name a few. I have tried to get him to watch TNG and Star Trek. Finally the moment came and I guess he likes it. He's a first time viewer when it comes to the whole series so I guess TNG has also stood the test of time. As far as I know, he's on season 7 right now. I'm looking forward to see what he has to say about 'All Good Things...'.

 

[JesterFace]

Oh, I almost forgot. I don't mean to brag but I have another friend too () and his girlfriend is interested to get "back" into TNG, a series she watched with her parents in the 90s. I told her I could give her some advice on what episodes are great and if there might be some episodes that might be better left alone.

 

[amp]

I think all the new Trek coming out over the last few years--and especially season one of Picard--has helped juice interest in TNG.

 

[tomswift2002]

Also with the Remaster, TNG looks like it could’ve been shot today, whereas other Drama’s from the 80’s and 90’s don’t hold up as well when upconverted to HD (even DS9 & Voyager).

But it could also mean that people are looking for those older series that have self-contained episodes and maybe they are enjoying the stand-alone story more than the serialized format.

It would be interesting to see how TNG compares to Discovery or Picard or Lower Decks in terms of ratings in 2020. (I just checked, here in Canada TNG is in the 97.3% percentile for Drama.)

 

[tomswift2002]

Here’s Discovery’s ratings for comparison:

https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/US/star-trek-discovery-cbs-all-access

20.3 Demand
4.4% change over last 30 days
Percentile Rank 99.1

And here’s Discovery’s Canadian numbers:

https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/CA/star-trek-discovery-cbs-all-access

And here’s Picard’s. (Although for the Percentile Rank it’s listing it as an Action/Adventure series, rather than Drama). Can’t find lower decks.

https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/US/star-trek-picard-cbs-all-access

 

[Ghrakh]

More popular than that fake feminist "woke" ST:P garbage will be when decades pass and it's forgotten.

 

[tomswift2002]

More popular than that fake feminist "woke" ST:P garbage will be when decades pass and it's forgotten.

It surprising, but all the older Trek’s (Except TAS) are in the 95-100 percentile. Voyager sitting at 96.4 or something (it’s 96.-something). Even Enterprise is up there!

 

[JesterFace]

But it could also mean that people are looking for those older series that have self-contained episodes and maybe they are enjoying the stand-alone story more than the serialized format.

If I had to pick one I would choose stand alone episodes about everytime. Then there could be some idea in the background that links the episodes together somehow but that's not absolutely necessary. When it comes to Star Trek the "trial of humanity" that starts in the pilot episode of TNG and finishes the series in the final episode, that's the way to do it.
Season 1 of 24 being the exception.

 

[shivkala]

Well, if you've wondered about a quantifiable answer, here is your chance!

In the USA TNG still manages to get its fair share of reaction, comparing favorably with other shows in the drama and sci-fi category. It's "demand" numbers are up 5.3% in the last month and 13.4x the market avg in the same period, and:



https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/US/star-trek-the-next-generation-syndication

In the UK, it's numbers are similar:

https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/UK/star-trek-the-next-generation-syndication

Not bad for a 33 year old show!

My perception is tinged by being in 3rd-9th grade while it was on. I was the only kid in 3rd grade watching it, in 4th grade I befriended another kid who liked it (he came over due to a magnet program). In junior high it was him and I and then after he moved away, another friend I made. In high school I met a few more kids who liked it. By the time it went off air, it seemed like only a few kids in my age group watched it.

When I went to college, I found it was more widely watched than I previously thought, adjusting for meeting people outside the town I grew up in and 3+ years of it being off air (with 2 movies under its belt by then).

As an adult, I've found it's one of those shows a lot of people have seen at least a few episodes of.

At this point, I think it's a comfort, especially in light of the pandemic. It shows an optimistic future at a time when it seems we may never get to reach that future. At 7 seasons, it's a sizable binge-watch to keep us occupied. Being sci-fi, it, overall, has aged fairly well (we'll ignore a few episodes, plot-lines, etc. that have NOT aged well due to the fact that overall, it has aged nicely). Also, the episodic nature means you can choose to watch it straight through, cherry-pick your way through it, or watch an episode here and there, at any point, in any order.

I did start watching it last month, but paused when my 12 year old saw me and said, "We should watch that together." We're currently making our way through Babylon 5, so TNG will be next.

 

[tomswift2002]

My perception is tinged by being in 3rd-9th grade while it was on. I was the only kid in 3rd grade watching it, in 4th grade I befriended another kid who liked it (he came over due to a magnet program). In junior high it was him and I and then after he moved away, another friend I made. In high school I met a few more kids who liked it. By the time it went off air, it seemed like only a few kids in my age group watched it.

When I went to college, I found it was more widely watched than I previously thought, adjusting for meeting people outside the town I grew up in and 3+ years of it being off air (with 2 movies under its belt by then).

As an adult, I've found it's one of those shows a lot of people have seen at least a few episodes of.

At this point, I think it's a comfort, especially in light of the pandemic. It shows an optimistic future at a time when it seems we may never get to reach that future. At 7 seasons, it's a sizable binge-watch to keep us occupied. Being sci-fi, it, overall, has aged fairly well (we'll ignore a few episodes, plot-lines, etc. that have NOT aged well due to the fact that overall, it has aged nicely). Also, the episodic nature means you can choose to watch it straight through, cherry-pick your way through it, or watch an episode here and there, at any point, in any order.

I did start watching it last month, but paused when my 12 year old saw me and said, "We should watch that together." We're currently making our way through Babylon 5, so TNG will be next.

Just for comparison, here’s Babylon 5’s ratings for 2020 in the US.
https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/US/babylon-5-tnt

92.8 Percentile! Wow! Pretty high for a drama that people think people are not watching!

Here’s B5’s ratings in Canada

https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/CA/babylon-5-tnt

90.2 Percentile

 

[dupersuper]

feminist "woke" ST:P garbage

Seriously?

 

[Mage]

More popular than that fake feminist "woke" ST:P garbage will be when decades pass and it's forgotten.

I'm so exhausted with people using the word 'woke' as a legitimate validation of their point, without actually making their point.

Get real. Then we'll talk.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

Among my non sci-fi friends TNG is about the only thing outside of Star Wars where they could name a few characters and any mention of ST will bring mention of Picard Word and Data. That might be due to the age of me and my friends though

 

[PatB1974]

I still remember hearing about the new upcoming trek series (T.N.G.) when I was a kid. I grew up on T.O.S. and I was so excited! I also still remember watching the last episode with my friends. I still watch it all the time, but at this point I have seen every episode at least 10 times.

 

[dupersuper]

I still remember hearing about the new upcoming trek series (T.N.G.) when I was a kid. I grew up on T.O.S. and I was so excited! I also still remember watching the last episode with my friends. I still watch it all the time, but at this point I have seen every episode at least 10 times.

Really? They don't know who Kirk is?

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

Really? They don't know who Kirk is?

Maybe if I pressed them but if I mention Trek it's always "oh is that Picard etc."

 

[Qonundrum]

I'm so exhausted with people using the word 'woke' as a legitimate validation of their point, without actually making their point.

Get real. Then we'll talk.

Especially when the characters they claim are "woke" clearly are as imperfect as everyone else. The "condition" is not as ubiquitous or there's another perception than their own they're not perceiving at that time. Or they're right and nobody else sees it at that time. Can go either way. Whee. (Only this time there's clearly enough showing a pleasantly wide array of issues for all the characters and we're only in two 26 minutes episodes in! I'm also believing there's still a lot more to come that's well-rounded with strengths and foibles of all characters.)

 

[Orphalesion]

I think TNG was very huge internationally. I know it was super big in Germany, for example, bigger than TOS I'd say. I think part of that might have been availability (I can remember seeing TNG reruns on German network television in the late 2000s, that quite exceptional), though I also kinda think it might have been popular because it had more of an "international" vibe. In TOS, despite the supposedly international origins of its crew it seemed kinda clear "Humans=Americans" (and Klingons=Russians etc.) which is totally okay considering it's an American show, but might not have translated as well in every market?
I have also only seen a handful of German dubbed episodes of TOS, but I seem to remember that the dub was not particularly good and took some (strange) liberties.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

I think TNG was very huge internationally. I know it was super big in Germany, for example, bigger than TOS I'd say. I think part of that might have been availability (I can remember seeing TNG reruns on German network television in the late 2000s, that quite exceptional), though I also kinda think it might have been popular because it had more of an "international" vibe. In TOS, despite the supposedly international origins of its crew it seemed kinda clear "Humans=Americans" (and Klingons=Russians etc.) which is totally okay considering it's an American show, but might not have translated as well in every market?
I have also only seen a handful of German dubbed episodes of TOS, but I seem to remember that the dub was not particularly good and took some (strange) liberties.

That’s because TOS was marketed as a show for children here (the story is that someone saw the colorful uniforms and thought “yeah, this show is clearly meant for kids”), which is why the German dubbing has tons of jokes that aren’t in the original show and the characters are also quite different personality-wise. They even changed entire episode plots (like the one from “Amok Time”). The German TOS dubbing has a cult following here, but TNG was the much “bigger” show indeed. I’d even go as far as to say that Jean-Luc is a lot more popular than Kirk here.

I stopped paying attention to the German version of things as soon as I got the TNG DVDs back then (I can’t STAND German dubbing) but I also remember that TNG reruns were VERY frequent here. And at least up until only four or five years ago or so there were still re-runs of the show on TV because my then-co-workers used to be like “oh, I saw your Jean-Luc on TV yesterday”, lol.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Between Picard and Lower Decks, I'd say TNG is undergoing something of a return to the spotlight.

And it was dead as a doornail in 2009, a universe carried on only in a novel series. Never say never.

 

[JesterFace]

Between Picard and Lower Decks, I'd say TNG is undergoing something of a return to the spotlight.

TNG should be more out there. If 'Picard' doesn't do anything good at least it can remind some people of this great series that preceded it.

And it was dead as a doornail in 2009, a universe carried on only in a novel series. Never say never.

For some people here TNG has never been dead.