Why do you think TNG has a less than... stellar record when it comes to comedy?

[Skipper]

I was thinking about this while watching the latest episode of SNW where I found myself laughing heartily more than once. I don't remember anything like this ever happening to me on TNG. Sure, some jokes and situations made me chuckle, but when TNG tried to make "pure" comedic episodes, the result were (at least for me) sometimes borderline cringe. I mean, what were they thinking when they wrote Up to The Long Ladder?

Perhaps the best "comedy" episode was "A fistful of Data", but practically all the comedy is on the shoulders of Brent Spiner, who even has to wear a dress to get a few laughs from the viewers.

What's your opinion?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Because TNGs writers suck at comedy.

 

[Skipper]

Because TNGs writers suck at comedy.

/threadClosed

 

[Nerys Myk]

Seriously, they’ve no idea how to craft a joke.

 

[Jedi Marso]

TNG took itself much more seriously than SNW. You have to remember the times and the mood as well: In 1987 TNG was the first non-TOS Trek, it was very much a gamble, and at first it was not warmly received at all.

 

[Skipper]

TNG took itself much more seriously than SNW. You have to remember the times and the mood as well: In 1987 TNG was the first non-TOS Trek, it was very much a gamble, and at first it was not warmly received at all.

The problem is that even when they deliberately tried to be funny, well, it didn't work very well. Take, for example, the aforementioned "Long Up the Long Ladder." There are many situations that were obviously intended by the writers to be comical, but which instead were simply cringe.

 

[fireproof78]

TNG took itself extremely seriously. The atmosphere had a structured seriousness to it, with a stiff formality to it. So, comedy was usually outside the crew and they reacted like it was foreign, rather than funny.

Though I did like "Captain Picard Day."

 

[Qonundrum]

Another fun one: If "A Matter of Time" had Robin WIlliams, which was the intended idea, would it have fared any better?

Also of amusement is the incidental music in TNG's attempted comedy episodes and how they're no more-or-less corny than in any later series. If the joke itself can't work, the music's not going to help.

Not to mention, comedy is still subjective at its core and finding the key that unlocks the bulk of doors out there is sorta hard. When a good sitcom manages it, it's true lightning in a bottle...

 

[Skipper]

Another fun one: If "A Matter of Time" had Robin WIlliams, which was the intended idea, would it have fared any better?

It was supposed to be a comedy episode?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Another fun one: If "A Matter of Time" had Robin WIlliams, which was the intended idea, would it have fared any better?

Given TNG "stick to the script" attitude, I can imagine him chaffing at the restrictions. Then again he's Robin Effing Williams.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Imagine Mork from Ork showing up in TNG. Or ALF, for that matter. Data had better lock up Spot!

 

[JamesRye]

TNG was best when the comedy came from the characters, rather than constructed comedy. Tapestry is a serious peice, but has some very funny moments. Deja Q again, a serious premise, but so funny. Schisms, Disaster, Relics all have funny moments.

The dirtiest joke (and I find it funny) has to be Riker in "The Perfect Mate", when Riker escorts the empath metamorph lady to her quarters and he resists her seduction.

"Riker to the bridge, if you need me, I'll be on holodeck four."

 

[SatrianiRules]

TNG was best when the comedy came from the characters, rather than constructed comedy. Tapestry is a serious peice, but has some very funny moments. Deja Q again, a serious premise, but so funny. Schisms, Disaster, Relics all have funny moments.

The dirtiest joke (and I find it funny) has to be Riker in "The Perfect Mate", when Riker escorts the empath metamorph lady to her quarters and he resists her seduction.

"Riker to the bridge, if you need me, I'll be on holodeck four."

nailed it....as stated in another thread, you have to expand the characters personalities in order to create or find humor...in seasons one and two everyone was still too stiff for there to be any sort of humor...but in later seasons the humor became character specific, meaning different types of humor was used to fit the context of the characters...examples:

Picard saying Lieutenant "Broccoli" by accident....
Data stating: "Commander Riker, what are your intentions toward my daughter?"
any number of interactions between Q and Picard...
Guinan saying to Wesley; "Shut up Kid!" after Riker is layering her with romantic platitudes
Troi seeing herself on the holodeck (Hollow Pursuits) and being mortified right after lecturing Riker and Geordie about being oversensitive...

 

[Takeru]

Another fun one: If "A Matter of Time" had Robin WIlliams, which was the intended idea, would it have fared any better?

Robin Williams did serious roles too and assuming the script would have been the same with him as Rasmussen I don't think it would have been a comedic episode.

 

[The Wormhole]

Worf had some pretty funny moments throughout the series, though that could have had more to do with Michael Dorn than with the writing.

 

[Starflight]

TNG feels to me like it's often wanting to take the piss out of itself but gets stopped somehow. You can tell the actors are messing about in certain episodes and some plots start to lean toward comedy at times, but something about the production keeps it all bland and uptight. Maybe it was GENE'S VISION.

I can't believe that things like "Genesis" weren't written as comedy, even if they're largely acted and directed seriously. Troi turns into a fish and Picard smears some of her pheromones on himself to lure horny-monster-Worf into chasing him through the ships' service tunnels. Even if the actual episode is played straight, there's just no way someone wasn't having a laugh there.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The problem is that even when they deliberately tried to be funny, well, it didn't work very well.

That usually happened when a main cast was about as personable as a discarded railroad spike. No heart to even open the door to natural comedic interaction / reaction.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I think the writers were just supernerds like us. Just like how the pickup likes in Outrageous Okana are terrible but they pick up Terri Hatcher, that is the best they can do. They were great at writing "Evolved humans", but to be funny you need to write contemporary humans.

 

[Greg Cox]

On the other hand, "I am NOT a Merry Man" is possibly the greatest Worf line ever.

 

[CoveTom]

What's really amazing is that TNG is the most serious show, yet the cast is well known to have all been good friends and engage in extreme silliness on the set.

Picard having to explain Captain Picard Day to the admiral was good, though.