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

[TrickyDickie]

TNG, as conceived, was about a captain with a different style of commanding than Kirk. Plus, I think people were at least a little bit intimidated by the fact that Patrick Stewart was a very accomplished Shakespearean actor. And I think that they misinterpreted that. Obviously, he is fine with comedy. He voiced the poop emoji.

 

[Nerys Myk]

TNG, as conceived, was about a captain with a different style of commanding than Kirk. Plus, I think people were at least a little bit intimidated by the fact that Patrick Stewart was a very accomplished Shakespearean actor. And I think that they misinterpreted that. Obviously, he is fine with comedy. He voiced the poop emoji.

I think Picard was a retread of Pike/Early Kirk, just aged up.

 

[TrickyDickie]

I think Picard was a retread of Pike/Early Kirk, just aged up.

That's interesting. Maybe Gene thought that TNG was his new opportunity to get what he had really wanted with Pike?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Pikeard.

 

[Dukhat]

Thats absolutely true. Rick Berman himself even said that TNG had three main strikes against it when it started: the fact that it was a sequel series, the fact that it was sci fi and the fact that it was syndicated.

Except Berman was wrong (Well, not about the show being Sci-fi, but that really didn’t matter.) Star Trek was at its highest popularity in the late ‘80’s, and everyone wanted Trek back on tv. The fact that the first two seasons were pretty lousy and it still survived for seven seasons is a testament to how popular the show was, and the fact that it was syndicated and not a ‘network’ show. I’d bet NBC would have cancelled it after the first ten episodes.

 

[Skipper]

the fact that it was syndicated.

Uh, I don't know so well the 80's TV market. Why is it a bad thing? I mean, didn't this give them a little more creative freedom?

 

[Mojochi]

I've laughed plenty at TNG bits over the years. They did struggle with any episode designed purely to be comedic, because the nature of the narrative did not lend itself to that very well. As a show, it took itself way more seriously than TOS overall. These characters are ultimately not funny people, most of the time... except perhaps Data, unintentionally, whose naivety tends to amuse his mates.

As for laughs however, John Delancey had absolute bangers. "Oh, very clever, Worf. Eat any good books lately?" or Data reading "Ode To Spot" while Riker dozes off. That's gold. Lwaxana brought a great deal of comedy into the show. Also, Data in "In Theory" asking each crewmate about dating & Picard sidesteps him with "I would be delighted to offer you any advice I have on understanding women. As soon as I have some, I'll let you know."

Their best humor was organic, within the normal course of their interactions, which is why creating whole premises & storylines & episodes, with the express purpose of being comedic, seemed in contrast ... like inauthentic artifice

 

[korblborp]

Uh, I don't know so well the 80's TV market. Why is it a bad thing? I mean, didn't this give them a little more creative freedom?

i think it's a combination of the perception that shows developed specifically for syndication are low-quality or cheap; and from the other side, that reruns close to original airing takes divides views revenue

 

[Skipper]

i think it's a combination of the perception that shows developed specifically for syndication are low-quality or cheap;

Is there any truth to this perception? Living in Italy, we obviously didn't know whether an American show aired here was originally made for networks or syndication (or cable, if you will).

 

[SatrianiRules]

I've laughed plenty at TNG bits over the years. They did struggle with any episode designed purely to be comedic, because the nature of the narrative did not lend itself to that very well. As a show, it took itself way more seriously than TOS overall. These characters are ultimately not funny people, most of the time... except perhaps Data, unintentionally, whose naivety tends to amuse his mates.

As for laughs however, John Delancey had absolute bangers. "Oh, very clever, Worf. Eat any good books lately?" or Data reading "Ode To Spot" while Riker dozes off. That's gold. Lwaxana brought a great deal of comedy into the show. Also, Data in "In Theory" asking each crewmate about dating & Picard sidesteps him with "I would be delighted to offer you any advice I have on understanding women. As soon as I have some, I'll let you know."

Their best humor was organic, within the normal course of their interactions, which is why creating whole premises & storylines & episodes, with the express purpose of being comedic, seemed in contrast ... like inauthentic artifice

i feel like TNG's "The Trouble with Tribbles" moment was the episode 'Q-pid'. Or a possible second might be "Captain's Holiday"...both had more humor than normal episodes.

 

[Skipper]

Or a possible second might be "Captain's Holiday"

You're already the second person to mention it among the "comedy episodes." I have to watch it again. The only humorous moment I remember is the cringe-worthy thing about the fertility totem, which Picard doesn't know what it's for.

 

[AntonyF]

For me this is an easy one. TNG was a crew of professionals written by writing professionals who wrote drama. Comedy was not their or the show's natural space. Although I think they did comedy well when they did it. Q and Lwaxana were consistently funny. Captain Picard Day.

SNW is a show devoid of story and writers who are incapable of writing new, boundary-breaking stories that push the envelope of Trek. So they resort to comedy as a safety blanket... and the cast are talented so they try to do it the best they can.

Why write a challenging or difficult story like Duet, The Outcast or the Visitor, when can just clown around? It's a damn sight easier.

 

[korblborp]

Is there any truth to this perception? Living in Italy, we obviously didn't know whether an American show aired here was originally made for networks or syndication (or cable, if you will).

a little, i guess. not sure what all was the things when TNG was coming out, but certainly there were a bunch of shows in the 90s and 00s that i can recall that generally seemed cheaper and cheesier than if they were made for/by a big network
Hercules and Xena, Mutant X, Beastmaster, Legend of the Seeker, the Lost World, Andromeda, those sort of thing. note that they weren't necessarily *bad*. but there was like... a "vibe"

 

[Nerys Myk]

For me this is an easy one. TNG was a crew of professionals written by writing professionals who wrote drama. Comedy was not their or the show's natural space. Although I think they did comedy well when they did it. Q and Lwaxana were consistently funny. Captain Picard Day.

SNW is a show devoid of story and writers who are incapable of writing new, boundary-breaking stories that push the envelope of Trek. So they resort to comedy as a safety blanket... and the cast are talented so they try to do it the best they can.

Why write a challenging or difficult story like Duet, The Outcast or the Visitor, when can just clown around? It's a damn sight easier.

Nah.

 

[Skipper]

Hercules and Xena, Mutant X, Beastmaster, Legend of the Seeker, the Lost World, Andromeda, those sort of thing. note that they weren't necessarily *bad*. but there was like... a "vibe"

Now that you mention it, you're right!

 

[Starflight]

Hercules and Xena, Mutant X, Beastmaster, Legend of the Seeker, the Lost World, Andromeda, those sort of thing. note that they weren't necessarily *bad*. but there was like... a "vibe"

That kind of TV was where fun, pulpy storytelling thrived. TNG was sort of adjacent to that world but as people have said, took itself a bit more seriously and didn't let itself go into full laugh-out-loud mode like Xena did (which is a shame, really, it would have probably been a better show if it had).