Re-watching TNG from the beginning!

[Lucy of Nine]

Havent watched it in YEARS, although it was the series that got me into Trek when I was a kid. I recently re-watched the whole of Voyager, and so decided to buy TNG off the net and do the same thing!!!!

I had forgotten so many things ... like :

How funny the first few seasons were, with some bad storylines and bad acting LOL...

How beautiful the ship is... and how ugly the shuttlecrafts were!

That the holodeck was new technology to them! And the inconsistencies with it - ie when Picard got kissed by a holo-character, and left the holodeck but still had lippy on his cheek...

How great Brent and Patrick are!

How lovely Marina is...

Totally forgot that Geordie wasn't head of engineering at first...

How unscary the Borg were when they made their first appearance...

And I totally forgot how Wesley was so prominent in the first few seasons...

Anyway, I am loving watching it all over again... TNG was a great show with such a strong ensemble...

 

[Lyon_Wonder]

I thought the Borg were scary when they were first encountered in TNG. Later seasons of Voyager, IMHO, turned the Borg into pushovers.

 

[trekjiro]

Heh...well, i'm still on Season 3 and so far, its like a quantum leap from the first 2 seasons. They might've upgraded their cameras and studio or something cause it looks way better 'produced' in a good way.

I haven't seen Voyager but if the Borg are pushovers, i wonder how far they will go.
If they bring in Tennis legend, 'Bjorn Borg' then i will throw away my ST stuff.

 

[Lt.Cmdr.LaForge]

I have also been in the process of watching the next generation all the way through. But for me its mostly first time round since i was too young to watch it back in the day. So ive bought seasons 1-7 on DVD and i dont regret it at all =] At the time of writing im half way through S6.

 

[Astraea]

I give all of you serious credit. I tried to do this recently and just could not make it through S1, there are so many episodes that are just really and truly terrible. The Naked Now, Code of Honor, Justice, and they just keep coming!

 

[Krendoshazin]

I've just recently watched the first 4 seasons again (I don't have the last 3 on DVD yet). For a show of this magnitude you have to appreciate that season 1 merely set the framework and the general tone, season 2 ironed out the creases, and season 3 was where the show really took off.
I wouldn't call the earlier seasons terrible. Lower-budget perhaps, but not terrible. What's important in TNG is the moral message of the story, and that has never failed to present itself. It's the same reason I enjoy The Outer Limits.

 

[Salinga]

TNG has a pretty interesting evolution from "old", experimental Trek in the first two seasons to the new, balanced Trek in the Seasons 3 to 6 to the Technobabbel Trek in Season 7. While the others series mostly kept their style TNG had a pretty strong evolution over the years.

 

[Too Much Fun]

My personal suggestion is that those who have seen the show enough times to be really familiar with where the highs and lows are in its seasons just be selective when re-watching it. Why bother punishing yourself by forcing yourself to watch all the bad episodes, just to be completist? Just skip them. That's why I do. I can remember which episodes were great and which ones were horrible, and just skip the bad ones...which means season 3 is the one where I watch the most episodes and I skip most of 1 and 7, and only watch about half a dozen of season 6.

I've also been re-watching the series and I don't know if I could have made it as far as I have (season 7), if hadn't skipped most of seasons 1 and 6. If, on the other hand, you haven't seen the show in so long that you don't remember so much (like the person who started this thread), I understand why you're doing what you're doing and can only say "godspeed" with season 1.

 

[IrritatingGameOfChess]

TNG has a pretty interesting evolution from "old", experimental Trek in the first two seasons to the new, balanced Trek in the Seasons 3 to 6 to the Technobabbel Trek in Season 7. While the others series mostly kept their style TNG had a pretty strong evolution over the years.

You raise a good point. I sometimes wonder, though, if the show would have made it beyond the first season if it wasn't part of the "Trek" franchise. If I remember correctly, the series was an instant ratings success, even though most fans look back and admit to not being able to tolerate the early episodes. So, did the "Trek" brand name ensure that it was able to grow and flourish? It's pretty amazing to look at the first season and then the third (and beyond)... They could almost be different shows.

 

[steevo]

^ Agreed. "The Naked Now" for example, was such a copy of "The Naked Time" to the point where Kirk and crew were even mentioned. It was funny watching the crew lose their inhibitions.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I think 'The Naked Now' suffers a LOT by placement - we haven't really had a chance to meet and learn about these characters yet, so seeing them act 'out of character' has little effect on us, since we don't really know them when they're IN character yet.

 

[TS-1838-SWATH]

I give all of you serious credit. I tried to do this recently and just could not make it through S1, there are so many episodes that are just really and truly terrible. The Naked Now, Code of Honor, Justice, and they just keep coming!

Well look at this this way It gets BETTER as time goes on, VGR is the reverse

 

[Joemac]

naked now is my fav episode from s1. the data/yar moment has me in stitches as does worf's "i think the captain has been......infected".but i must admit i prefer s4.

 

[Lt.Cmdr.LaForge]

I think 'The Naked Now' suffers a LOT by placement - we haven't really had a chance to meet and learn about these characters yet, so seeing them act 'out of character' has little effect on us, since we don't really know them when they're IN character yet.

Agreed, this episode would have been better placed later in the season, but before 'skin of evil', ofcourse...

 

[RAMA]

I give all of you serious credit. I tried to do this recently and just could not make it through S1, there are so many episodes that are just really and truly terrible. The Naked Now, Code of Honor, Justice, and they just keep coming!

Actually the only season I have complete on DVD is season 1! It looks great(especially on DVD), sounds great, and although some of the episodes fail, they tried hardest in this season to be topical.

RAMA

 

[tomalak301]

Season 1 had a few good episodes mixed in with a lot of average to not so great episodes. The best episodes for me were 11001001, Conspiracy (Remmik's head exploding is still one of my favorite scenes in all of trek mainly because TNG was the most family friendly of all the series), Where No One Has Gone Before, and The Arsenal of Freedom.

 

[scottydog]

For a show of this magnitude you have to appreciate that season 1 merely set the framework and the general tone, season 2 ironed out the creases, and season 3 was where the show really took off.

I like your generous interpretation of seasons 1 and 2, and I'll adopt that way of thinking instead of always complaining about how bad those first two seasons are. Thanks.

 

[QuasarVM]

Havent watched it in YEARS, although it was the series that got me into Trek when I was a kid. I recently re-watched the whole of Voyager, and so decided to buy TNG off the net and do the same thing!!!!

I had forgotten so many things ... like :

How funny the first few seasons were, with some bad storylines and bad acting LOL...

How beautiful the ship is... and how ugly the shuttlecrafts were!

That the holodeck was new technology to them! And the inconsistencies with it - ie when Picard got kissed by a holo-character, and left the holodeck but still had lippy on his cheek...

How great Brent and Patrick are!

How lovely Marina is...

Totally forgot that Geordie wasn't head of engineering at first...

How unscary the Borg were when they made their first appearance...

And I totally forgot how Wesley was so prominent in the first few seasons...

Anyway, I am loving watching it all over again... TNG was a great show with such a strong ensemble...

They had holodecks in TAS and since I consider that canon I don't understand why, by the 24th century, they would consider that new technology...

 

[Keith1701]

I have always enjoyed Star Trek The Next Generation. Most episodes are great with outstanding actors.

 

[troisboobs]

haha-Voyager..I couldn't watch that if someone paid me! Gotta love TNG though!