Of all the series',TNG Has No Consensus Worst Episode

[Nerdius Maximus]

There's definitely lots of candidates for each series; I don't think there's a consensus on any of them.

This. I actually consider The Alternative Factor to be the worst episode of The Original Series.

I don't think I'll ever understand what the hell is going on in that episode. I just don't get it at all. I fell asleep midway through my first viewing of it twenty-something years ago, and I thought that might have been to blame, but repeated viewings while fully awake and aware still left me scratching my head. Every five years or so I think, "Hey, maybe I'll give it another shot," and then I watch about twenty minutes and turn it off.

 

[RAMA]

I think Shades of Gray is STNG's consensus worst episode.

 

[Snaploud]

I think Shades of Gray is STNG's consensus worst episode.

Yeah, I'm not buying the "it's not a real episode" excuse.

 

[GNDN]

I think Shades of Gray is STNG's consensus worst episode.

Yeah, I'm not buying the "it's not a real episode" excuse.

I was gathered with a ST fan club to watch the second season finale of TNG. Didn't have any prior info (such as this being a clip show or there being a writer's strike) other than that this was the season finale.

Needless to say, what an utter disappointment this was, so yah, the fact that Shades of Gray was "not a real episode" makes it the worst TNG episode for me.

p.s. Was anyone here crew member of the U.S.S. Arcturus back in 1989?

 

[Epsilon IX]

I would have thought the award would go to "Shades of Gray", largely down to the fact that it was merely a clip show, and virtually no effort seemed to be put into it. At least the other crap episodes were crap that tried.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Shades Of Gray hands down, as it's just a clip show.

The Royale gets a lot of stick, but I love it, cos it has a weird Sapphire & Steel feel to it.

My wife would, I know, nominate Loud As A Whisper for worst episode, as it's the only one she asked me to turn off cos it was boring her so much.

 

[GNDN]

The Royale is a guilty pleasure, very Twilight Zone, and nowhere near the worst of TNG. I do find there are a large number of meh episodes that just don't bear much repeat viewing, but again, nothing worse than Shades of Gray for me (except maybe Sub Rosa.)

 

[RAMA]

I think Shades of Gray is STNG's consensus worst episode.

Yeah, I'm not buying the "it's not a real episode" excuse.

I was gathered with a ST fan club to watch the second season finale of TNG. Didn't have any prior info (such as this being a clip show or there being a writer's strike) other than that this was the season finale.

Needless to say, what an utter disappointment this was, so yah, the fact that Shades of Gray was "not a real episode" makes it the worst TNG episode for me.

p.s. Was anyone here crew member of the U.S.S. Arcturus back in 1989?

Yes it was a real episode. My disappointment with it is compounded by the fact that other shows of the time used to have cliffhangers and "event" episodes and STNG didn't until season 3! Of course, such things are commonplace now.

RAMA

 

[Cyke101]

Yeah, Royale is a pretty bad episode, but I am forever thankful that it gave us this little gem:

 

[James Cole]

There is a big difference between an episode being boring as hell verses being cringe-worthy. "Shades of Grey" is just boring (someone should try editing it down to say 10 minutes and it might be watchable). Some of the season one episodes are cringe-worthy.

Ironically the writer of "Code of Honor"* also wrote the third episode of Stargate SG-1 ("Emancipation"). Short of "Threshold" I don't think any of the ST series have managed to top that episode from that fellow genre series.

* But according to the TNG Companion and Memory Alpha, TPTB blamed that one on the director's casting choices and fired him during filming.

 

[sonak]

Yeah, I think SOG is getting knocked because of its laziness and clip-show nature, not because it's really the worst .

 

[lurok]

As a first-time TNG all-the-way-through viewer (though admittedly only up to s6), I'm surprised at some reactions here. Code of Honor is bad, but more embarassingly bad than simply inept. I feel Angel One fits in same category (just substitute 'chicks' for 'black'). They both feel like really bad 80s shows but of their time, and no better or worse than anything else of era. That entire first season pretty sketchy. And I can't include SOG simply because it did look like a clip show (which it was ). Still haven't decided yet on worst ep as only at start of s6, and good episodes so far seem to have wiped away memory of bad ones Though The Child is prob a strong contender for weakest. Have vague memories of Sub Rosa being some godawful 'Crusher ghost story' (McFadden being least favorite actor) so that may end up getting vote. Oh - and loved Royale and Skin of Evil

 

[TheLobes]

Shades of Grey. Its amazing just how bad that show was. It even sucked as a clip show. There didnt seem to be any to logic to the way they showed the various clips! Terrible.

I actually quite liked 'The Royale'. I think some of it was stupid, but I thought the idea of these unknown aliens trying to give a guy paradise but putting him in his idea of hell was such an interesting and kind of darkly humourous idea. You could really imagine the astronaut absolutely cursing that freakin book.

I always carry a copy of illicit Seven of Nine/Jadzia fanfic in my pocket. Just in case.

 

[Jose Tyler]

I think I would put some Season 7 episodes before Shades of Grey (like Sub Rosa and Emergence). I didn't care for all of the clips, but I always liked the first little bit of the episode; I liked that Pulaski had to beam down and I liked the how they made the swamp set. Some of the dialoge Riker, Pulaski and O'Brien had were quite good.

 

[James Cole]

It's always interesting to see why a bad episode happened. SOG happened because the producers spent too much money on "Q Who?" and some other S2 episodes, leaving no money left at the end of the season. "The Royale" was rewritten to death from its original script and cut down because of budget concerns. TNG S7 was running out of steam with TPTB focusing on Generations and Voyager. It's amazing "All Good Things..." turned out so well.

Many of the S1 TNG episodes are just dated. TNG S1 is closer in age to TOS that it is to 2011. In many ways the 80s just doesn't age well compared to other decades.

 

[RandyS]

Worst episode . . . . . There are way too many to possibly count, but probably "The Child" or "Angel One"

Actually those are pretty good, Pulaski's apperance in the former notwithstanding.

"The Inner Light" however, is THE worst TNG episode ever made.

In my opinion, of course.

 

[Cyke101]

It's always interesting to see why a bad episode happened. SOG happened because the producers spent too much money on "Q Who?" and some other S2 episodes, leaving no money left at the end of the season. "The Royale" was rewritten to death from its original script and cut down because of budget concerns.

It wasn't directly Q Who's fault that they ran out of money -- there was also the strike that ended most TV shows that season, too. Paramount ordered the production crew to create a cost-saving show for the sake of business and longevity.