'And The Sky's The Limit' - AGT Article

[Amaris]

​

I just read this over on Yahoo TV, and wanted to share it here. It's an interview with Brannon Braga, and Ronald Moore regarding TNG's finale episode, "All Good Things...".

Here's the Link

Twenty years ago, Star Trek: The Next Generation writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga faced the TV writer's equivalent of the Kobayashi Maru (that's a no-win scenario, for you non-Trekkers out there): Not only were they tasked with scripting the first TNG movie, 1994's Star Trek: Generations, but they also had to craft a two-hour series finale that would put a bow on Star Trek: TNG's seven-season TV run. And oh yeah, write both scripts at the same time.


The result: "All Good Things…," the immensely satisfying and beloved TNG finale that aired May 23, 1994 — twenty years ago this week. When Yahoo TV reached out to Moore and Braga to speak about the finale, they both seemed surprised to learn it's been twenty years since it first aired. And shockingly, neither has actually watched the episode in the two decades since. ("Maybe I will for the Blu-ray or something," Moore laughed.)


But both graciously spoke to us at length about their memories of writing and filming the landmark episode, including how they landed the coveted assignment, the comedic subplot that didn't make it into the final script, and why they think "All Good Things…" turned out so much better than Star Trek: Generations did.

You know, for me, it really is one of the best episodes of the entire series, and it's certainly the best finale, IMO, and I'm someone who loves the DS9 finale, so that's saying something!

Picard's last line, the last line of the entire series, still gets me choked up, even now, twenty years later. It really was marvelous.

 

[Melakon]

It was a grand send-off, and I especially liked the bookend of Q's trial that never ends. None of the Trek series finales since have matched it in thematic complexity.

 

[JarodRussell]

I consider All Good Things the best TV show finale ever. It's the PERFECT full circle bookend to a show.

The great thing also is that it doesn't feel like the standard Star Trek two-parter, like the DS9 finale does.

This should have been the first TNG movie as well. Since Picard hops back to the Farpoint Mission, it would have been the perfect introduction of the TNG crew to new movie audiences.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Wow! Happy 20th anniversary to "All Good Things..." I saw that episode 20 years ago today on May 23, 1994. We weren't expecting the episode until the upcoming weekend, then it aired by surprise on Monday.

I don't think of it as one of the great finales but today, and after reading that article, I have some added appreciation for it. In the end, it was still a good finale.

 

[Makarov]

Such a great finale. I remember being a kid and trying to find the "All Good Things..." novelization while on vacation just because I liked the episode so much. I didn't know it was the series finale at the time either. A hell of a lot better than Generations that's for sure.

 

[indianatrekker26]

I consider All Good Things the best TV show finale ever. It's the PERFECT full circle bookend to a show.

The great thing also is that it doesn't feel like the standard Star Trek two-parter, like the DS9 finale does.

This should have been the first TNG movie as well. Since Picard hops back to the Farpoint Mission, it would have been the perfect introduction of the TNG crew to new movie audiences.

Fully agree with you. Just imagining AGT on a movie budget, it would have made a fantastic first TNG movie, with the perfect villain in Q.

 

[jimbotron]

Wow, 20 years ago today. What a ride that was, I remember it well. What a time to be a Star Trek fan back then. There were the TV specials, this episode, DS9 going strong, the Generations hype, Voyager hype, and all that merchandise.

What You Leave Behind was like the end of a marathon. There was just so much going on in that last couple months. It was a relief when it finally ended. AGT though was more bittersweet because the episode was a return to form. There were maybe 6 good episodes in that season, with the average episode feeling stale and repetitive. Then we get to see a really good episode again.... and then it's all over.

 

[trekker670]

I consider All Good Things the best TV show finale ever. It's the PERFECT full circle bookend to a show.

The great thing also is that it doesn't feel like the standard Star Trek two-parter, like the DS9 finale does.

This should have been the first TNG movie as well. Since Picard hops back to the Farpoint Mission, it would have been the perfect introduction of the TNG crew to new movie audiences.

Fully agree with you. Just imagining AGT on a movie budget, it would have made a fantastic first TNG movie, with the perfect villain in Q.

That would have been great. They would've had roughly an additional half hour to work with, so they could've included some of the scenes they ended up cutting due to time.

 

[TheSeeker]

Thanks for the link J. It was an interesting interview.

I remember watching the finale and thinking Picard joining them at the end for poker night was just the perfect sendoff for the show. To this day I still miss getting my weekly fix of new TNG.

 

[Beta-Z]

20 years

I feel sooooo oooooold

ot

I'd change Generations for an 8th season of TNG any day.
With AGT unchanged at the end of it.

 

[RoJoHen]

Easily one of the best finales of any show I've ever seen. Still holds up even 20 years later.

 

[tomalak301]

Wow, 20 years ago today. What a ride that was, I remember it well. What a time to be a Star Trek fan back then. There were the TV specials, this episode, DS9 going strong, the Generations hype, Voyager hype, and all that merchandise.

What You Leave Behind was like the end of a marathon. There was just so much going on in that last couple months. It was a relief when it finally ended. AGT though was more bittersweet because the episode was a return to form. There were maybe 6 good episodes in that season, with the average episode feeling stale and repetitive. Then we get to see a really good episode again.... and then it's all over.

As a 9 year old Trek fan, that was my favorite year ever when it came to Star Trek. Everything was happening and I still remember Johnathan Frakes hosted the Viewers Choice Marathon the Saturday before. In fact, I really hope the Season 7 blu rays have these things as the special features:

1) All the Jonathan Frakes intros and outtros to each episode: Relics, Inner Light, Yesterday's Enterprise, and The Best of Both Worlds

2) Journey's End: The Saga of Star Trek The Next Generation

3) A full fledged behind the scenes of the finale

Man that was an awesome weekend and I remember it like it was yesterday.

As for All Good Things, that is still my favorite Series Finale. Life goes on, and the attitude at the time really was "The Sky's The Limit". That final poker scene always gets to me, but it was the final scene in the court room that is my favorite scene of the episode:

"That is the exploration that awaits you; not mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence."

 

[SpHeRe31459]

Wow, 20 years ago today. What a ride that was, I remember it well. What a time to be a Star Trek fan back then. There were the TV specials, this episode, DS9 going strong, the Generations hype, Voyager hype, and all that merchandise.

What You Leave Behind was like the end of a marathon. There was just so much going on in that last couple months. It was a relief when it finally ended. AGT though was more bittersweet because the episode was a return to form. There were maybe 6 good episodes in that season, with the average episode feeling stale and repetitive. Then we get to see a really good episode again.... and then it's all over.

As a 9 year old Trek fan, that was my favorite year ever when it came to Star Trek. Everything was happening and I still remember Johnathan Frakes hosted the Viewers Choice Marathon the Saturday before. In fact, I really hope the Season 7 blu rays have these things as the special features:

1) All the Jonathan Frakes intros and outtros to each episode: Relics, Inner Light, Yesterday's Enterprise, and The Best of Both Worlds

2) Journey's End: The Saga of Star Trek The Next Generation

3) A full fledged behind the scenes of the finale

Man that was an awesome weekend and I remember it like it was yesterday.

As for All Good Things, that is still my favorite Series Finale. Life goes on, and the attitude at the time really was "The Sky's The Limit". That final poker scene always gets to me, but it was my final scene in the court room that is my favorite scene of the episode:

"That is the exploration that awaits you; not mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence."

Would love to see those extras on the S7 BD.
I was 12 that year, so your comments pretty much echo my own thoughts of that time.

Oh and I still get a bit misty eyed at the final poker scene...

 

[Amaris]

I was 14 at the time, and I had the same feeling. That feeling that the sky really and truly was the limit. My thoughts on that idea have changed somewhat over time, but then, it has been twenty years.

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

I'm chuckling gently at you whippersnappers memories of AGT and the times surrounding it. I was 48 with kids 14 and 10 but I still remember the episode as well as DS9 going on at the same time. My memories aren't quite as crisp and complete as yours though, real life was pretty jammed back then.

 

[dg1379]

I was 14 at the time and I saved the Plain Dealer articles and the TV guide they ran. The last one is folded a bit and is a bit blurry.

 

[Lance]

One thing I really like about AGT I've never seen anybody mention: the way the time hopping gives us an opportunity to make direct comparisons between where the characters were in Season One, versus where they are in 'the present'. There's a nice subtle moment for example where in the past, Data can't understand O'Brien's analogy about needing to "burn the midnight oil", and has to have it explained to him. But in the very next scene set in the present, he makes a similar analogy about Q and Picard's relationship being "like that of a master and a beloved pet", before apologizing that he was just making an analogy -- the latter scene serving as an sweet underscoring of just how far Data has grown as a person in seven years.

 

[Makarov]

Future Riker was a complete bad ass in AGT, he was the only one to tell Picard to screw off with his crazy idea. Plus he looks cool with grey hair. That's probably my favorite part of the episode.

 

[RoJoHen]

My favorite thing, oddly enough, is Tasha Yar. I was never a huge Tasha fan; she wasn't in the show long enough for me to really care about her.

But what truly impressed me was Picard's reaction to seeing her again. Here's this character that didn't even make it all the way through Season 1. She had a brief alternate reality appearance and a weird Romulan daughter, but the real Tasha Yar hadn't been seen since the show began.

And yet, after all that time, Picard's reaction still hits me hard. "Tasha. I was just with Tasha in the shuttle." And then he sits down, and it looks like he's about to cry.

 

[Amaris]

Indeed, it was a very sweet moment. I think this finale actually highlights the genuine "humanity" of its characters better than any individual episode, or movie, ever did.