1986... before TNG...

[Pseudo]

Around 1985 or '86 I think is when I started to hear solid rumblings and news about a new Star Trek series. We soon learned that the original crew were not transitioning back to television and would remain on the big screen.

We began to hear about a new starship Enterprise with a new crew set a century after the original era. And this ship was supposed to be on something of a 10-20 year voyage of exploration, and consequently also had families aboard. We learned there would be a Klingon as a member of the new crew and that the ship's navigator was blind! We also began to get early pics such as one of Geordi with his visor.

My initial reaction was a mixture of apprehension and intense curiousity. How could you do Star Trek with Kirk, Spock and the rest? Could it even be close to as good? Or, heaven forbid, could it even be better?

Regardless of your opinion after TNG arrived what did you think and how did you feel about it all at that time leading up to TNG's debut?

I remember those days. I was around 10 years old when The Voyage Home came out, and I remember my older brother going to go see it with a friend of his and he came home to talk about a new Star Trek series coming out. Ah, the good ol' 80's...

Yep, those were the days.

I'm quite a bit older than you. I was 16 when The Voyage Home came out. I went to see it on Thanksgiving that year with my younger brother (who,like you, was ten at the time), and our mom.

Good times.

Darkshadow, did you know that your brother Randy S post here?

 

[RandyS]

I think I found out about TNG first in the letters page at the back of an issue of the DC Comics Trek book.

You know, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure that's how I found out too. I remember at the time, that little blurb by the editor at the top of the letters page was my sole source for Star Trek news for a while.

back in those days it was Starlog, too. I have fond memories of flipping to that part near the front where they talked about movies in prodcution.

Oh yeah, Starlog. I forgot completely about them. I didn't read them much back then though. Are they even still publishing? I haven't seen one at least since the turn of the century. If not longer.

 

[AdmiralSteven]

I thought it would be strange to see a whole new crew of the Enterprise, but held judgment until I watched it. And am I glad I did.

 

[darkshadow0001]

I remember those days. I was around 10 years old when The Voyage Home came out, and I remember my older brother going to go see it with a friend of his and he came home to talk about a new Star Trek series coming out. Ah, the good ol' 80's...

Yep, those were the days.

I'm quite a bit older than you. I was 16 when The Voyage Home came out. I went to see it on Thanksgiving that year with my younger brother (who,like you, was ten at the time), and our mom.

Good times.

Darkshadow, did you know that your brother Randy S post here?

I have a brother Randy S? I didn't know that

Yeah, the 80's were a really good decade. The last ten years have been good for technology, and Star Trek, (sort of), but other then that TV has gone downhill. I expected more out of the 21st Century...

 

[USS Kongo]

Oh yeah, Starlog. I forgot completely about them. I didn't read them much back then though. Are they even still publishing? I haven't seen one at least since the turn of the century. If not longer.

Starlog is still around, publishing a new issue every month. I stopped reading it a while ago, though. I used to read it religiously as a kid--it was through Starlog that I got my first look at some new film called Star Wars back in the '70s.

I recall also feeling a mixture of excitment and dread when the Next Gen first came on TV. I thought the pilot was interesting. The first season was pretty weak, but I stuck with it because I liked the characters. However, I recall having an intense hatred for the ship design. It grew on me, as the show itself did, over the years.

Sean

 

[RandyS]

Yep, those were the days.

I'm quite a bit older than you. I was 16 when The Voyage Home came out. I went to see it on Thanksgiving that year with my younger brother (who,like you, was ten at the time), and our mom.

Good times.

Darkshadow, did you know that your brother Randy S post here?

I have a brother Randy S? I didn't know that

Yeah, the 80's were a really good decade. The last ten years have been good for technology, and Star Trek, (sort of), but other then that TV has gone downhill. I expected more out of the 21st Century...

Hey little brother, nice to know you.

 

[SRFX]

I would have only been two years old when TNG aired in the US, but Australia didn't get it for about a year or two after it first aired, so I was about 3 or 4 (probably the latter since my memory of it is pretty vivid) when I first saw it.

By this stage, I'd already seen most of TOS (repeats taped on VCR) and the first few TOS movies, but i was so incredibly excited about a new series.

It was different, and I remember at the time preferring TOS simply because I was used to it. These are my reactions the best I can recollect (of a four year old mind)

Things I didn't like at the time:
The ship design - physically I didn't like it as much as the original. I remember doing drawings as a kid, trying to convey how I wanted the D to look - longer nacelles, smaller saucer. The fact it could seperate the saucer was VERY COOL though.

That the first first and second season was mostly boring - compared to TOS which was much more exciting, TNG seemed like a grown-ups show about boring things (mostly). However, I was sold on the show anyway as I remember just watching Farpoint over and over, because I loved it so much (along with a few more of the actiony episodes like Arsenal of Freedom).

Things I was undecided on:
Troi - I couldn't decide if she was annoying or not (as I grew older, she became more annoying).

Things I loved:
SAUCER SEPERATION WHEE

Tasha Yar -I thought it was great having a GIRL security officer who wore pants. I thought that was really futuristic. :P Also I liked that she was tough and strong willed - who knew this childish crush would grow into my preferences for women as an adult!

Data - because, it's Data. My reaction was largely similar to Fry re: Bender in Futurama (i.e., I always wanted to have a robot for a friend).

Worf - I liked showing how a race was once enemies could now become friends, and with the Berlin Wall coming down at the time (and me being vaguely aware that this meant that the country of my heritage, Russia, was no longer going to be an enemy to the West, but now a friend), resonated pretty strongly with me as a kid.

Wesley - of course now, he's just a little jackass shit, but when you're a kid, you always look up to adults, and more importantly older kids. So when I saw Wes walking around on the ship, getting to sit in the CAPTAINS CHAIR, I was like "OMG SQUEE! I WANT TO BE ON THE ENTERPRISE, IT'S WAY COOL".

Encounter at Farpoint - I still love this episode, but at the time, I thought it was the best thing ever: Q was an amusing, yet threatening villain, Picard standing up for humanity as something that was good, saucer sep dramas, the holodeck, the resolution to the problem was peace not violence, and this brings me to the most important point: IT IS AN EPISODE ABOUT SAVING A GIANT SPACE JELLYFISH AND HELPING IT RETURN TO ITS FRIEND SO THEY CAN FLY HAPPILY TOGETHER THROUGH SPACE. How can a child not love that? Hell even today, that is a solid premise for me that I can't help but love. Watching it for the first time, I had tears in my eyes watching those jellyfish fly away to freedom.

That's pretty much all I can remember. So yeah, I can summarise as: Saucer seperation + Space Jellyish = 4 year old SRFX <3 TNG

 

[darkshadow0001]

Darkshadow, did you know that your brother Randy S post here?

I have a brother Randy S? I didn't know that

Yeah, the 80's were a really good decade. The last ten years have been good for technology, and Star Trek, (sort of), but other then that TV has gone downhill. I expected more out of the 21st Century...

Hey little brother, nice to know you.

Cool, a brother named Randy, and I also have a manager named Randy... too many Randy's...

 

[Therin of Andor]

The design idea is that it's reflecting human anatomy (specifically the diaphragm, and the division it makes between the chest cavity and the abdomen), just as the coloured lines a bit below the collar reflect the collar bones/clavicles.
Nice idea, but a bit human-centric for Starfleet when you think it through...

No, it's deliberately reflecting the offset parabala shape of the Enterprise insignia, directly above, on the left breast.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Starlog is still around, publishing a new issue every month.

Since when? "Starlog" ceased publication in April 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlog

 

[RandyS]

I have a brother Randy S? I didn't know that

Yeah, the 80's were a really good decade. The last ten years have been good for technology, and Star Trek, (sort of), but other then that TV has gone downhill. I expected more out of the 21st Century...

Hey little brother, nice to know you.

Cool, a brother named Randy, and I also have a manager named Randy... too many Randy's...

There can NEVER be too many of us!

 

[RandyS]

Starlog is still around, publishing a new issue every month.

Since when? "Starlog" ceased publication in April 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlog

Ah, I thought something had happened. Didn't know for sure til now.

Thanks.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

^^

It's time was due:

Starlog was pretty cool in the 1970s and the early 80s; maybe the early 90's....but it just seemed to had gotten rid of the interesting stuff...(Listing of clubs, Episode Guides, other stuff I can't think of now, etc... ...)

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

The first time I heard about TNG was around 1990, but back then I wasn't a trekkie really. In my house there was only one TV, and my sister liked to watch some bad Australian soapie, that was at the same time as TNG. Before then I'm quite sure I never looked at magazines that showed pictures of TNG, when I lived at Nowra in 1988.

 

[RAMA]

I would have only been two years old when TNG aired in the US, but Australia didn't get it for about a year or two after it first aired, so I was about 3 or 4 (probably the latter since my memory of it is pretty vivid) when I first saw it.

By this stage, I'd already seen most of TOS (repeats taped on VCR) and the first few TOS movies, but i was so incredibly excited about a new series.

It was different, and I remember at the time preferring TOS simply because I was used to it. These are my reactions the best I can recollect (of a four year old mind)

Things I didn't like at the time:
The ship design - physically I didn't like it as much as the original. I remember doing drawings as a kid, trying to convey how I wanted the D to look - longer nacelles, smaller saucer. The fact it could seperate the saucer was VERY COOL though.

That the first first and second season was mostly boring - compared to TOS which was much more exciting, TNG seemed like a grown-ups show about boring things (mostly). However, I was sold on the show anyway as I remember just watching Farpoint over and over, because I loved it so much (along with a few more of the actiony episodes like Arsenal of Freedom).

Things I was undecided on:
Troi - I couldn't decide if she was annoying or not (as I grew older, she became more annoying).

Things I loved:
SAUCER SEPERATION WHEE

Tasha Yar -I thought it was great having a GIRL security officer who wore pants. I thought that was really futuristic. :P Also I liked that she was tough and strong willed - who knew this childish crush would grow into my preferences for women as an adult!

Data - because, it's Data. My reaction was largely similar to Fry re: Bender in Futurama (i.e., I always wanted to have a robot for a friend).

Worf - I liked showing how a race was once enemies could now become friends, and with the Berlin Wall coming down at the time (and me being vaguely aware that this meant that the country of my heritage, Russia, was no longer going to be an enemy to the West, but now a friend), resonated pretty strongly with me as a kid.

Wesley - of course now, he's just a little jackass shit, but when you're a kid, you always look up to adults, and more importantly older kids. So when I saw Wes walking around on the ship, getting to sit in the CAPTAINS CHAIR, I was like "OMG SQUEE! I WANT TO BE ON THE ENTERPRISE, IT'S WAY COOL".

Encounter at Farpoint - I still love this episode, but at the time, I thought it was the best thing ever: Q was an amusing, yet threatening villain, Picard standing up for humanity as something that was good, saucer sep dramas, the holodeck, the resolution to the problem was peace not violence, and this brings me to the most important point: IT IS AN EPISODE ABOUT SAVING A GIANT SPACE JELLYFISH AND HELPING IT RETURN TO ITS FRIEND SO THEY CAN FLY HAPPILY TOGETHER THROUGH SPACE. How can a child not love that? Hell even today, that is a solid premise for me that I can't help but love. Watching it for the first time, I had tears in my eyes watching those jellyfish fly away to freedom.

That's pretty much all I can remember. So yeah, I can summarise as: Saucer seperation + Space Jellyish = 4 year old SRFX <3 TNG

The episode could have been a lot better, but the ending works really well, and I do recall being somewhat choked up about it.

RAMA

 

[RAMA]

Starlog is still around, publishing a new issue every month.

Since when? "Starlog" ceased publication in April 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlog

Ah, I thought something had happened. Didn't know for sure til now.

Thanks.

I can't even find the online site.

RAMA

 

[USS Kongo]

Yeah, looks like Starlog is gone. I stand corrected.

PS: It's sister mag, Fango, appears to be still running: http://www.fangoria.com/

Sean

 

[Noname Given]

Around 1985 or '86 I think is when I started to hear solid rumblings and news about a new Star Trek series. We soon learned that the original crew were not transitioning back to television and would remain on the big screen.

We began to hear about a new starship Enterprise with a new crew set a century after the original era. And this ship was supposed to be on something of a 10-20 year voyage of exploration, and consequently also had families aboard. We learned there would be a Klingon as a member of the new crew and that the ship's navigator was blind! We also began to get early pics such as one of Geordi with his visor.

My initial reaction was a mixture of apprehension and intense curiousity. How could you do Star Trek with Kirk, Spock and the rest? Could it even be close to as good? Or, heaven forbid, could it even be better?

Regardless of your opinion after TNG arrived what did you think and how did you feel about it all at that time leading up to TNG's debut?

I first heard of it from a panel hosted by David Gerrold at a 1985 LOSCON scince fiction convention, and I must say, the ORGINAL TNG concept he was trying to push Gene Roddenberry toward, which was (as I recall it):

1) 200 years post TOS (Kirk and Co, are long dead and faded into history)

2) The 1701-D is a multi-generational colony ship that has left our Galaxy behind and is exploring the Andomeda Galaxy looking for a place to call home. (<--- Yes, this is what they were discussing at Paramount and GR according to him. He liked this because it meant NO relance on the 'old' Star Trek races like Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, etc).

3) He told us that regardless of format Paramoun was at least talking to ILM to work on the pilot; and they were discussing if ILM could actually do work on a TV series schedule, but to not hold out hope because it was more likely to be too expensive to use ILM.

I walked out of that panel thinking - "God, no; I pray they DON'T go with that format. While I honestly didn't mind a 'new crew' - yes I wanted it in the same Galaxy with some familiar Star Trek races involved, etc."

The next time I saw anything related to TNG was about 6 months before it's debut. The L.A. Times calander section had a article on ot - and a picture of Captain Picard and Geordi standing next to the 'Warp Core' in the new Engine Room set (I didn't know WHO the characters were when I saw that picture - this is remembering back to what the picture contained then, we me having knowledge now of what was what. The article was fluff, only mentioning that the series was coming, and that Levar Burton (of Roots fame) had been cast in a recurring role - and a comment from Deforest Kelly for the article mntioning that he had a cameo in the Pilot episode; but that he was dubious as to whether Paramount could 'capture lightning in a bottle' again, after the original Star Trek.


And honestly, while I was happy:

1) That David Gerrold had left the production.
2) That they DIDN'T go with what he described at that LOSCON panel.
3) It had the basic original Star Trel premise

When it premired I thought:

1) The pilot BLEW CHUNKS! (No, I didn't care for Squire Trilaine - from The Squire of Gathos - now more grown up (and yes, I had a TNG premire party with a number of friends who liked Star Trek and we all wanted to see this - and ALL shared the same though about the 'Q' character when he popped in.)

2) Hated teh 'Space Jellyfish' 'B-plot'; and how it was telegraphed for antyone paying just a little attention what teh local inhabitants were doing; and how utterly clewless and dumb the Federation StarFleet crew was in coming to the actual realization of what was going on.

But we were still optomistic as this was the first new live action Star Trek seried since 1969. Then we saw the promo for the first 'regular' series episode - a remake of The Naked Time called The Naked Now; and after that I was the ONLY person in my group of friends that bother to keep watching TNG to see where it went.

Personally, after what I saw in season one of TNG (the only episode I cosider worth a damn was was the first 30 minutes of Conspiracy which top me showed the possibility of TNG doing something really neat, but tthen of course they got to Earth, and we saw the 'bug symbiotes' to stupid and go cliche.

I continued to watch the series, and dissmissed the horrible writing and retooling of the female 'Dr, McCoy' close as a product of the LONG TV writer's strike.

I will say that about 1/3rd of the way into the third season (with episodes like Sarek, and esterday's Enterprise[/b]; I startted to lie the series, and became a regular viewer agin after Best of Both Worlds I.

I will say, that while I did grow to appreciate and like TNG during the time it aired; over the years (and unlike TOS - which is still the true original; and my faorite series); it HASN'T aged well; and even a lot of the episodes I felt were 'good' don't (for me) hold up on repeat viewings (unlike many of the good TOS episodes that I still like and can watch over and over again).

In the long run TNG was okay in the day, but IMO really doesn't hold up that well as the years pass. YMMV.

 

[RAMA]

Around 1985 or '86 I think is when I started to hear solid rumblings and news about a new Star Trek series. We soon learned that the original crew were not transitioning back to television and would remain on the big screen.

We began to hear about a new starship Enterprise with a new crew set a century after the original era. And this ship was supposed to be on something of a 10-20 year voyage of exploration, and consequently also had families aboard. We learned there would be a Klingon as a member of the new crew and that the ship's navigator was blind! We also began to get early pics such as one of Geordi with his visor.

My initial reaction was a mixture of apprehension and intense curiousity. How could you do Star Trek with Kirk, Spock and the rest? Could it even be close to as good? Or, heaven forbid, could it even be better?

Regardless of your opinion after TNG arrived what did you think and how did you feel about it all at that time leading up to TNG's debut?

I first heard of it from a panel hosted by David Gerrold at a 1985 LOSCON scince fiction convention, and I must say, the ORGINAL TNG concept he was trying to push Gene Roddenberry toward, which was (as I recall it):

1) 200 years post TOS (Kirk and Co, are long dead and faded into history)

2) The 1701-D is a multi-generational colony ship that has left our Galaxy behind and is exploring the Andomeda Galaxy looking for a place to call home. (<--- Yes, this is what they were discussing at Paramount and GR according to him. He liked this because it meant NO relance on the 'old' Star Trek races like Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, etc).

3) He told us that regardless of format Paramoun was at least talking to ILM to work on the pilot; and they were discussing if ILM could actually do work on a TV series schedule, but to not hold out hope because it was more likely to be too expensive to use ILM.

I walked out of that panel thinking - "God, no; I pray they DON'T go with that format. While I honestly didn't mind a 'new crew' - yes I wanted it in the same Galaxy with some familiar Star Trek races involved, etc."

The next time I saw anything related to TNG was about 6 months before it's debut. The L.A. Times calander section had a article on ot - and a picture of Captain Picard and Geordi standing next to the 'Warp Core' in the new Engine Room set (I didn't know WHO the characters were when I saw that picture - this is remembering back to what the picture contained then, we me having knowledge now of what was what. The article was fluff, only mentioning that the series was coming, and that Levar Burton (of Roots fame) had been cast in a recurring role - and a comment from Deforest Kelly for the article mntioning that he had a cameo in the Pilot episode; but that he was dubious as to whether Paramount could 'capture lightning in a bottle' again, after the original Star Trek.


And honestly, while I was happy:

1) That David Gerrold had left the production.
2) That they DIDN'T go with what he described at that LOSCON panel.
3) It had the basic original Star Trel premise

When it premired I thought:

1) The pilot BLEW CHUNKS! (No, I didn't care for Squire Trilaine - from The Squire of Gathos - now more grown up (and yes, I had a TNG premire party with a number of friends who liked Star Trek and we all wanted to see this - and ALL shared the same though about the 'Q' character when he popped in.)

2) Hated teh 'Space Jellyfish' 'B-plot'; and how it was telegraphed for antyone paying just a little attention what teh local inhabitants were doing; and how utterly clewless and dumb the Federation StarFleet crew was in coming to the actual realization of what was going on.

But we were still optomistic as this was the first new live action Star Trek seried since 1969. Then we saw the promo for the first 'regular' series episode - a remake of The Naked Time called The Naked Now; and after that I was the ONLY person in my group of friends that bother to keep watching TNG to see where it went.

Personally, after what I saw in season one of TNG (the only episode I cosider worth a damn was was the first 30 minutes of Conspiracy which top me showed the possibility of TNG doing something really neat, but tthen of course they got to Earth, and we saw the 'bug symbiotes' to stupid and go cliche.

I continued to watch the series, and dissmissed the horrible writing and retooling of the female 'Dr, McCoy' close as a product of the LONG TV writer's strike.

I will say that about 1/3rd of the way into the third season (with episodes like Sarek, and esterday's Enterprise[/b]; I startted to lie the series, and became a regular viewer agin after Best of Both Worlds I.

I will say, that while I did grow to appreciate and like TNG during the time it aired; over the years (and unlike TOS - which is still the true original; and my faorite series); it HASN'T aged well; and even a lot of the episodes I felt were 'good' don't (for me) hold up on repeat viewings (unlike many of the good TOS episodes that I still like and can watch over and over again).

In the long run TNG was okay in the day, but IMO really doesn't hold up that well as the years pass. YMMV.

I disagree...while Starfleet personnel are trained in the unknown...how often do we SEE giant lifeforms capable of transforming themselves into other forms of matter??? Its still not run of the mill.

Well, TOS doesn't play anywhere that I can find on my local channels (we're talking NY AND Phila area...biggest metro areas in the country). STNG is on two major cable networks, plus WPIX in NY. I'd say it holds up really well.

RAMA

 

[Ssosmcin]

From what I remember, I was pretty excited. I was happy to have the original cast on the big screen and when I heard about TNG, all I thought was "all right! New weekly Star Trek!" I couldn't wait for the premiere and I saw it at my ex-girlfriend's house with her family. They were all familiar with Trek, but not as submerged in it as I was. When Picard said "prepare for emergency saucer sep" I sat up. For years fans knew the original ship have the ability, but we never saw it. The fact that it was gonna happen meant the situation was serious. Anyway, I was like "omigod they're gonna detatch the saucer!" My ex's brother says "you know what they're talking about?" Funny thing was, he really got into it and followed the show at least until I broke up with his sister.

Anyway, I coukdn't wait, saw it, loved it and never missed an episode. I can't say that about any of the later shows...