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EW's TNG article and top 10...

TV's Frank

Fleet Captain
Fleet Captain
I read this online and while there was not that much new info, it was still great that attention was paid to TNG on its 20th, in loving fashion. Who knows what would have happened to the Trek franchise if it had never existed? And here is their own Top 10, which I think is actually pretty decent, with some nice surprises ("The First Duty"). Do we think this is a good representation of the series as a whole? Of course, it is quite Picard-centric, but can you blame them? :)

10) “Chain of Command.” (6.10 / 6.11) While substitute Capt. Jellico annoys the crew of the Enterprise (he actually make Troi put on a real Starfleet uniform, which became her normal duds for the balance of the series’ run), David Warner in Cardassian makeup uses a brain implant to torture Picard to madness. Story credited to Frank Abatemarco; teleplay credited to Ronald D. Moore.

9) “The First Duty.” (5.19) Picard undertakes an investigation into a Starfleet Academy training accident that involved Wesley Crusher and left another cadet dead. Robert Duncan McNeill played a duplicitous cadet, Locarno, who became the model for Tom Paris, the character McNeill later played on “Voyager.” Teleplay credited to Naren Shankar and Ronald D. Moore.

8.) “First Contact.” (4.15) Riker, undercover on a pre-warp-drive planet whose residents have no clue that there are other populated planets, is discovered to be an alien, forcing Picard to tell top government officials that they are not alone. Story credited to Marc Scott Zicree; teleplay credited to Dennis Russell Bailey, David Bischoff, Joe Menosky, Ronald D. Moore and Michael Piller.

7) “Sins of the Father.” (3.17) On the Klingon homeworld, Worf risks death in a bid to restore his dead father’s honor. Teleplay credited to W. Reed Moran and Ronald D. Moore.

6) “The Measure of a Man.” (2.9) When a Starfleet commander decides that Data is Starfleet property that should be torn apart and examined, Picard enters the courtroom to defend the android’s right to refuse. Teleplay credited to Melinda M. Snodgrass.

5) “All Good Things … ” (7.25) The series finale saw Picard skipping through three eras: seven years into the past (and the series’ first episode), the present, and a quarter century into the future. Teleplay credited to Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore.

4) “Tapestry.” (6.15) When Picard takes a deadly wound to the chest, Q shows him what his life would have been like if he had pursued a less risky life course. (A rare opportunity to see Patrick Stewart get frisky with an actress young enough to be his granddaughter.) Teleplay credited to Ronald D. Moore.

3) “The Inner Light.” (5.25) An probe forces Picard to live out a married flautist’s lifetime in the space of an hour. Story credited to Morgan Gendel; teleplay credited to Gendel and Peter Allan Fields.

2) “The Best of Both Worlds.” (3.26 / 4.1) The Borg turn Picard into Locutus. I saw the second half of this with an audience at the Museum of Broadcasting and I’ll never forget the huge laugh Worf got when he groused that the Borg have neither courage nor honor. Teleplay credited to Michael Piller.

1) “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” (3.15) A 22-year-old rift in time creates an alternate universe in which Tasha Yar was never killed and the Federation is fighting a losing battle against the Klingon empire. Teleplay credited to Richard Manning, Hans Beimler, Ira Steven Behr and Ronald D. Moore.
 
Yeah, I can see your reasoning on that. I enjoyed First Duty, but it would never make my top 10. And I'm not even a Wesley-hater!
 
For a little perspective on the matter, here are the top 11 (there was a tie for 10th place) episodes as voted on by this forum a few months ago.

1. All Good Things
2. Yesterday's Enterprise
3. Best of Both Worlds, Pt. 1
4. The Inner Light
5. The Measure of a Man
6. Tapestry
7. Darmok
8. Best of Both Worlds, Pt. 2
9. Cause and Effect
10. The Drumhead
10. Q-Who?
 
Interesting to compare. What helped their list was counting the 2 parters as a single entry, so "Chain of Command" and "Best of Both Worlds" would not have to be counted twice, parts 1 and 2. In some ways I can see that making sense, since it would seem odd to choose one and not the other. Maybe we should have done the same?
 
TV's Frank said:
Interesting to compare. What helped their list was counting the 2 parters as a single entry, so "Chain of Command" and "Best of Both Worlds" would not have to be counted twice, parts 1 and 2. In some ways I can see that making sense, since it would seem odd to choose one and not the other. Maybe we should have done the same?

I thought about that when I did all those polls. The problem is that two series (VOY and ENT) did a lot of two (and three) part episodes that were not titled as such. To some extent, so did DS9. What I ended up doing was using the TrekNation episode guide as my pattern. If they listed it as a seperate episode, so did I in my poll.
 
HLecter,MD said:
They should have included "Sarek" in there. It was a brilliant character study with brilliant acting.

Indeed. I'm ranking the TNG episodes as I make my way through the series. Right now, I'm at "The Masterpiece Society," and "Sarek" is holding the #1 spot.
 
toughlittleship said:
^You had me worried there with the mention of The Masterpiece Society and one of TNG's best episodes in the same post! :guffaw:

I should have just said midway through Season 5 and avoided mentioning that episode altogether.
 
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