Failure to Commit

[The Overlord]

I can like both types of shows. I love Law & Order, which was so plot-driven and episodic that we hardly ever got to know the characters beyond their jobs. I also love Buffy the Vampire Slayer where comments made in the pilot episode don't pay off until the series finale. Both have their pros and cons.

That said, I think TNG was fine the way it was... episodic. It worked well. And I don't think that meant there was no character development. I'm sorry, but the Picard of "Encounter at Farpoint" was not at all the same man as the Picard of "All Good Things..." Events such as his assimilation by the Borg, his re-connecting with his family, his imprisonment and torture by the Cardassians, and his "life" in "The Inner Light" all impacted him over the long term.

Simply because characters did not enter sustained, long-term romantic relationships does not mean that the characters were static or had no development.

I think TNG was a product of its time and I do like the way it is, though it might have been nice if they put more effort into warping plot lines in the 7th season, but hindsight is 20/20.

However I think trying to recreate TNG with a new show would be a bad idea, that is what Voyager did and it didn't work. A new show would have to have more of continuing story. That is the way the TV landscape is moving towards.

 

[Mojochi]

I don't think it's fair to say they had a complete failure to make committed changes in S7. Wesley Left Starfleet. Riker's entire career is marred by conspiracy. Ro betrayed the Federation. Warp speed is touted as environmentally dangerous. Deanna is promoted. Lwaxana has a character reveal that rounds out her character in a way I previously thought would never happen, and actually explains her nonsensically eccentric ways, to some degree. She is running from a painful truth

Frankly, the ONLY thing they failed to commit to is shipping their characters together, & you know what? I'm damn thankful they did. It's tv show poison. No one needed that crap to keep TNG good, imho

 

[suarezguy]

I thought "Attached" was enjoyably daring enough in showing how strong the feelings Picard and Crusher had for each were and that it was somewhat disappointing but believable that they would still be hesitant to get together (at least it showed how Picard, perhaps like some of the writers, were disappointed).
I was more bothered by "The Pegasus" where Picard completely forgives Riker at the end, I thought that felt much more forced and inconsistent with the rest of the episode and was taking the "episodic-ness" too far; both episodic and arcs can work but things can get still if you're only or even primarily episodic for too long.
Agreed that the changes with Lwaxana and Ro (a great change for the penultimate episode) were very impressive and how they concluded Wesley's story was an interesting attempt.

 

[EnriqueH]

Frankly, the ONLY thing they failed to commit to is shipping their characters together, & you know what? I'm damn thankful they did. It's tv show poison. No one needed that crap to keep TNG good, imho

Except that the show was ending and headed to the movies.

I think they definitely could've gone the extra step and had Picard and Crusher hook up. But only because the show was ending. I don't know that it would've worked earlier in the series.

But even the TNG movies had a "status quo" feel to them. They never committed.

I wish the TNG movies were more like the TOS movies where a lot of shit happened to the crew and they all grew as characters as a result.

 

[Forbin]

I don't think it's fair to say they had a complete failure to make committed changes in S7. Wesley Left Starfleet. Riker's entire career is marred by conspiracy. Ro betrayed the Federation. Warp speed is touted as environmentally dangerous. Deanna is promoted. Lwaxana has a character reveal that rounds out her character in a way I previously thought would never happen, and actually explains her nonsensically eccentric ways, to some degree. She is running from a painful truth

While all true, the only item in that list that was an important main cast development was Wesley leaving. They quickly forgot about Riker and the Pegasus, the warp speed problem was almost immediately ignored (or said to be fixed). Troi's promotion (which I don't even remember) has no further bearing on her character or later stories. Lwaxana and Ro are tertiary characters that mean little to the overall series.

 

[Lance]

Frankly, the ONLY thing they failed to commit to is shipping their characters together, & you know what? I'm damn thankful they did. It's tv show poison. No one needed that crap to keep TNG good, imho

When the series bible back in 1987 makes such a hoo-hah about Riker/Troi and Picard/Beverly, then I'd say that failing to commit to that over seven years is a fundamental failure of craft.

 

[Forbin]

When a series does that, it's usually some producer or network suit declaring that all main characters must remain unattached so they can have an occasional romance with a guest star.

 

[TV's Frank]

When a series does that, it's usually some producer or network suit declaring that all main characters must remain unattached so they can have an occasional romance with a guest star.

Yep, this. Even on your standard network dramas where long-simmering romances are fulfilled and taken to the next level, they often find a way to split them up for a time, sometimes just to free up those characters to engage with a new character. No matter how hard anyone tries with a long-running series, TV is not real life. The characters will always have to take some action at some point that is necessary for the STORY to turn in a certain direction.