Fans, why do you like TNG?

[Warped9]

I don't post here often. Hardly ever. But I'm planning a website and although it will be primarily TOS-TMP centric I will be commenting on the Treks that followed.

That said it isn't my intention there, or here, to trash later Trek but to offer views on both sides. Of course my critique will be there but I also want to state reasons why others were drawn to the show.

I'm also curious to here how you feel the TNG films rate overall in comparison to the series.

So to that end I'm not here to comment but mostly listen to your views and insights.

Please, share with me here why you like TNG and what you see in it.

 

[Warped9]

No love for TNG? Then why are all you guys here?

 

[Whoa Nellie]

It all starts with the captain. Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a rich, multi-faceted character; one who reads ancient Greek and Latin classics and Shakespeare as well as hard-boiled detective novels. He plays the flute as well as rides horses, fences, and does a little rock climbing. He drinks tea as well as Aldebaran whiskey. He is a diplomat who appears to have a certain degree of special ops training. The erudite who easily rises to the role of action hero when necessary.

Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie

 

[Mr. Scott]

I am a DS9 fan, but have seen every second of everything that the Star Trek Universe has to offer me.

In TNG, I like Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner and Michael Dorn. Honestly, the rest of the cast could be thrown out the airlock. I really disliked Jonathan frakes and wished they would of went with their second choice of Jeffrey Combs. However, Combs created some great characters in Weyoun, Brunt and the Andorian dude on the series Enterprise (ENT). I don't care for Dr. Crusher and wished they would of stayed with Dr. Pulaski. The problem was that the actress who plays Dr. Crusher was hot, and Pulaski was really not. Pulaski to me had a lot more of the spirit of McCoy. But Diana Muldar was just a fill in character.

I own the entire series of TNG, and I like probably 50% of the episodes. Some are wonderful and classic. Like I said I like storylines pertaining to Worf (Klingons) Data, and mostly Captain Picard. Deanna Troi , hot but boring. Picard's 32 year old archeological girlfried, I'll pass. About 1/2 were great, especially towards the end.

 

[Cdr MacDuff]

Great stories written by writers which seem to have something to say (socially, politically, etc).

 

[sbk1234]

I do like most of the characters. I think they were actually better written than TOS characters (except Spock.) Of course, one can't forget that TOS secondary characters were never considered joint-stars of an ensemble. Most of what we know/believe about the secondary characters was created after the show. For TNG, a lot more effort was put into creating these characters.
TNG was also on more than twice as long as TOS. That gave them a whole lot more time to work with.

As for the TNG movies? I think they were good. Not necessarily spectacular, but good. (yes, I even liked Nemesis.) I figure when you've got a series of films that's already over 10 films long, they can't all be better than the previous one.

 

[arasam22]

captain picard. and data.

patrick stewart is such an amazing actor, and it is a joy to watch him. if he's in an episode a lot, chances are it'll be very good. and data's just awesome.

 

[Trekarama]

I think with TNG the philosophy of peaceful space exploration was more fully realized than in TOS. Yes, there was conflict and violence at times, but it was never the first nor only solution accepted. I found that to be refreshing.
Patrick Stewart's Captain Picard was never a one dimensional superman. He was an intelligent, strong man, yet flawed and vulnerable just the same.
For me his performance elevated the show above simple genre driven entertainment.

 

[Lynx]

Great characters, good stories and a great concept for the series is the reason why I like TNG.

As for the movies, I must say that none of them really came up to the standard of the series for many different reasons.

 

[RyuRoots]

It's all about characters. I completely agree with Whoa Nellie about Captain Picard, and the whole support cast (except Troi) I really loved through almost all of the show, and even Troi got better in the last season or two. All in all, I don't think I like TNG's main cast as much as DS9's, but that's only by virtue of liking DS9's more; the mains of The Next Generation are what really made their best stories shine. And let us not forget that it was also TNG that gave us Captain Frasier Crane.

 

[Anika Hanson]

It has the best characters out of all the Treks for me. The story lines are good and it's just a plain exploration series.

 

[Butters]

Many of the stories were unsatisfactory and the science was highly dubious so I'm struggling to say why I consider this my fav crew. There was just a cosy familiarity there. I could imagine Picard having a pint waiting for me on the bar in Ten Forward and then arguing about house prices with Deanna or something. Dunno.

 

[Praetor]

Simply: I grew up on it.

It's taken up til now for me to gain anywhere near an objective perspective on it, and I am still very sentimental about the characters.

Beyond that, it's a well-written and well-acted series for the most part, even if, while technically being a sequel to TOS, it went in a somewhat different direction. I really like the characters. All of 'em. Even Wesley.

 

[startrekwatcher]

The sense of fun and adventure.

Patrick Stewart is a fantastic actor and brought a gravitas to the role of Picard I've yet to see outdone.

I love the entire cast--every last one of them.

I loved the recurring characters--Guinan. Lwaxana, Barclay.

They created the best villian ever--the Borg

It has the best Trek episode out of any of the five shows--The Best of Both Worlds.

I loved its mix of different types of stories from the character piece to the mystery to the fun high concept show.

It is probably the most consistent of the Trek shows with a solid run from season three to season 6 with only two or three weak episodes per season.

 

[arasam22]

you know... another reason i just thought of for me is that it was the first series i ever watched... and i think a lot of people my age and a bit older (i am 18) grew up watching it, so it's got that nostalgic quality for them. when i started watching it five years ago, my parents told me that watching TNG had been their "date" every week, especially after i was born and too young to let them go anywhere... so they became fans with me again because they had loved it so much during its initial run.

 

[Jaespol]

Great stories written by writers which seem to have something to say (socially, politically, etc).

This, many of TNG stories actually had something important to say.
I find TNG to be the best refinement of a "ship exploring" show - TOS was the raw material fresh and great in its own right, VOY was recycled waste matter - good but not new or fresh anymore.

 

[CaptainStoner]

The explorations of Worf, and Data. Worf was my favorite character back in the day, that being 7th grade for me when TNG came out. I'd already seen 90% of the TOS eps by then, had the crap nearly scared out of me seing TWOK as a kid, and was collecting TOS-era comics. So, I was well grounded.
Later, some of the Picard episodes - "The Inner Light", which IMO was nearly as good "City on the Edge of Forever" - really stand out. "Darmok", "Cause and Effect", on and on. So many good episodes.

I would venture a guess that the underlying success of TNG's ratings was in its family episodes - this I think was the source of its crossover appeal. That produced some of the shows more annoying bits, such as early Wesley. But I largely liked what they did with Alexander, Worf's son. Eventually all the main characters have family-related episodes, except Tasha.

So in addition to some truly great straight-ahead Sci-fi, TNG had this family aspect going. We saw it echoed and developed with Jake Sisko and Nog in DS9, from their Huck Finn beginnings to becoming fascinating and cool adult characters. A more complete experience with DS9.

 

[Galactic Alignment]

TNG was the first Trek series I saw, on BBC2's fabled tea-time/early evening slot. Never missed an episode. Until Sky TV bought the rights to the show, meaning I never saw past Best of Both Worlds.

 

[WillsBabe]

I can't separate my love of TNG from what was happening in fandom at that time. For me the two things go hand in hand. I was involved in convention-running at the time and met loads of other fans from across the world, really. I also met the actors backstage and worked as guest liasion at cons, and spent a great deal of time, effort and sometimes money on fandom and fannish things. I love the show because it spanned an influential time in my life (from being in my early 20s to hitting my 30s, when you count the movies, too). For me it was about the exploration, that these characters would always do the right thing, or at least stick to their morals when push came to shove. There was a vivid and believeable universe that they lived in. And watching it evolve was soemthing that I hadn't had with TOS, which I'd loved for years but only seen after the fact. It was great reading the magazines, listening to Richard Arnold talk about up-coming episodes and novels. And Riker. He helped. Immensely.

 

[Tachyon]

Great characters and interesting stories.