Favorite season and season highlights

[Hawkeye_90]

I have seen the majority of tng and I like it a lot. I bought a few seasons over a period of years, but they were so expensive I only got a few. Well a few months back I got all 7 and the entertainment issue of star trek for 90 bucks. I am trying to decide what seasons to watch. Out of the owns I owned before that is 2,5, and 7. I liked 2 the best. So I am a little curious what your favorite seasons and episodes are.

 

[Harvey]

It's been quite some time since I saw more than a few episodes of TNG, but looking back, I recall season 4-6 being the strongest years of the show. There are a lot of great episodes in those three seasons. Just to throw out a few examples--"Family," "The Wounded," "Chain of Command," "Face of the Enemy," and "Tapestry."

 

[Shon T'Hara]

Season 3 had the best overall quality. Season 4 had better episodes, but it also had some real stinkers. Once you get to 5 and 6 it goes down hill fast, and 7 is just a bunch of crappy family stories -- Troi's dead sister, Crusher grandma, Picard's maybe-son, Data's mother (!), and of course Alexander.

 

[BillJ]

Season 1 and 2... the universe seemed big and fresh.

The Naked Now
Where No One Has Gone Before
Conspiracy
The Neutral Zone
The Big Goodbye
Contagion
Where Silence Has Lease
The Royale
A Matter of Honor

Are some of the highlights.

 

[LitmusDragon]

You could watch the entire series in the order it was aired. Or just start at 3 since you've seen 2 already.

I recently did a TNG playlist where I pulled the best %40-%50 of the episodes based on IMDB ranking and my personal recollection of which were good episodes. Nearly all of season 3 made it on there, that's how strong a season it is. Seasons 1 and 7 were the overall weakest, only a few episode from each being represented.

 

[Sybok]

season 6 for me (brent spiner, who played data, agrees)

You could watch the entire series in the order it was aired.

thats what i would do, enjoy!

 

[sonak]

seasons 1-2 were clumsy, but still had plenty of good episodes in there.

By season 7 the show was running out of gas, and it was probably a good thing it ended there rather than continue for a few more tired seasons.

However, seasons 3-6 are great, there's a high level of quality maintained. I think season 3 actually has some of the slower episodes in it, so I'd pick a season between 4-6 as the best, but really all four of those middle seasons are very good.

 

[heavylids]

Season 1 takes the cake. "Conspiracy" is probably my favorite TNG episode. Early TNG retained some of that OS charm and cheesy-ness. I'm currently watching "Lonely Among Us" and god damn, it's fucking great.

 

[sonak]

I don't get the association of cheesiness with quality. I could see you'd appreciate the CHARM of it but still like the more polished seasons better.


And I don't get the comparison of early seasons of TNG with TOS.

The perception that TOS was "cheesy" or "campy" is a misunderstanding of the look of the show or of the different social attitudes of the time. TOS was regarded as serious sci-fi in its day, not on the level of Adam West's "Batman."


TOS hit the ground running whereas TNG stumbled a bit before finding its footing.

 

[heavylids]

I was referring to the music with these silly synth textures and how several episodes end with a cheesy joke. Things of that nature. Naturally, since both shows were created by the same person, there would be similarities in the production. For example, like any genuine musician or artist, their influence is apparent in every piece of work they do.

 

[Trek Survivor]

Season 2 is my favourite season - before it all got too bland. Season 3-4 are very good though, with some standout episodes.

Season 2 highlights:
A Matter Of Honour
The Measure of A Man
The Royale (guilty pleasure!)
Q Who
The Emissary

Season 3 highlights:
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Hollow Pursuits
Best Of Both Worlds

 

[Nero's Shadow]

My favourite season is season 3 some very good episodes the defector yesterdays enterprise the survivors the the enemy and best of both worlds, one of the best cliffhangers from all the seasons of TNG !!!

 

[Saito S]

Overall, 3-5 are the strongest IMO. Season 6 would be counted among that group, since its good eps were just as good as anything in 3-5. However, while 3-5's bad eps are just boring, season 6 has the ridiculous "A Fistful of Datas", and the downright abysmal "Rascals" and "Man of the People." So it has to slide down a notch.

A random sampling of favorite eps from s 3-6 (this is by no means a COMPLETE list; there are more good or great eps from those seasons than the ones listed here):
3: "The Defector", "Yesterday's Enterprise"
4: "Remember Me", "The Wounded"
5: "Conundrum", "The First Duty"
6: "Face of the Enemy", "Frame of Mind"

Season 7 was a mixed bag... I did think it had a handful of great eps (some of my series favorites are in s7), but it did have several ranging from mediocre to boring to awful. Overall, I agree that they seemed to be running out of steam, and it was a good decision to end it where they did.
S 7 standouts include "Gambit", "Parallels", "The Pegasus", and "Lower Decks." Oh, and "All Good Things...", of course...
Season 7 was maybe slightly better than season 2 on the whole, in terms of episode quality, and didn't suffer from the awful aesthetics of early TNG (everything before s3, basically). Season 1 was horrid; it peaks at a small group of eps that are "not too bad".

I don't get the association of cheesiness with quality. I could see you'd appreciate the CHARM of it but still like the more polished seasons better.

I agree with you here. Cheesy can be sort of fun, but only when it's existence doesn't take away from something that I feel should be not cheesy. i.e. when I watch the animated '86 Transformers movie, I expect some serious 80's cheese, and it amuses me. Star Trek, IMO, should not be cheesy; when it is, it's failing.

And I don't get the comparison of early seasons of TNG with TOS.

The perception that TOS was "cheesy" or "campy" is a misunderstanding of the look of the show or of the different social attitudes of the time. TOS was regarded as serious sci-fi in its day, not on the level of Adam West's "Batman."


TOS hit the ground running whereas TNG stumbled a bit before finding its footing.

I agree that - for their time - TOS got off to a gallop and TNG very much stumbled at first. However, it seems you're referring to creator intent and to how each show should be viewed WHEN they were each airing. Which is fine. I can't speak for anyone else, but when I talk about the "cheesiness" or "campiness" of TOS, I'm simply referring to qualities that I see when I watch the show and attempt to enjoy it (and, in fact, those qualities often make it harder TO enjoy it). Certainly, it was serious sci-fi in its day, and (even now) doesn't come off NEARLY as ridiculously cheesy as something like the Adam West "Batman" show, and we can have a conversation about WHY some of the elements are in the show, but that doesn't change what I see when I sit down and watch the show.

I was referring to the music with these silly synth textures and how several episodes end with a cheesy joke. Things of that nature. Naturally, since both shows were created by the same person, there would be similarities in the production. For example, like any genuine musician or artist, their influence is apparent in every piece of work they do.

These are things I also see in season 1 of TNG, and are among the reasons I think season 1 is the weakest. The bolded part, in particular... so many of those endings (in both s1 TNG and in TOS) were so lame it was almost painful.

 

[sonak]

I agree TOS can come off as a little cheesy when looked at from today's perspective, but I'm a big believer in looking at shows and movies from the context of their times. It's simply unfair not to do so.

So from that perspective, TOS is serious sci-fi( the occasional "Spock's Brain"-like detour aside) and NOT cheesy.

 

[williamsto]

I don't normally go with seasons when I watch Star Trek. I will watch my favorite episodes in chronological order.

 

[Sybok]

ive heard sirtis say on a recording of a recent con on youtube that with season 7 they were spending their writing resources on DS9 (she said they got their [tng] stories) so TNG dropped in quality

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Season 6. I'll never agree with them that say it was a bad year. It had a few bad episodes but every season of TNG did... and its best were top tier, I thought.

And I actually rank Season 3 in third or fourth place but certainly not first. And I think the first and much of the second seasons were really bad.

Just goes to show opinions vary wildly!

 

[sonak]

I'd thought that season 6 was regarded pretty highly. I haven't heard that much negativity about it, certainly not in the seasons 1-2 category.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Oh, nah, I didn't really mean to imply that. I meant that a lot of people tend to think it's a big step down from three and four but personally I disagree, that's all.

 

[RAMA]

Season 4, 3, 6 in order. I count only 2 sub par eps in season 4. By no means is season 5 bad, but there are a few too many filler episodes. Despite that some of the best Trek eps of all time are in season 5, even though its 4th on my list of best seasons.

RAMA