Happy 30th Birthday, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION...

[Farscape One]

Today, 30 years ago, something wonderful, special, and magical happened. That Monday night, a lonely, 8-year-old boy was suddenly transported to a whole new universe... a brand new playground to explore, and brand new friends to have fun and adventures with.

That kid found acceptance within that universal playground... it was more than an escape from the real world, a world full of other kids that would taunt, tease, and be abusive to, physically as well as mentally. It was a doorway to a philosophy of being a better human.

That kid's mom and grandparents were the best humans you could hope to find, and they were always supportive and loving of this child, but there was one thing missing. Someone to grow up with.

He had seen some STAR TREK and other scifi before, but that night was the night scifi, and particularly STAR TREK, became a part of his very being.

He gazed in amazement at the Enterprise-D... the awesome power of Q... the intrepid and bold spirit of the crew... and Data, who became the very first idol of this child.

Watching Data was like watching myself... always wondering why humans do the things they do. Before Data, my experiences with other kids made me think there was something wrong with me. But with Data, I found a kindred spirit... a brother I never had. We grew up together, Data and I.

And that night, a new person was essentially born... the person I would eventually become. And despite growing up without any friends in the real world, I always had a large group of great, quality friends on the Enterprise-D... and later, an even larger set of friends on all the shows.

I am very proud to call myself a Trekkie, and today is the anniversary of the day that I am proud to say I became part of a larger community of people, 30 years ago.

I would not be quite the person I am today without STAR TREK. Thank you, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, for growing up with me, and being there for me like my mom and grandparents were. Thank you for being my brothers and sisters.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION!!!

 

[tomalak301]

Today is a very important day when it comes to my Star Trek fandom. 30 Years ago today, Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered with Encounter at Farpoint.

TNG was the series that got me really into not just Star Trek, but space travel in general. I've been doing a rewatch of the series this year and my first memory was actually in Season 4, with the episode Night Terrors, where the crew is suffering from a lack of REM Sleep. Actually this was the episode that taught me what REM Sleep was.

I remember watching TNG every saturday night at 8:00 with the family on KBHK-44. I was young so I didn't really get the nuances of the series, but I just found it cool watching this crew go on space adventures every week. Heck, a couple episodes later from when I started, they did a Robin Hood episode, and I was always excited when that episode would come back on as a rerun. In fact, because of that episode, my favorite recurring character is Q.

TNG is my favorite series because it's the most nostalgic series. You had this cast, led by the great Patrick Stewart, who were all likeable and had great chemistry with each other. You had great classic episodes like Darmok, which is all about communication, or Best of Both Worlds which many consider to be TNG at it's highest point. Above all else, TNG made me a fan of Star Trek, and helped shape what I am today. I'm so glad I grew up with this show, and I just wanted to celebrate this milestone anniversary today.

I will conclude by quoting a conversation from my favorite series finale of all time, which to me is what Star Trek is all about.

Capt. Picard: [after learning that he successfully collapsed the anomaly] Thank you.

Q: [curious] For what?

Capt. Picard: You had a hand in helping me get out of this.

Q: I was the one that got you into it. A directive from the Continuum. The part about the helping hand, though... was my idea.

Capt. Picard: I sincerely hope that this is the last time that I find myself here.

Q: You just don't get it, do you, Jean-Luc? The trial never ends. We wanted to see if you had the ability to expand your mind and your horizons. And for one brief moment, you did.

Capt. Picard: When I realized the paradox.

Q: Exactly. For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you had never considered. *That* is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence."

Happy 30th Anniversary Next Generation.

5-card stud, nothing wild, and the Sky's The Limit

 

[Amasov]

My earliest memory of Star Trek: The Next Generation was on a 1987 VHS copy of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. If some of you recall, there was a quick promo for the series at the very start of that videotape. While I'm not sure, I always assumed this was the first time, or one of the first times, the series was fully shown.

It came up during the early stages of Discovery and the fans pre-hating on the show, but, there's that hysterical article that features the fan's negative reactions to the Next Generation announcement. At the time, were any of you ready to hate the show, because it didn't feature Kirk, Spock, or any of the original series characters?

I know for me, personally, it took a long time to accept the series -- and I was just three when the series debut. For the longest time, Kirk and his crew were my only crew. The Next Generation was just a poor imitation.

Over the years, I grew to like the show, especially since I fell in love with both Deep Space Nine and Voyager. I went to see the TNG films, too and had seen MOST of the episodes, but, it wasn't until the show was released to DVD that REALLY was able to sit down and watch every episode. By then, I was already a fan, but I was finally able to see it all, since TV airings were very unreliable -- plus, with the DVDs, I could watch them on my own time.

Star Trek: The Next Generation not only has, arguably, gone on to become the greatest Star Trek series, but sometimes regarded as one of the greatest TV series of all time. This show had the awesome task of bringing Star Trek back into the mainstream and without the original crew.

For me, personally, when we heard Commander Riker utter the words, "Mr. Worf, fire..." in the final moments of The Best of Both Worlds, Part I, I have always said, "The moment when The Next Generation stepped out of the shadow of the original series and became the superior show."

 

[2takesfrakes]

STAR TREK: The Next Generation is the finest STAR TREK, ever created! The rest of the franchise is but so much garland around it, like an Xmas tree ... merely "sauce for the goose," to use Spock's own words. Gene Roddenberry's already having delivered this acclaimed masterpiece to television so many decades ago has provided me with such satisfaction, that I can tolerate the rest of the franchise much better than I otherwise might have. I've already gotten what I wanted out of it and that's for certain. Sometimes, the best is $aved for last ... not so, with STAR TREK. The best was saved after all the trial & error of a little science experiment called STAR TREK, in The Sixties. Roddenberry then took what was so great about STAR TREK and made the world fall in love with this franchise all over again. What a brilliant finish to his illustrious career! And he'd gone on record as saying that he wasn't ever envious over what others had done new with his original concept. STAR TREK would go on to bigger things and he was just fine with that. But in all of the decades since, it's never gone onto better things. My admiration for Gene Roddenberry as a self-made Man only grows as his franchise does. Through his entertainment, he inspired the world to try to view things his way ... and damn, if he hadn't succeeded! Maybe I should try developing my own series and have the world share MY vision! Hot damn -- I LOVE TNG and I'm still inspired by it!!!

 

[Amasov]

It's really incredible to think that Roddenberry was not only able to create a followup to the original, but, in almost every possible way, outdo it. And, as you put it above, make the world fall in love with it all over again.

I couldn't name another franchise that did that as well as Star Trek has.

And lest we forget that the impact of this series was so great that it became the basis for the two series that followed and would become the barometer when measuring the quality of any Trek spin-off that would later come.

 

[Danlav05]

The Borg. Yesterday's Enterprise (still should have been a movie? Still great all the same). Unification. Q. Data. Redemption. Star Trek: First Contact. All Good Things. Sela. The Enterprise-D. Future Imperfect. Just a few characters, episodes and things I love about TNG.

I'm so proud to see all the praise for TNG today. I grew up watching this show. My earliest Trek memory is Worf on the Borg cube looking for Picard.

I was born September 26th, two days before thsi show began so I am virtually exactly the same age! But I love the aesthetic of this show better than the others, the Enterprise-D is my favourite ship. seeing it today gives me such a nostalgic buzz that Movies II-VI do too. There were so many great episodes and movies. And the TV Movie versions of the two-parters I especially enjoy.

Without TNG we woudn't have DS9, VOY, ENT and DSC for sure. This proved that Star Trek can work beyond Kirk and Spock (whom I still adore.) Star Trek as a whole is such a rich tapestry of stories and characters. Yes CBS' focus seems to be TOS-based stuff but there is still a lot of TNG merchandise around, one day on screen it will somehow gain a revisit.