How do you compare PIC to TNG?

[Arpy]

Comparing Star Trek: The Next Generation to Star Trek: Picard is a bit like comparing the film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring to Season One of Game of Thrones. They may be in the same broad genre, but they're doing entirely different things and directed at entire different audiences; the former is more archetypal, and the latter is more deconstructivist.

And yet, choooooooose.....[/Gandalf]

I’ll go with
Mid TNG
PIC
Early TNG
Late TNG

Early I forgive since it’s establishing something new, and although Later episodes go down easier, they lack the openness and reach of some of the earlier. I like the vision of some of the daring early and am disappointed by the choices of some of the experienced late.

Still, I’d probably sit down and casually watch any TNG for pleasure over most PIC. And I prefer TNG’s world. But I appreciate most PIC over a lot of meh episodes of TNG. The ten tight episodes certainly helps it.

Right now I’m at:
TNG
TOS
PIC
DS9
DSC
VOY
ENT
TAS

 

[Uhura's Song]

A different type of ranking and comparison thread. Where do you think Picard stands compared to TNG?

My preferences (in order) are:

1. PIC
2. Mid-TNG
3. Late-TNG
4. Early-TNG
5. TNG Movies

I concur wholly on the rankings of 2-4. Though what we consider early, mid, and late TNG might vary some.

It is hard for me to compare a 10 episode serial to even 1 season of a 26 episode episodic. Much less at least two seasons (early = TNG S1-S2, mid S3-S5, late S6-S7). Not favorably, anyway. Have to wait till more episodes air.

I generally tend to favor episodic, or lightly serial (think Doctor Who with Tennant & Smith) to serial.

Those two factors make it impossible for me to rate it above any multi-season TNG run. 10 eps vs 50? The movies are a closer parallel, in terms of amount of content.

I tend to say the same thing I say in Disco forums: the acting quality & production value make for higher floors but the serial nature (twisty turny and plot issues and roads not taken due to time constraints) make for lower ceilings.

The new shows also have more, OK, that was really stupid/non-sensical plot moments than the older shows did. (Look ma, this contraption the android lady gave us can do anything!). Though Pic has fewer than Disco.

Fewer clunker moments/episodes for sure. In total, for sure, and probably % wise as well, though S3-S6 of TNG was pretty darn consistent. But also less really satisfying moments/episodes as well.

As for Picard, I had no issue with the slower pacing (I think that is a good thing). Would have preferred 12-14 episodes. I did not love the finale like some did. I enjoyed it. Loved seeing JLP, Data, Seven, Troi, & Riker again. Liked the new characters. Well acted. Liked some other choices less.

I'd put it ahead of the movies, maybe. And episode for episode, was better/more consistent than TNG1. I tend to rank more by the ceiling than by the floor, however. I did not rate anything in Picard at a classic level. (Measure of a Man, Yesterday's Enterprise, Darmok, Inner Light, etc). Even though I did hate it that Nemesis was the end for the TNG crew. Hope LeVar & Gates get a bow next season.

Perhaps after another season (or two!) I will change my mind.

 

[Lord Garth]

I concur wholly on the rankings of 2-4. Though what we consider early, mid, and late TNG might vary some.

I left it vague on purpose. But I think of "early" as S1-S2, "mid" as S3-S4, and "late" as S6-S7. The only tricky one is S5. It could go "mid" or "late". I think a good compromise would be to split the difference at Gene Roddenberry's death.

 

[BillJ]

I don't. There's been 26 years between the two shows. I just enjoy each for what they are.

 

[marlboro]

TNG is a lot better, imo.

 

[Vger23]

I left it vague on purpose. But I think of "early" as S1-S2, "mid" as S3-S4, and "late" as S6-S7. The only tricky one is S5. It could go "mid" or "late". I think a good compromise would be to split the difference at Gene Roddenberry's death.

I go:

Early 1-2
Mid 3-5
Late 6-7

Not only does it divide up nicely, but the tone / focus / quality of the show also seems to break at those points.

 

[Nerys Myk]

What’s a “TNG”?

 

[Lord Garth]

What’s a “TNG”?

The New Groceries

 

[Jayson1]

I don't tend to bother comparing them like many on this forum do.

I am quite happy to take each show on its own merits as long as it looks right for the era, hence why I was fine with the Starfleet ships on Discovery but not with the Klingon ships.

That was my approach to Discovery and Picard.

That's how I tend to think of shows as well but I have never minded lists for the heck of it. A way to sort of take stock of something more than something that really impacts the viewing experience. I would change the ranking to this though.

1 TNG season 4
2 TNG season 3
3 TNG season 5
4 Picard
5 First Contact
6 TNG season 1
7 TNG season 2
8 TNG season 6
9 TNG season 7
10 Generations
11 Nemesis
12 Insurrection


Jason

 

[WarpFactorZ]

I compared them according to the letters in their acronym. It's actually pretty interesting that...

P and T are separated by 3 letters.
I and N are separated by 4 letters.
C and G are separated by 3 letters.

And the sum of those is 3+4+3 = 10, the number of episodes in Picard S1 (also the rating each one got before it even aired). Also, it's one less than the number of letters in "Brian Brophy". Whoa!!!

 

[Jayson1]

How do we rank Riker's beard? Picard vs TNG? I always liked his beard but it was beyond awesome in Picard. He looks great as old. So Old Man RIker beats chubby later season RIker and skinny with sleek new beard in middle season and baby faced RIker with no beard in season 1 and older but still not old but also with no beard in Insurrection. His second best beard though comes from Thomas Riker's goatee on his DS9 episode.


Jason

 

[Lord Garth]

How do we rank Riker's beard? Picard vs TNG? I always liked his beard but it was beyond awesome in Picard. He looks great as old. So Old Man RIker beats chubby later season RIker and skinny with sleek new beard in middle season and baby faced RIker with no beard in season 1 and older but still not old but also with no beard in Insurrection. His second best beard though comes from Thomas Riker's goatee on his DS9 episode.

I'm not a beard person, but Riker has to have one. He looks strange without it. And with the white beard, Riker's like Santa Claus bringing over a massive fleet of ships as a Christmas Present for Picard to scare off the Romulans. It's fearsome, it's grizzled, it works. It's merry at the same time.

That's all I've got.

 

[Arpy]

I'm not a beard person, but Riker has to have one. He looks strange without it. And with the white beard, Riker's like Santa Claus bringing over a massive fleet of ships as a Christmas Present for Picard to scare off the Romulans. It's fearsome, it's grizzled, it works. It's merry at the same time.

That's all I've got.

In his brand new red suit. Ho-ho-Sheids up! Red Alert!

I actually thought if the white beard were a little fuller on the sides (like Thomas Riker's?), it'd mask a bit of the aged pudge.

 

[fireproof78]

 

[Uhura's Song]

That's how I tend to think of shows as well but I have never minded lists for the heck of it. A way to sort of take stock of something more than something that really impacts the viewing experience. I would change the ranking to this though.

1 TNG season 4
2 TNG season 3
3 TNG season 5
4 Picard
5 First Contact
6 TNG season 1
7 TNG season 2
8 TNG season 6
9 TNG season 7
10 Generations
11 Nemesis
12 Insurrection


Jason

I would go:
1) TNG3
2) TNG4
3) TNG5
4) TNG6
5) TNG2
6) TNG7
7) TNG1

Though maybe I should take this lockdown opportunity to do a rewatch.
As far as the movies go:
1) First Contact
2) Insurrection
3) Generations
4) Nemesis

 

[Watersluis]

They are very different series that simply share the same lead and some other characters.

Of all the Star Trek Series, I feel the biggest similarity would be with Discovery, not The Next Generation.

Picard follows the modern popular storytelling device where every season can be seen as one long, ten-installment episode, and every installment therein ends on a cliffhanger.

 

[Lord Garth]

I connect to Picard in PIC because he went through Hell and let that get the better of him. Even though it's not the same thing, that reminds me of something horrible that happened to me in 2017. Then spending two years trying to snap out of it (right up until seven or eight months ago). I posted about what I was dealing with here. Despite Covid-19, my 2020 isn't actually that bad.

I never really connected to Picard in TNG. He felt more like a college professor and commanding the Enterprise felt more like it was his job. Whereas commanding the Enterprise was Kirk's life. I identify more with people where what they do isn't just their occupation, it's their life.

In Picard, being on La Sirena and trying to save Soji, that wasn't just some mission he was assigned to, it was personal for him. The crew he gathered for his mission, likewise, they were also people who only have La Sirena. Musiker had nothing else and nowhere else to go, Rios wouldn't know what to do outside of La Sirena, and Elnor couldn't stay where he was before. Seven's made it her life to fight for people Starfleet seemingly won't. And Jurati... well, there's Jurati. Now that she's had a taste of it, she probably finds being Out There more exciting than being stuck in a lab.

Another thing is that in TNG it's an Evolved Utopia and the Federation Knows Best. I never really bought that. In PIC, Picard has those ideals but now we see that not everyone else is like that. So now the TNG Philosophy, the TNG Outlook is more something specific to Picard as a character than the Federation as a society. And that's something I can buy. So you have Picard's TNG ideals and DS9's pragmatism co-existing with each other in the same series. Along with people who just don't give a shit about any of that. A lot more points of view are represented in this series, which gives a more complete view of what the 24th Century in Star Trek actually looks like.

It's not just the races of the Federation that make up a melting pot, it's all the different points of view from within the Federation, from without it, and all the different motivations going on at the same time.

 

[Xhiandra]

Unfavourably.

 

[fireproof78]

I connect to Picard in PIC because he went through Hell and let that get the better of him.

This.

I feel like a minority but I don't go to Star Trek for just escapism. That's just not my thing anymore. Seeing more characters struggle through difficult situations means a lot to me because I can identify with the struggle. That carries more meaning for me as it relates back to my own life and a reminder that I cannot escape my problems but have to face them.

So, the character experiences of Picard is very touching more me because he didn't handle it perfectly. He got depressed and he struggled. It felt very human and I prefer that humanness to being told humanity has evolved without a good reason why.

 

[Jayson1]

I think TNG Picard is appealing because he sort of represents the ideal man. Strong and decisive who has experience because he is already older than most tv heroes even in TNG while also someone who prefers to think himself out problems than using violence. He is also very intelligent and has a interesting voice and command of language. He was kind of America's dad before Tom Hanks became America's Dad.

Picard on Picard to me is also interesting but what makes him interesting has a great deal to do with who he was on TNG. Like with Seven a lot of the appeal of these characters is seeing how they have evolved. Also Picard's evolution in theory shouldn't be over because becoming a robot should also be something that changes him as well in ways you can't predict even with the same aging cycle in place.

Jason