Season 1 is generally regarded today as being pretty weak compared to later TNG, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me if the general opinion was different then than now.
How was season 1 received at the time?
- Thread starter TalkieToaster
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Speaking for how Australians reacted (no internet in those days, kids, so no idea how it was received elsewhere) : there was excitement, plenty of forbearance over the show's obvious struggles to get the chemistry right, and the actors into their roles, but generally surprise (and a little alarm) at how bad it was.
People seemed to latch on to Picard and Data from Day 1, but there wasn't a lot of love for Frakes/Riker in particular. The first episode that generated any kind of acclaim was 'The Big Goodbye' from memory.
If Therin of Andor is around, he is the man for this kind of question, being our local Star Trek club president in those days, he screened these episodes with hundreds of fans each week as the new tapes arrived, pirated by fellow fans in the USA.
Years later when Season 1 finally ran here on network TV, the network decided to run Season 2 before Season 1, which probably gives you an idea of what they thought of it. I actually thought Season 2 was much, much weaker, and Australians turned off in droves - by the time the brilliant third and fourth seasons arrived, TNG was relegated to late nights, which is a real shame - it was literally like a different show from Season 3 onwards.
People seemed to latch on to Picard and Data from Day 1, but there wasn't a lot of love for Frakes/Riker in particular. The first episode that generated any kind of acclaim was 'The Big Goodbye' from memory.
If Therin of Andor is around, he is the man for this kind of question, being our local Star Trek club president in those days, he screened these episodes with hundreds of fans each week as the new tapes arrived, pirated by fellow fans in the USA.
Years later when Season 1 finally ran here on network TV, the network decided to run Season 2 before Season 1, which probably gives you an idea of what they thought of it. I actually thought Season 2 was much, much weaker, and Australians turned off in droves - by the time the brilliant third and fourth seasons arrived, TNG was relegated to late nights, which is a real shame - it was literally like a different show from Season 3 onwards.
In 1987, everyone wanted Star Trek back on TV. It was the perfect time; right after the most successful and most popular Trek movie at the time debuted. The new series could have been the biggest pile of crap ever produced, and everyone would still have watched it. That, and the fact that it was syndicated, allowed it to survive and prosper. Had it been shown on a network however, I'm pretty sure it would have been cancelled after the first season.
I seem to recall there being a lot of excitement about Trek returning to tv, but a certain amount of hesitation with the new cast (Which admittedly was really undeveloped & rather unorthodox)
However, It was seen as a big leap forward for visual FX on tv, & people's interest grew even though the 1st couple seasons were feeling itself out
However, It was seen as a big leap forward for visual FX on tv, & people's interest grew even though the 1st couple seasons were feeling itself out
I recall there being excitement over Star Trek being brought back to TV, but people being unsure about it since it wasn't the original cast. It wasn't bad enough that I couldn't watch it, but it just wasn't as good as I'd hoped it may be. I think this was the view of a lot of people.
What's interesting is that it was obvious to everyone that the show still had things to work out, that it wasn't right yet. Hell, the cast was certain they'd be shut down, but people still gave it the chance to improve.
That would almost never happen today. The return on TNG's 1st two seasons would almost certainly have gotten them cancelled today, and their best stuff was right around the corner
Moral of the story: Give shows a damn chance
That would almost never happen today. The return on TNG's 1st two seasons would almost certainly have gotten them cancelled today, and their best stuff was right around the corner
Moral of the story: Give shows a damn chance
That's what I tell people when they complain about "Agents of SHIELD".
"Cheers", "Law & Order", "The X-Files", "24", and the American "Office" weren't really huge hits in their first seasons.
My impression at the time was that the show was hugely popular, and I certainly loved it. The only negative reaction I recall hearing from my college classmates was dislike for Wesley Crusher. Well, that and some skepticism toward the idea of families on a starship, but that's still around today.
I think the bar for SFTV was lower at the time. Outside of Doctor Who reruns on PBS, American SFTV in the '80s was stuff like Buck Rogers, Knight Rider, Manimal, The Powers of Matthew Star, Spielberg's Amazing Stories (which had great production values but wildly inconsistent and often horrible writing), and the like. The '85 Twilight Zone revival often had good writing but was also fairly inconsistent. The original '84 V miniseries was impressive, but its sequels dumbed it down.
Then again, TNG's contemporaries included Beauty and the Beast and Max Headroom, which were both much better written, but the latter was essentially a cult show and the former had a somewhat different target audience. So maybe TNG wasn't the best SFTV around in '87-'88, but it was certainly above average for the decade. And its production values, while they haven't aged well, were extremely impressive for the time, redefining the state of the art for TV visual effects.
And for so many of us, it was just amazing to have Star Trek back on television with Gene Roddenberry producing it, so we were seeing it through rose-colored glasses. Naturally, just as we see today, there were purists who were quick to condemn anything new and different as "not real Star Trek," but many of us wanted to love it and just let ourselves get caught up in it.
I think the bar for SFTV was lower at the time. Outside of Doctor Who reruns on PBS, American SFTV in the '80s was stuff like Buck Rogers, Knight Rider, Manimal, The Powers of Matthew Star, Spielberg's Amazing Stories (which had great production values but wildly inconsistent and often horrible writing), and the like. The '85 Twilight Zone revival often had good writing but was also fairly inconsistent. The original '84 V miniseries was impressive, but its sequels dumbed it down.
Then again, TNG's contemporaries included Beauty and the Beast and Max Headroom, which were both much better written, but the latter was essentially a cult show and the former had a somewhat different target audience. So maybe TNG wasn't the best SFTV around in '87-'88, but it was certainly above average for the decade. And its production values, while they haven't aged well, were extremely impressive for the time, redefining the state of the art for TV visual effects.
And for so many of us, it was just amazing to have Star Trek back on television with Gene Roddenberry producing it, so we were seeing it through rose-colored glasses. Naturally, just as we see today, there were purists who were quick to condemn anything new and different as "not real Star Trek," but many of us wanted to love it and just let ourselves get caught up in it.
Given the market for sci-fi TV in the 80s and the return of the Star Trek brand on TV, it's easy to understand why it turned out to be a popular hit even if it didn't meet the quality standards of TOS in its early episodes. In the end, it was a new Star Trek and many audiences, whether regular or Trek fans, were ready to roll with it.
I was living in Los Angeles at the time--home to a huge ST fanbase, and frankly, in the wake of the important year of 1986, with..
- the 20th anniversary of TOS (and big conventions recognizing the milestone)
- the first official release of The Cage on home video, and The Voyage Home on the big screen
It did not help that a year later, TNG's debut season was a dreary affair, often trying too hard to prove how different it was than TOS.
In general it was received better than TOS...but that's because by 1987 most people had cable, whereas 20 years earlier they'd been relying on antennae.
^Groooooaaaaannnnn....
I actually watched it over the air because I didn't have cable yet. And I'd watch it twice a week, once on a local Cincinnati station, and once on a more distant Dayton station, which was close enough to receive, but only fuzzily. I think that for part of the run of TNG and DS9, I was watching it from Dayton first.
Hmm... in fact, come to think of it, I seem to remember now that there was a period when DS9 was only airing on the Dayton station, so there were a fair number of episodes that I never saw clearly until they were in reruns years later.
I actually watched it over the air because I didn't have cable yet. And I'd watch it twice a week, once on a local Cincinnati station, and once on a more distant Dayton station, which was close enough to receive, but only fuzzily. I think that for part of the run of TNG and DS9, I was watching it from Dayton first.
Hmm... in fact, come to think of it, I seem to remember now that there was a period when DS9 was only airing on the Dayton station, so there were a fair number of episodes that I never saw clearly until they were in reruns years later.
I loved TNG from the beginning, but I had no real idea of what anyone else thought of it, I had no contact with any organized fandom at the time.
For what it's worth, talking about catching DS9 during it's airing, during the last couple of seasons of DS9 at least for awhile in Atlanta the show was dropped from airing and it was a long time before I saw the last season. I'm not sure now but I may not have seen the last season until it came out on DVD.
For what it's worth, talking about catching DS9 during it's airing, during the last couple of seasons of DS9 at least for awhile in Atlanta the show was dropped from airing and it was a long time before I saw the last season. I'm not sure now but I may not have seen the last season until it came out on DVD.
And knowing the way TV worked even then, probably half that.
I lived in Cincinnati (and now Northern Kentucky) and you are right about DS9. There were a couple of seasons that didn't air on WXIX. I watched TNG on WXIX and WAVE out of Louisville and DS9 on WXIX (when it aired) and WRGT-45 out of Dayton.
I remember a lot of hoopla about it before it premiered (I was 17) and made sure I watched the premiere. I watched half of the first episode and turned it off. I didn't like the old, bald captain. Didn't like there were no vulcans on the bridge. And WTF! Was that a dude in a skirt???
There was still hoopla about the show throughout the first season but I just didn't bother to watch it. I kept hearing about it while in college and hearing about so many actors trying to get on the show. Finally gave it another chance during the third season and fell in love the show (and Picard). By that time, reruns were airing everyday so I got caught up on the ones I missed.
There was still hoopla about the show throughout the first season but I just didn't bother to watch it. I kept hearing about it while in college and hearing about so many actors trying to get on the show. Finally gave it another chance during the third season and fell in love the show (and Picard). By that time, reruns were airing everyday so I got caught up on the ones I missed.
I was in Jacksonville, Florida during DS9's run and they kept moving the time slot and air date around and I think it even switched stations at one point. I missed several episodes as well, even the finale! Had to visit a buddy in a different city that taped it to finally see it.
To answer seriously, I can't speak for the general reception of the show. I know that I was pretty impressed with the premiere and invested in the first ten episodes. But while it owed a lot to circumstances in my life at the time, it says something that I didn't make an effort to continue watching the show regularly after the holiday hiatus. It certainly didn't help that the last episode before the hiatus was "Haven", which was easily the biggest stinker in that group of episodes for my money.
I caught parts of a few of the remaining Season 1 episodes, but didn't start making a point of catching the show regularly until a bit into Season 2. That's why I never shared the common hatred of "Shades of Gray." For me, it offered an appreciated peak at episodes that I wouldn't see in their entirety until years later.
I caught parts of a few of the remaining Season 1 episodes, but didn't start making a point of catching the show regularly until a bit into Season 2. That's why I never shared the common hatred of "Shades of Gray." For me, it offered an appreciated peak at episodes that I wouldn't see in their entirety until years later.
It was good enough to hold an audience enough to warrant a second season so that should tell you something.
It's hard to see it now but consider the time and the fandom at the time which was itching for more Star Trek and didn't have the ability to be choosy on things.
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