One thing I have learned is don't show them the best episodes or the worst. Find some good average ones first. You can't appreciate the episodes like
The Inner Light, where Picard gets a second life, if you don't know about his first life.
What about starting with average episodes from the first two seasons:
- Datalore
- 11001001
- The Arsenal of Freedom
- Elementary, Dear Data
- The Measure of a Man
- Contagion
- Pen Pals
- The Emmisary
These are not great episodes, but they let you get to know the characters and what the show is about.
Totally agreed on "never show the best or the worst" off the bat. Too many best episodes sell an impossible and asinine standard. Show them all the worst ones isn't going to compel them to watch more of the schlock. Showing them "Angel One" and "Code of Honor" would be beyond stupid and it's amazing season 1 survived those episodes being made and aired. Season 1's format is more wildly eccentric than I could ever hope to be, and more often feels like "TOS if made in the 80s" than what TNG would evolve into by season 3.
"Measure" is said to be one of the best. It's a great allegory, but at face value the idea of treating a computer at face value as being no different to a human when they still treated Barclay like subhuman ****... no wonder he felt the way he had, as Guinan sorta had to point out to those enlightened 24th century humans... so, yeah, scupper "Measure" and show off "Hollow Pursuits" instead.
"Datalore" has a
very shaky script, but - damn - Spiner's acting, Bowman's directing, and Jones' score elevate this script into something far, far better than it otherwise arguably deserves to be. A script that overtly dumbs down everyone else just to make Wesley look artificially bright, especially when paired to most season 1 episodes (never mind later ones) where Wesley is treated far better and the same adults who no longer figure out that "2+2=Lore" aren't nincompoops when it's so patently obvious that Lore's a malevolent fraud... (or that nobody notices Data using a contraction at the end, after Lore is dispatched...) But so many scenes do lift this story out of the muck. Spiner excels at giving Lore the right cadence, there's great lighting attributed to him, and the music - especially when Lore goes on his little rampage - is sublime. Give me that music instead of "Power Play's" flatulent frog fest any day... and that story's got a considerably better script.
I would include TNG's first above-average episode: "
Where No One Has Gone Before". It's not got the best script ever, but after the first 4 stories (Farpoint, Naked Now, Code of Honor, Last Outpost), it was wondrous to see something that eclipsed what preceded it.
Maybe "When the Bough Breaks" as well. There's a novel storyline that takes excellent advantage of TNG's "families in space" trope while telling a novel story (and to think it's in the same season that had "Justice" and its pre-credits scene that's so all over the map it's beyond belief and must be seen for the sole sake of wondering who wasn't script editing that week...) If anything, WTBB could have taken more than 7 kids, but it's a minor nitpick, no pun intended. It's definitely another season 1 entry that's worthwhile. The question is, what's the newbie going to expect and does showing them the wrong episode scare them off? (And if they did watch an early episode and stick with it, will they be so pleasantly gobsmacked when they get to "Evolution" and its striking new style that's felt right off the bat?)
"Heart of Glory" is overall a solid episode, but a new viewer may be a little shaken by all the time they spend meandering on Geordi's VISOR relay as opposed to the apparently less urgent matter of getting survivors off the ship before it goes all "boom boom and stuff"... the two subplots don't exactly mesh, though both are decent on their own. But there should have been a less important time to marvel over what Geordi sees than in an emergency situation. (I don't dislike the scene, it's cool, but it feels a little out of place. Nowhere near as bad as all of "Code of Honor", however.) All in all, it still makes for a well-above average season 1 outing and another example of the show being more than the schlock that threatened to cobble it early on. But they reused the same dumb mistake of giving free tours to complete strangers and, surprise, they turn out to be baddies who take over the joint. Oops.
Maybe "Coming of Age" and "Conspiracy", though these are fairly great season 1 episodes. Going from those to "Angel One" might scare away a newbie as much as "Code of Honor" and "Justice" would.
"Symbiosis" might be one to include...
"Arsenal of Freedom" and "11001001" are easy entries as well.
All that said, season 1 has so many ups and downs that it's shaky, with critics being lukewarm or tepid. People might adore it off the bat, hate it off the bat, find it inconsistent off the bat, might grow on them if they try it after seeing seasons 2-5 (or 6)... or they start to like it and then watch just the wrong episode and then they scuttle off to the toilet to puke forevermore - which is unlikely but anything's possible, but the probability of introducing someone to "Justice" and they become a devout fan on that alone is somewhat unlikely. I'd still say to hold off season 1 no matter how good the good episodes in it are and circle back once established. This will help ensure someone stays a fan and can later appreciate the growing pains season 1 endured, and nobody is going to watch a show they hate and to scare them off early would be illogical. Also note that I've rewatched season 1 more times than 5-7, which depending on your point of view may be impressive and/or frightening. Either way, unlike in 1987 when people hope-watched (they hoped the next week's episode would be an improvement over what they just sat through), there's far more choice among other things in shows and episodes. Get them hooked on a better season with some of its average-or-better episodes then let them explore back and forth. Add input but let them decide for themselves. TNG never had the serialized storytelling, which renders more episodes to be possible gateways into piquing the viewer's interest for wanting more.
t make it to Justice with that line up
