I love Star Trek: TNG!

[ReadyAndWilling]

Hi, I've seen all of TNG, but I just started re-watching it again. I watch one episode before I fall asleep at night.

The show is just so amazing. Data is my favorite character in all of Star Trek and maybe in all of fiction. I love how Data is so calm and his voice is really easy to listen to. Watching Data seems to calm me down and prepares me perfectly for sleep.

Does anyone think the 1080P bluray is worth buying? How does it improve the experience of watching TNG?

I wish I could watch one new episode every night before I slept for the rest of my life. Does anyone have an idea of how I can do this?

 

[Tosk]

1. Yes.
2. Forget-Me-Nows.

 

[F. King Daniel]

TNG's the Trek I grew up with, and at the time I loved it, but my attempt to rewatch it as an adult failed. There are some utterly fantastic episodes, but between them there is so much tedium - and unlike TOS' worst bits, the drab TNG characters and their bland interactions can't keep me watching a tedious story.

An ideal sleep remedy!

 

[2takesfrakes]

I find the title of this thread to be truly inspired ...

I, too, LOVE Star Trek: The Next Generation. It's the equation that works and satisfies on every level that any form of entertainment can ever hope to achieve, on film. And ... it's got Gene Roddenberry's stamp ALL over it. I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again, here, why not? "If loving TNG is wrong ... then I don't want to be right!"

 

[RandyS]

I wish I could watch one new episode every night before I slept for the rest of my life. Does anyone have an idea of how I can do this?

Buy the DVD's and watch one episode every night for the rest of your life before going to sleep. As for "new", no, I have no idea how you could swing that.

 

[Ghrakh]

TNG's the Trek I grew up with, and at the time I loved it, but my attempt to rewatch it as an adult failed. There are some utterly fantastic episodes, but between them there is so much tedium - and unlike TOS' worst bits, the drab TNG characters and their bland interactions can't keep me watching a tedious story.

An ideal sleep remedy!

TOS's the Trek I grew up with, and at the time I loved it, but my attempt to rewatch it as an adult failed. There are some utterly fantastic episodes, but between them there is so much tedium - and unlike TNG' worst bits, the hammy TOS characters and their campy interactions can't keep me watching a tedious story.

An ideal sleep remedy! (huh?)

 

[Orphalesion]

Agreed TNG is a good series. It was not perfect, but nothing is.

I grew up with TNG, to me it is ST, occasionally watching TOS I can't help but notice how much an improvement TNG is, not just special effects, costumes and props, but writing and characterization as well.

As to how to get more episodes....well we'd have to kidnap a lot of people, and most of the actors are too old now.

 

[bbjeg]

I too grew up with TNG and though I'm a fan of the entire franchise, TNG is my definitive Trek.

I also agree that the 1080p version is worth buying. You can get lost in the remastered beauty. Watching it in any lower format is just difficult for me now.

And you could always witness new instances by playing one of their games (Star Trek Online, Armada, Bridge Commander, Legacy, etc.).

 

[Joel_Kirk]

I grew up with TOS, and was excited when TNG first came on the air. It could have been 'my' Trek. However, as the series progressed, it seemed it became more and more bland, preachy and self-righteous, less adventurous...which is less what Star Trek is supposed to be about.

Too, it seemed to want to get away from the TOS universe by not showing any familiar aliens such as Andorians, Tellerites....etc. And, those they did show were changed into bland facsimiles of the originals (e.g. Romulans w/their silly slick unisex bowl cuts and flared parka uniforms, and the Vulcans with their unisex bowl cuts and wooden demeanors)...

The starfleet uniforms became boring and there was this idea that skin shouldn't/couldn't be shown...even one individuals who were off-duty! Hence, the skirts/boots option for female officers were gone, something Trek was known for.

Overall, exploration was no longer 'sexy'...and 'fun'...and a learning experience. While a more serious approach and stronger storytelling was attempted it was now a lecture for an hour where the crew became less and less diverse (in terms of race or demographics, in terms of attitudes) over the course of the series.

 

[Makarov]

I also love TNG. I'm also a fan of Voyager, just a little bit less. I can't say I've given any of the other series much of a chance.

I grew up with TNG, and rewatching it has just made me appreciate it more. It's something me and my Dad both liked. I can totally see why people wouldn't like the boring/stiff/arrogance of it, but for me those things are just part of why I love it. It makes it feel real to me. I also love how the 80's vibe to it makes it feel futuristic even when I watch it today.

I never got to grow up with TOS and I can't enjoy much about the cheesiness of it. In fact, the most enjoyment I get out of TOS is just comparing it to TNG... "there's Spock, eventually he's going to meet up with Picard." Or "There's that guy scotty from Relics." On the other hand I do really like the TOS movies.

As far as watching a new episode every night, some of the TNG novels are pretty cool and cheap ways to imagine some new TNG stories.

 

[bbjeg]

Though I grew up with TNG, I've always enjoyed the Star Trek TOS/Twilight Zone/Hitchcock-y style. I rank TOS below TNG, DS9, and Voyager, but I still enjoy watching it from time to time.

I'm not far into NuWho but I personally enjoyed Classic Who much better.

 

[tomalak301]

I too love TNG, but I'm a 90s trek guy. TNG, DS9 and Voyager were all very enjoyable. I'm rewatching Enterprise and finding that enjoyable too, and Star Trek was what it was. Still, the 90s for Star Trek was a great time to be a fan and I wish something like that (Maybe on a lower scale) could happen again.

 

[BillJ]

I grew up with TNG, to me it is ST, occasionally watching TOS I can't help but notice how much an improvement TNG is, not just special effects, costumes and props, but writing and characterization as well.

Being made twenty years after TOS may have something to do with the improved special effects, costumes and props, though they are all based on TOS. That and being the most expensive show on TV at the time. The writing and characterization come off as incredibly bland, especially after Roddenberry was no longer part of the day-to-day process. Plus, the show was no where near as challenging on the idea front as some of the network offerings of the day (nor TOS for that matter).

I enjoy seasons one and two after that, my enjoyment of the series begins to drop off. By the time season six rolled around, they had lost me entirely.

 

[Orphalesion]

Being made twenty years after TOS may have something to do with the improved special effects, costumes and props, though they are all based on TOS. That and being the most expensive show on TV at the time. The writing and characterization come off as incredibly bland, especially after Roddenberry was no longer part of the day-to-day process. Plus, the show was no where near as challenging on the idea front as some of the network offerings of the day (nor TOS for that matter).

That's why I wrote "not just special special effects, props etc." that should be a given and expected, however that the writing improved so much as it did in my eyes, was not a given and wasn't present, again in my eyes, in at least the first season.
And yes it was based on TOS, but everything is based on something. They were inspired by some designs and ideas and improved on them. In some ways they could have utilized more on the earlier ideas such as making incredibly human looking Deanna a human esper (as introduced in TOS' pilot) instead of an alien.

I actually think many things improved (in TNG at least) after Roddenberry was less involved in it. Case in point: Troi's character who became much more competent again and got episodes like "Face of the Enemy" and "Dark Page" Worf got much better after season 1 and continued to improve. Riker stopped posturing and jumping around like an over-emotional monkey after season 1 etc.
The one thing I'm really disappointment in is that we didn't get a homosexual character as Roddenberry apparently planned shortly before his death.

What I'm really thankful for in TNG is that we got away from the family-less swingers of TOS. I know not everybody liked the idea of children and families being present, and it was nearly not as fully realized as it could have been (Riker and Troi should have been married and with child by the end of the series) but I think we met at least one family member of each major character by the end of the series with several of them being recurring characters such as Lore, Lwaxana and Alexander.
To me their family are an important part of a character, it helps me understand them and makes them more interesting in my eyes.

I agree that the characters in TNG could be bland and lifeless at times (but again I would put those times largely into the beginning of the series) but was that not in part caused by Roddenberry trying to disallow interpersonal conflicts to show how humans had evolved?

Yes TNG did not challenge as much as it could have (again, why no homosexual crew member?) but it did have its profound episodes such as "The Outcast", "Half a Life", "The Host", 'Dark Page" "Measure of a Man" "Suddenly Human".

 

[bbjeg]

^It was never stated that their were no gay characters and Riker did have the hots for an asexual being. That's close.

 

[Orphalesion]

^ Yes it was never stated that there were no gay characters, but it was never stated that there were any either. We were never shown a homosexual couple kiss or share a dinner in Ten Forward or anything.
Visibility of gay people on TV was still an issue back then and from what I read many people felt that Star Trek should have taken that step, just as it did for the visibility of minorities in non-stereotypical roles in the 60s.

I noted the Outcast above, it was pretty much an allegroy for intolerance towards alternative sexualities, the Host also dabbled into it, with suddenly female Odan wishing to continue her relationship with Beverly, who rejects him due to her being straight. And even with the Outcast they played it save casting a female actor for the role "asexual being", when it just as well could have been a male actor (and apparently Johnathan Frakes said later it would have been the stronger statement for it to be a man)

If we take it even further: In ST the sexuality liberated people of the future often have sex at the drop of a hat and people fall in love upon their first causal meeting, so why would it be so unusual to think that "everyone is bi"?

 

[bbjeg]

^Or tri-sexual. Androids and holograms are getting lucky in the future too. I didn't mention Jadzia and her kissing her previous host's wife in the earlier post because this is a TNG thread but it warrants mentioning. Their weren't many gay references, but they had a few or at least hinted at it a bit throughout the series.

 

[Orphalesion]

^ Let's just declare everybody to be pansexual and be done with it .

Even Jadzia's kiss was a special case and holdover from a formerly heterosexual relationship. So it seemed more "i want to kiss you, despite you being a woman" not "I want to kiss you because you are a woman"

It remains a bit weird that star trek showed people of every colour except homosexuals.

And I'm not wishing for a overly promiscuous or stereotypical character who has rainbows shooting out of their ears every moment they are on screen and has all their story lines centered around their sexuality. But simply a character, can be a minor or major one, who happens to be gay.
The perfect way to do it imho would be to have a recurring character who shows up a couple of times, has a minor role in a few episodes and then in one scene is shown with their same-sex partner and it's treated as perfectly unremarkable.

Just as Uhura and Geordi served as positive role models for young black and disabled people, so could such a character work as a positive role model for young gay people. I know I would have had an easier time accepting what am with at least one of those around.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

Just as Uhura and Geordi served as positive role models for young black and disabled people, so could such a character work as a positive role model for young gay people. I know I would have had an easier time accepting what am with at least one of those around.

Maybe nuUhura is a tough lady now in the new films, even though she still primarily serves as a purpose for Spock to do something...but she was just a lovely, glorified 'phone operator' then. With Geordi, he did have potential in the first season, but was bland, sexless, weak in later seasons (i.e. not much of a role-model I would look up to, just because he's black).

This would be akin to calling Harry Kim a good role-model for Asian men when that particular character was just as much as a - for lack of a better term - 'wuss' as LaForge was.

 

[Orphalesion]

Maybe nuUhura is a tough lady now in the new films, even though she still primarily serves as a purpose for Spock to do something...but she was just a lovely, glorified 'phone operator' then. With Geordi, he did have potential in the first season, but was bland, sexless, weak in later seasons (i.e. not much of a role-model I would look up to, just because he's black).

This would be akin to calling Harry Kim a good role-model for Asian men when that particular character was just as much as a - for lack of a better term - 'wuss' as LaForge was.

I agree naturally, Uhura was a terrible, flat character by modern standards, her whole character was pretty much her beauty and operating the telephone, but pretty much everybody who wasn't Kirk, Spock or McCoy had a very bland, minimal and (from a modern standpoint) stereotypical character.
However Uhura still had her impact, like that anecdote that Whoopi Goldberg was really excited about seeing a black woman on TV who wasn't a maid, or Martin Luther King Jr. keeping her from quitting for what she symbolized, despite her small role.
I would have already been happy about a Uhura level gay character in TNG as long as he or she was portrayed as equal to the heterosexual characters. Say a helmsman or a nurse who shows up for half a season as a supporting role.
And Uhura was equal at least to the other women on the show, this still is not the best thing because of the obvious sexism in TOS, but apparently for the 60s it was a huge step.

And yeah....Geordie was easily the most neglected character in TNG after the 1st season. Still in universe, despite his blindness, he was able to make his way (at least professionally) and become chief engineer of the Federation's flagship. Not a bad feat for anybody.
And evn so Geordie exists, the hypothetical homosexual character does not.