Intro to the next generation ideas....

[Dark-prophet]

Star Trek starters.... Into the the next generation
Need some help/advise....

Want to introduce TNG to my girlfriend but which single or two parter episode would get her hooked??.... Any ideas people??....

 

[Sector 7]

This is probably better addressed in the TNG section. I think you would get more responses from TNG fans that way.

 

[xvicente]

Good luck.

My GF can't tell Star Trek from Star Wars.

Also I remember 2 decades ago I went to the plex with some trekker friends, among them one with his new (non-trekker) GF to see the new Star Trek movie. Exactly: Generations. It was embarassing.

 

[Count Zero]

Moving this to the TNG forum...

 

[SpHeRe31459]

Star Trek starters.... Into the the next generation
Need some help/advise....

Want to introduce TNG to my girlfriend but which single or two parter episode would get her hooked??.... Any ideas people??....

Here's my 2 cents...

I've been slowly trying to get my wife more and more into Trek, she's a Harry Potter and Hunger Games fan, she liked Firefly when I showed her the series, etc.

Has she seen TOS? If not start there. TOS is very easily picked up. The trio is easily related to and the light hearted nature of most shows is easy to enjoy. TOS was still made when TV shows weren't made for continuing stories between episodes, so you can show some of the best of TOS without worrying about needing extra back story, etc.

Then slowly move on to TNG. TNG is much more of a soap opera and harder to immediately get into. As we all know TNG took a while to warm up and get really compelling (3rd season and on).

Whatever you do don't show Encounter at Farpoint, as much as you may be tempted to since it's the pilot and introduces all the characters. It's such a cheezy and pretty boring episode really. I tried that route and my wife dozed off only to wake up at the end and (rightfully so) mock the space jellyfish.

She digs TOS when I bring out my Blu-ray discs on occasion. She's also really liked the TWOK, TSFS, TVH arc of the movies and generally also enjoyed First Contact.

First Contact is widely considered the best TNG film, and actually might be a good way to get her into TNG.

I did First Contact and then worked backwards with the Borg, showing my wife Q Who and BOBW afterward.

So if you want to do a 2-parter it really seems like BOBW is it. It's the biggest and most critically acclaimed 2-parter. Go grab the Blu-ray version on Tuesday

If she already knows/likes TOS, then Unification could be another good 2-parter to show.

Also as much as I hate hate to say it, if her Trek knowledge is zero, J.J.'s Star Trek 2009 movie hooks a lot of people. Then you ease them into the real stuff

 

[R. Star]

I've converted far more people over to Star Trek using DS9. Unlike TNG you can show them the pilot without risk of prematurely scaring them away. That said, if you're determined to use TNG, there are a lot of good episodes to choose from. Really depends on what kind of person your girlfriend is, if she enjoys action sequences, character drama or comedy material. But a few episodes you can't go wrong with in my opinion..

Measure of a Man
Q Who
The Emissary
The Defector
Deja Q
Clues
The Drumhead
Darmok
Tapestry
The Chase

Most of these are strong episodes that have little or no backstory that needs explaining beyond who everyone is.

 

[Takeru]

Also as much as I hate hate to say it, if her Trek knowledge is zero, J.J.'s Star Trek 2009 movie hooks a lot of people. Then you ease them into the real stuff

Believe it or not, Star Trek '09 is real stuff too.

My advice is not to try to get her hooked actively, that means don't get her to agree to watch a certain number of episodes, don't overthink the issue by picking the best introduction episodes etc., just watch episodes you like when she's around. She'll notice that you're watching a certain show and that you're enjoying it, eventually she will plop down on the sofa and watch it with you, you'll be surprised how much she already picked up just by walking through the room.

 

[Third Nacelle]

Data's Day is a very good introductory episode. It has an A-story that does a good job of showing many different aspects of the series and introduces the characters, and a fairly entertaining B-story.

First Contact (the episode), Who Watches the Watchers, The Chase, Lower Decks are all other good episodes you can watch without prior familiarity with the franchise.

 

[SpHeRe31459]

My advice is not to try to get her hooked actively, that means don't get her to agree to watch a certain number of episodes, don't overthink the issue by picking the best introduction episodes etc., just watch episodes you like when she's around. She'll notice that you're watching a certain show and that you're enjoying it, eventually she will plop down on the sofa and watch it with you, you'll be surprised how much she already picked up just by walking through the room.

I agree with this. The worst thing I ever did was over think how to introduce stuff.

 

[Melakon]

. . .Who Watches the Watchers. . .

I'll have to agree with this one. When it first aired, a co-worker came in telling me all about it before I'd been able to catch it on the weekend rerun. Even acted out a paraphrased line-- "It's the Picard! I have seen him!"

 

[t_smitts]

Pretty much any Klingon episode is a winner: "A Matter of Honor", "The Emmissary", "Sins of the Father", "Reunion", "Redemption", "Birthright", "Rightful Heir".

Outside of those...

-The Measure of a Man
-The Enemy
-The Defector
-Yesterday's Enterprise
-Q Who and then Best of Both Worlds
-First Contact (the episode)
-The Wounded
-The Drumhead
-Darmok
-Chain of Command
-A Fistful of Datas
-Tapestry
-The Pegasus

 

[JessDD]

There's not much more I can add that hasn't already been said, but I would say try to start with the earlier seasons first. Watching TNG is reverse order can make it even more confusing!

 

[R. Star]

There's not much more I can add that hasn't already been said, but I would say try to start with the earlier seasons first. Watching TNG is reverse order can make it even more confusing!

Gotta disagree. One, TNG for the most part if more episodic than serialized. You can watch a season 5 episode without watching any of the ones that came before it and follow what's going on easy enough. There are some minor character arcs and small story arcs that stretch the seven year run sure, but nothing real organized.

Two, if you're trying to convert someone over to TNG... the absolute worst thing you can do is show them any season 1 episode.

 

[t_smitts]

There's not much more I can add that hasn't already been said, but I would say try to start with the earlier seasons first. Watching TNG is reverse order can make it even more confusing!

Gotta disagree. One, TNG for the most part if more episodic than serialized. You can watch a season 5 episode without watching any of the ones that came before it and follow what's going on easy enough. There are some minor character arcs and small story arcs that stretch the seven year run sure, but nothing real organized.

Two, if you're trying to convert someone over to TNG... the absolute worst thing you can do is show them any season 1 episode.

Indeed. With but a few exceptions, stay away from any episode where the men where one-piece jumpsuits.

 

[Paper Moon]

I was in a very similar position to the OP sometime back. I think it definitely depends on what your girlfriend is in to. Mine really doesn't care for action movies, so I decided not to show her a Klingon episode. I spent a looooooong time trying to figure out which one to show first. I think my top contenders were "Darmok," "The Inner Light," "The Measure of a Man," and "Data's Day."

In the end, though, I was unhappy with all of those for various reasons, so I decided to show her the first episode of TNG that I saw, which was "Tapestry." That seemed to work well enough. I think the second one I showed her was "The Measure of a Man," which also seemed to work well.

That said, I really have to agree with what R. Star says below. After a few TNGs, I decided to show her a DS9, to give her a taste of my "other" favorite Star Trek series. I showed her "In The Hands Of The Prophets" first and she really liked it. After "Duet," she was hooked. We are now working our way, slowly but surely, through the whole series (at her request, no less!)

I've converted far more people over to Star Trek using DS9. Unlike TNG you can show them the pilot without risk of prematurely scaring them away. That said, if you're determined to use TNG, there are a lot of good episodes to choose from. Really depends on what kind of person your girlfriend is, if she enjoys action sequences, character drama or comedy material. But a few episodes you can't go wrong with in my opinion..

Measure of a Man
Q Who
The Emissary
The Defector
Deja Q
Clues
The Drumhead
Darmok
Tapestry
The Chase

Most of these are strong episodes that have little or no backstory that needs explaining beyond who everyone is.

Yup, these are all great episodes! I really like the suggestion of "Clues," in particular. It's a good "normal" TNG episode, as is "The Chase." But yeah, definitely agree with this list.

Data's Day is a very good introductory episode. It has an A-story that does a good job of showing many different aspects of the series and introduces the characters, and a fairly entertaining B-story.

First Contact (the episode), Who Watches the Watchers, The Chase, Lower Decks are all other good episodes you can watch without prior familiarity with the franchise.

I agree with "Data's Day," although I have some reservations because I think the business with the Romulans (and their relation to Vulcans) at the end might resonate less with a newbie. I'd be cautious with "Who Watches The Watchers," because of its religious content. YMMV. The only downside with "Lower Decks" is that the main characters are more-or-less one shots. But I agree that it gives a great look at the story-telling potential of the show.

 

[Melakon]

I don't think I ever introduced anyone to Star Trek, but I did introduce someone to Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner, and the guy was just blown away by it.

 

[SpHeRe31459]

I love DS9 but have always though it might be harder than TNG since it's embedded in the TNG universe. But man two of you guys said you've done it. I'd love to hear more about it. It would be sweet to get my wife into DS9

I wonder if the fact she liked Firefly (which is clearly a sci-fi western) and DS9 (which is a sort of frontier western too) would dovetail...

You think doing "Emissary" would be ok? It's often considered the best pilot episode of the franchise. I personally would like to see it again after going to the BOBW theatrical event too.

 

[SpHeRe31459]

Well Emissary was a non-starter... :-/

I like the idea of Data's Day

Heck all eps proposed in this thread are great ones

 

[Melakon]

I love DS9 but have always though it might be harder than TNG since it's embedded in the TNG universe. But man two of you guys said you've done it. I'd love to hear more about it. It would be sweet to get my wife into DS9

I wonder if the fact she liked Firefly (which is clearly a sci-fi western) and DS9 (which is a sort of frontier western too) would dovetail...

You think doing "Emissary" would be ok? It's often considered the best pilot episode of the franchise. I personally would like to see it again after going to the BOBW theatrical event too.

You should ask this in the DS9 forum, else you're risking veering this thread onto a siding off-track from the original post and confusing the original question.

Or maybe it's confused me already, since you seem to be asking about DS9 but say she's already seen it.

 

[Mojochi]

Yup, you pretty much can't go wrong with most of the season 3 & 4 episodes people have been mentioning. Those were the seasons that made the show wildly successful. Some later season's episodes I'd suggest that you could use are...

Season 5 Disaster. An exciting bottle episode, featuring the entire ensemble. Some comedy, some conflict. Something that would be really easy to watch. Perhaps Time's Arrow, from the same season. Another ensemble episode, with an engaging plot. The Next Phase. A rather innocuous episode, but with an interesting plot, and the characters really shine. Timescape is a good choice for that same reason