Introducing your signicant other to TNG...

[TV's Frank]

My advice - Do not go with anyone's "Top 10".

My girlfriend asked to be introduced to TNG after I mentioned the Edo during a conversation. So her first experience of Trek (after Abrams) was the widely riled "Justice".

She loved it! The campness, the idea of a culture that live for pleasure, even Wesley "We're Starfleet officers..." line! I thought "Great, wait until you see this" and showed her "Tapestry". She fell asleep

She did not have the "backstory" to feel anything for Picard or Q, so an episode widely considered one of the best meant nothing to her.

We're now watching them in order and we're up to mid-season 3. She loves it. Perhaps not as much as I do, but she see's it as an insight to my childhood and can see how it has shaped my morals and thoughts. She is convinced that Picard was my childhood role-model. Perhaps she is correct.

My point is that different folks like different things, and an episode we may think to be great will not be so great to someone else. I love the political episodes such as "The Defector" or "Sins Of The Father", these send her to sleep and she likes the campy ones that I hate.

It's nice to do something you enjoy with someone you love.

Have fun!

Salient points for sure... "Tapestry" is certainly a favorite of mine, but it would have the same effect on a newbie as would showing them the DS9 finale or the 3rd season finale of "Lost" - it would have no resonance for the newbie.

 

[Alrik]

Salient points for sure... "Tapestry" is certainly a favorite of mine, but it would have the same effect on a newbie as would showing them the DS9 finale or the 3rd season finale of "Lost" - it would have no resonance for the newbie.

That's the main reason I suggested what I did. Many of the better episodes come later down the line, after the characters and their relationships have been defined. Thats what makes them work so well for us, we get it. But someone unfamiliar, and less interested might just go, Meh.

Maybe try Loud As A Whisper, not the best ep ever, but not terrible, and certainly not very techie.

 

[Anji]

Have one of your favorite episodes on when she comes over and say something like "I was just watching some TV tonight, wanna join me?" That's how I introduced my guy to Trek.

 

[RandyS]

Well in terms of Star Trek, I didn't have that problem, as the other half probably loves Trek more than I do!

However, I did have a fair task on my hands trying to convince her of the merits of Babylon 5. In the end I resorted to just telling her to STFU and sit down and watch it!

Worked though, she loved it.

I had a similar experience, except that my other half loved Star Trek before we were together, and my attempt to get her into Babylon 5 was a complete failure.

 

[Kelso]

I just started watching TNG with the girlfriend. We tried TOS, but she didn't care for it. ()

Three eps. in and she is enjoying it... we'll see what happens, I guess.

 

[TV's Frank]

Have one of your favorite episodes on when she comes over and say something like "I was just watching some TV tonight, wanna join me?" That's how I introduced my guy to Trek.

That was how she happened to catch the last halves of both The Defector and The Inner Light, except I was flipping channels at her place... I don't have TV at mine! And she thought they were fine, I just think that it takes a certain kind of hard-wiring to be a Trek fan of any sort.

 

[RAMA]

My wife was familiar with Trek, her ex husband watched some of them, but she didn't really remember much about any episodes. Its taken her one or two viewings over a period of years but she now remembers most episodes. As an example, she loved "Tin Man" when she saw it, but didn't remember all the details till she saw it again a few days ago..she told me: "I just love this episode". I think the acting, the drama of Tam's childhood and unique situation, and then finding a place to belong really resonated with her. Women tend to like episodes like this more.

RAMA

 

[Distorted Humor]

Well, one thing I learned

If a girl likes "Hunt for Red October" she will love "The Defector"

Many girls my age grew up with TNG, but for those who don't, I found Data's Day as a good intro...

 

[Tiberius]

I just showed my girlfriend (Lt rowy) Doomsday Machine the other day (we're watching all of Trek in the order that it is set). She was literally on the edge of her seat. She gasped when the planet killer showed up, and she was grabbing me very tight when the transporter blew up when Kirk only had seconds to beam off the Constellation.

 

[RAMA]

I just showed my girlfriend (Lt rowy) Doomsday Machine the other day (we're watching all of Trek in the order that it is set). She was literally on the edge of her seat. She gasped when the planet killer showed up, and she was grabbing me very tight when the transporter blew up when Kirk only had seconds to beam off the Constellation.

Remastered? There's nothing gasp inducing about the original.

 

[Tiberius]

yeah, remastered. But the tension with the transporters going down at the end is in the original version too...

 

[RAMA]

yeah, remastered. But the tension with the transporters going down at the end is in the original version too...

Yes true, I was refering to the first appearance of the planet killer..

http://trekmovie.com/2007/02/10/spinrad-videoblog-on-history-of-doomsday/

 

[Alrik]

yeah, remastered. But the tension with the transporters going down at the end is in the original version too...

Yes true, I was refering to the first appearance of the planet killer..

http://trekmovie.com/2007/02/10/spinrad-videoblog-on-history-of-doomsday/

Thanks RAMA, interesting interview. As a 5 year old in '72, I thought it looked like a Space Turd, but concrete Windsock works too.

 

[Ubik]

I would start with the earliest great episodes - anyone who doesn't like the one-two punch of Measure of a Man and Q Who will never like TNG. Period. And they're both so early that they require no previous knowledge to appreciate them.

 

[TheLobes]

TNG is my significant other.

 

[JennaL]

I would start with the movies even though they obviously come later than the series for the reason that they were made to be more mainstream. Maybe start with First Contact and if that goes down well, maybe show them BOBW - as both are Borg stories and also related through the Picard character. I would use this is a good starting off point and take it from there.

 

[Ubik]

I would start with the movies even though they obviously come later than the series for the reason that they were made to be more mainstream. Maybe start with First Contact and if that goes down well, maybe show them BOBW - as both are Borg stories and also related through the Picard character. I would use this is a good starting off point and take it from there.

More mainstream? What does that even mean? Like, "not as good"?

People are acting like TNG is hard to get into. It isn't. This isn't classic Doctor Who we're talking about here. You don't need to choose your episodes carefully or anything. If the person doesn't like something early but great, like Q Who or Measure of a Man, then they will never like TNG, period. So it doesn't matter what else you show them. But I certainly wouldn't start out of chronological order. Why would anyone do that?

 

[glitchcon]

I wouldn't necessarily go with anybody's "Top 10" list. Anything with romance or good humor. That's the best way to elicit interest... or at least tolerance.

You beat me to the punch, but yeah. My girl and I are watching the entire series start to finish. When we met she'd never seen anything Star Trek, Fire Fly, or ... well.. much of anything else Sci Fi or fantasy related.

We're on the tail end of Season One. We finished the entire Fire Fly series, and the movie. We also watched the newest Star Trek movie.

Once we're through TNG series we'll probably go back and watch Star Trek the movie and the Wrath of Khan. I mean, you just can't NOT show someone the Wrath of Khan. It's a cardinal sin or something I think.

 

[Finn]

It's nice how some couples can enjoy TNG together. But in my fiancee's case, it would probably bore her out of her head.

 

[CaseNumber825]

I wouldn't necessarily go with anybody's "Top 10" list. Anything with romance or good humor. That's the best way to elicit interest... or at least tolerance.

Exactly what I was thinking.

Also, I wouldn't ever start with anything to heavy, if you understand what I mean.

As Gary7 said, something with good humour would be a great place to start. An episode where you don't have to be emotionally attached to the characters in order to care about what's happening.

I thinking my best friend got me interested in TNG through watching Déjà Q I think. It's one of the first I remember watching, it still remains a favourite of mine as well.