Revisiting ST-TNG...

[Warped9]

"Dark Page" **

Troi tries to reach her mother's subconacious to bring her out of a coma.

Take away the telepathic aspects and this could be just another family drama storyline. That said it's better than "Phantasms" and it's watchable. Sometimes I do wonder if Majel Barrett has been somewhat underrated as an actress although that isn't to say she is amazing or anything. I just think she has more range and nuance than she usually seems to be given credit for. If Star Trek had gone forward from "The Cage" as originally planned then perhaps Number One would have worked out well enough as a character.

Still, as I said this is more family drama rather than Star Trek. I know some may consider that a narrow view, but it's still a valid one.

 

[startrekwatcher]

Dark Page dragged in places and I agree depicting stuff in people's heads using standing sets of the ship is cliched especially after Phantasms and going into someone else's head is just as trite but the final act makes up for this with a truly moving scene where Lwaxana reveals what has happened. I was in tears and Majel and Marina gave great performances.

I'd give it 3 stars.

 

[Ubik]

The episodes I remember liking:

“Parallels”
“The Pegasus”
“Lower Decks”
“Preemptive Strike”

If these turn out to be all I get out of this season then it will be a poor experience for certain.

A poor experience? Your memory is correct - all 4 of those episodes are excellent, and The Pegasus in particular is one of the best hours of Star Trek in the whole franchise, at least when it comes to character work (but since you don't think character work is as important in Star Trek as space adventure, whatever that is, you may not appreciate it.) If a whole season offers nothing but, say, four fantastic episodes, that's 4 episodes worth waiting for, no?

Anyway, as for your narrow view that Star Trek is not supposed to be primarily family drama or something, all I can say is....well....I'll say....actually, I can't think of anything to say. Your view is based on emotion rather than logic, so nothing I say containing logic will sway you to think otherwise, I suppose. Oh well. It's too bad, really. That opinion will prevent you from enjoying a multitude of some of the best science fiction ever written or filmed.

 

[BillJ]

Anyway, as for your narrow view that Star Trek is not supposed to be primarily family drama or something, all I can say is....well....I'll say....actually, I can't think of anything to say. Your view is based on emotion rather than logic, so nothing I say containing logic will sway you to think otherwise, I suppose. Oh well. It's too bad, really. That opinion will prevent you from enjoying a multitude of some of the best science fiction ever written or filmed.

Star Trek: The Original Series had exactly two episodes that focused on the family of the primary characters... Operation: Annihilate! and Journey to Babel. The fact that the writers of that series were judicious with the use of family made those episodes special.

Perhaps if the writers of The Next Generation had been more judicious in their use of family members, people would remember those episodes more fondly. Instead, the use of family members began to feel like a crutch the writers would use whenever they ran out of ideas.

 

[Warped9]

Anyway, as for your narrow view that Star Trek is not supposed to be primarily family drama or something, all I can say is....well....I'll say....actually, I can't think of anything to say. Your view is based on emotion rather than logic, so nothing I say containing logic will sway you to think otherwise, I suppose. Oh well. It's too bad, really. That opinion will prevent you from enjoying a multitude of some of the best science fiction ever written or filmed.

Star Trek: The Original Series had exactly two episodes that focused on the family of the primary characters... Operation: Annihilate! and Journey to Babel. The fact that the writers of that series were judicious with the use of family made those episodes special.

Perhaps if the writers of The Next Generation had been more judicious in their use of family members, people would remember those episodes more fondly. Instead, the use of family members began to feel like a crutch the writers would use whenever they ran out of ideas.

As good an answer if not better than I could have come up with. Thank you.

You might also include "Amok Time" in that distinction because it does connect with Spock's betrothed, his ancestral family ground and in extension his race and culture.

There's also the fact that Llwaxana Troi (like Q) simply came back too often. It got tiresome and served to undermine that feeling of being out there. The 1701D felt evermore like a cruise ship rather than a deep space starship.

 

[BillJ]

Anyway, as for your narrow view that Star Trek is not supposed to be primarily family drama or something, all I can say is....well....I'll say....actually, I can't think of anything to say. Your view is based on emotion rather than logic, so nothing I say containing logic will sway you to think otherwise, I suppose. Oh well. It's too bad, really. That opinion will prevent you from enjoying a multitude of some of the best science fiction ever written or filmed.

Star Trek: The Original Series had exactly two episodes that focused on the family of the primary characters... Operation: Annihilate! and Journey to Babel. The fact that the writers of that series were judicious with the use of family made those episodes special.

Perhaps if the writers of The Next Generation had been more judicious in their use of family members, people would remember those episodes more fondly. Instead, the use of family members began to feel like a crutch the writers would use whenever they ran out of ideas.

As good an answer if not better than I could have come up with. Thank you.

You might also include "Amok Time" in that distinction because it does connect with Spock's betrothed, his ancestral family ground and in extension his race and culture.

There's also the fact that Llwaxana Troi (like Q) simply came back too often. It got tiresome and served to undermine that feeling of being out there. The 1701D felt evermore like a cruise ship rather than a deep space starship.

I leave Amok Time (like Emissary and Second Chances) up to the individual viewer on how tightly they want to define 'family drama'.

There was definitely a case of 'small universe syndrome' going on in later seasons of TNG. Which is one of the things that made it feel less creative.

 

[Ubik]

Anyway, as for your narrow view that Star Trek is not supposed to be primarily family drama or something, all I can say is....well....I'll say....actually, I can't think of anything to say. Your view is based on emotion rather than logic, so nothing I say containing logic will sway you to think otherwise, I suppose. Oh well. It's too bad, really. That opinion will prevent you from enjoying a multitude of some of the best science fiction ever written or filmed.

Star Trek: The Original Series had exactly two episodes that focused on the family of the primary characters... Operation: Annihilate! and Journey to Babel. The fact that the writers of that series were judicious with the use of family made those episodes special.

Perhaps if the writers of The Next Generation had been more judicious in their use of family members, people would remember those episodes more fondly. Instead, the use of family members began to feel like a crutch the writers would use whenever they ran out of ideas.

Clearly neither you nor Warped9 are great fans of Deep Space Nine, a masterful addition to the Star Trek franchise, by all critical accounts (including my own) a superior show to either TOS or TNG, and concerned in many and varied ways with the family relationships of the cast.

One of its most basic and interesting plots is about how a black single father, who lost his wife and the mother of his child in a war, can learn how to put his and his son's lives back together again, on the outskirts of Federation space. Another one of its main plots is about how Miles O'Brien and his wife can survive their marriage out in the middle of nowhere, where the wife has no particular job to do. One of the very best episodes deals with the romantic relationship between Kira and Odo, while some of the more fascinating ones deal with Worf's lack of a family.

I could go on, but my point is simply this: Star Trek has lasted as long as it has only because its setting is almost infinite, and it can be basically about anything, as long as it's done well. Dark Page, and other TNG season 5 and 7 family drama episodes, don't fail because they're family dramas, they fail because they're bad family dramas. Deep Space Nine proved that Star Trek can be almost exclusively about character drama, and not be about space exploration at all, and lo! they created one of the best science fiction television shows ever aired.

Here's the thing: I love TOS. It's fantastic. I also love TNG, most particularly because it is ambitious enough to be nothing at all like TOS. They tried something different, and for the most part, they succeeded extremely well. DS9 risked being even more different, and they created a masterpiece. The primary reason Voyager and Enterprise are such bad shows is because they tried to achieve what previous shows in the franchise had already achieved, without risking trying new things, and as a result, they both feel like reused and warmed-over TNG, just as season 1 of TNG feels like warmed-over TOS. Star Trek, at its best, has always succeeded most admirably when it had the balls to drastically change what Star Trek is about.

 

[Warped9]

I've watched enough of DS9 to know what it's about and I don't share Niners' devotion to it. I left DS9 because I liked Babylon 5 much better and I still do.

 

[BillJ]

Clearly neither you nor Warped9 are great fans of Deep Space Nine, a masterful addition to the Star Trek franchise, by all critical accounts (including my own)...

Which, by judging from this forum, your opinion is all that matters.

One of its most basic and interesting plots is about how a black single father, who lost his wife and the mother of his child in a war, can learn how to put his and his son's lives back together again, on the outskirts of Federation space. Another one of its main plots is about how Miles O'Brien and his wife can survive their marriage out in the middle of nowhere, where the wife has no particular job to do. One of the very best episodes deals with the romantic relationship between Kira and Odo, while some of the more fascinating ones deal with Worf's lack of a family.

Deep Space Nine was such a stunning success that it can't even find a regular slot in strip syndication. I thought DS9 was okay, but not the roaring success you try to make it out to be. If it was, we wouldn't be watching a TOS reboot now.

 

[BillJ]

I left DS9 because I liked Babylon 5 much better and I still do.

Started watching this show recently and have found what I've seen so far more compelling than DS9.

 

[Ubik]

Clearly neither you nor Warped9 are great fans of Deep Space Nine, a masterful addition to the Star Trek franchise, by all critical accounts (including my own)...

Which, by judging from this forum, your opinion is all that matters.

One of its most basic and interesting plots is about how a black single father, who lost his wife and the mother of his child in a war, can learn how to put his and his son's lives back together again, on the outskirts of Federation space. Another one of its main plots is about how Miles O'Brien and his wife can survive their marriage out in the middle of nowhere, where the wife has no particular job to do. One of the very best episodes deals with the romantic relationship between Kira and Odo, while some of the more fascinating ones deal with Worf's lack of a family.

Deep Space Nine was such a stunning success that it can't even find a regular slot in strip syndication. I thought DS9 was okay, but not the roaring success you try to make it out to be. If it was, we wouldn't be watching a TOS reboot now.

Oh, stop it. Just because I offer my opinion forcefully doesn't mean I don't recognize it as an opinion. If I thought of it as a fact, I wouldn't have to offer it forcefully, would I?

And anyway, are you really going to argue with me that viewing numbers has an objective connection with quality? Come now. Transformers II was a huge hit while The Shawshank Redemption bombed at the box office. You know that as well as I do.

My point is simply that Deep Space Nine is an example of Star Trek with a focus on character drama that was done, and done well. Most television critics do indeed consider it a great show; I know that's not a scientific test either, but it's evidence to suggest that a large number of people who watch television for a living do not subscribe to your opinion that Star Trek cannot be devoid of space exploration and cannot focus primarily on character drama. Because DS9 is devoid of space exploration, and does focus primarily on character drama, and does regularly show up on "best of" science fiction television show lists, right there alongside the original Star Trek, and The Next Generation (although, admittedly, a few numbers below, which is fine - I won't quibble about that.) Again, not objective proof of quality, but certainly proof that this view that Star Trek should be mainly space adventure is not shared by a majority of television critics. That's a fair statement, isn't it?

 

[Anwar]

I got turned off of B5 by the acting, how some important parts of the series were utterly contrived (though that's true to nearly everything...) and simple narm. Especially some of the "important" speeches.

To be frank, and this is all just opinion, TOS' space exploration is just ONE of the ways Trek can work. It wasn't meant to be the ONLY way to do the show, just the one they used for TOS.

 

[Noname Given]

Picard was presumed vaporized and dead in the opening teaser, the Enterprise, with Riker in command, was then placed on detachted duty to investigate Picard's death..

Ok, I don't see any problems with that, crew members go on leaves, even extended leaves. I don't have an issue with Picard going on one, since he went on several during the show. Ample opportunity for a misadventure or two.

I'm getting ready to watch this two-parter later tonight when I have the time. I'll see if there is anything else of note on the subject.

RAMA

I have a major issue with as I can't see Star Fleet not telling at least the First Officer or SOMEONE in the Command Staff (or the Star Fleet Admiral in the sector) for that matter: "Hey, your Captain (of the Federation Flagsjhip)is going on a secret mission..."

And I say Starfleet because sorry, once Riker reported in and asked to follow up on the investigation - the LAST thing Star Fleet Admiral (if he knew himself) would say, "Okay, you're on detached duty; mission at your discretion..."

Of course the REASON was the writer didn't want top reveal the situation 5 minutes into the episode; bu the ENTIRE set up REALL strains belief - in that Star Fleet is shown as so incompotent; then send the Captain of the Federation Flagsjp off on a secret mission regarding Archeological site thefts?! WTF!

The only other conclusion is, Picard did this on his own, and didn't tell anyone; but if that's the case, it just shows Picard as either incompotent or mentally unstable, as he's risking his Command and possibly instigating an interstellar incident fopr a few relics?

And if we go by character history, Picard is into Archeologu yes, BUT NOT at the expense of his career as shown by the opening scene in The Chase when an old Professer asks him to chuck his Star Fleet commission to assist in solving a majpoor mystery that promises to make that Professor's carrer and has implications for the Galaxy.

Again, my issue: A good Star Trek story is at least plausible and doesn't portray main characters as trotal idiots; but honestly the set up paint BOTH Picard and Star Fleet in general as idiots; and borderline incompotent. Hell, the fact Riker wants to take a front line Federation starship off patrol duty because he essentially wants to avenge his Captain (Yep, logical and consistent response from a person who's supposed to be part of the 'enlightened hummanity' of the 24th century.)

So sorry, the set up of Gambit is so ridiculous, if you actually care abiout character consistency - it thrpows it out the window so we can get a "Paicard teh Space Pirate" story.

Hell, the ending of Part II is ridiculous in that, while I CAN believe Riker and the other humans can suppress their violent thoughts and emotions - Worf, the hot-headed Klingon can too?! Seriously?

Overall a one star rating for Gambit is a generous gift (imo). From a story set up and character consistency standpoint, it devoles into TOS And The Children Shall Lead territory; and just shows that by Season 7, the writing staff couldn't give a damn about character consistency or story integrity - I'm sure the pitch that sold th whole thing was: "Hey, let's make Picard a Space Pirate...Arrrrr!"

 

[Ubik]

I got turned off of B5 by the acting, how some important parts of the series were utterly contrived (though that's true to nearly everything...) and simple narm. Especially some of the "important" speeches.

To be frank, and this is all just opinion, TOS' space exploration is just ONE of the ways Trek can work. It wasn't meant to be the ONLY way to do the show, just the one they used for TOS.

That's what turned me off Babylon 5 as well. The actors playing the Ambassadors are fantastic, but the human crew just screams "television acting!" as opposed to the actors on Deep Space Nine, who are the finest cast to ever grace a Star Trek show, by a country mile.

 

[startrekwatcher]

DS9 is overrated. I enjoyed it but the way internet fandom gushes over it you'd think it was a masterpiece. The first season was a mess trying to do TNG stories and doing all those lame TNG crossovers. The show took forever to find itself first by doing Bajoran stories that with certain exceptions--the excellent Circle trilogy--were dull then they introduced ultimate baddies in S3 with the Dominion before dumping that for the less interesting re-emergence of Klingons in S4 where the writers ultimately did very little with a potentially interesting idea of a Federation/Klingon falling out in S4(DS9 also overdosed on the KLingon schtick that had already gotten old in the last seasons of TNG)--S4 was mostly average with very little done in the Klingon area or the Dominion storyline. The show finally came into its own in its final 3 seasons with "InPurgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light" when it wisely finally focused on the Dominion War and embraced arcs giving DS9 an epic feel with lots of interesting perspectives on how the Dominion affected the familiar civilizations TOS/TNG gave us. I loved the Occupation arc and the Final Chapter--some of the best arc based storytelling on tv ever but the show had a bad habit of straying away from it and creating very uneven seasons i.e. S6 with very little done after "Sacrifice of Angels" until the season finale instead they gave us a bunch of fair but hardly riveting outings.

And I'm not sure I entirely buy into DS9 doing family drama all that well--in certain episodes like "The Visitor" they showcased nicely the father/son dynamic but then you'd get an episode like "Time's Orphan" that just didn't work. We were treated to O'Brien macking on Kira, a trite pregnancy, Miles and Shakaar bickering like children when we got a sitcom-esque birth. I also thought DS9 handled poorly what TNG handled reasonably well when it came to Worf/Alexander and Worf/Kurn. I never liked what they did with that. The romances weren't that great--Kira/Shakaar, Moogie/Nagus, Rom/Leeta, Jadzia/Worf. Sisko/Kasidy worked fairly well and it wasn't until the last season or so did the Kira/Odo romantic relationship become believable after the horrible way it began in the awful "His Way". And the Ferengi family stuff was bad sitcom stuff we're talking about.

VOY was the weakest of the Trek shows but nowhere near as bad as it is made out to be. And ENT was stale in its first two seasons--never awful just very mediocre--but the Xindi arc and its series of trilogies and duologies in S4 were quite entertaining.

Still though TNG will always be number one for me because--while no series is perfect--it did the best job doing the most right from likeable characters, being the most consistent with a near solid streak of good to great episodes in S3 through most of S6 with no outright bad episode only at worst something very average(compare that to the crap DS9 put out in its middle years the ferengi episodes, let he, fascination, meridian, the muse, looking for par'mach, resurrection, extreme measures etc). And thanks to the offscreen chemistry among the TNG cast that shone through on screen TNG always felt the most like a genuine family.

 

[RAMA]

Picard was presumed vaporized and dead in the opening teaser, the Enterprise, with Riker in command, was then placed on detachted duty to investigate Picard's death..

Ok, I don't see any problems with that, crew members go on leaves, even extended leaves. I don't have an issue with Picard going on one, since he went on several during the show. Ample opportunity for a misadventure or two.

I'm getting ready to watch this two-parter later tonight when I have the time. I'll see if there is anything else of note on the subject.

RAMA

I have a major issue with as I can't see Star Fleet not telling at least the First Officer or SOMEONE in the Command Staff (or the Star Fleet Admiral in the sector) for that matter: "Hey, your Captain (of the Federation Flagsjhip)is going on a secret mission..."

And I say Starfleet because sorry, once Riker reported in and asked to follow up on the investigation - the LAST thing Star Fleet Admiral (if he knew himself) would say, "Okay, you're on detached duty; mission at your discretion..."

Of course the REASON was the writer didn't want top reveal the situation 5 minutes into the episode; bu the ENTIRE set up REALL strains belief - in that Star Fleet is shown as so incompotent; then send the Captain of the Federation Flagsjp off on a secret mission regarding Archeological site thefts?! WTF!

The only other conclusion is, Picard did this on his own, and didn't tell anyone; but if that's the case, it just shows Picard as either incompotent or mentally unstable, as he's risking his Command and possibly instigating an interstellar incident fopr a few relics?

And if we go by character history, Picard is into Archeologu yes, BUT NOT at the expense of his career as shown by the opening scene in The Chase when an old Professer asks him to chuck his Star Fleet commission to assist in solving a majpoor mystery that promises to make that Professor's carrer and has implications for the Galaxy.

Again, my issue: A good Star Trek story is at least plausible and doesn't portray main characters as trotal idiots; but honestly the set up paint BOTH Picard and Star Fleet in general as idiots; and borderline incompotent. Hell, the fact Riker wants to take a front line Federation starship off patrol duty because he essentially wants to avenge his Captain (Yep, logical and consistent response from a person who's supposed to be part of the 'enlightened hummanity' of the 24th century.)

So sorry, the set up of Gambit is so ridiculous, if you actually care abiout character consistency - it thrpows it out the window so we can get a "Paicard teh Space Pirate" story.

Hell, the ending of Part II is ridiculous in that, while I CAN believe Riker and the other humans can suppress their violent thoughts and emotions - Worf, the hot-headed Klingon can too?! Seriously?

Overall a one star rating for Gambit is a generous gift (imo). From a story set up and character consistency standpoint, it devoles into TOS And The Children Shall Lead territory; and just shows that by Season 7, the writing staff couldn't give a damn about character consistency or story integrity - I'm sure the pitch that sold th whole thing was: "Hey, let's make Picard a Space Pirate...Arrrrr!"

Again almost EVERY character in STNG went on some kind of leave at some point and that happened every season!! Troi was on a leave when she crashed in "Skin of Evil", Geordi did when he was intercepted on returning in "Mind's Eye", Picard and Wes went together in "Samaritan Snare, several went to a scientific conference in "Timescape", Crusher saw the Ferengi scientist at a conference, and many more...most cases they were not dropped by Enterprise, they took a shuttle or ship!! This is not unprecedented folks. This is no criticism at all.

It IS logical and consitent for Picard, with his archaeological background to notice some interesting events in regional news dealing with artifacts and ancient sites. If he felt this had some import for safety/security reasons in the area, why wouldn't he ask permission (official or unofficially) to investigate? Neither of these are out of character at all.

Space Pirates are not a "normal" ST or STNG character, but the fact they found a story for them does make this tale unusual...I like them breaking out of the mold somewhat. In this case, "pirates" is too much of a stereotype...they were intelligent mercenaries, and several had their own agendas...they were not pirates of the sense we normally think of...

If Riker had an idea about what happened to Picard, why wouldn't Starfleet allow them to investigate it??? Especially if it meant finding known thieves who may prove to be a threat to security in their area.

As for Worf...well it is 7 years later...you have noticed Worf is not the character on the bridge askingto shoot first and ask questions later...this is called character growth.

I watched the episode last night, it was wayyyyy better than the Children Shall Lead....not really a classic, but a darn good episode with some irony and fun. Definitely a good contribution to the season.

 

[Trekker4747]

"Journey's End" provides a decent send-off for Wesley...

No. No it does not.

 

[RAMA]

"Journey's End" provides a decent send-off for Wesley...

No. No it does not.

One of the few episodes that made me roll my eyes...it bit of self-conscious Hollywood apologizing for the colonization of the US. Ok not a bad subject for 1975, but didn't really feel it. I like the Traveler, and sort of glad Wes went off with him but the rest was pretty warmed over moralizing.

RAMA

 

[Harvey]

"Journey's End" provides a decent send-off for Wesley...

No. No it does not.

Bah. I like the episode, even if I can't say I love it. It helps set up the Maquis conflict rather nicely (in addition to "Preemptive Strike" later in the season), and it brings the Wesley/Traveler arc to a close.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Your view is based on emotion rather than logic, so nothing I say containing logic will sway you to think otherwise, I suppose.

So's yours.

I've watched enough of DS9 to know what it's about and I don't share Niners' devotion to it. I left DS9 because I liked Babylon 5 much better and I still do.

I never really "got" B5. I tried to get into it last year, but it seems to have not aged well, or I didn't quite "hook in" to the wavelength that makes everyone and their grandma like it.

DS9 is overrated. I enjoyed it but the way internet fandom gushes over it you'd think it was a masterpiece. The first season was a mess trying to do TNG stories and doing all those lame TNG crossovers. The show took forever to find itself first by doing Bajoran stories that with certain exceptions--the excellent Circle trilogy--were dull then they introduced ultimate baddies in S3 with the Dominion before dumping that for the less interesting re-emergence of Klingons in S4 where the writers ultimately did very little with a potentially interesting idea of a Federation/Klingon falling out in S4(DS9 also overdosed on the KLingon schtick that had already gotten old in the last seasons of TNG)--S4 was mostly average with very little done in the Klingon area or the Dominion storyline. The show finally came into its own in its final 3 seasons with "InPurgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light" when it wisely finally focused on the Dominion War and embraced arcs giving DS9 an epic feel with lots of interesting perspectives on how the Dominion affected the familiar civilizations TOS/TNG gave us. I loved the Occupation arc and the Final Chapter--some of the best arc based storytelling on tv ever but the show had a bad habit of straying away from it and creating very uneven seasons i.e. S6 with very little done after "Sacrifice of Angels" until the season finale instead they gave us a bunch of fair but hardly riveting outings.

And I'm not sure I entirely buy into DS9 doing family drama all that well--in certain episodes like "The Visitor" they showcased nicely the father/son dynamic but then you'd get an episode like "Time's Orphan" that just didn't work. We were treated to O'Brien macking on Kira, a trite pregnancy, Miles and Shakaar bickering like children when we got a sitcom-esque birth. I also thought DS9 handled poorly what TNG handled reasonably well when it came to Worf/Alexander and Worf/Kurn. I never liked what they did with that. The romances weren't that great--Kira/Shakaar, Moogie/Nagus, Rom/Leeta, Jadzia/Worf. Sisko/Kasidy worked fairly well and it wasn't until the last season or so did the Kira/Odo romantic relationship become believable after the horrible way it began in the awful "His Way". And the Ferengi family stuff was bad sitcom stuff we're talking about.

VOY was the weakest of the Trek shows but nowhere near as bad as it is made out to be. And ENT was stale in its first two seasons--never awful just very mediocre--but the Xindi arc and its series of trilogies and duologies in S4 were quite entertaining.

Still though TNG will always be number one for me because--while no series is perfect--it did the best job doing the most right from likeable characters, being the most consistent with a near solid streak of good to great episodes in S3 through most of S6 with no outright bad episode only at worst something very average(compare that to the crap DS9 put out in its middle years the ferengi episodes, let he, fascination, meridian, the muse, looking for par'mach, resurrection, extreme measures etc). And thanks to the offscreen chemistry among the TNG cast that shone through on screen TNG always felt the most like a genuine family.

I was saying that DS9 was overrated before it was cool.

I think its unfair to subtract points from something because its popular. I'm not fond of B5, but never have I referred to it as "overrated."