Season 1

[johnnybear]

Looking back to 1988 when I first saw TNG I always thought it would never last. It was trying too hard to be Star Trek with it's even further in the future setting and similar plots and sets plus some of the cast weren't that good compared to the originals. I saw them on rental video tape because the BBC wouldn't pay out my money to buy the show at that time. When it went to a second season I was taken aback somewhat, mainly because the new shows weren't available at my local shop!!!
JB

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Put me down as someone who enjoys S1-2 more than 6-7. I also think in terms of music and direction, S1-S2 beats S3-S7 hands down because there's often a feeling they are pushing boundaries. Weird camera angles and less orthodox music choices result in a show that feels a lot less safe and predictable than later seasons.

Those 3 episodes are among my favorites in the whole series!

Where Silence Has Lease is gloriously strange. Genuinely unsettling in places.

 

[Quantum21]

First, I love TNG. I grew up with it. It is the reason I became a Trekkie. I believe TNG and DS9 are the gold standard of Trek shows. However, I cannot watch season 1. I think it is terrible.

In my opinion, it is the worst season 1 of any Trek show (never watched TAS). DS9, ENT, and VOY were not the best either, but they are watchable. I believe each NuTrek show had very good first seasons, especially Prodigy and SNW.

Agree or disagree?

Lots of nostalgia. No issues watching 90% of it. Joy at most of it.

 

[Oddish]

I think TNG, more than any other series, had to figure out what it wanted to be. And, how to make Star Trek relevant for modern audiences.

By contrast, I think DS9 had a better idea of what it wanted to be, but it was still figuring out some of its characters. Dax and Bashir most notably, but also Rom and Nog.

And Voyager started out wanting to be one thing, then decided early on that it wanted to be something else.

 

[Quantum21]

I think TNG, more than any other series, had to figure out what it wanted to be. And, how to make Star Trek relevant for modern audiences.

Season 1 of DS9 was worse than season 1 of TNG. The writers admit they had no idea what they were doing. So I'm going to say most season 1s in Berman Trek were clueless. Not the case in new Trek however.

By contrast, I think DS9 had a better idea of what it wanted to be, but it was still figuring out some of its characters. Dax and Bashir most notably, but also Rom and Nog.

And Voyager started out wanting to be one thing, then decided early on that it wanted to be something else.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I think TNG, more than any other series, had to figure out what it wanted to be. And, how to make Star Trek relevant for modern audiences.

Yup. It's the one that had to prove that Star Trek meant a world, rather than a group of people. It's amazing it worked out as well as it did. It paved the way for everything to follow.

 

[johnnybear]

I never believed it was going to last or that it would be the first of SO many new television series based upon the original! I truly thought that the second season I'd only heard of in 1989 and the writer's strike would have been the end of the franchise! How wrong could I be?
JB

 

[Oddish]

I never believed it was going to last or that it would be the first of SO many new television series based upon the original! I truly thought that the second season I'd only heard of in 1989 and the writer's strike would have been the end of the franchise! How wrong could I be?
JB

No great surprise that you thought that, though. It's pretty common for a series that tries to revive an older one to tank badly. Anyone remember "Love Boat: The Next Wave"?

 

[johnnybear]

Yes I do, not that I was a fan. Although I much preferred the Australian Mission:Impossible two season show to the original!
JB

 

[Quantum21]

I never believed it was going to last or that it would be the first of SO many new television series based upon the original! I truly thought that the second season I'd only heard of in 1989 and the writer's strike would have been the end of the franchise! How wrong could I be?
JB

It was never even an issue. Right out of the gate, TNG's ratings were so far above anything previously in syndication there was never even a thought at Paramount that it wouldn't last.

Plus while the stories weren't too great yet, it really had the atmosphere and feel people were looking for, and eventually surpassed TOS in almost every category.

Extremely rare by Hollywood standards.

 

[Oddish]

I remember being surprised by Picard, because he was so different from Kirk.

 

[Jellico]

Season one had some awful episodes, but there a few great ones; Dixon Hill and so forth. I still watch it all. Even Angel One… The Spock’s Brain of TNG.

 

[Oddish]

Even Angel One… The Spock’s Brain of TNG

Angel One has issues, but at least it understands that gender equality is a journey, and that there will always be those who keep it at a slow crawl.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I could reach any episode of Season 1. Even its failures are interesting. It's a thing emerging from limbo and learning as it goes along who it's breakout characters are going to be. There's a sense of them always pushing at the limits of what the show can do and of course that results in misfires. It's a grand experiment though and it certainly all worked out in the end, but Season 1, when things are still coalescing is really interesting stuff to me.

 

[Oddish]

I could reach any episode of Season 1. Even its failures are interesting. It's a thing emerging from limbo and learning as it goes along who it's breakout characters are going to be. There's a sense of them always pushing at the limits of what the show can do and of course that results in misfires. It's a grand experiment though and it certainly all worked out in the end, but Season 1, when things are still coalescing is really interesting stuff to me.

This. Plus, you could see it expanding on its heritage in as it went, but allowing for a more diverse cast and ship's company. Episodes like "Code of Honor", which was very TOS-ish, but allowed for females in more prominent roles*. Ditto with "When the Bough Breaks", which featured the TOS trope "alien culture with vast power and one glaring weakness", but allowed for children. And then there was "11001001", which would pave the way for characters like Voyager's EMH. We know what TNG, and Bermsn Trek as a whole, grew into... this was the emergent phase.


*The casting was simply a very bad decision.

 

[JesterFace]

Season one had some awful episodes, but there a few great ones

That could be said about every season, only there are more than few great ones. =)
And that's not just STNG, about every series has their stinkers.
Right now I can think of only one series with season 1 not having any crap episodes....
.... That would be 24 but that's another discussion.

 

[Farscape One]

That could be said about every season, only there are more than few great ones. =)
And that's not just STNG, about every series has their stinkers.
Right now I can think of only one series with season 1 not having any crap episodes....
.... That would be 24 but that's another discussion.

My opinion, of course, but STRANGE NEW WORLDS season 1 had no stinkers.

 

[Jellico]

My opinion, of course, but STRANGE NEW WORLDS season 1 had no stinkers.

We just rewatched Strange New Worlds and that was great.

Back to TNG, after some thought, it had many good and a more than a few great episodes. My point above was that I can rewatch all of it. I can’t say that for all of TOS season 3.

 

[ColonelWest]

Season 1 is so wildly inconsistent. You have episodes such as Code of Honour and The Naked Now which are just awful, and then something like Conspiracy which is fantastic and one of my favourite episodes of any Star Trek show I’ve seen so far.

 

[at Quark's]

No great surprise that you thought that, though. It's pretty common for a series that tries to revive an older one to tank badly. Anyone remember "Love Boat: The Next Wave"?

I don't, but do I remember Galactica 1980, with a genius kid Adama came to for counsel, super strong boy scouts on earth, and flying motorcycles. Even as a 7-year-old back then I understood it really couldn't hold a candle to the original.