Should they have cancelled TNG?

[Trekker4747]

Hmm, TNG Season 7. There's probably no other season in Trek with the same crazy mix of really strong episodes and what-the-fuck-were-they-smoking episodes.

Ronald D. Moore recalls about the writing of "Interface" that the writers looked around at each other and basically said "This is sad ... this is the best we can do?" For a while it seemed like every episode was "let's see what random weird shit we can have happen to people."

"Phantasms," "Dark Page," "Sub Rosa," "Masks," "Eye of the Beholder," "Genesis," "Emergence" ... all head-scratchers. But I'd rank "Gambit," "Parallels," "The Pegasus," "Lower Decks," "Thine Own Self" and "Preemptive Strike" as among the show's best.

"Genesis", really? Talk about random, bizarre stuff happening to the crew. I mean, it's not a terrible episode but it's endemic of the problems the franchise was starting to have, in particular due to Brannon Braga who just wanted whatever-the-fuck to happen without thought to what it means to people.

In Genesis we have an absent-minded move by Crusher to cause the crew to "de-evolve", which seemed like a rather "easy" accident to occur, and it doesn't seem like the writers considered how stuff like this would impact real lives, including civilians and children. Instead at the end we have Crusher, who was mortally wounded and needed reconstructive surgery, and Troi laughing over Barclay's insecurities. Ha, ha! People died.

And tell me how people who devolved into beings with smaller brains regrew the knowledge and skills lost when they returned to normal. Brains don't work like that! Evolution doesn't work like that!

The episode is a pure mess.

 

[Memory Alpha]

A lot of season 7 was rushed or done with minimal hands on deck. I remember reading in the Companion that Menosky had written several scripts in a rush from overseas somewhere in semi-retirement.

Criticizing season 7 for random weirdness is a little harsh, I think, since there is random weirdness throughout the series (season 1 where the guy is getting younger, all through season 2, "Night Terrors," "Identity Crisis," and so on and so on), it's just that in season 6-7 it takes on a more psychological dimension. I enjoy it, and I enjoyed "Genesis" because it was freaky and the make-up and effects were great. I also rather enjoyed that we were [finally] getting fewer Picard lectures about revenge, peace, et. al.

That said, shows like "Ship in a Bottle, "Eye of the Beholder," and "AGT" to me come off as though they had been made harder than they should have been; they were complicated and confusing when they really didn't need to be.

 

[Jedi_Master]

TNG ended at the perfect time.

 

[Makarov]

If a season 8 means more episodes like "Masks" or "Parallels" then maybe I would have liked it to go on one more year, I loved those episodes.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

If a season 8 means more episodes like "Masks" or "Parallels" then maybe I would have liked it to go on one more year, I loved those episodes.

"Masks" is a funny story, especially because of Data's multiple-personality disorder but it's a really weird idea, when you stop to think about it. A bunch of technologically superior beings create an archive floating in space forever, that will turn any ship passing by into a pile of rocks, snakes and whatnot, and it'll stay that way until everybody inside dies or someone says the magic word... Talk about practical jokes!

 

[RoJoHen]

Hmm, TNG Season 7. There's probably no other season in Trek with the same crazy mix of really strong episodes and what-the-fuck-were-they-smoking episodes.

Ronald D. Moore recalls about the writing of "Interface" that the writers looked around at each other and basically said "This is sad ... this is the best we can do?" For a while it seemed like every episode was "let's see what random weird shit we can have happen to people."

"Phantasms," "Dark Page," "Sub Rosa," "Masks," "Eye of the Beholder," "Genesis," "Emergence" ... all head-scratchers. But I'd rank "Gambit," "Parallels," "The Pegasus," "Lower Decks," "Thine Own Self" and "Preemptive Strike" as among the show's best.

"Genesis", really? Talk about random, bizarre stuff happening to the crew. I mean, it's not a terrible episode but it's endemic of the problems the franchise was starting to have, in particular due to Brannon Braga who just wanted whatever-the-fuck to happen without thought to what it means to people.

In Genesis we have an absent-minded move by Crusher to cause the crew to "de-evolve", which seemed like a rather "easy" accident to occur, and it doesn't seem like the writers considered how stuff like this would impact real lives, including civilians and children. Instead at the end we have Crusher, who was mortally wounded and needed reconstructive surgery, and Troi laughing over Barclay's insecurities. Ha, ha! People died.

And tell me how people who devolved into beings with smaller brains regrew the knowledge and skills lost when they returned to normal. Brains don't work like that! Evolution doesn't work like that!

The episode is a pure mess.

All I know is that I was a kid when that episode aired, and it scared the crap out of me.

 

[Salinga]

I remember LeVar Burton saying in an interview, in hindsight TNG had two/three more seasons in it and the cast would have come together again for these. And since in that case the writers/production team wouldnt be distracted creating GEN and VOY, these seasons would have been a much better quality.

 

[BillJ]

I remember LeVar Burton saying in an interview, in hindsight TNG had two/three more seasons in it and the cast would have come together again for these. And since in that case the writers/production team wouldnt be distracted creating GEN and VOY, these seasons would have been a much better quality.

From my perspective, they didn't have two or three more seasons left in them. I was already bored with the show midway through season five. They had an occasional gem here and there over the rest of the series, but the quality was dipping badly.

I wouldn't want them to go on just to go on.

 

[Anwar]

You were already bored by S5? That's a little harsh.

 

[RoJoHen]

Of all the casts, I feel like TNG would be the one most likely to all get together for a reunion. Bring it on!

 

[Makarov]

From the special features on All Good Things it sounds like many of the cast were hoping for it to end at that point. But me as a viewer I know I wasn't bored of watching it by that point. It's not like Dexter where I was hoping it would end because a once great show had become so bad.

 

[BillJ]

You were already bored by S5? That's a little harsh.

I tend to prefer my series to be shorter in duration.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

You were already bored by S5? That's a little harsh.

I tend to prefer my series to be shorter in duration.

Oh, man. Avoid Dr. Who!!

 

[Harvey]

Had TNG gone the route of Law & Order or ER and they replaced castmembers who left from time to time, they'd probably still on the air.

Doubtful. Star Trek: The Next Generation thrived in a first-run syndication market which has ceased to exist, and if it were still on the air today it would be in its 27th season. Law & Order ran 20 seasons and E.R. ran for 15.

It might have been able to continue for longer by refreshing the cast (Star Trek: Voyager, in some ways, was Star Trek: The Next Generation with a new cast), but it certainly wouldn't have gone on indefinitely. Everything ends.

 

[Maurice]

You were already bored by S5? That's a little harsh.

harsh/härSH/
adjective
unpleasantly rough or jarring to the senses.
cruel or severe.

There's nothing harsh about admitting getting bored.

 

[DWF]

Had TNG gone the route of Law & Order or ER and they replaced castmembers who left from time to time, they'd probably still on the air.

Doubtful. Star Trek: The Next Generation thrived in a first-run syndication market which has ceased to exist, and if it were still on the air today it would be in its 27th season. Law & Order ran 20 seasons and E.R. ran for 15.

It might have been able to continue for longer by refreshing the cast (Star Trek: Voyager, in some ways, was Star Trek: The Next Generation with a new cast), but it certainly wouldn't have gone on indefinitely. Everything ends.

Combined TNG. DS9, Voyager and Enterprise lastest for 25 years, imagine had those yeras been consecutive years. And the syndication market is still there it's just as it was before TNG hit the market.

 

[BillJ]

Combined TNG. DS9, Voyager and Enterprise lastest for 25 years, imagine had those yeras been consecutive years. And the syndication market is still there it's just as it was before TNG hit the market.

Across seventeen years and only twelve of those years were in syndication with the last being 1999. The market for syndicated dramas was already drying up by that point.

 

[DWF]

Combined TNG. DS9, Voyager and Enterprise lastest for 25 years, imagine had those yeras been consecutive years. And the syndication market is still there it's just as it was before TNG hit the market.

Across seventeen years and only twelve of those years were in syndication with the last being 1999. The market for syndicated dramas was already drying up by that point.

The market still exists but as it as before TNG came along it's filled with game and entertainment shows. Voyager was only a UPN show because Paramount wanted a Trek show for the new network. But TNG's ratings went up in their final years and more people were watching TNG in the end than in the beginning. TNG's only competition though much of their run was Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy and this shows are still on the air and even predate TNG, Getting rid of TNG was the death knell for Star Trek.

 

[BillJ]

Getting rid of TNG was the death knell for Star Trek.

I don't think so. All good things must come to an end and all that. There were diminishing returns at work as well. The cost of the show was going up and the amount of money the stations were willing to pay was going down. Here in Cincinnati, while DS9 was the number one syndicated show, the station carrying it dropped it due to what it cost. I had to record the finale off of the Dayton affiliate WRGT-45.

From a personal perspective, I'd rather a show I love run too short a time than stay around too long and ruin my appreciation of it. In my opinion, TNG had already stayed around too long.

 

[DWF]

Getting rid of TNG was the death knell for Star Trek.

I don't think so. All good things must come to an end and all that. There were diminishing returns at work as well. The cost of the show was going up and the amount of money the stations were willing to pay was going down. Here in Cincinnati, while DS9 was the number one syndicated show, the station carrying it dropped it due to what it cost. I had to record the finale off of the Dayton affiliate WRGT-45.

From a personal perspective, I'd rather a show I love run too short a time than stay around too long and ruin my appreciation of it. In my opinion, TNG had already stayed around too long.

DS9 was eclipsed in the ratings by Hercules and Xena, the ratings for any Star Trek series after TNG couldn't equal TNG's ratings. The cost of TNG was going up because of the cast, simply bring new castmembers and that's not a problem. TNG is still the only modern Trek series still on the air.