To those around when TNG first aired: what did you think of it?

[somebuddyX]

I have vague memories of some boring soundstage set out of Season 1 like "Home Soil" or "Hide and Q" but I don't think we watched it as a family and it left little impression. It wasn't until "Ensign Ro" aired here and I wandered out one night while it was on and watched some of it that I took an interest.

 

[MikHutch]

I have vague memories of some boring soundstage set out of Season 1 like "Home Soil" or "Hide and Q" but I don't think we watched it as a family and it left little impression. It wasn't until "Ensign Ro" aired here and I wandered out one night while it was on and watched some of it that I took an interest.

Ro definitely brought some edge to the TNG crew despite her limited number of appearances

 

[Spider]

When the show first came out, I thought it was just gawd awful, but watched anyway because it was Star Trek. Starting around season three I became an avid fan. TNG and TOS are still my favorite Star Trek series.

 

[Uhura's Song]

I was hyped that Trek was back.

It was not as good as TOS in the beginning, but I did not care one whit. Q was intruiging. Spiner was good as Data from jump. Frakes had Riker down pretty early.
Everything else took a while.

It did not have to be good for me to be a fan.

There were some interesting ideas in S1 (Farpoint, Q, Where No Man Has Gone Before, Datalore, The Big Goodbye, 11001001, Conspiracy, Arsenal of Freedom), but no great episodes.

The Child, Where Silence Has Lease, and Elementary, Dear Data were a strong S2 start. It wobbled some, and the writer's strike hurt. But once we got "Measure of a Man," I was in.

It took off in S3-S6 and is now my favorite TV Trek,,along with TOS & DS9.

 

[cgervasi]

how did it compare to TOS? when did you actually become a fan of TNG?

I turned the TV on an hour before it started because I was so eager. I had read about it in the fan magazine. I imagined it would be like TOS with characters analogous to Kirk, Spock, and Bones. I was glad it was different. When I saw The Naked Now, I assumed they would be remaking all 79 TOS episodes but with this new completely-different crew.

I didn't fault Season One for having qualities of TOS because TOS was Star Trek, so I expected it be like Star Trek, what we now call TOS.

I think seeing it at age 12 made me love it forever. To this day I think Season One TNG is pretty good.

 

[Richard S. TaaAGH! *thud*]

I was born in ‘79, in the UK. So I grew up with VHS copies of TOS movies 1-4, but I never saw any TOS.

My older brother and Mother had though, and TNG was torpedoed in my household before I even had a chance to see it. My Mom said it didn’t have Kirk so it wasn’t real Trek and my brother said the same.

I think the first TNG I saw was in the early 1990s. VHS, at the same brothers place while he was at Uni. Very good, I liked it, but not enough to love it.

Honestly, through the 1980s-1990s I was much, much more of a Doctor Who fan. So by the time I watched ALL Star Trek back to back in the 00s and really got into it, TNG was just one of Trek’s many flavours.

I came to each show with no knowledge of fan consensus or bias… So TNG I enjoyed as Star Trek, just as much as TOS. Same for the other shows.

 

[Therin of Andor]

We were so fortunate to have Bjo Trimble visit Sydney for a convention, just after the filming of "Encounter at Farpoint", but before it aired anywhere. She had not been signed to a Non-Disclosure Agreement, but she was careful to drop hints that were tantalising but not too spoilery.

She brought over two different sets of baggies, containing objects collected from the floor behind the sets, and put them into the charity auction. I was lucky enough to secure an example of both Baggie A and Baggie B.

A baggie full of Star Trek by Ian McLean, on Flickr

Items from the set of "Encounter at Farpoint" (TNG). I have also added a few extra items to the display box: a Galoob "Data" action figure, which gives a good sense of scale to the other items; a rare mylar-sticker plastic badge with early "Star Trek: The Next Generation" logo (from Lincoln Enterprise's TNG Fan Club); a little screen-used clay cottage from the "Old Bandi City" tabletop miniature; and an official studio visitor's pass, all bought in separate charity auctions.


Bjo Trimble certificate: "A Baggie-Full of Star Trek" by Ian McLean, on Flickr


"A star from outer space" by Ian McLean, on Flickr

Note the reuse of some old fonts!:


Star Trek TNG and TMP set passes by Ian McLean, on Flickr

This Data costume was cobbled together very quickly, from a single pre-publicity photo of "The Next Generation" cast that had just appeared in "Time" magazine, before the US premiere of "Encounter at Farpoint" (1987):


Me as Data, Denebiet Dinner Dance by Ian McLean, on Flickr

 

[Sim]

I was a fan of TOS ever since I caught the first ever broadcast of 39 "new" TOS episodes in Germany in 1987/88, but was totally unaware TNG existed until early 1990, when I accidentally switched into an episode on the US army channel AFN (which due to the NTSC format, my parents' PAL tv could only display in black/white and without sound).

Since there was no sound (and I didn't speak English anyway at that time), I assumed it was a remake of TOS, and Riker was a recast Kirk. I figured Picard must have been some admiral who guest stars in just this episode.

Only a couple of months later, in September 1990, TNG started on German tv. I was amazed by the visuals and f/x, and kind of liked many episodes, but the series didn't take the same place in my heart as TOS. It was more like a 2nd rate substitute for me, as long as there were no TOS reruns.

But over time, TNG grew on me. I remember I was biting my nails when first watching "Conspiracy", and I loved "Where Silence Has Lease". Overall, I started really looking forward towards every new episode during season 2.

The point when I finally felt I liked TNG as much as TOS, maybe even a tad more, was somewhen during season 3. "Best of Both Worlds" finally blew me away.

 

[Lynx]

I must admit that I wasn't that impressed.

I had seen the Star Trek movies and one of my channels had aired a re-run of TOS some years before so I hoped for something similar. But i wasn't that impressed by Encounter At Farpoint when I first saw it. I thought that the characters lacked the chemistry and originality of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the others.

But it still had something and I kept on watching and started to like the characters and the stories more and more.

 

[tomalak301]

I grew up with TNG and watched the original after I watched the original series movies. I love it mainly for nostalgia reasons and because I grew up with it through childhood.

 

[PatB1974]

I was a fan from the very beginning. I grew up watching TOS episodes. I think I was 13 when it came out. I was just glad to have some Star Trek on tv.

 

[MikHutch]

I was a fan from the very beginning. I grew up watching TOS episodes. I think I was 13 when it came out. I was just glad to have some Star Trek on tv.

So the changes weren't too jarring?

I must admit that I wasn't that impressed.

I had seen the Star Trek movies and one of my channels had aired a re-run of TOS some years before so I hoped for something similar. But i wasn't that impressed by Encounter At Farpoint when I first saw it. I thought that the characters lacked the chemistry and originality of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the others.

But it still had something and I kept on watching and started to like the characters and the stories more and more.

I agree about the lack of similar chemistry, but I think it's good they didn't try to recreate it

I grew up with TNG and watched the original after I watched the original series movies. I love it mainly for nostalgia reasons and because I grew up with it through childhood)

I'm fairly similar

 

[PatB1974]

So the changes weren't too jarring?



I agree about the lack of similar chemistry, but I think it's good they didn't try to recreate it



I'm fairly similar

No not really. I was a huge fan even back then so I enjoyed the new show.

 

[Uhura's Song]

I'll admit I was psyched when the news broke. But it was also my freshman year in college. We did not even have a TV in my dorm room. There was no weekly viewing, of anything, for me.

When I moved off campus we finally got a TV + cable and it became weekly viewing in S3. I had watched intermittently until then, and would catchup with reruns in the summer.

I wanted it to be better than it was, initially. Data wa really the only main character who was comfortable in their own skin initially. Q also. Tasha and Riker to lesser extents. Wesley did not bother me at all.

Things started to improve in S2. Lots of people hate Dr. Pulaski because she was suspicious of Data, but the show started to find it's footing in S2. Guinan coming aboard, "Measure of a Man," the Sherlock Holmes holodeck episode with Moriarity.

Things really took off in S3. I still view S3-S6 of TNG as the best run of any Star Trek show (though other individual seasons like TOS1 or DS96 are better).

I never thought of comparing it to TOS directly, as such. I was just happy Trek was back. But Measure of a Man was when the show officially got me. I was a fan from go, but at that point, I thought the show might really be good as well.

TNG/TOS are still my Trek. I warmed to DS9 later. Though there were some great early episodes. "Duet," like "Measure of a Man" for TNG, really planted the flag for it. But I watched far less frequently as new eps came out. I missed a lot of episodes.

There is a good case to be made for DS9 being the best Trek, but I just didn't warm to The Sisko as much as Kirk or Picard.

Still, DS9 is firmly on the medal stand with TNG & TOS for me. The other live action shows (VOY, ENT, DISCO, PIC) are clearly 2nd tier in my book, and TAS brings up the rear.

The ingoing-ish shows are harder to judge. SNW has a chance to crack that top tier. And PRO & LD have consistently exceeded my expectations, but it is hard for a 20 min cartoon to compare to a 1 hour live action show.

TV:
Tier 1: TOS, TNG, DS9, SNW
Tier 2: LD, PRO
Tier 3: VOY, ENT, DISCO, PIC
Tier 4: TAS

Movies:
1. TOS
2. TNG
3. Kelvin

 

[Lynx]

I agree about the lack of similar chemistry, but I think it's good they didn't try to recreate it

I agree with your statement because TNG and its characters turned out to be so good in the long run.
The more I watched the series, the more I liked it and its characters.

 

[Mojochi]

I thought that the characters lacked the chemistry and originality of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the others.

They did, at 1st. The show wasn't even sure what it was yet exactly, but one thing was for sure. The crew was weirder. An agey prim & proper European captain, a bizarre yellow robot man, a Klingon with a haircut, a little kid, & everybody else played like 80s soap actors.

One of my 1st thoughts, knowing about Shatner's ego, was how insulted he must have been that he'd been replaced with a Brit, who was only 9 years younger, mostly bald & gray, when he'd been wearing a hairpiece for over a decade. At 47, Stewart looked older than Shatner did at 56, a year earlier in TVH lol. In fact, Picard is 59 in Farpoint.

So the changes weren't too jarring?

Compared to TOS, yes, but that needed to be the case. That 60s show esthetic was way too Batman for the 80s. It was seen as campy by then.

But compared to the TOS movies? Not so much. I think they did a good job out of the gate at aspiring to the movie esthetic. It was actually surprising that they'd done it, because that was not the production quality of most 80s tv.

 

[Denise]

I thought the first season was terrible. Encounter at Farpoint particularly put me off. But I decided to give Season 2 a chance, and I loved it.

 

[MikHutch]

They did, at 1st. The show wasn't even sure what it was yet exactly, but one thing was for sure. The crew was weirder. An agey prim & proper European captain, a bizarre yellow robot man, a Klingon with a haircut, a little kid, & everybody else played like 80s soap actors.

One of my 1st thoughts, knowing about Shatner's ego, was how insulted he must have been that he'd been replaced with a Brit, who was only 9 years younger, mostly bald & gray, when he'd been wearing a hairpiece for over a decade. At 47, Stewart looked older than Shatner did at 56, a year earlier in TVH lol. In fact, Picard is 59 in Farpoint.

Compared to TOS, yes, but that needed to be the case. That 60s show esthetic was way too Batman for the 80s. It was seen as campy by then.

But compared to the TOS movies? Not so much. I think they did a good job out of the gate at aspiring to the movie esthetic. It was actually surprising that they'd done it, because that was not the production quality of most 80s tv.

Shatner's ego is notoriously the size of a Borg cube, to the unfortunality of several TOS cast members, but I never heard of any difficulty between him and Stewart. Your thoughts being true wouldn't surprise me, though

i was initially surprised by the age difference between Steward & Picard. Poor Patrick went bald fairly early on, but a lot of us nowadays also like to joke about how poorly people aged before the 00s

on the other hand, I am surprised by how much of the production quality stil lholds up today. I imagine, despite the many other issues of early TNG, those production values indeed were a stark step up from other 80s shows

 

[Lynx]

They did, at 1st. The show wasn't even sure what it was yet exactly, but one thing was for sure. The crew was weirder. An agey prim & proper European captain, a bizarre yellow robot man, a Klingon with a haircut, a little kid, & everybody else played like 80s soap actors.

One of my 1st thoughts, knowing about Shatner's ego, was how insulted he must have been that he'd been replaced with a Brit, who was only 9 years younger, mostly bald & gray, when he'd been wearing a hairpiece for over a decade. At 47, Stewart looked older than Shatner did at 56, a year earlier in TVH lol. In fact, Picard is 59 in Farpoint.

Compared to TOS, yes, but that needed to be the case. That 60s show esthetic was way too Batman for the 80s. It was seen as campy by then.

But compared to the TOS movies? Not so much. I think they did a good job out of the gate at aspiring to the movie esthetic. It was actually surprising that they'd done it, because that was not the production quality of most 80s tv.

I thought the first season was terrible. Encounter at Farpoint particularly put me off. But I decided to give Season 2 a chance, and I loved it.

I found Encounter At Farpoint a bit dull compared to what I'd seen of TOS and the episodes after that weren't that encouraging either. However I continued to watch because I probably saw some potential in ithe series and the characters.

What started to make the series interesting were episodes like The Last Outpost, The Battle and Datalore. "Now it's beginning to look like something!", I thought. Due to my weird taste in villains and characters who are both mean ad funny, I also liked Q as a recurtring character in the series so having him back in Hide And Q was great.

From then on, it got better and better. Skin Of Evil was real spooky. Unfortunately Tasha Yar was killed off, I saw her as one of the better characters in the series.

Conspiracy and The Neutral Zone were really good. It was like the pieces in the puzzle were starting to fit better and better. I liked the concept of those 20th century humans found in space and wish that we would have had the opportunity to see how they adapted to life in the 24th century.

I also liked We'll Always Have Paris due to the fact that Michelle Phillips from The Mamas And The Papas were in it!

Anyway, I found the series becoming better and better and the characters more and more likeable for each episode I watched.

As for Sonny Clemonds, the 20th century human in The Neutral Zone, he seem to have restarted his career as a singer and guitar player together with a good friend from that encounter. The duo has gained enormous popularity among the federation citizens.

 

[Commander Troi]

I imagine, despite the many other issues of early TNG, those production values indeed were a stark step up from other 80s shows

Oh yeah! Several steps up. I think it was one of the most expensive shows on tv at the time.