When did TNG get good?
- Thread starter seigezunt
- Start date
Season 2 has some amazing episodes like "The Measure of a Man", but in terms of when the show started being consistently good...I say right at the end of season 2. There was the excellent "Peak Performance", then it got VERY bad for one week with "Shades of Grey", then season 3 started and it was all smooth sailing from there for a very long time. 
MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
Half-way through "Generations".
Nah, I'm joking...TNG never got good...not TOS good, anyway. It got TNG good, which Voyager never got, and Enterprise fell short of. DS9 got DS9 good, which was like Babylon 5, only...you know, actually good.
I'd argue in Season 2, but it didn't start getting real good until "Evolution" - Season 3 Episode 1, it didn't become awesome unti "Yesterday's Enterprise" - Season 3 Episode Fifteen.
As everyone above said, TNG didn't quite hit its stride until Season 3. There are some early highlights, but Season 3 is solidly consistent and is, arguably (though not definitively), the best season of the series. From there, the series really finds its own identity and rhythm and, even though Season 7 is a bit "stale" it still manages to be better (on the balance) than Seasons 1-2.
I remember viewing "Who Watches The Watchers?" during its first broadcast and thinking "NOW, this series is finally finding its way!"
Season 3.
The first season is what I would call "TOS Good" (and I in no way whatsoever am trying to say the first season is better than any other season of TNG) , season 2 was like Voyager's first coupla seasons, not TOTALLY horrid, but pretty forgettable with few exceptions. Season 3, EVERYTHING drastically improves. Better season opener, better visuals, better uniforms, more consistently good episodes, just...EVERYTHING just hit a stride in the third season.
The first season is what I would call "TOS Good" (and I in no way whatsoever am trying to say the first season is better than any other season of TNG) , season 2 was like Voyager's first coupla seasons, not TOTALLY horrid, but pretty forgettable with few exceptions. Season 3, EVERYTHING drastically improves. Better season opener, better visuals, better uniforms, more consistently good episodes, just...EVERYTHING just hit a stride in the third season.
I agree with most of the posters. Season 3, and by Season 4 they were really groovin.
The question is less when TNG "got good" and more when it got reliable. I'll sit and watch "Conspiracy" or "Measure Of A Man" or "The Big Goodbye" - they're really good hours of TNG - a lot sooner than I'll sit through any of the Klingon episodes or most Borg episodes. Fans seem to widely consider Season Three to be some kind of watershed, but there were more than a couple of really imaginative, distinctive shows in the first two years that remain high water marks in many respects.
Half-way through "Generations".
Nah, I'm joking...TNG never got good...not TOS good, anyway. It got TNG good, which Voyager never got, and Enterprise fell short of. DS9 got DS9 good, which was like Babylon 5, only...you know, actually good.
I'd qualify that last with, "only...you know, still somewhat restricted by franchise expectations."
DS9 and B5 went to some similar places, but B5 was always more free to throw the status quo out the window than DS9 was. It's a limitation, albeit one that the writers were clearly pressing hard against.
DS9 got DS9 good, which was like Babylon 5, only...you know, actually good.
Them's fightin' words!
Nah, I'm joking...TNG never got good...not TOS good, anyway. It got TNG good, which Voyager never got, and Enterprise fell short of. DS9 got DS9 good, which was like Babylon 5, only...you know, actually good.
Frankly, I believe that TNG, DS9 and VOY were all better than TOS or ENT. But not one show, as far as I'm concerned, was better than BABYLON 5.
If you ask me, it gets good from the very first episode.
Series one and two are generally regarded as the worst two seasons. You'll see a huge improvement in quality when you hit season 3, not to mention that you start to get all the awesome 2 part episodes from S3 onwards.
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