WTF moments in Season 1....

[Nebusj]

Then there is the part where Picard orders Riker to re-dock the two halves manually. Why again?

As a test of his abilities.

It also serves as a way of building up the First Officer in the eyes of the crew if they see him doing this reportedly tricky and delicate maneuver easily his first hour on the job.

(It probably would have impressed the audience more if it had actually seemed all that tricky, but to this non-technically minded viewer it just looked like he ordered `get real close' and `level it off' and then `hit the dock button, Unnamed Conn Guy Who'll Turn Out To Be O'Brien With A Confusing Rank Issue', and it seems like I could've done that.)

 

[EmperorTiberius]

That was "11001001," not "The Big Goodbye."

No, it was also "The Big Goodbye". Troi tells Picard to try the new upgrades or something like that. Picard is amazed at the automobiles.

 

[Christopher]

^You specified the Bynars. They were only seen in "11001001." Any upgrades in "The Big Goodbye," which came three episodes earlier, were not Bynar-related.

 

[EmperorTiberius]

^You specified the Bynars. They were only seen in "11001001." Any upgrades in "The Big Goodbye," which came three episodes earlier, were not Bynar-related.

Right right, I got my chronology mixed up, I knew they were upgraded in that episode too, I don't know why I thought it was the Bynars

 

[Data Holmes]

^You specified the Bynars. They were only seen in "11001001." Any upgrades in "The Big Goodbye," which came three episodes earlier, were not Bynar-related.

Right right, I got my chronology mixed up, I knew they were upgraded in that episode too, I don't know why I thought it was the Bynars

Ah... The great Production order vs Airdate order...


The Big Goodbye was supposed to be aired after 11001001.

 

[Trekker4747]

Unfortuantly in at least one case airdate order is the more logical way to watch the series.

 

[Christopher]

The Big Goodbye was supposed to be aired after 11001001.

No, it was not. Not only was "11001001" three episodes later than "The Big Goodbye" in both production and airdate order, it's explicitly set after "Goodbye." Picard's initial log entry in "11001001" mentions the need for upgrades to "the holodeck, with which we've had problems" -- and "Goodbye" was the first episode to depict problems with the holodeck. Later, the Bynars say "The deviation caused by a previous probe have been corrected." This is a clear reference to the damage caused by the Jarada probe in "The Big Goodbye." Also, in "Goodbye," Picard reacts to the inclusion of interactive characters in a holodeck program as an exciting novelty, but in "11...," Picard mentions the holodeck's ability to create "fictional characters with which we can interact" as part of its normal repertoire.

So there's no question that "Goodbye" is meant to come first. This is a nice bit of early continuity in TNG -- the aftermath of the events of one episode being acknowledged and even having some slight plot relevance in a later one.

 

[Data Holmes]

Those were changes added after the airdate order was changed, screwing the story arch they were starting up.

 

[Christopher]

Those were changes added after the airdate order was changed, screwing the story arch they were starting up.

You know, it would be easier to confirm these claims if you'd cite your sources. It took me a while to hunt down what you're referring to here. The ST Encyclopedia does confirm that "The Big Goodbye" was originally slated to be produced after "11001001," but they were rearranged in the production schedule before filming began. So your reference to a change in airdate order is not quite correct. This is not a case where the episodes were produced in one order and aired in a different one. It was the production order that was changed, and the airdate order of the two episodes follows the production order exactly.

And really, it's obvious the change was made before either episode was filmed, since changing the source of the malfunction from residual Bynar programming to a Jarada probe was a significant change in the story, certainly not something you could fix after filming with editing tweaks or dialogue looping. It would've had to be a script rewrite before shooting.