Trek for Rookies - The Next Generation

Title

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Original Air Dates

September 28^th, 1987 – May 23^rd, 1994.

Main Story Line

Airing on television 21 years after the original series and picking up 70 years later in the Trek universe timeline, Captain Picard and his crew continue with Starfleet's exploration of space. However, it changes from a five year to an ongoing mission, and "where no man has gone before" is changed to "no one."

This is the first and only Trek to be nominated for an Emmy in the Best Dramatic Series category and it has made several lists as one of the best television shows of all time.

Sir Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The greatest actor portraying the greatest character EVER in the history of everything in the entire known universe. Ever. (I'm not biased or anything.)

The Captain

Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart)

Calm. Focused. Originally from France, but speaks with a British accent. Can quote Shakespeare extensively. Although a man of action when duty calls, is by nature an introvert that would prefer to spend off-time with reading books or working long, quiet hours on an archeological site. Whatever his environment, he always has a purpose. Can handle himself in a fight, but has the strength of presence and wisdom of experience to avert the use of violence. Impatient, and even seemingly awkward, with children. Favorite beverage is Earl Grey tea, hot.

From L to R: Wesley, Riker, Data, Troi, Picard, Worf, Crusher, La Forge.

Primary Characters 

Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) Human. An extrovert. Ladies' man. High levels of loyalty to both his Captain and his crew.

Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) Human. Ever optimistic. Blind since birth, utilizes a special visor that allows him to see using the electromagnetic spectrum.

Chief of Security Worf (Michael Dorn). Klingon, but raised by humans. Short of temper. Constantly at odds with attempting to balance Klingon tradition and instinct with human diplomacy and patience.

Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). Human. Superior scientific and medical skills. Very intent on ethics. The only female doctor within the five series.

Ship’s Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) Half-human, half-Betazoid. Empath. Has the ability to detect emotional states in others, which proves useful when the Captain is trying to determine the intent of newly met species.

Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) Android. The only functioning android of his kind in existence. Intent on becoming "more human." Because of this search for meaning, provides some of the most poignant, as well as humorous, moments of the series.

Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) Son of Dr. Crusher. At the time of its airing, it must have been an amazing experience for teens across the globe to have a character their age as a regular on a Star Trek series.

Alphas

John De Lancie as Q.

 - An all knowing, all powerful character known as "Q." The series begins and ends with him, with quite a few visits throughout all seven seasons. Portrayed by actor John De Lancie, you know it will be one of the better episodes if he shows up.

Resistance is futile...to Borg awesomeness!

 - The Borg. Within all five Trek series, the Borg are rivaled only by the Klingons as the coolest antagonists. And that is very much up for debate. Their story arc within the series is one of the finest in all the realms of sci-fi.

"Love is always smelled." - Ancient Klingon proverb.

 - The Klingon story arcs are most excellent.

 - For fans of the Battlestar Galactica series produced by Ronald D. Moore, it's interesting to note that he was also a co-producer on TNG. Towards the end of the series, one can even detect traces of editing, camerawork and other nuances that one would eventually find on BSG.

 - Remember these words: "There...are...FOUR...LIGHTS!"

The greatest picture ever taken of the greatest actor ever in the entire known history of the universe and everything in it. Ever.

 - Sir Patrick Stewart as Picard. It's reported that after moving to California to star on TNG, he didn't unpack his bags for six weeks, for he thought the show wouldn't last. But I dare say, he is most likely the primary reason it did remain on air. Any lesser actor (which would be most compared to him) may easily have led to the demise of the show.

Here's a clip displaying his mastery of the craft of acting, also giving example to what I believe is the very essence of the entire Trek realm created by Gene Roddenberry.

Deltas

 - By modern standards, the editing and pacing within the series may at times seem a bit slow.

 - Also, since the special effects were in a time where CGI was nowhere near the levels of today, they're a bit lacking. However, I have not yet watched any of the remasters on Bluray, so that may help.

 - Depending on who you are, this may be an Alpha or a Delta, but unlike all the other series, the sexiness quotient for TNG is rather low.

 - Maybe simply being due to the time within which it was made, the aesthetics of the costuming and set are a bit soft. Pastels? Really?

Who should watch Star Trek: The Next Generation?
As stated in previous posts, if someone has the time and inclination to watch all five series, I'd recommend the chronological order in which they were filmed, or that of the Trek universe itself.

However, if a phase pistol were put to my head, or if I was threatened with life imprisonment on Rura Penthe, and I had to choose only one series to recommend, it would be Star Trek: The Next Generation. It ran a full seven seasons and maintained high levels of excellence in its writing, acting and directing. It is also the most accessible of the Treks, with potential to appeal to people from all walks of life. Also, Gene Roddenberry himself worked on it, allowing him to try things he could only dream of doing with TOS.

If you only plan on watching one Trek ever (although I don't understand how that could be possible), then my vote would be for TNG.

On the launch platform for next week? Star Trek: The Original Series.

And in case you missed any of the previous posts in the Trek for Rookies series, here they are, along with other Trek related items.

TFR: Deep Space Nine
TFR: Voyager
TFR: Enterprise
TFR Supplemental: How To Cope With The Enterprise Theme Song
TFR: Overview
Sumner Goes Full Vulcan!
Five Klingon Phrases Every Geek Should Know
Star Wars vs Star Trek: This ends here. This ends now.
Star Trek Into Darkness: Haters are illogical!

Stephen Sumner is the science fiction columnist for Action A Go Go. He's proficient in Klingon swearing and has attempted the Vulcan process of Kolinar (with only mild success.) His favorite sci-fi series include Firefly, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek. He can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/VierLights or on the Tumblr machine at http://vierlights.tumblr.com/.