Star Trek: The Next Generation Day!

I feel old today.  I can’t believe that it was twenty-five years ago this month that Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 – 1994) first premiered in syndication across the United States. I was seventeen years old at the time, and was both excited and anxious about the idea of a new Star Trek series. 

After all, I hadn’t even been born yet when the first Star Trek (1966 – 1969) aired on network television, so this would be my first opportunity to experience the thrill of new episodes on a weekly basis.  But, I also wondered whether Star Trek could make the transition from one generation to the next, from the era of Kirk and Spock to the era of Picard and Data.

I needn’t have feared. 

For many fans (though not this one), Star Trek: The Next Generation surpassed the original series, and to this day represents the franchise at its best. 

I’ll always be an “Original Series” kind of guy, but I recently watched the entirety of Star Trek: The Next Generation and enjoyed it very much.  The series has its considerable problems, including the inconsistent writing of the Picard character, too many “Love Boat in Space” episodes (where the crew’s family members board the Enterprise to share the emotional trauma of the week), too many “wasted” episodes involving the Holodeck rather than going boldly where none have gone before, and a backward view of the female characters and their capabilities. 

And, in general, the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies are really, really dreadful.

Yet The Next Generation also features some truly great episodes, like “The Best of Both Worlds,” “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” and “The Inner Light.”   I watched “The Offspring” recently (directed by Jonathan Frakes) and found myself genuinely moved by it.  That episode should appear at the top of more best of TNG” lists, I suspect.

I realize that fans are always talking about what a great actor Patrick Stewart is, and indeed this is so.  But what really struck me on my re-watch of The Next Generation is how -- week in and week out for seven years -- Brent Spiner absolutely excels in the role of Lt. Data.  He brings innocence, humor and pathos to the role of the Soong Android, and in the process lifts even the most clichéd (“Datalore”) and confusing (“Masks”) material.  He's a marvel.

Again, I must mention “The Offspring,” an episode wherein Spiner skillfully underplays the heart-breaking finale involving the death of Data’s daughter.  That choice somehow -- paradoxically -- makes the thing all the more emotional. 

But enough specifics for now!  Today on the blog, I’ll be celebrating the 25^th Anniversary of this series with Star Trek: The Next Generation Day.  I hope you’ll join me.

Let’s see what’s out there…