The Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: Introductory Post

I am a Trekkie because of TNG.

I missed it first run but caught it on syndication and for a long time it was my only Star Trek. I couldn’t get into DS9 and Voyager hadn’t aired yet, so I used to wait for 7pm to roll around and tune in for the adventures of Captain Picard and his crew on the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D.  No one else in my family cared for it so it was my special show that I didn’t have to share with anyone.  To some extent I still feel that way, because I am so rarely able to geek out about it with people. Most of the Trekkies I know are hardcore TOSsers or, interestingly, DS9 fans (I find this to be generational), so I’m really looking forward to the chance to talk about TNG with you guys.

TNG happens to be Eugene’s and my favorite Trek, so you may wonder why we didn’t just re-watch it to begin with. Well, when we embarked on the Star Trek Re-Watch two and a half years ago, the fact that the original series was only three seasons and 79 episodes definitely played a factor in our decision to go forward. TNG, on the other hand, has seven seasons and 176 episodes.

How It Will Work

That’s a big commitment, so we’re striking a bargain.  We’re going to start off reviewing every episode in Season 1.  Eugene and I do this for love of the game without cash reward, but all we ask is that you participate and you invite your friends to join us. Please spread the word! We can only continue doing this if we have an active audience, and the discussion on each episode is our favorite part of all this.

If there hasn’t been a lot of interest by the end of Season 1, then we’re going to do a selective re-watch of TNG. Before each season, Eugene and I will pick specific episodes (likely fewer than 10) that we want to cover, either because we love them or hate them (or just think they’re worth talking about). We’ll post the list, and you guys can comment and let us know if we absolutely HAVE to include X, Y, or Z on the list. If others back you up, we’ll probably add it. (Likewise, if you never want to watch “The Child” again, I am so with you. Just comment.)

We feel this is the most fair way to balance the needs of the many with the needs of the two.

Logistical Changes

We’re not both going to write about each episode. We did this with TOS because Eugene was re-watching and I was a total n00b so we usually had different reactions, but this time we’re both re-watching, and we don’t want it to get redundant (or get too burned out by the time commitment). We’ll both be watching all the episodes, but for the posts that Eugene writes I’ll just be another commenter and vice versa.

Likewise, we’re going to cut down our plot summaries and nix most of the trivia because, well, Memory Alpha is out there. TOS had a lot of syndication edits that weren’t listed on MA, but TNG is pretty well annotated on the net. We’d like this to be a place to sit at the bar and chat, not create a comprehensive encyclopedia.

As for watching along, CBS.com has been hemming and hawing about having the old series online, and in any case TNG doesn’t appear to be there. It was recently added to Netflix’s Watch Instantly library and Amazon Prime, so I hope those of you with access will be able to follow along that way or with DVDs.

Lastly, we’ll be keeping our Warp rating system of 1-6 despite the advances in warp technology.

Final Note

We’ll begin the re-watch the Thursday after Thanksgiving with the two-hour series premiere, “Encounter at Farpoint.”

So that’s that! I hope you’ll all stick around and be able to join us for this new journey. Have you all seen TNG before? Any favorite/least favorite episodes you can recall from the get-go, and favorite/least favorite characters?

I’ll save the best/worst episodes for the re-watch, but am happy to disclose that my least favorite character was probably Ro Laren, and my favorite character was (and may always be) Geordi LaForge.

About Torie Atkinson

Torie Atkinson watches too many movies and plays too many games but never, ever reads enough books.