Film Roar

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Thank you to Sven who graciously lent me his collection of all seven seasons of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987) on DVD. I can honestly say it was a pleasure to work my way through the old episodes, remembering the ones I had seen before and. well. there was actually only one episode in the series I had not already seen so re-watching it through was really mostly about remembering and enjoying.

Seeing the series in chronological order was a great treat. I got to see the story arcs develop, the characters grow and the actors start to learn how to act. Patrick Stewart did a great job from the beginning, though Picard is a bit stiff for the first few episodes. There were moments in the series where I felt a bit bad for less experienced actors who had to share the screen with the more seasoned Patrick Stewart. I can see why Stewart enjoyed such success after playing the role of captain of the enterprise though. He gives the character a strength and charisma that is very attractive.

LeVar Burton is an individual who has never ceased to impress me. Throughout the series he gave a solid, top-notch performance as Geordi LaForge. When I learned that Burton financed the wonderful television series "Reading Rainbow" (1983) out of his own pocket, my opinion of the actor rose considerably. Seeing the intelligence and humility with which he presented himself in the series featurettes took my opinion of Burton to new heights.

Jonathan Frakes took a bit longer to warm up. The character of William Re-Kirk.. err.. I mean Riker is a bit of a ham in the first season but feels like a fully developed human being by the time season four rolls around. By the end of the series the Riker character is actually likeable and much more dimensional than the character we saw at the start of the series.

Other actors took a bit longer to get into the swing of things, I don't think it is until the fourth season or so that Marina Sirtis started feeling natural in her role as counselor Troi (and the less said about the Season 1 and 2 "Captain. I feel their PAIN!" Interstellar-cheerleader-Troi the better). I must admit that I never fully liked either the character or the actress.

Interestingly enough, this time around Wesley "the Weasel" crusher did not annoy me like he did when the series first aired. This is probably due to the fact that I have learned from his web site, www.wilwheaton.net that Wil Wheaton, the actor, is actually a pretty cool and grounded guy.

I am sorry to say that I had actually mostly forgotten about Denise Crosby's character of Tasha Yar, but was very happy to see her on the show again (and again, and again as she returned in "Yesterday's Enterprise", "All Good Things..." and again as Commander Sela in "The Minds Eye", "Redemption" and "Unification"). In retrospect I remember having high expectations from a strong female character when the first series aired. I keep wondering what would have happened to Tasha if she had stayed on the series. I can only assume that both the character and the acting would have matured like the others did had she been given the chance. I remember hearing rumors when she left the show that she had gotten into a fight with Gene Roddenberry after he made a pass at her that she refused. I have also head that she was kicked off the show after posing nude for Playboy. I have looked in various books and online but never found any confirmation of these rumors. The exact circumstances of her departure are still kept a bit obscure. The official record says that she left the show because she was unhappy with the limited screen time her character was getting, but every time I see an interview or read an article about her leaving the show I get the feeling there is a lot more to the story than anyone is letting on.

Michael Dorn gave what could have been a very two dimensional character depth by playing Worf as the straight man to some great jokes. One gets the feeling that the writers on TNG were very unsure what to do with the Worf character until the latter seasons. Once they got a good stride and wrote some Worf oriented episodes, Dorn had a chance to shine. I was very happy to see Dorn appear on the series, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) where he was able to reprise and continue the character he had created on TNG.

The extras included on the DVDs give some great insight into the series, it's creators and it's actors. From interviews, behind the scenes moments and featurettes one gets the impression that Brent Spiner, while a fine actor, is a grade A ass. I may be reading too much into too little, but the guy seems overly conceded, egomaniacal and not nearly as warm or compassionate as his cast mates. Case in point, the following is a quote attributed to Spiner when asked about his decision to play a Star Trek role: 'At first I was reluctant. But then I figured, if it's good enough for Alec Guinness, it's good enough for me.'

Probably my favorite actor in the series is Gates McFadden. She receives very little screen time on the series and it is not until the writers felt comfortable writing scripts that revolved around specific character in the last few seasons that we started to get a real feel for who is Dr. Crusher. What most attracts me to the character though is the natural sense beauty, sensuality and sophistication that McFadden brings to the role. As I have stated before: Gates McFadden is a hottie

I would like to write some thoughts on some of my favorite episodes from the series, but to do so all as part of this post would probably be a bit of overkill. I will instead finish this by pointing out some entries on Star Trek: The Next Generation that have already been posted to Geekroar.com and including a list of all seven season's episodes. Given the time and inclination I hope to write a bit more on some of the episodes at a later dates.

Film Roar: Gates McFadden is a Hottie

Film Roar: Star Trek TNG: Navigational Dolphins

Film Roar: Star Trek TNG: The missing episode

Film Roar: Star Trek TNG: The Tetris Episode and the JGFG

Episodes are listed by episode number in the series, date when the episode first aired, Star Trek tracking number, star date of episode and episode title:

Season 1
1/2. 09/26/87 721 41153.7 Encounter at Farpoint
3. 10/03/87 103 41209.2 The Naked Now
4. 10/10/87 104 42805.25 Code of Honor
5. 10/18/87 107 41386.4 The Last Outpost
6. 10/24/87 106 41263.1 Where No One Has Gone Before
7. 10/31/87 108 41249.3 Lonely Among Us
8. 11/07/87 109 41255.6 Justice
9. 11/14/87 110 41723.9 The Battle
10. 11/21/87 111 41590.5 Hide And Q
11. 11/28/87 105 41294.5 Haven
12. 01/09/88 113 41997.7 The Big Goodbye
13. 01/16/88 114 41242.4 Datalore
14. 01/23/88 115 41636.9 Angel One
15. 01/30/88 116 41365.9 11001001
16. 02/06/88 112 41309.5 Too Short A Season
17. 02/13/88 118 41509.1 When The Bough Breaks
18. 02/20/88 117 41463.9 Home Soil
19. 03/12/88 119 41416.2 Coming Of Age
20. 03/19/88 120 41503.7 Heart of Glory
21. 04/09/88 121 41798.2 The Arsenal of Freedom
22. 04/16/88 123 N/A Symbiosis
23. 04/23/88 122 41601.3 Skin of Evil
24. 04/30/88 124 41697.9 We'll Always Have Paris
25. 05/07/88 125 41775.5 Conspiracy
26. 05/14/88 126 41986.0 The Neutral Zone

Season 2
27. 11/19/88 127 42073.1 The Child
28. 11/26/88 128 42193.6 Where Silence Has Lease
29. 12/03/88 129 42286.3 Elementary, Dear Data
30. 12/10/88 130 42402.7 The Outrageous Okona
31. 01/07/89 132 42477.2 Loud As A Whisper
32. 01/21/89 131 42437.5 The Schizoid Man
33. 01/28/89 133 42494.8 Unnatural Selection
34. 02/04/89 134 42506.5 A Matter Of Honor
35. 02/11/89 135 42523.7 The Measure Of A Man
36. 02/18/89 136 42568.8 The Dauphin
37. 03/18/89 137 42609.1 Contagion
38. 03/25/89 138 42625.4 The Royale
39. 04/01/89 139 42679.2 Time Squared
40. 04/22/89 140 42686.4 The Icarus Factor
41. 04/29/89 141 42695.3 Pen Pals
42. 05/06/89 142 42761.3 Q Who
43. 05/13/89 143 42779.1 Samaritan Snare
44. 05/20/89 144 42823.2 Up The Long Ladder
45. 06/17/89 145 42859.2 Manhunt
46. 06/24/89 146 42901.3 The Emissary
47. 07/08/89 147 42923.4 Peak Performance
48. 07/15/89 148 42976.1 Shades Of Gray

Season 3
49. 09/23/89 150 43125.8 Evolution
50. 09/30/89 149 N/A The Ensigns of Command
51. 10/07/89 151 43142.4 The Survivors
52. 10/14/89 152 43173.5 Who Watches The Watchers
53. 10/21/89 153 43198.7 The Bonding
54. 10/28/89 154 43205.6 Booby Trap
55. 11/04/89 155 43349.2 The Enemy
56. 11/11/89 156 43385.6 The Price
57. 11/18/89 157 43421.9 The Vengeance Factor
58. 12/30/89 158 43462.5 The Defector
59. 01/06/90 159 43489.2 The Hunted
60. 01/27/90 160 43510.7 The High Ground
61. 02/03/90 161 43539.1 Deja Q
62. 02/10/90 162 43610.4 A Matter of Perspective
63. 02/17/90 163 43625.2 Yesterday's Enterprise
64. 03/10/90 164 43657.0 The Offspring
65. 03/17/90 165 43685.2 Sins of the Father
66. 03/24/90 166 43714.1 Allegiance
67. 03/31/90 167 43745.2 Captain's Holiday
68. 04/21/90 168 43779.3 Tin Man
69. 04/28/90 169 43807.4 Hollow Pursuits
70. 05/05/90 170 43872.2 The Most Toys
71. 05/12/90 171 43917.4 Sarek
72. 05/26/90 172 43930.7 Ménage à Troi
73. 06/02/90 173 43957.2 Transfigurations
74. 06/16/90 174 43989.1 The Best of Both Worlds

Season 4
75. 09/22/90 175 44001.4 Best of Both Worlds Part II
76. 09/29/90 178 44012.3 Family
77. 10/06/90 177 44085.7 Brothers
78. 10/13/90 176 44143.7 Suddenly Human
79. 10/20/90 179 44161.2 Remember Me
80. 10/27/90 180 44215.2 Legacy
81. 11/03/90 181 44246.3 Reunion
82. 11/10/90 182 44286.5 Future Imperfect
83. 11/17/90 183 44307.3 Final Mission
84. 12/29/90 184 44356.9 The Loss
85. 01/05/91 185 44390.1 Data's Day
86. 01/26/91 186 44429.6 The Wounded
87. 02/02/91 187 44474.5 Devil's Due
88. 02/09/91 188 44502.7 Clues
89. 02/16/91 189 N/A First Contact
90. 03/09/91 190 44614.6 Galaxy's Child
91. 03/16/91 191 44631.2 Night Terrors
92. 03/23/91 192 44664.5 Identity Crisis
93. 03/30/91 193 44704.2 The Nth Degree
94. 04/20/91 194 44741.9 Qpid
95. 04/27/91 195 44769.2 The Drumhead
96. 05/04/91 196 44805.3 Half a Life
97. 05/11/91 197 44821.3 The Host
98. 05/25/91 198 44885.5 The Mind's Eye
99. 06/01/91 199 44923.3 In Theory
100. 06/15/91 200 44995.3 Redemption

Season 5
101. 09/21/91 201 45020.4 Redemption II
102. 09/28/91 202 45047.2 Darmok
103. 10/05/91 203 45076.3 Ensign Ro
104. 10/12/91 204 45122.3 Silicon Avatar
105. 10/19/91 205 45156.1 Disaster
106. 10/26/91 206 45208.2 The Game
107. 11/02/91 208 45233.1 Unification: Part I
108. 11/09/91 207 45245.8 Unification: Part II
109. 11/16/91 209 45349.1 A Matter of Time
110. 01/04/92 210 45376.3 New Ground
111. 01/25/92 211 45397.3 Hero Worship
112. 02/01/92 212 45429.3 Violations
113. 02/08/92 213 45470.1 The Masterpiece Society
114. 02/15/92 214 45494.2 Conundrum
115. 02/22/92 215 45571.2 Power Play
116. 02/29/92 216 45587.3 Ethics
117. 03/14/92 217 45614.6 The Outcast
118. 03/21/92 218 45652.1 Cause And Effect
119. 03/28/92 219 45703.9 The First Duty
120. 04/18/92 220 45733.6 Cost Of Living
121. 04/25/92 221 45761.3 The Perfect Mate
122. 05/02/92 222 45852.1 Imaginary Friend
280. 05/09/92 223 45854.2 I Borg
124. 05/16/92 224 N/A The Next Phase
125. 05/30/92 225 45944.1 The Inner Light
126. 06/13/92 226 45959.1 Time's Arrow

Season 6
127. 09/19/92 227 46001.3 Time's Arrow, Part II
128. 09/26/92 228 46041.1 Realm Of Fear
129. 10/03/92 229 46071.6 Man Of The People
130. 10/10/92 230 46125.3 Relics
131. 10/17/92 231 46154.2 Schisms
132. 10/24/92 232 46192.3 True Q
133. 10/31/92 233 46235.7 Rascals
134. 11/07/92 234 46271.5 A Fistful of Datas
135. 11/14/92 235 46307.2 The Quality of Life
136. 12/12/92 236 46357.4 Chain of Command, Part I
137. 12/19/92 237 46360.8 Chain of Command, Part II
138. 01/23/93 238 46424.1 Ship In A Bottle
139. 01/30/93 239 46461.3 Aquiel
140. 02/06/93 240 46519.1 Face Of The Enemy
141. 02/13/93 241 N/A Tapestry
142. 02/20/93 242 46578.4 Birthright, Part I
143. 02/27/93 243 46579.2 Birthright, Part II
144. 03/27/93 244 46682.4 Starship Mine
145. 04/03/93 245 46693.1 Lessons
146. 04/24/93 246 46731.5 The Chase
147. 05/01/93 247 46778.1 Frame of Mind
148. 05/08/93 248 46830.1 Suspicions
149. 05/15/93 249 46852.2 Rightful Heir
150. 05/22/93 250 46915.2 Second Chances
151. 06/12/93 251 46944.2 Timescape
152. 06/19/93 252 46982.1 Descent

Season 7
153. 09/18/93 253 47025.4 Descent, Part II
154. 09/25/93 254 N/A Liaisons
155. 10/02/93 255 47215.5 Interface
156. 10/09/93 256 47135.2 Gambit, Part I
157. 10/16/93 257 47160.1 Gambit, Part II
158. 10/23/93 258 47225.7 Phantasms
159. 10/30/93 259 47254.1 Dark Page
160. 11/06/93 260 47304.2 Attached
161. 11/13/93 261 47310.2 Force of Nature
162. 11/20/93 262 47410.2 Inheritance
163. 11/27/93 263 47391.2 Parallels
164. 01/08/94 264 47457.1 The Pegasus
165. 01/15/94 265 47423.9 Homeward
166. 01/29/94 266 N/A Sub Rosa
167. 02/05/94 267 47566.7 Lower Decks
168. 02/12/94 268 47611.2 Thine Own Self
169. 02/19/94 269 47618.4 Masks
170. 02/26/94 270 47622.1 Eye of the Beholder
171. 03/19/94 271 47653.2 Genesis
172. 03/26/94 272 47751.2 Journey's End
173. 04/23/94 273 47779.4 Firstborn
174. 04/30/94 274 47829.1 Bloodlines
175. 05/07/94 275 47869.2 Emergence
176. 05/14/94 276 47941.7 Preemptive Strike
177. 05/23/94 747 47988.1 All Good Things...