Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a
television series set in the
Star Trek universe created by
Gene Roddenberry.The first live-action television continuation of the original (
1966–
1969) series
Star Trek,
The Next Generation is set nearly a century later and features a new starship and a new crew. It is often referred to as
ST:TNG or simply
TNG.
The series was conceived of and produced by original
Star Trek creator
Gene Roddenberry.It premiered the week of
September 28,
1987 with the two-hour pilot episode "
Encounter at Farpoint" and ran for seven seasons, ending with the final episode "
All Good Things..." the week of
May 23,
1994.The series was broadcast in first-run
syndication, so air dates and times varied among individual television stations. The show gained a considerable following during its run, and like its predecessor, remains popular in syndicated re-runs. Its popularity led to a line of spin-off or prequel television series that would continue without interruption until
2005. The series also formed the basis of the seventh through tenth movies of the Star Trek theatrical film series, which were related to the first six movies that starred the cast of the
original NBC series.
The voiceover during each episode's opening credits was similar to that of the original series and was narrated by
Patrick Stewart (Captain
Jean-Luc Picard of the
USS Enterprise):
Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise
. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.The Next Generation version of this narration ends with "where no one has gone before," in contrast with the original series' "where no
man has gone before". This change is the result of changed perspectives on the roles of females in the series, particularly as leaders. For instance, in the original series, women were usually limited to playing seductresses or their on ship duties were reduced to secretarial positions, as in the case of
Uhura. In the Next Generation, women often confront the captain and advise him, which seldom happened in the original series.
The episodes follow the adventures of the crew of the
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), a
Galaxy class starship designed for both exploration and diplomacy but quite capable of battle when necessary. Her captain is the seasoned and charismatic Captain
Jean-Luc Picard, who is more intellectual and philosophical than many typical protagonists in popular science fiction.
As in the case of
The Original Series (
TOS), the crew of the
Enterprise-D meets many technologically powerful races.Many episodes also involve
time travel or temporal loops, character dramas, natural disasters, and other plotlines without alien encounters. In contrast to the original series, in which the ship was exploring unknown areas of the galaxy, the
Enterprise-D serves primarily as a vessel for diplomacy, defense, and humanitarian aid. TNG's crew seems to have a greater dedication to peaceful resolution to conflicts, and takes a more rigid approach to following
Starfleet's Prime Directive established in the original series. The ship is frequently threatened by unexpected phenomena, but as the
Enterprise-D is much more powerful than the previous ship, the stories are often able to focus more on moral implications, rather than the immediate need for survival.
Another noticeable difference between
TOS and
TNG is the continuity of general
story arcs across episodes — though the show is still episodic and not serialized, events in one episode might influence events in a later episode. For example, a major recurring character,
Q, bookends the series, appearing as the first major antagonist in "
Encounter at Farpoint" and closing the series in the final episode "
All Good Things...". Characters also deal with evolving interpersonal relationships, as well as ongoing political stories, such as the power struggles within the
Klingon government.
Previously-established alien races appear in
TNG.
*The
United Federation of Planets (Federation) is now at peace with the Klingons, their former enemies, though vast cultural differences remain.
*A "cold war" with the
Romulans, similar to that in the Original Series, continues in TNG.
*Three new major recurring races are introduced into the
mythology: the aggressively capitalist
Ferengi; merciless cybernetic hybrids, the
Borg; and the corrupt and imperial
Cardassians, loosely modeled after early 20th century
fascists. The Ferengi, originally introduced as villainous characters, were soon downgraded to comic relief and as such thrived on the TNG spinoff
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
The Borg are the most powerful threat in this series, though they do not appear frequently until the spin-off series
Star Trek: Voyager. In the episode "
The Best of Both Worlds", a single
Borg Cube is initially challenged (ineffectually) by the
Enterprise, abducts and
assimilates Captain Picard, destroys thirty-nine
Starfleet vessels at the
Battle of Wolf 359, and continues to
Earth, where it is stopped by the last-ditch actions of the
Enterprise crew.
 |
Enterprise in orbit above a planet. |
The series greatly expands on a secondary theme of
TOS: the idealism of humanity's dedication to improving itself.It also continues TOS's approach of using extra-terrestrial species and science fiction elements as a means of exploring many real-world social, political, personal and spiritual issues. Most episodes have an intentional philosophical or moral message. The series attempts to depict Gene Roddenberry's vision of a future in which the human race has done away with racism, sexism, prejudice, greed, and poverty, and dedicated itself almost entirely to peaceful scientific pursuits.
TNG has been praised for being more in the spirit of "traditional" idea-based science fiction than other action/adventure franchises which became more common between
1970 and
2000.However, it has also been criticized for shying away from conflict and character drama and too often having the crew solve its challenges through the discovery or invention of hitherto-unknown technology (known as
Treknobabble).
Gene Roddenberry continued to be credited as executive producer of
TNG though his influence lessened due to his declining health as the series progressed, with responsibility for the show gradually shifting to producer
Rick Berman. When Roddenberry died in
1991, Berman officially took over and under his guidance, some feel the series came to rely more on action and conflict.
The series also contains many story elements that are found in all the Star Trek series. For instance, an alien or android is a member of the crew, and a lot of dialogue revolves around explaining human customs to the alien (trying to enlighten the human viewer in the process). Another re-occurring theme across the different series is the idea of a
temporal paradox.
Main characters
More so than with
The Original Series, the cast of The Next Generation was subject to some change, most notably in the later half of the first season following the death of the
Enterprise's security chief and tactical officer,
Tasha Yar, after actress
Denise Crosby chose to leave the series. The scripts were quickly adapted, with the character of Worf, originally a junior officer, promoted to serve as Yar's replacement as security chief and tactical officer. Crosby returned to portray Tasha Yar in the alternate timeline episode "
Yesterday's Enterprise" and as part of a trip back in time to Picard's first days on the Enterprise in the series finale "
All Good Things...".
Wesley Crusher was also written out of the show in order to join
Starfleet Academy, after a few years of serving as helmsman under the rank of Acting
Ensign and then as a full Ensign (after the result of a field promotion) (Actor
Wil Wheaton has revealed on his website that he left the show because he was frustrated by having to fit other roles around his Trek schedule, when he had increasingly little to do on the series). Actress
Gates McFadden was essentially fired after one season, and was replaced by
Diana Muldaur, who had earlier been featured as a guest star in two episodes of The Original Series ("
Return to Tomorrow" and "
Is There in Truth No Beauty?," playing different characters). Muldaur's character, Dr. Pulaski, proved unpopular with viewers and was dropped at the end of the second season without explanation. After Muldaur departed for the
NBC series
LA Law (where her character would suffer similar fan dislike),
Gates McFadden reprised her role as Dr. Crusher for subsequent seasons.
Also, not all of the main characters had a place on the bridge, the ship's command center. After being promoted from helmsman,
Geordi La Forge, the Chief Engineer, spent most of his time in engineering, while Dr. Crusher, although holding privileges as a bridge officer, primarily resided in sickbay. The show did not have a regular Chief Engineer character for the first season, although various engineers appeared.
| Picture | Character | Rank | Actor | Position |
|---|
| Jean-Luc Picard | Captain | Patrick Stewart | Commanding Officer |
| William Thomas Riker | Commander | Jonathan Frakes | Executive Officer |
| Data | Lt. Commander | Brent Spiner | Second officer, chief operations officer, science officer |
| Deanna Troi | Lt. Commander (1-6), Commander (7) | Marina Sirtis | Ship's counselor |
| Geordi La Forge | Lt. Junior Grade (1), Lieutenant (2), Lt. Commander (3-7) | LeVar Burton | Conn Officer and Ops, Chief Engineering Officer |
| Worf | Lt. Junior Grade (1-2), Lieutenant (3-7), | Michael Dorn | Tactical and Conn officer (season 1)Chief security/tactical officer after Yar's death (seasons 2-7) |
| Beverly Crusher, M. D. | Commander | Gates McFadden | Chief medical officer (seasons 1, 3-7; season 2, absent while Chief of Starfleet Medical); bridge officer |
| Katherine Pulaski, M. D. | Commander | Diana Muldaur | Chief medical officer (season 2) |
| Natasha "Tasha" Yar | Lieutenant | Denise Crosby | Chief of Security (season 1, recurring otherwise) |
| Wesley Crusher | Acting Ensign (1-3), Ensign (3-4), Cadet (Recurring) | Wil Wheaton | Dr. Crusher's son, Conn Officer (seasons 1-4, recurring otherwise) |
Recurring characters
| Actor | Role | Appearances |
|---|
| Brian Bonsall | Alexander Rozhenko, Worf's son | Seasons 4–7 |
| Eric Menyuk | The Traveler | Seasons 1, 4 and 7 (three episodes) |
| Ward Costello | Admiral Gregory Quinn | Season 1 |
| Robert Schenkkan | Lt. Cmdr. Dexter Remmick | Season 1 |
| Patti Yasutake | Nurse Alyssa Ogawa | Seasons 3–7 |
| Andreas Katsulas | Commander Tomalak | Seasons 3, 4, and 7 |
| Ashley Judd | Ensign Robin Lefler | Season 5 (two episodes) |
| Whoopi Goldberg | Guinan, El Aurian bartender | Seasons 2–6 |
| Rosalind Chao | Keiko O'Brien, Miles O'Brien's wife | Seasons 4–6 |
| Tony Todd | Kurn, Worf's brother | Seasons 3–7 |
| Majel Barrett | Lwaxana Troi, Deanna Troi's mother | Seasons 1–7 |
| Voice of the Enterprise computer |
| Daniel Davis | Professor Moriarty, a sentient Holodeck character | Seasons 2 and 6 |
| John de Lancie | Q, member of the omnipotent Q Continuum | Seasons 1–4 and 6–7 |
| Dwight Schultz | Lieutenant Reginald Barclay, engineer | Seasons 3–7 |
| Michelle Forbes | Ensign/Lieutenant Ro Laren, a Bajoran | Seasons 5–7 |
| Denise Crosby | Sela, a half Romulan, Tasha Yar's daughter | Seasons 4 and 5 |
| Mark Lenard | Ambassador Sarek, a Vulcan, and Spock's father | Seasons 3 and 5 |
| Colm Meaney | Miles Edward O'Brien, Navigation and later, Transporter Chief | Seasons 1–7 |
Majel Barrett (wife of Star Trek creator,
Gene Roddenberry) has also been the voice of the ship's computer in most Trek incarnations, and played
Nurse Chapel in the original series, as well as the First Officer in the first pilot of the original series, "
The Cage." She also did voice-overs for two episodes of "Star Trek: Enterprise," allowing her to be the only actress involved in all five television series.
Guest stars
Notable guests have included:
*
Corbin Bernsen, in "
Deja Q"
*
Kirsten Dunst, in "
Dark Page"
*
Kelsey Grammer, in "
Cause and Effect"
*
Teri Hatcher, in "
The Outrageous Okona"
*
Joe Piscopo, playing "The Comic" (presumably himself) in a
Holodeck simulation, in "
The Outrageous Okona"
*
David Warner, in "
Chain of Command" (he also had featured roles in the
fifth and
sixth Trek films)
*
John Tesh, playing a
Klingon in "
The Icarus Factor"
*
Nikki Cox, in "
Pen Pals"
*
Ronny Cox, in "
Chain of Command"
*
Vincent Schiavelli, in "
The Arsenal of Freedom"
*
James Worthy of the
Los Angeles Lakers, in "
Gambit"
*
Mick Fleetwood of
Fleetwood Mac, in "
Manhunt"
*
Christopher McDonald, in "
Yesterday's Enterprise"
*
Tony Todd, in "
Redemption" and "
Sins of the Father"; he also guest-starred on DS9 and Voyager
*
Bebe Neuwirth, in "
First Contact"
*
Famke Janssen, in "
The Perfect Mate"
*
Mae Jemison (the first minority female
astronaut), in "
Second Chances"
*
Renée Jones of
Days of Our Lives, in "
Aquiel"
*
Carolyn McCormick, in "
11001001" and "
Future Imperfect"
*
James Cromwell, in "
Birthright" and "
Hunted"; he also guest-starred in DS9, and played the pivotal role of
Zefram Cochrane in
Star Trek: First Contact and the premiere episode of
Enterprise*
Stephen Hawking, playing himself in a
Holodeck simulation, in "
Descent"
*
Michelle Phillips, in "
We'll Always Have Paris"
*
Ben Vereen, in "
Interface"
*
Sabrina Le Beauf of the
Cosby Show, in "
Gambit"
*
Paul Sorvino, in "
Homeward"
*
Diana Muldaur, who joined the crew as Dr. Pulaski for the second season after guest-starring twice in the original series
*
Carel Struycken, who played
Lwaxana Troi's silent companion
Mr. Homn in multiple episodes
*
David Ogden Stiers of
M*A*S*H, in "
Half a Life"
DS9 stars
Armin Shimerman, in four episodes, and
Alexander Siddig, in "
Birthright"
Voyager stars
Robert Duncan McNeill in "
The First Duty," and
Tim Russ in "
Starship Mine"
*TOS stars
DeForest Kelley,
Leonard Nimoy,
James Doohan, and
Majel Barrett in various episodes
*Several guest stars also became more well-known as a result of their recurring roles in the series, including
John DeLancie,
Dwight Schultz, and
Majel Barrett.
Alien races
See List of Star Trek racesWhile the series was of course influenced by the original
Star Trek series, it perhaps was more influenced by the original series' pilot,
The Menagerie (also known as
The Cage). The pilot presented more of an ensemble crew (once it was officially picked up, the series would focus almost exclusively on the dynamic of Kirk, Spock and McCoy) and featured Captain
Christopher Pike gathering his crew together to make consensus decisions very much in the Picard style. Pike also referred to his female first officer as "Number One" - the term Picard would use for his own first officer. The tone of this pilot was also relatively cerebral (indeed, the network ordered reshoots for just that reason) and Roddenberry deliberately sought a more thoughtful quality on TNG.
Although the
animated Trek series is not always considered canon, TNG did borrow from it in some ways, including the use of the
Holodeck. TNG was also particularly influenced by
Star Trek: The Motion Picture; indeed, ST:TMP was itself spun from an aborted '70s Trek series that was to be called
Star Trek: Phase II. The series would have featured Kirk working alonside the dashing young officer
Willard Decker and the exotic alien
Ilia, characters that were included in the film and later reworked as Will Riker and Deanna Troi in TNG. The
Phase II character Xon (a
Vulcan) also may have influenced the character Data. One episode of TNG, featuring Troi becoming pregnant with a mysterious alien child, was a script from
Phase II that was hastily reworked during the writers strike of 1988, as was the courtroom drama "Devil's Due". Certain sets from ST:TMP were also reused for TNG, and the show followed the film's one-piece style of uniforms, which, according to the film '
Trekkies', gave some of the cast back problems. The uniforms were later changed to a two-piece style beginning with the series' third season.
The prospect of a new live-action Star Trek series after 18 years was much anticipated by the Star Trek fan community, but for some, anticipation turned to outrage when Gene Roddenberry announced that the new series would feature a brand new cast and be set in a time long after the adventures of Captain
James T. Kirk and his crew, making even guest appearances by the original cast unlikely.Before production even began on the series, factions of
Star Trek fandom were at work circulating petitions and organizing protests against the new series.
Although it is not known what, if any, impact these protests had on the producers, it is known that as early as the first season efforts were underway to arrange for an appearance by
Leonard Nimoy as
Spock (the event would not happen until the fifth season episode
Unification), and a script was reportedly written to feature the character of
Harry Mudd, a recurring minor criminal from TOS. The episode was cancelled when actor
Roger C. Carmel died.
DeForest Kelley made a cameo appearance in the first episode as Admiral
Leonard McCoy, and
James Doohan was a central character in the sixth-season episode
Relics, playing
Captain Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott.
By the time
TNG was produced, the term "
Trekkies" had come to imply a certain
nerdy fanaticism among fans and was considered pejorative by some, despite it being coined by creator Gene Roddenberry himself, with no such negative connotations. In response, some fans of the new series decided to call themselves "Trekkers". The terms have become interchangeable, though intense debate still rages over which term is the 'correct' one to apply to a Star Trek fan.
The show's gay fans complained that there were no gays represented in the future, something Roddenberry said he intended to address. A subsequent
episode dealt with this issue of homophobia obliquely by having Enterprise First Officer
Will Riker enter into a relationship with a genderless alien. Fan reaction to this was mixed.
Four feature films have been made featuring the series' characters:
*
Star Trek: Generations*
Star Trek: First Contact*
Star Trek: Insurrection*
Star Trek: NemesisTNG paved the way for three other TV series:
*
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine*
Star Trek: Voyager*
Star Trek: EnterpriseThe series has also inspired countless novels, analytical books, web-sites, and works of
fan fiction.
Toronto's
Skydome played host to a massive
CITY-TV sponsored event for the series finale on
May 25,
1994. Thousands of people packed the stadium to watch the final episode on the stadium's
Jumbotron.
The design of the ship's computer interfaces, called
LCARS, has become popular among many Star Trek fan sites. Variants of the design are used on all Federation starships in subsequent series.
*
Patrick Stewart (
Captain Jean-Luc Picard) and
Jonathan Frakes (
Commander William T. Riker) are the only actors to appear in every episode of the series.
*
Jonathan Frakes is the only actor to appear in all the Trek spin offs after The Original Series. In addition to
TNG, he appeared in
Star Trek: Voyager (
Death Wish),
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (
Defiant as
Thomas Riker) and
Star Trek: Enterprise (
These Are the Voyages...).
*
Colm Meaney (
Chief Miles O'Brien) and
John de Lancie (
Q) are the only actors, besides the regulars, to appear in both the first ("
Encounter at Farpoint") and the last ("
All Good Things...") episodes of the series. However,
Denise Crosby (
Lt. Tasha Yar), who left the cast in the Season One episode "
Skin of Evil" and was therefore not a regular at the time of the final episode, also appeared in both episodes.
*
Majel Barrett is the only actor to be credited in all five series, appearing in
The Original Series,
The Next Generation, and
Deep Space Nine. She did voice-over work as various Federation computers in the above series, as well as
Voyager and
Enterprise, along with several Star Trek motion pictures.
*
LeVar Burton,
Jonathan Frakes,
Gates McFadden, and
Patrick Stewart all tried their hand in directing for the show. Burton also directed for
Deep Space Nine,
Voyager, and
Enterprise. Frakes also directed for
Deep Space Nine,
Voyager, and two Trek films,
First Contact and
Insurrection.
Michael Dorn directed for
Deep Space Nine and
Enterprise.
*
Armin Shimerman, who plays
Quark on
Deep Space Nine guest-starred four times, but only once as Quark. He played a Ferengi named Letek in "The Last Outpost", where the Federation had first contact with the Ferengi Alliance, DaiMon Bractor (another Ferengi) in "Peak Performance", and also appeared in the episode "Haven", where he played the face of Deanna Troi's talking Wedding Gift Box.
*The Engineering set was not originally intended to be constructed for the show's
pilot. However, according to a footnote in the Star Trek: TNG Technical Manual, if a set is not built for the pilot, there is a good chance that it will never be built at all, so Gene Roddenberry deliberately set a scene in the pilot in Engineering, thus forcing the set's construction.
*As a
running gag,
bathrooms are never shown on
Enterprise schematics. The gag was started when toilets were accidentally omitted from the design of the original
Enterprise. This joke is referenced in
Star Trek: First Contact when
Zefram Cochrane asks
Geordi La Forge "...don't you people from the
24th century ever
pee?" In a special, aired before the final episode, Jonathan Frakes actually answered the question of where one could actually find a bathroom on a diagram of the ship, and pointed to a diagram of the
Enterprise seen in Engineering, indicating where it was. For the record, confirmed appearances of toilets aboard Star Trek spaceships were in
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and the
Star Trek: Enterprise episode
Observer Effect, and mention of a "programmers' restroom" was made in one episode of TNG in its first season.
* Similarly, the schematic of the
Enterprise-D at the back of the Engineering set is another laughable reference to (among other things) the fact of the missing toilets by showing a single toilet marked in the center of the
saucer section. This display also shows the location of the ship's duck (a very large duck inexplicably appears in the middle of the diagram), a mouse, a Porsche, a DC-3 aeroplane, the Nomad probe (from an episode of TOS) and a hamster on a treadmill. Details such as these were usually too small to be seen on TV.
*
Geordi La Forge wears a special device to help him see, called a
VISOR. It is said to be an
acronym for "
Visual
Instrument and
Sensory
Organ
Replacement", though the full term was never used in the series. The prop designer's inspiration for the Visor design came from a hair comb.
* The show's theme tune combines part of
Jerry Goldsmith's theme tune for
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and part of an earlier theme tune by
Dennis McCarthy, which was deemed to be "too bland" by Gene Roddenberry and rejected.
*
Star Trek: The Next Generation is the only syndicated television show ever to be nominated for the
Emmy Award for Best Dramatic Series. It was nominated for its seventh and final season in 1994.
* At one point, Paramount considered an animated version of this show.
*In almost every episode from Season 3 onward, various crew members can be seen pulling down their shirts due to a costume malfunction, especially Picard (sometimes jokingly called the
Picard Maneuver).
* By the end of the series, every regular character has at least one dead parent. Picard (both), Riker (mother), Worf (both), Yar (both), W. Crusher (father), B. Crusher (both), and Troi (father) all start the series with at least one dead parent. That leaves only Laforge and Data. Data's father dies in the fourth season ("Brothers") and LaForge's mother dies in the seventh season ("Interface").
*
List of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes*
List of Post-Star Trek: the Next Generation stories*
Star Trek: The Next Generation at StarTrek.com
*
*
Star Trek: The Next Generation at TrekCore.com
