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Star Trek TNG Reactions Start in October

Star Trek TNG Reactions Start in October

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Tony, dude, why are you spoiling a potential future series?

JD Nevesytrof

I hope you are able to balance your viewing time with just how many hours of Star Trek exist as of 2023 -- over a thousand hours now, just of the TV show episodes up through the beginning of this year alone.... and more are soon coming to Paramount Plus and/or other streaming services. But just keep going like you're going, and you'll get there. (Maybe watch/post 2 per week if possible to get through them quicker?) That's up to you guys. ST: DS9 started about half-way through TNG, and Voyager started about half way through DS9 (after TNG ended), then came the Enterprise series starring Quantum Leap's Scott Bakula. And then, later, came the others. Anyway, I hope you are able to balance your viewing time with all this dramatic TV and movie stories, which have now made 'Trek a 300+ -year saga. It's absolutely stunning how much GREAT story-telling they did, and are still doing. Relax and simply ENJOY what you're seeing, and it won't be so burdensome. Besides, you're still in for years of Trek surprises, which I won't spoil. (!!) Finally, YOUR REACTIONS are so genuinely fun and inspiring, it's REFRESHING to see each and every one you post; it's always fun to share our favorite show with those who've never seen it, and this is THE BEST way I can imaging this can happen even if we're not there in person to watch your reactions. FUN STUFF!

Rhett Coates

I'm wondering at what point during season 1 of TNG Josh will turn to Alex and both will say at the same time: "We've got to fake our deaths".

Numinous2019

DS9 still "feels like trek". It has it's own take on the universe and tells a different story. The characters and line delivery still felt like Trek in DS9. Discovery and seasons 1 and 2 of Picard didn't feel like Trek to me be, but I'm sure there's a dozen or so people who like those as well. For better or worse, there really is a trek for everyone at this point.

Ca$hWednesday

First off, no specifics, secondly, literally every Trek fan has something that's "not Trek" to them.

JD Nevesytrof

DS9 doesn’t feel like Star Trek to me. The existence of Section 31 alone is enough to disqualify it. Mike Stoklasa, Mr Plinkett himself, has said in the past that the appeal of Star Trek for him is that it's a big happy family that all work well together and go exploring around the galaxy in their ship. I concur with his take.

whacky deli

Just wait until everyone pivots to telling you how much you *have* to watch DS9 and why it's the best/most realistic/darkest Trek.

JD Nevesytrof

It's *very* TOS. Now that's both a good thing and not such a good thing, but the show got to be itself soon enough and then it really shined.

JD Nevesytrof

My only problem with the first season is that the characters are pretty wooden until you get about 2/3 through the season. Also the notorious turnover of writers made the stories somewhat inconsistent. By the second season the writing gets much better and the characters are much more believable. By the third season, and with new head writer Michael Piller on board, the show truly took off and became Must See TV for the rest of its run.

Dan Krantz

I think it's weird that there's so much hate towards Season 1 & 2. If anything, these seasons feel odd because they're produced like 1960s Star Trek, but in the 1980s. Season 1 is the closest to TOS that TNG gets. Maybe it's just that I grew up with TNG and I was excited there was Star Trek on TV again after the movies and reruns of TOS. I watched it religiously every week for 7 years. I can't say that about any other show, even the other TNG era shows which I generally like. I still enjoy the first two Seasons on re-watches.

Bret Kay

I really disagree with this. My take is that S1 has around 3 really good episodes (with 1 wacky honorable mention) and around 6 decent episodes. It definitely has a lot of mediocre eps and its fair share of clunkers, but I think some are TOO harsh on it. Regarding S2, I see it as a solid step up, with 2 GREAT episodes, 5-6 really good, and 3-4 decent. Starting in S3 the show becomes consistently really good or better with only a handful of poor or clunker episodes each season.

Lovok

I feel like Season 1 plots are rough, but it does have it's moments, and they do start building the characters up by the time the season ends. But it really is like a rough draft. And Season 2 starts working out the kinks. If you watched Season 4 then suddenly jumped back to Season 1 it would feel like a different series.

Joe Concepts

He is, especially after he grows the beard.

KatWithAttitude

Riker is more like Kirk in many ways

AzoriusMage

Uh no, the reputation is justified. It’s really bad.

whacky deli

Ehh. I think it’s Star Trek once you get to season 3. Really good Star Trek, even. Now DS9, *that’s* not Star Trek!

whacky deli

The show doesn’t get good until season 3, when they get the collars on their uniforms. There are only 2 episodes from the first two seasons that I rewatch.

whacky deli

The first two seasons are awful. There are no episodes from S1 I rewatch, and only 2 from S2.

whacky deli

I hope so, that's the way it originally aired. I'm not sure how it's done on the Blu-Rays. For some sets, they sold them as two-parters with the season sets and then sold combined versions as a separate 2 hour movie (like Best of Both Worlds for example). But those were never aired as 2-hour shows originally. If any of them are combined in their set, I'd expect it's only Encounter at Farpoint and All Good Things as they were 2 hour episodes originally and there's not meant to be a cliffhanger in the middle.

Bret Kay

I was watching it recently to see if there were any spoilers past season 2. It is an entertaining look behind the scenes.

Jonathan

Ive never owned one. I’ve always used my PlayStation, but it looks like Blu-ray players have become more reasonable in price in recent years so that’s good.

Josh (Target Audience)

I’d recommend doing encounter at farpoint as one big double episode. It was originally aired as a 2 hour event, so when it’s chopped in half for syndication purposes, it’s not really built to be a part 1/part 2 cliffhanger.

Stuart Arbury

I’m pretty sure it will be the movie version. If not it is hell to sync because they cut and reordered scenes in the syndicated version split into 2 episodes.

Jonathan

I said in a post a while ago that I think Captain Picard will surprise you. He and Kirk are very different, but also very much the same in many ways. And on an Trek unrelated note, Patrick Stewart is a great Ebeneezer Scrooge, both in the movie he did of A Christmas Carol and also narrating and acting the audio book.

KatWithAttitude

Though I think its more widely agreed it was less Roddenberry and moreso his Lawyer who was causing so many issues. Roddenberry's biggest contribution that was looked upon as a handicap was "No internal conflicts among the crew."

Steven Johnson

You know, there's no denying the QA issues in Seasons 1 and 2, but I think people forget there are quite a few good episodes there too. Contagion, Heart of Glory, Arsenal of Freedom, 10101100, Datalore, Conspiracy, A Matter of Honor, Q Who, Where Silence Has Lease, The Emissary, The Battle, Elementary, Dear Data, The Measure of a Man. Even if you don't think they're great, they're certainly entertaining and quite watchable.

Steven Johnson

Excellent. As much as you liked TOS you're gonna love TNG. Bear with it for the first 2 seasons....they are good but after 2 it just rocks the universe.

Monty Crawford

I guess that's all part of the fandom :)

Ca$hWednesday

Collect 5 Trek fans, get 9 opinions.

JD Nevesytrof

That documentary written and directed by William Shatner, no less.

JD Nevesytrof

Yes

Ken R

However it plays on the box set is how we will do it

Josh (Target Audience)

This is a hot take. As someone who watched TOS and TNG both, I absolutely imitate Picard and Data on the regular.

Ca$hWednesday

Someone else voiced this same sentiment. I had become interested in Star Trek really with The Voyage Home. The following September 1987, TNG season one premiered. By that point, those months, I had read a lot of the comics, seen every TOS and animated episode, etc. I enjoyed season one as best fresh. There were no other seasons to compare it with. So, I never thought poorly of the first season.

Geoffrey Linehan

I watched the first season or three of TNG as a young teen, but never much beyond that. Guess I’ll have to decide soon whether to fully commit and watch the whole series on my own, or whether I’m content just listening to your reviews…

KR Thompson

I am interested to see how much they actually like it. It is not nearly as good as TOS or Enterprise IMO but I know that is a minority opinion. I do really like the TNG movies though. Less pompous, arrogant, and elitist; more down to earth and fun like TOS and Enterprise.

Prof Moff

"You will never imitate anyone on TNG. There is nothing noteworthy to imitate about that cast or quirks to remember, " That's factually wrong, there are literally memes about TNG character quirks and TNG has had a bigger impact on the franchise than TOS, the changes TNG made to the formula are still felt today, even the Abrams TOS movies and Strange New Worlds are influenced by TNG despite being based on TOS characters. TOS was the start of the franchise but TNG turned it into a franchise that allowed it to grow beyond the original premise and characters. Without TNG Star Trek would probably be mostly forgotten today like many other 60s shows that are no longer relevant outside of the nostalgia corner.

Phillip Grischa

Well then maybe you won’t get mad at us talking over it 😉

Josh (Target Audience)

Wesley?

AzoriusMage

Are you doing Encounter at Farpoint as one episode?

AzoriusMage

It's fine but it isn't Star Trek. It's like if you put The Falcon in Capt America's costume is he really CA or just Falcon wearing CA's costume? By the 80s acting styles had changed, music usage had changed, the value of melodrama had been rethought, and TNG is more typical and akin to everything else, just in costumes. I think I've said this on this page before: you can (and you two often do) imitate Kirk, Bones and Scotty thanks to the great actors who are filled with personality in their performances. You will never imitate anyone on TNG. There is nothing noteworthy to imitate about that cast or quirks to remember, and thus they have less charm. Of TNG my favorite character is the one most hated by ST fandom.

Ken R

There is a documentary called "Chaos on the Bridge" which gives good insight into how the production of seasons 1 and 2--and especially the writing room for season 1--was a total dumpster fire.

Timothy Hennon

And not just in terms of writing. The show must have gotten a budget increase starting with season 3, because EVERYTHING--the writing, the acting, the effects, the lighting, the sets, the costumes, the cinematography, etc.--across the board is a distinct improvement over the first two seasons.

Timothy Hennon

I rewatched Season 1 during the 2020 lockdowns in my area for the first time since seeing them as a kid when they first aired in '87-'88. Yes, many of the really early episodes were weak, but the later ones--while nothing special compared to what came later--were nowhere near as bad as I remembered, and in fact offered solid world and character building.

Timothy Hennon

This is going to be so good even though I rewatched not so long ago

AzoriusMage

This should be good I have the whole Series on Blue Ray....but no Blue Ray DVD Player. I should be able to get one in time though! 🤟

Duane Chancey

Pretty much the only thing you have to realize about the early seasons everyone decries is literally every character's personality has yet to gel, and when it happens, it's for the better. Also, contrary to what you mentioned in the IV review, Roddenberry did not deliberately sabotage the show while he was running it, he made questionable choices and was responsible for a chaotic, revolving door writing staff, but he did indeed want it to succeed until health problems and accumulated bad decision-making finally put him out of his franchise for good.

JD Nevesytrof

God, hurry up through Seasons 1 & 2. Seasons 3-7 are far superior.

Tom Occhipinti

Cool! I’m already a few episodes in to stay a little ahead of you guys.. can’t wait for your reactions!

TalynStarburst

At long last.... While I was introduced to TOS as a child, TNG is the main series I grew up with. Yes, like TOS there are stumbles, bumps, and some horrible misses in Season 1. And I fully expect you to disagree with many episodes that I deem my 'favorite' or most loved. Some of the ones I really like are really lacking in the plot department, but I still fondly remember sitting with my family and enjoying it. I trust your judgements and opinions and still will love you guys. I'm still going to have a fun time watching with you and keep coming back

Firekrys FWO

I'm very interested what you'll think of season 1. It has a bad reputation, but much of that reputation may just be from comparing it to the truly fantastic seasons later. My sister in law was introduced to Star Trek starting with TNG season 1 with nothing to compare it to, and she enjoyed it right from the start. I'm curious what your reactions will be, being able to compare it to TOS but not to its own later seasons.

Jeff Cornell

Streaming has the same issues with the thumbnails

Jonathan

We’ll do our best 🫡

Josh (Target Audience)

Be wary of DVD menu spoilers!

Nolan

Just don't pull a Bizi Bitiko or a Maneo Jung Espi-*splat*

MertzRocks

I haven't seen these in 35 years...

Michael Nemo

My way is more fun 😆

Retro Tom

Or you could just chill for a couple weeks 😜 Read a book or something

Silk

Yes!!

Andreas Schmitt

I’ve never watched all of TNG, but I’m up for the voyage with the Target Audience crew!

James H

Awesome. It’s going to be a long and winding road with much scenery to take in on the way.

Silk

Oooo nice box set. I am anticipating this to an unreasonable degree

James Bottas

As the old promos from 1986 said "In X Days... The 24th Century... Begins!" "A new show is coming to television... Star Trek The Next Generation!" I may have something for you guys in a few days.

Steven Johnson

I'm ready!

Bret Kay

Setting a course to slingshot a round the sun to jump ahead to October 😆

Retro Tom

Hooray! I'm so excited to start rewatching these with you guys. It's been a few years for me. I love this show, the first Star Trek I was able to watch when they aired.

Gary Leyh

Can’t wait for DS9!!! 😎🖖

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