"I'm sensing something!" - Troi
I agree with the common concensus that TNG improved markedly on its first 2
seasons, what nobody seems to know is WHY were the first 2 lame compared to
the high quality that followed.<br><br>Well, guess what? I think I do: Character development! The writers didn't
know which ones to follow and which to discard.<br><br>Denise Crosby shared a magic scene with Data in "The Naked Now" [yeah, you
KNOW the one

] yet after this episode her characterisation was virtually
untouched to the point where she said to the producers "Show me the door!"....of course all doors in star trek are revolving doors and she reappeared
later but only when the writing had picked up to the point of the excellent
"Yesterday's Enterprise".<br><br>By contrast in early seasons, TROI's telepathic / empathic skills had her
sensing everything except the audience's yawns during her forced dialogue.
It was only when the writers made her a THINKING counsellor with emotions
and a touch of humour that she began to grow on the audience. It's no
co-incidence that she started to "Sense" a heck of a lot less as the series
progressed. They even got the others to call her Deanna instead of just
"Troi" - case in point, the ep. "Skin of Evil". She's hurt, they don't know
if they can get her to safety from Armus and not one concerned crewmember
can be compassionate enough to call her by her first name? I personally am a
big Deanna fan but only of the episodes where someone noticed that Marina
Sirtis actually was an actress and gave her a script worthy of her
talent.<br><br>And now the taboo subject that everyone wanted to know ...... why was the
character of Wesley ever conceived ( Come to think of it, why was the
annoying man-child Wil WHEATON ever conceived? )?<br><br>The character of Wesley was a clever way to sell the show to young boys who
probably couldn't relate to the maturity of the male lead roles like Picard
and Riker. Here was a teenage boy who was soooooo intelligent that he got to
outsmart the adults and save the ship, what teenage boy watching Trek hasn't
imagined that one? So you see Wesley annoyed adult viewers (such as myself)
on purpose because he was never there for us to appreciate, he was a
marketing tool for children, like George Lucas' stupid ewoks in Return of
the Jedi.<br><br>I confess to having ONE Wesley scene that I actually liked - in Datalore
he's going off at the Senior staff for not recognising Lore as Data and he's
told "Shut up Wesley!" by Picard AND his own mother!<br><br>The screen time given to these 2 poorly written characters delayed the
characterization process of other characters over the first 2 seasons and
this is why we weren't quite as in love with the show from day
1.<br><br>Some people thought the ferengi were wasted as villians, but gosh darn it, I
like them. DS9 showed that they could be put to better use than TNG did at
first. TNG realised that they were the perfect race to trade information for
profit and utilised them much more effectively in episodes such as
"Unification" and "Chain of Command". Also the klingons weren't particularly
complex when they first appeared in TOS. It took a little while to work out
how to use them too. So don't dismiss the Ferengi and give the little guys a
chance!!!<br><br>This show always made me think, it sometimes pricked my conscience, it
sometimes made me laugh and it even made me cry once (Worf's scene in
"Ethics") you couldn't ask for more!
the Next Generation Complete SeriesGreat Star Trek series!
When I first saw Star Trek: The Next Generation, I was amazed by the special
effects and visual sequences. But I soon noticed the stories were boring,
childish and the characters were too idiot. I hated and still hate the
technobabbling we constantly see in the show. Definetely not Babylon 5 or
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.<br><br>The first two seasons of the show were a little bit disappointing. Back
then, Roddenberry was still running the show doing the constant rewriting,
attempting to create the perfect universe in the 24th Century. That could
never happen. The show seemed too perfect.<br><br>But when the 3rd Season premiered, the show suddenly kicked into a new
direction as Rick Berman and Michael Piller took over production of Star
Trek as Gene eased away from his post. The stories that year were
well-written and more character based than ever! TNG started to carry a
darker and grittier universe in its hands becoming more and more realistic.
TNG became the greatest sci-fi series in history until B5 premiered in
1994.<br><br>However, during its time, TNG showed the best on television! Picard is a far
better captain than Kirk and I truly like the cast! After they suddenly came
alive in the 3rd Season I started feeling for these guys. The stories became
far more realistic and tied to today's world. Episodes like "The Outcast",
display the most intelligent topics ever seen on TV. "The Bonding", "The
Offspring","Sins of the Father","Reunion" and "Firstborn" were fantastic
episodes! I think Worf and Data are the best characters in the show! Michael
Dorn and Brent Spiner are excellent actors and provide some of the best
scenes ever seen on Star Trek.<br><br>Ever since 1988's Skin of Evil, I truly miss Tasha Yar, but I certainly do
NOT miss that stupid Wesley Crusher! He was a completely worthless
character. The only time I liked him was when he snapped at Picard on "The
Bonding" for the loss of his father Jack Crusher. Yar was a great character
like Worf and had as much as a dark past as he had. At least she had the
chance to appear again and even play another role. (Sela in the 5th
season)<br><br>Guinan was a fantastic character for the show! I'm glad the producers
decided to hire her in 1988. Whoopi Goldberg was already a great actress!
She did some of her best work on TNG and on the TNG movie Star Trek:
Generations. I only missed her on the 7th Season of the show and I'm hoping
she'll appear on another Star Trek movie, because it seems she's completely
absent on First Contact and Insurrection.<br><br>"The Best of Both Worlds, parts 1 and 2" were the 2 best episodes in the
entire series! The Borg were the most sinister creation for bad guys and
this story featured the best of Patrick Stewart and Jonathan
Frakes!<br><br>Deep Space Nine is an ever better show! It started as stupid as TNG but soon
became even more realistic and a better show than TNG! TNG was close but DS9
added the final realism needed to the 24th Century. But I still worship TNG
as much as I worship DS9 and B5! Great job Paramount!
Star Trek The Next Generation Complete Series