Review of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Summary

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) Is Star Trek: The Original Series re-imagined for a new era. While the original series is both passionate, dramatic, and fantasy oriented Sci Fi; it lacks the modernism and realism that's illustrated in TNG. TNG gives Star Trek a realistic vision of the 24th century.

Cast and Crew

The cast is made up of a crew of very good actors including: Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard) the leader of the crew. Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker) Picards number one and right hand man. The lovely, Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troy) who provides counseling to all the star fleet members. Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher) the resident doctor of the ship. LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge) the ships chief engineer. Michael Dorf (Liuetenant Commander Worf) the chief security officer onboard the ship. And lastly Colm Meany (Chief O' Brian) the transporter chief.

They all have tremendous presence and personality; they do the original series a great honor, continuing the Star Trek series in this more modern version.

Gene Roddenberry is the creator of the series. He served as an executive producer at different times during the production of the series. The theme music was created by Alexander Courage and Jerry Goldsmith.

Premise Overview

These are the adventures of a new U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D. This series starts 70 years after Star Trek: The Original Series. Their mission is stated by Captain Picard before each episode, and is different from the open ended missions of Captain Kirk.

The Star Fleet Badge

The Star Trek badge becomes a communicator in TNG. Before, it was mere ornamentation on the Star Fleet uniform in the original series. The fleet spoke through cell phone like communicators they held in their hands. Now they tap the left side of their chest, where the communicator sits. The Star Fleet communicator resembles a type of Star Fleet badge. Further the communicator serves as a locating beacon like a GPS system; with this badge they can be beamed up or down to any location.

Writing, Updated Sets and Technical Realism

The writing is very sophisticated -some of the episode plots resemble movie scripts. The sets for the series are all up to date with very detailed and realistic computers, and futuristic technology. The technology of the Enterprise is shown in very realistic detail. The sets and the technology are much more convincing than the 60's show. It has very high scientific realism throughout the series.

Evolution of the Star Trek Series

I believe that the many Star Trek films -with the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series- heralded the evolution of Star Trek from a campy fun TV series to a modernistic vision of a space faring human society. TNG is the modern Star Trek series fully formed and mature.

Some people may be turned off by the realism of the show- via ultra realistic makeup on characters and excessive space technology; but it's a very different creature then the original series. There is definitely a reliance on detail and realism to win people over to the show. The show's science angle definitely attracts the more scientific and intelligently oriented audience base.

The 60's version was more over the top, save the ship before a crisis melt down- pure space drama. TNG has some of these elements but it is more tame, serious, and scientific. You can appreciate the differences and you can see how each version works in its own way.

Basic Facts

TNG ran in First-run syndication from September 28, 1987 through May 23, 1994. TNG ran for 7 seasons with over 178 episodes. TNG can be streamed on Amazon Video free as a Prime Member and it can also be seen on cable- check your local listings.