"Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987) TV series 1987-1994

Creator:

Gene Roddenberry

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Release Date:

26 September 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

New Stars. New Stories. New Worlds To Explore.

Plot:

Set decades after Captain James T. Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers in a new Enterprise set off on their own mission to go where no one has gone before.

Plot Keywords:

Captain | Ferengi | Andorian | Space | Klingon

Awards:

Won 18 Primetime Emmys. Another 11 wins & 52 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Jan. 5	1:00 AM	WGNAMER	The Defector	#3.10
Tue. Jan. 5	3:00 AM	CW	The Defector	#3.10

Cast

Patrick Stewart	...	Captain Jean-Luc Picard / ... (176 episodes, 1987-1994)
Jonathan Frakes	...	Commander William T. Riker / ... (176 episodes, 1987-1994)
LeVar Burton	...	Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge / ... (176 episodes, 1987-1994)
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi (176 episodes, 1987-1994)
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data / ... (176 episodes, 1987-1994)
Michael Dorn	...	Lieutenant Worf / ... (175 episodes, 1987-1994)
Gates McFadden	...	Doctor Beverly Crusher / ... (154 episodes, 1987-1994)
Majel Barrett	...	Enterprise Computer / ... (96 episodes, 1987-1994)
Wil Wheaton	...	Wesley Crusher / ... (85 episodes, 1987-1994)

Also Known As:

Star Trek: TNG (USA) (promotional abbreviation)

Runtime:

45 min (176 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Klingon | French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L (some episodes) | Iceland:LH | Australia:M (some episodes) | Australia:PG (some episodes) | Canada:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant - 6100 Woodley Avenue, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Television

Trivia:

Many of the crew were avid fans of Japanese animation, and often put in references to their favorite shows. This includes the "Exocomps" in the episode "Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Quality of Life (#6.9)" (1992) were modeled after the robot Namno from Dirty Pair (1989) (V), while other episodes often referenced characters from "Urusei yatsura" (1981). The "Akira-class" starships are also meant as a double reference to the Anime film of the same name and director Akira Kurosawa. The alien race of the Nausicaans might also have been named after the title character from Kaze no tani no Naushika (1984).

Goofs:

Continuity: In some episodes, crew members need to touch their communicator and state who or where they are and the person or place they wish to communicate with ("Riker to Picard", "Bridge to Engineering", etc.), while in other episodes, one only needs to state the information without touching their communicator, possibly using the ship's built-in communication system, but if that were the case, why use the communicators at all when they can just use the ship's built-in system. Additionally, the communicator always knows the correct person to contact even if there's more than one matching name (there's 1000+ people on the Enterprise, most of them crew members, it is unlikely that none of them share the same name).

Quotes:

Lieutenant Worf: Nepo!
Capt. Picard: This is mutiny!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Star Trek (2009)

Whether you liked the original Trek or not, 'The Next Generation is a true Trek across space.

Being a child of the late 20th century, I never had the chance to ‘grow up' with the original Captain Kirk and gang; However, lucky me I had Captain Picard to idolize.

While Captain James Tiberius Kirk was the trigger happy, love crazed gigolo, Captain Jean-Luc Picard was (and still is) the gentle, sensitive diplomat. Realizing that you cannot simply compare Kirk's crew to Picard's crew, you must evaluate ‘The Next Generation on it's own merits.

It's a show that had very well written stories, and each week there was a different hero from the no named ensign, to the captain himself. Several of the stories developed into true sagas and much of the plots involved many of the original cast. Bringing Spock into ‘The Next Generation was a true piece of art.

You must keep in mind that the budget for ‘The Next Generation was a great deal larger than that of the original show. With that in mind, the special effects were superb, not only for a television show, but for movies as well. The Next Generation brought some very cool gadgets into our lives including tricorders, androids, and, of course, the most dreamed about invention the Holodeck! What a great thing that would be!

While I would never doubt that the original Star Trek series is a classic, after all, they did name a Space Shuttle after the Enterprise, ‘The Next Generation brought the 21st century into our homes each and every Saturday night, and helped us to believe that we can `Boldly go where no man have gone before!'