Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation, often abbreviated to TNG, is the second live-action Star Trek television series, and the first set in the 24th century. Like its predecessors, it was created by Gene Roddenberry. Produced at Paramount Pictures, it aired in first-run syndication, by Paramount Television in the US, from September 1987 to May 1994. The series was set in the 24th century and featured the voyages of the starship USS Enterprise-D under Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

The series led to four spin-offs set in the same time period: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which it ran alongside during its final two seasons, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Picard. It is also the beginning of a contiguous period of time during which there was always at least one Star Trek series in production, ending with Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005.

• Main Title Theme ^{file info} (arranged by Dennis McCarthy, composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage)

Summary[]

Star Trek: The Next Generation moved the universe forward roughly a century past the days of James T. Kirk and Spock. The series depicted a new age in which the Klingons were allies of the Federation, though the Romulans remained adversaries. New threats included the Ferengi (although they were later used more for comic relief), the Cardassians, and the Borg. While Star Trek: The Original Series was clearly made in the 1960s, the first two seasons of The Next Generation show all the markings of a 1980s product, complete with Spandex uniforms.

As with the original Star Trek, TNG was still very much about exploration, "boldly going where no one has gone before". Similarly, the plots captured the adventures of the crew of a starship, namely the USS Enterprise-D. Despite the apparent similarities with the original series, the creators of TNG were adamant about creating a bold, independent vision of the future. The public did not widely accept the show on its own terms until the airing of "The Best of Both Worlds", which marked a shift towards higher drama, serious plot lines, and a less episodic nature. This helped pave the way for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and its two-year-long Dominion War arc and preceding build-up, as well as the third and fourth seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise. Star Trek: Voyager capitalized on the heightened crew relationships and familial bonds first seen on The Next Generation. DS9, on the other hand, balanced political intrigue, character development, and series-long plot threads with a rerun-friendly format.

As with the original Star Trek, TNG's special effects utilized miniatures, but due to great advancements in computerized effects and opticals, the show leaped ahead of its predecessor in terms of quality effects. This series marked the greatest surge in Star Trek's mainstream popularity, and paved the way for the later televised Trek shows.

Four of the Star Trek motion pictures continued the adventures of the TNG cast after the end of the series in 1994. Star Trek Generations served to "pass the torch" from The Original Series cast, who had been the subject of the first six motion pictures, by including crossover appearances from William Shatner, James Doohan, and Walter Koenig; it also featured the destruction of the USS Enterprise-D. Star Trek: First Contact, released two years later, was the first of the motion pictures to solely feature the TNG cast, transferred aboard the new USS Enterprise-E and engaging with one of their deadliest enemies from the television series, the Borg. Star Trek: Insurrection followed in 1998, continuing certain character arcs from the series. In 2002, Star Trek Nemesis brought some of these character arcs and plot threads to a seemingly definite conclusion, although some cast members expressed hope that future movies would yet pick up the story. Regardless, a new generation of actors appeared in 2009's Star Trek, which created an alternate reality and returned the films' focus to Kirk and Spock.

On television, characters from TNG appeared in subsequent series. Recurring TNG character Miles O'Brien became a series regular on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as did Worf in DS9's fourth season. Jean-Luc Picard appeared in Deep Space Nine's pilot episode, and supporting characters from TNG appeared occasionally on DS9 (specifically, Keiko O'Brien, Lursa, B'Etor, Molly O'Brien, Vash, Q, Lwaxana Troi, Alynna Nechayev, Gowron, Thomas Riker, Toral, and Alexander Rozhenko). Reginald Barclay and Deanna Troi appeared several times each on Star Trek: Voyager, and Troi and William T. Riker appeared in the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise, which was primarily a holographic simulation set during the TNG episode "The Pegasus". However, Star Trek Nemesis was the final chronological appearance of the Next Generation characters for over 18 years, until Star Trek: Picard, which focused on the later life of Jean-Luc Picard. Riker, Troi, Data, and Hugh also appeared in Picard.

In 1994, Star Trek: The Next Generation was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. During its seven-year run, it was nominated for 58 Emmy Awards, mostly in "technical" categories such as visual effects and makeup; it won 18.

Main cast[]

Starring[]

• Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard
• Jonathan Frakes as Commander William T. Riker

Also starring[]

• LeVar Burton as Lt. j.g./Lt./Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
• Denise Crosby as Lt. Tasha Yar (1987-1988)
• Michael Dorn as Lt. j.g./Lt. Worf
• Gates McFadden as Doctor Beverly Crusher (1987-1988; 1989-1994)
• Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
• Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data
• Wil Wheaton as Ensign Wesley Crusher (1987-1990)

Episode list[]

Season 1[]

TNG Season 1, 25 episodes:

Season 2[]

TNG Season 2, 22 episodes:

Season 3[]

TNG Season 3, 26 episodes:

Season 4[]

TNG Season 4, 26 episodes:

Season 5[]

TNG Season 5, 26 episodes:

Season 6[]

TNG Season 6, 26 episodes:

Season 7[]

TNG Season 7, 25 episodes:

Behind the scenes[]

Star Trek: The Next Generation was originally pitched to the then-fledgling Fox Network. However, they couldn't guarantee an initial order greater than thirteen episodes, not enough to make the enormous start-up costs of the series worth the expense. It was then decided to sell the series to the first-run syndication market. The show's syndicated launch was overseen by Paramount Television president Mel Harris, a pioneer in the syndicated television market. Many of the stations that carried The Next Generation had also run The Original Series for a long time.

According to issues of Star Trek: The Official Fan Club Magazine from early 1987, TNG was originally planned to be set in the 25th century, 150 years after the original series, and the Enterprise would have been the Enterprise NCC-1701-G. Gene Roddenberry ultimately changed the timeline to mid-24th century, set on board the Enterprise NCC-1701-D, as an Enterprise-G would have been the eighth starship to bear the name and that was too many for the relatively short time period that was to have passed.

Star Trek: The Next Generation was billed initially as being set 78 years after the days of the original USS Enterprise. [1] (p. 16) However, after the series' first season was established as being set in the year 2364, this reference became obsolete as dates were then able to be set for the original series and the four previous films. When this happened, it was established that the events of the original series were about a hundred years before the events of TNG. With TNG's first season being set in 2364, 78 years prior would have been 2286. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home partly takes place during this year along with the shakedown cruise of the USS Enterprise-A.

On the special The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation To The Next, Gene Roddenberry commented, "On the original Star Trek, I practically lost my family from working so many twelve-hour days, fourteen-hour days, seven days a week, and I told them, 'You can't pay me enough to do that.' But then they said, 'Hey, but suppose we do it in a way in which' they call syndication, 'in which we don't have a network and we don't have all those people up there?' And Paramount was saying to me, 'And we guarantee that you will be in charge of the show.'"

Andrew Probert was first hired by Roddenberry in 1978. However, not until 1986, when Roddenberry was preparing to launch a new show, entitled Star Trek: The Next Generation, did he call upon Probert to take a lead design role. Everything had to be rethought, imagined, planned and redesigned. As the vision evolved in the designers' minds, the evolution was charted in successive sketches and paintings.

Among Probert's creations, in addition to the new Enterprise starship and many of its interiors including the main bridge, are many other featured spacecraft. The Ferengi cruiser, and even the Ferengi species, are Probert designs.

Roddenberry originally insisted on doing a one-hour pilot and assigned D.C. Fontana to write the episode, first titled Meeting at Farpoint. However, the studio was keen on having a two-hour pilot, mainly because they wanted something big and spectacular to launch the series, especially considering first-run syndication. Roddenberry himself volunteered to extend Fontana's script to two hours, eventually adding the Q storyline to it.

Ronald D. Moore commented, "Gene did not want conflict between the regular characters on TNG. This began to hamstring the series and led to many, many problems. To put it bluntly, this wasn't a very good idea. But rather than jettison it completely, we tried to remain true to the spirit of a better future where the conflicts between our characters did not show them to be petty or selfish or simply an extension of 20th century mores." (AOL chat, 1997) Rick Berman explained, "The problem with Star Trek: The Next Generation is Gene created a group of characters that he purposely chose not to allow conflict between. Starfleet officers cannot be in conflict, thus its murderous to write these shows because there is no good drama without conflict, and the conflict has to come from outside the group." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 8)

Roddenberry tried to recruit many production staff members from The Original Series to work on the new series. These included producers Robert H. Justman and Edward K. Milkis, writers D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold (who served as the main creative force behind the formation of the series), costume designer William Ware Theiss, assistant director Charles Washburn, composer Fred Steiner, set decorator John M. Dwyer, and writer John D.F. Black. Roddenberry also tried to bring back cinematographer Jerry Finnerman, but he declined the offer, being busy working on Moonlighting at the time. However, all of the above people finished working on the series after or during the first season.

Unit Production Manager David Livingston was responsible for hiring Michael Westmore for the pilot episode. (ENT Season 3 Blu-ray, "Impulse" audio commentary)

Remastering[]

See the main article.

After several months of speculation and partial confirmation, StarTrek.com announced on 28 September 2011 (the 24th anniversary of the series premiere) that The Next Generation would be remastered in 1080p high-definition for release on Blu-ray Disc and eventual syndication, starting in 2012. The seventh and final season was released on Blu-ray in December 2014.

Cast and crew[]

The following people worked on The Next Generation; it is unknown during which season or on which episodes.

Performers[]

• Antonio – background actor
• Charles Bazaldua – voice actor
• Terrence Beasor – voice actor (17 episodes, including the voice of the Borg)
• Libby Bideau – featured actress
• Brian Ciari – background actor: Cardassian (TNG Season 6 or 7)
• Amber Connally – background actress: child
• Phil Crowley – voice actor
• Vincent DeMaio – background actor: Enterprise-D operations division officer
• David Dewitt – background actor
• Gregory Fletcher – background actor Borg
• Dan Horton – background actor
• Carlyle King – voice actress
• Mark Laing – featured actor
• Daryl F. Mallett – background actor
• Tina Morlock – background actress
• Jean Marie Novak – background actress: Enterprise-D operations division officer
• Rick H. Olavarria – background actor (1988)
• Jennifer Ott – background actress: Enterprise-D command division officer
• Richard Penn – voice actor
• Judie Pimitera – background actress: Ten Forward waitress
• Paige Pollack – voice actress
• Jeff Rector – background actor: Enterprise-D command division officer
• Gary Schwartz – voice actor/ADR voice
• Beth Scott – background actress
• Steve Sekely – background actor
• Andrea Silver – background actress: Enterprise-D sciences division officer
• Oliver Theess – recurring background actor (around 1990)
• Richard Walker – background actor
• Harry Williams, Jr. – background actor
• Bruce Winant – supporting actor
• Stephen Woodworth – background actor

Stunt performers[]

• Laura Albert – stunts
• John Lendale Bennett – stunts
• Richard L. Blackwell – stunts
• John Cade – stunts
• Chuck Courtney – Assistant Stunt Coordinator
• Terry James – stunts
• Gary Jensen – Assistant Stunt Coordinator
• Lane Leavitt – stunts
• Pat Romano – stunts

Production staff[]

• Joseph Andolino – Additional Composer
• David Atherton – Makeup Artist
• Gregory Benford – Scientific Consultant
• Steven R. Bernstein – Additional Music Composer/Orchestrator
• Les Bernstien – Motion Control Operator
• R. Christopher Biggs – Special Makeup Effects Artist
• Howard Block – Second Unit Director of Photography
• Stephen Buchsbaum – Colorist: Unitel Video (Four Seasons)
• Alan Chudnow – Assistant Editor
• Marty Church – Foley Mixer
• Scott Cochran – Scoring Mixer: Advertising Music
• Robert Cole – Special Effects Artist
• Sharon Davis – Graphics Assistant
• David Dittmar – Prosthetic Makeup Artist
• Dragon Dronet – Prop Maker: Weapons, Specialty Props and Miniatures
• Jim Dultz – Assistant Art Director
• Shannon Dunn – Extras Casting: Cenex Casting
• Chris W. Fallin – Motion Control Operator
• Edward J. Franklin – Special Effects Artist
• Lisa Gizara – Assistant to Gates McFadden
• John Goodwin – Makeup Artist
• Simon Holden – Digital Compositor (between 1989 and 1994)
• Kent Allen Jones – Sculptor: Bob Jean Productions
• Michael R. Jones – Makeup Artist (early 1990s)
• Jason Kaufman – Prop and Model Maker: Greg Jein, Inc.
• Nina Kent – Makeup Artist
• David Kervinen – Visual Effects Illustrator: Composite Image Systems (4 Seasons)
• Andy Krieger – Extras Casting: Central Casting
• Tim Landry – Visual Effects Artist
• Lisa Logan – Cutter/Fitter
• Jon Macht – Post Production Vendor
• Gray Marshall – Motion Control Camera Operator: Image "G"
• Karl J. Martin – Digital Compositor
• Belinda Merritt – VFX Accountant: The Post Group
• John Palmer – Special Effects Coordinator: WonderWorks Inc.
• Frank Popovich – Mold and Prop Assistant
• Molly Rennie
• Chris Schnitzer – Motion Control Technician/Rigger: Image "G"
• Steven J. Scott – Digital Compositor
• Bruce Sears – DGA Trainee
• Casey Simpson – Gaffer
• Ken Stranahan – Visual Effects Artist
• Rick Stratton – Makeup Artist
• Greg Stuhl – Miniatures: Greg Jein, Inc.
• Tim Tommasino – Assistant Editor
• Peter Webb – Digital Compositor
• Gregory A. Weimerskirch – Assistant Art Director
• Bill Witthans – Dolly Grip

Companies[]

• Bob Jean Productions
• Movie Movers
• Newkirk Special Effects
• Rex Post
• WonderWorks Inc.

Related topics[]

• TNG directors
• TNG performers
• TNG recurring characters
• TNG studio models
• TNG writers
• Character crossover appearances
• Undeveloped TNG episodes

Media[]

• Star Trek: The Next Generation novels
• Star Trek: The Next Generation comics, volume 1 (DC)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation comics, volume 2 (DC)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation comics (IDW)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation soundtracks
• Star Trek: The Next Generation on VHS
• Star Trek: The Next Generation on Betamax
• Star Trek: The Next Generation on LaserDisc
• Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD
• Star Trek: The Next Generation on Blu-ray
• Star Trek: The Next Generation pinball machine

External links[]

• Star Trek: The Next Generation at Wikipedia
• Star Trek: The Next Generation at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek: The Next Generation at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Trek: The Next Generation at StarTrek.com