Fans reacting to the announcement of Star Trek: The Next Generation ( lemmy.world )

It’s so bizarre to read this in the present, knowing how incredible TNG was, but I get it - the original crew WAS Star Trek to them.

The dedicated fans revived this series in syndication, well after it had gone off the air in 1969, and felt attached to the characters that they had obsessed over between then and the 1980s. Like modern fans, they thought that departure from what they knew would ruin it.

I wish I could go back in time and tell them that TNG is going to rock.

maegul ,

Hmmm. Came back here looking for the snippet but the image link seems to be broken … any chance of digging it out again?

The_Picard_Maneuver OP ,
@The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world avatar

Sure thing. Here it is! https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/7cc618ab-6abf-4835-8411-20fee992914d.jpeg

maegul ,

Thanks!!

hesusingthespiritbomb ,

I mean let’s be real here they had every right to be concerned. TNG had serious problems in the beginning and had some pretty big flaws even as the show got going. Off the top of my head

  • The first few episodes (besides Q) were straight trash. Even if you take out the ample racism and sexism, they still kinda suck
  • Worf didn’t become a thing until Yar died. He was just kinda there. Also his hair looked ridiculous
  • Riker was half as sexy in terms of looks and a quarter as sexy in terms of personality
  • Picard was a dick. Not firm but fair. A straight up dick.
  • They straight up got rid of crusher for a season
  • The Ferengi were awful. Not like in a “lol what shenanigans is Quark up to now” but in a “TOS Gorn” way
Kolanaki ,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

Riker was half as sexy in terms of looks and a quarter as sexy in terms of personality

Without any other context, you could easily assume that Riker’s beard is what really made TNG work.

wjmalik ,
@wjmalik@noc.social avatar

@Kolanaki @hesusingthespiritbomb
Whoopie Goldberg's desire to come in the show probably helped a bit, too. Or did she come for the beard?

loom_in_essence ,

Oh she came for the beard ;)

loom_in_essence ,

I love the first few episodes, I prefer babyface riker, and I think Dick Picard was a cool badass who I fully support.

But they should have kept Crusher, and the political conflicts were a ridiculous joke epitomized by the cartoonish ferengi. S3 gave us much better aesthetics and politics (though the new character driven storytelling might be a matter of taste).

cloudy1999 ,

I’m watching TNG now with someone who’s never seen it before, and that’s making me ‘see’ the show with fresh eyes. The first few episodes are so hard to get through. Some are straight up cringey. Many remember Code of Honor and Last Outpost as being horrible, but Naked Now is awful in its own way. Don’t get me wrong: TNG goes on to be an excellent, culture-defining show. When people talk about how good it is, they’re probably thinking about Measure of a Man, Inner Light, Darmok, and Best of Both Worlds.

Let me add that DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise got to build on the risks that TNG took. Those shows were more consistently good at their starts.

Electricorchestra ,

Hey Naked Now has Data laying android pipe and therefore is fully functional in terms of canon.

cloudy1999 ,

Jokes aside, it’s a great point. It adds even more meaning to Data’s evident attachment to Tasha later on.

Blimp7990 ,

and tryina get busy with the borg queen a decade later

hesusingthespiritbomb ,

Do you think the structured Soong’s character around the idea that he’d 100 percent be the type of guy to ensure Data had a fully functioning Penis?

Electricorchestra ,

Honestly from what we know of the Soong’s they probably almost never get laid so they 100% would try to make their androids studs in the bedroom.

Ilari ,

The Naked Now was a bizarre choice for such an early episode. It’s the very first one after the premiere, and it’s based on the crew acting out of character – before the audience has had time to learn what their personalities are supposed to be.

nxdefiant ,

Completely irrelevant to the topic, but my personal head canon is that Janeway admired Worf’s S1 Hair and copied it when she was given Voyager to command.

CeruleanRuin ,

She definitely wore it better.

NathanielThomas ,

Sigh.

Ok, let’s hear what you think the racism and sexism was.

Blimp7990 ,

well when I googled “racism in star trek tng” i got “code of honor” so maybe start there

result number 2 was also “code of honor” followed in third place by…well, the 1960s.

4 is code of honor, 5 is ds9, 6 is 1960s, and 7 is ‘beyond the stars’ one of the best episodes of all the treks, but only present in the results because it discussed racism. in the 60s (ok 50s so shoot me).

CeruleanRuin ,

Have you watched season 1?

ImADifferentBird ,
@ImADifferentBird@midwest.social avatar

Did you skip over Code of Honor? Wouldn’t blame you if you did, of course.

Blimp7990 ,

The Ferengi

they were awful, but they did give me a good basis for imagining wolf-of-wall-street types

T156 , (edited )

They straight up got rid of crusher for a season

I believe McFadden was fired, which was why she disappeared for no reason or fanfare.

TNG had serious problems in the beginning and had some pretty big flaws even as the show got going. Off the top of my head

You’re not wrong. I think the only main character that really had any development in the first 2 seasons is Dr Pulaski, going from someone completely unfamiliar with Data, and conscious machinery, to being an ardent supporter of his. We had a little but in Data settling into being an emotionless Android trying to learn to be more human, and Geordi becoming Chief Engineer, but they were very minor background tweaks to the characters.

Everyone else barely changed at all in that time, except for Lt. Yar, who went from being a living breathing person to corpse.

ramble81 ,

“unknown British Shakespearian actor…” Wow, I never thought I’d hear Patrick Stewart described that way.

GreenMario , (edited )

I think he was just an extra in the movie Excalibur before TNG, outside of stage.

Edit: “”““extra””“” in extra quotes forgive me it’s been over a decade since I saw the movie.

daikiki ,

How dare you disrespect Gurney Halleck like that?

Daqu ,

His boss was a captain too

theodewere , (edited )
@theodewere@kbin.social avatar

lol he wasn't an extra.. he had a hugely important role.. he was Guenevere's father for crying out loud, they fought a huge battle at his castle and everything.. he tries to draw the freaking sword itself!!

edit: i'm sorry i love that film a little too much

hellweaver666 ,
@hellweaver666@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

Wasn’t he also in the original version of Dune?

theodewere ,
@theodewere@kbin.social avatar

yeah and he's awesome

Anticorp ,

He was in the original Dune too.

Xbeam ,

The picture in the article is him as Gurney in Dune.

GreenMario ,

Oh shit you’re right. Never saw that one though.

demonquark ,

You are missing out. I love that movie. People call it a train wreck and tbh it kinda of is, but for me, the lynch’s weirdness jibes perfectly with the world that Herbert eventually creates. Tonally it felt right.

Todd_cross ,

He was great as Sejanus in I, Claudius.

AngrilyEatingMuffins ,

He was in I, Claudius. He’d been in stuff.

Pipoca ,

He wasn’t well- known, but had had a bunch of assorted roles on TV and movies.

Amazed ,

Shlock shock journalism to sell issues.

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