Star Trek: The Next Generation is a Star Trek TV show that had great success and great fanbase although the first two seasons were not that successful. This TV show aired 20 years after the Original Series is about the adventures of Enterprise starship crew but the ship is not the same. When the services of Enterprise ship in the Original Series ended, Enterprise-A, Enterprise-B and Enterprise-C ships were built respectively for service and when all of them were destroyed, Enterprise-D ship started service. Star Trek: The Next Generation TV show is on that Enterprise-D ships and tells a story approximately 100 years after the Original Series.
The TV show attracted attention after a weak performance in the first two seasons and it continued the classical Star Trek tradition and narrated independent and different stories in each episode. However, there are sequel episodes as well. Additionally, we can see some of the Enterprise characters from 100 years ago in some of the episodes. Star Trek: The Next Generation consists of a total of 7 seasons and 178 episodes.
Since it is a long TV show, it is hard to sustain a conference. Therefore, writers created independent stories in each episode. The duty of Enterprise-D is again “to discover different worlds, search for new life forms and civilizations and to bravely go to places that no one was ever gone”. Following the classical Star, Trek tradition had cons and pros.
Although it has a simple system, this TV show is considered perfect because it is a good production. It can compete with most of the science fiction shows.
This TV show brought a lot so things to Star Trek universe like Borg, Ferengi, Cardassian races. Klingon Empire which was often the enemy in the Original Series is a strong ally of the United Federation of Planets 100 years later and one of the Enterprise-D crew is from Klingon race. Additionally, the TV show highlights that the universe is infinite, dark and unknown.
One of the important characters of the show is Q. Q whom we have not seen in the previous production is the best example to show how incredibly interesting the universe is. This living being that seems like a God among us humans constantly surprises us from the first episode and it is hard to understand what he is doing. Let’s get to know the Enterprise-D crew in Star Trek: The Next Generation:
Jean-Luc Picard:
Played by Patrick Steward, Jean-Luc Picard is a French-descended Starfleet officer, archaeologist and diplomat who worked in the last two-thirds of the 24th century. The most important points of his career were when he was a captain in USS Stargazer, USS Enterprise-D and later in USS Enterprise-E ships. Picard experienced important things not only on his behalf but also in terms of the Federations‘ future.He contacted 27 different new species including Borg and Ferengi, enabled the Federation to know them and he has been the key contact point for Q Continuity.
William T. Riker:
William Thomas Riker played by Jonathan Frakes has been the 2nd captain of Captain Picard first in Enterprise-D and then in Enterprise-E ships in the 24th century. He had a relationship with captain’s assistant Deanna Troi. In 2379, he became a captain to USS Titan.
Deanna Troi:
Deanna Troi played by Marina Sirtis is a half-human half Betazoid Starfleet officer. Since her mother was a Betazoid, Deanna had her telepathic skills. She was the consultant of Captain Picard on Enterprise-D and Enterprise-E ships. In 2379, she transferred to USS Titan ship.
Beverly Crusher:
Doctor Beverly Crusher played by Gates McFadden was the chief physician in Enterprise-D and then in Enterprise-E ships. (Although the chief physician changed in season 2, Dr. Crusher returned in season 3.) She is a member of Starfleet Surgeons Academy. Her husband Jack Crusher died in an accident in the past and she raised his son Wesley Crusher on her own.
Geordi La Forge:
Geordi La Forge played by LeVar Burton worked as the steersman in the ship at first and after a short while, he became the Chief Engineer and worked as Starfleet officer. Even though he is blind from birth, a visor he wore on his eyes gave him better vision than an ordinary man.He worked as Chief engineer in Enterprise-D and then in Enterprise-E ships.
Data
Data played by Brent Spiner was invented by Dr. Noonian Soong and he was the first android included in the Starfleet. He is just like a human except emotions. But he always wanted to be a human and he constantly imitated humans. In this way, Data showed significant progress in the TV show and the later Star Trek movies.
Worf
Worf played by Michael Dorn is a Starfleet officer from Klingon race. While Klingons were generally enemies in the Original Series, they became allies in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Thanks to Worf, Star Trek audience got lots of information about Klingons and again, they started to like Klingons. Worf who acts as the Security Officer of the ship later transferred to Deep Space 9 station and played an important character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine TV show.
These good aspects come from the fact that Star Trek: The Next Generation gained earned success among sci-fi production with its perfectly rooted characters, strong philosophy and tasteful episodes. He did great contributions to Star Trek universe and made the fans happy. Star Trek: The Next Generation cast starred in 4 movies released after the TV show (Star Trek 7, 8, 9, 10).
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