Star Trek - The Next Generation - Episode by Episode discussion

So...there was only a minuscule improvement in quality?

 

I like the idea of a female security officer. I wish that she had stuck with the show and allowed her character to develop.

 

Quantum may be minimal, but it sounds big, and that's what counts.

 

Don't any of you guys remember the sci-fi time travel show "Quantum Leap"? The title sounded pretty damned impressive to ME back then...

 

Yes I do, but it was misused then (probably because it sounded 'sciencey') and people still misuse the term today.

 

The Last Outpost

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Last_Outpost_(episode)

First appearance of The Ferengi



Geordi : "My Hero"

Darryl

 

I do remember the pre-episode hype that we would be meeting the Federation's most fierce new enemy, the Ferengi. Once the episode aired, I just found them rather silly - not ominous. And that feeling must have been had by many, as the Ferengi turned into a comic relief race in the Star Trek universe. Armin Shimerman makes his debut as a Ferengi here, and he'd later become the most prominent Ferengi as DEEP SPACE NINE's Quark.

Harry

 

It's funny to think how things would have played out if Crosby stayed.

After all, during the first season, the show had two obvious structural problems: no ongoing chief engineer and Worf had no plainly identifiable job. As such, if he didn't get moved into Tasha's role towards the end of the first season, I suspect the writers would have made him the Chief Engineer. After all, it's not like prior to season 2, Geordie was shown to be any more technically adept than Worf. He only became an engineering genius after he was transitioned into that job. At the time, Worf was just as plausible as Geordie to assume that role.

It's amusing to imagine Michael Dorn spouting all that technobabble. Anyone who has seen the gag reels knows that Dorn was the most gaffe-prone cast member. Having to get thru all that jargon (something LeVar Burton proved masterful at) would have been HILARIOUS.

 

He'd probably be denied...again.



Darryl

 

McCoy was 137 years old on this 1987 episode. According to the storyline at least, but they did a good job with the old guy makeup. In real life Deforest Kelley later passed away in 1999 at age 79.

 

On a slightly related note, when I first saw the episode Too Short A Season, I'd assumed that the Admiral Jameson appearing in old-man makeup was McCoy/DeForest. The resemblance was uncanny in the early scenes before he started getting younger.

 

Oh yeah I remember that episode where Jameson takes an illegal fountain of youth drug. Must've been the same makeup team!

 

http://trekcore.com/blog/2015/05/trek-50-star-wars-celebration/

The Force Awakens While the Federation Slumbers
by Rob Heyman for TrekCore.com

With the mania surrounding the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens later this year, it’s easy to forget that Star Trek will be celebrating something of its own very soon – its 50th anniversary. Yeah, that’s a pretty big deal. And yet there doesn’t seem to be much buzz heading into next year’s commemoration or the expected new movie. And that’s sad.

Let’s face it – the timing couldn't be worse. Even for the most die hard of Trek fans out there (count me among them, of course), getting a new Star Wars movie is a pretty exciting thing. And it’s not just one movie but a series of new films over the next several years. The electricity in the air is simply hard to ignore.....(more at the link)

 

But at least Trek fans have lots of old shows, including the remastered Next Gen in HD:

 

Part of the buzz for "Star Wars 7" is that most of the original surviving cast members are back playing their original characters...I never expected Harrison Ford to go back to playing Han Solo...

 

And then it peters out. TOS and TNG look stellar (although reactions are mixed about the newer effects on TOS), the movies are iffy, and there appear to be no plans for DS9 or VOY to make it into HD anytime soon, if ever (even the animated series has been given the short end of the stick, despite being the absolute easiest thing ever to translate to HD).

Granted, Star Wars is not without its missing pieces as well, as far as HD is concerned... but far less!