Starting to Watch Star Trek: TNG... and I like it.

[gagagalvatron]

When I was a young kid, it was Star Wars all the way. Trek was boring.

Then, when there were no more Star Wars movies (this was after RotJ), Star Trek got my attention. All that talkiness became relevant and interesting. For awhile, ST > SW.

SW and ST represent different things and fill different sci-fi needs. I think when you recognize that, you realize you don't have to choose. They each bring something good to the table, and you can appreciate each for what they do best.

TNG is a great series, though there are a lot of clunker episodes. I'm watching the occasional episode on Space now, as it goes through the cycle of seasons again. It was a series where Trek grew and evolved, though it was still in the process of figuring a lot of things out.

DS9 is more polarizing. Many consider it the best Trek series (myself included). Others think it too dark. Most of the first season is garbage (although the pilot is easily the best Trek pilot) and the second season is where it begins to take off. It's worth the early growing pains, though, as DS9s characterization is top notch.

I hate Voyager, so much that I consider it anti-Star Trek in many ways. More than anything, it shows why having all episodes be essentially self-contained can be a really bad idea, as continuity, logic, character development, and storytelling gets tossed out the airlock. The finale is one of the worst pieces of filmed Trek ever. Voyager did what no show before had done: it made me stop watching Star Trek.

I only saw a little bit of Enterprise. The common wisdom is that the first two seasons sort of sucked (and I checked out during the first). And then it got better. And then it was cancelled.
In my opinion, Enterprise inherited the worst of Voyager and didn't change itself until it was too late. Also in my opinion, Enterprise is what happens when Trek doesn't really evolve. Recycled shows, plots, characters, sets -- it made Trek feel played out. Too comfortable with itself, it didn't grow.

[Nullray]

I really enjoyed watching the ST:TNG. When it was first on the air we use to get together and watch it cranked in surround sound. It was that then COPs. I still can remember the low frequency rumble of the ships engine that was always ambiently there. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. I like TNG because it had many ongoing story lines and character development not just individual episodes. I had a hard time accepting Patrick Stewart a Prof X. He was Picard for a long long time. There are so many seasons you will be in for a great ride. Its gonna take awhile. Enjoy.

SW vs ST - They are both fantastic in their own ways.

[Aernaroth]

Once you're done TNG, slog through the first season of Deep Space 9 til you get to the good stuff, you should have a blast.

[Benzo]

TNG is what got me into the Trek Universe. Loved to watch it as a kid but now I can't stand to watch it anymore. TOS and VOY are my two favourite series and DS9 was only good because of the Dominion War. As for Enterprise, season 4 was fantastic and I'll leave it at that!

[Mighty_Galvatron]

Originally Posted by Dark Rage

I'll admit that most of it's series usually lack humour

I think there is a great deal of humour in the show that revolves around the characters' interactions with each other. Hearing Picard say "Riker" in an annoyed voice is some of the funniest shit I've ever heard. Or Riker simply putting his leg up on Data's console or chair on the bridge makes me laugh my ass off.

Originally Posted by gagagalvatron

I hate Voyager

I'll admit that I used to feel the same. But once I watched the entire series my mind changed. It's a great show. The characters really grew on me. Except for Chakotay. I hate him like no other Star Trek character.

[edit] My favorite show is TNG. DS9 comes second and VOY is third. I love all the movies (even the original 6) and I don't like TOS or Enterprise. Even 2009's movie kinda sucked.

[cannabisprime]

Originally Posted by Team Jetfire

So let’s talk about The Next Generation. What do you like about it, Favorite Episodes and other things that the new viewer should know about the series.

I liked that, compared to the Original Series, TNG also shone the spotlight on a lot of the minor characters; whereas TOS focused mostly on Kirk, Spock and McCoy, TNG didn't just make it a Picard/Data and Riker show. The variety of different character-centric episodes (multi-parters in some cases) was great; this holds true for the "Redemption" two-parter. Tapestry is also another favourite episode;

[Batman]

I haven't watched it much in recent years, but I watched it religiously everyday when I was growing up.

[Joalro]

Originally Posted by Metroplex79

DéjÃ* Q.

I know what episode you were talking about, i DON"T know where you got the fact that the stabbing was real.

I kinda liked DS9. It had a lot of issues though. Don't get me wrong, it had some fantastic Sci Fi episodes. The acting is great, and had some really fun characters. It also had a lot of crap. Many of the war episodes became repetitive, the religious stuff became silly at times, and I would say that the finale was very unsatisfying.

Voyager is getting attacked way more than it should. I don't know where someone got the idea that each episode is self contained. It is WAY more continuous than TNG by a long shot. TNG had nearly no continuous stories. Voyager the entire show was one plot of trying to get home. There were also some very major developments that stuck.

Also Voyager had two of the best characters on Star Trek. 7 of 9 and The Doctor. I LOVED their development through the show. Janeway is also a very good captain. Chikotee was very boring. Personally, i hated Harry Kim. But I hated characters on all the Star treks. Troi is intolerable, never really liked Kira. Enterprise had Travis Mayweather, a terribly, terribly, acted character.

All in all, all the shows have a lot of value. And i've seen each and every episode.

[Mighty_Galvatron]

Originally Posted by Joalro

Also Voyager had two of the best characters on Star Trek. 7 of 9 and The Doctor. I LOVED their development through the show. Janeway is also a very good captain.

It's just too bad that Seven got there a few seasons in. She should have been there from the start. I feel the same about Worf on DS9.

Janeway was a very reckless captain! She was borderline insane at times. I still loved her though. Not to bad to look at either.

[Joalro]

I'm not sure what you mean by insane. She never came across that way for me.