Cast: Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Commander William T. Riker), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Levar Burton (Lieutenant Geordi LaForge), Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), Michael Dorn (Lieutenant Worf), Denise Crosby (Lieutenant Tasha Yar), Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher)
Creator/Executive Producer: Gene Roddenberry
Co-Executive Producers: Rick Berman (production) and Maurice Hurley (writing)
***
Paramount’s gamble on a new Star Trek television series had turned up a winning hand for the studio. By selling the show into first run syndication instead of placing it on a network, the studio had more creative control over the series as well as more financial benefits on their costly investment. Though at 1.3 million an episode, and all it took to put one together, the new series was often under the same budget restraints as the original series had been two decades earlier. Taking a network out of the equation also gave the series more breathing room which Paramount thought essential as brining Star Trek back as a weekly series was never expected to be easy. Everyone was pleasantly surprised when Star Trek: The Next Generation became an instant ratings hit. Fans of the original series who refused to accept a new cast of characters were compensated by viewers who came to the series as Star Trek newbies.
Behind the scenes, however, not all was well. The actors and writers were still struggling to understand the characters. Producers considered dropping Deanna Troi halfway through the season. Denise Crosby, unhappy with the quality of the Tasha Yar character, asked to be let out of her contract and Yar was killed off towards the end of the season in the episode “Skin of Evil”. Frankly though, the failure of the Yar character was as much a result of Crosby’s limited ability as an actor than how the character was being written. It was young Wesley Crusher who seemed to annoy viewers the most. Gene Roddenberry had based Wesley a little on his teenage self and pushed for the acting Ensign to be included in stories as much as possible, with a few too many involving the brainy boy saving the Enterprise form a hostile alien while the rest of the crew seem completely oblivious to what is going on around them. Even two of the season’s best episodes, “Where No One Has Gone Before” and “Datalore”, had Wesley saving the day while the adults were often clueless to the danger. At least at first.
Following the impressive “Encounter at Farpoint” premiere, the quality of the first 15 episodes was a disappointment. There were definitely some excellent stories like “Where No One Has Gone Before”, “The Big Goodbye”, “Datalore” and “11001001”, that were Star Trek at its very best. “The Battle” was also an impressive show thanks to a great Patrick Stewart performance and the young Rob Bowman’s stylish direction. There were too many episodes though that may have been good but should have been better and a handful that were just plane dreadful, with many being poor inferior remakes of classic episodes of the original series (the infamous “The Naked Now” being a good example).
Many blamed the uneven quality of the writing on Gene Roddenberry’s declining heath. At 66 years old, Star Trek’s creator and show’s executive producer had suffered several mini-strokes, was showing early signs of dementia and drinking heavily. Scripts were rewritten to the point of being water-downed to mediocrity and writers were being fired left and right if not leaving on their own accord. David Gerrord, who had written the classic original series episode “The Trouble with Tribbles” at age 22 had gone on to be a prolific and talented author and sometimes television writer, had been one of the first people Rodenberry brought on to write for the new series, quit during the production of the pilot and his AIDS themed episode “Blood and Fire” was never filmed (David would later publish his unproduced teleplay in a collection of short stories and it’s mystery as why it was never filmed as it would have easily been one of the season’s best episodes). Dorothy “D.C” Fontana, a story editor on the original series who had written the classic episodes “This Side of Paradise” and “Journey to Babel”, was also brought on by Roddenberry as a writer and associate producer but left in October of 1987, only weeks after the new series premiered. Fontana and Gerrold both filed grievances with the Writer’s Guild against their former friend and boss.
Midway through the first season of the original Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry had taken a supervisory, less hands on involvement and writer/producer Gene L. Coon came in to oversee script development, with associate producer Robert H. Justman in charge of the physical side of production. When script problems caused Star Trek: The Next Generation to shut down production during the episode “When the Bough Breaks”, Paramount decided that Roddenberry was not capable of running his own series. It was not the case as with the film franchise where after the runaway budget of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the show’s creator was stripped of all power and giving the mostly ceremonial title of “executive consultant” and writer/producer Harve Bennett and directors Nicholas Meyer (The Wrath of Khan) and Leonard Nimoy (The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home) were given full creative control. Roddenberry was still the executive producer and it still his series, he would just no longer be in the trenches. Paramount must have known to remove Roddenberry entirely from the show while the series was still in its first season would be disastrous. Star Trek was one man’s unique vision, and Star Trek: The Next Generation a continuation of it. Paramount needed Roddenberry.
With supervising producer (and original series veteran) Robert Justman having a difficult time handling the 15-hour work days that go into producing a series like Star Trek: The Next Generation, he asked the studio for lighter load and finished out the season as a consulting producer before retiring from television after a 30-year career that not only included Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation but also the original Outer Limits and the 1950’s version of Superman. As the person who pushed for Patrick Stewart for the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and hired the gifted young director Rob Bowman, Justman’s mark on Star Trek: The Next Generation would remain long after he had left.
With Rodenberry and Justman’s decreased involvement, supervising producer Rick Berman and writer/producer Maurice Hurley were both promoted to co-executive producer and placed in charge of the day to day production of the series (under Roddeberry’s supervision), with Hurley in charge of script development and Berman overseeing everything else. Hurley’s tight fisted approach to the writing process angered as many writers as Roddeberry’s chaotic behavior, but it did result in a noticeable improvement in the quality of the writing. Hurley also wisely decided to bring back the Klingons (“Heart of Glory”) and the Romulans (“The Neutral Zone’), while creating a new advisory called the Borg (due to the looming 1988 writer’s strike, the Borg’s introduction would be put off until the second season classic “Q-Who”).
Despite the behind the scenes drama and the uneven quality of the writing over much of the first season, it was still apparent that Star Trek: The Next Generation had a bright future. As early as the premiere episode “Encounter at Farpoint”, the new series introduced great new characters played by talented actors. Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner, especially, would over the course of seven seasons give some of the best performances ever seen on television. Inspired by Steven Bochco’s landmark television dramas Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law, unlike the original Star Trek that focused on the three main characters of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, Star Trek: The Next Generation was more an ensemble which really broadened the scope of stories that could be told. While giving all the characters an equal amount of screen time worked better in theory than execution (Beverly Crusher and Deanna Troi never really developed into three dimensional characters), the series still did have far more than three to create stories for.
Episodes 16-26:
- “Too Short a Season” ***
Teleplay by Michael Michaelian and D.C. Fontana/Story by Michael Michaelian
One of the unwritten rules of television, is that an episode’s story should focus on the main characters and never a guest star. That’s a rule that this dialogue heavy episode breaks. Freelance writer Michaell Michaelian devised the episode on the idea of male menopause, and built a story around an aging Starfleet admiral, Mark Jameson (Clayton Rohner), who overdoses on an alien de-aging drug prior to a hostage negotiation on Mordan IV, where he mediated a similar situation four decades earlier. The hostage crisis, which was given special emphasis by D.C. Fontana in her rewrite, was inspired by the Iran Contra affair, and is all a ruse by Mordan’s vengeful governor, Karnas (Michael Pataki), to get revenge against Jameson. Despite script problems, this episode works because it is an interesting concept that was well executed by director Rob Bowman, who gets great performances out of Clayton Rohner and Michael Pataki. Michael Pataki had appeared as Korax in the classic David Gerrold “The Trouble with Tribbles” episode of the original series.
- “Home Soil” ***
Teleplay by Robert Sabaroff/Story by Karl Guers, Ralph Sanchez and Robert Sabaroff
Despite being a remake of the original series classic “The Devil in the Dark”, this episode stands up pretty well on its own. Instead of a silicon based creature that tunnels through solid rock, this story is about a single cell creature (an idea similar to the 1968 episode “The Immunity Syndrome”, also written by Sabaroff) that lives in the sands of Velara III and is almost destroyed by a Federation terraforming team. The mystery surrounding the discovery of the new life form is well staged by director Corey Allen, who directed the premiere episode “Encounter at Farpoint”. The leader of the science expedition, Kurt Mandel, is played by Walter Gotell, who played General Gogol on the James Bond movies. Despite being inferior to “The Devil in the Dark”, this is still a worthwhile episode.
- “When the Bough Breaks” **
Written by Hannah Louise Shearer
Whenever the original series did episodes that focused on children (“Miri”,” And the Children Shall Lead”), they never really turned out all that well. This episode demonstrated that the new series was going to have a similar problem. Writer Hannah Louise Shearer (who was given a staff positon as a result of this episode) wanted to touch on the fact that the Enterprise-D had families aboard, including children, in this story about the technically advanced but sterile people of Aldea, who kidnap Wesley and several other Enterprise children in an attempt to repopulate their planet. One of the strange things about this episode is that the Aldean population consists of like six people. And the fact that they like the Enterprise children just a little bit too much is a little creepy. One thing I do like about the episode are the performances of guest stars Jerry Hardin and Brenda Strong. Hardin would later appear in the two-part episode “Time’s Arrow” as well as the recurring role of Deep Throat during the first season of The X-Files. It’s not that “When the Bough Breaks” is a bad episode, it’s just not particularly interesting.
- “Coming of Age” ***
Written by Sandy Fries and Hannah Louise Shearer (uncredited)
The best use of Wesley since “Where No One Has Gone Before” earlier in the season, and one of the better uses of the character period. This is an episode where the A plot and the B plot both work really well. As Wesley takes his examination to enter Starfleet Academy we finally see the process that applicants go through to become cadets (and that Captain Picard failed on his first try!). We’re also given some explanation into Picard’s history with Wesley and Beverly (which had not been addressed since first being mentioned in “Farpoint”) and the Captain’s involvement in Jack Crusher’s death. What really makes this episode is the main story about Starfleet Admiral Gregory Quinn (Ward Costello, an old friend of Captain Picard’s, and his obnoxious assistant, Lt. Commander Dexter Remmick (Robert Schenkkan), who come aboard the Enterprise and turn everything upside down looking to uncover a conspiracy that the admiral fears is beginning in the ranks of Starfleet. With Gene Roddenberry’s mandate that there is never to be conflict between Enterprise officers, someone like Remmick coming aboard really stirs things up and is fun to watch. Robert Schenkkan is excellent as Remmick and his scenes with Jonathan Frakes are especially good.
- “Heart of Glory” ****
Teleplay by Maurice Hurley/Story by D.C. Fontana & Herbert Wright and Maurice Hurley
The first of many excellent Klingon themed stories that would be told over Star Trek: The Next Generation’s seven seasons. Beginning in 1967 with the excellent Gene Coon written episode “Errand of Mercy”, it was nearly impossible to fail with Klingon shows. They were just such a fascinating race, that a writer could do no wrong with them. Early in the new show’s first season, it was hinted (but never actually stated) that after years of conflict, the Klingon Empire and the Federation are now at peace, as the Organias in “Errand of Mercy” had predicated. However, one has to wonder whether a warrior race like the Klingons would adapt well to peace. “Heart of Glory” sets out to answer some of these questions when the Enterprise rescues three renegade Klingons from a battered old freighter. These Klingons find the treaty with the peace loving Federation to be a living hell and attempt to take over the Enterprise to once again bring terror to the galaxy. This is the first episode to really give Worf something meaningful to do, such is the case, Michael Dorn is not entirely comfortable with his character yet, and is occasionally overshadowed by the intense performance of guest Vaughn Armstrong as Koras, the leader of the war hungry Klingons. “Heart of Glory” provides viewers with some background on Worf, such as his being raised by humans after his parents were killed in a Romulan attack, two aspects of the character that would be expanded on throughout the run of the series and later Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. We are also first introduced to the Klingon death ritual. “Heart of Glory” features a tense and philosophical script by Maurice Hurley, that is brought beautifully to the screen by Rob Bowman with suspense and his trademark style.
- “The Arsenal of Freedom” ****
Teleplay by Richard Manning & Hans Beimler/Story by Maurice Hurley & Robert Lewin
Initially this episode was to feature a love story between Captain Picard and Doctor Crusher, but after Gene Roddenberry rejected that idea, it became entirely about the planet Minos, a now dead world that was once populated by a civilization that created a weapons system so sophisticated and deadly that they annihilated themselves. “The Arsenal of Freedom” was the first episode to be written by the team of Hans Beimler and Richard Manning (based on Hurley and Robert Lewin’s story), who would write some of the best episodes during the first three seasons of the show (Beimler would later play a major role in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and is filled with action, suspense, humor (“The early bird who hesitates, gets wormed!”), nice social commentary without being too pretentious as well as something worthwhile for each of the characters to do. With both Picard and Riker on the planet, Geordi gets to take command of the Enterprise while it’s under attack from an invisible weapon. The art department did an exceptionally good job on this episode, especially scenic artist Michael Okuda in designing the control panel for the Minos weapons system in an underground cavern that Picard and Dr. Crusher fall into. There is also a nice scene stealing performance by the ever reliable Vincent Schiavelli (Fast Times at Ridgemont High) as a holographic arms dealer.
- “Symbiosis” ***1/2
Teleplay by Robert Lewin, Richard Manning & Hans Beimler/Story by Robert Lewin
An episode that gets quite a bit of flack due to a scene where Tasha Yar gives young Wesley Crusher a Nancy Reagan “Just Say No” to drugs speech. Anyone who would so strongly criticize an episode over such a minute thing probably has too much time on their hands. It’s not even that bad a scene. “Symbiosis”, which would be the final episode to be written by veteran writer/producer Robert Lewin, who would leave the series at season’s end over creative differences with Gene Roddenberry and Maurice Hurley, is a very effective anti-drug story in which the Enterprise finds itself in the middle of a drug transaction when it rescues four passengers from a disabled vessel. Brecca is a technically advanced civilization, riddled by a deadly plague, that has no cure, but medication found on neighboring planet Omaran can temporarily relieve the suffering. When Dr. Crusher discovers that there is no plague and that the Breccans are actually drug addicts and the Omaran drug actually increases their dependency on it, Captain Picard is bound by the Prime Directive to not get involved. It’s occasionally nice to see and episode with no easy solution and “Symbiosis” works so well as a result. Star Trek II-The Wrath of Khan veterans Merritt Butrick and Judson Scott appear in this episode. Buttrick, who was sadly dying of AIDS at the time, gives a moving performance as one of the drug addicted Braccans. This episode deals with the drug problem far better than “Too Short a Season” or the original series’ “Mudd’s Women”.
- “Skin of Evil” *1/2
Teleplay by Joseph L. Scanlan and Hannah Louise Shearer/Story by Joseph L. Scanlan
Joseph Scanlan, the screenwriter of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and the writer/producer on the first season of the original Outer Limits, initially wrote this episode but after a heavy rewrite by story editor Hannah Louse Shearer, Scanlan was so displeased with the final product that he refused to even comment on it. The blame for a good deal of this episode’s poor quality lies not with either Scanlan or Shearer but with Gene Roddenberry. When Denise Crosby asked to be let out of her contract, it was decided to kill off the character of Tasha Yar. Roddenberry believed that as space could be a dangerous place and that people would frequently parish on hostile worlds (as anyone who wore a red uniform on the original series will tell you), that the character should die with as little fanfare as possible. That reasoning not only takes away from the drama but it also is not the way to write off a main character, even one as pointless as Tasha Yar. It also does not help matters that Yar is killed by Armus, a creature of pure evil. I do not believe in the concept of pure evil. Also, for budgetary reasons, Armus looks like a giant oil slick. Next to the poor way in which Yar was killed, this episode suffers from being late in the season when money was beginning to run out. With the possible exception of “Hide and Q”, “Skin of Evil” has the cheapest looking set of the season. This is especially a disappointment compared to the beautiful set in “The Arsenal of Freedom”, two episodes earlier. “Skin of Evil” proves once again though what a great talent Patrick Stewart is. Picard has an argument with a giant ink blot, and manages to pull it off. Tasha’s funeral scene (written by Shearer) is very moving, which at least end’s the episode on a high note. Despite its poor quality, “Skin of Evil” and the death of Yar, allows Work (a far better character) to take over the tactical station and as security chief, providing the Klingon officer an opportunity to develop in a way in which he may not have otherwise. Denise Crosby deserves our thanks for that at least.
- “We’ll Always Have Paris” ***1/2
Written by Deborah Dean Davis & Hannah Louise Shearer
A very underrated episode in which the Enterprise rescues a scientist, Paul Manheim (Rod Loomis) and his wife, Jenice (Michelle Phillips), after an accident in his lab results in the death of his colleagues. Manheim, an expert in the mechanics of time, has opened a crack into another dimension. The accident has left the scientist’s mind in two different realities, while also causing time loops that can be felt throughout the quadrant. As the crew attempt to put an end to the time loops, Captain Picard is reunited with Jenice Manheim, a woman who he was romantically involved with 20 years earlier. Many have said that the time element of this episode is confusing and that the Picard-Jenice relationship does not really work due to a lack of chemistry between Patrick Stewart and Michelle Phillips, a member of the 60’s folk group The Mamas and the Papas. Speaking just for myself, I think Stewart and Phillips work well together and that we get to learn more about the Captain’s past. Picard also revisits the café via the holodeck two decades earlier where he stood up the young Jenice, allowing the viewer to see Paris in the 24th century. To quote a former Enterprise first officer, I find the concept of the time loops “fascinating”, the idea that time can rewind itself back a few seconds and then repeat. Of the last eight episodes, I do not think “We’ll Always Have Paris” is quite as great at “Heart of Glory”, “The Arsenal of Freedom” or the upcoming “Conspiracy”, but I still think it’s a very strong episode.
- “Conspiracy” ****
Teleplay by Tracy Torme/ Story by Robert Sabaroff
At the end of “Coming of Age”, six episodes earlier, Captain Picard’s old friend, Admiral Gregory Quinn, (Ward Costello), warned him that he feared that a conspiracy was beginning to take root in Starfleet Command. In “Conspiracy”, we learn that Quinn’s concern was more than simple paranoia. This brilliant episode was the first to show that Star Trek: The Next Generation could do horror stories very well and would remain the most graphically violent Trek episode until the disappointing Star Trek: Discovery premiered thirty-years later. The violence in this episode was considered distasteful by some fans, but “Conspiracy” works so well because it really shakes things up on a show that had been pretty conservative up to this point. Captain Walker Keel (Jonathan Farwell), a longtime friend of Picard’s and Dr. Crusher’s, informs Picard that he too believes that a conspiracy is spreading throughout Starfleet and that it has spread to his own ship, the U.S.S. Horatio. When the Horatio is destroyed and Data finds proof of covert activity in Starfleet records, the Enterprise returns to Earth right into the heart of the conspiracy. High ranking Starfleet personal are being controlled by a parasite that makes its home at the base of the neck where it can control all brain functions. The mother alien has taken control of Quinn’s aid, the less than likable Dexter Remmick (Robert Schenkkan in another fine performance). When the mother alien is destroyed, the parasites die and the conspiracy ends. The conspiracy is wrapped up a little too quickly, but this is otherwise a suspenseful, intelligent episode that stands out as one of the show’s best.
- “The Neutral Zone” ***
Written for television by Maurice Hurley
Based on a story by Deborah McIntyre & Mona Glee
The Enterprise is ordered to the Romulan neutral zone to investigate the destruction of several Federation bases, in a storyline that is nearly identical to the original series episode “Balance of Terror”, which initially introduced the Romulans. While at the neutral zone boarder, the Enterprise encounters a Romulan warship that is investigating a similar fate that befell their own bases. Because of the impending Writer’s Guild strike, Maurice Hurley had to write this episode in a day and a half and his initial plan to introduce the Borg as the culprits behind the devastation of both Federation and Romulan bases had to be dropped and left for the next season. As a result, “The Neutral Zone” builds up a climax that never transpires, leaving the story without any real conclusion. On the other hand, it is nice to see the Federation’s long-time foes back, and that does add some suspense. What is most fun about this episode is the sub plot about a group of 20th century humans who are rescued by Data and Worf from an old Earth vessel adrift in space. When Dr. Crusher revives her patients, who have been frozen in suspended animation, two of the three have a difficult time adapting to the 24th century, especially arrogant business executive Ralph Offenhouse played by the always wonderful Peter Mark Richman. I especially love the scenes between Data and the colorful country singer Sunny Clemons (the one who doesn’t seem to mind that he has suddenly awoken 400 years in the future), which are well played by Brent Spiner and guest Leon Rippy. “The Neutral Zone” is not the episode that it could have been, that is would have been had Hurley been able to carry out his initial plans, but considering that the three seasons of the original series had ended with a mediocre episode (“Operation Annihilate”) and two out right duds (“Assignment: Earth”, “Turnabout Intruder”), this is by far the best Star Trek season finale up to that point. The Romulan commander is played by Mark Alaimo, who would later play the evil Gul Dukat on Deep Space Nine. When Alaimo utters the words “We are back”, that moment provides more threat than the Ferengi did in either “The Last Outpost” and “The Battle” combined.