CBS Television
If the original Star Trek proved that space was the final frontier, it also suggested that maybe it was a frontier too far for mainstream American television. It got canceled after just three years. Apparently, a lot can change in two decades: When Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted in 1987, it launched not only a series that would last for seven glorious seasons, but an era of television dominance for the franchise that would stretch out for decades to come.
Thanks to the J.J. Abrams relaunch of the franchise, however, the future of Next Generation has been consigned to limbo to some extent. Now that the new Captain Kirk, Bones, and Spock are exciting audiences on the big screen, new fans might be going back and discovering the original Star Trek, but do they know there’s so much more beyond that? It’s possible there’s an entire … wait for it … generation out there that’s never really spent time watching what happens Next.
We’re here to fix that. If you’re one of those folks whose never experienced the joys of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), and—yes—even Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), now is the time to get familiar. Get ready to rock your very own “Shut up, Wesley” jokes—here’s WIRED’s binge-watching guide for Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Number of Seasons: 7 (178 episodes)
Time Requirements: If you watch a couple of episodes a day every day it’ll take you just over three months. Sure, there are times where that might seem like a little bit too much, but Starfleet isn’t for the weak-hearted.
Where to Get Your Fix: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes
Best Character to Follow: The answer to the question of which character you’ll follow throughout the series’ long run really depends on what you want from the show. Do you want the straightforward Star Trek experience? Then you should stick with Picard, the man in charge of this version of the Enterprise, or Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), playing the Spock role in these proceedings. But perhaps you’re looking for something a little more off-base. In that case, Riker provides both the self-aware over-the-top acting and a refusal to take the show too seriously that made the original so appealing. You also might also want to follow Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), who provides a horrifyingly clear lesson of the ways in which gender equality really hasn’t reached the fictional 24th century just yet.
For our money, though, the best characters to follow are the recurring guests that pop up throughout the show’s run: Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney), before he ships off to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, for example, or Ensign Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes). Hell, even following omnipotent know-it-all Q (John de Lancie) has its charms. But if you’re looking to follow one of the regular cast no matter what, then it really has to be Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn). Not because he’s the show’s most interesting character (he’s not), but because you can always tell roughly where in the series’ run you are based upon the length of his hair, which slowly grows over the course of the whole thing.
Seasons/Episodes You Can Skip:
The easiest, and shortest, way of putting this is “just avoid the first season altogether, and prepare to have a bumpy ride through the second, as well.” The first year of The Next Generation is almost legendarily uneven, with more poor episodes than great ones, and some downright terrible ones thrown in for good measure. Things improve in the second year, but the show doesn’t really hit a sustained run of good stuff until Season 3.
That said, if you’re determined to watch as much of the show as possible, here are some episodes that you really will want to avoid.
Season 1: Episode 3, “Code of Honor” There’s probably some way to describe this episode without using the phrase “a surprisingly racist piece of trash,” but we’re not going to waste time looking for it. Quite how nobody involved in this production realized they were making an episode wherein an all-black alien planet was depicted as tribal savages is baffling, but if only they had…
Season 1: Episode 8, “Justice” If ever there was an episode to make you convinced that the addition of a teenage Wil Wheaton to the cast was not the wisest of moves, this might be the one. Teenage wunderkind Wesley Crusher accidentally breaks the rules of an alien planet by crushing flowers and launches a diplomatic incident. Kids, amirite?
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