To all the old school fans: what was the attitude towards TNG prior to its premiere? Were fans reluctant if the franchise could continue without Kirk and Spock and the rest of the original cast?
Posted by KingWilliamVI@reddit | TNG | View on Reddit | 309 comments
PauseAffectionate720@reddit
There was trepidation amongst a decent percentage of ST:TOS and Kirk movie era fans. TNG had a early CGI glitz to it in 1987 that wasn't immediately appealing. And lets face it - S1 of TNG was a little stiff and cringe at times. But the show grew well - really well. And by 1994, most of us were very sad to see it go.
MaineMan1234@reddit
This exactly. I watched the premiere of the first episode in 87, went “WTF is this!” I hated Q. And stopped watching for two years. Then picked it up again and fell thoroughly in love
66Hslackerpro@reddit
I was in the army starting in 1987 and rarely watched tv. It was a couple of years before I started to watch it . It was fought at first but I was happy for more trek
Bahadur1964@reddit
I still hate Q. Lazy writing.
AdActual8293@reddit
Q appalled me so badly I refused to watch TNG for five years, even though I was an original Trekkie. Finally friends convinced me to try it. I quickly got over myself and started watching every episode in could in reruns spread over several local stations. I wound up seeing every episode, which I can still say about very few series.
Fabulous-Sea-1590@reddit
I only dimly remember registering it. My dad had us watching Star Trek before we were verbal.
I have a distinct memory of getting excited when I saw an episode (the only episode?) where Uhura wears a yellow uniform and telling my dad "there's a new episode of Star Trek". He just patient told me there were no new episodes. I knew we'd seen the same eps many times over but I didn't understand how TV worked and that it had been canceled almost a decade before I was born.
I was 9 in 1987 when TNG permeated. I remember it was on the TV but nobody really cared. It didn't look like Star Trek and I didn't register that it was related. I think the brief shot of a dude in a skant was somehow embarasing.
It later became a weekly ritual and low key obsession but I don't really remember that transition. Now it's as firmly established in my mind as TOS. Even DS9 doesn't occupy the same space in my perception. Possibly because I wasn't a little little kid when it started so that window of strong, formative – even emotional – attachments was closed.
Nothing since Voyager has really felt of a piece with Star Trek to me. Even when I've enjoyed it. And, without judgement, even Voyager only registers for me because of its tangential connection with TNG. (Uniforms, era, crossovers).
I'm just generally underwhelmed by prequels across all media and franchises. Patton Oswald did a joke about Phantom Menace that summed it up.
– you like Angelina Jolie, huh? You think she's hot? Well how about Jon Voights' balls?! That's exciting as hell, right?!
1111joey1111@reddit
I agree. Up to that point Star Trek had been Kirk, Spock, Bones, etc. Some fans were reluctant to accept a new direction and new characters. But, the division was practically nothing when compared to what we see today between the "Kurtzman era" and the golden age.
My family gathered around the TV to watch the premier. Super excited to see a new Star Trek TV series. We all enjoyed it. The first season was definitely shaky concerning dialogue and plots, but so was TOS at times. Trek fans united and the golden era of Star Trek was born. 18 continuous years, 600+ episodes, 25 seasons.
Novel_Willingness721@reddit
I think you might be surprised how much backlash there was back then. Sure it wasn’t in your face 24/7 like today’s social media, but a lot of viewers took to the BBS forums, and took out full page ads in prominent newspapers, and prompted letter writing campaigns.
AJSLS6@reddit
Yes, the lack of social media and algorithms inflating inflammatory content surely blunted things, but if you were active in the fan scene and not just watching the show at home with your family, there were basically all the same complaints, backed by all the same bigotry at worst and actual critique at best, one only needs to translate a few phrases into modern vernacular and most angry letters to the editor or commentary in fan zines would be indistinguishable from the blitz against 09, Discovery and everything that followed.
Hell, there was even a version of our (GlaSseS iN thE FutUre?!?) Nonsense centered on Geordies broken eyes. Distaste for women on the bridge, too much "forced" diversity, lots of angry people from the deep south, overly confident statements on what really trek is, which unlike today was apparently percieved as a light action adventure show without all the depth and nuance of anything Patric Stewart has a creative interest in, I'm certain that 1987 trek fans would have absolutely LOVED ST09. It embraced all the early years takes on the Kirk character without wasting much time on the whole he was actually kinda a super smart need that happened to have a bit of a jock side. I remember fans absolutely hating that Oicard was such a talker, apparently forgetting that Kirk was very reluctant to use force and only did so because the writers consistently put him in positions where the first 30 minutes of him trying to use reason amd diplomacy would still result in a goofy ass brawl. This was before the dialog about his character came back around to recognize that his womanizing reputation was almost entirely un earned because the man was a serial manogamist, rarely ever initiated anything with any woman, and more often than not was using a woman's sexual interest as a means to saving his ship from the threat of the day.
This was also a point in the fandom where much of the early participants who were disproportionately girls/women and queer, had been somewhat displaced by what we would recognize today as the archetypal right leaning nerdbro.
ExtremePast@reddit
Premiere
1111joey1111@reddit
Thanke youe :)
SunnnySideUps@reddit
I was young enough to appreciate the original series but TNG was my show as a kid.
AllSurfaceN0Feeling@reddit
My Dad was happy for more Star Trek and I was happy to see a Trek that had a Wesley, as we were the same age. Thank you! u/wilw
St-Ananas@reddit
Absolutely. I recall by going straight to syndication I feared it’d be a cheap second-rate show no network wanted, but they clearly learned from tos, avoiding cancellation while it got its footing and building an audience.
Lawnmover_Man@reddit
There was no CGI in TNG. Except for very few scenes in the later seasons.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
The first images considered CGI premiered in ... wait for it ... Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (the "Project Genesis" presentation).
When we talk about CGI today we have a very different notion of it, I think.
The Crystalline Entity was one of, if not the first, use of CGI in TNG, but there were others.
NotAnotherUsername04@reddit
First ever use of CGI “particles” which is still used extensively in video games today
DanteHicks79@reddit
False. While almost all ships were physical models, every planet was entirely CG generated using Amiga systems.
Lawnmover_Man@reddit
You seem to be partially correct about this. Apparently, they indeed used what is considered to be the first digital real time 3D video effect processor, the Quantel Mirage. They made matte paintings of the planets, including layers for clouds, and this device transformed them into a spherical shape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3r2EGlsaYY
PauseAffectionate720@reddit
Really ? Maybe I am using wrong term. But it wasn't a wooden model on a string either
Lawnmover_Man@reddit
It actually was a physical model. Not wood, but aluminium, acrylic glas and modelling foam. Not a string, but a solid mount.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Galaxy_class_model
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
I believe there were at least two models (one built for use starting in S3 or S4), which is why sometimes the underside of the saucer's leading edge seems to have more texture in certain shots.
Rude_Debate1976@reddit
It was stiff and cringe in S1 because Roddenbury and his lawyer were changing scripts and plots... season 2 was still pretty bad but that was mainly due to Maurice Hurley became the shortener and was old school in how he ran things
QueerVortex@reddit
Every nerd I knew was having a watch party and totally freaking jumping up and down when the saucer section separated. Gasps when Reiker manually docked and cheers erupted
Maximillian73-@reddit
A watch party would be cool
fartingbeagle@reddit
"Gasps when Reiker manually docked"
Is that a double entendre? 😉
2112guru@reddit
LOL!!! Riker was the king of manually docking on the show!
Orillion_169@reddit
Everything is with Riker.
mhessrrt@reddit
He's the player of the minute and I'll tell you son, when it comes to bustin' p*ssy Riker's number one.
gzoont@reddit
I watched it with my dad, I was five years old, and after it ended him gushing about how cool it was when Riker did that immediately formed a core memory.
ShinyShiny27@reddit
I was 10 years old in 87, watching reruns on a (barely) colorized TV that was too old for remote controls.
I remember my mom and I both being super excited for it. It was more goodness in a universe that we loved.
RikkiLostMyNumber@reddit
There was much hand wringing and gnashing of teeth in the nerd community in the months leading up to the premiere of TNG. As there was no internet, rumors spread by word of mouth and over family telephones. The captain is an old bald man. There may be a female co-captain or something. There's a Klingon and a man with an air filter on his face. What IS this? And where are the Vulcans? I also recall a rumor that the old, bald captain was going to die in the first season, to be replaced by the Kirk-type guy.
Then it happened. And it was very weird and only kind of great if you were already a fan. I mean, Picard surrendered the ship in like the first 15 minutes of the show. Jim Kirk would never have done that! The Bandi guy in that ep was disturbing. Oh, and Denise Crosby can't act very well. But, she got better. And also WTF was that accent on Troi? Like she was from NJ but had a mild stroke.
Didn't matter. We were all hooked. It was new Trek, like actually all new, except they trotted out the wizened, elderly McCoy at one point to be cranky and provide a living link to TOS.
WholeAd2742@reddit
neoprenewedgie@reddit
We weren't worried about the new cast. But we hated the idea of a Klingon being on the bridge. It was such blasphemy and we felt that the writers had no idea what Trek was about. But we were very quickly proven wrong. (Season 1 hasn't aged well but at the time we thought it was pretty cool and Worf was never the problem.)
GageDeSoto51@reddit
I was in college. A group of us Trekkies gathered round the giant TV in the student union. We alllll booed Picard and liked Riker and wanted him to be Captain. He reminded us more of Kirk. Hated Troi with a passion. We all liked Data and Geordi and Worf, overall liked Beverly, mixed on Wesley. We hated the look of the bridge, the laid back seats, the lighting, and the music that sounded more like the TOS cartoons. Took about 2 years for it to grow on everyone but we stuck with it. And I ended up liking
Picard as Captain and not much liking Riker 😂
Prestigious_Spend454@reddit
Very much so. And frankly, season 1 didn't do that much to assuage those fears.
cornerofthemoon@reddit
I hate to sound like an a55 but when I first saw the trailer for the show my first thought was that "The bald captain would never be accepted". I'm glad I was wrong.
DishRelative5853@reddit
There was almost no way to know what most people were thinking. It never really came up in conversation at work. The entertainment media wasn't fixated on in like they are now. Obviously we didn't have all of the online sources to tell us what to think. The Star Trek Conventions would have been a great place to hear opinions from lots of people, but those numbers were still small, and once you left the convention, you were back to regular people who didn't really care all that much.
Senojor1@reddit
I was very reluctant until they published the cast/character list and sketches of the Enterprise D in Starlog magazine. Then I got really excited!
PDM_1969@reddit
I resisted watching for a long time. The only reason I gave it a shot finally was I was working 3rd shift and would stay up most of the night after my days off to go back to the 3rd sleep schedule.
I saw it late one night, season one was tough to get through but I stuck it out and got caught up.
Casingdas@reddit
Not for me. I looked forward to it. OG Trekkie here. I was glad that we had a new series in TNG. And DS9 and Voyager, and on and on. I’ve welcomed every one of them. Can’t wait for what’s in the pipeline. And I want Strange New Worlds to go on for a lot more than five seasons!
_ragegun@reddit
I don't think they were reluctant, but they did have doubts.
Fortunately it was pretty good and found it's own audience.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
It was not viewed favorably. Didn't help that the first regular episode was a rip off of a TOS episode. Wasn't really until Best of Both Worlds that opinion started to shift, and it helped that s2 was stronger than s1, and that s3 was consistently telling good compelling stories.
spectre73@reddit
The Naked Now / The Naked Time? They also used a few scripts originally meant for the series Star Trek Phase II before it was scrapped in favor of TMP.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
Yep, the Naked Now. TNG only used two scripts from Phase II and one of them was in season 4.
RolandDeepson@reddit
Galaxy's Child
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
The Devil's Due
RolandDeepson@reddit
That might also be a Phase II script, but I'm rather confident that Galaxy's Child was one as well.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
Are you sure you aren't thinking of The Child?
RolandDeepson@reddit
I am thinking of the space slug episode that attaches to the hull of the D where Leah Brahms finds Geordi's embarrassing holodeck program, which is entitled, "Galaxy's Child." I am distinctly not mentioning the season 2 primer "The Child" which features Troi experiencing an immaculate conception with a baby that goes from zygote to 11 year old boy in the space of a week but decides to go away when he discovers that he's the radiation source that's causing a dangerous bio-specimen to start growing out of control.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
Okay, just checking as The Child was the other TNG script the production team has identified as originating from Phase II. So far as I'm aware that claim has not been made about Galaxy's Child -- do you remember why you believe that to be a Phase II script?
Torlek1@reddit
https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/classic-tv/lost-star-trek-episodes-from-the-unproduced-phase-ii-series
Phase II The Child = TNG The Child + TNG Galaxy's Child
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
It seems a bit of a reach to identify this as the basis for "Galaxy's Child," especially as the two writers of the Phase II script are credited on the "The Child" but not "Galaxy's Child."
RolandDeepson@reddit
I don't have any information as to what the predicate Phase II story was that led into GC. I simply recall reading many years ago from a somewhat reliable source that GC was one of the last TNG scripts that had it's original story based on a leftover P2 idea; that by approx the 4th season of TNG, the P2 corpus had been fully picked clean.
Torlek1@reddit
Picked clean?
Only three Phase II scripts have ever been used.
At least 10 Phase II episodes have never been used in either Berman Trek or modern Trek.
https://np.reddit.com/r/ClassicTrek/comments/1tam7oh/early_tng_replace_the_really_bad_episodes_with/
Torlek1@reddit
I do think Galaxy's Child is enough to be considered original.
Geordi being the main character of the episode and figuring out his own issues to resolve the problem of the week is quite different from the second half of Phase II The Child.
spectre73@reddit
To clarify: it was NOT Galaxy's Child. The adapted PII script was "The Child", where Troi becomes pregnant from an alien entity who wanted to experience humanity.
Torlek1@reddit
In my opinion, TNG could have done a bit better by ditching five TOS copycat episodes and substituting them with more draft Phase II scripts.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
I'd like to keep The Last Outpost even if just for Portal materializing, looking down at himself, and saying: "Bipedal?! Excellent!!"
RogendoodleZero@reddit
They probably would've canceled it with todays standards of must be a hit instantly
cannabination@reddit
Consider how much more money goes into the current 10 episode seasons. TNG season one cost less than three episodes of STA, and it had 26 episodes.
kizami_nori@reddit
Cheaper as you said, and it also pulled more than 10x the viewership. Paramount was VERY happy with TNG's Season 1 performance and I'm tired of this retcon that it was some kind of trainwreck that "would've been canceled today"
Harlander77@reddit
There also were three networks in 1987, vs dozens of streaming platforms and hundreds of cable channels
Tricky_Peace@reddit
I think this is a big problem - and not just in Trek. Every series wants movie level productions, and they end up blowing the budget. Story seems to come second
Torlek1@reddit
Jonathan Frakes criticized the explosion in costs of TV production in general.
Ad supported TV series are coming back already.
The Golden Age of Television is over.
There will reemerge a sharp divide between Prestige TV and ad supported TV.
Also, the number of streaming shows will be on the sharp decline.
Cheaper sci-fi shows should not be in the market of chasing Hollywood movie actors.
Instead, they should chase downscale actors from soap opera.
OhNoIBoffedIt@reddit
Folks cut the cable for streaming because it was a much more affordable way to get the shows you want. Then streaming exploded and the cost became untenable. Now I'm seeing more and more folks switch back to buying their favorite shows on disc. I think the networks are becoming the architects of their own demise with their overpriced, overproduced "prestige" television.
That Paramount ever thought hiding Star Trek behind a paywall was a good move...they deserve the ratings they got.
Sasquatch1729@reddit
They saw Game of Thrones and figured the budget was why it was successful.
So every network and streaming service tried to imitate that by throwing money around and forgetting to write good stories with interesting characters. Then they locked everything behind a paywall and figured they could just wait for everyone to start paying for their crap.
cannabination@reddit
Yo ho ho!
dudesguy@reddit
And cheaper episodes still does not equal more episodes as we've seen from lower decks
TheCh0rt@reddit
It still wasn't enough to keep lower decks on the air
ThatAlabasterPyramid@reddit
It was a massively expensive show at the time; TV budgets are just much higher now.
cannabination@reddit
That just illustrates my point. At 38 million per season, the amount of advertising a show with 26 episodes needs to generate to be profitable is substantially less than a show that costs 15 million per episode. It isn't teneble to spend that much on a show unless it has GoT levels of viewership.
Fabulous-Sea-1590@reddit
Unquestionably it only survived its first season due to the magic of first run syndication. Especially as ropy as that first season was. But it probably wouldn't have lasted on network TV even if it started at s3 quality.
Look at the Fox "Network's" venerable history of launching sci-fi shows and axing them almost immediately.
Genre storytelling – notably sci-fi and fantasy – have always struggled on TV. First run syndication was a unique ecosystem that allowed tons of what you might call "pulpy" shows to thrive.
Baywatch (1 season on NBC then become a phenomenal success in syndication) is the peak example. Other conspicuous examples include Hercules, Xena, Bablon 5, DS9, and Stargate.
For some reason Network TV favors cop/law shows, medical dramas, and sitcoms. Westerns and variety shows were reliable performers, too, but even they burned out by the 80s.
cellocaster@reddit
Can you define first run syndication for those of us who are ignorant?
kizami_nori@reddit
Syndication means TNG can air on any TV station that pays per-episode (even competitors), unlike Voyager which was exclusive to UPN.
"First-run" means the fresh episodes are available to any station that wants to air it, versus a show where they're first broadcast on their home network, then other stations can buy reruns to air (called Off-network syndication). Off-network Syndication usually happens after the series ends. I Love Lucy was a CBS show, but well into the 2000s it was Off-Network Syndicated to all sorts of channels.
cellocaster@reddit
Awesome thank you! Very eli5 which is what I need.
Torlek1@reddit
https://np.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1if9jz7/eli5_what_is_firstrun_syndication/?sort=old
Torlek1@reddit
This is why Paramount insisted on first-run syndication when they found that the terms offered by the FOX Network were unacceptable: initial commitment to only 13 episodes.
We now know Firefly is the most notable sci-fi show to have been canceled after only 13 episodes.
salamander_salad@reddit
It was a hot immediately. Despite S1’s quality issues the show still had a large viewership.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
"A Klingon?! On the bridge?! And then when we finally get an episode about him, he talks about how the 'real battle is within, not without'! What the hell. Did these idiots even WATCH the original series?!"
Torlek1@reddit
Somebody forgot Kang here, and it wasn't the TNG writers.
Torlek1@reddit
TNG might have lasted only four seasons had they not moved away from allegory writing and other TOS-style writing.
A more divided fanbase could have been the result. There's TOS TV. There's a shortened TOS-ish TNG that would have technically had more episodes than TOS. Then there might have been an Excelsior TV show that might have finally been the vehicle for the B plots we've seen in OTL TNG.
RolandDeepson@reddit
TNG leaned into allegory, they didn't pull away from it. All the moreso with DS9 and VOY.
HertzWhenEyeP@reddit
This is absolutely untrue.
TNT was already a mainstream hit by 1990.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
I'm not trying to be rude, but OP's question is specifically about old school fans, not general popular opinion on TNG. Hence, TNG being a mainstream hit by 1990 isn't actually relevant to the question at hand.
I'll stand by my assertion that a strong S3, capped by Best of Both Worlds, is what finally brought (most of) the old school "can't be Trek without Kirk & Spock crowd" into being outright fans of TNG.
Torlek1@reddit
Indeed!
An older Reddit thread discussed a TIME Magazine on BOBW a couple of months ago:
https://np.reddit.com/r/TNG/comments/1sd5rm5/my_tng_best_of_both_worlds_interviews_with_ronald/
tristanitis@reddit
A lot of early TNG were repurposed unused TOS scripts.
Malnurtured_Snay@reddit
Do you have a source for that?
TNG's Naked Now was clearly a reimagining of TOS's the Naked Time.
There are two scripts for TNG that were taken from scripts originally written for Phase II, the canceled TV reboot that became The Motion Picture, but one of those was from S2 (The Child), and the other was from S4 (Devil's Due).
Torlek1@reddit
TNG has 13 recycled plot episodes out of 176, 7.4% of its episode total.
TNG
TNG 1-3 The Naked Now
Not Recycled in Same Series
From TOS 1-4 The Naked Time
Not Better than Original
TNG 1-4 Code of Honor
Not Recycled in Same Series
From TOS 2-1 Amok Time
Not Better than Original
TNG 1-5 The Last Outpost
Not Recycled in Same Series
From TOS 1-18 Arena
Not Better than Original
TNG 1-10 Hide and Q
Not Recycled in Same Series
From TOS 1-17 The Squire of Gothos
Not Better than Original
TNG 1-12 The Big Goodbye
Not Recycled in Same Series
From TOS 2-17 A Piece of the Action
Better than Original
TNG 1-18 Home Soil
Not Recycled in Same Series
From TOS 1-25 The Devil in the Dark
Not Better than Original
TNG 2-7 Unnatural Selection
Not Recycled in Same Series
From TOS 2-12 The Deadly Years
Not Better than Original
TNG 4-21 The Drumhead
Not Recycled in Same Series
From TOS 1-20 Court Martial
Better than Original
TNG 5-14 Conundrum
Recycled in Same Series
From TNG 4-14 Clues
Better than Original
TNG 5-18 Cause and Effect
Recycled in Same Series
From TNG 2-13 Time Squared
Better than Original
TNG 5-21 The Perfect Mate
Not Recycled in Same Series
From TOS 3-13 Elaan of Troyius
Better than Original
TNG 5-25 The Inner Light
Not Recycled in Same Series
From TOS 3-3 The Paradise Syndrome
Better than Original
TNG 6-9 The Quality of Life
Recycled in Same Series
From TNG 3-1 Evolution
Not Better than Original
InigoMontoya1985@reddit
Excited and worried it was going to suck. And boy did it suck. People who say "it was shaky" are being way too kind and really underselling how bad it was. Glad it survived, though.
Cold-Jackfruit1076@reddit
Most of the old fanbase hated the idea of a new Star Trek show. The prevailing sentiment was 'not Kirk, not Spock, Not Trek'.
ironicinsanity@reddit
Some People didn't like it at first. Data was just robot spock and Picard wasn't the Kirk they expected. But over time that changed.
Dodgeboy-8t9@reddit
Several TOS actors were openly negative about their 'Replacement'...
Been a while since I've looked at that though
Just_BrianK@reddit
Here's what I remember- 'They split Spock into two characters (Riker and Data).' 'Picard is a hardass who cannot manage a crew.' Those are two that immediately come to mind. TOS did have the best first season of all the iterations that followed.
Gilamunsta@reddit
I don't know what other people like personally they're doing next star trek without the original cast Hell no I'm not going to watch this g Garbag It also helped that when it came out initially I spent a lot of time out tosea, I was in the u's navy at the time It wasn't until after I got out and I was living with my best friend who watched it and he got me into it and I've been a fan of it ever since And Of its spin-offs personDs9 Is my favorite
MovingTarget2112@reddit
Bad. As though they were trying to repeat a one-off success, and all the new characters looked boring.
Typhon2222@reddit
Pretty much everything you hear about SFA mirrors what folks were saying back when TNG came out. Hell, they were still saying it during S2.
BadgerSensei@reddit
I was young (kindergarten) but personally I remember nothing but excitement about it. It all seemed amazing and futuristic.
Zaphod-Beebebrox@reddit
I was looking forward to it. My mom was an original Trekkie...She was excited to see it too...
DoomShepherd@reddit
I remember reading that the cast and crew got death threats.
I think crappy Star Trek “fans” were just as bad back then, but social media and YouTube have given the drooling morons a much louder voice today, and allowed them to connect with their fellow idiots in a way only the smarter people could back in the day.
If TNG premiered today it would be shat on horrifically and not last through the first season.
MercuryJellyfish@reddit
Well, we were obviously excited, because first new Star Trek TV show since the animated series in 1974. So think about that for a second. Lots of anticipation.
There were those who were sceptical that without Kirk, Spock and co, whether it could even be Star Trek. I remember there being some scepticism about the captain being an older, bald man. Patrick Stewart was the most famous person in the cast, but he wasn’t extremely famous outside of British theatre. Those of us who knew him from Dune knew he was awesome, but in general, the whole cast had a huge “Who are these guys?” factor.
Everyone I knew, though, was willing to at least give it a chance, and it was popular really quickly.
jecapobianco@reddit
It ran the gamut.
Unusual-Record-217@reddit
A lot of trepidation. Good will, but not convinced.
Andysplit@reddit
Pick up some issues of ST: The Official Fan Club magazine from around that time (1987) and read the letters to the editor. That’ll provide you with a snapshot that the internet cannot. The sentiment was mixed. Back issues can be found on eBay.
Ralph--Hinkley@reddit
No one thought it would do well, including the cast and crew.
Ddude147@reddit
As with almost any new show, the cast and crew did not know if it would do well, including Patrick Stewart. To say "no one thought it would do well" is making stuff up.
Ralph--Hinkley@reddit
I just watched the Blu-ray extras for season one last week, and they all talk about how nobody thought it would get picked up.
Ddude147@reddit
"Do well" presupposes that it was already picked up and in production. There's always a fear of any show that it might not get picked up. Think about it. TNG was syndicated, not on a major network at the same time every week. UPN was new and unproven. That a syndicated show ended up being legendary is lightning in a bottle.
Harlander77@reddit
UPN didn't come to be until 1995
Ralph--Hinkley@reddit
It was on a Fox affiliate in my area when it started, and it ran every Sunday night.
Ddude147@reddit
This took 2 seconds:
"No, Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) was not on at the same time around the country. Because TNG was sold in "first-run syndication" rather than through a single major network (like NBC or CBS), individual local stations decided when to air it.Here is how the syndication schedule worked:The Weekend Window: While Paramount mandated that a new episode could not be shown until a specific Saturday/Sunday date, local stations scheduled it at their discretion, often on Saturday evenings, Sundays, or even during the week."
I'm done here.
Ralph--Hinkley@reddit
I never said it was on the same channel everywhere, did I?
kizami_nori@reddit
While not universal, some of the cast thought it wouldn't do well because they were used to Shakespeare or borderline porn, suddenly made to say "We must invert the tachyon ray emissions wavelength to modulate a polaron emission" and they thought it was too silly to be good TV.
The producers had high confidence in their work and fought with some of the cast's negativity, but it was more Stewart being a diva, than him having some kind of insider knowledge about viewers.
Gummiesruinedme@reddit
You’re saying that in retrospect though. At the time there was no way to gauge fan reaction, and the most cynical Star Trek fan would just be like, we’ll see… and maybe make a toupee joke in reference to Shatner/Stewart.
Ralph--Hinkley@reddit
I was referring to what they said on the Blu-ray extras after season one.
KobePippenJordan_esq@reddit
They were calling Picard Captain Stubing.
Harlander77@reddit
And then a few years later, SNL did "Love Boat: The Next Generation" with Patrick Stewart... and Rob Schneider as Data.
The_Latverian@reddit
Ok, that's actually funny 😂
Harlander77@reddit
I heard plenty of the same fanboy whining in 1987 that I hear whenever a new Trek comes out. Complaints about the ship's design, complaints about the bridge, complaints about the captains hairline, complaints that it wasn't "real" Trek if it didn't have Kirk, Spock, and McCoy ... et cetera ad nauseam
DietDrPepperAndThou@reddit
I was in high school and in a long distance relationship with a slightly older military guy. We were both TOS and movie fans and he was more excited for it than I was. After the first episode he stuck with it, I didn't. I recall some mainstream entertainment mags at the time panned it pretty hard, too.
(A few years later I became friends with a couple who watched it and caught an episode with them during S3. I couldn't believe how good it was and had improved from that initial introduction. And watched it regularly from then on and liked both DS9 and Voy.)
TrekkieBlerd@reddit
I remember sitting in the theater to watch Generations and a group of older TOS fans were talking and chuckling about how they never watched TNG bc it wasn't real Star Trek without Kirk. And that they were only there to see Kirk. I've never forgotten that. I watched TNG as it aired but my mom who had been a TOS fan and watched it as it aired originally, was open to seeing what the new show was all about
SunnnySideUps@reddit
We couldn't freakin wait. It was amazing when that show dropped.
toilet_roll_rebel@reddit
I refused to watch it at first, but eventually I succumbed.
PinkSlimeIsPeople@reddit
The anticipation was palpable. People were really excited. Then season 1 launched, and most of us were honestly let down by how soft and bland it was. It really didn't get good until season 3, though I can rewatch s1-2 now for nostalgia
CableKC@reddit
Why is Captain Stubbings on the Enterprise?
Final-Fun8500@reddit
I would've been eight or nine. I remember a promo on a vhs my dad rented. He was excited for the show and became a longtime fan. TNG was one of the few media interests we shared.
And I didn't like Q for quite a long time. I didn't think "magic" belonged in a serious sci-fi show. I don't remember what won me over, but his role in all good things (bookending the series) blew me away.
Apartment_Upbeat@reddit
My Father was a fan of TOS upon its original airing ... Enough so that he recorded EVERY episode on VHS by recording the syndicated broadcasts ... Star Trek:The Motion Picture was the first movie I recall seeing in the theater (in part cause I stepped on a nail an hour before showtime) ... I was 5. Even went to a convention where fans offered their theory for Star Trek III to both Nimoy & Shatner ... Fun times.
When TNG was about to air, I specifically remember a nervousness. My father worried that it wouldn't be as good ... My mother was anti, cause it wasn't Kirk/Spock ... I, about to turn 13 was optimistic that now I HAD A STAR TREK TOO ...
We all loved it
Level_Sugar8613@reddit
I recall a lot of animosity at first. Season 1 was not great but it got better. As to the original cast, we had them in movies.
opusrif@reddit
I was optimistic. I knew the Great Bird was involved as were several of the TOS writers so I was keen to give it a go.
Besides I had liked Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rodgers...
Gspotavenger@reddit
I was 16 and couldn’t wait for something new in regards to Star Trek.
The original show was in constant reruns and the movies weren’t easily accessible like today. Having new trek on tv was exciting, but I understood it could totally suck. Lots of news stories about how the casting was all wrong. At least it seemed that way.
lotus2471@reddit
Everybody was skeptical. Had they not been approved for a second season already, they probably wouldn't have got one. First season was not great.
cobaltbluetony@reddit
My mom was an original Trekkie, but she was excited for the new series. She was also excited for me, getting my own Star Trek during my own adolescence.
FlopShanoobie@reddit
My dad was a huge TOS fan so the premiere of TNG was a full blown family event. Pizza, popcorn, ice cream, connecting the stereo receiver to the TV - the whole nine yards.
And we watched that show together as a family for years.
jasonite@reddit
I think everyone who'd seen the previous Trek was doubtful, because it was common knowledge that you can't resurrect an iconic show. I was 12 at the time so I didn't have that issue, I was excited.
StarMasterAdmiral@reddit
I was super excited about the new show. But I didn't like Encounter at Farpoint; i felt it was weak. I gave the show its chance and became a big fan.
2112guru@reddit
I was very excited. ToS didn't get a fair shake from the network and I was hoping this venture would get more respect. I was already a fan of Patrick Stewart and LaVar Burton and thought their characters would be great. I was hooked from the first episode and only had problems with the character of Troi. I never got over it and continued to think her part was spare. She should have been "Yeoman Rand" rather than a main character. Worf and Data were excellent!!
NotAnotherUsername04@reddit
There’s a great documentary if memory serves hosted by William shatner on this subject you can find on YouTube.
philmp@reddit
Here's the search result for refs to TNG in Google's Usenet Archive from 1986 to the end of 88. There are some reviews here from after the first episode aired.
From one discussion thread from October 1987
There were also old Usenet Groups dedicated to ST, but I can't find whichever one was most active when the show came out. Maybe that data no longer exists. net.startrek has TONS of posts up to 1986, rec.arts.startrek isn't very active until the 90s (I think it's missing a lot of 80s posts).
YamPersonal3618@reddit
Guardedly optimistic. It was on at 7pm on a Saturday, which didn't indicate confidence to me.
Itchy_Pride1864@reddit
I was 100% excited about it
Big_Bookkeeper1678@reddit
2-3 years of bleh. Then…Yesterday’s Enterprise changed it forever.
Big_Bookkeeper1678@reddit
I hated Picard for the first few episodes. I thought he was too old. Didn’t get it. Then he started acting and oh my goodness…he won me over.
froot_loop_dingus_@reddit
People called it slop trying to imitate REAL Star Trek, same as they do with new Star Trek now
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
Well they didnt call it "slop", but they did call it trek in name only.
The big difference though is that TNG ended up getting really good really fast, I see no such turn for new trek at all
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
Hard to take ten years of Trek, multiple shows, all different showrunners with autonomy, and say it’s all bad. At this point it may just not be your thing.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
Trek is definitely "my thing" considering I liked everything produced for nearly 40 years from 1966 to 2005. What was produced from 2009 to now is so vastly different it's hard to imagine it's even the same franchise, even if "bad" is highly subjective
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
What’s more likely? A half dozen showrunners, all of whom are Star Trek fans, all with autonomy over their shows, set over different time periods, all different styles and tones, 250+ episodes over ten years, of all which you don’t like, or Star Trek is something you look back on with fondness and because you don’t feel the same in 2026 as you did first watching Trek in the 60s through 2000s, something must be wrong with the Trek.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
Kurtzmann and his associates produced modern Star Trek, basically from 2009 to now, so its not accurate at all to say all new trek is completely different and made by different people. He has had creative direction over the entire franchise since he co-wrote the 2009 movie.
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
Of course it is.
Rick Berman ran Trek in the 90s. Ira Behr ran DS9 after Piller left, and Taylor and then Braga ran Voyager. No one is arguing they were both identical Rick Berman clone shows. DS9 was a very different show because of the man who ran it.
From Matalas to Mike McMahon to the Hageman brothers to more, the showrunners of current Trek have been widely different. There’s this hater to hate the executive in the corner office, just as was done with Rick Berman in the 90s, who mainly did an okay job despite a lot of character flaws. By all accounts, from the cast to the fellow writers to the showrunners themselves, there was wide latitude given to the showrunners.
I’ll go back to my original claim. That you can watch 250+ episodes from a wide swath of writers and producers and actors all in different tones and dislike all of it? It’s a you issue. I don’t mean that as a criticism. You love your 40 years of content, you know it like the back of your hand, you likely have warm feelings from when you first watched it, and you’re in a different place today, and nothing new you watch hits you the same? That’s perfectly normal, but it’s not the fault of the new stuff.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
Lol, youre basically debunking your own claim by pointing out there were even more show runners and writers involved from 1966 to 2005, yet I still liked everything and still watched. Kinda sounds like "its my thing".
Acting like there was no material change from 2009 onwards in tone, ethos, and aesthetics is just silly.
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
I don’t have a doubt in the world that you complained like mostly every other fan all through the 90s. No one hates Trek like a Star Trek fan. Enterprise and Voyager are beloved today. The fans hated them in real time. TNG got the worst hate of all in 1987.
I believe you have warm memories of 80s-90s Trek.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
No, I didnt. I loved trek in the 90s. The fact that you have to make up a version of me in your head to argue against tells me everything I need to know.
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
Star Trek fan loves 600+ episodes in a row from all different producers and writers, takes a 15 year break, comes back, hates 250+ episodes from all different producers and writers, and blames Trek.
Okay.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
Thats correct. Except I dont "blame trek", because that makes no sense. You cant blame an idea. I blame the person who's been in charge since 2009.
I really hope this helps.
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
The person in charge since 2009 is the hater’s boogeyman. The showrunners all have autonomy over their shows, they’re all lifelong Trek fans, and all of the shows are in different styles. To hate all of them, down the line, 250+ episodes? You’re free to hate Trek, but no real fan hates every episode with their arms crossed.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
So the guy in charge has nothing to do with the tone or ethos of the show.
Okay
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
The showrunner is the guy in charge.
You’re the first person to ever swear that DS9 owes everything to Rick Berman. Tell me more.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
Who hires the show runners.
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
Who hired Terry Matalas, Mike McMahon, and the Hagelmans? Alex Kurtzman.
Who hired Ira Behr? Rick Berman.
Kurtzman hired solid, Trek loving showrunners with wildly different styles and gave them the freedom to run their shows.
When you hate all the restaurants everywhere, all different chefs, all different menus, all independently run, at some point, it’s a you problem. You just don’t like eating out anymore.
It’s
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
Ok. So you're telling me the showrunner is 100% responsible for what we see, then in the next post you admit the same guy (the main creative force behind ST since 2009) is responsible for hiring every single show runner.
A better analogy would be an executive chef with specific tastes hiring multiple chefs to run a variety of restaurants, each different but with the same overall tastes and themes. If I don't like the executive chef, I won't like the restaurants. It actually makes perfect sense, and I literally can't make it any easier to understand.
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
Kurtzman hired great people to run the different shows. You can dislike his personal work product, but he mainly hired good people and set them off to do their thing.
I have tremendous issues with Berman. He hired Behr and Moore and gave them a lot of autonomy. DS9 thrived in the same way shows like Prodigy and Lower Decks thrived.
Trek haters have to hate on Kurtzman, but explaining why they happen to coincidentally hate hundreds of hours of Trek from a whole lot of people forces them to do what you’re doing, and imply that Kurtzman somehow contaminated them. I mean, you do you, but this level of fixated hate is wild.
From the writers to the actors to the crew, there’s universal agreement that Mike McMahon’s show was put forth by Mike McMahon. Same with the Hagelman’s. The haters flip the script and love Matalas so much they insist Kurtzman didn’t force Paramount to give him a new show because he was so jealous of him. That you hate their work because of who hired them is again, wild.
You’re in a great restaurant, but you hate eating out since the food doesn’t taste like what your mother used to make, so you call everything slop. That’s your right, but we get what’s happening.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
If you have issues with Berman thats a you problem. Berman makes the best shows and hires the best people. Youre basically in a world class restaurant and complaing about the food. The problem is you, not Berman
See how you sound? Lol
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
I love Star Trek. I love all the shows. I’m a lifelong fan.
At some point, you started hating Star Trek. Your excuse is the guy in the corner office. If it was the series he has a lot of involvement with, okay, I can understand that, but the ones where he was almost entirely hands off, you still hate the Trek.
If they filmed Frame of Mind, Inner Light, or The Visitor today, under Kurtzman’s direction, de-aged the actors perfectly, and released a lost Kurtzman produced episode of Trek that looked exactly like those classic episodes if they had never been produced, you and many others would hate it and blame Alex Kurtzman.
We are now lapping each other. I hope you find a series you can enjoy.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
Clearly you dont love star trek. You have issues with Berman, who oversaw some of the best and most diverse shows ever written for the franchise. Have you considered Star Trek isnt your thing? Sounds like a you problem. Berman is a wonderful person and only makes good shows. Sounds like the problem is you.
See how you sound?
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
If I were trashing ten years worth of Star Trek from a whole lot of different, talented showrunners, as you are, I think it would be appropriate to ask if I was even a fan of a show.
This isn’t hard.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
Sure. I bet you were one of the fans who complained about Star Trek in the 90s because of Berman. Now youre just looking back on it with nostalgia. Sounds like a you problem.
See how you sound?
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
If I were saying the showrunner doesn’t matter, Star Trek lives and dies by the executive in the corner office, and I hate the last 250+ episodes despite who wrote them or who ran the show?
It wouldn’t be that off base.
You can quote me to me all day. If I walked around sounding like you and hating on Star Trek like you do, it’d apply.
PawsButton@reddit
> TNG ended up getting really good really fast
I don’t feel like this is the consensus- seems like a lot of folks think the show didn’t really hit its stride until season 3, and that’s nearly 50 episodes into the show’s run.
kizami_nori@reddit
That's just in retrospect. The topic, and Demoliton_Man's statement, are about contemporary opinions.
Contemporary viewership was solid through Season 1 and enough to keep people coming back.
ReputesZero@reddit
TNG showed some promise early despite itself, the good will it's highs in S1 hit earned it some latitude.
Torlek1@reddit
Season 1 was better than Season 2.
Season 1 had 11 good episodes.
Season 2 had only 7 good episodes.
benjaminjnorton@reddit
Please list them.
Torlek1@reddit
Somehow, early TNG matches TOS from season to season, specifically from season milestone to season milestone.
TOS Writing Style
According to the Futurama logic, one could describe TOS as "79 episodes. About 30 good ones."
By the Futurama logic, one could describe early TNG, which was heavily influenced by the TOS writing style, as "48 episodes. About 18 good ones."
In an alternate universe, TNG might have lasted only four seasons had it continued the TOS writing style.
Track TOS S1: The Early Start
It is well known among fans that TOS S1 is the best season of that show. TOS S2 is a good season, but one that is not as good. TOS S3 is the worst one.
Somehow, early TNG matches TOS from season point to season point.
The highest quality is the first nine episodes, followed by the rest of Season 1, then followed by Season 2.
This is the episode mark before the Christmas break episode. This is also the episode mark that tries to measure consistent writing.
Yes, unfortunately TNG does have the racist episode "The Code of Honor."
However, at this point, TNG has four good stories over five good episodes.
Encounter at Farpoint, Parts I and II
Where No One Has Gone Before
Lonely Among Us
The Battle (could have been a much better introduction to the Ferengi)
Track TOS S2: Remaining Season
The rest of Season 1 has 6 good episodes out of 17.
The Big Goodbye
Datalore
11001001
Skin of Evil
Conspiracy
The Neutral Zone
Track TOS S3: Our Season Two
Season 2 has 7 good episodes out of 22.
Elementary, Dear Data
The Measure of a Man
Contagion (the Iconian gates)
Time Squared (future Picard)
Q Who?
The Emissary (better than the two earlier Klingon episodes)
Peak Performance
karoxxxxx@reddit
Where is home soil?
Torlek1@reddit
I don't think it's as good as the TOS Devil in the Dark episode.
karoxxxxx@reddit
I like both, but maybe didn't understand your listing.
You are only counting TNG episodes that are better than their TOS equivalent? I would have counted it on its own merit as a pretty good episode.
benjaminjnorton@reddit
Mostly a good list, but...
What was good about Skin of Evil? Besides getting rid of a trash character?
Torlek1@reddit
In the recent TIME Magazine article on BOBW, it was stated that Skin of Evil made the speculation of Patrick Stewart leaving the show much more credible.
In an alternate universe, without Michael Piller being brought in, Stewart would have left out of frustration by the end of S3.
RedditOfUnusualSize@reddit
Yeah, my uncle was a devoted OG Trekkie, and he wasn't willing to call TNG a good series in its own right and worthy successor to TOS until well into S4. Before that, it was entirely that they had lost the magic, the new characters were pale imitations, etc.
Long story short, fans have always had the impetus to complain that They Changed It, And Now It Sucks.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
Well even S1 and S2 produced legendary episodes despite being considered bad like Measure of a Man. It also produced some very good episodes like Arsenal of Freedom, and the Royale. Even though they were "bad" there were lots of signs early on that the show had real potential
stachulec@reddit
it wasn't "really fast" at all
Burnsey111@reddit
Not really fast, the first season had some clunkers.
drquakers@reddit
"fast" first season a train wreck, second season more ups and downs than a rollercoaster. Considering season lengths, we are talking 40ish episodes before it got done degree of consistency. So more or less the total run of SNW?
bts@reddit
It was solidly into the second season before it was really good. I liked first season because I was ten.
Huge stuff like the nuanced and complex Klingon empire don’t show up until years later.
The_Demolition_Man@reddit
This is true, although even S1 had good episodes like Datalore and Arsenal of Freedom. S2 we started getting legendary episodes like Measure of a Man.
Personally id call the first two seasons uneven rather than "bad".
Gummiesruinedme@reddit
The fan reaction was yourself, and that one uncle who watched Star Trek as a kid. If you were a fan, basically you were a fan of 4 movies and a show from the 60’s.
Since it was syndicated, for me it was on Fox (back then, Fox was the smutty network of T and A). So on a Sunday night you’d get a rerun of Cheers, then TNG would lead into The Simpsons and Married with Children. Even if you didn’t want to watch Star Trek, you’d watch it anyway because there was nothing else on that appealed to a kid, and an episode like “Justice” was the closest you got to seeing a boob in the 80’s.
Ddude147@reddit
In 1987, slop was something you fed to the pigs.
Torlek1@reddit
Ah, but there is a crucial difference now, though:
The newer shows with the most hate gift are panned precisely for not trying to imitate the older Trek shows.
No-Knee9457@reddit
I heard a lot of complaints about Patrick Stewart. He was too short tooo British and too bald. Glad he proved them wrong accept being bald. 😂 He rocked that look.
Lia_Delphine@reddit
I refused to watch the first season as it wasn’t real Star Trek lol.
Thank goodness I got over myself after accidentally catching an episode. Absolutely fell in love.
Plenty_Discussion470@reddit
I was in 4th grade when TNG came out and was insanely excited, I’d been watching TOS for about a year at that point and was ready and willing for new episodes to come out. I can still remember staying up till 11pm reading the interviews with the new cast, having a crush on Denise Crosby, being intrigued by a Klingon Starfleet officer, loving the idea of a super smart android, and wondering what they were thinking with such an old man for a captain 😂 who is several years younger than I am now of course
Roxysteve@reddit
Almost universal doom, gloom and despondency.
I lost count of the times I said "Just let Rodenberry get over the "revenge for TOS iniquities" scripts and the show will find its feet"
In the end I reckon that's what happened.
JediSnoopy@reddit
Yes. To understand the thinking at the time, you need to know that nostalgia was in during the mid-to-late 80s. Reunion movies and reboots of classic TV shows were coming out. Some were better than others. The original crew was still making movies at this time so there was some concern about the quality or even the need for a new Trek show.
That concern was amplified by the change in time (moving a century forward) that required getting used to new uniforms, new technology and new character types that hadn't been seen in previous incarnations (ship's counselor, for example). There had been no indication at the time of any rapprochement with the Klingons so seeing one on the bridge was jarring. Also, Trek had distinguished itself by not including kids, robots or other gimmicky stuff to draw in families. TNG was not only adding a robot, but also a teenager.
While most of the stars of the show had been seen here and there in minor roles, only LeVar Burton had any real name recognition. Ironically, Wil Wheaton was probably the next most recognizable cast member.
The dynamics of the first season threw people off. The personable captain replaced by an aloof one; the action going to the first officer; retreads of stories and characters that had worked on the original series - making "The Naked Now" the second episode of the series didn't help - and an overemphasis on the sexual tension between multiple characters caused a rough start.
There were complaints in genre magazines but, as there was no internet, it was largely at conventions that you faced vocal, hostile fans.
MantoTerror@reddit
Hard-core TOS fan here, was stationed overseas when it premiered in the States, my only exposure was a promo on a TOS episode VHS which was intriguing but I was convinced that it would be a poor substitutefor TOS..I was unsure, but gave it a chance upon my return in '88. The first episode I saw, "Conspiracy ", was just good enough to interest me.. and TNG just grew on me... however, the venom some fans had for it didn't abate until about 1990..( And a subset never got over it).
ray53208@reddit
Yeah. A lot of shit talk from those loudmouths who would become the usual suspects in decades to come; a toxic vein of fandom that grew like a cancer.
I was always the first in line to see the most recent movie, I powered through every ufh marathon, I saved up to hit little conventions that would pop up around Houston. Houston used to be big into sci-fi and sci-fact. I love trek, even not my favorite trek.
We were Houston; the engineering team. Now we're... waiting. Again.
This time, a fascist-supporting media corporation harnessed the stupidity of that toxic fandom and used it as an excuse to attempt to destroy the dream.
But ideas are bulletproof. 🖖
The27Roller@reddit
I’m probably being dumb, but can you explain this to me….
This time, a fascist-supporting media corporation harnessed the stupidity of that toxic fandom and used it as an excuse to attempt to destroy the dream.
AdagioVast@reddit
Very. It did okay. Lots of hesitation among viewers and cast. Somehow it kept getting a fan base until it all peaked season 3 and 4 and history was being made.
Engineer-Miserable@reddit
People on Usenet really hated it and thought it was stupid and that Star Trek couldn't continue without the holy trinity, but the idea of more star trek was generally well received by normal people because the films were really popular at the time. The ratings were like 9 million for the first season and continued to grow despite season 1 & 2 being a bit weaker with the show finding it's footing and all. Because of syndication shows back then were able to launch with weaker first seasons because it was race to 100 episodes, so you were guaranteed at least 4 seasons of a show.
Thismomenthere@reddit
I was only a kid when TNG premiered. I remember my Dad bringing it up to others and they were really pissed at a bald older captain and said the ship looked like a winnebago.
Their other gripe was "They never leave the ship" which I never understood because they did.
Anyhow as a little kid, that show gave me some kinda way to model how I navigated interaction with people and a kinda life guide. I didn't get to watch an episode until Q Who... hooked!
Beech_driver@reddit
Honestly I didn’t know about it until it had been out for a year or two. I was in high school at the time, was a fan, watched TOS regularly and grew up watching the animated series too and while in high school we’d have game/movie nights and repeatedly watched Wrath of Khan all the time. And saw ST4 its first day in theaters.
I remember being at the grocery store and seeing something about *Star Trek, The Next Generation* on a cereal box or something and thought to myself, cool, so they’re making another movie, but “the next generation. That’s a good idea, I guess. It was a bit later I stumbled across it on TV and realized it was a series.
jacobkosh@reddit
I was a kid and not really plugged into the zeitgeist but I made my mom and dad buy me the various copies of Starlog magazine that had "exclusive scoops" about the show. It was the first thing I got into like that, where I knew the basic premise and the names of the characters months before the show premiered - I think I was most excited about LeVar Burton. To an eight-year-old raised on PBSS, THAT was fame.
But what I do know, and was even present in those articles at the time, was there was an enormous amount of skepticism. Not the kind of weaponized, hateful scorn that's the internet's stock-in-trade these days, but definitely like..."...really? New Star Trek? A *Klingon?"*
I think one of the hardest things to communicate to people who grew up after abou 1990 or so is that there was actually a time before gigantic, engineered Hollywood media franchises. We had maybe one thing that was kinda close to our modern conception of a franchise, and that was James Bond. But otherwise, it was unheard of; in 1987, Star Wars was over. It was done. There was no more Star Wars except maybe reruns of "Droids." There was no MCU or DCEU; there were a couple good Superman movies and a couple terrible sequels. Almost every project, even if it was a sequel, was bespoke, and not part of a thirty-tentacled media octopus.
To most people, Star Trek was Kirk and Spock and Bones, it was "beam me up, Scotty," and "Klingons off the starboard bow." It was a specific story from a specific time that, amazingly, had made the transition to movies, but those movies didn't change the fundamental nature of Trek, just the scale and level of gloss.
People can (and do) say what they want about Roddenberry, but almost alone among anyone else he saw that Star Trek didn't have to be limited or defined by those things, or by its aging cast and prima donna actor; he saw that Star Trek could be a style of storytelling and even a philosophy for life. That was the crucial insight that made TNG and everything else possible.
BarefootJacob@reddit
There was a group of hardcover TOS fans who campaigned against it, essentially saying that 'if it doesn't have Kirk and Spock, it's not Star Trek!' and similar such nonsense. And today we have folk slagging off the new shows like Disco in the same way.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
lemonswithlimes@reddit
A new acquaintance and I both happened to leave a college party at the same time to watch the first episode of TNG. (At the time you couldn't just stream shows whenever, you had to watch them when they were broadcast.) It turned out we were both TOS fans. We both liked TNG, too, even if it was not great at the start, and watching it together became a regular date. We've been married a long time now! Anyway we were not reluctant about the franchise at all but happy to see it continue. It was a worthy successor to TOS.
VampiricCuriosity@reddit
My dad loved TOS and was super excited for TNG, I remember watching with him on our big floral couch and being in awe of it. Ah, the 80's and 90's.
Steerider@reddit
I think people were afraid it would be a half-baked cash grab. We wanted it to be good, but didn't really expect it to be very good.
ScaryMasterpiece6006@reddit
I was too young for the premiere but my first exposure to TNG was Generations. I hated the TNG crew after watching that movie and wasnt interested in watching the show. Then I saw First Contact and thought they were actually pretty cool. Then I finally watched the show, fell in love with it and realized how terrible the movies were.
Express-Train2486@reddit
GENERATIONS seemed like it nearly became a harsh parody of TNG.
Express-Train2486@reddit
Star Trek: The Next Generation was refreshing and exciting in 1987.
bmiller218@reddit
People didn't like the curvyness of the D Enterprise. The Ford Taurus had just come out so I think people compared it to that.
PizzaWhole9323@reddit
The first two seasons were campy and cringe. But by the opening of the first episode of season 3 with the new uniforms and better effects they kind of had their formula down and we were all in at my community college in 1990.
Ok-Bowler-203@reddit
I just remember as a kid calling Data the “new Spock”.
spoink74@reddit
Data was the new Spock. Riker was the new Kirk. Picard and Geordi were… oh! Something new! We didn’t like Troi at first.
cellocaster@reddit
What did y’all think of Worf?
spoink74@reddit
He seemed like a shallow gimmick for too long.
cellocaster@reddit
Fortunately he found his footing!
MuseoRidiculoso@reddit
On the contrary. I didn’t like the macho, sexist vibes of TOS, so I didn’t watch TNG until season 3. Can’t remember why I started watching it, but I was hooked once I did.
AcmeCartoonVillian@reddit
There was a genuine fear that it would turn into a "day time soap opera".
Something about the fact that the galaxy class would have civilians on board. And a bar.
Torlek1@reddit
There are still some hardline TOS fans who think Michael Piller's introduction of character development and B plots are lighter versions of soap opera.
The Paradise Syndrome would like to ring a bell.
RigamortisRooster@reddit
I warched reruns in the 90's as a 13yr old. Brother told me to watch and he 5 yrs older. I knew about the original but this was right up my alley and current for my time. No different for folks watching the original i suppose.
TwoFlower-@reddit
I remember my mother being a TOS fan was skeptical and refused to watch TNG and a bald captain! she came around though and loved TNG eventually
roadtrip-ne@reddit
I don’t know what the fan-think was at the time, I remember thinking most of the Star Trek movies after Khan were as goofy as hell and I thought we’d end up with stuff like that.
I was very surprised 5and happy) with what we got. I much prefer TNG to TOS in many areas
videonitekatt@reddit
What people forget, even with the less-that-steller episodes, the show was a HIT right out of the gate - Paramount Television was selling out every national ad spot, and the show got renewed for a second season early on....
GonfalonFalderol@reddit
I think the reaction in my circle of nerds was interest but not excitement. Kirk and Spock were our guys - still are, to be honest - but they were still making movies, so it was OK. We did not like the idea of families on the ship, or a boy on the crew. (I’ve never liked that sort of thing. Don’t get me started on “it’s a Unix system - I know this.” No hate on Mr. Wheaton at all.)
We threw up our hands in childish outrage when the new captain SURRENDERED in the first episode of the show! I drew a fake Hallmark card that said, “Grab your lug wrench, Spock,” and then on the inside it said, “We’re separating the battle bridge!” But TNG got much better after a slow start. 😂
thanatosau@reddit
Anything with the words 'The Next Generation' was just cringe worthy.
It was a cliche of the time used in a few shows.
I refused to watch it when it came out purely because of that. Wasn't til about five years I to it a work colleague told me it was really good and so I finally tuned in.
TheChronek@reddit
I was a tween when it debuted. I saw TVH at the theater the previous December. Watched much of TOS in reruns.
This fan was super excited to have a Star Trek all my own. Loved it from the start. I know other people were skeptical, but I thought TNG belonged from the beginning.
darwinDMG08@reddit
Keep in mind: most of were not on the internet back then. Outside of a few hardcore nerds who were on some kind of message board, the rest of us weren’t online until AOL hit big in the early 90s.
The “attitude” you’re asking about was mostly from our friends and fellow fans that we talked to face to face, or else it was reviews in magazines. There was no where to go (except maybe a convention) to feel any kind of mass consensus.
Stay_at_Home_Chad@reddit
I was too young to remember the discourse around TNG but I clearly remember DS9 being referred to as DS90210 because everyone was so young and there was so much interpersonal drama.
Gummiesruinedme@reddit
There was no discourse. There was no way to connect with other fans. If you lived in a big city and had money, you might have been able to go to a Trek convention. Aside from my brother and my uncle, I didn’t know anyone who knew anything about Star Trek.
Stay_at_Home_Chad@reddit
You know, it's funny, alot of my knowledge of the discourse came from my dad, who I distinctly remember talking about what people were saying about it. He watched a lot of entertainment television and read magazines, so I always assumed it came from them, but for all I know, he was talking about his drinking buddies.
davesaunders@reddit
The response leading up to the first episode was easily as toxic as social media is today towards pretty much anything that the gatekeepers don’t approve of. I remember one critic saying that Riker should’ve been captain and Jean-Luc. Picard should’ve been given the duties of a janitor on the ship. Season one kind of was OK but not great. Season two is pretty awkward. The Riker flashback clip episode is completely unwatchable to this day, but they held firm and worked out the kinks and it became a great show. It’s a shame other Star Trek franchisees aren’t given such a chance anymore.
fuelhandler@reddit
As a Teenager, I remember watching the pilot and wondering why the old grandpa (Patrick Stewart) was the captain, rather that Jonathan Frakes who I thought looked much more like a Kirk type character. Of course my opinion changed over the years, but that was my initial impression.
Of course, this article explains it all.
Gummiesruinedme@reddit
But nobody that would have seen this article would have cared at all. You’d probably see a segment on Entertainment Tonight that hyped it up. An average fan was hungry for anything because there was little that was catering to Sci Fi fans. The most that you ever heard about Star Trek in the 80’s (other than a new movie release) was the cast members going to NASA for the new shuttle program, and the time that Shatner was on SNL. Shatner being on SNL was probably the biggest Star Trek news that drew any noticeable fan reaction the entire decade. Other than that, if you cared enough to know what another Star Trek fan thought, you’d have to travel out of state to visit a Star Trek convention, or stand around a comic book store every day.
vesomortex@reddit
Baby face Riker
BobBelcher2021@reddit
I barely even recognize Frakes there. Even compared to his S1 appearances.
UESPA_Sputnik@reddit
He almost looks like Dirk Benedict on that photo.
fuelhandler@reddit
With that hair, he does look like “The face man”!
According_Sound_8225@reddit
It's funny that they're calling Levar Burton the new spock when it should have been Brent Spiner.
TheRealCBlazer@reddit
I watched a panel that had Shatner, Stewart, and Frakes on it. Shatner admitted that he never watched the show (nbd, imho). But it became clear from the way interacted during the panel that he thought Frakes was the Captain in the new show. It was actually kinda adorable. Shatner charisma.
rebuildingrob@reddit
Yeah, the expectations were pretty high, because people felt like this new crew couldn’t live up to Kirk and Spock.
Barefoot60@reddit
I remember seeing that picture in TV Guide, and thinking it looked very exotic and commanding. So I couldn't wait for the show to start, and was not disappointed.
indicus23@reddit
I was super excited for it, but I was like 8 years old, so I was super excited about anything having to do with outer space being on TV.
Gummiesruinedme@reddit
The internet didn’t really exist, so there was no significant fan reaction. Entertainment shows and magazines would claim that there was a fan backlash. But pop culture fandom wasn’t really a thing. Also, there we’re basically 4 TV stations for the average viewer. As a fan of Star Trek, my opinion was “It could work. Why is the captan bald? Is he the same species as Ilia from the motion picture? The ship and the effects look cool, I’ll watch it.” But what it really came down to was very simple. There was nothing else on TV to watch. Typically you’d flip through stations and TNG was on while other stations were showing the news. As a kid, of course I’m going to watch the show, even if it’s bad (which some early episodes were). But it was better than watching the news. Eventually TNG got good and it was a show that you carved out time to watch.
Fernis_@reddit
It was an atmosphere of cautious pessimism. The initial premise looked fine, but also "Who is this bald old dude and how can he ever hope to compete with Kirk?" and "Klingons on board? A robot? What is this?"
The difference between that and today, is, while people were careful, no one called them haters for not instantly pissing their pants in suport of a show they haven't seen yet. But the biggest diference, was right in first season it was apparent that the show is good, respectful to it's predecessor, while successfully doing it's own thing without being a 1 to 1 copy.
tex1272@reddit
I remember that month in TV Guide's "Cheers and Jeers" column, they jeered it calling it 'Boldly going where man already went.'
jdlyga@reddit
It’s so strange to think about now, because millennials grew up having this be THE Star Trek, not really having been exposed to much TOS. But TNG took a little while to catch on.
Severe_Energy_5166@reddit
The premise of this is a tiny bit off, if I may humbly say. Most of us, especially kids during that generation, probably wouldn’t have known anything about the series until it premiered or the TV Guide showed up the week before.
Unless you were a die hard, there was no way to know anything. Pre internet.
WilliamMcCarty@reddit
People hated the idea and thought it was blasphemy, they wanted the project cancelled.
Now, to be fair, there was a lot of misinformation, too. There was one statement out there that literally said this was replacing TOS, that it wasn't a continuation of Star Trek the franchise but that it was just wiping TOS from existence, that they would literally be re-making TOS episodes with this new cast as well as making new episodes.
This was before the internet so there was no way to verify this stuff.
You can see why people were pissed.
Silverblatt@reddit
I was appalled that they would make a Star Trek show without Kirk and Spock. But once I watched the TNG pilot, I was hooked.
drakeallthethings@reddit
We still had Star Trek on film at the time. Star Trek IV was a big hit with more mass audience appeal than a typical trek movie. So a new tv show was interesting. We had pretty much made peace with the idea the original cast wasn’t coming back to tv. The stuff I heard beforehand was cool. Like there was going to be a Klingon and an Android on the crew and the guy playing captain had been in Dune and Excalibur. It was kind of weird that the Reading Rainbow guy was going to be in it. I was excited to see it.
andmewithoutmytowel@reddit
I was only a kid, but my parents were Trekkies and we watched it together. Season 1 was disappointing. My mom especially wasn’t really a fan. S2 was way better and S3 was when my whole family was on board.
I was 8 when “Best of both worlds” aired. I can’t begin to tell you how upset I was when I found out we had to wait all summer to see how it ended!! I was furious!!
rockadoodoo01@reddit
At first I figured it would be a cheap ripoff of the original, as I had already learned so many things on TV were. It took an episode or two before my skepticism faded.
Mental-Test-7660@reddit
Anyone who was a realist accepted we had to give it a chance. We got two hours of new trek once every couple of years, and the odd numbered ones weren't that loved. 26 hours a year of new Trek! And although season one had many clunkers, there was enough substance to it to see it could become great.
theFormerRelic@reddit
I distinctly remember my parents thinking it was absurd that a Klingon would be part of the crew
Possible_Praline_169@reddit
Lots of "that's not Star Trek" and "Kirk is my captain" TNG was not accepted early on, especially with some of the season one clunkers
Retinoid634@reddit
It was greeted with some hopeful excitement about a new chapter, and a lot of skepticism that it could measure up. The first season was not received well as I recall. Fans were not impressed and I remember not watching past the first few episodes. It wasn’t until well into the second season that word of mouth spread the news that it was getting good (via my father in my case) so I started watching again and really loved it.
yetonemorerusername@reddit
People I knew and I were excited
The_Latverian@reddit
Same. I was 19-20 I think, and we were pretty stoked for it
yetonemorerusername@reddit
We’re probably about same edge. Heard about it in 85 at a Star Trek convention and the only thing that gave me pause was Majel Barrett saying they wanted to step away from the Klingons and Romulans and introduce us to new aliens like “an exciting group known as the Ferengi”, who at the time were vicious and combative, not the comedic relief capitalists they became. Did t take long fir Romulans and Klingons to come back.
Klopferator@reddit
The inital reaction was certainly negative. It didn't help that the new captain surrendered multiple times in the first few episodes.
imatiredofthis@reddit
I remember some of the hype, omg….a blind navigator?….a mother f#$k’n Klingon on the crew? And most importantly….a cast that was not in their 50s and 60s.
RobertWF_47@reddit
Yea seeing pictures of a Klingon on the crew in the promo pics blew my mind. Also the captain was an old bald dude, not remotely like Captain Kirk?
Prudent_Leave_2171@reddit
I can only speak for myself and Trekkers around me, but we embraced it pretty quickly. There was definitely some doubt as to how consistent they would be with original Trek, but that dissipated for us in short order. The premier had its ups and downs, but we mostly enjoyed the second episode- it was unabashedly a rehash of an original series episode, but they made no secret of that. It was even written by the exact same author! From there, some good and down mid episodes, but mostly it was well received by us.
The_Latverian@reddit
We were pretty pumped for it in my neck of the woods, but *man* that first season and a half was dire 😬
The_Latverian@reddit
I will say, we all recognized Geordie's visor as a banana clip and didn't care for that 😂
plantyjen@reddit
I wore banana clips all the time in those days, I can’t believe it took me as long as it did to figure it out!
Previous_Link1347@reddit
Some very vocal people were pissed calling it too PC (kind of how people use the term woke now) because of changing where no man has gone before to where no one has gone before, and featuring a ships councilor, men in skirt etc. Yeah, there's always been anti-woke idiots around crying about something.
plantyjen@reddit
Which is really pretty dumb coming from fans of a show that included an African American woman as a bridge officer. 🙄
Ddude147@reddit
It could be that the showrunner(s) remembered one of the worst episodes in the history of TOS: the one where a woman switched bodies with Kirk, saying something along the lines, "your Starfleet doesn't allow woman Captains," which is an asinine prediction. I remember "Kirk" filing his nails in that ep.
Or, the showrunner wanted to get away from other outdated notions, such as those in Forbidden Planet (1958), the first big-budget, serious sci-fi film, which was groundbreaking. That Gene Roddenberry obviously "borrowed" from for TOS. The entire crew of FP was white men. Even "Cookie" was a man. I seem to remember one attractive, white woman on board who served coffee. TNG was enlightened in that respect. "No one" fit. "No man" was archaic.
These days, we use "they" instead of he, he/she, s/he. Even linguists go along with "they" instead of those clunky choices.
Torlek1@reddit
The term back then, though, was "cultural terrorism."
BigFeelingSlayer@reddit
“This isn’t Star Trek.” The same thing you see with the current haters of Star Trek.
thedudeadapts@reddit
I'm too young for this to apply to me (barely) and I'm not reading the other comments (lazy) but I'm pretty sure I read there was a lotta RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE before TNG premiered, much like we saw with every. Single. Other. Iteration of the franchise since.
Kairamek@reddit
Same thing that happened with Discovery/NuTrek. All the same complaints, just as invalid as they are today. But without the internet echo chamber reinforcing bad takes, people were able to grow out of it.
Grixlpak@reddit
I was 10 when it came out so take that into consideration. I remember thinking it stupid because you can’t have Star Trek without the OG crew. However I was tuned in watching the show every week. I warmed to it as time went by, but it wasn’t until season 3 where I felt like it became strong.
Used-Gas-6525@reddit
Yup. and the production company was reticent at first too. Hence the extremely low budget first season that was also full of scripts left over from TOS. I don't really think even Gene was super confident. Thank god TNG didn't come out today. Having about one good episode for every 10 (I'm strictly talking S1), with 24 episodes per season is a one way ticket to nowhere these days. There's no room for growth.
UESPA_Sputnik@reddit
....what? They had a budget of up to 1.5 million dollars per episode by the end of season 1 according to the TNG companion (page 27). That's equivalent to 4.3 million dollars in 2026.
RecentExamination289@reddit
Low budget is definitely relative. They did spend more on special effects than most shows of the era but my understanding is that a lot of the actors were effectively paid less than union wages (Stewart and other main cast were exceptions). I do think they were also being experimental with the direct to syndication model, so they were giving the series more time. If they could syndicate one Star Trek show for 20+ years off three seasons, than they probably hoped the show could have a longer tail as well.
Torlek1@reddit
If I were to guess how many viewers a hypothetical TNG were to air today without all the other Trek shows we've had, I would say it would be comparable to the DIS initial ratings and then settle into SNW territory.
Higher than ENT.
Lower than VOY.
Unless it has syndication like arrangements on streaming.
wheneveriwander@reddit
I was not optimistic, but then heard Lavar Burton was going to be in the cast, so decided to give it a chance. Burton was in Roots, and made a huge impression on me when I was in school. Loved him on TNG, especially his relationship with Data.
PanicSwtchd@reddit
TNG was hated by a lot of the TOS fans and nearly cancelled after 2 seasons. They had a lot more patience for shows back then and production costs were a lot more manageable back then. If my numbers are right, 1 season of TNG cost less than a third of a current season of Starfleet Academy.
Frosenborg@reddit
I think Stewart took the role because it would only last for one season.
Shawnk_69@reddit
I had huge doubts. By the end of season one, they were mostly gone. By the time of "The Best of Both Worlds," I was a rabid fan.
GetOffMyAsteroid@reddit
I'll never forget headline I read, I think it was TV Guide, said, "To Boldly Go Where One Man Has Been Before," in regards to Roddenberry recycling old ideas and stories, which seemed exhausted and unoriginal. They wanted something new, fresher, more exciting. At the same time I remember a lot of people were dissatisfied with Picard, an older, stem Captain who talked things through rather than solve problems with fist or phaser while romancing all the space ladies.
Torlek1@reddit
Gene Roddenberry was of two minds regarding Patrick Stewart.
One was of Horatio Hornblower.
One was very much of an action man with romantic stuff. He already had Action Picard in mind.
spectre73@reddit
I remember seeing in article in STARLOG magazine in 86 or early 87. I saw Data and Geordi, "Why is he silver? A robot? Why does he have a hair barrette over his eyes? Why is there a Klingon?!"
bjb8@reddit
When it first came on I was a teen and loved TOS and the movies. I think the consensus at the time was it wasn't as good as TOS but any new Trek is better than nothing. But once things picked up after the first season it was much more appreciated.
ExtremePiglet@reddit
"You have to remember We had literally 3 or 4 channels back then... "
You obviously never explored the UHF end of the dial 😂😂
electronraven@reddit
Gene Roddenberry was taken off the show and replaced with Melinda Snodgrass. She got it going.
Ddude147@reddit
Gene Roddenberry, though the man who created Star Trek, had some "old timey" views about how women should act and what they should wear. I know everyone here remembers the DS9 redo of "The Trouble with Tribbles." Seeing Jadzia Dax, an extraordinary Lt. Cmdr., in a skirt that barely covered her privates, was a real hoot.
Farpoint_Farms@reddit
At first I was mad as I loved TOS and watched it nearly every day after school. Then once it started I was nto happy as the first episode kind of sucked. The Naked Now. was good and the series eventually grew on me. By season 2 I was hooked.
You have to remember We had literally 3 or 4 channels back then, so this was a bigger deal than it would be today.
Appropriate_Lime_101@reddit
Everyone I knew was looking forward to it. Magazines and newspapers were trying to start a battle. But I didn't know anyone who was against it.
festive_napkins@reddit
I wasn’t alive at the time. But my dad tells me he was resistant. He Thought they were trashing the original series and Gene only wanted more money. But the writing and stories surprised him — how much the TNG writers and cast paid homage to the original series not just with characters but moral values and lessons on conflict. He became a fan by the second season
TheRealCBlazer@reddit
There was no internet, so I can only really speak for myself.
I was very skeptical, expecting essentially a rip-off. I also strongly disliked the new Enterprise, which looked flashy and blobby for no apparent functional reason.
The early episodes didn't help. They felt cheap and campy (Q, the Ferengi...), but not the good kind of campy (many SNW episodes are the good kind of self-aware campy, imho).
Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner elevated everything, though. Riker grew the beard, and the rest is history. Love that show.
VeneMage@reddit
What’s SNW?
TheRealCBlazer@reddit
Strange New Worlds
Ddude147@reddit
If the question is answered, "prior to its premiere," I was excited. I anticipated it. I own the series on Blu-ray.
No_Acanthaceae5476@reddit
I thought they looked weird. A bald captain with a French name? A Klingon? A KID?? At that time, LeVar was the most famous actor of the group so I thought he was going to be one of the main characters, like Spock.
Burnsey111@reddit
Paramount could afford paying for movies back then. Now they can’t. Says a lot about movie making and Paramount.
Adventurous_Class_90@reddit
So bear in mind, we had 4 OG cast films at this point. I was used to the Constitution class Enterprise. The weird curves and colors of D were off putting at first.
So the original Enterprise was very 60s. Refit Enterprise was very late 70s early 80s. The design vibe had changed by the time of TNG. Bab5 has a definite 90s design vibe too, especially the viewscreens..
bkinstle@reddit
I was a kid at the time and didn't really enjoy the old Star Trek until i grew up so for me TNG was the benchmark for Star Trek
Kazzlin@reddit
I went to a Trek convention the summer before it premiered. There was a lot of negativity towards it. Some considered it blasphemy and refused to even watch it.
For me it like, "It's new Star Trek! Of course I'm gonna watch it!"
UESPA_Sputnik@reddit
Your comment describes the two types of Star Trek fans every time a new spin-off premieres.
Apart-Performer1710@reddit
I felt a bit apprehensive about it because TOS was fav show but I warmed to it very quickly. I liked it even during series one. I was just a kid though so wasn’t really analysing it much.
ajslinger@reddit
I was a kid and it was sheer excitement
letterstosnapdragon@reddit
My family used to watch TOS every night in syndication. And when we rented Voyage Home it included a preview of TNG. I was so upset that my mom had to comfort me and explain that TOS and its characters would still be available to watch and the new show wouldnt 100% replace the original. I was 6 or 7 at the time.
cannabination@reddit
My dad was skeptical, but we watched every episode and he got over it quickly. TOS fans had a predisposition to ignoring camp and cheap effects.
tomenjean@reddit
I was 11 years old and remember being pretty stoked for it. But then my older brother hated the new bridge and uniforms and colors and—everything. I loved it all so much, but felt dumb for liking it. So deep appreciation, but felt like that wasn’t allowed. Pardon the honest family drama there.
As a youth I just figured all the “adults” weren’t happy with it like us kids.
davodot@reddit
I remember when it was being previewed in the media. I remember thinking that the enterprise looked goofy, it was weird that there was a Klingon onboard and one of the characters was wearing space glasses. Also thought the uniforms were awful. Rented Farpoint before it was broadcast on TV (in the U.K.) and thought it was poor. Within a year or two I loved everything about it the D is my favourite sci fi ship.
wriker10@reddit
I was in sixth grade when it started and I was really excited for it.
Torlek1@reddit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0hnpCno-rQ
The first part of the Steve Shives video, before moving on to Encounter At Farpoint.