When Did Star Trek: The Next Generation Get Good?

Today, we try to figure out when Star Trek: The Next Generation “got good.”

In Pop Culture Questions Answered, I answer whatever questions you folks might have about movies, TV, music or whatever (feel free to e-mail questions to me at brian@pop culture references.com).

Reader Ralph F. sent in a few Star Trek: The Next Generation questions, so I guess I’ll be addressing them over the next couple of weeks. There were some very interesting questions, but I’ll start with a relatively simple one, “When did Star Trek: The Next Generation get good?”

Right off the bat, there are three extreme positions on the topic that I’d like to dismiss out of hand. In order of absurdity, they are…

A. It was never good. That’s nonsense, as it was quite a good show.

B. It was ALWAYS good. That’s less offensive, but I can’t say that I agree. I think it is probably fair to say that the opening season of Star Trek: The Next Generation wasn’t BAD, per se, but nor was it good, either. It was just kind of bad-to-mediocre, but the first season was not good, for sure. Heck, you could argue that the final season had some major bumps, too, outside of some standout episodes (like the excellent finale, “All Good Things…”).

C. It didn’t get good until the Borg cliffhanger at the end of Season 3. That’s not INSANE, but it’s way too extreme.

Okay, so with those three positions all eliminated, let’s try to figure what the answer is.

First, of course, we have to determine what “Get good” means, exactly. For instance, do we stop the moment we hit a really good episode? Heck, even in the middle of Season 1, which wasn’t all that great, there were a couple of standout episodes, including the introduction of Jean-Luc Picard’s detective alter ego, Dixon Hill, in “The Big Goodbye,” mostly set in the ship’s holodeck. The next episode, “Datalore,” was Gene Roddenberry’s final Star Trek script credit, which introduced Data’s evil twin “brother,” Lore. Those were both good episodes, but then the show sort of sagged right after that again. So I don’t think we can really pick those two episodes, but if you want to say “First two very good episodes in a row,” then that’s your answer. I think we require more steadiness, though, so I’m going to say it DOESN’T count.

This brings us to Season 2, a season hurt badly by the Writer’s Strike, which forced them to re-use an old unused script from the proposed Star Trek TV series of the late 1970s (that evolved into Star Trek: The Motion Picture once Star Wars made it seem like science fiction could be box office gold), and the show sort of ran out of money towards the end, leading to a clip show episode, “Shades of Grey,” that is generally considered one of the all-time worst episodes.

Season 2 also had excellent episodes, like a return to the holodeck for “Elementary, My Dear Data,” and the BRILLIANT “Measure of a Man,” which followed the similarly strong, “Matter of Honor.” Again, though, these standout episodes were then surrounded by lesser episodes, like the similarly outstanding “Q Who” in Season 2, which was also a great episode surrounded by mediocre episodes (it also introduced The Borg for the first time).

Season 3 saw Michael Piller become the showrunner of the series, and Ronald D. Moore joined the writing staff, as well. Also, after being let go after Season 1, Gates McFadden returned as Beverley Crusher, which was a welcome sight to see. However, while Season 3 opened a bit steadier than Season 2 and, honestly, if you want to say “Season 3,” I don’t think you’d be crazy, but I think we can narrow it down further to the BACK HALF of Season 3, which you could say begins around episode 11 or 12, but I’ll instead choose the iconic “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” the 15th episode of the season, an episode that even the show’s staff have occasionally referred to as sort of the episode that “saved the show,” as morale was getting kind of low among the writers, but things turned around with this episode, which heavily involved Moore, who, of course, became a much more important figure in the writing room as time went on (in a good way).

“Yesterday’s Enterprise” was followed by the excellent “The Offspring” (about Data making a “child”) and “Sins of the Father,” a visit from Worf’s brother. The next few episodes were solid, and the show’s ratings recovered from an early downturn in the season and, of course, the season ended with “The Best of Both Worlds,” which fully introduced the Borg and from THAT point forward, it was all systems go for a number of seasons of classic Star Trek adventure.

So, if I were to pick a point where “Star Trek: The Next Generation got good,” the “best” answer is probably simply “Second half of Season 3,” but since it’s more fun to pick a notable episode from that point, then I’ll say “Yesterday’s Enterprise”

Feel free to argue about what YOUR answer would be in the comments below or on social media.

Thanks to Ralph for the question!

If anyone ELSE has a question, drop me a line at brian@popculturereferences.com!