It was 25 years ago tonight. I was excited. Nine years old and huddled sitting in front of the TV. My mom was there, as my oldest brother Tony. We were all hardcore Star Trek fans. They grew up with the original series, as did I on betamax. But now for the first time in years, we were getting new Star Trek. Star Trek IV just came out and the excitement for Trek was at a fever pitch. What would they do next? Starlog magazine showed me the drawings of the sets they were building for this new TV show. Then cast photos. But it wasn't Kirk and Spock. It wasn't even their kids. Who the hell are these people??
I remember that opening shot where the Enterprise comes down and we zoom into the window to see Capt. Jean Luc Picard for the first time....
I sat in awe but a lot of puzzlement. What was all this? The costumes look so different. A bald guy as captain? Wait, was that one crewmember guy in a dress?? I remember thinking that the acting was so bad. The lines of dialog were stupid. Q? Who is this now? Wow, this is starting to suck. Wait a minite... is that Dr. McCoy??!?!?! AWESOME!!!!!
Oh, he's gone... I Wanted to follow him. How did he live so damn long? Does this mean Kirk and Spock are still alive then? (sigh) Okay, back to this story... Okay... um.. what? Why did... um.. alright... Boy this Troi is getting annoying... Aaannndd... its over. Wow. That was okay I guess. Um... yeah. I think I'll toss in a tape of the Original Series now.
And that pretty much was my experience the first night TNG aired. 25 years ago tonight. I didn't really like it. Although I gave it a chance. Like he did for the Original Series, my Uncle Doug taped them all and I watched the first ten episodes over and over. They were okay. I got the magazines and even the action figures from Galoob. I wanted to like it. But my mid-season one, I had checked out. I read about the episodes that were airing, but never watched them. I didn't get back into TNG until almost three years later.
My friend told me about this cliffhanger where this robot race grabs Picard and makes him one of them, erasing his humanity and Riker is now in charge of the ship. So I waited around and caught the re-run. "Best of Both Worlds Part 1" it was called. One viewing and I was back in. I caught he second part the night it aired. I was there the following week. and then the next. and the next. All the way up till the last episode in 1994. I was hooked. They got over the slump and made the show great. So great in fact, that I would say that its a "better series" than the original. Is it my favorite Trek? No. But the best series of it? Absolutely. And I will watch TNG any time its on now. When I need something on in the background, I'll bring it up on Netflix and watch it. I bought all the DVD sets. I even had some of the key episodes on VHS. I sold all my DVDs recently to upgrade to the BR's. I'm looking forward to it (when I can afford them!). I cannot wait to see these old episodes remastered.
But I was there for the majority of the journey. And I still am. I love TNG. Riker was my favorite character. I've met some of the actors now, years later. And I still got the action figures from 1987. I'm happy to say I was there in front of the TV 25 years ago. And I always will be.
Happy Bday TNG. Make it so.
T
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