@c6reviews.
| Star Trek: The Next Generation | |
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| Abbreviation: | TNG |
| Episodes: | 176 |
| Air dates: | Sep 28, 1987 – May 23, 1994 |
| In-universe years: | 2364 – 2370 |
| Universe Timeline Go to full timeline ➡︎ | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2363 | |||
| 2364 | Star Trek The Next Generation (TNG) |
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| 2365 | |||
| 2366 | |||
| 2367 | Battle at Wolf 359 | ||
| 2368 | |||
| 2369 | Star Trek Deep Space Nine (DS9) |
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| 2370 | |||
| 2371 | Star Trek Voyager (VOY) |
Generations | |
| 2372 | |||
| 2373 | First Contact | ||
| 2374 | |||
| 2375 | Insurrection | ||
| 2376 | |||
| 2377 | |||
| 2378 | |||
| 2379 | Nemesis | ||
| 2380 | Star Trek Lower Decks (LOW) |
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| 2381 | |||
| 2382 | |||
| 2383 | Star Trek Prodigy (PRO) |
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| 2384 | |||
| 2385 | |||
| 2386 | |||
Star Trek: The Next Generation takes place in the 24th century, nearly 100 years after Kirk and his crew began their 5-year mission in The Original Series, and 71 years after the events of Kirk and crew's last adventure, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. TNG is the third Star Trek series, after The Original Series and The Animated Series. Where Kirk captained the first two ships named Enterprise (the NCC‑1701 and the NCC‑1701‑A), the Enterprise in The Next Generation is the fifth to have the name. It's the Enterprise NCC‑1701‑D, and it's under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
The Original Series aired from 1966-1969, and then The Animated Series aired in 1973 and 1974. After that, there were four motion pictures in 1979, 1982, 1984, and 1986. All of these starred William Shatner as James T. Kirk and the rest of the original cast – and then, suddenly in 1987, The Next Generation debuted on television and there was a new crew and a new ship ready for all-new adventures. Obviously, this had a mixed reception from fans, and even today you can still find the occasional spirited debate about who was the better captain: Kirk or Picard. (This website will abstain from that debate.)
Bluntly put, the first two seasons of this show are not good. There are a number of reasons for this, including disagreements between writers and the show's creator Gene Roddenberry, some trouble between cast and crew, and the use of stories meant for TOS that weren't updated and adapted for TNG. After the second season, several writers and producers were let go and others were brought on, making a noticeable improvement in the show's quality almost right away.
Sometimes I just start on Season 3
What to watch next:
Follow-up to TNG
To continue the story of the Next Generation crew, watch their next adventure in the film Star Trek: Generations.
Next show to air and next chronologically
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the next series. It started airing during TNG's sixth season, and that's also when it takes place in the Trek universe. While the shows overlap in time, their stories rarely cross over.
Something different
If you're tired of the 24th century, now might be a good time to go back to where it all started, with Star Trek: The Original Series, if you haven't seen it already.
The Next Generation Spoiler Policy
- Generally speaking, you can safely read any of the episode guides without fear of spoiling any plot reveals or twists in a single episode, though it's possible it might spoil something from a previous episode.
- HOWEVER, this show is from the 1990s, so it's not exactly new. Some things just can't be a surprise any more. Episode descriptions or pictures may hint at things you might not have otherwise known if this is your first time watching.
- Blatant spoilers will be obscured, with a "Spoiler" tag that you can click on to reveal the contents. Don't read the spoiler unless you've seen the episode. Try it here: Spoiler » This is a spoiler!
Understanding Ratings and Recommendations
Everyone has different tastes and opinions, and my opinions certainly aren't always popular. To help combat that, a “final score” on any episode is an average of my rating and the ratings from 3 other independent sources, including IMDb. Though, my rating is weighted a little higher in that calculation, because this is my website, after all. In addition to the ratings, I also provide a “Watch Recommendation” which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the quality of the episode. Rather, the watch recommendation is based on how important the episode is to the overall story of the entire series, whether that episode is good or bad. See below for more details.
Episode Scores
| Episode Rating | Rating Value Range | Description |
|---|---|---|
| My rating |
★☆☆☆☆ ★★☆☆☆ ★★★☆☆ ★★★★☆ ★★★★★ |
|
| SF Debris rating | 0–10 |
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| Ex Astris Scientia rating | 0–10 |
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| Normalized IMDb rating |
0–10 converted from 5.6–9.4 |
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| FINAL SCORE | 0–10 |
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Additional Awards
| Award | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| ♥︎ | Personal Favorite | This is a purely subjective distinction that indicates an episode that I just particularly like, and there is no accounting for taste. |
| 🥇 | 1st place | These are awarded to what I consider to be the best episodes in the series, but that are also representative of the series. This means that I generally won't award them to “special” episodes. |
| 🥈 | 2nd place | |
| 🥉 | 3rd place | |
| 🌌 | Iconic Episode | Iconic Episodes are ones that even non-fans might be aware of because they were well-publicized, had very high ratings, and/or made it into pop culture references. These are the episodes you most immediately think of when you think about this series. |
 |
Admiral Pips | Pips are awarded to episodes that are the most stand-out, representative examples of the series as a whole. |
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Vice Admiral Pips | |
| 🏅 | Special Award | A Special Award is given to episodes that have something truly unique to be celebrated. |
| 🎖️ | General Award | A General Award is given to episodes that deserve something a little extra. |
| ⚑︎ | Penalty Flag | A penalty flag is given to an episode that is far enough out of the norm that it can hardly be considered part of the series. |
| ⚑︎ | Red Flag | A red flag indicates content that is inappropriate, outdated, insensitive, or possibly even offensive. |
Watch Recommendations
Watch recommendations are mostly based on how important the episode is to the overall series, not necessarily whether the episode is particularly good.
| Category | Description | # of episodes in this series | |
|---|---|---|---|
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This track is designed for someone who would like the bare-minimum experience to get the “gist” of the series from beginning to end. This track usually includes the series premiere, the series finale, and a smattering of episodes in between. Episodes in this track are frequently also in the “Must Watch” category, but not always. This track doesn't always include high-scoring or iconic episodes; it focuses instead on giving you the quickest glimpse into the important elements to the overall story arc of the entire series. |
11 | ||
| 🕶︎ | MUST WATCH |
This category fills out a lot more of the gaps in the story-telling than the “Bare Minimum” track does, but still only includes the most important and most iconic episodes of a series. “Must Watch” episodes aren't always just the best, highly-rated episodes. This track includes episodes that are the most important for understanding the overall story arc of the series, and that may include some low-rated, “not great” episodes. |
25 14 + 11 from the “Bare Minimum” track |
| ✔︎+ | HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
“Highly Recommended” episodes are usually ones that are highly-rated but aren't necessarily important to the overall story arc of the entire series. You could probably skip these without missing any important plot points, but you might be missing out on a really good episode. |
8 |
| ✔︎ | RECOMMENDED |
If you're looking for even more episodes to watch, this recommended list is the place to go. These are episodes that are usually average or above-average, and they might provide more in-depth details about characters and events, but they aren't necessarily crucial to understanding the entire series. |
44 |
| ♦︎ | OPTIONAL | “Optional” episodes are usually ones that wouldn't otherwise be recommended, but might have a special guest character or particular plot point that you might be interested in watching. | 3 |
| - | NO RECOMMENDATION | This is the default. It doesn't mean the episode is bad, it just means that you can skip it without missing anything too important. | 91 |
| ✖︎ | NOTABLY BAD | Particularly bad episodes are called out in this category. Sometimes, maybe you just want to see an example of the worst in a series! | 5 |