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Star Trek, The Next Generation:
The Complete First Season
Click
picture to order this 7-disc DVD collection.
The Series :
When the word was given for another Star Trek series, initial Star Trek
fandom response was bittersweet. Trek, without Kirk, Spock, or McCoy? When
reading character profiles of their apparent "replacements," I
was discouraged. A robot who wishes to be human? A child
"genius"...? Worst of all: a KLINGON on the bridge...as a
friend? Even if such original-series "sacrilege" doesn't affect
the non-Trekkie, the overall question remained: Why watch a different
Trek? Why indeed...however, such a
question would only be slightly answered in season one, in a series which
did not truly take hold until season three. While any fan of Star
Trek: The Next Generation --or "TNG," as it's often
abbreviated-- will tell you they "knew all along" that this
series was a hit...they lie. Yes, Wesley Crusher was annoying. Yes, many
episodes ripped off plots from the original series, as well as Battlestar
Galactica and even Buck Rogers in the 24th Century. No, initial
opinion wasn't too favorable...so much so, by the end of the season two
major stars had departed the series, however temporarily: Denise "Tasha"
Crosby, and Gates "Dr. Crusher" McFadden. Was
the first season that bad, or did it have any redeeming episodes at all?
Allow me to take the next four paragraphs to summarize the good, the bad,
the ugly...and the classic. Before you get your pen and pencil out
to take score, it's: Good 10, Bad 6, Ugly 6 as well, and classic episodes
amounting to...well, three: The
good: Encounter at Farpoint (a cameo by "Dr. McCoy"
made the whole episode, which is a good thing; this pilot episode was
little more than "Q" taking Enterprise to a planet to see two
giant space octopi share a hug); The Naked Now (regardless of
unintentional humor, this was a good glimpse at acting/character
potential); The Battle (Picard's past ingeniously takes a foothold,
via the return of his first ship, the Stargazer); The Big
Goodbye (while the first of MANY "holodeck gone awry"
episodes, Patrick Stewart as "Dixon Hill," plus other cast
members in a 1930's-style detective mystery, allowed a nice change of pace
for most of the cast); Datalore (Data's evil "brother"
Lore is introduced); 11001001 (while this story of binary aliens
taking over Enterprise was merely tolerable, Riker's "romance"
with Minuet on the holodeck was worth the whole episode); Heart of
Glory (the first true glimpse of Klingon culture, plus --cool!-- see
what Geordi sees through his visor); The Arsenal of Freedom (a
planet that destroyed itself with the very weapons it sold to others still
has its automated "salesman" active); We'll Always Have Paris
(guest star Michelle Phillips combines with Patrick Stewart for a very
nice, old fashioned love-lost story); and The Neutral Zone (the
season finale, which deserved thumbs-up only for the return of the
infamous Romulans). The bad: Where
No One Has Gone Before (a nice lost-in-space plot is marred by an
alien who just wanted to see Wesley "Amadeus Mozart" Crusher
face to face); Angel One (Trek writers rip-off a cliché 1980's Buck
Rogers plot where a planet has chauvinist female leaders who treat men
as subordinate slaves); Too Short a Season (some old fool takes a
youth serum with devastating results: BAD ACTING!); When the Bough
Breaks (desperate alien parents steal the children of Enterprise,
including Wesley!); Home Soil (a rip-off of the classic Trek
episode "Devil in the Dark"; 'nuf said); and Coming of Age
(while a nice hint at the Conspiracy story to come, this "Picard's
record under scrutiny" story mixed with Wesley's Starfleet entrance
exam was ho-hum). The ugly:
Code
of Honor (probably the reason why Denise Crosby left, this has Tasha
Yar teach an amorous alien a bit about modern feminism...oh goody!); The
Last Outpost (the first sight of Ferengis was horrifically mishandled:
"You work with your females...and force them to wear clothing! Ug! Ug!");
Lonely Among Us (a rip-off of Patrick Stewart's movie Lifeforce,
this has some lightning entity offer cheap FX for a cheap episode); Justice
(Wesley schleps his way into discovering that even the most minor crime on
an idyllic planet is a capital offense); Skin of Evil (Tasha Yar is
killed by, of all things, a living oil slick); ...and worst of all, Symbiosis
(my LEAST FAVORITE Trek of all time, of any series, where Picard discovers
that a planet of drug lords have addicted another planet to the point of
total submission, only to decide "The Prime Directive" means he
can just go along on his merry way. Where's Kirk to smack this imbecile
upside the head...?). The
Debatable:
Although possibly better put in a
"sidebar," it deserves mentioning, as the first season of the
series, all of the bold changes to TOS (The Original Series) that were
attempted as of this next generation in Star Trek history. Wesley Crusher,
for one, was pretty annoying; a kid who was put on the bridge of the
flagship of the fleet...why? He was supposedly to Starfleet was Amadeus
Mozart was to music, but as much as I admired Will Wheaton in Stand By
Me, he just didn't give the role his all. He simply seemed like a
Trekkie who patted the right backs and got a lead role in the series...and
jealous Trekkies pretty much hated him for it. Of course, let's not single
out Wesley Crusher as the bane of everything peculiar in Next Generation
lore. There's the design of the ship (the saucer can divide from the rest
of the ship...why?!?), the costumes (must've been really hot working in
those; not half as fun looking as the slacks and T-shirt style outfits
Kirk and Spock used to wear!), and furthermore, the way nearly every
episode of this first season looked slightly ripped off from the first
series. Any classic
episodes? To me, yes. There's Hide and Q, where Q's lesson in
the human spirit has him offering Riker special powers. I loved the acting
in that one, as well as Patrick Stewart's homage to a classic verse in Hamlet.
Call me a Deanna Troi fan, though I really liked Haven; the first
glimpse at "Betazoid" culture, as well as her personal past. The
first guest appearance by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry --Nurse chapel in the
1960's series, and wife to series creator Gene Roddenberry-- enhanced this
episode's classic appeal. Then there's Conspiracy --which for all
intent, should have been the season's grand finale, and nearly was-- where
a nice body-snatcher plot has Enterprise coming to the rescue of all of
Starfleet. This latter episode would've made a cool movie; a compliment
few other season one eps deserve.
With such scoring, good and classic vs. bad
and ugly scores a mere 13 to 12 in favor of the season. While this is
hardly very good, one perk pulls it over the top; like it or not, this "Phantom
Menace" season of the TNG series set the scene for superior stories
to come. It is also the first chance to see these actors in their roles,
before they were later written into mostly two-dimensional caricatures of
themselves by season 6 or 7. Unintentional humor enhances the fun, like
the very bad overacting of Marina "Troi" Sirtis, who did not
quite grasp as of yet how to portray her "empathic" character
who senses everyone's emotions. A good drinking game for college kids
involves taking a sip every time she says something like, "I
sense....danger!"...which was often!
Should you buy this season? Absolutely! If
you can only buy one season, though, should this be it? Nope; I'd opt for
season 3, with a bit of overtime to pay off the purchase of season 4 as
well. For people with the right cash flow, however, this season set the
stage for not only classic Trek episodes later on; it set the scene for
next-generation science fiction in general, which until 1987 was taking a
very major dip downward. Thanks to this series, that soon changed. This
alone is worth saluting the first season of the series...flawed as it
might have been.
The DVD :
This DVD set consists of 7 DVDs, in a box that truly seems designed
within a distant future. While with the same cardboard/plastic design of
other season collections like The X-Files' season
one and season two, this folded
unit slips into a bigger box, which acts as an outer clam shell of
sorts. Any Trekkie should be quite pleased at how thoroughly this protects
the DVDs within.
Unfortunately, the passing of the late Gene
Roddenberry means no decent audio commentary is possible, though this is a
common sacrifice in a DVD set of a complete season. After all,
there's not much space left for extras, among all the episodes. Such
bonuses are instead offered on disc 7, and while much of the
behind-the-scenes footage has already been seen at conventions, it's nice
to 1)have it preserved on DVD, and 2) have it enhanced by additional
anecdotes of the cast and crew now, edited into their anecdotes
"then."
Such documentaries are divided by topic.
"In the Beginning" offers insight into the conceptual design of
the series upon initial casting and storyboard stages. "Selected Crew
Analysis" includes many anecdotes from the stars through the years,
filmed both during the series' initial season one run (check out the
actual Entertainment Tonight clip, of her comments upon her leaving the
series in "Skin of Evil"), as well as modern footage (see how
well they've aged in 15 years). "The Making of a Legend" are
anecdotes during production of the season itself (mostly by the crew, not
the cast). Non-conventioneers will love the sights rarely seen in these
clips, of a Michael Dorn sans "worf" Klingon makeup, and Brent
Spiner without his contacts and "android" skin paint.
Last though not least is "Memorable
Missions," which may not be the cast's favorite memories as much as
their strongest. See Jonathan Frakes muse about his Skin of Evil dip into
the slime pit, where he was merely told, "It's metamucil and printer
ink. You'll be fine; get in it!" Levar Burton's anecdote is of course
"Heart of Glory," where we get to see what the blind Geordi La
Forge sees via his artificial-eyes visor. Patrick Stewart offers a blooper
anecdote, while Denise Crosby offers an anecdote about her final episode
as Tasha Yar, where the rest of the cast came on set wearing black
armbands...showing how close they were behind the scenes. See Armin
Shimmerman --best known as "Quark" on Deep Space Nine-- offer
his anecdote about being a totally different Ferengi in "The Last
Outpost." Dan Curry, special effects supervisor, offers a real hoot
for the episode "Arsenal of Freedom," where he confesses the
flying killer robot of that episode was in fact his child's giant Easter
egg combined with a Legs panty hose container and painted to look
metallic. Eat your heart out, ILM!
 For
a limited time (probably, for the duration of the year, at least), this
season one set comes along with a computer data CD (both PC and Macintosh
compatible). This additional disc --modeled around the 1999 program, The
Star Trek TNG Companion-- includes all season one shooting
scripts, extensive additional photos, episode summaries, and small video
trailers of each episode as they were promoted on TV at the time. Nice
addition, though if you're reading this at a time when this disc isn't
included anymore, I must admit; seeing the cast together for the first
time is reason enough to buy this set, freebies or not.
Click
picture to order this 7-disc DVD collection.
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