TV on Tape: Star Trek: The Next Generation Movie Review
Seventy-eight years in the future of the future. Who came up with an idea like that? Somewhere, a thousand voices are shouting out the answer in unison, but let's leave it as a rhetorical question for now.
To revive an old television series, updated for a new audience is not such a new idea – it happened many times before. A series would disappear from the airwaves for a few years, only to return, even on another network. Personalities such as Jack Benny, Bob Newhart, Jackie Gleason, and Lassie would return again and again with different titles, formats, or networks.
But no television show had ever returned as a reincarnation of itself. Of course, Star Trek is a unique entity in the entertainment world. It was “the show that would not die.” If it hadn't continued in movies and television, surely somewhere there would be a packed house enjoying it as community theatre.
In 1987, there was a demand for Star Trek that could not be satisfied by a theatrical motion picture every other year. There was a growing void – an unknown entertainment anomaly – that needed to be filled on a weekly basis. When Captain Jean-Luc Picard stepped out on the bridge of a fresh new (and much larger) starship Enterprise to head towards an “Encounter at Farpoint,” he was there to “make it so.” The Next Generation had to be so much the same, but so much different.
The first season was a shake-down cruise. Many episodes were simply retreads from the old series, with the new crew stepping through familiar paces. Maybe they didn't go so far as to have the ship overrun with Tribbles, but it wouldn't have been much of a surprise. Picard and his crew were often accused of being wimps, tossing daisies at their weekly nemesis when they should have been taking more resolute action. Sometimes, it seemed as though they expected their conflicts to disappear by themselves, while they waited things out over somethingorother ale and whatchamacallit wine in 10 Forward.
Luckily, sometime during the second season, they began to hit their stride. No longer trying to be a kinder, gentler version of the original crew, the characters began to take on a life of their own, and stories began to grow out of the characters. The question was no longer “What new menace will the Enterprise have to face this week?” but “How will Worf deal with the issues of his Klingon heritage as a Starfleet officer?” or “What changes will take place in the political affairs of the Romulan empire?”. What was synthetic became organic. Awkward children grew up to become adults. An emotionless android was given the gift of laughter by a cynical god. Themes that would have played false in the first season, took on truth because the people became true.
Gaining speed during the following seasons, it became apparent that The Next Generation was no longer merely an outgrowth of a phenomenon. It could stand on its own – surely it would have been a great show, even if there'd never been a previous generation. “Classic” Trek merely gave it a legacy that enriched it all the more.
Traveling along at cruising speed, another nameless void began to grow, and Deep Space Nine had to come forth to fill it. Certain corners of the galaxy became far too intriguing for an occasional visit, and one such place was this far-off outpost where the Ferengi, Bajoran, Cardassian, and so many other cultures came together, with new friends and foes always ready to leap forth from the wondrous Wormhole.
Another factor was becoming more apparent at about the same time. While the two-part episodes were probably considered a bit of a gamble, they soon proved that not only could the series keep its audience interested for more than an hour's worth per story, but those episodes were very often overwhelming favorites. And so, after 178 episodes, Star Trek: The Next Generation left the once-daring, now-cozy nest of syndication for bigger, wider, more expensive adventures on the silver multiplex screen.
Once again, the Trek void was quickly filled with the launch of yet another series, this time with not only a new ship and crew, but a whole new quadrant of space to explore. Voyager has survived a shake-down of its own, and is just starting to develop its own place in space.
Who knows, maybe there are more Trek series yet to come – after all, it's still a very big universe. But hopefully they won't try to jump another 78 years into the future of the future of the future. They might start a trend. Already, we have a revival of Kung Fu, in which a 100-year old David Carradine kicks butt side-by-side with his grandson. What's next, Bonanza 2000?
1987–94/C Selected cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathon Frakes, Gates McFadden, Michael Dorn, Marina Siritis, Denise Crosby, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, LeVar Burton Hugos ‘93: Dramatic Presentation. VHS PAR, MOV