STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION SEASON ONE
© 2002 Paramount Home Video

Mania Grade: C
Disc Grade: B
Reviewed Format: DVD
Rated: Not Rated
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Denise Crosby, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton
Writers: various
Directors: various
Distributor: Paramount Home Video
Original Years of Release: 1987-1988
Retail Price: $139.99
Extras: seven-disc box set; Dolby Digital 5.1; 2.0 Dolby Surround; featurettes; English subtitles

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STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION SEASON ONE

Sure, this is all a matter of genre TV history now. We've even come to take TREK for granted, with so many incarnations of the franchise appearing in the years since Captain Picard first christened his Enterprise D. But there was a time when some fans were none too pleased at the prospect of a STAR TREK show that did not feature Kirk and the original gang. A bald captain? Families on the Enterprise? A Klingon member of Starfleet? Blasphemy!

Needless to say, it didn't take long before Trekkies everywhere warmed up to TNG, so much so, in fact, that at times the program has almost eclipsed its forbearers in popularity. The show itself got off to a shaky if undeniably exciting start with its 1987 premiere, and it charted an uneven course in the seven seasons that followed: its rough first season led to an interminable second, before finally finding itself in the strong third and great fourth seasons (and never quite managing to top that fourth year in seasons five, six and seven). Ultimately, however, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION proved that Roddenberry's concept could thriveand adapton modern TV. No Shatner necessary.

Which brings us to this new box set from Paramount. With the show off the air now for the better part of a decade, we're able to go back and reexamine the program from a fresh perspective: we can now view TNG from the vantage point of having endured years of mediocre VOYAGER episodes while also enjoying good-to-great DEEP SPACE NINE outings. So where does TNG's first season stand today, fifteen years after it first aired?

Well, it actually holds up much better than one remembers. As with any show, the first year is a challenge for the creators, writers, actors and even the audience, as all try to adapt to their new characters and settings. And while TNG's first year is oddly schizophrenic, earnest to the point of being sugary, and occasionally cheap looking, it's also got some interesting stories and ideas at work, it takes a few real chances with its characters, and it also introduces the visual imprint of modern TREK that persists today.

The seven-disc box set breaks the 26-episode season (including the two hour pilot) up into roughly four episodes per disc. Additionally, the seventh disc contains four featurettes about the making of the show.

"Encounter at [IMG3R]Farpoint" is the two-part pilot episode that, while rather lukewarm overall, does a workmanlike job of getting the series rolling with its tale of the mysterious goings-on at Farpoint Station. Best of all, it introduces us to the pesky, omnipotent villain Qand this is before they turned the character all wishy-washy. "The Naked Now" kicks off the series proper with a direct rip-off of CLASSIC TREK's "The Naked Time." The crew become "intoxicated" from their exposure to a deadly contagion, but never fearin what would become an annoying habit, young Wesley Crusher saves the day! "Code of Honor" stands as one of the worst episodes of TREK ever committed to film. Tasha Yar is abducted by an African-stereotype-like alien race culled from a bad Tarzan movie, while Denise Crosby, the poor thing, first begins to exhibit why she didn't even last a full season on the show.

We meet the Ferengi for the first time in "The Last Outpost"and although they'd been billed as the new villains of this STAR TREK, their bark would prove much worse than their bite. "Where No One Has Gone Before" introduces that old TREK staplethe asinine Starfleet officer. In this case, he's an engineer who thinks he's developed a new propulsion system that flings the Enterprise to the title place. Of course, he's mistaken. Picard and gang encounter a space cloud in "Lonely Among Us" that takes to possessing crewmembers, while another TNG staplethe B storylinerears its head in the form of two opposing alien delegations traveling aboard the ship. "Justice" is a pretty weak goa pleasure planet maintains its Eden-esque society only through the harshest of lawsbut it does offer two pleasures: lots of '80s chicks walking around in tiny nightgowns, and the near execution of Wesley by lethal injection.

"The Battle" reveals a bit of Picard's past, as we learn of his previous command, the U.S.S. Stargazer, which is now under the control of a Ferengi with a grudge. We also learn of a tactical move made famous by the good Captain, dubbed "The Picard Maneuver," which sounds a lot cooler than it actually is. Q returns in "Hide and Q," a fun and memorable episode that sees Riker being endowed with the power of the Q Continuum. Counselor Troi's betrothed comes aboard in "Haven," the episode which also introduces the Counselor's annoying mother (played by Roddenberry's wife, Majel Barrett). And that old plot device, the malfunctioning holodeck, first bows its head in "The Big Goodbye," as does Picard's fixation on pulp detective character "Dixon Hill."

Data's origin is explored in "Datalore," and we also get to meet his evil "brother" Lore, who would show his face more than once over the coming years. "Angel One" brings the crew to a planet run by women (and big-haired '80s women at that), which more or less amounts to Riker getting the chance to emulate Captain Kirk (and we're not talking in the fistfight department). "11001001" is a season highlight, wherein the Bynarsa race so dependent on computers that they'll die without themseize the Enterprise in highly original fashion. (And Riker falls in loveon the holodeck.) "Too Short a Season" features an interesting ideaa dying Admiral finds a way to reverse his age during one final missionbut the poor make-up effects on the young actor meant to play the old man sabotage the illusion entirely.

The children [IMG2L]of the Enterprise are kidnapped by a sterile race in "When the Bough Breaks." Someone tell me again why there are kids on the ship? "Home Soil" is another rip-off of a CLASSIC TREK outing, this time the seminal "The Devil in the Dark": an inorganic lifeform attacks a group of terraforming engineers. Can't we all just get along? "Coming of Age" focuses on two stories: Wesley takes his first shot at getting into Starfleet Academy, while a Starfleet bureaucrat harasses the crew in an apparent witch huntwith Picard the target. "Heart of Glory" is another strong first season offering, and was a particularly exciting one back when it first aired for it finally gave fans the chance to learn a bit about what had happened to the Klingon Empire. Worf begins to shine here.

The away team gets into all sorts of trouble in "The Arsenal of Freedom" when they beam to a planet formerly run by a race of arms dealers. The episode is notable mainly for Geordi's complete lack of grace under pressure when he takes command of the Enterprise, and for Riker's ruse when he tells a hologram that his ship is "the Lollipop... It's a good ship." Two vets of STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN show up in the drug addiction allegory "Symbiosis," Judson Scott and the late Merritt Butrick. "Skin of Evil" very oddly presents the death of Tasha Yara first, I suppose, for a main TREK actor. Unfortunately, the character would be barely missed (though she would finally get a chance at redemption in the third season winner "Yesterday's Enterprise"). "We'll Always Have Paris" is a not-bad time warp tale that not only depicts a futuristic (albeit holodeck-driven) Paris at one point, but also reveals that an old flame of Picard's was none other than Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas! Oh, and Data saves the universe (again).

"Conspiracy" is one of the strangest episodes of any STAR TREK show ever. Picard and Riker discover that Starfleet has become infested by a hostile race of (poorly animated) bug creatures, and the two abandon their usual beatnik approach in favor of a rather bloody, phaser-powered solution. The season culminates with "The Neutral Zone," a decent outing that borrows from CLASSIC TREK in some ways with its cryogenic guest stars, but also hints at what's still to come in the TREK pantheon with the return of the Romulans and the slightest tip-off of the still-unnamed Borg.

The box set isn't heavy on extras, but it features an excellent slipcase that is nicely designed and also economical in terms of shelf space. After the two-episode-per-disc releases of CLASSIC TREK, the chance to have an entire season here in one package not much wider than three regular DVD cases is just great.

The transfers are quite nice, considering the less than perfect source material that these early voyages consist of. The episodes have been mixed in Dolby Digital 5.1 and are also offered in 2.0 Dolby Surround. The interface of the discs is a pretty cool Starfleet-esque simulation, as are the framing devices for the four featurettes which comprise the extra features of the set. Each segment utilizes behind-the-scenes footage, archival interviews and new chats with key personnel as well, with the four pieces adding up to a total running time of just over an hour. "The Beginning" of course focuses on the origins of the show, complete with scenes of the sets being built and sound bites from Roddenberry himself. "Selected Crew Analysis" covers the casting of the characters and the actors' early (and for some, recent) takes on the show. "The Making of a Legend" is chock full of interesting segments on the visual effects, music, design and so on, but like the rest of the featurettes, it only serves to whet our appetite. References to a ton of different make-up tests to determine what color Data should be, for example, only make you want to see said tests. Finally, "Memorable Missions" gives the cast and crew the chance to talk about favorite episodes (or moments on the set). Happily, we get to hear from Denise Crosby about the late Tasha Yar, as well as what Jonathan Frakes thought about taking a dive in a pit of tar for "Skin of Evil." Again, though, one wishes this segment was lengthier.

Still, while it would have been nice to have audio commentaries or more abundant extras, the packaging of this set is so niceand the fanboy wish of having the whole season in one affordable, small package so irresistiblethat the only thing left to do now is start marking the calendar until season two arrives in May.