Star Trek TNG is lame and boring -- how did this show last 7 seasons?

I was watching Star Trek, original series, which we have on DVD.

My children suggested I try Star Trek, TNG and see if I liked it. They suggested I started with Season Three since the first two seasons are not that good.

So I watched two episodes, and I have to say, I have never seen anything so lame and boring in my life.

All the characters are stiff and have no personality -- except for the android for some reason, who acts more human than the humans.

In neither show was there a bad guy, apparently all conflict are the result of miscommunication which can be worked out if only you try hard enough at negotiations.

In one episode there was a race of supposedly genocidal creatures who would wipe every human off an unauthorized colony if they did not evacuate in three days. But Captain Picard got them to extend the deadline by quoting from the treaty. So really, even a genocidal race can be reasoned with if you know how.

The colonists refused to budge from the colony because everything they had was there. So Data the android finally displayed the power of a phaser and they all backed down and agreed to evacuate. Of course, nothing was said about where the Federation was going to dump these people off or whether they would be compensated for their lost land and property. And the colonists did not try to violently resist, as you might expect if people in the Star Trek world had any backbone. They just quietly gave up, and did not even try to get a good deal for themselves.

I think the world of Star Trek, TNG lacks any concept of good or evil. There is no original sin, there is no devil, there is no hell, there is no heaven, there is no religion. And this makes the show extremely boring because all the drama has been sucked out of it.

 

What you are describing is something I have also noticed in shows gone to syndication...

... I call it writing outdatedness...

... the writing is current for the time it is written...

... but as time passes and better writing is developed...

... the old series' writing style becomes passe.

Even the original series has become stale to me...

... you might try the third series, Voyager...

... but don't waste your time on the 4th, Enterprise...

... with Scott Bakula as the captain...

... which was the worst of the four...

... the cast had no cohesion...

... and the writing style left much to be desired...

... which is probably the reason there hasn't been a fifth.

Also, the absence of Gene Roddenberry's supervision showed...

... in the lack of imagination, even in the third year of the original series.

 

Babylon 5 scenario can never become passe .
Star Trek is always boring , the concept is great but there is no arch apart from the vague "X is at war with Y" .
Voyager and DS9 are even more boring

 

I think Gene Roddenberry's concept that no one is really evil is what makes Star Trek sucky and boring.

 

Start Trek not simple enough for simpletons ?
you may wanna try series for preschool children

 

Agreed with Bab 5 and for those who like a bit of comedy with their SF - Firefly.

 

TNG sticks to the same narrative, it's just what Roddenberry viewed the future to be like. He thought it was fairly on the left.

I'm an NAP libertarian and I have no problem sitting through TOS or TNG. They're both great shows, despite what I think about the political systems they display.

Personally I've always had a soft spot for TNG. I watched all the episodes when I was young, and still have the occasional marathon. I also love TOS. Kirk is such a masculine character. I suggest you look at Picard as the intellectual equivalent. The episodes are more focused around a moral lesson. This is extremely noticeable when I watch TNG, not sure why it's not when you do.

 

I kinda liked it......
[video=youtube;t4DCOpG1oNE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4DCOpG1oNE[/video]

 

In your OP you ADMITTED you liked Star Trek: the Original Series.....created by and often written by Gene Roddenberry?!?!?!?

 

BTW, in the episode "The Ensigns of Command" that BR is referring to....it is the Federation colonists who are in the wrong. A treaty had been signed that had ceded the world to the Sheliak and the colony was in violation of that treaty.



Naturally, given BR, he ignores this element of the story, given his rightwing view of foreign policy, i.e. "Treaties are meaningless pieces of paper...No talk...kill anybody who threatens us".

What the episode proved was (with Picard's peaceful negotiation)....out-THINKING your enemy was much more effective and preferable than starting a war. Again, something that just doesn't jive with BR's mind-set...or abilities to conceive.

 

Star Trek like any series has its good and bad. In terms of evil. Drumhead is an episode that is a must watch. It is often considered by many to be the best episode the series produced. The episode Darmok Is classic science fiction, and deals with the problematic issues, how do we communicate with a people who dont think like us

 

That episode was a real flashback to the Golden Age where people such John Campbell demanded stories of Humans under threat eventual succeed by outsmarting their enemy rather than shooting it out. Many look back at the original series with misty eyed nostalgia, and at times the show deserves it's reputation. But one has to always be aware it produced it share of clangers like Spock's Brain

 

In that episode the race kept to the terms of their treaty as in certain worlds only they should be able to live on get those, the humans were on land ceded to them by the Federation so the were going to get rid of the humans if they were there. Picard used the nuances of the treaty to get the aliens to relent since the race he chose to act as the mediators were all in hibernation for several months. The aliens had to go along with that they agreed after all so in the end Picard got the time needed to evacuate the humans. Its pretty clear and the other option was war possibly.

And the Federation doesn't care about money or compensation for land its assumed they would be relocated into Federation space and taken care of. Hell Earth and as far as I can tell all core worlds ended major crime, hunger, lack of health care, homelessness and other issues and religion was there watch ST: DS9 they cover faith well. Many members of the crew have faith its just not a big deal like a good number likely were gay its just there not something odd.

As for good and evil its there for example the Borg are evil they suck out free will and the Federation is good it doesn't. Klingons are not evil they have many decent honorable warriors and some sleazebags like any species.

 

I think Enterprise was one of the better incarnations of the series. Bakula was a very good captain and it had, IMO, the best female Vulcan and ships doctor of them all.

 

FWIW TNG was probably the best series in the fold. I know there are adamant DS9 fans out there as well. Voyager sucked, I never got into it.

 

Even some ST:Original Series goes against the Blackrook mind-set (which calls into question his claim of liking the old show)....."Errand of Mercy" for example, the "Organian episode" and first appearance of the Klingons.

First...the Klingons...the quintessential "bad guys". Brutish, using mass executions, etc.....yet pay attention to what Kor says at the end about the Klingon's grievances with the Federation. Kirk accuses them of "boasting they'll take over half the galaxy"-

Kor: Why not? We're the stronger! You've tried to hem us in, cut off vital supplies, strangle our trade!

Not exactly "black and white" is it?

Second, the resolution in that episode. Where the war is stopped by the Organians, and Kirk, in a pique of war fever, is embarassed at pushing for a war that no sane civilized person would want---

Kirk--- How to handle their interstellar relations! We have the right...

Ayelborne--- To wage war, Captain? To kill millions of innocent people? To destroy life on a planetary scale? Is that what you're defending?

Kirk--- Well, no one wants war. But there are proper channels. People have a right to handle their own affairs. Eventually, we would have...

Ayelborne--- Oh, eventually you will have peace, but only after millions of people have died. It is true that in the future, you and the Klingons will become fast friends. You will work together.

Kor-- Never!




Later in the "Day of the Dove" episode, Kirk tries to explain to Mara, Kang's wife, that they are fighting due to being under the influence of an alien entity. She points out-

Mara---We have always fought. We must. We are hunters, Captain, tracking and taking what we need. There are poor planets in the Klingon systems, we must push outward if we are to survive.

Kirk---There's another way to survive. Mutual trust and help.

Mara---I will help you now.


Actual "evil" seemed relegated to entities...or systems of belief...not races.


Regardless....something doesn't add up in BR's rant. Either his supposed fondness for ST: Original Series or his memory of it as "good vs. evil, black and white"....or his later attacks on Roddenberry, apparently using Next Generation as examples.

 

Star Track is gay.

 

What is funny is I think Roddenberry gets badly miss labeled over this stuff. The series he made before Star Trek, is clearly not the product of some pinko left leaning communist. And a piece of trivia the lead character had the same middle name as Kirk lol

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While Star Trek is pretty manly

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Yeah I have to agree. I know a lot of Trekkies who flip over how good DS9 is. I just never got it. I even rate Voyager as better lol

 

Meh, TNG is a rich series with a good variety of compelling episodes. There are also some really bad characters that pop up, and then you have the politics with other races, same as in the original series.

As for religion, I don't know why you'd need that to have drama. Religion is laughable. That show deals with ethics and moral dilemmas in ways that go well beyond religious nonsense.

 

Party supplies are "gay"!?!?!?

http://startrackinc.com/

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"The Lieutenant"?

 

Why are you so incredibly obnoxious and insulting every time you post? It isn't enough to disagree with me, you have to insult me too. I'm putting you on "ignore." Goodbye.

 

I did enjoy watching DS9, though I found I was watching it in hopes of seeing some action more often than not Still, it had some good ideas and stories, and the Dominion made for an interesting conflict, especially with the Cardassians involved.

DS9 and TNG both are pretty deep & involved series in ways, whereas you can sit down with any episode of the original Trek and have a blast with it.

 

What specifically did I say that was "insulting"...or even incorrect about your politics and viewpoint (as evident from posts on other Forums)???

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BTW, to also say something in favor of Next Generation....

 

I was actually going to suggest Firefly too. God that was a good show. It's a shame it was cancelled.

 

Firefly was everything I could ever want out of a TV show, a conflict between a struggling businessman and a stupid, overbloated, intrusive bureaucratic government that just gets in the way.