Originally published at: The final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation aired today in 1994 | Boing Boing
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I realize typos are low-hanging fruit, but as someone who grew up on this era of television (in reruns!), I laughed pretty hard at this.
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Strong agree. I rewatched the whole run during quarantine and was reminded how good it is (and how much of it there is– gotta love those 90s TV shows that had 23 episode seasons and ran for a decade 
).
I always tell people, though, not to judge it from the pilot. Encounter At Farpoint is comically, unwatchably bad. It’s B-movie schlock that not even Sir Patrick can save. Thank goodness it gets so much better from there.
If anyone is looking for another 300 hours of quality 90s sci-fi, give Stargate SG-1 (and all the spin-offs) a look.
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+1 for SG-1. Also some comically bad episodes in early seasons, but it’s worth the wait for it becoming consistently good. Start with the family-friendly recut pilot, skip the mongol episode (1.3?)
Come to think of it, SG-1 is a good example of how to do plot arcs well in an episodic show, well before that was en vogue (to my recall). They weren’t afraid to change the status quo and have events have actual consequences, but you didn’t need to see every episode to get what was going on.
On topic, I haven’t really seen TNG since it aired, and I’ve really been meaning to go back to it someday.
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I watched ST: TOS my entire childhood in re-runs, later on VHS, etc. It was always a part of my life. So in many ways, I think of the last episode of TNG was the end of my childhood – I mean, I was 24, but that fall I started law school – but it was perhaps the last moment where my life was still very wide open. I am the first to say I was born on 3d base – I had a lot of options then, and a lot fewer six months later.
“Five card stud, nothing wild. And the sky’s the limit.”
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The show really didn’t hit its stride until halfway through season 2. Luckily the vagaries of syndication (the show didn’t have to compete with network prime time-TV or network level ratings) meant it could survive long enough to find its voice.
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Agreed. While I think DS9 was the superior series at that time period, TNG is excellent. Janeway will always be my favorite captain, though.
I ran through SG-1 during the first year of the pandemic, having missed it when it originally aired. Good entertainment value with a ton of shows to enjoy.
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Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.
best ep… imho
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I watched this finale t the Skydome in Toronto, which was opened to the public for this. What a blast that was!
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At some point during the finale a commercial for a local car dealer came on and he said, “Hey folks, I just heard some Romulans have crossed the Neutral Zone and they’re headed this way for a deal on a used SUV. And I hope you’re enjoying the Next Generation finale too…”
It was funny and also nice to know that, even though I was home alone, I wasn’t watching alone.
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The 2 episode finale of Next Gen is still superior to any of the Star Trek movies
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Everyone knows it’s DS9…
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I was at university and didn’t have a dvr. I had to catch up much later.
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I also grew up when Star Trek TOS played nonstop on pre-cable over the air tv. I love everything Star Trek. This includes the Farpoint pilot, Enterprise series, and even the JJ Abrams Kelvin Universe. I can’t even pick a favorite captain or doctor.
I have to agree with you about DS9. Everything about this series was engaging. The idea that the Federation isn’t perfect and it often can make questionable choices is intriguing. I also thought that the producers and writers were smart by not focusing on two or three major characters. I was invested in all of the characters, even the antagonists.
(edited to remove unintentional conditional “but” at beginning of second paragraph…my love for DS9 is not conditional 
)
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For the first 3 years of the show, it was part of a mutant’s perfect Sunday evening in the NY Metro area.
4-6 PM PBS Colin Baker era Doctor Who
6-8 PM PBS Blake’s 7, Hitchhiker’s Guide or Red Dwarf.
8 PM Syndicated TV for ST-TNG
9 PM Short lived syndicated genre shows (War of the Worlds was a personal fave)
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And the influence of DS9 on modern trek is pretty big (if not fully acknowledged). Lots of interconnected storytelling, lots of problems with institutions, etc.
Yeah… Gul Dukat had a very compelling narrative arc in the show… The stuff with his daughter, his role in the dominion war, his break with reality… Primo stuff! And Marc Alaimo was awesome in the role.
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When I was a teen, TNG was aired back-to-back nightly on CityTV in Toronto, which dubbed itself “Your federation station” when advertising it. I had weeknight TNG, new episodes on Fridays, and all was well. 
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I didn’t watch DS9 much on its first run. It lost my interest after season 1 and I didn’t really give it a chance at the time. I got into Babylon 5 by the middle of its first season and thought it used the Casablanca in setting better.
I revisited DS9 years later and appreciate it now, even the Ferengi episodes. Sometimes you need some levity to keep a show from going grimdark.
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Currently on basic cable, they have a channel with a “All Star Trek” block 6 days a week, all the broadcast series: TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT. So it was easy for me to catch up on DS9 and Voyager. Shows which lost me early on when originally broadcast
(I am probably one of the few people who liked Enterprise and watched the whole thing when it came out)
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