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Thunderball · 05-20-2009, 02:18 AM

To me, Seasons 1 & 2 of TOS and Seasons 4-7 of DS9 are the best Trek out there, ever. TNG laid way too many stinkers in with the classic episodes, far too many holodeck malfunctions and one-off forehead aliens. Only Patrick Stewart's acting skills can salvage many of the TNG episodes.

TOS and DS9 were also the grittiest and most capable of good character drama with realistic and likeable characters. Picard was a great character, but the way he was written at times made him hard to like. (The best example to me is the episode where O'Brien's former captain goes rogue, and despite him being correct about the Cardassians plotting for war, as they did throughout the series, culminating in DS9, Picard and the Federation refuse to act... they'd rather destroy the career of a great Starship Captain. It would be like Picard getting court martialled at the end of Insurrection because the Federation didn't like the way he ignored authority and risked war with the So'na).

DS9 was an excellent reaction to TNG, that humanity's enlightened arrogance and pacifistic views would lead to the destruction of the Federation. That the Federation had gotten lucky way too many times (all the deus ex machina with the Borg for instance) and their luck was about to run out. In essence, it took a return to the imperfect world of TOS, and going deeper into the darker trends TOS glossed upon to recover. Sisko was unique in the fact that the more badass and morally dubious he got, the more likeable he became as well.

Voyager was the real sequel to TNG, with the same "enlightened arrogance" as TNG (like Janeway's condescending comments about starship crews in Kirk's day), but with a weak cast, a mishandled premise, and an abundance of B-grade stories.

Enterprise was a mess... by the time it got good, it was already cancelled.

05-20-2009, 02:18 AM	#484
Thunderball Franchise Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Calgary, AB Exp:	To me, Seasons 1 & 2 of TOS and Seasons 4-7 of DS9 are the best Trek out there, ever. TNG laid way too many stinkers in with the classic episodes, far too many holodeck malfunctions and one-off forehead aliens. Only Patrick Stewart's acting skills can salvage many of the TNG episodes. TOS and DS9 were also the grittiest and most capable of good character drama with realistic and likeable characters. Picard was a great character, but the way he was written at times made him hard to like. (The best example to me is the episode where O'Brien's former captain goes rogue, and despite him being correct about the Cardassians plotting for war, as they did throughout the series, culminating in DS9, Picard and the Federation refuse to act... they'd rather destroy the career of a great Starship Captain. It would be like Picard getting court martialled at the end of Insurrection because the Federation didn't like the way he ignored authority and risked war with the So'na). DS9 was an excellent reaction to TNG, that humanity's enlightened arrogance and pacifistic views would lead to the destruction of the Federation. That the Federation had gotten lucky way too many times (all the deus ex machina with the Borg for instance) and their luck was about to run out. In essence, it took a return to the imperfect world of TOS, and going deeper into the darker trends TOS glossed upon to recover. Sisko was unique in the fact that the more badass and morally dubious he got, the more likeable he became as well. Voyager was the real sequel to TNG, with the same "enlightened arrogance" as TNG (like Janeway's condescending comments about starship crews in Kirk's day), but with a weak cast, a mishandled premise, and an abundance of B-grade stories. Enterprise was a mess... by the time it got good, it was already cancelled. Last edited by Thunderball; 05-20-2009 at 02:24 AM.