Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete Series

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since the next great modern phase of STAR TREK began. I remember September 30, 1987 all too well. I had just turned 21 a few days before and was in my senior year at Mississippi College. The two-hour premiere of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION was set for debut on my local Fox affiliate station. However, I had the upper hand in knowing what to expect in the premiere episode as I had obtained a rare 20-minute preview reel and satellite briefing several weeks prior (and to think this was back in the day before downloading videos on YouTube or before there was even a StarTrek.com!).

But there was a bit of a problem. The series premiere fell on the same night that MC had a swap (translated: dance – at MC, you could call a dance anything but a dance, go figure) at the Cascades lodge. Of course, I decided to videotape the premiere, and my dad and I had caught the first 45 minutes of the show, which I found to be quite interesting. I then left for the swap at the Cascades lodge and soon found myself on the dance floor with Laura Ann King, the girl whom I had an on-again, off-again crush on throughout my four years at MC. Some priorities are more important than others, you know. The following day, after classes, I played back my videotape of the TNG premiere and caught up with the rest of the show, looking forward to each episode soon afterwards.

Flash forward 20 years. That so-called “next great modern phase” of STAR TREK had long since passed into the record books. TNG had begat DEEP SPACE NINE, which begat VOYAGER, each series of which ran for seven years apiece (with DS9 concurrently with TNG and VOYAGER), which also begat four spin-off feature films (the most successful of which was FIRST CONTACT), an ill-fated prequel series in ENTERPRISE which lasted four years, and who knows how many spin-off books, comics, multimedia products, toys, cards, fan-based web sites, and the list goes on and on. TNG also spawned something new called first-run syndication, with many other series following in its footsteps over the next several years. I went from advertising to teaching to education management, to editing and eventually to my current vocation of curriculum training and management. Challenger and Columbia exploded. I returned to MC to get my graduate degree in English education. The Internet took off and became a household word. NASA finally landed satellite probes on Mars. TITANIC and THE LORD OF THE RINGS ruled. VHS and laserdiscs fell by the wayside thanks to a little thing called DVD. 9/11 occurred. We got Saddam Hussein. My two greatest heroes growing up – my dad and Christopher Reeve – died. Laura Ann King got married in the early 1990’s, and like a coward I skipped town and got as far away from the wedding as I could. I finally married in 2004 and moved a year later from Mississippi to Alabama with my wife April, stepdaughter Rachel, and infant daughter Lily Grace. How times change.

If I seem to wax nostalgic more than I usually do, it’s because STAR TREK: TNG holds a special place in my heart. It was the first TREK series I really attached myself to. Oh, I’d seen reruns of the original TREK on the local Fox affiliate and picked up a number of episodes on VHS during my college years, and I had gotten into the feature films from my teen years forward. But there was something about TNG that was, in a word, unique. I can’t put my finger exactly on what it was. Perhaps it was that attempt by Gene Roddenberry to, as he put it, “catch lightning in a bottle a second time”. Perhaps it was the then-flashy visual effects which, by today’s standards, come off quite cheesy when compared to many of today’s top CGI effects in film and television. Perhaps it was the level of storytelling, which started out bumpy in the first two years and really hit its stride in the third season, thanks to the creative talent of the late Michael Piller. Maybe it was the music. I don’t really know. All I know is that TNG was something special.

In 2002 Paramount Home Video released all seven seasons of STAR TREK: TNG in a relatively bold new home video concept – complete season sets – on DVD. Over the course of the year I could catch up on all those episodes, digitally remastered, presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 surround sound, and complete with a number of additional bonus features. A few years later Paramount issued the first TNG-themed DVD spin-off, THE JEAN-LUC PICARD COLLECTION, which was basically a sampler set of seven episodes from the popular series. This later begat the STAR TREK Fan Collective sets, which were compilations of different episodes from all five series into cost-effective sampler sets. Of course, TNG was prominently present in each set. Now, for the series’ 20th anniversary, Paramount has gone back to the well and reissued the entire series in one complete box set, which comes out in early October. That’s right, all 176 episodes of the groundbreaking series that set the standard for other TREK series to meet, sometimes with success, sometimes with failure.

Right away I can tell you that the bulk of the set is comprised of exactly the same material that was present in the initial sets from 2002, with none of the DVD content lost. That means you’re getting the same episodes, the same bonus features, and the same 5.1 and 2.0 tracks as before. Only this time, it’s not in seven bulky foldout sets. That’s one of the good things about this new complete series set. It’s housed in a large plastic case with a plastic green slipcover, which means it takes up less shelf space on your cabinet. It also contains an exclusive TNG poster as well, complete with artwork and episode descriptions.

The only new material that is included in this complete series set is an all-new bonus disc with exclusive content newly produced for the box set. First off is “Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Impact – 2007”, a new 25-minute documentary hosted by Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), which takes a look at the many contributions TNG made not only to the world of science fiction but also to the world of science fact. In this new documentary Wheaton talks with scientists, writers, engineers, and fans who were inspired by TNG to further their careers and dreams in the same way the original TREK did back in the 1960’s. We see glimpses of how fictional props used in the series, such as the PADD, inspired today’s PDA devices and the recent iPhone. We see developments in satellite technology and space probes, including the recent probes that carried the ashes of both Gene Roddenberry and James Doohan into outer space. We also see how TNG inspired the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, Washington and the annual open house event sponsored by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

One of the most popular recurring guest stars on the modern incarnations of TREK, John deLancie (Q), hosts the second exclusive 25-minute documentary, “Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Legacy – 20 Years Later”, which takes another look back at how the series has held up over the past 20 years. He teases us with the Q-like question, “What if TNG never existed? How would that have affected the future of television?” (See my earlier comments for my answer to that question.) Participating in this documentary are new interviews with series contributors Ronald D. Moore, Naren Shankar, and Brannon Braga, among others, who reflect on their time writing and producing numerous episodes of TNG. (Moore would go on to revisit BATTLESTAR GALACTICA for the Sci-Fi Channel, while Braga would become the scorn of TREK fans everywhere by co-creating [with Rick Berman] and screwing up a lot of episodes of ENTERPRISE during its run.) The third and final exclusive documentary, the 25-minute “Star Trek Visual Effects Magic: A Roundtable Discussion”, looks back at the then-groundbreaking visual effects produced initially by Industrial Light and Magic on a weekly basis. Among those interviewed are Dan Curry, Rob Legato, Ron Moore, and Howard Anderson (who created the original transporter effect for the first "Trek" series). Like the special effects produced 40 years ago for the Original Series, some of the special effects produced for TNG are, unfortunately, dated because we’ve become spoiled with flashy CGI effects in many different series and films. Recently comments were made about a possible “TNG Remastered” series with updated visual effects, a la the recent “Original Series Remastered” efforts – as of this writing, nothing has been officially confirmed.

But we’re not done yet. Since its initial announcement many people have wondered about the fate of the additional bonus features that were incorporated into the Region 2 DVD releases overseas and featured as exclusive bonus discs you could only find at Best Buy. Not to worry, those eight bonus features – “Select Historical Data: Part 1” and “Inside the Star Trek Archive” (from the fourth season set), “Intergalactic Guest Stars” and “Alien Speak” (from the fifth season set), “Select Historical Data: Part 2” and “Inside the Starfleet Archives: Sets and Props” (from the sixth season set), and “Special Profiles” and “Dressing the Future” (from the seventh season set) are all included in their entirety on this additional bonus disc and presented in their original formats. This means you can safely sell off not only your individual season sets but also the respective bonus discs from seasons 4-7. There's even an Easter egg on the set that is a tip of the hat to producer Stephen R. Wolcott, who supervised the new documentaries for this set.

Missing in action are quite a number of additional features that could have enhanced this complete set all the more. First of all, there are at least two documentaries that have previously appeared on VHS – “From Here to Infinity: The Ultimate Voyage”, hosted by Patrick Stewart (which also appeared in the two-disc JEAN-LUC PICARD COLLECTION), and “Journey’s End – The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation”, hosted by Jonathan Frakes (the latter of which has never been released on DVD) – which could have helped flesh this set out all the more. Then there are all of the series’ generic preview trailers promoting the series prior to its release, before the start of the second season, during the nightly syndication runs, prior to the start of the fourth season, and toward the end of the series, as well as the preview trailers for each episode (which were included in the TNG Companion CD-ROM and are also on StarTrek.com). I figured that these would have been featured in the same way that the vintage preview trailers for the Original Series were included on their VHS, laserdisc, and DVD releases. We also know of many outtakes, bloopers, and raw footage clips that have surfaced over the years, including the infamously raw and ribald first season blooper reel that has appeared at conventions and on who knows how many bootleg videos over the past two decades. Finally, I would have enjoyed seeing the original preview reel and satellite briefing from the summer of 1987 in which many tie-in products were promoted, among them the General Mills’ cereal contest for a walk-on role on TNG and the Associates’ Star Trek credit card.

At a retail price of $440 (with some stores selling the series for a bit less), I have a bit of a problem with the pricing of this complete series set. After purchasing and tracking down all seven seasons and the respective bonus discs at Best Buy, it seems like a bit of a waste to plunk down $440 just to obtain an additional disc with three more documentaries on it. You could go into any Wal-Mart and pick up the seven sets for less than what you would pay for the entire series set, and still get the bulk of the same content. Even my wife agrees with me that this is an extreme waste of money. Still, there are some fans out there who have already purchased the seven sets and the bonus discs who will ultimately shell out the money to get that additional disc – I’m not one of them.

But if you’ve not picked up any of the season sets at all, this is a good way to get everything all in one shot at a fairly reasonable price. Seeing this reissue in a complete box set is more than just all seven seasons with a new wrapper around it and a new disc in it. For me it’s like stepping back into a time capsule to 1987, when all that mattered was school and dances and unrequited crushes on girls and not knowing what the future held for me. Part of me is glad I’m not 21 anymore. Part of me wishes I could have my own Guardian of Forever to go back there and tell myself what to look forward to, and part of me wishes I could go back and change things. (Only in things like TNG does that exist; not in the real world.) And part of me wishes for another day with my dad and another dance with Laura Ann King. I guess we all have to grow up eventually and put things behind us, don’t we?