Created by the figure behind the Star Trek franchise Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek: The Next Generation is a sci-fi series set in the 24th century around a century after the orginial Star Trek. It premiered in September 28, 1987 to some 27 million viewers and ran for 178 episodes, the longest Star Trek show in the series. It went off air the week of May 23, 1994.

While Star Trek: The Next Generation already had a large following during its first run, it remains to be popular in syndication. Along with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation kept airing episodes until 2005. Moreover, with 18 Emmy Awards under its belt, it became the first syndicated show to be nominated for an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series.

Star Trek: The Next Generation stars Patrick Stewart as the Commander of the starship Enterprise Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Chief of Security Worf, Gates McFadden as Chief medical officer Beverly Crusher, Marina Sirtis as counselor Deanna Troi, and Brent Spiner as Data. Other notable cast include Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan and Michelle Forbes as Ro Laren.

After Star Trek: The Next Generation, three other series followed: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise, not to mention four feature films, novels, websites, and hordes of fan fiction. The iconic voiceover by Stewart during each episode’s opening credits goes as follows: “Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.”

The 178 episodes chronicled the adventures of the crew of the USS Enterprise, which was designed for exploration, diplomacy, as well as combat.

-Glenn L. Diaz, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Star Trek
(Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures)