20 Most Cringeworthy Star Trek: The Next Generation Moments

14. Lwaxana's Holodeck Program From Cost Of Living (1992)

Over the years, we've been treated to the image of Lwaxana Troi as a fun-loving, no-holds-barred kind of gal, whose personal life would no doubt make her the envy of intergalactic libertines everywhere. So when we finally get to see the kind of Holodeck programme this buxom broad uses when she wants to relax, most of us were likely expecting to see lots of half-clad, oiled-up young men bearing trays of bon bons and demi tasses full of bourbon. Instead, we get... the Parallax colony on Shiralea VI, where French mimes and interpretive dancers go when they die. Granted, Lwaxana probably chose this over her normal holodeck fare because she's with Alexander Rozhenko, and you can't expose kids to oiled-up studs too young, even if they're Klingon. (The kids, I mean, not the studs.) But from the floating multicolored head (which probably is in Lwaxana's usual programme, but for other reasons), to the unfunny juggler, to the twins with bleached afros, to the mudbaths, you'd need a shot of insulin in order to survive such a twee experience, even as a kid. You'd have to wonder what would happen to a child exposed to this sort of thing on a regular basis... Oh my god. So much about Deanna Troi suddenly makes sense.
Contributor
Contributor

Tony Whitt has previously written TV, DVD, and comic reviews for CINESCAPE, NOW PLAYING, and iF MAGAZINE. His weekly COMICSCAPE columns from the early 2000s can still be found archived on Mania.com. He has also written a book of gay-themed short stories titled CRESCENT CITY CONNECTIONS, available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle format. Whitt currently lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.