But That's Not REAL Star Trek! 7 Reviews That Judged Star Trek Too Quickly
5. You're Killing Kirk!
This was the early review that was heard most often when The Next Generation was announced in 1987. The Original Series movies were still being released, very successfully to add. The Voyage Home had stormed the box office and The Final Frontier was on the way.
Star Trek was popular enough to warrant a new TV show, though the networks were nervous. It was the first show sold into syndication, which offset some of the financial worries of the networks hosting it.
The pilot was rough. It was plodding, it was wooden. The acting wasn't great. Yet, audiences engaged with it very quickly. Initially, episodes like The Naked Now and Code of Honour were reviewed positively, saying that the episodes became more focused and fun. Despite a rocky first year, the show was embraced by the fans.
In the years that followed, The Next Generation has risen to, perhaps, the best reviewed of all of the series. The show's complex take on social issues, along with the deeper interpersonal relationships between the various crew members, have allowed it to stand out among the franchise. It is probably the most populist of all the series, engrained in pop culture as deeply as Kirk, Spock and Scotty were before.
While it doesn't have a perfect record, the Next Generation did solidify Star Trek's place for a long time, with two further spin-off shows being created during its run and spawning four successful films - not to mention the recent Star Trek Picard.