Star Trek: EVERY Season Ranked Worst To Best

The news that Star Trek was returning to the small screen in 1987 was met with a decidedly mixed reaction, from both fans and actors in the Original Series. Like any attempt to modernize an old idea, the cries of sacrilege began to ring out.

They may not have been entirely assuaged by what was offered in the first year.

The first season of the Next Generation was hugely ambitious in what it was attempting to do. Star Trek, back in the '80s, was a very definite thing. It was Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the Enterprise zooming around on the five year mission. The movies had helped to bring it forward a bit, while the popularity of the Wrath of Khan and particularly the Voyage Home helped encourage Roddenberry to bring it back to television.

It's not bad, not really. The acting is a little wooden and there is clearly a lack of proper direction, yet it must be remembered that, even as a spin-off, it was flying without the map. Ideas were introduced in the first year that would span throughout the series and beyond, ultimately leading to what would become the most endearingly popular crew of them all.

There are several stand out episodes, notably Conspiracy, Datalore and The Neutral Zone, yet there is plenty to be enjoyed in every episode. The highlight of the entire season comes from that short scene in the pilot, where Data walks Admiral McCoy down to the shuttlecraft.

'Treat her like a lady, and she'll always bring you home.'