Star Trek: The Next Generation

This article is about the television series. For other uses, see Star Trek: The Next Generation (disambiguation).

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre
Created byGene Roddenberry
Showrunners
Starring
Theme music composer
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes178 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Gene Roddenberry (1987–1991)
  • Maurice Hurley (1988–1989)
  • Rick Berman (1989–1994)
  • Michael Piller (1989–1994)
  • Jeri Taylor (1993–1994)
Cinematography
  • Edward R. Brown (1987–1989)
  • Marvin V. Rush (1989–1992)
  • Jonathan West (1992–1994)
Running time44–45 minutes
Production companyParamount Domestic Television
Budget$1.3 million per episode
Original release
NetworkFirst-run syndication[1][2]
ReleaseSeptember 28, 1987 (1987-09-28) –
May 23, 1994 (1994-05-23)
Related
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired from September 28, 1987, to May 23, 1994, in syndication, spanning 178 episodes over seven seasons. The third series in the Star Trek franchise, it was inspired by Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the latter third of the 24th century, when Earth is part of the United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of a Starfleet starship, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), in its exploration of the Alpha quadrant and Beta quadrant in the Milky Way galaxy.

In the 1980s, Roddenberry—who was responsible for the original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1974), and the first of a series of films—was tasked by Paramount Pictures with creating a new series in the franchise. He decided to set it a century after the events of his original series. The Next Generation featured a new crew: Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Brent Spiner as Data, Michael Dorn as Worf, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, Denise Crosby as Tasha Yar, Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher, and a new Enterprise.

Roddenberry, Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor served as executive producers at various times throughout its production. The series was broadcast in first-run syndication with dates and times varying among individual television stations. Stewart's voice-over introduction during each episode's opening credits stated the starship's purpose:

Space: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. 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 show reached almost 12 million viewers in its 5th season, with the series finale in 1994 watched by over 30 million viewers.[3][4] Due to its success, Paramount commissioned Rick Berman and Michael Piller to create a fourth series in the franchise, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which launched in 1993. The characters from The Next Generation returned in four films: Star Trek Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), and in the television series Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023). The series is also the setting of numerous novels, comic books, and video games. It received many accolades, including 19 Emmy Awards, two Hugo Awards, one Peabody Award, and six Saturn Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award for the entire cast in 2024.[5][a]

In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked Star Trek: The Next Generation #79 on their list of the 101 Best Written TV Series, tying it with Upstairs, Downstairs, Monty Python's Flying Circus and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.[6]

  1. ^ Trek Core Staff. "Selling...Into Syndication". Trek Core. October 12, 2014. https://blog.trekcore.com/2014/10/advertising-archive-selling-tng-in-syndication/ Archived January 7, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Thill, Scott. "Warping into Star Trek: The Next Generation's 25 Years...". Wired. September 28, 2012. https://www.wired.com/2012/09/star-trek-tng25-ron-moore/ Archived November 1, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Schmuckler, Eric (July 24, 1994). "TELEVISION: Profits, Reruns and the End of 'Next Generation'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 20, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  4. ^ "The Trek Nation – Star Trek Ratings History". TrekToday. Archived from the original on July 30, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Pascale, Anthony (January 30, 2024). "The Cast of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' to Receive Special Lifetime Achievement Saturn Award". TrekMovie.com. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  6. ^ "101 Best Written TV Series". Writers Guild of America West. June 2, 2013.


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