| Star Trek: The Next Generation | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | |
 Blu-ray cover | |
| Starring | |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Broadcast syndication |
| Original release | September 28, 1987 – May 16, 1988 |
| Season chronology | |
The first season of the American television science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation commenced airing in broadcast syndication in the United States on September 28, 1987, and concluded on May 16, 1988, after 26 episodes were broadcast. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise-D. It was the first live-action television series in the franchise to be broadcast since Star Trek: The Original Series was cancelled in 1969, and the first to feature all new characters. Paramount Television eventually sought the advice of the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, who set about creating the new show with mostly former The Original Series staff members. An entirely new cast were sought, which concerned some members of The Original Series crew, as Roddenberry did not want to re-tread the same steps as he had in the first series to the extent that well-known Star Trek aliens such as Vulcans, Klingons and Romulans were banned at first.
The characters in the series gradually changed during preproduction, with adjustments made to the names, genders and ethnicity. When the cast was announced at first, LeVar Burton was the main actor highlighted because of his work on the Roots mini series; his character, Geordi La Forge, was named for a disabled fan. Before Star Trek: The Next Generation, Burton had also worked on the 1983–2006 PBS series Reading Rainbow. Although the casting was managed by producers Rick Berman and Robert H. Justman, Roddenberry intervened to switch the characters assigned to Marina Sirtis and Denise Crosby. Sirtis took over Crosby's role as Deanna Troi, and Crosby became Tasha Yar, who had been named Macha Hernandez while Sirtis held the part. Behind the scenes, the writing team became chaotic. Eddie Milkis had quit prior to casting, with Berman taking over from him. Roddenberry's insistence on re-writing scripts and unusual behaviour alienated some staff. Longtime Star Trek contributor D.C. Fontana quit, filing a claim with the Writers Guild of America as she had been acting as story editor but was unpaid in the role. Such were the troubles that the series had a problem recruiting potential writers halfway through the season. By the end of the second season, all the writing staff recruited during season one except for Rick Berman had quit.
As the series was being launched directly into syndication, there were concerns that it could affect the ratings. "Encounter at Farpoint", the pilot, was broadcast to Nielsen ratings of 15.7 percent, and after a lull seeing ratings for "The Last Outpost" reach a season low of 8.9 percent, they increased again and by the end of the first season, it had become the most popular syndicated series on television. While highly anticipated, initial reviews other than for "Encounter at Farpoint" were poor. The second episode, "The Naked Now" had fans and critics concerned that The Next Generation would re-hash plots of The Original Series, and "Code of Honor" was seen as racist. The season continues to attract mixed to negative reviews, though the episodes "The Big Goodbye" and "11001001" have frequently been singled out for praise. It was nominated for seven Emmy Awards, winning in makeup, costume design and sound editing. "The Big Goodbye" was awarded a Peabody Award, while cast member Wil Wheaton was nominated for an award at the 9th Youth in Film Awards. The season was first released on DVD on March 26, 2002, on Region 1, and was subsequently released in other regions. The region-free Blu-ray releases came in July 2012.