Star Trek: The Next Generation | |
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Season 2 | |
![]() Region A/1 Blu-ray cover art | |
Starring | |
No. of episodes | 22 |
Release | |
Original network | Broadcast syndication |
Original release | November 21, 1988 July 17, 1989 | –
Season chronology | |
The second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation commenced airing in broadcast syndication in the United States on November 21, 1988, and concluded on July 17, 1989, after airing 22 episodes. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise-D. Season two featured changes to the main cast, following the departure of Gates McFadden. Diana Muldaur was cast as Dr. Katherine Pulaski for a single season before the return of McFadden in season three. Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg also joined the cast after pursuing a role from the producers.
There were significant changes backstage to the writing team. Maurice Hurley became head writer, and following extensive re-writes to "The Royale" and "Manhunt", Tracy Tormé left the writing team. Likewise, following the submission of a script for "Blood and Fire", David Gerrold allowed his contract to run out due to issues with Gene Roddenberry and Leonard Maizlish, Roddenberry's lawyer. Other departing writers included Leonard Mlodinow and Scott Rubenstein, while Melinda M. Snodgrass, Hans Beimler and Richard Manning joined the team. At the end of the season, Hurley also left the team. Production designer Herman F. Zimmerman left the show to work on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and was replaced by Richard James, who remained with the show for the rest of the series.
The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike caused the season to be shortened to 22 episodes, the lowest amount for any season in the series. The strike was later blamed for the lack of quality of the first few episodes. The strike also resulted in the writing team using an unused script from the aborted Star Trek: Phase II to open the season, entitled "The Child". Budgetary changes allowed for individual episode funding to be carried between episodes, but this resulted in a lack of funding towards the end of the season which the crew attempted to solve by creating a clip show, "Shades of Grey".
"The Child" opened to 10.9 million viewers, and ratings peaked with both "A Matter of Honor" and "The Measure of a Man", which were watched by 11.3 million. Although a decrease in viewers saw the lowest number of viewers for a first-run episode in the series in "Manhunt", the show became the third most-watched series in its timeslot. Critics praised the episodes "The Measure of a Man" and "Q Who", but found "Shades of Grey" to be one of the worst episodes of the entire Star Trek franchise. The season was first released on DVD on May 7, 2002, on Region 1, and was subsequently released on Regions 2 and 3. The region-free Blu-ray releases came in December 2012, with "The Measure of a Man" and "Q Who" receiving a limited theatrical release.