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Episode list

Star trek: the next generation.

S1.E1 ∙ Encounter at Farpoint

S1.E2 ∙ The Naked Now

S1.E3 ∙ Code of Honor

S1.E4 ∙ The Last Outpost

S1.E5 ∙ Where No One Has Gone Before

S1.E6 ∙ Lonely Among Us

S1.E7 ∙ Justice

S1.E8 ∙ The Battle

S1.E9 ∙ Hide and Q

S1.E10 ∙ Haven

S1.E11 ∙ The Big Goodbye

S1.E12 ∙ Datalore

S1.E13 ∙ Angel One

S1.E14 ∙ 11001001

S1.E15 ∙ Too Short a Season

S1.E16 ∙ When the Bough Breaks

S1.E17 ∙ Home Soil

S1.E18 ∙ Coming of Age

S1.E19 ∙ Heart of Glory

S1.E20 ∙ The Arsenal of Freedom

S1.E21 ∙ Symbiosis

S1.E22 ∙ Skin of Evil

S1.E23 ∙ We'll Always Have Paris

S1.E24 ∙ Conspiracy

S1.E25 ∙ The Neutral Zone

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Time Travel in Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG)

"Let's make sure that history never forgets the name... Enterprise." (Capt. Picard, TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")

TNG: We'll Always Have Paris

This episode is full of "small" paradoxes where the characters encounter themselves in moments that are only a few seconds or minutes in the past or the future. The problem is basically the same as with the grandfather paradox, although the impact is of course less severe.

Classification: random time shifts, without visible consequences

TNG: Time Squared

In this episode Picard 2 is the only one to survive the explosion of the Enterprise. He is thrown six hours to the past together with his shuttlepod. Aboard the still existing Enterprise in the past, Picard 2 suffers from a severe shock; he initially cannot talk and doesn't remember anything. Moreover, the shuttle's computer data cannot be read out. It is clear that this is primarily a ploy to keep the situation obscure. Anyway, the effects shown here are doubtful with regard to other time travel episodes. The difficulty with the shuttle's energy signature may be rationalized with some technobabble. Picard 2's corresponding physical and mental condition, however, seems to be directly related to the current time, as if there were a temporal signature of his organism that makes him feel better the closer he is to the time of his departure (ironically, only to vanish the very moment that marks his departure to the past). This doesn't make much sense, considering that whatever is responsible for biological and electronic systems being out of phase here, the phase shift remains the same as long as they remain in the wrong, earlier time frame. What's more, there is no such effect in other episodes, only a weak similarity to TOS: "All Our Yesterdays" .

It is ethically highly questionable for our present Picard 1 to kill his ill-fated counterpart from the future. It would have been absolutely sufficient to hold him back, since "the cycle must end" , as Picard 1 notes himself. Ironically, after changing the timeline in this direction, Picard 2 disappears anyway together with the shuttle. There is an obvious paradox when the Enterprise does not explode, since in this case there is no Picard to travel back in time and warn the Enterprise.

Classification: broken predestined timeline ("causality loop"), with biological impact of time travel

TNG: Yesterday's Enterprise

When the Enterprise-C appears from the space-time rift, the ship has traveled "22 years, 3 months and 4 days" into the future, according to Data. The timeline from the instant of its departure in the year 2344 to the present of 2366 is instantly switched. It can be supposed that the Klingons regarded the disappearance of the ship from Narendra III as cowardice, which finally led to the war timeline. The Enterprise-D crew, as almost all other beings in the galaxy, are unaware of the change, even as Worf is replaced by Tasha. It remains a mystery how Guinan is able to perceive the old timeline, which has not been "simply" erased from biological and computer memories, but has actually never existed. No one would expect a biological entity to have such a supernatural ability, which is absolutely useless for its normal life. One would rather suppose that beings such as Q who move in more than three dimensions can perceive and also manipulate timelines. Maybe Guinan is not the humanoid she appears to be.

Apart from the temporal sequence, there is also a logical sequence of events.

1. The Enterprise-C defends the Klingon outpost and is finally destroyed (event 1), which is honored by the Klingons (timeline 1). 2. The Enterprise-C is "pulled" into the future of 2366 prior to being destroyed (event 2), which infuriates the past Klingons and creates the war timeline 2. The space-time rift is not a static phenomenon, but originates at event 2, since until then the old timeline 1 definitely existed. 3. The Enterprise-C is "pushed" into the past again. This allows to recover event 1, but not exactly, since Tasha is aboard the Enterprise-C. 4. The Enterprise-C defends the Klingon outpost and is finally destroyed, which is honored by the Klingons (event 1a). Some crew members, among them Tasha, are "saved" by the Romulans, only to be killed later on. However, Tasha gives birth to her daughter Sela, who will appear later in TNG: "Redemption" and "Unification" (timeline 1a).

It is not evident why the Enterprise-D is present near the very same spatial anomaly in both timelines 1/1a and 2, despite the vastly different circumstances. This was a dramatic choice, but must be rated as extremely unlikely because of the second law of thermodynamics. For the same reason, the crew of the Enterprise-D and ultimately the ship itself shouldn't be so very similar in both timelines. Unfortunately, it is not an option that the timelines could have diverged slowly (we might imagine that in 2364 an important Klingon figure suddenly made a big deal about what happened in 2344 and started the war). Picard explicitly speaks of "20 years of war" .

The even bigger problem with this episode arises retrospectively. The temporary timeline 2 should have been eliminated by sending back the Enterprise-C to the past. This would not have allowed Tasha to stay aboard the Enterprise-C, she would simply disappear at the instant the future is changed again, and Sela could never exist. Vice versa, Captain Garrett, who died in a never existing future, would come to life again (for a short time). This is an obvious paradox. Perhaps the Enterprise-C, returning from the future, is shielded in some fashion so it would not be returned to the state in which it left the year 2344.

Classification: past incursion caused by accidental travel to the future, remaining paradox (Tasha and Sela)

TNG: Captain's Holiday

Time travel is only a secondary aspect of the story, although the Tox Uthat is assumed to come from the future. However, this is one of the few episodes where a predestined timeline is established, since the two Vorgon time travelers obviously anticipated that Picard would destroy the Tox Uthat.

Classification: predestined past incursion ("causality loop")

TNG: A Matter of Time

No paradox occurs in the episode itself. However, by leaving his own time which is in fact the 22nd century, Rasmussen has probably already altered history. On a side note, it does not become clear why Rasmussen, who has a timeship from the 26th century, chose the less advanced 24th century to steal technical equipment. What's more, for an ordinary thief he seems to be too well prepared, since he knows or pretends to know a lot of details about the Enterprise. As much as he has learned about it, there should have been much easier ways for him to get hold of valuable equipment than on the well-guarded starship.

Classification: intentional past/future incursion, without visible consequences

TNG: Cause and Effect

This episode features two different kinds of time travel. First, the USS Bozeman unintentionally travels 90 years to the future, just to collide with the Enterprise. Second, the Enterprise is caught in some kind of time loop. Every time the Enterprise is destroyed, the present time for ship and crew and probably the surrounding space region returns to an instant some time before the ship's destruction from an external viewpoint. In other words, the Enterprise and her crew do not travel back in time, but time itself is not continuous within a small region of space. This is corroborated by the statement that the Federation time signal is 17.4 days ahead at the end of the episode, meaning that the Enterprise has stayed in the time loop for this long as seen from an external observer.

The phenomena in this episode can't be explained in plain language. The starting point of the events seems to be a space-time rift, potentially similar to the one in TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise". The Bozeman is pushed or pulled into the future through this rift and almost immediately collides with the Enterprise. The explosion of the Enterprise, probably in connection with the surrounding space-time distortion, causes the time reset. We do not know if the Bozeman explodes as well or is directly affected by the destruction of the Enterprise. However, it is obvious that the Soyuz-class ship is caught in the time loop as well, since the collision occurs repeatedly. Each time the Enterprise is restored to the state that was a few hours ago, and the same must apply to the rest of the space region. Otherwise, in the second and following laps the crew would have registered discontinuities in sensor measurements. We can assume that a Federation time signal is not continuously received, although this was possible in TOS: "The Naked Time" . However, in any case the changes of remote constellations are definitely measurable and should have revealed the time reset. Since the Bozeman was not in the respective space region some hours ago, the ship is thrown back 90 years after each explosion; only this way it can emerge from the rift each time.

The story is substantially consistent if we accept the unlikely fact that humanoids have a built-in sixth sense for temporal discontinuities (déjà-vu) that Data as well as the advanced subspace-physics based equipment of the Enterprise do not detect. There is no paradox, since the repeated collisions and explosions actually happened. Still, the chance of a collision of the two starships is literally astronomical, even if we take into account that the Enterprise is somehow attracted by the space-time distortion.

Classification: time travel to the future & broken causality loop in an isolated region of space-time

TNG: Time's Arrow

There are two clear indications of a predestined timeline in this episode. First, Data's head is found in the cave before Data actually travels back to the past and loses his head. Second, Guinan pretends to know Picard for a long time, which is only confirmed "later" when Picard actually meets her in the past. If we assume that back in the past the crew create exactly the timeline that has always existed, whether they want it or not, this episode is self-consistent. Moreover, complicated explanations of switching between different timelines are not necessary, since there is only one timeline.

Nevertheless, the concept of predestination remains hard to accept because it is an offense against free will. What if Data had stayed away from the scene under all circumstances as Picard has originally planned it, in order to avert his time travel? Who could have hindered him to change history? Likewise, what if Picard had taken Data's head with him when he returned to the 24th century?

What's more, we have contradictory statements about the mechanism of time travel in this episode. After his head has been found in the cave, indicating that he will die, Data says: "There is no way anyone can prevent it, sir. At some future date, I will be transported back to nineteenth century Earth, where I will die. It has occurred. It will occur." He thereby explicitly states that the timeline is predetermined, in contrast to what happens in most of Star Trek's time travel episodes. Conversely, Guinan claims that there is nothing like predestination. She insists on Picard joining the away team, so she can meet him in the past. If everything were predestined, there would be no need for her to take any influence with her knowledge about the timeline. She also tells Riker on the topic of what he could do to save Picard who has stayed behind in the past: "If I told you what happened in that cavern, it would affect any decision you'd make now. I can't do that. I won't."

TNG: Tapestry

Q may have forged the whole scenario much like a holodeck simulation. However, if we believe Q, then Picard is given a second chance to avoid the confrontation with the Nausicaans, in the course of which he lost his natural heart. Q sends him back to his early days in Starfleet, briefly prior to the incident.

Picard perceives himself as the aged captain, while everyone else sees the young Ensign Picard. At the end of the episode, when Picard is revived (for which he is rather indebted to Beverly than to Q), it is still not clear whether his experiences in the past were true. We might tend to believe Q, who has never been so honest and sympathetic than in this episode and will never be again. In this case, the past has been slightly changed, taking into account Picard's short affair with his crewmate Marta.

Side note The authors missed a great opportunity in connection with the TNG episode "Bloodlines", where Dai Mon Bok alters a boy genetically so that he appears to be Picard's son. The boy, however, could have been Picard's and Marta's real son and this could have proved that Picard really traveled to the past.

Q's promise that Picard can change his own history without affecting other people is odd in any case: "Since you attach so much importance to the continuity of time, I will give you my personal guarantee that nothing you do here will end up hurting anyone, or have an adverse affect on what you know of as history." In order to elude the butterfly effect, Q would have to "filter" Picard's actions with selective disregard for interdependencies and fabricate a history that could not exist on its own. Q's demonstration that Picard, at his current age, would still be a lieutenant junior grade instead of captain, only because he has always been cautious, is doubtful and it insinuates that there is something wrong about the whole scenario.

Classification: multiple intentional past incursions that possibly never took place, without visible consequences

TNG: Timescape

This episode features various time levels in which time proceeds at different speeds. The time on and around the Enterprise and the Romulan Warbird almost stands still relative to the time experienced by Picard, Deanna, Geordi and Data in the runabout. The concept and effect of time levels is similar as in TOS: "Wink of an Eye" , however, the explanation is substantially different in the TNG episode. Here, the time levels are a physical phenomenon, and the effects of interaction between different time levels have to be considered on this level. There should be physical as well as biological problems for a character entering another time level. Yet, only the latter ones have are partially shown in the episode.

Further investigation of the implications shows that any interaction with a significantly different time level is virtually impossible. Firstly, light or any other form of energy coming from a slower time level is shifted to extremely low frequencies and also its intensity is significantly reduced. Geordi can hardly locate the frozen Enterprise because "energy levels are practically non-existent" , yet it is possible to see everything like it were on a normal level. Realistically, even Geordi would not see the extreme infrared light. This is due to the simple fact that one corresponding oscillation period is many times longer in the slow time level than in the fast level. Secondly, the same applies to molecular motion, so the temperature would be very close to absolute zero for persons from the fast time level, and of course extremely uncomfortable. Thirdly, it is doubtful whether it is possible to touch or move objects in the slow time level or to breathe the molecules of the "slow" air, let alone to cope with their low temperatures. Finally, even if interaction is possible, for the slow computer it should take a long time until anything is displayed. The writers could have avoided at least the latter inconsistency by somewhat slowing down the LCARS response times.

Classification: different time levels

TNG: Parallels

This is one of the most fascinating Star Trek stories ever. It focuses on parallel realities, while the time travel at the end of the episode is only a secondary aspect. The time travel probably serves to return to the original timeline in "our" universe that would otherwise have been altered by Worf's temporary absence, or another Worf's presence.

Classification: travel to another reality and back in time, without visible consequences

TNG: Firstborn

We get no idea if and how the old Alexander's appearance in the past would affect his own time and himself. The grandfather paradox is quite evident, considering that young Alexander would be warned and probably wouldn't travel back in time in his later years.

Classification: past incursion, with unknown consequences

TNG: All Good Things

Q is well-known for his fancies, and of course it is him who arranges the weirdest time travel of Star Trek so far. Maybe he takes pleasure in sending Picard on time travels since TNG: "Tapestry". Firstly, three different times in the past, the present and the future are involved, and Q arbitrarily transfers Picard from one time to another. Secondly, Picard is transferred into himself, i.e. he replaces his alter ego in the past and the future. In a "normal" time travel there would be two simultaneous Picards. Thirdly, his actions in the past do not have any bearing on the future, the three times are isolated from each other with respect to the normal forward course of time. Finally, vice versa, the captain's actions in the future do affect the past. It seems that Q employs any possible trick to bring about the anti-time reaction that destroys all mankind in the past, only to blame Picard for it. Picard is only a marionette in Q's highly unfair fancy, however, despite all off Q's attempted deception, the best Star Trek captain ever does his job.

The fact that the Enterprise is destroyed in "Star Trek Generations" might be a sign that the TNG episode does not describe an actual future, but only a future in Q's imagination. However, in DS9: "The Visitor" another possible future is shown, and the future Defiant crew wear the same uniforms and badges as on the future Enterprise and Pasteur. Apart from the obvious budget savings in the real world, this is a sign that Q's future is not inevitably the real future, but at least a realistic one.

Classification: multiple travels to multiple times, corrected or without visible consequences

Star Trek: Generations

The movie features the Nexus, a phenomenon that allows either to stay in the wonderful world inside or to travel anywhere any time. In other words, the Nexus can do everything. This quality is certainly not beneficial for the story, as it leaves too many options and too many questions. According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia II , Soran was only briefly inside the Nexus in 2293 until he was "rescued" by the Enterprise-B transporter beam. This assumption makes more sense than the theory that the El-Aurians were expelled from the Nexus by the Borg. Exactly the same as to Soran must apply to Guinan. However, while Soran seems to be outside the Nexus when Picard meets Kirk, there is a representation of Guinan left in the Nexus and able to talk to Picard.

Picard and Kirk probably chose the worst possible instant to leave the Nexus and return to reality when Soran already had his finger on the launch button. If it is true that the two could have traveled anywhere any time, they could have returned e.g. to the Amargosa Observatory. Captain Picard probably considered possible effects on the timeline, however, either he wanted to prevent the destruction of the inhabited solar system under all circumstances or not. In particular, Kirk could have chosen a better time for himself to return to reality. What if Kirk had gone back to his own time and probably changed history?

In this movie a paradox does not occur, because the Nexus probably works as a kind of buffer between the timelines. The Nexus is obviously a domain outside of our space-time, and is therefore not affected by changes in our universe. So the old timeline, in which the Veridian system and the Enterprise saucer are destroyed, ceases to exist. However, Picard is nevertheless always present in the Nexus (like Guinan), and so he is able to leave the Nexus and fight Soran in the new timeline.

Classification: past incursion to change history, successful

Star Trek: First Contact

When the Borg alter history by sabotaging Cochrane's first warp flight in 2063, the Enterprise-E is protected from the change, since the ship is already in the vortex that leads back in time. So far, the authors have learned from errors in the past when such a phenomenon almost customarily remained unexplained. When the Enterprise-E arrives in the year 2063, it is already too late to prevent the formation of a new timeline, since the Borg have begun to shoot at the launch site and have killed a number of people that might have been important for history. Picard's first idea should have been to travel back about one more day (using the slingshot effect) and immediately destroy the Borg sphere as soon as it arrives. Even without the Borg's attempt to capture the Enterprise, the success of the actual efforts to correct history is questionable. It seems to have worked though, and the Federation is the same as before, or has only imperceptibly changed.

We may want to speculate that "First Contact" features a predestination since Riker quotes the future Cochrane and Cochrane might have the quote from Riker (not to mention that Cochrane may have been inspired to name the first Warp-5 ship "Enterprise").

However, why did Geordi recreate the Borg vortex to return to the future, instead of choosing the good old slingshot effect, which is even possible with a primitive Bird-of-Prey? It is possible that the missing deflector didn't allow to go to warp, but it was never mentioned as being so crucial, so it must have been obvious to the crew that the Borg vortex was the only or the best option to go back.

A problem arises with regard to VOY: "Year of Hell", where Seven of Nine knows about the Phoenix because "the Borg were present during those events" . The first explanation could be that some Borg were still alive, or at least their subspace transmitters were functional when the Enterprise arrived back in the 24th century, and they contacted the Collective. Secondly, they could have used temporal transmitters such as in VOY: "Timeless" . Thirdly, although the modification of the sensor dish failed, a conventional subspace signal could have made it to Borg territory in the 21st century. The puzzle was retroactively solved in ENT: "Regeneration" where the Borg from the crashed sphere sent a subspace signal to the Delta Quadrant that T'Pol said would need "at least 200 years" .

Classification: past incursion to change history, corrected

Some screen caps from TrekCore .

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How to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation TV shows and movies in order

Image: ©CBS

Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science-fiction show, set in the 24 th Century. The series – created by Gene Roddenberry – follows the story of the crew of the USS Enterprise and its exploration of space.  

The series was created as a follow-up show to the popular Star Trek TV series of the 1960s, as well as the successful run of Star Trek movies of the late ‘70s onward. Unlike the original show and movies, which focused on the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew, The Next Generation focused on Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his team, including Riker, Data, Worf, Geordi La Forge, Deanna Troi, Tasha Yar, and Beverly and Wesley Crusher.

Upon making its debut, Star Trek: The Next Generation built up a loyal fanbase, and became popular with audiences. Over time, it established itself as a fantastic piece of television, stepping out the shadow of its predecessor, and boasted excellent stories and well-written characters.

So, when it came time to end the show on television, not everybody was quite ready to say goodbye. Mere months after the television adventures wrapped, the Next Generation crew took to the big screen to appear in a series of movies.

And the Next Gen journey didn’t quite end with movies either. Almost two decades after the final film hit screens, Jean-Luc Picard, and a handful of his crew mates, returned for another television show.

In short: Between shows and movies, there’s a lot of Next Generation content out there. But if you’re a complete newcomer to The Next Generation , where do you begin?

With this post, of course!

Below, I am providing a run-through of Star Trek: The Next Generation , detailing the viewing order for the shows and the movies. So, if you’re not sure how best to watch the series, how many seasons there are, or when to begin watching the films, you simply need to follow the details below.  

Understanding Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation hit television screens in 1987, with the two-part story: Encounter at Farpoint . This double-length episode, kicked off the show’s first season, which comprised a total of 26 episodes.

The following year, The Next Generation returned for its second season. This was then followed by seasons three, four, five, six, and seven, all popping up on an annual basis.

The seventh and final season of the show, aired between 1993 and 1994, concluding with the two-part story: All Good Things… . By the time the show reached the end of its run, Star Trek: The Next Generation had clocked up 178 episodes of television.

But this wasn’t the end for The Next Generation – the cast simply side-stepped from television into movies, beginning with Star Trek Generations (1994). The movie combined the cast of the original Star Trek television show, with the cast of The Next Generation , for a big screen adventure.

Star Trek Generations proved to be a box office hit, and The Next Generation cast returned for further movies, including: Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).

Star Trek: Nemesis essentially ended the adventures of The Next Generation crew on the big screen, and bar the odd guest spot on television, the actors largely stepped away from the Star Trek universe. But this still wasn’t the end – in 2020, actor Patrick Stewart (aka Jean-Luc Picard) returned to the small screen for yet another television show.

The series was called Picard . It centred largely around the eponymous character, but also included various Next Gen cast members, who appeared in the series in guest roles.  

Due to the popularity of Picard ’s first season, as well as a positive reception from critics, the show returned for subsequent seasons.

Star Trek: The Next Generation in order

If you wish to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation in order, begin with the original television show, taking it season by season, then move onto the four films followed by Picard .

The Star Trek: The Next Generation viewing order is as follows:

• Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season One (1987 – 1988) – TV series
• Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Two (1988 – 1989) – TV series
• Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Three (1989 – 1990) – TV series
• Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Four (1990 – 1991) – TV series
• Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Five (1991 – 1992) – TV series
• Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Six (1992 – 1993) – TV series
• Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Seven (1993 – 1994) – TV series
• Star Trek Generations (1994) – Movie
• Star Trek: First Contact (1996) – Movie
• Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) – Movie
• Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) – Movie
• Picard – Season One (2020) – TV series
• Picard – Season Two (2022) – TV series
• Picard – Season Three (2023) – TV series

If you’re a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation , you may be interested to know that all the episodes of the original showare currently available on Blu-ray in a neat little box set.

Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Complete Series Blu-ray Box Set includes all seven seasons of the show, covering 178 episodes.

Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Complete Series Blu-ray Box Set is available from all good entertainment stockists, including Amazon US and Amazon UK .

Thank you for taking the time to stop by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about the viewing order for Star Trek: The Next Generation – I hope it has proved useful. For more useful posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.

Disclaimer: I earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation

The new Starship Enterprise and its crew set out "to boldly go where no one has gone before". Their first mission is to explore the creation of the Farpoint station located on planet Deneb IV.

An omnipotent being known as Q, who accuses humanity of barbarism, and places them on trial. Jean-Luc must prove otherwise, or the human race will be annihilated.

While examining the mysterious deaths of the entire crew on board the Starship Tsiolkovsky, the crew of the Enterprise is infected with a touch-transmitted virus that lowers inhibitions.

Tasha Yar must fight for her life, and a vaccine that will save a race of people, when she is kidnapped and forced to battle her abductor's wife.

A powerful entity disables the Enterprise and a Ferengi ship. Their only means of escape is if they can correctly answer the riddles he asks.

The Enterprise is flung across space into a distant galaxy over 2,700,000 light years away when a propulsion engineer, and his mysterious companion, attempt to re-design the ship's engine systems.

Cast & Crew

Sir Patrick Stewart

Capt. Jean-Luc Picard

Jonathan Frakes

Cmdr. William Riker

Brent Spiner

Lt. Cmdr. Data

LeVar Burton

Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge

Michael Dorn

Still going boldly, updated series is fun for all.

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Liste der Zeitreise-Episoden

• Quelltext bearbeiten
• Versionsgeschichte
• Diskussion (5)

Dies ist eine Auflistung aller Star-Trek -Episoden, in denen es um Zeitreisen ging:

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 Star Trek: The Original Series
• 2 Star Trek: The Animated Series
• 3 Star Trek: Filme
• 4 Star Trek: Das nächste Jahrhundert
• 5 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• 6 Star Trek: Raumschiff Voyager
• 7 Star Trek: Enterprise
• 8 Star Trek: Discovery
• 9 Star Trek: Picard
• 10.1 Folgen mit temporalen Anomalien

Star Trek: The Original Series [ ]

• Implosion in der Spirale
• Morgen ist Gestern
• Griff in die Geschichte
• Ein Planet, genannt Erde
• Portal in die Vergangenheit

Star Trek: The Animated Series [ ]

• Das Zeitportal

Star Trek: Filme [ ]

• Star Trek IV: Zurück in die Gegenwart
• Star Trek: Treffen der Generationen
• Star Trek: Der erste Kontakt

Star Trek: Das nächste Jahrhundert [ ]

• Begegnung mit der Vergangenheit
• Die Zukunft schweigt
• Die alte Enterprise
• Picard macht Urlaub
• Der zeitreisende Historiker
• Gefahr aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, Teil I und Gefahr aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, Teil II
• Willkommen im Leben nach dem Tode
• Gefangen in einem temporären Fragment
• Gestern, Heute, Morgen, Teil I und Gestern, Heute, Morgen, Teil II

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine [ ]

• Gefangen in der Ver­gangen­heit, Teil I und Gefangen in der Ver­gangen­heit, Teil II
• Der Visionär
• Kleine, grüne Männchen
• Die Übernahme
• Immer die Last mit den Tribbles
• Kinder der Zeit
• Tiefes Unrecht

Star Trek: Raumschiff Voyager [ ]

• Subraumspalten
• Das Nadelöhr
• Vor dem Ende der Zukunft, Teil I und Vor dem Ende der Zukunft, Teil II
• Temporale Sprünge
• Ein Jahr Hölle, Teil I und Ein Jahr Hölle, Teil II
• Temporale Paradoxie
• Zeitschiff "Relativity"
• Zersplittert
• Endspiel, Teil I und Endspiel, Teil II

Star Trek: Enterprise [ ]

• Aufbruch ins Unbekannte, Teil I und Aufbruch ins Unbekannte, Teil II
• Kalter Krieg
• Die Schockwelle, Teil I und Die Schockwelle, Teil II
• Die Zukunft
• Carpenter Street
• Azati Prime
• Stunde Null
• Sturmfront, Teil I und Sturmfront, Teil II

Star Trek: Discovery [ ]

• Auftakt zur Vergangenheit
• Der rote Engel
• Der Zeitsturm
• Solch süße Trauer, Teil II
• Ein Zeichen der Hoffnung, Teil I
• Terra Firma, Teil I und Terra Firma, Teil II

Star Trek: Picard [ ]

• Assimilation

Siehe auch [ ]

Folgen mit temporalen anomalien [ ].

• DS9 : Der Klang ihrer Stimme
• VOY : Die Parallaxe
• VOY : Der Zeitstrom
• VOY : Schwere
• VOY : Es geschah in einem Augenblick
• 1 Das fehlende Fragment
• 3 Urhumanoide

How Star Trek Made LeVar Burton Actually Glow For Its Identity Crisis Episode

In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Identity Crisis" (March 25, 1991), Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) meets an old friend, Lieutenant Commander Susanna Leijten (Maryann Plunkett), the only surviving member of a mission they both went on years before. It seems that their compatriots have gone missing or stolen shuttlecrafts to return to the planet Tarchannen III, where they were last united. Soon after her arrival, Leijten also begins exhibiting weird behavior, twitching nervously and demanding a visit to Tarchannen III. Her body begins to mutate. Her fingers fuse together and eerie blue veins appear on her skin. Her eyes turn yellow. It's all Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) can do to slow the mutations.

Geordi, while unattended, also suddenly begins to mutate. He eventually returns to Tarchannen III, having turned into a near-invisible creature that can only be seen under a special blacklight. Leijten has to overcome her own mutations and communicate with Geordi before his transformation becomes irreversible.

"Identity Crisis" is a good body-horror episode of "Star Trek," and perhaps shouldn't be watched in the dark alone. The scene where Geordi recreates a shadow on the holodeck is one of the scariest in the show's history.

In order to achieve the look of the invisible alien, Burton had to undergo a full-body makeup process  that involved a facial prosthetic, contact lenses, a lot of painted-on veins, alien gloves, and alien feet. It was the most makeup Burton ever had to wear on "The Next Generation."

In the book "Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages" edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, "Crisis" director David Livingston recalled the makeup process in detail, as well as the complex lighting the episode required. Livingston used U/V light on set, a first for the series.

The Mark & Brian Show

Some fun trivia: local KLOS DJs Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps, stars of "The Mark & Brian Show," played two additional aliens in the episode. They had no lines and just lurched past the camera. They also didn't have to undergo the same makeup process that Burton did, wearing full-body stockings and masks instead. The issue was getting the aliens to glow as it said in the script, a problem Livingston presented to his producer, Peter Lauritson. After checking out some test footage, Livingston went to longtime "Trek" makeup artist Michael Westmore and longtime costumer Robert Blackman about achieving the look. Livingston explained:

"We were talking about how we're going to make these guys glow and Peter Lauritson said to me, 'Why don't we try ultraviolet?' [...] I said because we had done a test the year before. I almost dismissed it, but then pulled out the tape and looked at it, and said this stuff is great. [I] went to Michael Westmore and Bob Blackman and said we want to do this, and they designed these suits and we painted them with U/V [paint] and put these contact lenses into this woman's eyes that glowed. [...] LeVar looked fabulous."

The costumes looked great, and they did indeed glow under a blacklight, a phenomenon anyone who has visited a commercial haunted house has likely encountered. The next problem, however, was lighting a set with blacklight-activated aliens on it. It seems that Livingston had to employ a special kind of blue lamp on set to bathe everything in a low, even color. This was in addition to the white lights needed to illuminate the actors. This kind of lighting had never been done on "Next Generation," a show that typically featured clean and even lighting.

The blue beacon

Livingston described the lighting rig as follows:

"We used heavy blue light for the set lighting, and it's different lighting than you see elsewhere because all the source coming from behind the camera is blue light. That's a decision we made and it should look harsh and unrealistic and not well-lit because it's not lit from one single blue source. It's basically a beacon shining out. It looked different than anything else and that was intentional." 

It was certainly strange-looking, giving off a ghostly vibe that wasn't used elsewhere in the series. Livingston noted that it worked well before adding that, after 1991, many other photographers and TV-makers started to use a stylized U/V light to create glowing images, notably in music videos. He continued:

"What I was surprised at was how powerful the U/V reflected back, and MTV is using it a lot now. I liked our use because it was integrated into the story. We used it to make it work dramatically rather than doing it as an effect. To me, that was a major accomplishment. We didn't do it to just be glitzy, we did it because it tied in dramatically with the story."

The makeup on Burton took four makeup artists and six full hours to apply. It was not just Burton's most extensive makeup job but the longest application in the history of the series. Luckily for Geordi, he was spared a subplot in the "Crisis" script wherein he and Leijten experienced a stalled romance. Geordi had already experienced several stalled romances , and piling another one on the character seemed cruel. The showrunners merely mutated him into an alien instead.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Complete Series

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Restored and meticulously remastered in brilliant high definition, Star Trek: The Next Generation® is a true milestone in TV history. With such thought-provoking episodes as “The Measure of a Man” and “The Inner Light”; the return of the Borg in “The Best of Both Worlds”; and the time-shattering confrontation between Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart)and the mysterious, god-like Q in the Hugo Award-winning series finale. Enjoy every memorable moment from the series that re-launched the Star Trek™ legacy for new “generations” to enjoy and experience!

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• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.8 x 5.87 x 4.06 inches; 2.29 Pounds
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Blu-ray
• Release date ‏ : ‎ September 20, 2022
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Patrick Stewart, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn
• Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ French, German, Italian, Japanese
• Studio ‏ : ‎ PARAMOUNT
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B5RH3GTQ
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 41
• #57 in Blu-ray

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Star Trek: The Next Generation Books In Order

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Star Trek: The Next Generation is a series of books written by various authors, based on the likewise named TV series created by Gene Roddenberry, who was also the executive producer of the original 1966 series, Star Trek: The Original Series. It is a sci-fi based adventure series with elements of drama. All the books in the series, which started in 1987, are based on the episodes of the TV series, and thus follow very similar story threads. The Star Trek series has inspired many a modern scientist with it’s depictions of (then) futuristic technology and equipment such as mobile phones and tablet devices. It is considered one of the classic sci-fi creations, and is a must for all fans of the genre. The series is renowned for it’s depth of content, with realistic characters and a vast galaxy populated by political groups and factions akin to the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. Books based on Star Trek: The Next Generation are aimed at readers who are familiar with the original series, and it’s plot has various references to the original throughout the text. Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV debut: Sep 28, 1987), often abbreviated as TNG, depicts the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard aboard the starship USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. It is set in the year 2364, 100 years after the “five-year mission” (from the original series). The basic thread across the entire plot of the series is the exploration of outer space, with the captain and his crew of 1,012 seeking new life and civilization. The NCC-1701-D is unique in the sense that it was designed to accommodate families, rather than just individuals – thus, the crew consists of men, women and children. The plot begins when Picard is tasked by a godlike entity named ‘Q’ to prove that the human race is not made up of mere savages, failing which it would bring extinction to mankind. The first mission is to prove their aptitude for this task by solving a certain mystery, solving which the crew proceed to explore deep space, and encounter various villainous groups. They soldier through space, making difficult choices and facing new foes. The plot is intriguing all the way to the eventual final encounter with the mysterious entity that is ‘Q’, and Picard’s handling of his original task.

Here are a list of the characters which appear at various points across the series:

Captain Jean-Luc Picard is the commanding officer of the USS Enterprise-D. He is the main protagonist of the story, and his character is a mainstay throughout it’s entirety. He is depicted as a master diplomat, with the ability and cunning to solve seemingly unsolvable conundrums. Ever the ideal hero, he often chooses what is just morally right, and willing to live with the consequences and sacrifices forced by such decisions. In the first book, “Encounter at Farpoint”, Picard’s qualities are finely illustrated – as the Enterprise-D takes off on it’s space quest, the ethereal ‘Q’ threatens to extinguish the humans race. It is Picard who convinces Q to allow him to show that humanity still exists, and is a cause worth saving.

William Riker is the first officer of the Enterprise-D. He is depicted as a young officer who becomes experienced and wise with time spent on aboard the ship. Initially portrayed as an arrogant rookie officer, with a disregard for his colleagues and the chain-of-command, Riker’s character gradually matures as the plot moves on. Eventually, he learns the key virtue of patience, and appreciates the company offered to him by the crew of the ship. At certain points in the plot, however, Riker display his original bold streak and acts against his superiors’ wishes.

Geordi La Forge is initially the Helmsman, and later the Chief Engineer of the ship. La Forge’s character is a tribute to a real-life quadriplegic fan of the original Star Trek series. He is visually impaired, but uses a device called the VISOR which allows him to see the world around him. He is depicted as a hard working, dedicated crew member. He impresses Picard by diligently working overnight to repair a minor problem, following which he is granted the post of helmsman of the Enterprise-D. As the plot progresses, he is given more important posts, with the rank of Lieutenant Commander being his highest post.

Natasha “Tasha” Yar is the chief security officer of the USS Enterprise-D. Her character is described as one coming from difficult, and sultry origins, as a result of which she relishes her experiences as a member of the crew. She is described as a bold woman – in the series, and even accompanies Captain Picard in a direct conflict situation. However, her character digresses early on from the main TNG story-line, but reappears at various points in the plot at different timelines. She is present in all the books upto season 1 of the series.

Worf is a non-human character, and the first Klingon main character in the series. Initially appointed as a lieutenant junior grade, he is promoted following the death of key characters in the series. A notable section of the plot deals with the Klingon, depicting Worf’s experiences as he encounters more beings of his race. Worf’s adventures provide for side-stories which further enhances the feeling of depth in the Star Trek world. Beverly Crusher is the chief medical officer aboard the ship. She is briefly replaced by the a character named Katherine Pulasky, when Crusher accepts a position as the head of the Starfleet Medical, but subsequently returns to the main storyline, and stays for the entire duration. Given the very nature of her work, Crusher’s role assumes importance throughout the story. Like all the other main characters, sufficient background information about her is provided at some point in the plot. However, her individual tales are mainly side-stories and do not directly influence the grand scheme of proceedings. She has a son aboard the ship, who goes by the name of Wesley Crusher.

Wesley Crusher is the son of Beverly Crusher. After spending his initial years aboard the ship, he receives a field commission to ensign. He then goes on to attend the Starfleet academy.

Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi is a mixed race character, being half-human and half-Betazoid. She is portrayed as having the ability to sense emotions, and is thus apt for the role of counselor in the ship. Because of her unique mind, her character is often utilized as a bridge between aliens and the crew members. In several turnkey episodes, Troi’s special abilities enable her to play a key role in the events which unfold.

Lieutenant Commander Data is an Android, which is an artificially constructed being with self-awareness, sapience and sentience. Being non-human, his perspectives on the human situation offer valuable self-evaluative passages, akin to Spock in the original Star Trek series. Data assumes the role of Chief Operations Officer aboard the ship. He is depicted as a confused bot, initially unable to understand human emotions. The allows avenues for comic relief, but also forms a key plot element, when he is given an emotion chip. He has exceptional computational capabilities and a fully working anatomy.

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The Cast Of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ To Receive Special Lifetime Achievement Saturn Award

| January 31, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 26 comments so far

This is going to be a big weekend for Star Trek at the Saturn Awards, with a total of 15 nominations , a franchise record. And the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror has announced the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation will also be honored with an additional special award.

TNG cast awarded with special Saturn

The cast of  Star Trek: The Next Generation  will receive The Lifetime Achievement Award at the 51st Annual Saturn Awards, being held in Los Angeles this Sunday. For 2024 the Academy is doing something different for the TNG cast with this award. A statement from the Academy to TrekMovie explains:

“The Lifetime Achievement Award is usually presented to an individual for their contributions to genre entertainment. Top luminaries like Stan Lee and Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock himself, have received this top honor. It’s not new, but we extended this award to cover the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation , due to its continued influence on the face of general television. It was originally doomed to failure since it was following in the footsteps of the original Star Trek, yet it carved its own identity, and its diverse cast was light years ahead of its time!”

Star Trek: The Next Generation launched as a syndicated drama series in 1987, running for seven seasons. TNG was nominated six times by the Saturn Awards for Best Genre Series, winning twice. Stewart also won for Best Actor in 1990. The series was also nominated for 58 Emmys during its run, with 18 wins. The Next Generation helped launch a new era of Star Trek, ushering in two additional TV series in the 1990s ( Deep Space Nine and Voyager ), along with 4 feature films.

Season 3 publicity photo for Star Trek: The Next Generation (Paramount)

The Saturn Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to the TNG cast by producer and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who is an avowed Star Trek fan. On hand to accept the award will be Sir Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Michael Dorn, and Wil Wheaton. While not present, TNG cast members LeVar Burton and Jonathan Frakes are also being bestowed with this honor. Both actors had to send their regrets due to scheduling conflicts.

In 2023 Spiner, Sirtis, Dorn, Burton, McFadden, and Frakes joined Stewart for the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard , which picked up a total of 7 nominations (see full list below).

Shatner to present MacFarlane with special award

There will be other special awards handed out during the event including The Robert Forster Artists Award going to Seth MacFarlane, the actor and producer behind The Orville , Family Guy , Ted , and much more. Presenting the award will be Star Trek icon William Shatner.

This year’s show is dedicated to the memory of Saturn Awards winner (and onetime host) Lance Reddick. The Academy is also introducing the Lance Reddick Legacy Award with the inaugural award going to actor Keannu Reaves, presented by actor Titus Welliver. Christopher Nolan will receive The Visionary Award, presented by Emily Blunt. The George Pal Memorial Award will go to Dave Filoni (Lucasfilm’s CCO), presented by Ming-Na Wen. The Walking Dead Franchise is being presented with the Dan Curtis Legacy Award. And finally, actress and director Jodie Foster will receive the Life Career Award, presented by writer/producer Issa López.

Shatner is no stranger to the Saturn Awards, including winning the Life Career Award (along with Gene Roddenberry) in 1980. He has been nominated six times, with two wins. His first win was for Star Trek II and his latest was in 2016 for a guest role in the Syfy series Haven .

15 Saturn nominations for Star Trek

In addition to the special award, Star Trek is set to take home more gold at this weekend’s Saturn Awards. Here is a complete list of the 7 categories where Star Trek is nominated…

Best Science Fiction Television Series:

Andor (Lucasfilm/Disney+) Foundation (Apple TV+) The Mandalorian (Lucasfilm/Disney+) The Peripheral (Amazon) Silo  (Apple TV+) Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+/CBS) Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  (Paramount+/CBS)

Best Animated Television Series or Special:

Chainsaw Man  (Crunchyroll) Gremlins: Secrets of Mogwai (HBO/Max) Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix) Harley Quinn (HBO/Max) My Adventures with Superman (Cartoon Network/Adult Swim) Star Trek: Lower Decks (Paramount+) Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Lucasfilm/Disney+)

Lower Decks’ “Old Friends, New Planets” (Paramount+)

Best Actor in a Television Series:

Tyler Hoechlin , Superman & Lois (Warner Bros. Television) Sam Heughan, Outlander (Starz) Diego Luna, Andor (Lucasfilm/Disney+) Anson Mount, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+/CBS) Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us (HBO/Max) Harold Perrineau, From (MGM+) Patrick Stewart, Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+/CBS)

Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series:

Jonathan Frakes, Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+/CBS) Harvey Guillen, What We Do in the Shadows  (FX/Hulu) Ernie Hudson, Quantum Leap (NBC/Universal) Ethan Peck, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  (Paramount+/CBS) Ed Speleers, Star Trek: Picard  (Paramount+/CBS) Matt Smit, House of the Dragon  (HBO/Max) Todd Stashwick, Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+/CBS)

 Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series:

Jess Bush, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  (Paramount+/CBS) Celia Rose Gooding, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  (Paramount+/CBS) Genevieve O’Reilly, Andor  (Lucasfilm/Disney+) Jeri Ryan, Star Trek: Picard  (Paramount+/CBS) Katee Sackhoff, The Mandalorian (Lucasfilm/Disney+) Sophie Skelton, Outlander (Starz) Rebecca Wisocky, Ghosts  (CBS)

Best Guest Star in a Television Series:

Gael Garcia Bernal, Marvel’s Werewolf by Night (Marvel/Disney+) Giancarlo Esposito,  The Mandalorian (Lucasfilm/Disney+) Nick Offerman, The Last of Us (HBO/Max) Amanda Plummer, Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+/CBS) Andy Serkis, Andor  (Lucasfilm/Disney+) Paul Wesley, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  (Paramount+/CBS) Catherine Zeta-Jones, Wednesday (Netflix)

Anson Mount as Capt. Pike and Ethan Peck as Spock in “Charades” from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)

Best 4K Home Media Release:

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen 4K (Criterion) The Exorcist 50th Anniversary Edition 4K (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) Cujo 4K (Kino Lorber) John Wick, Chapter 4 – 4K (Lionsgate Home Entertainment) Needful Things 4K (Kino Lorber) To Live and Die in L.A. 4K (Kino Lorber) Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition 4K (Paramount Home Entertainment)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture 4K Blu-ray  

This year the Saturns Awards is hosted by actor and comedian Joel McHale. The show will be held on Sunday, February 4, 2024, at the L.A. Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel. The ceremony will be livestreamed on ElectricNOW .

Find more news and analysis on Star Trek Universe TV shows at TrekMovie.com .

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This warms my heart so much. My favorite cast from my favorite show to be recognized like this is amazing. The TNG cast certainly deserves it. And Kevin Feige will be presenting to them as well. Pretty cool. I read All Good Things is his favorite TV episode, period.

If Picard season 3 is truly the last time we see all those characters together again like that, then they went out with a bang.

Also great to see so many nominations for both PIC and SNW! Hope we get a few winners. Well done team! 😀🖖

Yup, IIRC All Good Things inspired the time traveling escapades of Avengers: Endgame

Yeah when I heard that I was very excited to see the movie at the time. It’s nice to see when Trek influences other things out there.

Other fans believe the signatures at the end of that movie was inspired by The Undiscovered Country as well.

Don’t know how true that one is but I’ll take it! 🙂🖖

The signatures in Endgame being inspired by TUC is 100% true, read it in an interview. Same with the time traveling as mentioned by amirami. Also the destruction of Asgard in Thor Ragnarok was inspired by the destruction of the Enterprise in Search for Spock – the writers felt that for the third movie, the heroes had to lose something in a big way, like in SFS. Also there was a recent interview where Final Frontier’s campfire scenes inspired a lot of the “plainclothes” scenes of the superheroes across the Avengers movies, because it was like seeing your heroes out of costume just being regular people that you like and want to hang out with, and enjoy hanging out with each other. So yeah, Trek’s DNA is all throughout Marvel, in all the best ways.

Wow thank you! 🙂

If I could give you a like for this post I would give you several. I didn’t know that about Ragnarok or the plain clothes scenes either.

Well said. This is fantastic news.

Wow, that’s really something. Congrats, gang. Well deserved.

This is so damn cool. This whole cast deserves this.

Congratulations…

That is great! Congratulations to the cast!

GREAT NEWS! WELL DESERVED!

Wow congratulations to the whole crew!!!!!

Way to go and soooooo good! My favourite ensemble cast of all time finally, collectively being acknowledge for all their hard work and for being so much a part of of our lives! Living long and prospering… making it so!

Niiiiice!!!!

Nearly 40 years later and TNG is still receiving major accolades decades later! It’s still an amazing show with a great cast and well deserved!

Sweet. So deserved.

That award looks like that game/virus that the D crew got addicted to.

Well deserved. Picard s3 = Best Trek since 1996 First Contact!!

Well, I would say best Trek season since 1997-1998 DS9 Season 6. But close enough!

I agree with this too. Picard season 3 was on par with the last seasons of DS9. Just great television and the Star Trek I been sorely missing.

Whole cast? WHOLE CAST???

Polaski or GTFO!!!

AAAActually, Diana Muldaur was never a main cast member. Like Whoopi Goldberg, John de Lancie, and Colm Meaney, she was just a guest star (granted, her credit read “special appearance by” but still not a main cast member).

Yeah I think she was in every episode in season 2, but only as a guest star role. Now THAT said, she and Whoopi Goldberg were in all the cast photos in season 2 as well. So while technically neither were considered main cast members they were promoted as such back then. You never saw Garek or Gul Dukat in any main cast photos for DS9 as an example.

This is so cool. Ok, I will watch Picard Season 3 again. Twist my arm.

I love these people so much. Also really cool that Shatner will be there as well. Star Trek has so many amazing fans that are really talented. I’m hoping that since 2024 is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek (The Cage being from 1964), Shatner and Stewart will team up for an event or something while they still can, given that it’s also the 30th anniversary of Generations, and we’re blessed that they’re both still around to do something. I’ve been in talks with people at the TOS set in Ticonderoga to see if we can do an event, hopefully with the blessing of CBS as well. If anyone knows how we can make this happen, I would love to somehow get in touch!

One Star Trek Costume Left Patrick Stewart With Lasting Damage

Sir Patrick Stewart might be forever grateful to "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and his role as Picard, but one thing he will never appreciate is the Lycra onesies the cast was forced to endure during the show's early seasons. An inconvenience to most of the cast, the supertight Starfleet uniform actually caused the Jean-Luc Picard actor to suffer from serious neck and back pain — so serious that he was almost forced to get litigious. 

Speaking with BBC Radio 1, Stewart recalled how the cast were "practically poured into our costumes for the first two years," adding that they had been intentionally given uniforms that were one size too small. The cast's costumes had been so tight that the actors had to tug on them every time they changed from sitting to standing or vice versa — some fairly amusing supercuts of this uniform-rearranging "Picard maneuver" can be found on YouTube.

But when the physical toll of wearing a too-tight uniform drove the actor to a chiropractor for neck, back, and shoulder pain, Stewart's doc became genuinely concerned that it would eventually cause permanent damage. To keep this from happening, the chiro warned the studio that they could be faced with a lawsuit if they didn't get Stewart into a costume that wasn't actively harming his spine.

It was always about Gene Roddenberry's vision --- for sexy Trek

The original "Next Generation" uniforms worn by the cast were developed by the show's first costume designer, William Ware Theiss. But the reasoning behind the muscle-hugging look came straight from "Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry. "Gene Roddenberry loooooved it," Patrick Stewart explained to the BBC, later adding, "He wanted everything to be absolutely chic and smooth."

But for Roddenberry, it wasn't just about presenting a slick-looking Starfleet uniform. In his memoir "Making It So," Stewart called the producer "a fan of cheesecake." Despite his overall progressive vision for "Star Trek," Roddenberry's vision for a sexy future has often been accused of objectifying actors in sexist fashion.  As Stewart wrote, "We all suffered to a degree from a directive to look sexy," adding that Ware's costumes were designed "so that they never wrinkled and kept our bodies on full display." 

Despite the tight costume leaving Stewart in constant pain, Roddenberry hadn't taken his many complaints seriously. Fortuitously, Stewart's agent, Steve Dontanville, recommended he see a doctor around the time the show's original costume designer was retiring, and new designer Robert Blackman was much more sympathetic to Stewart's pain. Even after Blackman pulled together the sharp-looking two-piece polyester costume Picard can be seen wearing in later seasons, Roddenberry's insistence on a wrinkle-free uniform was unwavering. Luckily, Stewart had a very special shirt tug in his back pocket for dealing with the issue.

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April 11, 2024

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Engineers recreate Star Trek's Holodeck using ChatGPT and video game assets

by Ian Scheffler, University of Pennsylvania

In "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Captain Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise leverage the Holodeck, an empty room capable of generating 3D environments, of preparing for missions and entertaining them, simulating everything from lush jungles to the London of Sherlock Holmes.

Deeply immersive and fully interactive, Holodeck-created environments are infinitely customizable, using nothing but language; the crew has only to ask the computer to generate an environment, and that space appears in the Holodeck.

Today, virtual interactive environments are also used to train robots prior to real-world deployment in a process called "Sim2Real." However, virtual interactive environments have been in surprisingly short supply.

"Artists manually create these environments," says Yue Yang, a doctoral student in the labs of Mark Yatskar and Chris Callison-Burch, Assistant and Associate Professors in Computer and Information Science (CIS), respectively. "Those artists could spend a week building a single environment," Yang adds, noting all the decisions involved, from the layout of the space to the placement of objects to the colors employed in rendering.

That paucity of virtual environments is a problem if you want to train robots to navigate the real world with all its complexities. Neural networks, the systems powering today's AI revolution, require massive amounts of data, which in this case means simulations of the physical world.

"Generative AI systems like ChatGPT are trained on trillions of words, and image generators like Midjourney and DALL-E are trained on billions of images," says Callison-Burch. "We only have a fraction of that amount of 3D environments for training so-called 'embodied AI.' If we want to use generative AI techniques to develop robots that can safely navigate in real-world environments, then we will need to create millions or billions of simulated environments."

Enter Holodeck , a system for generating interactive 3D environments co-created by Callison-Burch, Yatskar, Yang and Lingjie Liu, Aravind K. Joshi Assistant Professor in CIS, along with collaborators at Stanford, the University of Washington, and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2). Named for its Star Trek forebear, Holodeck generates a virtually limitless range of indoor environments, using AI to interpret users' requests.

The paper is published on the arXiv preprint server.

"We can use language to control it," says Yang. "You can easily describe whatever environments you want and train the embodied AI agents."

Holodeck leverages the knowledge embedded in large language models (LLMs), the systems underlying ChatGPT, and other chatbots. "Language is a very concise representation of the entire world," says Yang. Indeed, LLMs turn out to have a surprisingly high degree of knowledge about the design of spaces, thanks to the vast amounts of text they ingest during training. In essence, Holodeck works by engaging an LLM in conversation, using a carefully structured series of hidden queries to break down user requests into specific parameters.

Just like Captain Picard might ask Star Trek's Holodeck to simulate a speakeasy, researchers can ask Penn's Holodeck to create "a 1b1b apartment of a researcher who has a cat." The system executes this query by dividing it into multiple steps: First, the floor and walls are created, then the doorway and windows.

Next, Holodeck searches Objaverse , a vast library of premade digital objects, for the sort of furnishings you might expect in such a space: a coffee table, a cat tower, and so on. Finally, Holodeck queries a layout module, which the researchers designed to constrain the placement of objects so that you don't wind up with a toilet extending horizontally from the wall.

To evaluate Holodeck's abilities, in terms of their realism and accuracy, the researchers generated 120 scenes using both Holodeck and ProcTHOR, an earlier tool created by AI2, and asked several hundred Penn Engineering students to indicate their preferred version, not knowing which scenes were created by which tools. For every criterion—asset selection, layout coherence, and overall preference—the students consistently rated the environments generated by Holodeck more favorably.

The researchers also tested Holodeck's ability to generate scenes that are less typical in robotics research and more difficult to manually create than apartment interiors, like stores, public spaces, and offices. Comparing Holodeck's outputs to those of ProcTHOR, which were generated using human-created rules rather than AI-generated text, the researchers found once again that human evaluators preferred the scenes created by Holodeck. That preference held across a wide range of indoor environments, from science labs to art studios, locker rooms to wine cellars.

Finally, the researchers used scenes generated by Holodeck to "fine-tune" an embodied AI agent. "The ultimate test of Holodeck," says Yatskar, "is using it to help robots interact with their environment more safely by preparing them to inhabit places they've never been before."

Across multiple types of virtual spaces, including offices, daycares, gyms and arcades, Holodeck had a pronounced and positive effect on the agent's ability to navigate new spaces.

For instance, whereas the agent successfully found a piano in a music room only about 6% of the time when pre-trained using ProcTHOR (which involved the agent taking about 400 million virtual steps), the agent succeeded over 30% of the time when fine-tuned using 100 music rooms generated by Holodeck.

"This field has been stuck doing research in residential spaces for a long time," says Yang. "But there are so many diverse environments out there—efficiently generating a lot of environments to train robots has always been a big challenge, but Holodeck provides this functionality."

In June, the researchers will present Holodeck at the 2024 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Computer Vision Foundation (CVF) Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) Conference in Seattle, Washington.

GitHub: yueyang1996.github.io/holodeck/

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Is a Star Trek: The Next Generation reboot inevitable?

I t's a question that has come up before. Could Star Trek: The Next Generation be rebooted somewhere down the line? Is it possible that Paramount would attempt to replace Captain Picard and the entire, memorable crew?

Star Trek: The Original Series was essentially rebooted with the J.J. Abrams' movies, beginning with Star Trek (2009). And, in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, characters we've known since the beginning of Star Trek have been recast with, for the most part, fan approval. But Star Trek: Picard recently brought back the characters from The Next Generation, making the final season of the series a rousing success. All of the actors returned to reprise their original roles, and they still fit easily back into their parts. In ten episodes, Picard brought us one long movie that could have would have been epic as a three-parter on movie screens much like other movie franchise have done. So that season proved those characters aren't ready to be retired. In fact, they don't need to be as they easily undertook a season-long mission and proved they could handle more.

Giant Freakin Robot seems to think, though, that it's inevitable for The Next Generation to be rebooted and even provides a recipe for success. But I question whether that will actually happen with original actors still in fighting shape, so to speak. The Original Series was rebooted onscreen without giving most of the original characters a chance to reprise their roles. Could they have done just as well in a new movie?

Leonard Nimoy appeared in the movie, and he didn't miss a beat as Spock. William Shatner, who is now 93-years-old, was only 78 at the time of Star Trek (2009) so he could have slipped back into the role of Captain Kirk just as Patrick Stewart reclaimed his role as Admiral Picard. Essentially, the 2009 movie didn't have to happen with a reboot of the characters. It was a choice made by the studio.

A reboot of The Next Generation would, of course, be another choice by the studio, but with such success coming from the final season of Picard, with the original characters still fresh on fans' minds, would it be a wise decision? Probably not, and with Alex Kurtzman saying he wants all the series to be different, this is something that probably isn't going to happen.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as Is a Star Trek: The Next Generation reboot inevitable? .

The Star Trek “Origin” Movie Is Finally Going Into Production

The new Star Trek prequel movie is set to be revealed on the big screen. Probably.

For 30 years — from 1979 to 2009 — the longest wait between new Star Trek feature films was seven years. And, for most of that period, from the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) to Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), there was almost always a new Star Trek movie in theaters every two to four years. But after the wildly successful J.J. Abrams-directed reboot film in 2009, the release clip for Trek movies went from maximum warp to impulse power, to glacially slow. And now, by the time the next Star Trek movie hits theaters, it will have been about 10 years since the previous one — Star Trek Beyond — beamed into cinemas in 2016.

Since that time, for Trekkies, updates of a new Star Trek film have been very similar to the game football Lucy plays with Charlie Brown; just when a hypothetical movie sounds real, it gets snatched away. But now, there’s a glimmer of hope. Thanks to reports out of CinemaCon 2024, it looks like, the next Trek film is scheduled for release in either 2025 or 2026. But what’s it about? And will it really happen?

Star Trek 14 is “an untitled origin story”

The new “origin story” will be set before the 2009 reboot. But how many decades before?

During CinemaCon 2024, Paramount confirmed several in-development projects including a live-action GI Joe / Transformers crossover (teased in 2023’s Rise of the Beasts ), a hardcore Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action movie, a remake of the sci-fi thriller The Running Man (from Edgar Wright), the confirmation of an Avatar trilogy, and the assertion that a new Star Trek feature film will go into production this year, with a release date soon to follow.

Since 2016 to now, there have been at least five different attempts to make a new Star Trek film, either as timey wimey direct sequel to Beyond (“Star Trek 4”) a one-off space mobster movie (Quentin Tarantino’s script) or something else entirely (Noah Hawley and Matt Shakman’s attempts that remain undisclosed). But now, although Paramount is reportedly developing a sequel to Beyond — which would feature the reboot cast from the 2009 film one last time — the next Star Trek movie is not that sequel, but instead, as previously reported , an “origin story” that “takes place decades before the 2009 Star Trek film that rebooted the franchise.” This movie has been confirmed to be directed by Toby Haynes ( Andor, Doctor Who ) with a script from Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie , Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter) .

Wait? Wasn’t the 2009 film an “origin story?” While the answer to this question is technically a “yes,” the 2009 film (just titled Star Trek ) was also partially a time-travel sequel to the canon established in The Next Generation , and literally everything else in the Trek franchise up until that point. By saying the new prequel film takes place “decades before” the first reboot, this could hypothetically mean that the movie takes place in both the Prime and Kelvin timelines simultaneously.

TLDR: The Trek timeline diverged in the first reboot movie, beginning in the year 2233, so, a story set even a few decades before that divergence, in the 2210s or 2220s or earlier, would be consistent with all versions of Trek's future history. Presumably, the “origin story” won’t take place in the two decades between the prologue of the 2009 film (2233) and the main story (2258), because honestly, even for hardcore Trekkies that’s a big canon headache. So, sometime in the early 2200s, but before the 2230s is probably the best bet. And, even if the movie was set a bit earlier than that — say in the late 2180s or 2190s — we’d still be dealing with a very early point of Starfleet history that has never been depicted and that we know almost nothing about. Hence, if you squint — and don’t think about the prequel series Enterprise (2151-2161) too much — then yes, we’re looking at an origin story in which pretty much anything could happen.

Star Trek “origin” movie release date

One of the earliest shots of the USS Enterprise — from the 1964 Star Trek pilot episode “The Cage.” The new prequel film will likely be set half a century before this moment.

While some tweets out of CinemaCon seemed to indicate that the new Star Trek movie could hit next year in 2025 , TrekMovie confirmed that the “Untitled Star Trek Origin Story,” is on the Paramount slate for 2025 or 2026. TrekMovie also predicted that 2026 is more likely, writing, “If Paramount can move fast enough they could get the origin movie into theaters by 2026 — in time for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.” Then again, 2025 is not impossible, it’s just cutting it a little close.

It should also be noted that the entire corporate entity of Paramount is reportedly close to a merger that would see it purchased by Skydance Media, the same production company behind the three existing J.J. Abrams-produced Star Trek reboots. If that deal is finalized soon, then, yes, this Star Trek feature film might actually happen very quickly. And if it doesn’t, there will still be plenty of new Star Trek shows streaming , not to mention the first direct-to-streaming standalone Star Trek movie, Section 31 , starring Michelle Yeoh, which will hit Paramount+ sometime later this year.

All the reboot Star Trek films (2009-2016) are currently streaming on Paramount+. The previous ten films (1979-2002) are all on Max.

Ryan Britt's new book on the history of Star Trek's biggest changes. From the '60s show to the movies to 'TNG,' to 'Discovery,' 'Picard,' Strange New Worlds,' and beyond!

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‘Star Trek: Discovery’s Connection to ‘The Next Generation’ Explained

...And it involves a new crew.

The Big Picture

• The USS Discovery embarks on a red directive mission with ties to Star Trek lore, focusing on the Progenitors' technology.
• New faces join the crew on a mission to uncover an artifact related to the Progenitors in the Next Generation era.
• The technology to create life poses a powerful threat if misused, as Moll and L'ak aim to sell the artifact to the highest bidder.

The first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 are finally available on Paramount+, putting Captain Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin-Green ) and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery back on the boldly going business. This time, they're not going another 800 years into the future, but instead, their mission has a connection to another time: the Star Trek: The Next Generation era. Back then, Captain Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) once led the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on a mission that uncovered the secrets of life itself as we know it . It may have been a one-episode story, but it's now getting the proper arc it deserves; the time has finally come to learn the secrets of the Progenitors.

Star Trek: Discovery

Taking place almost a decade before Captain Kirk's Enterprise, the USS Discovery charts a course to uncover new worlds and life forms.

The Discovery Is Given a Red Directive Mission by Dr. Kovich

The final season of Discovery starts off with its foot on the door, with ties to past Star Trek lore and the return of Dr. Kovich ( David Cronenberg ), which always means business for the Discovery crew. This time, his mission is so important that it interrupts a Starfleet event, but can't be disclosed because it's a red directive (a mission of a highly classified and dangerous nature that takes precedence over all other tasks) . Captain Burnham doesn't like the idea of keeping secrets from her crew, but since the Discovery is the only ship that can take this mission thanks to its spore drive, she accepts it.

The secretive mission introduces some new faces to Discovery , including couriers, Moll ( Eve Harlow ) and L'ak ( Elias Toufexis ), as well as U.S.S. Antares Captain Rayner ( Callum Keith Rennie ). The mission was to retrieve an artifact from a Romulan science ship that had been adrift for 800 years, but Moll and L'ak beat them to it, then take the artifact to the planet, Q'mau, where the synthetic antique dealer, Fred ( J. Adam Brown ), opens it up and reveals a diary written by the Romulan scientist, Vellek ( Michael Copeman ). Even though Moll and L'ak have escaped Starfleet in Q'mau, Admiral Charles Vance ( Oded Fehr ) helps officer Sylvia Tilly ( Mary Wiseman ) obtain information on Vellek.

As it turns out, Vellek was once part of a group that—under the leadership of Captain Jean-Luc Picard —attempted to solve the mystery of the planet Vilmor II. There, they found out about a race of humanoid aliens known only as the Progenitors , who have created life in its humanoid form and are the common link between all present humanoid species in the galaxy. The Discovery's mission, however, isn't about the Progenitors themselves, but rather about the technology they used to do what they did.

The Progenitors’ Story Comes From a Single Episode in ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’

Season 6, Episode 20 of The Next Generation , "The Chase," is one of the wildest in the entire series. For the first time ever, a Star Trek episode shows Humans, Klingons, Romulans, and more together in the same scene. That's all thanks to one of the most interesting plots in the franchise, which sees these races coming together to discover the secret of their common origin. Unfortunately, The Next Generation didn't carry on with this plotline, but Discovery is finally giving it the sequence it deserves.

"The Chase" starts off with Captain Picard meeting his old mentor, Professor Galen ( Norman Lloyd ), aboard the Enterprise-D. The scholar is there to recruit Picard for a long-term mission that will result in the most important scientific discovery of their time, but Picard can't give up his post on Starfleet. Picard decides to take the Enterprise-D and finish what Galen started. He begins by analyzing the data his mentor had gathered (large blocks of numbers laid out in a sort of sequence). Following this trail, he eventually discovers that the numbers are actually a DNA sequence. On the planet, Loren III, Picard intervenes and mediates their conflict upon learning that both of them are there for the same reason the Enterpreise-D is, calling for them to analyze the combined DNA strands they have. They learn that those are all part of a puzzle, with each sequence complementing one another, but that there are still missing pieces.

The Enterprise-D follows the Cardassians to Vilmor II with the Klingon emissary on board, and they find out the planet has lichen growing on the dried-up ocean floor. Discreetly, Dr. Beverly Crusher ( Gates McFadden ) inserts all the DNA samples they now have onto her tricorder, which then projects the recording of a humanoid woman ( Salome Jens ). Thankfully, everyone stops arguing to listen to the projection, as the woman explains that she belonged to a race of ancient aliens from 4.5 billion years earlier. Her species eventually came to terms with their extinction, but they sowed pieces of their own DNA on many planets where life could grow across the galaxy as a way of ensuring a lasting legacy . Their intention was for all those future species to come together upon discovering their shared ancestry . Cardassians and Klingons immediately resume their bickering, unable to accept that they have anything in common. Later, Picard ponders with the Romulans that one day, in the future, perhaps all species will learn to coexist for the sake of their shared ancestry.

Where Does This Leave Captain Burnham and the Discovery Crew?

The race of ancient humanoids is never named onscreen, but they are referred to as the Progenitors from then on. With Discovery finally finishing this loose thread in Star Trek lore, it's important to ponder that the Progenitors must have used powerful tech to sow their DNA across the galaxy, which is what the overall plot of the season is going to be. The technology to create life is powerful by definition , and can be used for terrible things if it falls in the wrong hands. Right now, Moll and L'ak have the diary, but they're unwilling to cooperate with the Federation after a failed negotiation attempt by Cleveland "Book" Booker ( David Ajala ). However, they're looking to sell the diary to the highest bidder.

After the events of the first part of the season premiere , "Red Directive," Captain Rayner has been discharged from his command of the U.S.S. Antares. As sad as it is to see an officer of 30-plus years being discharged, it's also very serendipitous, as Captain Burnham is in need of a new number one for the Discovery as Saru ( Doug Jones ) is about to take a new diplomatic post for the Federation. During their chase on Q'mau, Rayner mentions that he has history chasing Moll and L'ak, which will surely come in handy . Also, Book finds out he has a past connection to Moll that makes them all but family, which is another potential lead to finding her.

Star Trek: Discovery is available to watch on Paramount+ in the U.S.

Watch on Paramount+