Star Trek:The Next Generation Celebrates 25th Anniversary Today

On this very day back in 1987, audiences around the world heard the iconic phrase, "space, the final frontier," spoken to them by a new captain in command of a drastically new Star Trek series.

Star Trek, The Next Generation, debuted in syndication 25 years ago today.  None of us new what to think.  We were desperate for more of anything that qualified as "Star Trek."  The original series ran fewer than 80 episodes.  Fans at that time had to sustain themselves with whatever original episodes they could catch on their local televisions stations and the four original-cast movies that had been released.  Finally, more Trek.

In retrospect, the hoopla surrounding the idea that Star Trek would return without any of the original cast probably wasn't as big an issue as the media suggested. There was a concerned focus group who didn't know what to think of a absurdly middle-aged British actor playing a bald-headed French captain on an Enterprise that looked more like the Holiday Inn than a vessel of deep space exploration.

Many fans, critics, fellow actors, and even Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, were excited to have a genuine actor in command of the Enterprise.  Star Trek, the original series actor Walter Koenig, famous for role as Mr. Chekov, expressed his respect for the Next Generation captain, and lack there of for the captin from his series. Koenig said, "Bill.... just never got it.  Bill wasn't Patrick Stewart. We never had the respect for our captain the way TNG crew had with theirs."

Here it is 25 years, 7 seasons of TNG, and a handful of not-so-good TNG movies later, and Trek fans have cause for celebration.  Stewart has since been knighted, carried the Olympic torch, and reached world-wide fame.  Other members of the TNG cast have thrived in their careers as well.  Congrats to you, Star Trek: The Next Generation, kudos for your success, and to your future missions, we wish you "New Worlds."