What kind of an impact has TNG had on your life?

[TroiFan4ever]

In my case, I was born RIGHT in the middle of the original television run of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Going back to my VERY early childhood as a 90s baby this was the first TV series I enjoyed!

Blue became my favorite color because that's the color of the Starfleet uniform Troi wears during the 2-hour premiere and the last two seasons of the show. I've always loved how Troi looked in her Starfleet uniform, especially with her Season 7 hairdo. I've always wanted a uniform just like hers but around kindergarten or first grade... ish my mom and her boyfriend at the time (not my dad) took me shopping at a Halloween shop to find me a costume. They did have TNG uniforms but unfortunately they didn't have blue. Just red. I did get the Red though.

I read a Reddit thread ages ago about how TNG stopped a fan from committing suicide (if that word is banned here, I apologize in advance) because TNG was his hour-long escape from reality or something of that sort. I'd have to dig it back up again. But it hit me how groundbreaking how this series or Star Trek in general has had such a profound impact on people.

TNG also taught some valuable life lessons and that's what I appreciate about the show.

"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still fail!"
- Picard ("Peak Performance")

I do tune in virtually every night to see TNG on Heroes & Icons (a free over-the-air channel which you should receive if you have a digital antenna) but there's nothing like watching it in its original run and watching it in reruns on UPN on TV in the 90s where we didn't yet have all these streaming services we do today.

 

[Mojochi]

I kind of feel like it helped shape my work ethic as a teen. It was helpful at a time when someone like me, who's on the outskirts of social normativity, wasn't even on anybody's radar. I got at least an encouraging understanding of healthy team dynamics & conflict resolution.

I grew up as a little tyke with TOS in syndication & I do love it, but it's my dad's show, & thankfully the TNG crew, specifically Picard, provided a much more orderly example of how to work with people

I know it catches a lot of flack for its premise, but there might be no better an example of what I mean than the episode Conundrum, where all the ranks, personal baggage & pretenses are dropped.

Watching them work thru that situation like strangers, in all their varied styles is an absolute joy IMHO.

 

[cgervasi]

It's hard to imagine what it would be like without it. I was at just the right age. I had seen all the TOS reruns, and I was 12 when TNG began. I still like TNG Season One to this day, an uncommon opinion. I was just eager for new Trek content and at an age where I could accept things that probably would have seemed silly at an older age. It totally felt like 76 years of technological improvement had happened, and I just bought the whole premise.

I still turn it on occasionally in the background because I find it so peaceful. The crew doesn't have infighting. Many of the plots involve scientific problems or misunderstandings rather than an evil person. The show touches big issues but mostly offers simple answers so you're not left haunted with deep questions.

 

[Mojochi]

Not enough is said about how well TNG married the original episodic Star Trek television model with the updated film franchise esthetic, & the more current format of serialized character development, while trying to advance it in presentation, design & feel, to connect with how audiences were relating to the IP in that time.

That 1st season might've been shaky, but the right recipe had been realized. The movies had changed how we related to it, & somehow TNG managed to get there in nearly every aspect. So much so, it shaped the next 2 decades of their content. It's truly unprecedented. Its why I love it even more than the others

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

I was 20 in 1966 when TOS launched and almost 40 for TNG. I was already a SciFi nerd in ‘66 and a married father of two in ‘85 so most of Trek then and since has simply been inspirational entertainment. Trek displayed traits of acceptance, curiosity and honesty that been drilled into me since childhood so it didn’t change my life, only added language and metaphor to express it. I have watched every nanosecond of Trek on any size screen along with my wife and adult daughters and still enjoy it all. I can even watch Shades of Grey. ;-)

 

[at Quark's]

Important life lessons I learned from TNG:
1) Death is usually reversible (not always, and less often when the person that dies is unimportant or unsympathetic)
2) When the strict application of a law /rule leads to a situation that is unjust in your eyes, you can go against said law and/or the authorities that established that rule and you will prevail, inevitably.
3) Nearly all problems can be solved within approx. 45 minutes. In very rare instances, it will take twice that amount of time.
4) People can suffer the most horrific trauma, both physically and psychologically, only to be fully healed by next week


Seriously, though, I saw TNG when I was an impressionable teen, and I do think part of my morality has been shaped by the famous Picard speeches.

 

[JesterFace]

It has had and still has impact on my life.
My favourite series of all time. (Season 1 of 24 comes pretty close though....)
Every summer revolves around STNG, I watch the (what I think are) the best episodes marathon.
That tradition began in VHS era even if I didn't have all the episodes back then.
Then along came DVD box sets.
Because of this series I know more about space and science than I would know without it.
Honestly these days I'm too picky, the amount of the very best episodes has gone down quite a bit but still enough to be the best.

 

[Fuddles]

TNG was one of the few shows my roommates and I could agree to watch together.

 

[TroiFan4ever]

I wished I'd started this thread yesterday instead of the day before. It's been brought to my attention that September 28 is the anniversary of the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation with "Encounter at Farpoint".

 

[ananta]

TNG was kind of a comfort show to me when I was growing up. It was my entry point into the Star Trek world. I just loved how positive it was and how well people treated each other. A lot of drama shows then and now focus on human dysfunction and people being absolute b*stards to each other. I loved the civility, kindness and morality of TNG. That was something I wasn’t always experiencing in my daily life as an adolescent, so I found comfort in the 24th century and the idea that people could live in such a positive way.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

There was a time in my life when TNG, nay Star Trek in general, really meant a lot to me. It’s something I will always associate with a certain person over a certain period and for that reason it’s special.

I’m not sure if ‘impact’ is the right word in my case but TNG does take me back to simpler, maybe better times.

 

[Sim]

TNG, along with TOS and DS9 (and somtimes even some X-Files episodes), was my means of escapism in troubled times. When life was difficult and I needed food for the soul to regenerate, Star Trek gave me that, perhaps TNG even a little more than the other shows.

Some people find solance in religion in bad times, even if it's just its familiar mythology, and that was Star Trek for me, when I had bad times.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I was a pre-teen when TNG first aired in the UK and I made sure to watch every episode, so I was thoroughly indoctrinated by its philosophy. It pretty much taught me how proper adults solved problems, not those TV show adults who always ended up arguing for the sake of drama you'd get in other programs.

I think I began thinking about its moral lessons more critically when they started talking about letting entire planets die due to the Prime Directive, but before that tiny me was soaking it all in like a sponge.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

Watching TNG changed me from a rather unpleasant guy into a (I'd like to think somewhat less unpleasant) guy who learned that words instead of fists can solve conflicts and that sometimes the best way to fight is not to be there. (I know, this wasn't originally TNG's idea, but still. It's one of my favorite moments.)

And of course the love of my life Jean-Luc Picard changed everything and turned my world upside down but that's a story for another day. And a far too personal one for a message board.

 

[The Wormhole]

Star Trek in general has shaped a lot of my life and who I am. A lot of aspects of my personality, both the good and bad originate from Star Trek or from things that Star Trek led me to. Since TNG was my introduction to the Trek franchise, I guess you could say that without TNG, I wouldn't be the person I am today.

 

[markoid the android]

I was born in '83 and TNG was a major part of my childhood and I am thankful for that because it's influence on me was substantial. Apart from my maternal grandparents, I didn't really have anyone who taught me anything of real value or anyone who evinced any particular interest in me. TNG gave me a moral education and orientated me towards adventure, comradeship, and professional competence. It influenced the way I use language. Deanna Troi was the first woman who I felt an attraction to and she probably became a model for future girlfriends. I think if it wasn't for TNG then I probably would be dead right now because I believe the show instilled in me an optimism in myself and in other people that I frequently had occasion to question over the years but it's something that's never left me.

Despite all that, I think there's a double-edged sword to the show and I've been thinking about this for a while. I never found real friendship the way it was portrayed on the show. I never found sustained professional fulfilment. Sometimes I imagine that my life is the dreary man that Picard was despairing of in Tapestry. I think TNG set out a vision for how life could be that was very difficult to replicate.

 

[tomalak301]

It made me a fan of this franchise. It was family viewing and I was enthralled by it all, and it made me interested in Space Travel and the hope that maybe one day that would be real life. Everyone talks about the social commentary elements, but when I was originally watching, it was more about these characters exploring the galaxy and expanding their knowledge and horizons. I was much more optimistic about where we could go in terms of space travel back then than I am now.

 

[Moviefan2k4]

I was 7 when TNG began airing, and saw almost every episode during its first run with my uncle. At the time, I didn't really appreciate a lot of the more profound aspects in the show's writing, but after watching the DVDs and eventually the Blu-Rays, I have a much better grasp of it all. My two favorite regular characters are Data and Dr. Crusher, but on the whole everyone else was good as well. Now, I've been blessed to meet every main cast member, except for Patrick Stewart and Levar Burton (Diana Muldaur was always credited as a "special guest star", and I think she's mostly retired). Of those experiences, my favorites to speak with were Brent Spiner and Wil Wheaton; I also chatted up John DeLancie too. Due to my limited finances, I only have autographs from Brent, John, and Marina Sirtis, and as for photo ops I got pictures taken with her, Dwight Schultz, Glenn Morshower, and Tony Todd.

 

[Maj. Dick]

I rarely get depressed, but when I do, TNG always brings me out of it. It is very much comfort viewing that always makes me happy.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

The only real impact was that TNG was the first major weekly show I watched on satellite-feed TV.....several days in advance of official broadcast. That includes part 1 of BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.

All right, that cruel four-month cliffhanger had some impact on me also...identical with most of you.