The first scene of TNG was a huge departure from the original series, but so much better

In the first few minutes, Star Trek: The Next Generation to differ from Star Trek: The Original Series, With a very different and more effective opening scene. Picked up about a century after the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew, TNG An all-new Enterprise crew followed, led by Patrick Stewart’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The television landscape went through significant changes from the 1960s to the late 1980s when TNG Premiere. Although TV shows have not yet reached the level of serialization they would have in the streaming era, they have moved to a different way of storytelling.

TV pilots and finales weren’t thought of the same way in the 1960s. “The Man Trap” was the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series To air, however It simply feels like any other episode of the show. TOS technically had two pilots, one of which did not air on television until 1988. “The Cage,” which featured Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) rather than Captain Kirk, was Gene Roddenberry’s original Star Trek pilot that NBC rejected. The second pilot eventually became the episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” However, none of these openings match what the franchise did when it came to TNG.

The opening scene of The Next Generation is the exact opposite of Star Trek: The Original Series

Unlike TOS, TNG sets the scene for the entire series

Star Trek: The Next Generation Feature-length premiere, “Encounter at Farpoint,” feels like a true TV pilot, introducing audiences to the characters and premise before diving into the story. The episode opens with a shot of the USS Enterprise-D before zooming in to find Captain Picard walking through the ship and making his way to the bridge. in a voice Picard reveals that he only recently took command of the Enterprise-D and is still familiar with the ship and its new crew. The whole sequence appropriately feels like an introduction.

On tng, Audiences get to know the Enterprise-D and its crew along with Captain Picard, but this is not the case for Star Trek: The Original Series. “The Man Trap” also begins with a captain’s log, As Kirk introduces this week’s mission. Kirk’s captain’s log implies that he has been in command of the Enterprise for at least a little while and dives right into a mission on planet M-113. As the Enterprise investigates the planet, a strange shape-shifting monster begins killing the crew. With its horror-focused plot, NBC felt “The Man Trap” would be a compelling first episode — despite the absence of a formal introduction.

Why Star Trek: The Next Generation’s opening works better

“Encounter in Farpoint” serves as a solid introduction to the world of TNG

Although Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 is generally considered the weakest of the series, the premiere does a solid job of establishing what the show is going to be. It effectively introduces the characters, and offers a glimpse into their personalities and backstories. TNG Is still figuring out during the pilot And it would take several episodes for these characterizations to be fully established. Still, “Encounter at Farpoint” feels exciting because the audience is embarking on this new adventure alongside the characters rather than being thrown into the action midway through the story.

In the modern television era, pilots have to do a lot of heavy lifting, not only establishing the characters and the world, but also acting as a blueprint for a typical episode. “Encounter at Farpoint” does a pretty good job at both of these things and provides a compelling storyline with John de Lancie’s Q. Star Trek Pilot moving forward would follow in the footsteps of TNG. TOS was simply produced in a different era, and while “The Man Trap” is a fine episode, it doesn’t set the series up as effectively as “Encounter at Farpoint” Star Trek: The Next Generation.