Star Trek: The Next Generation evolved across its seven seasons on the air, and these major changes helped it become one of the greatest sci-fi TV shows of all time. Debuting 20 years after the start of the Star Trek franchise, The Next Generation got off to a rough start back in 1987. Season 1 was notoriously troubled, and the new adventures of the Enterprise were almost cut short.

However, following the equally troubled sophomore season, TNG turned a corner in its third outing and began rapidly improving. Soon it was a cornerstone of 1990s TV, and helped kick off a new era for the larger Star Trek franchise. Spinoffs quickly followed, and The Next Generation left the small screen in 1994 with a sainted reputation among sci-fi fans.

By season 7, TNG was practically unrecognizable. The series had evolved so much from season 1 that it was essentially a brand-new show. Though some changes were for the worse, most were vast improvements. All TV series go through growing pains, but the evolution of The Next Generation was absolutely necessary for its long-term survival. It’s a legendary show due in large part to the fact that it grew over the years.

Many of the changes made to TNG were of a philosophical nature, and fundamentally altered the approach to its storytelling. Other changes were merely cosmetic, but made a big difference to how the show was perceived by viewers. This isn’t an exhaustive list of every little tweak made to The Next Generation, but it compiles all the major changes that saved the legendary show.

The Costumes & Makeup

Though it seems like a petty gripe, the costumes and makeup in the first two seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation were pretty rough. The jumpsuit uniforms were a far-cry from the vibrant look of The Original Series, and lacked the military class of the original movie costumes. What’s more, odd choices like the infamous “skant” uniform made Starfleet look goofy and not high-tech.

The early alien-of-the-week designs were hit-or-miss, but the design of consistent characters like Worf was pretty bad early on. As such, the Enterprise‘s Klingon officer changed slightly each episode as hair and makeup tried to nail down his look. TNG improved drastically when both the costumes and makeup were finalized and reached a consistent level of quality.

It could be argued that the alien designs of later seasons were too simple, but that simplicity saved the show from too many costly mistakes. Instead of outlandish costumes as seen in the first two seasons, the universe of Star Trek assumed a consistent approach to its design that implied the galaxy was connected. Designers used costumes and makeup to tell a larger story.

The Villains Improved Over The Years

Gene Roddenberry’s original vision for Star Trek: The Next Generation wasn’t a continuation of the classic show, but a complete reinvention. This included new villains to torment the Starfleet officers, including the Ferengi. The ultra-capitalistic antagonists failed as the next big-bad in the Star Trek universe, and other new villains didn’t quite work out during seasons 1 and 2. This led to an important course correction for TNG.

The series brought back the Klingons and Romulans, though the former was more of an uneasy ally than an outright foe. What’s more, the addition of The Borg finally gave the TNG era its true nemesis. It was the all-of-the-above approach that best served the series, and a mix of new and old is why TNG‘s villains are so memorable.

Even the Ferengi evolved across the seven-season show, starting out as whip-wielding goons and growing to become a complex alien race. Had the writers stuck to the original characterization of the Ferengi, they certainly wouldn’t have become such an important part of Star Trek lore moving forward.

The Addition Of B-Plots

One thing that really dragged down the early episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation was that the stories consisted almost exclusively of one plot. It seems like a given in the modern TV writing landscape, but the first two seasons of TNG largely lacked a conventional two-plot structure to its episodes. That means the episode hinged on the quality of its central storyline.

Most TV show B-plots are trivial, but they give writers a chance to spice things up and offer audiences time to bond with the characters. While the A-plot is driven by some central goal, the B-plot can really be about anything. Once TNG adopted this structure, it made even the lackluster episodes seem better because there were often some redeeming qualities in one of the two main plots.

The evolution of the characters is another important change TNG made across its seven seasons, and that wouldn’t have been possible without the magic of the B-plot. Hard science fiction is one thing, but the interpersonal drama and endearing moments are what keep viewers coming back to the show more than 30 years after it went off the air. When both plots soar, the episode is truly a must-watch.

Established Its Own Tone

One part of the show’s legacy that is often overlooked is the fact that it was met with considerable backlash when it first debuted. TNG was noticeably different from The Original Series, and some fans really weren’t happy about it. That’s not to say that the sequel series had found its footing, and what fans really hated at that moment was how tepid the series felt in its early days.

It took a few seasons, but The Next Generation finally managed to step out of the shadow of its predecessor and establish its own tone. That’s where the magic happened. The philosophy of the show began to take shape by season 3, and that would govern the show’s writing for the remainder of the episodes. Gone was the allegorical vibe of TOS, and TNG instead opted for a more realistic approach to the Trek philosophy.

The idealism of Earth’s utopian future had cracks in it, but that imperfection was where the most intriguing stories lived. The Next Generation was about doing one’s best to live up to the lofty ideals of Starfleet, but acknowledging that reality is a bit more complicated. Later Star Trek shows would build on that idea, and it has arguably become the central philosophy of the franchise.

The Characters Evolved From Start To Finish

Without fully relying on serialized storytelling, The Next Generation featured long-term plots through its characters. Instead of returning to where they started after every adventure, some of the episodes had a profound impact on the Enterprise crew, which caused them to evolve over the years. TOS featured stagnant heroes, while TNG did something totally different.

This is most obvious in characters like Captain Picard, who changed enormously from a curmudgeon to a complex leader. Not only was this done to clean up some of the writing dead ends established in season 1, but it also showed that the writers were taking things seriously. TNG wasn’t just a cheesy sci-fi series, but a legitimate space drama with interesting characters worth watching.

Data’s journey to find humanity, Worf’s struggle with his Klingon identity, and the romance between Riker and Troi, were all threads the writers pulled across seven seasons. In the earliest seasons of TNG, it was clear that there was no plan in place for the characters and their evolution, but that too eventually changed.

TNG Ditched Roddenberry’s Rules

Gene Roddenberry deserves credit for creating the Star Trek universe, but not all of his ideas were golden. The Great Bird of the Galaxy was heavily involved with the development of TNG, but his contributions actually held the show back from its true potential. Roddenberry set a lot of rules for how the first season should be written, and they were swiftly abandoned once he left the production.

Perhaps the most illogical rule was his moratorium on interpersonal conflicts between the characters. While it made sense that Starfleet officers would handle conflict with aplomb, the idea that they would never fight didn’t make any sense. This forced the early TNG writers to rely exclusively on external conflicts to drive episode plots forward. Naturally, this made the characters feel hollow.

Only once the show dropped Roddenberry’s rules was it able to really take flight. The rosy idealism of his view of the future was the guiding principle of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but flexibility in his rules was the most important change the series ever made.

Release Date

1987 – 1994-00-00

Network

Syndication

Showrunner

Gene Roddenberry

Directors

Cliff Bole, Les Landau, Winrich Kolbe, Rob Bowman, Robert Scheerer, Jonathan Frakes, Robert Wiemer, Gabrielle Beaumont, Alexander Singer, David Carson, Paul Lynch, Corey Allen, Patrick Stewart, Chip Chalmers, Joseph L. Scanlan, James L. Conway, Robert Lederman, Tom Benko, Timothy Bond, Robert Legato, Adam Nimoy, Robert Becker, David Livingston, LeVar Burton

Writers

René Echevarria, Maurice Hurley, Richard Manning, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Tracy Tormé, Hannah Louise Shearer, Stuart Charno, Ira Steven Behr, Sara B. Cooper, Peter Allan Fields, Herbert Wright, Frank Abatemarco, Burton Armus, Hilary Bader, Morgan Gendel, David Kemper, Michael I. Wagner, Philip LaZebnik, Robert McCullough, Susan Sackett, Nick Sagan, Fred Bronson, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Sam Rolfe