Set a course for a galaxy of unparalleled action and adventure as Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his Starship crew battle a chilling new adversary...that just happens to hold a shocking link to Picard! In the wake of a joyful wedding between Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Troi (Marina Sirtis), Picard receives another reason to celebrate: the Romulans want peace and theicaptain will be the Federation's emissary.
Engage! Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his Next Generation crew are back and so is the excitement and fun in this "polished film that shines like a crown jewel in the Star Trek firmament," --George Powell, San Francisco Examiner. From the beginning of the Federation, the Prime Directive was clear: No Starfleet expedition may interfere with the natural development of other civilizations. But now Picard is confronted with orders that undermine that decree.
Stardate: the 23rd Century. Retired Starfleet officers James T. Kirk (Shatner), Montgomery Scott (Doohan) and Pavel Chekov (Koenig) are guests of honor aboard the newly christened Enterprise-B. A test run takes an unexpected turn, however, when the starship encounters two vessels trapped inside the Nexus, a mysterious energy ribbon. During a perilous rescue attempt, Kirk is swept out into space. Seven decades later, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Stewart) and the crew of Enterprise-D rescue an El Aurian physicist named Soran (McDowell).
Captain Jean Luc-Picard leads the crew of the newly commisioned Enterprise E in a battle against the Borg, an insidious race of half-machine, half-organic aliens, to restore the rightful future of Earth. While on a routine patrol, Capt. Picard gets word from Starfleet Headquarters that the Borg have entered federation space and are on a direct course for Earth. Violating direct orders to remain uninvolved, Picard leads the Enterprise into Star Fleet's massive assault against their deadliest foe.
From the moment the young Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) is stolen from his life and ancestral home in 18th-century Africa and brought under inhumane conditions to be auctioned as a slave in America, a line is begun that leads from this most shameful chapter in U.S. history to the 20th-century author Alex Haley, a Kinte descendant. The late Haley's acclaimed book Roots was adapted into this six-volume television miniseries, which was a widely watched phenomenon in 1977.
The seventh and final season of Star Trek: The Next Generation will always remain a curiosity in TV sci-fi history. Despite the end being definite, despite Deep Space Nine taking over, despite knowing there'd be a movie six months after the series' end, and despite Babylon 5 starting that year with its predetermined story arc, there is nothing here to suggest things were coming to a close. Wesley finally gets dispatched ("Journey's End"), but everyone was waiting for that anyway.
As the sixth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation went into production, everyone knew that attentions would soon be permanently divided by the debut of Deep Space Nine. Sure enough, that meant crossovers ("Birthright"), guest stars, and references back and forth. The sense of baton-passing drew the TNG family closer, however. Directorial debuts begun in season 5 allowed for repeat group-huddle ownership of several shows.
The fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation saw some of the very best of all 178 shows. "Darmok" had the feel of a "classic Trek" episode, dealing with language as metaphor. "The First Duty" challenged Wesley Crusher's loyalties. The season closer "Time's Arrow" (which concluded in year 6) ranks as one of the best TNG cliffhangers, and treats fans to canon-changing story lines and tons of in-jokes. Best of all was the painfully melancholy "The Inner Light," in which Picard experiences an alternate lifetime.
Season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation seemed like the year of family. After quickly resolving the breathtaking cliffhanger of "The Best of Both Worlds," the show took pains to show some of what the Federation was fighting for. We meet Picard's brother, Data's father, Tasha's sister, and Worf's adoptive human parents, plus an old flame with a surprise son in tow. The Klingon heritage subplot that begins here and builds to the cliffhanger finale ("Redemption") would continue to the show's end and through into Worf's reappearance in Deep Space Nine.
Star Trek: The Next Generation's third year was an important development in syndicated television. After two shaky years, Paramount nonetheless decided the franchise still had plenty to do. Their confidence was bolstered by two significant factors. First, cast uncertainties were finally settled: Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher) was back for good; Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar) regretted her first-year departure, and so contrived a return in the Emmy Award-winning "Yesterday's Enterprise"; and Whoopi Goldberg happily continued her actor's-scale contributions.
