23 years ago on the week of Sept. 28th Star Trek The Next Generation premiered here in the US. They weren't sure how the public was going to take it. Up until this point we only had the five movies and a 21 year absence of any Trek on TV. Everything was different, the crew, the ship, the look of that universe.. would people accept this "new" Star Trek.
Well I was a fan of the movies and watched the original TV series late at night when I would come across it but I wouldn't call myself a Star Trek fan. When I heard about the new Trek series I wasn't really interested so I didn't watch it for the first few weeks. I can't remember why but I turned it on one day and was instantly hooked. I fell in love with Picard, Riker, Tori, Crusher, LaForge, Data, Worf, Yar and yes Wesley too. I came into the series about five or six episodes in and back in the day they only showed repeats during the following summer and there were no VHS let alone DVDs. So I watched the rest of the first season and devoured very episode. And when summer came around I made sure to catch the few episodes I missed at the beginning of the season. But I can say without a doubt after watching that first season I was a Trekkie, I loved everything Star Trek. I went back and re-watched the movies and tried to catch as many of the original series episodes as I could. I bought magazines, cards, action figures and anything else I could find that had TNG on it. My fanaticism grew as the series went on. When they started Deep Space Nine I was right there loving every minute.. then Voyager and finally Enterprise.
I always say Star Wars is what made me fall in love with Sci Fi and Fantasy but Star Trek made me appreciate Sci Fi and Fantasy and will always be very special to me. Thank you Mr. Roddenberry for sharing your universe with us.
Happy Anniversary Star Trek The Next Generation!!!!
I have a very similar story. Although I wasn't into Trek before TNG, I was hooked from the very first show. The attitudes on the show matched my sensibilities much more than the original show did.
ReplyDeleteTNG remains an all-time favorite and something I doubt I'll ever tire of. My hopes for one last Trek with my beloved TNG crew have not yet faded.
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ReplyDeletehttp://thinkgeek.com/blog/2010/09/boldly-going-where-no-prototyp.html
I always enjoy reading how others came to the show. Personally, I was forced to watch it as a kid cause it's what my dad wanted to watch...and I hated it. Now that I've grown up, I've come to love and appreciate the show...and my dad reminds me of it every time he catches me watching an episode...and especially when I called him from DragonCon to tell him Marina Sirtis had not only hugged me, but named me her favorite fan. Great story. Here's to TNG!
ReplyDelete--Megan
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