Chillin's in the 90's IV: Make It So

*CORRECTION: I blindly accepted the sattelite info referring to these episodes as being first season, so that's how I've referred to them...and then, when reason kicked in, I realised that the sattelite info was, gasp, wrong. The uniforms are wrong, Riker has a beard, Tasha Yar is dead, and Dr. Pulaski is filling in for Dr. Crusher, which puts all of these in season 3...or, in other words, 1991. Still officially chillin' in the 90's. I am vindicated! (Well, not really...it was kind of a dumb mistake.)


Another perk about visiting the in-laws: sattelite TV with PVR (Bell's version of TiVo). This means re-experiencing some of the greatest moments of my childhood and youth: The Littlest Hobo. Due South. Futurama. Pinky and the Brain. And the most influential media granddaddy of my personal development, Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Okay. So maybe Space is currently working its way through the first season, which technically aired in 1989, but I don't remember my experiences from 1989, because I was five years old. I do remember that I never willfully missed an episode from the time I hit elementary school in 1990 until the series closed in 1996. Something I didn't remember: just how freakin' awesome it is!

The unfortunate uselessness of Counselor Troi aside ("I sense that he's frustrated" - thanks for that, I'd never have guessed that the Klingon yelling death threats at Picard is frustrated), this show had class to spare. Determination to escape the cheese-fest of the original series and the casting of our greatest living Shakespearean actor as the captain may have had something to do with this. The last time I had the opportunity to watch an episode of TNG, it was 2002, and I must say I'd forgotten just how exceptional Patrick Stewart is. When I heard he'd be starring as Claudius/The Ghost opposite David Tennant in the title role of a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet earlier this year, I had the only true fit of envy I've ever had over not being able to see a show. However, seeing his Captain Picard again is a very worthy consolation.

And it wasn't just Stewart. Jonathan Frakes (Riker) always pulled his weight, and accomplished the feat of never seeming to live in Picard's shadow. Brent Spiner (Data), at least in this first season, nailed all the little physical tics that made the character. The whole command crew was just great. Heck, I even have to defend Wil Wheaton (Wesley). Yes, his character was lame and poorly written - but he wasn't a bad actor.

These past two weeks, Space aired two of the greatest episodes of the series - quite an unenviable thing to have arrive in your first season. "A Matter of Honor", the one where Riker participates in an officer exchange program that sees him as first mate on a Klingon ship, and "The Measure of a Man", in which Picard must make the legal case for Data's rights on the basis that he meets the criteria for sentience. The fact that neither of the premises play out in anything other than a high-quality, cheese-free manner, and that the court episode brings up the issue of slavery in a manner that is restrained and mature rather than preachy and over-emotional, is a testament to the writing staff - and two excellent examples of why this show had such a huge impact that resonates over a decade after it went off the air.

Now watching it in retrospect, as an adult, do I like TNG better than Deep Space Nine (a show I didn't appreciate as a tween because I didn't yet appreciate politics, but discovered with delight as it aired in entirety on a local network last year)? I don't know; frankly, that's as irrelevant as the fact that Data's not human. Thankfully, both shows now no longer cost $100 a season...so perhaps, one day, I'll be able to conduct sufficient research to answer that question. :D

Until then, I'll continue to tape and enjoy, until a week from Monday, when I will find myself in Edmonton with no furniture - and especially no TV. Zoinks!