Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Seven

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Seven, 1993-1994. A giant space ship flies around the galaxy, ostensibly exploring but usually running errands.

Created by Gene Roddenberry. Directed by Alexander Singer (3 episodes), Cliff Bole (3), Robert Wiemer (3), Winrich Kolbe (3), Patrick Stewart (2), Les Landau (2), Jonathan Frakes (2), Peter Lauritson (1), Robert Lederman (1), Robert Scheerer (1), LeVar Burton (1), Gabrielle Beaumont (1), Gates McFadden (1), Corey Allen (1) & Jonathan West (1). Written by Brannon Braga (8 episodes), René Echevarria (6), Ronald D. Moore (6), Naren Shankar (5), Joe Menosky (3), Christopher Hatton (2), Nicholas Sagan (2), Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci (1), Lisa Rich (1), Roger Eschbacher (1), Jaq Greenspon (1), Hilary J. Bader (1), Dan Koeppel (1), Spike Steingasser (1), William N. Stape (1), Jeri Taylor (1), Jeanna F. Gallo (1), Ron Wilkerson (1), Jean Louise Matthias (1), Shawn Piller (1), Antonia Napoli (1) & Mark Kalbfeld (1). Starring Patrick Stewart & Jonathan Frakes.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's more concerned with wrapping up old unresolved storylines (that had been left unresolved because no one gave a crap about them) than with doing anything interesting. By my count, there are only two great episodes, about six other good episodes, three or four bad episodes, and a couple of terrible episodes (including the clear Worst TNG Episode Ever). That leaves about half a season of mediocrity - a pretty sad way for the show to go out.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Six

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Six, 1992-1993. A giant space ship flies around the galaxy, ostensibly exploring but usually running errands.

Created by Gene Roddenberry. Directed by Cliff Bole (4 episodes), Les Landau (3), Winrich Kolbe (3), Alexander Singer (3), Robert Wiemer (2), Robert Scheerer (2), Adam Nimoy (2), Jonathan Frakes (2), Patrick Stewart (1), Gabrielle Beaumont (1), Dan Curry (1), James L. Conway (1) & LeVar Burton (1). Written by Brannon Braga (7 episodes), Ronald D. Moore (7), René Echevarria (5), Jeri Taylor (3), Joe Menosky (3), Frank Abatemarco (3), Naren Shankar (3), Jean Louise Matthias (2), Ron Wilkerson (2), Allison Hock (1), Ward Botsford (1), Diana Dru Botsford (1), Michael Piller (1), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (1), L.J. Scott (1), Morgan Gendel (1), James E. Brooks (1) & Michael Medlock (1). Starring Patrick Stewart & Jonathan Frakes.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent). Lots of plot holes. Lots of missed opportunities with ideas that should have made great episodes.
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Here is where Star Trek begins is slow, painful decline. A number of episodes are awful; most are mediocre. There are a few great ones, but they're not nearly enough to make up for the crap. To be fair, this season probably isn't as bad as the first couple (both of which I gave a 7/10), but context accounts for a lot. Making a show bad when it was recently so good is very frustrating. And there's not much effort to do anything new or clever, and a lot of attempts to mimic earlier episodes. The only new ground is a change in tone to make it more serious, taking a lot of the fun out of it and making the frequently bad writing less forgivable. Still, it's Star Trek, and I can't help enjoying watching it.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.1/4 (Okay)

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Five

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Five, 1991-1992. A giant space ship flies around the galaxy, ostensibly exploring but usually running errands.

Created by Gene Roddenberry. Directed by Les Landau (4 episodes), Winrich Kolbe (3), Cliff Bole (3), David Carson (2), Gabrielle Beaumont (2), Paul Lynch (2), Robert Scheerer (2), Corey Allen (1), Patrick Stewart (1), Robert Wiemer (1), David Livingston (1), Chip Chalmers (1), Jonathan Frakes (1), Robert Lederman (1) & Peter Lauritson (1). Written by Michael Piller (6 episodes), Ronald D. Moore (5), Rick Berman (4), Jeri Taylor (4), Brannon Braga (4), Joe Menosky (3), Sara Charno (2), Stuart Charno (2), Peter Allan Fields (2), René Echevarria (2), Philip LaZebnik (1), Lawrence V. Conley (1), Ron Jarvis (1), Philip A. Scorza (1), Susan Sackett (1), Fred Bronson (1), Grant Rosenberg (1), Hilary J. Bader (1), Pamela Gray (1), Shari Goodhartz (1), T. Michael (1), Adam Belanoff (1), James Kahn (1), Barry Schkolnick (1), Paul Schiffer (1), René Balcer (1), Herbert J. Wright (1), Paul Ruben (1), Maurice Hurley (1), Naren Shankar (1), Gary Perconte (1), Edith Swensen (1), Jean Louise Matthias (1), Ronald Wilkerson (1), Richard Fliegel (1) & Morgan Gendel (1). Starring Patrick Stewart & Jonathan Frakes.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent). Good effects, bad design.
Acting: 3/4 (Good). All over the map.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent). The music has improved quite a bit from past seasons. But I sure do hate that theme song.
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). There's an unusually high density of great episodes in season five. There's a handful of really bad ones, too (things are pretty seriously marred by the arrival of Ensign Ro, or as we like to call her, cousin Pam), but not as many as in most seasons.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Four

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Four, 1990-1991. A giant space ship flies around the galaxy, ostensibly exploring but usually running errands.

Created by Gene Roddenberry. Directed by Cliff Bole (5 episodes), Les Landau (5), Jonathan Frakes (2), Chip Chalmers (2), Winrich Kolbe (2), Rob Bowman (1), Gabrielle Beaumont (1), Robert Scheerer (1), Corey Allen (1), Robert Wiemer (1), Tom Benko (1), Robert Legato (1), Marvin V. Rush (1), David Livingston (1) & Patrick Stewart (1). Written by Ronald D. Moore (6 episodes), Jeri Taylor (5), Joe Menosky (5), Michael Piller (2), Brannon Braga (2), Rick Berman (1), John Whelpley (1), Ralph Phillips (1), Lee Sheldon (1), Thomas Perry (1), Jo Perry (1), Drew Deighan (1), J. Larry Carroll (1), David Bennett Carren (1), Kacey Arnold-Ince (1), Hilary J. Bader (1), Alan J. Adler (1), Vanessa Greene (1), Harold Apter (1), Stuart Charno (1), Sara Charno (1), Cy Chermak (1), Philip LaZebnik (1), William Douglas Lansford (1), Bruce D. Arthurs (1), Dennis Russell Bailey (1), David Bischoff (1), Marc Scott Zicree (1), Maurice Hurley (1), Thomas Kartozian (1), Pamela Douglas (1), Shari Goodhartz (1), Timothy DeHaas (1), Ira Steven Behr (1), Randee Russell (1), Peter Allan Fields (1), Ted Roberts (1), Michel Horvat (1), René Echevarria (1) & Ken Schafer (1). Starring Patrick Stewart & Jonathan Frakes.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good). Development of the main characters is taken more seriously this season, for better or worse.
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). Lots of great performances are sprinkled throughout, and the acting's never particularly bad. Mostly just good, though.
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Probably the best season of TNG. It doesn't have any of my favorite episodes, but it has a number of very good ones, and the writing maintains a consistently Perfectly Okay level. There's not a lot in the way of science fiction. Sometimes they don't bother with it at all; more often there'll be some sort of half-hearted sci-fi plot that's really just a backdrop for the character stuff. That's a shame, but at the same time it means the writers are far less likely to get out of their depth.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Three

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Three, 1989-1990. A giant space ship flies around the galaxy, ostensibly exploring but usually running errands.

Created by Gene Roddenberry. Directed by Cliff Bole (5 episodes), Les Landau (4), Winrich Kolbe (3), Robert Scheerer (3), Gabrielle Beaumont (2), David Carson (2), Timothy Bond (2), Robert Wiemer (1), Jonathan Frakes (1), Chip Chalmers (1), Robert Legato (1) & Tom Benko (1). Written by Michael Piller (4 episodes), Ronald D. Moore (4), Michael Wagner (3), Richard Manning (3), Hans Beimler (3), Melinda M. Snodgrass (2), Richard Danus (2), Ira Steven Behr (2), René Echevarria (2), Ron Roman (1), David Kemper (1), Hannah Louise Shearer (1), Sam Rolfe (1), Robin Bernheim (1), Ed Zuckerman (1), Trent Christopher Ganino (1), Eric A. Stillwell (1), W. Reed Moran (1), Drew Deighan (1), Dennis Putman Bailey (1), David Bischoff (1), Sally Caves (1), Shari Goodhartz (1), Peter S. Beagle (1), Marc Cushman (1), Jake Jacobs (1), Fred Bronson (1) & Susan Sackett (1). Starring Patrick Stewart & Jonathan Frakes.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good). There's lots of terrible writing, but this season the worst offenses are mostly confined to dialog. And there are a handful of great stories.
Characters: 3/4 (Good). Data in particular is handled well this season - more subtle (relatively).
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad). Even the great episodes have mediocre dialog at best. The bad episodes sound like they're after school specials.
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad). The effects are fine. The design - especially costumes - occasionally pushes the limits of awful.
Acting: 3/4 (Good). Sometimes great, often bad, usually pretty good.
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). About a fifth of the episodes are great - among the best Star Trek episodes ever. About a quarter are good. The rest are crap, and would be difficult to watch if it weren't for my blind love of Star Trek. Even when it's terrible, I still love watching this show. Nostalgia maybe? Or maybe it's the balance of seriousness and humor: it takes itself seriously enough that you can care about the characters, but it's light enough that it never looses its sense of fun (sometimes in spite of the writers).
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Two

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Two (22 episodes), 1988-1989. A giant space ship flies around the galaxy, ostensibly exploring but usually running errands.

Created by Gene Roddenberry. Directed by Rob Bowman (7 episodes), Winrich Kolbe (3), Les Landau (2), Robert Scheerer (2), Joseph L. Scanlan (2), Cliff Bole (2), Robert Becker (1), Larry Shaw (1), Paul Lynch (1) & Robert Iscove (1). Written by Maurice Hurley (4 episodes), Tracy Tormé (3), Richard Manning (3), Hans Beimler (3), Melinda M. Snodgrass (3), Burton Armus (2), Robert L. McCullough (2), Jaron Summers (1), Jon Povill (1), Jack B. Sowards (1), Brian Alan Lane (1), Les Menchen (1), Lance Dickson (1), David Landsberg (1), Jacqueline Zambrano (1), John Mason (1), Mike Gray (1), Wanda M. Haight (1), Gregory Amos (1), Scott Rubenstein (1), Leonard Mlodinow (1), Steve Gerber (1), Beth Woods (1), Kurt Michael Bensmiller (1), David Assael (1), Hannah Louise Shearer (1), Thomas H. Calder (1) & David Kemper (1). Starring Patrick Stewart & Jonathan Frakes.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Better on average than the first season, but much more uneven. When it's good, it can be pretty clever. When it's bad, it can be completely awful. There are even a couple episodes in season two that are bad enough that they're not even fun to watch, which is really something coming from me.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season One

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season One (26 episodes), 1987-1988. A giant space ship flies around the galaxy, ostensibly exploring but usually running errands.

Created by Gene Roddenberry. Directed by Rob Bowman (5 episodes), Cliff Bole (3), Corey Allen (3), Paul Lynch (2), James L. Conway (2), Joseph L. Scanlan (2), Russ Mayberry (1), Richard Colla (1), Richard Compton (1), Michael Rhoades (1), Kim Manners (1), Mike Vejar (1), Les Landau (1), Win Phelps (1) & Robert Becker (1). Written by D.C. Fontana (5 episodes), Maurice Hurley (5), Gene Roddenberry (4), Robert Lewin (4), Herbert Wright (3), Tracy Tormé (3), Hannah Louise Shearer (3), John D.F. Black (2), Robert Sabaroff (2), Richard Manning (2), Hans Beimler (2), J. Michael Bingham (1), Katharyn Powers (1), Michael Baron (1), Richard Krzmeien (1), Diane Duane (1), Michael Reaves (1), Michael Halperin (1), Worley Thorne (1), Larry Forrester (1), C.J. Holland (1), Lan O'Kun (1), Patrick Barry (1), Michael Michaelian (1), Karl Geurs (1), Ralph Sanchez (1), Sandy Fries (1), Joseph Stefano (1), Deborah Dean Davis (1), Deborah McIntyre (1) & Mona Clee (1). Starring Patrick Stewart & Jonathan Frakes.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad). There's a lot of very good acting sprinkled throughout, but mostly its awful.
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Popcorn television. There's not much reason to like it. So much is badly done. There's not a single episode without at least one damning flaw. But I just love watching it.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)