Reasons why TOS is better than Next Gen
I just got a shipment that included a couple of Star Trek Next Generation t shirts and I am feeling a little guilty. I know there are Next Gen fans and I am risking alienating those fans, but I have to admit I am a hard core TOS fan.
Whenever someone starts telling me how much better Next Gen is over TOS it always seems to boil down to better special effects. No kidding. You think a sci fi show produced 25 years later might have better effects? That’s like saying the Buck Rogers from the 80’s is better than the one from the 20’s due to the special effects. Thanks, Capt. Obvious.
I have enjoyed episodes of Next Gen, but the fact is the stories are far more bland and politically correct than TOS. The Original Series did some stories that were totally risque and could have gotten them into real trouble. For example, did you know the very first televised interracial kiss was on an episode of TOS? There were stories about racism, nuclear war, age relations, mind expansion, and any number of other troublesome subjects. On of my favorite scenes of all time has to be when the two aliens who were black on one side and white on the other (Episode 70: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield). The great line from Commissioner Bele was “I am black on the right side. Lokai is white on the right side. All his people are white on the right side.” This was his people’s reason for the race war the were in. Next Gen, on the other hand, had stories that more or less were tame “Save the environment” themes and the like.
Also, there is not a single character on TOS I don’t like. They are like the friends I always wanted to have as a kid (my imaginary friends image comes from the funny t shirt category). Next Gen has a few engaging characters but many that bug me. I like Data, Warf, Geordie, and to an extent Picard, but fat bearded cool guy Riker, too-good-for-a-uniform Counselor Troy (I don’t care if she’s Gene Roddenberry niece or whatever), and hired-for-lame-youth-appeal Westley Crusher should have all been sucked out of an airlock episode 1. Also, while I like Capt. Picard, it’s now 400 years into the future. Whatever happened to the Hair Club for Men? He could not only be president and member, but secretary, treasurer, master at arms, and sweep up after the meetings. Finally, that blond security officer who died and came back also bugged the hell out of me to the point that I refuse to look up her name.
The only cool thing Next Gen did in it’s entire run was introduce the Borg. However, the Borg were much more interesting in Voyager, in my opinion.
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