Star Trek: The Next Generation

When you watch television, and specific shows in particular, do you just go all in? Push your chips into the centre of the table and don't look back; there's no going back here. I was at a party a few years ago and one of my friend's said he obtained all seventeen seasons of ER, and proceeded to watch them all. And when you say "watch them all" you have to keep in mind that it's not a slow process taking place over years; no, this is watching hundreds of hour long episodes within a few weeks, or perhaps months. I did this with the first three seasons of Smallville, and many other shows. The main difference between those shows, and something like The Next Generation, is that you're often getting caught up on a show - a few seasons at worst. TNG has seven seasons, with more than 20 episodes in each. I believe I read that there were 178 episodes altogether. It's scary, and it's taken hold of me.

The show premiered in 1987, when I was six years old. I have a specific memory of laying on the floor, playing with my toys - most likely Lego - in front of the television as my parents watched Star Trek on the set behind me. I would occasionally look back, taking in bits of action here and there. My favourite was Data, of course. I specifically recall the scene where he was quickly moving chips back into some array at super-human speed, in order to save the Enterprise. This scene would be burned into my subconscious forever. Over the years, and as I got older I would watch the show more regularly, but honestly, it was never a big focus. My dad was really into it, although not as much as The Original Series. I have a separate bank of memories devoted to my dad watching TOS on Sunday afternoons while I came and went; I'm pretty sure he tried to get me to watch it, but just never took.

We would share a love for Q (and much to my horror he wasn't in as many episodes as I thought originally). We would watch the movies: the Wrath of Khan, the Voyage Home and Undiscovered Country. I remember watching the premier of Deep Space Nine together, and although it was perhaps in the back of my mind all this time, but I realize now how big a part of my life Star Trek was. It's been on air for ages, and the majority of my life (at least one series or another, ending with Enterprise). In university one of my roomates decided to watch all of Deep Space Nine: it was on the same time every day, and if it was one thing we had back then, was lots of time. I have no idea if he completed it. I've tried doing the same thing on "live tv" before but sometimes things come up and you miss an episode: if you didn't record it there was no chance of going back. I believe another friend would watch Voyager constantly too.

So here I am, with access to the entire series and the desire to keep it going. You see, you need something to watch in the background. Making dinner, and want to watch something between breaks? The Next Generation is there for you. These shows have so much filler it doesn't matter if you pay attention to everything; typically you are fine if you watch the intro, then the conclusion. Basically, they don't require much dedication, and on the other side, it's easy to fall into the episodes. Just geeky and technical enough to be enjoyable, and all the right parts of drama to appeal to the rest of my sensibilities. As I watch various episodes, I have bits of nostalgia burst forth as I recall certain scenes from childhood.

I look forward to consuming the entire series, really experiencing it for the show it was. It's kind of weird too, as I watch the grainy 4:3 image I think about how far the tech has come. Not only in the show, but in how we watch television. My parent's television in the 80s (and most of the 90s) was a 25 or 27 inch (very) curved tube of questionable quality, but impeccable build quality - this thing was built to last. It weighed a ton, and sat on the floor in its wooden house. A giant VCR sat on top, with a potted plant on top of that; occasionally we would have to brush a vine away from the screen. Classic.