Does anybody know how Worf (the Klingon) came to join Starfleet on The Next Generation Star Trek series? Also, how is it that he was raised by human parents? I think he's a great character but I don't understand his background.

I love watching The Next Generation episodes on DVD.

He was orphaned in the Romulan attack on Kitomer at age six. I don't recall any specific mention of why he was adopted by humans. But his human parents were hilarious. See the Next Gen episode entitled "Family."

I believe I have seen "Family." The parents have Russian accents and are a bit overbearing, although loving. I agree that they are funny! I also saw Worf's mother on the episode in which they brought Alexander to the Enterprise to stay with Worf. Gee, Worf didn't show much appreciation for his parents taking care of his son all that time.

My whole family thinks Alexander is adorably cute!

I think that the writers created that backstory for Worf in order to make it believable to have a Klingon in Starfleet. When they were planning out TNG it was important to show that Starfleet had progressed to the point where many alien races could be full participants, especially former enemies. But a traditionally raised Klingon simply couldn't subject himself to Starfleet discipline, where a human-raised orphan might.
I agree that Worf is a great character, and I love the sly humor that they slip into his gruff manner every now and then.
I recently finished the complete DS9, and am going through it a second time. I watch one episode an evening, while eating dinner. So I dine with the crew!

I do agree it's strange that a Klingon would ever be in Starfleet since some of his values are so different. Also, I don't understand how he is permitted to wear that sash with his uniform since Ensign Ro was forbidden to wear her fancy earring. But then later I noticed that Ensign Ro was wearing the earring so I guess they relented. I'm certain that I probably wouldn't like a person like Worf in person as a friend but he's great for the show and I imagine that he would be great to work with. I love his sense of honor.

I just saw an episode, I think it was called Chain of Command, in which another captain took over the Enterprise temporarily for a particular mission and he told Counselor Troi that she had to wear a regular uniform. I thought she looked so much better in the regular uniform than that unprofessional body suit; I wondered how she was allowed to wear it before.

My husband and I have been enjoying watching an episode most evenings from our DVDs during the winter when it's dark outside in the early evening. We are engineers so it's a good fit for us.

I do love The Next Generation and used to watch those religiously I know Troi grated on me INCREDIBLY at the beginning but they toned her down over time. I loved the ensemble feel. One of my favorite episodes was the one where Picard "became part" of a culture which had died off and lived his entire life with them. His only item he got to keep at the end was a flute. They have that actual flute in Vegas and I got to see it on a trip out there. I like those episodes where it is about an emotional journey vs a action-battle sequence

I agree that they really toned down Troi a lot as the series continued. I had always liked her and closely identified with her but she seemed to be so stereotypical of the Grecian goddess when the series started. As time went on, she seemed to grow with her role and became much more believable. I really like the character she has become; she seems to be the only one that doesn't have any "issues."

I just watched that episode in which Picard was implanted with a lifetime of memories in an extinct culture that he experienced within about a half hour. I thought it was one of the better episodes -- so touching that I got tears in my eyes. But although Picard was given some wonderful memories to enjoy and the culture was able to live on in this way, I was a bit bothered that he had had no choice in the matter. Nevertheless, I liked the episode and it would be cool to see that flute!

I also prefer episodes that contain a personal story alongside an action sequence.

Another episode I really liked was when a "second Riker" was found - a teleporter beam had gotten split. I thought that brought up a lot of interesting questions but then they sort of just let it go at the end. That could be one they explored for a while, the idea of both having souls, both being unique even though they began the same at that point in time etc. Troi's choices there were very interesting, falling back in love with the "old Riker".

The second Riker showed up later as a member of the Maquis, I think it was in a DS9 episode?
That is one of the things I love about the Star Trek universe, it has been around so long that it is wonderfully rich in history, politics and characters. Ethics, too.

I remember that episode about the "second Riker" but I don't remember what it was called. I thought it was pretty good -- rather poignant. I guess there sometimes isn't enough time in the episodes to fully explore the topic; that's why it's nice to have a forum like this one to talk about it! But I agree it's best when the concept is explored more fully in the show.

I remember another similar episode -- the one in which Worf found himself married to Deanna. I can't remember why though. Was this the one in which there was a temporal shift due to a problem with Geordi's visor? Anyway, I thought it was hilarious when Deanna tried to coax Worf into a massage in the bedroom.

Oh I missed that one! That sounds like a great one too. I wonder if there's a way to netflix Star Trek TNG episodes ...

I've never used NetFlix so I don't know. We have been able to borrow the TNG series at our local library. That was before we bought two seasons ourselves though.

Back in the "old days" we subscribed to a video-a-month club to get all of the original Star Trek on VHS thinking it would be a lifetime purchase. Then came DVD and then came BluRay. So now I'm only buying things I must really have - on BluRay - and NetFlixing the rest. I can always re-NetFlix them if I need to, I figure. Of course that being said when we were having the discussion on Last of the Mohicans I ran to the next room and grabbed my DVD version of that to get a screen capture so I do break my rules sometimes. There are some things I must have no matter what the version. I do own every version of Lord of the Rings (all 3 normal edition, all 3 special edition etc) because I have some addictions

Oh, a LOTR fan! Maybe we need a new thread to discuss this movie of all movies! The series is my favorite of all time. I even went to a LOTR convention in Canada...

I agree that it is hard to keep up with the changes in technology and that renting is often better. Except for the movies you must have!

OK a LOTR thread it is!

But yes there are certain episodes I would love to have for The Next Generation, especially that flute episode.

Lisa, It's funny you mention the flute again because last night I saw the episode in which Jean Luc falls in love with an officer in Stellar Cartography. He plays the flute for her and their enjoyment of the music brings them together. I was sad that they parted ways in the end though. Did anyone else ever see that episode? If so, do you wish they could have stayed together?

Wow I didn't realize they brought the flute back!! I don't think I ever saw that one ... that is too cool! I wonder if they did that in another episode. Maybe I should collect up all the "flute episodes" ...

Well and the two-Riker one too, I loved that one ...

It's nice to see people waxing nostalgic about "The Next Generation." I loved all those episodes. I have to admit I also really enjoyed the time travel ones, technobabble-filled as they are. And I may be asking for it, but I really liked Wesley Crusher too. He could be overbearing, but I was, after all, a teenage girl and he was a cute, clean-cut guy who was out having space adventures and saving the world just like I dreamed about.

I also really liked Worf's wife--Alexander's mother.

I may be inspired to go buy the DVDs after this!

Oh, I love that episode with Worf's wife. She was something else! The Clingon women are so dynamic. I felt sorry for Worf since their "oath" really meant something to him but apparently not as much to her.

Speaking of Wesley Crusher, did you see that episode in which there was an investigation at the academy about the death of his team member? It turned out that the team leader was coercing the other members to do things they shouldn't have done. Wesley was sullen and nervous the whole time -- the show was pretty dramatic.

I myself don't care for the episodes where they do time travel and meet figures of the past. Sorry, but it just gets a little too corny for me and Data can get obnoxious when he is playing this sort of role. I like Data best as his android self.

I checked NetFlix and all seven season of Star Trek: TNG are available. Go to town, Lisa!

I liked the actress who played Alexander's mother, too. She came back and played Q's mate with fiery red hair. I'd like to see her in something else.

I didn't realize that people didn't like Wesley until years later when I started hanging around real fans. My husband and I don't fit the typical fan mode. When we like a show, we just watch the show. We don't go to conventions or buy paraphernalia or anything. Although I have been on the internet since 1988, I didn't start reading fan forums for TV shows until a couple years' ago. That's when I found out that people didn't like the Wesley character. Personally, he never bothered me one way or the other.

Another thing I didn't realize was how much fans hated the first season of TNG. I admit that I thought the characters were a bit stiff, but I usually think that about most new shows. I didn't think that TNG was any worse.

My personal favorite TNG episode was "The Measure of the Man" where DAta is put on trial to measure his "humanness".

I think that I really love the traditional Trekian Morality Play episodes - though I did love some of the later ones (A Fist Full of Datas was fun - as was the one where the crew becomes children).

First season TNG suffered due to a writers strike at that time, and the studio was forced to re=cycle a lot of original series plots.

I loved, though, how Worf grew as a character through the series - from being a rather one-dimensional "token" Klingon to a very subtle and complex character. His wife (and I can't remember the character name either - but the actress is Susie Plackart (think that's the spelling)was also very complex, and shoed a lot of shades of grey, which really does provide colour to a character.

As for Wesley - unfortunately in the early days, the episodes could too easily be characterised as "Wesley saves the universe", which really did irritate fans.

Yes - am a very long time Trek fan (I spent 6 years as the PResident of the Queensland Star Trek Club, and a total of 12 years on the committee of same).

I think most new shows are a bit stiff in the beginning, too. It takes a while for the characters to relax in their roles.

I had never been bothered by Wesley but I did learn that he irritated some people, that he was too "good" and too "geeky." Personally, that never bothered me. I thought it was nice to have a younger person on the show for some variety. As I recall, didn't Wesley evolve into some higher life form later on in the show? I don't remember the details.

Yes, Diana, Wesley ended up tapping into his latent powers with the help of a character called The Traveler. His prodigy-like skills were evidence of some sort of power that let him play with the laws of physics or time and space, I think. According to Wil Wheaton, the Wesley character showed up briefly in one of the later Star Trek movies but I don't remember that.

Thanks, Dani.

I vaguely remember that episode. What I remember most is that Wesley's mother (Dr. Crusher) was a bit upset about it though. I think it meant that she would not be seeing her son for a while!

Lisa -- Last night I saw that episode with two Rikers. I believe it was called A Second Chance. It really is an interesting dilemma, especially since the second Riker leaves the Enterprise and takes on another assignment in the end; he doesn't get "reabsorbed" into the current Riker or anything. So there are two Rikers in the universe.

What struck me about the episode was how cold most everyone seemed to be to the second Riker. He had been stranded all alone on an inoperative star ship for six years and he got very little sympathy. The current Riker kept picking on him and Deanna was pretty cold to him -- she almost seemed to assume he would show the same lack of commitment as the current Riker had. And in the end, all the current Riker gave him of their "joint" possessions was a trumpet! It looked like a discard, too. What about sharing the rest of his stuff? Poor guy.

Well, I guess it could be difficult to deal with more than one of yourself. I even dislike someone having the same name as I do!

Diana, the same thing struck me about the two Rikers episode. Everyone was very cold to the second Riker. I kept thinking that if I was Deanna, I would welcome this chance to have the relationship with the second Riker that I couldn't have with the first.

Dani - it's great that you feel the same way. I guess the problem was that she had gotten over him already and had built a new life but she could have been a little more kind since the second Riker had nothing to do with the behavior of the first!

Last night, we saw the episode called Timescapes in which a few members of the crew were arriving home from a conference and they encountered temporal anomalies in which time was moving at a different pace in certain areas. They were all talking and all of a sudden, everyone but Deanna froze for several seconds. Wow -- I would be terrified if something like that happened! But I guess this crew is used to strange things like that! That episode was so excellent scientifically. I don't know how they come up with these ideas....

I agree, Dani. The first season wasn't nearly as bad as people said. And that episode, perhaps someone could remind me of the name--it was close to the end of the first season, and it was about a conspiracy within Starfleet--it was probably called "Starfleet," wasn't it? Anyway, I know people felt it was changing the feel of the show too much, and they dropped the whole story, but I actually liked that episode. Can you imagine what "ST:NG" would have been like if they'd pursued that storyline? It seems like the show would have felt more in line with shows that came later--with the continuing story arc and intrigue and paranoia that was part and parcel of that episode.

I agree completely about how they treated the "other Riker" and ironically Deana does in fact end up with Riker, marrying him, so it proves they were meant to be. I wonder how the other Riker felt about that ...

As far as Wesley the one that always stuck in my mind was the one where the crew gets a hold of devices that make them sexually satisfied (Riker of course brought the first one on board) and only Wesley is not interested in the sex toy

The one where Riker falls in love with a holodeck woman was interesting You would think if the holodeck could create a super-intelligent villain for Data that it could make a reasonably intelligent woman normally ...

Gee, I must really be behind on TNG because I don't remember these episodes at all, Lisa. But they sound great! Let me know if you can find out the names and the season for them.

It occurred to me recently that most of these people who complain about the first season of ST:TNG are actually younger than I am. I wonder if they watched it while it was on the air or later on DVD. I have clear memories of discussing "that new Star Trek show" when it was first announced and wondering if it was going to be any good. We weren't big ST:TOS fans but we still had our doubts that a spin-off of a 20-year-old show could be successful, as did many people in the media. In that climate, the first season of ST:TNG was much better than anyone expected.

Speaking of young people and TNG, my daughter says one reason she likes Voyager a little better is because the cast seems younger to her. She thinks it's easier for her to identify with them.

The riker-in-love was episode 16 called 11001001 and involved him falling in love with Minuet, and the Binars are on board causing the trouble. He plays music in this episode which is cool.

The Riker-sex-toy episode was 106 "The Game"

I think it was actually the other way around for many people - for all the avid Star Trek fans, when TNG first came out everyone was up in arms that they had "changed things". They would say things like "Dr. Crusher is AWFUL compared with Bones" or "Who is Troi supposed to be - is she supposed to be Spock???" So no matter what the new characters did, it was wrong and an affront. I think that it took the whole first generation for people to get over that, so it was only the second season when people had begun to accept this new series as a standalone show in its own right and started to accept Riker for being Riker and not a Kirk wannabe and so on

Thanks for the info on those two episodes, Lisa.

At the time that ST:TNG originally aired, I didn't have any friends who were genre fans. My husband and I weren't even genre fans then; we were what you would consider mainstream. So I'm coming from that perspective. As I recall, mainstream media was solely focused on whether a decent show could come out of a 20-year-old idea and they were surprised that it did.

Now that I have more geeky friends, I am not surprised that they picked ST:TNG apart :-). Honestly, I'm surprised that more of them haven't picked the new Doctor Who apart. Genre fans have long memories and to them, writers better have a darn good reason for changing their beloved shows. That's why I would never be a good geek -- if it is even mildly entertaining, I'm good!

I think it's MUCH easier with Doctor Who - there have been, what, 8 or 9 doctors at this point? Every one was different. So Doctor Who fans are very used to new doctors coming in and changing things and have come to terms with it Although we all have our "favorite doctor" ...

I got hooked on Doctor Who when the Tom Baker episodes were aired late night on the PBS stations way back. So that is what I grew up on. I can get used to the newer Doctor Whos but it's just not the same with the Doctor asking someone if he wants a Jellybaby

Yes I grew up with Tom Baker too and he was always my favorite. I think it's like with James Bond, you tend to identify the most with the one you grew up with

I love Patrick Stewart so did not have too much of a problem with TNG - but I still prefer the original Star Trek. "I'm a doctor, Jim!" was one of my favorite lines to wait for.

"I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer" -- my favorite McCoyism.

I grew up with Tom Baker, too, and he is the original Doctor in my mind even though I know that others came before him. Funny thing is, I can accept the two newest Doctors but I can't bring myself to go back and check out the older Doctors that I missed. I normally love checking out classic TV that I've never seen before, but not in this case.

As for Star Trek, I enjoyed TOS but TNG was the series that opened me up for watching all kinds of sci-fi and fantasy. If TNG hadn't come along, I doubt that I would have watched Stargate, Charmed, The 4400, Eureka, etc. Nowadays, I actively look for shows with some sort of sci-fi or paranormal content. TNG created a hunger in me for genre content that didn't exist previously.

Duane I'm going to reveal my geekiness and say that must be from the Horta episode I loved that one ...

That's so interesting Dani! I always loved scifi from when I was young so while I did adore TNG it was just part of a long line of things I liked I'm glad it hooked you!

The geekiest things that stick out from my youth are watching TOS and Doctor Who, reading Douglas Adams, and buying my first computer when I was about 19 to play text adventures. There were so many other geeky things that didn't even show up on my radar, though, like Star Wars. So if someone had asked me to make a list of interests back in the 1980s, "sci-fi" would never have made the list. I thought of Star Trek TOS as a good show and never thought about whether it was sci-fi, so it didn't make me seek out other stuff in the genre.

I do recall the episode with Wesley and that video game everyone was getting addicted to was "The Game," from the fourth or fifth season, and it was notable for being one of Ashley Judd's early TV appearances. The episode to which I was referring to in the first season, I believe, was actually called "Conspiracy." I don't remember the name of the episode where Riker fell in love with the Holodeck woman (wasn't her name Gina?) but didn't she appear in another episode later--in a manipulation by an alien race as Riker's wife, or something, which if I remember right is how he knew the situation wasn't real. The episode with the second Riker, I believe from season six, was called "Second Chances."

Another episode I always liked was "Darmok," the one where the aliens kept talking in analogies and Picard finally figured out how to communicate with him.

Oh, I do remember recognizing Ashley Judd on that episode so I must have seen The Game. But somehow I don't remember the plot very well.

Last night we recognized Kirsten Dunst on the episode Dark Page in which Deanna's mother collapses after telepathic communication with another species and it is determined that she has been hiding a family secret. Dunst was unmistakable as the little girl Hedril.

That episode was so dramatic that I felt a tightness in my chest and tears were welling up in my eyes -- really!

The holodeck woman's name was Minuette. Her second appearance was in Future Imperfect.

Helen - the holodeck woman's name was Minuet, and that episode was name "11001001" because it was about the Binars.

Yes I remember the analogies episode - they would say things like "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" I liked that one a lot

I don't think I saw Future Imperfect, I'll have to look for that one! I thought I watched the Next Generation all the way through too ...

I loved the character Worf. He was one of my favs along with Dax, Picard, Jordi, and Troy.

I remember that phrase "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra." I thought the language concept in that episode was interesting but it was a little boring to me.

My husband and I saw Attached last night. It is one of our favorite episodes of all time. In this one, Picard and the Doctor are taken captive by the Prit and they become mentally attached by a cerebral implant so that they can read each other's minds. They discover some intimate feelings they have for each other during this time. It really shows the characters' personal sides. And the distrust of the Kes and the Prit is pretty hilarious.

I enjoyed that Darmok episode. The language part of it reminds me of a Voyager episode called "Nemesis". It was the one where Chakotay gets caught in the internal conflict of another planet. They were using our language but different words than we would use. For instance, instead of saying, "Close your eyes" they would say something like "Shutter your glimpses".

The episode was not one of my favorites but I loved the speech pattern. It reminded me of the beauty to be found in the English language. It is all in the way you combine the words at your disposal.

Interesting, I don't remember the Attached one

I wonder if there's a whole season near the end that I stopped watching ...

I know there must be something I've missed because I never knew that Riker married Troi!

first scene of the last movie, diana.

Oh, the movie. I've seen the movies but somehow I don't remember that. I guess it's been a long time. Thanks.

Yes the whole intro scene is a wedding of Riker and Troi with her in a wedding dress, Picard popping Champagne and much more

You mean Deanna wasn't naked when she got married as is traditional for Betazoids?

LOL you know I forgot all about that. I know she was in a wedding dress. Maybe they had a two part ceremony, I'd have to watch the movie again

Dani, there's an Enterprise episode called "Terra Nova" in which characters use a speech pattern VERY similar to that used by the characters in Voyager's "Nemesis."

I haven't watched much of "Enterpise". As much as I love Scott Bakula, that show didn't do it for me. Because of the time period it is set in, the characters seem too much like present-day humans. For some reason, I like that on Stargate: Atlantis but not on Star Trek. I've always liked the fact that the actors on various Star Trek shows were able to make me believe that they had never seen a TV or a cell phone except in a history class.