In its first few minutes, Star Trek: The Next Generation distinguished itself from Star Trek: The Original Series, with a very different and more effective opening scene. Picking up about a century after the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew, TNG followed an entirely new Enterprise crew, led by Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The television landscape went through significant changes from the 1960s to the late 1980s when TNG premiered. Although television shows had not yet reached the level of serialization they would in the streaming era, they were moving toward a different way of storytelling.
Television pilots and finales were not thought of the same way in the 1960s. "The Man Trap" was the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series to air, but it simply feels like any other episode of the show. TOS technically has two pilots, one of which did not air on television until 1988. "The Cage," which featured Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) rather than Captain Kirk, was Gene Roddenberry's original Star Trek pilot that NBC rejected. The second pilot eventually became the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before." However, none of these openings matched what the franchise did when it came to TNG.
The Next Generation's Opening Scene Is The Exact Opposite Of Star Trek: The Original Series
Unlike TOS, TNG Set The Scene For The Entire Series
Star Trek: The Next Generation's feature-length premiere, "Encounter at Farpoint," feels like a true television pilot, introducing audiences to the characters and premise before diving into the story. The episode opens with a shot of the USS Enterprise-D before zooming in to find Captain Picard walking through the ship, making his way to the bridge. In a voiceover, Picard reveals that he has only recently taken command of the Enterprise-D and is still getting acquainted with the ship and his new crew. This entire sequence appropriately feels like an introduction.
On TNG, audiences are getting to know the Enterprise-D and its crew along with Captain Picard, but this is not the case for Star Trek: The Original Series. "The Man Trap" also begins with a Captain's log, as Kirk introduces the mission of the week. Kirk's Captain's log implies that he has been in command of the Enterprise for at least a little while and dives right into a mission on planet M-113. As the Enterprise investigates the planet, a strange shape-shifter monster begins killing the crew. With its horror-focused plot, NBC felt "The Man Trap" would be a compelling first episode – despite the absence of a formal introduction.
Why Star Trek: The Next Generation's Opening Works Better
"Encounter At Farpoint" Serves As A Solid Introduction To The World Of TNG
Although Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1 is generally considered the weakest of the series, the premiere does a solid job of establishing what the show will be. It effectively introduces the characters, offering glimpses into their personalities and backstories. TNG was still figuring itself out during the pilot and it would take a few episodes for the characterizations to be fully established. Still, "Encounter at Farpoint" feels exciting because the audience is embarking on this new adventure alongside the characters rather than being thrown into the action midway through the story.
...pilots have to do a lot of heavy lifting, not only establishing the characters and the world, but also acting as a blueprint for a typical episode.
In the modern television era, pilots have to do a lot of heavy lifting, not only establishing the characters and the world, but also acting as a blueprint for a typical episode. "Encounter at Farpoint" does a pretty good job at both of these things and provides a compelling storyline involving John de Lancie's Q. Almost every Star Trek pilot moving forward would follow in the footsteps of TNG. TOS was simply produced during a different era, and while "The Man Trap" is a fine episode, it doesn't set up the series as effectively as "Encounter at Farpoint" does for Star Trek: The Next Generation.
