(I dedicate this blog post to my friends J & C who I hope make use of this list and return to tell me it is everything they could have ever hoped for in a primer on TNG!)
Ok, you’ve watched all the Essential TOS in one weekend, and now you’re ready for TNG. You’ve waited weeks… if we were following the actual calendar, you’ve waited nearly two decades for TNG to arrive after TOS (TOS ended in 1969 and TNG began in 1987).
Picture it: The year is 1987… you’ve been watching TOS in syndication for two decades. Maybe not all the episodes, but you’re able to catch “Space Seed” or “The Naked Time” or “The Trouble with Tribbles” whenever your local station airs it. You might have caught the animated series when it was on in the 70s. You’ve seen all the movies… which so far, entails up through IV (the one with the whales).
But life gets in the way, and you miss TNG in its first run. Or, you watched it what was now an unbelievable almost FOUR decades ago, and you want to re-watch, but again, you only have a weekend and you don’t remember it well enough.
It was much more challenging to put together this list since instead of only a mere 79 episodes totaling 66 hours of TOS, there are 178 episodes of TNG spanning 7 seasons. That’s 130.5 hours (at 44min per episode)! That’s nearly 6 days if you went without sleeping or potty breaks. But I hear you. You want to watch it in a weekend.
Unlike my article on TOS, where I was generous with the amount of time I let you sleep or throw a load of laundry in or whatever other weekend chore you normally do, I’m reducing your “off time” here and assuming you can devote a little over 10 hours a day to watching TNG on Saturday and Sunday and definitely 6 hours on Friday. I’m also going to assume that you cover S1 on Thursday after you’re done with the day job and then pick up with S2 on Friday. Not counting S1, you’ll get in a whopping 26 hours or 35 episodes — only 20% of the whole series!!! Because of that, I have several extra labeled “optional” in case you have a few other evenings or a whole 2nd weekend to devote to this activity (actually, maybe 2 and a half more weekends after I went back and counted up all the optional episodes). I put a lot of “standalone” episodes, the ones you can watch in nearly any order (because they’re not part of the larger season or series arcs) as “optional” although a few are so awesome, they made it to the “essentials.”
Of course, if you can spare the time, it’s well worth it to watch the entire series. Or at least, S1, Ep1 and then S2-S7. 🙂
Similar to my Essential TOS list, I include notes on the episodes. Again, I do not mean this list to be a “top” episodes of all time list. This is another “want-to-understand-what-all-the-hoopla-is-about” list, especially for those who want to understand the new Picard series (and Lower Decks… LD references TNG more than any other series). In fact, those two series had a huge impact on this list. This list would have been COMPLETELY different a few years ago!
So, picking out the most essential was a challenge. But I did it. Here you go.
Season 1 (S2):
General season note: most of S1 is optional, except for the pilot. Seriously, if you just watched the pilot and nothing else from Season 1, you’d be all good.
1. “Encounter at Farpoint, Parts 1 and 2” (Original air date: 28 Sep 1987)
o The pilot… we meet the characters, the Enterprise-D, Q, and get the whole setup!
(opt) “The Naked Now” (Original air date: 5 Oct 1987)
o There was a TOS episode called “The Naked Time” that this was essentially the second part of. This was the only time in TNG that they did such a blatant continuation — which is good. That would not have been a great way to run a whole series! Unrelated, this episode is key to Data and Tasha Yar’s relationship.
(opt) “The Last Outpost” (Original air date: 19 Oct 1987)
o We’re introduced the Ferengi
(opt) “Hide and Q” (Original air date: 23 Nov 1987)
o Q is back! I have just about all the Q episodes in this list as either Essential or Optional so you can see the evolution of that relationship
(opt) “Haven” (Original air date: 30 Nov 1987)
o We meet Lwaxana Troi, daughter of the Fifth House, holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed for the first time
(opt) “Datalore” (Original air date: 18 Jan 1988)
o The first time we encounter Data’s brother, Lore, and we get to see how awesome Brent Spiner is playing multiple characters in one scene (it always impresses me when actors can do this)
(opt) “11001001” (Original air date: 1 Feb 1988)
o This episode doesn’t contribute to the greater plot, but one of the characters does reappear in the 4th Season episode, Future Imperfect. It’s one of the best, most interesting episodes in S1.
(opt) “Skin of Evil” (Original air date: 25 Apr 1988)
o This is the one where Tasha Yar dies. It’s not a great episode beyond that.
(opt) “The Neutral Zone” (Original air date: 16 May 1988)
o The Romulan’s are back!
Season 2 (S2):
Overall season note: This is where the series really settled into its own. There’s a lot of good stuff here. The reason I don’t recommend more is only because most of the episodes are “singletons”… episodes that are self-contained and we don’t really come back to them later. The exceptions to that are the ones on this list.
1. “The Child” (Original air date: 21 Nov 1988)
o It’s almost like a pilot for the rest of the series: Georgi is now Chief Engineer; Riker has a beard; Guinan comes aboard; We get a new doctor for the season (although at the time, we didn’t know it was just going to be one season). Plus, it was an interesting episode. More so now that I’ve been through two normal human pregnancies.
2. “The Measure of a Man” (Original air date: 13 Deb 1989)
o Of course with a character like Data, there is going to be ongoing themes on how he is treated or “measured.”
3. “Q Who” (Original air date: 8 May 1989)
o We meet the Borg! ‘Nuf said!
4. “Samaritan Snare” (Original air date: 15 May 1989)
o This is where we meet the Pakleds, who feature prominently in Lower Decks. That’s the only reason this made it to the list.
5. “The Emissary” (Original air date: 26 Jun 1989)
o We meet K’Ehleyr, Worf’s mate. The episode itself is ok, but K’Ehleyr is a wonderful character who reoccurs and whose, um, involvement with Worf sets him up for a lifetime of implications.
These episodes are optional, and you can watch them in no particular order. They’re just additional ones from the season that I really enjoyed: “The Outrageous Okana,” “Loud as a Whisper,” “the Schizoid Man,” “Unnatural Selection,” “A Matter of Honor,” “The Dauphin,” “The Royale,” “The Icarus Factor,” “Pen Pals,” “Manhunt,” “Peak Performance.”
(Yeah, I know – that’s practically the whole season!
Season 3 (S3):
Overall season note: Now we’re really getting some place with the series! From here on out, I am prioritizing interactions with some of the other species that feature prominently in the other series: Romulans, Borg, Bajorans, Cardassians
(opt) “Who Watches the Watchers” (Original air date: 16 Oct 1989)
o Not an episode that has deeper long-term plot implications (i.e., it’s a “standalone”), just a good first contact with another species episode. I always thought those were some of the stronger standalone episodes in TNG so they’re here on my list.
1. “The Enemy” (Original air date: 6 Nov 1989)
o I included a lot of the Romulan episodes to see how the Federation-Romulan relationship develops as well as Picard’s relationship with the Romulans.
(opt) “The Defector” (Original air date: 1 Jan 1990)
o Believe it or not, another Romulan episode. This is actually one of my favorites (Romulan episodes and overall TNG episodes). I loved it so much that for YEARS it was killing me not having any idea what happened to a certain letter that was referenced at the end. Recently, I found out that someone wrote a story about that. It’s called “Suicide Note” by Geoff Trowbridge and is included in Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Sky’s the Limit: All New Tales.
(opt) “Deja Q” (Original air date: 5 Feb 1990)
o Another interesting Q episode, complete with my favorite line of his ever: “It’s simple. Just change the gravitational constant of the universe!”
(opt) “A Matter of Perspective” (Original air date: 12 Feb 1990)
o We recently talked about in one of our podcast episodes the Holodeck and all the things it can be used for. That’s why I think this is a worthy episode… it’s an interesting use of the holodeck as an investigative tool.
2. “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (Original air date: 19 Feb 1990)
o Tasha Yar is back. But she shouldn’t be. Besides being a simply fabulous episode, it sets up for some of the future Romulan episodes…
3. “The Offspring” (Original air date: 12 Mar 1990)
o Data creates Lal. Amazing stand-alone episode, but sets up all of Season 1 of Picard.
(opt) “Sins of the Father” (Original air date: 19 Mar 1990)
o We meet Worf’s brother (his bio-brother) and a lot of Worf’s story-arc through the rest of this series and DS9 gets set-up here.
(opt) “Tin Man” (Original air date: 23 Apr 1990)
o Fantastic stand-alone episode.
(opt) “Hollow Pursuits” (Original air date: 30 Apr 1990)
o We meet the character Barclay, who recurs a few times in this series and is important in Voyager. Another interesting use of the holodeck!
(opt) “The Most Toys” (Original air date: 7 May 1990)
o Great Data episode and also the setup for understanding “the Collector’s Guild” and those references in the Lower Deck’s episode, “Kayshon, His Eyes Open.”
4. “Sarek” (Original air date: 14 May 1990)
o Re-read the name of the episode. You shouldn’t need more than that to convince you to watch this one!
5. “Transfigurations” (Original air date: 4 Jun 1990)
o A stand-alone, but such a fantastic episode…
6. “The Best of Both Worlds, Part I” (Original air date: 18 Jun 1990)
o If you’ve been around any Trek culture you must know that Picard was assimilated by the Borg. Resistance if Futile and all that. This is that two-part episode.
Season 4 (S4):
Overall season note: Seasons 4, 5, and 6 were the strongest and, hence, the most difficult to whittle down to only the “essentials.”
1. “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II” (Original air date: 24 Sep 1990)
o Yes, watch both parts.
2. “Family” (Original air date: 1 Oct 1990)
o Amazing episode as we watch Picard recover from his experience with the Borg, back at the family Chateaux.
3. “Brothers” (Original air date: 8 Oct 1990)
o I mentioned above how amazing it is when an actor can play two roles in a scene. Try three! Brent Spiner is unbelievable as three characters in this one. Another fantastic Data episode, and also sets the stage for Data to get emotions later… (in the movies)
(opt) “Remember Me” (Original air date: 22 Oct 1990)
o Great standalone episode, but also adds some nuggets to Wesley’s character journey.
4. “Reunion” (Original air date: 5 Nov 1990)
o K’Ehleyr is back, with a life-altering surprise. And the start of the major Klingon Empire arc begins here. (Ok, you could make an argument that it began with the “Sins of the Father” episode, but I choose to say it begins here.)
(opt) “Future Imperfect” (Original air date: 12 Nov 1990)
o Another really cool standalone. But remember key details from “11001001” and all the other Romulan stuff that’s happened up until now.
(opt) “Final Mission” (Original air date: 19 Nov 1990)
o Wesley’s last episode before he goes off to Starfleet Academy.
5. “Data’s Day” (Original air date: 7 Jan 1991)
o One of my favorite Data episodes – told from his POV.
(opt) “The Wounded (Original air date: 28 Jan 1991)
o This is where the Cardassians are introduced.
(opt) “First Contact” (Original air date: 18 Feb 1991)
o Okay, I’ll admit it. A lot of the “optional” episodes are simply here because they’re my favorites. This one is probably in my top 3 (remember that’s out of 178… it’s that good). Probably because a lot of us want very badly to identify with Mirasta Yale and have her story be our own. (Note: This episode has nothing to do with the movie, “First Contact.”)
(opt) “The Nth Degree” (Original air date: 1 Apr 1991)
o And yes, I’m a sucker for TNG episodes that involved some kind of first contact scenario. I might have mentioned that. But, the Enterprise is supposed to be all about seeking out new life and new civilizations, and I think they write and execute some of those episodes so well! Plus, Barclay is back!
(opt) “Half a Life” (Original air date: 6 May 1991)
o Even though this is the 4th episode with Lwaxana Troi, I think this is where the character really starts to take on some serious depth.
(opt) “The Host” (Original air date: 13 May 1991)
o We meet the Trill!
6. “Redemption, Part I” (Original air date: 17 Jun 1991)
o This is not my favorite, but I think it belongs because of the ongoing arc with what’s happening with the Klingon Empire and Worf. If you like it, continue to part II. If not, I think you can skip Part II and guess the important stuff that went down.
Season 5 (S5):
Overall season note: It’s kind of funny that the Essentials all occur early in the season…
(opt) “Redemption, Part II” (Original air date: 23 Sep 1991)
o Ok, I fibbed. Part I got really interesting at the end. This really should be essential, too. Hopefully, you have been following my list and watched “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”
1. “Darmok” (Original air date: 30 Sep 1991)
o Always wondered what “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra” meant? Watch this.
2. “Ensign Ro” (Original air date: 7 Oct 1991)
o As the episode title suggests, we meet Ensign Ro Laren and are introduced to the Bajorans which become important not only in future TNG episodes, but are key to the whole DS9 series.
3. “Disaster” (Original air date: 21 Oct 1991)
o It’s a standalone episode, but one that puts our characters in individually uncomfortable positions. Troi takes on an interesting role and she references back to this episode at least once.
4. “Unification, Part I” (Original air date: 4 Nov 1991)
o Leonard Nimoy. Spock. Part I. Watch now! (Well, after you watch all the essentials up until now…. All these episodes: “Sarek,” “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” “Redemption,” etc have important bits leading up to this two-parter.)
5. “Unification, Part II” (Original air date: 11 Nov 1991)
o More Spock awesomeness.
(opt) “Ethics” (Original air date: 24 Feb 1992)
o This episode is great because it asks some very interesting and important medical ethics questions relevant today.
(opt) “The Outcast” (Original air date: 16 Mar 1992)
o I thought it was eerie that this episode aired just after I finished writing my senior HS English thesis on “The Left Hand of Darkness,” by Ursula LeGuin. The main guest characters come from a race that does not separate gender.
(opt) “Cause and Effect” (Original air date: 23 Mar 1992)
o Another of my favorite episodes. Standalone, but done so well!
(opt) “The First Duty” (Original air date: 30 Mar 1992)
o A Wesley Crusher episode and I always find it interesting when we get to see some of the flaws in the main characters. It was a really good episode. Yes, the actor who played Tom Paris in Voyager is one of the guests in this episode. Yes, the characters are very similar (Tom Paris was modeled after the character Nicholas Locarno in this episode), but they are not the same (as evidenced by the fact that they have different names. lol).
(opt) “The Perfect Mate” (Original air date: 27 Apr 1992)
o Another interesting standalone focusing on Picard.
6. “I, Borg” (Original air date: 11 May 1992)
o Up until now, we’ve basically been living in a “kill all Borg anyway you can and on site” world. Not anymore! If you’ve watched S1 of Picard already, you can skip ahead and just watch this episode and then go back to what you were doing.
(opt) “The Inner Light” (Original air date: 1 Jun 1992)
o Considered by many to be one of the best episodes (and me too… I can watch this over and over).
(opt) “Time’s Arrow, Part I” (Original air date: 15 Jun 1992)
o The *only* reason this 2 part made my list of optionals is because of Picard, S2, Ep4.
Season 6 (S6):
Overall Season Note: This season was crazy hard to decide between Essential and Optional and I went back and forth flip-flopping with several episodes. I really wish I could have made all the “Optional” ones “Essential.”
(opt) “Time’s Arrow, Part II” (Original air date: 21 Sep 1992)
o See comment above.
1. “Relics” (Original air date: 12 Oct 1992)
o If you’re a TOS fan, this is an essential episode. If you’re not a TOS fan, you could replace it with one of the optionals.
(opt) “Schisms” (Original air date: 19 Oct 1992)
o Interesting standalone.
2. “True Q” (Original air date: 26 Oct 1992)
o Another interesting Q episode.
(opt) “Rascals” (Original air date: 2 Nov 1992)
o This episode could have been utterly ridiculous except it was done so well and the actors they chose to play younger versions of characters we know did a fantastic job.
(opt) “The Quality of Life” (Original air date: 16 Nov 1992)
o Where can I get me some of those Exocomps?
(opt) “Chain of Command, Part I” (Original air date: 14 Dec 1992)
o Okay, yes, maybe I could have replaced “Relics” and “True Q” with this two-part episode. I mean, it’s good. Patrick Stewart is amazing. And it is a continuation of the ongoing struggles with the Cardassians. But if you skipped these, nothing bad would happen…
(opt) “Chain of Command, Part II” (Original air date: 21 Dec 1992)
o …except you might not get the “There are FOUR lights” reference.
(opt) “Ship in a Bottle” (Original air date: 25 Jan 1992)
o Moriarty is back. Interesting AI, holodeck, and Barclay episode.
3. “Face of the Enemy” (Original air date: 8 Feb 1992)
o This episode shows how truly amazing a character Troi is. It also continues the Romulan story arc.
4. “Tapestry” (Original air date: 15 Feb 1993)
o Q. A young Picard. Continues the Picard/Q interaction, plus we get a lot of interesting backstory on Picard.
(opt) “Birthright, Part I and II” (Original air date: 22 Feb 1993)
o These episodes are here not because of Worf’s journey, but Data’s.
(opt) “Lessons” (but only if you’ve watched “Inner light”) (Original air date: 5 Apr 1993)
o Picard + love interest = interesting.
(opt) “The Chase” (Original air date: 26 Apr 1993)
o Sorta first-contact-ish. I enjoyed the message at the end.
(opt) “Frame of Mind” (Original air date: 3 May 1993)
o Really neat/weird episode. Possibly some of Frake’s best acting.
(opt) “Rightful Heir” (Original air date: 17 May 1993)
o I’m iffy on this one, but I think this is necessary for the continuation of what’s happening with the Klingon’s after this (which is not much in TNG, but picks up in DS9).
5. “Second Chances” (Original air date: 24 May 1993)
o Remember when I said I enjoyed seeing actors play multiple characters in any given scene? Here it is again, not it’s not Data/Brent Spiner – and the anomaly that caused it recurs in Lower Decks.
6. “Timescape” (Original air date: 14 Jun 1993)
o Another interesting “time” episode and one that enriches our Romulan connection.
(opt) “Descent, Part I” (Original air date: 21 Jun 1993)
o You could skip “Descent,” but don’t if you’re a fan or Lore. Or the Borg. And want to know what happened after “I, Borg.”
Season 7 (S7):
Overall Season Note: While enjoyable, there wasn’t a ton that I would deem “Essential” in this season. The key essential one is that last episode to see how they concluded the series.
(opt) “Descent, Part II” (Original air date: 20 Sep 1993)
o See above.
(opt) “Phantasms” (Original air date: 25 Oct 1993)
o Cool Data episode.
1. “Dark Page” (Original air date: 1 Nov 1993)
o Another really interesting Lwaxana Troi episode.
2. “Attached” (Original air date: 8 Nov 1993)
o I really like that we never really see Picard and Dr. Crusher get together, but I like when it’s… in the air.
(opt) “Inheritance” (Original air date: 22 Nov 1993)
o This is where we meet Data’s “mother.”
(opt) “Parallels” (Original air date: 29 Nov 1993)
o In addition to time travel, I enjoy me a good alternate universe episode…
3. “The Pegasus” (Original air date: 10 Jan 1994)
o I have a love/hate relationship with this episode, but it’s a must if you’ve watched, or ever plan to watch, the season finale of the “Enterprise” series.
(opt) “Sub Rosa” (Original air date: 31 Jan 1994)
o People who know the series and see this on my list are like… wha…!!?!? This is often regarded as one of the worst episodes. But here me out: yeah, not a good episode. But it is the only episode that we get some real backstory/family history on Beverly Crusher. We hear about her late husband… but we never, ever hear about the rest of her family. Ever. And we do for every other main character. In fact, we meet immediate family for every other main character. We even meet Tasha Yar’s sister at one point (that episode, “Legacy,” is not on this list)… and Tasha died in Season 1!
4. “Lower Decks” (Original air date: 7 Feb 1994)
o No relation to the series, although the concept is similar: the episode is mostly in the POV of a few ensigns. Really well done and interesting with a different set of characters that make up the crew of the Enterprise.
(opt) “Genesis” (Original air date: 21 Mar 1994)
o Interesting and unusual.
5. “Journey’s End” (Original air date: 28 Mar 1994)
o This episode wraps up Wesley Crusher’s story arc.
(opt) “Firstborn” (Original air date: 25 Apr 1994)
o First, I really like the actor James Sloyan (and this is not the first time he’s appeared as a guest in TNG… see the episode “The Defector”). Second, well, I don’t want to spoil it. It’s a good episode!
(opt) “Emergence” (Original air date: 9 May 1994)
o As a fan of AI, the holodeck, and the Enterprise herself, I had to put this here.
(opt) “Preemptive Strike” (Original air date: 16 May 1994)
o This episode continues the storyline involving the Cardassians, the Bajorans, and the Maquis (a paramilitary organization who are fighting the Cardassians). If you don’t plan to continue watching DS9 or Voyager, you can skip this episode. But if you are continuing down that path in the franchise, this should be on your list.
6. “All Good Things… “ (Original air date: 23 May 1994)
o The series finale that circles back around to the series pilot.
Agree with my list? Don’t agree? Comment below or find me on FN, Twitter, or anywhere else social media is sold!
For reference, here’s the entire list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation_episodes