Star Trek: The Next Generation facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Star Trek: The Next Generation |
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| Genre | Science fiction |
| Created by | Gene Roddenberry |
| Starring | See cast |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 176 |
| Release | |
| Original release | September 28, 1987 – May 23, 1994 |
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a famous science fiction TV show. It is part of the Star Trek universe. Gene Roddenberry created the series. It ran for seven years, from 1987 to 1994.
The show takes place in the 24th century. This is about eighty years after the first Star Trek series. It follows the adventures of a crew on a starship called the Enterprise. Their main job is to explore the universe.
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Starfleet Uniforms and Ranks
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Starfleet officers wear special jumpsuits. These uniforms have a communicator badge on the upper right side. This badge is oval-shaped and has the Starfleet logo on it.
The color of your uniform shows your job.
| Color | Position |
|---|---|
| Red | Command or Helm (steering the ship) |
| Gold | Engineering, Operations, or Security |
| Teal/Blue | Science or Medical |
Officers also show their rank with gold pips. These are small pins worn on the collar. The number and style of pips show how high an officer's rank is. For example, a Captain has four solid pips. Admirals, who are very high-ranking, wear pips on both collars.
Here's how the pips show different ranks:
| Pips | Rank |
|---|---|
| One (Outline Only) | Petty Officer |
| One (Solid) | Ensign |
| Two (One Solid, One Outlined) | Lieutenant Junior Grade |
| Two (Solid) | Lieutenant |
| Three (One Outlined, Two Solid) | Lieutenant Commander |
| Three (Solid) | Commander |
| Four (Solid) | Captain |
| One (Solid w/ square border) | Admiral, one star |
| Two (Solid w. square border) | Admiral, two star |
| Three (Solid w. square border) | Admiral, three star |
| Four (Solid w. square border) | Admiral, four star |
| Five (Solid w. square border) | Admiral, five star (max) |
Main Characters and Actors
The show features a brave crew on the USS Enterprise-D. Here are some of the main characters and the actors who played them:
| Character | Rank | Actor | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jean-Luc Picard | Captain | Patrick Stewart | Commanding Officer (the boss of the ship) |
| William Thomas Riker | Commander | Jonathan Frakes | Executive Officer (second-in-command) |
| Data | Lt. Commander | Brent Spiner | Second officer, chief operations officer, science officer (an android who wants to be more human) |
| Deanna Troi | Lt. Commander (1–6), Commander (7) | Marina Sirtis | Ship's counselor (can sense emotions) |
| Geordi La Forge | Lt. Junior Grade (1), Lieutenant (2), Lt. Commander (3–7) | LeVar Burton | Conn Officer and Ops, Chief Engineering Officer (a blind engineer who sees with a special visor) |
| Worf | Lt. Junior Grade (1), Lieutenant (2–7) | Michael Dorn | Tactical and Conn officer (season 1); Chief security/tactical officer (a Klingon warrior) |
| Beverly Crusher, M. D. | Commander | Gates McFadden | Chief medical officer (the ship's doctor) |
| Natasha "Tasha" Yar | Lieutenant | Denise Crosby | Chief of Security (season 1) |
| Katherine Pulaski | Commander | Diana Muldaur | Chief medical officer (Season 2) |
| Wesley Crusher | Acting Ensign (1–3), Ensign (3–4), Cadet (Recurring) | Wil Wheaton | Dr. Crusher's son, Conn Officer (a young genius) |
The U.S.S Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The U.S.S Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) is the main starship in the series. It is a very large "Galaxy Class" ship. Like the original Enterprise, its job is to explore new worlds.
This Enterprise was the most important ship in Starfleet during its time. It had 42 decks and usually carried over 1,000 crew members and their families. It could even hold more than 6,000 people if needed. The ship was very powerful. It had 12 phasers and three photon torpedo launchers for defense. It also had strong shields to protect it. The Enterprise could also split into two parts: the "saucer" section and the "star drive" (hull) section.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation at Memory Alpha
Images for kids
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Re-creation of the TNG starship bridge for Star Trek: The Exhibition
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Bridge stations within the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), as seen at Star Trek: The Experience
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Denise Crosby and Gates McFadden were in Season 1 as Tasha Yar and Doctor Crusher respectively, but were removed for Season 2. McFadden then returned for Season 3 as a regular and remained as such for the rest of the series, while Crosby appeared sporadically.
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LeVar Burton starred as Geordi La Forge in all seven seasons airing between 1987 and 1994, and four TNG movies premiering between 1994 and 2002. In the second season, the character became Chief Engineer aboard the Enterprise D, remaining so for the rest of the series.
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Wil Wheaton plays Wesley Crusher, Beverly Crusher's son, a regular character in the first four seasons, appearing sporadically in the last three.
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Patrick Stewart plays Captain Picard throughout the series, as well as in all four films and as the central character in Star Trek: Picard.
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Brent Spiner stars as the android Data on the show and in all four movies, and also plays Data's "father" (i.e. manufacturer) and "brother".
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John de Lancie plays the role of the mysterious but powerful alien known as Q. Like many actors in the series, he also worked on some of the video games of the period.
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Whoopi Goldberg portrays Guinan in The Next Generation. She was inspired to take on the role by Nichelle Nichols' portrayal of Uhura on the original series.
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Michael Dorn plays Lieutenant Worf and appears in all seven TNG seasons and four TNG films, a scene as an ancestor of Worf in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and in four seasons of the spin-off show DS9, making him appear more times as a regular cast member than any other actor in the franchise's history.
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Screenshot of the 1995 game, Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity
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Star Trek: TNG pinball featured the voices of actors from the show
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Exhibit in Los Angeles featuring the crew quarters of Captain Picard (uniform shown)
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See also
In Spanish: Star Trek: The Next Generation para niños
