The Next Generation ended after seven seasons

The final episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, titled “All Good Things…”, aired on May 23, 1994, though many of the treks weren’t quite as heartbreaking. Although viewers will no longer be able to watch the weekly adventures of the Enterprise-D and its powerful crew, they all know that… Feature film “Star Trek: Generations” It was scheduled to be released in theaters in just six months. In addition, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” was already progressing into its third season, and “Star Trek: Voyager” was actively developing. I’m telling you, the ’90s were a great time to be a Trekkie.

Of course, many fans at the time wondered why “The Next Generation” felt the need to stop after only seven seasons. Ratings were high, and the show’s cultural popularity did not diminish. The cast has even signed on to work on Season 8, to be able to stick around for another year in space. There was every reason to believe that “The Next Generation” would continue indefinitely, or at least until audiences stopped caring.

But the fact of the matter is that the series has become very expensive to produce. The seven main cast members (Gates McFadden, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, and Jonathan Frakes) were getting higher and higher salaries, and the show’s producers knew they had to keep pushing the boundaries of television. Special effects to keep the audience engaged in a galaxy-spanning space opera. There were other, more technical costs to consider; It seemed like Paramount was about to have a hard time selling “Next Generation” to local TV stations.

All of this has been detailed in July 1994 article in the New York Times. Not only was the price of Next Generation too high, but the supply’s unusual distribution model was becoming less viable. Instead of continuing to push the limits of unbalanced accounting budgets, the studio ended the series while it was still on the rise.

Throughout most of its history, the Star Trek film series has engaged in unusual distribution patterns. The original series aired on NBC, but it did not become a cultural phenomenon until it was sold to syndication; It was only in reruns that the series became a phenomenon. Meanwhile, Next Generation was sold directly to local television stations, rather than tying itself to a single network (Paramount did not attempt to launch its own television network in earnest until 1995). In order to purchase “Next Generation”, a local station was required to rerun each episode at least seven times, which allowed “Next Generation” to be replayed extensively; There was a time when both “Star Trek” and “Next Generation” could be watched on a daily basis.

Of course, with seven seasons and 278 episodes, the promise of each being rerun seven times raised some concern. Which station wants to commit to purchasing 1,946 hours of television? Will viewers still be interested in seven full episodes of one series? It was a time commitment that Paramount knew they would have a hard time selling. Spending trends in 1994 also dictated that newer episodes fetch lower prices than earlier ones, not higher. This meant that Paramount, overall, would earn less from Next Generation sales, while it was costing more and more (thanks to those increased salaries and VFX budgets).

Overall, it was not economically feasible. In short, “The Next Generation” is over because there was already too much of it. That won’t be the case for a long time The film and television rights to “Star Trek” will be split between two companiescomplicate matters further.

According to a 1994 article in EWThe staff was not informed of any of the above information. They had only heard stories about their show’s high ratings and learned they had been hired for an eighth season. When Paramount said it was canceling the show, no one could give the cast a solid reason why. They certainly weren’t told the complex details of local TV distribution contracts. A movie was planned, of course, but actor Jonathan Frakes saw no reason why the film couldn’t be delayed an additional year. He expressed his frustration thus:

“I didn’t get any compelling reason. (…) Maybe (Paramount) thought they couldn’t make the movie and the TV series at the same time — although I don’t know why the movie had to do that.” It will be made this year Some of us kept hoping that there would be an 11th hour delay, and that Paramount would realize how much money the show made for them and change their minds.

According to Star Trek executive producer Rick Berman, the decision to end Next Generation after seven years was all Paramount did. The decision was made even before the movie “Star Trek: Voyager” was released. Even though the writers may be feeling a little overwhelmed, they’re still on board, and it seems like the entire cast was just game (although Spinner was quoted in the EW article as being fairly honest). But, like all things, it was about money. The EW article also quoted Paramount CEO Joel Berman (no relation), noting that a film franchise would be more profitable than a TV franchise.

Of course, it was the cancellation of Next Generation seven years later that set the template. “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager” both ran for seven years, and 2001’s “Star Trek: Enterprise” might have followed suit had it not been produced just four years later. Now, in the streaming era, services can buy entire shows without having to commit to seven reruns, changing the rules entirely. Of course, even with the new rules, “Star Trek” remained everywhere.