| This article or subsection has an associated category. | TNG season 2 |
|---|
TNG title image.
The second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation was produced and aired in 1988 and 1989.
History[]
After the success of the first season, TNG was renewed for another year of episodes in syndication to independent television stations, with a normal US television season running from fall to the beginning of summer in the following year. The debut of the season was delayed for several weeks by a writer's strike, which also led to the production of several scripts the studio had bought prior to the strike.
Because stations had allocated time slots to syndicated episodes beginning in the fall, several Star Trek specials were put on air to fill in for the missing episodes, incuding the first broadcast of a recently-restored color print of TOS episode: "The Cage". Older scripts produced include TNG episode: "The Child", which had originally been written for Star Trek: Phase II, and TNG episode: "The Royale", which was extensively pared down from a script rejected as unfeasible.
With the writing staff undergoing a great deal of turnover, there were not a great many notable episodes during this season, with one exception being TNG episode: "Q Who", which saw the third appearance of John de Lancie as Q, and introduced the Borg, beginning a long running story arc which ran through every series to follow TNG. Season 2 had Lwaxana Troi's second appearance in TNG episode: "Manhunt" and also TNG episode: "Shades of Gray", Star Trek's only "clip-show", an episode partially produced using old episodes edited together.
Cast[]
The cast of TNG season 1 mostly returned to their roles, with a few exceptions. Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher left the show and was replaced by Diana Muldaur, who played replacement Chief Medical Officer Katherine Pulaski as a regular guest star, while Beverly was at Starfleet Medical. After Denise Crosby left the show during season 1, with the death of Natasha Yar, Worf was moved to the post of security chief and tactical officer, wearing an operations division gold uniform. Geordi La Forge was moved from flight controller to chief engineer, replacing the rotating guest engineers of season 1. Wesley Crusher opted to stay with his position as acting ensign and became the flight controller.
Licensed publications[]
After the successful beginning of tie-in publications by Pocket Books and DC Comics, both novels and comic books were produced in conjunction with the production of this season. After the comic miniseries taking place during season 1, DC had an ongoing TNG comic begin during season 2, with the first four issues taking place during season 2. Pocket Books TNG novels numbered from #5 to #9 took place during TNG season 2, as did Giant Novel #1, Metamorphosis. An early TNG video game, The Transinium Challenge, took place just before the season started, as it was produced with only certain finalized details of the season's costume and cast changes available during the release. The Transinium Challenger and TNG novel: The Captain's Honor are notable as having taken place between the season 1 finale and the season 2 premiere. After the actual production of TNG season 2, only a few licensed works visited the time period, including "Lifesigns" and "The Legacy of Elenor Dain". Katherine Pulaski also appears only rarely, in Vendetta, a cameo in a single issue of The Star Lost and the early Marvel Comics DS9 series. Pulaski later appeared in leading roles in The Missing and Enigma Tales.
Episodes[]
- "The Child"
- "Where Silence Has Lease"
- "Elementary, Dear Data"
- "The Outrageous Okona"
- "Loud as a Whisper"
- "The Schizoid Man"
- "Unnatural Selection"
- "A Matter of Honor"
- "The Measure of a Man"
- "The Dauphin"
- "Contagion"
- "The Royale"
- "Time Squared"
- "The Icarus Factor"
- "Pen Pals"
- "Q Who"
- "Samaritan Snare"
- "Up the Long Ladder"
- "Manhunt"
- "The Emissary"
- "Peak Performance"
- "Shades of Gray"
Appendices[]
Images[]
Title cards[]
Connections[]
External link[]
Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2 article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.