# Star Trek: The Next Generation

88 Hacker News commenters recommended Star Trek: The Next Generation and 19 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for its character-driven stories, moral dilemmas, and optimistic view of humanity, with many rewatching it for life lessons. Critics say the early seasons are weak and character growth is limited.

## Why people recommend it

- Thoughtful moral and ethical dilemmas (5 comments): "TNG was particularly good at showing real moral and ethical dilemmas that were quite thought provoking." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50328917)) "TNG, because it's about the future, about science, rationality, open-mindedness and new perspectives" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47014983)) "TNG was far more thought provoking and one could ponder each episode" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47014815))
- Character-driven episodes with time to grow (4 comments): "There is just something about character driven shows, where you have the time to grow with 24~26 episodes per season." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50297755)) "TNG is a classic, with the classic crew and after the first hiccups is some of the best scifi of all time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47015011)) "the characters and their actors feel like dear friends I have grown up with" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50297945))
- Optimistic, non-nostalgic view of humanity (4 comments): "Picard was deeply affectionate and learned when it came to history and culture but free from nostalgia or chauvinism" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50311122)) "Star Trek TNG’s optimistic view of humanity overcoming its primitive base instincts." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50307953)) "a spark of hope and optimism that brought me through the tough teen years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50297074))
- Strong leadership and grounded morals (3 comments): "It was a realistic take on leadership that simply doesn't appear often in television or movies." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50296311)) "his character was assertive but compassionate. High morals coupled with grounded reason." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50294990)) "rewatching TNG front to back every couple of years to have an example to live by" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50297227))

## What people warn about

- Weak early seasons (3 comments): "the first 2 seasons, and pretty much anything involving the Q character, are unwatchable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47012900)) "the early years of TNG are largely a writeoff from a social commentary perspective" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50328620)) "had its fair share of duds, and not just in the not-very-good first season" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49709765))
- Limited character development for Picard (3 comments): "I never really felt like the writers gave Picard's character a lot of room to change, though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50297360)) "TNG, while lovely, has just a few because there's so little character development besides Picard" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46434384)) "having no interpersonal conflicts (a key tenant laid down by Roddenberry) is pretty bad for character development" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50297998))
- Uneven episode quality overall (2 comments): "Like any TV show there were good and bad episodes in Star Trek TNG." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50314038)) "had its fair share of duds, and not just in the not-very-good first season" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49709765))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Star Trek: Deep Space Nine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-trek-deep-space-nine.md): 59 recommend
- [The Expanse](https://hackerapproved.com/p/expanse.md): 51 recommend
- [Silo by Apple TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/silo.md): 27 recommend
- [Altered Carbon (Netflix series)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/altered-carbon.md): 23 recommend
- [Scavengers Reign](https://hackerapproved.com/p/scavengers-reign.md): 18 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Star Trek: The Next Generation", https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-trek-the-next-generation/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).