Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered on September 28, 1987 — exactly 30 years ago today. When “Encounter at Farpoint” began to play, the words “these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise” were said aloud by Sir Patrick Stewart, the first actor to captain the U.S.S. Enterprise since William Shatner. The show continued Star Trek’s fine tradition of exploring space and issues of moral and ethical beliefs, a tradition that gave them seven wonderful seasons and four feature films.
The cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation took to social media to celebrate this 30-year, 178 episode milestone, including Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), Brent Spiner (Data), Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher), and more.
I love my Star Trek family… and that includes all of you! Happy Anniversary to us!!! https://t.co/SN0RbzcBjA
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) September 28, 2017
Who could've known 30 yrs ago, that I'd be celebrating the anniversary of TNG in Parsippany, N.J.-Miracles can happen!
— Brent Spiner (@BrentSpiner) September 28, 2017
And the official Star Trek account marked the milestone as well.
#HappyAnniversary to the crew that introduced us to No.1, the mischievous Q, tea Earl Grey hot, & taught us to Make it so! #StarTrek #TNG30 pic.twitter.com/BT4jeHgdGn
— Star Trek (@StarTrek) September 28, 2017
As we enter a new era of Star Trek with Star Trek: Discovery, it’s refreshing to know that there is still so much to celebrate.