Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 2
Season two of Star Trek: The Next Generation doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Most fans like to sum it in three words - Shades Of Grey, a dreadful clip show that capped off the season and came to exemplify everything that was wrong with the second year. Admittedly, season two had its share of writing and budget problems, thanks to a crippling writers’ strike that delayed its debut in 1988 and infighting among its staff, but it remains one of the show’s crowning achievements, producing some of Star Trek’s finest character episodes.
It is perhaps because of all its problems that the second season is so interesting to fans, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find any evidence of the dark side on the latest box set release. Once again, for the uninitiated fan, the set includes a wealth of behind the scenes goodies that introduce us to new cast members that season (Diana Muldaur as the new ship’s doctor and Whoopi Goldberg as bartender Guinan) and illuminates the various production changes and improvements that were made. As with the first box set, there are interviews with Gene Roddenberry, producer Rick Berman and the cast of the show and an intriguing feature on Penny Juday, who must have the coolest job on the planet as Star Trek archivist and coordinator.
In terms of entertainment value, the extra features are a notch above those on the first season box set. But if you’re hoping to find a little behind-the-scenes dirt, forget it. The features are so sanitized it’s almost an offense to those of us who know better. There’s no mention of why Gates McFadden was replaced by Diana Muldaur as ship’s doctor (McFadden was fired). It’s particularly sad to see Muldaur, in a 1988 interview, talk about how excited she is to have joined the show, knowing that she would be replaced at the end of the season.
Another misstep was neglecting to include interviews with some of the writing staff, including Melinda Snodgrass. An accomplished Star Trek novelist, Snodgrass penned one of the show’s finest episodes that season, The Measure Of A Man, and was instrumental in the show’s creative revival that year. We do get a little insight into the writing from Maurice Hurley (who wrote the stellar Q Who? episode) and Gene Roddenberry, but not enough to be satisfying. Gene Roddenberry does get my award for best sound bite in the entire set when he describes Troi as “one of my favorite things in the show.”
All of the special features can be found on the seventh DVD in the box set. Considering the problems that existed, the second season managed to deliver some real winners. Standouts include Q Who?, The Measure Of A Man, A Matter Of Honor, Peak Performance and The Emissary. July brings the third season box set - sure to be the most popular of all of them. Is it possible to deliver anything less than a glowing review of that one when I get it? I doubt it, but we’ll see.