The week-long national syndication window opens for the eighth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the second Ferengi episode, and the first episode to delve into Captain Picard’s previous command, the U.S.S. Stargazer. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the eighth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the second Ferengi episode, and the first episode to delve into Captain Picard’s previous command, the U.S.S. Stargazer.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the ninth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the second appearance of Q, and the first TNG glimpse of a female Klingon.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the tenth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who played the recurring role of Nurse Chapel in the original Star Trek, makes the first of many appearances as Lwaxana Troi. This is actually one of the earliest episodes filmed.
Lewis Galoob Toys releases its first wave of toys from Star Trek: The Next Generation, consisting of six characters (all members of the Enterprise crew) and a die-cast metal miniature starship Enterprise. While there’s an instant interest from Star Trek collectors, Galoob is perhaps a bit premature: the series upon which its toys are based is in the middle of a very uneven first season, and has demonstrated more appeal to older viewers than to the age group that normally buys action figures. A more successful line, geared more toward adult collectors, will surface in the 1990s.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 11th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode, the first to take place almost entirely within the holodeck aboard the Enterprise, goes on to win a Peabody Award.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 12th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode introduces Data’s “brother” Lore, also played by Brent Spiner, and establishes an origin story for both.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 13th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 14th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 15th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 16th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 17th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 18th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In an rare example of what passes for a “story arc” in early TNG, the characters of Admiral Quinn and the disagreeable Commander Remmick make their first of two first-season appearances.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 19th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the first episode of the series to focus on the Klingon race – a holdover from the original series and movies that series creator Gene Roddenberry had planned to avoid revisiting until co-producer (and fellow classic Trek producer) Bob Justman convinced him otherwise during pre-production, leading to the very late creation of a “Klingon Marine” named Worf.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 20th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the second of three occasions in the series in which the Enterprise’s saucer section is separated from the rest of the ship.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 21st episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Merritt Butrick (Star Trek II & III) and Judson Scott (The Phoenix) guest star.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 22nd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This marks the final appearance of Denise Crosby as series regular Lt. Tasha Yar; the actress has decided to move on to less limited roles. Crosby returns to TNG several times, and later hosts several documentaries on the Star Trek phenomenon.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 23rd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is one of the late first season episodes most notably affected by the Writers’ Strike, as filming had to begin without a completed final draft script. Michelle Phillips guest stars.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 24th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the goriest episode of the series’ entire run; even improved make-up effects in later seasons never quite match up to this story’s exploding head and torso (graphic visuals which any network with creative input or oversight would likely have nixed). Despite ending on an obvious cliffhanger, this story is never revisited by any later episodes or spinoff series.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 25th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode marks the end of the first season (with no guarantee, due the 1988 Writers’ Guild strike, that the series will be back in production anytime soon), and the return of the Romulans to the Star Trek universe, a sign that Gene Roddenberry is relaxing his stance on revisiting elements of the original series.
GNP Crescendo Records releases the first CD of Star Trek: The Next Generation soundtrack music, containing Dennis McCarthy’s music from the pilot movie, Encounter At Farpoint.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 26th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, beginning the series’ second season. This episode introduces Diana Muldaur as the Enterprise’s new chief medical officer, Dr. Katherine Pulaski, and Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan. The script is actually a holdover from the aborted 1977 attempt to relaunch the original Star Trek on a Paramount network that never came together; the barely-reworked script is dug up in an attempt to get filming started as soon as possible after the end of the Writers’ Guild strike.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 27th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 28th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Daniel Davis (The Nanny) guest stars.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 29th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Joe Piscopo (Saturday Night Live) and Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives) guest star.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 30th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Colm Meaney guest stars.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 31st episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. W. Morgan Sheppard and Suzie Plakson guest star.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 32nd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 33rd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 34th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 35th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Whoopi Goldberg and Madchen Amick (Twin Peaks) guest star.