Favorite Earl Grey episodes.Star Trek: The Next Generation has inspired, motivated, and entertained fans for almost thirty years -- especially three specific (and familiar) fans: Darren Moser, Daniel Proulx, and Phillip Gilfus. The trio of Earl Grey look back over the 122 Next Gen topics they have discussed for three years and pick their top three favorite shows, as well as some honorable mention podcast episodes.Their choices include their crossovers with other trek.fm podcasts, like "Earl Grey...
Jan 19, 2016•1 hr 9 min
Picard/Riker Relationship.The Kirk/Spock relationship dominates all other depictions between characters in Star Trek. That said, the captain/first officer dynamic of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Commander William T. Riker created a unique and interesting command team for TNG fans. The beard-less, energetic, and fun-loving former first officer of the U.S.S. Hood that we met in "Encounter at Farpoint" was mentored by the senior commander, formerly of the starship Stargazer, for seven years on telev...
Jan 12, 2016•1 hr 13 min
1701-B.Viewers of Star Trek: The Next Generation often spotted those golden Enterprise models in the Observation Lounge over the years - but what was the story behind them? We knew the 1701 and would get to know the Enterprise-A in the TOS-era films; the heroic sacrifice of the Enterprise-C was eventually told in the season three episode "Yesterday's Enterprise." However, there was an Excelsior-class-sized hole in the Enterprise legacy.It was not until TNG's inaugural motion picture, Star Trek G...
Jan 05, 2016•56 min
Cardassian/Maquis Conflict.The Next Generation often introduced "aliens of the week" that may be referenced one or two more times before being forgotten about entirely. The episode "The Wounded" introduced a strange, new alien species, the Cardassians, who apparently were at war with the Federation for a significant amount of time. A controversial peace treaty finally brought peace between the two powers, leading to an uneasy alliance. However, the price of that peace was unhappy Federation colo...
Dec 29, 2015•59 min
The First Duty Commentary.In The Original Series, their movies, and early The Next Generation, Star Trek continually referenced Starfleet Academy, the training ground for our favorite officers. However, fans did not get their first introduction to the San Francisco-based Academy until the nineteenth episode of TNG's fifth season, "The First Duty." Daniel, Darren, and Phillip fire up this memorable episode and provide a commentary.This episode focuses on Cadets Wesley Crusher, Sito Jaxa ("Lower D...
Dec 22, 2015•1 hr 4 min
Starfleet Career Path.Many fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation and all other Trek incarnations continually imagine what life is like as a Starfleet officer. Phillip, Daniel, and Darren decide to play "guidance counselor" and explore the actual Starfleet career track. They begin with Next Gen's debut of Starfleet Academy in "The First Duty," as well as the multiple references to various crew member's experiences, including their application process to the Academy or their life as cadets.Earl G...
Dec 15, 2015•54 min
TNG Guest Stars.The Next Generation was not accepted as official "Star Trek" during its first episodes and seasons, but it did not take long for TNG to become a pop culture phenomena. Every Trek series attracts guest stars, but there are also celebrities who, as Trekkies themselves, would love a chance to appear on the starship Enterprise. Darren, Daniel, and Phillip talk about those cameos and special appearances in this episode.Actors from other famous TV shows and movies, including Kelsey Gra...
Dec 08, 2015•1 hr 1 min
Chief O'Brien.Husband. Father. Soldier. Bored transporter chief. He goes by many titles, but Chief Miles Edward O'Brien made an impression on Next Generation viewers from the first moment he piloted the stardrive section of the new flagship in "Encounter at Fairpoint." Even though Miles changed from red to gold (and changed ranks even more often!), this secondary character was a vital part of the Enterprise-D crew. Daniel, Darren, and Phillip lay out a character profile that follows Miles from h...
Dec 01, 2015•1 hr 3 min
Debate: Is Starfleet Military or Exploration? There are fan arguments that have been debated since Star Trek: The Next Generation first aired on television - Who is the better Enterprise captain? Which starship would win in a fight? Is Starfleet a military or exploratory organization? Earl Grey tackles this last question for this week's episode and attempts to explore (or militarize!) the answer.Phillip moderates the debate that examines the origins of Starfleet in the 22nd and 23rd Century, as ...
Nov 24, 2015•1 hr 8 min
Voyager/TNG Crossover.The Next Generation featured some "crossover" episodes with Deep Space Nine, from "Birthright, Part 1" to "Firstborn." By the time Star Trek: Voyager reached the airwaves, TNG had warped away from TV to become its own film franchise. In this episode, Darren, Daniel, and Phillip travel to a parallel universe where season 8 of Next Gen is on the airwaves along with the first season of Voyager. What would a meeting of Captains Jean-Luc Picard and Kathryn Janeway have looked li...
Nov 17, 2015•1 hr 2 min
Gender BenderThe Next Generation was lead by Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his mostly male crew of officers. In this episode of Earl Grey, the trio gain inspiration from the IDW "Star Trek" comic book series called "Parallel Lives"that "flipped" the genders of the JJ-verse cast. How would the Enterprise-D's adventures unfold with Captain Jean Picard and her crew?Daniel, Darren, and Phillip beam aboard Jarrah Hodge (co-host, "Women at Warp") to analyze the main and secondary characters of Next Gen ...
Nov 10, 2015•1 hr 20 min
Marina Sirtis Talks TNG, Internity, Women, and More. Fans know her as "Imzadi" and ship's counselor, but Marina Sirtis is much more. Phillip, Darren, and Daniel interview Marina (on #DeannaTroiDay!) about her new series Internity and the campaign to fund its production. Sirtis helms the cast of Internity, a medical dramedy, where she plays Dr. Camila Chivari, a 50-year-old divorcee embarking on a second career as a doctor. She finds herself being bossed around by a chief intern (Joey Adams, also...
Oct 31, 2015•50 min
Spooky TNG.Mystery. Flickering lights. Strange sounds ... and clicking ... always the familiar, repeating clicking sounds ...Star Trek: The Next Generation has its fair share of episodes that cause fans to hide behind the couch. Darren, Daniel, and Phillip turn down the lights, get out the flashlights ... er, palm beacons, and talk about their favorite spooky TNG episodes. There is the surreal happenings in the fourth season outing "Night Terrors," where a sleepless crew fights their own minds p...
Oct 27, 2015•1 hr 3 min
A Final Unity.The mission of creating a good game based on Star Trek: The Next Generation has been a continuous hit-or-miss enterprise. However, few games can boast the voice talents of the original TNG actors. In 1995, game developer Spectrum HoloByte and publisher MicroProse released "A Final Unity," for both DOS and Macintosh computers. The Enterprise-D faced Romul-, er, Garidian warbirds, went on various away missions, and had Captain Jean-Luc Picard deal with an ultimate moral question conc...
Oct 20, 2015•1 hr 12 min
BridgeMates.Bridge officers get to know each other after years of service together, forming friendships, just like Data and Geordi La Forge's, that last a lifetime. But how well do they really know each other? That question is put to the test again with the now famous Star Trek: The Next Generation based-game, "BridgeMates." Phillip Gilfus plays game show host in a three-round competition (plus bonus round!) that places co-hosts Darren Moser and Daniel Proulx against the co-hosts of the sister T...
Oct 13, 2015•1 hr 3 min
TV vs. Movie Picard. The transition from the small screen of a television series to the big screen of movies was done by the actors/characters of The Original Series and The Next Generation. Kirk and his enterprising crew had the benefit of years passing before they reprised their roles on the big screen, while Next Gen had a few weeks. In this episode of Earl Grey, Daniel, Darren, and Phillip discuss the differences between Captain Jean-Luc Picard during his seven seasons of the television seri...
Oct 06, 2015•1 hr 2 min
Family.The writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation created dramatic backstories for the crew of the Federation's flagship. Many of the TNG characters dealt early in their lives with the loss of one or both parents, conflicts and grudges with parents and siblings, and other unresolved issues that are addressed later in specific episodes. Daniel, Darren, and Phillip look at the family origins for Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his officers, examining the "daddy" and "mommy" issues for each characte...
Sep 29, 2015•1 hr 13 min
Emotion Chip.A central character struggle in Star Trek: The Next Generation is Lieutenant Commander's Data's lack of emotions. Our favorite android experienced life on the U.S.S. Enterprise-D but was constantly challenged in his attempt to relate to emotional humanoid life forms. Phillip, Daniel, and Darren look at the flagship's second officer's "pre-emotion chip" existence and ask: Did Data actually already have the capacity for emotion? Did he evolve over those seven years, experiencing emoti...
Sep 22, 2015•1 hr 23 min
"Masks" Rewrite.The seventh, and last, season of The Next Generation is not often listed as the best year of the Enterprise-D crew. It features great, bad, and "meh" episodes. Darren, Daniel, and Phillip take one of those "meh" efforts - "Masks," an episode that is considered an "okay" episode and rewrite it. They decide what elements worked, like Captain Jean-Luc Picard "geeking out" over archaeology and the overall mystery of the alien probe, and seek out what elements didn't work, e.g., Brent...
Sep 15, 2015•1 hr 6 min
Q-like Beings.Captain James T. Kirk and the NCC-1701 crew were not that impressed with aliens posing as "gods," from Apollo to Vaal. However, it turns out that, a generation (or so) later, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the NCC-1701-D encounter just as many awesome creatures. Q sets the standard in "Encounter at Farpoint," but The Next Generation features other "new life" that seems beyond human understanding. In this episode, Daniel, Darren, and Phillip look at the Q-like beings of TNG. From Nagil...
Sep 08, 2015•1 hr 21 min
TNG's 24th Century Legacy.The creators of The Original Series had a second chance at modifying the Star Trek universe with Star Trek: The Next Generation. Those changes in approach, tone, characters, and philosophy "updated" the Trek universe, creating a 24th Century for the two subsequent series, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. Phillip, Daniel, and Darren examine the two "Enterprise-less" television series thru the lens of TNG's legacy. Earl Grey goes through early DS9 (pre-USS Defiant/Worf), the ...
Sep 01, 2015•1 hr 7 min
Beverly Crusher.The pilot episode of The Next Generation, "Encounter at Farpoint," introduced the newest doctor of the U.S.S. Enterprise - Dr. Beverly Crusher, a widow and single mother. Throughout the first season, viewers saw this woman cure diseases, have an "interesting" relationship with her old friend Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and raise her ship-saving son, Wesley. And then she disappeared for season two. However, Dr. Crusher's return in season three, and her constant presence through the e...
Aug 25, 2015•1 hr 1 min
Rascals Commentary.On its face, the plot of the seventh episode of The Next Generation's sixth season sounds ridiculous: Captain Picard, Ensign Ro, Guinan, and Keiko O'Brien are turned into children and must re-take control of the Enterprise-D from the Ferengi. However, this fun-filled episode remains a fan favorite (though it also has its detractors). Daniel, Darren, and Phillip provide commentary for this episode, complimenting the outstanding work of the children actors portraying our TNG cha...
Aug 18, 2015•1 hr 2 min
EGTNGRPG. Earl Grey celebrates 100 consistent weekly episodes of dissecting, celebrating, and laughing about Star Trek: The Next Generation with a role-playing game, "Earl Grey: The Next Generation Role-Playing Game" (EGTNGRPG). Phillip, aka The Narrator, serves as the Game Master (GM) for Darren (a.k.a., Bolian operations officer Hegg) and Daniel (a.k.a., Andorian science officer Thovin) as they play through an original episode of TNG . The story is set during the middle of the 100th episode of...
Aug 11, 2015•1 hr 24 min
These Are the Voyages. Star Trek fans generally decry the series finale of Enterprise as being an extended episode of The Next Generation - so Darren, Daniel, and Phillip discuss it from their TNG perspective, with the help of special guest Will Nguyen, co-host of "Warp 5." "These Are the Voyages..." is an episode featuring many things - action, adventure, the finale to the prequel series, the continuing story of TNG 's episode "Pegasus," a 24th Century perspective on the 22nd Century, and a so-...
Aug 04, 2015•1 hr 28 min
Season Seven Overview.All good things must come to end, and so it was with the seventh and final season of The Next Generation on television. Daniel, Darren, and Phillip compare this final year to previous seasons and discuss how the quality ebbed and flowed during these final episodes. They sort through their favorite episodes like "Pegasus," "Parallels," "Gambit, Parts 1 and 2," and "Lower Decks," as well as "Sub Rosa"-level episodes ... like "Sub Rosa." This season also serves as an ultimate ...
Jul 28, 2015•1 hr 8 min
Yar/Sela. Star Trek: The Next Generation was not the first, nor the last, Trek series to kill off a main character. Lieutenant Natasha Yar, the first tactical officer of the NCC-1701-D , appeared in 22 episodes of season one before being unceremoniously killed off, due to conflict between Denise Crosby and the studio. However, Yar (and Crosby) did not end her TNG journey with "Skin of Evil." Phillip, Darren, and Daniel are joined by Andi VanderKolk and Jarrah Hodge (co-hosts of Women at Warp ) i...
Jul 21, 2015•1 hr 11 min
Chaos on the Bridge. Star Trek on television again? What a wacky-doodle idea! So begins the documentary "William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge" that interviews all the major players involved in the creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation . Shatner interviews the studio presidents, executives, producers, writers, and actors involved in making TNG and charts the story of the first three seasons of the television series. The film concentrates on the late Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and...
Jul 13, 2015•1 hr 4 min
Echoes from the Past.When it comes to Star Trek-based video games, there are many hits, misses, and self-destructs. In 1994, Star Trek: The Next Generation came to the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo (SNES) video game consoles. Daniel, Darren, and Phillip fire up their Sega Genesis emulators and discuss the game play of "Echoes from the Past." From the graphics, bridge mechanics, "awayteam" adventures, ship battles, and solving puzzle after endless puzzle, this game captures many TNG elements, i...
Jul 07, 2015•1 hr 2 min
Ageing in TNG.The writers of The Next Generation , despite being mostly young men, crafted several stories that tackle the nature of growing older. Phillip, Darren, and Daniel analyze how the movies and television episodes treat the issue of ageing in the 24th century. The inaugural TNG film, Star Trek: Generations, features Captain James T. Kirk dealing with life transitions (and death), Captain Jean-Luc Picard struggling with issues of family and mortality, and the antagonist Dr. Tolian Soran ...
Jun 30, 2015•1 hr 8 min
