September 28, 1987: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Premieres

Top row, left to right: Whoopi Goldberg, Gates McFadden,

Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Wil Wheaton.

Bottom row, left to right: LeVar Burton, Patrick Stewart,

Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner.

September 28, 1987: "Encounter at Farpoint," the 2-hour premiere episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, airs in syndication. This was a Star Trek that I could watch develop from the beginning, unlike what's become known as "The Original Series," which I watched in reruns with my father, an original Trekkie from 1966. (No, he never went to a convention or cosplayed, but he did put up posters, published in Starlog magazine, of both series' versions of the starship USS Enterprise in his home office.)

The opening shot of the premiere showed a sweeping front view of the new Galaxy-class USS
Enterprise-D, and Dad said, "I want that ship!" He would say this many times over the show's 7-year run.

As of September 28, 2022: Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard, is 82 years old. Brent Spiner, as the android Science Officer, Lieutenant Commander Data, is 73. Gates McFadden, as the Chief Medical Officer, Commander Beverly Crusher, is also 73. Jonathan Frakes, as the First Officer, Commander William T. Riker, is 70. Michael Dorn, as the Chief of Security, Lieutenant Worf Rozhenko, is 69. Marina Sirtis, as the Ship's Counselor, Commander Deanna Troi, is 67. LeVar Burton, as the Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Geordie LaForge, is 65. Wil Wheaton, as Beverly's son, Ensign Wesley Crusher, is 50.

Whoopi Goldberg, who played Guinan, bartender and confidant to the crew, especially Picard, is 66. Diana Muldaur, who replaced McFadden as Chief Medical Officer for Season 2 only, as Commander Katharine Pulaski, is 84. Colm Meaney, as transporter chief Miles O'Brien, later a main part of the cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (as was Dorn), is 69. And John de Lancie, as the alternately malevolent and merely mischievous Q, is 74.

Sports was rarely mentioned on the original series, or TNG. Deep Space Nine would mention sports, particularly baseball, a lot, but, sadly, it said that, in the Star Trek universe, baseball died out, with the clinching game of the last World Series being played in 2042 (only 20 years from now), and it was attended by only 300 people. I suppose it was due to the lingering effects of World War III, which lasted from 2026 (just 4 years from now!) until 2053. DS9's Captain Benjamin Sisko would be responsible for reviving baseball in the United Federation of Planets.

The 1995 DS9 episode Past Tense, which sent the characters back to 2024 (only 2 years from now), said that the 1999 Yankees would be considered one of the greatest teams ever. That's a prediction that they got right. What they didn't get right (along with, hopefully, the "Sanctuary Districts") was an MLB team in London that, by 2015, would be another contender for the title. And, on Voyager, it would be revealed that the Yankees would win the 2032 World Series in 6 games, although their opponent was not mentioned.

*

September 28, 1987 was a Monday. Actress Hilary Duff was born on this day.

This was during an NFL players' strike, and the game scheduled for ABC Monday Night Football, the Denver Broncos vs. the Cleveland Browns in a preview of the previous season's AFC Championship Game (and, as it turned out, a preview of this season's), was canceled. And it was too soon for either the NBA or the NHL season to begin. But these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-7 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored 6 in the bottom of the 9th to win it, topping it off with a home run by Mike Easler, off Calvin Schiraldi. The season before, Easler had been with the Red Sox, and Schiraldi had been a major reason why they got to, and then a major reason why they lost, the World Series.

Rickey Henderson also hit a home run. Dave Winfield went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Don Mattingly went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. The winning pitcher was Bill Fulton. It was the 3rd and last appearance of his major league career, and his only victory. Wade Boggs did not play for the Red Sox that day. But both teams finished behind the Detroit Tigers and the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Eastern Division.

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. It took 3 Met pitchers to complete the shutout: John Candelaria for 5 innings, Rick Aguilera for 3 1/3rd, and Randy Myers for the last 2 outs. Howard Johnson doubled home Kevin McReynolds with the only run in the top of the 2nd inning.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-4 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Rob Deer and Paul Molitor hit home runs, and Robin Yount went 3-for-5. The Jays blew a 4-game lead over the Tigers with 7 to play.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. John Habyan pitched a 5-hit shutout, although Tom Niedenfuer was needed to get the last 2 outs. Eddie Murray went 2-for-2 with 2 walks and an RBI. Cal Ripken went 0-for-3 with a walk. The Tigers would go on to win the AL East, anyway.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 0-for-3, but drove in the only Royal run with a groundout.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers, 5-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The Twins would win just 87 games, but that was enough to win the AL West, and they upset the Tigers in the AL Championship Series and the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, to win their 1st World Championship.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-5 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 3-for-5 with an RBI.

* And the California Angels, the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the Oakland Athletics, the Chicago Cubs, the Montreal Expos, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals were not scheduled.

September 8, 1966: "Star Trek" Premieres

Back row, left to right: James Doohan as Scotty, Walter Koenig as Chekov,

Majel Barrett as Nurse Chapel, Nichelle Nichols as Uhura,

and George Takei as Sulu. Front row: DeForest Kelley as McCoy,

William Shatner as Kirk, and Leonard Nimoy as Spock.

September 8, 1966: The TV series Star Trek first airs on NBC, with the episode "The Man Trap" -- a.k.a. "The Space Vampire."

The show was created by Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991), who had previously been a combat pilot in World War II and a Los Angeles police officer. He pitched it to the network as "Wagon Train to the stars," in essence a Western in space. But with his ship's Captain, he was inspired by C.S. Forester's novels about Captain Horatio Hornblower, and he liked to call his adventures "Hornblower in space."

The show had a pilot filmed in December 1964, titled "The Cage." NBC passed on the story, but approved the concept, and asked for a 2nd pilot. Except for Leonard Nimoy as Spock, it was a completely new cast that filmed "Where No Man Has Gone Before" in July 1965. The show was picked up, although that 2nd pilot didn't air until September 22, 1966, the 3rd episode to air.

As for the pilot, here's the affiliates you could have watched it on, if you were in what would now be considered a "major league" city (note that not all of these are still NBC affiliates, or operating under the same call letters as there were using in 1966):

* Channel 2: WGRZ, Buffalo; WSB, Atlanta; KPRC, Houston; KUTV, Salt Lake City.

* Channel 3: KYW, Philadelphia; WKYC, Cleveland; KSNV, Las Vegas; KCRA, Sacramento.

* Channel 4: WNBC, New York; WRC, Washington; WBZ, Boston; WDIV, Detroit; WTMJ, Milwaukee; WSMV, Nashville; WDAF, Kansas City, KFOR, Oklahoma City; WOAI, San Antonio; KCNC, Denver; KNBC, Los Angeles; KRON, San Francisco.

* Channel 5: WLTW, Cincinnati; WMC, Memphis; WMAQ, Chicago; KSDK, St. Louis; KXAS, Dallas; KING, Seattle.

* Channel 6: WFBM, Indianapolis; WDSU, New Orleans.

* Channel 7: WSVN, Miami.

* Channel 8: WFLA, Tampa; KGW, Portland, Oregon.

* Channel 9: WSOC, Charlotte.

* Channel 10: KGTV, San Diego.

* Channel 11: WBAL, Baltimore; WIIC, Pittsburgh, WTVD, Raleigh.

* Channel 12: WTLV, Jacksonville; KPNX, Phoenix.

The series depicted the USS Enterprise, a starship with a crew of 430, representing the Starfleet (one word) of the United Federation of Planets, a galactic version of the United Nations, headquartered on Earth, at some unspecified point in the future.

Since they didn't want to be locked into an exact time, they obscured this with the clever use of "Stardates." Despite at least 2 episodes suggesting that the series took place around 200 years later, later series would definitively place it 300 years in the future -- i.e., the 1st episode took place in the year 2266.

The ship's mission, partly invoking the late President John F. Kennedy's "New Frontier," was written by  Roddenberry, and recited near the start of each episode by William Shatner:

Space: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!

The show ran for 3 years, and led to a brief animated series and 6 movies. It has spun off several connected TV series.

Of the main cast, pictured above:

* DeForest Kelley, who played the Chief Medical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Leonard H. McCoy, a.k.a. "Bones," died on June 11, 1999, at the age of 79.

* James Doohan, who played the Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, a.k.a. "Scotty," died on July 20, 2005, at 85.

* Majel Barrett, Roddenberry's wife, who played Nurse Christine Chapel (her rank was never stated on the original series), and also voiced the computers on every starship in every show for as long as she lived, died on December 18, 2008, at 76.

* Leonard Nimoy, who played the ship's half-human and half-Vulcan First Officer and Science Officer, Commander Spock, died on February 27, 2015, at 83.

* Nichelle Nichols, who played the Communications Officer, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, died on July 30, 2022, at 90.

* George Takei, who played the Chief Helmsman, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, is 86.

* Walter Koenig, who played a navigator, Ensign Pavel Chekov, is also 86. His character was created when the Soviet Union objected to the fact that, despite their pioneering status in spaceflight, there were no Russians in the Enterprise crew, and Roddenberry admitted they had a point. Koenig said, "When they thought I was Russian, 22 and single, I got more mail than anybody except Leonard (Nimoy). When they found out I was American, 31 and married, the mail dried up."

* And William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk, is 91.

(By the end of their movies' run in 1994, Kirk had been promoted to Admiral, and demoted back down to Captain; Spock, Scotty and Sulu had been promoted to Captain; and McCoy, Uhura, Chekov and Chapel to Commander.)

In a 2011 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist played Captain Kirk, although his impersonation sounded more like one of Shatner's exaggerated acting. In non-speaking guest roles, Omar Garaibeh played Spock, and Jon Na played Sulu. Both were ERB crew members. Kirk's opponent was Christopher Columbus, played by "Nice" Peter Shukoff.

*

September 8, 1966 was a Thursday. The next day, the science fiction series The Time Tunnel and the superhero show The Green Hornet debuted.

This was the off-season for the NFL, the AFL, the NBA and the NHL. And, wouldn't you know it, Thursday often being a travel day in Major League Baseball, no games were scheduled for this day. So there were no scores on this historic day.

Don't blame me, blame the leagues.

June 18, 1990: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Airs "The Best of Both Worlds"

June 18, 1990: Star Trek: The Next Generation ends its 3rd season with the episode "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I." It is the 1st cliffhanger in Trek history. Never before had the words "To be continued... "
been so infuriating.

The Ferengi had been mentioned in the show's pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint," in 1987, because the writers didn't want to use the same old enemies, especially since they were trying a "redemption arc" for the Klingons. But when the Ferengi were seen in "The Last Outpost," they seemed to be unworthy opponents. Eventually, thanks to the spinoff Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, they were rewritten with more depth.

The Romulans were brought back, and became more of a threat than ever. But the Borg were created as a seemingly unstoppable force, "assimilating" other cultures, making the people mindless drones to serve "The Collective," and adapting their defenses to make them invulnerable to even the mighty power available to a Galaxy-class starship like the USS Enterprise-D, commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart.

The Borg proceeded to kidnap and assimilate Picard, making him "Locutus of Borg" -- literally, their spokesman. The episode ended with the First Officer, William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), having developed what might be a proper defense with his Klingon Chief of Security, Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn). When Locutus appears on the screen, telling Riker -- and, in effect, the entire United Federation of Planets -- "You will service us," the camera focuses on Riker's face, which betrays no emotion for his compromised Captain, and he calmly says three words: "Mr. Worf, fire." And the screen fades to black, with the words, "To be continued... "

I watched it with my father, an original Trekkie from 1966, and we were not happy to be left hanging like that, knowing that the next season's premiere wouldn't be for another 3 months, and seeing, at the very least, that it looked like Picard would be lost. We walked downstairs, and, only semi-seriously, he stamped his feet and said, "No, no, no, it's not fair!" But, given his size, this caused some breakables to fall out of the dining room breakfront. My mother was considerably more upset with him than we were with the Trek writers and producers.

On September 24, 1990, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" finally aired. Immediately, we saw that, having Picard's thoughts, Locutus had electronically told the Borg to expect Riker's gamble, and they adapted, and it had no effect. He said, in a way that only an artificial lifeform with no emotions can taunt, "Your efforts are futile... Number One." From then on, Riker had to react in ways that, through Picard, Locutus could not predict based on past interaction with Riker.

Of course, the crisis was resolved, but at a terrible cost, including a battle in which a single Borg cube destroyed 39 Federation starships, killing over 11,000 people. Picard was rescued and restored, and the Borg cube was blown up. But the emotional consequences of what happened would haunt Picard for the rest of his life.

The show's 4th, 5th and 6th seasons also ended on cliffhangers, and Season 7, the final season, ended with a two-parter, but it was resolved in the crew's favor. Later Trek shows would also have season-ending cliffhangers, but, as with the original TV cliffhanger, "Who Shot J.R.?" on Dallas in 1980, nothing packed the shock value of "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I."

*

June 18, 1990 was a Monday. Hockey player Derek Stepan was born. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Mark Knudson outpitched Tim Leary. Don Mattingly went 0-for-4.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Dave Johnson (not to be confused with the Davey Johnson who once played for the Orioles, would later manage them, and was then managing the Mets) outpitched Roger Clemens, who didn't get out of the 2nd inning. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base, and an RBI.

* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-2 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett did not play, but Kevin Seitzer, playing 3rd base in his place, went 4-for-4 with a walk. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Uncharacteristically, Tony Gwynn went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals were rained out at Shea Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 26. The Mets won the opener, 6-1. Ron Darling went the distance for the win. Daryl Boston went 4-for-4. The Cards won the nightcap, 3-1. Ken Hill allowed only 3 hits, outpitching Bob Ojeda.

* The Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 6. The Pirates swept, 10-1 and 4-3. The 2nd game was won in the 10th inning, on a double by Sid Bream that scored Bobby Bonilla. Barry Bonds went 3-for-5 with a home run an 5 RBIs in the 1st game. He was given the 2nd game off, but was sent up as a pinch-hitter, and drew a walk.

* And the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays were not scheduled.