Trek Switch - Season One.

Star Trek: The Next Generation offers 176 interesting episodes for fans to enjoy. The Enterprise-D enjoyed various adventures that either originated from TOS, were planned for the scrapped Star Trek: Phase II television series, or were developed more in subsequent Trek shows. In this week's podcast, Earl Grey asks the question - are there TNG episodes that belong in one of the other Star Trek series? The trio begins with season one of Next Gen in this episode and work their way, round-robin style, through Enterprise, The Original Series, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.

Phillip take "Justice" and transports the story to the crew of the NX-01, as Porthos must now stand trial for being a bad dog. Darren has Captain Kirk and his intrepid NCC-1701 crew encountering the laser whip-cracking, hissing Ferengi for the first time with "The Last Outpost." Daniel turns "Arsenal of Freedom" into a Quark-centered DS9 episode, where the conniving Ferengi must make a deal to save the crew. Join Earl Grey as they take 20 season one TNG episodes and transport them into other Star Trek stories in this episode of Trek Switch - Season One. 

Hosts
Daniel Proulx, Phillip Gilfus, & Darren Moser

Editor / Producer
Darren Moser

Executive Producers
Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, & C Bryan Jones

Will Nguyen

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 15: The Movie Should Write Itself," an in-depth look at the inaugural TNG film Star Trek: Generations with the co-hosts of "Standard Orbit," and "Earl Grey 100: All Ships Are Big Shuttles," a role-playing game celebrating TNG and the trekfm family. The trio remember their once-in-a-lifetime interview with Counselor Deanna Troi herself, Marina Sirtis ("Earl Grey 112: Troi, Goddess of Internity"), as well as one of their many signature game-playing adventures when, together, they defeated "Not Gowron" during "Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive VCR Board Game: A Klingon Challenge" ("Earl Grey 69: Experience Bij").

The co-hosts also talk about the much-beloved game #BridgeMates ("Earl Grey 82: When In Doubt, Choose Data"), their first episode re-write of a TNG episode, "Masks" (Earl Grey 105: Snakebot: The Great Librarian), and discuss the origins, operations, and favorite aspects of this weekly Next Gen podcast. So enjoy a nice warm cup of Earl Grey and join Darren, Daniel, and Phillip as they reflect on their favorite episodes of this podcast.

Hosts
Daniel Proulx, Phillip Gilfus, & Darren Moser

Editor / Producer
Darren Moser

Executive Producers
Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, & C Bryan Jones

Will Nguyen

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 television and throughout four motion pictures before earning the right to call him a fellow captain. Daniel, Darren, and Phillip discuss how Picard and his Number One learned to lead the Enterprise-D together, their ups and downs, and how a rocky introduction led to a wonderful relationship that would guide the ship and crew through several adventures.

Earl Grey discusses moments of Picard versus Riker in episodes like "The Best of Both Worlds," "Peak Performance," and "The Measure of a Man," as well as times the two officers "pranked" one another in "Captain's Holiday" and "Gambit, Parts 1 and 2." The trio focus on Riker's pursuits of the Enterprise's center chair and Picard's mentoring of Will in order for him to finally evolve into the seasoned Captain Riker of the U.S.S. Titan.

Hosts
Daniel Proulx, Phillip Gilfus, & Darren Moser

Editor / Producer
Darren Moser

Executive Producers
Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, & C Bryan Jones

Will Nguyen

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 Generations, that fans witnessed the christening of the first "Kirk-less" U.S.S. Enterprise - the NCC-1701-B. Earl Grey discusses the ship itself - a modification of the Excelsior-class design (one that remained dormant for several generations!), that had some "extra fat" in its "dad bod," from nacelles that go on for light years to the "love handles" around the main deflector. The trio also discusses the members of the maiden crew - from the much aligned Captain John Harriman to the plucky Ensign Demora Sulu, whose story would be expounded on in the novel-verse. They also try to untangle the timeline of when the third Starfleet vessel named Enterprise entered and left the scene of the Trek verse.

So don't sit down in your chair - instead make time for the important things, like this week's discussion of the starship Enterprise, NCC-1701-B.

Hosts
Daniel Proulx, Phillip Gilfus, & Darren Moser

Editor / Producer
Darren Moser

Executive Producers
Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, & C Bryan Jones

Will Nguyen