Star Trek: The Next Generation made a huge mistake in the first season that could have sunk the show if it hadn’t been corrected fast!
Looking back at The Next Generation’s first season, it’s frankly amazing the show survived for another six. The series took a while to find its footing, with rough storylines and the characters not fleshed out. Gene Roddenberry wanted it to be just a retread of the The Original Series and that affected the storylines. Wil Wheaton is the first to mock how annoying his character, Wesley Crusher, was in that first year.
However, one thing that will strike newer TNG fans during that first season is that, rather than being the chief engineer, Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) was only a member of the bridge crew who handled the helm and navigation duties for the most part. So who was the chief engineer? The answer is simple: No one. Well, technically, it was a revolving set of faces, but not a main regular character.
That was baffling as Scotty had become an icon on The Original Series as the chief engineer able to pull off seemingly impossible repairs and rescues. One would think TNG would have a main character in the role, especially given how lavish engineering was from the beginning.
Instead, season 1 had a variety of characters popping up in the role of chief engineer. Lieutenant Commander Sarah MacDougal was the first, followed by Lieutenant Commander Argyle, Lieutenant Logan, and Lieutenant Commander Leland T. Lynch. He had the annoying habit of saying his full name constantly.
Late in the first season Geordi was named acting captain in "The Arsenal of Freedom,” clashing with Lt. Logan over the safety of the ship. That no doubt played a part in how season 2 opened with Geordi now promoted to the engineer position himself.
It’s still baffling why the chief engineer wasn’t a top role from the start, which threatened to drag TNG down even more and could have sunk the show. (Continued...)