Star Trek: The Next Generation is regarded by many to be the best of the Star Trek TV shows. The fact that The Original Series had helped to propel the franchise to an iconic status helped The Next Generation immensely, as the show was able to run for seven seasons without being canceled, which gave the cast and the writers the time they needed to mold the show into the epic that it became.

It wasn't easy for The Next Generation to find its feet, as the first season of the show was notoriously terrible compared to everything that came after it, with the triple threat of "The [Bare] Now," "Code of Honor," and "The Last Outpost" almost sinking the show before it could find its audience.

The Next Generation improved a great deal with each following season, but there were still clunkers hidden among the classics. There were a lot of long-running storylines in The Next Generation that took place over the course of seasons and these had the potential to be either incredible or terrible.

We are here today to determine which storylines helped The Next Generation to become one of the greatest TV shows of all time and which ones almost sank the show before it could find its footing - from the original Ferengi and their rodent combat style, to the arrival of one of the most feared enemies of the Federation.

Here are Ten Storylines That Hurt Star Trek: The Next Generation (And Ten That Saved It)

The Original Ferengi (Hurt)

Star Trek: The Next Generation was originally planned to exclude all of the notable races from Star Trek: The Original Series, which meant that we wouldn't see any Klingons, Romulans, or Vulcans on the show. These plans were swiftly dropped, but the writers decided to introduce new races to act as villains on the show, with the Ferengi originally intended to replace the Klingons as enemies of the Federation.

The original Ferengi were impossible to take seriously, as their debut episode involved them bouncing around like animals. The idea of the militaristic Ferengi also failed to work and they were gradually downplayed as villains of the show before they were reimagined in Deep Space Nine as a commerce-obsessed race, which was a far better fit for them.

Worf Losing & Regaining His Honor (Saved)

Star Trek: The Next Generation brought the viewers closer to the Klingon Empire than ever before, which was mostly due to the prominence of Worf, who became even more important to the show when Denise Crosby left.

Worf was a Klingon with an outsider's perspective of his native culture, as he spent most of his life living in the Federation. It's through Worf's eyes that the viewer learns the truth about the "honor" of Klingons and how truly deceptive and underhanded they could be in the pursuit of power.

The story of Worf losing his honor due to the plots of the Duras family and later regaining his honor when siding with Gowron offered some of the most insightful looks into Klingon society in the history of the franchise. It was these storylines that helped to make the Klingons so popular with the fans, to the point where there are many who root for the Empire over Starfleet.

Sela Going Nowhere (Hurt)

Denise Crosby asked to be written out of Star Trek: The Next Generation, due to how unhappy she was working on the show. Crosby's departure led to Tasha Yar meeting her fate during the first season of the show.

Tasha Yar would return in the form of alternate realities and time travel plots, one of which involved an alternate version of Tasha appearing in the past of the Star Trek universe and giving birth to a half-Romulan daughter named Sela, who would also be played by Denise Crosby.

The debut of Sela was used a cliffhanger ending of the fourth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, yet her role in the story was minimal and could have been performed by any other Romulan character on the show. Sela only made four appearances in the show and was never treated as a major character within the story.

Moriarty Redeems The Holodeck Episode (Saved)

The holodeck episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation were a mixed bag, as they mainly existed to offer temporary genre shifts for the show (such as allowing the crew to experience gangster or western storylines) and their quality varied. The recurring element of the "holodeck malfunction" that caused the games to become deadly also quickly grated on the fans.

The exception to the bad holodeck episodes was "Elementary, Dear Data" and "Ship in a Bottle", which introduced the hologrammatic version of Professor James Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes novels.

The Enterprise computer created a version of Moriarty that was meant to be smart enough to challenge Data, yet Moriarty grew sentient and he learned the truth about his artificial status. The story of Moriarty's redemption (yet still being wicked enough to oppose the Enterprise crew) was one of The Next Generation's best.

Pulaski Messing With Data (Hurt)

Gates McFadden left Star Trek: The Next Generation after the first season, which led to her being replaced by Diana Muldaur, who played Dr. Katherine Pulaski.

Dr. Pulaski became the new chief medical officer aboard the Enterprise, but the fans didn't readily accept her replacing Dr. Crusher, which led to an outpouring of for Gates McFadden and her eventual return to the show.

The main reason why Dr. Pulaski didn't work as a character was due to a running storyline of her belittling Data due to him being an android. The idea of Dr. Pulaski slowly warming up to Data worked on paper, but Data was already becoming one of the most popular characters on the show and Dr. Pulaski's attitude towards him only vilified her in the eyes of the fans.

Barclay Isn't Perfect (Saved)

The Federation is meant to be an idealized version of human society, which can make it difficult for TV show writers to come up with dramatic tension between different characters.

The crew of the Enterprise is made up of the best and brightest that Starfleet has to offer, which can make it hard for the audience to feel akin to the characters on the show, as everyone is a genius in their field.

Reginald Barclay proved that everyone serving on the Enterprise wasn't perfect and that there were still interpersonal issues happening in the future. Barclay was one of the best engineers aboard the Enterprise, yet his nervous disposition and lack of confidence held him back for many years. It took the help of the other of the Enterprise crew to bring Barclay out of his shell, which resulted in one of the most engaging and human storylines in The Next Generation. 

Worf & Troi's Romance (Hurt)

There are TV shows that use a long-running "will they won't they" romance between two characters to build tension and increase audience interest, like Rachel and Ross in Friends, or Daphne and Niles in Frasier. One way to keep these storylines interesting is by bringing in other romantic interests to act as roadblocks to the coupling that the audience wants to see.

It was obvious from "Encounter at Farpoint" that a romance between Riker and Troi was on the cards, yet the writers felt that she should be in a relationship with Worf, despite the two being so incompatible that no one bought it.

Marina Sirtis has been openly critical of the choice to put Troi and Worf together, as she felt that the writers ignored the personalities of both characters in order to make the relationship fit.

The Betrayal Of Ensign Ro (Saved)

The story of the planet Bajor and its occupation by the Cardassians was a major plotline in Star Trek that dominated Deep Space Nine, but the seeds of those episodes were planted with Ensign Ro's presence on The Next Generation.

Ro Laren was a Bajoran who ed Starfleet and rose up through the ranks, until earning a spot on the Enterprise. It seemed as if Ro was loyal to the crew, but her experiences on Bajor during the occupation led to her betraying Starfleet and ing the Maquis Resistance movement.

Star Trek often portrayed the of Starfleet as always holding on to their ideals, yet Ro Laren was an example of someone who saw those ideals challenged and chose a different path. It's just a shame that Ro never appeared again (and was effectively replaced by Kira on Deep Space Nine), as a reunion between her and Picard following her defection would have made for an incredible episode.

Wesley's Starfleet Career (Hurt)

Wesley Crusher rose through the ranks of Starfleet in an unconventional way, as he was able to gain firsthand experience from the crew of the Enterprise due to the fact that his mother was serving on the ship, which presented him with several annoying opportunities to save the day.

The fans were briefly saved from Wesley's antics when he entered Starfleet Academy, but he just kept coming back to check-in with the audience about how his career was doing.

The rise of Wesley Crusher's career, coupled with the fact that it went nowhere, was one of the most disliked storylines in the history of Star Trek. 

Q Loves To Mess With The Enterprise (Saved)

Star Trek: The Next Generation opened with a visit from Q, who was a wicked creature with godlike powers, yet he seemed more interested in messing around with the Enterprise crew than he was with destroying them. Q was the trickster god who loved to put mortals through the wringer for his own amusement, in the same manner as the likes of Loki.

The bookended story of The Next Generation and the final revelation about the meaning of the trial in the first episode is part of what made the show so special and it made the audience examine Q and his actions in a different light. Was Q really out to harm the Enterprise or was it all an act to prepare the Federation for the horrors that awaited them in space?