The Office and 25 TV shows that were never supposed to be hits
By Kareem Gantt
5. Star Trek: The Next Generation (Syndication)
Series run: 1987-1994 (7 seasons/178 episodes)
With Captian Kirk and Spock moving on from NBC, it was time for Star Trek to roll in some fresh blood.
Enter Captian Jean-Luc Picard and the USS Starship Enterprise.
Many thought that Star Trek: The Next Generation would be a continuation of the original Star Trek on NBC, but Paramount thought that the show would cut into the original’s profitable movie series. So, instead of premiering it on NBC, TNG would be syndicated.
Back in the late-’80s, syndicated television shows were always never a rating success, and many thought that the new incarnation of Star Trek would follow down the path to syndication oblivion.
It did the exact opposite.
Despite working on a shoestring budget during its first couple of seasons, many fell in love with the new Star Trek, and by the time the series ended in 1994, it became, at the time, the most highly rated syndicated series in television history, even spurring a movie franchise of its own. To this day, somewhere in the hallowed halls of NBC, execs are still kicking themselves by not bringing Star Trek: The Next Generation to the network.
Still, one has to wonder: Could Spock and Data have the potential to be best friends?