When Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered in 1987, it had some quite large space boots to fill. The original Star Trek series had become a cult phenomenon, spawning spin-offs, blockbusters, and legions of passionate fans who could recite entire Klingon battle poems from memory. So, launching a Star Trek series without Captain Kirk (William Shatner) or Spock (Leonard Nimoy) was a gamble bigger than betting on a Ferengi’s honesty. Instead of relying on fan favorites, TNG introduced Patrick Stewart’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard, an entirely different kind of leader, along with a diverse crew aboard the USS Enterprise-D.