Twenty years ago, between September 28 and October 4, 1987, millions of people in the United States tuned in to a new show called Star Trek: The Next Generation. This event was eagerly welcomed by fans even though the show was treading on sacred ground as the first Star Trek spin-off. (This is partly why there were some skeptics out there too.) The new Star Trek was also a bold experiment on the part of Paramount in that it was an hour-long sci-fi drama airing in first-run syndication, not the perceived safe haven of network television. During this week in...