As a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan, the way its 25th Anniversary is being handled as an afterthought is insulting. Back in 1991, when the Original Series celebrated its 25th Anniversary, it was almost impossible to ignore it. Paramount created a special logo for it, the final Original Series movie was in theaters, and there were so many tie-in products that even the most fanatical collector would be overwhelmed. The 25th Anniversary PC game, which featured the voices of the entire original cast, became one of the best PC adventure games ever made!

But what do we get for the TNG 25th? The first season in stunning form on Blu-Ray, a few convention reunions, but that’s it. No official marketing for the anniversary from CBS, no official logo at all, and no real tie-ins aside from the Blu-Ray and a Pez set. Does JJ Abrams have such a stranglehold over Trek that the series that made that reboot even possible is ignored?

If The Next Generation didn’t hit the air in 1987, everything after it would’ve been moot. The whole post-TOS Star Trek fanbase owes everything to The Next Generation. It introduced Trek to a whole new generation (pun not intended), and launched a new era of Star Trek television shows and movies. If not for TNG, JJ Abrams wouldn’t have a fanbase of Trek fans to market his reboot to.

Star Trek: The Next Generation deserves a much bigger 25th Anniversary celebration than it’s receiving from CBS. Even the 20th Anniversary in 2007 was bigger than this. At least for that they made an official logo and slapped it on some T-Shirts, but again that was before the JJ Abrams reboot. Could it really be that CBS doesn’t want to distract people from that movie series?