
Commander Data ( Brent Spiner), wishing to better understand Data's positronic brain. While the Enterprise is visiting Starbase 173 for routine maintenance, cyberneticist Commander Bruce Maddox ( Brian Brophy) comes aboard to pay a visit to Lt. It has also been included in lists of the best and most groundbreaking episodes of the series.Īn extended cut was released in 2012, with 13 additional minutes of footage. It was received positively by the cast and crew because of the subject matter, and has been considered by critics to be the first great episode of The Next Generation. "The Measure of a Man" received Nielsen ratings of 11.3 percent on the first broadcast. Similar subjects were discussed in a follow-up episode, " The Offspring". "The Measure of a Man" has been seen as highlighting themes of slavery and the rights of artificial intelligence. She would remain on the staff until the end of the third season. The script was accepted due to the impact of the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, and resulted in Snodgrass being recruited as a staff writer and script editor. Captain Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart) fights in a Starfleet court for Data's right of self-determination in order not to be declared mere property of Starfleet, while Commander William Riker ( Jonathan Frakes) is obligated to argue on behalf of the scientist. Commander Data ( Brent Spiner) are threatened by a scientist who wishes to dismantle him in order to produce replicas of him.
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In this episode, the rights of the android officer Lt.
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Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. It was written as a spec script by former attorney and Star Trek: The Original Series novelist Melinda M. It was originally released on February 13, 1989, in broadcast syndication. " The Measure of a Man" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 35th episode overall. Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 2) Amanda McBroom – Captain Phillipa Louvois.However, Roddenberry's seemingly inexorable faith in human nature was not matched by Asimov, who conceived the artificial human-and machine intelligence in general-as superior to humanity in terms of moral rectitude.9th episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation " The Measure of a Man"

For each man utopia was achievable and technological advance promised a better world. More specific to this article however, is the fact that both Roddenberry and Asimov shared an intrinsically optimistic vision of the future.

Original series producers, Herb Solow and Robert Justman, report that, together with using prominent SF writers such as Asimov and Harlan Ellison in his campaign to save the series from cancellation, Roddenberry also sought Asimov's help in creating a better role for Captain Kirk (William Shatner) to off-set Leonard Nimoy's popularity as Spock (Solow and Justman: 226). A number of factors link Asimov to Star Trek, not least is the fact that Gene Roddenberry had specifically called upon Asimov's help during production. The making of the film seemed peculiarly redundant however, not because the story itself was unsuitable for revision, but because a much more faithful screen adaptation had already been achieved a decade earlier with the creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation's Data.

* The screen version of Isaac Asimov's novella, "The Bicentennial Man" by Chris Columbus (1999) met with criticism from both SF fans and film reviewers alike, each critical of the comic adaptation that resulted from a serious and moving premise and, in particular, the mawkish sentimentality that overtakes the movie.
