Original artwork, not a still
Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilization, to boldly go where no one has gone before...
— Star Trek: The Next Generation · 1987
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
A few dozen words that sum up the show's whole pitch: curiosity as a job description. Because Picard says it, it reads as a vow rather than a slogan. The shift from 'no man' to 'no one' in the Next Generation version is one of the best-known tiny edits in television, and fans quote both versions to each other without ever confusing which show they mean.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Star Trek: The Next GenerationShow the scene
This is the opening narration of Star Trek: The Next Generation, spoken over a camera flight past the Enterprise-D in every episode's title sequence and first heard with the series premiere, "Encounter at Farpoint" (1987). Patrick Stewart reads it as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. It deliberately reprises the narration of the 1960s original, where William Shatner's Kirk spoke of a five-year mission and going where no man has gone before. The Next Generation turns it into a "continuing" mission and trades "man" for "one".
Sources (3)
- Memory Alpha: Star Trek: The Next Generation opening title sequencesLeadReference checked
- Memory Alpha: Star Trek: The Original Series opening title sequencesLeadReference checked
- Memory Alpha: Encounter at Farpoint (episode)Summary headerReference checked
Context reviewed
