I'll be taking a break form Star Trek after this to go back to wrapping up more of the Comics. I'll return and do the TNG Films and the other series later.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Based on ideas for a sequel series by Gene Roddenberry, who took control of the series, though the studio would fortunately his more insane or bad taste ideas such as a four breasted Counselor Troi, something Roddenberry was talked out of by his wife Majel Barrett.. The series was set 100 years after The Original Series and featured an Ambassador Class Star Ship. The Ship uniforms were changed with the higher rankings wearing Red as the color looked better on them. The show's theme was done by Dennis McCarthy(The Theme above was rejected and the theme for Star Trek: The Motion Picture was used. ITTL since the Motion Picture them replaced the original TOS version, this theme is used here instead to be different).
Then came time for casting. Patrick Stewart, Edward James Olmos, and Yapphet Kotto were among those who auditioned for the role of Captain Picard. Olmos was turned down due to having already played a Star trek antagonist. Jeffrey Combs and Vaughn Armstrong auditioned for the role of Riker. Eventually a cast list was set up to go through and narrow the candidates.
OTL Cast List
The Final cast list included the Belgian actor Patrick Bachau as Jean Luc Picard. Wesley Snipes as Geordi La Forge, Cheryl McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, Kevin Peter Hall as Data, Denise Crosby as Counselor Deana Troi, and Rosalind Chao as Tasha Yar. A teenage girl daughter of Beverly was added to the cast named Lesley Crusher(played by Ashley Judd), before she was given a brother named Wesley, played by Full House's JD Roth. Wesley was implied to possibly be the result of a love affair between Picard and Beverly. Combs was cast as Riker. However, the creators also realized they should include a Klingon on the crew since the Federation and the Klingons had made peace, resulting in the inclusion of Worf, played by Michael Dorn, who was a Marine in the Klingon Empire before being transferred
Patrick Bachau as Picard
Denise Crosby as Deana Troi
Rosalyn Chao as Tasha Yar
Wesley Snipes as Geordi la Forge
Season One(1987-1988)
The Writers were largely hampered by Roddenberry's complaints, however Desilu had become well versed in ignoring him when they had to in order to create conflict in the cast. Most of the episodes were written by Gerrold(who stuck around ITTL rather than being driven off by Roddenberry).
The Pilot was Encounter at Farpoint ,which introduced Q, played by John De Lancie. A powerful being and member of the Q Continuum who tested the Enterprise and Captain Picard. The Q he Q continuum was shown to all look like John De Lancie and be race of identical looking people.
The Naked Space(OTL The Naked Now) hints for the first time that Data was not entirely an android but partly a biological life form as he is one of the members of the crew that contracts a space disease.
The Last Outpost introduced the Ferengi as recurring antagonists. If the Klingons represented the Soviet Union. The Ferengi represented unbridled capitalism. However, as by the end of the season a new enemy would be introduced that would usurp that role and the Ferengi would go threw villain decay.
The Big Goodbye introduces the Holodeck, which allows the crew to engage in fantasies by appearing in any setting they would like.
The Episode Terminus dives into Data's origins. Data is revealed to have been created by an alien species who's technology the Enterprise encounters. This species is never shown but is implied to be a race of machines that admired humanity and built Data in their image, intending him to be use to serve as the collected memory of a colony of humans wiped out by what is revealed to be the Crystalline Entity. Data is revealed this information from the person he thought was his creator, Dr.Soong, played by Keye Luke before his death at 86.
The Crystalline Entity is revealed to be luring humans inside it to drain them of energy. Data meets a female Android named Minuet who he forms an attraction to, learning his origins with her help before she is revealed to be working to sacrifice humans to the Crystalline Entity, becoming an antagonist(OTL this concept developed into Lore).
The Neutral Zone(not the OTL Episode of the same name) introduced Commander Billings, a Starfleet security officer who rescued Tasha Yar from the a nightmarish failed colony planet(made to be the same Colony as that in Data's origin). The Enterprise carries Billings on a mission to open trade with the Romulans only to be attacked, threatening to start an international incident.
The Second to last episode Conspiracy, introduced an insectoid Race of mind controlling parasites, which would have a significant role later into the series.
The Finale "Borg" introduced the new enemy, which is devastating Romulan and Federation outposts with both sides believing the other responsible.. The Insectoid Parasites being a vanguard for the invasion as they infect the Romulans in preparation for an invasion. This leads to a joint mission between the Federation and the Romulans to investigate this new threat, leading to the first real battle between the two sides and the Borg, ending on a cliffhanger for season 2(OTL the Neural Parasites from "Conspiracy" were intended to be connected to the Bog, who were originally an insectoid race before becoming Cyborgs. ITTl that connection is kept.
Season Two(1988-1989)
Following from the plan organized by Maurice Hurley, serving as the part 2 of the story arc of the Federation and Romulans teaming up to fight the Borg(Fortunately this butterflies away "The Child" AKA the infamous Mystical pregnancy episode). There were problems behind the scenes, Denise Crosby left the show. A scene was written that has her character Deana Troi, become a casualty of the Borg, giving her life to defeat them. Her telepathic abilities allowed her to grant the Borg emotion which leads them all to destroy themselves out of fear and pain for what they had become. Cheryl McFadden was also planning to leave, though she would later return and expressed a desire to do so. In a subversion of expectation, the Romulans due not join the Federation once the Borg are destroyed, seeing it only as a temporary alliance and nothing more, unlike the Klingons did.
The Next episode was "Blood and Fire," which was an AIDS Allegory. The substitute is the Regulan Bloodworm. David Gerrold introduced two gay characters in the story.
Episode 3 is known as the "The Khan Episode" by fans. The original idea was to have the Holodeck malfunction and introduce a new villain that way. Ricardo Montalban was planned to be brought back as Khan. He was reluctant as he was satisfied with Khan's death, but since this was not the true Khan but a hologram, he agreed(OTL the concept was Khan was revived by the Genesis device. Ricardo Montalban
The Shizoid Man focuses on Doctor Selar, played by Suzie Plakson. There is a romance developed between Selar(Vulcan) and Worf(Klingon). Selar reappears several times as a love interest to Worf. Selar also became a replacement for McFadden as Dr.Crusher.
The Final Episode of the Season is "The Emissary" which had a group of Klingons that have been cryogenically frozen since the time of the Original Series awaken and, not knowing the war is over(OTL this is the third to last episode. It's been moved up to provide a more satisfying Season Finale. The Second to Last was the Enterprise competing in a simulation and the Last was a clipshow as Riker was in a Coma recapping episodes of the series. ITTL the Episode includes the return of a few TOS Era Klingon enemies who are in their original appearance compared to the Bumpy head TNG versions, so its at least a little treat for fans.).
Season Three(1989-1990)
The Writers had problems writing with the Borg, specifically they felt they needed to construct the best possible stories for the Borg and so kept them out for as long as possible to prevent them from being overused.
For the First Episode, "Sarek", there was original plan to have the Enterprise meet a Ship from the past. The Plan was scrapped as the staff realized it worked better for a movie. Instead the plot became about Sarek and a group of Vulcans visiting the Guardian of Forever. They plan to conduct research into prehistoric Vulcans, but a rogue faction intervenes and goes back in time, killing the founder of Vulcan society, Surak. This changes history so the Vulcan become a violent race who are allied with the Klingons and the Romulans in a war the Federation is losing badly. Only Guinan realizes anything had changed. Sarek is captured and realizes through a mind meld with Guinan that something is wrong. He uses a mind meld on Picard. The Mission then becomes to bring Sarek to the Guardian of Forever. The Enterprise is attacked by a Klingon fleet led by Worf, who in a brutal manner kills Data, Riker, and Wesley, though their deaths are somewhat censored or implied as Data is decapitated, Wesley is electrocuted and Riker's throat is cut. Sarek jumps into the Guardian of Forever and take Surak's place in history, restoring the timeline.
"Los" is an episode in which Lesley Crusher befriends an alien cadet named "Los" who can change sex at will and the two develop a relationship.
The Season Finale was Part 1 of "The Best of Both Worlds" which finally brought back the Borg. Picard is captured and assimilated into the leader of the Borg.
Season Four(1990-1991)
The Continuation. Picard's knowledge and military expertise allows the Borg to devastate the Federation and set a course for Earth with the Enterprise under Riker forced to conceived a desperate strategy to save him and stop the Borg. This and Part 1 are considered the best episodes of the entire series. This Episode had the Enterprise save Picard.
The Finale was Redemption part 1 of a storyline focusing on Word leaving the Enterprise to fight in the Klingon Civil War
Season Five(1991-1992)
The Season Premiere was the second part of Redemption, concluding the Klingon Civil War arc.
The Second Episode "Darmok" is same as OTL and is seen as one of the show's best.
Unification is a two parter that featured an appearance by Leonard Nimoy as Spock, who is attempting to unify the Vulcans and the Romulans and Picard while the Enterprise crew search for Spock after he went missing.
Robin Williams appears as the time travelling "Doctor Rasmussen", who visits the Enterprise in the episode "A Matter of Time", a reference to his time as the Doctor in the American remake of Doctor Who.
It was difficult for the writers to conceive a follow up to "The Best of Both Worlds" and so partway through the series Picard was found and restored with an episode dealing with the reaction the crew has towards him and how being Locutus of Borg damaged his relations.
This was followed up by "I Borg", where the crew rescue a lone drone who gains individuality. They then at the end make the reluctant choice to send him back, with the implication there would be consequences for introducing individualism to the Borg Collective.
The Series Finale is Time's Arrow Part 1, which has the crew discover Data's Severed Head before travelling back in time and meeting Mark Twain.
Season Six(1992-1993)
The Season premiere, Time Arrow Part 2 continued the story of Part 1.
The Episode "Relics" features a guest appearance by James Doohan as Montgomery Scott, who was preserved due to disappearing in an experimental transporter almost a century prior.
Mid Season had the two parter Chain of Command, in which Picard is captured by the Cardassians and the Enterprise is taken over by Captain Jellico, a far more dislikable Captain, though far from incompetent.
The Episode Tapestry has Picard appear to die due to being shot in his artificial heart. Q appears before him and allows him to redo a moment in his life that led to him needing an artificial heart. This changes time and Captain Kellico is Captain of the Enterprise in the Alternate Present. Picard chooses to go back and willingly go through the actions that lead to his artificial heart.
"Second Chances" had the first tease of the TNG version of the Mirror Universe where a duplicate of Riker appears, initially appearing friendly, he is soon revealed to be faking his kinder attitude. The Episode leaves it somewhat vague which Riker won and which one was destroyed.
The Series Finale Descent Part 1, has the Borg reappear but this time appearing to act much more independently. They are shown to be led by Minuet, who has become "The Borg Queen" and who begins to corrupt Data into joining the Borg by making him experience emotion.
Season Seven(1993-1994)
The Season Premiere is Descent Part 2 and continues the story with the finale defeat of Minuet.
The Two parter of the Season is Gambit, in which Picard appears to be killed only to be discovered undercover as a group of space pirates who had abducted him, which engage the Enterprise in battle.
Parallels is the Mirror Universe Episode the staff had been attempting to do with the Mirror Universe finding a way to cross over. The far more militaristic crew of the Mirror Universe Enterprise clash with their counterparts, intending to steal technology to use in their own universe's war against Spock, who was reformed the Empire with them being rebels.
Finally there is All Good Things. The Series Finale. The Special has Picard jumping between four time periods for unknown reasons. The first episode of the series. The Present, the Future and one where he is Locutus, allowing the Borg to become aware of what is transpiring and interfere. Picard is kicked out of the Locutus timeline but that does not prevent the Borg from coming after them. In the Future, Picard and the crew(as a homage to Star Trek II), steal the Enterprise from a Museum. Q appears and reveals the existence of an anomaly in time. The Enterprise from three Time Periods succeeds in restoring time. While the episode ends with Picard joining the crew for a game of Cards. It would be revealed later on that the Borg remembered this encounter from the experience as Locutus and began to experiment with time travel.