It's less than a generation after the adventures of volatile Captain James T. Kirk aboard the original starship U.S.S. Enterprise, and a new crew aboard a new Enterprise is streaking between the stars.

Like the previous series, tension and battle are matched with wry humor and empathy. And always there's the spirit of gamboling adventure.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard commands the Enterprise-D, and in many ways, the differences between their predecessors stand in for how humanity has evolved as a space-based species.

Picard is logical with bouts of emotion compared to Kirk, who was almost the opposite. The Enterprise-D is streamlined and inviting (How many noted how the first STNG bridge looked like the front desk of a mid-price chain hotel.) while the original model was angular and utilitarian.

Picard's crew includes an android (through which we examined our own nature), a Klingon (who showed us our confident pacifism). There's a hot-headed officer who seems to walk around with his phaser perpetually on stun—in case of enemy attack or the arrival of a comely alien.

An empath is on hand to unveil the emotions and motives of those who would hide. And a blind man sees it all.

Together, they are envoys, cops, soldiers, explorers and, occasionally tourists … out there, as Kirk once said.