Jean-Luc Picard’s greatest nemesis — and eventually, his greatest defender and savior — the space god Q (John de Lancie), was there at the beginning, when Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted on September 28, 1987. In “Encounter at Farpoint,” the series’ two-hour inaugural episode, Q puts the crew of the Enterprise — and all of humanity — on trial. But this defining moment almost didn’t happen. As first written, “Encounter at Farpoint” didn’t feature Q at all, until a pivotal rewrite from Trek creator Gene Roddenberry...
