Pen Pals (Star Trek: The Next Generation) Pen Pals (Star Trek: The Next Generation) "Pen Pals" is the 15th episode of the of the American science fiction television series "", the 41st episode overall, first broadcast on May 1, 1989. The series follows the adventures of the crew of the Federation starship "Enterprise" commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard. In this episode, Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher learns to manage a science team, and in the primary plot, focusing on Starfleet's Prime Directive, Data helps a young girl on a troubled planet. As the "Enterprise" surveys an area of unexplored planets with unusually short life spans due to severe
Star Trek: The Next Generation and films, including "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG and ST:TNG) is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired from September 28, 1987 to May 23, 1994 on syndication, spanning 178 episodes over the course of seven seasons. The third series in the "Star Trek" franchise, it is the second sequel to "". Set in the 24th century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of a Starfleet starship, the USS "Enterprise"-D, in its exploration of the