All episodes Season 4 S04E17 1991-03-18 60 min 1980s Syndication

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Night Terrors

TV Flash files “Night Terrors” as hour 91 of 178 in the TV Flash guide — Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994) on Syndication, season 4, episode 17, aired 1991-03-18, 60 min.

From the desk

How this hour is filed

This leaf is S04E17: listed hour 91 of 178 in the Star Trek: The Next Generation guide, hour 17 of 26 in season 4. It aired 1991-03-18 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Galaxy's Child” (S04E16). Next is “Identity Crisis” (S04E18).

Star Trek: The Next Generation — Night Terrors (S04E17)

Catalog log

Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.

When the Enterprise becomes stuck in an energy-draining rupture in space known as a Tyken's Rift, the crew begins experiencing severe sleep deprivation, but one crew member's recurring dream may provide the solution that saves them all.

Viewer FAQ

Where does Night Terrors sit in the Star Trek: The Next Generation guide?

S04E17 is listed hour 91 of 178 — hour 17 of 26 in season 4, season 4 episode 17.

When did Star Trek: The Next Generation S04E17 air?

Night Terrors aired 1991-03-18 and is listed at 60 minutes.

Should I skip season one?

You can sample it, then jump. The pilot and early hours wobble; fandom's own catechism is that the series finds its voice mid-run. Stewart's Picard is already the instrument.

In the series

Why this series still plays

Peak optimistic space opera with philosophical teeth — Stewart's Picard is a master class in quiet authority, and Data, Worf, and the Borg made franchise television feel weekly and serious. First-run syndication revived Trek without Kirk. Start with mid-run classics if the pilot feels stiff; Make it so is still a management style.

First-run syndication is a window, not a shrine. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994) regenerated Gene Roddenberry's universe without Kirk by putting Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard on a new Enterprise and selling **178 hours across seven seasons** outside a single network night. Rex can keep the original series in amber. This was franchise television learning to drop weekly at scale: idea-driven starship hours, a more ensemble bridge, prestige sci-fi as appointment TV that did not need a peacock to…

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