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IMDb > "Star Trek: The Next Generation" The Measure of a Man (1989)
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"Star Trek: The Next Generation" The Measure of a Man (1989)


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Overview

User Rating:
8.3/10   294 votes
Director:
Robert Scheerer
Writers:
Gene Roddenberry (creator)
Melinda M. Snodgrass (writer)
Original Air Date:
11 February 1989 (Season 2, Episode 9)
Plot:
When Data resigns his commission rather than be dismantled for examination by an inadequately skilled scientist, a formal hearing is convened to determine whether Data is considered property without rights or is a sentient being. | add synopsis
User Comments:
It could be used in an ethics class! more

Cast

  (Episode Credited cast)


Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This is the first episode to feature a poker game in Commander Riker's quarters. This would become a common feature of the show for its duration with various officers and crew participating. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Data is made to bend the rod of steel during his hearing, he bends it almost right in half with a kink at the top where it is bent and there is no more than an inch between each side. When Riker places the bent steel on the table, it is clearly bent in an arch by machine, likely a pipe-bender, with a much larger gap and has no kink were it is bent. It barely resembles the piece Data bent by hand. more
Quotes:
Commander Bruce Maddox: [of Data] He is remarkable.
Captain Phillipa Louvois: You didn't call him 'it'.
more

FAQ

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16 out of 18 people found the following comment useful:-
It could be used in an ethics class!, 30 November 2006
10/10
Author: mtdavies from United States

Too many people look at the Trek stories and shows as "just science fiction" but Gene Rodenberry had much more in mind. This episode stayed true to Rodenberry's vision and made us think and question. It looked at themes of Civil Rights and Slavery.. it looked at ethics, morality and science all intermingling.

There was some excellent acting in this one. Whoopi Goldberg, Diana Muldaur, Patrick Stewart & Brent Spiner all played their prospective roles particularly well. But, in my opinion, it was the character of Riker that played the most difficult role in this story and Jonathan Frakes pulled it off excellently!

The character of Lt. Commander Data, the android crew member, was an ingenious invention of the Next Generation writers. Each time they explored his character the more interesting he became. This story, by Melinda M. Snodgrass, however, is the best of those explorations of character. It could be used in an ethics class! It is a definite "must see!"

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