title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired from September 28, 1987 to May 23, 1994 in syndication, spanning 178 episodes over seven seasons. The third series in the "Star Trek" franchise, it was inspired by "". Set in the latter third of the 24th century, when Earth is part of the United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of a Starfleet starship, the USS "Enterprise" (NCC-1701-D), in its exploration of the Alpha quadrant in the Milky Way galaxy.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: In the 1980s, Roddenberry—who was responsible for the , "" (1973–1974), and the first of a series of films—was tasked by Paramount Pictures with creating a new series in the franchise. He decided to set it a century after the events of his original series. "The Next Generation" featured a new crew: Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Brent Spiner as Data, Michael Dorn as Worf, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Denise Crosby as Tasha Yar, Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher, Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, and a new "Enterprise".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Roddenberry, Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor served as executive producers at various times throughout its production. The series was broadcast in first-run syndication with dates and times varying among individual television stations. Stewart's voice-over introduction during each episode's opening credits stated the starship's purpose:


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The show was very popular, reaching almost 12 million viewers in its 5th season, with the series finale in 1994 watched by over 30 million viewers. Due to its success, Paramount commissioned Rick Berman and Michael Piller to create a fourth series in the franchise, "", which launched in 1993. The characters from "The Next Generation" returned in four films: "Star Trek Generations" (1994), "" (1996), "" (1998), and "" (2002), and in the television series "" (2020–present). The series is also the setting of numerous novels, comic books, and video games. It , including 19 Emmy Awards, two Hugo Awards, five Saturn Awards, and a Peabody Award.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The "Star Trek" franchise originated in the 1960s, with the "Star Trek" television show which ran from 1966 to 1969. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" would mark the return of "Star Trek" to live-action broadcast television.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Due to the original series' popularity in syndication, Paramount Pictures began to consider making a "Star Trek" film as early as 1972. However, with 1977's release of "Star Wars", Paramount decided not to compete in the science fiction movie category and shifted their efforts to a new "Star Trek" television series. The "Original Series" actors were approached to reprise their roles; sketches, models, sets and props were created for "" until Paramount changed its mind again and decided to create feature films starring the "Original Series" cast.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: By 1986, 20 years after the original "Star Trek"s debut on NBC, the franchise's longevity amazed Paramount Pictures executives. Chairman Frank Mancuso Sr. observed that "The shelf life in this business is usually three days. To flourish for 20 years..." He and others described "Trek" as the studio's "crown jewel", a "priceless asset" that "must not be squandered". The series was the most popular syndicated television program 17 years after cancellation, and the Harve Bennett-produced, "Original Series"-era "Star Trek" films did well at the box office. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy's salary demands for the film "" (1986) caused the studio to plan for a new "Star Trek" television series. Paramount executives worried that a new series could hurt the demand for the films, but decided that it would increase their appeal on videocassette and cable, and that a series with unknown actors would be more profitable than paying the films' actors' large salaries. Roddenberry initially declined to be involved, but came on board as creator after being unhappy with early conceptual work. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was announced on October 10, 1986, and its cast in May 1987.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Paramount executive Rick Berman was assigned to the series at Roddenberry's request. Roddenberry hired a number of "Star Trek" veterans, including Bob Justman, D. C. Fontana, Eddie Milkis and David Gerrold. Early proposals for the series included one in which some of the original series cast might appear as "elder statesmen", and Roddenberry speculated as late as October 1986 that the new series might not even use a spaceship, as "people might travel by some [other] means" 100 years after the USS "Enterprise". A more lasting change was his new belief that workplace interpersonal conflict would no longer exist in the future; thus, the new series did not have parallels to the frequent "crusty banter" between Kirk, Spock, and Leonard McCoy. According to series actor Patrick Stewart, Berman was more receptive than Roddenberry to the series addressing political issues.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The series' music theme combined the fanfare from the original series theme by Alexander Courage with Jerry Goldsmith's theme for "" (1979). Some early episodes' plots derived from outlines created for "Star Trek: Phase II". Additionally, some sets used in the "Original Series"-era films were redressed for "The Next Generation", and in turn used for subsequent "Original Series" films. Part of the transporter room set in "TNG" was used in the original "Star Trek"s transporter set.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Despite "Star Trek"s proven success, NBC and ABC only offered to consider pilot scripts for the new series, and CBS offered to air a miniseries that could become a series if it did well. Paramount executives were offended that the Big Three television networks treated their most appealing and valuable property like any other series. Fox wanted the show to help launch the new network, but wanted it by March 1987, and would only commit to 13 episodes instead of a full season. The unsuccessful negotiations convinced the studio that it could only protect "Star Trek" with full control.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Paramount increased and accelerated the show's profitability by choosing to instead broadcast it in first-run syndication on independent stations (whose numbers had more than tripled since 1980) and Big Three network affiliates. The studio offered the show to local stations for free as barter syndication. The stations sold five minutes of commercial time to local advertisers and Paramount sold the remaining seven minutes to national advertisers. Stations had to commit to purchasing reruns in the future, and only those that aired the new show could purchase the popular reruns of the "Original Series".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The studio's strategy succeeded. Most of the 150 stations airing reruns of the original "Star Trek" wanted to prevent a competitor from airing the new show; ultimately, 210 stations covering 90% of the United States became part of Paramount's informal nationwide network for "TNG". In early October 1987, more than 50 network affiliates pre-empted their own shows for the series pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint". One station predicted that ""Star Trek" promises to be one of the most successful programs of the season, network or syndicated". Special effects were by Industrial Light and Magic, a Division of Lucasfilm. The new show indeed performed well; the pilot's ratings were higher than those of many network programs, and ratings remained comparable to network shows by the end of the first season, despite the handicap of each station airing the show on a different day and time, often outside prime time. By the end of the first season, Paramount reportedly received $1 million for advertising per episode, more than the roughly $800,000 fee that networks typically paid for a one-hour show; by 1992, when the budget for each episode had risen to almost $2 million, the studio earned $90 million from advertising annually from first-run episodes, with each 30-second commercial selling for $115,000 to $150,000. The show had a 40% return on investment for Paramount, with $30 to $60 million in annual upfront net profit for first-run episodes and another $70 million for stripping rights for each of the about 100 episodes then available, so they did not need overseas sales to be successful.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" ran for 178 episodes, over seven seasons, from the fall of 1987 annually to the spring of 1994. At the end of that season, the cast switched over to production of the "Star Trek" film "Generations" which was released before the end of 1994.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "The Next Generation" was shot on 35 mm film and the budget for each episode was $1.3 million, among the highest for a one-hour television drama. While the staff enjoyed the creative freedom gained by independence from a broadcast network's Standards and Practices department, the first season was marked by a "revolving door" of writers, with Gerrold, Fontana and others quitting after disputes with Roddenberry. Roddenberry "virtually rewrote" the first 15 episodes because of his "dogmatic" intention to depict human interaction "without drawing on the baser motives of greed, lust, and power". Writers found the show's "bible" constricting and ridiculous and could not deal with Roddenberry's ego and treatment of them. It stated, for example, that "regular characters all share a feeling of being part of a band of brothers and sisters. As in the original "Star Trek", we invite the audience to share the same feeling of affection for our characters." David Gerrold claimed that at one point, Roddenberry's lawyer came aboard and started taking apart six months of work, including the removal of a gay couple that Roddenberry had promised would be included in the series, which made Gerrold decide to leave the show.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Mark Bourne of "The DVD Journal" wrote of season one: "A typical episode relied on trite plot points, clumsy allegories, dry and stilted dialogue, or characterization that was taking too long to feel relaxed and natural." Other targets of criticism included poor special effects and plots being resolved by the "deus ex machina" of Wesley Crusher saving the ship. Patrick Stewart's acting won praise, and critics noted that characters were given greater potential for development than those of the original series. Actors and producers were unsure whether Trekkies loyal to the original show would accept the new one but one critic stated as early as October 1987 that "The Next Generation", not the movies or the original show, "is the real "Star Trek" now".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: While the events of most episodes of season one were self-contained, many developments important to the show occurred during the season. The recurring nemesis Q was introduced in the pilot, the alien Ferengi had their sentinel showing in "", the holodeck was introduced and the romantic backstory between William Riker and Deanna Troi was investigated. "The Naked Now", one of the few episodes that depicted Roddenberry's fascination (as seen in the show's bible) with sex in the future, became a cast favorite.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Later episodes in the season set the stage for serial plots. The episode "Datalore" introduced Data's evil twin brother Lore, who made several more appearances. "" deals with Wesley Crusher's efforts to get into Starfleet Academy while also hinting at the threat to Starfleet later faced in "". "Heart of Glory" explored Worf's character, Klingon culture and the uneasy truce between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, three themes that played major roles in later episodes. Tasha Yar left the show in "Skin of Evil", becoming the first regular "Star Trek" character to die permanently (although the character was seen again in two later episodes) in either series or film. The season finale, "", established the presence of two of TNG's most enduring villains: the Romulans, making their first appearance since the "Original Series", and through foreshadowing, the Borg.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The premiere became the first television episode to be nominated for a Hugo Award since 1972. Six of the season's episodes were each nominated for an Emmy Award. "11001001" won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, "The Big Goodbye" won for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series, and "" won for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for a Series. "The Big Goodbye" also won a Peabody Award, the first syndicated program and only "Star Trek" episode to do so.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The top two episodes for Nielsen ratings were "Encounter at Farpoint" with 15.7, and "Justice" with 12.7. The season ran from 1987 to 1988.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The series underwent significant changes during its second season. Beverly Crusher was replaced as Chief Medical Officer by Katherine Pulaski, played by Diana Muldaur, who had been a guest star in "Return to Tomorrow" and "Is There in Truth No Beauty?", two episodes from the original "Star Trek" series. The ship's recreational area, Ten-Forward, and its mysterious bartender/advisor, Guinan, played by Whoopi Goldberg, appeared for the first time. Owing to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, the number of episodes produced was cut from 26 to 22, and the start of the season was delayed. Because of the strike, the opening episode, "", was based on a script originally written for "", while the season finale, "", was a clip show.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Nevertheless, season two as a whole was widely regarded as significantly better than season one. Benefiting from Paramount's commitment to a multiyear run and free from network interference due to syndication, Roddenberry found writers who could work within his guidelines and create drama from the cast's interaction with the rest of the universe. The plots became more sophisticated and began to mix drama with comic relief. Its focus on character development received special praise. Co-executive producer Maurice Hurley has stated that his primary goal for the season was to plan and execute season-long story arcs and character arcs. Hurley wrote the acclaimed episode "Q Who", which featured the first on-screen appearance of the Borg. Season two focused on developing the character Data, and two episodes from the season, "Elementary, Dear Data" and "", featured him prominently. Miles O'Brien also became a more prominent character during the second season, while Geordi La Forge took the position of Chief Engineer. Klingon issues continued to be explored in episodes such as "A Matter of Honor" and "", which introduced Worf's former lover K'Ehleyr. Five second-season episodes were nominated for six Emmy Awards, and "Q Who" won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series. The season ran from 1988 to 1989.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Season 2 marked the addition of the "Ten Forward" set at Paramount, located at Stage 8 at the studios. The set was designed by Herman Zimmerman, and in the show was a place for the crew to relax, hang out together, and eat or have drinks. Inside, it featured a bar looking out on large windows, and outside it featured a star field, or with use of green-screen special effects, other scenes.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Before the production of the third season in the summer of 1989, some personnel changes were made. Head writer Maurice Hurley was let go and Michael Piller took over for the rest of the series. Creator and executive producer Gene Roddenberry took less of an active role due to his declining health. Roddenberry gave Piller and Berman the executive producer jobs, and they remained in that position for the rest of the series' run, with Berman overseeing the production as a whole and Piller being in charge of the creative direction of the show and the writing room. McFadden returned to the cast as Doctor Crusher, replacing Muldaur, who had remained a guest star throughout the second season. An additional change was the inclusion of the fanfare that was added to the opening credits of the second season, to the end of the closing credits. Ronald D. Moore joined the show after submitting a spec script that became "The Bonding". He became the franchise's "Klingon guru", meaning that he wrote most "TNG" episodes dealing with the Klingon Empire (though he wrote some Romulan stories, as well, such as ""). Writer/producer Ira Steven Behr also joined the show in its third season. Though his tenure with "TNG" lasted only one year, he later went on to be a writer and showrunner of spin-off series "". Six third-season episodes were nominated for eight Emmys. "Yesterday's Enterprise" won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and "" won for Best Art Direction for a Series. After a chiropractor warned that the cast members risked permanent skeletal injury, new two-piece wool uniforms replaced the first two seasons' extremely tight spandex uniforms. The season finale, the critically acclaimed episode "", was the first season-ending cliffhanger, a tradition that continued throughout the remainder of the series. The season ran from 1989 to 1990.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The Season 3 finale and bridge to Season 4, "The Best of Both Worlds" went on to be one of the most acclaimed "Star Trek" episodes noted by "TV Guide"s "100 Most Memorable Moments in TV History", ranking 70th out of 100 in March 2001. It has routinely been ranked among the top of all "Star Trek" franchise episodes.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Brannon Braga and Jeri Taylor joined the show in its fourth season. The fourth season surpassed the "Original Series" in series length with the production of "TNG"'s 80th episode, "Legacy". A new alien race, the Cardassians, made their first appearance in "The Wounded". They later were heavily featured in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". The season finale, "Redemption", was the 100th episode, and the cast and crew (including creator Gene Roddenberry) celebrated the historic milestone on the bridge set. Footage of this was seen in the "Star Trek" 25th-anniversary special hosted by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, which aired later in the year. Seven fourth-season episodes were nominated for eight Emmys. "" won for both Outstanding Sound Editing in a Series and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Series. Character Wesley Crusher leaves the series in season four to go to Starfleet Academy. "" is the only "TNG" episode where Data does not appear on-screen. The season ran from 1990 to 1991.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The fifth season's seventh episode, "", opened with a dedication to "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry (though the prior episode, "The Game", aired four days after his death). Roddenberry, though he had recently died, continued to be credited as executive producer for the rest of the season. The cast and crew learned of his death during the production of "", a later season-five episode. Seven fifth-season episodes were nominated for eight Emmys. "" won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Series and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series, and "" and "" tied for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects. In addition, "" became the first television episode since the 1968 original series "Star Trek" episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" to win a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Season five had the introduction of a jacket for Picard, worn periodically throughout the rest of the show's run. The observation lounge set was altered with the removal of the gold model starships across the interior wall and the addition of lighting beneath the windows. Recurring character Ensign Ro Laren was introduced in the fifth season. The season ran from 1991 to 1992.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: With the creation of "", Rick Berman and Michael Piller's time were split between "The Next Generation" and the new show. Three sixth-season episodes were nominated for Emmys. "" won for both Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Series and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series, and "A Fistful of Datas" won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series. The highest Nielsen-rated episode of Season 6 was "Relics", with a rating of 13.9. The episode featured "Original Series" character Scotty played by James Doohan. Additionally, NASA astronaut Mae Jemison played Lt. Palmer in "Second Chances". The season 6 finale cliffhanger includes a cameo by Stephen Hawking (Part I of "Descent"). The season ran from 1992 to 1993.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The seventh season was "The Next Generation"s last, running from 1993 to 1994. The penultimate episode, "", concluded the plot line for the recurring character Ensign Ro Laren and introduced themes that continued in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Star Trek: Voyager". "The Next Generation" series finale, "", was a double-length episode (separated into two parts for reruns) that aired the week of May 19, 1994, revisiting the events of the pilot and providing a bookend to the series. Toronto's SkyDome played host to a massive event for the series finale. Thousands of people packed the stadium to watch the final episode on the stadium's JumboTron. Five seventh-season episodes were nominated for nine Emmys, and the series as a whole was the first syndicated television series nominated for Outstanding Drama Series. To this day, "The Next Generation" is the only syndicated drama to be nominated in this category. "All Good Things..." won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects, and "" won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series. "All Good Things..." also won the second of the series' two Hugo Awards. "All Good Things..." also achieved the highest Nielsen rating for all of Season 7, with a rating of 17.4.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Although the cast members were contracted for eight seasons, Paramount ended "The Next Generation" after seven, which disappointed and puzzled some of the actors, and was an unusual decision for a successful television show. Paramount then made films using the cast, which it believed would be less successful if the show were still on television. An eighth season also would likely have reduced the show's profitability due to higher cast salaries and a lower price per episode when sold as strip programming.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The show's strong ratings continued to the end; the 1994 series finale was ranked number two among all shows that week, between hits "Home Improvement" and "Seinfeld", and was watched by over 30 million viewers. "TNG" was the most-watched "Star Trek" show, with a peak audience of 11.5 million during its fifth season prior to the launch of "DS9". Between 1988 and 1992 it picked up half a million to a million additional viewers per year.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" aired for 7 seasons beginning on September 28, 1987 and ending on May 23, 1994.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The series begins with the crew of the "Enterprise"-D put on trial by an omnipotent being known as Q, who became a recurring character. The god-like entity threatens the extinction of humanity for being a race of savages, forcing them to solve a mystery at nearby Farpoint Station to prove their worthiness to be spared. After successfully solving the mystery and avoiding disaster, the crew departs on its mission to explore strange new worlds.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Subsequent stories focus on the discovery of new life and sociological and political relationships with alien cultures, as well as exploring the human condition. Several new species are introduced as recurring antagonists, including the Ferengi, the Cardassians, and the Borg. Throughout their adventures, Picard and his crew are often forced to face and live with the consequences of difficult choices.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The series ended in its seventh season with a two-part episode "All Good Things...", which brought the events of the series full circle to the original confrontation with Q. An interstellar anomaly that threatens all life in the universe forces Picard to leap from his present, past, and future to combat the threat. Picard was successfully able to show to Q that humanity could think outside of the confines of perception and theorize on new possibilities while still being prepared to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the greater good. The series ended with the crew of the "Enterprise" portrayed as feeling more like a family and paved the way for four consecutive motion pictures that continued the theme and mission of the series.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "Star Trek" had a number of story arcs within the larger story, and oftentimes different episodes contributed to two or more different story or character arcs. Some are epitomized by the aliens the characters interact with, for example, "TNG" introduced the Borg and the Cardassians. The Klingons and Romulans had been introduced in "The Original Series" (1966–1969); however, the Klingons were somewhat rebooted with a "turtle-head" look, although a retcon was given to explain this in an "Enterprise" episode. Other story arcs focus on certain peripheral characters such as Q, Ro Laren or characters projected on the Holodeck.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Certain episodes go deeper into the Klingon alien saga, which are famous for having an actual Klingon language made for them in the "Star Trek" universe. The Klingon stories usually involve Worf, but not all Worf-centric shows are focused on Klingons. The Duras sisters, a Klingon duo named Lursa and B'Etor, were introduced on "TNG" in the 1991 episode "Redemption". They later appeared in the film "Generations".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: One of the science fiction technologies featured in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was an artificial reality machine called the "Holodeck", and several award-winning episodes featured plots centering on the peculiarities of this device. Some episodes focused on malfunctions in the holodeck, and in one case how a crew member became addicted to the environment created by the technology. The dangers of technology that allows illusion is one of ongoing themes of "Star Trek" going back to the 1st pilot, "The Cage" where aliens' power of illusion to create an artificial reality is explored. One of the plots is whether a character will confront a reality or retreat to a world of fantasy.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Several episodes in the show also deal with the concept of time, including narrative structures around time travel, temporal loops, parallel universes, alternate universes, and more. In some episodes, the character Q is responsible for the shifts in time.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "The Next Generation"s average of 20 million viewers often exceeded both existing syndication successes such as "Wheel of Fortune" and network hits including "Cheers" and "L.A. Law". Benefiting in part from many stations' decision to air each new episode twice in a week, it consistently ranked in the top ten among hour-long dramas, and networks could not prevent affiliates from preempting their shows with "The Next Generation" or other dramas that imitated its syndication strategy." Star Trek: The Next Generation" received 18 Emmy Awards and, in its seventh season, became the first and only syndicated television show to be nominated for the Emmy for Best Dramatic Series. It was nominated for three Hugo Awards and won two. The first-season episode "The Big Goodbye" also won the Peabody Award for excellence in television programming.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: In 1997, the episode "" was ranked No. 70 on "TV Guide"s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2002, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was ranked #46 on "TV Guide"s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time list, and in 2008, was ranked No. 37 on "Empire"s list of the 50 greatest television shows.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: On October 7, 2006, one of the three original filming models of the USS "Enterprise"-D used on the show sold at a Christie's auction for US$576,000, making it the highest-selling item at the event. The buyer of the model was Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, owner of the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle. The model is on display within the Science Fiction Museum.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: In 2012, "Entertainment Weekly" listed the show at No. 7 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years", saying, "The original "" was cult TV before cult TV was even a thing, but its younger, sleeker offspring brought, yes, a new generation into the Trekker fold, and reignited the promise of sci-fi on television." Although TNG did develop a cult following, it was noted for its prime-time general audience viewership also.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The flute from "The Inner Light" was valued at a maximum of US$1,000 when it went to auction in late 2006, but was sold for over $40,000; in this case the auctioneers admitted they had underestimated the appeal of the prop. In the days leading up to the auction, Denise Okuda, former "Star Trek" scenic artist and video supervisor, as well as co-writer of the auction catalog, said: "That's the item people say they really have to have, because it's so iconic to a much-beloved episode."


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "DS9"s "The Emissary", which came out half-way through season 6 of "TNG" achieved a Nielsen rating of 18.8. "Star Trek"s ratings went into a steady decline starting with Season 6 of "TNG", and the second to last episode of "DS9" achieved a Nielsen rating of 3.9.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: In 2017, Vulture ranked "Star Trek: The Next Generation" the second best live-action "Star Trek" television show.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: In 2019, Popular Mechanics ranked "Star Trek: The Next Generation" the third best science fiction television show ever.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: In 2021, "Empire" magazine ranked it the 17th greatest television show ever. They point out it was hard to follow in the reputation of the original series, but the series found its footing and paved the way for more spin-offs.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The Next Generation was first broadcast on UK terrestrial TV on BBC2 with the first episode shown on 26 September 1990. The sequence remained the same as the US releases for the first four episodes, but after this they were somewhat shuffled about.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The "Enterprise" and its setting is also in other Trekiverse games like "" (2000). For example, in "Star Trek: Armada" voice actors from "The Next Generation" returned to their characters in the game including Patrick Stewart reprising the roles of Jean-Luc Picard and Locutus, Michael Dorn voiced Worf, Denise Crosby reprised Sela, and J. G. Hertzler voiced Chancellor Martok. Several other voice actors who had been previously unaffiliated with "Star Trek" also voiced characters in the game, among them was Richard Penn.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "Star Trek: Armada II" was set in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" era of the "Star Trek" universe.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "" (1999) included voice acting by Brent Spiner as Data and Patrick Stewart as Picard, and was a follow-up to the ninth "Star Trek" film "".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Four films feature the characters of the series: "Star Trek Generations" (1994), "" (1996), "" (1998), and "" (2002).


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "Star Trek" harnessed the emergence of home video technologies that rose to prominence in the 1980s as new revenue and promotion avenue. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" had release in part or in full on VHS, Betamax, LaserDisc, DVD, and Blu-Ray media.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: All episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" were made available on VHS cassettes, starting in 1991. The entire series was gradually released on VHS over the next few years during the remainder of the show's run and after the show had ended.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Some episodes had releases on the tape videocassette format Betamax. Releases of all Betamax publications including those of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was halted in the early 1990s.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Paramount published all episodes on the LaserDisc format from October 1991 using an extended release schedule that concluded in May 1999. Each disc featured two episodes with Closed Captions, Digital Audio, and CX encoding. Also published were four themed "collections", or boxed sets, of related episodes. These included "The Borg Collective", "The Q Continuum", "Worf: Return to Grace", and "The Captains Collection".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: For example, the "Q Continuum" collection of LaserDisc featured 4 episodes. The collection was released on July 30, 1997 and was published by Paramount Home Video; it retailed for US$99.98. The set included the 2-part "Encounter at Farpoint", "Hide & Q", "Q Who?", and "Deja Q" on 12 inch optical discs in NTSC format with a total runtime of 230 minutes, with stereo sound. The collection came in a Tri-Fold jacket that also included a letter from actor Jon De Lancie (Q).


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: There was a production error with episode 166, "Sub Rosa", where a faulty master tape was used that was missing 4½ minutes of footage. Though a new master copy of the episode was obtained, no corrected pressing of this disc was issued.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was also released on LaserDisc in the non-US markets Japan and Europe. In Japan, all episodes were released in a series of 14 boxed sets (two boxed sets per season), and as with the US releases were in the NTSC format and ordered by production code. The European laserdiscs were released in the PAL format and included the ten two-part telemovies as well as a disc featuring the episodes "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "Cause And Effect". The pilot episode, "Encounter At Farpoint", was also included in a boxed set called "Star Trek: The Pilots" featuring the pilot episodes from "Star Trek: The Original Series", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", and "Star Trek: Voyager".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The first season of the series was released on DVD in March 2002. Throughout the year the next six seasons were released at various times on DVD, with the seventh season being released in December 2002. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the series, CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment released "Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Complete Series" on October 2, 2007. The DVD box set contains 49 discs. Between March 2006 and September 2008, "Fan Collective" editions were released containing select episodes of "The Next Generation" (and "The Original Series", "Deep Space Nine", and "Voyager") based on various themes. The individual episodes were chosen by fans voting on StarTrek.com. In total, six "Fan Collectives" were produced, along with a boxed set containing the first five collectives. In April 2013 all seven seasons of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" were re-released in new packaging featuring a silhouette of a different cast member on each box. However, the discs contained the identical content that was previously released in 2002. Another full DVD set was released in 2020 but it also contains the same content from the previous 2002 release.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: CBS announced on September 28, 2011, in celebration of the series' twenty-fifth anniversary, that "Star Trek: The Next Generation" would be completely re-mastered in 1080p high definition from the original 35mm film negatives. The original show was edited and post-processed in standard definition for broadcast, as were all the show's visual effects (e.g. all exterior shots of the "Enterprise", phaser fire, or beaming fade-ins and -outs). For the remaster almost 25,000 reels of original film stock were rescanned and reedited, and all visual effects were digitally recomposed from original large-format negatives and newly created CGI shots. The release was accompanied by 7.1 DTS Master Audio. Michael Okuda believes this is the largest film restoration project ever attempted. The process of making high-definition versions of the series was an extraordinarily labor-intensive ordeal that cost Paramount Pictures over $12 million. The project was a financial failure and resulted in Paramount deciding very firmly against giving "" and "" the same treatment.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: An initial disc featuring the episodes "Encounter at Farpoint", "", and "" was released on January 31, 2012 under the label "The Next Level". The six-disc first season set was released on July 24, 2012. The remaining seasons were released periodically thereafter, culminating in the release of the seventh season on December 2, 2014. Season 1 sold 95,000 units in its launch week in 2012. The Blu-ray sets include many special features and videos, such as a 1988 episode of "Reading Rainbow" where LeVar Burton (who plays Geordi on "TNG") documents the making of a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: The entire re-mastered series is available on Blu-ray as individual seasons, and as a 41-disc box set titled "The Full Journey". Eventually, all remastered episodes became available for television syndication and digital distribution.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: When "TNG" was remastered in high definition, several episodes were released as stand-alone single show Blu-ray products. "The Best of Both Worlds" is split between two seasons, whereas the standalone product includes parts 1 and 2. "The Best of Both Worlds" single was released in April 2013 coinciding with the release of Season 3. Other singles of TNG HD include the two part shows "Redemption", "Unification", "Chain of Command", and "All Good Things…".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "The Measure of a Man" was released in HD in 2012 with an extended cut. The extended version includes an extra 13 minutes of footage as well as recreated special effects. It was released as part of the Season 2 collection set.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is available on various streaming video services including, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Apple iTunes, and CBS All Access, under various qualities and terms. The Netflix version included some additional special effect improvements. One service stated that by 2017 the most "re"-watched episodes of "Star Trek:The Next Generation" among the most re-watched "Star Trek" franchise shows in their offerings, were "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I", "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", "Q Who", and "Clues". Streaming offerings were noted for binge watching, including "Star Trek: The Next Generation" 178 episodes among the overall 726 episodes and 12 movies that had been released prior to "Star Trek: Discovery" in late 2017.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: As of the late 2010s, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is syndicated to air in the United States on the cable network BBC America and the broadcast channel network Heroes & Icons.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "Star Trek : The Next Generation" episodes have been featured in TV specials and marathons. For example, for Saint Patrick's Day BBC America planned a marathon with the episodes including "The Best of Both Worlds”, “Time’s Arrow”, “Chain of Command”, “Tapestry”, and the series finale, “All Good Things…” . On the launch of Paramount+ streaming service, on March 4, 2021, a free "Star Trek" marathon was presented, featuring the pilots of the various "Star Trek" television series, including TNG. The marathon started at 7 am PT/10 am ET and streamed on the YouTube internet video platform and ran all day.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" spawned different media set in its universe, which was primarily the 2370s but set in the same universe as first "Star Trek" TV shows of the 1960s. This included the aforementioned films, computer games, board games, theme parks, etc. In the 2010s there were rumors of a Captain Worf spin-off, the Klingon bridge officer that debuted on "TNG" and was also featured in the "TNG" spin-off show "Deep Space Nine".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: A documentary called "Journey's End: The Saga of Star Trek - The Next Generation" was released in 1994. Directed by Donald R. Beck, it featured the cast of the show and explored the last season and the then upcoming film "Generations".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: In 2005, the last episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise" called "These Are the Voyages..." (S4E22) featured a holodeck simulation on the USS "Enterprise" (NCC-1701-D) from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" during the events of the episode "" and the return of Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). It was written by Berman and Braga, who noted "... this was a very cool episode because it has a great concept driving it".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "" was the TV show launched following the conclusion of "Star Trek: Voyager" and was set 100 years before "TOS" and 200 years before "TNG", in addition to including some soft reboot elements with an all new cast. Some episodes connected to "TNG" directly including guest stars by Brent Spiner and connections to the events in "TNG"'s fictional universe. The three-episode story arc consisting of "", "Cold Station 12", and "The Augments", with a Soong ancestor portrayed by "The Next Generation" regular Brent Spiner provides some backstory to Data's origins. Also, the "Enterprise" episode "" helps explain the smooth-headed Klingons that sometimes appeared, a retcon that helped explain this varying presentation between "TOS", "TNG", and the films.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "Star Trek" would not return to television as a show for over 12 years, until the debut of "Star Trek: Discovery" on CBS, but thereafter exclusively available on the internet service CBS All Access (Netflix internationally) at that time. The film franchise was rebooted in 2009, essentially a grafted on fork off of the timeline known in "Star Trek: The Next Generation". That movie contains an event from the "TNG" timeline, which is the destruction of Romulus and the flight of Spock's special ship to the time fork. In the "Star Trek" franchise, witnessing the events of time shenanigans is a common plot device.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: On August 4, 2018, Patrick Stewart stated on social media that he would return to the role of Jean-Luc Picard in a project with CBS All Access.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: Stewart wrote, "I will always be very proud to have been a part of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", but when we wrapped that final movie in the spring of 2002, I truly felt my time with "Star Trek" had run its natural course. It is, therefore, an unexpected but delightful surprise to find myself excited and invigorated to be returning to Jean-Luc Picard and to explore new dimensions within him. Seeking out new life for him, when I thought that life was over.


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: "During these past years, it has been humbling to hear stories about how "The Next Generation" brought people comfort, saw them through difficult periods in their lives or how the example of Jean-Luc inspired so many to follow in his footsteps, pursuing science, exploration and leadership. I feel I'm ready to return to him for the same reason – to research and experience what comforting and reforming light he might shine on these often very dark times. I look forward to working with our brilliant creative team as we endeavor to bring a fresh, unexpected and pertinent story to life once more."


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: In January 2019, the producer said that the Picard series will answer questions about what happened to Captain Picard in the 20 years after "Star Trek: Nemesis".


title: Star Trek: The Next Generation

text: This infographic shows the first-run production timeline of various "Star Trek" franchise shows and films, including "Star Trek: The Next Generation".


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: JonBenét Patricia Ramsey (August 6, 1990 – December 25 or 26, 1996) was an American child beauty queen who was killed at the age of six in her family's home in Boulder, Colorado. A long handwritten ransom note was found in the home. Her father, John, found the girl's body in the basement of their house about seven hours after she had been reported missing. She had sustained a broken skull from a blow to the head and had been strangled; a garrote was found tied around her neck. The autopsy report stated that JonBenét's official cause of death was "asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma". Her death was ruled a homicide. The case generated worldwide public and media interest, in part because her mother Patsy Ramsey, a former beauty queen, had entered JonBenét into a series of child beauty pageants. The crime is still considered a cold case and remains an open investigation with the Boulder Police Department.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: The Boulder police initially suspected that the ransom note had been written by Patsy, and that the note and appearance of JonBenét's body had been staged by her parents in order to cover up the murder. In 1998, the police and district attorney (DA) both said that JonBenét's brother Burke, who was nine years old at the time of her death, was not a suspect. JonBenét's parents gave several televised interviews, but resisted police questioning except on their own terms. In October 2013, unsealed court documents revealed that a 1999 grand jury had recommended filing charges against the Ramseys for permitting the child to be in a threatening situation. John and Patsy were also accused of hindering the prosecution of an unidentified person who had "committed ... the crime of murder in the first degree and child abuse resulting in death". However, the DA determined that there was insufficient evidence to pursue a successful indictment.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: In 2002, the DA's successor took over investigation of the case from the police and primarily pursued the theory that an intruder had committed the killing. In 2003, trace DNA that was taken from the victim's clothes was found to belong to an unknown male; each of the family's DNA had been excluded from this match. The DA sent the Ramseys a letter of apology in 2008, declaring the family was "completely cleared" by the DNA results. Others, including former Boulder police chief Mark Beckner, disagreed with exonerating the Ramseys, characterizing the DNA as a small piece of evidence that was not proven to have any connection to the crime. In February 2009, the Boulder police took the case back from the DA and reopened the investigation.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: National and international media coverage of the case focused on JonBenét's brief beauty pageant career, as well as her parents' wealth and the unusual evidence found in the case. Media reports questioned how the police handled the investigation. Ramsey family members and their friends have filed defamation suits against several media organizations.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: JonBenét Ramsey was born on August 6, 1990, in Atlanta, Georgia, the younger of two children of Patricia "Patsy" Ramsey (1956–2006) and John Bennett Ramsey (born 1943). She had an older brother named Burke (born 1987). JonBenét's first name combines her father's first and middle names, and her mother's first name was used as her middle name. She was enrolled in kindergarten at High Peaks Elementary School in Boulder, Colorado.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: JonBenét's body was found on December 26, 1996, in her family's Boulder residence. She was buried at St. James Episcopal Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia, on December 31. JonBenét was interred next to her half-sister Elizabeth Pasch Ramsey, who had died in a car crash nearly five years earlier at age 22.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: John Ramsey was a businessman who was the president of Access Graphics, a computer software company that later became a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin. His first marriage ended in divorce in 1978. John's two surviving adult children (a son and a daughter) lived elsewhere. In 1991, John had moved with Patsy, his second wife, and family to Boulder, where Access Graphics' headquarters was located.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Patsy Ramsey entered JonBenét in various child beauty pageants in Boulder, where she won the titles of America's Royale Miss, Little Miss Charlevoix, Little Miss Colorado, Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl, and National Tiny Miss Beauty. JonBenét's active role in child beauty pageants and Patsy's reported "pageant mother" behavior were reported by the media after the murder.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: In the summer of 1997—approximately six months after JonBenét's death—the Ramseys moved to a new home in Atlanta after a summer at their vacation retreat in Charlevoix, Michigan. Patsy died of ovarian cancer at age 49 in 2006; she was interred next to her daughter.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: According to statements that Patsy gave to authorities on December 26, 1996, she realized that her daughter was missing after she found a two-and-a-half-page handwritten ransom note on the kitchen staircase at the Ramsey family's Boulder residence. The note demanded . John pointed out to police first on the scene that the amount was nearly identical to his Christmas bonus of the prior year, which suggested that someone who would have access to that information would be involved in the crime. Investigators looked at several theories behind the dollar amount demanded, considering employees at Access Graphics who may have known of the amount of John's prior bonus. They also considered the possibility that the ransom demand was a reference to Psalm 118 and spoke to religious sources to determine possible relevance.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: The ransom note appears to echo film dialog. The films "Ransom", "Escape from New York", "Speed" and "Dirty Harry" have acceptance as sources.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: The ransom note was unusually long. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told the police that it was very unusual for such a note to be written at the crime scene. The police believed that the note was staged, because it did not have any fingerprints except for Patsy's and authorities who had handled it, and because it included an unusual use of exclamation marks and initialisms. The note and a practice draft were written with a pen and notepad from the Ramsey home. According to a Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report, "There are indications that the author of the ransom note is Patricia Ramsey." However, the evidence fell short of a definitive conclusion. Michael Baden, a board-certified forensic pathologist, who had consulted with both sides of the case, said he had never seen a note like it in his 60-year experience and that he did not think it was written by an outside stranger.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: A federal court ruled it highly unlikely that Patsy wrote the note, citing six certified handwriting experts. The court bemoaned the existence of self-proclaimed experts – without credentials – trying to enter the case by accusing Patsy without scientific basis.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: The only people known to be in the house on the night of JonBenét's death were her immediate family: Patsy and John Ramsey and their son Burke. The ransom note contained specific instructions against contacting police and friends, but Patsy telephoned the police at 5:52 a.m. MST. She also called family and friends. Two police officers responded to the 9-1-1 call and arrived at the Ramsey home within three minutes. They conducted a cursory search of the house but did not find any sign of forced entry.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Officer Rick French went to the basement and came to a door that was secured by a wooden latch. He paused for a moment in front of the door, but walked away without opening it. French later explained that he was looking for an exit route used by the kidnapper, which the closed inside peg ruled out. JonBenét's body was later found behind the door.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: With JonBenét still missing, John made arrangements to pay the ransom. A forensics team was dispatched to the house. The team initially believed that the child had been kidnapped, and JonBenét's bedroom was the only room in the house that was cordoned off to prevent contamination of evidence. No precautions were taken to prevent contamination of evidence in the rest of the house. Meanwhile, friends, victim advocates, and the Ramsey family's minister arrived at the home to show support. Visitors picked up and cleaned surfaces in the kitchen, possibly destroying evidence. Boulder detective Linda Arndt arrived at about 8:00 a.m. MST, in anticipation of receiving further instructions by the kidnapper(s), but there was never an attempt by anyone to claim the money.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: At 1:00 p.m. MST, Detective Arndt asked John Ramsey and Fleet White, a family friend, to search the house to see if "anything seemed amiss." They started their search in the basement. John opened the latched door which Officer French had overlooked and found his daughter's body in one of the rooms. JonBenét's mouth was covered with duct tape, a nylon cord was found around her wrists and neck, and her torso was covered by a white blanket. John picked up the child's body and took it upstairs. When JonBenét was moved, the crime scene was further contaminated, and critical forensic evidence was disturbed for the returning forensics team.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Each of the Ramseys provided handwriting, blood, and hair samples to the police. John and Patsy participated in a preliminary interview for more than two hours, and Burke was also interviewed within the first couple of weeks following JonBenét's death.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: The autopsy revealed that JonBenét had been killed by strangulation and a skull fracture. The official cause of death was "asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma." There was no evidence of conventional rape, although sexual assault could not be ruled out. Although no semen was found, there was evidence that there had been a vaginal injury. At the time of the autopsy, the pathologist recorded that it appeared her vaginal area had been wiped with a cloth. Her death was ruled a homicide.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: A garrote that was made from a length of nylon cord and the broken handle of a paintbrush was tied around JonBenét's neck and had apparently been used to strangle her. Part of the bristle end of the paintbrush was found in a tub containing Patsy's art supplies, but the bottom third of it was never found despite extensive searching of the house by the police in subsequent days.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: The autopsy revealed a "vegetable or fruit material which may represent pineapple," which JonBenét had eaten a few hours before her death. Photographs of the home taken on the day when JonBenét's body was found show a bowl of pineapple on the kitchen table with a spoon in it. However, neither John nor Patsy said they remembered putting the bowl on the table or feeding pineapple to JonBenét. Police reported that they found JonBenét's nine-year-old brother Burke Ramsey's fingerprints on the bowl. The Ramseys have always said that Burke slept through the entire night until he was awakened several hours after the police arrived.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: In December 2003, forensic investigators extracted enough material from a mixed blood sample found on JonBenét's underwear to establish a DNA profile. That DNA belonged to an unknown male person, and excluded the DNA of each of the Ramseys. The DNA was submitted to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a database containing more than 1.6 million DNA profiles, but the sample did not match any profile in the database. In October 2016, a report said that new forensic analysis with more sensitive techniques revealed that the original DNA contained genetic markers from two individuals other than JonBenét.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: A. James Kolar, who was a lead investigator for the DA's office, said that there were additional traces of male DNA found on the cord and paintbrush that Boulder district attorney Mary Lacy did not mention, and that there were six separate DNA samples belonging to unknown individuals that were found by the test. Former FBI profiler Candice Delong believes that the DNA, having shown up identically in several different places on multiple surfaces, belongs to the killer. Former Adams County, Colorado, District Attorney Bob Grant, who has assisted the Boulder DA's office on the case for many years, also believes that the DNA evidence is significant, saying that any resolution of the case would have to explain how the DNA showed up on several pieces of JonBenét's clothing. Forensic pathologist Michael Baden said, "Trace amounts of DNA can get on places and clothing from all different, nonsuspicious means. There is no forensic evidence to show that this is a stranger murder."


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Experts, media commentators, and the Ramseys have identified potential suspects in the case. Boulder police initially focused almost exclusively upon John and Patsy, but by October 1997 had over 1,600 people in their index of persons of interest for the case.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Errors that were made in the initial investigation complicated the resolution of the investigation and applicable theory. Those errors included loss and contamination of evidence, lack of experienced and technical staff on the investigation, evidence shared with the Ramseys, and delayed informal interviews with the parents.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Lou Smit was a detective who came out of retirement in early 1997 to assist the Boulder County District Attorney's office with the case. In May 1998, he presented his findings to the Boulder police with other staff members of the DA's Office, concluding that the evidence pointed away from the Ramseys. They were unable to successfully challenge the police department's belief that the Ramseys were guilty. The DA's office sought to take control of the investigation. Due to the animosity between the police and the DA's office, and the pressure to obtain a conviction, Colorado governor Roy Romer interceded and named Michael Kane as special prosecutor to initiate a grand jury.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Two of the lead investigators in the case had opposing views. Both Lou Smit and Steve Thomas ultimately resigned — Smit because he believed that the investigation had incompetently overlooked the intruder hypothesis, and Thomas because the DA's office had interfered with and failed to support the police investigation of the case.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: A grand jury was convened beginning September 15, 1998, to consider indicting the Ramseys for charges relating to the case. In 1999, the grand jury returned a true bill to charge the Ramseys with placing the child at risk in a way that led to her death and with obstructing an investigation of murder, based on the probable cause standard applied in such grand jury proceedings. But Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter did not prosecute them, because he did not believe that he could meet the higher standard of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt that is required for a criminal conviction.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Mary Lacy, the next Boulder County District Attorney, took over the investigation from the police on December 26, 2002. In April 2003, she agreed with a federal judge who sat on a 2002 libel case that evidence in the suit is "more consistent with a theory that an intruder murdered JonBenét than it was with a theory that Mrs. Ramsey did". On July 9, 2008, the Boulder District Attorney's office announced that, as a result of newly developed DNA sampling and testing techniques (touch DNA analysis), the Ramsey family members were excluded as suspects in the case. Lacy publicly exonerated the Ramseys.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: On February 2, 2009, Boulder police chief Mark Beckner announced that Stan Garnett, the new Boulder County District Attorney, was turning the case over to his agency, and that his team would resume investigating it. Garnett found that the statute of limitations for the crimes identified in the 1999 grand jury true bill had expired, and did not pursue review of the case against the Ramseys.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: In October 2010, the Boulder police reopened the cold case. New interviews were conducted following a fresh inquiry by a committee that included state and federal investigators. Police were expected to use the latest DNA technology in their investigation. There was no new information gleaned from those interviews. It was reported in September 2016 that the investigation into JonBenét's death continues to be an active homicide case, per Boulder Police Chief Greg Testa.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: In 2015, Beckner disagreed with exonerating the Ramseys, stating, "Exonerating anyone based on a small piece of evidence that has not yet been proved to even be connected to the crime is absurd." He also stated that the unknown DNA from JonBenet's clothing "has got to be the focus of the investigation" at this point in time and that, until one can prove otherwise, "the suspect is the donator of that unknown DNA." In 2016, Gordon Coombes, a former investigator for the Boulder County District Attorney's office, also questioned total absolution of the Ramseys, stating, "We all shed DNA all the time within our skin cells. It can be deposited anywhere at any time for various reasons, reasons that are benign. To clear somebody just on the premise of touch DNA, especially when you have a situation where the crime scene wasn't secure at the beginning ... really is a stretch." Steven E. Pitt, a forensic psychiatrist hired by Boulder authorities, said, "Lacy's public exoneration of the Ramseys was a big slap in the face to Chief Beckner and the core group of detectives who had been working on the case for years."


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: There are two theories about the death of JonBenét. One is the family member theory. Boulder police initially concentrated almost exclusively upon the parents, John and Patsy Ramsey. According to Gregg McCrary, a retired profiler with the FBI, "statistically, it is a 12-to-1 probability that it's a family member or a care giver" who is involved in the homicide of a child. The police saw no evidence of a forced entry, but they did see evidence of staging of the scene, such as the ransom note. They did not find the Ramseys cooperative in helping them solve the death of their daughter. The Ramseys had said that their reluctance was due to their fear that there would not be a full investigation for intruders, and that they would be hastily selected as the key suspects in the case, according to the "Daily Camera".


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: One theory is that Patsy struck JonBenét in a fit of rage after a bedwetting episode, and strangled her to cover up what had happened, after mistakenly thinking she was already dead. However, Patsy did not have a known history of uncontrolled anger. JonBenét's brother later said, "We didn't get spanked, nothing of the sort, nothing close, nothing near laying a finger on us, let alone killing your child."


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Theoretically, the strangulation could have been a "red herring" aspect to conceal other elements of the assault and killing.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Burke, who was nine years old at the time of JonBenét's death, was interviewed by investigators at least three times. The first two interviews did not raise any concerns about him. A review by a child psychologist stated that it appeared that the Ramseys had "healthy, caring family relationships". In 1998, Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said during an interview with a news reporter that Burke Ramsey was not involved in the killing of his sister. In May 1999, the Boulder County District Attorney's office reiterated that Burke Ramsey was not a suspect. The investigators had never considered him a suspect.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: The Ramseys offered a $100,000 reward in a newspaper ad dated April 27, 1997. Three days later, more than four months after the body of their daughter was found, they submitted for the first time to separate formal interviews at the Boulder County Justice Center.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: In 1999, Colorado Governor Bill Owens spoke out, telling the Ramsey couple to "quit hiding behind their attorneys, quit hiding behind their PR firm".


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: A Colorado grand jury voted in 1999 to indict the parents. The indictment cited "two counts each of child abuse" and said the parents "did unlawfully, knowingly, recklessly and feloniously permit a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation that posed a threat of injury to the child's life or health, which resulted in the death of JonBenét Ramsey, a child under the age of sixteen."


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Among the experts who testified in the case were DNA specialist Barry Scheck and forensic expert Henry Lee. On October 13, 1999, Alex Hunter, who was the district attorney at the time, refused to sign the indictment, saying that the evidence was insufficient for prosecution. The public thought that the grand jury investigation had been inconclusive. In 2002, the statute of limitations on the grand jury's charges expired.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: The grand jury's vote to indict was not revealed publicly until October 25, 2013, when previously sealed court documents were released.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: "", a show broadcast on CBS on September 18 and 19, 2016, used a group of experts to evaluate the evidence. The group theorized that Burke hit his sister in the head with a heavy object (possibly a flashlight) after she stole a piece of pineapple from his bowl, perhaps not intending to kill her. They suggested that the ransom letter was an attempt to cover up the circumstances of JonBenet's death. On behalf of Burke Ramsey, his counsel filed defamation lawsuits against CBS, the producers of the program, and several of its participants, based on many of its claims.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: The second theory is the intruder theory. The police and the prosecutors followed leads for intruders partly due to the unidentified boot mark left in the basement room where JonBenét's body was found.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Early persons of interest included neighbor Bill McReynolds, who played Santa Claus; Chris Wolf, a local reporter whose then-girlfriend reported him as a suspect; family housekeeper Linda Hoffmann-Pugh; and a man named Michael Helgoth, who died in an apparent suicide shortly after JonBenét's death. Hundreds of DNA tests were performed to find a match to the DNA recovered during her autopsy. In a 2003 defamation lawsuit related to the case (Wolf v. Ramsey), involving the Ramseys publicly identifying an early suspect in the case, Judge Julie E. Carnes wrote:


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Lou Smit, a detective in the case, assessed the evidence and concluded that an intruder had committed the crime. On the night JonBenét was killed, there had been two windows that were left slightly open to allow for electrical cords for the outside Christmas lights to pass through, a broken basement window, and one unlocked door. Smit's theory was that someone entered the Ramsey home through the broken basement window. Critics have questioned this theory, because there was an intact cobweb in the basement window. The steel grate that covered the window also had undisturbed cobwebs, and the foliage around the grate had been undisturbed. There were also cobwebs in the tracks of various windows, and dust and debris were on some sills. Smit believed that the intruder subdued JonBenét using a stun gun and took her down to the basement. JonBenét was killed and a ransom note was left. Smit's theory was supported by former FBI agent John E. Douglas, who had been hired by the Ramsey family. Believing that the Ramseys were innocent, Smit resigned from the investigation on September 20, 1998, five days after the grand jury was convened against the Ramseys. While no longer an official investigator on the case, Smit continued to work on it until his death in 2010.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Author Stephen Singular in his book "Presumed Guilty" (1999, revised 2016)refers to consultations with cyber-crime specialists to argue JonBenét attracted the attention of child pornographers and pedophiles affiliated with the child pageant scene. Singular further believes the investigation was overly-focused on the Ramsey parents, hampering investigation into alternate scenarios, and the Ramseys were not responsible for the murder other than perhaps unwittingly exposing their daughter to sexual predators. Singular speculates this scenario explains why the grand jury did not recommend indicting the Ramsey parents for murder, but for child abuse or endangerment for placing their daughter in a risky situation.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: It was determined that there had been more than 100 burglaries in the Ramseys' neighborhood in the months before JonBenét's murder. There were 38 registered sex offenders living within a radius of the Ramseys' home. In 2001, former Boulder County prosecutor Trip DeMuth and Boulder County Sheriff's Detective Steve Ainsworth stated that there should be a more aggressive investigation of the intruder theory.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: One of the individuals whom Smit identified as a suspect was Gary Howard Oliva, who was arrested for "two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child and one count of sexual exploitation of a child" charges in June 2016, according to Boulder's "Daily Camera". Oliva, a registered sex offender, was publicly identified as a suspect in an October 2002 episode of "48 Hours Investigates".


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: "The Killing of JonBenét: The Truth Uncovered", broadcast by A&E on September 5, 2016, concluded that an unidentified male was responsible for JonBenét's death, based on forensic DNA analysis of evidence. In the documentary, DNA and forensic scientist expert Lawrence Kobilinsky stated that "an unidentified male committed this crime".


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: The District Attorney's office investigating pedophiles indicated to former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman that the District Attorney's office followed the intruder theory. The Ramseys developed a relationship with District Attorney Mary Lacy and her office, which was criticized by authorities such as the city's mayor, Leslie L Durgin. Silverman said, "Once you have conceded the possibility of an intruder, I don't see how any Ramsey could ever be successfully prosecuted." Gordon Coombes joined the office as an investigator under Lacy when they were testing JonBenét's clothing for touch DNA. He also said that Lacy strongly supported the intruder theory and talked about it with the staff. Although he was not directly involved with the case, he said he was told not to voice opposition to the theory because he might lose his job. "It just seemed weird the whole premise of ... this attempt to influence the entire agency," he stated.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Alexis Valoran Reich (then known as John Mark Karr) was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand on August 15, 2006 following a false confession to murdering JonBenét. Reich, a 41-year old school teacher, claimed she had drugged, sexually assaulted, and accidentally killed JonBenét. According to CNN, "Authorities also said they did not find any evidence linking [Reich] to the crime scene."


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: In the confession, Reich had provided only basic facts that were publicly known and failed to provide any additional convincing details. The claim that JonBenét was drugged further cast doubt on the confession because the autopsy indicated no drugs were found in her body. Furthermore, Reich's DNA did not match DNA found on JonBenét's body.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: On October 26, 2006, Reich sent an email to Bill Hammons of Bill's List seeking a literary agent to help "publish a manuscript that some might find controversial."


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Reich later sent emails under numerous pen names, including Daxis the Conqueror, Drk Prnz, and Alexis. Reich later changed her legal name from 'John Mark Karr' to Alexis Valoran Reich (or Delia Alexis Reich, according to a Washington State drivers' license) after coming out as transgender. Samantha Spiegel (who gained a restraining order from Reich) alleged Reich only intended to undergo gender reassignment surgery to get closer to younger girls in a child sex cult called "The Immaculates".


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: Lin Wood, the Ramseys' family libel attorney, filed defamation lawsuits against several people and companies that had reported on the case, starting in 1999. They sued "Star" magazine and its parent company, American Media, Inc. on their son's behalf in 1999. Defamation suits have been filed by the Ramseys and their friends against several unnamed media outlets. A defamation suit was filed in 2001 against the authors and publisher of "JonBenét: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation" (2000). The suit against Don Davis, Steven Thomas, and St. Martin's Press was settled out of court the following year.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: John and Patsy Ramsey were sued in two defamation lawsuits arising from the publication of their book, "The Death of Innocence" (2001). These suits were brought by two persons named in the book who were said to have been investigated by Boulder police as suspects in the case. The Ramseys were defended in those lawsuits by Lin Wood and three other Atlanta attorneys, James C. Rawls, Eric P. Schroeder, and S. Derek Bauer. They obtained the dismissal of both lawsuits. U.S. District Court Judge Julie Carnes later concluded that "abundant evidence" in the murder case pointed to an intruder having committed the crime.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: In November 2006, Rod Westmoreland, a friend of John Ramsey, filed a defamation suit against an anonymous web surfer who had posted two messages on Internet forums using the pseudonym "undertheradar" implicating Westmoreland in the murder.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: During a September 2016 interview with CBS Detroit and in "" documentary television program, forensic pathologist Werner Spitz accused Burke Ramsey of killing his sister. On October 6, 2016, Burke filed a defamation lawsuit against Spitz. Burke and his attorneys, who include Lin Wood, sought a total of $150 million in punitive and compensatory damages. Wood said he would also file a suit against CBS at the end of October 2016.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: On December 28, 2016, Burke Ramsey's lawyers filed an additional civil lawsuit that accused CBS, the production company Critical Content LLC, and seven experts and consultants of defamation of character. They sought $250 million in compensatory damages and $500 million in punitive damages.


title: Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

text: In January 2018, a judge denied the CBS motion to dismiss, and the suit was allowed to proceed. In January 2019, Wood announced that the lawsuit had been settled "to the satisfaction of all parties."


title: Joel Edgerton

text: Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his appearance in the "Star Wars" films "Attack of the Clones" (2002) and "Revenge of the Sith" (2005) as a young Owen Lars, a role he reprised in the Disney+ series "Obi-Wan Kenobi" (2022). Edgerton also appeared in "King Arthur" (2004) as Gawain, "Warrior" (2011), "Zero Dark Thirty" (2012), "The Great Gatsby" (2013), "Black Mass" (2015), "Loving" (2016), "Bright" (2017), "Red Sparrow" (2018), "The King" (2019), and the limited series "The Underground Railroad" (2021).


title: Joel Edgerton

text: In Australia, Edgerton portrayed Will McGill in the drama series "The Secret Life of Us" (2001–02), for which he won the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama. He has appeared in several Australian films, such as "The Square" (2008), "Animal Kingdom" (2010), for which he won the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, "Wish You Were Here" (2012), and "Felony" (2013).


title: Joel Edgerton

text: In 2015, Edgerton received a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film for "The Gift", a psychological horror-thriller film he wrote, directed, co-produced, and in which he co-starred. Edgerton garnered further critical acclaim for his performance as Richard Loving in the 2016 historical drama "Loving", for which he received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. In 2018, he wrote, directed, and starred in the drama "Boy Erased", about gay conversion therapy. The following year's "The King", which he co-wrote and starred in, was released on Netflix.


title: Joel Edgerton

text: Edgerton was born in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia the son of Michael, a solicitor and property developer, and Marianne ("née" van Dort) Edgerton. His mother is a Dutch immigrant, who was born in The Hague. He graduated from The Hills Grammar School in 1991. He attended the Nepean Drama School at the University of Western Sydney, before moving on to various stage productions, including at Sydney Theatre Company.


title: Joel Edgerton

text: Edgerton has appeared in such films as "Erskineville Kings", "King Arthur" and "Ned Kelly". In the "Star Wars" franchise, he played a young Owen Lars in "" (2002) and "" (2005) and reprised the role in the Disney+ series "Obi-Wan Kenobi". He played Will on "The Secret Life of Us", for which he won an AACTA Award in 2002. In 2005, he lent his voice to the title character of "The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello", an Academy Award-nominated animated short film. The same year, he appeared as the son of a deceased shoemaker in the British comedy "Kinky Boots". He appeared in "Smokin' Aces" (2006).


title: Joel Edgerton

text: Edgerton appeared in the film "Whisper" (2007), "The Square" (which he co-wrote and was directed by his brother Nash Edgerton), "Acolytes", and "Separation City". In 2009, he starred alongside as Stanley in the Sydney Theatre Company's acclaimed production of "A Streetcar Named Desire". He appeared in a production of the same play at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in December 2009. He appeared in the crime drama film "Animal Kingdom" as Barry Baz Brown in 2010 in which he won an AFI award. He starred as fictional MMA fighter Brendan Conlon in the film "Warrior" (2011).


title: Joel Edgerton

text: In February 2010, Edgerton was cast in Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.'s 2011 prequel to "The Thing", portraying helicopter pilot Sam Carter. He played Tom Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's 2013 remake of "The Great Gatsby". He was honoured for his work in international roles with the 2011 Australians in Film Breakthrough Award.


title: Joel Edgerton

text: In 2013, it was revealed that Edgerton and David Michôd had collaborated on writing an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henriad" plays, "Henry IV, Part 1", "Henry IV, Part 2" and "Henry V", for Warner Bros. Pictures.


title: Joel Edgerton

text: In 2014, Edgerton starred in the biblical film "", as Ramesses II, Moses' adoptive brother, who became a notorious king. Edgerton directed, starred in, wrote, and produced the thriller "The Gift", which was released on 7 August 2015. He co-starred in the 2015 film "Black Mass" as John Connolly, FBI contact and childhood friend of notorious gangster Whitey Bulger.


title: Joel Edgerton

text: In 2016, he starred in the Jeff Nichols films "Midnight Special" and "Loving", and in 2017, he starred in the film "Bright" as Officer Nick Jacoby, an orc who is a police officer. He will reprise the character in the sequel along with Will Smith, directed by Louis Leterrier for Netflix.


title: Joel Edgerton

text: In 2018, Edgerton headlined Francis Lawrence's thriller film "Red Sparrow" with Jennifer Lawrence, and based on the book by Jason Matthews. He plays Nathaniel Nash, a CIA agent who becomes involved with a Russian spy Dominika Egorova (Lawrence). In February 2018, Timothée Chalamet joined the cast of "The King", with Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner producing, alongside Liz Watts, under their Plan B Entertainment banner. In March 2018, Edgerton joined the cast of the film.


title: Joel Edgerton

text: In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, it was announced that a new film, "The Unknown Man", will begin filming in South Australia as soon as enough of the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. Directed by Thomas M. Wright, it will also star Sean Harris. In September 2020, Edgerton was set to star in an ensemble film "The Brutalist" directed by Brady Corbet. In the same month, he was tapped to star in and executive produce limited series "The Florida Man" based on a novel of the same name by Tom Cooper.


title: Joel Edgerton

text: In 2021, Edgerton starred in the medieval fantasy film "The Green Knight" written and directed by David Lowery.


title: Joel Edgerton

text: Edgerton has been a distinguished ambassador for The Fred Hollows Foundation for a number of years and has strong personal ties to the organisation, which works to restore people's sight in poor countries and to improve the health of Aboriginal Australians. In 2012, he visited Nepal, where he saw sight restored first hand. He has described social activism and his involvement with The Fred Hollows Foundation as "an escape" from the "materialistic life" that often surrounds an actor. The Fred Hollows Foundation is an international non-profit organization which educates and provides equipment for undersupported surgeons to help cure avoidable blindness.


title: Joel Edgerton

text: Edgerton's brother, Nash, is a stuntman and filmmaker. Both he and his brother are a part of the Australian film collective Blue-Tongue Films. Nash directed Joel in 2018's "Gringo".


title: Joel Edgerton

text: In 2018, Edgerton began a relationship with Christine Centenera, fashion director of "Vogue Australia". They have known each other since the late 1990s. Their twins were born in May 2021.


title: Valorant

text: Valorant is a free-to-play first-person tactical hero shooter developed and published by Riot Games, for Windows. Teased under the codename "Project A" in October 2019, the game began a closed beta period with limited access on April 7, 2020, followed by a release on June 2, 2020. The development of the game started in 2014. "Valorant" takes inspiration from the "Counter-Strike" series of tactical shooters, borrowing several mechanics such as the buy menu, spray patterns, and inaccuracy while moving.


title: Valorant

text: "Valorant" is a team-based first-person tactical hero shooter set in the near future. Players play as one of a set of Agents, characters based on several countries and cultures around the world. In the main game mode, players are assigned to either the attacking or defending team with each team having five players on it. Agents have unique abilities, each requiring charges, as well as a unique ultimate ability that requires charging through kills, deaths, orbs, or objectives. Every player starts each round with a "classic" pistol and one or more "signature ability" charges. Other weapons and ability charges can be purchased using an in-game economic system that awards money based on the outcome of the previous round, any kills the player is responsible for, and any objectives completed. The game has an assortment of weapons including secondary guns like sidearms and primary guns like submachine guns, shotguns, machine guns, assault rifles and sniper rifles. There are automatic and semi-automatic weapons that each have a unique shooting pattern that has to be controlled by the player to be able to shoot accurately. It currently offers 20 agents to choose from. They are Brimstone, Viper, Omen, Cypher, Sova, Sage, Phoenix, Jett, Raze, Breach, Reyna, Killjoy, Skye, Yoru, Astra, KAY/O, Chamber, Neon, Fade and Harbor. The player will get 5 unlocked agents (Brimstone, Sova, Sage, Phoenix and Jett) and will have to unlock the agents by activating that agent's contract.


title: Valorant

text: In the standard non-ranked mode, the match is played as best of 25 - the first team to win 13 rounds wins the match. The attacking team has a bomb-type device called the Spike. They must deliver and activate the Spike on one of the multiple specified locations (bomb sites). If the attacking team successfully protects the activated Spike for 45 seconds it detonates, destroying everything in a specific area, and they receive a point. If the defending team can deactivate the spike, or the 100-second round timer expires without the attacking team activating the spike, the defending team receives a point. If all the members of a team are eliminated before the spike is activated, or if all members of the defending team are eliminated after the spike is activated, the opposing team earns a point. If both teams win 12 rounds, sudden death occurs, in which the winning team of that round wins the match, differing from overtime for competitive matches. Additionally, if after 4 rounds, a team wishes to forfeit that match, they may request a vote to surrender. If the vote reaches 4 (in contrast to 5 for competitive), the winning team gets all the victory credit for every round needed to bring them to 13, with the forfeiting team receiving losing credit. A team gets only three chances to surrender: once in the first half, once in the pistol round of the second half, and once more in the second half.


title: Valorant

text: In the Spike Rush mode, the match is played as best of 7 rounds - the first team to win 4 rounds wins the match. Players begin the round with all abilities fully charged except their ultimate, which charges twice as fast as in standard games. All players on the attacking team carry a spike, but only one spike may be activated per round. Guns are randomized in every round and every player begins with the same gun. Ultimate point orbs in the standard game are present, as well as multiple different power-up orbs.


title: Valorant

text: Competitive matches are the same as unranked matches with the addition of a win-based ranking system that assigns a rank to each player after 5 games are played. Players are required to reach level 20 before playing this mode. In July 2020, Riot introduced a "win by two" condition for competitive matches, where instead of playing a single sudden death round at 12-12, teams will alternate playing rounds on attack and defense in overtime until a team claims victory by securing a two-match lead. Each overtime round gives players the same amount of money to purchase guns and abilities, as well as approximately half of their ultimate ability charge. After each group of two rounds, players may vote to end the game in a draw, requiring 6 players after the first set, 3 after the second, and thereafter only 1 player to agree to a draw. The competitive ranking system ranges from Iron to Radiant. Every rank except for Radiant has 3 tiers. Radiant is reserved for the top 500 players of a region, and both Immortal and Radiant have a number associated to their rank allowing players to have a metric in which they can compare how they rank up to others at their level.


title: Valorant

text: Premier is a 5v5 gamemode that allows players a path-to-pro competitive game mode that is aimed towards players that wish to be a professional player. Premier is currently in alpha testing in Brazil. Players will need to create a team of five to compete against other teams in divisions. Each season will last a few weeks and the top teams will be invited to compete in the Division Championship. This gamemode will include a pick-and-ban system for maps unlike all the other gamemodes where the players have to play the map selected by the system.


title: Valorant

text: The Deathmatch mode was introduced on August 5, 2020. 14 players enter a 9-minute free-for-all match and the first person to reach 40 kills or the player who has the most kills when time is up wins the match. Players spawn in with a random agent as well as full shields, and all abilities are disabled during the match which indulges pure gunplay. Green health packs drop on every kill, which reset the player to maximum health, armor, and give an additional 30 bullets to each of their guns.


title: Valorant

text: The Escalation gamemode was introduced on February 17, 2021 and is similar to the "gungame" concept found in "Counter-Strike" and "", though it is team-based rather than free-for-all with 5 players on each team. The game will pick a random selection of 12 weapons to move through. As with other gungame versions, a team needs to get a certain number of kills to advance to the next weapon and the weapons get progressively worse as the team moves through them. There are two winning conditions, if one team successfully goes through all 12 levels, or if one team is on a higher level than the opposing team within 10 minutes. Just like Deathmatch, players spawn in as a random agent, unable to use abilities, as the gamemode is set for pure gun fights. Though, abilities like Sova's shock darts, Raze's boom bot, and rocket launcher, are abilities that everyone gets to use as a weapon. After a kill, green health packs drop, which replenishes the player's health, armor, and ammo to its maximum. The gamemode also has auto respawns on, respawning players in random locations around the map.


title: Valorant

text: The Replication gamemode went live on May 11, 2021. During the agent select, players vote on which agent they would want to play as. At the end of the time, or after everyone has voted, the game randomly selects one of the player's votes. The entire team will then play as that agent, even if one of the players has not unlocked that agent. It is a best of nine, with the players switching sides after the fourth round. Players can buy guns and shields with a pre-set number of credits. Abilities are pre-bought. Weapons and shields are reset every round.


title: Valorant

text: Snowball Fight is a limited-time gamemode that was released on December 15, 2020, and is only available during Christmas season. It is a Team Deathmatch game mode, with 50 kills to win. Abilities are not allowed to be used, and players spawn in as a random agent. The only weapon available is the snowball launcher, which is an instant kill, but slow, and uses a projectile-based arc. There is infinite ammo. Throughout the game a "portal" will spawn, delivering gifts, which each contain a random power up.


title: Valorant

text: There are a large variety of playable agents available in the game. Agents are divided into 4 roles: Duelists, Sentinels, Initiators, and Controllers. Each agent has a different role which indicates how the agent is usually played.


title: Valorant

text: Duelists specialize in attacking and entering a bomb site for the team. Riot's official definition for duelists is "self-sufficient fraggers." Duelists mainly create space for their team while entering onto a site, giving their teammates information, and making entering a site easier. Their abilities tend to consist of flashes which blind enemies, and movement-based abilities that allow for them to cover large distances faster than other agents. This type of ability kit allows for duelists to shine best when they are able to catch players off guard and get impact frags. On attack, duelists are most often expected to play forward, leading the attack. They are expected to be in front of everyone to get opening picks on enemies since their abilities often give them a competitive advantage when gunfighting an enemy. On defense, duelists will be holding choke points where enemies try to enter sites. Due to the mobility in their kits, they are able to get a pick and reposition, giving their team a numbers advantage.


title: Valorant

text: Sentinels are the defensive line, which specializes in locking down sites and protecting teammates from enemies. Their abilities mainly consist of static 'objects' that are obstacles to the enemies. These objects can give the team valuable information and/or deal damage. On attack, sentinels can use their abilities to cut off certain parts of the map or set up 'objects' that can ensure the enemy cannot flank without being noticed. On defense, sentinels can use their abilities to slow enemies from entering a site. This provides valuable time for the sentinels' team members to come and provide defensive support.


title: Valorant

text: Initiators plan out the offensive pushes. Initiators specialize in breaking through defensive enemy positions. Initiators' abilities can consist of flashes but also abilities that can reveal the location of enemies. This information allows for attackers to know where enemies are and make taking a site easier. On defense, initiators can use their abilities to provide information on where the attackers are going, as well as helping their teammates retake a lost site.


title: Valorant

text: Controllers specialize in "slicing up dangerous territory to set their team up for success." They use their abilities to create coverage or clear out areas of space with crowd control. To help their team enter into enemy territory, their abilities consist of some kind of smoke, as well as molotovs, stuns, or flashes. With their smokes, controllers can control sightlines on the map, making it safer to move through the map without getting seen. On offense, controllers can smoke off certain sightlines and use their crowd control on common defensive spots to force enemies into the open. On defense, controllers can smoke and/or use crowd control on entryways to delay or discourage the enemy team from moving forward.


title: Valorant

text: The store is composed of three sections: Featured, Offers, and Night Market. In all three sections, players can buy weapon skins using Valorant Points that change the appearance of their weapon in-game. Valorant Points (VP) is an in-game currency that can only be purchased with real currency within the game client.


title: Valorant

text: The featured section of the store changes every two weeks. Most of the time, the featured section will have new skin releases (called "bundles") from Riot, giving players a limited opportunity to buy them without having to wait for them to appear in the offers section.


title: Valorant

text: The offers section of the store gives players the ability to buy four randomly chosen unowned skins and the four skins change every 24 hours.


title: Valorant

text: Night Market is a periodic store that drops at random times in each Act of the game. The Night Market includes 6 random weapon skins at randomly discounted prices which is unique to every player. Players only receive one set of offers and the offer will last until the Night Market ends.


title: Valorant

text: "Valorant" was developed and published by Riot Games, the studio behind "League of Legends". Development started in 2014, within their research and development division. Joe Ziegler, "Valorant" game director, is credited with the initial idea of "Valorant" while formulating potential games with other Riot developers. David Nottingham is the creative director for "Valorant". Trevor Romleski, former "League of Legends" designer and Salvatore Garozzo, former professional player and map designer for "" are game designers for "Valorant". Moby Francke, former Valve developer, who has been art and character designer for "Half-Life 2" and "Team Fortress 2", is the art director.


title: Valorant

text: "Valorant" was developed with two main focuses: making tactical shooters and e-sports more accessible to new players, and creating a game that would attract a large competitive scene, while solving many of the points of criticism voiced by professional players from games in the genre. Games aimed at large, active communities and player bases, typically free-to-play games like "Fortnite" or Riot's own "League of Legends", tend to put an emphasis on a wider array of system performance improvements and game stability rather than newer technologies or graphics as a way of making sure they're as accessible as possible. In interviews leading up to the game's launch, game director Joe Ziegler and producer Anna Donlon said that "Valorant" was made for people playing their first tactical shooter just as much as it was for professional players, and that accessibility of the game was a large priority.