August 4, 1987
Filming wraps after eight days on the third episode filmed, the Lwaxana Troi debut in "Haven." Wrap-up of the infamous engagement dinner scene, plus incidental scenes in the transporter and sickbay, are shot the final day.

August 5, 1987
The first of seven planned days begins for the filming of "Where No One has Gone Before" — all bridge scenes, with no guest cast involved.

August 6, 1987
The first time a Klingon targ is depicted — and the only time a live animal is used to do so — falls on this day, the second of seven planned for the filming of "Where No One has Gone Before," the series' fourth one-hour episode after the pilot. TV Guide conducts a special photo shoot of the cast at noon, and Biff Yeager plays Lt. Cmdr. Argyle for the first time, the next in a revolving line of chief engineers before Geordi LaForge is given the position in Season 2 for the duration. Finally, actress Cheryl McFadden has her middle and stage name "Gates" used on the show's daily call sheets for the first time — an echo of the change she made in the opening title credits after the pilot episode.

August 7, 1987
Actor Eric Menyuk appears for the first time in the recurring role of the Traveler on the third day of shooting for "Where No One Has Gone Before." The show is the first of 13 TNGs to be directed by Rob Bowman, making him the young series' busiest director until he went on to be a producer on The X-Files.

August 12 , 1987
In a brief scene, Herta Ware is filmed in a flashback sequence playing Capt. Picard's mother on the sixth of seven days shooting "Where No One Has Gone Before"; her daughter, Ellen Geer, would later guest-star in "Silicon Avatar." Not until Season 6's "Tapestry" would Picard's stern father Maurice, played by Clive Church, be glimpsed in flashback.

August 15, 1987
In one high-profile promotional effort, Coca-Cola sponsors ICEE cups with the TNG cast faces in special collector's plastic cups that appear beginning this date in convenience stores nationwide.

August 16, 1987
Print and electronic VHS press kits for the TNG debut are mailed to local media in all the new series' local syndication markets. Today, these original tapes and mailings are considered collector's items.

August 20, 1987
For the first time ever, Ferengis take to the camera on Stage 16 on the fifth of eight days filming "The Last Outpost," their story debut. The first take on Ferengis — as ferocious mega-capitalists dressed in furs, with energy whips as side arms — has Jake Dengel, Tracey Walter and Armin Shimerman (five years before DS9's Quark!) as the first batch encountered face-to-face (Enterprise's "Acquisition" notwithstanding). Karrie Cullen is the latest in a string of various stunt coordinators used.

August 24, 1987
On-air TV promos, print ads and radio spots for TNG's debut are sent to local stations. Each print ad and radio spot countdown declares in a new daily number: "'(x) DAYS UNTIL THE 24TH CENTURY!"

August 25, 1987
A Ferengi DaiMon and his ship interior is filmed for the first time ever when Mike Gomez, as DaiMon Taar, completes his scenes for "The Last Outpost" on the eighth and last day of the episode's shooting schedule.

August 26, 1987
The series' first "bottle" show — a money-saver, with no guest cast or special sets — begins filming as "Lonely Among Us," with three full days of the seven-day shoot fully on the bridge alone. The challenge was the first TNG effort by director Cliff Bole — later namesake of the Bolian species after "Conspiracy" — whose 25 titles made him TNG's most prolific.

For more 20th-anniversary milestones, see TNG20 (July 1987) and TNG20 (March-June 1987)