Sounds good, I'm looking forward to seeing what Academy is like. Not sure if it'll fit my preferences or not, but I'm going to give it a shot!
There are definitely some sections of TNG that are a bit rough! I usually somewhat forget about it until I watch it again. Fortunately it gets better!
I do remember that Lower Decks episode, the Rutherford/Boimler argument over whether Locarno and Paris looked alike was pretty funny!