Live long and prosper, Star Trek

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 12:36 am

Forty Five years ago, Star Trek first appeared on television. Here's a thread of appreciation to a franchise that has both entertained and provoked thought on issues like science, politics, philosophy, religion, rare relations, war, and so on. Here's to Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, Spock, McCoy, Riker, Data, Worf, O'Brien, Kira, Chakotay, T'Pol and everyone in between. Yes, even Wesley. And to those recurring characters as well, from Harry Mudd to Khan!!!!! to Q, to Garek, Winn, Dukat, Eddington to Seska and on.

A nice tribute from the 40th anniversary to the tune from The Inner Light.

And remember the shows are available on Netflix Streaming and Amazon Prime.

(Edited title to prevent scary misunderstandings)

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 3:18 am

HERE! HERE! ..Star Trek is still relevant today. I remember it's 25th ann and 30th and 35th hehehe.. All those years. And to those who have already gone ahead, bless you and watch over the rest of them.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 7:06 am

I've always loved Star Trek!

1970s: Watching TOS re-runs on the couch with my Dad.
1980s: Loving the movies and playing Star Fleet Battles.
1990s: Coming late to TNG and playing catch-up.
2000s: Using Trek materials in class to talk about SF and its themes with students.
2010s: ...Introducing all of it to my kids on the couch or the computer.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:19 am

Sweet zombie Jesus. I saw the thread title and immediately jumped to "Oh, shit. Leonard Nimoy is dead."

Thankfully the thread was much happier than that. We need to buy the original version box sets, but it's like $60 each and there are three of them.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:33 am

Sweet zombie Jesus. I saw the thread title and immediately jumped to "Oh, shit. Leonard Nimoy is dead."

Exactly my thought. phew.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:35 am

How strange is it that I can't find sheet music for Inner Light for flute?? Piano, guitar, "strings" - all kinds of other stuff, but no flute. Very odd.

Huge Trek fan - always have been. Even some of the less-popular shows like Enterprise I watched and enjoyed (especially the last season, which rocked). I remember watching the original episodes back in the 70s when I was a little kid - especially the excitement when I saw one I'd never seen before. In the early 80s, I'd stay up late during the summer (and during the school year, which wasn't too bright) watching Star Trek until I knew practically every episode by heart. I remember getting the TOS series guide for my birthday one year and reading it cover to cover. I also got the Engineer's Guide to the Enterprise and devoured that, too. I read all sorts of Trek paperbacks, some good, some not so good. I saw Wrath of Khan several times in the theater, then watched and re-watched it endlessly on HBO.

When TNG debuted, it was a major event for me. I recorded every episode on VHS and re-watched them over and over. I watched it in my parents' living room (which we normally didn't use much) because the TV and sound system in there was nicer. My friends and I devoured every episode, discussing how much we hated Wesley Crusher and what a wuss Worf was. Usually we'd conclude that Wesley could take Worf in a fight.

For all its corniness, for all of its flaws (and there are plenty. Uhura's fan dance cannot be unseen.), Trek has succeeded at speaking to our universal need to explore, our need to see the good guys being really, really good, our love of camaraderie, and our thrill at seeing the unknown revealed. It's provided some of the most memorable scenes in TV and Movie history, some of the most quotable lines (THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!), and everything from touching stories (the Inner Light comes to mind) to action (the final battle between the Federation/Klingon forces and the Dominion was absolutely incredible TV) to really well-crafted episodes like Balance of Terror, City on the Edge of Forever, and Mirror, Mirror.

When they finally put a new Trek show on TV, I'm sure I'll watch that, too. Happy birthday, Star Trek!

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 9:02 am

Haha, my Boss had never seen Chain of Command. He eithr watched them some time this week or will this weekend.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 9:09 am

I was a big fan of TOS. When it was on first-run my friend had the only color TV in the neighborhood, and I headed straight to his house every Thursday(?) and then Friday when it was on so I could see it in glorious living color. (Did the same for Batman).

Once it hit syndication, I watched it so faithfully that I had a running bet with my roommate that I could rattle off the name of the episode based solely on the teaser. I rarely lost.

Somewhere into DS9 and Voyage my interest in things Trek started to wane, and while I would go see the latest movie if it had gotten good reviews, I haven't really watched it on the small screen since.

And someone should mention it's also the 20th anniversary of the Interplay ST game.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 9:14 am

I'm a casual fan; I would watch DS9 late on Sunday night while in college, mostly because it was the only time I knew I wouldn't be fighting someone to watch a show on a shared TV.

At the risk of sending Daehawk into an Ebay shopping bonanza, I didn't realize that there was a highly regarded Star Trek game released for the 25th Anniversary. The follow up, Judgement Rites also seems to be favorably reviewed.

I'm sure it will be a nightmare trying to get them to work, but hey, imagine if you can...

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 10:51 am

Just ordered this for anyone who likes star trek and boardgames. It's supposed to capture the feel of an entire season of ST with every game.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 11:56 am

tgb wrote:I was a big fan of TOS. When it was on first-run my friend had the only color TV in the neighborhood, and I headed straight to his house every Thursday(?) and then Friday when it was on so I could see it in glorious living color. (Did the same for Batman).

Stop stealing my childhood! Except we were the family with the color TV.

Star Trek was on the same night that our church had catechism (Wednesdays, IIRC), so every Wednesday night was a power struggle to stay home and watch it -- usually due to a sudden hour-long stomach ache or sore throat. VCRs were science fiction in those days, baby -- when you missed a show, it was just gone.

My parents weren't especially religious back then and frequently gave in, so I got to watch most of it during its original broadcast.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:02 pm

I'm not a fan of Star Trek.

Admittedly, the Mr. Spock talking bobblehead on my desk disagrees. He may be right. He usually is.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:55 pm

Blackhawk wrote:I'm not a fan of Star Trek.

Mr. Blackhawk, your agonizer please.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 2:22 pm

I got to watch the reruns that came on after school everyday. That was my introduction. Been a fan ever since.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 2:25 pm

Oh, fine. The Mr. Spock talking bobblehead shares company with a First Contact poster, a six pack of Romulan ale (from Star Trek: The Experience), several ships, tins, odds, ends, and any number of guides and books, a few pieces of art, most of the Star Trek games made, and a few action figures. No rubber ears, though.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 4:21 pm

Blackhawk wrote:Star Trek: The Experience

That place was AWESOME!! I think they closed it down shortly after I was there, and I can imagine why - I was there for about 4 hours and I think I saw perhaps 12 other customers the entire time. I had just quit my job and I knew it would likely be my last trip to Vegas (probably ever), so I made the most of it. I ate at Quark's, looked at every single artifact on display, and went through each of the rides about four times (to the point where I got to know when I should look to see a borg burst out of the ceiling). It's absolutely the best night I ever had in Vegas (not that there was much to compare it to) and a true joy for a trek fan.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 5:12 pm

Voyager recently made it to Neflix on demand. I never watched it so I gave it a shot. It's like a car wreck. Awful but I can't stop watching. I give it a break for being a 90s show so I let the melodrama, bad acting, etc slide. But the science, ugh, they can't go 10 minutes with dropping absolute bad science. And I'm not talking about trekbabble, but completely wrong science, unpossible math, and just plain stupidity.

That out of the way, I still like Star Trek. TOS and the movies mostly, TNG a wee little bit.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 5:26 pm

Voyager's biggest annoyance was the Big Red Button in engineering. Two out of every three episodes would be good with a nice buildup and an opportunity to see the characters think their way out of an impossible situation.

They would then go push the Big Red Button that would realign the flux capacitor, or reroute the EPS conduits through the forward lavatory and resolve the entire situation without so much a lick of ingenuity on the part of the crew. They did this over and over and over to the point that you didn't really care about the situations anymore. You knew the plot would come down to the Big Red Button.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 9:14 pm

At the risk of sending Daehawk into an Ebay shopping bonanza, I didn't realize that there was a highly regarded Star Trek game released for the 25th Anniversary. The follow up, Judgement Rites also seems to be favorably reviewed.

I own them both

. I bought the 25th Anniversary one about 1993. One year before I got a computer to play it on. It has just the top opened on it. The plastic wrap is still on it. I played it in June 1994 when I got my system home. I didn't have a sound card and listened to it through the PC speaker. The next day I went back to EB and bought a Sound Blaster 16

It sounded amazing then. I couldn't help but smile ear to ear. Then of course I got Judgement Rites when it came out. To this day I think those are the 2 best Trek games ever.

I watched Trek in the late 70's early 80's. But they were really nothing to me. I got my dad to take and drop me off for Star Trek II because it was a sci-fi movie. I loved sci-fi. but my god it was amazing. I fell in love with it. But I was 12 or 13 then so I didn't have a chance to get into it in a big way. Then around 1989 me and my wife were helping with a political campaign and we were at this big hotel and the tv was on. I saw some phasor fire and wondered what that was, it looked Trek. It was Star Trek The Next Generation. I couldn't believe a new Trek was out. I had no idea lol. I watched it and soaked it all in. Then I had to go home to a tv with only 1 channel and it wasn't the one TNG came on. I could barely get that channel on UHF full of snow. But I always watched it. In 1995 we got cable and I was set. I became a HUGE Trek fan at that time. Watched all the old series eps over and over to where I can still sit and do the dialog now.

Drove my wife crazy with all things Trek. I bought and read ALL the books from the 70's and 80's and started buying the new ones each month when they arrived. If it was Trek I bought it. Went to a couple conventions. The first was 1991. Had my own home made jacket thanks to my motherNlaw. Got on the local news for it

Met and shook hands with Q from TNG. I missed my chance to go the next year and always regret that because the guest was DeForest Kelly

Over the years though Trek became a marketing giant and I could not keep up. It got way too expensive so I dropped all collecting. I don't read any longer due to having a computer. There's just too much stuff out there. The last thing I got was the collector's edition of Judgement Rites off eBay. I still love Star Trek...I'm a TOS fan but love the others too.....TOS rules!.....but I am no longer a crazed fan. I look forward to the next tv show.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 9:59 pm

Holy geez, I'd completely forgotten that I went to a Star Trek convention at the Hotel Syracuse when I was a kid. Hmm - it had to have been in the mid 80s - around 85-87, because I was old enough to go alone but young enough that I remember my parents dropping me off. I don't think it was very big, but what reminded me was that I'm pretty sure DeForest Kelly was the guest. Man, I can't believe how little I remember of that thing - I'd all but forgotten it completely until I saw Daehawk's post.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:21 am

Odin wrote:Holy geez, I'd completely forgotten that I went to a Star Trek convention at the Hotel Syracuse when I was a kid. Hmm - it had to have been in the mid 80s - around 85-87, because I was old enough to go alone but young enough that I remember my parents dropping me off. I don't think it was very big, but what reminded me was that I'm pretty sure DeForest Kelly was the guest. Man, I can't believe how little I remember of that thing - I'd all but forgotten it completely until I saw Daehawk's post.

I went to one in the mid 70's in Huntsville. I remember them showing blooper reels. Some of the cast was there but for the life of me I cannot remember who it was now.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 2:04 am

Ive tried to look the one I went to up online. Found a lot of them but can't seem to find that exact one.

sgoldj · Post by **sgoldj** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:36 am

A moment of silence, please, for the greatest Star Trek game not published:

The Secret of Vulcan Fury.

Remembered fondly this 45th anniversary.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 10:01 am

Leonard Nimoy visited my high school when I was a senior and I got to meet him and shake his hand. Im dating myself but this was in the fall of '73. I was working at the event ( parking lot duty ) and Mr. Nimoy wanted to meet and personally thank all the locals who helped out. Obviously, for a 17 year old kid who loved Star Trek, it was huge moment. It was really cool seeing the big smile on his face as he greeted each of us and it was very cool he took the time to do that as it wasnt planned and no one expected it.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 9:00 pm

Wow so cool. That's a cool memory.

And Secret of Vulcan Fury was one I was seriously looking forward to. I never understood why they didn't finish it.

Redfive · Post by **Redfive** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 10:46 pm

Lassr wrote:I got to watch the reruns that came on after school everyday. That was my introduction. Been a fan ever since.

Yep, if I ran home from the bus I'd get home just in time for the first segment of the TOS after the intro..when it was still showing opening credits.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:55 am

My wife was a ST virgin until we watched late-night TOS reruns together in the early 80s. It was fun introducing her to Trekworld. And right after ST they ran old Gunsmoke episodes...she'd never seen those, either.

Her parents had funny ideas about what constituted wholesome TV.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:17 am

Redfive wrote:
Lassr wrote:I got to watch the reruns that came on after school everyday. That was my introduction. Been a fan ever since.
Yep, if I ran home from the bus I'd get home just in time for the first segment of the TOS after the intro..when it was still showing opening credits.

The summer we first got cable TV, I discovered that I could watch three episodes of TOS every weekday.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Sun Aug 17, 2014 10:19 pm

I was just rewatching some DS9 on Hulu. Been watching a little here and there when I am bored.

So I am struck by what a great character Rom, Quarks brother is. The episode I was watching is the one where Quark gets shot. Much of Rom's dialogue in that one cracks me up. He turns from being worried about Quark and too innocently naive to have wanted him dead to one who is quick to ask if he was on life support because his brother wouldn't have wanted that.

He is like a little Rahm Emanuel.

JCC · Post by **JCC** » Mon Aug 18, 2014 8:02 pm

One of DS9's (many) strengths is character development. All of the primary (and many of the secondary) characters really evolve over the course of the series. I love DS9. It is by far and away the best Star Trek series by a mile in my book...

Chrisoc13 · Post by **Chrisoc13** » Mon Aug 18, 2014 8:30 pm

JCC wrote:One of DS9's (many) strengths is character development. All of the primary (and many of the secondary) characters really evolve over the course of the series. I love DS9. It is by far and away the best Star Trek series by a mile in my book...

I feel the same way about it. The best series.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Aug 18, 2014 8:34 pm

That's because it was the only Star Trek other than Enterprise that wasn't episodic. The episodic format let them tell concise stories that new viewers could jump right into without getting lost, but made character development something of a pain, as they were, with few exceptions (like Picard going home after the Wolf-359 incident), not allowed to base one episode on another episode's story.

It was what made Star Trek (especially TOS/TNG) so popular. Viewers could jump in and out of the series, get a great story, and then miss it next week without losing track of what was going on.

It really crippled Voyager. Voyager was set up with an ongoing meta-plot as its premise, but they couldn't do anything with it and stay episodic. It is one of the reasons that Voyager broke - they couldn't string episodes together to build larger storylines, and the fact that they were always moving meant that there was no sense of continuity or connection to the setting - the setting literally changed every week.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:41 pm

Blackhawk wrote:It is one of the reasons that Voyager broke - they couldn't string episodes together to build larger storylines, and the fact that they were always moving meant that there was no sense of continuity or connection to the setting - the setting literally changed every week.

>kof< Sliders! >kof<

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:46 pm

Blackhawk wrote:That's because it was the only Star Trek other than Enterprise that wasn't episodic. The episodic format let them tell concise stories that new viewers could jump right into without getting lost, but made character development something of a pain, as they were, with few exceptions (like Picard going home after the Wolf-359 incident), not allowed to base one episode on another episode's story.

It was what made Star Trek (especially TOS/TNG) so popular. Viewers could jump in and out of the series, get a great story, and then miss it next week without losing track of what was going on.

Serial shows were a lot harder to follow back in the day when VCRs were state of the art and not widespread. Episodic shows better fit the scattershot way that people watched TV then.

I think most Trekkers will agree that the first season or two of DS9 was (were) weak. Me and my wife more-or-less followed it for a year before giving up on it. The serial stories were not worth the effort because they weren't very good at first, and if you missed a couple of episodes you were lost. For many years we considered it the worst Trek series and didn't understand the love.

Enter Netflix. We binge-watched the entire series a couple of years ago and understood why it really was the best Trek of all...if you saw every episode and could blow through the early ones.

We are now nearing the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (and by "nearing the end" I mean we have a season and a half of Buffy and 2.5 seasons of Angel left, which would have been a lot in real time but feels short when we look at how many DVDs are left). My wife keeps saying "How did we miss these shows the first time around?" Well, it's because I didn't become aware that they were something special until Buffy was already in its 3rd or 4th season -- way too late to jump in. It's the same story as DS9: Not until the magic of netflix could we binge-watch every episode and understand what all the fuss was about. Late to the party? Sure, but what parties they were!

Point being that technology changed the way we watch TV.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Aug 18, 2014 11:17 pm

Nice. I started watching Firefly with the kids a year or so ago - usually an episode or two a day during meals.

We've since finished that, did all of Buffy, and are on season 4 of Angel.

We've all agreed that Star Trek is next. I just need to decide what order to watch in:

A) Chronological (Ent, TOS, ST 1-6, TNG, DS9/ST 7-10, Voy)
B) Favorites (DS9, TNG, TOS, movies, Ent, Voy
C) Broadcast (TOS, ST 1-6, TNG, DS9/ST 7-10, Voy, Ent)

I'm leaning toward C. I don't want to start with Enterprise. I think it works better as a look back with the viewer having 'inside knowledge' of the universe. B breaks because it scrambles the development of the universe, and because it may start off great, but it gets gradually worse as it goes.

The only thing I have against C is that I'm going to be trying to get the kids involved in a 60s sci-fi TV show after watching more modern shows with them. The hand-drawn special effects and rubber suits may be a bit of a hurdle (Gorn, I'm looking at you.)

/edit - I also need to decide whether to skip ST: The Motion Picture. I've enjoyed it as an adult, but I remember being bored senseless by it as a kid.

Arcanis · Post by **Arcanis** » Mon Aug 18, 2014 11:26 pm

I basically did C with my wife and daughter. We skipped TOS and the movies, the original motion picture gave my wife headaches with the sirens and flashing lights and I was never that into TOS. It worked out well. Keep in mind there is overlap with Voyager and DS9 and I think even TNG. There is definitely some movie overlap with the TNG crew and Voyager since at one point Janeway is giving orders to Picard.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Aug 18, 2014 11:33 pm

There are, I believe, two episodes of Voyager that overlap (the first and the last), and the TNG/DS9 overlaps are minimal, pretty much limited to the first episode and an occasional guest star introduced in TNG (well, plus Worf.)

/edit - I just recalled a Voyager episode that dealt with some Ferengi that got lost on the far side of the galaxy during an episode of TNG, but again - it is more of a nod than a tie-in.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:58 am

Blackhawk wrote:There are, I believe, two episodes of Voyager that overlap (the first and the last), and the TNG/DS9 overlaps are minimal, pretty much limited to the first episode and an occasional guest star introduced in TNG (well, plus Worf.)

/edit - I just recalled a Voyager episode that dealt with some Ferengi that got lost on the far side of the galaxy during an episode of TNG, but again - it is more of a nod than a tie-in.

The Wil Riker's evil twin DS9 episode is coming up in my roatation soon.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue Aug 19, 2014 11:10 am

Rip wrote:He is like a little Rahm Emanuel.

He's probably the same size as Rahm.

With the arrival of Netflix streaming, I watched DS9 then Voyager then TNG (from about halfway through the run, the ones I hadn't seen) and then Enterprise.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:37 pm

Didn't Voyager last as many seasons as DS9 and TNG? It's not as loved as the others because the characters were not all that likable. Then there some recurring adversaries where there shouldn't have been -- Voyager is traveling a linear path and should have been in and out of territorial range of most species in pretty short order.

My problem with Enterprise (and many prequels in general) is that it introduces new species that don't exist in later series. It had good production values, but this was a show-stopper.

If something like DS9 were done today, it would need something along the lines of HBO overkill to keep it going. It aired before DVRs were available, so if you missed the original airing, you often had to wait months for a rerun and since it was soap opera format (serial rather than discreet episodes), it was easy to get hopelessly lost. It happened to a friend of mine, who abandon the series just as it was getting awesome, around season 3.