Let us now turn our attention to Trek...

Best Villains: Khan Noonian Soong and Q.

The choice of Khan is pretty obvious. Not only was he played spectacularly, but the character himself brought out the best in Captain Kirk, making him dig deep. He made me consider for the first time that Kirk could actually be defeated.

Q may not have been as popular a choice, but he's actually my favorite. He's a villain that isn't just evil, and I like that. Q could have destroyed the Enterprise (and DS9) with a blink but chose not to. He was toying with the good guys and you knew it. He was the only villain who was actually (almost) always one step AHEAD of the hero.

Q could be annoying or charming, all depending on his mood. He was infinitely intelligent but didn't mind playing stupid in debate to show Picard his own faults. Q defined every episode he was in. Q for sure.

Coolest Alien Races: The Borg and The Tribbles

The Borg were a menace like no other. Unfeeling to a point the Vulcans could never reach. They were more of a menace to the Federation than all the other alien races combined, and you knew they were never going to wussy out and allow their own kind to join (and before you say it, 7 of 9 was not allowed). The first time I saw the Borg Cube I knew they were gonna kick some ass. And I was right. They went back in time to take over the world. They turned Picard against us and defeated an entire armada. The Klingon could have never done that.

But nothing beats The Tribbles. Cute, little furballs that completely took over the Enterprise. And they really took over. I don't care what you say, they owned that episode. Period. Exclamation point, even. This was not a "Kirk" or "Spock" episode. Who were they? They might as well have handled lighting. No, The Tribbles took over Star Trek like no other race had before or has since. So much so that Trek did a time travel story JUST to revisit that episode.

Sexiest Women: Jeri Ryan and Linda Park.

Both of my sexiest women picks are from Voyager, which is funny cuz that show also had the unsexiest Trek woman as its lead. Anywho:

Say what you want about 7 of 9's character or wardrobe, but nothing she wore could deny those hooters. They were magnificent in form. A series unto themselves. Wonderful. I wanted to show her emotions. I'd upgrade her.

Linda Park is my other choice. Always understated, she didn't try to shine. She was the one that wasn't trying to be a sexpot, and that's sexy. She wasn't trying to give you a boner, but she was pretty enough to do it in a snap. Wonderful.

Best Captain: Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Ah yes. Ah yes. Let's work backwards.

For the purposes of this exposition Captain Kathryn Janeway will be almost completely ignored. Blah.

Captain Jonathan Archer reminded me of the essence of Trek. That captain made me believe he really hadn't been where they were before. Boldly going, and stuff. And no Captain had ever been more bipolar. Archer would smile with his crew one minute, then turn right around and get pissed at 'em for having unclean uniforms. Scott Bakula, you did good.

People may not remember Cmdr./Capt. Benjamin Sisko, but I do. If this was a question of which captain was played the best, Avery Brooks' Sisko would have won hands down. And this is not because he's black. He was just an undeniably great actor. The best to grace Trek, period.

Brooks brought a humanity to the character like no other. Sisko had pain and suffering and he was driven. It wasn't just duty for him. He had a cause. He was actually my other choice.

Now many will vote for Kirk, and I really can't blame them. As G-man said, he balanced logic with humanity. I don't know how much a man who can convince a woman to betray her entire race in just under 15 seconds can represent the common man, but Kirk was THE MAN. He was James Tiberius Kirk and you knew it. If any captain would be a Federation legend, it was him.

But my choice is Picard. Why? Not because he was portrayed the best or the most three dimensional or even the most memorable. Picard was quite simply the best captain Trek has ever seen. He defined his ship. He didn't take shit, so his crew didn't take shit. When he was serious, the entire crew took note and acted accordingly. He spoke down to a being of infinite knowledge and power. He violated The Prime Directive for breakfast. He was both a bad ass and the ultimate authority figure. He was the dad everyone wished they had, and that's why he's the best captain. Picard, I love you.

Best Movie: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

First, every TNG movie has sucked balls. I won't even say "IMO". This is fact. None of them have captured the greatness of TNG. They've been too busy trying to bring in the bucks with impressive graphics and easy to understand plots. Blah.

But The Voyage Home. Aye verily! This is the original crew at its best. First, everyone gets a chance to shine. This isn't a Shatner fest like The Wrath of Khan. Everyone is there and everyone interacts. Even Scotty gets to show the modern man that he should be living in the caves. Wut!

And some of the best interactions between the crew members. Every member says something to another that's just perfect. Wut again!

Best Series: "Star Trek: The Next Generation"

The hardest decision for me. DS9 was great, but it really came down to the original and TNG and they were about even. The original had wonderful stories that asked the tough questions and delved into the human psyche. That series was a true reflection of the modern day human condition set in a far off century.

But everything else goes to TNG. There has never been a cast that could act like this one. There is a reason Picard didn't take over like Kirk did: he didn't have to. Everyone was great. Sirtis, McFadden, Burton, Frakes, Dorn, and, of course, Spiner. All of them consummate, they made their characters known. These, ladies and gentleman, were professionals.

The originals special effects were beyond their time, true, but many forget that TNG's were as well. Even moreso, really. Sure you saw that kind of stuff all the time...in movies. To this day, you STILL don't see effects on TV that compare to the stuff you saw in that show. They did things that seemed minute because they were perfect. Pan out to show an alien landscape or the inside of a Borg Cube and no one will even notice cause it looks so real.

The original will not be forgotten, but TNG was the best.

Why do you come back to this thread once a year to post a picture?

What are you?

Originally Posted By: Wonder Boy

Some people call me Leonard. [whee-woo]

Leanard Nimoy discusses the original Star Trek series pilot

Nimoy in makeup prep with his son.
How cool would it be to have Spock as your dad?

https://www.tvinsider.com/96313/leonard-nimoys-son-adam-on-making-for-the-love-of-spock-a-reality/

Some images of Nimoy with his wife too.

Man...

http://startrekfactcheck.blogspot.com/2013/07/star-treks-chief-engineer-who-almost.html

... I never knew how close James Doohan came to not being part of the show! Even more odd is that there seems to be no clear or logical reason why he was cut in the first place.

I'm also not clear on how his agent managed to get Doohan so easily back on the show.

Also interesting how pathetically low the wages were, even by 1966 standards. $850 per show for up to 6 days of filming? And pro-rated for less days than that for shows beyond his contracted amount? But then, they did get royalties beyond that, on a show that has been phenomenally successful.
I once read that the cast of Gilligan's Island made no royalties, just the wages for their original acting in the produced episodes.
Likewise, I spoke to Erin Grey of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century and she was really bitter about the lack of royalties on that show. She hit it big with the comedy series Silver Spoon after that, which ran for many seasons.

I read somewhere that William Shatner had some really lean years throughout the 1970's, where he actually lived in the closed cab of his pickup truck at a campground for several years. Rough!

I was also sad to hear about Andrea Dromm, who was in the "Where No Man Has Gone Before" pilot, but like Doohan was not kept on when the series was picked up. It's confusing though, I'd previously read that she declined to stay with the show because Roddenberry was trying to get in her pants (even though he was married and already shacking Majel Barret in his office!) But this article with a lack of clarity seems to say she left to do a movie, and that Justman and Roddenberry had told her she could do the "Russians Are Coming" movie, or do the series, not both, but then after apparently sent her a letter saying they had chosen not to use her character in the regular series.
Regardless, she's one of the best looking women on the show, if only for one episode.

$\:lol\:$

From the "What Are Little Girls Made Of? episode.

No one else during production noticed the penis shape of the stalactite Captain Kirk pulled down to bludgeon the giant android ?

Among the other reasons to watch that episode: super sexy android robo-babe Sherry Jackson, in a very sexy futuristic costume.

I also loved Sherry Jackson in the Twilight Zone episode "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtylbank", where her fiance dies, but to the horror of the people in his small town, doesn't have the decency to stay dead.

Sherry Jackson also starred in a number of western series and other TV shows, such as Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Maverick, The Wild Wild West, Perry Mason, Rawhide, The Virginian, Branded, Lost In Space, My Three Sons, Batman, The Rockford Files, Alice, and Charlie's Angels, to name a few.

Originally Posted By: ]
From the "What Are Little Girls Made Of? episode.

[image

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzXKoLUCYAEVRtR.jpg[/image]

No one else during production noticed the penis shape of the stalactite Captain Kirk pulled down to bludgeon the giant android ?

$\:lol\:$

I'd be more understanding if Kirk was waving that thing at her.

False Things You've Been Believing About Star Trek

I actually learned some things watching this. Such as that there was a planned 1977 tv series with a dozen or so scripted episodes, before it was scrapped in favor of making the first 1979 movie.

And that two 1977 characters in the scrapped tv series were recreated in the characters of Decker and Ilia (the bald chick) in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
And then again as Ryker and Deanna Troi in the 1987 Next Generation series! Where the previously rejected Vulcan character from the 1977 series who wanted to feel human emotions was recreated as Data.

Plus other stuff. Someone spent WAY too much time counting how many red and gold-shirted crewmembers died across 79 hours of episodes, and the precise ratios of red and gold-shirted crewmembers who were killed vs. their ratio of the Enterprise crew. Woah.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Trap

Quote:

"The Man Trap"
DIRECTION AND FILMING

All previous episodes of Star Trek had overrun their filming schedules, and the producers were concerned that not enough time had been allotted to each production. Marc Daniels was recruited as director of "The Man Trap"; among his varied directing credits were episodes of I Love Lucy for Desilu Productions.[14][15] Pre-production began during the six scheduled filming days for "The Enemy Within",[13] but that episode ran long. Filming for "The Man Trap" commenced around 3:20 p.m. on June 22 and continued until 7:10 p.m.[16] Several futuristic-looking salt shakers were sourced for scenes in "The Man Trap", but due to concerns that they would not be recognized, they were instead used from "The Man Trap" onward as McCoy's tools in sickbay.[17]

The first full day of filming on June 23 was predominantly shot on the set representing the bridge of the Enterprise. Two small establishing shots were postponed until the filming of the next episode. The following day, corridor scenes were filmed, as was the climactic scene featuring the creature's death. At that point, Daniels estimated that he was only a third of a day behind schedule. After a break for the weekend, production resumed on June 27 for scenes in the botany lab, the briefing room and sickbay.[18] One of Grace Lee Whitney's favorite sets to work on throughout the series was the lab, which was the sickbay redecorated, as she enjoyed working with George Takei. The animated plant in that scene was a hand puppet controlled from under the table, and Whitney later recalled that the operator could see right up her skirt throughout the shoot and would occasionally try to grope her using the puppet.[19]

For the sickbay scenes when Spock bleeds, Daniels decided that Vulcans should have green blood.[18] Roddenberry disliked the idea and unsuccessfully attempted to have it corrected in post-production. By the end of the fifth day of shooting, Daniels estimated that he was now only half an hour behind schedule.[20] Days six and seven were spent on the sets used to show the surface of M-113; while the design of the planet did not match Johnson's vision, he was pleased with it nonetheless. The ruins were constructed out of cardboard boxes covered in gunite (a spray-on, cement-like product) to give them a rocky appearance. Production wrapped on June 30, at 2:55 p.m.[20] Bob Justman later referred to Daniels as the "savior" of the series for delivering "The Man Trap" on schedule,[14] and when the director for "The Naked Time" dropped out, Daniels took over and shot the episode back to back with "The Man Trap" a quarter of a day faster than the schedule.[14] By the end of the original series, Daniels had filmed more episodes than any other director.[19]

During the production of "The Man Trap", Daniels introduced a system in which actors unneeded on a shoot went to a "cast table" area to practice upcoming scenes rather than return to their dressing rooms. Producers felt that this both sped up the filming process and improved the quality of performances. The cast table system continued to be used throughout the production of the original series, even when Daniels was not directing.[14]

In post-production, Justman recommended adding an opening narration. Roddenberry agreed and wrote new lines for a Captain's log. Alexander Courage recorded the music for this episode on August 19,[21] the same day as the "Theme from Star Trek",[22] using a 25-piece orchestra.[21] While Roddenberry liked the theme, he hated the music created specifically for "The Man Trap". The optical effects were created more quickly than usual; Howard A. Anderson, Jr. took two months, three times faster than for some episodes. The overall production costs for "The Man Trap" came in under-budget at $185,401.[22]

It's amazing how many things that we envision as set in stone from the outset, actually gradually evolved randomly. Even Spock's having green blood was a random idea, and one that Gene Rodenberry strongly resisted.

Even the production selection of episodes, and even after shot and produced, they were not aired in the order of production. That selection as well seems to be random, and could have on a whim gone a lot of different ways.

One of the things about movies and television that surprised me when I first studied it is that movie scenes are not shot in the order that we see them. For time-efficiency, they break up the script and shoot all the bridge scenes at one time, all the hallway scenes at one time, all the sickbay scenes at one time, and all the down-on-the-planet scenes at one time, then edit them into the correct order in the final production.

By an odd coincidence, "The Man Trap" was the first episode of Star Trek I saw, and in its primetime re-run airing in 1969. I was 6 years old, and the creature scared me so I had difficulty sleeping that night. I read (I think in Allan Asherman's THE STAR TREK COMPENDIUM book) that "The Man Trap" was the last re-run episode aired in 1969 before the series was taken off the air, so it's possible I discovered Star Trek on its very last night of prime-time airing.

I watched the series in its entirety when it began in syndication in 1973-1974, I recall it came on about an hour or two after we got home from school. There was a then-new game show called Match Game, then an episode of Get Smart, then Star Trek, 5 days a week. And we were all glued to our sets when this stuff came on.

So I have a special attachment to "The Man Trap" episode. It was my introduction to the series. Interesting that it was the episode, of all initially produced, that its producers chose as the first to air, the one to introduce the series to the country in 1966.
And then the very last to air before the series ended its initial run in primetime in 1969.

I ran across this cast photo:

For yet another original Star Trek tribute series, but looks to have some clever twists. A British series that might be worth checking out.
Over 5 "series" (or seasons?) of 3 to 6 episodes each, and two specials, it's a small commitment, only 23 episodes total so far.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mirror

I didn't see it available on DVD, the only place it seems available is on Netflix.

George Takei dicusses William Shatner

I've always wondered what precisely about Shatner caused such a deep grudge in cast members like George Takei, James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols. That at least gives a glimpse of what's at the core of it.

I recall when Star Trek V was announced, and a Trek-enthusiast friend told me it would be directed by Shatner instead of Nimoy as the previous 2 were, and added contemptuously: "It'll probably be a two-hour close-up of him."

I always loved Shatner as Kirk and in other roles. But I can see as a supporting actor who was struggling for just a few lines of visibility, how Shatner squeezing you out to just more emphasize his already starring role, could be both offputting and threatening.

William Shatner explains the feud with George Takei

William Shatner, answering a question about Takei's feud with Shatner, saying he doesn't know why Takei has railed on him for decades. And then, astonishingly, Takei invited Shatner to his 2008 gay wedding!

This Youtube comment really nailed it:

Originally Posted By: Lucas McCain

Takei owes his entire career to Shatner. Yes, that's right. Shatner made the show.
Bottom Line, no one would ever know the name George Takei if it weren't for William Shatner, period.

and

Originally Posted By: fyreflye100

I saw George Takei at a Star Trek convention in 1992. I was very excited to see him speak in person – and he proceded to give the most mind-numbingly boring speech I have ever seen. This was not long after the sixth Star Trek movie movie where Sulu had been made a captain, and I swear almost every freaking sentence George uttered contained the phrase, "Captain Sulu." For well over an hour, it was Captain Sulu this and Captain Sulu that. He was promoting a new series of Captain Sulu books, and he kept telling us we should write letters to Paramount asking them to make a series starring the adventures of Captain Sulu. He never mentioned Shatner or Kirk in this talk, except a passing reference to the old, balding captain who needed to retire already.

Not long after that, I saw George Takei on QVC, along with Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols. The QVC host made a comment about how she wished she could have been in the limousine with the three of them as they were coming to QVC. Walter Koenig said something like, "I can tell you what we talked about in the limousine. It was Captain Sulu and the weather and Captain Sulu and our families and Captain Sulu, and then we talked some more about Captain Sulu." I wanted to reach through the TV and give Walter a big kiss!

People always talk about Shatner's ego, but I'm telling you George Takei has a massive ego as well, and I think a lot of his intense hatred towards Shatner comes from pure resentment that he was the main star instead of George.

Walter Koenig on his "Star Trek" co-stars

I like this interview because Koenig gives a general impression of all his co-stars, and some behind-the-scenes about segments omitted with Takei.

Of the surviving actors from the original series, all are now in their 80's.
I find it difficult to understand how any of the actors can be bitter. They ALL starred in one of the most successful syndicated series in television history, for which all of them receive royalties every time an episode is aired. (Many actors do not, such as Gilligan's Island, or Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, whose cast never received any royalties.)
They all starred in 6 very successful films.
They all have been regular (and paid) guests for decades at Star Trek conventions worldwide, where however minor their role or regardless of any omitted scenes, have each received endless adoration.
All have books.
All have interviews, like this one.
All achieved fame and wealth.

So I really don't understand the petty grudges.

James Doohan interview on British TV in 1989

An interesting brief overview by Doohan of his career during and after Star Trek, with a lot of funny moments. Doohan, like all the cast, had some very lean years between the end of the series in 1969, and the first movie in 1979.

Even the envied star of the series, William Shatner, lived for a time on a campground in the cab of his truck.

I love the roles in westerns in the years pre-dating and during Trek by the series castmembers, and in shows like The Twilight Zone, and Outer Limits.
And as I said in another topic, when Shatner was on T.J.Hooker, that he gave a lot of work to former Star Trek actors, to the point that it almost became a Star Trek reunion, with stars like Gary Lockwood, Leonard Nimoy, Vic Taybeck, and Barbara Luna all appearing in one or more episodes.

Originally Posted By: Wonder Boy

George Takei dicusses William Shatner

Takei is just ponderous and has been for years. The last time he did anything enjoyable was as the token gay guy on "Howard Stern" and even that became unlistenable as demanded to be taken ever more seriously with each appearance.

Star Trek: The Last Voyage - SNL

All the original SNL cast. I started watching in fall 1978, so it was from a season prior to that. Chevy Chase (great here as Spock) was only with the show from fall 1975-fall 1976, so that narrows when it aired. Notes say it aired 5-29-1976.

I was looking up an actor on IMDB who I saw in the list of credits was also in a Star Trek episode, and clicked on it. From there I clicked on a tab for "all episodes". One of the cool aspects is that there's a viewer-rating for every episode.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060028/episodes?ref_=tt_ep_epl

No surprise, the highest-rated episode is "City On the Edge of Forever" (9.3).
The next highest is "Mirror,Mirror" (9.2) also I think beyond dispute in that ranking by most Star Trek fans.

But I was surprised to see a lot of my favorites not as highly rated as I regard them, such as :

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" (7.8),
"The Man Trap" (7.3),
"Space Seed" (8.9),
"Bread and Circuses" (7.2),
"A Piece Of the Action" (7.9),
"Return To Tomorrow" (7.6),
"By any Other Name" (7.7),
"The Omega Glory" (6.2),
"The Empath" (6.7) and
"That Which Survives" (6.6)

To name a few.

Plus many I consider to be kind of lame ("The Naked Time", 8.0) rated high by voters.
Eye of the beholder, I guess.

From the "Amok Time" episode, Spock after being rejected by his would be bride for another Vulcan man, says to the guy about to marry her:

"You may find after a time that having is not so pleasant as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true."

That's the Vulcan way of saying... bitch!

Originally Posted By: Wonder Boy

From the "Amok Time" episode, Spock after being rejected by his would be bride for another Vulcan man, says to the guy about to marry her:

"You may find after a time that having is not so pleasant as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true."

That's the Vulcan way of saying... bitch!

Old Vulcan proverb: “Show me a beautiful woman, and I’ll show you a man who’s tired of F*^king her”

Quote:

Old Vulcan proverb: “Show me a beautiful woman, and I’ll show you a man who’s tired of F*^king her”

Don't get me wrong, I love women. But observing things from the fantasy perspective of a Vulcan civilization devoted for millenia to dispassionate logic, one might unblinded by emotion reach that conclusion a lot more quickly.

At least once on these boards I recalled my agony in 1991 of having the love of my life marry another guy in Spain. Oddly, she kept calling me several times a week from Spain in the months after she initially left the U.S., and never bothered to tell me she was engaged to this guy. I actually found out through mutual friends, not her, despite her talking to me on the phone almost daily. She kept calling me before, during, and for 2 years after marrying, till I finally asked her to stop calling. For a while I clung to the delusion that she would realize she made a mistake and would in a short time leave him for me. She clearly was calling me for something she was not getting in her marriage. For a while having her cake and eating it too.
Having emotions and not being a Vulcan, it took me two years to realize that 1) For her to do what she did, even if she left him I wouldn't want her back, and she isn't the person I previously gave her credit for being. And 2) I don't want to be anyone's second choice.

It was several years before I finally met a girl who restored my faith that there are good women still out there. And yeah, no matter how beautiful a girl is, if she doesn't have those inner qualities, her looks eventually won't be enough.

Picard should be starting soon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Picard

Originally Posted By: Wonder Boy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Picard

Um. Yeah. No.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/sir-patri...on-trump-brexit

It does piss me off when actors, particularly from Star Trek, who supposedly represent a better future for humanity, become mired in very bitter divisive and highly opinionated politics.

Another who has disappointed me is Levarr Burton, and his obsession with black victimhood and identity politics, and calling people as milquetoast and moderate as Mitt Rommey "white racist".

As Paul Levitz said in answer to a similarly angry black reader letter in LEGION 297, who saw racism in discontinuing Tyroc and introducing a French-speaking black African character, Jacques Foccart/Invisible Kid, and comments by Levitz in a fanzine interview, that this reader interpreted as a racist exclusion of an African American character. To which Paul Levitz responded:

Quote:

Actually, my quote in the interview was to say that by the thirtieth century I believe racial problems will be a thing of the past, and that certainly includes the holocaaust. If not, I rather doubt there ever will be a thirtieth century. For that reason, I found Tyroc's origin (as a character who came from an island of blacks who had formed a separatist state to avoid prejudice) anachronistic, as was the scene in that issue where all the Legionnaires pointed to their skin color to show they weren't prejudiced (see --we have green, blue and orange people). Jacques Foccart was introduced not for the sake of his color, but as a hopefully interesting character, with a French accent because of his origin on the Ivory Coast of Africa, where the French have taken great pains to help their language live on. An "American Black" (quotes because in the thirieth century our stories presume America is no longer a distinct political or social boundary) would speak Interlac exactly as the other Legionnaires do, so the accent was added for an extra touch --without my being aware of the particular example of prejudice you mention existing in the modeling industry.

You have seen Jacques in considerable action in previous issues, and more will follow. As well as more presence of other ethnic groups in 30th century stories, something I admit we've neglected from time to time, not from prejudice but with preoccupation with our existing characters. --Paul Levitz

In the example of Gene Rodedenberry and other writers of the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's, I saw them as projecting a unified and better future, in an effort to create a vision for a better future to imagine and aspire toward. A future with true unity and a shared universal culture, without prejudice, without resentments and warring subcultures.
In recent years, I've seen actors like Levarr Burton and Patrick Stewart, and like-minded leftist writers, projecting their prejudices onto the future, as a vision for preserving those grudges long into the future, and thus sabotaging the future.

I'm pretty sure that worries about Brexit and the Orange Bad Man will be long past in that future. The petty grudges of these actors will be seen as anachronisms, that will diminish their own legacy. They will be seen as part of the problem, that eventually faded away.

I think in future retrospective, Trump's presidency while controversial and hotly disputed in its time, will be seen (like the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan) as having shown great leadership and made difficult choices toward a vision of the future, that preserved and resurrected a United States, and a world, that was in jeopardy before his presidency eliminated those dangers.

STAR TREK GETS 'WOKE' IN THE STUPIDEST WAY POSSIBLE

$\:lol\:$

Way to alienate 50% of your audience, Trek producers.

Quote:

I don’t know about you, but when I woke up this morning I thought to myself, “self, what the [world really] needs is Hollywood to destroy another classic franchise into a pathetic tool for leftist politics.” I’m just glad Star Trek is here to fulfill that vision.

THE MENAGERIE episode meme

$\:lol\:$

I enjoyed Trek:Picard. Wasn’t expecting to but some of the guys at work got me to check it out. I’ll have to check out the other trek show now. One thing that doesn’t make sense to me is the Federation’s ban on androids apparently doesn’t extend to the holographic AI’s. Maybe I’m missing something there but those are both similar things.

https://www.dustyabell.com/products/poster

My favorite of the STAR TREK original series posters. There's also an index key to all the characters. It's fun to chaallenge your memory and remember all the characters and what episode they appeared in.

I felt like watching some classic Trek today so I pulled up Season 1, Episode 1 ("The Man Trap") on Hulu today. "The Man Trap" might be better known as "the Salt Vampire" episode.

After having not seen this one in years (if not decades) I was surprised that, a few hiccups (Uhura trying to flirt with Spock and an incredibly cheesy plant puppet) notwithstanding, the first episode established a lot of what made Trek "Trek": A mystery on a strange world, a moral dilemma about species extinction vs human life and a nascent version of the "Kirk/Spock/McCoy" trinity.

I could also see how, back when it first aired, parts of the series could have caught people by surprise. The diversity of the cast was there at the beginning. The opening had Kirk, McCoy and a crew member named Darnell beam down to a archeological outpost for a routine medical examination. The way it was set up Darnell seemed as major a character as McCoy or Kirk but he died pretty quickly (even if he wasn't wearing a red shirt). Later, when the salt vampire is loose on the ship it appeared as if Uhura, Sulu or Rand might get killed like Darnell (none of them were in the opening credits back then and you could have easily assumed all them were just cannon fodder, especially the "minorities."). There was even a moment or two where characters attempted to suggest that the monster might be something that could have been dealt with by more peaceful means if Kirk allowed it.

I'm tempted to rewatch the whole series from start to finish now.

I saw that one recently too. They did a good job on the salt vampire Imho. I think that episode was a little different than many of the others because there was a little bit of time with the secondary characters. Rand would disappear after the first season and Sulu pretty much stayed at his spot on the bridge beyond a couple of episodes. The shows main characters were the big three and that was probably smart but I always liked liked the episodes that gave us a little more focus on the secondary characters. Growing up in a very rural area the minority cast was the only ones I would see outside of Sesame Street and Little Rascals for a long time. And I wonder how different comic titles like Legion of Superheroes or X-men would have been in the 70’s without Trek?

Have not watched Star Trek Discovery but I see they have a spin off show coming using the Captain Pike Enterprise and crew that I’ll have to check out. I remember when Marvel got the rights to do Trek and they had one title using those characters and really being into it. Can’t remember much about it now though so it probably wasn’t the greatest.

I recall a STAR TREK comic I lucked on in late 1996, an X-MEN/STAR TREK one-shot book that was more of an artist jam. But the best part for me was about 15 pages of previews of all the pending new STAR TREK titles about to be released at the time:

STAR TREK VOYAGER 1-15
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE 1-15
STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY 1-19
STAR TREK: UNLIMITED 1-10
STAR TREK: EARLY VOYAGES 1-17
and
STAR TREK MIRROR MIRROR one-shot

Virtually all of these had the original series uniforms and setting, that made them a lot more appealing to me. But even the ones that didn't had nice art that was consistent with the other new series.

I was less into the earlier 1980 STAR TREK series from Marvel, that ran 18 issues. Mostly because it followed the first 2 movies rather than the original series.

There was a 1984 STAR TREK series from DC also, that ran 56 issues.
And then a 1989 STAR TREK series, that ran a very respectable 80 issue, the first 15 scripted by Peter David. But again, my affection is for the orginial series, and both of these continued in the visual style of the first six STAR TREK movies.

Have you caught any of the DWI ones by Byrne? I seem to remember Peter David writing some great paperbacks for StarTrek. One of my favorites was with Q and his son.

I know IDW has done a number of STAR TREK series I haven't seen.

The one I saw on the stands was scripted by Byrne, with photo art (I believe the term is fumetti) instead of comic art.
Probably some of them have good work, but I haven't seen them.

Ooops sorry it is IDW. I haven’t checked them out myself either. I remember being as a kid being super excited seeing the first Marvel issue of Trek but while the movie adaptation was okay I don’t remember being to impressed with the run. Kind of thinking about checking out the collections of the newspaper strip. The first story from the reviews I’ve read starts before the first movie does and you get to see Decker and gang some more.

The new season of Discovery will have them 1000 years into the future. They will be far from any Trek cannon. The writers will be free to tell stories they want to and not worry about stepping on Trek history.

Nice seeing lots of Trek. Seemed like there was a gap in that type of sci-fi show other than maybe Doctor Who for a couple of years.

Shatner!!!!!!

They will probably mess up a Pike series too. No one remembers what Trek is about apparently.

Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man

Nice seeing lots of Trek. Seemed like there was a gap in that type of sci-fi show other than maybe Doctor Who for a couple of years.

Everyone talks about the Expanse on Amazon now..

I’ve enjoyed Expanse and Dark Matters also but there was a time when you could just take for granted a Trek show being on the air along with a couple of other “people on a spaceship having adventures” type of shows. Shows like Babylon 5, Lexx, Andromeda and that show on SciFi that had muppets for example. The last couple of years it seems like there’s been a return.

Originally Posted By: Burt Ward

They will probably mess up a Pike series too. No one remembers what Trek is about apparently.

For me, the original Star Trek series, and the franchise beyond that, is about an optimistic future, where the human race didn't have a nuclear war or an otherwise dystopian future, but all races and cultures progressed into a truly utopian near-perfect society, where everyone is educated and people of all races have a shared and prosperous society.

I think somewhere midway into Star Trek: The Next Generation, and definitely into Deep Space Nine, they diverted the franchise into a more dark future, and got away from what Star Trek is supposed to be all about.
I think Gene Roddenberry died in 1991, around the time of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and it was about that time I think the franchise shifted in direction and lost its way.

Originally Posted By: Burt Ward

Shatner!!!!!!

I'm with you all the way.
I like Picard too, but Shatner is The Man.

Last night I discovered this 5-issue comics adaptation of "City on the Edge of Forever".

https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/St...dge-of-Forever-Teleplay/Issue-1?id=92715

I'm sure virtually everyone reading this already knows, the 1967 episode that aired is credited to Harlan Ellison, but is in fact vastly different from the screenplay Ellison wrote. The aired episode was re-written by Gene Roddenberry (and possibly others) to focus on Dr. McCoy as the one who changed time, who Kirk and Spock had to travel through time to 1930 to eliminate the changes to Earth history that McCoy caused. Roddenberry in particular changed the episode's ending.
But even so, it is ranked by most as the best episode of the series.

This new comic version presents the story as Ellison originally wrote it, WITHOUT the changes made in the televised episode. Ellison also had complaints about the appearance of the ruins and city of the time-Guardians, he called the time portal a "donut". I actually thought it was really cool. And the Guardians not having faces made them more compellingly mysterious to me. What Ellison envisioned was considered way too expensive to create, and would have taken the show way over budget, and stretched the production time.

As I recall, it was the screenplay by Ellison that won the award for Best Teleplay from the Screen Actors' Guild for 1967, and not the televised version. And that gave Ellison quite a bit of satisfaction. Ellison severed his ties with the Star Trek series in a big blow-up in 1967 for changing his teleplay, possibly without his consent. I first read Ellison's original script version in a mid-1970's book titled Six Science Fiction Plays. But it has been published in one or two other books since then.

This 5-issue series finally presents Ellison's unused screenplay in a visual narrative form that is comparable to watching the 1967 aired episode, allowing you to fully compare the two.

I like both (the original aired episode, and this 5 issue adaptation of the unused screenplay), but have a preference for the aired episode. But there are aspects of this screenplay adaptation that are superior, I think. Such as the more full development of Kirk and Edith Keeler's love for each other, and the intimate connection they have, that makes the loss in the final scene more impactful. Also, the art has remarkably good likenesses of all the characters, as contrasted with the often horrible likenesses in many other comics versions I've seen.

The banter in the televised episode between Kirk and Spock is much better in the aired episode. It is both funny, and develops both characters quite well, as Kirk pushes Spock's buttons.
For example:

SPOCK: Build a pnemonic memory circuit here?!? In this zinc plated vaccuum tube culture?!?
KIRK: Yes... it would present a rather difficult exercise in logic...
SPOCK: [ raises eyebrow in surprise and agitation]
KIRK: I'm sorry... I sometimes expect too much of you...
SPOCK: [ raises eyebrow in even deeper agitation ]

There are many scenes like that, more polished in the final aired episode. For me what makes the aired episode superior is its focus on the central characters of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. It eliminated other characters to focus on them. Also interesting is that Scotty and Uhura appear in the final aired version, but are absent from the screenplay version. Yeoman Janice Rand, conversely, was no longer a character on the show when the episode aired in 1967, written out of the series after the first dozen or so episodes (City on the Edge of Forever was episode 28, of 29 first-season episodes). Ellison in the text lets on that the series was still not fully developed when he wrote the screenplay for the episode. And you can see watching all the first season episodes the changes that occurred in Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, Janice Rand, and other characters that could have taken on greater roles but were eliminated.

This was published by IDW in 2014, and I'm amazed I never heard anything about it till now.

Enjoy.

STD is aptly named. Trek in name only.

PICARD was a joke. Just awful.

Until they get it away from Bad Robot, Star Trek is dead...

Did you try Discovery yet faker? I was pleasantly surprised with how good it’s been.

I have to agree, M E M. Star Trek: Discovery is outstanding. My brother loaned the Season 1 DVD to me on Blu-ray, and I was very pleasantly surprised. Visually, it is very high-end, like a movie with a $200 million-plus-budget. I've seen the first 4 episodes so far.

My only complaint is it's a bit hard to follow and requires a lot of re-winding to catch all the dialogue, particularly the scenes in Klingon language with subtitles. While intelligent and inventive, with a lot of clever twists, it demands your full attention and can be difficult to follow.

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy

I have to agree, M E M. Star trek: Discovery is outstanding.

Explain yourself.

The first episode was painful enough. Heaven forbid subjecting myself to 4 of them. After experiencing the pretension and self-indulgence of the pilot, it's clear the tone was set: just another shitty millennial retcon. I think the only feather in its cap is the fact that the show HBO has titled "Watchmen" is even worse.

There's a reason that Kurtzmann is being skewered after STD, Picard, and Lower Decks. ViacomCBS is losing shit tons of money (which is cool), but it's at Star Trek's expense.

Have not seen Lower Decks yet but very much looking forward to the Christopher Pike series. What kept me away from Discovery for so long was I thought it was just a prequel like Enterprise. Clearly not the case. I might have never bothered checking it out except they started airing it on the network. Agree with you WB about the Klingon parts. I missed quite a bit of the dialogue.

Pariah is right, it's not Star Trek. It's violent, myopic, pessimistic, millenial fluff meant to pander to the minority SJW demographic that don't even own a TV. It's a waste of money and the destruction of a franchise, in lieu of desperate modern virtue-signaling. No sale.

Oh and I doubt PIKE or Season Two of PICARD will ever see the light of day. With the new head of Paramount not onboard with Kurtzman's failures, where they are obviously losing money (see also: the collapse of CBS ALL ACCESS), and the fact that ancient-Stewart can't get covered by insurance due to age and the Wuhan Flu, I think STD is the last circle of the drain for this era of fanfic-Trek.

Originally Posted by Pariah

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy

I have to agree, M E M. Star trek: Discovery is outstanding.

I thought I'd responded to this before, but the post isn't here.

Since I never watched the remainder of the episodes, I guess ultimately (even having both the first 2 seasons on DVD to watch wnenever I wanted) I didn't like the series enough to watch all the episodes. But I still think it's visually high-end and has some good twists and cliffhangers.

On the down side, yes, I have to agree that it's a bit overly "PC" with an exceptionally heavy ratio of female and minority characters, in the early episodes almost to the complete exclusion of white male characters. It was as if making that statement was more important to the series creators than the actual story, and it was a distraction from the actual story.
And as I said before, it had many scenes that were too rapid, to the point that I had to frequently re-wind over and over to catch what was being said. Which to me is bad storytelling. While I still thought the story was interesting and provided a lot of dynamic characters and new concepts to explore, without my even realizing it and liking it enough that I intended to see the rest of the series, I ultimately bailed out. It just became too much of a chore to watch.

Originally Posted by Prometheus

That's actually how I felt about STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE 9, and STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, at least in many episodes. They presented a much darker future than the original STAR TREK series by Roddenberry.
And even many episodes of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION were a departure from the optimistic utopian future of the original series. While the movies also had some dark and political elements, I felt they overcame that by injecting a lot of humor that the series generally didn't have, at least not in the needed abundance the movies had (1980-1991 movies).

And it deeply saddens me that guys like George Takei, Levarr Burton, and Patrick Stewart are so rabidly "woke" and race-obsessed. To me it undermines the characters they played on STAR TREK, their attitudes are antithetical to the characters they portrayed. And if their attitude prevails in the next 50 or 100 years, the world will not reach the brighter and better 23rd century that Roddenberry's original series envisioned and inspired us to achieve.

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10 biggest feuds on Star Trek

If all this is true, I was unaware that William Shatner felt threatened by the popularity of Leonard Nimoy's popularity as Spock during the original series. Certainly, Shatner as Captain Kirk was very popular as well with viewers of the show, to the point that he should not have felt threatened by Nimoy's popularity.

The George Takei/Shatner feud we all know about.
Likewise the Ellison feud with Roddenberry and the series producers over "City On the Edge of Forever".
Some of the others surprised me.

Star Trek 5: The restaurant in space - Saturday Night Live, 1986

If you haven't seen this, it's very much worth watching. I love how "the wrath of Khan" is done by bringing in a food inspector. "Full revolve, Mr Sulu!"
William Shatner was the guest host in this episode, and was in multiple skits, including one where he was himself answering questions from fans at a Star Trek convention, and another where he played Oliver North in Senate hearings.

Shatner : Star Trek convention "Get a life" skit -SNL, 1986.
https://vimeo.com/267709366

For some reason, it wasn't on Youtube, so I found it elsewhere.

William Shtaner: "The Mute Marine - SNL, 1986

Originally Posted by Pariah

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy

I have to agree, M E M. Star trek: Discovery is outstanding.

Explain yourself.

The first episode was painful enough. Heaven forbid subjecting myself to 4 of them. After experiencing the pretension and self-indulgence of the pilot, it's clear the tone was set: just another shitty millennial retcon. I think the only feather in its cap is the fact that the show HBO has titled "Watchmen" is even worse.

There's a reason that Kurtzmann is being skewered after STD, Picard, and Lower Decks. Viacom CBS is losing shit tons of money (which is cool), but it's at Star Trek's expense.

I finally got around to watching the complete seasons 1 and 2 on disc a few weeks ago. And my initial praise and complaints are consistent across the entire run. The visuals are fantastic, looking like a $200 million dollar film. But the writing is frustrating and difficult to follow, with many rapid-fire exchanges of dialogue that are too fast for any normal human being to be able to digest in the normal speed of the show, and only on disc can you re-wind, often 3 or 4 times, to be able to fully understand. Especially annoying are rapid-fire exchanges of dialogue in Klingon or Vulcan, with english subtitles. AAAAGH!!
There are two flamingly gay characters, and a big sub-plot across both seasons is their love and intimacy, with much more male-on-male sucking face than I'm comfortable with. One is killed and is spiritually/physically trapped in another purgatory-like universe before he is discovered and somehow brought back/resurrected to his own universe by the crew. There are many portions like this where the concepts are not well explained enough for me to really know fully what is going on, but I got the gist of it enough to watch it... once. This is not a show I will re-watch for its cleverness or great dialogue exchanges or likeability of its characters. While I like some of the the characters and concepts and scenes, overall it's just bad storytelling and a chore to watch and try to fully digest.

One of the things I liked was Captain Georgeau (portrayed by Michelle Yeoh, a Malaysian) as the Captain, and in the first episode the main character (black woman) Michael Burnham who at that point is first officer. Georgeou suffers a terrible fate, and Burham feels a loss, losing a character who is her respected commander, friend, mentor, and the two have almost a mother/daughter releationship. It's a loss when her character is for a time written out of the series. And then... tying into the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of the original series... Burnham and other characters slip into the "Mirror, Mirror" universe where the Georgeou in that universe turns out to be ruler of the savage federation empire. And then her empire is overthrown and when she is about to be killed, Burnham brings her back with her to the main Star Trek universe when the crew escapes back to their own universe. And Georgeou becomes a series regular, after earlier being written out. Georgeou becomes consistently one of the more enjoyable elements of the series.

There are also elements of the original series "Journey to Babel" episode, with Spock, his mother and father. But the Spock actor is completely wrong for the role.

Captain Christopher Pike is brought in at the end of the first season, and for a while is temporary commander of the Discovery ship, away from his own Enterprise, and the actor playing him at least has some resemblance in both looks and demeanor to Jeffrey Hunter who played Pike in the original series. There are many elements of the original series episodes "The Cage" and "The Menagerie" that are expanded on that I like, with some consistency and some slight differences, that are mostly good. The actress playing Vina in this episode is very pedestrian in the role, and in either looks or acting is no Susan Oliver. It's annoying that she is so different in both looks and portrayal from the original Vina. If she resembled Oliver in either looks or acting portrayal (or preferably both) this would have been great. But this part is instead disappointing and annoying.
If not for the ability to watch both seasons on disc, I never would have gotten through all the episodes. To watch the episodes one at a time on TV without the ability to rewind repeatedly and see what I couldn't pick up, I would have bailed quickly, and not bothered to watch it. But I'm glad I saw it, to know what it is, even though it ultimately had a lot of elements I didn't like, and was difficult to watch. I at least gave it a fair shot and know what it's all about, and even appreciate some aspects of it.

I also don't like that both seasons 1 and 2 have a plot that weaves through every episode of the entire season. Sometimes elements are picked up on after a long gap and are difficult to follow. Even with parts I was very familiar with, when they finally got around to resolving them, I'd forgotten some details. That again made it difficult to watch. I like the series concept and some of the characters, but it overall has bad/incoherent storytelling, and overall is a disappointment. Season 1 I found both more enjoyable, and easier to follow. I'd hoped that once I was familiar with the characters and storytelling, it would become easier to follow. But it never got easier. Interesting to sample, some concepts and potential, but ultimately poorly executed and a disappointment.

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy

SPOCK: Build a pnemonic memory circuit here?!? In this zinc plated vaccuum tube culture?!?
KIRK: Yes... it would present a rather difficult exercise in logic...
SPOCK: [ raises eyebrow in surprise and agitation]
KIRK: I'm sorry... I sometimes expect too much of you...
SPOCK: [ raises eyebrow in even deeper agitation ]

The above ReadComicOnline link to the series issues still works, but that site (at least for now) is inundated with annoying pop-up ads.

Here's another link to CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER 1-5 where the pop-up ads are much more limited, and you can more easily read the series :
https://viewcomiconline.com/star-trek-harlan-ellisons-city-on-the-edge-of-forever-001-2014/

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In the same vein as the above CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER series....
Here is a cross-pollenation of the two most popular S-F series of the 1970's era. This ran from Dec 2014-April 2015, and I never heard of it till now.

STAR TREK / PLANET OF THE APES: PRIMATE DIRECTIVE 1-5
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/St...-The-Primate-Directive/Issue-1?id=138546
or at :
https://viewcomiconline.com/star-trek-planet-of-the-apes-the-primate-directive-issue-1/

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Man, what a find...

Tom Snyder's "Tomorrow" Show - with 3 Star Trek cast members - 1976

Tom Snyder, who initially was nationally known for having a talk show that was on after The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson in the late 1970's, and occasionally returned with a talk show on other networks in the 1980's and 1990's, had Deforest Kelly, James Doohan, and Walter Koenig on for the first 25 minutes, describing the earliest beginnings of the show. And this was during the lean years (1976) between the end of the show in 1969, and its increasing rise in popularity that led to the first STAR TREK movie in Dec 1979.
Although after the early 1970's, they were probably doing okay financially, due to royalties from the series doing very well in syndication a that point. They all look much healthier and in good spirits on this show than I recall in 1980's and 1990's interviews., This was the beginning of the peak period for them in popularity, being stars at conventions, and then starring in 6 very successful films, and still being young enough to travel worldwide and fully enjoy that stardom.

And then after that first 25 minutes, writer Harlan Ellison was on for the remainder of the show !

I understand Tom Snyder and Harlan Ellison were good friends, and Ellison was often a guest on Snyder's other syndicated shows throughout the 1980's and 1990's, often for the entire hour.
Conversely, Johnny Carson hated Tom Snyder, and was instrumental in getting Snyder taken off his late-night slot in the 1970's, to remove Snyder's connection to Carson's show.

There's a 1970's hippie looking guy in this show who organized some of the first 1970's Star Trek conventions, named Al Schuster, who is sitting with Harlan Ellison when he comes on the panel. I bought a really nice poster from this guy years ago, by Steranko that he was selling, for a 1975 Star Trek Convention in New York City.

Here's an image of it.

[Linked Image from trekmovie.com]

Although for some reason it is shown here as yellow, but is actually black and white, and in roughly an 18" X 24" size.

Some girls a a Star Trek Convention. What's not to like?

The original cast, from the episode "Miri".

[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]

More girls in costume at a Star Trek convention.

[Linked Image from img.grouponcdn.com]

Another group at a con in TOS costumes, looking to be having a great time.