Star Trek

[canuck31003]

Wow, I can't believe there wasn't already a thread on this. Does that make me old? :P

My favorite series was by far Star Trek: TNG. I've recorded on VHS all the eps (I'm too cheap to buy the DVDs ). My favorite characters were Picard and Data. I even have the entire opening monologue memorized . I watched the beginnings of DS9 and Voyager, but they couldn't maintain my interest.

Off the top of my head, what I liked about TNG was how it showed humanity's potential if everyone could just work together, it explored issues like racism, the limits of love, torture, free-will, the rationale for the Prime Directive and lots, lots more.

I also liked Enterprise and was disappointed when they cancelled it. I've been a fan of Scott Bakula ever since Quantum Leap (another great show). I wish they hadn't gone in the direction of T'pol-Tucker 'ship though - irritating. I thought the series finale was stupid. They didn't need to bring in TNG characters - ugh.

[jeriddian]

Wow, I can't believe there wasn't already a thread on this. Does that make me old? :P

My favorite series was by far Star Trek: TNG. I've recorded on VHS all the eps (I'm too cheap to buy the DVDs ). My favorite characters were Picard and Data. I even have the entire opening monologue memorized . I watched the beginnings of DS9 and Voyager, but they couldn't maintain my interest.

Off the top of my head, what I liked about TNG was how it showed humanity's potential if everyone could just work together, it explored issues like racism, the limits of love, torture, free-will, the rationale for the Prime Directive and lots, lots more.

I also liked Enterprise and was disappointed when they cancelled it. I've been a fan of Scott Bakula ever since Quantum Leap (another great show). I wish they hadn't gone in the direction of T'pol-Tucker 'ship though - irritating. I thought the series finale was stupid. They didn't need to bring in TNG characters - ugh.

I agree with you completely on this with a few exceptions. The original series remains my favorite, perhaps because I am old enough to have seen it a young and impressionable age.... I remember gluing myself in front of the TV set each week for the next episode. However, I was also there for TNG, and it is a very very close second place in my heart. I also watched Voyager and DS9 in their entirety and found them worthy successors to the franchise, able to appreciate their complete storylines. Their finales were very well done. As to Enterprise, that was the series that simply could not hold my interest. I watched two or three episodes, but some reason, I could not get into it at all. After it was over, I did go back and saw a few more episode in reruns that I thought were really weel done, but n ot more than that. I agree with you that the ending of that series was contrived and totally stupid.

[Fireand'chutes77]

I've been watching Voyager off-and-on for the past view weeks while channel flipping, and it's been pretty cool. Seven of Nine reminds me a bit of Dr. Director. :P

We watched a few of the "time travel" episodes in science class on the day before spring break. The ones with Picard weren't too bad, anything older than that were, well, pretty bad. The special effects were really, really crappy!

[canuck31003]

I remember one TNG episode that made me feel icky. I think it was called Tapestry or something similar. Q sent Picard back in time to his academy years, leading up to the time Picard was stabbed in the heart. Anywhoo, what made me feel icky was seeing senior citizen Picard sleeping with a young (early twenties?) woman. I hope that doesn't make me an ageist. Other than that, I thought this was one of the better episodes.

Out of many favorite TNG episodes, another one is where Picard is hit by an alien probe, resulting in Picard living an entire lifetime believing he is someone else, living on an alien planet with a family, and that his previous life was the imaginings of a fevered dream.

Turns out it was all in Picard's mind, and only 20 minutes had passed in reality. The probe was a dying civilization's way to not be forgotten.

[TransWarpDrive]

I've been watching Voyager off-and-on for the past view weeks while channel flipping, and it's been pretty cool. Seven of Nine reminds me a bit of Dr. Director. :P

We watched a few of the "time travel" episodes in science class on the day before spring break. The ones with Picard weren't too bad, anything older than that were, well, pretty bad. The special effects were really, really crappy!

I assume you're referring to the Original Series episodes here.
Let me point out something, though. Back in 1965 when those episodes were first filmed, those visual effects were considered "state of the art." They didn't have CG animation; or even motion-controlled cameras for shooting dynamic fly-by scenes like the first "Star Wars" film had in 1977. Static models filmed in front of a blue screen, then superimposed onto a manually-animated starry background, were the best that were available in those days. And even those effects were expensive to produce. To save money, the producers compiled a library of "stock" footage, reusing scenes of the Enterprise flying through space, or orbiting a planet, whenever possible during the series. Crude though they may seem by today's standards (and even back then some looked a bit shoddy), those visual effects served their purpose by giving the viewer the impression of a large vessel sailing majestically through space.
Of course, visual effects alone do not make a good SF TV show. You also need good writing and solid acting to sell it to the audience. Fortunately, "Star Trek" had plenty of both during its first two seasons on NBC. Gene Roddenberry was determined to produce a quality product; and it shows in the episodes he produced. (The third season, produced by Fred Freiberger, suffered in quality by comparison. Freiberger just didn't have the "feel" for "Star Trek" the way Roddenberry did.)
So even when the visual effects fell short, the writing and acting helped fill the gaps in order to successfully tell the story.

[Rob]

Out of many favorite TNG episodes, another one is where Picard is hit by an alien probe, resulting in Picard living an entire lifetime believing he is someone else, living on an alien planet with a family, and that his previous life was the imaginings of a fevered dream.

Turns out it was all in Picard's mind, and only 20 minutes had passed in reality. The probe was a dying civilization's way to not be forgotten.

"The Inner Light" is often hailed as a fan favorite, and it's one of mine as well.

I've got a soft spot for TOS, because it was where I began watching Star Trek (in reruns, back in the late '70s/early '80s), and the movies were first coming out at the time. I can even remember going to see The Search For Spock at the Mai Kai theater back in the day. Seeing the Enterprise blow up on the big screen was quite the stunner for me at 9 years old...

I greatly enjoyed TNG, and strongly followed the complex storylines of DS9, but while I did find some great individual episodes of Voyager, I had a difficult time staying with the series.

I was a bit of a late bloomer with Enterprise, but yeah, they really ended the series on a rather cheap note. It didn't help that the series was canceled when it was....

I assume you're referring to the Original Series episodes here.
Let me point out something, though. Back in 1965 when those episodes were first filmed, those visual effects were considered "state of the art." They didn't have CG animation; or even motion-controlled cameras for shooting dynamic fly-by scenes like the first "Star Wars" film had in 1977. Static models filmed in front of a blue screen, then superimposed onto a manually-animated starry background, were the best that were available in those days. And even those effects were expensive to produce. To save money, the producers compiled a library of "stock" footage, reusing scenes of the Enterprise flying through space, or orbiting a planet, whenever possible during the series. Crude though they may seem by today's standards (and even back then some looked a bit shoddy), those visual effects served their purpose by giving the viewer the impression of a large vessel sailing majestically through space.
Of course, visual effects alone do not make a good SF TV show. You also need good writing and solid acting to sell it to the audience. Fortunately, "Star Trek" had plenty of both during its first two seasons on NBC. Gene Roddenberry was determined to produce a quality product; and it shows in the episodes he produced. (The third season, produced by Fred Freiberger, suffered in quality by comparison. Freiberger just didn't have the "feel" for "Star Trek" the way Roddenberry did.)
So even when the visual effects fell short, the writing and acting helped fill the gaps in order to successfully tell the story.

It didn't help that much of the stock footage was from the original pilot model, and that the 11-foot shooting model built after the pilots had some major modifications done, leading to significant inconsistencies (not to mention, how many times did they reuse the same opening shot of the Enterprise from "The Cage"?).

[TransWarpDrive]

Out of many favorite TNG episodes, another one is where Picard is hit by an alien probe, resulting in Picard living an entire lifetime believing he is someone else, living on an alien planet with a family, and that his previous life was the imaginings of a fevered dream.

Turns out it was all in Picard's mind, and only 20 minutes had passed in reality. The probe was a dying civilization's way to not be forgotten.

"The Inner Light" is often hailed as a fan favorite, and it's one of mine as well.

I've got a soft spot for TOS, because it was where I began watching Star Trek (in reruns, back in the late '70s/early '80s), and the movies were first coming out at the time. I can even remember going to see The Search For Spock at the Mai Kai theater back in the day. Seeing the Enterprise blow up on the big screen was quite the stunner for me at 9 years old...

I greatly enjoyed TNG, and strongly followed the complex storylines of DS9, but while I did find some great individual episodes of Voyager, I had a difficult time staying with the series.

I was a bit of a late bloomer with Enterprise, but yeah, they really ended the series on a rather cheap note. It didn't help that the series was canceled when it was....

I assume you're referring to the Original Series episodes here.
Let me point out something, though. Back in 1965 when those episodes were first filmed, those visual effects were considered "state of the art." They didn't have CG animation; or even motion-controlled cameras for shooting dynamic fly-by scenes like the first "Star Wars" film had in 1977. Static models filmed in front of a blue screen, then superimposed onto a manually-animated starry background, were the best that were available in those days. And even those effects were expensive to produce. To save money, the producers compiled a library of "stock" footage, reusing scenes of the Enterprise flying through space, or orbiting a planet, whenever possible during the series. Crude though they may seem by today's standards (and even back then some looked a bit shoddy), those visual effects served their purpose by giving the viewer the impression of a large vessel sailing majestically through space.
Of course, visual effects alone do not make a good SF TV show. You also need good writing and solid acting to sell it to the audience. Fortunately, "Star Trek" had plenty of both during its first two seasons on NBC. Gene Roddenberry was determined to produce a quality product; and it shows in the episodes he produced. (The third season, produced by Fred Freiberger, suffered in quality by comparison. Freiberger just didn't have the "feel" for "Star Trek" the way Roddenberry did.)
So even when the visual effects fell short, the writing and acting helped fill the gaps in order to successfully tell the story.

It didn't help that much of the stock footage was from the original pilot model, and that the 11-foot shooting model built after the pilots had some major modifications done, leading to significant inconsistencies (not to mention, how many times did they reuse the same opening shot of the Enterprise from "The Cage"?).

Understood, but you must remember that Roddenberry & Co. were working under a tight budget. They couldn't afford new visuals week after week; hence the constant re-use of the same footage over and over again.

[Rob]

What's funny about watching the remastered episodes is when there's a scene that, in the original version, re-used that "Cage" pan from below the ship to over the saucer, they've mirrored that same shot with the upgraded CGI model.

I'm particularly irritated that I missed the premier of the remastered version of "The Ultimate Computer" - I was so looking forward to seeing that one in particular, and now I have to wait again.

[TransWarpDrive]

What's funny about watching the remastered episodes is when there's a scene that, in the original version, re-used that "Cage" pan from below the ship to over the saucer, they've mirrored that same shot with the upgraded CGI model.

I'm particularly irritated that I missed the premier of the remastered version of "The Ultimate Computer" - I was so looking forward to seeing that one in particular, and now I have to wait again.

Well, they have the remastered first season out on DVD now, so it's just a matter of time before the second season follows (I'm waiting for the price to drop before I buy a set - $100+ is just a bit too expensive for me right now).
Speaking of "Trek" Trivia:
Here's something I'll bet you didn't know - "Star Trek" owes its existence to the fact that Lucille Ball, the famous actress/comedienne, was a big fan of the show in its early days. Gene Roddenberry pitched the show to a number of studios before selling it to Desilu, the studio Lucy owned and operated with her first husband, Desi Arnaz. "Star Trek" became property of Paramount when that studio bought out Desilu in the mid-60's. When William Shatner was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame on December 14, 2006, Lucy's daughter, Lucie Arnaz, related the following story of how her mother saved "Star Trek" from an early grave:

...Afterwards Arnaz took the podium again and remarked, "Mr. Shatner, I am proud to say that my mother had a large part to play in the fact that Star Trek became the hit that it was." She related a story about her mother, Lucille Ball — while she was running Desilu Productions by herself — being approached by other studio bosses urging her to trim expenses. They said, "And the two most expensive shows are Mission: Impossible and Star Trek, [so] they have to go," Arnaz recalled. "She used to always listen to everything the dyed-print suits said. But she said, 'No, I like 'em!' And they said, 'They cost too much!' And she said, 'But I like 'em!' So they left them!"

Arnaz is particularly grateful for that decision to let Star Trek live, because years later her husband, Laurence Luckinbill, would get to play Spock's brother "Sybok" in the Shatner-directed "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier." "You know, the guy who said, 'Let me take your pain.' I wish he could've said that while I was having his three kids!"

(Quoted from the "Star Trek" website)

Interesting, no? It's amazing who the "Star Trek" fans turn out to be...
Now "Trek" fandom at large can say "I Love Lucy" too!

[canuck31003]

That's a nice story - it connects two shows I like. I can still remember a scene in I Love Lucy where they're making chocolate candy - they conveyor belt goes too fast and they stuff their faces. Just thinking about it makes me smile.

Let's see, another TNG episode I liked was when Data was put on trial to determine whether he could be ordered to go back to Starfleet for experimental testing, or if he had the right to free will and/or sentience. I thought the issues raised were interesting.