Star Trek, Origins to Cancellation, Which is Your Favorite?
Stardate 4618.0
For years I have been a fan of Star Trek. Some shows were very special to me, and hold precious memories of when I was growing up, and some were merely filler in the spaces of humdrum that sometimes fill small segments of our being. However, the phenomenem known as Star Trek endures, and even now, with the cancellation of it's last incarnation, Enterprise, the show will live on in immortality on syndicated television and computers everywhere.
It began for me, when I was very young. Perhaps 4 or 5, but the memory is sketchy at best back then. The original series was now syndicated in the early '70s and every day, I could watch my heroes battle Klingons and barbarians and nazis while Mom cleaned the house. I would quiver with aniticpation as a child, when the opening credits began and Kirk would start his intro... "Space, the final frontier..." For years I watched the shows religiously, and later on, I would tape what episodes I could and I still have those old casettes today. Of course, there are the torrents and many other places to find them in beautiful hi-res detail now, so there is never a worry about missing them again. Some of my fondest screen memories can be found in the likes of "The Squire of Gothos", "Who Mourns For Adonais" and "City On the Edge of Forever"... Considering the time this show was produced, and the budget it had, the feel of each set was amazing, and many of the special effects were truly remarkable.
The Next Generation came out much later. I was older and had watched a good deal of classic sci-fi shows, like Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, Space 1999, but none compared to the original Trek. Next Gen began with a somewhat shaky start. Elements of the show were really lackign for me, such as the lady that cried on the bridge, Wesley (sorry Wil but I know YOU don't care...), bad jumpsuits... crummy drama as opposed to the all-guns-blazing route many old shows took. It took me many years to warm up to the Next Generation series, and even then, I shudder at some of the first episodes. The Next Gen offered up the most fearsome enemy *any* series good guys had to face, the Borg. These bad guys were so cool, I couldn't wait for more appearances from them.
Deep Space Nine was kind of unique in that it started while Next Gen was in it's hay day and there was enough cross-over to make the series interesting. I didn't like the lack of exploration that wasn't present untillater int he series, but a few of the characters were pretty good. When Worf made the change over, the show got really good, but for a stand-alone Space Station drama, I much preferred the newer Babylon 5. Again, I shunned the series at first, but later, many aspects grew on me. Doctor Bashear was an endearing character, and the Ferengi, though rather annoying, had some redeeming qualities about them that made their interaction with humans quite, interesting.
Voyager had all of the promise of being something very cool. The last series lacked the "boldly go" that was the punchline of the previous two series, and with a ship getting lost a zillion light years away, there was promise fo great explorations and encounters. After stumbling through a few shows however, I quickly found that the characters were far too in depth. What I mean is that there were not a small group of in depth characters and then a bunch of secondary characters, it seemed more like each character was too important for their roles. Watching an entire episode about Kim (second rate character) and an ex-girlfriend he thought was dead was the nail in the coffin for me. The excitement was missing, and each show was soem sort of personal drama for one of the characters. No grand scheme, no kick ass action. I did like the Hologram Doctor a lot. Cool character...
The final blow to the Star Trek franchise in my opinion was the highly anticipated "Enterprise". The first mistake they made here was getting Scott "Quantum Leap" Bacula to be Captain. His attitude was less than military, and I can't help but envision him at the start of "Leap" wearing the pink frilly dress... By this time, even though the show was taking place in a timeframe set before the original series, they had run out of fresh ideas. All they could do was rehash old adventures it seemed. This began with Voyager, but carried on quickly until the show was cancelled. Even Jolene Blalock as a spray on clothed Vulcan couldn't save the series. All I could say is good riddance.
So now the meat of the matter.... A new poll! What is *your* favorite series?
PS I have left out mention of the Animated Series and the Motion Pictures.
Hmmm. Weird formatting on the poll, but it is in the sidebar on the main page... so there. :)
For years I have been a fan of Star Trek. Some shows were very special to me, and hold precious memories of when I was growing up, and some were merely filler in the spaces of humdrum that sometimes fill small segments of our being. However, the phenomenem known as Star Trek endures, and even now, with the cancellation of it's last incarnation, Enterprise, the show will live on in immortality on syndicated television and computers everywhere.
It began for me, when I was very young. Perhaps 4 or 5, but the memory is sketchy at best back then. The original series was now syndicated in the early '70s and every day, I could watch my heroes battle Klingons and barbarians and nazis while Mom cleaned the house. I would quiver with aniticpation as a child, when the opening credits began and Kirk would start his intro... "Space, the final frontier..." For years I watched the shows religiously, and later on, I would tape what episodes I could and I still have those old casettes today. Of course, there are the torrents and many other places to find them in beautiful hi-res detail now, so there is never a worry about missing them again. Some of my fondest screen memories can be found in the likes of "The Squire of Gothos", "Who Mourns For Adonais" and "City On the Edge of Forever"... Considering the time this show was produced, and the budget it had, the feel of each set was amazing, and many of the special effects were truly remarkable.
The Next Generation came out much later. I was older and had watched a good deal of classic sci-fi shows, like Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, Space 1999, but none compared to the original Trek. Next Gen began with a somewhat shaky start. Elements of the show were really lackign for me, such as the lady that cried on the bridge, Wesley (sorry Wil but I know YOU don't care...), bad jumpsuits... crummy drama as opposed to the all-guns-blazing route many old shows took. It took me many years to warm up to the Next Generation series, and even then, I shudder at some of the first episodes. The Next Gen offered up the most fearsome enemy *any* series good guys had to face, the Borg. These bad guys were so cool, I couldn't wait for more appearances from them.
Deep Space Nine was kind of unique in that it started while Next Gen was in it's hay day and there was enough cross-over to make the series interesting. I didn't like the lack of exploration that wasn't present untillater int he series, but a few of the characters were pretty good. When Worf made the change over, the show got really good, but for a stand-alone Space Station drama, I much preferred the newer Babylon 5. Again, I shunned the series at first, but later, many aspects grew on me. Doctor Bashear was an endearing character, and the Ferengi, though rather annoying, had some redeeming qualities about them that made their interaction with humans quite, interesting.
Voyager had all of the promise of being something very cool. The last series lacked the "boldly go" that was the punchline of the previous two series, and with a ship getting lost a zillion light years away, there was promise fo great explorations and encounters. After stumbling through a few shows however, I quickly found that the characters were far too in depth. What I mean is that there were not a small group of in depth characters and then a bunch of secondary characters, it seemed more like each character was too important for their roles. Watching an entire episode about Kim (second rate character) and an ex-girlfriend he thought was dead was the nail in the coffin for me. The excitement was missing, and each show was soem sort of personal drama for one of the characters. No grand scheme, no kick ass action. I did like the Hologram Doctor a lot. Cool character...
The final blow to the Star Trek franchise in my opinion was the highly anticipated "Enterprise". The first mistake they made here was getting Scott "Quantum Leap" Bacula to be Captain. His attitude was less than military, and I can't help but envision him at the start of "Leap" wearing the pink frilly dress... By this time, even though the show was taking place in a timeframe set before the original series, they had run out of fresh ideas. All they could do was rehash old adventures it seemed. This began with Voyager, but carried on quickly until the show was cancelled. Even Jolene Blalock as a spray on clothed Vulcan couldn't save the series. All I could say is good riddance.So now the meat of the matter.... A new poll! What is *your* favorite series?
PS I have left out mention of the Animated Series and the Motion Pictures.
Hmmm. Weird formatting on the poll, but it is in the sidebar on the main page... so there. :)
posted by Zaphod at 7:36 AM
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