TOS Trekkie Anyone??? [Archive] - Absolute Write Water Cooler

benbradley

08-30-2008, 05:07 PM

I guess I'm old-fashioned- nah, maybe I'm just old. Megaditto's...

But it was around this time of year 40 years ago I saw a promo for a 'new show' that featured, among other things, a pointy-eared alien...

I haven't seen a TOS episode in probably ten years - my last Trek veg-out was catching up on daily Voyager reruns during the summer of 2001, but I watched ST/TOS when it was first on, and in reruns in the early '70's (mostly to catch up on any episode I might have missed). I still remember random trivia such as Captain Kirk's middle name, and I think it was only mentioned in one episode. At least I have no clue what the name of that episode is, else I'd consider myself hopeless...

I do recall the one where Kirk was "phased out", presumed lost and dead, then Uhura sees him and gets sent to Sick Bay for mental problems. He "phased back in" several more times, others saw him and they realized he was real, but they had to wait for the right time to beam him back abort, and the aliens were making a force field around the Enterprise because they were in the alien's space...I wrote of this on a professional audio discussion board (we were talking about "phase"), and one of the more noted members immediately came back with the episode title: "The Tholian Web."

I'll be okay as long as I repeat to myself: I am not nerdy. I am not nerdy. I am not nerdy...

Now I've got to go off to the monthly meeting of the Atlanta Hobby Robot Club...

BarbaraKE

08-30-2008, 05:26 PM

I am a Trekkie and proud of it. But I got started withThe Next Generation (TNG) not The Original Series (TOS).

TOS was already in reruns when I was a kid. The first episode I ever saw involved Kirk lifting up a three-foot-square rock to throw at someone. It was so obviously ridiculous that I turned it off and didn't watch another episode for years. In fact, I didn't see TOS until after I got involved with TNG.

Susan Gable

08-30-2008, 06:25 PM

Me, me! I didn't get to see the original in prime time runs, but as a kid, I was watching it in reruns. Then I found the books. Aaaahhhh, another way to get a ST:TOS "fix." I still have loads of those books purchased when I was a kid.

But yeah, I got hooked on TOS young. :) Then came TNG, and I wanted to hate it, and I did at first. But then that cast of characters grew -- and grew on me.

Oh, I think I was 13 when the first TOS movie came out. My mom took a few of my friends and me to the mall the night it opened. I was quite unhappy when I walked out of the theatre, but there it was. A new ST adventure.

Somewhere around here I still have a ST:TMP Happy Meal box. And ST:TOS trading cards. <G> Oh, and my Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty action figures sit (well, stand - they don't sit well <G>) on a bookshelf here in my office. My mom threw out the bridge playset, but I snuck to the garbage and rescues the "dolls" from it before the garbage man came. LOL!

Yes, I am a Trekkie.

Susan G.

Tom Johnson

08-30-2008, 06:26 PM

Oh yes, I'm afraid I was there! Watched the originals when they aired as first runs. Knew it wouldn't last. Anything I liked never did. Sigh. Just couldn't get excited about TNG or any of the others. I still have a bunch of the original episodes on tape and watch them once in a while. They still hold up pretty good.

"The Weed of Crime Bears Bitter Fruit!"

childeroland

08-30-2008, 06:27 PM

I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude with Abram's film. After 'Nemesis' the film franchise really needs rejuvenation, and don't even start on 'Enterprise'. The Original Series will probably never be bettered, though.

sheadakota

08-30-2008, 06:34 PM

Damn it Jim, I'm a doctor not a carpenter!

yup- trekkie here.

Seaclusion

08-30-2008, 06:48 PM

I watched ST in the '60s when the orginals were on. I watched reruns throughout the seventies. I taped (some of you will remember that) all the episodes in the eighties. And I still sometimes watch them now (although now they're on disc). Damn, I'm too old for this.

Richard

Ol' Fashioned Girl

08-30-2008, 06:54 PM

Best episode ever: City on the Edge of Forever.

No. I'll accept no arguments here. :D (Even though I'm sure I'll start some arguments here...)

DeleyanLee

08-30-2008, 06:54 PM

Watched the original series (sorry, "TOS" didn't register what it was with me until halfway through the thread--I've always thought of it as "Classic Trek") with my dad back in the 60's, and the reruns were some of the best TV out there for many a decade. I was a member of the Star Trek Welcommittee back in the day (used to know what USS stood for), bought tons of stuff from old Lincoln Enterprises and my first "published" story was Trek fic back before there was slash.

I watched the Next Gen for a season or two but wasn't taken with it. Honestly wasn't taken with any of the other Treks either. They all lacked the spark that caught me up in the original series.

This new movie--I don't know. A couple of the movies with the original cast were brill and some were really stinkers. Since I haven't been a big fan of anything they've spun off so far, I'm really iffy on a "flashback" movie. I'll let a couple friends see it opening weekend and hear what they have to say before I decide if I'll see it in the theater or wait for freebie on On-Demand. I just can't go blindly to opening night with great hope and expectation anymore.

Leah J. Utas

08-30-2008, 07:04 PM

I am much more awake now and can put together a proper post. Then OFG beat me to it with "The City on the Edge of Forever."

That said, one of my favourite quotes from (I think) "Operation - Annihilate" after McCoy threw the full spectrum of light at Spock to get rid of the flying fried egg things.
"You were so worried about his Vulcan eyes, doctor, you forgot about his Vulcan ears."
The sheer cheekiness of that statement didn't hit me until a few years ago.
And Spock leaving a signal trail for rescue at the end of "The Galileo Seven" always brings tears to my eyes.
I saw all the episodes during their original run and so wanted the Star Trek universe to be real so I could grow up and join Starfleet. I still want that.

Seaclusion

08-30-2008, 07:12 PM

Best episode ever: City on the Edge of Forever.

No. I'll accept no arguments here. :D (Even though I'm sure I'll start some arguments here...)

I agree, but The trouble with Tribbles is a close second.

Richard

Madisonwrites

08-30-2008, 08:24 PM

My fav episode is "The Tholian Web" and accordingly, I think it is one of the best. "Tribbles" is GREAT! "City" was never one of my favs, but at least it's not one of the REALLY bad ones. :D

I actually tried to write a Star Trek novel once. Yeah, that didn't go over too well.

I really think the new movie will be great! Then again, Leonard Nimoy is my fav actor and will be in it, so naturally I'm pumped. And the new Enterprise looks fantastic...it looks like the TOS one but better.

As for other Treks, I like VOY and tolerate TNG, but that's it. I hate DS9 and Enterprise? Huh? I thought Spock was the first Vulcan in Starfleet.

Oh, Suirattigas, you're right. That quote is in "Operation--Annihilate!" I'm a total dork when it comes to TOS Trek. I have all the episodes on DVD, about 70 books, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy action figures (from Avon of all places!), and some Hallmark ornaments...even a deck of cards.

Any of you die-hards like me get to see "The Menagerie" on the big screen last year?

Ol' Fashioned Girl

08-30-2008, 08:56 PM

I actually tried to write a Star Trek novel once. Yeah, that didn't go over too well.

I tried that with two manuscripts - oh... - 20 years ago. Didn't work for me, either. :)

ChunkyC

08-30-2008, 09:01 PM

Another Trek fan here. I watched the series right from the day the first episode aired. I so wanted to be like Captain Kirk, out exploring the universe. We only had a black and white TV, it was years before I saw it in colour, and was old enough to understand the space-stud aspect of Kirk's character. ;) I now have the set on DVD and just finished watching it from beginning to end a few weeks ago.

Best episode ever: City on the Edge of Forever.

No. I'll accept no arguments here. :D (Even though I'm sure I'll start some arguments here...)
You won't get an argument from me. Legendary science fiction writer Harlan Ellison wrote it and it still stands as one of the best written episodes in any of the Trek series. It was one of the episodes that won a HUGO or NEBULA1 ... hafta go check, be right back ... yep, the HUGO for Dramatic Presentation in 1968 (http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=51). Just look at some of the writers on the series: Ellison, Norman Spinrad, Theodore Sturgeon ... brilliant science fiction novelists. No wonder the show was so good.

1 -- according to the official site (http://www.nebulaawards.com/), the Nebula Awards didn't start handing out awards for Best Dramatic Presentation until 1973.

Ziljon

08-30-2008, 09:09 PM

Bring it on!
http://k53.pbase.com/u13/jedimindtriks/upload/3532690.captainkirk.jpg

Zoombie

08-31-2008, 12:53 AM

I was a TOS fan. Its no longer my fave sci-fi show, which has been taken by a combination of Babylon 5 and Firefly, but I do recognize it as being the progenitor of all TV sci-fi. Or at least how we know TV sci-fi at this time...

I still think we could use some awesome anthologies, like Twilight Zone or Outer Limits.

Except, not like their shitty remakes.

HeronW

08-31-2008, 01:06 AM

YAY ST! Have to say my fav was Voyager: Janeway, 7 of 9, Kes. The original had some excellent ideas even if the whole was a space western.

SherryTex

08-31-2008, 01:07 AM

Okay...I love Babylon 5, I was also a Deep Space Nine Groopie. Loved loved, loved Sisko...especially when he got mad...

TOS --some of them are... unwatchable...like the movie Startrek 5, or Nemesis from TNG...or the first season of TNG...or dullest of all, Enterprise/voyager --depending on the epsiode.

Do think we need a sci-fi that remembers the fundamental elements of sci-fi --which is tech that is believable/grounded in reality despite being beyond what is here...which is not explained anymore than a tv/dvd player is explained today, and a struggle which affects relationships and reality, rather than technology...someone...get to writing...

Linda Adams

08-31-2008, 01:35 AM

I was also a big TOS fan. I got hooked on it went into reruns in Los Angeles in 1976. That was when the Trek fandom was really starting to kick off, and I collected everything I could lay my hands on. I remember going to a big science fiction convention in 1976 also. Uhura was my favorite character because, at the time, there were so few roles on TV for women that were beyond stereotypical roles. To put it into perspective, West Point admitted women for the first time that year.

My favorite episode: Day of the Dove. Michael Ansara was the perfect Klingon.

Now though, I'm not so much of a fan. It came into reruns on TVLand not too long ago, so I watched them. I was amazed at how dated and preachy the episodes were. I can still watch Day of the Dove, but some of the other ones, not so much. I was also a Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea fan (big fan of David Hedison) and more involved in that fandom, and now I can't watch the show either--in that case, it's the carelessness of the way they just did things like "No one will notice that this doesn't make sense."

ChunkyC

08-31-2008, 02:21 AM

Today some of it seems really dated, but you have to put it in perspective. The show was conceived at the beginning of the 1960s and the first episode aired on September 8, 1966, nearly three years before man set foot on the moon. In fact, the series was over before the first moon landing. I remember what it felt like back then. There was a feeling the human race could do anything it set its collective mind to. A permanent base on the moon seemed like it would happen within a decade or so, definitely before the turn of the century.

Look at the colourful thingys Spock is always slotting into the ship's computer. Can you say floppy disk? How about the communicator -- the cell phones we use every day were inspired by it. A multi-racial main cast was unheard of at the time, yet Trek did it.

Many of the episodes tackled difficult issues of the day. The Vietnam War was a growing issue; Trek took it on in A Private Little War, where Kirk and the Klingons engaged in an arms race on a previously peaceful planet. They took on racism and other issues in the midst of the greatest social upheaval in American history. The writing was at times as brilliant as anything that had ever been seen on TV up to that point.

Star Trek paved the way for the other Trek series and movies, and for shows like Babylon 5. Without it, imaginative fiction on TV would be far, far different, and I venture to say, quite possibly far less interesting and entertaining.

May the original series live on forever!

-- yes, I have a life size Spock cutout next to my desk, just ask Dawno, she's seen it on my webcam. :)

Beach Bunny

08-31-2008, 02:45 AM

Look at the colourful thingys Spock is always slotting into the ship's computer. Can you say floppy disk? How about the communicator -- the cell phones we use every day were inspired by it.

Everytime I see someone using a blutooth headset cellphone, images from Star Trek pop into my head. :)

Madisonwrites

08-31-2008, 04:49 AM

SherryTex, you can't diss ST: V. I LOVE that movie! Honestly, though, my fav is VI.

Yeah one of the reasons I love the original series is because the special effects, though state of the art back then, are so cheesy! I love it!

SherryTex

08-31-2008, 04:52 AM

ST V is so bad, it doesn't even merit cheese Whiz nacho goodness rating...What does God need with a Starship? As theological questions go...about as in depth as James T. Kirk gets.

dgiharris

08-31-2008, 05:02 AM

Of course I'm a Trekkie

I think that it is unfortunate that we get so 'accustomed' to things and complacent.
For instance, take the car. Great invention, but now is so 'normal' that the absolute wonder of that invention is lost.

I feel that a really great work of art is like that. Be it a 'new' style of writting or story (Mary Shelly's Frankenstien), a new style of music or a new movie (Star Wars) it quickly becomes part of the lexicon joining the ranks of 'been there done that'.

I feel Star Trek is like that.

Amazing show.

Still love it.

Mel...

C.bronco

08-31-2008, 05:31 AM

"Captain Kirk, show me this human Looove!"

LOL
William Shatner rocks.

gypsyscarlett

08-31-2008, 01:17 PM

underthecity

08-31-2008, 06:00 PM

Add me to the list, but I thought we were "Trekkers," not "Trekkies." "Trekkies" are supposed to be the over-the-top fan fanatics who give fandom a bad name.

Anyway,

I grew up in the 1970s with parents who were both science fiction fans, so Star Trek was always on, and that's when I began watching it.

I didn't always "get it" at the time. I remember my earliest memory was seeing Kirk and others step into the turbolift off the bridge, but I didn't know the turbolift was going anywhere. I thought they were just stepping into another room on the ship.

On a recent "Top Ten favorite movies" thread in this forum, I named STTMP and STTWOK as two of my favorite films. I love TMP. Yes, it drags at times, but the overall film is wonderful. Kind of the antithesis of Star Wars.

I've read The World of Star Trek and Trouble With Tribbles, both by David Gerrold. I met David Gerrold at a science fiction convention once and attended a talk he gave.

I was very much looking forward to Next Generation and began watching it every week, but eventually got involved in other things on the night it was on, so I missed a lot of episodes. My overall feeling was disappointment. It was too much like a soap opera. I've never gotten into any of the spinoffs.

But I did like Enterprise, but it had a lot of problems. In fact, I offered my opinion to the television columnist of our local paper, and am quoted in the fourteenth paragraph of this article (http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/10/17/tem_kiesewetter.html).

I guess it goes without saying that I can't wait to see the new movie. There's something pretty awesome about seeing the welder working on the Enterprise as it appeared in the series, and hearing the familiar fanfare.

allen

benbradley

08-31-2008, 06:07 PM

Of course, I love classic ST! Watched re-runs all the time with my dad as a little kid. "Dad! Star Trek is on!!!!!" (and no- I wasn't daddy's little girl. gee- what would make you think so?) :)

Still watch it today. It's easy to laugh at now- the preachiness, the Red Shirts, the planets made of paper rocks... But that's all part of its charm. And they dared to do things like the interracial kiss between Kirk and Uhura. No biggie at all now. But look at how people freaked back then.
I remember seeing that episode when it first came on, and even at age 10 thinking about the interracial controversy (my mother was obviously NOT watching at the time, else she would have freaked out), but then I thought, "Well, it's this bad, evil Alien forcing them to kiss solely for its own sick entertainment, so this doesn't count."

Seaclusion

08-31-2008, 06:27 PM

Let's face it, it was those tight little cheerleader outfits the women wore that made the show so appealing. Not to mention the barely dressed green alien women.

Richard

ChunkyC

08-31-2008, 09:18 PM

And they dared to do things like the interracial kiss between Kirk and Uhura. No biggie at all now. But look at how people freaked back then.

I remember seeing that episode when it first came on, and even at age 10 thinking about the interracial controversy (my mother was obviously NOT watching at the time, else she would have freaked out), but then I thought, "Well, it's this bad, evil Alien forcing them to kiss solely for its own sick entertainment, so this doesn't count."
That was the only way they could get it past the censors of the day. This was a time when you couldn't show a married couple in the same bed even if they were in pj's and doing nothing but talking.

I have Gene Roddenberry's authorized biography and books by George Takei, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and James Doohan. To a one they talk about how hard Roddenberry had to push against the network and censors to get what he wanted into a script, and how he had to water it down more often than not. The first pilot had the future Mrs. Roddenberry, Majel Barrett, playing Captain Pike's second in command; the network wouldn't even look at a second pilot unless the part was rewritten for a man.

And yet they succeeded in pushing the envelope time and time again. One of my favourite episodes was in season 3: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (http://trekguide.com/padd/tos70.htm). Roddenberry got the message about the complete illogic of racism across loud and clear, right down to the 'black' and 'white' on the alien's faces. This was 1969, the year CBC cancelled The Smother's Brothers show, supposedly for late submission of an episode to the censors. But many believe it was due to pressure from the likes of Vice President Spiro Agnew who publicly called the show "subversive." This was the same Agnew who referred to people holding a candlelight vigil for peace in Vietnam that same year as "an effete corps of impudent snobs."

Thank goodness for people like Roddenberry.

-- sources:
St. Ignatius (http://www.si1969.com/69trivia.aspx)
article from The Canadian Press (http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jQG8fyCVzQSeUJdOv4JebPt3ihGw)
Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smothers_Brothers)

dpaterso

08-31-2008, 09:30 PM

The first pilot had the future Mrs. Roddenberry, Majel Barrett, playing Captain Pike's second in command; the network wouldn't even look at a second pilot unless the part was rewritten for a man.
We interrupt this thread just to say, wasn't she great in that role? That was the spin-off series I *really* wanted to see.

-Derek

ChunkyC

08-31-2008, 09:33 PM

We interrupt this thread just to say, wasn't she great in that role?
Indeed she was! The casting fit right in with Roddenberry's whole equality premise for the show, that human beings are one people regardless of race or gender.

The DVD set I have includes the original pilot, "The Cage", as it was first shown to the network; one version alternating between black and white and colour, and a full colour restored version. It's a great show in its own right.

Linda Adams

08-31-2008, 11:16 PM

Add me to the list, but I thought we were "Trekkers," not "Trekkies." "Trekkies" are supposed to be the over-the-top fan fanatics who give fandom a bad name.

I met one of them. He was in an airport bookstore where I had just picked up a new Star Trek book to read on a plane trip. He saw the book, asked if I liked Star Trek, and then starting quoting verbatium from episodes. It was apparent he had memorized entire episodes!

Every time a convention was covered in the news in Los Angeles, I noticed that the photographers went out of their way to find the nuttiest looking fan--usually someone who was very sloppily dressed, had about a thousand pins all over their t-shirt, and looked like they didn't take care of themselves. It was like they were showing the world "This is what all the fans look like" when most of them didn't look like that. They were always called "Trekkies" in the articles.

Madisonwrites

09-01-2008, 12:02 AM

Actually, "Trekkies" is the perfered term for most Star Trek fans. If you don't believe me, find William Shatner's book "Get A Life!" (Great read, by the way)

ChunkyC

09-01-2008, 05:36 AM

There is some precedent for "Trekkies" to be used when referring to the original series, and for "Trekkers" to be used when referring to fans of The Next Generation.

Typical Trek geekiness, I say. :D

PS -- I have no idea what you call fans of Deep Space Nine, Voyager or Enterprise. I await the ribbing. ;)

Madisonwrites

09-01-2008, 06:30 AM

All I know are the abbreviations TOS, TNG, VOY, DS9, and Enterprise. Don't think Enterprise has an abbreviation, but I don't pay it any mind.

Never heard that about Trekkies and Trekkers. Huh. Well, you learn something new everyday!

ChaosTitan

09-01-2008, 06:32 AM

All I know are the abbreviations TOS, TNG, VOY, DS9, and Enterprise. Don't think Enterprise has an abbreviation, but I don't pay it any mind.

Psst! ENT. :)

Linda Adams

09-01-2008, 05:46 PM

There is some precedent for "Trekkies" to be used when referring to the original series, and for "Trekkers" to be used when referring to fans of The Next Generation.

You're probably thinking of when Leonard Nimoy said that Trekker was the official term--that was in 1991. I was hearing Trekker as the acceptable term well before Next Gen was even conceived. Believe it may have even been in use by the time the first movie came out.

But then, I lived in Los Angeles, and it was convention city for Star Trek. And every time a convention came up, there was a newspaper article on it. Trekkies were identified in these articles as either crazy looking fans or little boys wearing Spock ears. Filler pieces and even op-ed pieces were really snide towards "Trekkies."

I'd get the same treatment from the people around me, snearing because I liked Star Trek and there obviously must be something wrong with me. In some cases, just the mention of the word "Trekkie" really brought out the worst in the non-fans. Just my opinion, but I think it was this negative association that made people change the name.

ChunkyC

09-01-2008, 07:11 PM

You're probably thinking of when Leonard Nimoy said that Trekker was the official term--that was in 1991. I was hearing Trekker as the acceptable term well before Next Gen was even conceived. Believe it may have even been in use by the time the first movie came out.
Very interesting. That seems a lot more plausible. The TOS=Trekkie / TNG=Trekker thing was probably another one of those stories that got started by someone as idle speculation and then spread around, gaining embellishment as it went. By the time it reached someone like me up in small town Canada, it was being presented as established fact. :)

But then, I lived in Los Angeles, and it was convention city for Star Trek. And every time a convention came up, there was a newspaper article on it. Trekkies were identified in these articles as either crazy looking fans or little boys wearing Spock ears. Filler pieces and even op-ed pieces were really snide towards "Trekkies."

I'd get the same treatment from the people around me, snearing because I liked Star Trek and there obviously must be something wrong with me. In some cases, just the mention of the word "Trekkie" really brought out the worst in the non-fans. Just my opinion, but I think it was this negative association that made people change the name.
Yeah, when I was younger I certainly got a certain amount of snide comments from those who thought fans of Star Trek, let alone any science fiction, were weirdoes of the lowest order. Then again, many of those who looked down their noses at sci-fi geeks were the kind of people who thought engaging in a spitting contest was the height of manly cameraderie. (reminds me of the movie Back to the Future when Biff bullied Marty's dad in the past, only to end up a loser scrabbling for handouts from dad the sci-fi author -- LOVED that turnaround)

Madisonwrites

09-01-2008, 08:22 PM

Why do people think we're crazy for liking Star Trek? I mean, like Gilmore Girls is better. Or worse, Full House! Ugh!

(These are just shows my friends watch that I hate. Anyone here that likes them, no offense intended because you have brownie points for liking ST!)

plaidearthworm

09-02-2008, 07:58 AM

Trekkie, Trekker, Trekhead, Hey, stop that Klingon: I answer to them all. Still love it, although I am curious about the new DVD sets of TOS. It looks like they've re-done the special effects, but the cheesy effects were part of the charm. I wish they had done a movie post-Voyager, so we could see some of our fave characters again. Not sure about this new movie and all the re-casts, but I'll watch it and then decide. After all, I've seen the ep 'Spock's Brain' dozens of times, and it didn't scar me for life. Oh wait, maybe it did. ;)

Sarpedon

09-03-2008, 02:25 AM

Late entry:

I love TOS. Still my favorite.

I even GMed an online Mafia game with a TOS theme. that was hilarious. I made everyone change their avatar to match their online role. People were like "who the hell is Mr Kyle?" "I've never heard of Ensign D'amato!"

ChunkyC

09-04-2008, 12:58 AM

Trekkie, Trekker, Trekhead, Hey, stop that Klingon: I answer to them all. Still love it, although I am curious about the new DVD sets of TOS. It looks like they've re-done the special effects, but the cheesy effects were part of the charm.
No kidding! Leave it alone, don't Lucasize it to death, sheesh!

After all, I've seen the ep 'Spock's Brain' dozens of times, and it didn't scar me for life. Oh wait, maybe it did. ;)
Dang, that had to be the worst episode of the series. Yet it's great in its badness. :)

"Brain and brain! What is brain?" (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Spock's_Brain) :roll:

Shadow_Ferret

09-04-2008, 01:03 AM

Oh. TOS... The Original Series.

Is that what you young people call it?

I call it Star Trek.

Everything else is a spin-off.

And I am not now, nor have I ever been a Trekkie. I'm a fan of The Show.

Gravity

09-04-2008, 02:13 AM

I was a teenager during the original run, and fell in love with the thing. The only time I felt really bad for watching it was the episode where Kirk and a female scientist switched bodies. Shatner's over-the-top shrillness with the role made the whole family cringe. But the next week (I believe it ran on Thursday nights) we were right back in the living room, reveling in it.

Madisonwrites

09-04-2008, 05:30 AM

What? You guys are TOTALLY missing the worst episode! Try "The Empath" on for size! Agh!

Appalachian Writer

09-04-2008, 11:18 AM

What? You guys are TOTALLY missing the worst episode! Try "The Empath" on for size! Agh!

Only the part of the empath was yuk, at least IMHO. The aliens were the usual bi-pedal, curiousity hounds, but the premise, the reason they had taken the empath to start with was interesting...were her people worthy of salvation above all others in her solar system. Pretty deeply philosophical if you ask me.The only thing that bothered me was that these "merciful" aliens were killing people, torturing people to see if the girl's planet was worthy. Go figure.

Buddikins

09-04-2008, 11:50 AM

YAY ST! Have to say my fav was Voyager: Janeway, 7 of 9, Kes. The original had some excellent ideas even if the whole was a space western.

Ditto.

Seven is the BEST.

EVER.

Sorry if anyone disagress, but yep. She is.

ChunkyC

09-04-2008, 09:13 PM

What? You guys are TOTALLY missing the worst episode! Try "The Empath" on for size! Agh!
I agree with Appalachian, The Empath (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/The_Empath_(episode)) was a pretty decent episode. There were some really good ideas in there, the kind of deep philosophical concepts you still don't see that often on TV even to this day.

As far as the aliens being cruel; if lab rats were sentient, they would certainly think the same of us. And yet we torture rats and other animals for reasons that only benefit us, they don't benefit the animals in any way. We justify it by telling ourselves they are just animals and that what we learn will benefit human beings. In the show, the aliens probably looked at us in the same way, as a lower form of life. That was one of the ideas expressed, I thought. Plus, the outcome of the alien's experiments would ultimately benefit the empath's race.

All that makes it a pretty good episode in my book. :)

Sarpedon

09-04-2008, 09:25 PM

I'd say the worst one was 'and the children shall lead.'

ChunkyC

09-04-2008, 09:46 PM

Yeah, And The Children Shall Lead (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/And_the_Children_Shall_Lead_%28episode%29) was pretty poor in a season (3rd and final) that had more than its share of so-so episodes.

Shadow_Ferret

09-04-2008, 09:49 PM

Star Trek had no bad episodes.

Blasphemers!

ChunkyC

09-04-2008, 09:52 PM

How about 'not quite as good as some of the others' episodes? :D

Shadow_Ferret

09-04-2008, 09:55 PM

Hmm. Well, relatively speaking I guess that is possible.

Madisonwrites

09-05-2008, 01:54 AM

OK, so some people like "The Empath." Y'all are the first that I've met, so I guess that's a good thing.

Anyway, that's my least fav episode. (Though I love the part between Spock and McCoy when Bones tells him he has a good bedisde manner. That's the best part in the episode) "And the Children Shall Lead" wasn't one of the best. But if you take those away, what's the worst episode? Hmm...let me think...

stressing brain

still stressing brain

Aw, I dunno. Can't think. But it WASN'T "Spock's Brain."

Evaine

09-05-2008, 07:02 PM

Spock's Brain was pretty bad. So was the one with the cloud city and the girl whose tears did - something or other. (I used to know all this stuff). Elaan of Troyius?
I liked the Empath, too.

Madisonwrites

09-05-2008, 11:32 PM

Yep, Elaan of Troyious was the one (however you spell it). Cloud Minders, yeah, that has to rank as one of the worst.

OK, so let's change the topic a little bit. Who is your fav character? For me, it's Spock. When I first saw the show I didn't like him (Uhura was my fav) but when I got back into it, I decided that Spock was the best. What about you?

Linda Adams

09-06-2008, 03:25 AM

My favorite character was Uhura. I thought it was totally cool seeing Nichelle Nichols help recruit women for the space shuttle later on!

Don Allen

09-06-2008, 07:43 AM

I promise from memory,: Space the final frontier, these are the voyages of the starship, Enterprise, (ncc1701) It's five year mission, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. Did I get close???? I swear I didn't look it up and I haven't heard it in 15 years, so let me know.

Funniest line I've heard in ages was at the shatner roast when Artyie Lang (Sterns sidekick) said, and I para phrase, "Bill Shatner, you are an amazing man, an amazing artist that broght to life a charactor of such esteem, in Capt Kirk, that even today,, legions of fans pay tribute to you, what is that they're called again,,,,,Oh that's right, Queers........OMG!!!! I thought Shatner wet himself....

Ol' Fashioned Girl

09-06-2008, 04:59 PM

From The Captain, Himself (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNneG5_ceu0&feature=related):

Space the final frontier... these are the voyages of the starship, Enterprise, its five year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

ChunkyC

09-06-2008, 06:57 PM

Merely reading that still manages to give me chills. As a young teenager watching the original series every week in the 1960s, those words fired my imagination and encapsulated my hopes and dreams for the future of the human race.

Memory Alpha page on the theme (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Theme_from_Star_Trek)

The version linked to on that page seems to be a remastered version without the vocal part.

Toothpaste

09-06-2008, 08:04 PM

My dad used to teach ST TOS to his class in highschool as morality tales, so when I used to watch them in reruns he'd do the same with me. I have a soft spot for them definitely. They might not be as slick as current shows, but they were fun and clever.

As to the new movie, I am quite excited. I think they've done all the right things so far.

If anyone is interested, the site I am a part of has interviewed both Simon Pegg (http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2239098%3ABlogPost%3A7417) and Zachary Quinto (http://www.hardcorenerdity.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2239098%3ABlogPost%3A13883) about it. Pretty interesting stuff!