Space, the final frontier

I think the 3rd season was done that way on purpose. The network wanted the show gone, the fans wanted it to stay. So give the fans garbage, and they won't care if it goes away...

Of the three, I liked Sisko. He could head-butt a Klingon and keep on fighting!

He played three alien species. Originally as a Romulan (ST:TOS - Balance of Terror), then as a Vulcan - Sarek(ST:TOS, ST:TNG, ST: (Several Movies)) and finally as a Klingon (ST: The Movie - He was the captain of the cruiser that V'ger destroyed).

As an aside, he also played a Gorilla general in the Planet of the Apes tv series.

I don't recall the title, but an "official" Star Trek novel has both "Uncle" Q and Trelane as major characters. I don't recall if that "Uncle" was literal or an honorific. Q was neither Trelane, nor one of his parents -- but there was a definite relationship.

Deep Space 9 was the best written series.

This series also had what to me was hands down the funniest episode of Sci-Fi: The Magnificent Ferengi.

You left him out. He is my favorite. He did not let things like the "Prime Directive" get in the way. He did whatever it took to complete the mission.

Sisko wasn't as good the first season. Once he came back as "Hawk" for the second season, he was great!

I know, I know, all you youngsters out there don't know who Hawk was...

Yep, I still have a copy of that short story. Fredric Brown wrote Arena and the Star Trek episode was based on it. Another one of my favorites! I love both the Gorn and the Outsiders.

"The Trouble with Tribbles"! Every one hand sewn!
...and, good plain fun, with a sense of humor foreshadowing Mr. Nimoy's self-deprecating humor in ST 4!

How many of the main Star trek characters did LOTS of commercial voice-overs? Great speaking voices.

My favorite Star Trek episodes have always been the time travel ones. So for the Original Series, I can think of "Assignment Earth," "Tomorrow Is Yesterday," "The City On the Edge of Forever," and "All Our Yesterdays." ~ "Assignment Earth" being my favorite.

//Captain Jerry/

Has anybody answered this question yet? I should be able to come up with a good guess (I've got a Doctorate Degree from Starfleet Academy (of The Star Trek International Fan Association!)

The Menagerie had several (lots) of cast members from TOS (because it was TOS) I'm sure you're referring to "The Cage" which was the pilot episode for TOS, which starred (among others) Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and Majel Barrett (Mrs. Roddenberry, Computer Voice, Lwaxana Troy, etc...)

How'd I do? LOL

//CJ/

IMO its seems the Star Trek universe has come to an end. During the late 80's & 90's there was more Trek then you could shake a betleH at, now with Enterprise gone, there is very little to nothing in the mainstream. One of my ideas of why is that a good number of Trek Gadgets are reality now, and the fantasy side of Trek is gone.
Any Opinions or Ideas?

It was Mote in God's Eye that started me off on a 10 year and counting collection of signed books... I happened to find a copy signed by Larry Niven in a second hand bookshop over here in Melbourne, Australia.

A year later I was flipping through Byte magazine in the very early days of the public WWW (Trumpet Winsock, anyone?) and came across an article written by Jerry Pournelle - listing his email address...

I emailed him and told him my story, and he said if I could mail the book to him he would sign it and mail it back to me. In the end, he waited until Larry came to his place for a BBQ and ended up sending me 4 or 5 books signed by them both. I now have around 200 in my collection from various authors that I have stalked (ahem) tracked down online...

Happy memories

GaryQ

Not sure you can blame Roddenberry for that. Several years after his death, his story ideas were "found" and others developed it into a series.

If you compare the first season against the second and third (was there a fourth?), the first season comes off pretty well. Don't know why the producers took the show off on multiple tangents.

There was another Roddenberry attempt in the seventies. Future earth, post apocalyptic, one offshoot of humanity "normal" with futuristic tech, living underground in cities. The remainder living on the surface, mutated, supposedly bombed back to the stone age.

There were two pilots created for this story, both eventually aired. Same actor played the lead in both. Unfortunately, I've slept since then, so I can't remember the titles. :)

The same can be said of us who grew up watching the "Original". Although it was indeed a space styled western, it was nowhere near as stuffy and self absorbed as the others that followed.
You'll notice that somewhere along the line, the followers always managed to drop a few of the original names.
I always felt that this was a tip of the hat to the ones who started it all. And rightly so.
The real beauty in the Original was the simplicity. I certainly admire Patrick Stewart a, renown Shakespearean actor of both stage and screen and am absolutely wild about Kate Mulgrew who did what no one else could have done.
Command a Starship with an ease and determination that could rival any male Captain. I just love her. But then I've loved her since Mrs. Colombo. Of course it goes without saying that my Personal Hero is and was Capt James T Kirk. Who set the standard that would become so famous. That of a Starship Captain committed to his Ship and his crew. He would have died for them in a second and they knew it and loved him accordingly. Now That's a Captain. I serve no man, but would beg for the opportunity to serve under the leadership of Capt Kirk.
As for my favorite episode, although there are certainly many, I would have to say"Mudd's Women" and the Follow up "I Mudd". Roger C Carmel was fabulous as the rascal that we just loved and it was a real pleasure to watch. I loved his wife, hee.
No deep introspective messages, no hidden meanings, no guess work at all, just pure Start Trek, as it should be.
Thank you for allowing me to rant a little as this is one of the closet things to my heart.
As a truly great Man once said.
May you all;
"Live long and Prosper." :)
May the same be said of all of us.
Warmest Regards
Aaron

Remember that back in those days, 1965 etc, it wasn't easy to talk about race without starting some kind of riot somewhere.
I thought they handled this one beautifully. Frank Gorshin was of course excellent but I particularly enjoyed the underlying message that said it was ridiculous to dislike or hate one another solely on the basis of skin color.
This is my opining is the most powerful statement ever made about racism on National Television an obviously most people agreed with it.
I also think it's one of the finest episodes that they put together, showing the futility of such hatred without stopping to consider the consequences.
I must admit, it's one of my favorites to this day.
Regards
Aaron

Humans had outgrown the need for war on their own planet, and had outgrown the need for superstitious religion.

But all the characters in TNG were unmistakably human. They had their foibles -- they made mistakes.

I actually viewed the series as a study in how humans responded to unexpected, unfamiliar or threatening circumstances.

More than anything to me it was a clever study of human nature in a science fiction setting. This of course puts both series smack, bang in the middle of the classic Western. The appeal and power of the Western I see as lying in the raw exposure of human nature devoid of all the complex trappings of modern society.

So how did the crew of TNG express their very human nature? By revealing their foibles, with all coming to the support of any member who had gotten into strife because of such a characteristic.

Does anyone else see it as more of a study of human nature than weird entities and whiz-bang special effects?

Unquestionably "Trouble With Tribbles" was best mix of murder,intrigue,comedy,and plot twist ever rolled into one story.

In B5, war was a major part of the series storyline. Seasons 1 thru 4 were the Shadow War, and the B5 rebellion against the Earth Alliance were in seasons 3 thru 4, with season 5 a sort of add on season (Stracynski didn't know if there would be a season 5 so he wrapped up the major plotlines by the end of season 4).

In the Trek universe, there were smaller conflicts until in DS9 the Klingon Empire vs the Federation war, in season 4 or 5, then the Dominion War which had its seeds as early as season 2, but become open warfare season 5 or 6 thru 7.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw an old WW II movie ("Battleground") about the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and it had Ricardo Montalblan as one of the American soldiers. The movie was made in 1949, so it may have been one of his first roles. Good movie, I would recommend it if you like old war movies.

When I saw him in the movie, I coudn't help thinking to myself: "KHAN!!!!!!" :-)

Must not be that huge - I hadn't noticed.

That said, why don't you elucidate?

How can you not like Spock as a Tommy-Gun toting gangster?

Balance of Terror - our first look at the Romulans.

George

In B5 pre-history there was a major war on Earth, which led to the creation of the EA. The EA's success in the Dilgar War is then what led them to get too big for their britches and start that whole mess with the Minbari.

On another note, I like both B5 and Trek; both were very different shows that showed very different viewpoints of the future. Rodenberry had a very idillic view of the future whereas in B5 we see history as a perpetual conflict between the Vorlon way of thinking and the Shadow philosophy.

George

... wasn't the JtR one where Scotty was possessed by its spirit? Also loved the one where the entire landing party except Chekov aged, and he was spared because he was afraid and screamed. Absolute best one though had to be the Dodge City old west episode. Oh.. geez.. and as I go on I remember more and more - the one where the ship was invaded by people who moved at a different speed.. and they pulled Kirk into their dimension, and all his crew heard was a buzzing like a fly. Ok, one last... the alternate universe one with the evil Kirk and crew....

I subscribe to a great podcast - The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd - its a funny old-time-radio-serial style show, meant to teach history to kids. Anyhow, on the time & space travel ship there's a Red Shirted Expendible Crewman.. his name.. Ensign Porary.. Tim Porary....*L*

I always thought those things were more like flying pancakes. Found them very creepy. Oh, and maybe Vulcans are part feline? Cats have extra eyelids.

A recent article brought Star Trek TOS backl to my
mind in a new way.
http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=16902006
Heim's quantum theory as described in the above literature and in other sources I found on the web were eerily similar to the spinning lines in the domes of the two warp nacells of good old 1701!
It gave me shivers.

the jungle girl companion to Tom Baker's, Dr. Who.

http://freespace.virgin.net/steve.preston/Leela.html

Remember her now?
She was portrayed by the actress Louise Jameson.

I guess my personal 2 favorites, the ones I own on VHS and DVD now are City on the Edge of Forever (written by Harlan Ellison although he says his original script was mangled by the producers) and Amok Time (written by Theodore Surgeon). Funny how my favorites are by visionary "real" scifi writers. Many others were just plain good but there were a couple of duds. I will admit most were very black and white morality wise and Gunsmoke in spacey, but still ahead of their times and you do have to serve your viewing public if you are to keep producing.

Name the episode where Captain Kirk called for a double RED ALERT.

Name the episode that contained the first interracial kiss on commercial TV and who was it?

Name the only episode where we see a phaser rifle

Name the episode that we see Floyd's Barber Shop from the Andy Griffith Show in downtown Mayberry

If you can not answer these questions you are not a true trekkie

Without any doubt, "Balance of Terror", wherein we are introduced to the Romulans and their obvious relation to the Vulcans. Of most importance,we see the parallel of the "Cold War", heating up to a "first strike" by a rival superpower, the reluctance to retaliate until granted approval, and the reasons retaliation is necessary. This was an intriguing episode which caputured most of the sentiments of the time.

As I was flipping through the channels a few months ago I stopped because I heard a lot of noises that sounded like Star Trek. I waited for a bit and found that all of this "red alert" and ship's comm stuff was actually a 1950's submarine movie. Quite an epiphany. Star Trek originally did VERY poorly when it was first aired because the hokey special effects were stolen from war movies and the hip boots and mini skirt uniforms were commonplace. Remember "the cage" and Spock's dopey tendency to echo commands like they do to relay someone's voice acrossed a noisy ship? They did that too in this movie, but the difference is that it made sense to do it on a ship at sea where it doesn't make sense to do it in the office like environment of the Enterprise bridge.

The revival of Star Trek comes much later after a younger generation starts viewing and is so far removed from WWII era movies that it all appears so strange and unusual. I like "By any other name". Kirk is forced to have sex with an alien Blonde to help populate their race. The first 10 times I saw this I never really understood. You see her face in soft-focus and seconds later Kirk is pulling his boots on! In my youth I was too naive to catch this, but now I find it hilarious!

Implied sex is more family friendly than what we see on TV these days.

-Dan

DS9 takes the cake for me - staying in one place with recurring characters (good and bad) just make for a rich environment. B5 fans also know of this.

My favorite episode, though? In the Pale Moonlight. Also called Sisko's soliloquy.

Web

My favorite was when McCoy went back through the time portal and changed history and Kirk and Spock followed him through. Kirk fell in love with the subject who was the crux of the history change. The most emotional part was after Kirk stopped McCoy from saving her and Bones asked if he knew what he had just done...Spock intoned (emotionally, for a Vulcan)"he knows doctor...he knows...

Yes, "The City on the Edge of Forever" was probably the best-written Kirk-era episode; I have always wondered what Harlan Ellison's original script was for it, as there were forced changes he was very angry about.

My sentimental favorite is probably "The Corbomite Maneuver," a mind-game episode that introduced poker-style bluffing to Trek in one of its very first episodes (which I watched as they first aired in the '60's). I really like the relationship developed in the end between Kirk and Balok, who incidentally was played by child actor Clint Howard, movie director Ron Howard's younger brother!

"Yes, we are very much alike, Captain; both proud of our ships."

I was a young boy when this episode aired. New to TV and Sci-Fi this episode for me was the most tramatic thing I had ever seen on TV. Nowdays the terminator frightens little kids, in my day it was The Doomsday Machine. Now that I see it I laugh, but back then I cowered in fear. It was a great experience and the whole family could not wait for the next episode. Go MR. Spock.

Does it have to be an episode? The best is The Cage. It's the original pilot. About 70 minutes long. It was then recut into the only two-part episode titled The Menagerie. Original pilot was never aired. I saw Rodenberry speak at Stanford U. in the early 70's. Talking about the studio exec comments on the movie: they said "lose the alien and put a man in as second in command, no one will ever believe a woman could be in command". He said "I promoted one and married the other".

I gotta agree that Dr. Who is the best. Been watching it since the first Doctor. But, as to the Daleks kicking Kirk's butt, who's gonna be afraid of a bad guy that can't use the stairs?

Best babes were, IMHO, Nicola Bryant (always wore those halter top things) and Lala Ward (Romana II).
K9 got left with Romana II in the land of the cat people when she left the show. In reality, K9 was just too slow moving and slowed the production of the program

I often cite "Spock's Brain" in training classes as representative of the users expereince once they return from the training venue. For me the salient points are when Mckoy put on the "teacher", falls to his knees then rises proclaiming "Of course - its child's play! Anyone can restore a brain". Alas this is followed later by Scotties dry observation that "Looks like he's slowing down". Then we hear Bones complain "So many nerves and ganglia - nobody can restore a brain...

The first episode mentioned was called, "The Changeling." The original Star Trek movie borrowed the same theme, (ancient space probe merges with other machine to create new and potentially hostile life form) but didn't carry it off nearly so well.

The second episode was very disturbing, kind of a commentary on the Cold War, where Kirk had been to the planet and remembered it as sort of a paradise, but had to help introduce war and war technology to it because the Klingons were already there doing the same to subvert it to their side of any coming war.

Disturbing stuff, especially when Kirk decides to violate the Prime Directive because the Klingon intervention had made it a moot point, and because it was necessary. In exactly the same way that third-world countries got wrapped up in the Cold War, even though the real conflict had nothing to do with them.

Of course, Klingons trying subversion rather than direct attack always seemed like a false note.

Hands down. No contest. (IMO)

The episode had everything -- drama, suspense, irony, top performances by the actors being true to their characters, great direction, effective lighting, and a connection with real life. And let's not forget the great performance by a young, unwrinkled, pre-botoxed Joan Collins.

"The Earth is Hollow and I Have
Touched the Sky": yet another story based on the man- made planet theme is one of my faves... book by Edward Bryant and Harlan Ellison: Phoenix Without Ashes(same theme) is worth a read!

TOS (to borrow Trek terminology) went thusly:
1st Doctor: William Hartnell 1963-66
2nd Doctor: Patrick Troughton 1966-69
3rd Doctor: Jon Pertwee 1970-74
4th Doctor: Tom Baker 1974-81
5th Doctor: Peter Davison 1981-84
6th Doctor: Colin Baker 1984-86
7th Doctor: Sylvester McCoy 1987-89
TV Movie:
8th Doctor: Paul McGann 1996 (cameo by McCoy)
New Series
9th Doctor: Christopher Eccleston 2005
10th Doctor: David Tennant 2005-
Hope to see more of the new series in the US!

They treated Scotty like a bumbling and doddering old fool, with Jordi's impatience and arrogance.
When you stop and think of just WHO it was that Jordi LaForge was standing in front of?, you would think that a little more awe and respect would have been forthcoming. Instead they just about do everything to make Sotty look like a slacker who'd been lying all those years to Kirk, telling him it would take twice the amount of time to repair anything and then doing it in half the time, thereby looking like a hero.Based on a joke in one of the Movies"The Voyage Home". This wasn't Scotty.Scotty didn't have to cheat, or lie or in any way deceive his Captain.Don't forget,Scotty was the first, the Finest and set the mold for all Starfleet Engineers.
And I really didn't appreciate Laforge's impertinence and impatience, He can thank God it wasn't me, As much as I like Jordi, he would have ended up on his A.....s in the circuitry. Then come Picard who's best line was upon viewing "the bridge that started it all" and the best he can mutter is " Hmm....Constitution Class" Then they have a drink.Where Scotty make the statement that his time is over. I didn't agree.
This was by far the worst written episodes in all of the Star Trek STNG Voyager saga.
The Actors did what they were told, I'd shoot the writer and the idiots who let it get on the air.
Scotty was many things, but he was no liar,nor was he a deceiver and he certainly could have been treated with far more diplomacy and courtesy. They treated him like crap. Thank you Michael Pillar & Co.
This and the Voyager Episode "Deadlock" where 2 Voyagers' Interlock and Harry is Killed.
Nobody even blinks an eye, we know that there the original Harry's body,floating around out there in empty Space . The same space as the damaged Voyager,yet nobody gives a damn?.
What we see is Janeway and the New Harry walking and talking as though nothing had happened.
We now they aren't going after Harry's body. Cute huh?
These then are probably the worst episodes ever written and should be destroyed.
I'm surprised that of all people, "Majel Barrett" never said anything about this, I always thought she had a stronger sense of fair play.SHE was Mrs Star Trek,Wasn't she?
Where was her mouth when they were making a fool of Scotty? Or trying.
What did they do with the "Star Trek Bible?"
Allow me to close my rant by saying;
MR Scott & DR McKoy
R.I.P.
And
Captain Kirk et al,
We sure do miss you.
With Respect
Aaron

Okay, I give up; what's the link?

I have a few of those cans-tubes in my "toybox" every once in a while I check 'em out now that all we got are replacement cards- if we fix the stuff at all!

Im partial to "The Trouble with Tribbles"
but "Balance of Terror" is my fav, I like a good space battle.

BTW the Jack the ripper on is called "Wolf in the Fold" and cant think of the other one.

You are exactly right. Space is much too daunting not to lauagh now and then.

Peter David wrote a TNG book called Q Squared which explored the possibility that Trelane was a member of the Q Continuum. It is a good read and has some interesting plots.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-Squared

Amok Time from Original Series
Descent from Next Generation
Anything from DS9
Nothing from Voyager or Enterprise

Trouble with Tribbles.
Something inherently human, funny and humane about one of man's greatest contraptions, Enterprise, being completely undone by small furry beasts. Not to mention the crew's interaction with those beasties and their constant, human, refusal to employ cruel and inhumane methods to rid Enterprise of them.

If the tribbles had been single-eyed, furless and had fangs, the treatment would have been entirely different. Yet another human trait - perception and reaction.

This is a tough question for me to answer.

Just off the top of my head: Space Seed, Return of the Archons, City on the Edge of Forver, and Omega Glory...just to start with and widdle down.

However, if I could only watch one it would be the Space Seed...who can't love Khan...