News:

Thanks to everyone for the feedback on what errors you encountered from the forum database changes made in Fall 2023. Let us know if you discover anymore.

Main Menu

Star Trek: How many follow any of the franchises?

Started by roadman65, September 30, 2016, 10:58:05 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

dcharlie

#25
I was a little young to really appreciate the TOS when it aired.  But quickly grew to love it as I got older and after school re-runs played them all over and over. I found a seventh grade teacher who fostered that love as well. So by the time the movies started coming out I was able to drive and at that point anything new labeled Star Trek would have been great.  But my criticisms of the first movie grew as much better product was created later.  Star Trek 2 had every thing and as I sat teary eyed at the end thinking Spock was gone.  I thought it would never be the same.  Yet somehow, they managed to pull a plausible idea out of their hat and, all was as it was before.  Like most, I enjoyed the even numbered moves generally more than the odd ones.  ST5 I never really understood and was the first time noticed the acting wasn't as good. I do still chuckle at roasting Marshmelons!

While I did like TNG at first, I didn't love it and saw them pulling ideas from TOS when they could have done more. Thought McCoy's cameo in the 1st episode was awesome.  Hated the Ferengi as characters.  They weren't threatening and weren't funny. But season 2 and then season 3 changed all and was completely hooked by the time Best of Both Worlds played. The love lasted through the end and and into the TNG movies as well.

DS9 was a disappointment for me when it aired because we were in the Chicago area at that time and WGN aired it, as long as there were no Local sports teams playing in its time slot, which was almost never.  DVR's weren't out yet and I always had to try and figure out when they were going to run it and missed probably 80% of them.  But thanks to Netflix, have now seen them all and believe it stands up with TNG, so as to which is my favorite would be a tossup. Agree with many of the posts, could have done without the Bajoran spiritualism.

Had a similar situation With Voyager and Enterprise.  We chose not to get Satellite as we lived in the country outside Chicago and Channel 2, the local CBS affiliate, put out about as much power as your average Walkie Talkie.  I was able to pick up all the other channels just fine. So am going through Voyager now on Netflix.  While I am enjoying them, (currently starting season 6), it is probably my least favorite of the series.  But we will see.  Don't tell me how they get home!

While I couldn't watch Enterprise as it aired, I eventually found a way to download seasons 1 and 2 which I enjoyed.  Yes the Vulcans were a bit harsh, but there was no Prime directive and humans were pushing against Vulcan control.  But yet, Archer had a sense of the Prime Directive even as Humans were finding their way.  Found season 4 cheap on Blu-Ray and watched Season 3 on Netflix.  I didn't care for the Xindi Arch and hated how they turned the last episode into a TNG episode and only made it an hour.  But I loved Through the Mirror Darkly.  I thought Empress Sato was great! Would like to have seen another episode on that.  The theme and opening credits for those 2 episodes was awesome.

Have enjoyed all 3 new films and thought the New Universe Idea was handled pretty well though the concept of a ship that powerful falling into Miners hands was a bit far fetched. Khan, should have looked like Khan in Into Darkness and while the reversal of how Spock and Kirk did the same things as the other in The Wrath of Khan was interesting, would have liked it to maybe be  a bit more original.  Did enjoy the new movie as I thought they were finally heading out on their own.  However #4 will be sad with out Chekov because of Anton's tragedy.

So bottom line, there were hits and misses in them all, TNG and DS9 are my favorites, but I am proud to call myself a trekker!


vdeane

The Star Trek: Countdown comic tie-in to the 2009 movie (it's written by the same people who wrote the movie, as well as the Star Trek: Nero comic covering the intermediate years from Nero's perspective) expands on Spock's story and has the Narada getting upgraded before going back by the Tal Shiar with Borg technology.

I thought the 2009 movie was an interesting watch and had potential, though it was more fast-paced and actiony than I would have preferred.  Into Darkness I think could have been better without Khan; IMO the plot about Admiral Marcus was the stronger plotline, and shoehorning in Khan felt forced.  I've also noticed that both movies have a pointless action sequence at the end involving the Enterprise losing power and falling into an object's gravity.  Also, I found it interesting that someone earlier compared the levels of professionalism between TOS and TNG; it's even lower for the new movies, which look like you took a bunch of frat boys and stuck them on a spaceship (oh wait).  Can't comment on Beyond since I haven't seen it yet.

My favorites are currently TNG and Voyager.  I like how DS9 was serialized and allowed us to get to know one area and watch history unfold; IMO Voyager could have been better if they had gone serialized.  I think that was actually the plan, originally, and then the executives insisted on making it more like TNG.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Life in Paradise

Have enjoyed the entire group of series since about 1970.  I have a fondness for the original series, but I like Deep Space Nine the best due to the very ingenious characterizations used in the show.  I also liked the most recent movie (ST: Beyond).  I felt of the new crew, it felt most like the old time Star Trek.  Just wish it would have been a major hit at the box office.

FYI-If you ever watch over the air digital TV (or if you are fortunate enough to have this channel on your cable), a network called H & I (Heroes and Icons) is rerunning every single series (including the animated) on Sunday through Friday evenings.  It's worth a look, and it sure does help keep the late night work from getting boring.

PHLBOS

This might sound archaic; but one still can get seasons of each show on DVDs (I have all TOS on such).  That way, one can watch them at their own convenience and see them uncut.  Syndicated reruns of shows, especially older shows; usually have pieces of them cut out due to accommodate commercial times.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

Life in Paradise

Apparently, at least for this run, H & I is running the original Star Trek without cuts.  I did time one of them, and although I screwed up my timing, I know that they ran over 48 minutes of program.  The syndicated cuts have it down to 42-44 minutes, and I think the original was up around 50.

vtk

Quote from: PHLBOS on October 04, 2016, 08:55:08 AM
This might sound archaic; but one still can get seasons of each show on DVDs (I have all TOS on such).  That way, one can watch them at their own convenience and see them uncut. 

Get the remastered Blu-Rays if your TV is big.
Wait, it's all Ohio? Always has been.

SP Cook

I have watched the shows, but do not go all crazy like these convention goers or people that know insane trivia or write their own "non-canon" stories.

IMHO,

TOS was quite good, although not enough attention was paid to keeping the back story consistant from week to week.  Some of its best shows were among the best sci-fi ever, but some of the 3rd season ones were mistakes. 

The under noted amimated series was also very good, but suffered because they had to tow the fine line on violent themes and sex because of network rules about cartoons.

The Next Generation was, at its best, better than the original.  Unfortunatly its best was not nearly most of the time.  It would take off three or four episodes per year to preach Hollyweird's far-left idiocy; and it would just recycle the same plots after a while.  The re-boot of the Klingons from odd-colored but otherwise human-looking people who conducted themselves like the commies in TOS to the lizzard looking warrior-society with all of this complex ethos, trying to mimic Islam was a mistake.  Just make up some other alien. 

Voyager was not bad, although unrealistic even by sci-fi standards.  If you are suddenly 75 years from home, you find an empty planet and start making babies.

Deep Space Nine was the darkest of the shows.  The analogy between Israel and Palestine and/or commies and those recently freed from it was sometimes over-played.  It is never explained (in this or any other show) why a society that just "replicates" everything needs to trade. 

Enterprise was a good concept, but poorly executed.  The 3rd and 4th season which just made a too obvious parallel to 9-11 and preached about it was poor.

The TOS movies were so so.  1 sucked, 2, 3 and 4 were quite good, 5 and 6 were preach fests.  The TNG movies had two very good ones (the first two) and two preach-fests. 

The "reboot" is idiocy. 

Rothman

Not a huge fan; don't hate it either, except...

I'm finally getting around to seeing the movies with the TNG cast (First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis; already saw Generations).  There's only one word to describe fans of these movies, and that's "apologists" ("Oh, First Contact isn't that bad," they say).  They're really mediocre and quite narrow in their scope:  They seem tailored for fans of the TV series rather than a broader audience like all the other Star Trek films.

Saw a bunch of TNG, one or two of DS9 and a few of Voyager.  Caught a few scenes of Enterprise.  *shrug*

Seems to me that Voyager became all about watching Jeri Ryan fit into her costume as well. :D

I suppose I should say I like the movies in the reboot, although I haven't seen Beyond yet.  I'll get around to it, but reviews make me a little reluctant.

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

cl94

Quote from: Rothman on October 04, 2016, 12:16:42 PM
Seems to me that Voyager became all about watching Jeri Ryan fit into her costume as well. :D

I suppose I should say I like the movies in the reboot, although I haven't seen Beyond yet.  I'll get around to it, but reviews make me a little reluctant.

Completely agree about Voyager, although the stuff before Seven of Nine showed up was pretty good. Love the theory it proposed about various historical disappearances.

I saw Beyond the weekend it came out and thought it was pretty good. Mixed the good parts about the original cast movies and the reboots.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

PHLBOS

#34
While I'm not really a fan of it; TNG was the first sci-fi series based in the US* to run beyond 3 seasons.  Prior to then; sci-fi TV shows, including TOS, would last only 2 to 3 seasons.

*British series Dr. Who being the lone exception at the time.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

Rothman

Quote from: PHLBOS on October 04, 2016, 01:37:00 PM
While I'm not really a fan of it; TNG was the first sci-fi series to run beyond 3 seasons.  Prior to then; sci-fi TV shows, including TOS, would last only 2 to 3 seasons.

Baloney.  By the time TNG was around, Doctor Who had 23 seasons under its belt!
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

cl94

Quote from: Rothman on October 04, 2016, 01:56:00 PM
Quote from: PHLBOS on October 04, 2016, 01:37:00 PM
While I'm not really a fan of it; TNG was the first sci-fi series to run beyond 3 seasons.  Prior to then; sci-fi TV shows, including TOS, would last only 2 to 3 seasons.

Baloney.  By the time TNG was around, Doctor Who had 23 seasons under its belt!

Doctor Who is the exception. It is also one of the longest-running BBC shows. What's crazy is that, even now, it is still a great show.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

PHLBOS

Quote from: Rothman on October 04, 2016, 01:56:00 PM
Quote from: PHLBOS on October 04, 2016, 01:37:00 PMWhile I'm not really a fan of it; TNG was the first sci-fi series based in the US* to run beyond 3 seasons.  Prior to then; sci-fi TV shows, including TOS, would last only 2 to 3 seasons.

*British series Dr. Who being the lone exception at the time.

Baloney.  By the time TNG was around, Doctor Who had 23 seasons under its belt!
Previous post corrected per above.  Truth be told, I never heard of the Dr. Who series until very recently.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

Rothman

Quote from: PHLBOS on October 04, 2016, 01:37:00 PM
While I'm not really a fan of it; TNG was the first sci-fi series based in the US* to run beyond 3 seasons.  Prior to then; sci-fi TV shows, including TOS, would last only 2 to 3 seasons.

*British series Dr. Who being the lone exception at the time.
Quote from: PHLBOS on October 04, 2016, 02:02:57 PM
Quote from: Rothman on October 04, 2016, 01:56:00 PM
Quote from: PHLBOS on October 04, 2016, 01:37:00 PMWhile I'm not really a fan of it; TNG was the first sci-fi series based in the US* to run beyond 3 seasons.  Prior to then; sci-fi TV shows, including TOS, would last only 2 to 3 seasons.

*British series Dr. Who being the lone exception at the time.

Baloney.  By the time TNG was around, Doctor Who had 23 seasons under its belt!
Previous post corrected per above.  Truth be told, I never heard of the Dr. Who series until very recently.

Captain Video and His Video Rangers ran for five or six seasons in the '40s, albeit targeting kids only.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Rothman

Quote from: cl94 on October 04, 2016, 01:58:54 PM
Quote from: Rothman on October 04, 2016, 01:56:00 PM
Quote from: PHLBOS on October 04, 2016, 01:37:00 PM
While I'm not really a fan of it; TNG was the first sci-fi series to run beyond 3 seasons.  Prior to then; sci-fi TV shows, including TOS, would last only 2 to 3 seasons.

Baloney.  By the time TNG was around, Doctor Who had 23 seasons under its belt!

Doctor Who is the exception. It is also one of the longest-running BBC shows. What's crazy is that, even now, it is still a great show.

Yeah, it's an exception, but broad statements are easy targets. :D
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

US 81

Quote from: PHLBOS on October 04, 2016, 01:37:00 PM
While I'm not really a fan of it; TNG was the first sci-fi series based in the US* to run beyond 3 seasons.  Prior to then; sci-fi TV shows, including TOS, would last only 2 to 3 seasons.

*British series Dr. Who being the lone exception at the time.

Perhaps also say "non-anthology." Twilight Zone = 5 seasons.

But none of us here on this forum nitpick. ;-)

kkt

Quote from: SP Cook on October 04, 2016, 12:04:07 PM
I have watched the shows, but do not go all crazy like these convention goers or people that know insane trivia or write their own "non-canon" stories.

IMHO,

TOS was quite good, although not enough attention was paid to keeping the back story consistant from week to week.  Some of its best shows were among the best sci-fi ever, but some of the 3rd season ones were mistakes. 

Yes, though as I rewatch them in the last couple of months after not seeing them for probably 30 years, I've finding a lot more that makes me cringe as I watch it, even in an episode that's relatively good.  For instance, I just rewatched "The Enterprise Incident," in which the Enterprise under secret orders, enters Romulan space and snatches away their improved cloaking device.  It was good because the Romulan captain had excellent stage presence, and excellent chemistry with Spock.  But the parts that made me cringe:  Starfleet is supposed to be the good guys, but they made an unprovoked invasion into Romulan space, lied about it being a navigational error, Spock deceived the Romulan captain about possibly defecting the the Romulans and possible romantic interest in the captain, they stole Romulan property when there was peace (however uneasy) between the Federation and the Romulans, the Romulan captain was easily deceived making it hard to believe she could have risen to command a group of ships, lax security aboard the Romulan ship.

That's one of the better episodes, I could easily have picked one whose only redeeming feature was a clever line or two.

Quote
The under noted amimated series was also very good, but suffered because they had to tow the fine line on violent themes and sex because of network rules about cartoons.

I see other problems with the animated series.  The half hour format didn't allow them to go into any depth at all, considering they still had the "alien of the week" format.  It's hard enough to present a little bit of an alien culture in a 50 minute episode, let alone a 25 minute one.  Also, I am okay with less sex and violence, but the children in the audience also limited the complexity of the characters that could be presented.  Antagonists who also had good sides, protagonists who also had flaws, etc., are a lot harder for kids to understand.

Quote
The Next Generation was, at its best, better than the original.  Unfortunatly its best was not nearly most of the time.  It would take off three or four episodes per year to preach Hollyweird's far-left idiocy; and it would just recycle the same plots after a while.  The re-boot of the Klingons from odd-colored but otherwise human-looking people who conducted themselves like the commies in TOS to the lizzard looking warrior-society with all of this complex ethos, trying to mimic Islam was a mistake.  Just make up some other alien. 

I like what they did with the Klingons.  The blackface makeup of TOS wasn't that great, and the uniforms looked cheap.  I like how they fleshed out the warrior culture, which doesn't make me think of Islam at all.

Quote
Voyager was not bad, although unrealistic even by sci-fi standards.  If you are suddenly 75 years from home, you find an empty planet and start making babies.

Deep Space Nine was the darkest of the shows.  The analogy between Israel and Palestine and/or commies and those recently freed from it was sometimes over-played.  It is never explained (in this or any other show) why a society that just "replicates" everything needs to trade. 

It was an occupation.  It could be Palestine/Israel, or Poland/Nazi Germany, or India/Britain, or Algeria/France, etc.

They did say in a few places that replicators had their limits.  Some things can't be replicated, like latinum.  Replication is an energy intensive process so replicating your starship wouldn't be practical.

Quote
Enterprise was a good concept, but poorly executed.  The 3rd and 4th season which just made a too obvious parallel to 9-11 and preached about it was poor.

The TOS movies were so so.  1 sucked, 2, 3 and 4 were quite good, 5 and 6 were preach fests.  The TNG movies had two very good ones (the first two) and two preach-fests. 

The "reboot" is idiocy. 

The movies are at a disadvantage.  They have to attract a much bigger market share than TV, so they have to aimed at an audience that hasn't watched Star Trek much.  So they spend screen time that's tedious to the fans explaining what they already know, or even worse, like the reboot, calling movies Star Trek that are actually some parallel universe almost entirely UNlike Star Trek.

vtk

Quote from: cl94 on October 04, 2016, 01:16:24 PM
Completely agree about Voyager, although the stuff before Seven of Nine showed up was pretty good. Love the theory it proposed about various historical disappearances.

Are you referring to the S2 episode "The 37s", or a broader theme that I missed?
Wait, it's all Ohio? Always has been.

US 81

Quote from: hbelkins on October 03, 2016, 12:18:38 PM
Count me among those (probably very few) who wasn't crazy about the movies with the original cast. The idea to give Klingons knotted heads was goofy, since they didn't have them in the original series.

And the recast original series? No, just no. There is no Kirk but Shatner, and Nimoy is his first officer.

"...and Scotty beamed them onto the Klingon ship, where they would be no tribble at all."

"All power to the engines!"

[from the church of Trek]

cl94

Quote from: vtk on October 05, 2016, 01:34:25 PM
Quote from: cl94 on October 04, 2016, 01:16:24 PM
Completely agree about Voyager, although the stuff before Seven of Nine showed up was pretty good. Love the theory it proposed about various historical disappearances.

Are you referring to the S2 episode "The 37s", or a broader theme that I missed?

Yes, I am. Didn't feel like looking it up on Memory Alpha when I made the post.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

triplemultiplex

One of my favorite TNG episodes was "The Devil's Due" where the Enterprise crew exposes a scam that plays on some planet's own mythology about a deal with the devil.  A great story about skeptical inquiry preventing one from being exploited.

I like baseball and there was a lot good references throughout DS9, but "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" was a lot of fun.  Although every reference to the "London Kings" made my skin crawl just a little. :-D
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

In_Correct

Quote from: roadman65 on September 30, 2016, 10:58:05 PM
I always loved Star Trek and Star Trek TNG.  It was always interesting to watch the original series with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy as well as the six movies with the original cast.  Then also with TNG, it was neat with Picard, Riker, and all the supporting cast characters like Worf, Data, Geordi, Deanna, and Dr. Crusher.  Both had their own identities and even though both were on missions to discover new worlds and new civilizations and boldly go where no one has gone before, they had their own differences.

In the original, most episodes were centered around Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. In the TNG, you had it around everyone pretty much, and many episodes had multiple story lines where in the original there was only one story.  Also in the first series you had a second officer who doubled as the Science Officer, where in the second series you had the second officer only as such and had more authority over the crew.  Remember Will Riker had his own chair along with the Captain's chair whereas Spock had his seat on the side of the bridge manning the science station.  Also you never seen both Picard and Riker be on the same away team like you did Kirk and Spock.  In addition Riker did not show any doubts like Spock did when he was in command.  Spock always had to state his reasoning to the crew, that was always based on logic, while Riker just executed his commands.

I was wondering if there are any other Trekees here, and what shows did you like and what were your favorite episodes?

Mine was The Inner Light on TNG where Picard lived another life on a planet that died centuries ago when its sun went nova.  He was gone for only twenty minutes in real time, but he actually lived over 30 years as Kamin, a resident of that planet, in those twenty minutes and had a family during his tenor as his alter ego.

On the Original it had to be the one where Kirk and Spock went back to the 1930's to fix history as McCoy accidentally created an alternate time line when he went back in time to the same period.  I do not know the name of the episode, but it featured Joan Collins in it where Kirk, falls in love with her, only to have to let her die to allow their own timeline to exist which if she had lived the US would have lost World War II and there would be no space program and eventually no Enterprise for them to be part of.

I will try to keep this as short as possible.

There are many things I like about Star Trek and there are many things that I do not like about Star Trek.

Star Trek had always been on The Drawing Board since the early 1960s, around the time of "Space Angel".
In 1964, it was filmed in Live Action Colour which is impressive for 1964, when Colour was expensive and optional. The pilot episode was perhaps one of the best episodes. At a little over an hour long, I like to consider it a movie. Too bad there aren't that many end credits to it. Even though it is 1964, the sets looked extremely futuristic. I really love those sets. The automatic doors are supposed to be Brushed Metal. with the Blu Ray release, it seems they are painted wood, but still look very futuristic. You get to see the ceilings of The Star Ship Enterprise. And that is some type of round dark blue ceiling. It is very impressive. The Uniforms are a more neutral colour, with dark grey coats that resemble Star Trek: Deep Space 9's uniforms, even though this was 1964!! I also like the transparent electronic devices. And they have Gooseneck Viewescreens. Some of the sound effects (such as the Whistling sensor alert) are annoying, but there is little to complain about. No Main Engineering in this episode. I assume the large man in the transporter room (two were operating the transporter) one could have been Chief Engineer. While there was no bickering between Spock & McCoy, there was bickering between Number One and Yeoman Colt. (Also, Spock is in this episode. He is in every episode.) Even though from what I remember, the character was created for Gene's mistress, but she is still a very tallented actress and that is my favourite of her four characters. I also found the plot to be very interesting.

Another, Where No Man Has Gone Before, has a very interesting plot. A man and woman are struck and now have beautiful silver eyes. They also have a very confident personality, and think themselves inferior to The Enterprise. The second pilot, has already changed some of the set designs to obvious Hippie Colours, making the sets now appear very low quality. But also they still have the Round Ceilings, and the transparent devices, and a few Gooseneck Viewscreens. The uniforms are still a neutral colour. Also, this is the first on screen bridge appearance of a Black Man, who later starred in Room 221. This person was replaced in the next episode by Nichelle Nichols.

The rest of the episodes have walls that become more purple with each new episode. But one of my favourites are The Squire Of Gothos, with Trelane, William Campbell, and this plot seems to be reused in TNG episode Hide And Q.

Another episode I like, is "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" Dr. Miranda Jones, (Diana Muldaur, who also played numerous characters, all of them Doctors) has a disability and she does not want anybody to know about it because they will give her pity when she does not want the extra attention and fake emotional reaction. Episodes such as these are absolutely beautiful. (I also like the story arc of Magda The Gypsy from Dark Shadows, about the character in distress that she helps. ... And The Rookies Episode "A Farewell Tree From Marly", Miss Honey and Matilda Wormwood, InuYasha and Jinenji from episode "Jinenji, Kind Yet Sad", and a few episodes where Hetty Wainthropp stands up for disabled people.)

But to wrap up TOS, I used to not like it until they made the remastered episodes. Unfortunately they did not do very much Colour Correction. The walls are still purple.

As for Star Trek: The Animated Series,

was created around similar Science Fiction "Gatchaman". Compare the two. While Gatchaman, produced in Japan had a Star Trek level of violence, Animation aired in USA 1970s was "meant for small children" and also unfortunately Star Trek TAS did not have many episodes. Some scenes are beautifully animated, while others are extremely cheap. Some people also don't like TAS, but the technology and planet surfaces improved.

Star Trek: TMP
is one of the best movies, but the plot is extremely slow. It takes them half the movie to depart for the mission. But what I like about TMP is a return to Brushed Metal, neutral colour, futuristic look. They also used jackets for Away Teams. The Enterprise goes into warp for the very first time, with streaks of lights surrounding The Enterprise. This is the only time they used this effect and it is very sad that it disappeared entirely from TNG onwards.

The Other Star Trek TOS Films:
It is too bad that there weren't more of them. It would be nice if they had STILL decided to make Phase II along with the films. I can't help but wonder.

TNG:

My favourite character is Worf Son Of Mogh. He is an Orphan, and discovers that his father is an accused traitor. His father is dead, and Worf has to be punished for crimes that neither he nor his father committed. Also, Worf has some of the best lines such as "Good Tea. Nice House." or smashing the lute.

It was a very nice programme, but was getting worse and worse each season. If you are able to understand my very long sentences, you can guess I like the lighting styles of the early episodes. The walls were brushed metal with the exception of The Main Bridge cherry wood computer chip panels. (I also like Cherry Wood.) The lighting was much more of a Natural Light and looked very futuristic. After "The Ensigns Of Command", the lighting became brighter and brighter. By the time "Tin Man" was made, it looks horribly bright. TNG's music originally matched TOS, but this infuriated Rick Berman. As his power increased, he became involved with creating a repetitive music. Few episodes after season 4 had acceptable music. There are a few exceptions such as "Face Of The Enemy" and "The Pegasus" and "Frame Of Mind" and "Masks" and "Aquiel" and of course any of the spooky episodes.

Some thing I do not like is the casting changes.

TNG had too many people for one position and none for the other. When they tried to fill the positions, none of the characters remained.

Chief Engineer was a recurring position that they should have hired somebody to be part of the main cast. As a result, Picard always said "Engineering?! Why don't you answer?!" The first Chief was acceptable, plus the high ranking Leland T. Lynch. The worst one of all is Logan, who only existed to annoy Geordi and did absolutely nothing with Engineering despite calling himself Chief Engineer. The remaining one is Argyle, who speaks with a Scottish or Canadian accent and has a beard and just resembles some person from some very cold forest in Canada or Alaska. He appeared in two episodes, mentioned in another, and sounds similar to the guy answering the intercom in "Hide And Q". I would like to have seen things work out with the cast, but there were many casting problems that resulted in Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) and Beverly (Cheryl Gates McFadden) leaving. I read (an essay by Wil Wheaton) that Biff Yeager jeopardized the chances of being hired permanently by (allegedly) responding to the saying "Your character will become permanent if there is overwhelming fan mail supporting him." by writing fan mail to himself and launching an unauthorized survey of which chief engineer should be part of the cast.

Worf and Deanna were absent in several episodes of Season 1.

There appeared to be two security officers. The Chief Of Security, and Worf assisting her. Worf also appeared to be one of the three Navigators. Geordi and Wesley were the other two.

When Geordi became The Go-To Chief Engineer (with MacDougal, Argyle, and Lynch as auxillary staff according to the Remastered episode of Galaxy's Child), Wesley took over but left in the middle of Season 4. There was a revolving door of navigators. They probably wanted to hire Rosalind Chao or Michelle Forbes, but neither character appeared in that many episodes. (And Rosalind's character was not even in Star Fleet.) Other navigators are Allenby, Anaya, Reager, and Gates. Gates appeared in the most episodes, with the least words.

Guinan: Should have been in many more episodes.

Selar: Played by Suzie Plakson (one of many characters), having auxillary Doctors on board was something from TOS. Obviously a tallented actress and should have appeared in more episodes.

Despite all these casting problems, Colm Meaney was in two episodes, appeared in following seasons, and is on the main cast of DS9.

Now that I have finished with casting criticisms, I am going to talk about Character Criticisms:

Wesley: You have to read between the lines to understand why Wesley is there. He is basically the godson of Captain Picard. This seems to be very similar to a TOS episode about Kirk and the son of Kirk's now deceased captain. Since Picard ordered Wesley's father to his death, Wesley looks up to Picard, whether he likes it or not. Eventually he lets Wesley save the ship, while other times Wesley's experiments put the ship in danger. In Journey's End, Wesley interferes with the mission. Even though I am considering Wesley to be the godson of Picard, I still think Wesley is somewhat annoying.

Pulaski: I understand that Muldaur is a tallented actress and that Pulaski played an important character development for Data, but I don't like perms and her Old Country Doctor style is best for Leonard H. Bones McCoy Son Of David. I understand that Data's rights and freedoms were hinted at in in episodes "The Battle", "Datalore", and "Skin Of Evil" but sometimes I think she was over-acting. On the other hand, she was excellent at Klingon culture which is impressive. Also, I consider her to be the long lost grandmother or long lost aunt of Tasha Yar.

Geordi: Became somewhat nosey digging through logs of women that he eventually dated (or almost dated). His VISOR was made from painted Banana Clips, which gave Levar headaches. I am very surprised that Star Trek didn't envision (pun not intended) Google Glasses. They envisioned diskettes and Memory Stick Pro, but why not Google Glasses?! At the same time (1987), BraveStarr characters used Google Glasses, including one that was blind.


DS9:

I like seeing O'Brien and Worf return.

I also like The Ferengi.

I like Jake Sisko.

And Bashir.

Those are my favourites. The other characters I like equally.

The one I like the least is "Old Man" Dax, and I somewhat dislike Sisko for this reason.

As for the lighting, It seems to be not as bright as Tin Man, but not as sleek as early episodes of TNG, etc.

The music is usually Just There. Some soundtracks are nicer than others.

The plot became extremely dark towards the end of the programme. I did not like that.

Voyager:

I cannot help but wonder what Genevieve Bujold's Nicole Janeway would have been like, if she had only remembered her lines. Her acting for Voyager became more Spock Like while Mulgrew's acting at times very much resembled Jim Kirk, even having the same sly smile. I do not hate Mulgrew's Janeway but there are times that I think her character should have been as tough as Ro Laren, Kira Nerys, B'Ellanna Torres, etc. even though you can still tell that she was doing her best to remain calm in a difficult position. I also thought that Katheryn Janeway was created specifically for KATE Mulgrew, as many TV Programmes are. (Mary Richards character being named after Mary Tyler Moore, etc.) As for the actress Kate Mulgrew, I noticed some behind the scenes footage of Mulgrew rolling her eyes at the new woman Jeri Ryan. I guess Mulgrew felt rejected if others thought that her lead character was not sufficient. And In-Universe, Seven being Borg, possesses knowledge of being a Star Fleet Captain that if they let her have a Star Fleet Commission just by taking the final exams, she would pass easily. I like that they added In-Universe bickering based on the behind the scenes bickering. You can see this in the Season 4 episodes.

Also, I think that both the actress and character Seven are one of my favourites.

As for the character Ryan / Seven inadvertently replaced, the actress was fine but the character was not. A short-lived alien species that would have aged considerably by the end of the series, I actually agree that this character should have been replaced, or not written as such.

I also like Tim Russ and Tuvok. While he is not Spock, I enjoyed Tuvok's moments of insanity. My least favourite episode about Tuvok is Tuvix.

The Doctor (Both Robert Picardo and Andy Dick).

My two least favourites are:

Chakotay. Especially when he was at odds with Tuvok. Especially his chanting about being away from the bones of his ancestors.

My absolute least favourite character is Tom Paris, and perhaps Robert Duncan MacNeill. When the ship is low on resources, and no mention of The Aeroshuttle, it is much better for Tom to have his own personal AND CUSTOM vehicle. The original Delta Flyer has customized controls. The new Delta Flyer has even more customized controls and redesigned furniture. He also uses their limited energy to build an old television set, and many other things. Janeway should not have given him so much freedom. But perhaps it is just 1990s television where such characters get the most lines.

As for lighting. It is acceptable, but still no Star Trek of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The music improves significantly during some episodes, but others are horrible.


TNG Films:


They kill Kirk, destroy The Enterprise D, and make Data hysterical.

And in the next one they rip half Data's face off.

The third one they continue to torture Data.

The fourth one, they kill him.

Enterprise:

I haven't watched it yet.

Revivals:

I think that Kelvin Star Trek is very silly. And disappointing. I want to know what happened to Number One?! I assume that she left The Enterprise before Jim Kirk took command and transferred to the cybernetics division of Star Fleet, where she provided the voice for many computers.


Star Trek Discovery:


I am disappointed that they have a limited amount of episodes, and I am hoping that they return to the lighting cinematography style of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. I also hope that the suspenseful music returns instead of the boring 1990s music.


Unofficial Revivals:


Star Trek Phase II New Voyages: Some of these movies are terrible, while others are perfect. The acting is comparable to TOS, and so is the lighting and music. I also enjoy seeing the TMP Warp Drive effect again.


I think that wraps it up. With moderators participating in the discussion instead of just Moderating at TrekBBS (Saying "My opinion is right. Now I will lock the discussion."), and with Memory Alpha being a part of Wikia which changed its name to Fandom, I really don't read about nor talk about Star Trek that much.








Drive Safely. :sombrero: Ride Safely. And Build More Roads, Rails, And Bridges. :coffee: ... Boulevards Wear Faster Than Interstates.

cl94

Yeah...I might be dressed in a TOS engineer uniform today. Professors love it and the department chair wanted a picture with me.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

PHLBOS

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the internet-only series Star Trek Continues.  It's essentially what a possible 4th Season TOS would look like.  Scotty is played by Chris Doohan; James Doohan's son.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G-ziTBAkbQ
GPS does NOT equal GOD

Life in Paradise

Not to mention that the screen shot you have there also has the original actor who played Apollo in the original series in the 1960s, inserting him into the same role.  ST Continues and it's related series also included some of the original writers, and had episodes with George Takei and Walter Koenig.  Some of the acting was cheesy by some of the neophytes, but the episodes were well written, and sets and effects were well done, especially when you compare the budget (almost nothing) to current day television budgets, even for cheap cable channels.



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.