The Star Trek thread

[Damar]

So I haven't seen one of these around and I've been holding off on making one, but now's as good a time as any.  Who else here is a Star Trek fan?  Let's discuss!  Anything is up for discussion, from favorite captain, to favorite episodes, to favorite characters, to favorite series, to whether or not you liked the latest cinematic attempt that managed to retcon everything I ever loved and grew up with.

So come and join me because I can literally discuss Star Trek all day!  And hey, even if you don't know that much about the show, feel free to join in anyway.  I will explain to you why Picard is better than Kirk, why Deep Space 9 is brilliant television, why Damar is the greatest secondary character in all of Star Trek, and why the Klingons are still hands down the best villains the Federation ever faced (yes, even better than the Borg!)  Tell me I'm not the only trek nerd here!

[kindofdoon]

I never got into Star Trek, but I plan to. Where's a good place to start?

[waltzdancing]

Oh no, you are so not the only one. I'm a huge Star Trek fan as well as DD, who will show up eventually.   Nice to meet you Damar! Let's boldy go where no forum has gone before.  

[Damar]

It depends, Doon.  A purist would tell you to start at the beginning, but you've got to have a love of 1960's sci-fi if you're going to start with the original series.  There are some good episodes, but it's dated and a number of episodes are just not great.  Next Generation is outstanding, however season one was...well...as a Next Generation fan, I don't like to discuss season one of TNG.  They didn't really find their stride until season 3.  I would say if you can suffer through some lackluster and sometimes laughable t.v., start at the beginning of Next Generation, otherwise I'd suggest watching at season 3, where they start to take off.  Deep Space 9 requires some passing knowledge of some events in Next Generation at least for the beginning and understanding the magnitude of where the main character is coming from and what he went through.  So I wouldn't suggest starting there.  If you do start at the beginning from TNG, just keep in mind that it gets so much better than season one and two.  So, so much better.

[Haids1987]

LOL!  I'm not into Star Trek either, but I have a feeling I might get into it if I watched it.

Big Star Wars freak, though.

[kindofdoon]

So...watch them in the order they came out. Got it.

[Ravager]

I am not a Star Trek fan, but you guys might be interested in this:

http://s8.org/gargoyles/blog/

It's a series of videos with Frakes and Sirtis on Dragon*Con, although it kinda deviated toward Gargoyles-related subjects...

[Damar]

Yep.  Though if the original series is too campy and dated, you can move on to Next Generation without missing a beat.  And if season one of TNG is just too much to handle, you can move on to season two or three as there's not much to be missed (more or less.  There are some introductions of recurring characters or alien races, but those episodes are in the minority.)  Next Generation is very much stand alone and episodic, particularly in the beginning.  Deep Space 9 is where they started doing over arching plots and you can't skip episodes.  They later went back to stand alone episodes with Voyager.

[waltzdancing]

Yeah, Doon, watching them in the release order is the only way to really understand what is going on. I grew up watching Captain Kirk and Picard, and loved to watch Enterprise. Voyager was okay but they never showed DS9.

I'm a huge Star Wars fan as well. I like the original three over the newer ones, they looked more realistic.

[tessspoon]

Only seen a couple episodes of the tv show, but I did like the new movie.

I also played a Star Trek video game with the Voyager in it several years ago that I really liked. Mostly remember this one blue alien guy named Chell.

[kindofdoon]

How do you trekkies feel about the new movie?

[waltzdancing]

I liked it! It was a fresh new take and I hope they roll with it.

[Damar]

I wanted to like it because it is a new take and it was exciting and everything, but I just couldn't get past the fact that it changed everything I grew up with.  Everything, from Next Generation, to DS9, to Voyager, it effectively nullified by childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.  I really didn't take it well.  I understand the argument that to keep Star Trek relevant and bring in a new audience, they need to reboot it.  But frankly, I don't think that's necessary.  Why does it need a new audience?  Why does it need to change?  Why can't it be what it is?  Either Star Trek stands on its own or it doesn't.  When you watch good TNG and DS9, it doesn't seem dated.  It's good tv.  Changing the entire universe to appeal to the younger set is selling the series short.  Plus, Star Trek has always been more about character development and story, not about big explosions and crazy action.  Star Trek II Wrath of Khan is still awesome, and it's not because of the circa 1980's starship models going boom, it's because of the interplay between Khan and Kirk and the timeless story of obsession, a-la Captain Ahab (really, auto-censor, I can't type the name of the novel?).  Good tv and good movies stand.  They don't need to be updated and if the "new generation" can't be bothered to go back and get into the show as it is, then why should we reboot it for them?  I really sound like a grumpy old man, and that's not my intention.  Ah well.

Oh, and I was one of those guys in the theater who was like, "Did they say that one ice planet was Delta Vega?  Because that's not Delta Vega!  Delta Vega isn't an ice planet and it's not next to Vulcan!  WE'VE SEEN DELTA VEGA AND THAT'S NOT DELTA VEGA!"  That's when my friends had to put a wallet under my tongue...

[Enchantermon]

I haven't seen the new Star Trek, but I want to.
I wouldn't condsider myself a Trekkie, but I do like Star Trek. I'm to the point where I want to own all of the series' and movies on DVD eventually (yes, even the campy originals...they have a certain charm to them ). I think my favorite is TNG; I remember watching it when I was younger and loving the effects and the theme song and just about everything about it.

[waltzdancing]

I found an old home video of my dad and I watching TNG. We were both sitting in a large reclining chair sound asleep.  My dad only woke up after my mom turned it off saying he was watching that. I don't remember this at all but I do remember sitting down at 8 right before bed watching TOS with him. He is my best buddy. 

[LadyTerra]

Deep Space 9 is where they started doing over arching plots and you can't skip episodes.

Ah, so that's why I couldn't understand anything that was going on in DS9.  I didn't care for it because it confused me.

I absolutely love the original series, TNG, and Voyager.  Enterprise got boring for me, though I can't remember why.  Wrath of Khan made me cry at the end.

Only seen a couple episodes of the tv show, but I did like the new movie.

I also played a Star Trek video game with the Voyager in it several years ago that I really liked. Mostly remember this one blue alien guy named Chell.

That was Star Trek: Elite Force.  Here's a Let's Play of it by Linkara.  He sings songs from Camelot in the castle training section.
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/lplink

[Lambonius]

DS9 is hands down my favorite of the Star Trek series.  The fact that everything was connected and complex just made it SO much better than any of the series that had come before (though I do have a soft spot for TNG--Data will always be my favorite Trek character ever.)  Loved it.  I just wish it wasn't so outrageously expensive to get the series on DVD. 

[Rosella]

One of the extra credit questions on my math exam was completing a venn diagram based on different series of Star Trek that people liked. (The circles were labled DS9, TNG, and VOY)

[snabbott]

How do you trekkies feel about the new movie?

I wanted to like it because it is a new take and it was exciting and everything, but I just couldn't get past the fact that it changed everything I grew up with.  Everything, from Next Generation, to DS9, to Voyager, it effectively nullified by childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

I thought the movie was really well done, but I had this same issue with it. They basically undid everything we knew about Star Trek. I'm kind of surprised at how well it was received by Star Trek fans.

I found an old home video of my dad and I watching TNG. We were both sitting in a large reclining chair sound asleep.  My dad only woke up after my mom turned it off saying he was watching that. I don't remember this at all but I do remember sitting down at 8 right before bed watching TOS with him. He is my best buddy. 

That's so sweet!

One of the extra credit questions on my math exam was completing a venn diagram based on different series of Star Trek that people liked. (The circles were labled DS9, TNG, and VOY)

That's great!

[MusicallyInspired]

It's all about TNG. Period. Never got into DS9 too much. Joined in on the last run through to the series finale, though. Wasn't too bad. Preferred Voyager over it. Enterprise seemed to start out awful but get much better towards the end. Also can't forget TOS. A lot of great shows there. But I grew up on TNG so it'll always be the best in my mind.

Also, contrary to popular opinion I liked the new movie as well. Sure, it destroyed everything I loved for the last 20 years or so, but it was a great movie with a great promise for sequels...which will probably never get made.