the star trek thread, the place for all trek topics Options

[herbsinger42]

Actually... I think a lot of us enjoy 'back story'--
the browncoat fan fic does boatloads of it... a part of the human animal
seeks to answer the 'why' question all the time... so why not the why
of the relationship between Bones and Kirk... the sparring between Spock and
Bones... and love of a boy and his truck/space ship from Scotty... I read like a
fiend... I like to fill in the holes... and I don't mind alternating approaches.

Now... as to what doesn't get the greenlight, vs. the shlock that we are often fed
from the silver screen... that is a valid argument. Still-- somebody does make the
choice, not me.

[Raycheetah]

This ST movie is the first one which I am not planning to see. Nemesis was... What it was. This, however, as has already been observed, is another prequel, this time to most of the ST series, with the exception of Enterprise. More fun with mangling the continuity, ignoring the existing canon, and *shudders to use the bad word* re-imagining the ST universe. Again.

And, for what? A chance to portray Kirk and Spock as "teen dream" cover boys? Anybody here remember Nimoy's earliest portrayal of Spock? He was VERY uncool. A younger version, to be accurate to the original, would have to be portrayed in such a way as to present him as a "space spaz." Not an attractive prospect. This never minding the fact that Rodenberry's original pilot didn't even include 1st Officer Spock, but, instead, a female character referred to simply as "#1." One supposes that Kirk might still have met Spock before the vulcan became his science officer, or, that #1's appearance, as an unused pilot, was not canon, but, it's still kinda thin, possible age differences notwithstanding.

Finally, let's say they make this film, in which Kirk and Spock "Wesley Crusher" some great crisis into submission between classes (Hmm... Harry Potter and the Great Bird of the Galaxy, anyone?), with some cameos of other youthful Trek characters for fun. Well, they can't exactly keep making these things; how much can our Starnamic Duo get away with accomplishing while in Starfleet Academy, without stressing the fabric of the believability continuum? It just doesn't make for a good, long-term prospect.

Paramount, et al, have simply gone back to the ST well too many times. They need either to:

A. Let the franchise rest fallow for ten or more years, allowing a new generation of sci-fi viewers to experience whatever they release (can we say ST:TOS remake?) with fewer pre-existing prejudices. One may hope that it would be handled better than Skiffy handled Flash Gordon, but, I digress...

B. Set a new movie/series/webcasts significantly farther in the future of even the most currently advanced ST series, and, leave behind a lot of the baggage of the previous incarnations, except as background history. Of course, handling the ghodlike technological advances might stress the writers, but then, they can always simply ignore the troublesome implications of mass-energy conversion technology (i.e., the hypothetical field of transporter medicine, suppressed by the transporter-phobic Admiral of Medicine McCoy) and other such troublesome elements by simply painting some scantily-clad females green (and, why not some green guys? Gotta keep the distaff demographic watching!), and distracting the audience that way.

or,

C. Can it, and put ST out to pasture, for good. Of course, most die-hard ST fans would not favor this, but, let's face it: If all that will be produced for ST from now until doomsday will be crap, anyway, why bother?

So, no, I don't care about this movie, didn't watch more than a couple episodes of Enterprise, and, frankly, have lost interest in this franchise. Mebbe I grew out of it. I like other sci-fi, but, Trek bores me, has for years, now. It needs freshening, but, I just don't see that coming.

Damn shame, too, considering what ST contributed to the genre.

-Raycheetah ='[.]'=

[archersangel]

Joal Ryan
Mon May 19, 9:37 AM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - George Takei is going ring shopping.


The Star Trek helmsman and his partner of 21 years, Brad Altman, are engaged to be married.

"This is something we've been passionately committed to, so, no, there's no cold feet," Takei told E! News today.

Altman proposed last Thursday, shortly after the California Supreme Court struck down a state law banning same-sex unions.

"I was planning on asking Brad, but he got down on one knee, and, of course, I said, yes," Takei said. "I told Brad, 'You beat me to it.' "

Congratulations have poured in from fans, his latter-day colleagues at The Howard Stern Show—and, yes, wedding planners.

Takei, who publicly came out in a magazine interview in 2005, announced his plans in a blog post Friday, the same day Ellen DeGeneres took to her talk show to announce her engagement to actress Portia de Rossi.

Takei, 71, said he and Altman, his business manager, would have taken the plunge years ago—if they'd been legally allowed to do so.

He said they resisted the urge to go to San Francisco, when that California city began marrying gay couples in 2004, because they wanted to be certain of their union's legality. (Ultimately, the San Francisco marriages were voided by court order.) And he said they resisted the urge to marry elsewhere, such as Massachusetts, because they wanted to marry in California, where Takei is a second-generation native son.

Right now, the couple has a date range, but not yet a date—sometime after mid-June, when same-sex marriages will become lawful in California, and sometime before November, when a measure seeking to ban such unions could be on the ballot.

If the antigay-marriage initiative does wind up on the California ballot, Takei promised to campaign against it "vigorously."

As things currently stand, Takei and Altman are consumed with the business of wedding planning.

"We are now going through the process of making those wonderful decisions," Takei said.

First stop: Arizona, where the couple will buy their rings.

Then, it'll be time to decide the where, the when and the how-many-to-invite.

At least one group seems assured of scoring seats.

Said the once and forever Lt. Sulu: "My Star Trek castmates are dear friends of many, many decades, so they are on the list."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/9db5152b_d...77_5fe4fadaff1a

[Raycheetah]

Two Star Trek off-screen greats pass on:

http://www.syfyportal.com/

"Alexander Courage, 'Star Trek' Theme Writer, Dies

By MICHAEL HINMAN
May-28-2008

Alexander Courage, who would find fame as the man behind the theme to the original "Star Trek" who would later depart
the series over a royalty dispute with Gene Roddenberry, has died. He was 88. Courage had been living in the Sunrise assisted living facility in Pacific Palisades, Calif., when he passed away May 15, according to Film Music Society.

Courage got his start as an uncredited music composer for the 1950 film "Annie Get Your Gun" and later for "Show Boat." He also was an orchestrator for the classic film "Singing In the Rain" as well as "Oklahoma!" and "Guys and Dolls."

By the time he was asked to write the theme to "Star Trek" in the mid-1960s, he already had more than 30 composing
credits, and the fanfare from his theme would earn him credit in a number of later Star Trek films, including those that
involved the crew of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Born in Philadelphia, Courage played both the horn and the piano as a child, and would receive his degree form the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. in 1941. He would join the Army Air Corps and would work as a bandleader at various bases in California and Arizona.

He would move over to CBS Radio following the war, working on a number of series, before taking on films.

Courage would end his association with Star Trek when Roddenberry wrote lyrics to his theme reportedly as a way for him to collect on half the royalties Courage would receive for writing the song. The lyrics would never be used in the series or later movies, and Courage was said to have felt he had been cheated by Roddenberry.

However, Courage did make somewhat of a return to Star Trek following Roddenberry' s death in 1991 doing orchestrations for "Star Trek: First Contact" and "Star Trek: Insurrection. "

Survivors include four stepchildren and six grandchildren. His third wife, Shirley Pumpelly, died in 2005.

Popular 'Star Trek' Director Joseph Pevney Dies

By MICHAEL HINMAN
Source: Los Angeles Times

Joseph Pevney, the director who brought to screen including the famous "Star Trek" episode "The Trouble With Tribbles," has died. He was 96.

Pevney directed a number of "Star Trek" episodes beginning with "Arena" that aired in January 1967. He would also direct "The Return of the Archons," "A Taste of Armageddon," "The Devil in the Dark," "The City on the Edge of Forever," "Amok Time," "The Apple," "Catspaw," "Journey to Babel," "Friday's Child," "The Deadly Years," "Wolf in in the Fold" and "The Immunity Syndrome."

Pevney's "Trouble With Tribbles" episode would be resurrected in 1996 in a special anniversary episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" called "Trials and Tribble-ations. "

His first directing job was 1950's "Shakedown," an early movie work of Rock Hudson. He also directed "Bewitched," "The
Alfred Hitchcock Hour," "The Munsters," "The Fugitive," "Mission: Impossible," "Bonanza," "The Incredible Hulk," and "Trapper John MD" before retiring in 1985.

Only Marc Daniels directed as many episodes of "Star Trek" as Pevney.

"The first half ot eh second year of the show, when he was alternating with Marc Daniels, is regarded as the best part of the series," said Jeff Bond, editor of Geek Monthly. "That's when it hit its stride. There was more humor, it was more
adventurous, and the tone, I think, was lighter."

George Takei, who played Sulu in the series, told the Los Angeles Times that while he was "very precise in what he wanted," Pevney was also "very relaxed -- in fact, jovial -- in the way he directed. I enjoyed working with him."

Pevney began his career as a singer in vaudeville when he was just 12 years old. He would have a number of acting credits, and would later serve in the Army Signal Corps during World War II.

He is survived by his wife of six years, Margo, as well as sons Jay and Joel, daughter Jan Holt, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren."

-Raycheetah =-[.]-=

[Fizzix]

You can't tell me Trouble with Tribbles man is dead. I was just talking about them the other day! (I don't remember when, or where, or why. I think it was relevant, and it might have involved Doctor Who.)

[Warning: this next paragraph isn't brilliantly written. I dunno what happened, but... you guys can forgive or not as is your penchant.] I love the Voyager opening sequence, though more for the images than for the music. If I'm in the room, and it's on, I'm watching that. The Enterprise theme, however, is amazing. It is. I'd have to say that TNG is my favorite series, but that's probably because I haven't seen all of it, Spike has custody, runs the show, and I appear to catch runs of episodes I've seen when I'm at home to watch it. It's like a favorite book that you keep misplacing but love as soon as you find it. Of TOS I haven't seen much, but what I did I liked.

Oh. And then the secret of the second time I cried for fiction: I listen to audio tapes. I have a penchant for pausing things when I get upset at them. (You should see me when I'm on a Who ep... eep. That's weird. And not relevant here.) Well, I was listening to ... um, Nemeisis, I think it was. (I hope so, or this is going to be really awkward.) Well, on the last tape or something, I thought Data had just died. Um. Well, I then paused and had to cry for a bit, because I liked Data. He didn't die. Yet. I came back later, and he hadn't died, and I felt all silly about it. Yup. MMhhm. Later, when he did die, well, ... I was fine. O.o;

[RaiderDave2112]

Star Trek was okay when there wasn't any other Sci-Fi on the telly, but as soon as other shows started coming out it went downhill, the last 2 series Voyager and Enterprise were a totally wasted oppotunities to inprove the franchise but instead the writers chicked out and wrote safe middle of the road rubbish. The forth season of Enterprise was where they tried to made differences but by then it was too late for the series.

[Raycheetah]

Star Trek was okay when there wasn't any other Sci-Fi on the telly, but as soon as other shows started coming out it went downhill, the last 2 series Voyager and Enterprise were a totally wasted oppotunities to inprove the franchise but instead the writers chicked out and wrote safe middle of the road rubbish. The forth season of Enterprise was where they tried to made differences but by then it was too late for the series.

Not a big Trekkie, but, enjoyed it for what I found it to be worth... Up until Voyager. Too much that didn't make any sense. Travelling at maximum warp to head home, and, yet, their entire first season was spent tussling with what amounted to an interstellar street gang who couldn't seem to find any water within the radius of that warp in one direction, yet they could keep up with Voyager? Puh-LEEZE!

I actually had some ideas when Voyager was first announced... Have a black woman captain... Uhura's granddaughter... That way, she could even consult with grandma on the holodeck (allowing for some wonderful cameos by Nichelle Nicholes) in times of stress. In fact, why didn't every Starfleet captain consult with a holodeck Kirk or Spock or Scotty? I guess that speaks of the limitations of the personality replications.

Loved the opening visuals and music on Voyager; hated the show, stopped watching after season 1. It might've gotten better, but, not according to what I heard.

I didn't even bother watching Enterprise, when I learned that they were gonna play fast and loose with the canon and history. But, I did manage to catch a couple of eps by accident, and was impressed with the show, as presented.

Oh, and, DS9? Sorry, I am firmly in the camp which holds it to have been a B5 ripoff, though it started to get much better in later seasons... They canceled it just when it was starting to get entertaining.

*Goes to hide behind couch to dodge thrown objects and disruptor blasts.*

-Raycheetah =^[.]^=

[Fizzix]

Oh. I totally forgot DS9. I think that hat I liked about that show was Odo. And it's probably quite telling that I don't remember it when I speak of Star Trek.

I find all the series good watching when at home to see it, but it's not the highest priority on television.

[archersangel]

well DS9 started in 1993
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106145/

and babylon 5 had a tv movie the same year
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106336/

i heard that B5 fans sent viruses to DS9 writers' computers to ruin what they wrote. *shakes head* there's room for all kinds of sci-fi on tv.

[RaiderDave2112]

well DS9 started in 1993
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106145/

and babylon 5 had a tv movie the same year
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106336/

i heard that B5 fans sent viruses to DS9 writers' computers to ruin what they wrote. *shakes head* there's room for all kinds of sci-fi on tv.

Yes but Babylon 5 was developed years before DS9, infact paramount started work on DS9 when they found out B5 had been given a green light for a TV movie. Also JMS has stated that as early as '89 he showed paramount his series bible and other stuff to them because he was trying to get the series made.

I've never heard anything like that about the Babylon 5 fans, where did you read that?

[Raycheetah]

Plenty of discussion, debate, and also some documentary evidence of Paramount ripping off Babylon 5:

http://forums.scifi.com/index.php?showtopi...hl=deep+space+9


...Which is the source for these links:

http://en.allexperts.com/e/s/si/similariti..._space_nine.htm

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/find/CompuServe/latest/31.html

http://www.midwinter.com/cgi-bin/lurkfind?...OPS=1&THE=0

So, no absolute smoking-gun proof, but plenty to think about, both from the discussion on the Skiffy thread, and from the links.

*Hides behind the sofa, again.*

-Raycheetah =^[.]^=

[archersangel]

I've never heard anything like that about the Babylon 5 fans, where did you read that?

it was a long time ago in people magazine or entertainment weekly. i was so shocked when i read that, that i had to read it twice. a DS9 writer said they'd already had some stuff ruined. this was towards the end of the series if i recall.

[Raycheetah]

it was a long time ago in people magazine or entertainment weekly. i was so shocked when i read that, that i had to read it twice. a DS9 writer said they'd already had some stuff ruined. this was towards the end of the series if i recall.

Well, that's just shameful.

There's just no accounting for how a small segment of any group (or fandom) will behave.

-Raycheetah =-[.]-=

[RaiderDave2112]

it was a long time ago in people magazine or entertainment weekly. i was so shocked when i read that, that i had to read it twice. a DS9 writer said they'd already had some stuff ruined. this was towards the end of the series if i recall.

As Ray said thats pretty bad, because Babylon 5 was the better show, it didn't need its fans to wreck DS9, the writers managed that all by themselves.

[archersangel]

star trek the experience to close!

this from memory alpha:

2 July 2008
Cedar Fair and CBS Consumer Products has confirmed that Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton will shut down on 1 September 2008. However, CBS has stated they are currently exploring several possibilities to keep The Experience running, possibly at another location.

link to the story at trekmovie.com

This post has been edited by archersangel: Jul 16 2008, 06:07 PM

[MikeTheC]

Oh, quit milking a dead, dry cow already, Paramount. Get over yourselves. Do something... daring... unheard-of... long forgotten...

HOW ABOUT SOMETHING NEW ALREADY?!?!?!?!?!?

[Raycheetah]

If they're gonna do Trek, how about something besides the activities of the crew of a Federation starship? The setting is a whole gorram universe full of humans and aliens; Babylon 5 (sorry for going back to this on the Trek thread, but it's a good example) had 5 seasons of shows with a wide variety of elements, not only the big war, but the telepaths, the Narn/Centauri conflict, the technomages...

Trek is a gold mine of potentials which has been neglected in favor of formula.

How about interstellar espionage? Crime and legal drama, invoking the laws of a thousand worlds in a single interstellar court? Hell, how about the voyages of a civilian luxury liner, and all its alien ports of call? Now THAT would have some variety, and allow for a new cast of characters in a new setting every episode, though it needn't be so cheesy as The Love Boat.

Mix in a number of recurring plot elements, like mysterious mystics, power brokers, merchants... At least we might be able to see some different takes on the various races we know. How about a Klingon bartender? A Vulcan archeologist? A Ferengi doctor? They have to exist, so, why not go beyond the stereotypes, rather than inventing a new race every time an archetype needs to be invoked?

Just sayin'.

=^[.]^=

[CombJ]

If they're gonna do Trek, how about something besides the activities of the crew of a Federation starship? The setting is a whole gorram universe full of humans and aliens; Babylon 5 (sorry for going back to this on the Trek thread, but it's a good example) had 5 seasons of shows with a wide variety of elements, not only the big war, but the telepaths, the Narn/Centauri conflict, the technomages...

Trek is a gold mine of potentials which has been neglected in favor of formula.

How about interstellar espionage? Crime and legal drama, invoking the laws of a thousand worlds in a single interstellar court? Hell, how about the voyages of a civilian luxury liner, and all its alien ports of call? Now THAT would have some variety, and allow for a new cast of characters in a new setting every episode, though it needn't be so cheesy as The Love Boat.

Mix in a number of recurring plot elements, like mysterious mystics, power brokers, merchants... At least we might be able to see some different takes on the various races we know. How about a Klingon bartender? A Vulcan archeologist? A Ferengi doctor? They have to exist, so, why not go beyond the stereotypes, rather than inventing a new race every time an archetype needs to be invoked?

Just sayin'.

=^[.]^=

Easy enough to understand. Paramount doesn't understand what they have. TV executives don't understand science fiction or the fans. To be fair, they generally don't understand viewers in general, but they are especially bad with respect to SF. All they know is that the shows based on Star Fleet have been popular. The fact that has been all they have done doesn't seem to have occurred to them.

As you point out there is so much potential. I'd like to see a colony set in the TOS era. Say, a multi-racial one. Human and Andorians could be fun. Or maybe a colony settled by a religious group who believe in simple technologies. Sort of Amish in the future.

[RaiderDave2112]

As I have posted before, the suits should let the series rest for about 25 years or so then redo it, that way there is only going to be a small handfull of people who complain about the sacrilege you are doing to their favourite show.

[Raycheetah]

Easy enough to understand. Paramount doesn't understand what they have. TV executives don't understand science fiction or the fans. To be fair, they generally don't understand viewers in general, but they are especially bad with respect to SF. All they know is that the shows based on Star Fleet have been popular. The fact that has been all they have done doesn't seem to have occurred to them.

As you point out there is so much potential. I'd like to see a colony set in the TOS era. Say, a multi-racial one. Human and Andorians could be fun. Or maybe a colony settled by a religious group who believe in simple technologies. Sort of Amish in the future.

Heh. Sounds like a rim planet from Firefly.

=^[.]^=