What is your favorite Star Trek series

[fresh_42]

pps. I also had about a thousand other thoughts. Most of which involved me thinking about how "adolescent" of a species we still are.

My favorite measure to distinguish the two:
"Whose fault was it?"
in contrast to
"Any proposals how to solve it?"

I think the main reason why Star Trek works is, because it's based on how we want to be (morals, adventures, economics) rather than what we are.

 

[OmCheeto]

...what we are.

Fallible.

Science is a very human form of knowledge. We are always at the brink of the known; we always feel forward for what is to be hoped. Every judgment in science stands on the edge of error and is personal. Science is a tribute to what we can know although we are fallible. In the end, the words were said by Oliver Cromwell: "I beseech you in the bowels of Christ: Think it possible you may be mistaken."​

Ugh. I think we are going off topic again.

 

[jim hardy]

Yes, we're off topic.

A sample of Parkinson is here:

http://www.economist.com/node/14116121

I think OM will like the book.

 

[enorbet]

It seems Bureaucratic mentality is common in SciFi so we simply must mention the hilarious Hitchiker's Guide Vogons which is a terrific book and a rather decent film. I nearly needed my towel to dry the tears from laughing so hard.

 

[Chris Riccard]

the original star trek will always be my fav, but next generation ain't bad. I didn't really keep up with deep space one and voyager like I did with the original.

I don't know about you but I consider myself a combination of kirk, spock, McCoy, scotty, piccard, data, and ricardo montebon in the original episode when he trys to take the ship, what a man! lol

 

[Voq]

My first Star Trek was Voyager so there is special place for him. Now I am on Next Generation, love their sense of humor.

 

[enorbet]

I may have already answered the base question but just in case I didn't and since I feel very strongly about this although I started out with Original Star Trek (yeah... I'm old :) ) and enjoyed it's depth of layers that circumvented commercial compromises to a degree, hands down the fullest and most satisfying Star Trek series came from Gene Rodenberry when he finally became a "rock star" who could dictate terms and fully realize his vision and that was without a doubt The Next Generation. IMHO none of the others even comes close.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I may have already answered the base question but just in case I didn't and since I feel very strongly about this although I started out with Original Star Trek (yeah... I'm old :) ) and enjoyed it's depth of layers that circumvented commercial compromises to a degree, hands down the fullest and most satisfying Star Trek series came from Gene Rodenberry when he finally became a "rock star" who could dictate terms and fully realize his vision and that was without a doubt The Next Generation. IMHO none of the others even comes close.

Huh, I'd heard the opposite. That a lot of the problems with TNGs early seasons were Rodenberry's overbearing control, such as his demand that there be no interpersonal disagreements between starfleet characters or situations where he had to be talked out of overly sexualising certain characters. IIRC this was talked about in the documentary trouble on the bridge.

 

[enorbet]

Hello ryan_m_b, nice to "meet" you. Of course since i wasn't there and any personal accounts of experiences are colored by personal POV all I can resort to is "proof is in the pudding". Let's start with the easy one, sexualizing characters. Some level of that is almost always going to exist on any dramatic TV series since humans are sexual creatures and also posses an intellect capable of understanding that Sex Sells, in fact the Big Three of requirements in novels of any kind are Sex, Money and Murder. There was some sexualization in Original Star Trek and by my judgement about the same level in TNG. That level seemed to drop a bit under Gene's son who was a strong force on Deep Space 9 but popped back up for Voyager and Enterprise.

Conclusion: While there has been some fluctuation in sexuality in the overall series I don't see any huge leaps and never found any of the series (even ones I either liked a lot more or a lot less) overly dependent on sexuality especially considering their living conditions.

As far as interpersonal conflict that too seems a fairly flat line especially in the TV series. There too we have the record as best evidence of any thematic change. It is highly worthy of note that Gene died in October of 1991 and TNG aired new episodes for three more years. I was actually a bit shocked to read and recognize those dates since for some reason it never hit me back then and part of that is from the fact that there was so little change in what appeared before and after Gene's death.

My assertion regarding Gene's vision reaching fruition on TNG has to do with his view of Political and Social norms of the future where cheap energy and advanced technology has essentially eliminated poverty, lack of opportunity especially in education, and thos xenophobia still exists in Gene's vision of the future racism and sexism among Homo Sapiens has all but disappeared and while some people are still "shoot first and ask questions later" there is a quantum leap in the baseline desire for collaboration and negotiation. To me those are the hallmarks of what Star Trek was all about, it's most important and valuable contribution instead of the far more common "Cowboys and Indians in space".

 

[enorbet]

Grrrrrr For some reason the edit button is failing repeatedly so rather than continuing to beat my head against a brick wall I'll just amend it here.

The last sentence in the 3rd paragraph should have been clearer and more specific, reading "... so little change in TNG compared by before and after Gene's death,

Additionally while that could be interpreted as Gene having very little control my conclusion is that regardless of control his influence was long-lasting and pervasive and every account I've ever read speaks about Gene's vision that universally cheap energy is the key to such an enlightened and productive society, a quantum leap for humankind required to survive technology advances that threaten extinction.

 

[enorbet]

Grrrrrr For some reason the edit button is failing repeatedly so rather than continuing to beat my head against a brick wall I'll just amend it here.

The last sentence in the 3rd paragraph should have been clearer and more specific, reading "... so little change in TNG compared by before and after Gene's death,

Additionally while that could be interpreted as Gene having very little control my conclusion is that regardless of control his influence was long-lasting and pervasive and every account I've ever read speaks about Gene's vision that universally cheap energy is the key to such an enlightened and productive society, a quantum leap for humankind required to survive technology advances that threaten extinction.

 

[Voq]

My assertion regarding Gene's vision reaching fruition on TNG has to do with his view of Political and Social norms of the future where cheap energy and advanced technology has essentially eliminated poverty, lack of opportunity especially in education, and thos xenophobia still exists in Gene's vision of the future racism and sexism among Homo Sapiens has all but disappeared and while some people are still "shoot first and ask questions later" there is a quantum leap in the baseline desire for collaboration and negotiation. To me those are the hallmarks of what Star Trek was all about, it's most important and valuable contribution instead of the far more common "Cowboys and Indians in space".

It is the most valuable part of it. Philosophies and humanity behind decisions governing their actions. That is why they got there in my opinion. And this new Star Trek is something different..I don't even want to analyse it.
Cheap energy with eliminated poverty would be a big step for sure.

 

[rootone]

Although I voted for TNG, the original series does have the honour, so I believe, of there being the first ever TV scene which portrayed interacial romance.
I think Kirk was getting a bit frisky with Uhuru or something like that,

 

[fresh_42]

Although I voted for TNG, the original series does have the honour, so I believe, of there being the first ever TV scene which portrayed interacial romance.
I think Kirk was getting a bit frisky with Uhuru or something like that,

I've read somewhere that they wanted to cut the scene, but Shatner tricked them by delaying the scene to the very last moment which left them with no time to cut it. Don't know whether it is true, but it fits to the spirit. And what's most important, it influenced us as children and we saw that equality isn't just a word. Even the constant mocking of Nimoy by Kelley can be seen as an insurance against negative discrimination.

 

[OCR]

first ever TV scene which portrayed interacial romance.

Plato's Stepchildren...

Also, Spock sang a nifty serenade... .
.

 

[Chris Riccard]

 

[gibberingmouther]

i liked all of them except Voyager. i really liked Enterprise though. the theme song was particularly inspiring.

 

[pinball1970]

First one for me - I used to jump behind the settee when the music came on

 

[Aufbauwerk 2045]

I see I voted on this a while ago. I used to care. The problem now is I can't watch Star Trek any more. In fact I can't stand to watch any science fiction any more. Has anyone else lost their interest in the genre because they have become such a science brain that they can't enjoy fantasy any more?

 

[fresh_42]

I see I voted on this a while ago. I used to care. The problem now is I can't watch Star Trek any more. In fact I can't stand to watch any science fiction any more. Has anyone else lost their interest in the genre because they have become such a science brain that they can't enjoy fantasy any more?

I have more objections against news magazines and pop science shows. If I watch a sci-fi show then I will expect to be entertained, not taught. I'm amused by the Heisenberg compensators in the transporter set-up, because the HUP could indeed become a problem. I do not expect a scientific explanation for something which cannot be explained. That's the point where I developed animosities towards news and pop science shows: they do pretend as if it were explanations what they say, and they rarely can deliver, neither of them.

I remember many years ago when we were out and decided to watch a movie. We couldn't really agree on a film and ended up in Spielberg's Hook. One girl complained the entire movie how poor and predictable the story was. That's the point: you will not expect a high quality story and movie if you're going to watch a Peter Pan adaption. I sometimes have problems with shows where their material losses are regularly much heavier than could be restored within the time given, e.g. Andromeda or Voyager. That's more a matter of basic algebra than a matter of background or genre. It simply doesn't match up if you nearly destroy the entire ship week by week, and will go on fully equipped in the next episode. But I'm not surprised that the universe appears pretty crowded whereas in reality I think it is not.

However, if I hear for the hundredth time about pairs of particles to explain Hawking radiation in a documentation, and read here almost weekly, that this is nonsense, then I get angry. And if politicians of any kind try to explain a situation and a necessary consequence, while they obviously leave out 90% of the facts, then it makes me feel sick, because the reason to watch them is information. The reason to watch sci-fi is entertainment.

 

[jim hardy]

The reason to watch sci-fi is entertainment.

"Hook" was delightful. I greatly enjoy attention to detail in sets and special effects. Dustin Hoffman's performance was incredibly good , so was Robin Williams. "Why are you climbing up the rain gutter? Because I'm out of Pixie dust." - best delivered line in decades.
Julia Roberts' incredibly long legs were perfect for Tinkerbell. Forbidden Planet's "Monsters of the Id" might turn out prescient if Google keeps this up...

Mind-reading headset let's you Google just with your thoughts

 

[AgentSmith]

The original series was like a breath of fresh air in the vast wasteland of television. Of course my real favorite was My Mother the Car.

 

[jim hardy]

Interesting this thread popped up again.
I'd forgot i posted on it almost exactly a year ago.
i just googled and to my surprise find I've picked (from the scores offered) the exact same image as last July..

"Don't you need somebody to love?"