Star Trek: Classic or Dud?

the pilot is a total catastrophe from beginning to end, it's a real anti-achievement

i like the jim henson space jellyfish at the end.

they really thought the old evil guy at farpoint would be the recurring character and not q.

(not actually henson, they just remind me of the mahna mahna twins)

and Q is the only good thing in the pilot. was the episode really just gonna focus on the mystery of farpoint station for a full hour and a half?

The pilot was originally supposed to be a regular 45 minute episode, and D.C. Fontana wrote the original script (which indeed was only about the Farpoint mystery) accordingly. But Paramount insisted the pilot should be feature-length, so Roddenberry added the Q subplot to it. I agree that it's fairly dull, and obviously both the Fontana and Roddenberry plots were based on ideas which had been done in sci-fi (including Star Trek) many times before. Arguably John de Lancie's magnificent scenery-chewing, and his chemistry with Patrick Stewart, was the real reason Q became such a success. If a less suitable actor had been cast in the role, I could imagine they might've never wanted to visit Q again.

Things u learn about on stack overflow: Michael Dorn owns and flies fighter jets.

MD: It’s a dream come true. I was always a student of airplanes and aviation since I was a kid . What happened was that we had a writer’s strike after the first year of ‘Star Trek’ so we had five months off, and a guy I knew that was a pilot said come on, we’ve got to do this . You’ve got to go out there. I said you’re right. I went out there–took my introductory flight and I was hooked. Nobody could find me during the day because I was out at the airport flying. Then, to make a long story just a little bit longer, during, I think, the third or fourth season of ‘Star Trek’, one of the producers on ‘Cheers’ called me and they said that Woody Harrelson was invited to fly out with the Blue Angels, but he couldn’t do it. Do you want to go? So I flew out. They pulled me out there. I had a twin engine Cessna in between the F-18’s and parked it there. Of course, I’m the coolest guy in the world, and so when I flew with them it was eye opening. I discovered that you could own these airplanes. So I started researching it , the rules and regulations and what’s available, and all these airplanes were available for pretty cheap. So, I took my time, learned how to fly, and I went through the same type of process the air force pilots go through. And got to the F-86 and it just kinda happened. It was amazing.

that is badass, way to go worf

In an Independence Day type scenario where we have to recruit civilian pilots, Michael will be a valuable resource. Much more skilled than your average crop duster.

oh man for a minute I thought he meant he'd bought a F/A-18 like the Blue Angels fly and was thinking... damn, dude, how much does Star Trek pay

That's amazing. I love how an F-86 just happens...
I wonder if he says to himself "Perhaps today IS a good day to die!" before taking off

Also, just saw that Dax is engaged to Nimoy's son which seems nice.

Aw cute!

http://i.imgur.com/K75un2v.jpg?1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKBvaOLDem0

Lord Help Me but I've been listening to a lot of Greatest Generation and I kinda want to watch "Encounter at Farpoint" again

https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/startrek/images/f/f5/Jellys.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/350?cb=20060611001419

Uncredited co-stars
    Frank da Vinci as Brent
    William Blackburn as Hadley
    Howard Culver as the drunk
    Adolf Hitler as Adolf Hitler

Bless you, Memory Alpha.

Gender: Male
Species: Human
Affiliation: Nazi Germany, Earth
Rank: Führer
Occupation: Leader of Nazi Germany
Status: Deceased (20th century)

ha they used archive audio?

Somebody help me, what is the TOS episode where the crew are held hostage by a super-powerful blonde child? Or am I imagining something?

Charlie X?

THAT'S the one, thank you

perhaps the first regular episode shot iirc

super-powerful Howard child
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c6/ba/6e/c6ba6e2b7e06e1e9b7b5c62cdf3a47ac--ron-howard-star-trek.jpg

ha they used archive audio?

Archival film footage.

I'm reading the 50th Anniversary oral history, and with so many different people trashing his writing, he comes off as pitiable. (Also, he was almost definitely a sexual predator.)

roddenberry?

Yes.

watch "pretty maids all in a row" and the sexual predator question will get confusing

Maybe predator is the wrong word -- he definitely created a hostile work environment for at least one woman who worked on TOS.

grace lee whitney, who played janice rand, has said that she was sexually assaulted by somebody who worked on the show and she hinted pretty strongly that it was him

& terry farrell quit ds9 because rick berman was sexually harassing her

The oral history (quoted here):

Ande Richardson (assistant to producer Gene L. Coon, who has yet to be hired as of the production of "Mudd's Women," but about whom we will certainly talk frequently later on): "There were certain people who had my respect, and Gene Roddenberry didn't really get in that group. I mean, he came to my wedding and I went to his and Majel's wedding party after they'd gotten married in Japan." "But Gene Roddenberry was a sexist, manipulative person who disregarded women. I didn't value and respect him. He was funny in his own way, but he was paper-thin. He wasn't substantial." "Sure, he may have been the Great Bird, but he wasn't a great person. He would have women walking from Bill Theiss's fitting rooms through to his office in the skimpiest outfit so he could perv them. He was really such a sexist. I remember him telling me something and I thought, 'Why is he telling me this?' Just personal kind of stuff I couldn't really care to know about him. Disregarding people's private space. I remember seeing him with Nichelle in his office, which is when I realized, 'Oh, he's been banging Nichelle.' But he moved Majel into an apartment just down the street so he could go for nooners. I don't know why he had to be lecherous, looking after every woman. He came back from Japan with Majel and he said to me, 'You know, Ande, you can go from the front to the back but you can't go from the back to the front. Majel's got a heck of an infection.' Again, why are you telling me this? But that was him: freaky-deaky dude."

On a different topic, Shatner.

old school liberalism didn't have time to include everybody, guys

I hope you're saying that with irony -- this sort of behavior needs to be acknowledged and then called out, even after the decades after which it took place.

ha, yeah i'm being sarcastic

"Nooners"

Ande Richardson was an interesting figure in that book

Also, 2/3rds of the women quit TNG after the first season

(Which, yeah, we’ve mentioned multiple times upthread no doubt)

Rick Berman comes off as a misogynist, unsurprisingly given the fact that he drove off Terry Farrell. With the way he trashes her, he seems to have taken Genevieve Bujold's very existence personally. And the way he discusses how Seven was initially developed as a character is gross (Brannon Braga too).

"The Offspring" is so good!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QL5rX13MLEs/UFRKIb0hcgI/AAAAAAAAC7M/okPcwzTPxyQ/s280/deal-with-it-riker.jpg

Wait, when did jpegs start supporting multiple frames

welcome to the future

it's a mislabeled gif

Did we mention anywhere yet that Tarantino intends to make a Trek movie with the screenwriter from The Revenant

http://www.vulture.com/2017/12/the-revenant-screenwriter-to-write-star-trek-for-tarantino.html

mother of Fortuna and Saint Death! Please finally send an piss icicle of death to that waster, for the good of humanity!

a an

"Say there are 4 lights again!"

https://78.media.tumblr.com/375fd3781d059f8cfddbb85553844a4e/tumblr_p2ghcmMqOr1tp80nvo1_500.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVD5kI4XkAE9w0W.jpg