Star Trek: Classic or Dud?

And to put in some more effort to selling the show: It's an antidote to the vogue of current Trek to pitch everything at the most galaxy-encompassing levels, where so much of what Captain X does is quadrant-defining. Granted, that's happened with every iteration of Trek (in my favorite series, the Captain is an actual messiah), but I think this is where the episodic nature of pre-2010s Trek helps out -- mythology/arc episodes were broken up with standalones (which may still center around galaxy-threatening conflicts). With Disco and Picard, though, nearly every episode sets phasers to EPICOMGWTF! and center around the same plot.

So a show about Starfleet nerds and underachievers is kind of perfect. It's frivolous and lighthearted, but it's not trashy; it's been investing Boimler and Mariner with some real character work, as much as you can get away with in a 20-something minute cartoon that drops references to double-fisted punches.

I'm glad to hear LD isn't trashy. That's the last thing I want from Trek.

It’s a little trashy; at least as far as the animation and voice acting conjures American Dad.

yeah that's what steered me off it... I may check it out yet

we have been watching LD, up until this last week’s ep i was only doing so grudgingly but it it is improving & i enjoyed it for the first time

mr veg finds it all deeply nerdy therefore v enjoyable

We've been slowly going through Voyager, episode by episode. It's been very weird but there are some excellent episodes

I love voyager, no apols
Paris, Kim and Torres are super dud of course

I think Chakotay is the one I dislike the most.

Seven of Nine is my favorite at the moment, we're in season 4 after the Hirogen holodeck/WW2 kerfuffle.

And I should say that I dislike Chakotay the most because of the truly racist way he's written, not anything else about his character, which is fine.

I dislike Paris and Torres, but have a soft spot for Kim, even tho it turns out he was the reason Kes got axed from the show...

What did Kim have to do with it? It seemed kind of obvious the writers didn't like the character and also made the decision to "swap" her out with Seven of Nine.

they were planning on cutting kim, but then the actor got listed in a "hottest actors" magazine listicle, so they went with kes instead.

they should have replaced half of the cast imo. so much dead weight that the writers didn't care about.

Poor chakotay and the gd synth flutes that waft in whenever his ethnicity is in play
Nonetheless he is one of the assets of the show, along with the cap’m, the dr, 7, and, yes, neelix, fuck you I like neelix.

I think Ebert said something about whether he'd rather watch the actors eat dinner than watch them in the movie as a metric for how badly they're used.
I feel that applies to all the cast, but which does it apply to most?

I’m not sure I follow you exactly but my favorite Star Trek characters are exactly those whom I would rather watch having dinner

https://i2.wp.com/www.tor.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/genesis2.jpg
Today is a good day to dine!

Watching so much DS9 in recent months underscores how much more interesting Worf got when he came onto that show

pic.twitter.com/0EUl6s4KYa

— Valondar (@VK_HM) December 9, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqxsv-cI5zU

started watching TOS from the beginning, it’s strange but i dont think i’ve ever watched all the way through from start to finish? ive just kind of absorbed it over the course of my life. as a kid i used to sometimes watch w Mum if I couldnt sleep bc it was like a midnight show, and randomly watch reruns growing up, I have faves like the Pike episodes or City on Edge of Forever etc but its cool to see the progression of casting & sets & stuff

sure glad they worked out Spocks eyebrows & makeup situation bc boy those early looks are just weird af to look at now

pilot
https://www.globalgranary.life/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Spock-Pilot-the-cage-1964.jpg

2nd pilot (ep 3)
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/d/db/Spock_and_Kirk_%282265%29.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20121210043854&path-prefix=en

2nd pilot ep *4

https://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/16300000/Where-No-Man-Has-Gone-Before-mr-spock-16300940-694-530.jpg

Yeah, proto-Spock was kind of scary.

Came to post this, although I haven’t really looked at it

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/star-trek-tos-episode-by-episode-thread.306895/
And this:

http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/episodes.htm

Heh, early post in that Steve Hoffman thread about guy switching over every week to Bewitched in the middle of the show js classic.

has any star trek ever explained how their ships have gravity?

Yup

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Artificial_gravity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLGsh611Qk4

xp ty!

ha I just started from scratch too, that pilot ep threw me with the different cast I've never seen that.

These days you can watch the pilot standalone. Kids today!

Do shuttles also have artificial gravity? are they programmed to turn it off when entering a shuttle bay? or is there the possibility of entering a shuttle bay and experiencing 2G?

They must have their own gravity, as Odo eats soup with a spoon in one (well, a runabout) in The Ascent. But to my knowledge, they've never addressed it explicitly nor how it interacts with shuttle bays.

I love how everyone is like "The Expanse is so much more realistic with their lack of anti-gravity," but then they have these "magnetic" shoes that allow them to basically walk around ships just like Star Trek, except slightly more lumbering.

we are nearing the end of S1 TOS and i am surprised & happy that there were only a handful of duds in 29 eps

there were a few meh/boring ones but they were still at least quite watchable.

these ones though. DUD DUD DUD

e15 Shore Leave
e17 Squire of Gothos
e27 Alternative Factor

my biggest love of the first season is the production design. the aim to be colorful is *so* succesful & just endlessly creative, love the ways they continually create visual interest on what would be drab sets otherwise. same with costume department, so much texture & clearly just utilizing whatever they can find, its so impressive

I read a pretty good TNG novel about the Squire of Gothos being an unidentified member of the Q continuum, so I tried watching that episode afterwards, and... yeah. It's hard-going.

Also those remasters are just bang-up brilliant, and sometimes the new FX shots even (gasp) make the episodes better

the only thing i liked about the squire himself was that he looks like a young liberace

Lol

Did you guys know about this?

can you explain the context wrt Star Trek?

William Campbell played The Squire of Gothos. And played a Klingon, Klothon, in

The Trouble With Tribbles

Koloth

oh i thought it was the henry brandon thing you were linking to, doh sorry

interesting life!!

these ones though. DUD DUD DUD

e15 Shore Leave
e17 Squire of Gothos
e27 Alternative Factor

Oh no, I love "Shore Leave." I think it imprinted on me when I saw it at a young age and did not know wtf was going on in it. The hallucinatory mood of it was was intriguing.

I have positive recollections of "Squire of Gothos" too, but maybe I'm basically just remembering the funny lead character.

"Alternative Factor" can gtfo

"Squire of Gothos" and "Shore Leave" are both good! Though the Kirk's Oirish friend in the latter is one of the more irritating characters in the entire series. But, yes, first season is consistently good, later seasons not so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qT1efW8BT4

Can't even remember what "Alternative Factor" is about. Other two I like though. Thing about Kirk's Academy nemesis FInnegan is annoying, yes.

you guys

shore leave sucks it is so dumb & bad

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e6/Theodore_Sturgeon.jpg
I beg to differ

are there other examples of 'parents have to retrieve wayward godlike child' beyond charlie x and squire of gothos? feel like it's a trope second only to 'paradox makes computer self-destruct'

There’s a Twilight Zone episode or two on the theme.