Star Trek

Also First Minister Shakaar, who fits the more "pragmatic" mold, his religious standing is never really discussed (though he probably has some to get elected First Minister and keep the job)

edited 27th Mar '11 11:19:44 AM by Ghilz

I actually liked Tasha Yar, I wish Denise Crosby stuck with it, though considering how crappy season 1 was, I don't blame Crosby for wanting out. She did more in her little time on the show than Troi or Crusher ever did. It took almost 6 years for Troi to be meaningful.

Even though Next Generation was what I started with, it was the Original Crew movies that I fell in love with. I remember once seeing a photo of young Captain Kirk in TV Guide and being captivated by the idea of a secret, older Star Trek.

In this time of season DVD sets and instant internet streaming, it's easy to forget how hard it once was to find old TV shows. You weren't even gonna see reruns of Star Trek unless you got the Sci-Fi channel.

As of now, original series is my favorite. I actually think it aged a little better than TNG and Deep Space 9 did. Has anyone here read 'The Making of Star Trek'? Super interesting book from the sixties that details the show from development onwards, explaining the origins of a lot of the great Trek concepts. It's weird to think of a world where the typical Trek cliches didn't exist.

This was something I wrote in the "Unpopular Opinions" thread in TV:

One thing that didn't make much sense about the modern Trek series (and I get the feeling SF Debris mentioned this too), is why there's an officer who handles both ship's tactical and internal security. It might have been sensible to make Worf the tactical officer and Tasha the security chief, or vice versa, but both seems rather silly/strange. I seem to recall at some point during TNG's development, Worf was not merely a Starfleet officer, but an actual Klingon officer.

edited 2nd Apr '11 1:13:18 PM by Premonition45

^^ TNG didn't age so well, did it? I'm not even talking about the creaky 80s feel. The crew never really gelled — the show is more known for establishing archetypes than its chemistry.

I'm a skeptical squirrel

The '80s influence has always stained TNG, by putting a psychiatrist on the bridge, right next to the captain, and making a teenage boy an officer-in-training even before being officially enrolled in Starfleet.

edited 2nd Apr '11 1:12:51 PM by Premonition45

Props are given where it's due though, when TNG gets good, it's timeless. Even more so than even TOS I'd venture saying (and catch flak for it). Episodes like Best Of Both Worlds & The Measure of a Man remain great, even despite the 80sness of the show.

^ ehhh..... Best of Both Worlds pt. 1 is a great episode. Pt. 2 is a lukewarm conclusion.

When I look back at TNG, my fondest memories are of Q and Data. Those guys were the show. (Worf had his moments too.)

I'm a skeptical squirrel

For me, TNG Worf was mostly a bland character to whom interesting things happened. He didn't feel like an actual character with personality till DS 9.

Does that make Worf.....the everyman?

I'm a skeptical squirrel

On TOS, everyone had specific duties. Kirk was the captain, Sulu flew the ship, Chekov navigated, Uhura handled communications, Spock did the sciency stuff, McCoy was ship's physician and Scotty was engineer. Starting with TNG, it got incredibly vague. Data did science and engineering stuff alternately. It didn't seem like Riker did anything specific on the bridge. At least Spock looked through that nickelodeon-style viewer while working to give the impression that he was doing something in particular.

And let's not get started on Enterprise. Reed was shown handling both ships weapons and handheld weapons, since he was also the ship's security chief, and in one episode, he was the apparent weatherman. It seems like everyone alternated on who operated the transporter or who was Phlox's nurse. The former is particularly irritating, since the transporter is supposed to be brand new, only recently approved for human use. You would think there'd be at least one person who did dedicated work on it.

DS 9 was slightly better with that, at least with the station.

Sisko: Captain

Kira: Second Officer also liaison officer to Bajor

Dax: Science Officer

O'Brien: Chief Engineer

Odo: Security Chief

Bashir: Doctor

Quark: Bartender

Fittingly enough it isn't until when TNG's Worf appears that we get a vague role with him being strategic operations officer, and second officer, but only on the Defiant.

edited 3rd Apr '11 4:02:10 AM by BorneAgain

Want ambiguous? Why does Shitstain Neelix attend SENIOR OFFICERS MEETINGS! on Star Trek Voyager? All his "positions" are those he GAVE HIMSELF. Heck, why does Harry Kim? He's an ensign and He's outranked by at least 3 redshirts we know off in the series.

Speaking of which, on First Contact... who is Tactical Officer / Security Officer before Worf is rescued? Worf seamlessly retakes his old post, without even a nod to the poor Redshirt who got demoted simply because Picard's buddy trashed his ship.

edited 3rd Apr '11 8:44:50 AM by Ghilz

^ I thought Neal McDonough was the tactical officer; The gold shirt who gets Borgified on the deflector dish.

edited 3rd Apr '11 9:20:14 AM by johnnyfog

I'm a skeptical squirrel

Sucks to be him if that's the case.

"Grumble grumble. Mr Worf... Man tactical... Who saved Mr Worf's ass? How can this day get any worst! Oh Shi-"

Lt. Hawke was the Conn Officer.

He was also supposed to be gay, but it was removed from the script before filming.

Then again, he also gets Borgified and killed by Worf, so...

Kim was at the meetings because he was the Ops Officer; everyone else that was fully qualified for the post had gotten killed. Originally he was on the night shift.

It's not over. Not yet.

Yeah, TNG wasn't so great.

You have Picard, LEAST. MANLY. CAPTAIN. EVER., Laforge, who is the token black guy; kind of like Uhura, but, you know, with a dick, Riker, who's job appears to consist of shouting and glowering, Worf, who's job is shouting, glowering and getting the Christ beaten out of him, Troi, who's basically Sarah...IN SPACE (okay; admittedly Troi came first, but still...), Data, a poor man's cross between Spock and the Wizard of Oz's Tin Man and Dr. Crusher, the uncomfortable love interest, apparently there to remind us that the captain isn't gay.

Did I miss anyone?

edited 3rd Apr '11 3:51:44 PM by RichReeders

Don't you try anything, you baked good you.

Like I said before, I really did like Tasha, wishing Denise Crosby stayed past season 1. Now that I think about it, it seemed in "The Naked Now" that she really had a thing for Troi, seeing how she, oh, broke into her quarters and was practically hitting on her.

Well, TNG was supposed to be a Free-Love Future, not that it ever came across.

edited 3rd Apr '11 5:00:00 PM by Medicus

It's not over. Not yet.

Tasha would've been TNG's Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Tasha/Data, Tasha/Troi, Tasha/Worf, Tasha/Geordi, Tasha/Riker, Tasha/Picard, and Tasha/Wesley once he was old enough. Tasha/Worf, I think would've been a better pair than Worf/Jadzia were. They never had any chemistry together. Jadzia had her chemistry only with Sisko.

This based on Word of God or...?

It's not over. Not yet.

Pure speculation. I should've said "might have".

After seeing how much Archer gets his ass kicked on Enterprise, Picard can hardly be the least manly captain.

It should be pointed out that Kirk got his ass kicked too... The key thing to remember is that none of them died, nor their ships destroyed(well, Picard got his ship blown up plenty of times... Temporal Anomalies are what save it).

Is there is a trope for that? Temporal Mortality or something?

It's not over. Not yet.