"Trek" fans, come in please...
A little diversion from AO's more serious discussions.
While cleaning out the VHS library I ran accross these gems.
In ST;TNG two episodes I really enjoyed. "Yesterday's Enterprise" which was one of the few time travel stories worthy of re-watching. Remember the line where Picard tells the other Captain in hushed tone, "the war is going very badly for the Federation...", good stuff! Or the episode entitled "Below Decks" that gives the red-shirts a chance to shine... Just outstanding drama! Forget about it taking place in the future. Excellent writing that is seldom equaled today.
ST;DS9 had many excellent episodes. Just like TNG, there were some crappers. The very first episode that introduced Captain Cisco ((pre-Hawk look...) at the battle of Wolf 359. That opening sequence still kicks ass! The baseball being left behind towards the end of the shows run... oh yeah.
Yes, Babylon 5 was also outstanding!
While cleaning out the VHS library I ran accross these gems.
In ST;TNG two episodes I really enjoyed. "Yesterday's Enterprise" which was one of the few time travel stories worthy of re-watching. Remember the line where Picard tells the other Captain in hushed tone, "the war is going very badly for the Federation...", good stuff! Or the episode entitled "Below Decks" that gives the red-shirts a chance to shine... Just outstanding drama! Forget about it taking place in the future. Excellent writing that is seldom equaled today.
ST;DS9 had many excellent episodes. Just like TNG, there were some crappers. The very first episode that introduced Captain Cisco ((pre-Hawk look...) at the battle of Wolf 359. That opening sequence still kicks ass! The baseball being left behind towards the end of the shows run... oh yeah.
Yes, Babylon 5 was also outstanding!
Comments
I'm particularly fond of Q, I think he is one of the best characters in the series, unfortunately he only has about 8 episodes, although they are very important to the series.
DS9 is fairly interesting too, but I'm really only interested in the shapeshifter episodes, any sci-fi with shape-shifters is always fun.
Babylon 5 is probably my all-time favorite Sci-fi television series.
Enterprise is horrible too. Did you see the season finale? Alien nazis?
My personal favorite is DS9, closely followed by TNG and then Voyager.
Originally posted by Existence
... Alien nazis?
But I have seen every voyager and Enterprise episode. I have also seen a handful of TNG episodes, however I was too young to really get hooked. Babylon 5 was cool, but after the first season, it moved to cable and I lost interest. If the DVD prices came down I may pick up a few.
Other cool Sci-Fi: Andromada (yea, I know. but I watched about 6 episodes before it was cancelled and what I saw was cool), Firefly (maybe one of the best shows of the year. Cancelled of course) Outer Limits (Creepy
I think sci-fi is running into a problem because "future technology" is common or close to what we have today, or else it is so strange, it is unbelievable.
As far as "Enterprise" goes, yuck...
Firefly was also outstanding. Why do they cancel the truly good sci-fi series?
I've been watching DS9 on DVD lately -- just got to the beginning of the fourth season today -- and I'm really enjoying it. I think DS9 hit its stride much faster than any of the other newer Trek incarnations: TNG, Voyager, Enterprise. I think the darker tone, the political intrigue, concentrating more of the action and plot on a smaller set of alien races, make it appealing to me.
I'm also a big fan of B5. Although I've got the first three seasons on DVD, which I got as gifts, I haven't watched more than a few episodes from the first season. It's nothing against the show -- it's just that I've already seen nearly every B5 episode three times already -- including seeing it daily in syndication. DS9, on the other hand, has only very recently gone into syndication, so I've only seen most episodes one time from many years ago, so watching it now is almost like seeing it for the first time.
Originally posted by hardhead
In ST;TNG two episodes I really enjoyed. "Yesterday's Enterprise" which was one of the few time travel stories worthy of re-watching.
City on the Edge of Forever from ST: TOS is worth catching if you haven't seen it
Originally posted by Ebby
I think sci-fi is running into a problem because "future technology" is common or close to what we have today, or else it is so strange, it is unbelievable.
In my opinion, the problem is with lack of imagination from the writers and a lack of appeal to the current generation. If you are familiar with the movie 'the never ending story', you can relate the plight of sci-fi movies to fantasy as potrayed in that movie. Then there is the aspect that people view movies as a form of escapism from reality and bogging them down with issues that are familiar doesn't work out.
I personally enjoy the episodes with Q in TNG. The fact that the crew comes up on top despite the ridiculous odds gives you a warm feeling. For that fact, I did enjoy Voyager for a while after which it became really monotonous. The episodes of Voygager where they go through a hostile zone of space and have to abandon the spaceship and fight against a crazy scientist playing around with a time machine of sorts was good. I don't recall the name of the episode though.
Science fiction is good.
Originally posted by talksense101
If you are familiar with the movie 'the never ending story', you can relate the plight of sci-fi movies to fantasy as potrayed in that movie.
The Neverending Story was one of the most influential movies of my life. I would watch the movie, fast forward through the horse scene with a hand over my eyes, and watch again. Or I would watch the movie up to the horse scene , rewind, and watch again. This may sound silly, but I was never scared of spiders, the dark, or any normal childhood phobias, rather I was terrified that two red eyes would appear at the end of my hallway. (The wolf scenes) I still don't like horses.
It did give vast leeway for the show's writers however. Same we-can-do-anything freedom as the holodeck gives them.
Problem is when you get too vast in scope, going back to the simple stories seems claustrophobic.
Also Archer had to make some really tough decisions like having steal the part of an engine from a ship they just helped. I love the fact that he got pushed to limit and beyond.
Now with Bragga leaving the show to Manny Cotto ( who wrote many of the last episodes ) this show may really shine.
The fact that we don't know what the space nazi was is intriguing.
The later ST shows have always been this way. They don't find their nich and become good shows until the 3rd year. They really shine in the fourth.
Haven't you noticed? Even TNG was this way which had some real stinkers in the first 2 years.
TOS: Hotties to chase in the best episodes, from Mudd's Women, through Yeoman Rand, from Orion Slave Girls in the Cage, to Elizabeth Taylor in City on the Edge of Forever, to Television's first interracial kiss between Kirk and Urura.
TNG: Many of the best episodes featured flirtatious actions, from Tasha and Data in season one, through holodeck dating, from those who loved Marina Sirtis, to others who preferred Riker's women.
DS9: Kira never did it for me (too much Celine Dion), but Jadzia added a lot of spice as the seasons progressed. Nog gave hope to unattractive dudes everywhere by winning a Dabbo girl. Ezri Dax was a step down from Jadzia, IMO, but she had a little elfin appeal.
VOY: Most would agree the series took off in season two, roughly when Kes was replaced with everyone's favourite Borg in a spandex corset. Harry and Tom managed to fill the Holodeck and their alien encounters with tasty space girls, including Torres, but sex appeal changed the pace of the show.
Enterprise: Trip is either pregnant by alien women or massaging the hottest vulcan in three quadrants. Plenty of decontamination shower scenes and pleasure planet visits compared to the previous series.
While these are admittedly all small sub-plots next to the supposed prime directive as a Sci-Fi show, I submit that by some interpretations, Star Trek's market success might be swayed by the women characters, their writing and casting.