The Official Star Trek Thread

[Millie]

It always amazes me that, on a video game forum, more people aren't talking Star Trek all the time. So I'm creating a thread dedicated to all things Trek. What's your favorite ST series? Which captain can beat which captain up?! Who is the hottest character? Should I ever bother watching Voyager?

These, and many other important topics, are now up for discussion.

[Braen]

This title offends me.

DS94lyf yo.

[chaos]

TNG, Picard is dreamy and I would at least consider going gay for him. Janeway on Voyager annoyed the shit out of me at first, but grew on me eventually. She's like the reincarnation (prior to death) of Katherine Hepburn. I hear that Voyager got pretty good towards the end, but I could never get into it.

[Millie]

I've now seen every Trek series in its entirety except for TOS and Voyager. The former I'm actually kind of curious to watch, even though what I've seen (only bits and pieces) looks extremely dated and a tad corny.

Voyager, on the other hand, bored me to tears. I tried to follow the show for the first few seasons, and I just couldn't stand it. I found myself actively hoping for each episode to wrap up quickly while watching it. I felt like I was simply watching out of obligation -- doing my due diligence for a new Trek series. If the show got any better in its later seasons, that might intrigue me (DS9 was also a late bloomer). But I'd need some pretty serious convincing.

I hadn't watched Enterprise until recently, when I picked up all four seasons and cranked through them a few months back. I found the show surprisingly entertaining. I wasn't expecting much, but I really got a kick out of it. Scott Bakula is the man, and the girl who plays T'Pol is a shockingly good actress. It's always refreshing to see someone cast in the typical eye-candy-in-skintight-suit role make something interesting of that role. I'm sure Trek purists can take issue with many, many things about this show that seem to break continuity with previous Trek shows. But to me, watching history get made is very fun -- even if some of that history doesn't always add up perfectly with what I've learned from other shows.

TNG and DS9 are classics, and IMO, DS9 might actually be the better of the two shows. TNG has the better cast and more memorable characters by far, but DS9 was a better series with better drama, better arcs, deeper plots, and a lot more nuance.

And then, again, there's Voyager. Hell, I'm probably going to give in and watch it at some point. But the prospect doesn't thrill me. What can I expect of the show? Has anyone here actually seen every episode?

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Braen

This title offends me.

DS94lyf yo.

Fine. Taking "nerds" out of the title, even though I think it's funny. :P

[Xenrauk]

Not much being talked about because not much going on with the exception of the movie next year. Also most trek games tend to be on the not so good side, I liked Armada, Elite forces and Birth of the federation though. The mmo was recently cancelled/sold over, supposedly to Cryptic studios, so might be some time before any new information is released on it.

Favorite show is TNG, so not keen on the idea of a reboot, I like the original show too just really don't want to see "younger" versions played by different people. Doubt this would even lead to a new show too. Trek needs to keep moving forward, past TNG era, not revisiting the past and screwing it up. The movie might do ok just because there hasn't been a movie/show in a while, I'd see anything at this point. It's sad to see this franchise fall as low as it has now.

Games, show, movie, ok that covers it I'm done

[Faille]

Voyager does get better, but nowhere near the same degree that DS9 did. The episodes involving the borg were probably the highlight but I found the finale to be a bit of a let down. Not as much as Enterprises, but it really felt like a press the automatic go home button that you knew could appear at any time, rather then a real build up and delivery.

Enterprise I don't really consider to be Star Trek. The whole going back in time thing just goes against the core of what Star Trek is that it's shocking that not only did they do it for a series, but for the movie as well. That said, as far as a sci fi show goes, it was pretty decent and worth watching.

As for the questions at hand, TNG is the best series, Picard is the best captain, though in a fist fight sisko could probably take any of them. Dax is the hottest character, and yes you should watch voyager if only to avoid having to hand in your geek membership card.

ps obligatory babylon 5 is better then DS9 statement.

[Braen]

Like I stated in the Star Trek movie thread, with the bad press following the decline of Voyager, Enterprise being cancelled, the last few movies being really bad (the last good one was First Contact, insurrection and Nemesis were below average, more like a TV episode that ran way too long), they couldn't go on to something new. They needed a "reboot", a refresher of what Star Trek came from. Setting the new movie at the begining of Kirk/Spocks relationship is a great idea. They are different actors, yes, but we KNOW these characters. We can see how they developed into the people we have followed for so long. If you ahve seen Syler as Spock, you know he looks almost JUST like a young Lenoard Nimoy as Spock.

Enterprise went TOO far back to a time no one was familiar with. A time no one, except uber Trekkers, know anythign about "historically". It was hard to relate to the ship, the races. I enjoyed the series, wish it would have been given more chances.

They can't really user the TNG people as they are getting older and their movies were becoming less and less popular. No clue why they couldn't do ONE DS9 movie... Voyager was on life support when it ended so they couldn't do a movie with them.

Starting over with a high power cast, a high power and uber creative director is a step in the right direction. When i saw the trailer and heard Spock and saw the old ship... I got chills. Fine, call me a nerd or Trekker. It was a great teaser.

[Kreugen]

Nerds

[spronk]

I actually just finished watching Voyager from Netflix (recently finished watching DS9). Voyager was spotty, a LOT of shitty episodes but some pretty good ones too. The doctor and 7 of 9 were good characters, Captain Janeway was terrible imo as both an actress (YES DO THAT ONE AND ONLY POSE YOU GOT! YES RAPIDLY TURN THAT HEAD!) and character. DS9 had many cool and likeable characters - Garak, the chick with spots, the captain, Worf, O'Brian, etc. Whereas Voyager had more annoying characters (the cook, harry, Balana...) than interesting characters.

Even though its been months I still remember standout DS9 episodes like the one where the romulan ambassador comes aboard, the return-to-TOS, and pretty much the whole war arc. Whereas Voyager's really only memorable episodes are kinda the borg/specis8751 (?) ones, the Q ones, the one wheres 7 of 9 is in tight clothes and shows off her MASSIVE TITTIES (zomg FAP FAP FAP), and maybe the black&white holodeck episodes. Every time I saw 7 of 9 I would think of the sex scandals she was involved with IRL with her politician hubby, thats pretty cool.

I just started watching TOS, honestly I can only watch a episode every 3-4 days. I mostly end up laughing - beyond the obviously cheesy effects, its so funny to see the costumes and character development. I've only seen 3 episodes so far but seeing Sulu run around as a topless fencer was priceless. I actually had to pause and turn off the TV on the episode I'm watching right now, the one where "evil kirk" beams aboard (?), just the expressions on his face had me rolling on the floor.

I'll go back and revisit TNG after TOS probably, I did watch it when it aired (only one) and I'd say its probably 50% crappy episodes, 30% great eps, and 20% mediocore ones. The first season was a bit cringe worthy, at least voyager season 1 started strong.

To me DS9 > TNG > TOS > Voyager > Enterprise, I may swap around TNG/TOS after I see more of TOS (just ranking it higher since it started it all).

[Xenrauk]

They are different actors, yes, but we KNOW these characters.

That's probably the biggest fear about the reboot, having new people playing these familiar roles that have been firmly cemented into the star trek universe by the original actors, and there are huge expectations on how these characters should be like, their roles are irreplaceable. It won't be the same to some of us no matter how good the new actors are.

The other fear is this has a high chance of failing and putting the last nail in the Trek coffin. But it's probably a good idea that they're targeting more than just the trekkers, trekkies, and going for a larger general audience. Maybe that'll be enough to get people interested and revive Trek again on tv.

Having said that....

When i saw the trailer and heard Spock and saw the old ship... I got chills. Fine, call me a nerd or Trekker. It was a great teaser.

Hearing Lenard Nimoy in the trailer gave me chills too, hopefully the cast can pull it out and win over a lot of the fears.

[Pontiusont]

I think I've seen every episode of Voyager. It does get much better overall probably around Season 3. Some of the earlier episodes had fun storylines, but the characters were a little boring/annoying. Especially Janeway. The characters do become more interesting later on. I loved the doctor on that show, he's hilarious. He's a good example of that.

Ive been watching Enterprise too lately. This show got so much better later on too. Season 3 was great and I'm halfway through season 4 now. The story arcs have been cool and Ive really gotten into the characters. Sucks it got canceled.

[Furism]

I used to own all of the TNG, DS9, Voyager and movies DVDs. Voyager was obviously the worst show, just plain boring. Except maybe for the Medic AI guy who was awesome.

The Dominion story arc of DS9 is probably one of the best in all of the SciFi shows. I liked the very "realpolitik" aspect of it.

But honestly, I have to admit that BSG replaced Star Trek in my heart. I suppose the only better thing that can happen is a show with the great military/carrier feeling and space battles of BSG, but in a less binary universe with more balance. Like, a Mass Effect TV show.

[Lefazz]

Originally Posted by Furism

But honestly, I have to admit that BSG replaced Star Trek in my heart.

Not for me. I'd rather watch Voyager than BSG quite honestly. I enjoy the techno-babble!

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Faille

Enterprise I don't really consider to be Star Trek. The whole going back in time thing just goes against the core of what Star Trek is that it's shocking that not only did they do it for a series, but for the movie as well. That said, as far as a sci fi show goes, it was pretty decent and worth watching.

+

Originally Posted by Braen

Enterprise went TOO far back to a time no one was familiar with. A time no one, except uber Trekkers, know anythign about "historically". It was hard to relate to the ship, the races. I enjoyed the series, wish it would have been given more chances.

Wow. I must say, I'm puzzled by these statements to some degree. I really dig Enterprise, and that's after going into it with similar mindsets to both of yours. I was very skeptical upon getting started, but it really grew on me over time.

I might be in the minority here, but I very much enjoy that it was set so far back in time. It's cool seeing first contacts with now-familiar races, watching a Starfleet ship flying around that can't blow away anything that comes across its path, seeing the thematic parallels to the early US space program, etc. And I really like the cast. Archer, Trip, T'Pol and Phlox are great characters. Reed has his moments. Hoshi and Mayweather can die in a fire, for all I care; I cringe whenever I start to watch an episode and realize it's focusing on one of them. But overall, the cast is very solid.

My two complaints with Enterprise are big complaints, but far from dealbreakers:

1) I hate time travel as a plot device, a theme, an idea, a deus ex machina, a macguffin, a literary device, etc. Time travel in any fiction other than the Terminator and Back to the Future movies should be done away with.

2) The Enterprise in Enterprise looks more high-tech than the Enterprise-E in the TNG movies. I realize they didn't want to design a crappy, TOS-looking ship for a show produced in the 2000s, but come on. The Enterprise NX-01 (or whatever) should not look like something you'd see flying around in the 24th century. I mean, how do they explain why ships looked really cool and high-tech in the 2100s but then suddenly looked like shit in the TOS era? Was Ikea suddenly hired to design the new ships at the turn of the 23rd century? At any rate, the producers and production designer(s) should have been more creative here. Even the Klingon ships look 24th-centuryesque. I would have loved some really cool, retro-looking ships instead of what the show presented us.