Star Trek

[Mythopoeika]

Which one was Tada? Been a while since I watched it.

 

[GNC]

Just thinking, what Star Trek merchandise did anyone here have as a kid? I had a couple of the British annuals which I got second hand, full of artwork better suited to 70s prog rock album covers (and probably plots, too), but the library had a two or three of the fotonovels, City on the Edge of Forever (the one with Joan Collins), Devil in the Dark (the rampaging pizza one) and most oddly, All Our Yesterdays, the one I most remember because bizarrely they had chosen an episode where Kirk, Spock and McCoy were trapped in a freezing cave with a lady, so not the most visually arresting they could have chosen.

Fotonovels were comic books, only they used still frames from the series with speech bubbles for the dialogue. Anyone remember those?

 

[Mythopoeika]

I don't remember seeing any toys or comics relating to Star Trek when I was a kid, apart from TV Century 21 - one of my favourites.

 

[CarlosTheDJ]

I've got an metal 1960s Enterprise Dinky toy that I was given when I was a kid. It was old then, it used to have a little shuttle that sat inside opening hatch doors, and a dial on top of the saucer that fires a disc 'proton torpedo' out of the front. Shuttle and discs are long gone now though.

 

[Shady]

I thought Kes went all superpowered, did she lose them?

 

[Tigerhawk]

I thought Kes went all superpowered, did she lose them?

I think in one of the books, or short stories, Super Power Kes returned home, and made the planet habitable again, with water and plants and stuff...

 

[Swifty]

The bank of Canada is urging Star Trek fans to stop 'spocking' fivers ..

https://dangerousminds.net/comments...M0U8OOqykQz-I8q-3zj8aViwQduQALDEPa5Uf1XNvBc9o

 

[Yithian]

Auto-stabilise can make it appear that everybody's at a rave on the bridge.

https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/e888o5

 

[GNC]

Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) is in charge of the next ST film, and may do a complete reboot:
Noah Hawley interview

He says it's early stages, but it does sound like he wants to move away from the past, including the Chris Pine series. We'll see, I suppose. Oh, and don't hold your breath for that Quentin Tarantino R-rated one.

 

[Gloucestrian]

Noah seems like a clever chap. The Fargo television series have been quite respectful of the original film without endlessly rehashing its story. If he can bring that kind of storytelling, focused on tone and respectful nods to the original television series, to a reboot Star Trek then it might be quite successful.

 

[GNC]

Plus he's already tackled SF with Legion, though that was a lot weirder than ST ever gets. He does seem keen to take chances, whatever he does, so he could be a good choice.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Only a week to go!
Very much looking forward to Picard.

If it recaptures even half of the magic of TNG, it will be unmissable. The last few ST incarnations have all been a bit meh.

 

[Gloucestrian]

My personal favourite series was DS9, but TNG was great, though the quality of the scripts was very uneven at times. Which series do you mean when you say the last few as there have been 4 since TNG: DS9 (Deep Space Nine), Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery. In hindsight each were products of their time, but I am not sure they have or will hold up equally well.

 

[Yithian]

I feel slightly apprehensive about this one.

I know that Star Trek has always explored social issues (notably race and war in the original series and there was plenty about mental health and reconciliation in TNG and DS-9), but with the ever fiercer culture wars in the States (and the UK), I simply don't trust the scriptwriters to handle the contemporary debates intelligently or tastefully.

To be clear, I'm all on-board for decent politically themed plots and character arcs, but given some of the cringe-worthy attempts we've seen lately, I don't have that much faith that we'll get them. Frankly, I'm braced for the worst allegories that can be thrown at us and 'He-Man endings'.

DS-9 was sometimes rather good at paddling in the waters of moral ambiguity, state-power and extremism in a 'noir-ish' fashion, but that was all produced some time ago and society has gone bonkers since.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

My personal favourite series was DS9, but TNG was great, though the quality of the scripts was very uneven at times. Which series do you mean when you say the last few as there have been 4 since TNG: DS9 (Deep Space Nine), Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery. In hindsight each were products of their time, but I am not sure they have or will hold up equally well.

As well as weaker scripts, I found some of the main characters downright irritating in those later series. I never really took to Janeway in Voyager and the comedy character Neelix just made me cringe.
In Enterprise, the good ol' boy Trip and T'Pol just got right up my nose and Michael's aloofness in Discovery irritated me, as did the cumbersome shoehorned gay lovers plot.

Hope Picard will focus on great stories and not descend into political preachiness.

 

[CarlosTheDJ]

Sir Pat will not let us down.

 

[Lb8535]

As well as weaker scripts, I found some of the main characters downright irritating in those later series. I never really took to Janeway in Voyager and the comedy character Neelix just made me cringe.
In Enterprise, the good ol' boy Trip and T'Pol just got right up my nose and Michael's aloofness in Discovery irritated me, as did the cumbersome shoehorned gay lovers plot.

Hope Picard will focus on great stories and not descend into political preachiness.

And also hope that they spent enough on competent actors around Sir Pat. I can grade the series by the proportion of professional actors on the screen. DS9 is right up there. Enterprise was consistently cringeworthy, so help me the beagles were a saving grace. And Mulgrew is a decent stage actress but putting your hands on your hips is not characterization.

 

[CarlosTheDJ]

Watched Nemesis again last night in preparation for Picard.

I was 100% convinced that right at the end, there was a shot of Data's head floating through space. It wasn't there! I even watched the entire credits in case it was in there somewhere. But no.

So did I completely make it up, or was it edited out of some versions? I guess it could be upsetting for some viewers. The version I watched was on Sky Cinema.

 

[gordonrutter]

Watched Nemesis again last night in preparation for Picard.

I was 100% convinced that right at the end, there was a shot of Data's head floating through space. It wasn't there! I even watched the entire credits in case it was in there somewhere. But no.

So did I completely make it up, or was it edited out of some versions? I guess it could be upsetting for some viewers. The version I watched was on Sky Cinema.

No mention of it in the script.

 

[GNC]

I saw it in the cinema and there was no Data floating head to my recollection.

 

[Dinobot]

Watched Nemesis again last night in preparation for Picard.

I was 100% convinced that right at the end, there was a shot of Data's head floating through space. It wasn't there! I even watched the entire credits in case it was in there somewhere. But no.

So did I completely make it up, or was it edited out of some versions? I guess it could be upsetting for some viewers. The version I watched was on Sky Cinema.

Perhaps you're thinking of the final episode of the first season of Transformers Beast Wars? One of the robots gets blown up and there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it head floating through space of the dead robot? Or Transformers The Movie in which Unicron gets blown up and his head floats away?

 

[CarlosTheDJ]

Well there ya go. A figment of my imagination.

Has anyone managed to view Season Two of Short Treks in the UK? Other than following a shady route?

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Don't miss Picard tonight!

 

[GNC]

Just watched Picard, and... hmm. Not sure, probably too early to judge from the first episode, but I was only really intrigued by the cliffhanger ending. It has a mystery plot, fair enough, but the bursts of stylish violence seemed out of place, maybe because they were nowhere to be seen in TNG. I suppose time has moved on, but I'd have rather done without the martial arts. Still, any Patrick Stewart is a good thing, so I'll stick with it.

 

[OrsonSwells]

Just thinking, what Star Trek merchandise did anyone here have as a kid? I had a couple of the British annuals which I got second hand, full of artwork better suited to 70s prog rock album covers (and probably plots, too), but the library had a two or three of the fotonovels, City on the Edge of Forever (the one with Joan Collins), Devil in the Dark (the rampaging pizza one) and most oddly, All Our Yesterdays, the one I most remember because bizarrely they had chosen an episode where Kirk, Spock and McCoy were trapped in a freezing cave with a lady, so not the most visually arresting they could have chosen.

Fotonovels were comic books, only they used still frames from the series with speech bubbles for the dialogue. Anyone remember those?

Yes, I had the City on the Edge of Forever photo novel. I still have my Star Trek annual 1975 (dates me) with Spock on the cover. I also definitely had a Kirk and a Spock figure from around the early 70s. They were very primitive and bore little resemblance to the actual characters!

 

[OrsonSwells]

Just watched Picard, and... hmm. Not sure, probably too early to judge from the first episode, but I was only really intrigued by the cliffhanger ending. It has a mystery plot, fair enough, but the bursts of stylish violence seemed out of place, maybe because they were nowhere to be seen in TNG. I suppose time has moved on, but I'd have rather done without the martial arts. Still, any Patrick Stewart is a good thing, so I'll stick with it.

I enjoyed it. It was promising and intriguing enough to continue with. Patrick Stewart was great, of course.

Though I am wondering how they can explain

Spoiler

Data putting on weight!

 

[GNC]

Spoiler: Spoiler Trek

Data looked quite trim to me!

 

[Swifty]

Spoiler: Spoiler Trek

Data looked quite trim to me!

Specsavers .. but who cares ..

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

A slightly clunky opening episode, especially when using the old cliché of an interview to fill in the backstory.
Certainly intriguing enough to hook me into setting series record.
Liked the way Picard himself depicted a sort of world-weary (or galaxy-weary I suppose) disillusion with what has become of the Federation.
The combat scenes with Dahj reminded me of River Tam from Firefly/Serenity and I suppose it was intentional that they picked an actress with quite a resemblance to Data's "daughter" Lal in TNG?
Good cliff-hanger final scene and looking forward to seeing how the Romulan/Borg thing develops.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

The new US "Space Force" badge has more than a passing resemblance to the ST logo!

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...t-er-space-force-and-trekkers-take-to-twitter