• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.
I really liked Quantum Leap when I was young. Does it still stand up? I'm reluctant to investigate...
I watched some reruns recently and IMO it has held up OK, it is more saccharine than I remembered. I even liked the final episode with the rather bleak final statement.
 
The early TNG ones were fantastic.

Troi in a mini-skirt and calf-length boots looked like a go-go dancer.

1597418700648.png
 
Yes, which is precisely why I liked it so much. Brilliant and quite subtle subversion of where we all thought it was going.
From what I’ve seen if the series got another season it was going unexpected places anyway.
The barman in the finale would turn out to be an alien (not God/universe/Sam) and would leap Sam into the far future.
Al (now having lived a life with Beth - thanks to Sam) decides to become a leaper and go look for Sam.
The season would have seen a lot more Stockwell and much less Bakula.

I’m glad they ended it how they did.
 
Hmm realized something today about Star Trek: Lower Decks. It has recurring characters as minor back ground NPCs. Hmmm not sure this means something, but it's interesting.
 
Possibly the most scary episode of ST:TNG was when Counsellor Troi takes command of the Enterprise, a change from her usual duties.
All the previous episodes had primed us to believe she was a bit of an airhead, but then she acquits herself magnificently.
 
I think I've said it before on this thread that although Enterprise wasn't that good it still had its moments. The last series was pretty good and the double episode 'in a mirror darkly' set in the mirror universe was right up there with anything else in the star trek canon.
 
It has recurring characters as minor back ground NPCs. Hmmm not sure this means something, but it's interesting.
That was one of the reasons I enjoyed that particular episode. It featured the back stories of lowly ensigns who get caught up in drama. It showed how decisions of major characters effect the 'grunts' who, while they play a part in a serious mission, normally get overlooked. It should be "required viewing" of officer candidates to keep in mind that while you may consider the lives of a lower ranker in the grand scheme of things, the ripples still change people. Sometimes we need not only the 'big picture' but the 'little picture' too, to keep things into perspective.
 
That was one of the reasons I enjoyed that particular episode. It featured the back stories of lowly ensigns who get caught up in drama. It showed how decisions of major characters effect the 'grunts' who, while they play a part in a serious mission, normally get overlooked. It should be "required viewing" of officer candidates to keep in mind that while you may consider the lives of a lower ranker in the grand scheme of things, the ripples still change people. Sometimes we need not only the 'big picture' but the 'little picture' too, to keep things into perspective.
I meant the new series not the TNG episode(which was also good).

What I was mentioning is that it's an animated series, but they don't just throw random people into the background of scenes. They're unnamed characters who never say anything, and there's dozens of them, but they're actual character designs that get re-used regularly.
 
I meant the new series not the TNG episode(which was also good).
Ah. I see.
I've not bothered with all the various TV series available on expensive pay-channels. It's not snobbery, mind, I'm just not so into it that I'd spend good money on a subscription. It was touch and go when I purchased the J.J. Abrams first reboot and I enjoyed Into Darkness.
 
Wouldn't reusing background characters just make sense in regards to cutting costs?
 
Dunno if this has already been mentioned but if so, there is a new development -

(From the website of the very respectable The Root Institute: 'a solutions-oriented convening around the issues, culture, politics and well-being of the Black community in 2020 and beyond.')

Family Launches GoFundMe to Assist Star Trek Icon Nichelle Nichols, Who Allegedly Suffered Elder Abuse

At 87 years old, Nichols is reportedly suffering from dementia and according to IndieWire, is currently engaged in a legal battle that claims that she suffered from elder abuse at the hands of her manager, Gilbert Bell.

The complaint filing states multiple allegations, including financial elder abuse, intentional/negligent infliction of emotional distress and constructive fraud.

The poor woman. Makes my blood boil.
 
Dunno if this has already been mentioned but if so, there is a new development -

(From the website of the very respectable The Root Institute: 'a solutions-oriented convening around the issues, culture, politics and well-being of the Black community in 2020 and beyond.')

Family Launches GoFundMe to Assist Star Trek Icon Nichelle Nichols, Who Allegedly Suffered Elder Abuse



The poor woman. Makes my blood boil.

I met her (in that 10 seconds at a scifi convention kinda way) and she came across as a very dignified and perfectly groomed old girl. She certainly didn't make you feel like the ten millionth idiot she'd had to endure.

That is indeed sad, but not so shocking given how shitty some people are. Shame Gorns aren't real - Gilbert Bell should have one as a cell mate.
 
Dunno if this has already been mentioned but if so, there is a new development -

(From the website of the very respectable The Root Institute: 'a solutions-oriented convening around the issues, culture, politics and well-being of the Black community in 2020 and beyond.')

Family Launches GoFundMe to Assist Star Trek Icon Nichelle Nichols, Who Allegedly Suffered Elder Abuse



The poor woman. Makes my blood boil.

Same thing happened to Stan Lee near the end of his life, I think. Shouldn't happen to anyone, of course.
 
On a whim, I watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock yesterday, for what must have been the first time in twenty-five years.

With the caveat that I am not a Star Trek fanatic (although I do have fond memories of watching repeats of the original series with my father and TNG when a teenager), I have to say that I found the both films (effectively one film) very enjoyable.

Notes:

There was far less techno-babble than features in later series. The audience doesn't need to know how the Genesis project works in great and semi-plausible detail to grasp its narrative role. I found that I didn't miss the expanded explanations one jot.

I was very surprised to find that I felt extremely well-disposed to the principal crew, most of all the Kirk-Spock-Bones triumvirate. Although I first watched these films in the 80s (on TV, not at the cinema), I was quite young, and so I assumed before this re-watch that I'd feel more warmly towards Picard's crew, as they had been my generational-incarnation, the ones I'd watched on first release and soaked in weekly. Well, I think I was mistaken. Spock's death and Kirk's reactions were genuine 'lump in the throat' events, and the interactions between all the main characters seemed utterly convincing (great work given the antagonism that we know existed between some of the actors).

The films have elements that date them beyond the special effects, but I found that these retro-futuristic elements were quite endearing. Even the low-level sexism that crops up here and there seemed to be presented in a way that suggested that those who were susceptible were not mean, just daft, and ultimately growing old and headed the way of the dodo anyway.

Religion, faith, belief: they didn't feel heavy or ponderous, but this is deep stuff dealt with deftly. It's mostly covered implicitly, but the subtexts are writ large for anybody who cares to read. It's hard to put my finger on the tonal shift exactly, but the later Star Trek series I have watched seem to be more... clear-cut. Although there's much talk of moral dilemmas and ethical decisions, the 'right' thing to do is usually generally pretty apparent to all but the hard-of-thinking, and we usually end up with the neatly tied bow of having done the right thing, applied the right principles and generated a happy ending. With these two films, I had the sense that the characters had come through their experiences changed (if not scarred) by them, and that the emotions were not simply shed once the mission was over.
 
Last edited:
On a whim, I watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock yesterday, for what must have been the first time in twenty-five years.

With the caveat that I am not a Star Trek fanatic (although I do have fond memories of watching repeats of the original series with my father and TNG when a teenager), I have to say that I found the both films (effectively one film) very enjoyable.

Notes:

There was far less techno-babble than features in later series. The audience doesn't need to know how the Genesis project works in great and semi-plausible detail to grasp its narrative role. I found that I didn't miss the expanded explanations one jot.

I was very surprised to find that I felt extremely well-disposed to the principal crew, most of all the Kirk-Spock-Bones triumvirate. Although I first watched these films in the 80s (on TV, not at the cinema), I was quite young, and so I assumed before this re-watch that I'd feel more warmly towards Picard's crew, as they had been my generational-incarnation, the ones I'd watched on first release and soaked in weekly. Well, I think I was mistaken. Spock's death and Kirk's reactions were genuine 'lump in the throat' events, and the interactions between all the main characters seemed utterly convincing (great work given the antagonism that we know existed between some of the actors).

The films have elements that date them beyond the special effects, but I found that these retro-futuristic elements were quite endearing. Even the low-level sexism that crops up here and there seemed to be presented in a way that suggested that those who were susceptible not mean, just daft, and ultimately growing old and headed the way of the dodo anyway.

Religion, faith, belief: they didn't feel heavy or ponderous, but this is deep stuff dealt with deftly. It's mostly covered implicitly, but the subtexts are writ large for anybody who cares to read. It's hard to put my finger on the tonal shift exactly, but the later Star Trek series I have watched seem to be more... clear-cut. Although there's much talk of moral dilemmas and ethical decisions, the 'right' thing to do is usually generally pretty apparent to all but the hard-of-thinking, and we usually end up with the neatly tied bow of having done the right thing, applied the right principles and generated a happy ending. With these two films, I had the sense that the characters had come through their experiences changed (if not scarred) by them, and that the emotions were not simply shed once the mission was over.
My favorite was always final frontier. How can you not love a film that asks what does god want with a starship?.
 
so... "Moist Vessel" is in some ways similar to the TNG ep where Picard finds the D'Arsay archive, but only in terms of the problem of having the ship get turned into non-ship a piece at a time. Which is the main plot. Starfleet finds weird alien stuff that they don't understand and in trying to understand it they nearly get killed. The other ship that was helping the Cerritos actually got written off as destroyed. In this case it was an alien terraforming technology that works to the same end as Genesis, but is a liquid, and not a bomb, hence the "moist".

In terms of the personality of the story. Part of it is Beckett and her mom trying to work together. Which... when they stop intentionally aggravating each other actually goes rather well.

Then there's the plot with Tendi. we find out that Tendi's main personality quirk is that she can't live with the idea people are unhappy with her, and wants literally everyone to like her. So when a guy who's supposedly studying to ascend and leave behind the mortal realm invites her to his ascension she takes it very personally when she messes it up... then we later find out it was a trap and she was invited because he expected her to make a mess. He'd been studying ascension for years, but never actually planned to do it. Eventually they talk it out and become friends... at which point he ascends for real. Trying to make sense of what happens next? oh boy.... no idea what to make of it. You'll have to see it for yourselves.
 
My favorite was always final frontier. How can you not love a film that asks what does god want with a starship?.

I only have a dim recollection of that one.

The next watch for me is Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which I recall being the oddball installment--with the whales.
 
I only have a dim recollection of that one.

The next watch for me is Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which I recall being the oddball installment--with the whales.
and set in 20th century san francisco where i lived when it came out. much fun. Actually I suppose my favorite is first contact, casting is superb.
 
My favorite was always final frontier. How can you not love a film that asks what does god want with a starship?.

William Shatner arguing with God: comedy gold. In fact I think the much-maligned Final Frontier is the funniest ST movie, I'm not sure whether it was meant to be quite as funny as it was, mind you.
 
Back
Top