[David Kopel, June 13, 2009 at 1:29pm] Trackbacks
Stardate: -314447.88:

Independence Institute President Jon Caldara and I discuss the past, present, and future of Star Trek, in this 17 minute podcast.

The River Temoc (mail):
Your favorite episode is SPOCK'S BRAIN? I mean, SPOCK'S BRAIN? The episode that all of Star Trek fandom universally deride as the worst episode of TOS, and probably all the series?

You all are way too TOS-centric, anyways. I re-watched a few episodes of TOS in anticipation of the new movie, and it is stunning, just stunning, how much better TNG is.
6.13.2009 2:10pm
Bruce Hayden (mail):
Excellent podcast. Maybe better for me than many, since I have been watching and listening to the two of them for years. I found David's answer to why a Democrat like him liked the original Star Trek interesting, that he saw the Federation (back in the original series) a lot like the Democratic agenda of Eleanor Roosevelt and Jack Kennedy, not afraid of using the military to protect our way of life.

I esp. found the end interesting, when they left Star Trek itself, and discussed science fiction, etc. in general. They pointed out one of the things that I still love about it, nearing 50 years from when I read my first book of that genre - the "what if" part of it. Sure, I like the light space opera or the like sometimes on the plane (though I probably read more fantasy for that any more). But I prefer the books that get me thinking about what would happen or would have happened if something had changed or if trends are extrapolated into the future.

But probably showing my total lack of sophistication, I still like the original Tribbles episode, contrary apparently the more sophisticated Caldara and Kopel.
6.13.2009 2:58pm
Alexia:
Bah! They only left the ship in TNG when somebody needed to die.
6.13.2009 4:56pm
Dave N (mail):
I haven't listened to the podcast, but given the ending of the most recent Star Trek, which Star Trek future are you referring to (unless, of course you simply mean, Star Trek: The Franchise)?
6.13.2009 7:26pm
Captain Picard:
I hope no one bothers discussing alternate timelines in "Enterprise" and the 2009 movie, invented so new writers could create unaccountable universes while gaining from the advertisement of the name "Star Trek".

Tabula-rasa Star Trek may or may not be interesting, but there is little point in discussing every latest new timeline as though it were a universe coherent with the gold-standards TOS and TNG.
6.13.2009 7:34pm
A. Zarkov (mail):
Favorite episode-- Spock's Brain? That's nuts. The best episode by far was The City at the Edge of Forever. This episode won the 1968 Hugo Award for the best dramatic presentation, and it well deserved to. From Wikipedia:
Harlan Ellison's original version won a Writers Guild of America Award for best dramatic hour-long script.
This episode took longer to shoot and cost more than any other. It challenged the viewer like no other, incorporating themes like misdirected pacifism and personal sacrifice. The acting was better, and the story far more engaging than any other TOS episode.
6.14.2009 4:04pm
Positroll:
"I hope no one bothers discussing alternate timelines in "Enterprise" and the 2009 movie, invented so new writers could create unaccountable universes while gaining from the advertisement of the name "Star Trek". "
Yep. I'd prefer a movie version of the current books (Destiny triology etc - hey, "A singular destiny" even discusses questions of economics ! :-) ) ) and then go forward from there - Typhon pact and all ...
6.15.2009 5:05am

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