Star Trek: Alpha to Delta Quadrants & Everything In Between

[mobilehaathi]

I think there was another episode (if not more) where something similar was going on in the sense of intrusiveness where the ship and the crew were taken elsewhere and things done with/to them all so that another species could "explore" in their own way without leaving their own home essentially.

I believe this was the episode "The Nth Degree" in which Lt. Barclay is transformed with super intelligence and forces the Enterprise to the center of the galaxy so that the aliens there can meet them (part of their mission to similarly "seek out new life and new civilizations" but without "boldly going" anywhere).

 

[AlliFlowers]

Return of the Archons

"Come for the Festival, are ya?"

Just that line strikes terror! Thank you for providing the episode name.

 

[Peace]

Ok funny story.

in 1996 after Jerry Garcia died the Grateful Dead's bass player Phil Lesh held a benefit for one of his foundations at the Hilton in San Francisco.
I went as a photographer and had a blast.
The cool part.
As we were walking out of the room a guy that looked just like Jonathan Frakes was leaving and was standing there with a friend talking. Beard and all.
Well I was..shall we say "stoned"..Just pot thats all. But. The guy looked just like Number One.
So I said to him "dude you look just like number one".
He kinda laughed and said "I do ?" then he tilted his head to the side and gave that grin.
Well we all busted out in laughter then walked down the hall to the elevator.

Great stuff. You had to have been there to truly grok the scene.

Here we were in San Francisco. Home of the UFP and Star Trek Academy and I'm talking to Number One on the 50th floor of the Hilton.

One of those moments in life you never forget.

 

[D.T.]

@Peace

That's fantastic. I'd say the part before the "cool part" is pretty cool too, were you there as a photographer in a professional capacity? Magazine?

 

[Peace]

@Peace

That's fantastic. I'd say the part before the "cool part" is pretty cool too, were you there as a photographer in a professional capacity? Magazine?

No. It was a "family thing". Kinda sorta.

edit :

As an aside. I have had my location set to "Space--The ONLY Frontier" for almost 12 years.

 

[Roller]

I've been a Star Trek fan since I first started watching TOS on a black-and-white TV in 1966. Since then, I've had the good fortune to have met several of the cast members from TOS and TNG, including James Doohan, Leonard Nimoy, and Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, and Jonathan Frakes, at conventions and at other functions. TNG remains my favorite, with TOS a close second. Some TOS episodes may seem cheesy by today's standards, but the best ones (City of the Edge of Forever, Assignment: Earth, to name just two) rank with anything in science fiction IMO.

 

[decafjava]

I am and always shall be a Trekkie. Since my childhood. I cling to the hope of a society as shown in ST, a bit utopian but one can hope.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I am and always shall be a Trekkie. Since my childhood. I cling to the hope of a society as shown in ST, a bit utopian but one can hope.

Well, likewise, to a certain extent.

Above all, I liked the essential optimism and generosity of spirit and intellectual curiosity that was the clear, underlying, tone of much of STNG.

 

[mobilehaathi]

I am and always shall be a Trekkie. Since my childhood. I cling to the hope of a society as shown in ST, a bit utopian but one can hope.

Well, likewise, to a certain extent.

Above all, I liked the essential optimism and generosity of spirit and intellectual curiosity that was the clear, underlying, tone of much of STNG.

Indeed, agreed.

Best of luck.

 

[ActionableMango]

Above all, I liked the essential optimism and generosity of spirit and intellectual curiosity that was the clear, underlying, tone of much of STNG.

I did too. In a recent rewatch of TNG I came to appreciate just how much of that rested on Picard's dialog. The writers did a good job with Picard's lines and Patrick Stewart was the perfect actor to deliver them.

 

[mac666er]

There have been many threads on Star Wars, including one started by @Huntn on the Star Wars Universe.

There are also others which discuss both worlds, that of Star Wars, and that of Star Trek.

This thread - which I have been thinking about starting for quite some time, and have done so because I think that there is an interest in the topic - and, more importantly, nobody else has done so - is intended as a place where those of us who have long loved the Star Trek franchise can chat about anything and everything to do with the Star Trek world, such as its TV shows, movies, the science, and the political, cultural and social visions behind the whole thing, too.

I would see it as a place where we can discuss everything to do with Star Trek, starting with the original Star Trek series, including the movies, - all of them - and of course, addressing the various TV shows.

Individual episodes, too, can be dissected, discussed and explored.

As a very small kid I saw Star Trek on TV and loved it; I loved the idea of space travel (and devoured books on the Solar System, space travel, and the cosmos); my hero was Mr Spock who made being a nerd fashionable long before that state of being had been given a name.

STNG - Star Trek the Next Generation - was - at its best - an absolute tour de force, - largely thanks to the inspirational choice of Patrick Stewart - a middle aged, balding, British Shakespearean actor who was cast - initially improbably - as the Frenchman Captain Jean-Luc Picard - and really only hit its stride once the third season kicked off.

But, even before that, it had shown some tremendous potential: The episode "The Measure Of A Man" in season two was outstanding.

DS9 - Deep Space Nine - became compellingly dark, with extraordinary depth - while Voyager could have delivered more on its promise, although the premise was fascinating and some of what it attempted to explore was very good.

I daresay that others may wish to discuss "Enterprise"; personally, I thought it the poorest show - or TV series - in the entire franchise by a considerable margin, and failed - completely - to utilise the latent potential in its cast for ensemble acting. Besides, I don't think the lead (Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer) was all that credible - he struck me as a poor actor, with a poorly conceived and written part.

With that, I shall throw this thread open, and extend an invitation to all who would like - or who wish to join in to please feel free to do so.

Interesting... never thought of you as a Trekkie, much less one that would start a thread, so I'll contribute.

I like Star Trek very much, but I prefer StarWars. While I like Science Fiction and pretty much any story that exploits it, I like how StarWars explores religion and mysticism. I prefer that over StarTrek's alien conflicts.

I really like how they present the Federation as a civil, advanced organization. I loved that. But I think it derails a little when they talk about other races that actually are very primitive in their presentation: Romulans, Klingons, etc. They seem still human to me and not only that but actually backwards, which I find boring.

An exception to this, was the presentation of Q. Now we are talking. That is how I imagined some alien encounter would be in a Star Trek world. Something just beyond human comprehension, even for the Federation. Something that seems godlike or magical per the concept of Arthur C Clarke: so freaking advanced you really see your minimal place in the known universe.

Another thing StarTrek gets right is human relationships. I loved the chemistry between McCoy, Spock and Kirk. I miss that. And I loved how the great Khan put it to the test in movie #2. That was superbly done.

I never understood why Picard never married Dr Crusher... to me it seemed like a natural storyline to follow. I liked how the counselor married number one, but the story seemed unworthy of a movie.

I'll conclude by saying that it is sad in my eyes by what is happening to it currently. Although personal chemistry is somewhat there, it is more action oriented than dilemma oriented. I think that is wrong.

 

[mobilehaathi]

But I think it derails a little when they talk about other races that actually are very primitive in their presentation: Romulans, Klingons, etc. They seem still human to me and not only that but actually backwards, which I find boring.

Well, there isn't a linear hierarchical progression of societal development. Each of those alien societies were quite advanced civilizations; they all had complex social customs and governments; they simply developed differently; they organized differently, valued different things, and solved problems differently. This caused conflicts, and pretty much every plot revolved around seeking to resolve these conflicts. You found it boring; I found it quite entertaining.

 

[Roller]

I like Star Trek very much, but I prefer StarWars. While I like Science Fiction and pretty much any story that exploits it, I like how StarWars explores religion and mysticism. I prefer that over StarTrek's alien conflicts.

I really like how they present the Federation as a civil, advanced organization. I loved that. But I think it derails a little when they talk about other races that actually are very primitive in their presentation: Romulans, Klingons, etc. They seem still human to me and not only that but actually backwards, which I find boring.

I've been a Star Wars fan since the first movie as well, but I've never thought of it as science fiction, mostly because it's been very thin on science. Start Trek did a much better job in that regard by trying to stay within the bounds of scientific theory in many aspects. Gene Roddenberry's attention to this was described in the book The Making of Star Trek, and it showed in the programs. Sure, they often went beyond the realm of possibility, especially in the time travel episodes, but they tried to maintain a consistent framework.

I also think that Star Trek did a wonderful job exploring the range of possibilities for alien life forms and showing how humans' assumptions about them might be wrong. The TOS episodes The Corbomite Maneuver and The Devil in the Dark come to mind. As well, the Klingons and Romulans were violent, but they were as technologically advanced as the Federation. It's true that the Klingons in particular were quite human in appearance in TOS, but that changed over time as production budgets grew. (Compare the Klingons in TOS to the ones in STTNG.) I also like the fact that the Klingons joined the Federation, much to the consternation of Scotty when he was revived in the STTNG episode Relics.

 

[mac666er]

Well, there isn't a linear hierarchical progression of societal development. Each of those alien societies were quite advanced civilizations; they all had complex social customs and governments; they simply developed differently; they organized differently, valued different things, and solved problems differently. This caused conflicts, and pretty much every plot revolved around seeking to resolve these conflicts. You found it boring; I found it quite entertaining.

What I found hard to believe is that supposedly these are alien creatures with a different origin than humans. Yet they were humanoid, bipedal, spoke a language and could actually mate with a human.

A whale or a medusa is more alien than a Vulcan or a Feringi.

All the other concepts you mentioned I totally can relate to, and that is precisely the point. All these are human traits, which I did not find alien at all.

Just an observation, I still enjoy the shows. I am more attracted to exploration of true alien ism. I remember an episode in TNG where the aliens call Picard "horrible water bag". I thought that was brilliant and more in line to what an alien should be.
[doublepost=1480921853][/doublepost]

I've been a Star Wars fan since the first movie as well, but I've never thought of it as science fiction, mostly because it's been very thin on science. Start Trek did a much better job in that regard by trying to stay within the bounds of scientific theory in many aspects. Gene Roddenberry's attention to this was described in the book The Making of Star Trek, and it showed in the programs. Sure, they often went beyond the realm of possibility, especially in the time travel episodes, but they tried to maintain a consistent framework.

I also think that Star Trek did a wonderful job exploring the range of possibilities for alien life forms and showing how humans' assumptions about them might be wrong. The TOS episodes The Corbomite Maneuver and The Devil in the Dark come to mind. As well, the Klingons and Romulans were violent, but they were as technologically advanced as the Federation. It's true that the Klingons in particular were quite human in appearance in TOS, but that changed over time as production budgets grew. (Compare the Klingons in TOS to the ones in STTNG.) I also like the fact that the Klingons joined the Federation, much to the consternation of Scotty when he was revived in the STTNG episode Relics.

And yet, they are still very human in my eyes. And actually look like Akkadians. It was very hard to me to accept them as alien when they name their ships "birds of pray", that is a Terran creature! And as stated can mate with a human to have someone such as Worf.

StarTrek has surprised me on this a couple of times. As stated, Q is a gem that goes against all these criticisms.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

*Puts on his membership badge and fake vulcan ears*

I daresay that others may wish to discuss "Enterprise"; personally, I thought it the poorest show - or TV series - in the entire franchise by a considerable margin, and failed - completely - to utilise the latent potential in its cast for ensemble acting. Besides, I don't think the lead (Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer) was all that credible - he struck me as a poor actor, with a poorly conceived and written part.

I recently finished ENT and I must say that I found way more strong episodes in that show, than I ever did with TOS. Especially season 3 and 4 had strong hitters again and again IMO.

I liked Bakulas Archer, as he seemed like the perfect fit between Earth back then, and the Star Trek world we've come to know. He bridges it perfectly in showing the right sides of what is to come, mixed with the arogant earthlings we are now. 8)

Then again, TOS never really did hit it with me. I kinda ended up liking the charcters, although I did find them quite shallow, and the majority of the episodes were just the same premise over and over.. And the close combat fights... Oh the close combat fights... I didn't think it was possible to put something like that so badly on film..

I never understood why Picard never married Dr Crusher... to me it seemed like a natural storyline to follow. I liked how the counselor married number one, but the story seemed unworthy of a movie.

But he did! Last episode of TNG shows that.. 8)

The closest thing to Star Trek I've ever seen was the first Star Wars film. The second closest was Gattaca when it came out. I've never liked science fiction, be it in literature or visual entertainment.

I'd say Gattaca is much closer to what ST is at its core, than Star Wars is...

DS9 I know a lot of people say it's the best series but for me it didn't capture the exploration/wonderment that Star Trek is, ie exploring new worlds and civilizations which is what drew me to Star Trek in the first place.

I just finished TOS, then ENT, (and took S7 of TNG just for the kicks), and now I am debating as to wether I should go through VOY or DS9. I've seen a few episodes here and there of VOY, so I know I will like it, but people keep saying that DS9 is some of the finist ST there is. But as you mention, it may lack what drew me to ST in the first place! I don't want to watch "Days of Our Lives in SPACE!" if there's VOY to go for..

Thoughts on that?

 

[mobilehaathi]

What I found hard to believe is that supposedly these are alien creatures with a different origin than humans. Yet they were humanoid, bipedal, spoke a language and could actually mate with a human.

Ahh, yes, fair point, although this was largely due to budget and other practical problems I'm sure. In fact, they acknowledged and explained this unlikely coincidence within the story universe in season 6 episode 20 of ST:TNG. At the end of the episode, after finally assembling the final pieces of the puzzle,

Spoiler

the recorded image of an alien humanoid is projected to the assembled company, and it explains that its species is responsible for the presence of life in the Alpha Quadrant. When the aliens first explored the Alpha and Beta Quadrants there had been no humanoid-based life other than themselves, and so they seeded various planets with their DNA to create a legacy of their existence after they had gone. The alien ends its message by saying that it hopes that the knowledge of a common origin will help produce peace.

So, in fact, all the humanoid species do have a common ancestor!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Ahh, yes, fair point, although this was largely due to budget and other practical problems I'm sure. In fact, they acknowledged and explained this unlikely coincidence within the story universe in season 6 episode 20 of ST:TNG. At the end of the episode, after finally assembling the final pieces of the puzzle,

Spoiler

the recorded image of an alien humanoid is projected to the assembled company, and it explains that its species is responsible for the presence of life in the Alpha Quadrant. When the aliens first explored the Alpha and Beta Quadrants there had been no humanoid-based life other than themselves, and so they seeded various planets with their DNA to create a legacy of their existence after they had gone. The alien ends its message by saying that it hopes that the knowledge of a common origin will help produce peace.

So, in fact, all the humanoid species do have a common ancestor!

Yes: I remember that episode, and was about to reply with a reference to it, as it gives a logical - or coherent answer from a narrative perspective - to the point, or question posed by @mac666er.

 

[obeygiant]

My number one favorite TOS Star Trek episode is The City On The Edge Of Forever. Season 1 Episode 28 with Joan Collins.

Kirk's story arc in that episode gets me ever time.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My number one favorite TOS Star Trek episode is The City On The Edge Of Forever. Season 1 Episode 28 with Joan Collins.

Kirk's story arc in that episode gets me ever time.

City On The Edge Of Forever is a fantastic episode, absolutely brilliant and compelling and thought-provoking in equal measure. Unusual, too, in giving Dr McCoy a (doomed and impossible) love interest - rather than the more clichéd and more predictable storyline that would have ensued had this happened to Captain Kirk.

 

[MacUser2525]

My number one favorite TOS Star Trek episode is The City On The Edge Of Forever. Season 1 Episode 28 with Joan Collins.

I remember that episode for the error at the very end where they beam up seven people on a six person transporter in the closing scene.

 

[Mousse]

I never understood why Picard never married Dr Crusher... to me it seemed like a natural storyline to follow.

They toyed with it for the final episode of TNG: All Good Things... Captain Beverly Picard commanded the medical ship, USS Pasteur.

City On The Edge Of Forever is a fantastic episode, absolutely brilliant and compelling and thought-provoking in equal measure. Unusual, too, in giving Dr McCoy a (doomed and impossible) love interest - rather than the more clichéd and more predictable storyline that would have ensued had this happened to Captain Kirk.

The doomed and impossible love story for McCoy is the typical love story for McCoy. The other times he's fallen in lurve, TOS: The Man Trap, his ex, Nancy Crater married someone else. In TOS: For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky, Bones fell in love with Natira, but she left him in the end. Poor Bones, he never gets the girl.

 

[obeygiant]

Also Star Trek: First Contact. For me this was one of the best TNG stand alone movies. The first 30 minutes of the movie is outstanding, the pace and acting are all -for me- unrivaled in all the TNG Star Trek films.

 

[mac666er]

Ahh, yes, fair point, although this was largely due to budget and other practical problems I'm sure. In fact, they acknowledged and explained this unlikely coincidence within the story universe in season 6 episode 20 of ST:TNG. At the end of the episode, after finally assembling the final pieces of the puzzle,

Spoiler

the recorded image of an alien humanoid is projected to the assembled company, and it explains that its species is responsible for the presence of life in the Alpha Quadrant. When the aliens first explored the Alpha and Beta Quadrants there had been no humanoid-based life other than themselves, and so they seeded various planets with their DNA to create a legacy of their existence after they had gone. The alien ends its message by saying that it hopes that the knowledge of a common origin will help produce peace.

So, in fact, all the humanoid species do have a common ancestor!

They toyed with it for the final episode of TNG: All Good Things... Captain Beverly Picard commanded the medical ship, USS Pasteur.



The doomed and impossible love story for McCoy is the typical love story for McCoy. The other times he's fallen in lurve, TOS: The Man Trap, his ex, Nancy Crater married someone else. In TOS: For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky, Bones fell in love with Natira, but she left him in the end. Poor Bones, he never gets the girl.

I thought the last episode of TNG was a presentation of several realities and that some alternate enterprises and people really didn't happen in the "current" timeline, (or I guess canon?). Again, I think it is a shame that the series didn't explore that.

Besides that, I am happy overall how The Next Generation progressed having such big shoes to fill. I was a fan of Spock and TNG did satisfy me overall.

One high point for me was the treatment of current life for the characters. I remember for example, Picard mentioning to more primitive aliens that humans still had religion, but not as understood in the 20th century. That they believed in a higher power but in a different way. I always found that a very nice touch and the hinting of mystery very well executed.

 

[C DM]

Also Star Trek: First Contact. For me this was one of the best TNG stand alone movies. The first 30 minutes of the movie is outstanding, the pace and acting are all -for me- unrivaled in all the TNG Star Trek films.

Agreed, that was one of the better Star Trek films overall, and certainly the top one involving the TNG cast.

 

[obeygiant]

BBC had an original series marathon airing over the holiday, which i had on in the background and caught a few episodes.


"Gamesters of Triskelion" where is with this woman who looks like lady Gaga.