Special request for Star Trek fans.

[Pacifist Patriot]

To divert my husband from the idea of taking us all out for an expensive brunch we cannot afford on Sunday, I have suggested instead that we go to a matinee of the new Star Trek movie on Friday since he is taking the day off.

Would anyone who goes to see it on Friday please PM me with their opinion on whether or not it is appropriate for a 6 year old. Keeping in mind said 6 year old has never seen a single episode of Star Trek but has seen all six Star Wars movies at least 18 brazilian times.

To make this more relevant to the Lounge, I am going to offer up a discussion question.

I loved the original Star Trek, enjoyed Next Generation tremendously, followed Voyager fairly regularly (certain my husband watched it for Seven of Nine), tried to watch Enterprise but lost track of it in a geographic move, but thought Deep Space Nine absolute twaddle.

Which was the best series in your opinion?

Should I take the time to find Enterprise on DVD (is it available?) and watch it in its entirety?

Thank you!

[TZ]

1. I'd day skip Enterprise

Some people thought the later episodes were okay but the beginning was so much dreck..I was SOOOO disappointed..And I loved Scott Bakula in Quantuum Leap. I wouldn't bother.
FWIW, this is SUPPOSED to be a stand alone story that appeals to new to the series fans, I think.
My favorites were TNG, TOS, Voyager, DS9.

[Pacifist Patriot]

7. *sigh* Yes, I did so enjoy Scott Bakula in Quantum Leap.

[DarkTirade]

19. I liked it.

But then again I think that's mostly because I found most of the cast attractive. :P

[Gidney N Cloyd]

33. The fun thing about Enterprise is how it pulled different Trek world threads together.

Like tying Data and Khan's histories together via Dr. Sung.
The Andorian stories were usually pretty good and the season-long arc of stopping the Earth's destruction (and venturing further out into space than they were quite ready for) was pretty good, too.

[LeftyMom]

2. I'm going Thursday night, I'll report back.

Oh, and the best series is DS9. You just have to understand that it doesn't really start until season three.

[WildEyedLiberal]

3. DS9 is like BSG - you can't just watch random episodes

It's a serial and if you just catch random shows here and there you will have NO clue WTF is going on. Especially season 5 onward. DS9 is still my favorite TV show of all time.

[LeftyMom]

18. This is true.

You really do have to sit down and watch it sequentially. Once I clued a friend of mine in on that (he's a professional geek, he really ought to have known) he Netflixed them and was raving about how fantastic they are.

[tigereye]

26. yup

:thumbsup:

[LanternWaste]

4. A pal told me there's some pretty steamy scenes...

A pal (he saw an industry insider viewing this past weekend) told me there's a pretty steamy scene... no blatant nudity mind you, but enough steam that a lot of parents of a six year old may be a bit uncomfortable with it. :shrug:

[Pacifist Patriot]

9. Then again, you're talking to someone whose parents took her to A Chorus Line in the West End ...

when she was 7. Hmmm, that might explain a few things.

[LanternWaste]

24. Oops... never mind.

Oops... never mind. :blush:

[Bucky]

5. I thought Deep Space 9 & Enterprise were the only spin offs worth watching

So don't ask me about what's appropriate to show a kid. Hell, when she was 2 months old I took my daughter to see Silence of the Lambs. (She actually seemed to find it boring.)

[Orrex]

6. Enterprise was better than I expected and better than it's generally credited to be

Certainly much better than that awful Babylon 5 stuff.

Enterprise has a few episodes that I'd say are truly top notch. Overall the series wasn't the best, but IMO it had fewer terrible episodes than TNG, DS9, or VOY.

[TZ]

8. Hmm- I wouldn't know about that about Enterprise

considering the fact that after FIVE episodes I was so damn bored and disgusted with Enterprise I NEVER watched it again. That from a Trekkie.
As for B-5..I found myself addicted from the start. Some people just don't have good taste...:P

[Pacifist Patriot]

10. I thought that might be fighting words in there.

Okay, I'll admit I have never seen a single episode of Babylon 5, but that doesn't mean I never will. I don't watch much television so I'm still catching up on shows that ended in the 2000 - 2002 range.

[Orrex]

12. Mostly I mock B5 because it makes the zealots crazy

Honestly, zealots dismiss every complaint I've ever voiced about B5 by one of the following:

1. "Their budget is only a fraction of Star Trek's." That explains why the effects look like the demo of any random space-war video game from the mid 90's, I guess.

2. "You have to remember that there's a big, over-arching story." Yawn.

[TZ]

14. Sure. I know why you REALLY mock B-5

Its cause you hate me.:P

[Orrex]

20. Well, that's the *other* reason

:hug:

[tigereye]

29. yikes, I thought B5 was amazing- very complex and a lot of it written by

wonderful sci fi writers - plus conceptual ideas from Harlan Ellison.



but to each his own.

[Orrex]

36. See, I'm down with all of that

But I simply couldn't stand the execution of it. It always looked cheap and cheesy to me. And while I'm baring my soul on the matter, I should admit that I didn't particularly like the cast, either.

[tigereye]

39. sometimes good stories transcend cheap and cheesy production - like in

early Dr. Who, but that's me.


I agree that the characters were often deeper than the cast, but they were such great characters.



rave on, Orrex! :D

[Orrex]

40. That used to be true, but it's no excuse anymore

When ST:TOS and Space: 1999 represented the absolute pinnacle of tv special effects, it was okay for our pals across the pond to give Dr. Who a budget of two crowns and a florin. But now that the bar has been raised much higher, a show that can't bring the sfx heat is just going to look silly.

Sure, it's a matter of taste, but the effects are an integral part of a modern sci-fi production, so a failure to deliver at least passably impressive visuals will be as clangingly disruptive as a badly faked accent. Good effects can't fix a bad story, but bad effect can seriously cheapen an otherwise good story.

And we're just talking about tv and film, here. I've seen stage productions of sci-fi stories that were just fine with no effects at all, but that's a different medium.

[keroro gunsou]

43. infidel!

how can you NOT like andreas katsulas as g'kar?

peter jurasik as londo was nice as well.

stephen furst as floun... i mean vir was a joy to watch....

best scene ever (well for vir anyway): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0n2vurSBIQ&feature=related


on edit: one more vir classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8MjQ5Z7ZNo&feature=related

[WildEyedLiberal]

15. It had fewer terrible, but also fewer awesome episodes than the others

With the exception of Voyager, which was just consistently bland throughout.

I've only seen a couple of episodes of Enterprise that were as cringingly bad as most of the first couple of seasons of TNG, but then again, I've only seen a handful of episodes that could compete with the best that TNG or DS9 had to offer. It is enjoyable TV, though, and as a Trek fan I think it's very underrated.

[Orrex]

21. I don't know all of the titles, but...

My favorite ENT episodes were

1. Twilight (the one in which Archer loses his short-term memory)
2. The one with the Borg
3. The ones with the Klingon ridge/no-ridge storyline
4. The one where Archer and T'Pol go back in time to stop the Reptilian Xindi from releasing a virus
5. The Mirror-Universe ones
6. The one with the Organians
all of these were excellent IMO, but for a four-season series, I admit that that's a little thin...


Enterprise was kind of hobbled by its attempt to stay within canon, even though some of the episodes directly violated it.

[quakerboy]

35. I used to like you

DTM now

[WildEyedLiberal]

11. I just started watching Enterprise and I actually like it

I didn't watch it when it came out because the premise didn't appeal to me and because UPN aired it at the most random, stupid times. But Sci Fi has been showing reruns every day at 4pm (central time) and every Tuesday night they have a mini-marathon, so I've been able to catch up some. I've seen most of season 1 by now and a few random episodes from seasons 3 and 4. Season 1 is very hit and miss - some episodes are decent, some are total crap, and a couple are very good. I actually bought season 3 on DVD because the Xindi storyline is pretty interesting, and it starts to maintain a lot more dramatic continuity, which I prefer in a TV show.

I think DS9 is hands down the best Trek, though. It's serious, thought-provoking, and moody and deals with issues like politics, war, and religion in a very realistic, shades-of-grey way, much like the new Battlestar Galactica. The last few seasons of DS9 are still my favorite TV drama. I also love TNG, although the first couple of seasons are total dreck, with a few notable exceptions. Voyager was always merely meh. I'm way too young to have seen even reruns of the original series, and suspect it would be way too dated and 60s cornball for me to really enjoy.

In order of personal preference, then:

1) DS9
2) TNG
A distant 3) Enterprise
4) Voyager

I plan on seeing the movie Thursday, but as far as I can tell now, it seems a little intense for a six year old.

[Orrex]

13. The thing about Sci-Fi's airing of Enterprise...

is that every I tune in, I see one of the same six episodes. It's always either one with the Augments, the one where Tripp gets pregnant, or Broken Bow.

You'd think the series only lasted for three weeks in its original run!

[WildEyedLiberal]

17. The ones every day at 4 seem to be going through the series in chronological order

I've seen almost the whole first season over the past few weeks. There's a big marathon the next two days with about 8 episodes of Enterprise each day; I think tomorrow is all season 2 episodes and Friday is a bunch of the Xindi episodes from 3.

(Yeah I watch Sci Fi WAY TOO MUCH.)

[NewJeffCT]

16. You didn't like DS9? I think I may have the first candidate for my DTM list

:P

[Rob H.]

22. Yay! Someone else who didn't like DS9

Although I have to admit I stopped watching it because it bored me and I thought Nana Visitor was one of the hammiest actors on TV at the time. (She seemed to overreact to everything!) True, she wasn't as bad as CSI: Miami-era David Caruso (who is?) but she was like nails on a chalkboard to me.

[Book Lover]

23. If your kid has seen people be killed in Star Wars, s/he'll be just fine

seeing as how nobody in Trek has had their legs burned off and then been left for dead.

[tigereye]

25. I loved DS9 - great ensemble work - I liked all of the series, except

Enterprise. That was good for a few weeks (months?) and then went kerblooie plot-wise.


I don't know about a 6 year old - it looked like it had a lot of explosions and action - what's it rated? I always look in the paper for the reviewer's "best for what age kid" ratings. OTOH, I sat near some young kids at Star Wars Episode 3, and they seemed pretty much unfazed by the gorier aspects.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

27. It'll be fine

I mean, I watched "Full Metal Jacket" when I was five with my Dad, and look how I turned out.

[nomorenomore08]

28. Yikes! I mean, "FMJ" is like my favorite movie ever, but...

:scared:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

31. The only movie I wasn't allowed to see as a kid was "Silence of the Lambs"

Naturally, the second I was left alone, I popped it in the VCR. I was like 9.

Both are a couple of my favorite movies now.

[Pacifist Patriot]

32. This may explain alot.

:evilgrin:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

34. Actually, according to my therapist, everything stems from my mother

And, well, you've met her, so you understand.

[Orsino]

30. Now you've done it.

You've confessed to exposing your children repeatedly to Star Wars, without presenting Trek as an antidote? Enjoy your brunch at the Olive Garden, Hitler.

Now, seriously, I'm finding that Enterprise is the Trek I'm most in tune with, perhaps the best-acted with characters who are most like us. My wife and I are rediscovering the series as it reruns on Dish Network. I had bought the first two seasons on DVD, and enjoyed the heck out of them.

I lost interest in Voyager after a season or two, but enjoyed the little I was able to catch of DS9. Next Generation is probably the pinnacle of the franchise for me, but Enterprise is a close second. Frankly, the original series looks like near-total camp these days, and can be hard to watch.

I'm looking forward to the new movie, too.

[Vidar]

37. I preferred all the latter Star Treks to the original. Shatner is

much better suited to Denny Crane & The Big Giant Head (Third Rock from the Sun).

[underpants]

38. The first was great not only for its vision but its campy effects and.... of course.... SHATNER

Next Generation was good too but after that I would skip it

[Orrex]

41. Replies #37 and #38 must be read in succession.

Love it!

[GreenPartyVoter]

42. I adore all things Trek and overlook any little issues of quaility or consistency here and there

because the overall universe is worth it. My kids have been watching all the Treks since they were quite small (they are 9 and 11 now) and are so into it that we have Trek puzzles, games, posters, ship blue prints, cards and so forth.

There is an Enterprise trekathon TV tomorrow. Not sure which channel it was, though. SciFi maybe?? First Contact will be on TV as well. Of all the Trek characters, the Borg have chilled me to the bone in ways no other nemesis could. *shuddering* I wouldn't use that one to introduce your child to Trek.