Thursday, October 5, 2006

Why I Like Star Trek

During my morning blogroll roundup Wednesday, I linked to a post by Wil Wheaton. Yes, the actor. And poker player. And blogger.

Anyway, Wheaton is a left-winger. Big surprise, huh? Most actors seem to be that way. So, no, it's not a shock.

I didn't agree with all he wrote ... and certainly not the topic I mentioned in my blurb ... but I've actually become a fan of Wil Wheaton recently.

Why? NOT because of Star Trek. Well, maybe a little.

I didn't care for his Wesley Crusher character. Not because of how he played Wesley. But the character itself. "Wesley the Wonderdog" he was derisively called by fans of Star Trek. I thought much of the storylines surrounding Wesley were ... lame.

Of course, in the later seasons of TNG, every other week was "Data went crazy" and we didn't turn on the Data character. But that's because ... for me anyway ... I had already grown attached to Data and was more forgiving.

Unfortunately for Wil Wheaton, we turned on him because of the "Wesley saves the day" shows happened so much before we grew to love the character. So we hated the character.

The actor? Well, in all honesty, he did a fine job.

In his defense, I can't imagine how anyone else could have played the Wesley Crusher character any better. If the stories surrounding Wesley were lame ... it wasn't Wil Wheaton's fault. It was Gene Roddenberry's fault. He's the one that put a kid on the bridge of the Enterprise. If I had any talent and was offered the chance to play Wesley Crusher, I'd jump at it. Being a part of the Star Trek universe would be ... AWESOME! Because I like Star Trek.

But before I explain why I like Star Trek, let me finish the reason I've become a fan of Wil Wheaton.

It's certainly not because of his politics. The guy's a lefty. Almost a raving looney lefty. But not quite.

What he is ... is a family man.

His blog covers things about his family. And it's apparent he loves his family. And that says a lot.

And, if you've followed his blog, you know much of his family is conservative. And that he and his family disagree on many things. But he loves them. And defends them. And that says a lot.

So, I've become a fan of Wil Wheaton. Still don't care much for Wesley Crusher, though.

But, why do I like Star Trek?

Well, lots of people like Star Trek because of its "vision."

But not me.

I like Star Trek. The original series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager (somewhat), and Enterprise.

But not because of the vision.

Because of the Data Effect.

That is, I watched all the spin-offs and gave them all a chance because I liked the original series. Just like I liked Data in the early TNG shows, I gave him a chance ... again and again ... despite the "crazy Data" episodes late in the series. The fondness of Data from the early seasons made the "bad Data" shows in the later seasons okay.

I loved the original series. And developed a fondness for the other series because of that.

So, why did I like the original series?

Because it was a space show.

I liked shows about space ships and space men. The guy with the ears was cool, too.

But it was a space show. I liked space shows. Like Lost in Space.

And It's About Time. Betcha don't remember that one, do you?

And The Thunderbirds. Yes, the puppet show.

And My Favorite Martian.

And The Jetsons. Yeah, Judy was hot. But Jane was a babe, too.
And I Dream of Jeannie. Yeah, Barbara Eden was hot. But Tony Nelson was a space man.

It pretty much didn't matter what the show was about. Whether a silly show about a boy and his robot ... or a Martian with antennae coming out his head ... I loved space shows.

And Star Trek was a space show.

Yes, it had some good episodes. Like City on the Edge of Forever ... but it also had Spock's Brain. But I watched them because it was a space show.

Nothing more.

But that was enough.

14 comments:

  1. Nice to see someone else Thunderbirds... I love space and science fiction.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The difference between the original and all the others is that the original didn't take itself seriously. I despise Roddenberry's shows, all of them, though TNG most of all. Picard was a pompous, panty-waisted ass. Voyager was the bean counter show (one of every ethnic group, aren't we inclusive!) with the talentless Janeway, who was capable of only two expressions. The last one wasn't as awful as the others, though the best character was the beagle.

    Give me Battlestar Galactica -- the new one -- any day of the week. Every time I watch Star Trek, I have to give myself a brain enema by reading some Heinlein.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "It's about time,
    It's about space,
    About two men
    In the strangest place"

    Who could forget that show? I think it came on right after Lassie.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Star Trek rules! Period. Especially the original. Especially Six of Nine.

    Hey, Will got to make out on the show with Ashley Judd. More power to him. Of course, she is a major barking moonbat.

    I thought Will started out blogging as a conservative. Could be wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's about time,
    It's about flight,
    Traveling faster
    than the speed of light.

    Yes, I remember...ooooo,ooooo!

    I liked Star Trek and all the other shows you mentioned. Space was fascinating...still is.
    And I still like Star Trek. My favorite is TNG...but that's a whole story by itself.

    ReplyDelete
  6. > but that's a whole story by itself.

    So... when are you going to tell us the story about why you like Next Generation?

    We're waiting....

    ReplyDelete
  7. ""It's about time,
    It's about space,
    About two men
    In the strangest place""

    Jeez, now that song's running through my head and it won't stop!

    Remember Time Tunnel?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Time Tunnel was a favorite of ours, too!

    James Darren and Lee Meriweather, both of whom had appeared in Star Trek series as well as The Time Tunnel, were guest speakers at the Star Trek 40th Anniversary Convention in Las Vegas this past August.

    ReplyDelete
  9. And now that the prices of each season (except Enterprise) is down, we can now stockpile them. My favorite TNG was when Picard, Ro and Keiko all became children. That and the one when Picard was reliving another man's life.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank heavens for the lower prices! I have collected all but season 6 of ST:TNG, and I hope to get it soon. My favorite episode is "The Offspring" in which Data creates an android child and his parental rights are questioned by Starfleet.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Was in the bank today and they were talking about the theme song: It's about time, it's about space....and we were trying to remember what the name of the show was and here you have it...I can't say I remember any more than that though.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I heard the cops found several stolen prize cows on Ashley's farm. Sounds like a making of the movie of the week.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like Star Trek, the old one better though. But what I hate about all of the Treks is the Prime Directive. I say, screw that! And burn the "Half-a-Life" episode of the NG--not worthy of Roddenberry (along with Wesley Crusher!).

    ReplyDelete

Please choose a Profile in "Comment as" or sign your name to Anonymous comments. Comment policy