It took a little doing, but the corporate marketing machine has finally gone to warp in trying to create Event Days for Star Trek, with “First Contact Day” earlier this year and “Star Trek Day” honoring the first broadcast of the original series lo these 55 years ago.
Case in point, this slick, satisfying montage:
I’ll come back and update this post with some highlights, but in the meantime, here’s the schedule, conveniently staged for after work for most daytime-working peeps.
So it’s a day after the fact, but, hey, I don’t usually post on Sundays anyway — even Father’s Day.
But Father’s Day means it’s time for plenty of geeky dad memes, say of Jango Fett and his many clone offspring.
However, with quite a bit of regularity, someone writes an article about how Benjamin Sisko of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, is one of the best ‘space dads’ around.
I have to agree: even before I was a dad, the relationship between Benjamin and his son, Jake, made quite the impression on me as I watched the series. “The Visitor” remains one of the most powerful episodes of Trek around — and not recommended for anyone trying to keep their eyes dry.
I learned later through interviews and documentaries that this relationship was one that both Avery Brooks and Cirroc Lofton, Benjamin and Jake Sisko respectively, most valued. Not only that, the relationship continued after the cameras stopped rolling.
So, for your reading pleasure, feel free to check out Angelica Jade Bastién’s piece in Vulture, Clint Worthington’s piece on StarTrek.com, Princess Weekes piece on The Mary Sue, and most recently, Eric Pesola’s piece on Heavy.
Here’s to all the fathers out there, starfaring or not.
Since I did a post this past September about the “Star Trek Day” panels last September, I figured I’d post it here — and for those of you who can, perhaps you’d like to see some of them live.
I’m not sure if CBS/Paramount plan to make this a regular thing or if this was done, in part, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film Star Trek: First Contact. The action begins at 12 noon Pacific.
Although one of the big news items was that Q will be in season two of Picard, I have to confess, I felt it’d be surprising if he wasn’t in the series eventually. Don’t get me wrong, I was pleased to hear it — and since Guinan should be in the season as well, perhaps we finally learn more about their mutual animus for one another.
Perhaps because it was First Contact Day, I found the panel about First Contact to be quite illuminating, including a great story of how Alice Krige auditioned for the part of the now iconic Borg Queen and how Jonathan “Two Takes” Frakes got that nickname.
I also found the panel that explored Nichelle Nichols’ impact on screen and behind-the-scenes to be illuminating. I knew about Dr. King’s role in encouraging Nichols to stay in the role of Uhura, but I didn’t know about her work with NASA — and of course there’s some additional personal connections these actors mention.
Finally, while not the only other panel (you can check out the full list they’ve posted on YouTube), I enjoyed the one about Star Trek and comedy.
As will surprise no one who’s read my exhaustive ranking of all the Star Trek series, I’ve been watching all the new stuff. And it’s not just because those are going into the sort soon enough. A lot of it has been darn enjoyable in a 4th season Enterprise kind of way. They’re making connections and widening the Star Trek universe into quite the multiverse.
Ryan Britt over on SyFy Wire details some of the things that we say last year.
Back in September, I did a ranking of every episode of every Star Trek series.
But what if you haven’s seen all of the Star Trek series? And what if you’re all ready to binge-watch another series this year?
If you haven’t seen Enterprise, the Trek franchise’s first prequel series, you’re probably not alone. While I have found several people who consider it their favorite, anecdotally, it appears to be the least watched series outside of the original animated one.
And I understand. The first two seasons are tough going a lot of the time. The theme song never gets better (except for briefly in season 4). However, as with all Trek, Enterprise –by and large– ages pretty darn well and scratches some itches you didn’t know you have about Andorians, Vulcans, and the founding of the United Federation of Planets.
The following list cuts 44 of the 98 episodes out of the mix, giving you enough grounding with the characters in the first two seasons to better enjoy the increased continuity and worldbuilding of the final two seasons.
If you find you really are enjoying the series, you can always catch up on those missing episodes in the inevitable rewatch for completeness (I’m cutting some episodes I really like, but –if I’m being honest– aren’t necessary for a first watch).
Also, after hearing the opening theme song, feel free to turn down the volume or skip the intro entirely except for “In a Mirror, Darkly” in the fourth season (I love the visuals, I’ve tried and the song doesn’t work for me).
Skip most of it except:
Skip most of it except:
Watch most of it, except:
Watch most of it, except:
As per the showrunner, the true series finale is “Terra Prime,” episode 21.
There you go! A Star Trek binge-fest that can easily fit into the rest of the year.
(Note: I did this one as a favor to someone who had meant to watch the series, but couldn’t get into it and have since been told by several people that they were in the same boat (or NX-class starship?). If people think I should do viewing guides for other series, let me know!)
Given my post on Monday, there really wasn’t much doubt that I’d go ahead and link to a bunch of the videos CBS did for Star Trek Day on Tuesday.
They have a bunch more videos on the CBS All Access YouTube channel, some of them snippets of these below, but this should keep you stoked for Trek.
Fresh off of “Star Trek Day,” there’s a new trailer for season three of Star Trek: Discovery.
Plus, some of us have been waiting for the Dune trailer longer than the Bene Gesserit have been planning for the Kwisatz Haderach.
We must not fear.
As long-time readers of this blog know (all seven or nine), I am a bit of a Star Trek fan, as may be deduced from my manic series Crisis of Infinite Star Treks alone.
Where that series delves into fannish hand-wringing and minutiae, it did remind my of how much I enjoy Star Trek in its seemingly infinite combinations. I wanted to do something special for its official 50th anniversary, but life has intervened (quantum filaments, holodeck mishaps, Borg incursions… the usual).
So what better way to express rampant fandom while looking back at the history of Star Trek than to rate each of its 700+ episodes? Think of it as a gift of the pandemic (well, for those of us in Sector 001).
Regardless, doing a retrospective of previous TV Trek seemed appropriate before now… and by the time I was fully invested in rewatching and ranking everything, new TV series started appearing (and may never abate). Yes, Lower Decks, the next seasons, of Discovery and Picard, and who knows how many other series will all find their way into the rankings ’cause I’m as foolish as Stamets wanting to do one more jump.
Oh what I wouldn’t give for a fortuitous temporal anomaly right now.
Anyway: to the links! (Not great links, perhaps, but links none-the-less)
The Methodology
The short version? Every TV series (even the original animated one) is in. I had to make command decisions on how to judge two-parters and continuing storyline episodes, so I did. Movies are not included.
How to Rank ‘Em Yourself
Even an honest Vulcan will tell you their logic is susceptible to mortal foibles as emotions and other intangibles creep into their calculations. It could be that ranking Star Trek episodes objectively is a no-win scenario, but tell me your Kobayashi Maru solution in the comments, whether it’s the top 10, the whole list, or anything in between (be civil, please).
What if you Object, Dislike, or Outright Hate My Rankings?
No self-respecting Starfleet captain nor honorable Klingon commander would take such injustice lying down. Do something about it!
Re-watching (and in some cases, watching) all 700+ episodes of Star Trek took an inordinate amount of time over the past few years, so there’s no way I wasn’t going to comment on everything, including both spoilers… and a certain amount of irreverence. If you’re not ready for potential spoilers and snark, stick to the links marked “episode names only.”
(As alluded above, these lists will be updated as new episodes premiere.
The lists below include all episodes for all series before July 2020)
The Whole Enchilada (All Series)
With Comments (includes possible spoilers & snark) | Episodes names only
Star Trek (The Original Series or TOS)
With Comments (includes possible spoilers & snark) | Episodes names only
Star Trek (The Animated Series or TAS)
With Comments (includes possible spoilers & snark) | Episodes names only
Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG)
With Comments (includes possible spoilers & snark) | Episodes names only | Viewing Guide
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
With Comments (includes possible spoilers & snark) | Episodes names only
Star Trek: Voyager (VOY)
With Comments (includes possible spoilers & snark) | Episodes names only
Enterprise (later Star Trek: Enterprise or ENT)
With Comments (includes possible spoilers & snark) | Episodes names only
Viewing Guide
Star Trek: Discovery (DSC) – Up through the first two seasons
With Comments (includes possible spoilers & snark) | Episodes names only
Star Trek: Short Treks (ST)
With Comments (includes possible spoilers & snark) | Episodes names only
Star Trek: Picard (PIC) – Up through the first season
With Comments (includes possible spoilers & snark) | Episodes names only
Star Trek: Lower Decks (LD)
(To be added ideally before season three.)
Star Trek: Prodigy (PRO)
(Ideally, to be added in 2022)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (SNW)
(To be added after season one completes, so… maybe 2023?)
I hope reading these lists reminds you of some of your favorites, encourages discussion, and maybe prompts you to a check out an episode –or a series– you may have overlooked.
In whatever you do, live long and prosper… unless it’s breeding tribbles. One way or another, that will probably end badly.
The time-tested pop culture event that is the San Diego Comic Con is virtual this year thanks to the pandemic, so I believe the videos are online sooner than ever before.
So, of course, I’d watch the Star Trek panel…
Of course, you knew I was going to share this.