Friday May 6th "Enterprise"

I put the title that way because I actually missed the title of last night's episode.

It was so dark and sketchy I won't be writing much about it. Whatever gimmick they come up with next week to produce a little Tuckerette via T'Pol who never got pregnant (cloning, stolen genetic material from both parents without their knowledge) I won't buy it, it's ridiculous period.
Peter Weller is scary because he's understated, not over the top.

and the rhetoric is so heavy handed in its comparisons to many of the debates going on in America today that it overkills its case and interferes with any enjoyment of the "story" such as it is. I do too much of that over at my other blog to have any desire to see it when I switch over to my fun TV

How can it be good writing when you "knew" the reporter chick was a plant! Poor Boomer.

This is the depressed part of the wake.

Also I'm peeved at the programming decision to attach the Berman/Braga finally (as in finally after this they'll shut up!) on top of the second half of this episode. It creates the idea of a false continuity, as if one really has anything to do with the other.

Pfft. My fictional friends are leaving my screen and doing in in a dark and listless kinda way.

I know I'm about 27 years late

to this debate, but I'm going to try to put it in a different framework.

Star Trek and Star Wars aren't or shouldn't be polarized fanbases that chant "Either Mine or Thine" endlessly.

They're actually kind of symbiotic.

1. First connection. Whether Lucas *intended* it or not, in 1977 when the first film aired the most organized, committed group of fans for TV or film fantasy were the Trek fans. They wanted new Trek, and while this wasn't Trek it was surely "new," enough to warrant their interest.

I believe that without Trek, there would have been much less interest in Star Wars, and the series could have died on the vine after the first film.

2. Once Star Wars became the first summer mega-hit, the money to be made from it convinced Paramount that a new Trek film, far from being an albatross around their necks, might bring home some amazing amounts of bacon. Problem was they tried to use the "OOHHHH AHHH" factor in the opening sequence of "Star Wars," to disastrous results. Star Wars is, as a columnist friend of mine wrote, visually stunning. But Star Trek, to succeed, has to be more about characters and their inner conflicts, than about the awesome size of an Imperial Star Destroyer. Lucas himself learned what fleshed out characters and some angst could do for his franchise with 'The Empire Strikes Back.' Star Wars, the original film is sheer fun with template characters, The Boy Hero, The Rascal, and the best Villan to come along in a long time. Star Trek makes you *think.*

Thankfully, Paramount for whatever reasons felt gambling on a second Trek film was worth it. 'Wrath of Khan' did Empire one better. It didn't freeze a beloved character. It killed him. 'Khan' had important links to the franchise's TV past, and made the mover of the story Kirk's big mistake: at the end of 'Space Seed' he left Khan alive.

The committed Star Wars fan and surely some rejuvinated Trekkers combined to make 'Return of the Jedi' a success.

Then for Star Wars fans: The Long Wait, similar to (and longer than!) the filmed Trek drought of the mid Seventies. Detailed novels fleshed out Lucas' vision, but *where* was that new film?

During the 14 year Star Wars wait: Trek flourished with TNG, its *best* incarnation, DS 9, and the less beloved Voyager. Enterprise somehow went backwards, as the Star Wars franchise revved up its latest and last film.

Lucas made great use of the leaps ahead in SFX technology that he himself had started, and the two newest Star Wars films are things of beauty, with a satisfactory tinge of dread. Because they are the story of the triumph of anger over compassion, power over pluralism, and young Vader randomly using his abilities *just because he can.*

I also find it oddly interesting that these two great fantasy franchises will go down together (at least on film) in the same month.

I'll be watching *both* with interest, thank you.

Hilarity

I was unprepared for the Futurama episode that came across my TV last night...but I had never seen it before. It is perhaps the best send up of Trek that I've seen in awhile.

One of the main characters utters the banned words 'Star Trek' and we're off. The show is against the law in the 31'rst century. We get the grumpy, but heroic heads (minus bodies) of the TOS crew in life preserving jars, mouthing off and taken away on a space adventure (with a gleeful Riker head being moved to the front of the shelf when the TOS heads are removed.)

Trek as religion complete with a Christine Chapel.

Shatner, Nimoy, Takei, Nichols and Koenig giving unashamed send ups of themselves.

Shatner, "...In Star Trek V I got such a good performance out of me, because I respected me so much."

Nimoy: "I'm in a gefelte fish jar."

Takei: "Check out these abs."

Fan to Koenig: "Say Nuclear Wessels" Koenig "No!"

Nichols: (on the most heroic thing she did on the series) " In the third season I kissed Shatner."

I promise I'll record it the next time around and write a better column on it...but I laughed the entire time.