Memories of Star Trek......
Sep. 8th, 2006 10:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1TV Land has been running episodes of Original Star Trek all evening. I caught the last part of "The Man Trap" (first episode to air in the US) and "City On The Edge Of Forever".
I have a confession to make. I wasn't a fan of 'Classic Trek' until the 1980s.
I certainly don't remember the original airings from 1966-69. But I remember that when Channel 29 (Buffalo's WUTV) first came on the air in the early 1970s, one of the shows they showed every night was "Star Trek". It was on at either 7pm or 8pm. And a couple of the kids in my neighborhood watched it and talked about it. I even remember the animated Star Trek series in/around 1973.
In 1976, one of my friends in Junior High -- his name was Chuck Root -- mentioned the "Star Trektennial" convention in New York, and wrote about it in the school paper. (He's the one who introduced me to Monty Python. His parents moved out of town a couple of years later. We sort of stayed in contact by phone and mail for a few years, but we never saw each other in person again. I wonder what he's doing now.)
Then in high school, I met a few more fans of the show. mostly through the gaming club. But I didn't seek out the show and watch episodes. I didn't go to the theatre to watch the first Star Trek movie. But I saw the second one with a friend, and saw the third one with members of the Galaxy Club -- an SF/fantasy club through which I met![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dagonell. After the third movie, we hung out at someone's condo and ate and chatted. Over the subsequent years, I got to see more original Trek episodes. But at the time, I considered myself more of a Doctor Who fan than a Star Trek fan. And I remember some fans loving Star Trek and hating Doctor Who, and hating that fans could be so blatantly biased and prejudiced.
Over the next few years, I got to see many of the episodes. I also saw Bill Shatner's 1986 infamous "Get A Life!" speech. (Shatner's attempt at motivational speaking, perhaps? :) ) And then in 1987, ST:TNG premiered. Many of the stations that aired TNG also aired classic Trek episodes.
I remember in 1988 or thereabouts where one group of friends -- includinguser -- would gather around the TV and play "Name That Epsiode". Basically, they'd tune in Trek (it aired at midnight on WPIX in the late '80s) and try to identify the episode during the prologue and before the opening credits (Act I). Some were easy, some were hard.
The syndicated episodes have made quite a circuit, from local stations to the Sci-Fi Channel, and now TV Land. I thought I saw a spot on TV land this evening which said they'd start airing them regularly in November.
Now that I have most (if not all) of them on tape -- and it would be nice to have them on DVD but that's out of my price range and budget -- do I have the time to sit down and watch them when I want? Unfortunately, no. Believe it or not, there are still episodes from season 7 of TNG I still haven't seen. And a lot of DS9 episodes I haven't seen.
I have a confession to make. I wasn't a fan of 'Classic Trek' until the 1980s.
I certainly don't remember the original airings from 1966-69. But I remember that when Channel 29 (Buffalo's WUTV) first came on the air in the early 1970s, one of the shows they showed every night was "Star Trek". It was on at either 7pm or 8pm. And a couple of the kids in my neighborhood watched it and talked about it. I even remember the animated Star Trek series in/around 1973.
In 1976, one of my friends in Junior High -- his name was Chuck Root -- mentioned the "Star Trektennial" convention in New York, and wrote about it in the school paper. (He's the one who introduced me to Monty Python. His parents moved out of town a couple of years later. We sort of stayed in contact by phone and mail for a few years, but we never saw each other in person again. I wonder what he's doing now.)
Then in high school, I met a few more fans of the show. mostly through the gaming club. But I didn't seek out the show and watch episodes. I didn't go to the theatre to watch the first Star Trek movie. But I saw the second one with a friend, and saw the third one with members of the Galaxy Club -- an SF/fantasy club through which I met
dagonell. After the third movie, we hung out at someone's condo and ate and chatted. Over the subsequent years, I got to see more original Trek episodes. But at the time, I considered myself more of a Doctor Who fan than a Star Trek fan. And I remember some fans loving Star Trek and hating Doctor Who, and hating that fans could be so blatantly biased and prejudiced.Over the next few years, I got to see many of the episodes. I also saw Bill Shatner's 1986 infamous "Get A Life!" speech. (Shatner's attempt at motivational speaking, perhaps? :) ) And then in 1987, ST:TNG premiered. Many of the stations that aired TNG also aired classic Trek episodes.
I remember in 1988 or thereabouts where one group of friends -- including
user -- would gather around the TV and play "Name That Epsiode". Basically, they'd tune in Trek (it aired at midnight on WPIX in the late '80s) and try to identify the episode during the prologue and before the opening credits (Act I). Some were easy, some were hard.The syndicated episodes have made quite a circuit, from local stations to the Sci-Fi Channel, and now TV Land. I thought I saw a spot on TV land this evening which said they'd start airing them regularly in November.
Now that I have most (if not all) of them on tape -- and it would be nice to have them on DVD but that's out of my price range and budget -- do I have the time to sit down and watch them when I want? Unfortunately, no. Believe it or not, there are still episodes from season 7 of TNG I still haven't seen. And a lot of DS9 episodes I haven't seen.
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-09 02:26 pm (UTC)Dad was transferred to Dover AFB in the spring of 1967, and toward the end of the summer we caught the last of the reruns. It came on at 10pm, and my mother would suspend our bed times for only that show. I guess she was either tired of hearing us whine or she decided that it was creative enough for a dispensation.
My favorite character was Mr Spock. Second favorite was Dr McCoy. I always thought that Capt Kirk was a bit full of himself.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-09 05:17 pm (UTC)There's a novel called Lithium for Medea in which the main character's first husband becomes addicted to Star Trek (the original) and then believes that it is speaking to him and giving him information about the essential truths of the universe. I'm making it sound simplistic, but it is one of the most interesting sections of the book. He identified with Spock and wanted to become as Spock-like as possible.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-12 02:27 am (UTC)In the old Kirk vs. Picard debate, Picard is a more realistic starship captain. There was even a book on leadership written about his style: Make It So by Wess Roberts.