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Star Trek: The Next Generation Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard Jonathan Frakes as Commander William T. Riker Brent Spiner as Lieutenant-Commander Data LeVar Burton as Lieutenant-Commander Geordi La Forge Michael Dorn as Helmsman and Chief Security Officer Worf Gates McFadden as Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi Wil Wheaton as Ensign Wesley Crusher Denise Crosby as Security Chief Tasha Yar Diana Muldaur as Chief Medical Officer Katherine Pulaski Colm Meaney as Transporter Chief Miles O'Brien Whoopi Goldberg as Bartender Guinan Season 1: Sep 28, 1987 - May 16, 1988 - Executive Producer: Gene Roddenberry 1.1 and 1.2 - "Encounter at Farpoint" - Sep. 28, 1987 - Directed by Corey Allen (Buzz Gunderson in "Rebel without a Cause," Primetime Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for "Goodbye, Mr. Scripps" on "Hill Street Blues," Primetime Emmy Award Nominee for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for "Jungle Madness" on "Hill Street Blues"), Written by - Teleplay: Dorothy Fontana (Writer of 10 episodes of "Star Trek"), Story: Gene Roddenberry (Creator of "Star Trek") Featuring John de Lancie as Q (TV Executive in "The Fisher King," Donald Margolis in "Breaking Bad"), Michael Bell as Groppler Zorn (Voice of Chas Finster in "Rugrats"), DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (H. Norbert Willis in "The Clover Throne" and Bob Harcourt, Jr. in "1800 Days to Justice" on "Route 66"), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Court Bailiff (Chang in "The Last Emperor") [Star Trek or not, this Pilot was *rough* - both in terms of the acting (Troi was awful, Q functioned not only as a God-like being, but also as some sort of "nanny chorus," telling us what we didn't need to be told, and Data was seen grinning on more than one occasion (remember how awful Spock was, at first, in the original series - he was grinning too)). My biggest problem here wasn't the plot; it was the condescension of Q, telling the viewer what they're about to figure out for themselves - that is elementary-school TV. This was largely a very interesting plot, but the writers spoiled it for the viewers. I do wonder just how much the creators, e.g., Gene Roddenberry, had in mind when it came to essentially building the entire series around Q - could Roddenberry possibly have envisioned the glorious final episode before the series even began? Nah ....] 1.3 - "The Naked Now" - Oct. 5, 1987 - Directed by Paul Lynch (Director of "Prom Night"), Written by - Teleplay: Dorothy Fontana (2), Story: John D.F. Black (Co-Writer and Associate Producer of "The Naked Time" on "Star Trek") Featuring Brooke Bundy as Sarah MacDougal (Leah in "Firecreek," Elaine Parker on "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors"), Benjamin W.S. Lum as Jim Shimoda (Kim Mei Clerk in "Another 48 Hrs.") ["The Naked Time" was George Takei's personal-favorite episode on "Star Trek," as he got to have fun prancing around the decks, shirtless, as a swashbuckler. That episode was written by John D.F. Black, and because of that, he was given credit for having written the story for this episode, a "parallel" version written for The Next Generation. In case anyone has forgotten, this is the one where "Data Does Dasha" (sorry, Tasha, and not to be confused by a porn movie with a similar-sounding name) - him being an android, one can only imagine his thrusts-per-minute - Tasha looked pretty tired when she emerged from her quarters. The Pilot featured a cameo by McCoy; this episode has a verbal reference to Kirk - this was undoubtedly to "ease seasoned viewers into" this new and very different series - it seems like a wise and prudent decision. The "Acting Captain Wesley Crusher" scene may have been the beginning of the hatred for Wesley hijacking the series (according to people who didn't like him; to me, his "precocious genius" got a bit annoying, but never went so far overboard that I couldn't stand him, plus he redeemed himself as the series progressed).] 1.4 - "Code of Honor" - Oct. 12, 1987 - Directed by Russ Mayberry (Director of "Unidentified Flying Oddball") and Les Landau (Assistant Director of "Leadbelly"), Written by Katharyn Powers (Writer of "The Longest Drive" for "The Quest") and Michael Baron (BS Degree in Organizational Systems Management from California State University, Northridge) Featuring Jessie Lawrence Ferguson as Lutan (Calder in "Prince of Darkness"), Karole Selmon as Yareena (Homeless Woman #1 in "The Soloist"), Julian Christopher as Hagon (Prison Truck Guard #1 in "X-Men: The Last Stand") [A very poor episode in the weakest season of the series, "Code of Honor" features bad writing, bad direction, and acting that should have - and could have - been stronger. I can't remember the last time I had to hunt this deeply for something else - anything else - the directors, writers, and actors did outside of "The Next Generation," and it's a shame that *this* has to be the episode with the most primitive black stereotypes in this normally equitable series (Ferengi stereotypes notwithstanding). Just look at what I found for the three guest stars - other than Jessie Lawrence Ferguson, it's downright embarrassing to even cite their other acting achievements, especially when all three people did a perfectly decent job in the episode. Karole Selmon is absolutely lovely, and was fine in her role; yet ... "Homeless Woman #1?" Ugh. For one of the writers, Michael Baron, I couldn't find *anything* else he did, so I simply listed his degree, and then when I researched Cal State Northridge, I couldn't even find the degree. Interestingly, Patrick Stewart is in "X-Men: The Last Stand," and I'm wondering if his influence helped Julian Christopher get his role (Prison Truck Guard #1? Ugh). I'm not very politically correct, but this episode makes even me cringe, and I'm wondering if it should have ever been made in the first place. I don't know of a good way to put this, so I'll just come out and say it: Denise Crosby has too much air time in these first three episodes. The most laughably bad moment in the episode? When millions of people are about to die, Tasha is about to engage in a fight to the death, the Enterprise is in a gravely acute diplomatic crisis with the Ligonians, and Riker - who is acting captain - has just finished making a silent soliloquy about the gravity of the situation. Then, the turbolift doors in the bridge open, and Wesley Crusher is standing there, grinning. Riker greets him as if he were working the registration desk at the Four Seasons in Fiji, smiles warmly, and says, "Care to lend a hand? Sit at ops," as he waves Wesley onto the bridge, gets onto the turbolift himself, and exits the scene with this young child strolling over to the control panel, unattended. Are you kidding me?] 1.5 - "The Last Outpost" - Oct. 19, 1987 - Directed by Richard A. Colla (Director of "Olly Olly Oxen Free"), Written by Richard Krzemien (Writer of "Kentucky Rye" for "The New Twilight Zone") Featuring Armin Shimerman as Letek (Stan the Caddy in "The Caddy" on "Seinfeld"), Jake Dengel as Mordoc (Pee Wee in "Ironweed"), Tracey Walter as Keyron (Lamar in "Silence of the Lambs"), Darryl Henriques as Portal 63 (Life Reporter in "The Right Stuff"), Mike Gomez as DaiMon Tarr (Auto Circus Cop in "The Big Lebowski") [Note: After these first 5 episodes (I'm calling the pilot episodes 1-2), I don't know how this show survived the rest of 1987. I don't think I'd ever seen any of these except for "The Naked Now," and they are all ... just ... largely ... bad. I've actually forgotten, at this point, why I ever liked this show so much. Leigh, I'm very much looking forward to watching the entire first half of Season One (which hasn't been terribly fun), and then purchasing Wil Wheaton's book - it should be the perfect quick read for me when I'm finished. I do think "The Last Outpost" is the second consecutive episode where TNG has reinforced negative stereotypes about a human ethnicity of people (with the Ferengi, you can pick your ethnicity, but they're surely being mocked as "short little mercantile, conniving opportunists who won't hesitate to cheat others"). I don't remember how I initially reacted to the Ferengi appearing on the view-screen as giants, but it certainly echoed, and was influenced by, "The Corbomite Maneuver" in The Original Series, except that Balok was just a wonderful person - the type of guy you'd enjoy sharing a glass of tranya with. My problem, in general, with the Ferengi is that the series makes them just a little too easy to hate, and there's no complexity to them at all - they're defined in black-and-white, shallow, and (I guess the current term among Millenials is, "basic"). Also, it's somewhat painful to see them jumping up, down, all-around while Riker is trying to have a discussion with Portal 63. Sure, they've now been established as a race of entities you'll hate upon their very mention, but isn't that just a little too convenient? Looking back, after having watched every episode (I've written this summary at different times), I don't remember a single moment of honor among them.] 1.6. "Where No One Has Gone Before" - Oct. 26, 1987 - Directed by Rob Bowman (4 consecutive Primetime Emmy Award Nominee for Outstanding Drama Series for "The X-Files"), Written by Diane Duane (Writer of the "Young Wizards" novels) and Michael Reeves (Daytime Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program for "Batman: the Animated Series") Featuring Stanley Kamel as Kosinski (Dr. Charles Kroeger on "Monk"), Eric Menyuk as The Traveler (Carney in "Der Roachenkavalier" on "Hill Street Blues"), Herta Ware as Maman Yvette Picard (Rosie Lefkowitz in "Cocoon"), Biff Yeager as Chief Engineer Argyle (George in "Edward Scissorhands") [When Troi, Ryker, and Argyle go to meet Kosinski and The Traveler in the transporter room, the cinematography, lighting, and camera angle is all wrong (see the first picture above). In the "Awkward Scene of the Episode," when The Traveler says to Wesley Crusher, "Something troubles you with the way this is configured?" there is silence, as Crusher sits there nodding for four full seconds which seem like an eternity. This episode clearly borrows something from "2001: A Space Odyssey," as the Enterprise is jettisoned one-billion light years away, in an unknown part of the universe which features fantastic lights outside the ship (see the 3rd picture), and where ideas come to life in the form of terrifyingly real characters from times past. Wesley is introduced to the viewers by The Traveler as a Mozart-like genius, to be nurtured (but not informed) by Picard - this sets the stage for him being a Boy Wonder in future episodes. Kamel overacts as the annoyingly arrogant Kosinski, both while intractably cocky, and also while reduced to a blubbering "I didn't mean to do that," before he gets largely elbowed out of the episode - why he wasn't taken into quarters, I'm not sure.] 7. "Lonely Among Us" - Nov. 2, 1987: 8. "Justice" - Nov. 9, 1987: [Note: In "Justice," Worf's comment at 5:58 on Amazon, "Nice planet," was the first laugh-out-loud funny moment I've ever had in any Star Trek episode, from either series. I want to take shore leave on this planet. This series is improving, markedly.] 9. "The Battle" - Nov. 16, 1987: 10. "Hide and Q" - Nov. 23, 1987: 11. "Haven" - Nov. 30, 1987: [Note: Some of these recent episodes were panned by some reputable online sources; I, on the other hand, remember again why I like TNG after watching them. In "Hide and Q," Worf proved himself to be one of the great heroes of the series. Leigh, I assume Majel Barrett will redeem herself later in the series? There's nothing, nothing at all, to like about her in this episode.] 12. "The Big Goodbye" - Jan. 11, 1988: [Note: Does anyone know why there was such a gap between episodes 11 and 12?] 13. "Datalore" - Jan. 18, 1988: [Note: This is the final episode covered in Wil Wheaton's book, so if you've made it to here, buy the book.] 14. "Angel One" - Jan 28, 1988 - 15. "11001001" - Feb. 1, 1988: [Note: It's not the first season that's bad; it's only the first few episodes - the critics are wrong, and I'm loving this. In this highly structured, almost military environment, a logical person might assume that, at this point, the wonky holodeck might become prohibited, but, meh, to heck with logic.] 16. "Too Short A Season" - Feb. 8, 1988 - 1.17 - "When the Bough Breaks" - Feb. 15, 1988 - Directed by Kim Manners (Director and/or Producer of 132 episodes of "The X-Files" (xx)), Written by Hannah Louise Shearer (Writer of "Q-Less" on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine") Featuring Jerry Hardin as Radue (Deep Throat on "The X-Files" (xx)), Brenda Strong as Rashella (1980 Miss Arizona, Sue Ellen Mischke on "Seinfeld" (xx), Mary Alice Young on "Desperate Housewives," Ilene Stowe on "Fear the Walking Dead"), Jandi Swanson as Katie (Jenny Drake on "Baywatch"), Paul Lambert as Melian (Washington Post National Editor in "All the President's Men"), Ivy Bethune as Duana (Evelyn Tuttle on "Father Murphy") [I get the concept of cloaking a planet visually by bending light rays, but ... isn't there this other force called "gravity?" Regardless, Riker is positively thrilled at the possibility (and realization) of finding the mythical planet Aldea, something akin to Atlantis. "When the Bough Breaks" is an unheralded, but extremely strong, episode with a fine writer in Hannah Louise Shearer, a talented director in Kim Manners, and the sometimes-hilarious, always-alluring presence of Brenda Strong (who guest-starred with Armin Shimerman in the very funny episode, "The Caddy," on "Seinfeld" (Strong is in the first photo up above). You'll see, in the first ten minutes of this episode, that it stands above the norm, and that the slow-starting first season is (and has been) fully on-track - there is beauty, mystery, intrigue, and especially after the uninvited visit to the Enterprise, Hitchcockian suspense, animated by the telepathic powers of Counselor Troi (you get a glimpse here of how effective Troi becomes in later seasons, after getting off to such a clumsy beginning). A subtly hilarious moment occurs right after a little girl named Alexandra disappears - the next scene shows a girl playing a musical instrument, and when she disappears, the instrument simply tips over: This is absolutely a "You have to see it to appreciate it" moment, but if it doesn't slip by you (and it easily could), you might find it laugh-out-loud funny - there's obviously a stagehand holding the instrument who forces it to tip over. It is remarkable just how much Wesley has aged since Episode 1 - he has clearly entered puberty, and has gone from being a boy to a young man in just a few, short months. I'm not certain, but this episode seems to contain a very early reference to the lethal potential of climate change - how many dramas can you think of that mentioned it nearly thirty years ago?] 1.18 - "Home Soil" - Feb. 22, 1988 - Directed by Corey Allen (Buzz Gunderson in "Rebel without a Cause," Emmy Award for Directing "Goodbye, Mr. Scripps" on "Hill Street Blues"), Written by: Teleplay - Robert Sabaroff (Writer of "The Immunity Syndrome" on "Star Trek"), Story - Robert Sabaroff, Karl Geurs (Director and Co-Writer of "Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin"), Ralph Sanchez (Writer and Executive Producer of "Boxcars") Featuring Walter Gotell (Second Officer of the Königin Luise in "The African Queen," Oberleutnant Muesel in "The Guns of Navarone," Hans Lasser in "The Hi-Jackers" on "The Saint" (xx), Morzeny in "From Russia with Love," General Gogol in six "James Bond" films), Elizabeth Lindsey (Miss Hawaii, 1978), Gerard Prendergast (Erik Slade on "Summer"), Mario Rocuzzo (Angelo in "The Locket" on "All in the Family" (xx), Andrew in "Goodbye, Mr. Scripps" on "Hill Street Blues" (xx)), Carolyn Barry (The Metron in "Arena" on "Star Trek" (xx)) 19. "Coming of Age" - March 14, 1988 - 20. "Heart of Glory" - March 21, 1988 - 21. "Arsenal of Freedom" - April 11, 1988 - [Note: "Get Off My Train!"] 22. "Symbiosis" - April 18, 1988 - 23. "Skin of Evil" - April 25, 1988 - [Note: RIP, TY.] 24. "We'll Always Have Paris" - May 2, 1988 - [Note: That's Michelle Phillips from "The Mamas and The Papas."] 25. "Conspiracy" - May 9, 1988 - [Note: My first question: The "homing beacon sent from earth comment at the very end ... what did that imply? It sounds ominous, but nothing seemed to pan out from it in later shows that I'm aware of, so ...? (Answers will be Spoilers)"] 26. "The Neutral Zone" - May 16, 1988 - [Note: And that's a wrap for season one.]

"Star Trek" (TOS) Main Cast Series created by Gene Roddenberry William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk Leonard Nimoy as First Officer Spock DeForest Kelley as Doctor Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy James Doohan as Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott George Takei as Helmsman Hikaru Sulu Nichelle Nichols as Communications Officer Nyota Uhura Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekhov Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Janice Rand Eddie Paskey furtively appeared in 57 episodes, most famously as Lieutenant Leslie. Season 1 (Sep 8, 1966 - Apr 13, 1967) (available for free on Amazon Prime) 1.0 - "The Cage" (Pilot) - Original Air Date November 27, 1988 (not a typo): Directed by Robert Butler, Written by Gene Roddenberry (Creator of "Star Trek") Featuring Jeffrey Hunter (Martin Pawley in "The Searchers," Harold in "Don't Look Behind You" on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour"), Susan Oliver (Annabel Delaney in "Annabel" on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (2), 3 Episodes on "Route 66"), Teenya in "People Are Alike All Over" on "The Twilight Zone"), Meg Wylie (Sister Florence in "The Night of the Meek" on "The Twilight Zone" (2)), John Hoyt (Principal Warneke in "Blackboard Jungle," Ross in "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" and Dr. Loren in "The Lateness of the Hour" on "The Twilight Zone" (3), Bifrost Alien in "The Bellero Shield" on "The Outer Limits") [Many, and I would venture to say "Most," don't realize that the primary Talosian is played by a woman, Meg Wylie. It's truly interesting to see her in "The Night of the Meek," because you can get a good look at her as she's leading a prayer service. Susan Oliver is the famous "Green Girl" who is every guy's Dream Girl, pictured at the close of many Star Trek episodes. John Hoyt plays a solid (if critically overrated) role as the principal in "Blackboard Jungle." This is not *the* most enjoyable of episodes, but the more you watch Star Trek, the more you realize that it's *such* a classic, that it's important enough to demand a viewing, if not several. It's an important work, and sets everything in motion, but in my opinion, the two-part "remake" - "The Menagerie" - improves upon this original, and integrates this "true pilot" episode with the rest of the series, and if you have to watch one or the other, make it "The Menagerie," but that in no way detracts from the value of this, which eventually deserves its own viewing. The series was right to eventually publish this as its own episode in 1988.] 1.1 - "The Man Trap," - September 8, 1966 - Directed by Marc Daniels (Director of the first 38 episodes of "I Love Lucy"), Written by George Clayton Johnson (Writer of "Ocean's Eleven" (Novel), Writer of 7 episodes of "The Twilight Zone" (4), Co-Writer of "Logan's Run" (Novel)) Featuring Jeanne Bal (Penny Foster in "An Effigy in Snow" on "Route 66" (2)), Alfred Ryder (Goudy in "True Grit"), Michael Zaslow (Roger Thorpe on "The Guiding Light"), John Arndt (Mr. Pool in "Amy"), Bruce Watson (Technician in "Johnny Got His Gun," Tom in "The Swinging Barmaids") Budd Albright (Stuntman on all 76 episodes of "The Name of the Game"), Sandra Lee Gimpel (Prolific stuntwoman who also played a Talosian in "The Cage"), Ed Madden as Enterprise Geologist (Dr. Gary in "Man in a Chariot" on "The Fugitive") [The death of Crewman Darnell (Michael Zaslow) was supposedly the impetus of the first-ever utterance of the now-legendary line by Dr. McCoy, "He's dead, Jim" - or, at least. so say the reviews online, but, pssst, here's a detail: McCoy actually says, "Dead, Jim." And for the record, after the second death of Crewman Sturgeon (John Arndt), McCoy said, "He's dead." So, we still have no, "He's dead, Jim." Crewman Green (Bruce Watson) was the third death, but The Salt Vampire (technically named the "M-113 Creature") stole his identity, so there was no report at all of any death from McCoy to Kirk. Navigator Barnhart (Budd Albright) was reported via communicator from Sulu to Kirk as "Casualty, Captain," so despite the first four deaths in this episode, there's not a single "He's dead, Jim." And Professor Robert Crater (Alfred Ryder) makes *five deaths* in one episode, but Kirk noticed him, and simply said, "Dead." The Salt Vampire - like the primary Talosian, played by a woman: the successful and prolific Hollywood stuntwoman, Sandra Lee Gimpel, is the sixth and final death - I cannot remember *any* Star Trek episode with six deaths - five human - in sequence (as opposed to en masse). Also, I think there's a philosophical inconsistency here with wanting to destroy the creature (instead of simply feeding it with salt) as opposed to, for example, The Horta in "The Devil in the Dark." This was not a murderous creature; it was merely trying to eat. All deceased characters are listed by t (heir real names up above - and who knew that both primary alien-antagonists in the first two episodes were played by females? I'm probably the only person on Earth who knows, or cares, about things like this - God, I'm a loser, but damn I'm good at ferreting out detail. NB - About 2/3 of the way through the episode, immediately after Professor Robert Crater fires on Kirk and Spock to frighten them, Spock crawls backwards - in my opinion, it would be physically impossible to do this without having a production assistant pulling on his right leg: I think he was being pulled backwards - have a look and see what you think.] 1.2 - "Charlie X" - September 14, 1966 - Directed by Lawrence Dobkin (Kell in "The Mind's Eye" on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"), Written by - Teleplay: Dorothy C. Fontana (Co-Writer of 5 episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (2)), Story: Gene Roddenberry (2) Featuring Robert Walker (Michael Ely in "Across Walnuts and Wine" on "Route 66" (3) Jack (communist - the very first (and very last) person you see here) in "Easy Rider"), Charles J. Stewart (Clergyman in "Marsha, Queen of Diamonds" and "Marsha's Scheme of Diamonds" on "Batman"), Dallas Mitchell (Chat Hollis in "Even Stones Have Eyes" on "Route 66" (4) Tom Gavin in "Madigan"), Pat McNulty (Computer Technician in "The House of God"), Bob Herron (U.S. Navy boxing champion, Prolific stuntman), Don Eitner (Tony Barrata in "Queen of Blood"), Abraham Sofaer (Dr. Stillman on "The Mighty Casey" on "The Twilight Zone" (5), Arch on "Demon with a Glass Hand" on "The Outer Limits" (2), Haji on "I Dream of Jeannie") [Did you know that "Charlie X" (Charlie is played by Robert Walker) took its inspiration from "It's a Good Life," the infamous "Twilight Zone" episode which featured Bill Mumy as a little boy, terrorizing, and in complete control of, seemingly everything and everybody? If you've seen both episodes, the similarities will become instantly obvious to you, and if you notice the (very brief, but very obvious) actions of Antares Captain Ramart (Charles J. Stewart) and Navigator Tom Nellis (Dallas Mitchell), they're almost *exactly* like those of the townspeople in "It's a Good Life," although if you look at Charlie's face immediately beforehand, they were either willed into, or scared into, saying the nice things they did. About a third of the way through the episode, you'll hear a transmission to the bridge from the ship's galley (it's Thanksgiving), which says, "Sir, I put meat loaf in the ovens; there's turkeys in there now" - that voice is none other than Gene Roddenberry's, making a cameo. When Kirk takes Charlie into the workout area, the burly gentleman (Bob Herron) Kirk picks out to help him demonstrate some judo throws makes the mistake of momentarily laughing at Charlie, and Charlie sends him "to the cornfield," as the folks in "It's a Good Life" might say. Right after that, Kirk calls security, and two crewmen come in to take Charlie to his quarters, where he has now been confined - distrustful and angry, Charlie mentally knocks them down, and makes one of their phasers disappear - this kid is quickly becoming an obvious threat of unfathomable power, all controlled by the glands of an out-or-control, mercurial, 17-year-old who thinks everyone hates him and is "out to get him." Kirk takes enormous risk by standing up to him as a stern, paternal figure, when he knows full well that Charlie could blink him out of existence at any moment. At this moment, the viewer should take note of the brilliant lighting employed on Charlie's eyes (this is done throughout the episode), making him look even more supernatural and threatening. The possibility arises that Charlie is actually a Thasian - legendary "beings" with powers of transmutation, but McCoy swears that this isn't so - Charlie's readings are clearly those of an Earthling. The Navigator on the bridge during this time of crisis is a new, possibly one-time-only actor, played by Don Eitner, instructed by Kirk to lay in a course *away* from Colony Five, Kirk's hypothesis being that Charlie is too dangerous to be there. You know, for someone so uneducated, Charlie sure has a way with making Spock recite passages from William Blake (which Spock pulls off brilliantly). They wrote Kirk's Yeoman, Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) off the show after several episodes of the first season - a shame, really, because Janice had the perfect combination of "beauty" and "bitch" - and that braided hair! Thankfully, when things are looking really bad, Deus ex Machina cometh to the rescue in the form of The Thasian (Abraham Sofaer)] 1.3 - "Where No Man Has Gone Before" - September 21, 1966 - Directed by James Goldstone (Director of "The Sixth Finger" and "The Inheritors" on "The Outer Limits"), Written by Samuel A. Peeples (Co-Writer of "Walking Tall: Final Chapter") Featuring Gary Lockwood (Frank Poole in "2001: A Space Odyssey," Jim Figg in "The Ring with the Red Velvet Ropes" in "Night Gallery"), Sally Kellerman (Ingrid Larkman in "The Human Factor" and Judith Bellero in "The Bellero Shield" (2) on "The Outer Limits," Sally Benner in "Thou Still Unravished Bride" on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (3), as Major Margaret J. "Hot Lips" Hoolihan in MASH), Lloyd Haynes (Pete Dixon on "Room 222"), Paul Carr (Young man in "The Wrong Man"), Paul Fix (Judge Taylor in "To Kill a Mockingbird") [Wow, I cannot imagine how "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was televised after the first two episodes, at least not without a *lot* of explaining - either that, or television audiences in 1966 were so unobservant that they may as well have been staring at a blank screen. There are so many discrepancies between this (which was obviously filmed before the other two, just like "The Cage") and episodes 1 and 2, that it's almost like two different shows. Where do I even begin? There's Mr. Spock, who looks and acts completely different than the Vulcan we all came to know and love, the uniforms, the anomaly at the edge of the galaxy (which we never hear about again) and the equipment (for example, the "phaser rifle," which makes its only appearance in the entire series here), and that's just for starters. There *must* have been some commentary (in TV Guide? in the preview?) about how this was an early, experimental episode that represented Star Trek as it might have been, but isn't. When I was a kid watching reruns, I always wondered why some Star Treks were "different," with a strange-looking Mr. Spock, and just a different overall "feel," but you don't really question things when you're a child. Aside from these enormous differences, there's one blatant discrepancy: the name on Kirk's grave: "James P. Kirk," when his name was actually "James Tiberius Kirk," which I suppose was decided on later, assuming audiences wouldn't be watching episodes fifty-years later on Hulu. Gary Lockwood had a major role in "2001: A Space Odyssey," but then essentially vanished, and Sally Kellerman played "Hot Lips Hoolihan" (who we usually associate with Loretta Swit) in the movie version of "MASH" - this episode almost certainly helped them land both of those roles. The ending of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is perhaps the first time we see the "softer side" of Captain Kirk, as he makes special mentions for both Mitchell (Lockwood) and Denner (Kellerman) in the official log, declaring that they both died in the line of duty (which, in truth, they did).] 1.4 - "The Naked Time" - September 28, 1966 - Directed by: Marc Daniels (2), Written by: John D. F. Black (Co-Writer of "The Naked Now" on "Star Trek - The Next Generation" (3)) Featuring: Bruce Hyde as Lt. Kevin Thomas Riley (Professor of Communication Studies at St. Cloud State University), Stewart Moss as Lt. Joe Tormolen (Dr. John Beck in "The Bat People." Website) [One of the most amusing (and uncharacteristic) lines in the entire series occurred when Sulu appeared on the bridge with his rapier, Spock takes him down with the Vulcan Neck Pinch, and then says, "Get d'Artagnan here to Sick Bay." Another gem was just before that when Sulu says to Uhura, "I'll save you, fair maiden!" and Uhura replies, "Neither." Although Bruce Hyde did a fine job as Lt. Riley, I found his "Irish Ballad" *so* annoying that I have a hard time watching this episode - viewers almost need to filter it out to preserve their sanity. George Takei, in his autobiography, "To the Stars," mentions that "The Naked Time" is his favorite episode. The funniest piece of trivia is near the beginning of the episode, when Spock and Tormolen are on planet Psi 2000 in their red suits, hovering over a frozen woman - in real life, the woman was a mannequin, and the red suits (remember, the show was on a very tight budget) were repurposed 1960s Art Deco-style shower curtains - ponder, for a moment, just how low-rent this is, and how silly the actors must have felt.] 1.5 - "The Enemy Within" - Oct 5, 1966 - Directed by: Leo Penn (Primetime Emmy Award Nominee for Outstanding Director in a Drama Series for "The Mississippi," Father of Sean Penn), Written by: Richard Matheson (Writer of 16 episodes of "The Twilight Zone" (6), "Duel," The Big Surprise" and "The Funeral" on "Night Gallery" (2)) Featuring: Jim Goodwin as Farrell (Fakir in "Emperor of the North"), Ed Madden (2) as Fisher [It says a lot about male nature that the first thing Alter-Ego Kirk does is go for the Saurian Brandy (and yet, he *didn't* go for Yeoman Rand; until he had a couple of drinks - then, he does. That was a pretty racy shot of Rand running away from Kirk, btw.). I didn't realize that Ed Madden (the geologist Fisher), who slipped and fell down the rock, covering himself in yellow powder, was also the geologist in "The Cage," having small speaking roles in both episodes. It's odd that, after Scotty showed both Spock and Kirk the dog (who was also beamed up with its fierce alter-ego), that they didn't instantly piece together the possibility of an alter-ego Kirk. Speaking of which, William Shatner is *much* better at portraying the "Gentle Kirk" than the alter-ego Kirk - he has a terrible makeup job, and this is one of the first (of many) examples of his horrific overacting. "The Enemy Within" is the episode with Sulu and the landing party stranded on the planet's surface, which goes down to -120 degrees Farenheit at night (they nearly freeze to death). Why couldn't the Enterprise have shot a phaser down onto the surface and heated up a rock for temporary warmth?] 1.6 - "Mudd's Women" - Oct 13, 1966 - Directed by Harvey Hart (Directed 5 episodes of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (4)), Written by - Teleplay: Stephen Kandel (Screenplay for "Battle of the Coral Sea"), Story: Gene Roddenberry (3) Featuring Roger C. Carmel as Leo Walsh aka Harcourt Fenton Mudd (Rogel Buell in "The Mothers-in-Law"), Karen Steele as Eve McHuron (Virginia in "Marty"), Susan Denberg as Magda Kovacs (Christina in "Frankenstein Created Woman"), Maggie Thrett as Ruth Bonaventure (Prostitute in "Cover Me Babe"), Gene Dynarski as Ben Childress (Man in Cafe in "Duel" (2)), Jim Goodwin as Lieutenant John Farrell (Fakir in "Emperor of the North") ["Bridge to Transporter Room ..." "It's looking like two, Captain." As harmless as it seems, this is an early example (a late example?) of human trafficking - an exact contemporary to the 1967 Comedy, "Thoroughly Modern Millie," the viewer needs to suspend belief about this portion to be able to flow with the comedic aspects of this episode - for example, when the three lovely ladies beam aboard, Scottie, McCoy, and a couple others are hypnotized by the three ladies' beauty, and the dialog - Mudd (talking about Kirk's directness over the intercomm): "That fellow sounded a mite upset, didn't he?" McCoy (hypnotized, and not fully coherent): "Yes. Yes they are." None of this would be funny (which it is) if you can't suspend your knowledge of human trafficking, although the women in this case are somewhat willing participants, as Mudd gives them a hypnotic "beauty drug" so they can attract husbands - not only are they radiantly beautiful, but they also get what they want more than anything: a husband! Sure, it's somewhat neanderthal, but these are lonely miners on lonely planets without any female companionship, these beautiful women came from crummy situations they were happy to escape from, and this was filmed before human trafficking became exposed as a serious issue in our world (the late 1960s) - well, it's better than being Shanghaied, I suppose - now *that* would have sucked. Although "Mudd's Women" is considered a "comic Star Trek," the ship is in very real danger, and the Enterprise comes dangerously close to perishing - all because they were good-hearted enough to pluck Harry Mudd and his "cargo" out of the asteroid belt, almost completely draining their dilithium crystals in the process. This is a deceptively complex episode, with several storylines running in parallel.] Episode 7: "What Are Little Girls Made Of," October 20, 1966: 1.8 - "Miri," - October 27, 1966 - Director - Vincent McEveety (Director of "Firecreek"), Writer - Adrian Spies (Emmy Award Winner for writing "What's God to Julius" on "Dr. Kildare") Featuring Kim Darby (Mattie Ross in "True Grit"), Jim Goodwin (Survivor in "Ice Station Zebra"), Michael J. Pollard (Shoeshine Boy in "Appointment at Eleven" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," Best Actor in a Supporting Role Nominee as C.W. Moss in "Bonnie and Clyde"), David L. Ross (Reporter in "Rocky II"), Keith Taylor (Pizza King Delivery Guy in "Archie is Worried about his Job" on "All in the Family," Mouse in "Dirt Duel" on "Adam-12"), Ed McCready (Crook in "The Penguin Goes Straight" on "Batman"), Kellie Flanagan (Candice Muir on "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir"), Stephen McEveety (Co-Producer of "The Passion of the Christ"), John Megna (Charles Baker "Dill" Harris in "To Kill a Mockingbird") Episode 9: "Dagger Of The Mind," November 3, 1966: Episode 10: "The Corbomite Maneuver," November 10, 1966: Episode 11: "The Menagerie, Part One," November 17, 1966: <--- "Captain Pike, were any record tapes of this type made during your voyage?" <Beep ... Beep.> Episode 12: "The Menagerie, Part Two," November 24, 1966: <--- "Captain Kirk ... Captain Pike, he has an illusion, and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant." Episode 13: "The Conscience Of The King," December 8, 1966: <--- "Are you Kodos?" Directed by Gerd Oswald, Written by Barry Trivers Episode 14: "Balance Of Terror," December 15, 1966: <--- "He's a sorcerer, that one - he reads the thoughts of my mind." Directed by Vincent McEveety (xx), Written by Paul Schneider (Writer of "The Looters") Featuring Mark Lenard (Prosecuting Attorney at Fort Grant in "Hang 'em High," Appeared in 5 Star Trek Films, Sarek in "Sarek" and "Unification" on "Star Trek: The Next Generation") Lawrence Montaigne (Mr. Glee in "The Joker's Last Laugh" and "The Joker's Epitaph" on "Batman") John Warburton (Bob in "Captain Fury") Paul Comi (Modeer in "The Crimson Witness" on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (xx), 3 episodes of "The Twilight Zone" (xx)) Barbara Baldavin (Nurse Holmby on "Medical Center") Garry Walberg (Colonel in "Where is Everybody" on "The Twilight Zone" (xx) [This is an early version of the film "Das Boot," a quasi-submarine episode which takes its inspiration from the film, "The Enemy Below." Recall also that the cold open features the (almost-)happy wedding between Lieutenants Angela Martine and Robert Tomlinson (Stephen Mines), before crew members are called to battle stations. "Balance of Terror" is also the first episode in which Romulans are ever seen, and prejudice becomes a main sub-plot when it's revealed that they look a lot like Mr. Spock; ironically, Mark Lenard, who plays the Romulan Captain, would famously go on to play Mr. Spock's father, Sarek, in many future Star Trek episodes and movies, without so much as a reference to this episode.] Episode 15: "Shore Leave," December 29, 1966: Episode 16: "The Galileo Seven," January 5, 1967: 1.17 - "The Squire Of Gothos" - January 12, 1967 - <--- "I warn you that anything you might say has already been taken down in evidence against you." Directed by Don McDougall (Director of 42 episodes of "The Virginian"), Written by Paul Schneider (xx) Featuring William Campbell (Brent Reno (the first person to sing on-screen with Elvis Presley) in "Love Me Tender"), Richard Carlyle (Rezin Bowie in "The Iron Mistress") 1.18 - "Arena" - January 19, 1967: <--- Why doesn't the Gorn just bite his neck during this fight? Directed by, Joseph Pevney (Shorty Pulaski in "Body and Soul"), Written by - Teleplay: Gene L. Coon (Screenplay of "The Killers") and Carey Wilber (Producer of Teleplay of "A Question of Rank" on "Gulf Playhouse"), Story: Carey Wilber Featuring Vic Perrin (The "Control Voice" in "The Outer Limits"), Bobby Clark (The 10th Avenue Kid in "Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid" and Charles in "The West Warlock Time Capsule" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"), Ted Cassidy, Carolyne Barry (Female Engineer in "Home Soil" on "Star Trek: The Next Generation") [Aside from the single worst fight in the history of television, the odds of Captain Kirk being able to roll that huge boulder (which probably weighs 1,000 pounds) *up a hill*, to drop it on the Gorn, are precisely zero. It's incredible that Bobby Clark played *both* "The 10th Avenue Kid" *and* "The Gorn," although The Gorn was voiced by Ted Cassidy - young Bobby certainly grew up a lot between the two roles. Vic Perrin (the voice who "controls the horizontal, controls the vertical, etc." on "The Outer Limits," also had a voice role here: He was the first Metron you hear in this episode - now, if we only knew what he looked like (actually, Perrin was in plenty of roles). People remember "Arena" for the absurd fight, and the impossible lifting of the boulder by Kirk, but if you can put those two things aside, it's really a very good episode. One other thing you need to overlook: Assuming "Warp Factor 1" is equal to the speed of light (which I always assumed), at the end of the show, Mr. Sulu tells Captain Kirk that they're 500 parsecs from where they were, and Kirk tells him to head back at Warp Factor 1 - that would take a good 1,600 years., so they might want to speed it up a little bit.] "Gorn To Be Wild" on startrek.com 1.19 - "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" - January 26, 1967 - Directed by Michael O'Herilhy, Written by Dorothy C. Fontana (xx), Featuring Roger Perry (Dr. James Hayes in "Count Yorga, Vampire"), Hal Lynch (Big Henry in "The Way West"), Episode 20: "Court Martial," February 2, 1967: Episode 21: "The Return Of The Archons," February 9, 1967: Episode 22: "Space Seed," February 16, 1967: Directed by Marc Daniels (xx), Written by - Teleplay: Gene L. Coon (xx, Screenplay of "The Killers") and Carey Wilber (xx, Teleplay of "A Question of Rank" on "Gulf Playhouse"), Story: Carey Wilber Featuring Ricardo Montalbán (Tony "Pepe" Llorca in "Outlaw in Town" on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (xx), Khan Noonien Singh in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," Mr. Roarke on "Fantasy Island"), Madlyn Rhue (Ara Rados in "Every Father's Daughter" on "Route 66" (xx), Consuela Sandino in "The Dark Pool" on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (xx), Secretary Schwartz in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World") 1.23 - "A Taste Of Armageddon" - February 23, 1967 - Directed by Joseph Pevney (xx), Written by - Teleplay: Gene L. Coon (xx) and Robert Hammer (Director, Producer, and Writer of "Don't Answer the Phone!"), Story: Robert Hammer Featuring David Opatoshu (Dorn in "Valley of the Shadow" on "The Twilight Zone" (xx), Ralph Cashman in "A Feasability Study" on "The Outer Limits" (xx)), Gene Lyons (3 Episodes on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (xx), Psychiatrist in "King Nine Will Not Return" on "The Twilight Zone" (xx)), Barbara Babcock (Flora Alden in "Brenda" on "Night Gallery," Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series as Grace Gardner on "Hill Street Blues," Emmy Award Nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series as Dorothy Jennings on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman") Episode 24: "This Side Of Paradise," March 2, 1967: 1.25 - "The Devil In The Dark" - March 9, 1967 - Directed by Joseph Pevney (xx), Written by Gene L. Coon (xx) Featuring Ken Lynch (Charlie in "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" on "The Twilight Zone," Bernie Ryan on "Log 43: Hostage" on "Adam-12," Jail Guard Callahan in ") Episode 26: "Errand Of Mercy," March 23, 1967: Episode 27: "The Alternative Factor," March 30, 1967: <--- "This is a parallel universe?" ... "Of course." Directed by Gerd Oswald, Written by Don Ingalls Episode 28: "The City On The Edge Of Forever," April 6, 1967: <--- "You deliberately stopped me, Jim. I could have saved her - do you know what you just did?" "He knows, doctor ... he knows." Episode 29: "Operation Annihilate," April 13, 1967: Episode 99: "The Cage," January 1, 1966: <--- "She has an illusion, and you have reality - may you find your way as pleasant."

Deep Space Nine (DS9) follows TNG in the Star Trek television franchise, and precedes Voyager and Enterprise (which is in fact a prequel). You might say that the DS9-era represented the high water mark of the franchise, as TNG had proved both a financial and critical success, and the associated films were chugging along nicely. In terms of story, DS9 was deeply impacted by both the Battle of Wolf-359 and the Cardassian Wars. The show's lead character, Benjamin Sisko lost his wife at Wolf-359, an event that haunts him throughout the series. And the eponymous space station's position as a former Cardassian stronghold and subsequent strategic location near a wormhole to the gamma quadrant provides much plot fodder. I think DS9 is largely seen as quite successful, with many fans preferring the later episodes to the earlier ones. About ten years ago I bought season one on DVD and wasn't that impressed with the first ten episodes, but I'm ready to give it a second chance. I'd be interested in running through each episode much like Don did with TNG, but more towards the style I used in the Spooks forum. Please let me know if you are interested. I like using letter grades, along with a quick synopsis and analysis. But I'm flexible on the exact system used. I do think some rating mechanism is useful though. This is a point of contention between me and Don, but I'm hoping we can work something out. My position is that some sort of empirical score, while somewhat artificial, is still quite useful to quickly discern a general difference or similarity of opinion between us. You could read two analyses and still not be quite sure.

This is incredible:

I wanted some comfort food last night, so I (re-)watched "Star Trek Generations." This movie has one of my personal-favorite openings of any movie I’ve ever seen (okay, okay, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” might be a tad better), but still: I’m surprised Captain Harriman didn’t offer Captain Kirk the helm when he gave the order to “Take us out” on the Enterprise B - it would have been touching, although the way Kirk is playing his role (at least initially), he’s being a bit aloof, and “touching” isn’t in keeping with his demeanor. Oh my goodness - when Kirk found out there were no photon topedoes, and just now said, “Don’t tell me … Tuesday,” I braced myself for what I fear is going to be some awful filmmaking and acting. This was not funny, it was not cute, it was … for children. (“Computer, remove the plank!” was pretty damned funny.) There is *no way* that Jordi (or Data) would implant the emotion chip without first consulting with Captain Picard. That said, Data “hating his beverage” was highly amusing, in an obvious kind-of way. Picard’s grief scene over the death of his brother and nephew was so well done that every other foible in this movie, at least up until this point, can be forgiven so far. Data’s amusing “Life Forms” song is performed in D-major. Unfortunately, it was negated by his stupid, “Oh, shit” comment. The extended saucer-crash scene was really well-done. I’m certainly no expert at being able to tell whether or not it was realistic, but to these layman’s eyes, it was very much so. I wasn’t even sure I’d seen this movie, but I remember Kirk’s “Oh my” scene like it was yesterday, so I’m certain I saw it upon release. As a film, there isn’t all that much here; as a bonus, extended, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode? I think it’s just keen.

When this movie was released in 1979, I saw it in the theater. As of right now, the only two things I remember about it are: 1) I was excited and happy that this childhood favorite was made into a film 2) I enjoyed it, although I don't remember why, or even know what it's about But now, in 2014, I'm about 35 minutes into this 2+ hour film (which I will finish in the next couple of days), and so far? It is ... just ... awful. I'm purposely not looking at any reviews, but my initial impression is that this is going to be painful to get through. The modern-day, parody of William Shatner - replete with bad makeup - is already shining brightly in 1979 (*), and the rest of the cast looks like they had a pretty rough ten years. Please get better, movie. Please? (*) The shot where Captain Kirk extends his hand to Dr. McKoy to try and welcome him back onto the ship is *terrible*.