Enough to make a Trek Fan Cry...

[Madame Pandora]

Okay....

I don't think I'm a Trek nut or anything, but I have always liked Star Trek, and the first one, TOS has always been my favorite. I happened on this site today looking for something entirely different.

http://members.citynet.net/ppp/transwarp/twdk.htm

The audio clip, I think...is just about as brutal a thing as they could find.

Made me all teary-eyed. Thought...what the heck...misery loves company ;-)

Go get teary eyed if you like, too ;-)

 

[scylis]

Damnit, Jim! i'm a DOCTOR, not an Immortal!

WHY?!?
OH WHY WHY WHY?!?!?
*sobs uncontrolably*

 

[Lajo]

Loved it...thanks! Live Long and Prosper "De"

 

[Whispersecret]

He always seemed to me to be a real nice guy. It's sad to hear that he died.

 

[Merelan]

Am I missing something? It is sad he died, and I got teary eyed, but back in June 1999 when it happened. Maybe I am going crazy, I don't understand half the threads anymore.

 

[Countess DeWinter]

No, sweetie, you're not crazy. I was sad then too...it's the passing of an era. I had to read this one a couple of times too.

 

[Madame Pandora]

Yeah, I know it's not like he passed away yesterday. I wasn't trying to break news. I just came across the site. Partly, I think it's nice that someone maintains a remembrance, but the biggest thing was that I loaded up the page and heard his own voice saying "He's really not gone, as long as we remember him."

I don't think it matters WHO it was...that just made me a little teary-eyed. Or maybe it’s because this guy always seemed a little craggy, but gentle and reminded me of my grandfather. Maybe I was having a Midol moment…who knows. I wasn't trying to be profound.

I just thought it was nice...and a little sad...and thought someone else might like to see/hear it.

MP

 

[Countess DeWinter]

'salright MP. It really reminded me that DeForest Kelly was only a few years older than Nimoy and Shatner. I have enjoyed the newer ST series, but they're just not the original.

 

[Merelan]

Yes, I enjoyed the site too, just thought I was going crazy, not too far off somedays. I liked it, esp. the sound file... sniff..
I only really like the original series. I have seen a few of the others but, to, to soap opera. You know? Not saying the original was profound but....
He was a gentle man, a sweet man. A real man. Not many of those left in the film industry, or at least, not that I have seen. Sensitive, yet strong enough to take command. In a quiet way. They say, whoever "they" are, that he was like that in real life also. That he, of all the crew, was the best liked.
I need to go dig up some and watch now. So much for doing laundry.

Maybe Dixon would know who "they" are?

 

[Gaucho]

What did Spock find floating in the toilet?

The captain's log, of course.

An interesting bit of serendipity: As I clicked on this thread and followed MP's link, I was listening to "Where to Now St. Peter" off of "Tumbleweed Connection". And while it's not news, it is sad. As someone who has followed the "wagon train to the stars" since its inception, I've had a lot of fun watching Star Trek as it went from the original TV series to the big screen and then mutated into a second series, followed by a third and a fourth and now, who knows?

For what it's worth, a few observations:

It was a mistake to kill off Captain Kirk. I know, I know - there are many of us who wish that William Shatner would kick the bucket in real life (or at least shut the fuck up), I remain quite nostalgic about the original crew and Kirk in particular. And while efforts to combine the crews have been uneven and frustrating (the episode of STNG, for example, where they included Spock was very flat, in part because Spock and Picard are such similar characters; what that episode needed was more Data and, in particular, a sharp infusion of Will Ryker. Put Ryker and Spock on a ship together and just watch the sparks fly! However, the episode where Scotty joined the 24th century worked perfectly; for me, it was one of the best of the series), the idea is a good one and I, for one, would like to see more of it.

For me, the beginning of "Generations" was the best part. The rest of the movie sagged and dragged and the ending, with Kirk and Picard together, barely revived it. But the concept, I felt, was a good one. It just needed better execution. As for the rest of the characters, well, as Spock says, "There are always possibilities".

From the end of its third season on, STNG was one of the best shows on television. On the big screen, "Generations" was so-so, "First Contact" was superb and "Insurrection", while it had its moments, was another middling effort.

Deep Space Nine took a couple of years to gel (as STNG did) and then became one of the best written shows on TV. It also produced some of the most notable and interesting characters of any of the Star Trek series.

Finally, there was Voyager. After a somewhat rocky start (Lose the bun, Janeway!), it, too, became a weekly viewing requirement (of course, adding a certain statuesque Borgette didn't hurt any). And, in a few months, Voyager will be history.

So what's next for Trek fans? I'm not up on the latest rumors, but I know there is talk of a new series and also a certain feeling that maybe the whole Star Trek phenomenon has shot its bolt and that a period of rest (with an occasional movie) is in order.

One thing is for certain: In the last 34 years, Star Trek has spawned a host of fascinating characters that will live on in our imagination. Most of them still exist within the Trek universe and, whatever direction the franchise takes from now on, I hope the producers remember these characters and use them wherever and whenever they can. Just think of it: A movie that combines 7 of 9 with Worf, Odo and Picard. Or perhaps instead choose Sisko, Ryker, Janeway and Spock. And what about Q or Guinan? The possibilities are endless.

And Kirk, of all people, said it best.

"It sounds like fun!"

 

[Lajo]

Check out http://www.startrek.com. I think there is another series in the development stages. (I hope I hope I hope)

 

[Ambrosious]

Looks Like It...

While the new series could be on the air by fall of 2001, Berman said, the timing is contingent mostly upon the status of potential strikes expected this year by writers and directors in Hollywood. He said it's "premature" to speculate on when the new series would premiere and on what network. "Paramount is making all those decisions, and they've been involved in a lot of complex discussions and negotiations regarding UPN, regarding a lot of different things, and it's a decision that's going to be coming from them hopefully in the next month or so."

The as-yet-untitled "Star Trek X" will likely come to theaters in 2002, again contingent upon impending labor strikes. A journalist asked if the producers may incorporate any of the Voyager cast in that movie. "We may. We may..." Berman replied. Mulgrew interjected laughingly, "Well, I want you to elaborate on that, sir!" But Berman responded with yet another, "Don't like giving anything away."

Berman also noted that there is a possibility, albeit remote, that a two-hour television movie could be made based on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. "I think it's a possibility, but nothing that's in any kind of serious discussion," he said.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

For me, the beginning of "Generations" was the best part. The rest of the movie sagged and dragged and the ending, with Kirk and Picard together, barely revived it.

I've said this before but, what the hey...

I was at the first screening for "Generations", prepared, like, hours after they finished splicing the sucker. There was no score (just studio music), no titles, no color correction, and the little wires that held up the saucer section model as it crashed in the planet hadn't yet been airbrushed out. It was a hoot.

Anyway, the original ending was a clanging bore comapred to the improved, more active ending they finally settled on (which STILL left a lot to be desired).

If you care to know, in the original ending (which was filmed, and then the film wrapped) Kirk basically punches Malcolm and Malcom shoots him and that's preetty much it. No heroic jump across the abyss, no deadly fall in the twisted wreckage of a bridge, no fun by-play between Kirk and Picard. Malcolm just shoots him. *snore*

Although Shatner did have one line I loved, which was cut. In the original scene Kirk picks up the cloaking remote, figures it out, uncloaks the missle so Picard can disarm it, and, in a moment of pure ego, says, "The 24th Century isn't so tough."

I loved that line, and I wished they had found a way to stick in the new ending.

By the way, that was the only screening they held, and it became somewhat legendary around town for a few months, because word got out how much people didn't like the ending. They had to "un-wrap" the film, call Shatner, who had just finsihed writing in his memoirs that Kirk was finally dead, and go back out to the desert to kill Kirk off again.

The power of the people, baby.