Data is just wonderful. I love all the actors, the characters and the plots. I used to hate it for its image and what I thought it was about, but once a friend convinced me to watch it I immediately fell in love.


Who else loves Star Trek?


Am I weird for watching it regularly?

Not at all dude. Easily the best of the following Star Trek arcs... once you get past the first 1 or 2 seasons and the characters are all fleshed out it get's really really good.

Some of those first eps are though...

RenHoek said:

I'm so in love with Data. Magnificent character.

I caught "All Good Things..." the other day, and watched it. I remember a bunch of us getting together to watch the finale together. I was never a Star Trek fan. In fact, I HATED the original because my dad ALWAYS watched it, and it made me nuts. Somehow I got into TNG after I met my Star Trek crazed friend Mona. It was already in reruns (syndication) by season 3 or 4, so it was easy to catch up on them while still finding new shows. I realized just how awesome some fo the shows were. It wasn't always about space ships and laser beams. They covered every topic on that show, including drug use, moving natives from their land, race relations, the right to die, etc.

The thing to watch for is when Data slips up and uses a contraction, which happens at times. Remember, he's not supposed to have the ability to use "can't" or "won't", etc, but there are times when they flat out slipped up on that.

Oddly though...once the show was over, I was done with it. It was years until I ever wanted to see one again. I'm just that way w/ a show. Once a show is over, I'm done w/ it. I've yet to ever watch a rerun of Friends or Will & Grace. There are so few shows I'll watch in reruns. I think once it's over, I realize I've invested enough of my time into it, and it's time to move on. There are a very small set of TV shows that I buy on DVD to watch again. Nip/Tuck, OZ, Sex And The City, The Vicar of Dibley, Absolutely Fabulous, Family Guy...I think that's about it. Once it's done, so am I.

And to RenHoek: Remember that a lot of those early shows are directly lifted from Star Trek scripts. Mirror Mirror, etc, are all redo's from the original series, so you get a bit of deja vu the first season or two. Still fun to see something play out again, in a new generation.

Not a fan of Next Generation but I did really enjoy the Voyager series.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying Star Trek. Like ernest said, it's not all just space ships and aliens. Goofy as it could be at times, Roddenberry began the original series as a means of social commentary. It's easier to slip issues of race or gender or ethics past critics and viewers if you disguise it with The Shat's, erm, unique approach to acting.

TNG carried on that tradition, and the other series, though they were never as popular, did so as well.

I think when it comes to any Trek series, newcomers are often afraid to proclaim themselves fans because they don't want to be identified with those Vulcan ear-wearing, Klingon-speaking uber-nerds who sit outside Nichelle Nichols house for hours on end. But that's only one faction of the fan population, so I say embrace it.

Trek has been a huge influence not just on our pop culture, but also real-world scientific developments and sometimes, yeah, even social discussion. It's big.





I'm looking forward to the next movies. I know some purists bitched about this last new one, but they can suck it. I liked it.

ernestsewell said:

my god, isn't that stupid? He's the most sophisticated computer of all time and he cannot figure out how to say "can't"

I've been watching it again lately, too. In comparison to the most recent movie, I appreciate how dorky it is.

Along with the original, it always had iffy acting (with notable exceptions--Spock, Picard), bad cosumes, bad effects...but interesting ideas. The new movie was just the opposite. Lots of good flash, nothing particularly interesting, and no willful dorkiness that makes Star Trek so great.

My complaints about TNG are the episodes which feature too much Wil Wheaton Jordi Laforge or Wharf-as-father.

But put Picard in an alternate reality and I'm there!

I was never a fan of TOS but I did enjoy STNG but once the war started on DS9 I was all bout that.

Actually it's only weird because the show is about as old as you are, I reckon.

Looking back, those uniforms are so horrible, as evidenced by Cpt. Picard's constant pulling down of his jacket.

NDRU said:

Which among trekkies is referred to as the picard maneuver.

Cinnie said:

It shows that it has some staying power--I was born after the old series ended, but I watched it religiously. TNG has something of the same quality. I''ve been noticing that, for all of it's differences, it still is Star Trek in spirit.

not weird at all. My parents love ST so I grew up watching it and now I go through kicks where it'll be the only thing i watch on TV for a week or two.


I'd like a new series to start please.

lazycrockett said:

Spock pulls the Picard Maneuver at least once in the new movie. Evidence that ill-fitting uniforms are just how Starfleet rolls no matter what stardate or reality this is.

meow85 said:

Was it TOS or TNG that had an episode where they were complaining their lockers were getting shabby?

I still love Trar Trek, but I have to say Battlestar Gallactica has raised the bar--if not blown Star Trek clean out of the water. I think the new movie took that into account, but lacked the drama of Gallactica. I think that Enterprise was moving in that direction, too, but unfortunately, it sucked.

meow85 said:

Pointy sideburns, bad fitting outfits...the future is going to be amazing!

NDRU said:

Hey don't forget "red matter" that cause black holes everywhere its injected.

NDRU said:

I think it was on purpose. He's supposed to be a near perfect machine, capable of growing yet his flaws lied in the simplest of things, like a contraction, or not being able to understand humor. It was part of his evolution to being more human.

lazycrockett said:

I am still mystified that they blew up Vulcan. Gene Roddenberry is rolling in his grave.

lazycrockett said:

Stewart called it that too. They also complained of the stirrup in the pants. It really pulled UP on the arch of their feet, causing a lot of discomfort and pain. The uniforms were always supposed to look fitting and perfect. The stirrups helped keep that taught look, but worked a number on their soles later on. Michael Dorn also complained of this headpiece, and later wore a bandanna under it. It kept the sweat at bay, but his character suffered in that a lot of his facial expressions being absent, especially in the brow and forehead area.

I was glad when they moved the zipper from the front to the side or back of the uniform. It just looked cleaner. Also, when they added the mock collar, it improved the look.

Marina Sirtis used to joke that she had a few extra lbs on her early on. She said, "So how did they deal with that? Make me wear a unitard, and put a big fat belt around my hips to accentuate them!"

What's really funny is to see Data later on, as Brent's hairline went backward, Data's hair became more perfect, and you could see his scalp through the hair at times.

I yeah I could see what they were going for with the uniforms (and they did improve on them as the series progressed) but especially 20 years later you can see how they just look like sweat suits that are too small.

Their futuristic hair looks pretty dated, too.

NDRU said:

I always found the Vulcan's haircuts and sideburns to be very indicative of their character. They're very black and white about things, very left-brained, very cut and dry. Their haircuts reflected that. Simple, harsh, drastic - emotionless, showing no character or personality at all, yet it showed exactly that in every Vulcan. They were low on personality, yet high on simplicity, harshness, low on emotions, and drastic in their straight forward approach to life. If anything, it teaches us to be ourselves. As logical as the Vulcans were, the simple idea of being an individual was somehow lost in their quest for personal perfection as a race.

ernestsewell said:

However, with time he learns how to use humour. He learns about sarkasm and the fun of "showing-off", which doesn't mean that he thinks it's funny, though.

ernestsewell said:

eh, I don't know, humor & emotions are a lot more subtle & complex than putting "can" and "not" together to be "can't." I think even a TRS 80 could make contractions.

Dave1992 said:

exactly, he explores the depths of human experience (even if he never truly learns to experience the feelings) but using a contraction is incredibly simple. It's math, even.

NDRU said:

I think there is a reason cause Lore can use contractions, but I can't remember why Data was made differently.

lazycrockett said:

ah, right, yeah maybe there's a reason

lazycrockett said:

Wasn't Data the protype for Lore? Lore got more advanced circuitry because Data was the example. Data did have an emotion chip later on of course. I could be wrong about the order in which they were made.

The contraction thing seems simple to us, but to his programming, it's impossible.