The 40th Anniversary of Star Trek

Digitus1337 writes to mention the 40th Anniversary of the original Star Trek series. StarTrek.com's article has a look back at that first episode, and tries to explore the whys behind the popularity that followed it. From the article: "On the evening of the 8th of September, following Daniel Boone, this new NBC show premiered with an episode called 'The Man Trap.' The angle of the story was different, to say the least: It was a love story with a sci-fi twist, borne of a relationship from the doctor's past, featuring a monster that, in the end, just wanted to live. It was moving, tragic and anything but cheesy. The viewers -- at least the ones who were paying attention -- were hooked." Update: 09/09 16:16 GMT by Z : Just to be sure you're aware of it, Slashdot's own CleverNickName is celebrating the 40th anniversary by reviewing episodes of ST:TNG on TVSquad. He begins with "The Naked Now". You know, "You are fully functional, aren't you?"

Re:Best captain

[Anonymous Coward]

Hurrumphhh!

Why must you troll? The correct order is: Kirk, Picard, Sisco, Janeway, Archer. That also sums up the order of the shows as well. But I have to say that they should now just let this franchise die and we can all forget about watching it as reruns as kids in the 70's. Dr who on the otherhand...

on TVLand tonight

[peter303]

TVLand is showing four episodes tonight starting a 8PM:
Man Trap (the first broadcasted )
City on the Edge of Forever
Trouble with Tribbles
Platos Stepchildren

I think these are ones with new digital F/X, but not sure.

Most of TOS can be downloaded from Amazon

[ptbarnett]

Yes, it's infested with DRM, but both the original series and Enterprise are available:

Star Trek [amazon.com]
Enterprise [amazon.com]

Re:Translation Help

[Apocalypse111]

Actually, according to this site [klingontranslator.com] there is no direct translation for the word "lonely".

Re:Influence on Technology?

[B11]

Well, you can get a Star Trek Skin [planetmotox.net] for it, and getting a ringtone to match would be trivial. Of course, what I really want is a bluetooth communicator a la ST:TNG. I'm sure all the ladies would be impressed when I wear that bad boy in public.

Re:I thought the "Managerie" was the pilot?

[MLease]

The Cage [wikipedia.org] was supposed to be the pilot, but NBC rejected it. Roddenberry reworked the series, replacing Jeffrey Hunter's Captain Pike with William Shatner's Kirk, and making other cast changes. Once TOS got off the ground, footage from "The Cage" was reused as flashbacks for "The Menagerie", with its plot line of Spock being tried for violating General Order 7, breaking the quarantine of Talos IV. The "trial" turned out to be a sham to keep Kirk busy and to explain to Kirk and Starfleet (in the person of Commodore Mendez, whose physical presence on the Enterprise was an illusion, but who saw the "trial" from Starbase 11) why Pike should be allowed to live out his days on Talos IV. The exception was granted, and everyone lived happily ever after.... :)

-Mike

Re:Influence on Technology?

[ptbarnett]

I was thinking about this the other day when I opened my Razr to make a call. And it suddenly occured to me how much my phone reminded me of the old ST communicators especially when I flip it open to make a call. Too bad I don't have the sound effect to go along.

On a recent episode of Boston Legal, Denny Crane (portrayed by Shatner) received a text message on a newly-received cell phone, to the amusement of Shore (James Spader). Apparently, Crane had never had a cell phone until his new girlfriend gave him one so she could send him lewd text messages.

Of course, it was a flip-phone. And when Crane/Shatner opened the phone to read the message, the foley artist inserted the easily recognizable sound of a communicator being opened on the original Star Trek series.

Earlier this year, The Discovery Channel broadcast a mockumentary entitled: How William Shatner Changed the World [discoverychannel.ca]. It was a semi-amusing look at the technology (cell phones, computers, etc) that was either predicted by Star Trek or even inspired by it. The "hook" was Shatner projecting his infamous ego throughout the show, taking credit for all of it.

Re:I thought the "Managerie" was the pilot?

[matuscak]

It was. The network types thought the show was too cerebral for the audience, and didnt like Majel Barrett as a strong second in command character. They ended up asking for a second pilot (unusual) with more emphasis on the action (Wagontrain to the stars was how rodenberry pitched it IIRC). I think I'm ashamed I know this :-)

Re:I thought the "Managerie" was the pilot?

[oudzeeman]

and the new pilot they shot was called "where no man has gone before" (I think), but they aired "The Man Trap" first.

Re:Best captain

[$RANDOMLUSER]

Geneviève Bujold [wikipedia.org] was the first choice to play Nicole Janeway. That's female and French...

To Serve All My Days

[xleeko]

The Star Trek New Voyages folks are using this anniversary for the premiere of their latest episode "To Serve All My Days". It was written by DC Fontana and guest stars Walter Koeinig. Check out all of the episodes and shorts do far at: http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/ [startreknewvoyages.com]

Cheers, Xleeko

Re:on TVLand tonight

[Ogre332]

According to Sci-Fi Wire [scifi.com], those won't start airing until next week: "CBS Paramount Domestic Television will release the digitally remastered episodes of Star Trek for air in syndication on more than 200 broadcast stations, starting Sept. 16."

Re:I thought the "Managerie" was the pilot?

[AKAImBatman]

Noticeable again due to the discontinuity of the uniforms in "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Ah, but did you know that the "Where No Man Has Gone Before" that aired was quite different from the original pilot version [youtube.com]? :)

Re:attempts to go from movies to TV

[shoor]

The real predecessors to "Star Trek" were "Space Patrol" and "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet", Saturday morning
TV series from the 50s. Even before them was one I've never seen (yet, hope to get a chance to watch
a video to see what it was like some day), "Captain Video". These were done live, and, while necessarily
crude in many ways, they could hold their own against Star Trek on quite a few counts.

Re:Translation Help

[MasterPi]

According to the Klingon Dictionary (the only official source, which I of course own), hello does not have a direct translation. The closest thing to a greeting that Klingons use is nuqneH, which actually means "What do you want?". The word "lonely" has no direct translation either, though considering the Klingon culture and psyche, this does not surprising. It is also worth noting that as an adjective, (of which Klingon has none), "lonely" would be expressed as a verb meaning "to be lonely".