I came out of this with a much higher opinion of Search for Spock than I did going in. It's an ensemble piece which has the requisite emotional beats to support an action movie. I do think Derek is right about the crew--rather than Kirk--taking over the ship. The Original Star Trek movies do have a problem where they don't handle dealing with younger folks earlier. I would prefer a Star Trek that's more open about young kids and their new ideas without being sarcastic. Maybe that's a bit much to ask for in this context though. Am I right? Is there some ineffable difference between Kirk's actions at the end of Search for Spock and Kal-El's actions in Man of Steel? It feels different, I just can't put words to it. My misquote was from Douglas Adams. "I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. 3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things." The Addams Family was from 1991, seven years after Search for Spock. George Takei was in Mulan.
At long last and in all of its glory, and I mean more of the "all" than the "glory." It's really good to get back with everyone. Say what you want about how the movies undermine the series, there's more character work in these films than in most of the series. I know I rail against continuity, but the universe progresses here in a way that was never really possible in the TV show. Seriously though, what it Chekov had joined with V'ger here? Uhura? How different would this film have been if it had the balls to leverage its supporting cast? The trailer we're watching can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rM4ODtN64M
17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
This is pretty good. Phase II probably has the same general quality as The Original Series. Now that I've gritted my teeth through the compliments, let's get into the jabs. I'm just kidding. This episode is okay, I just hate that there's no deeper execution of the ideas underpining this episode. My slipshod censoring here is repealed because of my deep and abiding feelings about The Confederacy. Star Trek: Phase II, "Divided We Stand" can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KChYhXhj7vY.
The trailer we're watching can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nkegWQe1ZM
17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
Let's be nice about this: we all love Walter Koenig and D.C. Fontana. On the other hand, what the hell, Walter Koenig and D.C. Fontana? Star Trek: New Voyages, "To Serve All My Days" can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_lYqGQ7iXk. 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
In retrospect, a forty-minute YouTube playlist of Star Trek references seems a bit self-indulgent. On the other hand...tough Beeps. Special thanks to Skiltao for acquainting me with "Banned from Argo." For sites that don't let ads insert malware into your system, ad blockers are generally bad. I give you permission to use one on YouTube just this time. Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3uoEQNM6rlPHgOSnNSCmmTwX0PtnLr-V
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17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
*sigh* So this is Daddy Satan, Earth otaku. There's not much to say that we haven't already said in the process of making fun of this episode. Puritans. Magic. The Adversary. It's honestly like the dream a kid has at a gay conversion camp. You're welcome to Robert Oppenheimer references. Anytime folks. Anytime. 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
Space Pug Monkeys or Bat-Eared Pugs? You decide. here's another episode where McCoy is a terrible doctor and an okay spy. Or maybe a terrible spy. Also it turns out we're watching one more episode of The Animated Series than we originally expected. The monkeys Derek was referencing were Capuchins. Wikipedia confirms they're all thieves. 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
The galaxy is about thirTEEN billion years old. Not three to four. Sorry. At least that inaccuracy distracts from the continued weirdness of Star Trek and cats and women. Institutionalized beastiality? Women who can't consent? Women who can't not consent? Uncomfortable. Heavy Metal was released in 1981 and Voltron was 1984 so they're not contemporary, but Scooby-Doo's 1969 air date very much is. Also it turns out that Kzinti were going to be included in Enterprise before it was canceled. That almost makes Enterprise intriguing. 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
The episodes of The Animated Series are kinda short. "Yesteryear" shows how that can be used as a strength. This is a strong start but the content we're watching is gonna have a long slide in quality until we hit the good Star Trek movies. I was almost right about the hard cuts. A hard cut is a scene transition without a transition effect. So no scenes in Star Wars ever. Also, Juno Beach was the Canadian landing zone on D-Day. The American beaches were Omaha and Utah. The UK beaches were Gold and Sword. 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
This is not the end: We'll be around for The TOS Era: Supplemental after watching Star Trek IV: The One With The Whales. Suggested Eras for Star Trek: 1966-1986: The TOS Era 1987-1993: The TNG Era 1994-1999: Maximum Trek 2000-2008: The Lost Years 2009-Present: NuTrek 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
The only multi-episode story arc of Star Trek is resolved here. There's so much to like about this episode. I mean, yeah, part of the conflict is caused because people won't stop doing things for sixty seconds to explain to one another what's going on. And yeah, Kirk ends up treading water for the B-plot, but... It's good, okay? Trust me, it's good. A BAFTA is a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award.
17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
This episode plays with a lot of Star Trek elements, but it never coalesces around a central theme because it doesn't know what its angle is. The mind-swap is cool, but the "insane woman" part completely contradicts it. At best, it's accusing women who don't behave the way women "should" of being solely responsible for their lack of achievement. That's not good. I think this is the second or third time in the original series that ubiquitous video is used as an important part of the episode. Do these plot conveniences imply an angle to Federation society that is somewhat dystopian? Does a society where people are generally good not need safeguards on privacy? Commissioners. I was thinking of Federation commissioners. 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
So um...so all of this. I enthusiastically don't hate this episode? That's the best I can say about it. Does anyone want my spec script for Crank 3: Executive Pugilism: Lincoln vs Hitler (Jason Statham plays both roles)? It's like, 90 pages straight. No dialogue. Statham assures me he can deliver witty one-liners with his eyebrows. Also, Kahless created the culture of honor which Klingons maintain to this day. I think this is my last good run of "Derek doesn't know" Star Trek references. Once we get into the movies so many things become canonized and quotable. 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
More important than Derek's scathing rebukes of Highlander is the fact that this is my best sacrilegious joke. I'm never gonna do better. I've peaked. Salvador Dali was also alive when this episode was aired. It's a shame for a responsible homosexual to admit it, but I'm not up on Wilde. That said, I know my internet quotes. The movie Derek is talking about is--I think--Ex Machina. Me? I'm takin' cheap shots at Watchmen. So what is the verdict on Vulcans and art? Is art emotional or intellectual? 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
I bet you all wanted to tune in for us side-tweeting anti-vaxxers and Simpsons references. Lucky, lucky you. I'm pretty glad we never got Kirk hitting on Dr. McCoy's daughter because that would be creepy. But what's the verdict on hippies here? Good? Bad? Mislead? Fashionably hopeless?
17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
If anyone is listening to this episode in--what I assume is the blasted, post-apocalyptic landscape of--post-2016 United States, "get you a girl who can do both" was high humor for the pre-ruin civilization.
17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
All this trouble and he isn't even a real doctor! Parmen--buby--it's not worth it. This is one of my favorite episodes and is the example I run to every time someone wants to knock Season 3. The acting and the ideas here are so good that if someone wants to talk smack the sets or the effects, they have immediately divulged much of their character to you. 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
This one is political. It's not really funny. It's just not. I'm proud of it though. We laughed at a few things, but it might not be as entertaining 'cause Derek and I kinda get on one of our "two liberals agreein' with each other" grooves. If you don't wanna hear it, I suggest reading up on those times from sources then and sources now. Star Trek--at its best--runs parallel to the American culture its spawned from and it gets real close to the source in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield." It's a great episode. 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
Lt. Mira "Crunches" Romaine is someone I wanted to see more of, but since she's just a shoehorned, one-episode, disposable love interest we don't. Of course, if Chapel and Uhura can't get any decent characterization, I don't know how I can expect it of anyone else. Did we learn our lesson from the space ghosts in this episode? I feel like we didn't, but maybe someone did?
17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
Spock is this world's greatest detective, but the competition isn't that stiff. Admittedly, this is one of my favorite episodes based solely on its comic book credentials. Batman '66, as it's come to be called, was so popular it could demand consecutive Wednesday and Thursday night timeslots. Those back-to-back episodes were why there are so man two-part cliffhangers in the series. Like Star Trek, it also only enjoyed three seasons before cancellation. This is why I hate Burn Notice.
17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.
