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Shatner May Return to Star Trek (Briefly?)

mfh writes "Apparently, William Shatner may return to Star Trek, after talks with studio executives for a cameo on the fourth season of Star Trek: Enterprise. Rick Berman did not disclose which role wants Shatner play, although I'm sure we'd all love to see Captain James Tiberius Kirk again, right?"

7 of 513 comments (clear)

  1. A new dose of life! by psi42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    IMHO the new Star Trek, as of late, has fallen into an old formula that is fast making me lose interest.

    Bringing back James Kirk could breathe new life back into the series: after all, that's how it all started. Even just William Shatner playing someone else might do the trick.

    We need old blood more than new blood. :D

    --
    Defenestrate Windows...
  2. Re: Jumping the Shark by MastrTek · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This series jumped the shark on the pilot episode. The rancid violation of Star Trek canon rampant through this series (i.e.: Romulan Cloaking Devices, The Borg, physical appearance of the Klingons) have completely killed this series, because nothing makes sense anymore. I refuse to watch it, I wish it would get cancelled, and I don't know if I'll ever watch anything having to do with Star Trek again while it's in the hands of CBS. The whole franchise has been going on a progressively downward trend in terms of creative ideas since about halfway through ST:Voyager.

  3. Re:Clarification by Mycroft_VIII · · Score: 5, Insightful
    StarTrek reflects more of the present world (when an episode was written) than the world of the future. Watching through the original series will tell you more about North American popular culture of the 1960s than what could potentially be around the corner for humanity in several centuries time. Presumably StarTrek TNG is something similar for the 1990s. You call this science fiction?


    In a word, yes I do call it science fiction.
    Science fiction is not about portraying the future, and future cultures accurately. Or trying to be an oracle of what cool gadget you can expect 2022. Or at least not always and certainly not exclusively.
    Science Fiction is fiction where the many a varied topics explored in fiction have, as a setting, or a tool to explote, Science and science like themes and props.
    Somtimes, by placing todays issues in another framework, they can be exposed and examined in ways a more familiar setting might make to uncomfortable to otherwise delve into. Science fiction by it's nature fits this role well.
    Take for example the episode (sorry I have NOT memorized all the titles/scripts/etc.) people who had one half of thier face white and the other half black are engaged in constant conflict based on WHICH half is which color.
    The enterprise crew didn't even realize the distinction existed untill it was explained to them.
    This episode was clearly a morality play on racism, and the pointlessness thereof. Had, say a cop show, tried to make the same point, it would never have aired in the late sixties do to the climate back then.
    This isn't just a Startrek thing. Many Science Fiction shows, and even shows about the far past, have commented on modern society.
    Science fiction isn't just about flying cars and green women and rayguns.

    Mycroft
    --
    https://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4c3ed6600b6ea
  4. Re:Bring back Q! by 0x0d0a · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Q is not a real character. He's a personification of a plot device -- deus ex machina. Whenever the writers get stumped about how to connect up a plot, they can always throw in Q and get a usable script.

    Writer 1: "Darn, I really hate doing sci-fi movies. I wish we could do some historical fiction for a change."

    Writer 2: "Yes, I've always wanted to do something on the Civil War."

    In Unison: "Q!"

  5. Re: Jumping the Shark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    he rancid violation of Star Trek canon rampant through this series

    The original series paid no attention to canon, so who cares? They couldn't even keep straight a Romulan versus a Klingon ship, or the name of the planetary federation.

    From what I've heard, most of the "canon" broken was never canon to begin with, and only implied in technical manuals, novels and so on. I wouldn't call myself a "trekkie", but I've seen every Star Trek and Next Generation, and I haven't seen anything ridiclous on Enterprise. It's actually cool to see Andorians and non-2D Vulcans.

  6. Re:Bring back Q! by Graff · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Q is not a real character. He's a personification of a plot device -- deus ex machina. Whenever the writers get stumped about how to connect up a plot, they can always throw in Q and get a usable script.

    Yes, Q definitely was a deus ex machina.

    ...and so was the Holodeck
    ...and also time travel
    ...and Kirk seducing women
    ...and reversing the polarity of anything
    ...and Data
    ...and wormholes
    ...and Wesley Crusher
    ...and Janeway's ability to know everything about everything
    ...and...and...and...

    Dammit Jim! The whole franchise is about creating a problem and then solving it in 10 minutes through any of the dozen spare deus ex machina they might have lying around.

    grumble...grumble...bring back Babylon 5...grumble...
  7. Re:Bring back Q! by kfg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, some of those are just ordinary elements of plot, and some of them are just machina without deus required. Rather convienient plot elements to produce a manipulated end, but that's something of a different sort.

    Q can be taken as the literal hand of God. He can wave said appendage and create any effect, at any time, including changing the laws of physics throughout the entire universe. You can spend half your lifetime crawling through space in a tin can and then have Q throw a hissy fit and "poof" you back to where you started.

    It reduces humanity to below the level of ants, in its own eyes, and rightly so. The existence of Q means there's little point to doing more than porno on the holodeck, and Q could even ruin that if he wanted to.

    Bring back Q? Q is what made me stop watching in the first place because, as per above, he renders the whole exercise pointless.

    KFG