The show was definitely ahead of its time. The writing was brilliant. The acting was brilliant. The story arcs were compelling. It also rewarded the viewer who kept his brain in gear - such as the plague scene you mention. We all see Frank's wife leave the cabin - and that's it. We do not need to see her die because we know she has died. Brilliant directing.
Can you imagine a Federation Starship populated by Australians?
"First streaker in Space maaaaatee!!!"
"I shower in Romulan Ale!"
"Sorry, the captain can't communicate with you Mr Romulan commander, he's watching the State of Origin"
"Spock, what is that person doing in the window of that Australian starship?"
"It appears that his pants have dropped and his buttocks have been glued to the glass Captain"
"Captain, the warp core is nearing criticality!"
"She'll be alright!"
"Starfleet calling USS Drongo! Starfleet calling USS Drongo! We will be engaging the Borg at Wolf 35..." "Bloody radio! Anyway, me and chas were streaking through engineering..."
(Australian Starfleet officer is confronted with a Klingon weilding a Bat'leth)
"That's not a knife!"
"Why are the Klingon guests so angry sir?"
"They don't like eating Chiko Rolls for lunch - they say they taste terrible!"
"We Romulans demand that you apologise for invading our space!"
"Well... let's just say that we express regret..."
"Attention. This is your captain speaking. We have decided to attack and invade this planet because scans from other ships have revealed that they are armed with weapons of mass intergalactic destruction. Even though our contribution to this invasion goes against Federation law, we must show the galaxy that we can lick arse with the best of them!"
"Sir! If we fire the photon torpedoes now, we'll destroy the USS New Zealand!!"
"Good!"
"Sir, the leader of this planet is a black man who wears a skirt"
"Geez... you getter ask him to take his shoes off in case he has a bomb in them!"
I have seen every episode of TNG, DS9 and Voyager. I would've seen every ep of TOS if they were available on video when I was a Trekkie.
The rot started about half-way through Voyager when 7 of 9 was introduced. Although her character was okay and there were a number of decent episodes, the quality of the show from that point on went downhill.
By going with the "Sexy Borg", the Star Trek people began to appeal to the lowest common denominator. From that moment on, stories seemed to be written to a very precise formula and began to be drab, predictable and uninteresting. Essentially, Star Trek became conservative.
The nadir for me was when Tom Paris and Bellana entered that intergalactic Indy 500 race with that stupid ship of theirs. It was pathetic. When I needed to get up half-way through to go to the bathroom I told my wife not to pause the video.
And the ending to Voyager was insipid and unmemorable. I don't even remember what happened to tell you the truth (whereas I can tell you all the plot-holes in the final episode of TNG).
When Enterprise came on I put off by the sentimentalist crap that passed as a theme song. Then we got Captain Archer and his bunch of Earth people who obviously represented America railing against everyone else for restricting them - obviously the international community. I don't mind allegories but this was very militaristic and indicated a mindset in America that was very amenable to direct military action. Now we had Republicans in space.
Then there was decontamination. That erection convinced me that Trek had died.
My trek books sit on my bookshelf dusty and unread for years. I might throw them in the bin one day. I now hate Star Trek for its mediocrity and its conservativeness. I visit Wil Wheaton Dot Net because I was a closet Wesley hater and realise now that Wil was a victim of the rot which had settled in very early.
Trek couldn've gone out with a bang. Instead it has fizzled out pathetically and embarrassingly for the past 10 years.
Slashdot Mirror
The show was definitely ahead of its time. The writing was brilliant. The acting was brilliant. The story arcs were compelling. It also rewarded the viewer who kept his brain in gear - such as the plague scene you mention. We all see Frank's wife leave the cabin - and that's it. We do not need to see her die because we know she has died. Brilliant directing.
http://one-salient-oversight.blogspot.com/
Can you imagine a Federation Starship populated by Australians?
"First streaker in Space maaaaatee!!!"
"I shower in Romulan Ale!"
"Sorry, the captain can't communicate with you Mr Romulan commander, he's watching the State of Origin"
"Spock, what is that person doing in the window of that Australian starship?"
"It appears that his pants have dropped and his buttocks have been glued to the glass Captain"
"Captain, the warp core is nearing criticality!"
"She'll be alright!"
"Starfleet calling USS Drongo! Starfleet calling USS Drongo! We will be engaging the Borg at Wolf 35..."
"Bloody radio! Anyway, me and chas were streaking through engineering..."
(Australian Starfleet officer is confronted with a Klingon weilding a Bat'leth)
"That's not a knife!"
"Why are the Klingon guests so angry sir?"
"They don't like eating Chiko Rolls for lunch - they say they taste terrible!"
"We Romulans demand that you apologise for invading our space!"
"Well... let's just say that we express regret..."
"Attention. This is your captain speaking. We have decided to attack and invade this planet because scans from other ships have revealed that they are armed with weapons of mass intergalactic destruction. Even though our contribution to this invasion goes against Federation law, we must show the galaxy that we can lick arse with the best of them!"
"Sir! If we fire the photon torpedoes now, we'll destroy the USS New Zealand!!"
"Good!"
"Sir, the leader of this planet is a black man who wears a skirt"
"Geez... you getter ask him to take his shoes off in case he has a bomb in them!"
Crap is crap. The fact that one form of crap tastes worse than another doesn't mean I have to eat it.
I have seen every episode of TNG, DS9 and Voyager. I would've seen every ep of TOS if they were available on video when I was a Trekkie.
The rot started about half-way through Voyager when 7 of 9 was introduced. Although her character was okay and there were a number of decent episodes, the quality of the show from that point on went downhill.
By going with the "Sexy Borg", the Star Trek people began to appeal to the lowest common denominator. From that moment on, stories seemed to be written to a very precise formula and began to be drab, predictable and uninteresting. Essentially, Star Trek became conservative.
The nadir for me was when Tom Paris and Bellana entered that intergalactic Indy 500 race with that stupid ship of theirs. It was pathetic. When I needed to get up half-way through to go to the bathroom I told my wife not to pause the video.
And the ending to Voyager was insipid and unmemorable. I don't even remember what happened to tell you the truth (whereas I can tell you all the plot-holes in the final episode of TNG).
When Enterprise came on I put off by the sentimentalist crap that passed as a theme song. Then we got Captain Archer and his bunch of Earth people who obviously represented America railing against everyone else for restricting them - obviously the international community. I don't mind allegories but this was very militaristic and indicated a mindset in America that was very amenable to direct military action. Now we had Republicans in space.
Then there was decontamination. That erection convinced me that Trek had died.
My trek books sit on my bookshelf dusty and unread for years. I might throw them in the bin one day. I now hate Star Trek for its mediocrity and its conservativeness. I visit Wil Wheaton Dot Net because I was a closet Wesley hater and realise now that Wil was a victim of the rot which had settled in very early.
Trek couldn've gone out with a bang. Instead it has fizzled out pathetically and embarrassingly for the past 10 years.