Which is better, Babylon 5 or Crusade?

Anyone who does not say “What is Crusade?” is a geek.

ST:TNG was astonishingly different from ST:TOS. There were elements of TNG that were very distinctive from any other TV show I can recall. Particularly, it had a way of talking about issues of leadership, authority, and meritocracy in surprisingly direct and vivid ways. This is not to say I agreed with the ideas about leadership and so forth, or that I liked the show — just that I can refer to it as an expression of certain ideas the way I can refer to Shakespeare.

The thing I most disliked about TNG was how formulaic it became. I think there was an entire season of “the ship is trapped in some sort of bizarre trap, and only the crew members who happened to be off the ship in a shuttlecraft can save the Enterprise.” And the technobabble, with incomprehensible solutions to incomprehensible problems — ugh.

I wanted to like DS9 more than I ever actually could. One of the things that was frustrating about TNG was its portrayal of the Federation as a utopia, beyond criticism. Even TOS allowed that the Federation had flaws. In DS9, the Federation was no longer a utopia: it was a very good society, very appealing, but it had weaknesses and shortcomings as a result of its history. This made for a potentially richer show. And there were episodes of DS9 that really engaged issues in an impressive way. There was, for instance, an episode of DS9, shortly after Clinton succeeded in demolishing AFDC, that had Sisko & Co. travel back in time to San Francisco, with the Mission District set as a dumping ground for the indigent after the abolition of welfare. Not linked to the series proper in any clear way, but a great episode nevertheless.

I remember with glee once when Babylon 5 had an episode about dockworkers going on strike, and overcoming a hostile government’s opposition to win. This was followed, a week or so later, with an episode of DS9 in which Quark’s brother learned about Earth’s labor history and organized a union. At one point, he quoted the Communist Manifesto — with approval. I remember some excited phone calls between my friends about that.

I couldn’t stomach Voyager, which raised technobabble to new levels and was positively arrogant about it, and had ludicrous plot holes. If they’re travelling in a nearly straight line at their best speed, in a ship that’s faster than anything in the region, why do they keep meeting the same characters? Why’s their guide any use after a week or two? Why’s a person with a lifespan of three years planning to go to medical school? With the other ST shows, there were points of interest to overcome the weirdness, but I just couldn’t find any on Voyager.

I gave up on Enterprise after a week or two.

Two of my favorite episodes are “Yesteryear” and “The Survivor”.

On the *animated* series.

Let’s talk about deep O.G., shall we?

(Then again, if you named ANY ST series as your favorite, then you’d probably end up being a geek anyway.)

Now, i’m not actually directing that statement at anyone at all, it was just my first response to the question. I guess that means I’m an asshole. Interesting how that question is so revealing, even for those who don;t give even the slightest shit about any televised science fiction that has ever existed.

Yes, I’m a geek. But I’m already planning a career in mathematics, so I think that was already pretty much known.

Kidding, kidding!

TNG.

I wish I could go back in time and annihilate the person who thought up “Enterprise.” That “show” inspired me to get rid of my TV. Did they ever change the theme “song”?

Sure, it had cheap production values and some weak acting, but the only reason *any* of the other series were successful was because they rode on the coattails of the potent cultural myth created by the original. If TNG had been the first one to come out, it would’ve been cancelled by the end of the first season for lack of viewership.

So I guess this makes me not only a geek, but an *old* geek. Feh. Get off my lawn.

My favorite series, however, is TNG. Never got into DS9, although I recognized its virtues. Just too claustrophobic to watch.

Enterprise sounded like such a good idea before it actually got aired. And, oy, that theme song. Even Bon Jovi would think it too shmaltzy.

DS9’s war with the Dominion, therefore, was depressing as hell to me, because it removed what had been, to me (and as stated by Gene Roddenberry in an interview or two, but then, authors are inveterate liars, and no one should listen to anything they say), the point of *Star Trek* from the very beginning. I couldn’t watch DS9; it was too painful for me. Also, TNG had Q.

But then, OS had that fabulous, angstful UST between Nurse Chapel and Spock…

And Voyager, in my opinion, was just *90210* with more makeup. No, wait…

*sighs* Okay, so I’m a geek. But I’m… no, forget it. I’m a geek.

I have a question, though: why is it that *Star Trek* is so shameful to like? It seems that people look at you differently in all ways if you say you’ve enjoyed it at all, kind of in the same way people look at you differently about everything if you say, “Yeah, I’ve kissed a couple of girls,” when you are one yourself.

Yeah, baby, I’m a geek. And I’m introducing my daughter to ST:TOS so she’ll know what the heck mom and dad are going on about. ;)