Star Trek (TOS) "The Menagerie" (Remastered) in theatres Nov 13 and 15

[SignOfZeta]

I loved Next Gen from the beginning all the way to the end. The space opera stuff really appeals to me, and once in a while when the show attempted really grand stuff it really shined. Inner Light, for example, is one of my favorite pieces of SciFi ever, and I judge SciFi pretty harshly (since %99.99 of it is utter shit).

I didn't appreciate the original series until the late 90s, and only then did I understand how great it was.

The sad truth though is that one book by P.K. Dick, Asimov, Clarke, Hignland is better than 100 eps of Star Trek the vast majority of the time. SciFi TV is so bad, and don't even get me started on the SciFi channel.

[Joe Redifer]

What I really hated was Season 3 of "Enterprise" with being away in that whole sector of space the whole time and a suddenly super pissed-off Scott Bakula.  That was lame.  Few to no episodes from that season can stand on their own because they depend to much on the ongoing backstory.

[nat]

That Inner Light episode is held in such high regard by so many fans, but I can't stand it. Possibly the most boring Star Trek episode ever....

[Joe Redifer]

Which one is that?

[SignOfZeta]

I forgot to mention that I absolutely hate DS9 and Voyager.

[Necromancer]

Which one is that?

+1.  Someone please jog my memory about the Inner Light episode. 

I forgot to mention that I absolutely hate DS9 and Voyager.

Voyager mostly sucked, but Jeri Ryan's lovely outfits makes it quite tolerable for me. 

[ceti alpha]

What I really hated was Season 3 of "Enterprise" with being away in that whole sector of space the whole time and a suddenly super pissed-off Scott Bakula.  That was lame.  Few to no episodes from that season can stand on their own because they depend to much on the ongoing backstory.

Agreed. That third season was crap. It was a complete waste of time. It was a stupid arc to begin with and it would have been nice if the arc wasn't so encompassing that there could have been some stand alone episodes. But if the arc story was cool to begin with maybe that wouldn't have been such a problem.

+1.  Someone please jog my memory about the Inner Light episode.  Think

That's the episode where the Enterprise encounters a probe which makes some sort of telepathic connection with Picard. Picard ends up living a life inside his brain on a planet who's star is about to die, but it only seems like seconds on the bridge of the Enterprise.

I forgot to mention that I absolutely hate DS9 and Voyager.

Voyager was terrible, but DS9 was awesome. TOS is the best, but DS9 is second in my books. TNG was OK during seasons 3 to 5, but before and after these seasons the show was hit and miss....and mostly missed. The last couple seasons it was like they were just biding their time for the movies to come out. And don't even get me started on the TNG movies. What a steamy pile of shit those movies were.

[nat]

I can't watch Voyager either, Zeta.

I didn't like DS9 initially... But now I really like a lot of the episodes. Some are too soap opera-y for me though.

The "Inner Light" episode is that one where some alien probe zaps Picard while he's on the bridge and downloads an entire life's experiences and memories into his head in a matter of seconds. He thinks he's living this life of a guy living on a planet where the sun is dying. He learns to play the flute and generally feels sorry for himself and everyone on his planet since they are all going to die. Then he dies and wakes up back on the bridge and Crusher is like, "It was all a dream! You were only out 30 seconds."

It's an interesting premise for a story, but I personally find the actual story about his life as the guy living on the planet just boring. Nothing exciting or interesting happens, it's like watching a TV show on how to play the flute. The horrible soundtrack featured in this episode doesn't help, either. It's like the composer was trying to write music designed to make people fall asleep.

[Necromancer]

Thanks ceti alpha and nat.  I remember that episode now, and you're right nat - it was dull and uninspired.

[ceti alpha]

"The Visitor" on DS9 was a really good episode. Really did a lot to establish the importance of Sisko and Jake's father and son relationship.

One of my favourite DS9 episodes though (and there are many) has to be "In the Pale Moonlight". The Federation is losing the war with the Dominion and Sisko tries to bring the Romulans in on the game. It's a must watch. This episode is a prime example of how DS9 was willing to take risks with the stories and characters, something that TNG and Voyager never did. Or if they did they always pressed the reset button at the end of the episode. 

[Joe Redifer]

Is that "Inner Light" the one where Picard is scraggling around while growing old and he has long hair (where he has hair) and the episode lasts about 9 hours?  Or am I thinking of a different boring TNG episode?  I ask because the description of the episode sounds vaguely familiar, but I've likely only seen it once when I was 15 years old.  I hated Wesley Crusher, especially his super-lame uniform.

[SignOfZeta]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inner_Light_(TNG_episode)

[nat]

That sounds about right. Wesley was lame, I agree.

[ceti alpha]

Wesley was lame, I agree.

I think that's pretty much a unanimous opinion. heh. Even Wil Wheaton agrees. There's just no denying it. I don't blame Wil Wheaton; his character was just written poorly. I think someone talked about that here already, but I thought I'd reiterate.

[ceti alpha]

Well, I went to see "The Menagerie" last night and it was awesome.  The 4:3 ratio wasn't a big deal since they blew it up really big on the screen. I just wish they did this more often.