Star Trek: The Next Generation Oddities
I've been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation every day at noon and, goddamn, what a great show. I knew that already, but some episodes are blowing me away. But, I come not to discuss the good, but things that I find funny, odd, or just annoying (I've done posts like this before, so apologies if I repeat anything from them):
* The Next Generation is a show of its times as demonstrated by the character of Deanna Troi. One of the main characters is a fucking therapist that's part of the command staff and a chief advisor to the captain. How fucking weird is that? It gets even stranger when, in later seasons, she gains the rank of "commander," thereby being, what, the fourth-ranking person on the ship (behind Picard, Riker, and, somehow, Doctor Crusher). Fucked up.
* Copyright laws annoy me, because it always meant that contemporary music could never be referenced. It's always classical music or fictional music like Klingon opera or stuff written at some point in the future. Wouldn't certain music gain the sort of mythic status of Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart by that point? I mean, come on, if humans are still around, the Beatles will no doubt be held in such esteem... it's a shame that there couldn't be a scene of Picard listening to "Hey Jude" or "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with someone commenting on his taste in classical music. Other bands are definitely debtable, but the Beatles would be a certainty.
* Geordi is a loser. Even Data and Wesley get more action than him.
* Today's episode was the second part of the Klingon civil war where Picard gets Starfleet to set up a blockade against the Romulans, and one of the subplots is another edition in "Humans are Racists when it Comes to Data." First, Picard doesn't give him a command and Data has to point it out. Then, the first officer of Data's ship flat-out says that he doesn't think Data is qualified to be in command. Fucking racists.
Later
* The Next Generation is a show of its times as demonstrated by the character of Deanna Troi. One of the main characters is a fucking therapist that's part of the command staff and a chief advisor to the captain. How fucking weird is that? It gets even stranger when, in later seasons, she gains the rank of "commander," thereby being, what, the fourth-ranking person on the ship (behind Picard, Riker, and, somehow, Doctor Crusher). Fucked up.
* Copyright laws annoy me, because it always meant that contemporary music could never be referenced. It's always classical music or fictional music like Klingon opera or stuff written at some point in the future. Wouldn't certain music gain the sort of mythic status of Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart by that point? I mean, come on, if humans are still around, the Beatles will no doubt be held in such esteem... it's a shame that there couldn't be a scene of Picard listening to "Hey Jude" or "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with someone commenting on his taste in classical music. Other bands are definitely debtable, but the Beatles would be a certainty.
* Geordi is a loser. Even Data and Wesley get more action than him.
* Today's episode was the second part of the Klingon civil war where Picard gets Starfleet to set up a blockade against the Romulans, and one of the subplots is another edition in "Humans are Racists when it Comes to Data." First, Picard doesn't give him a command and Data has to point it out. Then, the first officer of Data's ship flat-out says that he doesn't think Data is qualified to be in command. Fucking racists.
Later