Lookit Me, I'm a Big Dork
I was watching G4 (WHY!?), and apparently they've already blown through all of Star Trek: The Next Generation, because they were showing the last episode, "All Good Things". I have to admit to getting a little misty-eyed near the end -- not because it was good Trek, but because it was good television. It's hard to believe that it was aired 12 years ago as of next month.
I know the show gets and has gotten a lot of flak, sometimes for being a little cliched, BUT one has to realize that much of the time these things became cliche after Star Trek did it first. I think when the later shows stopped pioneering new sci fi cliches, it started going downhill (that, and Brannon Braga was very, very full of himself).
But can you blame them? Sci Fi television has exploded since 1994. We have the Sci Fi Channel now, and they alone have produced and/or rehashed some of the most memorable shows to date. For a show to survive in the house that Trek built, it has to be aware of the cliches and a) avoid them or embrace them humorously (like Farscape), revel in them (like Stargate), or strike out in a truly new and/or interesting direction (Firefly, new Battlestar Galactica, what have you). Newer Trek shows either didn't do this or didn't do it as effectively... until it was too late.
Speaking of too late, I have Season 4 of Enterprise in DVD box set form. I know some people have expressed interest, and I'll be in town (Madison) next weekend. So... anyone up for a marathon?
And, lest I forget, I must remind absolutely everyone that the newest Don't Hang Me Beta is out. If you were able to run the first one, nothing's really changed except stability and a few memory leak problems. Next build should feature some actual new content and features.
Zya.
~Sean
I know the show gets and has gotten a lot of flak, sometimes for being a little cliched, BUT one has to realize that much of the time these things became cliche after Star Trek did it first. I think when the later shows stopped pioneering new sci fi cliches, it started going downhill (that, and Brannon Braga was very, very full of himself).
But can you blame them? Sci Fi television has exploded since 1994. We have the Sci Fi Channel now, and they alone have produced and/or rehashed some of the most memorable shows to date. For a show to survive in the house that Trek built, it has to be aware of the cliches and a) avoid them or embrace them humorously (like Farscape), revel in them (like Stargate), or strike out in a truly new and/or interesting direction (Firefly, new Battlestar Galactica, what have you). Newer Trek shows either didn't do this or didn't do it as effectively... until it was too late.
Speaking of too late, I have Season 4 of Enterprise in DVD box set form. I know some people have expressed interest, and I'll be in town (Madison) next weekend. So... anyone up for a marathon?
And, lest I forget, I must remind absolutely everyone that the newest Don't Hang Me Beta is out. If you were able to run the first one, nothing's really changed except stability and a few memory leak problems. Next build should feature some actual new content and features.
Zya.
~Sean