(no subject)
Star Trek (the original series)
Vids Used
- "Steady as She Goes" by jtbatfan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfYyy9m9QE8
recommended by pigtailedgirl
- "White Rabbit" by starcrossedgirl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUA35XQxxw8
recommended by pigtailedgirl
Grokker Synopsis
This show has so much history and baggage that it's almost impossible to summarise. I've really just given an outline of the key points here, but you can find mountains more information on Wikipedia.
Star Trek was a science fiction television series that aired in the 60s, and while it was cancelled after only 79 episodes, it went on to become the ultimate cult tv show. The premise of Star Trek--weekly adventures with the same crew, but with a near infinite variety of possible genres, locations or guest stars--was so clever it influenced many of the scifi shows that came after it, such as Babylon 5, Stargate (especially Atlantis), Firefly, and possibly even mainstream shows like The West Wing (a crew having adventures in the Whitehouse rather than on a spaceship).
Star Trek, as the name suggests, is set on a roving starship called Enterprise, an Earth-built exploratory vessel in the 23rd century. The main characters are the bridge crew, and the focus in these songvids is on: Captain James T. Kirk, the "hero" of the show (the guy in the gold or green shirt); First Officer Spock, an emotionally-frigid alien from the planet Vulcan (blue shirt, pointy ears); and the ship's Medical Officer, Dr. Leonard McCoy (short-sleeved blue shirt). There are also brief but notable appearances by Sulu (swordfighter), Uhura (red queen) and Chekov (Russian dancer).
In every episode the Enterprise either stops at a new planet, or encounters aliens in some other way (ie. space traders, diplomacy missions, energy beings, etc). When an away team leaves the ship, it's usually comprised of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and a "red-shirt" who promptly dies. Once on the planet the team encounters weird aliens or gadgets, and almost any type of plot can then unfold: from romance, to gangster; from time-travel, to interfering Gods; from various space plagues, to sentient non-carbon-based lifeforms. The bizarre images from the songvids are usually due to these alien encounters.
For instance, in Steady as She Goes:
In White Rabbit we see:
So there you have it: the legend of Star Trek: The Original Series, the beginning of the space opera franchise that's spawned five sequel series (Animated; Next Generation; Voyager; Deep Space Nine; and Enterprise), ten films, and countless fannish homages.
Stranger Synopses
Stranger 1
All I knew about this fandom was:
There is a man called James T Kirk and he explores planets with cardboard rocks. Oh, and Leonard Nimoy is in it.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Larry, Curly and Moe, (Moe being the one with the eyebrows) are employed by the government to investigate strange happenings and kiss beautiful women as soon as look at them while wearing some sort of uniform. Larry is the head of the operation, this is signified by wearing a yellow shirt instead of blue and kissing the most women.
Together in their spaceship in outer space they go undercover to the 50’s, to the Amazon, to America in the 1800s, to Japan, and are at all times inconspicuous in their spaceship in outer space.
Many times it is necessary for Larry, Curly and Moe to drink, or take mind-altering substances to fit in with the locals. This had led to quite a few strange adventures, the most bizarre involved a chessboard, a white rabbit with a pocket-watch and a man that was ten feet tall. It was hard to explain back at headquarters.
Also on their travels they learn how to dance like a Monkee, how to fight like gladiators and that keeping a furry pet is teaching you responsibility.
Even though each man gets his fair share of women to kiss (that is what the government pays them to do) they really only love each other. It’s a great big OT3 on a spaceship in outer space.
Stranger 2
All I knew about this fandom was:
There is a space captain. And his crew. Boldly going where no one has gone before. And redshirts die a lot.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Captain Scowl pilots a spaceship that travels through time. Members of his crew include: First Mate Intense, an alien officer who starts out as Scowl's best friend and confidant; Officer Redhead, the muscle; Officer Giant Hair, the stand-around-looking-surprised-er; Shirtless Nut, who is a member of the crew, but has periodic freakouts; Dr. Blue Scrubs, the ship doctor; Officer Miniskirt, who actually operates the ship; and Officer Sprightly, whose only purpose appears to be DANCE!
Together they voyage through time and space to prevent tears in the spacetime continuum.
The crew travels through time by using mind-altering substances concocted by Dr Blue Scrubs. These mostly appear to be in pill form, but there are some drinks as well. Most of these are very bright red. They induce a hallucination wherein characters from Alice in Wonderland guide them to where they need to be. However, in actuality they are traveling through weird fireworky space tunnels using some kind of weird rainbow arrow display on the ship's computer.
Shirtless Nut occasionally has a bad reaction to the drugs, which is when he runs shirtless onto the bridge, freaking out, and needs to be subdued by Redhead and Intense. Miniskirt has also had problems with bad drug reactions in the past. There was a small incident involving a knife and Captain Scowl's face.
Intense and Scowl involved in a major conflict. Intense is in love with Officer Big Hair, and turns down the advances of blondes with bright pink fingernails for her. However, one day, he catches her kissing Scowl! He is heartbroken and can never trust Scowl again. So he secretly plots to sabotage their plans by spiking Scowl's time-travelling pills. (And, apparently, filling Scowl's quarters with hamsters) The entire crew eats these by accident, and they end up trapped in this bizarre world run by Greek gods, and are forced to dance on a chessboard until they manage to make a daring escape. Officer Sprightly's highland dance lessons are instrumental in the escape plan.
Eventually, however, after a terrifying near-crash, Intense forgives both Scowl and Big Hair. Everyone is friends again, though not as close as before, obviously.
Times traveled to include a 30s style mobster era, a bunch of brawling hippies, colonial United States and Elizabethan England.
Stranger 3
All I knew about this fandom was:
A bunch of humans and aliens live on a big space ship together and eh, trek the stars. One of them is named Spock (Lenord Nemoy-know him from the Bilbo song-) and he’s a Vulcan because he has pointy ears. They go on adventures of some sort.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Vid One:
So, this fandom is about people (aliens? Life-forms?) who wear bright-colored PJ-like uniforms and share long, pointed stares with each other. Might be part of some alien ritual, must-maintain-eye-contact-to-share-thoughts, that kind of thing. Every once in a while, a console blows up, or a half-naked guy walks through the frame, in which case Spock gets pissed because it makes his eyebrows go all crooked. There’s also lounging, and the oh so slight parting of lips. Spock’s boyfriend (they do most of the staring) is the one in yellow. Until yellow guy goes away and kisses a woman! Oh noes! Spock isn’t pleased, or maybe he is, it’s hard to tell with the eyebrows.
Vid Two:
What you have to understand about these people though, is that they all have quite the “habit”. To combat the boredom of living on a giant space ship, they like to get drunk. Just alcohol, or the really good stuff their slightly-retarded looking nephew in the blue cooks up in the vials. Of course, when they want it really hard-core there’s always injections, or the occasional bathing in fluff-balls. Oh yeah.
In his pharmaceutical-induced haze of pleasure, Spock sees a white fluffy bunny and tries to connect with it (where one asks themselves whether there are also bunnies on Spock’s planet and maybe they are all man-sized, or whether this is just a figment of his imagination, in which case does he even know it’s a bunny?) When Spock comes out of it though, it’s to find his yellow-clad boyfriend orgasming right there on his leg. Whoa. Apparently that happens all the time, because soon after they’re all out dancing in a temple of some sort. And then there is another drink (or two, or three). Looks like fun really.
Vids Used
- "Steady as She Goes" by jtbatfan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfYyy9m9QE8
recommended by pigtailedgirl
- "White Rabbit" by starcrossedgirl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUA35XQxxw8
recommended by pigtailedgirl
Grokker Synopsis
This show has so much history and baggage that it's almost impossible to summarise. I've really just given an outline of the key points here, but you can find mountains more information on Wikipedia.
Star Trek was a science fiction television series that aired in the 60s, and while it was cancelled after only 79 episodes, it went on to become the ultimate cult tv show. The premise of Star Trek--weekly adventures with the same crew, but with a near infinite variety of possible genres, locations or guest stars--was so clever it influenced many of the scifi shows that came after it, such as Babylon 5, Stargate (especially Atlantis), Firefly, and possibly even mainstream shows like The West Wing (a crew having adventures in the Whitehouse rather than on a spaceship).
Star Trek, as the name suggests, is set on a roving starship called Enterprise, an Earth-built exploratory vessel in the 23rd century. The main characters are the bridge crew, and the focus in these songvids is on: Captain James T. Kirk, the "hero" of the show (the guy in the gold or green shirt); First Officer Spock, an emotionally-frigid alien from the planet Vulcan (blue shirt, pointy ears); and the ship's Medical Officer, Dr. Leonard McCoy (short-sleeved blue shirt). There are also brief but notable appearances by Sulu (swordfighter), Uhura (red queen) and Chekov (Russian dancer).
In every episode the Enterprise either stops at a new planet, or encounters aliens in some other way (ie. space traders, diplomacy missions, energy beings, etc). When an away team leaves the ship, it's usually comprised of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and a "red-shirt" who promptly dies. Once on the planet the team encounters weird aliens or gadgets, and almost any type of plot can then unfold: from romance, to gangster; from time-travel, to interfering Gods; from various space plagues, to sentient non-carbon-based lifeforms. The bizarre images from the songvids are usually due to these alien encounters.
For instance, in Steady as She Goes:
- Sulu (the guy with the sword) is infected by a space virus which makes him think he's a buckaneer; Spock subdues him with a Vulcan neck-pinch.
- Kirk ends up waist deep in Tribbles, rodent-like creatures that infest spaceships and breed like, well, Tribbles.
- Kirk ends up in single combat with various aliens (including Spock, but seriously, explaining why would spoil you for this whole *waves arms* huge character arc, so I've decided not to go there).
- Kirk is also renowned for having a "babe of the week" in the form of scantily-clad alien women who put the moves on him, often for nefarious ends; we see several of his conquests in this vid. (But you'll notice that his best buds are Spock and McCoy.)
In White Rabbit we see:
- More space viruses!
- About half-way through, Spock uses his telepathic ability to "mind-meld" with a non-humanoid life-form; later evil!Spock (you can tell by the goatee) mind-melds with McCoy.
- Super-powered aliens/gods play with the crew's perceptions and bodies.
- Lots more weird stuff that I can't even begin to put into context without major spoilers and/or thousands of words!
So there you have it: the legend of Star Trek: The Original Series, the beginning of the space opera franchise that's spawned five sequel series (Animated; Next Generation; Voyager; Deep Space Nine; and Enterprise), ten films, and countless fannish homages.
Stranger Synopses
Stranger 1
All I knew about this fandom was:
There is a man called James T Kirk and he explores planets with cardboard rocks. Oh, and Leonard Nimoy is in it.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Larry, Curly and Moe, (Moe being the one with the eyebrows) are employed by the government to investigate strange happenings and kiss beautiful women as soon as look at them while wearing some sort of uniform. Larry is the head of the operation, this is signified by wearing a yellow shirt instead of blue and kissing the most women.
Together in their spaceship in outer space they go undercover to the 50’s, to the Amazon, to America in the 1800s, to Japan, and are at all times inconspicuous in their spaceship in outer space.
Many times it is necessary for Larry, Curly and Moe to drink, or take mind-altering substances to fit in with the locals. This had led to quite a few strange adventures, the most bizarre involved a chessboard, a white rabbit with a pocket-watch and a man that was ten feet tall. It was hard to explain back at headquarters.
Also on their travels they learn how to dance like a Monkee, how to fight like gladiators and that keeping a furry pet is teaching you responsibility.
Even though each man gets his fair share of women to kiss (that is what the government pays them to do) they really only love each other. It’s a great big OT3 on a spaceship in outer space.
Stranger 2
All I knew about this fandom was:
There is a space captain. And his crew. Boldly going where no one has gone before. And redshirts die a lot.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Captain Scowl pilots a spaceship that travels through time. Members of his crew include: First Mate Intense, an alien officer who starts out as Scowl's best friend and confidant; Officer Redhead, the muscle; Officer Giant Hair, the stand-around-looking-surprised-er; Shirtless Nut, who is a member of the crew, but has periodic freakouts; Dr. Blue Scrubs, the ship doctor; Officer Miniskirt, who actually operates the ship; and Officer Sprightly, whose only purpose appears to be DANCE!
Together they voyage through time and space to prevent tears in the spacetime continuum.
The crew travels through time by using mind-altering substances concocted by Dr Blue Scrubs. These mostly appear to be in pill form, but there are some drinks as well. Most of these are very bright red. They induce a hallucination wherein characters from Alice in Wonderland guide them to where they need to be. However, in actuality they are traveling through weird fireworky space tunnels using some kind of weird rainbow arrow display on the ship's computer.
Shirtless Nut occasionally has a bad reaction to the drugs, which is when he runs shirtless onto the bridge, freaking out, and needs to be subdued by Redhead and Intense. Miniskirt has also had problems with bad drug reactions in the past. There was a small incident involving a knife and Captain Scowl's face.
Intense and Scowl involved in a major conflict. Intense is in love with Officer Big Hair, and turns down the advances of blondes with bright pink fingernails for her. However, one day, he catches her kissing Scowl! He is heartbroken and can never trust Scowl again. So he secretly plots to sabotage their plans by spiking Scowl's time-travelling pills. (And, apparently, filling Scowl's quarters with hamsters) The entire crew eats these by accident, and they end up trapped in this bizarre world run by Greek gods, and are forced to dance on a chessboard until they manage to make a daring escape. Officer Sprightly's highland dance lessons are instrumental in the escape plan.
Eventually, however, after a terrifying near-crash, Intense forgives both Scowl and Big Hair. Everyone is friends again, though not as close as before, obviously.
Times traveled to include a 30s style mobster era, a bunch of brawling hippies, colonial United States and Elizabethan England.
Stranger 3
All I knew about this fandom was:
A bunch of humans and aliens live on a big space ship together and eh, trek the stars. One of them is named Spock (Lenord Nemoy-know him from the Bilbo song-) and he’s a Vulcan because he has pointy ears. They go on adventures of some sort.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Vid One:
So, this fandom is about people (aliens? Life-forms?) who wear bright-colored PJ-like uniforms and share long, pointed stares with each other. Might be part of some alien ritual, must-maintain-eye-contact-to-share-thoughts, that kind of thing. Every once in a while, a console blows up, or a half-naked guy walks through the frame, in which case Spock gets pissed because it makes his eyebrows go all crooked. There’s also lounging, and the oh so slight parting of lips. Spock’s boyfriend (they do most of the staring) is the one in yellow. Until yellow guy goes away and kisses a woman! Oh noes! Spock isn’t pleased, or maybe he is, it’s hard to tell with the eyebrows.
Vid Two:
What you have to understand about these people though, is that they all have quite the “habit”. To combat the boredom of living on a giant space ship, they like to get drunk. Just alcohol, or the really good stuff their slightly-retarded looking nephew in the blue cooks up in the vials. Of course, when they want it really hard-core there’s always injections, or the occasional bathing in fluff-balls. Oh yeah.
In his pharmaceutical-induced haze of pleasure, Spock sees a white fluffy bunny and tries to connect with it (where one asks themselves whether there are also bunnies on Spock’s planet and maybe they are all man-sized, or whether this is just a figment of his imagination, in which case does he even know it’s a bunny?) When Spock comes out of it though, it’s to find his yellow-clad boyfriend orgasming right there on his leg. Whoa. Apparently that happens all the time, because soon after they’re all out dancing in a temple of some sort. And then there is another drink (or two, or three). Looks like fun really.