Hard to believe it’s been that long, the anniversary of the first show was actually yesterday, “The Man Trap” - at 8:30PM on September 8, 1966.
The show actually began a bit before my time but like lots of 60s classic TV I grew up with reruns during the 70s. The show is one of my oldest memories as my fathers was a die hard fan.
It’s amazing to me that the show only ran three seasons, especially in light of the absolute crap that runs 8 seasons or more these days. Clever and inventive shows with short runs are of course nothing new, Kung Fu similarly ran only three seasons. The Love Boat seemed to go on forever somehow.
And when one considers how much of our modern technology was imagined and inspired by the show Star Trek has a much more profound impact on our lives. Certainly more than The Love Boat for example.
Even the spin offs ran longer than the original series. I guess at least we got 5 films. And thankfully I have the original series on DVD.
I met James Doohan at an autograph signing at the Air and Space Museum in Alamogordo, New Mexico back in the 1980’s. Suffice it to say it was hours of driving through boring desert for about a minute and a half talking to the man.
I immediately noticed that he was missing a finger on his right hand. Looking back at the old Star Trek episodes, they went out of their way to keep his right hand hidden. Scotty always seemed to use his left hand for any important screen time. The closest you ever come to seeing his right hand with its missing finger is in the movie Star Trek III. The scene was where Scotty hands some parts to Kirk that he has removed from the Excelsior. If you know to look, you can vaguely tell there’s something “not quite right” with Scotty’s right hand.
I did some research into how he might have lost that finger. He was a Canadian paratrooper in World War II, and a genuine war hero.
Although I was never a Trekkie, I respect it’s contribution to Si-Fi. The second movie (Wrath of Kahn) was a classic, and I still love to watch the ship-to-ship battle scenes.
One of the best syfy movies ever produced. The end scene Sta Trek VI “Undiscovered Country” when the Enterprise and Excelsior gang up on that Klingon Bird of Prey is pretty bad ass as well.
The 3rd one was slightly stupid… the whole save the whales thing just, yea… the end was cool, when they were heading towards their new ship, figuring they would get the Excelsior or some cargo ship, but then go up and over Excelsior and there’s the Enterprise 1701-A.
I’m a fan of all Trek - I just appreciate the good story-telling, which does vary from episode to episode, but on the whole beats EVERY episode of “Friends,” and I can say that without EVER having seen an episode of “Friends”… :bad:
But speaking of Trekkies, I was living in Galveston in '96 when “First Contact” was in theaters. I saw it on opening day (I’ve seen them ALL on Opening Day, save for the first film), and then took the wife to see it that first Saturday night.
The U.S.S. Houston group :rolleyes: was at the theater in League City where we went, giving away all sorts of prizes and recruiting members, I reckon, and before the film started, they had a “Stump the Trekkies” contest for prizes. I was finally thrown out of the game, because I KEPT stumping them… and I’m NOT a nerd!
Uh, no. Part of the appeal of the origional movie was Ricardo Montalban coming back to close the loop from the TV series. Besides, there will never be another KAAAHHNNN!!!
I’ve heard that a few times, but it keeps getting denied. Btw, rumor has it that the new movie is titled Star Trek: Into Darkness. I liked the last one quite a bit, so I hope this one is as good.
I think this was due in large to how controversial it was for its time. In Rodd Roddenberry’s documentary Trek Nation he explores this aspect of his father’s legacy. To have a female officer on a ship much less a black officer was unheard of, a crew comprised of different ethnic backgrounds, etc. all the while the Cold War raged and the Civil Rights movement played out.
The original series is still ahead of its time, the only spin off I could ever get into was The Next Generation. I tried to watch Deep Space Nine and stopped watching after the Voyager pilot.
I grew up a huge fan of the show. Hell, as a kid my life revolved around it. I got to meet Doohan in 2001 I believe it was in Tulsa at their annual convention. It was my first time ever going to one and I’ve never regretted it as it was my only shot at ever meeting him.
I got to shake his hand and thank him for being such a large part of my life. But I was never completely sure he understood me. Still it’s always given me a sense of closure that I would have spent a lifetime regretting had I not done it.
During his time on stage he did talk some about his World War II experiences. Impressive to say the least.
The only one I never got to meet and get an autograph from was DeForest Kelly. He had passed away before I started attending the shows.
Best of all, the guys who gave us Mystery Science Theater 3000, now do their schtick as “Rifftrax.” You can buy a whole new soundtrack to many of your favorite movies - including the Star Trek movies! - that includes them having a bit of sport with the film & characters.
