User:Istrahd

I am a Retired Southern Baptist Minister & School Bus Driver. I have been a fan of the Star Trek Universe ever since watching my first episode of ST: TOS.

I enjoyed all of the various TV Franchises of Star Trek. My Current Ranking of shows would be as follows:

1. ST: Voyager 2. ST: DS9 3. ST: Enterprise 4. ST: TNG 5. ST: TOS

I can only begin to scratch the surface of my reasoning for the rankings or the impact any of these shows had on myself or our culture but some of my basic thoughts on each series is below.

I am a huge fan of ST: Voyager! I watch the entire Series about every 2-3 months. I loved the idea of Strong but Sensitive Female Captain. The Main Storyline, being thrust into an unknown quadrant of the Universe with little hope of ever returning to Earth was a bold stroke of genius. Cut off from almost all previously known Races, Technologies except those on-board forced the writers, producers, directors & Cast to push the limits of official Star Trek Canon.

I didn't care much for ST: DS9 at first but I only caught occasional episodes and couldn't follow the story line. After obtaining a copy of the entire series and watching it straight through, I really enjoyed it as well. There were a number of wonderful sub-plots that made it a true serial show unlike the other shows. I really enjoyed the episodes about Benny the Writer, Is Benny the Dream, or the Dreamer? A terrific mental paradox for Ben Sisko!

ST: Enterprise (which I am currently re-watching the entire Series, Again) was a great show, filling in some gaps in the Time-Line between First Contact and the Beginnings of Starfleet and the birth of the United Federation of Planets. The series could have been much better without Lt. Reed's character being such a distraction to an otherwise well rounded cast & crew. It is the writer's fault there. His character should have been more R. Lee Ermey than Mr. Bean joins the Navy. Anyhow, I really enjoyed the Plot & Sub-Plot driven nature of the series. As in Voyager & DS9, most episodes built on previous stories. Whereas the other two Series, TNG & TOS rarely referenced previous episodes and they were rarely interconnected other than the occasional Two Part Episodes in TNG.

It took me until about the second season to get into TNG. Overall, it was a great series but much like TOS, the crew would solve whatever conundrum they were in then warp off to a new Solar System and get into a new conundrum. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. There were many great episodes, however and many new technological enhancements to the timeline. The Holodeck & Lt. Cmdr Data were great additions to Star Trek Canon. Who wouldn't give up everything they have for a Holodeck? To be able to experience anything you can imagine, to become your favorite character in a story, explore anything, anywhere with no risk of harm (unless you turn off the Safety Protocols) and have such intriguing AI characters that interact with you. Whoever develops a similar technology will be the richest person to ever live... It is an idea that is absolutely priceless and practically everyone would give anything short of their soul or children (some would even give both) to have a personal Holodeck. The ability to have an android as advanced as Data has been the dream of mankind for ages. Friendly, obedient, efficient, never needing rest, intelligence beyond Human abilities, a perfect companion for a child or adult as he will "live" longer than humans... A friend you will never have to watch die, what could be better?

TOS... The show responsible for more guys not getting a girlfriend than acne, disfigurements, birth defects, social awkwardness and being ugly combined. It is also the catalyst for so many of today's technological advances. We have home computers, cell phones, automatic doors and so many other things we take for granted today because a generation of scientists and engineers grew up under the influence of Gene Rodenberry's almost prophetic view of things to come. Oddly, some of our current technology exceeds that of Star Trek... Kirk never texted Spock a message, Scotty wasn't playing Angry Birds on his communicator, etc. The series was the genesis of so much sci-fi and actual technologies that permeate our culture far more than anyone could have imagined when they cancelled the series. If the studio had the foresight to see what a cult following they had begun, the show would probably have continued airing for decades.

I can not begin to do any of the shows true justice in so short a description but I will say that I own each series & movie and I watch all of them on a regular basis. Being disabled, I have plenty of time to immerse myself in the Star Trek Universe and I would love to live in any of the time-lines of these shows (with the exception of the Dominion War). How wonderful it would be to live in a society not driven by the accumulation of wealth, medical & technological advances and the ability to explore the universe. There are so many worlds out there just waiting to be explored, to boldly go where no man has gone before...

ST