Hailing frequencies open.
I was trying to think of a phenomenal way to introduce this blog, but as usual, like my mum has always said, “If there’s a complicated or confusing way of doing something, then I’ll do it.” So, instead of doing something inspiring and meaningful, I’ve done this. Wow. Not at all confusing.
Moving on, I contacted the department heads of Some Geek Told Me and finally got them into the same room for a brainstorming session on this week’s topic. As usual, the director of marketing and the head of HR started clashing; like always. The Social Media consultant started waffling on about We Didn’t Start the Fire, while the head of sports trivia did not want to discuss the All Blacks and Springboks. That one is still raw.
However, in most cases, the man-child who sits in the corner and tries to look busy suggested Star Trek. And since the others were too busy bickering, the deadline passed, and Star Trek was selected. Cool.
I can only imagine that if this were written by a professional writer, the lead-in would have been better, but sadly, Horatio, this fellow has only finite jest. This badly drawn-out and ill-conceived beginning is now at an end, so let us begin the ode to Star Trek.
So why is Star Trek the topic of today’s rant? Apart from our resident man-child’s suggestion, it’s the 60th anniversary of the first US broadcast of Star Trek: The Original Series, on 8th September 1966, so what better time to discuss my love of Star Trek? Although it is pretty obvious, I love science fiction. This covers books, comics, movies, computer games, and television shows. And with science fiction franchises, there are many that I like, but I have three main ones: Star Wars, Doctor Who and Star Trek.
It’s funny how society likes to divide us up, as you need to be on one side or the other. In that regard, for personal principles and values, it’s important to take a side. However, there are times when not taking a side is exactly the winning move, like DC vs Marvel, Aliens vs Predator, Coke vs Pepsi, or Star Wars vs Star Trek. For me, I love Star Wars, as unlucky readers of this popular blog will attest to, but I love Star Trek as well. Granted, it’s for different reasons, but the love is still there.
So, why do I love Star Trek? Difficult answer, but I’m up for the challenge. I think it boils down to the scope of it: that hundreds of years into the future, humanity has pulled its socks up and solved many global problems, resulting in an explosion of technology and understanding, as well as meeting our stellar neighbours.
In truth, it’s a nice notion that many of the social barriers we have constructed for ourselves have been/will be torn down to usher in a new age. The world of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet Academy seems so far removed from 2026, it’s almost laughable. But the intent is there.
I love how the uniforms change for each show and era, yet they remain the same. To demonstrate my love for the uniform, I carried a Star Trek Science Officer badge in the breast pocket of my wedding suit.1
I have mentioned this before, but the TV shows Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds have reawakened my love for the franchise. I know Season 4 of Strange New Worlds has started, but me being me, I will need to watch the previous season again.
Discovery was a gateway back into the franchise, and I loved the way the USS Discovery used the spore drive to travel, which, at least to me, was highly creative. Picard was great for seeing old friends, while Strange New Worlds has been a chance to meet new friends and villains. It’s been interesting to have the Gorn as the main antagonists, since they’re an alien species that I haven’t seen a lot of, much like the Orion.
Because I’m on this Star Trek wave, I want to start at the beginning and watch Star Trek: Enterprise again. Though, to be fair, I did watch a lot of episodes, but I never got to watch the entire series from start to finish because comics and football got in the way. Not girls, though; I was living my peak-geek life then, so girls were nowhere to be seen.
In saying that, I’ve never seen every single episode of The Original Series, The Next Generation, or Deep Space Nine. There are massive gaps in all the shows that I want to be filled. One of the biggest connections I’ve had to a Star Trek show, prior to Discovery’s launch, was Voyager. It was another show I never completed, but I gave it a damn good try.
It was on Channel Four, and I thought the premise of the show was awesome and simple; they were transported to the other side of the galaxy, so they were just trying to get home. I was at the right age when it was broadcast, and my love for it spilt over into university. I was extremely cool. And by cool, I mean the biggest geek/dork/nerd. I am still in some ways.
As for the films, I’ve loved them too. I can’t remember the first Star Trek film I ever saw, but I can remember the first one I saw at the cinema. Now, back in the day, my dad loved movies; he still does, but his favourites were westerns, war, action, or cop movies. Science fiction movies were not his cup of tea, but James Bond was. He once took me to The Living Daylights, though I was underage. Mum was not happy, but I was.
I remember Mum and my sister went on holiday early, so Dad and I were going to join them, but I think it was going to be nearly a week later, because Dad had trouble getting away from work. I think it was for a wedding; I can’t remember exactly, but it will do for the story. Anyway, I stayed behind to keep him company until he was free to leave, so we got to spend time together, just as boys.
At the time, and where we lived, we received cinematic releases a lot later than the rest of the country, let alone the whole world. I saw that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was playing, and I asked Dad if we could both go. As I said before, Dad didn’t like science fiction movies or Star Trek, but he still took his geeky son to watch something he personally didn’t want to see. I appreciated that, because every time I watch The Final Frontier, I think of Dad.
Because he took me to the cinema to see that Star Trek movie, I have seen every Star Trek movie since then: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond at the cinema.2
Another lesson I learnt from that experience was something that I now do as a parent: I take my boys to the cinema each school holidays, where they agree on a movie to watch, even if I have no desire to see it, but we all still go.
I’ve never been one for reading Star Trek novels; I’ve only ever read two Doctor Who novels, compared to the library of Star Wars books at my command. I can’t really explain the division over that, except I’ve started reading some IDW Star Trek comics. I recently read Star Trek: Red Shirts, which was pretty gnarly. I’m waiting for Star Trek: Red Shirts – Ghost of the 21st Century #1 to arrive now.
I love the vehicles, weapons, and technology, but most of all, I love the aliens and alien planets. Vulcans, Betazoids, Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, Cardassians, Andorians, El-Aurians, Bajorans, and the Borg; but we also can’t forget the Q, or is it just Q? Its one of the greatest aspects to Star Trek and science fiction in general, the ability of creators to dream of bad-arse aliens, with their cultures, vehicles, appearances, and languages. The mind is a fertile place.
I’m not familiar with every single Star Trek character to have ever graced the small screen, as I’m just a middle-aged geek, not the God of Pop Culture. However, there is one character I know well enough, and that’s the OG miracle worker himself, Montgomery Scott. I say this because…well…if your first or last name is Scott, then at some point in your life, some highly unoriginal person, whether they are meeting you for the first time or not, would have said unto you, “Beam me up, Scotty!” When that phrase is spoken to me, I have to suppress the Klingon in me and embrace the Vulcan.
So, to bring this long and pointless exercise to a close, I just want to state that I love Star Trek, and this wannabe science officer is so grateful for it. And that’s it for another week. Did you like Star Trek? As always, please let me know. Remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, Up the Wahs, and I’ll see you next week because we’re off to 1964.
Hailing frequencies closed.
1 I did wear Superman cufflinks as well. Total class act.
2 I haven’t seen Star Trek: Section 31, but that’s a television movie, plus its on Paramount+, so I don’t know if I’ll ever see it.
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