But what has rekindled my interest in the most influential science-fiction franchise of all time is Star Trek: Discovery. While not entirely mind-blowing, there are some very cool concepts (spore drive), characters (like the star: young lady Michael Burnham with a Vulcan family connection, alien Starfleet Lt. Commander Saru, and Michelle Yeoh in not one, but two roles), and nice callbacks to the original series (like sounds effects on the bridge, and the phaser design).
Main character Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery
The show isn't without its flaws - plot-holes, sometimes overblown action sequences, and definitely those awful rubbery Klingon masks... which muffle the actors' voices in a disconcerting way... they couldn't even be bothered to fix that with overdubs or something?
But on the whole, Discovery is appealing. In some respects, it harks back to the original series, and that is its drawing card for me. Those opening credits get me every time with the 60's show's musical motifs woven into a new-school yet totally Trek-sounding theme... and the visuals of the ships and tech and organic bits all add up to a fine flavour derived from both old and new ingredients.
Though I have little problems here and there along the way, both season one and so far on season two are highly engaging. Smartly imagined if not perfectly executed. You know, intelligent sci-fi on the surface, though a bit iffy now and then underneath the sheen. But it's Star Trek, which has always taken some heat for one thing or another. Discovery grabs up award nominations for visual effects, and that's something. Maybe the writing is uneven, but I can let that slide as long as I'm not getting one weak episode after another. The show just looks so darned good, flawed writing aside.
Oh, and while I was killing time waiting for season two to arrive, I engaged in finally properly tackling Star Trek: The Next Generation. As I already mentioned, I mostly ignored the show back in the 80's and 90's. I caught the odd bit of an episode here and there, but my purist attitude (Kirk-Spock-McCoy rule!) prevented me from appreciating Next Gen at the time. But today... well, I can say that the early seasons were pretty entertaining. Solid enough scripts, pretty technology and special effects, good Klingon make-up (even if they were a bit lazy about most other alien races, with simply a weird forehead or ear design), fairly smart and fun dialogue (though often a little heavy on the techno-babble), and a likable cast of characters (with just a couple of exceptions... like that Crusher kid).
I could certainly see the cheesy bits of Next Generation here and there, and that was sometimes fun in the vein of the 60's show, but those last couple of seasons, especially the last one, whew.... the stinkers far outnumbered the good episodes. Oh well, at least I can say I now have that Trek spin-off under my belt. A friend suggested I try Star Trek: Voyager next. I'm taking a little breather after Next Gen, then maybe I'll explore Voyager. I've also been thinking about revisiting random episodes from the original series. I miss the Kirk-Spock days... when I was a kid and teen, I watched and re-watched those oldies over and over again. And I'm happy to say that renewed interest in the 60's show prompted me to collect the little set of Trek miniatures from Running Press. Very affordable on Amazon and they look snazzy in a display case on my computer desk.
Click the image for a better look...
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