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I'm in a rush today. Expect typos! First, some comments from previous columns . . .
Matthew Patterson: All right! All right! I give up! I'll buy the Bond Guide! Just don't ask me to buy any of Cancerman's books. . . :)
Phil: I believe that makes forty-nine!
Nat Hefferman of Lexington, MA: I'm afraid I can't add my name to the list of Bond Guide fans. I think that, unlike Trek, Star Wars, B5, X-Files, etc., there's no real attempt to create a distinct, coherent "universe" in the Bond movies (not having read the novels myself, I can't speak about them). Sure, there are recurring characters (M, Q, Moneypenny, Max the CIA agent), but there really doesn't seem to be a link between the movies, other than cool gadgets and beautiful women for Bond to sleep with.
Joe Griffin: [Concerning the shooting a water gun in a convertible analogy,] This makes sense if you're firing off your phasers (water pistols) inside the ship (convertible), but not if you want to fire on something outside the ship (windy highway exterior with deer and trees and cop who's about to pull you over for driving standing up). Or, in other words, we're talking about Frame Of Reference. (If I posted this before, don't bother repeating it, but...) According to Einstein's GTOR, the speed of light is absolute, relative to one's frame of reference. I.e. if you are standing in a train car and the train is moving forward at the speed of light, and you switch on a flashlight, the beam _will_ appear on the wall in front of you (assuming that's where you're pointing it). If the speed of light were universally absolute, the light from the flashlight would not emerge from the bulb, since it would already be traveling at the speed of light and could not travel any faster. But within the frame of reference of the train car the flashlight is still, so the beam will travel outward from the flashlight at the speed of light and be visible. However, if a ship's frame of reference is its warp envelope, a light-based weapon would only travel faster than the ship within this envelope, making it useless unless the target were within the warp envelope. That, and the creators said so.
Nat Hefferman of Lexington, MA: Regarding previous comments on the weakness of the UPN network: I heard a report on the radio recently that UPN would be reviving "The Love Boat" with Robert Urich (Avery Brooks's old "Spenser for Hire" buddy) as the new captain. This really sounds to me like a network flailing about in a search for identity. Every season, UPN tries to totally reinvent itself to grab an audience. First, it was "Voyager" (referred to at the network as "The Franchise") plus dumb "Friends"-type sitcoms like "Pig Sty" and "Platypus Man" (Remember them? I didn't think so.). Then the next season it was "Dramatically Different UPN" with "Nowhere Man" and "Brisco County". Now they've added more "urban" (i.e. black) themed sitcoms to try to grab the minority audience that first made Fox a success. I wish some of the network executives would have the courage to pick an identity and stick with it for a couple of seasons, and give the audience a chance to get familiar with that identity. The only UPN show other than "Voyager" that I ever watched regularly was "Nowhere Man", which, while admittedly an acquired taste, could have built an "X-Files"-like cult following if the network execs had the courage to promote it correctly and let the show have time to build an audience. In the end, I have to agree with a lot of the previous correspondents; UPN should cut their losses, syndicate "Voyager", and shut down the rest of the network. With the explosion of cable and satellite programming, the networks are fighting over smaller and smaller pieces of a shrinking pie.
Joe Griffin: re: bringing Voyager home. Can't do it. First off, Maquis personnel would be imprisoned immediately. And look what happened when Battlestar Galactica found Earth. And "AfterM*A*S*H*." yeeegh! Once you solve the problem that is the initial premise, the show must end. "The Fugitive" TV show ended when they caught the one-armed man. (Luckily, the sequel to the "Fugitive" film has nothing to do with Dr. Kimble, but instead follows Tommy Lee Jones' U.S. Marshall character.) The characters can show up elsewhere, like Worf and O'Brien, but the actual "Voyager" series would have to end.
Chris George: The missing Voyager. Here in Milwaukee, there was an article in the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel in the TV News section on it, apparently inspired by a deluge of mail from Trek fans. The author suggested several scenarios, from a CBS station picking up UPN in late-night hours, to a low-power station ramping up to enough power to carry it. They don't, however, mention buying Voyager in syndication, suggesting in my mind that either Paramount is not actively syndicating Voyager separate of UPN, or perhaps it is more cost-effective to buy the full UPN block than Voyager alone. Just one thing to note for those others looking for it!
Brian Straight Shawnee, Kansas.: With all the talk recently about the futures of the two Star Trek series, I thought I would add a couple cents.
The main reason why Next Gen worked, I believe, is because it was captivating. It focused on the characters on so many levels and took them and allowed them to explore new worlds and new civilizations within themselves. Next Gen, didn't submit to demographics (although I'm sure they used Troi to draw in more audiance, which dosen't make any sense consider the show was doing so well.) Watch almost any of the episodes of Net Gen. and you will see what I am talking about. They focused on the characters and the story, and didn't stray from it.
Now, DS9, does perty much the same thing. Also they have alot of episodes focusing on one paticular character. Sisko in "Far Beyond the Stars" and I'm sure there are several other episodes that focused on the characters. I've been doing some studying on screenplay-writing (to learn the feild, helping myself in writing my own screenplay) and the books stress character conflicts and character devlopment. Inner and outer conflict, inner and outer motivation are the points in character devloment. Both Next Gen and DS9 realised this, worked on it, and did it.
Voyager, like it's TV counterpart, is lost in it's "own little world." For some reason charcater devlopment, interaction, and motivation, seems to be severly lacking. They have had a few shows the tried to do this, but they didn't work out quite as well as they should have. And the biggest mistake I felt they made was adding Seven, simply for demographics. If they added her to devlope her as a character I'd be all for it, but no. They decided to put her in a skin-tight "bunny suit" and stick her in the background in almost every seen, simply to bring in an audiance. Again, I realsie Next Gen did nearly the same thing with Troi but it quite wasn't this bad. Personaly, I don't think I want to know a person who watches a show, simply because theres a beautiful person on it who wears a skin-tight bunny suit. The stories in Voyager are also not as good as they where in the other two series.
Another problem, I think, is that Voyager is on, lets face it, a BAD network. If they had syndicated it like Next Gen and DS9, I'm sure Voyager would be doing a LOT better. As Voyager, I'm sure, has all the potential Next Gen did, it's just not using it, because they're trapped on a crummy network. Ok, I've said my piece.
Joshua Truax of Platteville, WI: Chief... After seeing all the Voyager comments in your column, I decided I'd better get in my two cents' worth.
Halfway through its fourth season, I'd have to say that Voyager is the first Star Trek series that has not improved upon the one that came before it. Granted, DS9 has been a tough act to follow. Its first season wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either, and DS9 has consistently improved with each subsequent season. Voyager, on the other hand, got off to a great start but lost a lot of momentum from the latter part of first season all the way to the first part of third season (with the exception of a few late-second-season episodes). Since then Voyager has also steadily improved, but not enough to catch up with fourth-season DS9's level of quality. In fact, I'd say Voyager is still about a season behind both DS9 and TNG in terms of overall quality. Whether it will remain behind its predecessors is, of course, entirely up to the creators...
...which brings me to my next point. It is already well known by now that Jeri Taylor is stepping down as Voyager's exec producer at the end of the season (although she will continue to write for the series), to be replaced by Brannon Braga. This could turn out to be a mixed blessing. On one hand, Braga's extensive experience with the Star Trek universe is just what Voyager needs in order to catch up to the level of TNG and DS9. On the other hand, the change of command could have an unpredictable impact on Capt. Janeway's character, which has always been Taylor's baby. She and Kate Mulgrew have been developing Janeway for over three years now; they know her better than anyone else. Braga isn't quite that familiar with Janeway, so his sense of her character could turn out to be different from Taylor's...
... and speaking of Janeway's character: By now, after all the comments I've sent you in my Voyager episode reviews, it should be clear where I stand on her relationship with Chakotay. But, just in case it's not...
Personally, I think it would be risky at best to make Janeway and Chakotay a full-fledged couple -- it would certainly change the tenor of the series -- but it wouldn't really bother me all that much if they did. What does bother me is the status quo. For almost two seasons the creators have kept them in a sort of netherworld between friendship and romance. (Compare them to their shipmates, Paris and Torres. One day they were barely even friends, the next they decided they were in love, and that was that. No dilly-dallying around. The same for Dax and Worf on DS9...) This sort of thing worked for awhile with Riker and Troi on TNG, but even that eventually got old. With Janeway and Chakotay, it was somewhat of a cop-out to begin with, as if Jeri Taylor and company wanted them to have the "warm fuzzy feeling" of romance without actually committing to one. More to the point, it's gotten old even more quickly than it did with Riker and Troi, to the point where it's become little more than an ongoing distraction. So, I'll say this one more time: Either make them a couple and run with it, or put the idea to rest; just "define those parameters" once and for all and get back to writing science fiction, not soap operas... (Note from Phil: On the other hand, X-Files has maintained this tension for four and a half years now, and done it well!)
Finally, it's been suggested that Voyager return home and have the series continue in Alpha Quadrant. Why do that? We've already got DS9 and the TNG movies covering Alpha Quadrant. There is another possibility, one that would give the series the best of both quadrants: In "One Little Ship" [DS9] it was suggested that the Federation could soon develop the means to create transwarp conduits to extend the range of exploration. Why not have the Federation develop this technology and use it to bring Voyager home, then send them back to explore more of Delta Quadrant? That way 1) Voyager could go back and forth at the creators' whim, and 2) there would be the possibility of Delta Quadrant races establishing a permanent presence in the Star Trek universe, a la Gamma Quadrant's Dominion on DS9. This is not possible with the current premise of the series (with Voyager never staying in one place long enough to maintain any relationship, good or bad, with the natives)...
There, I've finally got all that off my chest.
Derek Moffitt: Well, it's been a month and a half since Voyager was cancelled out here, and I'm starting to get over the withdrawal. Our local ex-UPN affiliate was actually picketed by angry Voyager fans in Trek uniforms (myself *not* among them), but alas, to no avail. Incidentally, the station has continued to alienate as many viewers as possible by cancelling a mildly popular sitcom in the middle of its sweeps-month plotlines.
Fortunately, I have made arrangement to get taped Voyager episodes mailed to me from one of the few parts of the country that still gets UPN. Unfortunately, I have to wait six weeks to get a whole tape at a time, so I won't be seeing them anytime soon. And I've already missed "Waking Moments" and "Message in a Bottle" for good. Aargh!
Chris George: Hey, I got an idea... you mention that the only kind of work that gets money on the net is porno's... how about a Nitpicker's Guide to... um, never mind. I wouldn't read that, and I know you wouldn't write that! :-)
Phil: Not gonna do it! Wouldn't be prudent.
Nat Hefferman of Lexington, MA: If you do decide to do some kind of movie guide, an option to consider, rather than a MST3K-type B-movie guide, is to choose 20 or so well-known, classic movies (Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, the Godfather, etc.) as subjects for nitpicking. (For example: Citizen Kane - Continuity and Production Errors: Since Kane is alone when he dies, how come everybody knows his last word was "Rosebud"?) The folks at Dell might find this idea more marketable.
Phil: I don't think it would help! My feeling is that Dell will only be interested in properties that have substantial media presence--for good reason. When was the last time you saw Citizen Kane plastered everywhere in the media? Granted, it's a great, great movie but . . .
Scott Padulsky: I'm happy to hear that a Star Wars guide is a go...at least on your end. That's good news! Have you decided what you will include as canon? If you decide to use the dark Horse Comics you may have a hard time finding all of them. I'm sure you know that comics are printed in limited runs to increase their collectability. There are reprints of most of the "big" stories though.
Another question: Since the Star Wars guide won't be out this year, I guess you won't have any Nitpicker Title in '98 huh?
Last question: You mentioned somewhat disappointing sales of the DS9 guide, I was wondering has the X-files guide sold well enough to warrant an update somewhere down the line?
Phil: See below for the content of the Star Wars Guide. No Guide in the fall of '98! And the X-phile's Guide seems to be doing just fine!
Joe Griffin: [Concerning the credit for "story" by Alan Dean Foster in the novelization of novelization,] That explains it...so my memory isn't what it used to be. But I doubt the pen name thing. My apologies for the confusion.
Chris Ng: Just thinking on 'Far Beyond the Stars...' I talked to my friend Andrew Noto, fellow unofficial nitpicker, and we discussed Daddy Sisko's 'Prophet' warning. Note what happens right after Sisko Sr. speaks of walking the path of the Prophets. And remember what the Prophets said in whatever-episode-it-was-when-they-retook-DS9-Sacrifice-of-Angels-wasn't-it? They said something would change in Sisko's life. Then Sisko Sr. pops in with his cryptic message about walking the path of the Prophets. Then Jake dies. Hmmm... (Note from Phil: Jake dies?! Oh, in the show the character played by Jake dies! You're right. Hmmmm.)
Joe Griffin: [Concerning the misidentification of the wormhole aliens,} Whoops, sorry, egg on my face and all that. Slip of the tongue. Won't happen again until it does. Sorry. Beyond that, I respectfully disagree with Mr. Patterson's opinion of "Far Beyond the Stars." I thought it was a great episode, and really enjoyed seeing the crew of Sulu's Excelsior out of their makeup playing real 17th century humans, even if it was all the Vorta messing with Harry Mudd's mind 'cause he is the Caretaker and ya know they do that kind o' stuff.
Phil: [snicker, snicker, snicker]
Heather Smith of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario: I enjoyed Alex Smith's comments about the little things in 'Far Beyond The Stars', especially about the cops (Dukat and Weyoun) taking away the picture and returning it -- that didn't click with me until Alex mentioned it. I noticed another little tidbit that seemed interesting, now that I think of it:
Nana Visitor's character is a science fiction writer named K.C. Hunter. She notes when asked to 'sleep in' on picture day -- 'God forbid they find out K.C. Hunter is a woman' Could this be a reference to D.C. (Dorothy) Fontana, writer for TOS and later Associate Producer/writer for TNG? Do you think it might have been a similar situation at first for Dorothy Fontana, that TPTB didn't think people would accept a woman sci-fi writer?
John Latchem: I must say I disagree with your assessment of "Far Beyond the Stars" in a few areas. First, it was not an exploration of racism in our time, but the 1950s, if anything.
For me the episode served three purposes. First was a tale of a writer in the 1950s who has to put up with racism. No real message here that we haven't seen before, it was just a well done story. Second we get a wink from the creators, an acknowledgment for OUR time. Third we get the DS9 frame story, involving the prophets giving Sisko a vision, which I think is pretty obviously the case.
Now, the racism angle can't really apply to our time much. I think in one sense the creators are saying "look how far we have come." Today, fans can and do accept that DS9's hero is a black captain. Then there is the acknowledgement that DS9 is a dream, that it IS a figment of the imaginations of the writing staff.
In a way I got the feeling that this episode was the exact opposite of what you predicted. I disagree with the statement that "Classic Trek used sci-fi as a future setting to illustrate curent-day problems yet, DS9--when it wants to be relevant--resorts to regressing to our time frame."
"Far Beyond the Stars" was not Star Trek regressing to the past to reflect on the current state of humanity. It was Star Trek using racism and the past to reflect on the current state of Star Trek! In the Future! In that respect I think it is a very unique episode.
Also if you want to pull out "Past Tense" to illustrate your statement I again remind you that that was not our time frame, that was still the future. Yes I know it was based on a direct outcropping of the situation they were addressing, and was not a parable. But I pull out the episode "Assignment: Earth" in which Kirk and crew "regress to our time frame" to say that nuclear weapons are bad.
And I think you are giving DS9 the short end of the stick, and being quite unfair, when you resort to such a generalization. I recall DS9 addressing such issues as Church vs State and Religion in the Schools not by regressing to our time frame but by setting up an appropriate parallel. However these episodes do involve Bajor, and I think that's where the problem you have may lie.
You have stated before that you think the Bajor-Terok Nor episodes aren't quite Star Trek, and this is probably where DS9 suffers in your eyes. This is probably where the rift between ST and DS9 fans lies. I think it boils down to this issue: If you like Bajor, DS9's the best show there is.
Personally, I think DS9 is the best of the Trek series, not in its actions but for what it is. Sure there is no ship like the Enterprise that goes out and looks for things, but this is a show that is about something. This characters are for the most part stuck on the station. This lends itself easier to long term story arcs. And I will say that this is a show about building something great from next to nothing. Sisko's mission was to get Bajor ready for the Federation, and he did that. The arcs of other characters reflect this theme. Quark building a business. Worf building a new life for himself. Bashir building a career. Kira helping to build a government, and Sisko building a new member of the Federation.
So just how relevant is the Bajor situation to Star Trek? Very. Star Trek has always pushed a positive message of unity, of exploration, of taking brave steps into the unknown. The Federation and Starfleet are embodiments of these ideals. DS9 is hard for people to understand because it turns the whole Star Trek concept on its edge, approaches it from a new perspective. Instead of using a Starship to explore an unknown, the characters stay put. The unknown of DS9 is the future of possibility, of building something wonderful. Of creating a home, a paradise. By focusing on Bajor the show explores the Federation, on what ideals the Federation values. DS9 tackles all the themes a regular Trek show does, it just does it differently.
And where DS9, or any of the series, feels the need to regress to our time frame to make a point, I submit they do it because it is more dramatically interesting. "Past Tense" was about homelessness, but it was a good episode on its own right. DS9 also handled the homeless issue in "Sancutary" placing the situation in a futuristic setting.
Heck, maybe I'm getting a little too preachy now, and a little defensive, so I'll let you throw in a few words if you want.
Phil: Well, as far as interpreting "Far Beyond . . ." and "Past Tense" one opinion is as good as another. It is--after all--just television. But, let me just reiterate my baseline feelings about this whole deal. I absolutely agree that the watershed for DS9 is the Bajor: Terok Nor philosophy that I espoused in the DS9 Guide! I think you're absolutely correct in stating that Bajor is the major sticking point for Trek fans who dislike the show! Frankly, I still struggle with it. I understand what DS9 is trying to accomplish. I understand the approach that the creators are attempting to take. It's just tough for me to get it past the wiring in my brain. I watch the show. I think they've done some great episodes (like "Duet," "The Visitor," "Trials and Tribble-ations"). But, most of the time, I'm "out-of-phase" with the plot-lines and characterization. It's like trying to make square pegs match the round holes in my neurons. I certainly haven't given up on the show but I have a tough time connecting with it. (For instance, after five seasons, I'm still not comfortable with the characters. Didn't have that problem with Classic Trek or NextGen are I certainly don't have that problem with The X-Files!)
For instance, "Who Mourns for Morn," made Morn's character go tilt in my brain. He's a business man? He's really talkative? He turned Dax down? He fights with Worf on the holodeck? HUH?! Sad-sack, bar-fly MORN?! Are we talking about the same guy? I'll grant you that these things were intended to be funny juxtapositions but I felt like they were jokes for the sake of playing jokes ON the viewers. Not humor that fit within the context of what I had inferred about the character after watching him shrug, sigh and drink for five seasons. I felt like the creators have always painted Morn as a kind of town drunk, a loser (or possibly an extremely unusual person in some aspect who is hiding out for some noble purpose). Instead, "Who Mourns For Morn" reveals that Morn is your average guy--we've just never seen him to be average. That's the joke. He was mediocre and the creators have strung us along for five and a half season thinking there was something unusual there. Ha-ha-ha on us. Not only that. Not only is Morn an average run-of-the-mill guy, he's a CROOK! He's a BAD guy! Lovable Morn! A thief! Arrgh! (Now if he was a mastermind. If subsequent episodes show him as the kingpin of the seamy underside of DS9 . . . on second thought, NAH! He's MORN! Just lovable, old Morn. Except, he's not . . . anymore. Sigh.)
Beyond on this, however, there is a pesky, fundamental, unshakable feeling that I almost constantly fight. It's a discomforting rasp that the creators have committed of something akin to skull-duggery with the creation of the show! (I know, I know, those are "fighin' words" but I'm just trying to be honest so bear with me.)
First, I feel like there is a high degree of possibility--if what I've heard attributed to J. Michael Straczynski is true--that JMS was used as an unintended and uncompensated resource in the creation of the show. I won't rehearse that account here but the remembrance of it sits in the back of my head as I watch DS9.
Second, I don't think there's any question that the creators of DS9 intensionaly attempted to created a series that was as far as possible from the Star Trek formula. And I feel like they did it to show everyone that they could create a series that was just as good as anything that Roddenberry had a hand in creating. In otherwords, when it comes to DS9, I feel a bit like I'm in the lane during a bowling match between Trek Titans Egos. ("We know what you like and think about Star Trek but here watch this instead!")
Third--and there is absolutely no way to prove this--but I don't feel like DS9 would have survived without the label "Star Trek" attached to it. It continues today because it was grafted into a successful entity--even though the creators seem to have made every effort to craft it as far as possible from the stardard Trek formula.
Fourth--when it was apparent that the "Grand Reversal of the Formula" wasn't working--the creators began throwing bones at the fans trying to get them to watch the show. In the third season, they gave us a ship and had the senior staff tramping around off the station for no reason. In the fourth season, they gave us Worf and for the first few episodes had him tramping around for no reason. (I'm not that fond of this kind of manipulation.)
In short, I constantly contend with a mental backwash of "It's Trek But It's Not Trek And They Knew It Wasn't When They Made It But They Thought You Would Watch It Anyway And You Are." (And when I say it's not Trek, I mean in the "standard-formula" sense of the word. For decades Trek began with "Space the final frontier, these are the voyages of the Star Ship Enterprise . . .")
I do, however, very much understand the devotion that you and other feel for DS9. DS9 has been absolutely coherant has been in it's development of the story arc with Bajor and the wormhole and the Dominion and Cardassia. That all makes A LOT of sense. And perhaps if I didn't have such a long history with Trek, I could easily get past my Classic Trek and NextGen fixations. Perhaps if the show had been market on it's own under the banner of Bajor: Terok Nor with the byline "from the creators of Star Trek," I could give it a fairer shake. (Certainly, I think that would have been a more honest approach.) Or maybe if it had been advertised with the byline "based on situations created by Gene Roddenberry," I could stare with a blank slate and build an appreciation from there. But, unfortuantely for me, that's not what happened. The creators made a decision to radically alter the forumla of the franchise and then they marketed it as if Trek fans everyone were all supposed to be thrilled that they had done us this great favor! This is difficult for me to forget. Calling the episodes Bajor: Terok Nor helps . . . somewhat . . . but . . . not completely.
Does all that rambling make sense? I absolutely admit that this is not an objective assessment of the show. It's just my opinion and--as far as I'm concern--everybody's got a right to their own opinion! ;-)
Scott McClenny: In Far Beyond The Stars wasn't Michael Dorn supposed to be Willie Mayes in Sisko's dream? Phil: Not sure. I think the time frame is off if it's supposed to be Mantle.
Rene Charbonneau: Okay, I read your comments about DS9 and "Far Beyond The Stars"...in your "Ask The Chief"...and I thought the end of the episode did imply that the entire series was in the mind of Ben Russell...You know...where Sisko looks out the window and sees Ben Russell's reflection.
Anyway, about the fact that Classic Trek also took futuristic settings to deal with issues, while DS9 uses time-travel. Well, I think that's more realistic. How realistic is a planet with Romans, Nazis, heck...there was even a planet with The United States Constitution, Flag, etc. And it's not like DS9 has used much time-travel. They have explored issues like Drug addiction, blind obedience, etc...in the 24rth Century time-frame. I think you and other nitpickers are treating DS9 very unfairly.
Just because DS9 started out badly, you're gonna hate the entire series. It's not like Next Generation was good when it first started. The first two seasons were terrible!
Phil: I don't hate the show! I still watch the show. And . . . just to keep the record straight, the second season of NextGen gave us some good episodes, including "Q Who"--which in my mind--is still the best Q episode because it introduced the Borg and crewmembers actually died. Eighteen of them, to be exact, because of Picard's arrogance.
Jonathan Klein of Bowling Green, OH: With regards to the DS9 episode "Far and distant Stars" I think that the whole reason for the episode is that February was black history month. Hold on! I am a big advocate of civil rights, so no one get any ideas. But had Captain Sisko not been black, the episode would never have been created. I mean, look at how Sisko got to the 1950's. With no warning, he starts having visions again-- which he hasn't had for months-- AND they have nothing to do with Bajor. Why would the prophets send him a vision that he could have by reading a history book? Other than the weak opening, I liked the episode.
Daniel Tyman, Philadelphia, PA: I think we're all doing something very dangerous with our discussion of Quark's handling of the gold in Who Mourn's for Morn. We are imposing our own standards upon an alien alloy. This is likely a Ferengi gold(or from some other non-Earth race) and could be as light as a peice of paper, or as heavy as a Buick. But by how Quark handled it, I'm guessing it is somewhere closer to the former.
Phil: Uh . . . wait a minute. I willing to believe that a Corellian bat is not the same thing as a Terran bat. But the term "gold" refers to an element with a specific molecular composition. Now . . . if the Universal Translation is worth anything at all, it should use the term "gold" exclusively to refer to that metal whenever a character is discussion a metal with the same molecular composition as what we call "gold." In that case--if it's 24 carat gold--it's going to weigh the same everywhere!
Murray Leeder: Quark's "gold is good" in "Little Green Men" can be attributed to the fact that at the time he was facing the proposition of living out the rest of his life in this "primitive society", so he figured that gold was as good as he was going to get.
Chris Whitehead: I e-mailed you the other day to tell you that I had found a site that may explain the Constitution-class ship seen in the TNG episode "The Best of Both Worlds". I didn't have the URL at the time, but I do now. It's http://frankg.dgne.com/sfsd/index.html and the page is called "Starfleet Ship Designs. Looking under the "New Orleans" class, there is a picture of the Kyushu, both from the ST Encyclopedia and from TBOBW. The wreckage of the Kyushu does look sort of like a constitution-class ship. There is also a "Rigel"-class ship, the Tolstoy, which has a Galaxy-type saucer attached to a Constitution-type engineering section. The ship also has 3 warp nacelles. A picture is given from TBOBW.
Matthias Roth: A Constitution Class ship in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2"? Beginning with Mark Blankenship's comments in the 2/20/98 column
He is probably right. It really looks like the secondary hull of one of the movie Enterprises. The interesting thing is that after the commercial the flyby starts a few seconds earlier. But now the mysterious ship is missing! Maybe it was an intended gag...
(Phil, I sent you this nit some months ago together with a primitive sketch as attachment.)
C. Sapp: Here are the instructions for the Blueprints Offer from Pocket Books web site: http://www.simonsays.com/titles/0671536079/offer.html
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Mail this sticker, a 3" X 5" card with your name and address, a check or money order her $5.OO. and cash register receipt to:
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NOTE: Some of you may have difficulty removing the attached sticker from your Encyclopedia's cover intact. If this happens to you, we will accept parts of the sticker in addition to the required store receipt, the 3" x 5" card, and the $5.00.
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If I had not found the web page while browsing Pocket Books Star Trek site, I would not have known how to redeem the offer. Portions of my sticker's instructions were also unreadable, I almost believe that the strong adhesive was intentionally used.
Phil: No! Trek wouldn't do that would they? (Wink, wink)
Murray Leeder: It was Levar Burton who was in a seminary.
Phil: Thanks to Matt Cotnoir for sending this information along as well!
Craig Livingston: Regarding Mike Wilson's comments, when Chief O'Brien came to DS9 he was promoted to Senior Chief which would be an E-8(Master Sergeant or First Sergeant for us Army types). There was dialog in one of the early episodes where his rank was given as "Senior Chief Engineering Specialist". As to high ranking folks doing stuff, I totally agree that Trek handles this in a totally unrealistic way. Durring the five years I was in the Army, I don't remember officers doing anything but signing papers, holding meetings with each-other, and eating donuts. However, the officers do belive that doing important stuff, and viewed from thier (distorted) perspective maybe Trek does look realistic. I think Babylon 5 does a much better job of showing how stuff works, they always have the lower rank people scurrying around in the background, relatively in the dark about all the "important" stuff the officers are doing, and the recent episode "A View From the Gallery" was all about the totally different (and more labor intensive) perspective of the maintenance guys on B-5.
Chris George: I agree that Star Trek has really neglected the grunts. In fact, O'Brien and sergeant from "Imzadi" are about the only two noncoms that I can remember ever being mentioned in Trek. I always explained this problem, and O'Brien's random rank problem, away (actually, just came up with this 5 minutes ago) by saying during or possibly before the unseen Federation/Cardassian War, the Federation commissioned a ground force, almost a Federation Army. I'm thinking that shortly after Setlik III, the Federation decommissioned the ground forces and slowly tried to integrate them into the standard Starfleet ranks, but had problems integrating the ranks and positions. Makes a little sense, though completely unfounded.
Still, I would like to see more grunts on Trek.
Vince Hamilton of Fresno, CA: In the one of the recent DS9 episodes (the one where Dax, O'Brien, & Bashier shrink), I noticed that O'Brien didn't have a normal rank pip on his collar. Instead, he had some sort of half oval shaped symbol with a black mark on it. Was that the first episode it appeared there, or has it been there for a while? Also, do you know if this symbol stands for anything in particular?
Phil: I believe that started some time near the episode "Hipocratic Oath." I've always assumed that it's some kind of specialist's rank pin.
Daniel Tyman: Mike Wilson talked about non-coms in Trek. He made reference to Muniz, the non-com who died in "The Ship". But Muniz is also one of the many we've seen in the course of DS9. In "Starship Down" we see Muniz and another non-commisioned officer working hard to repair the ship. Although I can't think of anyothers off the top of my head, I remember many other crewmen seen in DS9, more than on the other shows.
As far as O'Brein, a Chief Petty Officer, doing dirty work on the station and the Defiant, I like to think he does it because he's the best man for the job. Sure, Crewman Joe Schmoe can handle it, but no one knows those systems like the Chief and when lives are on the line Miles, and the Captain, would feel best having him handle it.
An interesting note on this is seen in "Honor Among Thieves" but for those who have not seen the episode, I will not spoil it.
John Burke of Hyannis, MA: In the latest Ask the Chief there is some discussion about DS9's low sales, "unfulfilled potential" and "general malaise." A lot of that I cannot quibble with--DS9's ratings are undeniably low, and always have been. Still, I'm curious. I must admit that I was never a big Next Generation fan (I like the show now, but it took me a long time to warm up to it.) On the other hand, I was hooked on DS9 almost from the first episode. I'm not sure I can state why in so many words--it just clicked for me. I liked the characters, I liked Bajor, and I've liked most of the Dominion stuff. Sisko is my al-time favorite Trek character, with Garak a close second. Now, I realize this is an impossible question because every taste is different, and I'm certainly not trying to start an argument or insult anybody's opinion, but I've always been puzzled by the lack of enthusiam for DS9. So I'm hereby inviting you or anyone who reads the Nitpicker website who does not feel DS9 has lived up to it's potential to tell me what it is that people don't like about the show. Not trying to be difficult. I'm just curious. Can anybody help me?
Phil: I agree with John Latchem's comments above! I think this really comes down to how people feel about Bajor and the Bajor story arc. As I stated above in my response (in the much expanded version of this discussion), if I hadn't started with Classic Trek and NextGen and had such an investiment in them--or is DS9 was called something other than Star Trek--if would be a whole lot easier for me to lock into the show. So, if you start with DS9, you'll have an entirely different viewpoint! And there a plenty of Trek fans who--though they started with NextGen or Classic Trek--still feel that DS9 is the best show on the block. Not enough of them, unfortunately, but there are Trek fans out there who feel that way! (And . . .as I've said over and over, everyone has a right to their own opinion!)
Laurel Iverson, New London, MN: Regarding your answer to Mike Deeds' question in the 2/27/98 column ("You have often stated that the ratings for Voyager are too low to interest Dell in a Nitpicker's Guide. How were the ratings high enough for DS9 to interest them?"), perhaps sales of the DS9 guide will increase when DS9 repeats are syndicated in more areas.
I really enjoy using the Next Gen guides as a reference when syndicated episodes are shown nightly, but since I don't get DS9 (except for the current season), I haven't purchased a DS9 guide. I will, I will, I promise, but probably when they start showing the episodes in syndication in my area.
Phil: Thanks for the promise! Unfortunately, I haven't seen any evidence that DS9 is picking up steam in syndication. And in the book publishing business, if a book doesn't do well in the beginning , book stores won't reorder! ;-)
Robert Cook: It's my understanding that the Fox network lost its shirt with this series- it was *very* expensive to produce, and despite being given a good time slot and massive amounts of publicity, it just didn't bring in the rating numbers. The chances of it coming back are basically zero.
Phil: Well, I wouldn't call 6PM a good time slot for sci-fi but the show did look very expensive to produce!
Joe McLaughlin Jr. of Medway, MA: Space: Above and Beyond is now on the Sci-Fi Channel. It premiered not to long ago with some other series that were cancelled like Sliders, American Gothic, and Earth 2. Actually, Sliders is premiering on March 2 at 9 PM EST and is coming out with new episodes in June. You would have to check your local listing for your time, or check http://www.scifi.com/sliders. Space: Above and Beyond and Earth 2 are on Sunday evenings beginning at 7 PM EST. You can also look at http://www.scifi.com/ for the listings of those programs in your area too. But there is no plan to make new episodes for the series.
Phil: Thanks to Anne Stockwell and Aaron Nadler for sending along this information as well.
On to the questions, I am way, way behind this morning! . . .
Mike Cheyne:What is your all-time favorite TV show? Movie? FOR ME, Movie: It's a Wonderful Life TV: the last episode of M*A*S*H
Phil: Tough to pick favorites but among the movies: Princess Bride, The Gods Must Be Crazy, Monty Python's Holy Grail. Episodes? "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" "Best of Both Worlds, Part One." Like that and like that.
Terry Boring: I have seen M: I at least 20 times and I still just don't get it. Especially the "No more cold war" speech. Someone please tell me who was good, who was bad, who's side they were on, and what was there motive.
Phil: Hoo-boy. Been a long time since I've seen the movie and I'm out of time today. Anybody want to try this? (If not, I'll take a stab at it next week.)
Matthew Patterson: What is with the pictures on the back cover ov the first two Guides? They look like they came out of a high school yearbook or something.
Phil: The NextGen Guide had an old picture of me because Jeanne Cavelos forgot to get an author photo from me until the day before she was supposed to have it! ("Um, Phil, do you have a black and white photo of yourself?" "Yeah, it's an old one but yeah." "Could you send it to?" "Sure." "Could you send it to me . . . overnight?") The question is: Did you notice the difference between the photos in The NextGen Guide and The Classic Guide? And can you guess why?
Karen Knizek: Hey, I wanted to ask you a question about Startrek: The Motion Picture, and StarTrek: The Wrath of Khan. Supposedly, the enterprise was refitted in 2271 (TMP) and the design wasn't changed any more since than, then why do the bridge chairs, and some of the digital buttons look different in the Wrath of Khan?
Phil: Ah those wild and crazy set designers just hate leaving well enough alone!
Vincent: I heard a rumor that Paramount is not too pleased with the new Star Trek TNG movie because it reminds them to much of a feature legth episode. I have no idea if this is true or not, but would it be such a bad thing? I think that there are alot of TNG shows that would have been great for the movies, keeping in mind that with a higher budget and more time it would look and work better. What do you think? That's a good question for the guild. Which episodes whould have made good movies?
I think Chain of Command (Picard captured by Cardassians) would have made a great movie. Keep in mind that it would be bigger because of budget. Think of that ending with the nebula with big screen movie affects. Also Reunion(With Worf meeting Alexander) and All Good Thing (the last Episode) but the best would of course be Best Of Both Worlds!!!
Phil: I leave the rumors to the rumor mill and as for the rest, I leave it to you fellow-nitpickers!
Robert J. Woolley: Have we had any official explanation or plausible speculation as to why the lights on the Voyager bridge always dim when the ship goes to red alert?
Phil: That's so everyone can go, "Ooo, we're in trouble now!"
Nick Oven: Are you sure a Star Wars guide would really be a good idea? I think those three movie are probably the most nitpicked of all time (look at the "trivia" and "Goofs" sections at the Internet Movie Database [www.imdb.com] for proof.). Do you think you would be able to come up with any new, original material? Also, would you be able to fill up a book that's as large as the other guides, from only THREE movies?
Phil: You might want to check back a few weeks in the Ask the Chief column. We spent some time discussing this! As to content, the Star Wars Guide will include the three movies, approximately 31 novels (all from Bantam since those are authoritative), approximately 15 comic book collection from Dark Horse (since those are authoritive), approximately 35 young reader and young adult novels (all from Bantam since those are authoritative.) I'm out of time so I can't give you a fuller explanation but I'll make it all turn out right. Trust me!
Ray Andrade: With the second most recent episode of Voyager "Restrospect" I have concluded that if Janeway is interpeting the Prime directive correctly the Federation is as zero-growth as the Borg.
Evidence!
Voyager has bent backwards to procure highly advanced technology far beyond their technology level. Sure they should be commend for this. Unfortunatly when the alien race asks for a fair exchange (i.e. replication technology) Janeway refuses on the basis of disrupting the technology of the sector by giving an alien race an edge as stated in the Prime directive.
Were not talking about a pre-atomic civilization or a bunch of cave men, were talking about advanced space-faring people! In other words the Federation shall never give technology to a race that doesn't posses the knowlege to build it. In reality the Federetion EXPECTS to reap the rewards of an alien civ's hard research yet never sell them the laurels of Federation know-how. How pompus!
In "Retrospect" Voyager purchases a powerfull weapon they do not have the knowledge to build. Kovin asks for Voyager's astrogation technology in exchange. Watch Janeway as she fumbles a flimsy "specialy designed for Voyager" excuse to Kovin and offers a bunch of isolinear chips (which are easily replicated) in exchange. And before you say "Maybe isolinear chips are hard to replicate" I am only aware of gold pressed latinum as imposible to replicate. The chips are shown to be within common knowledge of most spacefaring species and are probably as common as a 555 timing chip in our 20th century market.
Not only has "Retrospect" shown the alteration of the prime directive but encounters with the Kazon and many more advanced spacefaring species in previous episode have proven that the Federation is greedy and selfish in its trade policies.
Imagine this thinking superimposed on our world. IBM sells thosands of buisness compters to third world countries. Last time I checked Kasakztan,Ethiopia,South America,Argentina ....etc do not have many (or any) computer factories Let alone the scientists to build them. Lets go back into history. In the mid 14-1500's Portugesse traders sold firearms and the process to build them to the Japanesse. Now the Japanesse of the 14th century were not cavemen, with the exception of firearms their tecnology level was equal to western civilization and even more advanced in some other areas like steel production (for one example).The Japanesse went on to use these weapons to end the warlord era of their history and they enjoyed 200 years of actual peace as a result of their endevour. Imagine if the Portugesse refused to sell them due to some ill-concieved "Prime Directive" who knows how long Japan would have continued their civil war or how difrent modern history would have been. Who knows how long America would have waited before entering WWII without Pearl Harbor?
Either Janeway is misinterpeting the Prime directive or the Federation is a narrow-minded and stubborn institution with a long standing closed door policy to the trade of advanced technology. Yet another proof The Federation leans towards a Communist government structure if Janeway is correct.
Looking back to the history of the show I don't blame the Kazon and the others for attempting to claim the advanced technology of a few selfish aliens blowing through their backyard.
Hope my observation opens a few minds out there.
Phil: No time to open my mind today! Got to get to work and I'm late!
Tony Trimboli: Wanted to get your opinion about the new Jem-hadar in DS9. Seems like there is room for all sorts of developments with that. The obvious is the rivalry between the alphas & gammas. Looks like the alphas may be better warriors, but the gammas are more clever and insightful. That could be an advantage for Starfleet.
The alphas seem to have a more defined personal ego than the gammas. The alphas seem to be pretty independent, not paying homage to the founders. Could end up with the alphas breaking away from the Dominion, possibly the first time an alpha is given orders he doesn't like from a Vorta.
That could change the entire balance of power. The Cardassians could be in real trouble too, as the Jem-hadar flat out don't like them. If Starfleet plays their cards right, they could end up getting out of this war.
Was wondering if anybody else had any ideas on where they might go with this.
Also, regarding the mini runabout, I thought the episode was pretty good, until my local station aired the TNG episode where Picard, Roe, Guinan and Keiko were shrunk down to children. Same basic plot, slightly different techno items.
Phil: Unfortunately, I MISSED "One Little Ship"! Arrgh! But, I'm sure there are Guild members who would like to comment.
Aaron Nadler, New Cumberland, PA: Hey Phil, I read this weeks "This Week at Nitcentral" file, and I saw that you are starting a Star Wars guide. Do you have a year set for the Voyager guide? Or is that your next mission? Oh well, I hope I see it.
Phil: No date set for a Voyager Guide! Have plenty of material just not enough flash. We'll see.
Lisa Shock: I've noticed that the volume of messages has been growing a great deal lately, and a few files were frozen very early because of the size of the file. I would like to make a request of my fellow nitpickers: could we cut down a bit on the chit-chat in postings of nits to episode files? I think a few more nits could fit in if we all cut back on some of the commentaries...
Phil: Everyone's got a right ot their own opinions! ;-)
Jim Coyle: The March 7th issue of TV Guide reports that Terry Farrell didn't renew her contract for season 7 of DS9; in fact, she's quoted as saying she'd "like to see Dax killed off". Any more news on this?
On a totally unrelated note, I know this is not a Babylon 5 forum, but I'm wondering if you can answer a question. Steven Furst, who plays Vir Koto, looks terribly ill. He used to be on the heavy side, but now he looks emaciated. Is the actor ill or just on a major weight-loss program? Thanks.
Phil: Couldn't say on Steven Furst. I don't follow the lives of the actors but someone here may know! As far as Dax goes, (SPOILER AHEAD, SPOILER AHEAD, SPOILER AHEAD, SPOILER AHEAD, SPOILER AHEAD) there is a rumor that Jadzia will die at the end of this season.
Laurel Iverson, New London, MN: PHIL: This isn't a question directly related to Nitpicking, so I will understand if you choose not to include it in your column.
I have a Next Gen "How to Host a Mystery" game from several years ago that I am only now planning to use. Guests take on the personna of Next Gen characters, and then in between dinner courses, we solve a mystery. The information recommends a menu that is basically Cornish game hens with fruit for dessert. That didn't seem too authentic. I think that there should, of course, be some Earl Grey tea, and maybe some hot fudge sundaes, in honor of Deanna. I was hoping that you and the Guild could offer some other ideas that would better represent the show and satisfy my guests: Beverly, Data, Deanna, Geordi, Guinan, Ro, Will and Worf. Thanks.
Phil: Have at it fellow nitpickers! There was a time when Steve Ettlinger and I proposed a Star Trek Cookbook to Pocket books. It was going to list everything shown in the shows and have recipes for creating it! Along with favorite recipes of the actors and a whole meal-planning and party-planning schedule in the back. Pocket turns us down because they had something like 15 other offers and one of them was from Majel Barrett-Roddenbery so they were going to probably award it to her. Hmmm. Seen a Trek Cookbook lately?
D. David Will, Jr.: I have a request. I this, another season of sports, the station, Fox11, has been showing Star Trek: DS9 and others "Already in Progress". Frankly, that really CHEESES me. I was wondering if you could send e-mails to the fellow guild members asking them to send letters or e-mails to Fox11 or any other station that does this asking them to play the shows in their complete form. (I don't know about you but it was really hard to watch tonights episode after missing the first fifteen minutes due the Penguins vs. Bruins NHL game.) If you could do this for me, I would be grateful. I also plan to put a message in all of the Star Trek newsgroups on the net that I can find. Thanx for your help.
Phil: The sad fact is this. Sports rates higher--a LOT higher--than Trek. And that's the way it is, friends and neighbors!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
If you would like to submit a question or comment, send it to: chief@nitcentral.com with "Ask the Chief" or "Question" in the Subject line. (Remember the legalese: Everything you submit becomes mine and you grant me the right to use your name in any future publication by me.)
Copyright 1998 by Phil Farrand. All rights reserved.