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Okay! I only have until 10AM to do this column and then I have to get back to the Star Wars Guide. I have to read Shadows of the Empire today--marking it up for nits as I go--and write a plot summary. Lots to do. First, some comments from previous columns . . .
Ryan Smith: The WB affiliate here added UPN to its schedule, making it WB/UPN, and now WB is moving to another affiliate and no one seems to know when they will be running either of the current Trek series ... agh!
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: I find Voyager being taken off humorous since here in Hamitlon, ON that there are 5 stations that show Voyager. There is WUTV-Fox 29 in Buffalo, 3 stations owned by a company called ChumCity - CITY-TV, CFPL-TV and The New VR. We also receive a pay channel of a UPN station from Boston - WSBK. We also receive 3 pay stations that are part of the WB network.
Joshua Truax: Chief... Considering UPN's seemingly hopeless situation (personally, I'd say that network has one more year of life left, tops), many contributors to this column have suggested that Paramount "euthanize" UPN and move Voyager to syndication. However, I recall reading somewhere that most of the Voyager cast is only signed on through next season. If this is true, then it seems highly unlikely to me that Paramount would bother to do this. More likely, if they were to kill off UPN they would also kill off the Voyager series as well, before they would have to give most of the regular cast raises to stay on...
Tom Elmore, Columbia SC: Here's two things I thought you might be interested in.
1.Mike Duffy of the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain is saying that Voyager has "already [been] renewed or headed that way."
2. This is more of an oberservation. Last week it was announced that CBS would be launching a new late-night program on Saturdays to compete with Saturday Night Live. Radio shock-jock Howard Stern will be host for this new show. Here's the thing I think DS9 fans need to think about. In my market (Columbia SC) DS9 comes on at 11:30 on a CBS channel, and given the hype and money being put into to Stern's show I'm sure there will be a lot of pressure put on them and every other CBS affiliate to air Stern's program.
This means that DS9 could either be forced to change stations in some areas or be dropped altogether. Given the fact that DS9 ratings have been disappointing even with all the changes over the last few seasons, I am afraid that many stations will opt for cancellation. I t will be interesting to see if TPTB at Paramont takes into consideration Stern's show in making any decisions for the 98-99 season of DS9, assuming that there is one.
John Burke: In the latest "Ask the Chief" Column, Terry Mitchell Hulett has a complaint about my linking the Star Wars comics with the children's books.His (or her) points are well taken, but he has misinterpreted my comments.I never meant to insult the Star Wars comics, or to imply that they are just for kids.(Actually, I never meant to *insult* the children's books either,but that's beside the point.) To clear up what I did mean:
1) The young adult books don't strike me as being as "official" as the adult books, and therefore I'm not sure about their inclusion.
2) The "main" comics, Dark Empire and the X-Wing stuff, are perfectly "official" and I wasn't really talking about them. All I meant was there are *so many* comics now, and it would be pushing it to say that they are all cannonical, so therefore I also wasn't really sure about their inclusion.
3) I *was not* making any statement about the quality of the comics. On the contrary, from what I've seen they are of a very high quality. I agree that not all comic books are "just for kids," and I understand that many people take the medium very seriously.
4) Regarding Terry's last point, about my missing out on great stories because I don't collect the comics: That's absolutely true. I've always wanted to read the Dark Horse comics, but they're so darn expensive, and I only have so much money...Oh, well. Maybe I'll find them at a garage sale one day.
Anyway, my main point was that I never meant to malign the comics, and I'm sorry if Terry took it that way. So to all you comics readers out there: No offense, huh?
Mike Deeds: If you can't use the words "Star Wars" for your guide due to copyrights, I have a silly idea. How about "The Nitpicker's Guide Full of" :
Ryan Whitney, Evanston, IL: Suggestions for the Star Wars Nitpicker's Guide:
May the Force Be Nitpicked! (Note from Phil: That's cute!) The Nitpicker's Guide For Rebel Scum (Note from Phil: Like this too but don't think it would fly.) The Nitpicker's Guide For Obi-Wannabies (Note from Phil: Very, very good! But . . .)
David Tayman: I suggest only the stories that have direct concequences in other novels. Like:
Dark Empire (1, 2, Empire's End)
Tales of the Jedi (TOTJ, Freedon Nadd Uprising, Dark Lords of the Sith,
Sith War, etc)
Shadows of the Empire
Do NOT do Rogue Squadron, being that it is an unlimited series, with an unlimited number of Stories. suggestions :)
PS- If you haven't read them already, I FULLY suggest the Tales of the Jedi saga. All th important chapters are available in Trade Paperback book form! It links in with Dark Empire 2 in a cool way, and explores the early Jedi, and the origins of the sith! DARK LORDS OF THe SITH was co-written by Kevin J. Anderson, and the Sith War, and so forth were fully written by KJA. They explain the origins of Exar Kn who is found in KJA's Dark Apprentice.
Joshua Truax: As for Matthew Patterson's comment about the celebration sequence at the end of "Return of the Jedi" Special Edition: There may have been a huge presence of Imperial troops on the Imperial Center planet, but they wouldn't be much good without Darth Vader or Emperor Palpatine. It's my understanding that the Stormtroopers were loyal to the Empire only because of the vast influence that Vader and the Emperor had on their minds, with the Dark Side of the Force. Without their influence, it's more likely that as the celebration went on around them, the Stormtroopers -- perhaps *former* Stormtroopers would be more accurate -- on Imperial Center were just standing around wondering why they were still wearing those silly white helmets and body armor...
Speaking of Star Wars, I have not yet had occasion to comment on your next project, the Star Wars Nitpicker's Guide. (Personally, I prefer the title "The Nitpicker's Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away" that was suggested by another contributor.) I am definitely looking forward to it! Just don't forget to include my all-time favorite nit from the Star Wars trilogy: About halfway through the lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and Vader in "A New Hope", watch Obi-Wan's lightsaber. For a few seconds it looks like it's fizzling out! (This must be the real reason why Obi-Wan let Vader kill him: He realized there was no way he was going to beat Vader with a malfunctioning lightsaber that could give out on him completely at any moment, so he decided to surrender and get it over with!) When the Special Edition came out I figured George Lucas and company might correct this, but lo and behold, it was still there!
Phil: Speaking of this nit, I considered it. If it's the same one I'm thinking of the lightsaber is pointed somewhat directly at the camera at the time. So, I didn't include the nit because we really don't know what the lightsaber would look like head-on!
Erin Hunt of High Point, NC: I think you should call your Star Wars guide "The Nitpicker's Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away" even if it turns out you can use the Star Wars name. It's a catchy title, it still makes it clear what the book is about and it suggests the fact that you're nitpicking the Star Wars *universe*, not just the movies.
Robert J. Woolley: I know that preparing the Guides truly is an enormous amount of work. But I have this amusing vision of you sitting in a La-Z-Boy recliner with your feet up, nice music on the stereo, a nice fire in the fireplace, a tray of snacks under your right hand, and the 19th consecutive Star Wars novel in your lap. Your wife steps in and asks you to take out the trash. Phil snaps. "Can't you see I'm WORKING, woman?!"
John Latchem: I hope you are going to do a sidebar which lists some of the nice touches Lucas put into his trilogy.
Also I have an idea for a sidebar. You could ask people to send in Pop Culture Star Wars references that they see in life and the media, and you could print a lot of these as examples of how SW has seeped into our culture. You know stuff like the Energizer Commercial with Darth Vader, or throwaway references in film and TV. A recent episode of "Boy Meets World" featured a couple of the main characters playing in "Hamlet" and they got to the sword fight and one leans in and whispers "Prepare to die Jedi Master." You could also have people send in stuff about films and shows ripping off Star Wars. Like the SWS I sent in for Star Trek episodes. A more recent example is in "The Man in the Iron Mask" when (major spoilers ahead) D'artagnan reveals he is the father of Louis XIV and the Man in the Iron Mask. Someone in the theater I was in actually shouted out "Luke, I am your Father!" The ensuing scene of the dying D'artagnan and his concerned son is framed almost exactly like the end of ROTJ, except the kid is wearing the mask. But he does yell for them to take it off, presumbably to look upon his father with his own eyes.
I mean you obviously don't have the time to look for such references yourself but if others send them in you can put them aside and look at them last, when the rest of the book is done. And it would give a lot of people a chance to contribute.
Phil: Sounds like fun to me! Not absolutely sure if i'll use it but if we can get together a list and I'm reasonably sure of it's veracity, I'll consider using it! Also, if we want to start collecting "nice touches" in the triology, I might fold that into a sidebar as well. (I'm in such a rush to get the nitpicking done on this one, I might miss them!!! ;-)
Scott Padulsky: You mentioned in your weekly note that you are starting your Star Wars Guide novel reading with the Han Solo Trilogy. I do not think this is a good idea. I think you would be better off reading the novels in order in which they were published rather than the order in which they occur chronologically in the Star Wars universe. There are so many cross-refernces and intentional foreshawdowing in the novels that by reading them in publishing order you will not only enjoy the stories more (although I must warn you that as a general rule, the Star Wars novels are pretty bad, IMO) but get a better feel for the fictional chracters which show up in several stories. Which reminds me, for the novels, will you section of "Changed Premises" consider publication date or solely chronological date? I think publication date is a better judge since the novels in which the secondary chracters are created set up any premises regarding them. Should someone write a story set earlier with a given chracter (and please note I am only speaking of the chracters from the novels, not the guys from the movies that are in the novels) and contradict something from a novel that came out earlier but is set later, it is the later-published novel that deserves the nit (understand what I mean?). Also, I think you should make a note as to which authors create which characters and consider those "canon." I mention this because I've noticed that several characters seem to have different personalities when written by an author other than the one who created them (Mara Jade is a good example of this). Just letting you know my opinion. (oh, by the way, should you be unable to use the name Star Wars in your title, the previously given suggestion of ".....Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away" is perfect!)
Phil: I *will* do a sidebar on the whole canonicity issue and offer my opinion on it. As for the novels, I've considered all the option but the only thing that really makes sense to me is a chronological listing. Otherwise, it gets really, really confusing for the reader of the Guide and you end up with trilogies being broken up with other series and then it gets to be a mess!
Vincent Morrone: I understand that your writing a Star Wars guide and you were looking for a name for it. I guess you have to be carfull because of copyright and all that (Which is why it was called Nitpickers guide to next gen). Anyway I have few for you.
Star Nits
Nit Wars
The Nitpickers Strike Back (My personal Favorate)
Return Of The NitPickers
The Imperial Nitpicker Guide
Or
The Jedi's Nitpickers Guide.
Well what do you think? Maybe their cool or maybe they suck. I don't know. But they are yurs if you wat them. In fact, it would be an honor if you choose one of these names.
Phil: I shall consider them!
Laurel Iverson, New London, MN: I am still trying to decide on a menu for my "How to Host a Next Gen Mystery" dinner (haven't set a date yet, so there's no hurry) so I was researching Star Trek food a little on the internet. I came across somone's website that had food references and noticed that they had a lot of teas on Next Gen. I belong to a tea lovers e-mail group, so I sent them this list:
Andonian tea: Offered to Captain Picard by Admiral Aaron while he visited Starfleet Headquarters in 2364.
Earl Grey tea: A blended black tea flavored with bergamot or lavender oil. A favorite of Captain Picard who ordered it through the ships food replicator; hot.
Ginger tea: Made from the root of the reedlike plant Zingiber officinale. Used by Captain Picard's Aunt Adele to treat the common cold.
Jestral tea: A favorite beverage of Lwaxana Troi.
Lapsang souchong tea: A beverage enjoyed by Helena Rozhenko;
Mareuvian tea: A beverage served by Guinan in Ten Forward.
Mint tea: Made from the leaves of a menthe plant. It was a favorite of Perrin, the wife of Ambassador Sarek.
Valerian root tea: Favorite beverage of Lieutenant Deanna Troi.
One of the gals on the tea list who is also a Star Trek fan asked this question: "Wasn't there an herbal tea that Picard started drinking after falling in love with the one female scientist? It was in the last season and she advised him that no wonder he was always so rigid because he drank that caffinated Earl Gray."
Obviously, my e-mail friend means the episode "Lessons" (which was in the sixth season). Does anybody know what the tea was?
Phil: If I recall it was Nella Darrin's personal blend!
Shirley Kolb: The latest Star Trek Communicator (#116) had several items I thought you might find of interest.
1) On page 9 there were 2 questions to Rick Berman about DS9. Question 1: "You had said last time we spoke that you felt optimistic that Deep Space Nine would have a seventh season. Is there anything official yet on a seventh season?"
Answer 1: "There is nothing official yet but I can say that I am even more optimistic now than I was a month ago."
Question 2: "Do you predict that the entire cast will be back if there is a seventh season?"
Answer 2: "I absolutely predict that the entire cast will be back."
Phil, I feel this should lay to rest the rumors about Terry Farrell leaving. I think Paramount just played on the rumors to try to keep people's interest up. Besides that, in my opinion, if she was leaving, I think they would have killed her off in the episode "Change of Heart." It would have been a perfect opportunity.
2) From page 15 in a column called "Data Access" by Richard Arnold & Stephen Armstrong, we find what I call "the wimp-out answer of the year". Here is the ? and answer:
Q: In the Voyager episode "Year of Hell - Part 1", why doesn't the Voyager crew know the temporal variance of the cronoton torpedoes of the Krenim ships? Didn't Kes tell the crew about the Krenim and the variance of their torpedoes when she was on board and traveling back in time in the episode "Before & After"?
A: In "Before and After", we saw Kes revert all the way back to a single cell, so when the process was reversed and she was returned to "normal", she would have no memory of the events from the "year of hell", nor the Krenim or their torpedoes nor would any of the Voyager's crew.
Phil - Doesn't this answer contradict dialogue from the episode "Before & After"? It is "let's explain away bad writing by making a definitive answer even if it doesn't make sense." (in my opinion.) (Note from Phil: If I recall, Kes does tell them about the events at the end of the episode, does she not?)
Ryan Smith: I've seen the Star Wars Special Edition at least four times on TV since January and I've noticed something interesting. Not only do they show the Stormtrooper whacking his head on the door, the audio guys dubbed in a very hollow-sounding metallic clang for it! No wonder these guys can't hit anything.
Corey Hines, Hamilton, On: Where and which movie did a stormtrooper bang his head and on what?
Phil: Star Wars: A New Hope. When the storm troopers break into the command bay that holds C3PO and R2D2 (They hide in the closet.) Watch the guy on the right as the stormtroopers march in!
Mike Deeds: Here is my email "proving" (wink, wink) that The X-Files and Seinfeld (the show about "nothing") exist in the same fictional universe. It starts with the XF/Homicide/St. Elsewhere connection mentioned previously.
The "Cheers" bar appeared on an episode of "St. Elsewhere". The character Frasier Crane (from "Frasier") originated on "Cheers". An episode of "Caroline in the City" had the character Del write one of Caroline's comic strips. The end of the episode showed characters from "Frasier" reading that strip. On "Friends", Joey and Chandler ran into Caroline. A recurring character of "Mad About You" is Ursula who is the twin sister of Phoebe from "Friends". Finally, an early episode of "Mad About You" revealed that Paul subleased his old bachelor apartment to Kramer from "Seinfeld"! Thus, XF and "Seinfeld" exist in the same fictional universe! However, somehow, I doubt that the final episode of "Seinfeld" will feature Mulder and Scully investigating Kramer's UFO abduction.
Seriously, my answer still remains that crossovers (i.e. Homicide, Law and Order, The Simpsons, etc.) should not be used to nitpick The X-Files. Nitpickers should not expect continuity from different TV shows from different creative teams. The only show that I think that it is fair to use to nitpick XF is "Millennium" since it has the same creator and the Jose Chung episode established that they exist in the same fictional universe.
[Oh, and,] Early Edition just had a crossover with Chicago Hope. Earlier, Homicide did a crossover with CH. So, we have The X-Files - Homicide - Chicago Hope - Early Edition.
Ryan Whitney, Evanston, IL: Perhaps the situation is somewhat like it is in the universe of Marvel Comics. The major Marvel Comics universe includes Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, etc. The Spider-Man comics tie in to the X-Men comics, and so on. However, within the Marvel Universe, Marvel Comics exists, and it publishes Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men, and Fantastic Four comics, based on the exploits of the heroes of its universe.
This is probably more plausable with "Mad About You", since the phrase generally doesn't pop up in the lives of Paul and Jamie, and the "Mad About You" within "Mad About You" & "Seinfeld" could easily be about characters not named Paul and Jamie.
Vicki: Here's another St. Elsewhere crossover. There's a guy in the psych ward with amnesia who thinks he is Mary Richards in the Mary Tyler Moore show, but he doesn't think its a TV show he thinks its the real world. They call him John Doe, followed by a numeral. Some sort of inspector(probably meant to be from Joint Commision for Hospital Accreditation) comes to the hospital. The inspector is played by Betty White and John Doe follows her around calling her Sue Anne or Sue Ellen or whatever the character on the Mary Tyler Moore Show was called.
Bill Alston, Concord N.C.: I have the theory that the X-files, homicide, etc. etc. etc. is actually happening in the Slider's multiverse, I admit that I would have liked to have seen a Sliders/X-files crossover but with Sliders having gone to the sci-fi channel that now seems unlikely.
Scott: Another case of shows that improbably share not only the same universe but also the same time is Hercules,Xena and Sinbad. Hercules and Xena are of course understandable however if you re-watch the Xena episode Been There..Done That in that scene where Xena is talking to the guy about what is going on he says "I expected Hercules or at least Sinbad."or words to that effect. This means that not only is Sinbad set in the same universe but in the same time as HercXena which would be imossible,although it would make for an interesting crossover!:) On the other hand in Yes Virginia There Is A Hercules it seems to be implied that not only are the ancient Greek Gods real(Ares and Strife appear towards the end)but kevin Sorbo is really Hercules in disguise!!!!!!:) The Xena Scrolls also seem to imply the same thing about the Greek Gods except in that episode Ares is not loose. At this point I wouldn't be surprised to find that Conan also shares the same universe as the others. Also from the X-Men/Star Trek comic book and novel crossovers it appears that both the X-Men and the crews of the Enterprise are from the same universe. Of course they are kind of,both Star Trek and X-Men comics are published by Marvel! Scott
Phil: Remember we talk about the "divine inflation" a couple of weeks ago? One of the results of this is what I call "neo-gnosticism"--a seperating of the Glossy-World from the Real-World and an approving of everything that happens in the Glossy-World no matter what it is simply because it is occuring in the Glossy-World. ("Oh, you know my daughter, the actress? She just landed her first part in a movie. It's just so wonderful. She's playing a drunken prostitute who kills her boyfriend over five dollars and she's really terrific in the role!")
Well, this week, my wife read me a quote from the newspaper that amazed even me in regards to this whole divine inflation thing. It follows:
Sexy "Wild Things" costar Denise Richards hopes her dad is into self-censorship. The 25 year-old actress plays a high-school chreeleader who . . . (Note from Phil: Nevermind, we don't need this part).
"They definitely want to see the movie," Richards said of her parents, who live in San Diego. "But I don't want my dad to see my breasts. I'm just hoping he'll cover his eyes."
From Someone Identified Only as The Anomaly: Previously, I asked about the missing footage from Generations and whether it had been restored anywhere. The first scene could not have been restored, since the soundtrack would need major editing. Kirk's orbital skydiving stunt was interwoven with the christening sequence. The enclosed link tells you *everything* that was dropped from the movie. AFAIK, the info was provided by Ron Moore, since this page is from a site that archives his comments.
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/6952/altgen.txt
Matt Nelson: Okay, this scene has been bandied much about, but it was *never* in theaters. I readit in the novelization, and it was in the original script, but I *know* it never made it to the big screen. Why am I so sure? I saw that movie SIX TIMES on the big screen. After that many, you pretty well know what's in it.
Phil: There's a little secret about Hollywood that not many know. There's isn't one grand master of the final film usually. Films that are released nation-wide simultaneously often have many masters made to ease the duplication process. And here's where it gets fun: The guys who cut the masters together are not paid extraordinarily well. It's fairly menial and boring work. So . . . it's it quite possible to have masters differ. And that means some people see extra footage that was supposed to be cut! (At least, that's what I'm told!)
Christopher L Querry: NOTE TO CHIEF: I SENT YOU THIS LIST MONTHS AGO!!!! THE IDEA IS YEARS OLD!!! (Note from Phil: Does that make it a bad idea? While this column is an official publication of Nitpicker Central, we're just chatting here more than anything else! ;-)
Unfortunately, it is not up to date.
Star Trek "Death and Life" Scenario Tote Board
JAD = Just A Dream. Person apparently died, however the entire experience wasn"t real.
NDY = Not Dead Yet. Reports of death have been greatly exaggerated.
STL = Saw The Light. Person technically died, but returned to life. Person may remember the experience.
TAF = The Alternate Factor. Dead person replaced by alternate.
TWA = Time Warp Again. Person died, but time was changed by something or someone who may recall "original" death.
01. "What Are Little Girls Made Of?": Roger Korby NDY.
02. "Court Martial": Ben Finney NDY.
03. "Shore Leave": Leonard H. McCoy STL.
04. "Space Seed": Khan N. Singh and company NDY.
05. "The City on the Edge of Forever": Edith Keeler TWA.
06. "The City on the Edge of Forever": Uncounted numbers of life-formsTWA.
07. "Metamorphosis": Zefram Cochrane NDY.
08. "Amok Time": James T. Kirk NDY.
09. "The Changeling": Montgomery Scott STL.
10. "Spectre of the Gun": Pavel A. Chekov JAD.
11. "The Tholian Web": J. Kirk NDY.
12. "Requiem for Methuselah": Artist formerly known as Leonardo da
Vince, Reginald Pollack, Sten, Brahms, Alexander, Merlin, Solomon,
Lazarus, and Abramson NDY.
13. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: Spock STL.
14. "Code of Honor": Yareena STL.
15. "Haven": Tarellians NDY.
16. "Skin of Evil" and "Yesterday"s Enterprise": Natasha Yar TAF.
17. "The Neutral Zone": Claire Raymond, Sonny Clemonds, and Ralph Offenhouse STL.
18. "The Schizoid Man": Ira Graves NDY.
19. "Time Squared": Crew of the Enterprise-D TWA.
20. "Pen Pals": Sarjenka STL.
21. "Who Watches the Watchers": Mintakan native STL.
22. "The Vengeance Factor": Yuta NDY.
23. "Yesterday"s Enterprise": Uncounted numbers of life-forms TWA.
24. "Yesterday"s Enterprise": William T. Riker TWA.
25. "The Most Toys": Data NDY.
26. "Brothers": Noonien Soong and Lore NDY.
27. "Suddenly Human": Jeremiah Rossa/Jono NDY.
28. "Data"s Day": T"Pel/Selok NDY.
29. "Ethics": Worf STL.
30. "Cause and Effect": Crew of Enterprise-D TWA.
31. "The Next Phase": Geordi La Forge and Ro Laren NDY.
32. "Relics": M. Scott NDY.
33. "Emissary" and "Shattered Mirror": Jennifer Sisko TAF.
34. "A Man Alone": Ibudan NDY.
35. "Tapestry": Jean-Luc Picard STL.
36. "The Passenger": Rao Vantika NDY.
37. "Move Along Home": Julian S. Bashir JAD.
38. "Suspicions": Jo"Bril NDY.
39. "Rightful Heir": Kahless TAF.
40. "Timescape": Crew of Enterprise-D TWA.
41. "The Homecoming": Li Nalas NDY.
42. "Gambit, Part I": J. Picard NDY.
43. "Inheritance": Juliana Tainer TAF.
44. "Armageddon Game": J. Bashir and Miles E. O"Brien NDY.
45. "Firstborn": Worf TWA.
46. "All Good Things...": Crews of three Enterprise-Ds TWA.
47. "The Search, Part II": Elim Garak JAD.
48. Star Trek Generations: J. Kirk NDY.
49. Star Trek Generations: The crew of Enterprise-D and the population
of Veridian IV TWA.
50. "Past Tense, Part II": Uncounted numbers of life-forms TWA.
51. "Time and Again": Kathryn Janeway, Thomas E. Paris, and population of a Class-M planet TWA.
52. "Life Support": Bareil STL.
53. "Visionary": M. O"Brien TWA.
54. "Visionary": M. O"Brien TAF.
55. "Through the Looking Glass": Benjamin Sisko TAF.
56. "Cathexis": Chakotay STL.
57. "The 37"s": Amelia Earhart and uncounted numbers of life-forms NDY.
58. "Non Sequitur": T. Paris TWA.
59. "The Visitor": B. Sisko NDY.
60. "The Visitor": Jake Sisko TWA.
61. "Threshold": T. Paris STL.
62. "Accession": Akorem Laan NDY.
63. "Deadlock": Harry Kim and Wildman baby TAF.
64. "Remember": K. Janeway STL.
65. "Future"s End": Crew of Voyager , Henry Starling, and population of Sol system TWA.
66. "Warlord": Tieran NDY.
67. Star Trek: First Contact: Z. Cochrane, Lily Slone, and uncounted numbers of life-forms TWA.
68. "Coda": K. Janeway STL.
69. "Before And After": Kes, B'Elanna Torres, K. Janeway, and uncounted numbers of life-forms TWA.
70. "Distant Origin": Hadrosaurs NDY.
71. "Children Of Time": Crew of Defient TWA.
Robert J. Woolley: I thought of a couple more closely related back-from-the-dead techniques:
He's not really dead, he's just stuck in the transporter buffer: TNG "Relics"
They're not really dead, they're trapped in the transporter matter stream: TNG "Realm of Fear"
Johanna Sundberg: Now, I'm not altogether sure about this, but I think the "explanation" (read: trumped-up excuse) for the stardate discrepancy is that while the old stardate system was individual (kind of) for each ship - e.g. , stardate 4045.6 meant that the ship had been around and about for a little over four years - the new one shows the actual "date". But as I said, I'm not sure about this.
Matthew Patterson: I, too, have wondered about that. In the 1st season, the theme was more strings and stuff, but I think for the fourth, they changed it and picked up the tempo a bit. They also added more brass and some toms going in the background. And there is some shimmery effect going on that I have not been able to identify. For the 5th season, they knocked the tempo back a bit and cut the toms. If you're interested in obtaining a copy of the Disco version, there is a CD available from GNP Crescendo records with music commemorating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek. It's also got TOS, TNG, (including the orchestral suite from "The Inner Light" which is the BEST music ever written for Star Trek, if not TV in general) and VOY in there too.
Also, on a semi-related topic, does anyone know if there is a CD available with theme songs from classic TV shows, like what's on Nick At Nite?
Phil: No Idea! Anybody?
Joe Griffin: Rip Torn played Zed in MIB (he's also a regular on the Larry Sanders show.) John Hertzler plays General Martok.
Phil: Thanks to everyone else who sent in similar info!
Joe Griffin: "A little more than kin, and less than kind." Norman Wooland played Horatio (Hamlet's buddy) in the 1948 "Hamlet." Laertes (Polonius' son/Ophelia's brother, who fights Hammie at the end) was played by Terence Morgan II. Mark Lenard is not listed in the credits. Although the IMDB does not list who played Rosencrantz or Guildenstern in the film, "Hamlet" does not appear anywhere on Mark Lenard's resume. And IMHO, Olivier's Hamlet is a fairly good version, albeit almost as stilted as the Kenneth Branagh interp. Larry's too brooding, Mel Gibson was too manic; combine the two and you'll have something like the right Hamlet. (Although it's my opinion that due to centuries of overanalysis and raised expectation the character of Hamlet has been rendered unplayable.)
Dismounting my high horse now...
Murray Leeder: Mark Lenard doesn't seem to be in Olivier's Hamlet. Amazingly, though, Christopher Lee played the spear carrier!
Phil: Thanks to everyone else who sent in similar info!
On to the questions, Busy, busy, busy . . .
Ken Porter: It seems to me that the glossary is meant to contain terms for recurring (read trite or all-too-common) conditions in a Sci-Fi story (not necessarily TV or movie).
It seems to be getting a little out of hand, don't you think? I would expect to see (and love to read) well known factors, effects, syndromes, and conditions such as WHIRL, Kirkanization, the Montgomery Theory, etc. But now it seems as though just about anyone can string a bunch of words together to describe their impression of a single situation in a particular episode, put all the initials of the words together, capitalize, and submit.
I believe this is growing out of control. Although I appreciate how passionate people are about the episodes they view and the underlying plots and plot devices, I think some restraint is in order.
I propose that any contender for the glossary should meet the following criteria.
1. The term or acronym is not a mere collection of consonants, but is a working acronym (i.e. can be pronounced as a word) or a phrase that's clever enough that it's easy to remember. It would be useless for nitpickers to refer to glossary terms that are so arcane that only a small percentage of nitpickers would remember that specific term.
2. The condition/syndrome/factor/effect is common enough that it can be found in _several_ episodes, and can possibly be found in other non-trek stories. Perhaps other works of fiction use these plot devices which will only become trite after we start seeing it a few more times.
3. (related to 2) The name of the condition can be named for a specific character, but the condition itself has to be robust enough that it can apply to more than one character. For example the Montomery Theory can apply to Mr. Scott, Mr LaForge, Mr. O'Brien, or honestly any Chief engineer in just about any SF series. However terms like TCFSETPOBO: Acronymn for "Can't the Creators Find Someone Else to Pick On Besides O'Brien?" Obviously does NOT meet this criteria as it applies only to Mr. O'Brien, a single character.
For the Glossary to be a more widely accepted document -- outside the Trek domain (and perhaps even outside the SF domain) -- I think a little more discrimination should be used in choosing terms to include. What do you think? What do other Nitpickers think?
Phil: I think when we start taking ourselves too seriously we get into trouble! But seriously, the only glossary term that I consider really official are the ones in the primary glossary.
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: - By the way, In the early scripts of Star Trek Generations, what did the horseshoe that Kirk held mean?
Phil: Don't have the rough draft handy. Seems like is was a keepsake from his beloved Antonia.
Dan Wiese, El Cajon; During a startrek convention a while back they were doing trivia and someone asked the question of what the names of Picard's fish were, he said the names were in an episode but I'm preaty sure I've seen every episode and I don't recall any names, do you?
Last thursday I tuned into UPN just in time to see the last few minutes of a TNG episode. However I do not recall ever seeing it. The last scene was Picard and an alien ambasador in the transporter room and they were discussing a shapeshifter and their ability to resist her. I would be very happy if you could give me an episode title.
Phil: As far as the shapeshifter goes, I would think that would have to be "The Dauphin". As for Picard's fish, I don't not believe that it was ever named in dialogue. Anybody remember differently?
Darryl Edmunds: I am confused...... the bajorans call it the orb of time... but the prophets had no concept of time when they first met sisko. So what did the prophets think they were sending???
Phil: Don't be confused! Be happy. ;-) The whole "orb" thing seems to have shifted a bit from Michael Pillar's original intention in "The Emissary."
From Someone Identified only as The Anomaly: I've been wondering about this for possble fanfic comics. Maybe the Guild can help me with this one.
Picture this: it is the final episode of DS9, or possibly the first movie. Bajor has joined the Federation and its militia has been absorbed by Starfleet. As a result, Kira, Odo and Rom sport Starfleet uniforms. Here's the question: what kind of rank pips do they wear? Is 'Major' the Bajoran equivalent to 'Commander?' AFAIK, Odo doesn't have an official rank, but reluctantly goes by the nickname of 'Constable.' What is Rom's rank? Do they all wear Maquis-type emblems? I don't think non-com emblems would be appropriate, ala O'Brien. Ideas?
Phil: Beat me!
Brian Henley: Here's a little thing that I always thought was wierd in Star Trek, and that's the continuity (actually the lack therof) with ship's names.
What I mean is that when a ship prototype is released, the class is usually named after it (Galaxy, Intrepid, etc.) and usually, the names of all the subsequent ships have something in common with the first name, or they at least have something in common with each other. At least that's the way it is in the US navy.
In WW II...
all our battleships were named after states. Four survive today, the Misourri, Iowa, New Jersey and Kentucky.
cruisers were named after cities
submarines were named after fish (little subs had numbers)
destroyers were named after war heroes
aircraft carriers were the only rouges, being named after battles (Saratoga, Yorktown, Lexington) or BIG people in history(USS Franklin), or they'd have miscellenious names like Hornet, Wasp, and yes, E.
Nowadays it's changed, but just a little.
Attack Subs are either Sturgeon or Los Angeles class. Depending on the class, each ship will have the name of a fish or a city.
Missle Subs are Ohio class ships. They're all named after states.
No more battleships have been built
Cruisers and Destroyers such as the Oliver Hazard Perry Class and the Ticonderoga Class and the Belknap class have often overlapping missions, but usually the ship names have something in common with the name of the first one out.
Aircraft carriers might even be getting some continuity, since all the ships in the newest class of carriers (Nimitz) are all named after people (Eisenhower, Lincoln, Washington)
My rant is this: It'd probably be a nice thing if ships in star Trek had names that made them look related. So far the runabouts are the only thing that have any continuity. (all runabouts are named after rivers on Earth)
Take Miranda class ships for example We've had Mirandas named the
Reliant, (adjective - the Royal Navy is big on this) Brittain (don't know
what that is) and Bozeman (a city! ) Saratoga
(battle) and Saratoga again! (Star trek 4 and Emissery) There's no theme
at all!
Howsabout Galaxy? Granted we haven't seen many, but they've been
Enterprise, Yamato. Granted there could be a theme here. Both were big
WWII ships. But ... Odyssy? Galaxy? Are we nameing our superships after
poems now?
Excelsior? we've got the Hood (WWII ship), Melborne (city, I
guess) Ent-B and others with no real theme.
Hopefully the runabouts introduce a new trend, where ships with related
names will look like sisters (Saratoga, Yorktown) and the like. Don't know
why, but I just like it better that way.
Shane Cathcart, Sydney Australia: My flatmate and I are Christians, and we recently had a debate as to
whether or not the X-Files was evil, and that some of the subject matter
was not a good influence.
Now, I don't want to start up a religious debate here, but I am a bit of an
X-Files fan and I think the show is OK, however some of the episode's have
made me a little uncomfortable, like "Die Hand, Die Verletzt" (sp?) in the
2nd series.
What are your thoughts Phil, and the thoughts of others out there, where
the Truth supposedly is.
Phil: Well I won't presume to speak for the Truth but I'd be happy to give you my quick opinion. In the purest sense, I'm of the opinion that television has no redeeming value! There is *always* something better to do than watch television. Watching television is largely a passive activity and life is active. Read a book. Talk to friends. Paint. Write. Scuplt. Go for a walk. Meditate. Pray (if you will). Etc., etc. They are *all* more noble activities than vegetating in front of a flickering screen and being subjected to behavior-modifying propoganda at regular intervals! (Even if you're nitpicking!) How's about *that* for a jumping off point?
Now that I've thrown out that grenade, I'll follow on with this: I don't ever expect Hollywood to aquit itself well when it comes to the Christian belief system. All the polling data that I've seen says that there are few so inclined in the Industry. It is inevitable that a person's belief set surfaces in their work. Since the belief of most in the Industrial is not a Christian belief set, that philosophical direction will show through. This is to be expected.
In other words, I don't need Hollywood to reinforce my beliefs. I know what I believe. I know why I believe.
I will not, however, watch anything that bashes and ridicules my faith. (And, if the Trek creators had put out a string of episodes like "Who Watches The Watchers" I probably wouldn't still be doing this today because I would have shut it off and found something better to do with my life! Thankfully, "Who Watches the Watcher" was an anolomy. ;-)
Personally, I have not found that X-Files bashes the Christian belief system. Yes, Mulder has his own opinions about it. But Scully, at least, appears to have some fundamental belief in God. This is to be expected in life. People believe different things. It's their right to do so.
In addition, I would hasten to add that there are episodes of the X-Files which have simply been too much for me in terms of gore, cultism and Satanism. I happen to make a living watching those episode. So, I watch them anyway. Others--under no such constaint--need not do so. In fact, if the X-Files offends your sensibilities, I would suggest that you turn it off!
Bringing this to a hasty conclusion: In regards to "Die Hand Die Verletz" (Or however, it's spelled), I found several parts of the episode a bit much. But, I also found some parts of it compelling. For one, it seems to establish that there is black magic in the world and it is bent on destruction and evil. I find that fits the Christian belief system. The episode also seems to affirm that the evil is more powerful than Mulder and Scully. I find no conflict with the Christian belief system there either because Mulder and Scully have not availed themselves of any Higher Power. And finally, I find a lot of truth in Mulder's snide comment to one of the parents in the town, "Did you really think you could call up the devil and ask him to behave?"
Murray Leeder: In the X-Philes Guide, it's clear that you allowed yourself a little
more room for personal reactions than in the previous guides. More
ruminations, "Best & Worst", etc. I personally think that's great...
while I think that kind of editorialization should be left out of
official guides of all sorts, it's perfectly fine in a books of a
non-official nature. I'm just wondering what made you put more personal
reaction in this guide? Do you just have stronger feelings about the
X-Files?
Phil: It's just a function of the publishing business. With the first Guide--the NextGen Guide--the common wisdom was that NextGen sold the book. Several of my little side comments were edited out. The X-phile's Guide is my *fifth* book so the common wisdom says that people are buying it not only because of the X-File but also in some small art because of me. That gives me som leeway!
Scott Neugroschl: Here's a HUGE nit on the war with the Dominion. How did the Jem'Hadar
in the Gamma Quadrant know that there was a minefield in front of the
wormhole, and how did they know when it was gone?
Obviously they would know that SOMETHING was wrong, because nobody
came back from the Alpha Quadrant, but they wouldn't know what was
happening.
Phil: I think "Destiny" established that message can be sent through the worm hole now.
Jonathan Klein, Bowling Green, OH: Is it moral to create a series of Hologromatic doctors? Think about this for a moment. In TNG, everyone was amazed when Moriarty knew the
nature of his existence. His awareness of his surroundings, that he was
a hologram, made him a life form, sentinent, etc. Therefore, he
couldn't just be turned off and erased.
From season one, even when he was a stiff character, the Holodoc has
realized what he is: a hologram. He is therefore sentinent. Is it
moral to create a series of self aware beings who are damned to never
leave a holo-environment? Picard seemed concerned with making
Moriarty's love, the Countess Regina Bartholemou sentinent for ethical
and moral questions. Yet it seems Starfleet has made this policy. So
when the Jem Hadaar destroy a ship, you just say "Bye Doc, nice knowing
you" evacuate, and leave him to die? This doesn't seem right. EMH and
LMH programs should not be aware they are holograms, rather, they should
merely be able to do work. Of course, this would rob Voyager of its
only great crew member!
Phil: Rats! No time! There's a great discussion in here about the basis for morality and then problems that arise when morality is only base on a democratic vote but I let you all comment first fellow nitpickers and then I may add some comments next week. (It's already 10:35AM. I've got to get this finished!)
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: Not a question, just an observation. Have
you noticed that since the beginning of the season on Voyager, we
haven't seen the resort program. It's almost as they gave us something
else to look at instead.
Phil: So you're suggesting that as long as the Voyager Babe-O-Meter is in the Overload Range, there's no need for the restort program? ;-)
Laurel Iverson, New London, MN: I just got done watching an episode of DS9 where Julian is suspected of
being a spy for the Dominion. The whole time I was watching it, I kept
thinking, "This is supposed to be this great period in time where there
is peace and love and self-fulfillment?!" In "Time's Arrow", Troi tells
Samuel Clemmens all about how great everything is in the future. And in
"First Contact", everyone goes on about all the peace and happiness that
develops. So how do you explain the kind of jerks that are in "Measure
of a Man", "The Pegasus", or "Coming of Age"? Are there always going to
be people that just don't get it, or are the rest of the gang just
delusional? Or both?
Phil: Sorry to do this but no time. Anybody want to comment.
Andrew Corcoran: Someone mailed you telling of a nit in Seinfeld (in the crossover section),
and I wondered, do you now keep every single nit you can, whether it be of
Trek or Snow White (as was mentioned at the end of March)? Is there now a
never-ending file of nits residing in your house somewhere, and you, as the
chief nitpicker, have more nits than we can ever imagine of having?
Sort of reminds you of the scene in the X-Files - you know, the railway
tunnel, the everlasting file cabinet....;-)
Phil: I *do* have lots of files but stuff normally only gets really organized for the projects that I'm currenly working on!
Phil Farrand: Here's on from me! I was contacted this week by Robert Pearlman of the National Space Society. They have created, in cooperation with HBO, created the Official Viewer's Guide to "From The Earth To The Moon" (E2M) [http://www.nss.org/apollo] -- the new epic miniseries covering America's quest for the Moon.
Anyway, Robert was interested in creating a Nitpicker's Guide for the series as well! Now, he has access to astronauts, NASA techs, and historians but was also interested in hearing from you all as to your thoughts on the HBO mini series that is currently playing. So, I'm going to be starting some Brash Reflections files on the series and then forwarding all the stuff to Robert and he's going to be double-checking everything and *eventually* we'll be putting together an online version and *possibly*--although nothing, nothing, nothing has been set yet--putting together something in hardcopy LATER (much later, because my schedule is nuts right now).
So . . . if you've been watching the series on HBO and spotted anything, send away!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
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Copyright 1998 by Phil Farrand. All rights reserved.