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Okay! After I finish this column today I have to write a plot summary for Children of the Jedi and read Darksaber. Lots to do. First, some comments from previous columns . . .
Patrick Sweeney: Continuing along the crossovers discussions, have we been able to conenct the fact the Morgan Bateson of the USS Bozeman is related to Fraiser Crane?
Phil: That's going to be a tough one unless we want to base it solely on looks but I personally am not inclined to do that! I prefer the actual cross-over of characters.
John Latchem: There is no Space Shuttle Odyssey. The Space Shuttles are:
Enterprise (Non-Space Prototype. Nice move Trek fans, making NASA waste the
name Enterprise on a ship that would never fly in space)
Columbia (Launched 1981)
Challenger (Launched 1983, Lost in 1986)
Discovery (Launched 1984)
Atlantis (Launched 1985)
Endeavour (Launched 1992)
Odyssey was the name of the Apollo 13 command module, because it means "long voyage" which defines the trip to the moon.
Constitution was the name of "Old Ironsides," one of the early American naval vessels which fought in the Revolution.
Defiant, Intrepid, and Excelsior are, I believe, old style sailing vessels used in early oceanic exploration and naval defense.
Chris Marks: Firstly, the shuttles are named after scientists, not just astronomers (We've had the Hawking, the Sakharov (sp?)) and others), except for when Rick Berman got in on the act.
Secondly, the name Enterprise has been carried by two aircraft carriers so far (before that I don't know), and the first shuttle which was just used for establishing the unpowered flight characteristics, where they took it up to x,000 feet and threw it off the back of a 747.I've no idea where the Odessey came from (before anyone says it, yes I know it was a book).
Thirdly, has the Venture been canonically named as a Galaxy class?
Phil: Couldn't tell ya! Anybody?
Brian Henley: Enterprise --- was a wooden sailing ship, a WW2 Carrier (CVA-6) a modern day nuclear carrier (CVAN-65) and a space shuttle.
Odyssey --- I don't think it's the name of a space shuttle. The only ones we have are the Columbia, the Atlantis, the Discovery, and the Enterprise. This of course, excludes the late USSS Challenger. Odyssey, however was the the name of the command module for the Apollo 13 mission
Constitution --- One old, tough wooden ship. The oldest ship (almost 200 years) that's still fully comissioned in the US Navy. "Old Ironsides" is moored permanently in Boston. It's contstruction was ordered by President Thomas Jefferson, so this vessel has lived through 40 out of 42 of our presidents!
Intrepid --- A WW2 aircraft carrier. It's now an air & space museum in New York City. There may have been other ships named Intrepid, but I don't know.
Defiant --- Not sure. Sounds like it might be a British ship, but I'm not too sure. Anyone?
Excelsior --- I have no clue.
Rene Charbonneau: After I read your Ask The Chief for last week, I realized I forgot to tell you about the source for Ron Moore's comments about Section 3. The link is...
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/6759/RonMoore.html
John Latchem: About the resolution of sensors and zooming in on planetary surfaces. Starfleet had a close up of Spock, standing on Romulus, taken from a Federation long range sensor. This is at a distance of LIGHT YEARS. Unless the picture was taken by a Section 31 agent in Romulan makeup who infiltrated the Empire.
Robert J Woolley: Just wanted to comment that the "Temagra, when the darkness came" was the funniest Stak Trek joke I've ever heard. Gave me the day's only belly laugh. Please pass my commendations along to the contributor.
Phil: Happy to do so! By the way, I had one nitpicker send me a big list of light bulb jokes this week that has been passed around the web for some time. That's fine but I would prefer to post stuff that is original with the Nitpickers Guild!
Bob Canada: Yes, on "Cheers" Frasier did mention that his father was a psychologist or behavioral scientist or something, and he also told the gang that he was dead! Someone on the "Frasier" staff must have remembered this though, because there was a Fraiser episode where Sam Malone came to visit. Frasier introduced Sam to his retired-policeman father. Sam said, "I thought you said he was a scientist and he was dead?" Frasier responded that he'd just had an argument with his dad and made up the dead scientist story. It took them a few years, but that's one nit cancelled out.
Phil: Thanks to everyone else who sent in similar information!
John Latchem: I did consider the fact that Runabouts could have the same name, but I ignored it. Sisko is naming the Runabouts, and he hasn't repeated a name yet. Besides its more fun to assume they don't have the same name, and to try to keep track.
Robert Cook: It's true that Leno, Letterman and Co. don't often have authors as guests, but I believe the morning network shows (Good Morning America, and so forth) sometimes have authors hawking their work. (Although they probably don't have many Trek authors..)
John Latchem: I see authors do interviews on talk shows not a lot, but occassionally. I think Conan O'Brien has them on more than others. I remember he had Robin Cook on, and someone who wrote a book called "The Alienist," and the author of "L.A. Confidential," and the author of "The Hot Zone," (Sorry I don't know their names.) And just last week William Shatner was plugging his latest book "Star Trek: Spectre." Okay that last one doesn't count.
Murray Leeder: I think I've seen Stephen King and Anne Rice on talk shows. It's within the realm of possibility that you'll wind up an author of their stature.
Vince Hamilton: In the 4-24 column, Stephen Mendenhall asked about you going on talk shows and you cited that authors aren't usually on those shows. However, I have seen authors on Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher(sp?). They usually aren't intervewed but I'd love to hear what you have to say on some of the issues that are brought up.
Stephen Mendenhall: Oh, they've had *lots* of authors on those shows! Just not as many authors as actors! Oh, and I was including Good Morning America, the Today Show, CBS's show, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, etc. They've all had authors, although I'll admit they're just as likely to be people like Drew Carey with his cookbook or whatever. "Politically Incorrect with Bill Mahar" and Late show with Tom Snyder, have both had Harlan Ellison on several times. Rosie O'Donnell and Conan O'Brien both had William Shatner...I can't think of any other authors-who-are-not-also-actors but they've been on. Did you mean to sound a bit disapproving?[grin].
Phil: Well, I certainly appreciate the underlying sentiments in all this but I think we have to be realistic. Television is famous for its Deception of Intimacy. Watching a talk show we get the impression that it's just us and them. Except . . . it's not just us and them. There are hundreds, if not thousands of people between us and them who shape what we see on television. Those who cross the Glossy Boundary have a host of pushers behind them--pushers that polish, pushers that hype, pushers that carry. Rarely, does anything happen in the Glossy World that is not manufactured. Kathy Lee won't pick up a Nitpicker's Guide someday, get a kick out of it and call me on the phone! There is a great chasm fixed between us and one of the reasons that she gets paid what she gets paid is because she can make it feel like there isn't. But just because she can pull off that little bit of deception don't mean the chasm ain't real, friends and neighbors!
So, the first reason that I won't be appearing on any talk shows is because I don't have a pusher. Oh, yes, Dell has a publicity deparment but the Nitpicker's Guides sell well enough that whoever is the publicist at this point just sort of lets the Guides do their thing because they have other authors pestering them about their books! And besides, Dell is primarily in the business of publishing literature. They just don't do that much science fiction and they certainly don't publish that many books where a little nerdy guy sits around and watches television all day!
But even if I did have a great pusher, I probably still wouldn't be on the talk shows. (Unless I decided that my entire family needed to undergo sex change operations. I suppose that would get us on Jerry Springer!) Think about the authors who have been mentioned as appearing on the talk shows. Actors-turned-authors don't really count because they already live in the Glossy World. But what about the rest? Well, most of them have at least had their work cross the Glossy Boundary. They have had their books made into movies. (Oooh, aaah.) These authors are making *millions* of dollars in royalties and have hordes of minions who run out and buy *anything* they write. I am not exactly in that category! ;-)
Will I ever be? Couldn't say! Need to get some fiction published first and that is an incredible struggle in itself because there are so many, many other people trying to do the same thing that editors are inundated with "please read my novel" requests. But--just for the sake of argument--let's say that I can eventually get some fiction published. What are my chances of reaching the stature of a King or Rice or Crichton or Steele?
Very slim! There aren't many in that category to begin with and I have a few strikes against me. I'm not going to write thin techno-stuff. I'm not going to write horror and gore. I'm not going to fill my books with profanity. I'm not going to write steamy--or alternative--sex scenes. All of the above elevate the emotional content of novels. And, one of the results of television and movies is that even novels have become much more oriented toward the quick emotional punch as opposed to engaging the intellect. I prefer to engage the intellect. To cause people to think about life and to challenge preconceptions. I cannot simply write books to entertain. They have to be about something that can be mapped onto real life. For me, this has always been the true power of sci-fi.
And if I can't make a living writing those kind of books . . . well . . . I can always program! ;-)
John Latchem: "Have you ever danced with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight" *is* from the first "Batman" movie. There are tons of queries on the DS9 newsgroups asking where Batman got the quote from, and no one seems to know. Someone said they are checking Shakespeare. I guess no one wants to think the creators would lift a title from "Batman." But even Ron Moore says all he knows is the "Batman" reference. Me, I don't have a problem with it. It's a great title!
Mike Cheyne : Just some info. The guy who played Vreenak in "In the Pale Moonlight" on DS9 is Stephen McHattie, a distinguished character actor. Among his work, he played the assassin in "731", and dated Elaine on "Seinfeld". He made a pretty spooky Romulan. I thought that episode was great, except (1) I thought it was going to have the real Weyoun and Damar, and (2) I always like Gul Dukat.
Roland Spickermann: Did you see the last episode of DS9, where Cisko is wrestling with his conscience about having used deceit, coverup and murder to bring the Romulans in against the Dominion? He saved the Federation, but only by violating the principles he has sworn to uphold.
Likewise the previous two episodes -- Kira discovers that her mother was a collaborator of the worst kind,, and Bashir gets recruited for undercover work.
Lots of moral dilemmas here! These are the kind of episodes which I find especially interesting, which probably comes as no surprise to you. I would be interested in your thoughts on them, if you have time.
Phil: Unfortunately, I do not have time this morning but I always find moral dilemnas interesting because they drive right to the heart of character. One example of a moral dilemna that haunts me is from the life of Corey Ten Boom. Her family hid Jews from Hitler in World War II and at one point, the patrols came to the door and ask if they were hiding Jews. I believe Corey's father admitted that they were because he refused to lie and both the Jews and his family were sent to prison camps. I'm not sure what I'd do if I was in that situation. I believe in truthfulness but . . . I don't know. (Of course, it's impossible to discuss moral dilemnas without drifting into a discussion of belief system but depending on the response to these comments, I can add more details next week, if you like!)
John Latchem: Voyager HAS been reniewed for Season 5. Confirmation from Brannon Braga and others.
Andrew Corcoran: About my information about the last episode of Voyager, well I heard that from the UK's Official Star Trek magazine, who was interviewing one of the top men at ST:V. I believe this to be a good source of information, although I do accept that they could change after the magazine goes to press (even though the magazine says the last episode had completed its filming by the time it had gone to press).
Lisa Shock: The official fan club publishes a magazine called "Star Trek Communicator" a one year membership gets you six bi-monthly issues and a membership kit with collectible goodies. Price $19.95 US, $22.95 CND, $34.95 outside US & Canada. Send your check/MO to Star Trek Communicator, PO Box 111000, Aurora, CO 80042.
John Burke: By the way, regarding Mark Schieber's comments about the size of the galaxy in the last Ask the Chief...his points about the borders of the various empires only apply if the empires have all their territory connected. Surely the Klingons, the Federation, etc. are big enough to have other "territories" that don't link with the main part of the empire-- In other words, what if the Jem'Haddar have been attacking the Federation by crossing the Romulan equivalent of Alaska or Puerto Rico? Just a thought.
John Latchem: I got the impression the Dominion was cutting through Romulan space not because they had to, but because it was a tactical manuever to try to surround the Federation, kind of like the Germans marching through Belgium in order to bypass the Maginot line in 1940. Considering the 3D nature of space, I suppose any type of Border is possible.
Stephen Mendenhall: Mark Schieber wondered about maps of the galaxy. Well, I bought a Special Collectors' Edition: Star Trek: 30 Years, with interviews with stars and others associated with Star Trek. They have a quote from Miss Piggy, because she was in the "Swine Trek" segments of the Muppet Show and Muppets Tonight...Leonard Nimoy had appeared in one segment in Muppets Tonight, and I missed it!
Anyway, the book has information on background things, lots of glossy photos...and a galactic map! Well, I was a bit underwhelmed. They hadn't looked at any real astronomical photos, and I was sorta hoping they'd include a lot of the lesser races, and some real stars and nebulae... Anyway, didn't you see it?
Well--the Cardassian Union is on the far left side; Bajor/Deep Space Nine is one little red dot, and there's no indication of the Bajoran colonies mentioned in several episodes. The UFP is on the lower part of the map. The Klingon Empire is on the right middle, and the Romulan Empire is just above the Klingon Empire on the map. There are no borders, and no Neutral zones. Our solar system is shown exactly on the border between the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, so apparently we spend half the year in one quadrant and half the year in the other. And there's no reason we wouldn't have been exploring *some* of the Beta Quadrant until we encountered the Klingons in 2217. Well, on the map, the words "Of Planets" extends into the Beta Quadrant part of the map, so I guess the UFP does extend into the Beta Quadrant.
There's a smaller-scale map in one corner which shows the four quadrants, and where the Dominion, Kazons and Borg are. The Borg are shown to one side, near the edge of the galaxy in the Delta Quadrant. And in neither map are the distances shown consistent with what we're told in the episodes.
I bought another thing, The Official Anniversary Magazine for ST, and they have a diagram of DS9, but I haven't found any inconsistencies you didn't already mention. It's not very detailed.
Joe Griffin: [Concerning my comment that Asimov was a "somewhat" well-known author,] I keep forgetting not to use irony. It apparently does not register well in print. Did I forget to put the grinning emoticon after that sentence? No wonder Thomas Paine's "Modest Proposal" caused such a stir! If he'd just used emoticons everyone would've known he was kidding! If I called the Bible a "somewhat well-known book" would you get the joke? I read my first Asimov story when I was nine. I have his autograph on a little 3x5 card in my room. Over the past twenty years I've not only read Asimov and Heinlein, but Harlan Ellison, A.E. Van Vogt, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Larry Niven, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and a host of other science fiction writers from the late 1800s to the present. I agree that Star Trek fans, as well as Star Wars fans, B5 fans, Dr. Who fans (if there are any left) and fans of any other TV/film science fiction tend to be less than well-versed in classic science fiction, but don't lump me in with that bunch.
In addition, I think many science fiction movie fans (not to mention the rest of the public) are not only woefully underexposed to science fiction literature, they've not read much else either. Outside my immediate group of friends I could not find one person who had even _heard_ of Huxley's _Brave New World_ before last week's TV movie, let alone read it. OR _Moby Dick_ or _Great Expectations._ I see literature references in films pass completely unnoticed; if someone does take notice, it's generally to say, "huh? Whassat mean?" We can't get people to even watch a film made from classic literature (_Starship Troopers_ or _Great Expectations_ or "Romeo and Juliet"--regardless of the quality of those productions) unless it stars pretty people and has a cool soundtrack CD. Demi Moore defended the fact that she changed the ending of "The Scarlet Letter" by saying "no one will know because they haven't read the book." Too bad she's not wrong.
Re: Trek writers adapting classic stories for episodes. TOS "Arena" is an adaption of a Niven short story. And while everyone is making a big deal of "First Contact" being Picard's _Moby Dick,_ keep in mind that "Wrath of Khan" was actually a twin character play, each of the main characters having their own "theme" book around which their story was based. Kirk's was Charles Dickens' _A Tale of Two Cities_ and Khan's was, yep, _Moby Dick._ (and the only real good part of "Undiscovered Country" was Christopher Plummer wheeling around like a madman, maniacally misquoting Shakespeare at all the wrong times for all the wrong reasons--a brilliant parody of Khan.) And, by the way, in "Hamlet," the "undiscovered country" he refers to is not the future. It's death, or more specifically, what might follow death:
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Hamlet, act 3 scene 1
While I've become tangential and veered off into the area of misinterpretations and misquotes, here's a sidenote: the Klingon proverb "revenge is a dish which is best served cold" is actually Italian in origin and can be found in Mario Puzo's novel _The Godfather._
Back to science fiction literature for a second: I think part of the problem, for younger readers especially, is the sheer volume of SF books out there. And (as with any genre or art form) a lot of it is crud. Folks might not know where to start. Especially when the choice is between the latest Trek or B5 tie-in book or some "unknown quantity" compilation book, it must be easier to go with characters and settings with which you're already familiar. It may be helpful to post a suggested reading list for science fiction fans whose only exposure to the genre has been TV and movies. If Mr. Konczewski would like to assemble such a list, I'll glady contribute one of my own.
Phil: I'm for it! Let's get together a list. When I was in junior high I read through every sci-fi selection in my school's library but it's been a while. One caveat: I'm not interesting in listing books that are violent or profuse with profanity or sexual situations. Let's keep the list to stuff that I won't be embarassed if my daughter reads! (Of course, if we do a literary list, we really do need Grapes of Wrath on it. Hmmm.)
Anyway, let's put together a sci-fi and a literary list. If you were stuck on a desert island and you could only have 50 books, pick 25 sci-fi and 25 literary classics . . .
On to the questions . . .
John Latchem: I too think you should do a General Trek guide. You could throw in updates for TOS and TNG in there, put DS9 updates and seasons 5-7, and Voyager seasons 1-5, Plus First Contact and the next trek movie. If that's too much cut out Voyager.
Phil: Don't think this idea will fly with Dell. Tried to proposed something like this when it was time to do the NextGen II Guide and encountered resistance!
Stephen Mendenhall: I liked that Drew Carey episode. Some of the nits were too easy, like the guy in the bear costume. And the clock didn't have any hands, did it? And sometimes I think the clock showed the same time as it did several scenes before. It would be interesting to see how many nits you find in any other episode of Drew Carey, Seinfeld, Touched By an Angel, etc. Have you been watching those other two shows? Wanna do nit guides for them?
Phil: Not really! ;-)
Corey Hines: You stated that you don't regularly watch the Drew Carey Show. What current sitcoms do you watch now?
Phil: None! If I do happen to have an evening free to watch television--and those seem to be fewer and fewer--I usually have other episodes of sci-fi shows on tape that I haven't watched yet so I watch those! I find sit-coms in general to be quick, easy and distinctly lacking in cleverness (although I used to watch the reruns of Seinfeld and there was some fun stuff in there). Of course, in general, I find television to be destinctly lacking in cleverness!
Vince Hamilton: Have you seen "The Omega Directive" yet? If so, what did you think of it?
Phil: Watched it while I exercised the other day because it was raining and I couldn't run. I enjoyed it!
Patrick Sweeney: On Rank of O'Brian topic, I think I have cracked it, or at least have some new information. In the episode "Starship Down" Chief O'Brian says that Engineers do NOT go to Starfleet Academy, and are not trained as other line officers. Basicalyl, they go to engineering school, and get degrees, and then jobs on ships. Go figure. This could be why they can have odd ranks.
Phil: Could be!
Kevin Weiler: Do you ever watch the other Gene Roddenberry show, Earth: Final Conflict? I know you've mentioned seeing The Questor Tapes, and I was wondering if you or any other members of the Guild watched the show.
Phil: I am trying to remember to tape it and the episodes that I have seen have been pretty good. It has a nice look and feel, some good intrigue. The lead characters seem to be handling their parts well. it will be interesting to see how far it gets in the ratings. Scott McClenny tells me that it has been renewed for a second season!
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.