Theunicornhunter

Whiny crybaby? Remember she did not want to go on this mission she was drafted so her attitude is not without merit.

Actually she just didn't want to go at that time - she told Archer she'd be all his in three weeks. Besides She enlisted in Star Fleet - she didn't know that would involve space flight?

I voted for replicator - but I'm not as noble as Takara who was thinking about others. I was thinking about how much I hate to cook - or about those times when I realize I've used my last Mt. Dew. That was a hard choice because I also commute over 55 miles a day(each direction) and there have been times I'd like to step onto a transporter pad at the end of the workday.

No! No! No! - Trip wouldn't go to UF..... I grew up and currently live closer to Gainesville (UF) than Tallahassee(FSU) but I like Tallahassee much better and feel the school fits Trip's personality more.

Could they lose? - any character except Archer and Trip and not suffer any for it.

Should they lose? - Hoshi- my apologies to the Hoshi fans but then I gather most of her fans only see the eye candy aspect of her character. Ask yourself how you would like a male character that was a constant whiny, cry-baby?

there would be more to the Federation and Star Fleet than life aboard a starship. What don't we have a whole Star Trek network with the following shows.

1. The West Coast - could follow the life of the newly elected President of the UFP as he deals with alien ambassadors, adjusting to life on alien earth, the Star Fleet military guys, special interest lobbyists and unruly member worlds with the help of a universally representative staff.

2. JagFleet - The weekly adventures of a Star Fleet advocate as he/she gets sent to various space stations, colonies, or vessels that are in need of legal assistance.

3. Jupiter Station - life aboard a civilian station providing taxi service to neighboring stations and cargo ships.

4. S.F.I. - Star Fleet Investigations - the adventures of a group of special investigators that apply state of the art scientific analysis to criminial disturbances throughout the Federation.

5. My Big Fat Geek Life - a reality show that follows the daily routine of computer geniuses at school and in the dorm.

...more later

I hadn't noticed commercials were any longer on UPN than other networks. It is about standard to have 15 minutes of commercials for every "hour" of programming. I was watching TV with my two year old niece who doesnt' like commercials - she sums it up this way "commercials are 'tupid'..."

This episode was okay about a 6; I guess I like more action. There were some good character scenes - Archer and Travis, Trip and T'Pol

Click for Spoiler:

I am glad Travis got more air time but I got a little bored with all the family stuff.

Can someone explain the difference between enlisted and officer?

Probably someone who has served in the military could better answer this but enlisted people start at the bottom; there are non-commissioned officers - these are the people that start out as enlisted and rise through the ranks. I believe Sargeant is a noncommissioned rank. Commissioned officers start out as officers. They can graduate from one of our military academies or they can attend ROTC during college. For example Senator McCain graduated from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis; Secretary of State Colin Powell entered the Army from ROTC. I believe college graduates can also attend Officer candidate school and become commissioned officers - I had a friend who did this. Star Trek uses the ranks the Navy uses - which is different than Air Force and Army.

Commissioned officers are the ones with the prestige.

To become an officer you have to go to the Academy.

Thanks, I guess I'm asking what is your source for that. I understand the difference between enlisted and officers but I know in an episode of Voyager they were discussing a recently demised crewmember who had been considering officer training. So I was wondering if there was anything written about it? Or if anyone else had ever thought about it before?

Is graduating from Star Fleet academy the only way to become a Star Fleet officer? Or did they have programs like our current military where college graduates can enlist for officer training or college students can join the ROTC. I think they mentioned something like officer training in Voyager. It seems they need a lot more officers and crew than could fit in one year at the academy? Anybody have any history on this?

Enterprise - TOS prequal

Spin off and prequel are not mutually exclusive terms; TNG was a spin off and a sequel; ENT a spin-off and prequel. They were all based on Gene Roddenberry's vision of a United Federation of Planets that is patroled by starships. These starships in turn are crewed by graduates of Star Fleet academy.

Well, now that I think about it...  Would VOY be considerred a TNG or a DS9 spinoff?

You could also call it a TOS spinoff; TOS was the original work.

As for Andromeda being a spin-off I'm not sure I follow the logic. There is no Federation or Star Fleet. It's just another SciFi series about people on a space ship.

FYI - The wierd thing was a black hole. Some of the differences - The Commonwealth encompassed entire galaxies - something beyond Star Trek technology. They travel by slip stream not warp and Earth isn't a major player. The characters of Andromeda as a whole are better looking.

:blink:

OK, someone on this forum (dunno where) had said that a spin-off series is a tv show that stars a character who was a regular or recurring character from a previous tv show.

According to the American Heritage dictionary the above quote is an "example" of the "definition" that a spin-off is something derived from an earlier work. Under that definition all the ST series are spinoffs of TOS.

Or am I just reading too much into this? :blink:

Probably, but I can't sleep.

To some extent it already has. An episode such as A Night in Sickbay that concentrated solely on one character's sexual musings was never a part of the original ST vision. Other series followed TOS and addressed relevant social issues and made a serious and generally effective attempt to present an unbiased and introspective view of the subject. When ENT tried it came across as obvious and condescending.

Seven may say ST is adapting; I just wonder at what point it ceases to be ST and becomes something new.

Actually this possibility was discussed in the issue of TV Guide that introduced Enterprise. That's why I was surprised in Shuttle Pod one when they began discussing Ruby. I think part of the Trip/Reed friendship is that they can go to Raisa and act like morons together - it wouldn't be the same if they didn't have that in common.

I find plots based on romance boring that's why I watch SciFi . A Night in Sick Bay and Precious Cargo are two of my least favorite episodes. They did nothing to develop the characters being highlighted and they had no real plot. ANIS actually made Captain Archer look like an imbecile. And Trip was much more precious trying to evade Phlox's wife than rolling in the hay with Kaitaama (not that the man doesn't possess sex appeal - he has some major appeal).

I would rather see some intrigue and story line. Let other series deal with the romance stuff.

Reed is T'Pol's man.

I could see this....Never thought about it...but I could see it

i think they need a couple of characther changes. and a new one kinda like MCCOY, or SPOCK. TPOL is kinda like spock but not punny enough

All the write up when the show started stated Trip/T'Pol were supposed to be the McCoy/Spock relationship. And they had some great sparks in season one. Then in season two they've barely shared a scene. What's up with this?

As for your hypothetical, you are assuming that eating the whole bag of Hershey Kisses is a negative thing.  Between the two people, if one person likes the candy but not as much as the other, it will be easier for that person to only eat two a day rather than the whole bag.  I'm not sure that that person is stronger; they just don't like chocolate as much as the other.

 

I also do not think they "suppress what they cannot control."  How does one supress something they have no control over?

For the analogy to be meaningful it assumes that both people have the same desire for chocolate - I didn't specify that because it never occurred to me someone might not like chocolate. Dietary guidelines suggest consuming that much fat/calories in a day is not healthy. I saw it as an example of controlling the physical appetites. Other ST episodes, one VOY episode in particular dealt with how Vulcans learn to suppress their emotions. They still have them but they work to bury them deeply. Apparently they do it by meditation.

You said, "part of our (human) natural developmental process is learning to control emotion."  Development suggests a higher sense of being, further evolved, more advanced, does it not?  Hence the Vulcans are more evolved (developed, to use your word) because they have mastered this.(?)

The word development does not mean the same as evolving. I was referring the process of child development - ie the stages from infancy to adulthood. During this process a toddler will outgrow temper tantrums and learn more socially acceptable means of expression. I wouldn't say my four year old niece is a higher being than her younger sister but she is at a different developmental stage.

So then, I do not understand why you believe humans to be superior to Vulcans?

First of all I wasn't taking it all too seriously - because Vulcans are a fictional concept. But I think they are arrogant and that makes them hypocrits because their behavior doesn't match their professed beliefs.

Your premise appears to be they are superior because they don't exhibit emotions. That would be a value judgment. I have a different opinion I say we are superior because we do exhibit emotions. I know of no criteria to establish that one of us is "right" and one of us "wrong". I think it is a matter of what we value. Besides humans are quite capable of setting aside their emotions when circumstances require. And many professions/circumstances do require it. On the other hand our curiosity and our passion have often spurred our technological and social advances

I didn't like seeing him play a bad guy; but it was a chance to see him in something else.

It's funny that one of the criticisms of ENT is that it steals plots from other series but seems some of TNG's first episodes were remakes of TOS. And, okay I'm ready for the backlash; but I thought Jonathon Frake's acting was pretty green that first season. All the characters grew into their roles.

Is it patience that keeps us hanging on, naw, a bad episode of Star Trek is still better than a good episode of most anything else.

I like ENT, my major complaint was way too much whining by Archer; the total incompetence of the ship against all aliens they encountered; and the sad representation of female officers.

Archer has stopped whining, they've beefed up weapons a bit; unfortunately they're still trying to make T'Pol a sex kitten rather than a Vulcan science officer. I really think they need to add a strong female character; a competent officer - is it so much to ask.

I think ENT will have the same problem as VOY in that they are subject to UPN rule where TNG and DS9 were produced as syndicated series. This gave more freedom to the writers. On one hand DS9 was not my favorite, I didn't like Ferengi's, Klingon's or the war with the Dominion - but they had some terrific writing. The Bashir/Garak friendship was intriguing and usually left you with that hmmm feeling. I'm afraid, as I have mentioned in another post, those few times ENT has tried to be enlightening it has been preachy instead. It has yet to leave me with that hmmm feeling. However I thought Judgment and Cease Fire were particularly good.

AS for StarGate SG1; now these writers understand character development and relationships. Did I mention how glad I am that Dr. Jackson is returning. And Dr. Carter is an excellent representation of a female officer. The humor on this show is subtle and terrific. I thought John Billinsley's guest appearance was great and let's not forget that O'Neill wanted to name the Prometheus "Enterprise". In fact they have given numerous references to Star Trek, in addition to having several ST actors guest star.

Other shows that started out strong; I loved the SciFi channels "The Invisible Man" it too had a dull episode or two but was pretty good overall.

No, I think the writer's need to be creative and think of new plots and aliens to meet. Now, if they wanted to have John DeLancie in a guest role and make some tongue in cheek reference to Q that would be funny.

One of my favorite lines of his was in the short lived series Legend with Richard Dean Anderson. He was a brilliant scientist in the late 1800's and when he started his automobile he took off with the words "Make it So"

I'm afraid I was none of the above. Now, you may think this is a stupid question but how do they do their laundry? Is there a laundromat on board. Surely the Captain doesn't press his own uniforms. Do they just throw everything down a shute and it gets delivered back clean and pressed?

For that matter is there an onsite barbershop? There must be a commissary for certain personal items. How would they restock items in deep space when other species may not have the same biological functions?

And I just gotta know...do they have Mountain Dew?

In Star Trek the lack of emotions or I guess I should say the suppression of emotions by the Vulcans made them evolve to a higher level of being. 

Higher than what? Higher than what they were or higher than other races. Even at that ...the term "higher" implies a value assessment. What criteria do we use to determine something is better or higher than another.

Here's a hypothetical? Who do you think is the strongest? A person who buys a bag of Hershey's kisses and eats two and only two every day - or a person who refuses to buy them at all because he/she will eat the entire bag over the weekend?

I think the Vulcans fall into the last category - they suppress what they can't control. Sure we all make better decisions when we let our initial emotional reaction subside and think clearly about a subject. But most of us are capable of doing that.

I think one of the best examples in Star Trek was when Counselor Troi was taking the Commander's exam. She had to make the choice of letting a friend die to save the ship.

Personally, I've always found the Vulcan philosophy contradictory; their arrogance in their own superiority is extremely emotional.

As for Master-Q's original question. Human beings possess emotions - so I assume they serve some evolutionary purpose. I would think someone who had a brain injury or illness and either lost their ability to experience or control emotion would have developmental problems.

However, part of our (human) natural developmental process is learning to control emotions. I find it fascinating to watch my two little nieces as they develop their logic. (In fact what a great scene to see T'Pol talking to a four year old.)

Okay, I am biased I think humans are superior to Vulcans.

Okay, I see what you're after. Several years I was discussing TNG in the lunchroom at work. One of my co-workers replied with some derision that she preferred more realistic shows like "The Love Boat" to Star Trek - got to wonder what reality she lived in.

What's with the Hoshi hate?   I thought it was rather gallant when Trip stood up to that Suliban soldier for her. 

I don't hate the character but I don't like her as an officer. She should be a civilian - a little porcelain doll that needs protecting doesn't belong on the first starship in space. I can't imagine any of our brave women in uniform acting in such a whiney, negative manner. In view of current events I find it particularly insulting that this is how TPTB portray women in uniform. Granted Malcolm can be negative too but you know you could count on him to watch your back - not so with Hoshi. Maybe Trip was gallant in defending her - though I don't remember the scene - and if this was Gone With the Wind and not Star Trek I'd probably swoon.

I think it is more that I like the character Trip than dislike Hoshi. He is the most upbeat member of the cast. Her whining would wear him down.

I think a good example of a fictional woman in uniform is Major Carter on Stargate-SG1. She's brave, extremely competent but still retains her compassionate and feminine side.

Where is Michigan State?!?

Remember Trip - the character - is from Florida. (notwithstanding the writers had a brain freeze and made him not like heat in "Desert Crossing") but in truth people from Florida tend not to like anything below 60 degrees.

I think his being from Panama City would make him tend toward FSU. No offense to anyone but I also like Tallahassee much better than Gainesville.