Star Trek Thread

Really?! That's surprising. Do recall what reasons he gave? I suppose in the comic if things changed enough, he might have a good reason.

TNG was the best show ever made.

I do not recall. I just know that it reflects the enlightened, progressive mindset of the idiots writing the stories.

Eh... It had some great episodes ("Tapestry", "The Nth Degree", "Chain of Command", etc.), but it was not my favorite Star Trek series. I think I still like TOS the most, but it certainly had its bad moments ("The Savage Curtain", e.g.).

What do you all think of the updated VFX for the original series? I'm a bit iffy on them. For example, I think the planets certainly look better, but as a former VFX artist, I believe those planets could still have been better. I believe I could've done a better job. But, there are some good moments, like the shots involving starships, space battles, etc. I particularly like "The Enterprise Incident", in which we see an original Roman warship in the mix.

As a character, Superman has never been strictly nationalistic. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were two Jewish kids from Cleveland, who originally envisioned him as a homeless vagrant given powers by a mad scientist. That story was called "The Reign of the Superman", first published in January of 1933. The character's origins and collection of abilities were refined a few times, before the most well-known iteration was printed in Action Comics #1, from June of 1938. The popular mantra of "truth, justice, and the American way" originally contained the first two words only - the latter was added for a radio program in 1940, and removed after the end of World War II. The full phrase was reinstated for the 1950s George Reeves TV show, but it wasn't until the 1978 film that the hero used it again.

In an early episode of the recent series, “Superman & Lois”, the reporter herself tries to find out where Superman’s spaceship landed. When Lois asks him what he stands for he states “Truth. Justice.” Lois adds, “The American Way?” He laughs and responds, “I think someone’s just trying to get me to admit I was raised here.” In the fourth live-action film from 1987, Christopher Reeve's version gives a speech at one point, saying "I just wish you could all see the Earth the way that I see it. Because when you really look at it, it's just one world."

I agree with you, some of the planets with the original FX were a bit dark and muddy compared to the new FX. But otherwise, I like the original FX. Really, I don't think they were at all necessary, but I like the series was remastered in HD. I would imagine most of the space battle look better or more dynamic with the new, but I'm not sure I've seen all the new versions. I'll have to checkout the Enterprise Incident.

Yeah... I hear what you're saying, but I'm not buying that as the writers' intent. This happened recently, amidst all the anti-Americanism, anti-conservatism, etc. It's a reflection of that. Next thing, he'll come out as a homosexual and who identifies as a black woman.

Everything I told you came from sources I looked up online, to confirm what DC Comics and Warner Bros. in general had done with the character. Many other adaptations of the Superman story never used the full phrase - "Lois & Clark", "Smallville", the 2006 film "Superman Returns"...none of them used the "American Way" segment. There was also a different version used in a 1948 serial production, spoken as "Truth, Tolerance, and Justice". Action Comics Vol. 1 #900, from June 2011, is the issue where he (in)famously gives up his citizenship. But there's a quote in the actual issue that clarifies his reasons for such a choice, in the context of the story...

"I intend to speak before the United Nations tomorrow and inform them that I am renouncing my U.S. citizenship. I'm tired of having my actions construed as instruments of U.S. policy. "Truth, justice, and the American way - it's not enough anymore. The world’s too small, too connected."

That said, I also came across this image, on DC's actual website. Its from a school book cover used in 1949, distributed to schools by the Institute for American Democracy, an offshoot of the Anti-Defamation League. The artwork is assumed to be from artist Wayne Boring, but origin of the message's text itself remains unknown. So clearly, both positions have been held at different points in history - its not a one-sided problem.

Sadly, this is about as clean as I can get it at the moment. I've been renting the same spot in my roommate's house since 2018, and when I moved in I had many boxes of stuff from when I lived in Dallas. Now, after all this time, most of that stuff is still boxed up - I just don't have the space to put it anywhere. If I were to turn the webcam to my left, you'd see how absolutely insane my bed has become. I didn't have anywhere to put stuff, so it wound up on the bed, and I started sleeping in the living room.

Everything I told you came from sources I looked up online, to confirm what DC Comics and Warner Bros. in general had done with the character. Many other adaptations of the Superman story never used the full phrase - "Lois & Clark", "Smallville", the 2006 film "Superman Returns"...none of them used the "American Way" segment. There was also a different version used in a 1948 serial production, spoken as "Truth, Tolerance, and Justice". Action Comics Vol. 1 #900, from June 2011, is the issue where he (in)famously gives up his citizenship. But there's a quote in the actual issue that clarifies his reasons for such a choice, in the context of the story...

"I intend to speak before the United Nations tomorrow and inform them that I am renouncing my U.S. citizenship. I'm tired of having my actions construed as instruments of U.S. policy. "Truth, justice, and the American way - it's not enough anymore. The world’s too small, too connected."

That said, I also came across this image, on DC's actual website. Its from a school book cover used in 1949, distributed to schools by the Institute for American Democracy, an offshoot of the Anti-Defamation League. The artwork is assumed to be from artist Wayne Boring, but origin of the message's text itself remains unknown. So clearly, both positions have been held at different points in history - its not a one-sided problem.

Have you seen most of the Star Trek Original Series and Next Gen episodes?

TOS, no - it was way before my time. But I grew up on TNG, and its still my favorite version of the franchise.

Cool! We've been doing a little survey in this thread. What would be your Top 5 TNG episodes?

...a somewhat-sarcastic sense of humor.

I can't nail it down to just five for the whole series, but I did make a list of ones I really liked per season, for another website. Here they are...

Season 1 - "Encounter at Farpoint", "Where No One Has Gone Before", "Hide and Q", "Haven"
Season 2 - "Elementary, Dear Data", "The Outrageous Okona", "The Measure of a Man"
Season 3 - "Deja Q", "Yesterday's Enterprise", "The Offspring", "Sins of the Father", "Sarek"
Season 4 - "Brothers", "Remember Me", "The Drumhead"
Season 5 - "Cause and Effect", "I, Borg"
Season 6 - "A Fistful of Datas", "Lessons"
Season 7 - "Inheritance", "Thine Own Self"

As you can probably tell, some of those episodes are Data-centric, but that's completely intentional. He remains my favorite character of the whole cast, and I got to meet Brent Spiner in 2008. He has a great personality and a somewhat-sarcastic sense of humor.

Oh, and then there's this:

trippy