@Lemons said:

I have always felt like I was the only person on this board (old one and this one) who had never watched Star Trek...and I may have been. However, I do know more than Penny did- I know the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek! Star Trek is clearly a show that means a lot to a lot of people. I have some questions, and this is coming from a place of genuine interest and respect for a show that so many love, and wanting to learn more.

Lemon please just watch a few episodes of each series if you can. Don't expect me to explain it for you. But here is Penny to do it for you Penny on Star Trek vs Star Wars

@Lemons said:

1.How/why did the characters get into space to begin with and who do they work for? Are they all humans on the ship?

They are in space to seek new worlds and discover stuff. It is all in the opening narration. They are mostly human with new aliens on each planet. The main original aliens are Vulcans, Romulans and Klingons. Each new Star Trek show introduce even more aliens.

2.I know there are several iterations of the show (the original, New Generation, etc.). Which is your favorite one, and should new versions have been made beyond the original? (Did they enhance or ruin the series?)

The one they haven't made already I like to call it "Star Trek: Please someone make it stop already!

3.Who is your favorite character?

All the doctors on each show are always fun.

4.Which is your favorite episode?

The last one they ever decide to make

5.Which alien race that they encountered was your favorite and why?

The alien race called the Lemoniams and the TimBukTwonians.

6.How many seasons were in the original series and is it available somehow like Netflix?

78 in TOS but no big finale as it was cancelled before that could happen.

Here's something that might put things in perspective:

https://youtu.be/r1Kju_-1sYM

@Lemons said:

6.How many seasons were in the original series and is it available somehow like Netflix?

1. Three seasons:
   
   • Season 1: 29 episodes (1966-1967); "The Menagerie" is in two parts (S1E11 & S1E12), originally broadcast on two consecutive dates (November 17 & 24, 1966).
   
   • Season 2: 26 episodes (1967-1968).
   
   • Season 3: 24 episodes (1968-1969).
   
   
   It should be available on Netflix, but you'll have to check as there could be regional differences.
   Also on CBS.
   

Side notes:

The first pilot "The Cage" was rejected by NBC and not broadcast in 1966-1969. It's not included in the three seasons. The only main character from that pilot, returning in the show "Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969)", is the Vulcan, Spock.

A second pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was made and appproved.

That episode was later broadcast as the third in season 1: ­S1E03 "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Footage of "The Cage" was later used in S1E11 & S1E12 "The Menagerie".

The episode "The Cage" was finally broadcast on television in 1988.

Can you get a station called Heroes and Icons? They show _all _the Star Treks every night, starting with TOS and ending with Enterprise. (Not the cartoon though.)

Thank you to those who posted and for the information you shared. Wonder2wonder, I appreciate your invitation to the Star Trek board! I will keep that in mind if I have any other questions. I don't have the station that was mentioned.

@Invidia said:

If you have CABLE TV and/or get a channel called BBCAM, they also show the STAR TREK SERIES on that channel.

They're currently having a PLANT EARTH MARATHON for the next several days, but the TV SCHEDULE shows the STAR TREK MARATHON SESSIONS will be back again on July 7th, at which time they'll be showing TOS (the ORIGINAL SERIES)/ NEXT GENERATION and VOYAGER**) for at least the next 4 days beginning on the 7TH of JULY.

So check your local listings if you have CABLE TV to see if you can watch it that way.

They'll probably also keep showing it after that as well, but the TV SCHEDULE only shows what's on up to July 11th.

QUESTIONS and ANSWERS

1.How/why did the characters get into space to begin with and who do they work for? Are they all humans on the ship?

As far as one recalls, each show already takes place IN SPACE. But they also visit other PLANETS so they don't STAY on the SHIP the entire time.

2.I know there are several iterations of the show (the original, New Generation, etc.). Which is your favorite one, and should new versions have been made beyond the original? (Did they enhance or ruin the series?)

VOYAGER is my favorite. And YES they were right to make other VERSIONS of the show because each one was better than the other one in some way.

3.Who is your favorite character?

CAPTAIN/ADMIRAL JANEWAY who runs the SHIP called VOYAGER.

4.Which is your favorite episode?

GO HERE where you can SEE IT:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=clips+of+the+host+star+trek+next+generation&view=detail&mid=BF673C7F98ECC541ECCABF673C7F98ECC541ECCA&FORM=VIRE

It's called THE HOST. And it's the one where DR. BEVERLY in NEXT GENERATION falls in love with an ALIEN who looks HUMAN, only to discover he's a TRILL, which is a creature who is TRANSFERED into another HOST BODY after he DIES.

Then after he dies in an explosion, they put him into the BODY of one of her SHIPMATES while he's waiting for the NEW HOST BODY to arrive, and BEVERLY is able to adjust to that temporary situation, but after the NEW HOST BODY arrives and the guy she fell in love with is placed into that body she breaks off her relationship telling him she's HUMAN and can't handle all of the changes that his SPECIES has put her though (the NEW HOST BODY he's placed into is also that of a FEMALE).

So that episode also makes you think about what if something like that had happened to you, and if it's the MIND or the BODY of someone that we actually fall in love with.

5.Which alien race that they encountered was your favorite and why?

The TRILL due to the way they force you to confront some of the PREJUDICES that you have about situations that you wouldn't think about otherwise if you had not encountered them.

Because the guy that Beverly falls in love with was also a very sweet and loving person. But when he's placed into the body of the OPPOSITE SEX, then you also feel SHOCKED, and the same way as BEVERLY does when she breaks off her relationship with her former lover.

NEXT GENERATION also has another GOOD EPISODE called THE CHILD where the FRIEND of BEVERLY (DEANNA TROI who's is also the SHIP'S THERAPIST) is impregnated by an ALIEN as she's sleeping, and gives birth to a SON who turns out to be the ALIEN who wanted to know what it was like to be HUMAN.

CLIP HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=PWb5f9Od1s8

And he also grows up RAPIDLY in a matter of DAYS, and is age 8 by the time he decides he has to LEAVE the SHIP because of the effect his presence has on the rest of the crew.

So that was also an interesting episode as well.

Thank you for taking the time to write this for me! I enjoyed reading it. I especially enjoyed reading about some of your favorite episodes. The storylines sound a lot more imaginative than most shows.

After you explore Star Trek will you then will you be onto Firefly, Dr. Who, Battlestar Gallacta, Red Dwarf, Babylon 5, and on and on in the TV SciFi world? So many series so little dilithium crystals to power your star ship.

Here is the home page for the Heroes and Icons channel. Even if you don't have it you can still buy t shirts and answer quizzes. www.handitv.com

Fun Fact: The original show was sold to the network as being "Wagon Train to the stars". Wagon Train was a TV western ('57 - '65) that centered around a covered wagon going across the old west much like the Enterprise was a starship going across the universe.

@znexyish said:

After you explore Star Trek will you then will you be onto Firefly, Dr. Who, Battlestar Gallacta, Red Dwarf, Babylon 5, and on and on in the TV SciFi world? So many series so little dilithium crystals to power your star ship.

Here is the home page for the Heroes and Icons channel. Even if you don't have it you can still buy t shirts and answer quizzes. www.handitv.com

Fun Fact: The original show was sold to the network as being "Wagon Train to the stars". Wagon Train was a TV western ('57 - '65) that centered around a covered wagon going across the old west much like the Enterprise was a starship going across the universe.

Knowing me and how little TV I actually watch, I probably will not be exploring all of those other series. But Star Trek has always seemed to me to be the granddaddy of all science fiction shows. I have always been interested in it, or at least for as long as I have been part of The Big Bang Theory board and heard people talking about it. I found that the original series is on Netflix so maybe I will check out some episodes.

Let's hear what Amy thinks of all of this shall we ? https://youtu.be/fCT1EgTwuuU

If that doesn't work I will send Sheldon over with a special gift for you https://youtu.be/214U5Xu36Fo

@znexyish said:

Let's hear what Amy thinks of all of this shall we ? https://youtu.be/fCT1EgTwuuU

If that doesn't work I will send Sheldon over with a special gift for you https://youtu.be/214U5Xu36Fo

I know plenty of people can't stand Sheldon but in scenes like those I just love him.

@znexyish said:

Let's hear what Amy thinks of all of this shall we ? https://youtu.be/fCT1EgTwuuU

If that doesn't work I will send Sheldon over with a special gift for you https://youtu.be/214U5Xu36Fo

Amy has spoiled many of Sheldon's favourite shows and movies.

Now that they are married, he'll only be watching "Little House on the Prairie (1974-1983)", and she'll be reading him bedtime stories from her own - self-written - collection.

Amelia and the Time Traveling Physicist.

@znexyish said:

After you explore Star Trek will you then will you be onto Firefly, Dr. Who, Battlestar Gallacta, Red Dwarf, Babylon 5, and on and on in the TV SciFi world? So many series so little dilithium crystals to power your star ship.

Here is the home page for the Heroes and Icons channel. Even if you don't have it you can still buy t shirts and answer quizzes. www.handitv.com

Fun Fact: The original show was sold to the network as being "Wagon Train to the stars". Wagon Train was a TV western ('57 - '65) that centered around a covered wagon going across the old west much like the Enterprise was a starship going across the universe.

To be fair some of the shows you mentioned should have ended earlier than they did. The last season of Babylon 5 was jut one long good-bye. Firefly was great but Serenity was depressing. And all I can say about Dr. Who is this: https://youtu.be/GpnVLXBHjoE

Another Fun Fact: the network executives thought Sci/Fi was something for Saturday morning kid shows, but they loved Westerns. Rodenberry knew how to play them.

@Lemons said:

@znexyish said:

After you explore Star Trek will you then will you be onto Firefly, Dr. Who, Battlestar Gallacta, Red Dwarf, Babylon 5, and on and on in the TV SciFi world? So many series so little dilithium crystals to power your star ship.

Here is the home page for the Heroes and Icons channel. Even if you don't have it you can still buy t shirts and answer quizzes. www.handitv.com

Fun Fact: The original show was sold to the network as being "Wagon Train to the stars". Wagon Train was a TV western ('57 - '65) that centered around a covered wagon going across the old west much like the Enterprise was a starship going across the universe.

Knowing me and how little TV I actually watch, I probably will not be exploring all of those other series. But Star Trek has always seemed to me to be the granddaddy of all science fiction shows. I have always been interested in it, or at least for as long as I have been part of The Big Bang Theory board and heard people talking about it.** I found that the original series is on Netflix** so maybe I will check out some episodes.

Don't forget to watch a few episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation too, the first live action spin off. Anyways you must see Will Wheaton as Wesley Crusher in all of his Federation glory. Then you will set sail for your very own Lemon Trek.

@znexyish said:

@Lemons said:

@znexyish said:

After you explore Star Trek will you then will you be onto Firefly, Dr. Who, Battlestar Gallacta, Red Dwarf, Babylon 5, and on and on in the TV SciFi world? So many series so little dilithium crystals to power your star ship.

Here is the home page for the Heroes and Icons channel. Even if you don't have it you can still buy t shirts and answer quizzes. www.handitv.com

Fun Fact: The original show was sold to the network as being "Wagon Train to the stars". Wagon Train was a TV western ('57 - '65) that centered around a covered wagon going across the old west much like the Enterprise was a starship going across the universe.

Knowing me and how little TV I actually watch, I probably will not be exploring all of those other series. But Star Trek has always seemed to me to be the granddaddy of all science fiction shows. I have always been interested in it, or at least for as long as I have been part of The Big Bang Theory board and heard people talking about it.** I found that the original series is on Netflix** so maybe I will check out some episodes.

Don't forget to watch a few episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation too, the first live action spin off. Anyways you must see Will Wheaton as Wesley Crusher in all of his Federation glory. Then you will set sail for your very own Lemon Trek.

Thanks Z! I appreciate you and everybody giving me some advice on Star Trek. I really do plan to watch some episodes. I'll be empty nesting soon and will need some new things to help fill up my extra time! 😊