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Happy Birthday!! :)
Sep. 8th, 2006 02:09 pmFirst, no it's *not* my birthday. My birthday is September 31st and no, I'm not tellng how old I'm going to be.
So whose birthday is it? Star Trek, of course. 40 years old! Kinda hard to believe, but it's true. Who would have thought it? ST:TOS (The Original Series) has proved to be one of the most durable franchises in tv (and movie) history. Four different tv series, soon-to-be eleven films, and a couple of gazillion fics, cons, memorabilia and what have you. Not bad for a little scifi tv show that was filmed on a shoestring and was barely tolerated by The Powers That Be. It lasted three whole seasons before TPTB decided it wasn't cost-effective, bringing in ratings, etc. So it went into syndication and the rest, as they say, is history. Why was it so good? The writing. Well, of course the directors and actors and engineers and props, wardrobe, etc. had a little bit of input too. But still. If the writing sucks, then the show is going to suck. Period. End of discussion. No hoof no horse, so to speak. As someone with pretensions of being a writer, it's what I honestly believe. Just that--my opinion.
What are my favorite eps? Let's see... "The Trouble With Tribbles", for one. It never fails to make me laugh. The government agricultural officials are ... oh how well I know them! LOL! "The City on the Edge of Forever" is another. I love this ep too, probably where my fascination w/the whole AU thing started. I once read a copy of the *original* draft and it was simply great. Amazing writing. But it had to be cut and edited for content, length, and just about everything else. It's a pity. But the tv censors would never have allowed it to be filmed as it was. Not to mention length. It was feature motion picture length--and I **wish** that it could be filmed that way now. "Balance of Terror"--the first time Romulans appear. They're such great villians, y'know, along with the Klingons. Then there's "Errand of Mercy", "Journey To Babel"... ok, ok--you get the idea.
It's going to be interesting to see which of the current tv shows on primetime will last. Sure, a few of them will. After all, they go into almost instant reruns on multiple channels, along with the dvd box set release. But for how long? Ten years, if they're good. Maybe longer if they're *really* good. But forty? Guess I'll have to see if I'm still around by then.
So whose birthday is it? Star Trek, of course. 40 years old! Kinda hard to believe, but it's true. Who would have thought it? ST:TOS (The Original Series) has proved to be one of the most durable franchises in tv (and movie) history. Four different tv series, soon-to-be eleven films, and a couple of gazillion fics, cons, memorabilia and what have you. Not bad for a little scifi tv show that was filmed on a shoestring and was barely tolerated by The Powers That Be. It lasted three whole seasons before TPTB decided it wasn't cost-effective, bringing in ratings, etc. So it went into syndication and the rest, as they say, is history. Why was it so good? The writing. Well, of course the directors and actors and engineers and props, wardrobe, etc. had a little bit of input too. But still. If the writing sucks, then the show is going to suck. Period. End of discussion. No hoof no horse, so to speak. As someone with pretensions of being a writer, it's what I honestly believe. Just that--my opinion.
What are my favorite eps? Let's see... "The Trouble With Tribbles", for one. It never fails to make me laugh. The government agricultural officials are ... oh how well I know them! LOL! "The City on the Edge of Forever" is another. I love this ep too, probably where my fascination w/the whole AU thing started. I once read a copy of the *original* draft and it was simply great. Amazing writing. But it had to be cut and edited for content, length, and just about everything else. It's a pity. But the tv censors would never have allowed it to be filmed as it was. Not to mention length. It was feature motion picture length--and I **wish** that it could be filmed that way now. "Balance of Terror"--the first time Romulans appear. They're such great villians, y'know, along with the Klingons. Then there's "Errand of Mercy", "Journey To Babel"... ok, ok--you get the idea.
It's going to be interesting to see which of the current tv shows on primetime will last. Sure, a few of them will. After all, they go into almost instant reruns on multiple channels, along with the dvd box set release. But for how long? Ten years, if they're good. Maybe longer if they're *really* good. But forty? Guess I'll have to see if I'm still around by then.
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