Posted on 03/01/2005 3:35:21 PM PST by Names Ash Housewares
How about investing it in some GOOD sci-fi?
Wonder what they think of this, can't get any real advertising money, and some puts down 3 mil to keep the best in the past 18 years on the air.
Who would have thunk it.
Captain Janeway cured me from watching Star Trek.
Shop smart! Shop S-MART!
I think that it's wonderful these folks want Star Trek to continue, and even better that they're ponying up to keep it alive, but this line is silly:
"The people airing this kind of TV have a responsibility; inspiration."
First off, Star Trek hasn't been inspiring since Kirk launched his fat butt off a trampoline. It's a soap-in-space.
Second, TV stations have only one responsibility: to make money for their owners. There is no duty-to-inspire line in the FCC licensing paperwork. Saying the cancellation "for the sake of just ratings" is wrong is right up there with saying work for the sake of just pay is wrong, or eating for the sake of just hunger is wrong. You do these things to fulfill basic motivations, and you run a TV station to fullfill a basic motivation--making money. No ratings=no money. Inspiration doesn't pay for the transmission.
Bump to that. How about making Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars Trilogy" into a tv show? That would be hard science instead of transporter tripe.
You mean "Dyke Trek".
Carl Sagan I think touched on what things like Star Trek are about.........
"The visions we offer our children shape the future. It matters what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Dreams are maps. "I do not think it irresponsible to portray even the direst futures; if we are to avoid them, we must understand that they are possible. But where are the alternatives? Where are the dreams that motivate and inspire? We long for realistic maps of a world we can be proud to give to our children. Where are the cartographers of human purpose? Where are the visions of hopeful futures, of technology as a tool for human betterment and not a gun on hair trigger pointed at our heads?". His answer is that "NASA, in its ordinary course of doing business, offers such a vision...."
Are you sure this isn’t from Scrappleface? I HATE that whinny a~s song! Sounds like something Bill Murray would sing in a gay lounge.
The show is very good nevertheless. I’m sorry to see it go, but all good things end.
I always liked Star Trek till she made captain. Then it truly sucked.
Its one of those love it or hate it things. Doesnt bother anymore. The imagery in the beginning is so cool.
Great books! But the trilogy would never make it to television - they'd have to dumb it down too much so that the proles could keep up with it. 'nobody' (i.e. the majority) wants good, detailed scientifiction anymore...
Good things ahead if Enterprise is saved.........
Manny Coto has really turned the show around and had this to say..
......One of the things I wanted to do for season five is to open the door once again for fan submissions as well as approach sci-fi writers to come up with ideas for story arcs. I envisioned story arcs developed by David Brin, Gregory Benford, and Greg Bear."
They thought that about ER and it worked. If I had the money to option those books, I would.
Working Coyote into the shows would be a blast. Someone like Lou Diamond Phillips in that role would be okay. A big fat dude would make it funny AND fun. You could have him appearing in the background hiding where the other characters didn't see him and some knew he was there and subtly tried to hide him again, ala Broadcast News and the little murderer dude in the copier.
It could be a really good series if they just got a good writer to make it a bit less stilted than Robinson's preachy tone. Put a Raimi or a Carpenter--heck, even Kevin Smith!--on the set to get the ball rolling right. That'd probably be all you need.
How about donating to save Hubble instead? ;-)
Actually, Sagan wasn't very enamored with Star Trek, (or a lot of popular science fiction, for that matter), according to a chapter of "Broca's Brain".
Understood. And he didnt like Reagan much sad to say. But I think he was great on Astronomy and convey things to the average person they normally would never get exposed to. Perhaps today he would cut Trek some slack. I really like what he said "Cartographers of human purpose" and "dreams are maps".
The Sagan founded Planetary Society is backing Trek by the way.....
http://www.planetary.org/star_trek/enterprise_022405.html
“Hailing Frequencies Open” — Gene Roddenberry Joins Star Trek and The Planetary Society.
In early 1980, during the first regrettable hiatus in the production of Star Trek television, The Planetary Society was struggling to get on its feet. It was a young idea — conceived by Carl Sagan, then fresh from the Cosmos television series, Bruce Murray, then director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Lou Friedman, serving as the executive director — and it needed to grow.
The Society’s founders came from the world of science and engineering, but they would need to reach beyond that community if the organization was to become a powerful and effective force to achieve its vision of exploring other worlds and seeking other life.
Enter Gene Roddenberry, creator of the Star Trek universe.
Gene immediately saw the potential of the fledgling society to help make a reality from his dream of the future. He offered to write to the members of the leading Star Trek fan club, still fighting to bring the show back to television, and urge them to join The Planetary Society.
We took him up on his offer.
Gene also contributed an essay to our magazine, The Planetary Report, explaining why all believers in Star Trek should join the Society.
By the end of 1980, The Planetary Society was well on its way to become the fastest-growing membership organization of the decade. The first confluence of dreams was a productive one. Our Society owes much to Star Trek and its creator.
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