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[JoshuaJSlone]

I had Peter David sign my Starfleet Academy books - which served as prequels for the Excalibur series. I wonder if I still have them. lol

I wonder why he stopped writing those books... He's probably not in a position to write now because of his health, but the Excalibur books stopped well before the health issues came up IIRC.

Basically the book series equivalent of being cancelled, or at least being on long hiatus. They publish a limited amount of Star Trek books a year, and haven't ordered a new New Frontier in a long while.

Here's an interview he did at the release of the most recent one in early 2011. Relevant excerpt:

We realize that you do not own the "New Frontier" saga, but that little factoid aside, do you have an end game in mind for Calhoun and the Excalibur? Are you ultimately building to something and one day planning to wrap it all up?

David: I do have thoughts as to how I’d wrap up the series if given the opportunity. I also have a lot of interesting directions I’d take the books if the series keeps going. But I honestly have no clue if that’s going to come to pass. “Blind Man’s Bluff” was the last book on my current contract, and I’ve been asking Pocket for a year if the series is going to be continuing. I have yet to get a straight answer, or any answer. So for all I know, “Blind Man’s Bluff” is the last hurrah of New Frontier.

 

[Fuchsdh]

Too bad. Peter David is a pretty solid author who can run the fine line between humor and serious drama. He did a good short-run comic series for the Halo franchise as well. I really haven't read his non-Trek work that much though.

 

[firehawk12]

Ah, weird. I know they cancelled their ebook line but I wish they gave him a chance to just end the series properly.

 

[gdt]

Spock: Your face is wet.

I say that every time after sex.

 

[gdt]

Damn...season 3 Kirk looks like shit.

 

[gdt]

Wrapping up The Cloud Minders then I'm watching the movies up to VI then starting TNG.

 

[gdt]

Cloud Minders is worth it...if only for the supreme hotness on display.

 

[Henchmen21]

Wrapping up The Cloud Minders then I'm watching the movies up to VI then starting TNG.

Season 1 TNG is very rough around the edges. If you can stand something steeped in late 80's than you will be okay. 2 is less rough but manageable.

 

[Fuchsdh]

Season 1 TNG is very rough around the edges. If you can stand something steeped in late 80's than you will be okay. 2 is less rough but manageable.

It's funny you describe it that way because I think one of Trek's main strengths with TNG and onward is they don't feel as heavily dated or stuck in their era as a lot of contemporary television was.

 

[maharg]

It's funny you describe it that way because I think one of Trek's main strengths with TNG and onward is they don't feel as heavily dated or stuck in their era as a lot of contemporary television was.

Well, he's wrong about s1 of TNG. It's not dated to the late 80s, it's dated to the 70s.

 

[Henchmen21]

Well, he's wrong about s1 of TNG. It's not dated to the late 80s, it's dated to the 70s.

Ok 1: I hope that's a joke

2: You're no longer a mod maharg?

 

[maharg]

It's not a joke at all. Many of the S1 scripts (and also several characters) were literally written in the 70s as part of the aborted Star Trek Phase II show that was eventually turned into TMP.

And I'm retired.

 

[gdt]

DS9 is surprisingly modern. Still looks great, aside from some wardrobes and haircuts.

 

[Fuchsdh]

DS9 is surprisingly modern. Still looks great, aside from some wardrobes and haircuts.

They largely avoided shoulder pads. I think that alone speaks volumes to sounder minds in the costume departments

 

[Henchmen21]

It's not a joke at all. Many of the S1 scripts (and also several characters) were literally written in the 70s as part of the aborted Star Trek Phase II show that was eventually turned into TMP.

And I'm retired.

Do we have a definitive number on how many were rewrites vs new scripts though? I know that some were but "many" might be stretching it some.

 

[gdt]

Worfs first appearance is horrific. His face...his forehead....his lack of beautiful Klingon hair

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Later TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise haven't aged that badly.

TOS is barely tolerable.

Early TNG is cheesecake galore and not very good outside some episodes.

 

[gdt]

TNG on Netflix has that old muddy look that hurts my eyes. Looks horrible.

 

[Henchmen21]

Worfs first appearance is horrific. His face...his forehead....his lack of beautiful Klingon hair

He looked better with short hair. Why the ridges got taller as he got older is beyond me as I don't think any other long running klingon character's ridges changed as they got older.

 

[gdt]

He looked better with short hair. Why the ridges got taller as he got older is beyond me as I don't think any other long running klingon character's ridges changed as they got older.

I can't seem to post a pic on my phone

 

[maharg]

Do we have a definitive number on how many were rewrites vs new scripts though? I know that some were but "many" might be stretching it some.

I guess it's only two, but I still think they were cribbing from the bible for a lot of S1. The Riker/Decker Troy/Ilya port alone accounts for a lot of weird out-of-dateness in S1 imo.

 

[Henchmen21]

I guess it's only two, but I still think they were cribbing from the bible for a lot of S1. The Riker/Decker Troy/Ilya port alone accounts for a lot of weird out-of-dateness in S1 imo.

*Put's on Nerd Goggles*

Troi is spelled with an I not a Y

*Takes off Nerd Goggles*


But seriously, that doesn't really invalidate my position that season 1 is steeped heavily in 80's cheese. Synth heavy music. Spandex. Big Hair (I just watched "Haven" tonight). It's all there.

 

[maharg]

*Put's on Nerd Goggles*

Troi is spelled with an I not a Y

*Takes off Nerd Goggles*

Sorry, noting that Troi and Ilya are basically the same name puts my brain in Greek Mythology Nerd Mode.

But seriously, that doesn't really invalidate my position that season 1 is steeped heavily in 80's cheese. Synth heavy music. Spandex. Big Hair (I just watched "Haven" tonight). It's all there.

This is all true too. Really it all compounds into something really weird.

 

[Henchmen21]

Weird but enjoyable If you're like me and love that kind of stuff.

 

[SpoonyBard]

I don't know, to me even the early TNG look pretty good, especially on Blu-Ray. Voyager and DS9 have kind of muddy made-for-tv look in comparison, Voyager especially. Spandex and big hair and shoulder pads look weird in scifi, but they don't ruin the experience. Synth heavy music is still better than what we got later, when the score is just some background noise that serves no dramatic purpose.

 

[gdt]

I don't know, to me even the early TNG look pretty good, especially on Blu-Ray. Voyager and DS9 have kind of muddy made-for-tv look in comparison, Voyager especially. Spandex and big hair and shoulder pads look weird in scifi, but they don't ruin the experience. Synth heavy music is still better than what we got later, when the score is just some background noise that serves no dramatic purpose.

Netflix TNG looks terrible. Still 480p.

 

[lastplayed]

Early TNG on blu-ray looks fantastic. Some of it looks dated, but think it holds up really well.

 

[Fuchsdh]

I don't know, to me even the early TNG look pretty good, especially on Blu-Ray. Voyager and DS9 have kind of muddy made-for-tv look in comparison, Voyager especially. Spandex and big hair and shoulder pads look weird in scifi, but they don't ruin the experience. Synth heavy music is still better than what we got later, when the score is just some background noise that serves no dramatic purpose.

I think they suffer from feeling a bit more samey--shooting on film really does help TNG feel a little more timeless, as does TOS.

Speaking of which, if I were doing the next Star Trek series I'd take a page from TOS and go crazy with the lighting. I know they were trying to cover up the fact that they couldn't really embellish the plywood sets, but I love the dramatic colored lighting they throw up on the backgrounds, especially Kirk's quarters.

(On the same note, the lighting got a lot better later on in the series. Especially in the first season the lighting on people's faces is really inconsistent and occasionally a bit *too* dramatic for the scene.)

 

[gdt]

Watching The Captains for some reason....damn Sisko still looks pretty good.

 

[Kaladin]

Watching The Captains for some reason....damn Sisko still looks pretty good.

I enjoyed that movie. It was a great look at all the actors and where they are now.

 

[maharg]

Watching The Captains for some reason....damn Sisko still looks pretty good.

Maybe he traded his mortality for his sanity.

 

[gdt]

Avery gets too wrapped up in Sisko's race. Its Star Trek dude.

On the other hand i haven't lived his life so i dunno. I hate the change he requested for DS9s final episode.

Sisko should've been dead/evolved/whatever. Not just going to god college.

 

[gdt]

Kira looks..........something.

Avery...wtf are you talking about.

Go on go on go on go on

 

[Fuchsdh]

Avery gets too wrapped up in Sisko's race. Its Star Trek dude.

On the other hand i haven't lived his life so i dunno. I hate the change he requested for DS9s final episode.

Sisko should've been dead/evolved/whatever. Not just going to god college.

I can completely understand his standpoint, but Star Trek is the future. A black man getting sucked away by space aliens is lame, but it's not racist.

 

[gdt]

Avery is crazy.

 

[SpoonyBard]

I can completely understand his standpoint, but Star Trek is the future. A black man getting sucked away by space aliens is lame, but it's not racist.

At least O'Brien didn't complain about all the racism towards the Irish that used to happen hundreds of years in the past. But seeing how godawful the Irish village stuff was in Voyager, maybe he should have...

 

[Fuchsdh]

At least O'Brien didn't complain about all the racism towards the Irish that used to happen hundreds of years in the past. But seeing how godawful the Irish village stuff was in Voyager, maybe he should have...

DS9 writers: We don't torture O'Brien because he's Irish! We torture him because we love screwing over the most decent people! We're heartless bastards!

 

[Darkmakaimura]

What's all this about Sisko? I'm least familiar with DS9. Is the episode you're referring to where he goes back in time and ends up in the mid 20th century where he's discriminated against because of color? I haven't seen it, just heard about it.

 

[Kaladin]

What's all this about Sisko? I'm least familiar with DS9. Is the episode you're referring to where he goes back in time and ends up in the mid 20th century where he's discriminated against because of color? I haven't seen it, just heard about it.

Probably my least favorite of the Star Trek time travel episodes. It's been a while since I have seen it, but I just remember it being too heavy handed with it's message.

 

[Aiustis]

There was the race episode when the Holosuite one with Vic Fontaine. Where Sisko doesn't really want any part of it because blacks weren't welcome in such establishment. But I thought that actually made sense, kind of like if there was a holosuite program centering around antebellum upper class southern culture minus all the racism and bad bits of the actual time period.

Also Avery Brooks is old and probs lived through a lot of shit so it's kind of understandable that certain things would rub him wrong. On a related note it's kind of the same way as with Kira being kind of 'whiny'; it's not really whiny it's just what happens when you've lived through a lot of oppression.

 

[Kimaka]

There was the race episode when the Holosuite one with Vic Fontaine. Where Sisko doesn't really want any part of it because blacks weren't welcome in such establishment. But I thought that actually made sense, kind of like if there was a holosuite program centering around antebellum upper class southern culture minus all the racism and bad bits of the actual time period.

Also Avery Brooks is old and probs lived through a lot of shit so it's kind of understandable that certain things would rub him wrong. On a related note it's kind of the same way as with Kira being kind of 'whiny'; it's not really whiny it's just what happens when you've lived through a lot of oppression.

I really liked that he brought that up because I was thinking the same thing. When I saw Kasidy in that program, I thought to myself, "Her ass would have been thrown out in 1950s Vegas." On one hand, it might be fun to be able to participate in an idealized version of the past but many of the shows I've seen that involved time travel of some sort ignored that it was a horrible time for people who weren't white men so it was nice to see Sisko acknowledge that.

 

[gdt]

What's all this about Sisko? I'm least familiar with DS9. Is the episode you're referring to where he goes back in time and ends up in the mid 20th century where he's discriminated against because of color? I haven't seen it, just heard about it.

I was mainly referring to Avery's constant insertion of Sisko's race into DS9. He even had them change the ending. Plus he came off as...out there during The Captains. In a kooky way.

 

[DrForester]

Brooks wanting a quick scene where Sisko gets to say goodbye to Kasidy isn't out of place for the Sisko character to me. He was a family man more than any other Trek Captain (and it really was just him and O'Brien as the franchises family men).

 

[BorkBork]

Just wrote a piece on TNG's Darmok, if anyone is interested:

Of Myths and Metaphors: Darmok and Jaled at Tanagra

 

[gdt]

Brooks wanting a quick scene where Sisko gets to say goodbye to Kasidy isn't out of place for the Sisko character to me. He was a family man more than any other Trek Captain (and it really was just him and O'Brien as the franchises family men).

IIRC, he changed it so that Sisko wasn't permanently gone/evolved, just went away with the prophets for awhile. It was because Sisko leaving was another example of a black man leaving his pregnant wife and kids.

 

[gdt]

Wrath of Khan is a great goddamn movie. Search for Spock. Voyage Home is very different and so much fun. Its hilarious.

 

[gdt]

Goddamn Uhura hit a wall with V. There was that dumb scene where she seduced those dudes.............mmhhmm yeah right.

 

[gdt]

Mannnn...Netflix TNG looks like shit. Wish they'd add the HD versions..

 

[catmincer]

Goddamn Uhura hit a wall with V. There was that dumb scene where she seduced those dudes.............mmhhmm yeah right.

Oh that was terrible. She was around 60 when that was done. She looked good for her age but still, no.

 

[Fuchsdh]

Oh that was terrible. She was around 60 when that was done. She looked good for her age but still, no.

I enjoyed that part. Bizarre that they needed to steal horses (Shatner must ride!), but I enjoyed it.