Sunday, November 19, 2006

ever notice how trek marathons are almost as frequent as mccain appearances on meet the press... ?

TV Land is going nuts with the original Star Trek series, of which they recently obtained the rights and feel they must therefore stack every episode end2end over one sorry-assed wknd, and are. Just surfed in & out of the most popular episode, i.e., as historically voted by Trekkers & Trekkies alike -- and remind me to go off on the insipidity of self-styled "Trekkers" who take offense at being called "Trekkies," as though there was a distinction perceived or cared about by the rest of the waking public.

"The Trouble with Tribbles," where the hand-muff props as alien kitty cats, they of the headless/tailless/limbless variety of species, do nothing but purr. The "trouble" with them, of course, is their propensity to breed like rabbits on crack, along with a corresponding appetite for eating one out of starship & home. On the other hand they have a profound and requited dislike of Klingons, a good thing... that is, up until the Next Generation series was launched.

The episode falls in the genre of "camp," a creativity-challenged fetish of which I prefer all future Trek writers steer clear as it almost guarantees inherent laziness in the production and for tedious viewing. Too many franchise episodes (ST, Next Gen, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, and the movies) are just so cloyingly campy (And who ever told Shatner he could improvise?), a stark contrast to, say, the reincarnated Battlestar Galactica. "Tribbles," for example, ends with the obligatory group-chuckle, this time on the bridge, when Scotty declares he's beamed all the little beasties over to the Klingon ship.

Problem solved? Not if you're a tribble. You see how Klingons eat? Imagine the carnage then... although the writers don't go there.

Chuckle chuckle...

No comments: