You know, he's gonna see this thread, and will potentially comment on it... posted by

August 25, 2011 1:15 AM

Speaking of 10 years ago, Wil Wheaton remembers about the beginnings of his blog that "MetaFilter declared that it was 'lame'". But if he'd read all 91 comments on the thread, he'd know he was called "cool" several times and "at least he isn't Corin Nemec". And just recently we credited him for inventing the "Sci-Five".

I'd like to link to his response from 10 years ago, but his early archives are totally Fukushima'd and he has way too many cooler things to do than reconstruct them.

posted by oneswellfoop to MetaFilter-Related at 1:15 AM (211 comments total)

He's pretty easy on the eyes in The Guild. I'm surprised he doesn't have more of presence.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:34 AM on August 25, 2011

I just started a run through the whole of TNG this week, after doing similar marathons of all the other Trek series over the past year and a bit, because other than TOS, I hadn't seen most of most of them before.

What a fresh-faced and relentlessly keen young fella he was. I don't follow his blogging or know much about any acting he's done since, but I did enjoy the stories he told with old pal Chris Hardwick on a live Nerdist podcast a couple of months back.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:41 AM on August 25, 2011

I like your post, and I've followed a good number of links, and it's great to read about web history and all, and I really, really don't want to threadsit, but

totally Fukushima'd

Could we not do this?
posted by Ghidorah at 2:01 AM on August 25, 2011 [35 favorites]

Too soon. Maybe Hiroshima'd?
posted by WalterMitty at 2:15 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

WTC?
posted by Pinback at 2:37 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

WTF does that even mean?
posted by BeerFilter at 2:44 AM on August 25, 2011

That thread is a great reminder of the potential consequences of petty meanspiritedness. It would have been fucking awesome to have Wil over here, but nope, gotta make fun of him for being lame.

Anyway, even if Wil weren't a really cool guy, the framing of that post would still have been a dick move. It's just pointlessly mean.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 3:43 AM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

Re Fukushima, OP was probably being cute by replacing a swear with a word that kind of contains the swear, e.g. "shittimwood".
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 3:45 AM on August 25, 2011

Oh god don't talk about Fukushima or the reactor will start leaking even more.
posted by tumid dahlia at 4:29 AM on August 25, 2011 [5 favorites]

MeFi has highlighted quite a bit of Wil's work and activities over the years.

* It's right around this moment, according to historical data and polling research, that the Kill Wesley movement got its first member.
* Phalluses, Wolves, and the Wheaton
* Vote Wil Wheaton 'Entertainer of the Year'
* You will never again in your life see something this epic, so you may as well pluck your eyes out with a spork right now.
* wil wheaton sweeps the bloggies
* "Though I hadn't seen him in over twenty years, I knew I'd miss him forever"
posted by zarq at 4:41 AM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

Who's Corin Nemec? Because i'm thinking that's a pretty low bar.
posted by cjorgensen at 5:05 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Blazecock Pileon: "He's pretty easy on the eyes in The Guild. I'm surprised he doesn't have more of presence."

His presence on TV seems to be in a very specific (and really fun) niche: Evil Wil Wheaton. He's Cortex's nemesis on The Guild, he's Sheldon's nemesis on Big Bang Theory, he's Fargo's nemesis on Eureka, he's Hardison's nemesis on Leverage. And I love every single iteration. There's just something about an actor going from "aww gee shucks Captain Picard" to a snarky, hilarious, lovable douchebag that makes me go all wiggly with glee.
posted by specialagentwebb at 5:28 AM on August 25, 2011 [17 favorites]

Worked for Doogie.
posted by crunchland at 5:30 AM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

Ghidorah: "Could we not do this?"

*Crackling Megaphone*

Let's keep it PC, people. The new, appropriate term is Big Bang'd, which neatly circumvents the "too soon" argument. All things have parity in which all things derive; no victims or villains, just pure, impersonal context.

Is Genghis Khan'd too soon for a Chinaman? Is Imperializ'd too soon for an Aboriginal? Is Industrial Revo'd too soon for a Luddite? Is Agricultural Revo'd too soon for a Hunter-Gatherer? Yes, yes, no, and yes (fuck the Luddites). No historical event is without the disadvantaged and their perceived modern inheritors.

Accretion Disc'd is acceptable in a pinch, but until we rule out the existence of other intrasolar life, please play it safe and stick with Big Bang'd. Just think, there might be a race of freezing Plutonites cursing our warm Goldilocks orbit right now.

Also, Wil Wheaton is awesome.

This has been a Public Service Announcement from your friendly PC Police Department.

*Crrkkskkk*
posted by troll at 5:39 AM on August 25, 2011 [14 favorites]

Yeah, I can believe he wouldn't want to be a part of things here, because he likes to stick to his own little echo chamber where everyone loves him. That's why he left Fark, too. (He's semi-active on Reddit, but only because he knows his fans will downvote any negative comments about him to oblivion.) I've said it before, but he's like a skinny Kevin Smith: Loves his family and his fans with a passion, but can't take criticism, and can't refrain from blogging/Tweeting about his butthurts (the "gamer advocate" Twitter debacle comes to mind).
posted by Gator at 5:53 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Who's Corin Nemec?

I think you'll find this is Corin Nemec, sirs.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:56 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I can believe he wouldn't want to be a part of things here, because he likes to stick to his own little echo chamber where everyone loves him

I have no trouble whatsoever, given who is he is, understanding and being sympathetic to that.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:57 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

Man, I'd like to think that the MeFi post would get deleted with a quickness and fury, were it posted today. Talk about editorializing.
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:59 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

"Chinaman," troll? Fuck you.

There are degrees. Insensitive wisecracks must be above all funny. I don't mean universally funny, but funny to enough people that the crowd doesn't turn away. The Fukushima line was insensitive without being funny.

Then you come in, pouring the insults on, as if anyone who would be offended by a bad joke that exploits thousands of recently dead people, quite a few friends and loved ones of our users, is just kneejerking, acting out some political correctness fantasy of yours. You toss "Chinaman" in there as a goad, and it worked: if I had to guess, I'd say you don't think jokes about Fukushima merit PC Police action because the people suffering are remote and yellow.

Of course, I'm hooked responding to you in the first place, so shame on me. Everyone needs a hug?

Fuck you, troll.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 5:59 AM on August 25, 2011 [13 favorites]

Hey Wil, remember the time Susie took you to 2600? How we all stared like you were a bug under glass? Good times. I'm still in touch with Susie, BTW. If you wanna say hi or something.
posted by scalefree at 6:15 AM on August 25, 2011

Corin Nemic rocks.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:30 AM on August 25, 2011

he's Fargo's nemesis on Eureka

Oh man. I sort of burnt out on Eureka, plowing through what's on Netflix, but that might be a kick in the pants to get back to it.

Man, I'd like to think that the MeFi post would get deleted with a quickness and fury, were it posted today.

Yeah, totally. Ancient days, there, totally a balls out "hey this guy sux amirite" sort of thing of the sort that we hadn't really gotten a handle on, like a number of other things that wouldn't really fly to day.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:34 AM on August 25, 2011

Nix the "fuck you" stuff, please.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:34 AM on August 25, 2011 [9 favorites]

You can if you like. I mean it.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 6:36 AM on August 25, 2011

METATALK WIL WHEATON IS IN YOU!
posted by bondcliff at 6:43 AM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

I just flagged it instead, Ice Cream.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:43 AM on August 25, 2011

Corin Nemec was a pretty good Harold.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:50 AM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

Good for you, Empress.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 6:50 AM on August 25, 2011

...Ah, I see you prefer the "righteously angry young man" approach. I'll leave you to it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:56 AM on August 25, 2011 [4 favorites]

No, I just dislike condescension. I'll leave you to it.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 7:00 AM on August 25, 2011 [5 favorites]

If ever there was a more obvious case of "don't feed the troll"...
posted by chiababe at 7:06 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Boy, I really hope Mr. Wheaton reads this thread so he can see what a bunch of mature, non-dicks Mefites have become.
posted by bondcliff at 7:08 AM on August 25, 2011 [37 favorites]

Troll's bit was funny, not my cup of tea per se, but hardly worth going supernova over.
posted by vrakatar at 7:10 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Say what you want about Wheaton -- he's grown into becoming a great blogger and writer, and has always struck me as an entirely reasonable and decent guy.

If you read one thing by/about Wil Wheaton, read this story about the first/last time that he met Patrick Stewart.
posted by schmod at 7:13 AM on August 25, 2011 [12 favorites]

Way back in aught three when I lived in LA, my husband and I went to go see Wil Wheaton at the J Keith Van Straaten "talk show" at a local theater. I'm a die hard treki and I emailed him letting him know we were huge fans and coming to see him. He responded, said to stick around after the show (in which he was hilarious) and we got to meet and chat with him and he signed the email from him that I had printed out. I even left a taping of Friends early to go see him. That was a great night for me and still a really fond memory.

I love that he is doing well and was very sad to see everyone here being so hard on him. Like many of us he's a good guy, living his life, being a geek. Rock on, Wil Wheaton.
posted by Kimberly at 7:18 AM on August 25, 2011 [13 favorites]

if ever there was a more obvious case...

I know, and I really do regret all of this, but what can I do now? It's Metatalk. Flagging doesn't fix things here.

The obvious answer is that fighting doesn't fix things here, either, and that I should have walked away from this post, its terrible joke, and its stupid troll without participating. I lose.

I'm sorry. I hope I learned something.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 7:18 AM on August 25, 2011 [5 favorites]

Not lame, Wil -- lamé, i.e., Solid Gold.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:18 AM on August 25, 2011

So I grew up with TNG, was a total Wesley Crusher fanatic. I also grew up in online sci-fi fandom, where Wesley Crusher was widely considered to be the worst character in the history of science fiction (even now, I find myself having to defend TNG to (mostly older) Star Trek fans who have idealized the original series). It shouldn't be surprising that Wheaton was turned off by this place, especially back then - we have been the kind of nerds who can't seem to separate the actor from the character.

I also kind of hate this tendency that online communities have of, like, exhulting nerd celebrities. "Oh, Wheaton posts to Reddit! Mefi's own Adam Savage!" It's good for their brand, of course, but it makes me realize that we're all still just consumers. It's like people who buy gossip magazines to look at pictures of Jon Hamm shopping at Safeway.
posted by muddgirl at 7:26 AM on August 25, 2011 [9 favorites]

I thought he was pretty good in Stand by Me.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 7:27 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

I wrote to a friend yesterday, "hey, wilw has a neat post on homebrewing on his blog." And then I reflected on what an odd sentence that really is--"former child star turned professional nerd self-publishes article on homemade alcoholic beverages."
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:29 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

also grew up in online sci-fi fandom, where Wesley Crusher was widely considered to be the worst character in the history of science fiction

I've been rewatching some TNG, and Wesley doesn't come across nearly as irritating now that I don't care so much. It's like I know he's going to invent some dumb shit that saves the day, so I can just relax and ignore it. Doctor Crusher also seems only slightly less hot than I thought she was when I was 12, so the whole family comes out way ahead on reviewing.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:38 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

What makes me go all wiggly with glee, specialagentwebb?

Wil Wheaton. Guild. Kilt. 'nuff said.

Incidentally, in that incarnation, he reminds me of my post-college boyfriend, who was named -- wait for it -- WESLEY. My mom used to call him Wesley Crusher just to needle him. He was a sweetie, I don't think he minded too terribly.

(He *did* mind when Mom made casual mention of the freckles Somewhere On Me that form the Big Dipper if you look at them from the right angle. "Oh you know...those freckles...you've seen 'em..." blush blush blush).
posted by bitter-girl.com at 7:41 AM on August 25, 2011

Gotta say, for the record, I think Wil Wheaton is awesome, is choosing great roles and his twitter feed makes me giggle. I kinda wish I would run into him at a farmer's market with his wife and kids so I could say it to his face.

There.

(also, I'm quite pleased he didn't fall into a cocaine and alcohol hole like so many other kid stars, but I don't really need to tell him that.)
posted by Sophie1 at 7:42 AM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

I actually did not find the Wesley character the worst thing about TNG and thought Wil Wheaton played the role it as it was written (for better or worse), and I am fairly impressed with how Wil has handled his post TNG career.

The Deanna Troy character in TNG was what really made my teeth hurt, and I stopped watching the show mainly because of her. (Also, Archer's beagle Porthos in Enterprise - seriously?! - what were they thinking).
posted by gudrun at 7:50 AM on August 25, 2011

(Also, Archer's beagle Porthos in Enterprise - seriously?! - what were they thinking).

They were thinking "it's Enterprise, if they're watching this nonsense we can do whatever we want."
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:54 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

I thought they relied too much on that stupid holodeck conceit. I mean, in the 23rd century, you'd expect them to be bored with virtual reality.
posted by crunchland at 8:05 AM on August 25, 2011

gudrun: "(Also, Archer's beagle Porthos in Enterprise - seriously?! - what were they thinking)."

I maintain he was there solely so they could use the line "Where no dog has gone before."

One of the first episodes, the crew beams down to a planet. Archer brings his dog. Dog runs to the trees to do what dogs do.

Spoiler for the last star trek movie follows:





Although it was nice to see J. J. Abrams slip in an in joke for fans in the last Star Trek movie by saying that the reason Scotty had been banished to the ass-end of nowhere is he tried to transport 'Admiral' Archer's dog and lost him.
posted by zarq at 8:09 AM on August 25, 2011 [5 favorites]

You toss "Chinaman" in there as a goad, and it worked: if I had to guess, I'd say you don't think jokes about Fukushima merit PC Police action because the people suffering are remote and yellow.

If getting upset about the use of Fukushima is PC, I'm going to start going around calling people "fuckface".
posted by KokuRyu at 8:12 AM on August 25, 2011 [4 favorites]

The Deanna Troy character in TNG was what really made my teeth hurt

Yeah, it's like the knew they couldn't have a woman just repeat what the computer said, so they had a woman state really obvious things, like "I sense that the Klingon is... angry." That being said, Sirtis really seemed to fight for that character, and I love how you can watch her grow into it. It's like at one point, the writers realized that empaths make terrible therapists, because they know everything already and don't have to ask any questions.
posted by muddgirl at 8:13 AM on August 25, 2011 [8 favorites]

Wesley Crusher was defiantly one of the many things that I hated about TNG but Wheaton's turned into a pretty cool grown up so I'm going to have to forgive him. I still don't forgive Roddenberry for creating that terrible show.
posted by octothorpe at 8:19 AM on August 25, 2011

So I know we annoyed Wheaton 10 years ago, but is it too late for flowers?
posted by never used baby shoes at 8:20 AM on August 25, 2011

I totally missed TNG when it was originally on (it started when I was in junior high) so I'm watching it for the very first time now. One of my first thoughts: "Was Wil Wheaton scarred for life by having to wear those goofy sweaters?"
posted by desjardins at 8:21 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

They were thinking "it's Enterprise, if they're watching this nonsense we can do whatever we want."

Is Enterprise that unwatchable? I think it's on Netflix instant now, but I don't want to give it priority over other stuff if it's truly dreadful.
posted by Think_Long at 8:22 AM on August 25, 2011

Oh man. I sort of burnt out on Eureka, plowing through what's on Netflix, but that might be a kick in the pants to get back to it.

Eureka has remained watchable for me for three reasons; it doesn't have a bad guy. Every once in a while they do a villain arc, but the vast majority of the time, the problems that the cast are dealing with are purely of their own making. For some reason that cracks me up.

Second is Colin Ferguson, when they let him do physical comedy, he completely throws himself into it (sometimes quite literally) and it's amazing to see someone willing to look that goofy for the joke.

Lastly, the casting director has a great sense of what guest stars to get. Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, Lexa Doig, Stan Lee, Ming Na, James Callis, the list just goes on and on, and it's great fun to see actors from other sci-fi shows suddenly appear in Eureka in a different context.

It's not a great show, but it's a weirdly satisfying one.
posted by quin at 8:23 AM on August 25, 2011 [6 favorites]

Is Enterprise that unwatchable? I think it's on Netflix instant now, but I don't want to give it priority over other stuff if it's truly dreadful.

I didn't like it, but it's not as bad as I claimed for the purposes of making a joke. On the other hand, I've only known two people who really liked it: one of those is a guy who is married to Mark Zuckerberg's sister, the other is a girl who I once caught sucking maple syrup out of her own hair.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:25 AM on August 25, 2011 [4 favorites]

Is Enterprise that unwatchable? I think it's on Netflix instant now, but I don't want to give it priority over other stuff if it's truly dreadful.

It's what we watch on Netflix when our DVD of Dexter hasn't arrived in the mail yet. It's interesting to me, probably because it's completely new, but I fall asleep to it almost every time. Someone said it's all the beige.
posted by desjardins at 8:26 AM on August 25, 2011

Is Enterprise that unwatchable?

I like that when ship breaks and they have to fix it. Not great big things, but like people's showers don't work or the lights flicker or things. Then again, I'd watch a show that was all about building maintenance on a star station with no drama, so I'm not a good judge.

But once they get seriously into the time travel crap, it's not really worth it.
posted by winna at 8:27 AM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

For those who haven't read/listened yet, his Memories of the Futurecast are Wheaton's recollections of the first season of TNG. I have been enjoying them, and hope that at some time he will finish the second half of the season.

It makes it pretty clear that even at the time, Wheaton knew his character was being poorly handled, but he wasn't confident enough as a teenager to fight that on set. And yes, he thought the sweaters were horrible.
posted by never used baby shoes at 8:27 AM on August 25, 2011 [4 favorites]

Pardon me whilst I go troll some on alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die.

Or I would if Usenet wasn't dead. Wesley outlived Usenet...
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:28 AM on August 25, 2011 [5 favorites]

Wesley Crusher was defiantly one of the many things that I hated about TNG but Wheaton's turned into a pretty cool grown up so I'm going to have to forgive him.

See, this is a pretty decent example of what I'm talking about - Wheaton was doing a job, a pretty enviable job for any nerdy kid at the time. Why did we judge the actor negatively for a role he really had little say in?

Then again, I'd watch a show that was all about building maintenance on a star station with no drama, so I'm not a good judge.

Someone make this show.
posted by muddgirl at 8:29 AM on August 25, 2011 [4 favorites]

Why did we judge the actor negatively for a role he really had little say in?

Because a lot of obsessive nerds are assholes with varying degrees of breaks from reality, and are unable to separate characters from actors and portrayals from scripts.

/goes back to editing TVTropes
posted by zombieflanders at 8:37 AM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

Is Enterprise that unwatchable?

Utterly. Unwatchable.
posted by Sophie1 at 8:42 AM on August 25, 2011

Utterly. Unwatchable.

Unless you enjoy looking at Jolene Blakock, in which case it's tolerable.

It's not a good show, it has one of the worst... no. It has the worst theme song in all of television history, most of the plots are recycled from other Star Trek episodes, but the weird 9/11 inspired terrorism reaction they get into in the later seasons was actually a kind of dark and interesting thing to do, and the cast had a reasonably good chemistry.
posted by quin at 8:51 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ach, Blalock. That was an unfortunate typo.
posted by quin at 8:52 AM on August 25, 2011

Freudian typo?
posted by utsutsu at 8:56 AM on August 25, 2011

Yeah, I'd Freudian her typo.

No, I have no idea what that means either.
posted by quin at 8:58 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

Then again, I'd watch a show that was all about building maintenance on a star station with no drama, so I'm not a good judge..

I'd like to think that this is what Star Trek: Corps of Engineers is about.
posted by zamboni at 9:02 AM on August 25, 2011

Nix the "fuck you" stuff, please.

What about the trolling (no pun intended) racist bullshit?
posted by kmz at 9:03 AM on August 25, 2011

Is Enterprise that unwatchable?

It was actually my favourite of all the series. I liked the more contemporary (and believable) sci-fi look coupled with the retro aliens from the original series. But, then again, I found TNG and DS9 pretty unwatchable... I'm not really a Star Trek fan.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:07 AM on August 25, 2011

Enterprise is just fine. It takes a few episodes before the quality picks up, however. The season 1 finale was fantastic. "The Vulcan Science Directorate Has determined that time travel is impossible." No Hoshi wining, and very little "no effect, sir!" bullshit that always pisses me off when any Enterprise tries to shoot at something. The Science Officer and the Head of Engineering turned Delta Force and storming that ship was kinda odd, however.

And Fukushima'd? GTFO.
posted by Brocktoon at 9:07 AM on August 25, 2011

Unless you enjoy looking at Jolene Blalock

Looking being the operative word here because watching...

I suggest getting a poster from a fan zine and it would be a better investment of your time.
posted by Sophie1 at 9:07 AM on August 25, 2011

Calm down, Sophie. Sheesh. This is one of the worst things I've ever seen on television, yet TNG is still a great series.
posted by Brocktoon at 9:10 AM on August 25, 2011

We just watched all of TNG (thank you streaming) again last month. I actually thought that he did a good job with a lousy role. Also, I couldn't believe how much I'd forgotten about that series.
posted by Zophi at 9:16 AM on August 25, 2011

It's too bad Wil didn't get past the opening post as most of the thread was pretty enthusiastic.
posted by Mitheral at 9:21 AM on August 25, 2011

I actually thought that he did a good job with a lousy role

That sounds about right--I haven't watched TNG in a while, but it seemed to me the writers couldn't really agree on the character's age/maturity level and it would sort of change randomly from episode to episode.
posted by Hoopo at 9:26 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

I love TNG. It's Enterprise that I found insufferable.
posted by Sophie1 at 9:28 AM on August 25, 2011

Enterprise has some moments of greatness. (Shran)

The problem was it took too long to get good. TNG had the same problem but Enterprise did not have such a long leash. By the final season it was pretty damn good.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:37 AM on August 25, 2011

Today metafilter talked about Wil Wheaton talking about how in the past metafilter talked about Wil Wheaton. Sometimes the name of this place is so appropriate it hurts.
posted by lriG rorriM at 9:42 AM on August 25, 2011 [15 favorites]

I actually never watched Enterprize and never had any interest in doing so. This Memory-alpha article about the dog kind of makes me want to blow my brains out.

Also I think "Fukushima" is a good verb but it should be for things more catastrophic then messed up archives.
posted by delmoi at 9:49 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

gudrun: " The Deanna Troy character in TNG was what really made my teeth hurt, and I stopped watching the show mainly because of her. (Also, Archer's beagle Porthos in Enterprise - seriously?! - what were they thinking)."

I met her briefly at a con in New York City around 1989(?). Next Generation was on the air at the time and was only in its 2nd or 3rd season, I think.

I grew up in a Star Trek household. My parents had taken me to the big 1975 convention. (I was two!) They bought me a tribble, which is still one of my most treasured possessions. (My mom still has it and refuses to part with it. Somewhere in storage there's a no-doubt very yellowed picture of little me being held by George Takei at that convention, with Isaac Asimov standing next to us. My parents also purchased some neat t-shirts (I still have one of them -- my son actually wore it for a few weeks this year until he grew out of it.)

One of the few clear and cherished memories I have of my father from a very young age was a weekly ritual: we would sit and watch reruns of the original series together at 6pm on Saturday nights. I remember sitting in his lap during the shows, so I must have been very young at the time. We even saw the first four movies together -- each on opening day. I remember him pulling me out of school for at least a couple of them.

So Next Generation comes out, and we watched. Most of my friends were as obsessed with the show as I was. The convention comes in the late 80's and a bunch of us get tickets and go. At that point my father was too ill to go with us. But I had promised to bring him a tribble of his own (not out of altruistic reasons -- just so I could get mine back.)

Get to the hotel. We all step into the elevator with a group of people. Doors begin to close and we hear a woman with a thick cockney accent yell "Hold that door!" I throw my arm between the elevator doors at the same time a petite young woman with dark brown hair does so from the other side. As she slips inside the elevator I realized it was Marina Sirtis. She was short, perhaps 5'3". Stunning, and very slim.

Funny, the things you remember: every person in the elevator gasped as she came barreling through the door. Most if not all of us were teen boys. Here we were, standing in an elevator with Counselor Troi and I'm sure no one, especially me, wanted to say something and sound like an idiot in front of her. But as the doors closed, she turned to me and said (again, in that thick English accent that just sounded jarringly wrong) "Thanks. I'm dreadfully late!" I gaped at her, then stammered out a "You're very welcome" and probably turned bright red. She stuck out her hand and introduced herself.

In that very short trip in the elevator I managed somehow to tell that I was a huge fan who watched her show with my disabled father, as often as possible. I got to thank her, and say how grateful I was to her and the show for giving me a way to bond with him that gave us both a chance to forget about his illness for a while.

For me at least, getting to say thank you was a really nice moment.

The elevator arrived, and she was hustled up onto the stage almost immediately afterwards. She chatted with the audience for a very long time, patiently took questions, cracked jokes, told a bunch of on-the-set stories and explained that yes, we were hearing her natural accent. She said only way she could do Troi's was by reading something. So somebody gave her a show program that she read out of in Troi's voice, which pretty much brought the house down. Oh, and she said that her cleavage on the show was thanks to the magic of special effects. :)

But she also said that the writers didn't know what to do with her character at first. She had been convinced she was going to be written off the show after the first season. And that she was hoping they'd give her more meaty roles in the future. Which did happen, but not very often. Much of her career since then has been guest starring appearances. Wish she'd had greater opportunities to show her stuff.

But it was pretty awesome to see how much joy and passion she had for her work. And getting the opportunity to thank someone who worked on that show for the positive effect it had on my childhood was wonderful.
posted by zarq at 9:49 AM on August 25, 2011 [111 favorites]

tumid dahlia: "Oh god don't talk about Fukushima or the reactor will start leaking even more"

Hey, where are you going now? No, please don't run away! Don't be afraid! Come back! Be my friend! Why are you running away from me?

What's that? I'm what? Oh my goodness -- you're right! I'm leaking! OH, NOOO! I'M LEAKINGGG! OH, NOOOOOOO!

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I didn't mean to do that! No, please don't go away! I promise I won't ever leak again! Please! It's not my fault -- somebody built me bad.

So... Do you like me?

posted by Rhaomi at 9:50 AM on August 25, 2011 [6 favorites]

Oh yeah. Bought my dad two tribbles at the convention. When I gave them to him and asked for mine back, he said, "What are you nuts? No way! When I die, you can inherit it."

And so I did. Until my mother stole it back. :)
posted by zarq at 9:52 AM on August 25, 2011 [9 favorites]

It's too bad they don't reproduce as quickly in real life.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:59 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

furiousxgeorge: "It's too bad they don't reproduce as quickly in real life."

EXACTLY! :D
posted by zarq at 10:03 AM on August 25, 2011

I also have several tribbles bought at conventions. Also several that my friend's mother made for us. My friend Alex had a very cool mom. He also had a bag full of tribbles.

I made a stop motion movie of tribbles reproducing with a Super 8 movie camera. I have it in my attic but no way of watching it.
posted by Splunge at 10:04 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

ahem
posted by The Whelk at 10:04 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

The Whelk: "ahem"

OMG

I have to buy those for my kids.
posted by zarq at 10:07 AM on August 25, 2011

"I made a stop motion movie of tribbles reproducing with a Super 8 movie camera."

That is just super cool.
posted by Kevin Street at 10:08 AM on August 25, 2011

I actually never watched Enterprize and never had any interest in doing so.

A NEW SHUTTLECRAFT!!!
posted by Sys Rq at 10:09 AM on August 25, 2011

Splunge: " I made a stop motion movie of tribbles reproducing with a Super 8 movie camera. I have it in my attic but no way of watching it."

There are a number of places in New York City (and I'm sure in other parts of the country) that could convert it to dvd for you!
posted by zarq at 10:09 AM on August 25, 2011

Sys Rq: " A NEW SHUTTLECRAFT!!!"

That's Voyager. ;)
posted by zarq at 10:10 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

I have to buy those for my kids.

Suuuuuure. "For your kids." I get it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:11 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

There are a number of places in New York City

I think Adorama on W18th street does this.
posted by elizardbits at 10:15 AM on August 25, 2011

ADI does. Or at least they used to.
posted by zarq at 10:27 AM on August 25, 2011

It's tempting. I'll look into it.
posted by Splunge at 10:38 AM on August 25, 2011

My husband and I have a tribble.

We are dorks.

But also, my husband has a Yeoman Rand costume, so there's that.
posted by Sophie1 at 10:44 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

I'm going to go ahead and add in my two cents that the person who used "Chinaman" in the thread should probably be chastised by a mod along with the person who took offense to it.

But, then, if they're calling themselves "troll" and writing up long, baiting, anti-PC screeds, I'm guessing they're not long for MetaFilter.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:46 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

I kinda like Enterprise, I'm only like 10 episodes in though.

The problem with Wesley was the fucking sweaters. He is also a little bit too golly-gee-willikers. They could have given him a bit of an edge, maybe they could have made him a stone cold asshole. You know the type, the smartest guy in the room that won't let anyone forget it.
posted by Ad hominem at 10:56 AM on August 25, 2011

I'm going to go ahead and add in my two cents

Me too! It was indeed "a bad joke" but to my knowledge the Fukushima meltdown has not in fact caused thousands of deaths (yet?), so the statement that it "exploits thousands of recently dead people" is a bit over the top.
posted by Hoopo at 11:02 AM on August 25, 2011

I was in a professional teen comedy improv group with Corin (Corky - at the time, anyway) Nemec. The group was called You've Got to Be Kidding Me.

(Though I'm not kidding at all about this.)
posted by crankyrogalsky at 11:18 AM on August 25, 2011

Sorry, You've Got to Be Kidding (scratch the Me)
posted by crankyrogalsky at 11:22 AM on August 25, 2011

Announcer1 (Bob): "Welcome back to game 5 of the MetaTalk world series, brought to you by Flame-O's, the lunchtime treat of bored office workers."

Announcer2 (Fred): "And what a series it's been. In the past few days we've seen acronyms assaulted, mystery meat basted, and in one case an all out foul mouthed brawl."

Bob: "A historic series indeed, Fred. Now up on the mound we have oneswellfoop . . . with a name like that you've got to expect at least a spoonerism."

Fred: "He winds up, he pitches . . .and . . . It's a poorly thought out reference to a tragic current event, Bob!"

Bob: "Ooooh, and uncompelling as well. Bad break for the pitcher."

Fred: "Ghidorah steps up to knock it down. Would look at that? A gentle request to avoid a painful topic. A tremendous display of sportsmanship there, Bob."

Bob: "Indeed. It's that sort of exchange . . . wait, what's this? troll has emerged from the dugout wearing a helmet and ... is that full linebacker gear?"

Fred: "Our source on the field says he rambling wildly, something about a PC."

Bob: "Is he looking for tech support?"

Fred: "No, it appears he's flashing back to the late 1990s when PC was used as an insult. He is an older player, they sometimes get confused this way. Wait! He's charging the plate!"

Bob: "Fred, I think he's attempting to sack Ghidorah."

Fred: "I think you're right. Wow, there he goes.... He missed Ghidorah and is now staggering around in a daze."

Bob: "You saw it here today, folks. A deeply confused troll tried to play the wrong sport and lost anyway."

Fred: "It's a sad sad thing. If I weren't paid to capitalize on tragedy I would suggest we all look away and let him keep his private shame."

Bob: "I'm right there with you Fred. A terrible terrible showing by troll. With any luck he'll cry and we'll have a leader for the 6 o'clock news."

Fred: "National humiliation! God I love my job."

Bob: "Me too, Fred. Me too."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:45 AM on August 25, 2011 [35 favorites]

I've said it before - I've given up on trying to make a perfect MeFi post so I now include at least one derailingly wrong thing every time. My work is done here.

But I have one Star Trek collectable I genuinely love, from something like the Fourth or Fifth Series of TNG Action Figures, when they were scraping the bottom of the character barrel... Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan, Fat Scotty (from James Doohan's guest appearance), Q in a Starfleet Uniform, all mildly absurd. But the quintessential silly Star Trek Action Figure: LIEUTENANT BARKLEY. (Oh, Dwight Schultz, why don't YOU have a blog?)
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:09 PM on August 25, 2011 [7 favorites]

That thread is a great reminder of the potential consequences of petty meanspiritedness. It would have been fucking awesome to have Wil over here, but nope, gotta make fun of him for being lame.

Kiss celebrity ass and maybe they'll be our friend? No, thanks.

Wesley was a douche bent on making TNG unwatchable, but I've always kinda liked Wil because of Stand By Me. Nice to see that he's become a good blogger and one of about 5 decent "celebrity" tweeters.
posted by coolguymichael at 12:09 PM on August 25, 2011

Hoopo: to my knowledge the Fukushima meltdown has not in fact caused thousands of deaths (yet?), so the statement that it "exploits thousands of recently dead people" is a bit over the top.

If only that were the case :(
posted by Poet_Lariat at 12:20 PM on August 25, 2011

And I just now realized that I said "Cortex's nemesis" instead of "Codex's nemesis".
posted by specialagentwebb at 12:22 PM on August 25, 2011

The problem with Wesley was the fucking sweaters.

Most often, Mary Sue is an original character created by the author of the story, but media characters also can become Mary Sues. Some start out that way: fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation point out that the overly wonderful, often-despised young Wesley Crusher is named for Gene Wesley Roddenberry.
posted by dhartung at 12:42 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

when they were scraping the bottom of the character barrel... Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan

You take that back.

But the quintessential silly Star Trek Action Figure: LIEUTENANT BARKLEY.

I was at a game store a couple months ago, standing in line. Right by the cash register, there was a whole tall box of discounted Star Trek figures. I got unreasonably excited - I was SURE it was going to be Barklay, and I was going to buy 5 of them (because he is hands-down my favorite "bottom of the barrel" character on Star Trek - he is just awesome).

To my dismay, it was O'Briens all the way down.
posted by muddgirl at 1:03 PM on August 25, 2011 [8 favorites]

And I just now realized that I said "Cortex's nemesis" instead of "Codex's nemesis".
posted by specialagentwebb at 12:22 PM on August 25 [+] [!]

I was so confused, and yet, think about how awesome it'd be if cortex's nemesis was Wil Wheaton.
posted by gc at 1:08 PM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

I was so confused, and yet, think about how awesome it'd be if cortex's nemesis was Wil Wheaton

Yeah I kind of furrowed my brow at first and then thought, yeah, ok makes sense.
posted by Ad hominem at 1:10 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Everyone knows Cortex's nemesis is Joan Collins.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:11 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Cortex shaking his fist, "WHEATON!"
posted by The Whelk at 1:12 PM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

Wil Wheaton is awesome.
posted by y6y6y6 at 1:14 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

Cortex has a Rogues Gallery of 'Nemeses' here that's larger than Batman's. (And I rank no higher than a henchman to the Riddler played by The Whelk)
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:18 PM on August 25, 2011

So what's the Arkham Asylum to Metafilter?
posted by gc at 1:20 PM on August 25, 2011

Metafilter IS the Arkham Asylum.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:21 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

Can I just mention here that Nemesis by Shriekback was one of my favorite songs primarily because any song that mentions parthenogenesis is awesome?
posted by Sophie1 at 1:21 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

RIDDLE ME THIS CORTEX
posted by The Whelk at 1:22 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

I was relatively late to reading Wil Wheaton's website (2004) but I got to interview him extensively before Just a Geek was released (and wrote the first online review, I think) and the fact that he pointed out how I wasn't a jerk to him the way other members of the press had been will always live in my memory.

And as such, after having listened to him talk about his book and his life and his work and his passions for three hours and then transcribing the entire interview, I can tell you that 2001's Wil Wheaton was in a very different place than 2011's Wil Wheaton is now.

And I'm not just talking about the "He's back on TV now in a lot of shows" thing, but I'm talking about the fact that it took him 10 years to get over the need to constantly prove himself to the world that he's actually a good actor, really, and that he deserved the early fame he got and once that was done, he then had to start working on learning how to be a good writer and then move from learning how to be a good non-fiction writer into how to be a good fiction writer, etc.

I've really enjoyed seeing him grow as a writer over the years, and I will always be proud of the fact that Wil doesn't think I'm a jerk.
posted by TrishaLynn at 1:25 PM on August 25, 2011 [9 favorites]

Honestly, I'm glad that I didn't read that FPP back then, otherwise I would have written off MeFi too. Yeah, Wesley was a problem for TNG in the early years, but nowhere near the biggest one, and his scapegoating by fans is one of the reasons why I stayed away from Trek fandom in those years.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:32 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Metafilter IS the Arkham Asylum.

Think of me as sort of a Harley Quinn in drag.
posted by quin at 1:38 PM on August 25, 2011

Metafilter is Gotham. Metatalk is Arkham. It is known.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:39 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

That makes AskMetafilter ....Metropolis?

This is an imperfect metaphor.
posted by The Whelk at 1:45 PM on August 25, 2011

I rank no higher than a henchman to the Riddler played by The Whelk

Lucky. I rank no higher than a poorly drawn bystander watching the Batmobile drive by.
posted by never used baby shoes at 1:50 PM on August 25, 2011

Today metafilter talked about Wil Wheaton talking about how in the past metafilter talked about Wil Wheaton. Sometimes the name of this place is so appropriate it hurts.

I just felt the need to repost this.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:51 PM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

Think of me as sort of a Harley Quinn in drag.
posted by quin at 1:38 PM on August 25 [+] [!]

I WILL NOT. *crosses arms*
posted by gc at 1:54 PM on August 25, 2011

I always wondered if o2b felt at least a little bit bad about making that original post to the blue.
posted by SpacemanStix at 1:56 PM on August 25, 2011

Is Enterprise that unwatchable?

Nerds can suck it -- Enterprise was my favorite of all the series other than the original (although, as I mentioned, I'm just working my way through TNG now, having not seen a great deal of it before. Now TNG, so far at least, is truly terrible, but I persevere.)

(And after rolling my eyes continuously in my run-through of Voyager and the utterly cynical mid-series addition of Lumpy McBorgtits to replace Elfin McSensitiveGirl, I must suggest that Vulcan McSexyPants in Enterprise was just more of the pandering same. Not to excuse it, but.)
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:04 PM on August 25, 2011 [4 favorites]

Riddle me this Cortex, “What is it that hangs high, and cries sore, has a head and no hair?”,

Never mind I'll spare you the embarrassment, it's a bell in a tower. It's also the location of the bomb I planted this morning somewhere in the city. It's set to explode when struck.

I hope you're not a Church going man. Good day
posted by The Whelk at 2:09 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Nerds can suck it -- Enterprise was my favorite of all the series other than the original

It would have been better if they had used the Mirror Universe opening for the whole series.

Wil Wheaton's appearance on the Nerdist podcast with his former roommate Chris Hardwick gives some interesting insight on his Star Trek years.
posted by the_artificer at 2:15 PM on August 25, 2011

stavros, hang in there. I am a huge, huge TNG fan but the first two seasons suck for the most part. If you hang in there it gets MUCH better. (Also, DS9 is pretty awesome. It's much more of a dark character show than TNG, but I like that about it.)
posted by Kimberly at 2:23 PM on August 25, 2011

It would have been better if they had used the Mirror Universe opening for the whole series.

Especially with this version.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 2:24 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Kimberly: "stavros, hang in there. I am a huge, huge TNG fan but the first two seasons suck for the most part. If you hang in there it gets MUCH better. (Also, DS9 is pretty awesome. It's much more of a dark character show than TNG, but I like that about it.)"

I wrote this up in a previous thread about what I thought were the best starter DS9 episodes for each season.

I'd love to see that question answered for TNG, Voyager and Enterprise. Any takers? ;)
posted by zarq at 2:32 PM on August 25, 2011

Note to fans of TNG who are curious about DS9 - the first 3 seasons of DS9 are a slog. It's not really that much darker at that point (in many ways, it's more silly, except with tacked-on "oppression of an entire race" stories), and at some point they ran out of space station stories, so Surprise! They got a starship and now they get to rip off TOS/TNG episodes wholesale!

Also, DS9 was made in an era where the writers could really interact with fans. This leads, in the 3rd and 4th season, to some fanservice gimmicks which are really annoying to me (there's one epsiode which thoroughly confused me, until a friend revealed that the ending of the B-story rests on the premise that "O'Brien always injures his shoulder." WTF?) Another problem with DS9 is that many episodes, even the ones considered to be "the best", are dialogue-heavy (or even worse for an episode like "The Visitor" - monologue heavy) and the writers just don't have a grasp of realistic conversations.

I'm trusting that at some point it will get better, like it did with TNG, but maybe I should have just skipped the first 3 seasons and I'd be less tired of clunky writing and stiff acting.

Whoops, apparently I really needed to vent. I really do love Garak, Quark, and Oto. Even Kira and Sisko have their moments of greatness.
posted by muddgirl at 2:40 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

Some start out that way: fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation point out that the overly wonderful, often-despised young Wesley Crusher is named for Gene Wesley Roddenberry.
posted by dhartung

To be fair, this trend began with Eneg¹ in Patterns of Force.

1: Spell it backwards. TOS fans represent!
posted by George Clooney at 2:54 PM on August 25, 2011 [3 favorites]

muddgirl: " Also, DS9 was made in an era where the writers could really interact with fans.

Speaking of which, Ron Moore spent a great deal of time answering questions on AOL's Star Trek forums during the show's run. Archives are here.

I'm not familiar with the shoulder thing you mention, though. There was one episode every season that became the "O'Brien Goes Through Hell Episode." Apparently the writers didn't initially realize that they were doing that, but it became a Thing after about the fourth season.

My understanding is that the in-jokes usually didn't have anything to do with fan influence, although I could be wrong. The 47's, for example.
posted by zarq at 3:06 PM on August 25, 2011

Wesley was a douche bent on making TNG unwatchable

You are correct, sirrah. A fourteen year old boy was in fact an evil mastermind bent on destroying that show. Brilliant deduction, detective! /lulz
posted by P.o.B. at 3:34 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

I'm apparently talking about the episode Shakaar, which is a perfect example of how a supposedly dark show mixes in some silly elements. The A-story is one of the better ones, but it's connected to a distracting and quite confusing B-story.

The premise is that O'Brien is on a winning streak in darts. He convinces Quark to put long odds on him losing the next game, only to seemingly suffer a shoulder injury while taking a glass of beer (or whatever) from his friend, forfeiting the game as a loss - Quark loses a lot of money. Predictable set-up, right? But there's no payoff - neither O'Brien nor any of his friends mentioned betting money against O'Brien (thus cheating Quark when O'Brien fakes an injury). In fact, O'Briens friends seem to treat the injury as real, implying that O'Brien legitimately hurt his shoulder from simply taking a mug, which doesn't make any sense unless, as my friend claims, it is a "thing" that O'Brien has a weak shoulder. In which case how can he possibly hold one of those Star Fleet laser multi-tools?

Of course the point could be that everyone hates Quark and wants him to lose all his money, which is kind of sociopathic.

(I know I overthink this stuff - it is part of the fun.)
posted by muddgirl at 3:53 PM on August 25, 2011

Can I just mention here that Nemesis by Shriekback was one of my favorite songs primarily because any song that mentions parthenogenesis is awesome?

Oddly enough, I woke up with this song in my head, despite not having heard it for years.
posted by cereselle at 4:05 PM on August 25, 2011

I have p'shopped Wesley Crusher wearing a sparkly crown with faux LCARS labeling him "Space Princess Wesley Crusher" and Wheaton reblogged it on tumblr with some spontaneous technobabble. He is good people.
posted by Mizu at 5:10 PM on August 25, 2011

Looking back, I'm glad I wasn't too much of a jerk in that thread. As I said, "my kid sister had the WORST CRUSH EVER on Wil Wheaton," which colored my reaction.

[Enterprise] has the worst theme song in all of television history - We watched the whole series a while ago (last summer?), and OMG that song. Cannot stand it, to the point where mr epersonae would hum it just to annoy me. WTF alt-country (?) music theme in a scifi show? But we've been watching TNG & Voyager lately, and right this minute I have the soaring Voyager theme stuck in my head.

I just wish DS9 was on Netflix Instant; that was my favorite Star Trek show for a long time. Haven't seen it in years, so I have no idea if that holds up now.
posted by epersonae at 5:38 PM on August 25, 2011

I've tried watching TNG. Its pretty much ALL annoying. Lots of conferences and diplomacy and not much of the surrealism of TOS.

Kinda odd WillW isn't a MeFite. This place sorta reminds me of TNG, where everything gets talked out at length...
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:38 PM on August 25, 2011

I didn't mind (some versions) of the Enterprise theme song at all, but on this as well as opinions of the series as a whole, I am perhaps an outlier.

The most interesting thing to me, watching episodes back to back on my computer as I went through the series, was how much they remixed it from episode to episode, almost continually throughout the whole run. That stank of desperation -- they knew people were hating it, and kept trying to tweak it because it was too late to replace it wholesale.

I'd love to read an long indepth analysis of what they were doing from version to version (literally, even with my nonmusician ears, there must have been 25 slightly- to very different versions) by somebody versed in that sort of stuff, sometime.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:44 PM on August 25, 2011

So, when he shows up in this meta, will there be a meta about him showing up, or would that be a double.. we should sort this out before it happens..

for the record, he's been my hero since Stand By Me.
posted by tomswift at 6:04 PM on August 25, 2011

I emailed Wheaton four or five months ago. I have been trying to make a point of contacting people when I feel like they're doing something pretty decent and deserve to hear it. I had met Wheaton quite a few times when I was in my early 20s as the result of working at a video store he frequented. He was never impolite or anything like that, but seemed to have quite a chip on his shoulder, and seemed perpetually unhappy back then, and, reading his writing now, and seeing how, as a teenager, he had become such a target for people unhappy with Star Trek: The Next Generation (or, more to the point, unhappy with his character), I could see why he might have been such a sourpuss back then.

But he seems like he has turned out to be a genuinely okay fellow, which is a rarity for former child actors who are still in the limelight -- by comparison, the video store also had Corey Haim and Gary Coleman as patrons, and they were utter messes. So I emailed him to let him know that, for whatever it's worth, it's obvious to somebody who was a witness to him them and to him now that he's managed to make something worthwhile of himself, by himself, and has, in fact, managed to make friends and fans of the exact people who may not have thought a lot of him 20 years ago. and that's no small achievement.

I wonder if he'll read this thread. Aside from the trolling that happened earlier, it's gone a lot differently than the early one referenced, and people on this site generally seem to like him now.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 6:38 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

I've tried watching TNG. Its pretty much ALL annoying.

Yeah, well, all the things YOU like are annoying [sobs]
posted by IjonTichy at 6:57 PM on August 25, 2011

Watching TNG now I'm always struck my all the really awesome actors working with and trying to spin the best out of a lot of mediocre writing and scenarios.
posted by The Whelk at 7:09 PM on August 25, 2011

by all the*
posted by The Whelk at 7:09 PM on August 25, 2011

I just wish DS9 was on Netflix Instant; that was my favorite Star Trek show for a long time. Haven't seen it in years, so I have no idea if that holds up now.

It's going to be available in October. I just started a re-watch and I think it holds up really well. Aside from TOS, it has the best first season of any of the Trek shows. I still find the whole Yamok Sauce --> Self-sealing Stembolts --> Land --> Latinum progression to be one of the best sub-plots in any Trek episode.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:17 PM on August 25, 2011

I've tried watching TNG. Its pretty much ALL annoying.

Yeah, well, all the things YOU like are annoying [sobs]

I apologize - I was harsh. I've only seen a few episodes, and they appear to be pre 'growing the beard'. I suspect, given my general love of sci-fi, that if I give it a chance I will enjoy it. But currently, it doesn't seem to fit with my specific tastes.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:22 PM on August 25, 2011

Then again, I'd watch a show that was all about building maintenance on a star station with no drama

Isn't that pretty much Red Dwarf? (no drama, + comedy) Granted, it was maintenance on a interstellar mining ship, not a star station, but perhaps good enough.

And I have so much nostalgic love for TNG--watched all through middle school, but missed the later seasons. Rewatching on Netflix, and yeah, it has its issues, but it's still the TV equivalent of a mug of hot chocolate for me.

I liked all the diplomacy stuff. And Guinan is awesome. So there.
posted by smirkette at 7:59 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

early seasons of Red Dwarf, that is.
posted by smirkette at 8:01 PM on August 25, 2011

What's surprising to me is that there is no mention of Firefly in this thread. Many people here seemed to think it was the best thing since sliced bread.
posted by ersatz at 8:09 PM on August 25, 2011

Metafilter IS the Arkham Asylum.

None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me.

Isn't that pretty much Red Dwarf?

The point of Red Dwarf was to set up an ideal scenario, a rock-solid premise that drama and tension could be built on. A unqualified crewman with his hopes and dreams, last of his crew, lost and alone among the stars a million years after everyone he knows is dead. He doesn't even know if humanity still exists.

The show then takes that premise, and breaks it for cheap laughs in every single episode. This is what makes the show brilliant. That, and every character in it is unlikeable and socially defective.

One of these days, I'm going to make a Canaries GURPS module... "In the grim dark future, there is only Vindaloo!"
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:39 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

He's Cortex's nemesis

CORTEX THE KILLER!
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:48 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

I was ten when TNG came out and a friend and I watched it together after we found out that "OMG WIL WHEATON (THAT GUY WE BOTH TOTALLY HAVE A CRUSH ON) FROM STAND BY ME!!!!!!" was in it.

I was hooked even after watching the intolerably long, boring Encounter at Farpoint.

Even though my crush on Wil Wheaton faded, I still liked Wesley for the most part and "The Game" is still one of my favourite episodes, primarily because, and I admit this, I am a dork.

Having said that, I loved TNG. The first two seasons of TNG, DS9 and VOY definitely don't have a ton of great episodes, but I found those three shows tended to start to hit their strides in the third season or thereabouts.

Honestly, it was because of TNG that I met some of the most important people in my life, that I got this particular nickname and had it not been for Wil Wheaton, I probably never would have tuned into the show and likely would have missed out on a lot of amazing times in my life.

I wrote to Wil back when I first read that MeFi thread and I sort of fangirled at him a bit and then I thanked him very much for the impact he had, letting him know what a difference TNG had made in my life and that I would never have tuned in had it not been for him. To my utter surprise and delight, he responded and was just as enthusiastic in his response as I had been in my original letter.

So, yeah. Wil Wheaton has, mostly unknowingly, played a big part in my life, leading me to meet several people I've been friends with now for almost two decades.

I almost regret chuckling over "alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die" when I first came across it. ;)
posted by juliebug at 11:56 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

Now that I think of it, they could have given Wheaton some of the treatment they gave Brent Spiner. He had Lore, and a couple other ways to stretch out and show his comic abilities. They only gave Wheaton that one episode where Wesley gets drunk on space juice or whatever along with the rest of the crew and takes over the ship.
posted by Ad hominem at 12:15 AM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

...not to be confused with MeFi's Own Lore.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:28 AM on August 26, 2011

[Enterprise] has the worst theme song in all of television history - We watched the whole series a while ago (last summer?), and OMG that song. Cannot stand it, to the point where mr epersonae would hum it just to annoy me. WTF alt-country (?) music theme in a scifi show?

What's funny about that is it started out as a kind of earnest 80's Bon Jovi ballad, but then partway through the series somebody up high decided it needed a remix and they shoehorned in the alt-country twangy tap tap crap and made it even worse.
posted by empyrean at 3:33 AM on August 26, 2011

I suggested a bit upthread that it was way more complicated than that. Granted, I may be making this shit up, but I'm pretty goddamn sure that remixes of the opening theme were happened during some stretches early on episode-to-episode, and were still going on less frequently almost to the end of the run.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:52 AM on August 26, 2011

Wil enabled me to win 3rd place in a woot 'chop contest. Thank you Wil for wearing the clown sweater.

By the way - ask.metafilter.com is clearly Smallville.
posted by plinth at 5:41 AM on August 26, 2011

You know? I am three episodes away from the last on TNG (again).

I am really starting to like the Deanna character in the 7th season. She primarily ditches the low-cut dresses and starts sticking to her uniform when on duty. She also cuts back on the OMG80s makeup and hair.

This lends a certain bit more gravitas that makes me like her more as a character. Also, her studying for the Commander exam made her think she was more than just a bobble-headed, fainting flower.

/my totally unnecessary, semi-off-topic 2 cents.
posted by functionequalsform at 7:49 AM on August 26, 2011

About Troi: her character improved over time. If you were turned off of TNG by the way Troi was characterized in the first season, it's worth giving it another shot. I'm not going to pretend she ever became as good as Picard or Data, but they managed to make her more rounded and got away from the "announcing emotions that are obvious to everyone anyway" shtick. And if you want to see a downright good Troi-centered episode, watch "Face of the Enemy."

And I'll step in and defend Enterprise as a good show. Yeah, its first two seasons were hit-and-miss. Know what? So were the first two seasons of TNG and the first two seasons of DS9. Only difference is that TNG and DS9 both had five strong seasons after that, while Enterprise had only two.

I'll maintain, as I have on other threads here, that the third season of Enterprise is the single best season of any of the ST series. While DS9 remains my favorite series out of the franchise, the third season of Enterprise—essentially a single story arc around the search for the Xindi superweapon is my single favorite season. Just gripping. There had been a time when I used to be able to say I had seen every episode of every ST series, but I kind of dropped out around the last few seasons of Voyager and most of Enterprise. Years later, I decided to rectify that, and started watching Enterprise from the beginning. An episode here, and episode there. Until I got about seven or eight episodes into season three, and then I watched the entire rest of the season—about fifteen episodes—in the space of a weekend, simply because it was just that good and I couldn't stop watching.

For those who want to give it a try, the whole Xindi superweapon arc comprises the finale of season 2 ("The Expanse"), all of season 3, and nominally the first three episodes of season 4. If there's any weakness, it's the unnecessary cliffhanger at the end of the season 3 finale—after the main conflict of the arc has been resolved—which is then covered in the first two episodes of season 4 ("Storm Front" and "Storm Front, Part II") which are not all that good. You can safely skip those two episodes if you're willing to just accept that the cliffhanger was resolved, and go directly to the third episode of season 4 ("Home") which provides the proper denoument to the arc and should have immediately followed the season 3 finale.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:10 AM on August 26, 2011 [5 favorites]

ersatz writes "What's surprising to me is that there is no mention of Firefly in this thread. Many people here seemed to think it was the best thing since sliced bread."

And it's got nothing to do with Wil Wheaton. If Firefly had the run it should have it would have been awesome for Wil to feature as one of the villains of the week.

Slap*Happy writes "One of these days, I'm going to make a Canaries GURPS module... 'In the grim dark future, there is only Vindaloo!'"

Paranoia + Vindaloo = Winner!
posted by Mitheral at 8:36 AM on August 26, 2011

DevilsAdvocate: " If there's any weakness, it's the unnecessary cliffhanger at the end of the season 3 finale—after the main conflict of the arc has been resolved—which is then covered in the first two episodes of season 4 ("Storm Front" and "Storm Front, Part II") which are not all that good. You can safely skip those two episodes if you're willing to just accept that the cliffhanger was resolved, and go directly to the third episode of season 4 ("Home") which provides the proper denoument to the arc and should have immediately followed the season 3 finale."

Going to try to be as vague as possible, to avoid spoiling anyone:

The writers took a HUGE risk with the Zero Hour season finale. There were rumors the show was about to be cancelled, yet the show included a plot twist to lead into the next season. If Enterprise had been cancelled, I suspect quite a few viewers would have been quite furious.

One of the things that made Enterprise work well was the effort the writers put into maintaining continuity. People who have died in previous episodes are mentioned and acknowledged in later ones. Events that happen are brought up repeatedly, and linked to current plotlines. There were also many nods to future events and canon. A scene in the episode Twilight was chilling -- a quick, ominous Wrath of Khan reference that only a fan would have recognized.
posted by zarq at 8:48 AM on August 26, 2011

Then again, I'd watch a show that was all about building maintenance on a star station with no drama, so I'm not a good judge.

There's a great Babylon 5 episode in which there's some sort of diplomatic incident and the station comes under attack* (...or almost self-destructs? I forget.), all seen from the perspective of two low-level maintenance guys. It doesn't have the level of tech/logistical detail that a true nerd would demand, but it's a really fun window into the rest of the station.

*I realise that I just described 90% of B5 episodes in one sentence fragment. I don't care, B5 was great.
posted by metaBugs at 9:49 AM on August 26, 2011

Thanks for the pointer to Memories of the Futurecast. Downloading now. Wil W can definitely talk, smart, funny, articulate.

I've been watching Enterprise on Netflix lately. I'm into Season 2 now, and I can see why people dislike it. It does rest heavily on established tropes (hey, let's meet some people in crisis! hey, it's another abandoned ship!) and does fanservice (hey, let's get Jolene Blalock into her drawers!) but there's some good stuff in there. The "human race trying to establish itself in the face of far smarter and experienced Vulcans" thing works for me. It's not great, but it's not terrible.

I'll also go on record that I have a soft spot for the Enterprise theme. I've been thinking of making an old school cassingle with that on one side and the Firefly theme on the other and just play that sucker over and over. Cheesy lyrics and an ol' geetar! That's some science fictional goodness contrapuntal sound right there!

For the Enterprise haters wondering if they should give it another chance: The Andorian Incident, and Carbon Creek. The latter is a pretty good one.

Oh, and as for the inclusion of the Captain's dog, I think it works. The standard procedures and conventions aboard starships had not been established yet, and a Captain feels plausible to me. I mean, the dude is not married, is older, he's like, a "dude" -- the character reminds me a little of Mark Harmon's character in Summer School. Maybe it's the fact that he's into water polo that makes me think that.
posted by artlung at 10:15 AM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

There's a great Babylon 5 episode in which there's some sort of diplomatic incident and the station comes under attack* (...or almost self-destructs? I forget.), all seen from the perspective of two low-level maintenance guys.

A View From The Gallery.
posted by zamboni at 10:18 AM on August 26, 2011

...and a Captain with a dog feels plausible...
posted by artlung at 10:19 AM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

[Enterprise] has the worst theme song in all of television history

It is in fact so awful that it's also the closing credits music for Patch Adams.
posted by zamboni at 10:21 AM on August 26, 2011 [3 favorites]

Count me in the pro-Enterprise camp. It was a much more satisfying prequel experience than, say, the Star Wars prequel trilogy - and also I like Scott Bakula.

As for the theme song, it is considered appropriate to sit upon one's sofa and pretend to be waving a lighter as one contemplates how long the road may be between there and here, and whether the length is temporal or physical.
posted by catlet at 11:20 AM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yes, the worst thing about the Enterprise theme song is it was recycled. Star Trek ain't supposed to do things like that.

And I'm glad somebody brought up Babylon 5. I'd like to see a nerd-off between Wil Wheaton and Bill "Lennier" Mumy, aka Will Robinson, 'that weird kid in Twilight Zone' and half of Barnes and Freaking Barnes!!! He'll send Wesley to the cornfield with one hand tied behind his back!

Not to mention other notable B5 cast members: Flounder, Scarecrow, Bobby Wheeler, Checkov and the Crazy French Lady on Lost... but nothing beat Tim Choate as Zathras: "Zathras have no one to talk to. No one manages poor Zathras, you see. So Zathras talks to dirt. Or to walls, or talks to ceilings. But dirt is closer. Dirt is used to everyone walking on it. Just like Zathras. But we have come to like it. It is our role. It is our destiny in the universe. So, you see, sometimes dirt has insects in it. And Zathras likes insects. Not so good for conversation, but much protein for diet."
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:55 AM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

The Andorian Incident, and Carbon Creek

Casting Jeffrey Combs as the Andorian team leader was a fantastic idea. It really made the Andorian episodes enjoyable. The Dominion War might have been really meh without Combs.
posted by Brocktoon at 12:59 PM on August 26, 2011

Is Enterprise that unwatchable?

I've never been able to make it past the theme song.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 1:46 PM on August 26, 2011

I won't defend the Enterprise theme song, but I love the opening titles to the show—the clips of advancing human exploration of sea, air, and space, both real and fictional. I especially love that there's only one intermediate ship shown between the International Space Station and Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix, which always makes me feel like hey, we're almost there!
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 1:49 PM on August 26, 2011 [4 favorites]

I enjoyed Enterprise. Especially the Xindi weapon storyline. OTOH Voyager bored me to tears. I tried to watch it several times and have never finished a whole show. I must be wired wrong or something.
posted by Splunge at 2:02 PM on August 26, 2011

Lots of comments referencing the fact that TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise all don't get good until about the third season. I find that interesting, and have to wonder why they all take two years to find their feet...And if they didn't have Star Trek in their name if they would be given those two years.
posted by never used baby shoes at 2:13 PM on August 26, 2011

I'm just getting through Voyage S 1 now and I think it's pretty terrific myself. The Phage is some cool shit.
posted by Think_Long at 2:26 PM on August 26, 2011

err, voyager season 1
posted by Think_Long at 2:26 PM on August 26, 2011

Metafilter: O'Briens all the way down.
posted by hamandcheese at 2:34 PM on August 26, 2011 [3 favorites]

If I may clarify, the only reason the Guinan action figure was not as geeky-cool as the Barkley (come on, Whoopi Goldberg? I wish there had been a fig of Ida Mae from Ghost!), was it had her long dress/robe in hard plastic so her legs didn't move. And an action figure with legs that don't move is an in-action figure (with apologies to Professor X and Oracle).
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:33 PM on August 26, 2011

O'Briens all the way down.

I still want someone to make Star Trek: Night Shift. Even if only as D-grad novel-length fanfic. Ideally someone other than me.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:37 PM on August 26, 2011 [11 favorites]

TV show, set in the same time period and on the same vessel as Star Trek: The Next Generation, but during the graveyard shift when all the A-list crew members are sleeping or, in Riker’s case, fucking someone or something.

The phrase "rusty trombone" comes to mind.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:43 PM on August 26, 2011

Even if only as D-grad novel-length fanfic.

Hm. I *have* been looking for a NaNoWriMo project....
posted by catlet at 4:44 PM on August 26, 2011

TV show, set in the same time period and on the same vessel as Star Trek: The Next Generation, but during the graveyard shift when all the A-list crew members are sleeping or, in Riker’s case, fucking someone or something.


My memory is hazy, but I could have sworn they did this for at least one episode on TNG.

Anyway, all this talk is making me want to get all of TNG on DVD and make my kids watch them as a sort of balance to the avalanche of Star Wars crapola in the house.
posted by jquinby at 4:59 PM on August 26, 2011

My boss, dreadfully sick with glioblastoma, is a Trekkie. It's even on her license plate. A relative bought her a tribble and when I went to see her she had it with her on the bed.....
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 5:01 PM on August 26, 2011

TV show, set in the same time period and on the same vessel as Star Trek: The Next Generation, but during the graveyard shift when all the A-list crew members are sleeping or, in Riker’s case, fucking someone or something.

My memory is hazy, but I could have sworn they did this for at least one episode on TNG.

It wasn't during the graveyard shift, but there was one episode which focused on four junior officers—Lower Decks—and it's one of the best episodes of the series.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 5:21 PM on August 26, 2011 [5 favorites]

For some reason I misread "Fukushima'd" as "Fuchikoma'd" and thought that was pretty funny. Then I realized what was really going on.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 6:53 PM on August 26, 2011

The anecdote about Sirtis having an inappropriate Cockney/Estuary accent would be even more incongruous if she and Denise Crosby hadn't switched roles -- Sirtis was cast as security chief Macha Hernandez (a character inspired by Vasquez from Aliens).

Lower Decks, by the way, seems in title and somewhat in concept to be a nod to Gorky's The Lower Depths -- filmed by both Renoir and Kurosawa.
posted by dhartung at 7:15 PM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

The Onion A.V Club has a hilarious comment game for it's re-watches of TNG, someone posting as Frakes and Sittis comment on every episode with a complete alternate history of the production where everyone is a sex-crazied maniac and the reasons for various episode choices based in hilariously convoluted set gossip that create its own internally consistent parallel story. It is kind of brilliant.
posted by The Whelk at 8:59 PM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

There's a great Babylon 5 episode in which there's some sort of diplomatic incident and the station comes under attack* (...or almost self-destructs? I forget.), all seen from the perspective of two low-level maintenance guys. It doesn't have the level of tech/logistical detail that a true nerd would demand, but it's a really fun window into the rest of the station.

Not to change the topic or anything*, but "A View from the Gallery" was just unbearably twee. Coming just after one of the best three season runs in tv sf history, seeing a couple of blue collars basically deify the main characters - "you know, they have their difficulties, but really they're just super amazingly awesome" - seemed way too flatteringly obvious and a real missed opportunity (general 5th season derision aside).

*Clearly, this is a lie.
posted by Sparx at 10:43 PM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wil Wheaton gave up being a teen idol at the height of his career to move to Topeka and help make the Video Toaster. That's right, he gave up his prior career to help perfect and promote a tool that would make the careers of so many others (including me). I wish he'd give MeFi another chance.
posted by infinitewindow at 10:55 PM on August 26, 2011

The Whelk: "That makes AskMetafilter ....Metropolis?

This is an imperfect metaphor."

AskMetafilter is Smallville.
posted by Splunge at 7:48 AM on August 27, 2011

Metropolis: a wondrous place filled with beautiful gleaming buildings, lush gardens, and vast playgrounds that are powered by a seething, nasty underground full of soul destroying mechanics. This is of course all run by men for men. Women are left to duties of overlooking children or as automatons of desire*. Oh, and everyone's white. Everyone.

At least that's what Metropolis makes me think of ever since last year when I saw the almost fully restored Argentinian print of Fritz Lang's film.

*Matriarchal savior through one means or another.
posted by P.o.B. at 9:48 AM on August 27, 2011

Wheaton is dead set on out-nerding the Internet.here he is wearing a three Wheaton shirt and a dick cape and is hanging out with Notch and Felicia Day. He just got this pic to the reddit front page.

Yeah, he does get props for The Video Toaster.
posted by Ad hominem at 3:11 AM on August 28, 2011

Somewhere in storage there's a no-doubt very yellowed picture of little me being held by George Takei at that convention, with Isaac Asimov standing next to us.

I would drop everything to find this photo.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 9:00 AM on August 28, 2011

The funny thing is that after all these years I still have no idea who Wil Wheaton is (aside of a rather inane blogger).
posted by gertzedek at 10:03 AM on August 28, 2011

Good for you. I feel better knowing that.
posted by Splunge at 1:00 PM on August 28, 2011

That is a really funny thing.
posted by Think_Long at 1:15 PM on August 28, 2011

You know, I really thought "dick cape" was some kind of slang term. It is still a slang term, but a much more precise one than I'd thought.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:33 PM on August 28, 2011

Wesley Crusher kissing a girl made my television commit suicide. For real.

That's all.
posted by maryr at 3:02 PM on August 28, 2011

Yes, that happened a lot. I think Paramount TV got a kickback from Sony, Zenith and Panasonic for that.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:17 PM on August 28, 2011

And Wil considered it a major inspiration for Video Toaster.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:18 PM on August 28, 2011

The funny thing is that after all these years I still have no idea who Wil Wheaton is (aside of a rather inane blogger).
posted by gertzedek at 10:03 AM on August 28 [+] [!]

He was an incredibly annoying Marty-Stu child actor on Star Trek: the New Generation and a Barney-level object of early Internet loathing.

Then he started his blog and it became apparent he was smart, a decent writer and terribly sweet as a person. So everyone sort of went 'awwww'.
posted by Sebmojo at 3:27 PM on August 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

When I was in high school, I was a member of the school's inaugural Sci-Fi Club. We talked about Star Trek, Star Wars, all the big names, and I had an excellent time. I designed my own, very shitty, Star Trek ripoff starship RPG, some marriage of Wing Commander and Battletech, and tried to convince the few people who would play with me to wear cardboard shoulder insignias that I'd made to represent their earned rank. I had a birthday party that consisted of me and three of my friends shouting imperfect phrases from the newly-released Klingon Dictionary while we sparred with dandiya sticks, left over from an annual Indian function, that we transfigured into bat'leths. When Gene Rodenberry died, I wore a black armband with a Starfleet logo cut out of one of the TNG trading cards for which I had the entire set. Huge nerd.

Then, a couple years later, I decided that liking Star Trek publicly was too cool for me. I still watched, in private, because I still loved it. But I was a rock kid now, and being part of nerd culture was not a thing I could do. Those silly and glorious friends could no longer be my friends. I told the guy who started the Sci-Fi Club, the guy who introduced me to worlds I'd never known before, that I just didn't "have time" anymore. He knew what I was really saying, and he smiled thinly, said ok, and walked away. I didn't speak to him much after that, and soon enough not at all.

That's one of the most shameful moments of my life. I wish that I could go back in time and tell my idiot teenager self: hey, look, you're going to find a nerd life and a nerd career that marries all of your interests. You don't have to give up on the things you care about because you think other people won't like them. Being yourself is better, basically always. I wish I could tell that friend: I was a moron. I was wrong. I'm so sorry for pretending that I was cooler than what we both loved.

I don't know Wil Wheaton at all, but I think he had a similar trajectory. He's done better for himself in terms of reconciling all his passions than I have, but I hope that I can, with luck, one day be the whole of who I am and not feel bad about it. So, however I might feel about his output these days, he lives an example I'd like to follow, and I'm very grateful for it and for him.
posted by Errant at 12:48 AM on August 29, 2011 [4 favorites]

Inspired by this thread, I finally got off my ass the other day, and watched an episode of TNG.

In light of that, let me be the first to say that Wil's switch from acting to writing was an excellent career decision.

Still....TNG's got Patrick Stewart, which is more than enough to offset Wesley, so I'll probably watch more of the series....
posted by schmod at 8:19 AM on August 29, 2011

For all that the Enterprise theme song(s) drove me nuts (thanks for reminding me of the switch from Bon Jovi-esque to alt-country!), I did enjoy the show most of the time. Always liked the Andorrian* episodes, although I had mixed feelings about time travel plot threads. This is always true for me, though: every time I see a ST episode, any series, start in on time travel, I groan inwardly.

*Whatever happened to the Andorrians? They show up in TOS, but I don't remember ever seeing them in any other series.
posted by epersonae at 8:29 AM on August 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

The anecdote about Sirtis having an inappropriate Cockney/Estuary accent would be even more incongruous if she and Denise Crosby hadn't switched roles -- Sirtis was cast as security chief Macha Hernandez (a character inspired by Vasquez from Aliens).

...who was played by Jenette Goldstein, a Jewish actress. (Who was also in Star Trek: Generations.)

*Whatever happened to the Andorrians? They show up in TOS, but I don't remember ever seeing them in any other series.

The Andorians weren't used for a long time in the franchise (except for the very occasional cameo--you see an Andorian Starfleet officer in one of the movies, I think at the very end of Star Trek IV, for about three seconds) because people thought that they were dangerously close to the old cliche of "little green men", what with the antennae and all. It wasn't until Enterprise that they got a major part in a series, mostly because with it being pre-Federation days, they could be shown as the major badasses that they'd long been rumored to be.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:45 AM on August 29, 2011

Wikipedia: Appearances by Andorians in Star Trek canon.
posted by zarq at 8:49 AM on August 29, 2011

Halloween Jack: " ...who was played by Jenette Goldstein, a Jewish actress. (Who was also in Star Trek: Generations.)"

Founder of Jenette's Bras. :)
posted by zarq at 8:52 AM on August 29, 2011

Guys, guys, we must agree that the main reason that "Fukushima'd" is inappropriate is because this web site is based in America. The appropriate equivalent is "WTC'd," obviously.
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:18 PM on September 5, 2011