Star Trek 50th Anniversary - A Beginning

So it's been a few years since I posted anything here, but I figured today would be as good a day as any to return. Ya see, today is Star Trek's 50th Anniversary and I want to start watching it. Once upon a time I wanted to do a Wheel of Time Re-Read/Review on this site, but that never really panned out. I have these grand plans of things I want to do that will carve out a little fan base on the internet for myself, but then life happens and I never do it. This may be another one of those times I start something grand and then never really follow up on it.... but I'm going to attempt this.

I'm going to watch all of Star Trek.
All of it.
In Order.
And I want your help.



I'd like to chronicle my experience here, but to be completely honest, I'll probably need your help and encouragement to keep it going. Otherwise I'm just a crazy guy keeping a Star Trek Journal that nobody else reads and it'll probably trail off someday.

So a little background. Never watched The Original Series. I'm familiar enough with TOS though that I know the general meme's and personalities of the characters. I know that "City on the Edge of Forever" is like THE episode to justify the existence of the TOS. I know Bones is a Doctor Dammit. I know Scotty's giving it all he's got Captain! I know Kirk gets the ladies and hates him some Khan. Beyond that I know only have vague concepts and ideas. So watching it will pretty much be all new to me.

Moving on, The Next Generation has a special place in my memory. I remember when I was a kid, my Mom and Dad would be watching it in their room on a little tiny 10 inch tv (at least that's how big it was in my memory). My and my sisters would all come into our parents room and lay on their water bed and watch episodes of Star Trek. So I started to become a Trekkie... well a small child Trekkie, but the best I could be at the time. I thought it was cool and was proud to watch it. Data, Riker, Picard, Dr. Crusher, Q, Worf, Geordi, and the whole gang became friends of mine. I started watching the syndication when I was older whenever I could. That being said. I was like 10. So mileage varies. I never really saw the episodes in order though. So while I remember almost all the major moments quite clearly, I have no good idea of overarching themes or when events happen in relation to each other... And the politics went over my head completely.

DS9 and Voyager feel into kind of pale imitations of TNG for me. Again, I was young. DS9 I liked the characters, but didn't understand the war that was going on with the Cardassians. Voyager felt like TNG but without any rules. So I never felt any special affinity to them.

And Enterprise... eh.

Despite all that, all these years, I still felt like I've loved Star Trek despite never being clearly familiar with all the episodes. I want to be familiar. I want to watch them and talk intelligently about the merits of the episodes.

So join me. Encourage me. Tell me your feelings. Talk to me about your opinions. It'll make it funner and easier for me. And maybe for you too.