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[WanderingWinder]

I'd be curious to see how someone reacts to the recent two movies without having seen anything from Star Trek before. Maybe this can be such an experiment.

I'm mostly curious to see if the scene in Into Darkness where Spock screams "Khaaaaan" does not seem stupid to someone unfamiliar with the reference.

Then again, I seriously doubt that Theory['s friend] has never heard it used before, especially within geek culture. I suspect that it is impossible for anyone over the age of 10 to not be familiar with that particular meme. But if Theory['s friend] watches Into Darkness before watching Star Trek 2, then I'd be curious about his reaction.

Personally, I thought it detracted a lot from the scene. It's become so campy, and they never should have gone that direction in Into Darkness.

Personally, I liked it.  When I realized what the movie was going towards, I was waiting for someone to say it.  I also thought it interesting how Kirk and Spock got switched in that whole sequence.

I HATED that whole thing.

[michaeljb]

I'd be curious to see how someone reacts to the recent two movies without having seen anything from Star Trek before. Maybe this can be such an experiment.

I'm mostly curious to see if the scene in Into Darkness where Spock screams "Khaaaaan" does not seem stupid to someone unfamiliar with the reference.

Then again, I seriously doubt that Theory['s friend] has never heard it used before, especially within geek culture. I suspect that it is impossible for anyone over the age of 10 to not be familiar with that particular meme. But if Theory['s friend] watches Into Darkness before watching Star Trek 2, then I'd be curious about his reaction.

Personally, I thought it detracted a lot from the scene. It's become so campy, and they never should have gone that direction in Into Darkness.

Apart from the Abrams movies, I've only seen a handful of episodes from TOS and TNG, but of course I'm familiar with that reference. During that whole scene in Into Darkness, I was sure it was coming, and was pretty much just laughing to myself about that. Later I learned that not only the scream, but most/all of the dialogue was taken directly from Star Trek 2. Kind of disappointing that they couldn't/didn't want to make the scene/situation more original...also, I found Nimoy's cameo in Into Darkness really cheesey. It was like, "Hey, let's call Old Spock and see what happened in the other movies!" And then he's like, "You know I can never tell you anything about the past, but now I shall do just that and tell you that this Khan guy is bad news." Apart from that, I thought the movie was entertaining and a good time.

[Fuu]

Suppose someone -- a "friend" -- has never seen anything remotely Star Trek-related, with the exception of the Futurama parody episode (which wasn't particularly funny if you haven't seen anything else Star Trek-related).  Advice?

Watch "The Measure of a Man" from TNG season 2. We recently watched all of TNG (now doing DS9) and I thought this was one of the stand-out episodes.

Don't bother with the TNG movies though - a huge disappointment that we wished we could 'unwatch' after the TV series.

[sudgy]

Suppose someone -- a "friend" -- has never seen anything remotely Star Trek-related, with the exception of the Futurama parody episode (which wasn't particularly funny if you haven't seen anything else Star Trek-related).  Advice?

Watch "The Measure of a Man" from TNG season 2. We recently watched all of TNG (now doing DS9) and I thought this was one of the stand-out episodes.

Don't bother with the TNG movies though - a huge disappointment that we wished we could 'unwatch' after the TV series.

I was fine with the movies (actually, I seem to think differently than a lot of people here I realized...).  My main problem with them is that Data died at the end.  He finally becomes basically human, then they kill him!

[Kirian]

Suppose someone -- a "friend" -- has never seen anything remotely Star Trek-related, with the exception of the Futurama parody episode (which wasn't particularly funny if you haven't seen anything else Star Trek-related).  Advice?

Watch "The Measure of a Man" from TNG season 2. We recently watched all of TNG (now doing DS9) and I thought this was one of the stand-out episodes.

Don't bother with the TNG movies though - a huge disappointment that we wished we could 'unwatch' after the TV series.

I was fine with the movies (actually, I seem to think differently than a lot of people here I realized...).  My main problem with them is that Data died at the end.  He finally becomes basically human, then they kill him!

Yeah.  That was quite annoying.

I enjoyed 8 and 9 quite a bit.  7 was about as good as 3.  10 never happened.  Seriously.  Worse than 5.

[jonts26]

All these spoiler tags are making it hard to follow this thread. Maybe I should actually get around to watching into darkness.

[DStu]

Suppose someone -- a "friend" -- has never seen anything remotely Star Trek-related, with the exception of the Futurama parody episode (which wasn't particularly funny if you haven't seen anything else Star Trek-related).  Advice?

Watch "The Measure of a Man" from TNG season 2. We recently watched all of TNG (now doing DS9) and I thought this was one of the stand-out episodes.

Don't bother with the TNG movies though - a huge disappointment that we wished we could 'unwatch' after the TV series.

I was fine with the movies (actually, I seem to think differently than a lot of people here I realized...).  My main problem with them is that Data died at the end.  He finally becomes basically human, then they kill him!

I remember to have heard that Spiner wished that Data died because he doesn't want to reappear as Data for the next 3 centuries^{[citation needed]}

[sudgy]

Suppose someone -- a "friend" -- has never seen anything remotely Star Trek-related, with the exception of the Futurama parody episode (which wasn't particularly funny if you haven't seen anything else Star Trek-related).  Advice?

Watch "The Measure of a Man" from TNG season 2. We recently watched all of TNG (now doing DS9) and I thought this was one of the stand-out episodes.

Don't bother with the TNG movies though - a huge disappointment that we wished we could 'unwatch' after the TV series.

I was fine with the movies (actually, I seem to think differently than a lot of people here I realized...).  My main problem with them is that Data died at the end.  He finally becomes basically human, then they kill him!

I remember to have heard that Spiner wished that Data died because he doesn't want to reappear as Data for the next 3 centuries^{[citation needed]}

He could have just refused to be in things...

[Titandrake]

I'd be curious to see how someone reacts to the recent two movies without having seen anything from Star Trek before. Maybe this can be such an experiment.

I'm mostly curious to see if the scene in Into Darkness where Spock screams "Khaaaaan" does not seem stupid to someone unfamiliar with the reference.

Then again, I seriously doubt that Theory['s friend] has never heard it used before, especially within geek culture. I suspect that it is impossible for anyone over the age of 10 to not be familiar with that particular meme. But if Theory['s friend] watches Into Darkness before watching Star Trek 2, then I'd be curious about his reaction.

Personally, I thought it detracted a lot from the scene. It's become so campy, and they never should have gone that direction in Into Darkness.

I've seen the two most recent Star Trek movies (and liked both a lot, but Star Trek reboot > Into Darkness by a bit.) My experience with other Trek stuff is one episode of the original series, and the Kirk + Gorn fight, and the Red Shirt trope. Going into Into Darkness, I knew about the KHAAN meme, and that in Wrath of Khan Spock dies, and comes back to life sometime later. Nothing else. I didn't realize Harrison = Khan, even after he said it, until maybe 10 minutes after the fact. And then I went, "Ohhhhhhhh it's a callback." So I was expecting Kirk's death in the end sequence, and knew he'd end up coming back. The whole Spock thing was definitely campy, but I still liked it.

[sudgy]

I'd be curious to see how someone reacts to the recent two movies without having seen anything from Star Trek before. Maybe this can be such an experiment.

I'm mostly curious to see if the scene in Into Darkness where Spock screams "Khaaaaan" does not seem stupid to someone unfamiliar with the reference.

Then again, I seriously doubt that Theory['s friend] has never heard it used before, especially within geek culture. I suspect that it is impossible for anyone over the age of 10 to not be familiar with that particular meme. But if Theory['s friend] watches Into Darkness before watching Star Trek 2, then I'd be curious about his reaction.

Personally, I thought it detracted a lot from the scene. It's become so campy, and they never should have gone that direction in Into Darkness.

I've seen the two most recent Star Trek movies (and liked both a lot, but Star Trek reboot > Into Darkness by a bit.) My experience with other Trek stuff is one episode of the original series, and the Kirk + Gorn fight, and the Red Shirt trope. Going into Into Darkness, I knew about the KHAAN meme, and that in Wrath of Khan Spock dies, and comes back to life sometime later. Nothing else. I didn't realize Harrison = Khan, even after he said it, until maybe 10 minutes after the fact. And then I went, "Ohhhhhhhh it's a callback." It was definitely campy, but I think it would have worked with different delivery.

I didn't notice it was a callback until Kirk went into the Warp Core (I think that's what it was) and all that.  When I knew he was Khan I didn't even realize it was a callback.

[Titandrake]

I'd be curious to see how someone reacts to the recent two movies without having seen anything from Star Trek before. Maybe this can be such an experiment.

I'm mostly curious to see if the scene in Into Darkness where Spock screams "Khaaaaan" does not seem stupid to someone unfamiliar with the reference.

Then again, I seriously doubt that Theory['s friend] has never heard it used before, especially within geek culture. I suspect that it is impossible for anyone over the age of 10 to not be familiar with that particular meme. But if Theory['s friend] watches Into Darkness before watching Star Trek 2, then I'd be curious about his reaction.

Personally, I thought it detracted a lot from the scene. It's become so campy, and they never should have gone that direction in Into Darkness.

I've seen the two most recent Star Trek movies (and liked both a lot, but Star Trek reboot > Into Darkness by a bit.) My experience with other Trek stuff is one episode of the original series, and the Kirk + Gorn fight, and the Red Shirt trope. Going into Into Darkness, I knew about the KHAAN meme, and that in Wrath of Khan Spock dies, and comes back to life sometime later. Nothing else. I didn't realize Harrison = Khan, even after he said it, until maybe 10 minutes after the fact. And then I went, "Ohhhhhhhh it's a callback." It was definitely campy, but I think it would have worked with different delivery.

I didn't notice it was a callback until Kirk went into the Warp Core (I think that's what it was) and all that.  When I knew he was Khan I didn't even realize it was a callback.

I meant "callback" as in "Oh they're rebooting Khan in the 2nd reboot movie, that's neat." I didn't realize the Kirk thing until the Warp Core as well.

[Kirian]

All these spoiler tags are making it hard to follow this thread. Maybe I should actually get around to watching into darkness.

Hey, if you don't like spoiler tags, you can just go see it yourself in the theater.

[Davio]

I only watched TNG and Voyager and quite liked them both.

Obviously not all episodes are winners, but I munched through them.
What I liked most about Star Trek is that the stories could mirror earth problems in a different setting, giving you a different perspective on them.

[DStu]

All these spoiler tags are making it hard to follow this thread. Maybe I should actually get around to watching into darkness.

Hey, if you don't like spoiler tags, you can just go see it yourself in the theater.

If you ctrl+a-select the whole page, you can read spoilers (you might to reconfigure the color scheme of your OS, though)

[WanderingWinder]

So, I am genuinely in theory's situation - one of my friends has never seen any Star Trek and is asking me what to watch. Here's the list of episodes I would recommend, from The Next Generation:

Season 1: WATCH the following:
Encounter at Farpoint
The Last Outpost
The Battle
Hide and Q
Haven
Datalore
11001001
Coming of Age
The Arsenal of Freedom
Skin of Evil
We'll Always Have Paris
Conspiracy
The Neutral Zone

Rest of the Series: DON'T WATCH the following:
Shades of Gray (Season 2)
The Host (Season 4)
Sub Rosa (Season 7)


The first season, I am just trying to hit the good ones plus the ones which have important set-up. Probably half of those episodes I am suggesting are still rather bad. Later on, there is the odd bad episode here and there, but they're not too common. The three I list are just so, so bad, though.

[sudgy]

I remember when watching "The Host" (if it's the episode I'm thinking of), before it we were saying, "This episode is horrible.  We're warning you."

[() | (_) ^/]

.

[Kirian]

I assume Skin of Evil entirely because it explains the sudden disappearance of Tasha Yar?  Because otherwise, that episode ranks up with Sub Rosa.

Edit:  Also, I suddenly have this irrational desire to go back and watch TNG straight through.  I don't have the time, of course...

[Voltaire]

The thing I'll say about the original series is that, despite the low budget, campy-ness, slow pacing, flagrant sexism, etc. etc. is that it's still darn good at dealing with serious things™. I put on "The Conscience of the King" once while my girlfriend was working on her computer. She groaned about something so cheesy being on, but thirty minutes later she was focusing entirely on the TV and said "Wow, this is deep."

So if you go in with the right expectations, the Original Series can be fantastic.

[WanderingWinder]

I assume Skin of Evil entirely because it explains the sudden disappearance of Tasha Yar?  Because otherwise, that episode ranks up with Sub Rosa.

Yes. Oh, shoot, do I need to include The Naked Now to explain the Data/Tasha thing?

Edit:  Also, I suddenly have this irrational desire to go back and watch TNG straight through.  I don't have the time, of course...

How is that irrational?

[Voltaire]

Also this thread explains why, when I wanted to get into TNG and started with Season 1 (I'm "one of those people"), I thought it sucked so hard I couldn't understand why anyone watched it ever. I guess I'll have to start with Season 3 someday.

[lympi]

Also this thread explains why, when I wanted to get into TNG and started with Season 1 (I'm "one of those people"), I thought it sucked so hard I couldn't understand why anyone watched it ever. I guess I'll have to start with Season 3 someday.

I agree that if you're gonna watch TNG, you gotta take the good with the bad and watch all of it. But there's a reason Growing The Beard is named after Riker… season 1 is pretty rough. (And not just because of the dudes in skirts.) My friends and I sometimes refer to it as season 4 of The Original Series.

[Voltaire]

Also this thread explains why, when I wanted to get into TNG and started with Season 1 (I'm "one of those people"), I thought it sucked so hard I couldn't understand why anyone watched it ever. I guess I'll have to start with Season 3 someday.

I agree that if you're gonna watch TNG, you gotta take the good with the bad and watch all of it. But there's a reason Growing The Beard is named after Riker… season 1 is pretty rough. (And not just because of the dudes in skirts.) My friends and I sometimes refer to it as season 4 of The Original Series.

The fact I like TOS proves I'll like bad TNG...but I can't get into a show if it starts off bad (TOS is old enough I forgive it for all its faults - TNG doesn't get that pass with me). If I like Season 3, I'd go back and watch 1-2.

[WanderingWinder]

Also this thread explains why, when I wanted to get into TNG and started with Season 1 (I'm "one of those people"), I thought it sucked so hard I couldn't understand why anyone watched it ever. I guess I'll have to start with Season 3 someday.

I agree that if you're gonna watch TNG, you gotta take the good with the bad and watch all of it. But there's a reason Growing The Beard is named after Riker… season 1 is pretty rough. (And not just because of the dudes in skirts.) My friends and I sometimes refer to it as season 4 of The Original Series.

The fact I like TOS proves I'll like bad TNG...but I can't get into a show if it starts off bad (TOS is old enough I forgive it for all its faults - TNG doesn't get that pass with me). If I like Season 3, I'd go back and watch 1-2.

2 is quite a bit better than 1, and even has what some consider the best episode of the series - The Measure of a Man.

[Polk5440]

If you're trying to figure out what to watch in order to see the new movie (Into Darkness), don't bother; just see the movie. I saw it in the theater with someone who had never seen any Trek, someone who only saw the 2009 movie, and people who had seen most of the TV shows and movies. Everyone loved it.

It is interesting to think about how to get into Trek if you have a limited time.

• Suppose you wanted to see, say 1 episode or movie, what would it be?
• Suppose you wanted to see the equivalent of one season (say 16 hours of material, so you could do it in a weekend). What would you recommend? One full season from one series? a sampling from all shows and movies? Focus on story lines? Or all stand alone episodes?
• Suppose you wanted to see the equivalent of one quality series (say 5 seasons, or 80 hours), what would you recommend?

I was also thinking about this for someone who has never seen Doctor Who.