Friday, September 08, 2006

Happy St. Gene's Day!

Today is the 40th anniversary of Star Trek. Star Trek is one of the great metanarratives to emerge from American culture. It is a tale of courage, friendship, duty, and the fulfillment of human potential. And our world is enriched by it.

I remember when I was eight, and the independent TV station in Houston played all 78 episodes in a three-day marathon. I remember drawing the Enterprise repeatedly in the margins of my notebooks as a schoolboy. And I remember the first days that The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise aired -- times of great anticipation for the new journeys.

What are your Trek memories?

4 comments:

Mark said...

I was a kid when Star Trek came out on TV. My older sisters really got into it, but I didn't so much because it was brainy science fiction back then, and I wasn't a very deep 10-yr old.

When I got to college, though, my dorm buddies and I had a ritual. We would watch Star Trek at 5:00 in the rec center, then go eat at 5:30. That's when I really started getting into it. When the 1st movie came out in 1979, I was psyched. It was disappointing, but the producers redeemed themselves with the Wrath of Khan, which was written and paced more like the old TV series.

TN Rambler said...

I was a kid when TOS was on TV. Like Mark, I really didn't get into it too heavily, but then again, I was only 6 at the time it debuted. At that time, I think I liked Time Tunnel and Loat in Space better. It was during the first few years after the series ended that I really got into it.

I've enjoyed most of the movies (actually all except the 1st movie), Next Generation and Voyager. DS9 got a little too wierd for me and the local affiliate was never consistent with when it was going to show Enterprise.

Keith H. McIlwain said...

When the first film came out, I was a youngster, and went to see it with family and friends after eating a Star Trek Happy Meal at McDonald's. Already riveted by Star Wars, I found the universe of Klingons and Kirk "facsinating" (if I might use that word!).

While I appreciate TNG and the others, the original crew remains close to my heart. I watched 4 episodes last evening on TV-Land with my kids, and it was great fun.

Anonymous said...

I remember when TNG first came out,it aired at 10:30 at night on Sunday night. I had to beg and plead with my parents to let me stay up late on Sunday nights to watch it.