Does Trek tend to do comedy badly?
- Thread starter suarezguy
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"...stiff, safe and bland." Works poorly for either drama or comedy.
Whatever episode it was, Troi was talking to Worf, and it was his birthday. Troi said something about how she'd understand if he'd want to be alone, and that he'd probably want to hit himself with a pain stick, or something. I don't know if it was the unexpected sarcasm from her or what, but it was such a great crack!
That episode was pretty funny. There was a scene where Worf shifted into a reality where he was married to Troi, but he didn't realize it yet.
Troi knocks, and then just strolled into his/their quarters and started helping herself to things, and then asks "why did you lock the door?"
And Worf is like, 'why the hell shouldn't I??!'
And then a few minutes later Troi is sitting on his/their bed, and says he needs to relax. Worf still doesn't know they're married and thinks she's just the counselor.
She starts biting his ear and Worf jumps up, thinking Troi lost her mind.
Pretty funny stuff.
The idea of Riker being frisky sounds more like horror than comedy to me.
Its actually pretty funny on paper but for me personally lacked on execution.Whatever episode it was, Troi was talking to Worf, and it was his birthday. Troi said something about how she'd understand if he'd want to be alone, and that he'd probably want to hit himself with a pain stick, or something. I don't know if it was the unexpected sarcasm from her or what, but it was such a great crack!
That episode was pretty funny. There was a scene where Worf shifted into a reality where he was married to Troi, but he didn't realize it yet.
Troi knocks, and then just strolled into his/their quarters and started helping herself to things, and then asks "why did you lock the door?"
And Worf is like, 'why the hell shouldn't I??!'
And then a few minutes later Troi is sitting on his/their bed, and says he needs to relax. Worf still doesn't know they're married and thinks she's just the counselor.
She starts biting his ear and Worf jumps up, thinking Troi lost her mind.
Pretty funny stuff.
I wished Sirtis could have stepped it up. Not as much (in your face) as Luxana Troi but just a bit more. I hardly got the comedy at the time. Perhaps I'm just too low-brow for TNG humour. I suppose the trouble is Troi is such a 'good' person that her character doesn't get angry or frustrated. In contrast 7/9 or the Doctor or Kirk are going to have more extreme reactions.
Spiner has the comic delivery when he's not going OTT.
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I think the Voyage Home is a very funny film. I actually believe all the scenes that are intended to be funny actually are. It was written in a time when there was less cynicism in the writing. Trek was very popular, and the writers treaded the thin line between making the comedy about Star Trek and what we know, and just having it come from the story. Also, it was fun top let them get out of sound-stages and into the real world (funny that their costumes look outlandish, but in the 80's, with the variety of crazy clothes you might find people wearing in the city, no one but the audience really notices).
I showed the film to a friend who is not a Star Trek fan, and who was born the year it came out. He thought it was hilarious, and heartfelt.
I just don't understand the criticism for this film.
I showed the film to a friend who is not a Star Trek fan, and who was born the year it came out. He thought it was hilarious, and heartfelt.
I just don't understand the criticism for this film.
But Trek, especially TNG, made the atmosphere and characters too bland to be funny, IMO.
The characters are practically perfect because humans have evolved so much. Everyone gets along. There's no drama or real personality quirks.
Game of Thrones has some really serious subject matter, but it comes as real funny because the characters are less restricted in the way they act, speak, do things etc.
I can see why because the characters come off as too stiff, perfect and mild mannered.
The only way I can see a Trek scene as at least amusing is to watch in a certain context.
Troi just strolls into his quarters and starts helping herself to his things. Then invites him to sit down and explain what's on his mind, then starts biting him.
Worf has no idea he and Toi are married at that point.
Same thing with Lester as Kirk. Kirk is acting feminine, bipolar and then psycho and the crew has no idea what happened to him.
They think he's still Kirk, but the crew thinks he has lost his mind.
Quick, everybody write down as many hilarious Garak quotes as you can think of in two minutes.
...I bet if almost anybody here did that, they'd think of more than 20.
Data also had some hilarious moments in non-funny scenes. Like how in The Most Toys he's rebelling against Fajo by standing still and not moving when his friends were around. That was a hilarious scene. "He falls well." Data's Day was also amusing in several points. "Keiko has done something designed to increase her own happiness. She has cancelled the wedding!" Or even in some of his filler moments. "This is down. Down is good. This is up. Up is no." "Felis catis, is thy taxonomic nomenclature. An endothermic quadroped, carnivorous by nature?"
I guess most of TNG's genuinely funny moments were Data misunderstanding something.
...I bet if almost anybody here did that, they'd think of more than 20.
Data also had some hilarious moments in non-funny scenes. Like how in The Most Toys he's rebelling against Fajo by standing still and not moving when his friends were around. That was a hilarious scene. "He falls well." Data's Day was also amusing in several points. "Keiko has done something designed to increase her own happiness. She has cancelled the wedding!" Or even in some of his filler moments. "This is down. Down is good. This is up. Up is no." "Felis catis, is thy taxonomic nomenclature. An endothermic quadroped, carnivorous by nature?"
I guess most of TNG's genuinely funny moments were Data misunderstanding something.
I seem to recall a poll taken at startrek.com, where 3 of Riker's worst seasons for picking up women were pitted against Kirk's only 3 seasons and after ALL of the numbers were in, Riker beat Kirk by a total of 3 women. It wasn't long after that, in fact, that polls started popping up inviting female fans to vote on whom they'd rather marry: Riker, or a Stick? Unfortunately, it's been so long, now ... I'm not sure what those specific results were. I'm pretty sure the stick lost, though! Pretty sure ...The idea of Riker being frisky sounds more like horror than comedy to me.
I think Trek works best when the comedy is played straight. One of my favorite scenes from all of Trek is in an early DS9 episode where Chief O'Brien and Keiko are fighting at Quarks, and Odo and Quark are discussing their observations about humanity. Specifically, the art of the "compromise."
There's a similar scene in an early TNG episode where Data looks at Worf to clarify something that had happened and Worf responds, "I don't understand their humor either."
The slapstick humor falls completely flat with me. Namely, the humor of Insurrection and the Enterprise "comedy" episodes. Not to say all the slapstick humor is bad, say, in The Trouble with Tribbles, because it was played straight.
There's a similar scene in an early TNG episode where Data looks at Worf to clarify something that had happened and Worf responds, "I don't understand their humor either."
The slapstick humor falls completely flat with me. Namely, the humor of Insurrection and the Enterprise "comedy" episodes. Not to say all the slapstick humor is bad, say, in The Trouble with Tribbles, because it was played straight.
That reminds me, O'Brien and Bashir talking about each other was always a great source of humor.
"You either love you or you hate you. You see, I HATED you! And now!... ...now I don't."
@Ferguson
You reminded me of another great Data/Worf scene.
Worf: "Abassador Byleht is demanding, temperamental, rude!"
Data: "You share all those qualities in abundance. Perhaps you should build on your similarities!"
"You either love you or you hate you. You see, I HATED you! And now!... ...now I don't."
@Ferguson
You reminded me of another great Data/Worf scene.
Worf: "Abassador Byleht is demanding, temperamental, rude!"
Data: "You share all those qualities in abundance. Perhaps you should build on your similarities!"
O'Brien and Bashir were a great source of humor. I always loved in Trials and Tribble-ations: "I can't wait to see the look on your face when we get back to the station and I wasn't even born!"
I would concur with the general opinion expressed here. While I don't have a comprehensive knowledge of them throughout all the series, it seems that the explicitly comedic episodes were usually not winning constructions. It's likely that the writers thought the conceits employed humorous, but too often they were overly broad, sometimes noisomely so, and carried on considerably longer than prudent.
As a series though, I find that Voyager managed to integrate a comedic tone pretty effectively throughout its run. Of course there were some installments in which this aspect was appropriately lacking given the dictates of plot. But the funny longer bits as well as throwaways added a lot to my appreciation of the show.
I don't think they were necessarily indicative of particularly sharp-witted dialogue from the writers as much as extensions of well drawn interpersonal dynamics between a number of the characters as well as expert timing and delivery by most of the cast. The riffs amongst Tuvok, Neelix, Paris, Torres, Kim, Seven, and of course the Doctor, provided a further glue that solidified the sense of a caring and affectionate family that is a prime reason for Voyager's enduring appeal to me. I can understand though, that others might find this "comfort" factor yet another deficiency, alongside many others, that marked the effort as being too soft and lightweight, lacking the gravitas appropriate for a crew having to come to grips with the show set-up.
As a series though, I find that Voyager managed to integrate a comedic tone pretty effectively throughout its run. Of course there were some installments in which this aspect was appropriately lacking given the dictates of plot. But the funny longer bits as well as throwaways added a lot to my appreciation of the show.
I don't think they were necessarily indicative of particularly sharp-witted dialogue from the writers as much as extensions of well drawn interpersonal dynamics between a number of the characters as well as expert timing and delivery by most of the cast. The riffs amongst Tuvok, Neelix, Paris, Torres, Kim, Seven, and of course the Doctor, provided a further glue that solidified the sense of a caring and affectionate family that is a prime reason for Voyager's enduring appeal to me. I can understand though, that others might find this "comfort" factor yet another deficiency, alongside many others, that marked the effort as being too soft and lightweight, lacking the gravitas appropriate for a crew having to come to grips with the show set-up.
Interesting you should say that, since Voyager was under instructions by Paramount not to do comedy. According to Robert Duncan McNeill, Paramount felt the franchise which attracted actors of stature like Patrick Stewart should be treated with "regal dignity" which being comedic wasn't.
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