It had some good Trek jokes and Hodges fantasies were pretty good. I really enjoyed the Ron Moore cameo.
I finally saw the CSI Trek episode
- Thread starter broberfett
- Start date
What amused me was that the two big "Trekkie" characters in the CSI ensemble were both played by actors who've had one-time parts in Trek episodes -- Wallace Langham, who was Flotter in VGR: "Once Upon a Time," and Liz Vassey, who was an amnesiac crewmember in TNG's "Conundrum."
Overall, it was a good episode that treated fandom well. It did depict some kooks, but it didn't stereotype all fans as kooks; it showed the whole range of fandom, including "normal" people who just happened to like the show (such as Fishburne's character). Of course, it was written by veterans of DS9's staff (David Weddle and Bradley Thompson) and the show is executive-produced by a TNG veteran (Naren Shankar), so a fair and positive representation of fandom is to be expected.
Overall, it was a good episode that treated fandom well. It did depict some kooks, but it didn't stereotype all fans as kooks; it showed the whole range of fandom, including "normal" people who just happened to like the show (such as Fishburne's character). Of course, it was written by veterans of DS9's staff (David Weddle and Bradley Thompson) and the show is executive-produced by a TNG veteran (Naren Shankar), so a fair and positive representation of fandom is to be expected.
I thought the episode was pretty good, though once again mainstream US TV followed the cliche of painting Star Trek fans - and sci-fi fans in general - as weirdos. Granted, having someone like Liz Vassey dress up in Uhura-style reds helped the image somewhat (anyone else get nostalgic for her days on The Tick?), but it was still a case of painting SF fans as semi-autistic sociopaths. They're out there, to be certain - I've met more than my share, including a few who probably have their own bedrooms-turned-bridges - but frankly there are a lot of Liz Vasseys out there, too.
Something similar happened on NCIS a couple weeks ago. There was a great Doctor Who reference made, but once again a character had to cut down the show ("Who watches Doctor Who?") Just for once I'd like to see a "cool character" (like, I don't know, Jack Bauer) come out and make a statement about liking a show like Doctor Who or Trek or any SF without it being couched in terms like "guilty pleasure".
I'm not a huge fan of Avatar (see my rants elsewhere) but I'm still rooting for it to win Best Picture so it adds a lit of legitimacy to the whole SF genre in the eyes of those who think TV that isn't The Sopranos or Mad Men or Breaking Bad is for geeks.
Alex
Something similar happened on NCIS a couple weeks ago. There was a great Doctor Who reference made, but once again a character had to cut down the show ("Who watches Doctor Who?") Just for once I'd like to see a "cool character" (like, I don't know, Jack Bauer) come out and make a statement about liking a show like Doctor Who or Trek or any SF without it being couched in terms like "guilty pleasure".
I'm not a huge fan of Avatar (see my rants elsewhere) but I'm still rooting for it to win Best Picture so it adds a lit of legitimacy to the whole SF genre in the eyes of those who think TV that isn't The Sopranos or Mad Men or Breaking Bad is for geeks.
Alex
No, they painted a few fans that way, but as I said, they also showed fans like Laurence Fishburne's character, a perfectly ordinary and functional person who happens to be fond of and familiar with the show. And fans like Hodges and Wendy, who are basically normal people (well, at least Wendy is) who really get into the role-playing and are no less rational for it. And casual fans who may not be intimately familiar with the mythos but still know the show as a pop-culture phenomenon. It covered all the bases, so it wasn't just the usual stereotype.
And most importantly,
the killer wasn't a rabid fan, but a respected scholar and media critic, whose motives had more to do with professional jealousy than delusional fandom.
And that's exactly how Fishburne's character was portrayed in the episode. There wasn't a trace of "guilty pleasure" to his attitude. He liked the show, he had detailed knowledge of it, and he was totally matter-of-fact and unapologetic about it.
She was stunning as a look-alike Orion Animal Woman.
I caught the episode last night, and I posted about it on my blog:
http://christopherlbennett.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/thoughts-on-csi-a-space-oddity/
Some things I wanted to add to my comments above, excerpted from the blog post:
http://christopherlbennett.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/thoughts-on-csi-a-space-oddity/
Some things I wanted to add to my comments above, excerpted from the blog post:
And she was drop dead gorgeous as the Drill Thrall.
Where was Ron Moore? I missed his cameo!
He was the guy in the audience who rose into frame and cried, "You suck!" at the producer character who was loosely based on Moore himself. The convention audience in that scene also included Grace Park and Rekha Sharma, though they didn't have any lines beyond crowd murmur.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I876imp3R1Q[/yt]
OMG!!!!!! HOW FUN WAS THAT!!!!!!!!! Thanks Agent Richard for posting that vid.
No there aren't. There are a few, and at RL fan gatherings they're way outnumbered by the weirdos.
Well, Rick Castle likes space cowboys.
No there aren't. There are a few, and at RL fan gatherings they're way outnumbered by the weirdos.
Well, Rick Castle likes space cowboys.
And UNDERWORLD . . . .
No there aren't. There are a few, and at RL fan gatherings they're way outnumbered by the weirdos.
That hasn't been my experience. The "weirdos" just attract more attention. That doesn't mean they're more numerous.
Wow, I did not remember that at all - and I've been a fan of Ms. Vassey for years. Thanks, Christopher.
Agreed. It's very much the "squeaky wheel" thing -- where "the squeaky wheel" is the weirdo fan, and the "grease" is the public's attention.
What was so hilarious for me is that I was watching the producer guy's new darker vision scene and when the guy starts crying I was thinking-this is just like New Battlestar Galactica (Which I despise, especially all the endless crying). Then Ron Moore suddenly stands up and has his scene.
