Question for Star Trek Authors

[Ktrek]

I was wondering if you authors out there own all the DVD sets (or have VHS copies of the shows) and do you still watch Star Trek now that it's off the air? Or do you rely mostly on memory of various aspects for the shows?

Keith...you can skip this if you want as I know you are like a walking encyclopedia. Let's hope you never get Alzheimers!

Kevin

 

[David Mack]

I have complete DVD sets of TOS, TAS, TNG and DS9. I also have most of Voyager on VHS, recorded during its initial run. I frequently refer to the DVDs or tapes when I'm working on a Trek project, though I just as often visit Memory Alpha, Memory Beta, or Wikipedia.

I have been watching the remastered TOS episodes, and I will occasionally catch a TNG or DS9 rerun while channel-surfing.

 

[Ktrek]

Thanks for answering David! Do you ever pull out your Star Trek DVDs just for pleasure viewing like the rest of us do or are they now just reference material?

Kevin

 

[William Leisner]

I've been buying Trek DVDs as the need arises -- I got the full TOS set while I was working on my Constellations story, DS9 Season 4 for Slings and Arrows, and so on. I also rely a lot of Netflix when I want to check a one-off piece of information (again for Slings and Arrows, since I didn't particularly want to spend the money for six full box set just to review a single Lwaxana episode in each). I've used the internet too, of course, but sometimes you need more than just the thumbnail information they have.

As for pleasure viewing... I did go through the animated series when it was released just for myself, and I made sure to catch "The Menagerie" remastered on the big screen a couple months back. And when I rent a disc for one ep, I usually do end up watching the other three before shipping it back.

And just this past week, I downloaded and played the RiffTrax commentary for ST6. Does that count?

 

[KRAD]

I was wondering if you authors out there own all the DVD sets (or have VHS copies of the shows) and do you still watch Star Trek now that it's off the air? Or do you rely mostly on memory of various aspects for the shows?

I have TOS, TAS, TNG, and DS9 on DVD, as well as most of the movies, and the final two seasons of ENT. I would never rely on memory, not even mine , for something I was writing, I'd always double check it against the original. If it's something I don't have on DVD, I'll get the VHS tapes from Pocket's library (which is what I did for the Q episodes of VOY).

 

[David R. George III]

I've got all of the Original Series, Deep Space Nine, and the Animated Series on DVD, as well as all of the films. I occasionally will pull out an episode to watch, but for the most part, I utilize them for research when writing.

 

[Geoff Thorne]

I have my favorite eps from every series but no entire seasons. I watch whatever Trek show happens to be on in whatever city I'm in. Even ENTERPRISE has grown on me a bit.

I generally pick up any eps I think I might reference in a story just to be sure. I know I did for Distant Shores.

 

[TGTheodore]

I don't have any of the boxed sets. I have four 2-episode DVD's from TOS, and then on VHS I have the various episodes I needed for my short stories.

"Threshold" (VOY) - SNW V "On the Rocks"
"A Piece of the Action" (TOS) - SNW IV "A Little More Action"
"Q2" (VOY) for a now-abandoned book proposal
And one particular episode of Enterprise for a now-abandoned quintology idea.

--Ted (with a now-abandoned brain)

 

[Christopher]

I can't afford the DVDs (although I have a partial collection of the movies on tape and DVD, and a complete collection of TAS on old, worn-out videotapes). I either borrow the tapes from Pocket, catch a rerun on TV, or consult online scripts, transcripts, and screencap collections. I also use Memory Alpha a lot.

 

[Stevil2001]

I have never seen an episode of Star Trek.

Thank God for Memory Alpha.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Between the two of us, Kevin and I have everything on DVD. We each own TOS, TAS and the movies ourselves, and share a single copy of each of the other sets.

(And I prize my Holy Trinity of TOS Chicklets above all others.)

Prior to that, I had the entire run of TOS/TAS/TOS movies on LaserDisc, and before that I had them on the store-bought VHS editions. Obviously it's all used for research, but I still watch episodes just for the kick, and when I do that, it's almost always TOS with the occasional TNG or DS9 thrown in for flavor.

 

[Greg Cox]

I have two shelves of Trek stuff (most VHS, but some DVD's), but it's a fairly random selection. I pick up specific episodes as needed. And, yeah, I definitely rewatch any episodes I draw on for my novels or stories.

I don't seek out Trek on tv these days, but if I stumble onto a fun rerun, I may watch it if I'm in the mood.

 

[David Mack]

These days, I rarely watch my Trek DVDs aside from research. Between my day job and my writing deadlines, I don't really have time for much recreational viewing or reading.

 

[Scott Pearson]

I have all the movies, TAS, and TOS on DVD, and everything else on VHS that I taped myself from broadcast. I dream of having the whole shebang on disc, but I figured out that even buying it all used would cost a grand . . . I work in publishing, so I don't have that kind of discretionary money, not with a kid coming up to orthodontia age. When I was working on my Sky's the Limit story, Marco wanted me to watch the Voyager episode that had an orbital elevator to make sure I didn't get too similar to anything. He offered to send me a tape, but I was able to say "No, thanks." Finally, years of obsessive taping and dubbing to eliminate commercials was justified!

 

[Jim Johnson]

Ktrek said:
I was wondering if you authors out there own all the DVD sets (or have VHS copies of the shows) and do you still watch Star Trek now that it's off the air? Or do you rely mostly on memory of various aspects for the shows?

I have the DVD box sets for TOS, TNG, the movies, and DS9, but haven't picked up VOY or ENT as yet. Just don't have a big desire to do so.

Of late I only break them out for research purposes. And I make extensive use of Memory Alpha to help me remember which episodes are relevant to whatever I'm working on.

Like Dave, I don't have a lot of free time for pleasure viewing, but I do try to make time to watch some DS9 or TNG. Especially DS9. I love that show.

 

[Ktrek]

Much thanks to all of you for responding! It's one of those questions I have always wondered about.

Kevin

 

[Bob Greenberger]

Like my peers, I have all of TOS, TNG and DS9 plus the movies on DVD. Haven't had a professional need for VOY or ENT and personally, am content without them. Also like my colleagues, I rarely have had the chance to watch any of them for "fun". Robbie, though, has taken to zipping through TNG and DS9 in complete season blocks for the heck of it. We're slowly working our way through the Animated DVD set as time permits.

While Memory Alpha is great, and a good tool, actually seeing the story unfold on screen helps immeasurably during the writing process.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

29 seasons of Trek, including TAS + 10 movies, it shouldn't be much more than around £500...

which is $1000.

Ouch!

Shouldn't authors get special dispensation or something. You should have the actors at your beck and call to act out the scenes for you. You shouldn't have to pay, like us lesser mortals.

 

[Jim Johnson]

Bob Greenberger said:
While Memory Alpha is great, and a good tool, actually seeing the story unfold on screen helps immeasurably during the writing process.

Memory Alpha also can't help a writer get the voice of a character or their nuances in dialogue. Reviewing a few episodes helps me try to nail down the voice and speech patterns of the characters.

In reading tie-in fiction, one of the things that bugs me the most is when the characters don't 'sound' like the characters on the show. So I try to not do that in my writing.

 

[KRAD]

^ The good news is, the purchases are tax deductible.