Geek Syndicate
Ever wondered what all those geeks in the corner were talking about? Sick of missing out of the sly references and obscure in-jokes? Never Fear! The Bluffers Guide is here to help. phrase machine”.
THE BLUFFER’S GUIDE TO GEEKDOM - Star Trek
Sounds very familiar. Because it is - The Original Star Trek ran for two decent seasons and a weaker one (by popular fan consensus) but lived well beyond it’s years in growing consciousness. In many ways it defined what a Sci-Fi TV should be like, and what it’s fans became a byword for the sort obsessive geekdom you normally only see in sports fans. Three seasons? Doesn’t seem a lot. thoughtful show on the whole and tends to resolve problems without too much shouting computers to death or blowing up space lizards with improvised cannons, and at it’s best managed to introduce more serialised and character focused plots into the genre. Its riddled with pastel-shaded idealism, which isn’t very fashionable in SF these days, but was a huge success, with the crew taking over the movie franchise for four movies once the TOS people retired.
So, what do you feel left out of this time? Star Trek. What, really? Yes. Embarrassing, isn’t it? I’m not sure being embarrassed about not knowing about Star Trek is quite the right emotion, but I guess it is pretty much the archetypal geek TV show. There is five main series, eleven movies, a cartoon spin-off and more toys and lunchboxes than you can imagine! I dunno, I can imagine quite a bit. That’s Star Wars. Sorry. So Star Trek is the guys in brightly coloured jumpers making out with hot alien women? Well that’s the Original Star Trek (TOS), yes. Its the “Beam me up Scotty” (pro-tip: never actually said in the show), the guy with the pointy ears being logical, and “Goddamn it Jim, I’m a Doctor, not a catch12
But there are still three more series? It’s never ending! Um, no. In the wake of the success of Star Wars the crew were reunited for a movie Star Trek: The Slow Motion Picture - whose sequel, The Wrath of Khan, is the one you have to say is your favorite whether you want to or not, although thankfully it’s a comparative rare case of fan consensus being correct. The ongoing success of the film franchise led to a TV relaunch set years later with a totally new crew and fledgling Computer-Enhanced Special Effects. More bright jumpers and Hot Alien Women? Less so, actually. Star Trek: The Next Generation is a more Sorry. Overlapping with the end of TNG was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a darker and edgier take on the universe that at the time wasn’t warmly welcomed by a lot of fans for it’s lack of actually trekking through the stars and it’s air of grey morality and compromise. But this, and the heavy serialisation that showrunner Ron Moore brought to it, makes it a distinct and well