Post by thomasallencummins on Feb 22, 2008 8:52:40 GMT -5
cityguides.msn.com/citylife/article.aspx?cp-documentid=6274961>1=10885
Star Trek: The Tour’ isn’t just nostalgia.
By Jim Washburn for MSN City Guides
If you were around between 1966 and 1968 and had a sense of wonder, chances are you watched “Star Trek.” New Worlds! The Future! Galaxies! Phasers! Aliens! Partially unclad aliens! Warp drive! Dr. McCoy’s mint juleps! Every week the show's international, interracial, interplanetary crew set out with the best of intentions—to gain and share knowledge—and typically wound up also sharing a few photon torpedoes or boulders-on-the-noggin with newly met life forms.
At turns hokey, gripping, campy, preachy or daringly probing of social ills, “Star Trek” also gave viewers the sensation they were watching parallel universes, seeing both a starship crew and a TV cast that clearly enjoyed the hell out of working with each other.
That formula worked for a lot of viewers, but not NBC executives who cancelled the costly show after three seasons. But like John Barleycorn, “Star Trek” thrived after being cut down, rising to spawn 10 feature films and five TV series, becoming a genuine 20th century icon.
Star Trek: The Tour’ isn’t just nostalgia.
By Jim Washburn for MSN City Guides
If you were around between 1966 and 1968 and had a sense of wonder, chances are you watched “Star Trek.” New Worlds! The Future! Galaxies! Phasers! Aliens! Partially unclad aliens! Warp drive! Dr. McCoy’s mint juleps! Every week the show's international, interracial, interplanetary crew set out with the best of intentions—to gain and share knowledge—and typically wound up also sharing a few photon torpedoes or boulders-on-the-noggin with newly met life forms.
At turns hokey, gripping, campy, preachy or daringly probing of social ills, “Star Trek” also gave viewers the sensation they were watching parallel universes, seeing both a starship crew and a TV cast that clearly enjoyed the hell out of working with each other.
That formula worked for a lot of viewers, but not NBC executives who cancelled the costly show after three seasons. But like John Barleycorn, “Star Trek” thrived after being cut down, rising to spawn 10 feature films and five TV series, becoming a genuine 20th century icon.
