Trevor

Thanks Filmmaker, will do.

I was going to start tonight to get a head start, but then, in the off chance that I complete this quest, I'll have that guilt of "cheating". So I'll get disc 1 of season 1 of TOS ready and ring in my new year with, "Space, the final frontier". Or not if I watch "The Cage" first.

Trevor

Did the math, and I have to average 1.54 hours a day, all 365 days, to finish. And that doesn't count bonus features, so I'm thinking maybe 2 hours a day.

I watched about 5 hours yesterday (I love TOS, and it has been quite awhile since I've watched any of it), but I don't think that I watched 2 hours of any TV a day last year. So the chance of me actually watching 2 hours a day of just Star Trek is pretty slim. Waiting for either a double dog dare or a nickel bet.

das Monkey

In honor of the Christmas season, I'm going to commit a slight breach of etiquette and skip straight to triple-dog dare you!

das

Trevor

Damn you das.

Ok, I'm going to try. I'll aim for 1 episode per night as I go to bed, and longer sets of 4-5 episodes on the weekend.

I'll only post about once a month to update (not that anyone besides me really cares, but I'll need some form of accountability).

(1/7/07 update: I finished season 1 yesterday, watching all special features, easter eggs, and the Best Buy bonus disc. Seven episodes into season 2 already, so I'm ahead of schedule. This is a lot of fun so far, and taking my mind off a recent break-up)

Trevor

Monthly update:

TOS Season One - watched, including all special features, easter eggs, and BB bonus disc
TOS Season Two - watched, including all special features, easter eggs, and BB bonus disc
TOS Season Three - about 3/4 thru the episodes

So I'm maybe slightly ahead of schedule so far. Going well, not at all sick of ST yet. But then, I was always a big TOS fan and I had not seen most of the episodes in years. Looking forward to TAS and the movies, but dreading the first year of TNG.

milo bloom

We've been watching some S1 TNG on G4 here recently, and they're really not as bad as I remembered. At times, the atmosphere and style almost make them seem like a different show, like a lost series that got rebooted. Honestly, much more of a sense of wonder IMHO.

Balok

Don't watch Enterprise first, for several reasons: the modern effects will make the original series seem cheesy, and the producers of Enterprise played fast and loose with continuity for the first three seasons or so (and then tried to fix it all in the fourth season). That could leave you confused if you watch Enterprise first.

Filmmaker's recommendation is a good one, I think. You don't really need to watch DS9 to understand Voyager; except for the setup, they're unrelated. Likewise, you don't really need to watch TNG to understand DS9, beyond some references Ben Sisko (commander of DS9) makes to the Battle of Wolf 359 - and you can get enough from Wikipedia to understand why he's upset with Picard over those events.

Ian Whitcombe

Oh, big disagreement here. TNG basically sets up the entire Trekkian universe in the 24th century. Aspects such as Bajor, The Romulan Tal Shiar and the Trill can be very confusing for a first time viewer. Not to mention the character histories of both Worf and Miles O'Brien.

Of all the Star Trek series, DS9 is the most dependent on the continuity established by TNG.

Balok

Bajor was introduced in only one episode - the one where they found Ro Laren. While it's true that she appeared in several episodes and was originally slated for the role Nana Visitor eventually got (because Michelle Forbes did not want to be committed to series television fearing it would limit her movie options - how are those movie roles comin' along, Shelly? ) there wasn't much background on Bajor itself. The Trill also appeared but had a different external appearance (rumor has it they couldn't bring themselves to hide Terry Farrell under latex) and were only in one episode. The Tal Shiar was mentioned a couple time and featured likewise. The Cardassian War was also briefly mentioned (and in a certain sense they set the stage for the eventual appearance of the Maquis) - but I believe DS9 provides enough introduction to these matter that one need not have watched TNG to understand it.

milo bloom

While not superstar status, Michelle has had a decent amount of work. I'm sure it keeps a roof over her head and groceries in the fridge.

http://imdb.com/name/nm0000405/

But I do agree it would have been nice to have had her more on TNG as a semi-permanent Conn officer and on DS9.

Trevor

Monthly update:

TOS - watched all 3 seasons, including all special features, easter eggs, and Best Buy bonus discs
TAS - watched both seasons, including all special features
ST1-5 - watched, including all special features and easter eggs

So, with 30 total seasons, I am on pace with 2.5 seasons per month.

I'll mix in the remaining movies in broadcast order as I start ST:TNG tomorrow.

Thanks again all, especially Kevin for the TNG/DS9 integration list.

milo bloom

One quick thing, ST 6The Undiscovered Country is the last original crew-only movie, and you should watch it before you move on to TNG. There's a cameo from TNG, but nothing important.

Trevor

That was my plan, but I thought I'd mix it up a bit and follow Chew's advice above.

But then, I can't really figure out why it would help to watch the movie just before those Spock episodes ......

I mean, Spock briefly mentions the events of that movie, but is it that important to see them right after each other?

Anyone?

Tracer Bullet

I don't think it's necessary to watch it just before the Spock episodes of TNG. If you're doing it in timeline order, it definitely doesn't make any sense, as the events of STVI take place 80 years before TNG.

Defiant1

While I believe that DS9 does a good enough job on its own to establish the setting of the state of the galaxy in the 24th century, I do think that watching TNG beforehand really helps. True, TNG had a ton of aliens-of-the-week who were shown once and never seen again but they also did a lot with the major powers (Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, & Ferengi) for viewers to get an idea of the relationships and interconnections between these civilizations.

Let's take the Klingon-Federation War and its buildup that occurred on DS9 in seasons 4-5. But previously viewing and understanding what happened between the two powers on TNG, namely the Klingon Civil War and Picard and Worf's dealings with Gowron, really provides context to what you see on DS9. And characters like Worf and O'Brien become that much better and more developed when you've seen them serve on the Enterprise for so many years before transferring to the big Cardassian monstrosity.

And I do feel for the original poster. If all goes according to plan, he will be viewing the Golden Age of Trek during the summer and early fall, but will have to endure the long, dark winter that is VOY and ENT.

Supermallet

There's a cameo of a character from TNG, or a cameo of an actor from TNG? I can't remember any TNG character showing up in 6.

Edit:

Josh Z

Trek has had, in all of its incarnations, an unfortunate habit of reusing actors in different roles. The one you mention above was done with a wink and a nod, but at the same time ST6 stars Brock Peters as Admiral Cartwright, an actor who will later turn up as Joseph Sisko in multiple episodes of DS9.

Kurtwood Smith also appeared as three different characters in ST6, DS9, and Voyager. This is something that really bothers me.

Ian Whitcombe

I guess it's something one has to take or leave, I sometimes (but not all the time) find it quite fun to see a favourite guest actor appear again.

David Warner is *another* ST6 actor to appear in three different Treks (Star Trek V, VI and TNG), however considering he had such a non-role in ST5 I was glad to see him put to more effective use in ST6.

Supermallet

Yeah, David Warner is one of the more obvious ones. Star Trek isn't the only series to do this. The various Law & Order franchises reuse people for different roles all the time, as do the James Bond films.

The Cow

Majel Barrett & Mark Lenard are the two obvious ones that popped into my head.

Defiant1

Vaughn Armstrong is the undisputed champ of Star Trek guest stars. He's played 12(!) different characters (and 6 different species!) on TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT. Admiral Forrest on ENT is his most well-known role though as most of the others were one time deals.

paul416

I just heard that casting for the next ST movie has begun. It will focus on a young Kirk & Spock right out of the academy. Maybe you can get all the ST's watched before it comes out in 2008.

Trevor

Monthly update:

TOS - watched all 3 seasons, including all special features, easter eggs, and Best Buy bonus discs
TAS - watched both seasons, including all special features
ST1-6 - watched, including all special features and easter eggs
TNG - watched seasons 1-2 with all special features, and half of season 3

So, with 30 total seasons, I am still on pace with 2.5 seasons per month.

One thing I've noticed on TNG so far. A common critique has been that the series is fairly mediocre the first two seasons but then improves greatly for most of the rest of the run.

I'm not sure that I agree with that assessment. I think it is largely based on the viewers getting more comfortable with the characters, and therefore liking the show more.

Josh Z

Perhaps so, but there's no denying that the first season relied far too much on recycled plot lines from the Original Series.

Trevor

True. And the more I watch seasons 3 and 4 the stories are much better.

But still, even if the best stories were told in that first season, I think it would have received mediocre reviews. Some were almost wanting TNG to fail, given their love for TOS. And like almost any new series, until we got comfortable with both the characters/actors, and the whole idea of something new, we were hesitant to truly enjoy it.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this a sort of "delayed appreciation" applies to many sequels/revamps.