******STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!****** When Star Trek the Original Series (TOS) aired its second season episode “The Ultimate Computer” in March of 1968, factories and automobile assembly lines in the US were introducing new generations of machines controlled by bulky, room-sized computers that threatened the jobs of many workers. It was in that climate that Star Trek…
Tag: George Takei
Star Trek TOS: “The Corbomite Maneuver” (1966) put the series on course…
******FESARIUS-SIZED SPOILERS!****** As a kid watching Star Trek out of broadcast order in reruns during the 1970s and 1980s, I could always tell earlier episodes by their ‘growing pains’; uniforms without black collars, different paint/layout scheme for the ship’s interiors, Spock’s makeup tweaks, various terminology differences (“United Earth Space Probe Agency,” “Vulcanian” ), etc. First…
The Enterprise is haunted by the spirit of Jack the Ripper in Star Trek’s “Wolf in the Fold” (1967)…
******STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!****** This month marks the season for my favorite holiday; Halloween. Even now, some decades since I’ve last trick or treated, I still look forward to the costumes, handing out candy to the kids, and of course, enjoying all the scary movies/TV shows that are trotted out this time of year. Even the Original…
“It Rhymes with Takei” (2025) is George Takei’s graphic memoir of adversity, love and making a difference…
******SOME SPOILERS****** Unlike most columns on this site, this one is about a book, not a movie or TV/streaming series. The book is “It Rhymes with Takei”; a new graphic memoir from famed Star Trek actor, political activist, author and playwright George Takei, who once again collaborates with coauthors Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott and illustrator…
Star Trek TOS: “The Savage Curtain”; Abraham Lincoln beams up for a slightly goofy, yet memorable episode…
******STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!****** Here in the United States at the time of this writing, I’m not exactly in the ‘President’s Day’ spirit this month. However, this site is about sci-fi/fantasy/horror and nostalgia, not modern politics. Way back in March of 1969, Star Trek aired “The Savage Curtain,” an episode cowritten by no less than creator/ex-showrunner Gene…
“Star Trek: Very Short Treks” (2023) are single-joke shorts that miss more than they hit…
*****STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS***** To fans of Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-4) like myself, I was delighted to see the opening of the first of five Star Trek: Very Short Treks unveil recently, as I loved its tongue-in-cheek reimagining of the Paramount+ Star Trek into, which is now rendered in nostalgically cheesy, Filmation-style animation. The short…
The unlikely episode that launched Star Trek: “The Man Trap” (1966)…
*****STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!***** When fans today think of the ‘first’ Star Trek episode, they tend to (not incorrectly) think of the pilot episodes “The Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” but neither of those pilots were broadcast first. In fact, “The Cage” wasn’t broadcast in full until 1986 (the same year I bought it…
Star Trek: The Original Series; examining “Metamorphosis,” 55 years later…
*****55-YEAR OLD STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!***** The Star Trek Original Series (TOS) episode “Metamorphosis” was first broadcast via the NBC network on November 10th, 1967. This was a heady time for the sophomore series, with creator Gene Roddenberry producing, along with some terrific writing talent attached to the show, including script editor Dorothy Fontana (1939-2019), and prolific…
“Woman in Motion” (2019) opens a hailing frequency to a remarkable lady…
****SPOILERS AHEAD!!**** To those, like myself, who’ve ever met Nichelle Nichols at a sci-fi convention, you get a feeling of being in the presence of royalty; she is both charming and regal, yet disarming with her earthly candor (and her laugh). Director Todd Thompson has assembled a documentary that tells many of the tales I’ve…