Episode 164: Star Trek (2009)

In the mid-1960’s, a television program appeared that would profoundly change the medium of tv, science fiction, American popular culture, and even scientific exploration.  Its influence is still felt today among its legions of fans, who range from “devoted” to “psychotic.” I’m speaking of course of 1965’s “My Mother The Car,” starring Jerry Van Dyke.  This criminally ignored, ground-breaking show was the first to consider the idea of the Singularity, where human consciousness and technology would subsume and be subsumed by each other, forming an entirely new form of sentience.  But since Hollywood has blindly and stubbornly rejected all of my spec scripts, there’s no movie to discuss so I guess we should talk about Space Walk or whatever that other show was called.

This cinematic version of Star Trek represents a very daring and risky venture, wherein the film’s creators decided to take a venerable and frighteningly-beloved franchise . . . and almost completely rewrite it, changing the characters’ backstories, presentation, and even, in effect, discarding the history of the show itself.  Does it succeed? Is it fascinating? Highly illogical? Be there whales here? Give a listen and find out!

Poll question: what fictional cinematic character would you most like to sit down and have a conversation with, maybe over lunch or drinks?

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4 thoughts on “Episode 164: Star Trek (2009)”

  1. I may also be partial to a little TOS having grown up with it and my father is actual a fan as well. I can’t argue with anything you said about the reboot. It had time travel and that really gave me pause and it should of… while Romulan bad boy was moping around for 25 years why didn’t he just WARN Romulus what was going to happen? The entire plots makes no sense ons o many levels.. but… the cast is just FANTASTIC in their roles! They missed a lot of what Star trek was about but hit it hard on what the characters were about and how they interrelated. I found that true for the 2 films that flooded and also found the plots got dumber and dumber until that last one… They use the same solution to stop the villains as “Mars Attacks!?”

    Who would I have Canadian conversation and Crumpets with? (Not a real thing.) Sherlock Holmes or maybe Captain Nemo come to minds I was obsessed with both as a kid and films of those characters really intrigued me.

    1. Thanks for listening and for commenting, Vince! Always good to hear from you. Also glad that our little show can give you some entertainment. Sherlock Holmes and Captain Nemo…could you imagine being at the same table as BOTH of them? Man, could you get a word in edgewise? Have an extra pile of BumpyBux and remember: toss, don’t stack!

  2. Gotta agree with Vince, Captain Nemo would be a fascinating guy to meet. No one else springs to mind right now, though.

    I’d say that Bunraku is a movie I love that everyone else hates, except that everyone I introduce it to winds up adoring it. For an actually questionable favorite, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters has always made me crack up, but no one else seems to like it nearly as much as I do.

    My Star Trek hot take is that the new series had a lot of potential, but that they should have killed off Chris Pine in (new!) Wrath of Khan and had Zach Quinto carry on as captain. His character is a lot more interesting than Kirk, and it would have been a cute mirroring of the original series. Besides, we wouldn’t have gotten the Beastie Boys yet again if this had come to pass, and I can only think of that as a good thing in this case.

    1. Thanks, Ned! So, we’re not supposed to call you CheeseBoy any more? 😀 Captain Nemo for two votes! Well, I’m sure he can take a break from wanting to destroy all those who would destroy other people to take some time out for some tea, so why not? Interesting idea about “Star Trek,” and Capt. Pine. I mean, there’s no way they’re going to get away with killing him twice but I agree, at least in this incarnation, Kirk isn’t nearly as interesting as Spock…or was that always true? Have some Bux! And spend them all in one place!

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