Le Picard

“Let’s see what’s out there.  Engage.”

-Captain Jean-Luc Picard

There’s something about those titles at the beginning of each episode, over a background of stars, with quotes around them, that makes you want to sink deep into whatever couch or chair you find yourself in and be, well, engaged.  This isn’t that old of a series, but it feels liked it was made for a very different culture, one that could sit through a long string of below-the-line credits before a very slow, very pensive ascent from the underbelly of the USS Enterprise to the bridge.  As we pass over the roof of the saucer, over all those lit up windows, points of light,  like she’s some big skyscraper in a clean, beautiful future-city, we just have to know: who’s inside?

Were people that excited for the new Star Trek? I have no clue, but the way they milk every moment– all the adoring shots and dialogue  concerning this new, Galaxy-class Enterprise– gives me a good idea of how it must have felt for to be old enough to have seen TOS in its original airing and to have been counting down the days to the premiere of this new reinterpretation.  The Star Trek franchise had that allure going for it for a while, that ability to excite the appetites of fans and non-fans alike for more, more, more of that universe.  And then deliver!  I watched all of Deep Space Nine and Voyager, and though they never captured my imagination in the same way TNG did, they were well-rated shows and I remember enjoying them a great deal.  Think about that in contrast to the fanbase’s feverish desire for the Star Wars prequels and, once they finally dropped some sixteen years later, the general consensus that they pretty much sucked.  And don’t get me started on the final episode of the Battlestar Galactica reboot and my subsequent total apathy to all future spinoffs, miniseries, or whatever else Moore et al think we want (this is not to say that nearly all of the preceding four seasons of that series were not amazing works of art.)

The episode, all 90-ish minutes of it, is clunky at times (the climactic moment is something approximating jellyfish sex) but, hey!  Q shows up!  I remember loving/fearing Q and all episodes related to him, but I have to admit that John De Lancie is a ham and a half in his first appearance, reminiscent of a coked-out Robin Williams on a talk show as he morphs through his slideshow of Western Civ 2.0.  The Q I love is the sneering, almost foppish know-it-all best embodied by his incarnation as the post-atomic judge in the excellent, totally freaky courtroom hallucination/dream/space-time abberation.  That’s when Q seems the most omni-potent, and terrifying with the most immediacy.  That spotlight as he floats on is like something from a fucking Lynch film!

Snarly!

Anyway, I’m excited,because as I recall, De Lancie finds a lot of subtlety and nuance in that character as the series progresses.

Speaking of; that’s always the fun/awkward part of first seasons of shows– seeing the actors figure out exactly who their characters are, and getting comfortable with that identity.  Patrick Stewart and Gates McFadden are the only two who I see slipping into their personae with a surprisingly admirable amount of grace; Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher seem to be the same characters I recall with more clear memory from later seasons.  Marina Sirtis’ Deanna Troi, however is way more of an emotionally volatile nutcase than the serene, therapist-from-heaven I remember her later becoming (When using her Betazoid skillz she starts to sound like she’s reading from my high school’s literary magazine “Pain… Pain… Loneliness… Terrible Loneliness…”)  Maybe that thankfully short-lived space-cheerleader outfit was cramping her style.  Speaking of short-lived, Diane Crosby’s Tasha Yar lays it on a little thick as the obligatory loose cannon, though usually to amusing effect (Yar’s deadpan to Troi in the tunnel: “More Pain?” Priceless.)

Baby? Sweetie? Don't you wanna go shopping upstairs?

And then there’s Data.  Man, tracking what/who exactly Data is throughout this blog will be interesting.  He’s mostly used for comic relief in this episode, the Pinnochio archetype so on the nose (no pun intended) that Riker actually calls it out.  His propensity for TMI and inability to process English idioms and figures of speech are all hit-palm-to-forehead moments: okay, okay, enough with the robot humor.  I guess it’s economical writing, but all I can do is cringe and look forward to the richer material in store for him.

So anyway, you can read the plot summary, basically Picard proves Q wrong about the frailty of the human race for the time being, by letting Farpoint Station, which is actually a big alien lifeform capable of infinite forms and production, rejoin its lover who has turned into a spaceship and is firing on the poor denizens of Deneb IV.  I think it’s the girl one who’s being held prisoner, at the end she floats up to meet her boyfriend and they hold hands.  It’s all very cute and weird.  I’m fascinated by the fact that it was so warmly and widely recieved.

Awww. The things. They loves each other.

But the Q plot is the key here; this is a pilot and a pilot has to be a thesis of sorts for a series, and Q frequently embodies TNG’s thesis.  In this maiden voyage of the USS Enterprise-D, he makes us cruelly aware of the promise that lies at the heart of the Prime Directive and all it entails, and thus throws down the challenge that basically defines the series: Can You Do It?  Can You Behave Yourselves, You Nasty Creatures?  And what Star Trek has always been about is that, yes, yes, of course we can.  And there is something comforting about that, after going through a decade of way more nihilistic, albeit often more compelling sci-fi; some transmission from 1987 is telling us that humans are not all just narcissistic fuckups.  We can be Good.

Side Notes

• That saucer separation sequence was treated like brain surgery or something!  Granted, they were traveling at Warp 9-point-whatever, but there were so many sweaty exchanged glances it felt like a junior high dance up in that bridge.  And then?  The re-attachment?  Pure erotica.  Riker was definitely turned on.
• Worf nearly firing his phaser at the viewscreen, not yet disproving our prejudices re: Klingons.  Still, a pretty good LOL was had.
• Fucking Wesley Crusher.  I don’t have nearly the hatred for him that others do (Wesley:TNG::Ewoks:Star Wars, for me, anyway) but all of his gee-whiz-there’s-a-lo-grav-gymnasium wide-eyed wonder gets a little tiresome after a while.  Still, it’s a great moment when we’re in his shoes as he enters the bridge, feeling all that wonder and fascination that only a little geek like him (read: everyone) would feel in that moment.  Oh, and I want his sweater.

The Grudge 3 – Directed by Toby Wilkins; Screenplay by Brad Keene; Written by Takashi Shimizu. Starring Matthew Knight , Shawnee Smith, and Aiko Horiuchi.

Tagline: Catboy and Croaky are at it again!

For anyone who has seen any of the previous Grudge movies, you know the plot. Catboy and Croaky kill some people, and there you have The Grudge.

While I can appreciate the never ending theory of cursed spirits wanting revenge on anyone it comes in contact with, I did find this movie rather predictable and not as scary as some reviews have pointed out. There were moments when scenes took on a different turn (like when Dr. Sullivan is killed by Kayako), but nonetheless, this film did not give me nightmares when I went to bed.

The acting and plot was good, and while it was good to see Marina Sirtis (Star Trek TNG) on screen, I think that the ever talented Shawnee Smith deserved more screen time.

But for me, I like a little less predictability in my horror movies.

There were times when I felt like giving Kayako a throat lozenge and recommending a good chiropractor (especially when she starting that annoying croaking and doing the Kayako Crawl); And as for the cat-wailing of Toshio? Please… I don’t know about you, but if a ghost boy is wailing like cat in heat the only thing that comes to my mind is neuter cat-boy, give him a tin of tuna or present him with a real cat that’s in heat

If you liked the first two installments of Grudge, then by all means watch this one. If not for anything else, it is worth checking out the further adventures of Cat-Boy and Croaky-Girl.

Synopsis: In Chicago, the boy Jake (Matthew Knight) is interned in a mental institution and his therapist Dr. Sullivan (Shawnee Smith) does not believe that he is haunted by the ghost of the boy Toshio (Shimba Tsuchiya). When Jake is killed in his cell with all his bones broken, Dr. Sullivan decides to investigate further with open-mind. Meanwhile, Lisa (Johanna Braddy), who is the sister of the super Max (Gil McKinney) of Jake’s building, steals the key of apartment 305 to have sex with her boyfriend Andy (Beau Mirchoff). When she realizes that the spot is a crime scene, she immediately returns to her apartment, where she lives with Max and their sister Rose (Jadie Hobson). In the meantime, the Japanese Naoko (Emi Ikehata) decides to travel from Tokyo to Chicago to stop the curse of her sister Kayako (Aiko Horiuchi) . She meets Lisa and tells that she needs hers and Rose’s help her to stop the fiend of her sister, but Lisa does not accept the offer. When Max is possessed by the evil spirit of Daisuke (Takatsuma Mukai), Lisa visits Naoko but it may be too late to stop the curse.

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Luke Goss stars as David Wyndham in "Annihilation Earth." Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel

WITH the world on the brink of both economic and ecological disaster, a brilliant physicist, David Wyndham (Luke Goss, Tekken, Hellboy II), must discern whether the destruction of a cutting-edge super collider facility was the work of terrorists or his own miscalculation. Under intense pressure from a U.N. diplomat (Marina Sirtis – Star Trek: The Next Generation), David leads a team of scientists into the radioactive wasteland once known as France, and soon begins to suspect that he’s the unwitting pawn in an international plot to reshape the political landscape of the globe. The real danger, however, now lies in the heart of the energy-producing super collider network itself. Unsure of who he can trust, even suspecting his own best friend and partner, Raja (Colin Salmon, Resident Evil), of conspiring against him, David must race against time to solve the mystery and stop the expanding Higgs boson field from not only destabilizing the planet, but tearing apart the very fabric of space and time. Annihilation Earth airs Saturday, December 12th @ 9:00 p.m. on The Syfy Channel. 

Dr. Wyndham and his team try to unravel an international mystery that is becoming murkier and murkier. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel

As noted above, all photos copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Michael Dorn (born December 9, 1952) is an American actor known for his role as the Klingon Worf in multiple Star Trek shows and movies.

Owns and operates an old Air Force T-33 trainer jet, one of the first jet aircraft in the US inventory; it’s often referred to as his “starship.”

Is an accomplished pilot and the owner of several aircraft. He has flown with the Blue Angels and the USAF Precision Flight team.

Provides the voice of the Captain on the icebox.com series, “Starship Regulars”.

Owns and flies an old F-86 Sabre jet that he acquired from the South African Air Force. He flies out of Van Nuys Airport in Van Nuys, CA

Has appeared on-screen in more Star Trek episodes & movies as the same character, than anyone. (“Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993) Seasons 4-7, Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), & Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)).

Along with Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Marina Sirtis, Colm Meaney and Jeffrey Combs, he is one of only six actors to appear in the finales of two different “Star Trek” series. (“Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993))

Has stated that his favorite episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) is “The Drumhead”.

Along with Armin Shimerman, he is one of only two actors to appear in eleven different seasons of “Star Trek” (“Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) Seasons One through Seven and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993) Seasons Four through Seven.)

Played the same character, Worf, on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993) for twelve consecutive years from 1987 to 1999. The only other actor to do this is Colm Meaney.

He currently serves as a member of the Air Force Aviation Heritage Foundation.

Has appeared with Rene Auberjonois in five different productions: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), “Aladdin” (1994), “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993), “The Savage Dragon” (1996) and “Captain Simian & The Space Monkeys” (1996).

Previously appeared with four of his future “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993) co-stars on “Star Trek” before joining the cast of that series. He appeared with Colm Meaney in many episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), Armin Shimerman in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) episodes “Haven”, “The Last Outpost”, “Peak Performance” and “Firstborn”, Rene Auberjonois in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) and Alexander Siddig in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) episode “Birthright Part I” (although he and Siddig did not share any scenes).

Made a grand total of 282 “Star Trek” appearances. He appeared in 176 of the 178 episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), 101 of the 176 episodes of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993) Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). He also directed the “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993) episodes “In the Cards”, “Inquisition” and “When it Rains…” and the “Enterprise” (2001) episode “Two Days and Two Nights”.

Voice grew deeper, as a result of inflecting a bass tone for his Lt. Cmndr. Worf character.

Developed a mild skin condition for his years of wearing his “Next Generation” make up, for which the departments use a different type for alien effects.

The Klingon proverb his Worf character is fond of:”It is a good day to die!” has been included in the StarCraft computer game dialog when the flying Corsair unit has completed production.

Played a lot of cops in his early career, and got tired of it very quickly.

Once lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s.

At a science fiction convention, he told the audience that he thinks of Worf as Hamlet.

The part of Worf was a last minute decision and had no written character as such. Dorn was told to ‘create his own’ character and was given the history, being rescued by humans etc. The rest is down to him.

Ehm yeah… This was pretty much a failure of a pilot. One of the most terrible pilots I have ever seen in my career of watching TV series. Almost nothing worked here. The story was crap and unrealistic, the characters are more than boring, the actors are miscast and type cast, the dialogs are cheesy and partly unsustainable, the production itself was really bad.
But let’s start from the beginning: It seems like an interesting idea to tell stories about organ donation from three different views: the person, who dies and gives his organs; the person, whose life is in danger and needs new organs and the doctors, who transplant the organs. After this pilot I can pretty much say: Nee, this idea doesn’t work. So, I wouldn’t have a problem with CBS killing the series immediately, because this was real shit.
It begins with the hospital itself – full of gadgets, computers, window screens and other stuff. Sometimes I was thinking the series is set in the future. Seriously: Windows, who transform into monitors with touchscreen with fancy sounds, replacing simple computer monitors? This reminded me of the computer gadgets from NCIS: Los Angeles and this was already too funny to find it serious. I was not only rolling with my eyes, I was thinking about canceling the pilot during this scene and go to bed. And I don’t have that feeling very often, when I am watching TV shows. Not to mention all the screens with the names and pictures of the patients in it – I mean, isn’t there an oath to secrecy? When somebody is walking by, sees the scan of the patient with his or her name under it… completely unrealistic.
There we are, the unrealistic part. The story about the heart transplant alone was utter crap and totally shit. It begins with the experiences of Teri Dawson (Hillary Tuck) in one day: pregnant in the 28th week, crashing in the ER, the doctors find a heart disease, she needs a new heart, she gets it THE SAME DAY (that alone is a reason to fire the writers – hello?!? Did you think about the story, before you wrote it?), the docs have to do a C-section and everything is fine at the end of the day. Ehm, yeah… Complete crap. And not only the birth (28 weeks of pregnancy and the baby looks and behaves like it went out of the mother after 45 weeks; and it screams like a complete healthy baby, though it should be in an incubator, because the baby is STILL A PREEMIE!!!).
The other side of the transplant story (the donor part) was crap as well: Not only was the story completely useless and a waste of my precious time (I could have watched the sixth season finale of Entourage instead), but building in a twist, just to bring some more difficulties into the story? Every second, after the daughter (Janina Gavankar) entered the story (by the way, nice to see Marina Sirtis outside of her Star Trek costume for once in a while; she didn’t change a bit), was full of cliches and badly written.
The only interesting story was with Miranda Foster (Katherine Moennig) and the kid – the rest was pretty much… well, bad.
Some words to the characters: With the exception of Katherine Moennig (she should have stayed with the shorter hair, now she looks so “mainstream” – by the way: What is she doing in a network series? Hopefully she finds a better job after this one.) everybody was uninteresting. No conflicts, no relationships, their interaction didn’t suit the story. Dr. Andy Yablonski (Alex O’Loughlin) … Is he some kind of a boss in the hospital or why does everybody look up at him? No answers on his status, except he obviously is the best doctor in the hospital. Dr. David Lee (Daniel Henney) … Useless character, he didn’t seem like a regular. Ryan (Christopher J. Hanke), the typical new character (Three Rivers is, like, the 100th new series this fall who has a new-starting character in their pilot story) and of course is he doing some mistakes, but in the end he is the hero (well, at least  somehow…).

Some words to the production of the series: How they informed the audience, in which story the episode currently is (with showing the city’s name), was ugly. Why not just show the city’s name simply and small in the lower part of the picture, why placing a blur slip through the whole picture and placing the city’s name in there? And what was the little scene in the third minute with the “William H. Foster Transplant Wing”? Is it necessary to know that William Foster is/was the father of Miranda? Why do I have to know the name of a hospital’s wing at all?
Quick finish, before I will start to forget that I ever watched this crap: Seriously one of the most terrible pilots I watched in the last couple of years. Bad writing in all sorts of ways (story, characters); bad production in all sorts of ways (setting, score); typical type casting and the question what Katherine Moennig brought to this series; and so much cheesiness, I am wondering how did I survive watching this… I seriously hope CBS lands a flop with this and will end Three Rivers as quick as possible.
1,5 out of 10 points.

The film, a psychological political thriller tells the story of a British Prime Minister who gives up the position of an elite special forces (SAS) unit in Afghanistan to ensure a UK £80 billion arms deal goes through – thus assuring his re-election. All soldiers in the SAS unit are thought to have died, until 2 months later, when one of them (a female Captain) is found by Italian special forces and returns to the UK to investigate matters.

Jonathan Frakes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jonathan Scott Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor, author and director, best known for his portrayal of Commander William T. Riker in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Moving on to directing in recent years, Frakes directed and also starred in Star Trek: First Contact as well as Star Trek: Insurrection, which earned him the nickname Two-Takes Frakes for his speed.

He is also the author of a book called The Abductors: Conspiracy.

For a time in the 1970s, Frakes worked for Marvel Comics, appearing at conventions in costume as Captain America.

Frakes moved to New York City and became a member of “The Impossible Ragtime Theater”. In that company, Frakes did his first off-Broadway acting in Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape. His first Broadway appearance was in Shenandoah. At the same time, he landed a role in the NBC soap opera The Doctors. When his character was dismissed from the soap, Frakes moved to Los Angeles, California and played guest spots in many of the top television shows of the 1970s and 1980s, including The Waltons, The Dukes of Hazzard, Matlock, and Steven Bochco’s Hill Street Blues. He played the part of Charles Lindbergh in a 1983 episode of Voyagers! titled “An Arrow Pointing East”. In 1983, he had a role in the short-lived NBC prime time soap opera Bare Essence (which also starred his future wife Genie Francis). He also had recurring roles in Falcon Crest and North & South before signing for the role of Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Jonathan & Genie

He has done animation voice acting, most notably voicing the recurring role of David Xanatos in the animated series Gargoyles, and he provided the voice of his own head in a jar in the Futurama episode “Where No Fan Has Gone Before”. He had a small, uncredited role in the 1994 movie Camp Nowhere. He also reprised his role of Riker for a Next Generation cutaway on an episode of Family Guy that also featured his co-stars Patrick Stewart and Michael Dorn as their respective roles of Picard and Worf.

Frakes is one of only two Star Trek regulars to appear on four different Star Trek series (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise). (The only other regular to match or exceed that number is Majel Barrett-Roddenberry who appeared in all six television series.) He has also directed episodes in three of them (TNG, DS9 and VOY) and was a popular and innovative director on the Star Trek set, often finding completely new ways to shoot the show’s familiar sets. His directing career has included the films Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. Additionally, Frakes was an executive producer for the WB show Roswell, directed several episodes and guest-starred in three episodes. His relationship with Star Trek is made light of in the episode “Secrets and Lies”, in which the alien character Max ironically auditions for a guest role as an alien for Star Trek: Enterprise.

Outside of acting, Frakes appeared on the Phish album Hoist, playing trombone on the track titled “Riker’s Mailbox”. Frakes would occasionally perform on the trombone during his tenure as Commander Riker, drawing on his college marching band experience.

Frakes hosted the television series Paranormal Borderline, which dealt with the paranormal and mysterious happenings and creatures. In one episode Frakes presented an interview of reporter Yolanda Gaskins with veteran astronaut Gordon Cooper, where they discussed the possibility of aliens having visited the Earth in the past.  Overall, the show was criticized and pulled off the air after it was found out that footage showing a yeti from the Himalayas was purposely faked by the show and its producers-Fox television. The “Snowwalker” footage, as it is known, purportedly shows a yeti as it is crossing through a valley in the Himalayas, walking in front of a Belgian couple who are traversing the area on skis. The network finally admitted the hoax, and Frakes distanced himself from the show. Similarly, he is also popular in hosting the hit TV series Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction which also dealt in the paranormal world. Frakes would allude to stories based on true events or fictional stories and only reveal the truth at the ending of each episode.

Frakes also appeared in Lois & Clark in the episode “Don’t Tug on Superman’s Cape” as Tim Lake, a rich collector who tries to add Superman to his and his wife Amber’s collection.

Frakes is also currently narrating the History Channel television show “That’s Impossible” which is on tuesdays at 10-11 eastern time.

Frakes has had a relationship with the production of TNT’s Leverage as a guest director. Jonathan Frakes is listed as the primary director in some episodes of both season 1 and season 2. It is unclear but likely that he will be directing episodes of Leverage regularly in the future, as Voyager Alumni Jeri Ryan is scheduled to have a recurring role on the show.

Jonathan works with The Workshops, The Waterfall Arts Center and The Saltwater Film Society, all located in Maine, where he teaches classes on film direction. He co-owns a home furnishings store with his wife in Belfast, Maine called The Cherished Home. Frakes is one of the best known tall actors at 6 ft 4 in (193 cm).

Trivia:

Daughter, Elizabeth Francis, born. [30 May 1997]

Marched trombone in Blue Band at Penn State University.

Son, Jameson Ivor, born 20 August 1994.

Educated at Penn State University and Harvard University.

Nickname: “Two-Takes Frakes,” for his efficient filming style on the set of Star Trek: First Contact (1996).

Has a cow-shaped mailbox, and retrieving the mail involves inserting one’s hand into the cow’s hindquarters. Frakes recorded trombone tracks for Phish’s “Hoist” album. Unforunately, his horn parts didn’t come out all that well – certainly not as well as the horn parts recorded by the Tower of Power horn section. As sort of a consolation prize, a brief interlude on the album is called Riker’s Mailbox.

Is a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.

Ellen J. Hornstein is his personal assistant/story editor for his production company, Goepp Circle Productions.

Shares a birthday with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.

Son-in-law of actor Ivor Francis.

He and Leonard Nimoy have both directed two Star Trek movies. In both cases, one of the films was a time travel story. In addition, both he and Nimoy were best known as the first officer of the USS Enterprise from their respective Star Trek series/movies.

In some of the first season episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), his character, 1st officer William Riker, was called “Bill”. In the seasons that followed, he was generally referred to as either Will or “Number One”.

His trademark beard was acquired during the filming of “North and South, Book II” (1986). It was patterned after a style popular during the American Civil War. He liked it so much, he continued to wear it after he returned to “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) for its second season.

Has appeared in episodes of four different series with Marina Sirtis: “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), “Gargoyles” (1994), “Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles” (1996) and “Enterprise” (2001).

Is the only ‘Star Trek’ regular to appear in four different ‘Star Trek’ series: “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993), “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995) and “Enterprise” (2001). As well as narrate the 1996 “Star Trek: TNG” audio-book “Crossover”, featuring Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Captain Scott (James Doohan), and Admiral McCoy (DeForest Kelley).

Along with Marina Sirtis, Armin Shimerman, John de Lancie, Michael Ansara and Richard Poe, he is one of six actors to play the same character on three different ‘Star Trek’ series. He played Commander William T. Riker in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995) and “Enterprise” (2001). He also played the transporter double of this character, Lieutenant W. Thomas Riker, in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993).

Along with Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, Colm Meaney and Jeffrey Combs, he is one of only six actors to appear in the finales of two different “Star Trek” series (“Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) and “Enterprise” (2001)).

Has appeared with Kate Mulgrew in four different productions: Camp Nowhere (1994), “Gargoyles” (1994), “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).

Godmother of his son Jameson is Elizabeth Berman (wife of Rick Berman-Star Trek producer/writer/creator)

Is the only actor who has appeared on “Star Trek” to share scenes with regulars from all five series (“Star Trek” (1966), “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993), “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995) and “Enterprise” (2001)): James Doohan in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) episode “Relics”, the entire cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) in every episode of the series, Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Terry Farrell and Colm Meaney in the “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993) episode “Defiant”, Armin Shimerman in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) episodes “Haven”, “The Last Outpost” and “Firstborn”, Kate Mulgrew and Tim Russ in the “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995) episode “Death Wish” and the entire cast of “Enterprise” (2001) in the series finale “These Are the Voyages…”.

Along with Tim Russ, he is one of only two actors who have appeared in “Star Trek” to share scenes with four of the five captains: Patrick Stewart in every episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), Avery Brooks in the “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993) episode “Defiant”, Kate Mulgrew in the “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995) episode “Death Wish” and Scott Bakula in the “Enterprise” (2001) finale “These Are the Voyages…”.

He has played the same character, Commander William T. Riker, in four different series: “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995), “Enterprise” (2001) and “Family Guy” (1999).

When preparing for his audition for the role of Commander William T. Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation, he had to watch videotapes from the original episodes because he knew nothing about the original Star Trek series.

Was interviewed and cast for Cdr. Riker personally by Gene Roddenberry. He told Frakes that he saw a certain, authoritative “glint” in his eye for that part which reminded him of his self, years ago, while in the LAPD and Air Force.

Shares first and last name with mid-20th Century aviator and stunt man Jonathan Frakes.

Along with Marc Alaimo, Rosalind Chao, Jeffrey Combs, John de Lancie, Michael Dorn and Tim Russ, he is one of only seven actors to appear in ten different seasons of “Star Trek”: “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) Seasons One through Seven, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993) Season Three, “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995) Season Two and “Enterprise” (2001) Season Four.

Has written the sci-fi-book “The Abductors: Conspiracy” along with Dean Wesley Smith.

Calls Alfre Woodard his “godmother”. The two became friends as young actors in the 1970’s.

Gene Roddenberry

 

 

Eugene Wesley “Gene” Roddenberry (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the creator of Star Trek, an American sci-fi series known for its influence on popular culture.

Roddenberry was sometimes referred to as the “Great Bird of the Galaxy” in reference to his founding role in Star Trek.   He was one of the first people to have his ashes “buried” in space.

Roddenberry developed his idea for Star Trek in 1964 when he thought of combining Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. Star Trek was picked up by Desilu Studios when Roddenberry sold the premise as a “Wagon Train to the Stars.” The original $500,000 pilot received only minor support from NBC and its production went over budget, but the network commissioned an unprecedented second pilot. The series, a Norway Corporation production, premiered on September 8, 1966, and ran for three seasons. Although it was canceled due to low ratings, the series gained wide popularity in syndication. In the third and final season of Star Trek, Roddenberry offered to demote himself to the position of line producer in a final attempt to rescue the show by giving it a desired time slot. He resigned when this was not approved and accepted a staff producer position with MGM.

Beginning in 1975, the go-ahead was given by Paramount for Roddenberry to develop a new Star Trek television series, with many of the original cast to be included. It was originally called Phase II. This series would be the anchor show of a new network (the ancestor of UPN, which later became part of The CW Television Network), but plans by Paramount for this network were scrapped and the project was reworked into a feature film. The result, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, received a lukewarm critical response, but it performed well at the box office and saved Norway Corporation. As a result, several motion pictures and a new television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, were created in the 1980s.

When it came time to produce the obligatory theatrical sequel, Roddenberry’s story submission of a time-traveling Enterprise crew involved in the John F. Kennedy assassination was rejected. He was removed from direct involvement—effectively hobbling the power of Norway Corporation—and replaced by Harve Bennett.  He continued, however, as executive consultant for the next four films: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. As consultant, Roddenberry was allowed to view and comment on all scripts and dailies emanating from the production, but the creative team was free to disregard Roddenberry’s advice.

Roddenberry was deeply involved with creating and producing Star Trek: The Next Generation, although he only had full control over the show’s first season. The WGA strike of 1988 prevented him from taking an active role in production of the second season, and forced him to hand control of the series to producer Maurice Hurley. While Roddenberry was free to resume work on the third season, his health was in serious decline, and over the course of the season, he gradually ceded control to Rick Berman and Michael Piller. Star Trek also spawned the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the last film with the cast from the original Star Trek series, was dedicated to Roddenberry; he reportedly viewed an early version of the film a few days before his death.

In addition to his film and TV work, Roddenberry also wrote the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It was published in 1979 and was the first of hundreds of Star Trek-based novels to be published by the Pocket Books unit of Simon & Schuster, whose parent company also owned Paramount Pictures Corporation. Because Alan Dean Foster wrote the original treatment of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture film, there was a rumor that Foster was the ghostwriter of the novel. This has been debunked by Foster on his personal website. (Foster, however, ghostwrote the novelization of George Lucas’s Star Wars.) Roddenberry talked of writing a second Trek novel based on his rejected 1975 script of the JFK assassination plot, but he died before he was able to do so.

Trivia:

During WWII he had a friend named Kim Noonien Singh; after the war Kim disappeared, and Gene used his name for some characters in the Star Trek series (Khan Noonien Singh from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Noonien Soong from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987)) in hopes that Kim might recognize his name and contact him.

Some of his ashes sent up in a rocket, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Might have died in a house fire when still a toddler along with Bob, Doris, and their mother, but a milkman came along and woke them in time.

In 1943 while a US Army Air Corps pilot, he flew B-17 bombers during World War II, his plane crashed on takeoff due to a mechanical failure, killing two crew members.

On 19 June 1947 he was deadheading (traveling while not on duty) on a Pan Am plane when it crashed in the Syrian desert, killing 7 of 9 crew and 7 of 26 passengers on board. He rescued the Maharani of Pheleton from the wreck. Rescue came in hours, but too late to save most of the luggage, and the victims’ possessions, from local tribesmen and villagers.

During the war he wrote a song lyric “I Wanna Go Home”, which became popular.

His first TV script sale, in 1953, was the episode “Defense Plant Gambling” for the show “Mr. District Attorney” (1954). It was broadcast 2 March 1954. In the science-fiction field, his first was “The Secret Weapon of 117″, broadcast 6 March 1956 on the anthology series “Chevron Hall of Stars”.

He had many lovers and was sometimes overt about it. He and Majel Barrett had been lovers for years when he decided it was time to marry her and asked her to join him — although he happened to be visiting Japan at the time. Gene did not adhere to any particular religion and since they were in Japan they chose to have a Shinto-Buddhist wedding on 6 August 1969. They regarded this as their real wedding, but his divorce was not yet final and they made it legal with a civil ceremony on 29 December 1969.

Majel and Gene Roddenberry

His old pseudonym Robert Wesley was used in the “Star Trek” (1966) episode “The Ultimate Computer” as the name of a character, played by Barry Russo.

Served on the Los Angeles Police Force from 1949 – 1956, badge number 6089. This information from “Star Trek Creator” by David Alexander.

Died within 48 hours of screening Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), the last Trek that revolved around his original characters.

Shared the same birthday as “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) star Jonathan Frakes.

He has a building named in his honor on the Paramount Studio lot.

Father of actress Dawn Roddenberry and Darleen Roddenberry-Bacha who died on 29-Oct-1995 in an auto accident.

Father, with Majel Barrett, of Rod Roddenberry.

While meeting with George Takei about a role on “Star Trek” (1966), Gene accidentally pronounced George’s last name ‘Ta-kei’, which is similar to the word expensive in Japanese “takai” . He remembered the pronouncation by rhyming it with “OK”.

Died on 24 October 1991, exactly ten years after Marina Sirtis’s father.

During his years in the LAPD, he was the spokesman of LAPD Chief W.H. Parker.

Was a close friend of Jack Webb.

Biography in: “American National Biography”. Supplement 1, pp. 521-522. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

One of my favorite internet cartoons is Garfield Minus Garfield, which you had to have heard of by now. If you somehow havent’, and if the title doesn’t explain itself, then…

“Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quite American suburb.” That’s how the site describes him, and it’s a brilliant study, or alternate take on a beloved classic.

I’m not against the idea of remixes or mash ups or anything like that in theory. Sometimes they’re good. Sometimes they’re brilliant. Sometimes they’re smelly fountains of crap. But I feel that sometimes – and the keyword here is obviously sometimes – they can be an amazingly interesting new form of exploring art. A new art of their own.

Recently I discovered the works of two guys named Jan Van den Hemel and Andrew Hussie who’ve done some work re-editing and creating something new out of old episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. By basically taking bits of pieces from throughout the show and remixing them into something new, they’ve created a kind of hilarious and filthy new thing. It’s the Sealab 2021 or The Grey Album treatment and it’s… just perfect. The episodes are short, most just over a minute but none longer than four minutes, and there’s about 25 or so of them now. If you watch them all, there’s kind of a contuing story, when the edit series cares about it, but usually, it doesn’t. Here’s just a few of my favorites to brighten your day, starting with episode 9, “A Fistful Of Explosions.”

And then episode 10, “It’s Not Lupus.”

And episode 12, “Bridge Buffoonery.”

And last, but not least, of what I’d like to share with you, episode 15, “That Jean-Luc Picard.” I hope you enjoy and if you need more of a chuckle, I’d check the edits’ creator’s websites or their youtube page for more of the videos.

Click here for season one.
Space – the final frontier. These are the voyages of the star ship Enterprise. It’s continuing mission: to explore strange, new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilization; to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Episode 01: The Child
Hm, for a season opener lame, but for a simple, alone standing episode it was good in some kind. I didn’t find it very believable that Deanna (Marina Sirtis) was so lovely to her son, despite she had the knowledge, that something bad can happen. It seems like she was brainwashed by her son. But the scene where she decided to have the baby and the interactions with Riker (Jonathan Frakes) were strong. On the other hand the sub story with the viruses was dumb. It wasn’t interesting, it wasn’t thrilling, it was nothing. Just the jokes at the end due to Wesley’s (Wil Wheaton) staying on the ship were hilarious (“And who will tuck him in at night?”). 6,5/10

Episode 02: Where Silence Has Lease
I don’t know… an Episode without a real plot, but with an interesting setup. Didn’t we have an alien who wants to understand human life in the last episode? Now another alien with the same intention? That was really boring. Really bad (special effects) was the face in the universe, in front of the Enterprise. I was about to laugh.
And then Worf (Michael Dorn): He behaves like a hungry dog, ready to fight and kill – where are his manners? Can’t he control himself? For one season we have the Klingon who stands there, does what the captain says and otherwise nothing. Now he wants to hit Riker in an exercise? Oh, come on, what characteristics are that? Same with Pulaski (Diana Muldaur): She is familiar with working with computers, but she has difficulties to see Data (Brent Spiner) as a living thing? What the hell??? And then the finale: WTF was that? Seriously, this was a load of shit. It was absurd. Well, at least a red shirt died. 3/10

Episode 03: Elementary, Dear Data
Another holodeck episode and i quite liked it. But it was interesting seeing the computer generating a fictional character which has the ability to learn and grow. And the authors did the mistake to show Moriarty (Daniel Davis) so not dangerous, because he just wasn’t. So, I was missing a real and worthy villain. The final dialog between Moriarty and Picard (Patrick Stewart) was very nice, but Data as Holmes was tedious after a while. 7/10

Episode 04: The Outrageous Okona
A somehow boring, but amusing episode. I liked Billy Campbell’s character (still waiting for the first season of Once & Again) and who did I see in the transporter room……. Teri Hatcher I didn’t expect her to be in the show. Okay, the main story was boring as hell and didn’t give any dangerous moments for the crew, but the conclusion was funny… somehow. The side plot with Data trying to be a comedian was okay, it didn’t blow me away. 6/10

Episode 05: Loud As A Whisper
Naah, boring; wasn’t interesting at all. A peace conference between two races – could be interesting, but wasn’t, because I didn’t see nothing of it. A deaf peace delegate, communicating with a chorus – could be interesting, but why so complicated? And there is so much story behind that concept, but nothing was used. It was just boring. And what is with the end? Even the warriors were not seen anymore after Riva (Howie Seago, he actually is deaf) was sent down.
Blah, just boring. 4/10

Episode 06: The Schizoid Man
Interesting episode. It gives Data another chance to escape the Pinocchio life and the series another episode without a real threat. The beginning is boring, but when the story of Data being “possessed” begins, it becomes more interesting. But there still is the problem of not using everything the story has to offer. And the authors seem to like Data very much; it feels like they use him for the main plot in every fourth episode. It becomes boring :/ 6/10

Episode 07: Unnatural Selection
Another disease for the main plot. Give me more diseases which kills crews of Federation ships, because they all are interesting. NOT. This episode is just plain boring, tells me nothing about the characters, except Doctor Pulaski, who is in the center of all this. But the rest… meh. But I am happy about Chief O’Brien (Colm Meaney) actually speaking in this episode. 3/10

Episode 08: A Matter of Honor
OMG, this was a hell of a funny episode. “If Klingon food is too strong for you, perhaps we could get one of the females to breast-feed you.” – Riker commanding as Captain of a Klingon vessel and then his “Lower your shields. Surrender.” Haha, that was really funny. The officer exchange program was a nice plot to get us Riker closer in a different way; I liked how he acted with the Klingons. Though the story on the Enterprise was boring. 7/10

Episode 09: The Measure of a Man
I don’t know about this episode. It was an interesting story about proving that Data is not just an android. But why Data again? It is the third episode in this season with him in the center. It gets boring. And maybe it would be better to tell such stories in a period of more than one episode. In here it begins and it ends. And I don’t like the Federation officers. They seem so cruel and bossy, and I don’t like such people – source for lame characters. 6/10

Episode 10: The Dauphin
Well well well, what was that…? Wesley’s own little love story – with a little help from his friends. Now I can understand why his character is so much hated by the fans, but actually he story was unintentionally funny. I just could not believe that an alien life form and Wesley, two total different persons, find each other’s love in a matter of minutes – muhaha. At least the episode was not completely crap (I think with this one I will stand against all the other TNG fans, who hate all Wesley episodes), just totally useless. 4/10

Episode 11: Contagion
What? The Romulans can’t fire, when they are cloaked? Didn’t we learn nothing from the sixth movie? Okay, The Undiscovered Land was produced after this episode, so, what the hell with this little plot hole (lol). By the way: I don’t know why the series has such ups and downs. There we have total crap episodes, one episode later we have a good one. This is one of them. Interesting story, interesting conflict (just the Romulan bride was a bit laughable – she seemed so nice, but she wanted to destroy the Enterprise) and the interesting fact that the Enterprise can shut down and function again in a matter of seconds (when my laptop would start so fast…), which was funny.
Finally an episode I liked again. 7,5/10

Episode 12: The Royale
Oh my god, what was that? Completely boring, not a bit of a threat for the crew, not a bit of a conclusion and a story, which had much in it, but used nothing. And I hate, that nobody knows something about the past of the 20th or 21st century. Why don’t they know, that elevators are NOT turbo lifts? To bring humor into the story? Meh, what the hell. And why don’t they know anything about the NASA and its history?
This episode is total bullshit, because it brings absolutely nothing. Obviously we have to blame that to the writers strike. I am waiting for more dumb episodes. 2/10

Episode 13: Time Squared
An interesting episode with an interesting story and a shitty ending. Well, the authors of TNG have the problem to find a proper end for their stories. This is another one with no conclusion in it. I love time travel stories (and I knew from the beginning the shuttle came from the future, so it was not really a shocker, when the crew learned it) ad the first half was really interesting, but the second one just sucked. Such a shame, because maybe this was the interesting episode so far this season – until minute 25 or so. Picard’s actions against himself put the lid on the shitty second half, because I didn’t like his ways. 6,5/10

Episode 14: The Icarus Factor
Well, another boring episode. No danger for the crew, just the arrival of Riker’s father, which wasn’t interesting at all and him being offered a position as captain. It was clear that he will stay on the Enterprise, so nothing was surprising.
The rest was boring, nothing more to say, episode already forgotten. 3/10

Episode 15: Pen Pals
One boring episode after another, though this one was more interesting than the last one. I think, Data’s storyline with the little child on the troubled planet should bring some emotionality into his character and into the actions of Picard, but it didn’t work for me. And Wesley commanding a science team? I don’t know why nobody like his character (he isn’t that bad), but he was boring here. The ending was shitty again, because it went too fast again. 4/10

Episode 16: Q Who
So, this is probably the most important episode so far: the introduction of the Borg, the return of Q (John de Lancie) and the first sign of an on-going story in The Next Generation. But the episode wasn’t really good. There are too much secrets about the Borg and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) being a counselor for Picard on this one was… I don’t know, kind of lame. Guinan knew a lot, but still Picard knows almost nothing about the Borg. Maybe it would be better when nobody knew about them in the first place.
The new ensign looks sexy, while I write this I am watching the next episode and I see her again, so let’s hope she is more often in the story. The Enterprise needs some sexy women. 7,5/10

Episode 17: Samaritan Snare
Hm, I don’t know about this one. Two totally separate storylines (I don’t remember if this was the case in one of the earlier episodes), one boring than the other. I don’t care about Wesley getting into the academy, I don’t care about Picard’s heart failure (or whatever). And the story of the dumb, but strong, but totally dumb aliens was just… boring.
At least we learned something about Picard’s past, other than that you can forget that episode. 4,5/10

Episode 18: Up The Long Ladder
The episode started so great and ended really boring. The farmers with their animals, especially the one guy with his bossy daughter, were really funny and had a lot of potential to bring some real funny moments into the series, but in the second half, some moral filled shit story about cloning had to come. And the conclusion wasn’t better.
So: first half was great, second half was shit (like always), I give 6/10.

Episode 19: Manhunt
Hm, let’s see: Lwaxana (Majel Barrett) back on the ship, in a sexual life stage, wants to “have” Picard. Always a funny storyline, because Deanna’s mother is a source for humorous scenes, and the first half was really good, but the second half not so. Again an episode without any danger for the Enterprise and the crew and that is always boring. So, we have an interesting character in a boring suit – forgettable after a short while. 4,5/10

Episode 20: The Emissary
“You’re not even looking at me.” – “I am familiar with your appearance.” The funniest line in this episode. So, Worf had a relationship once, very interesting and finally a character story for him. The story about the Klingons frozen for one century and thinking they are still at war wasn’t really new to me, but interesting. It would be a great plot, when the authors didn’t use it for just one single episode in just one short scene. Well, at least we saw Worf command for a few minutes.
It was a good episode, which is rare in this season. By the way: Women, who are half Klingon and half human can be really sexy… 7/10

Episode 21: Peak Performance
Yeah, the writers strike is a total pain in the ass. This was another lame episode, this time with an interesting story. A battle simulation (the first one in Federation history? I can’t believe it) and the stupid Ferengi had to stop it in their own ways. By the way: The Ferengi were in the neighborhood coincidentally? Worf could manipulate their computers? Why didn’t he do that more often in the past? And why is Riker always smiling, when Wesley has an idea or did something “good”?
Well, at least the episode was not completely crap. 4,5/10

Episode 22: Shades of Gray
So, what do we learn from this episode? Riker had the hottest women in the galaxy, he is a real charmer, almost a sexist of some sort. And the Trek fans are somehow… wrong. This was the baddest episode in TNG history? Well, in two season, I saw at least one episode, which was more worst. Nevertheless, this episode was just boring. Even the micro infection (or whatever) was boring and the little clip show brought nothing except old pictures. Damn writers strike.
For a season finale absolutely shitty (I am waiting for next season’s cliffhanger), lame story, but not the worst TNG episode ever. Because it actually had a story and the “flashbacks” were not fully random. 3/10

The season average is 5,11 and fell down in compare to the first season. Wouldn’t I be in a middle of a long-year Star Trek marathon (watching them all in chronological order), I would have stopped after this season. But I know it is getting better, so I hope the third season smashes it. I already am watching the third season, so I hope it doesn’t take too much time to get it in here.

Excellent and a dose of Wheaton, too! Watch the full version here.

Lots to talk about, surprisingly.

I’ll start with this Sunday’s episode of Family Guy in which the TNG cast “reunited” and guest starred. I’m skeptical of the term “reunited” as made obvious by my quote usage twice now, since the actual cast members did not meet when they recorded their dialog. Considering this is animation, I’m also hesitant to say “appeared together on screen” but hey — it’s Wikipedia.

The episode itself was okay. I haven’t been the biggest fan of Family Guy since it came back from cancellation. I loved the first three seasons, and the fourth showed promise, but since then I’ve been about as interested in keeping up with it as I have been with The Simpsons. As in not very interested at all.

The episode was mostly about Meg contracting the mumps, putting up with abuse from her family, and finding God. The actual Star Trek plot was less complex, dealing mostly with Stewie spending a day with the TNG cast and getting increasingly annoyed with them. It was all good fun, but I think I expected a bit more. Still, definitely one of the better Family Guy episodes I’ve seen in a while.

You can preview it here.

Also, I came across this new extended TV spot for the Star Trek movie coming out in theaters this May. Exciting times ahead!

I got the third season of TNG on DVD today. I currently have the first, second, and sixth seasons. So I’ll be enjoying that this week.

Download bloco de notas com link do filme

SEM LEGENDAS

Fonte: http://www.piratatuga.net/?p=5663

After reading my post concerning The Top 10 British Baebes, a friend was curious as to exactly where Dawn French would land in my top twenty. That position is Number 12.

Just to complete the top 20:

Number 20: Catherine Tate – absolutely funny on her own and great in Doctor Who.

Number 19: Miriam Margolyes - I understand she is a lesbian, but she is just so cute.

Number 18: Freema Agyeman – I dunno what to say I have some kind of Doctor Who fetish.

Number 17: Marina Sirtis – Star Trek the Next Generation’s Counselor Troi

Number 16: Olivia D’Abo – when she was on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, I wanted to be one of her victims.

Number 15 & Number 14: Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine – they are a tie. They win just because they are willing to grab one another’s and other women’s breasts. I need their job!

Number 13: Kate Beckinsale – She looks almost as hot in a cat suit as Rachel Elnaugh, but doing Click with Adam Sandler took her down a few notches for me.

Number 12: Dawn French – probably the most comfortable person in their skin that I have ever seen. She is absolutely hilarious and her story on Graham Norton about meeting the Queen made me laugh for about half an hour.

Number 11: Samantha Morton – She was great in Jane Eyre and regal in Elizabeth: the Golden Age. She is just a classical beauty.

So, there it is, the rest of the twenty. For you American perverts, I know who Emma Watson is and she’s not the only british actress out there. while she is not too young to make my list, she just isn’t sexy.  She doesn’t exude the confidence and the allure the other women on my list do.

And, now to other business.

Rachel Elnaugh, the Hottie formerly of the Dragon’s Den caught my Top 10 British Baebes post. I’ve never before used the word MILF to describe a celebrity and had them contact me.  To be honest, until I saw her blog, I thought it was one of my friends playing a joke on me.

Rachel is truly so much more than the hot picture I linked to. She is a very intelligent and hard working lady. Not only does she impress me because of the risks she took in creating a successful business, she is also an accomplished writer and speaker (both things I wish I could do better). She also takes the time to interact with those of us who follow her blog. That also impresses me a great deal.

However, being hot is not a bad thing either.

I want to thank her for noticing my blog entry. It was great to have her recognize my little cyber contribution.

So, I finished the first season of the second Star Trek series. After I watched the first season of the original series, some episodes of the second season and the first six movies I decided to start watching The Next Generation. Why? Because I stopped during the second season of TOS and never went back. And for my year in Canada I only took the whole TNG series with me. But I will watch the rest of TOS eventually sometimes next year.
Hopefully.
Now, here my very little recap of the first season. Every episode short commented with points from 1 (very bad) to 10 (genius episode). I will do that for the other six seasons, too (and maybe for other series soon, who knows).
The first season ran on syndicated networks between September 26, 1987 and May 14, 1988.

Episode 01/02: Encounter at Farpoint Well, I have to say the pilot was boring as hell. Nothing much happened and like the opener of TOS I was right into the whole story. Maybe it would be better to start like the first movie – but we will never find out. The first encounter with Q was kind of trivial; it didn’t interest me that much. Maybe it would be better, if the two parter was only one episode.
Oh yeah… Why the appearance of McCoy? To have at least one remnant from TOS? 5/10

Episode 03: The Naked Now I remember the “prequel” from TOS. Back then it was a boring episode. And now this was boring, too. The crew behaved like drunk people, and Wesley as Captain? I laughed my ass off, that was some funny shit (negatively speaking). By the way, this episode was another remnant from TOS; maybe the authors couldn’t find their own stories :/ 5,5/10

Episode 04: Code of Honor Boring planet of the week episode with a guest actor who reminded me of one of the season enemies of 24.
My favorite quote: Riker: I’ll see that (Wesley) leaves immediately.
Picard: No.
Riker: No?
Picard: Why don’t you sit down at Ops next to Lt. LaForge?
Wesley: Sir?
Geordi: Sir?
Picard: Is the whole ship deaf? Sit down over there, young man. 6/10

Episode 05: The Last Outpost Yeah… I don’t know. The Ferengis are crappy and annoying aliens, but it had some thrilling moments. The end was lame. 6,5/10

Episode 06: Where No One Has Gone Before Finally a good episode. I liked the Traveler character, but I didn’t like that the story was moving that fast. This would be excellent for a two parter. 8/10

Episode 07: Lonely Among Us What a crappy story with an even crappier ending. What was this? How was it possible that Picard was still living? And what is it with the death of the peace delegate? Picard, Riker and Troi are laughing about it? But a few moments were good. 3,5/10

Episode 08: Justice I heard this was one of the worst episodes. I did find it very amusing… somehow. Okay, the whole Prime Directive thing was confusing for me, but the planet itself? Very nice – looooove all over the place. Basically you can have sex on the sidewalk, this is absolutely… ROFL.
Am I a real Trekkie, when I am giving this episode 7/10? :|

Episode 09: The Battle The Ferengis again. Down with these crappy and annoying aliens. Picard’s past was nice, but the manipulating device reminded me of old trash stories from The Adventures of Lois and Clark.
So, there are no headaches anymore? Great future 6/10

Episode 10: Hide and Q The next episode with Q. So he wants to get Riker to join the Q. Yeah, that is the episode i wanted to see (not). But it was funny while it lasted.
And what did I read? Riker maybe still has the power of the Q? The fans are really thinking about that stuff. It is like Lost 6,5/10

Episode 11: Haven I don’t remember much of the episode. Just Deanna, a Calvin Kline model and some planned wedding. It had to be boring. I will give it 4/10

Episode 12: The Big Goodbye So, that is the first holodeck episode. Interesting story, but bad characteristics from the crew. The action of Picard and Beverly was really dumb. They have to follow the rules of that time… No wonder a redshird died. 7/10

Episode 13: Datalore The episode was interesting, but the intro was running and running and running and running and running… It was clear all the time that Lore was a bad android, that he would do something. An episode without any thrill, but still good. Somehow.
btw: I had to watch that episode twice. I fell asleep during the first run. 6,5/10

Episode 14: Angel One Another planet of the week episode. I found it very amusing. A planet ruled by women? Holy shit, this can’t be true. One of the actresses (I don’t know her name) strongly reminded me of Mira Furlan. The semblance was intriguing. 6,5/10

Episode 15: 11001001 The best episode so far. But still with a problem: Why do the authors have to write an actual threat every time, even if it isn’t a threat for the crew? The whole Bynars thing was dissolved in a crappy way. And the girl in the holodeck was ugly. How can Riker find her hot? 8,5/10

Episode 16: Too Short a Season I didn’t like that admiral. And the story was crappy, too. The acting was too theatrical and the ending too pointless. I couldn’t like this episode, but somehow it had some good moments. 4,5/10

Episode 17: When the Bough Breaks Another planet of the week with nice habitants, who kidnap children. Hm, it wasn’t boring, but it wasn’t good either. 5,5/10

Episode 18: Home Soil I don’t know about that either. It has a great story, a great alien, but the episode wasn’t that great. The guest characters were written too crappy and the alien too nice at the end. Could somebody do a little bit damage on the ship? 6,5/10

Episode 19: Coming of Age Why does everybody hate the character of Wesley? I found his story very charming. The on ship story was great, too. And I knew this would be a prelude to episode 25. Actually a good episode. 7,5/10

Episode 20: Heart of Glory Worf’s first story: boring. I don’t like the Klingons whysoever, so I really didn’t care much about the story. But the escape of Worf’s two buddies was pretty lame. And how did they manage to bring a whole weapon into the brig? What is up with the Enterprise’s security? 5,5/10

Episode 21: The Arsenal of Freedom Interesting episode with an interesting new weapon. And finally some serious danger for the crew. And LaForge did well as commanding officer. So shall it be.
My favorite quote: Deanna: What happened to all the people?
Worf: War?
Data: Disease?
Geordi: A dissatisfied customer? 8/10

Episode 22: Symbiosis Baah, that was a shitty episode. With its drug related theme it reminded me of one of those 7th Heaven “upholder of moral standard” episodes. OMG, gruesome. 2/10

Episode 23: Skin of Evil I had some memories about that episode. Just another planet of the week, but I had some images about it the whole years after I watched that probably as a kid on television. This was real nostalgia. Oh, and a good episode, too. And finally Tasha is dead, she was a really boring character. 6,5/10

Episode 24: We’ll Always Have Paris I love that “new dimension” stuff, but that was crap. That was nothing. The time loop story was not logical enough to amuse me and I didn’t understand Data’s conflict in the finale: Why was the middle one in the right time, when we always saw the first one? And the romance could be more cut. 4,5/10

Episode 25: Conspiracy It was a good episode, but I was hoping for more. So it was just an unknown alien (how boring). But the ending was really nice. And I read, no other Star Trek episode or series concluded that theme. Interesting. 8/10

Episode 26: The Neutral Zone WTF? People from the 20th century, are you frakking serious? This story was just awful and terrible. And the conflict with the Romulans… Joar, what conflict? They just said: “We are back.” Great, what a gimmick. This wasn’t seriously the season finale?
It was bad. 3/10

Season average is 5,88. I will start the second season next month. First I have to finish some other seasons of other TV shows. See you then.