Jan 16, 2009 0
Hobbled Wagon Train to the Stars
We have ample grounds to consider whether the first Star Trek, rather than any of its derivatives, is actually the worst. The original series is a reliable if eccentric workhorse of cultural critique. But it’s also filled with incredible awkwardness: the redshirt phenomenon; the repetitive “The shields are failing!” battle scenes; Shatner’s incessant prettyboy preening; the indiscriminate one-dimensionality of everyone who isn’t Kirk, Spock, or McCoy. One could argue that such unrealistic silliness is just a result of the primitive nature of science-fiction in general and television in particular in the sixties. But most of these awkward characteristics, though looked back on with nostalgia, are forgivable to the extent that they showed future science-fiction TV, including future Star Trek series, what not to do.