• The one time I got to see Gene Roddenberry speak, he had brought along a blooper reel, which I think was fairly common to show at Star Trek conventions in the late 1970s, early 1980s?
• The Greatest Trek podcast mentioned that “TK” in the name TK Bellows is clearly an homage to the publishing term: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_come_(publishing)
• The Greatest Trek also felt that the Uhura assistance to Scotty was a nod to her caregiving of him in Star Trek 5 (bringing him dinner while working, going on shore leave together)

I forgot about Gene Roddenberry’s sideburns in the 1970s. Hmm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Roddenberry#/media/File:Gene_Roddenberry_crop.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov#/media/File:Isaac_and_Janet_Asimov.jpg

Anson Mount’s sideburns were a clear homage to Isaac Asimov.

Why didn’t they just put Batel in the medical transporter’s pattern buffer, like M’Benga did with his daughter?

I found it humorous that Clem is also a Lower Decker in his society!

It is the best of a bad bunch. The TOS movies inspired the TNG movies. The TNG movies inspired a lull in the movies (no call for a DS9 or Voyager or Enterprise movie) that had to be filled with a reboot.

My dad watched TOS with me when it first aired, but I was too young to remember it. My first recollection is watching it in syndication. I went on to read my dad’s many books, especially the Star Trek Concordance and the James Blish adaptations.

Thanks, that sent me Googling. “KIM: I’ll try extrapolating the verteron exit vector. No, I can’t get it. There’s a strange phase variance in the radiation stream. We’ll have to wait until the probe exits.” Episode 6 (another wormhole?!) http://www.chakoteya.net/Voyager/106.htm

I’ve since discovered “Banned from Argo” (YouTube, Wikipedia).

I love this! Now you need to do an analysis like this one on Star Trek and the Bechdel-Wallace test!

I realize you’re not trying to predict quality, just personal enjoyability, but I do wonder how it relates to quality.

I actually think it might be slightly more predictive of the quality of a show overall than of individual episodes. But both ST:TOS and ST:TNG have many great captain-centric episodes that I’m not sure if it is predictive of episode quality particularly.

Great suggestion! Everyone remembers the Gorn, but the Metrons are fairly representative of the incredibly advanced aliens typical of TOS (like the Organians, Thasians, or Providers).

I think I’d suggest a planet-of-the-week episode. From TOS, “This Side of Paradise” or “A Taste of Armageddon.” From TNG, maybe “Who Watches the Watchers” or “Up the Long Ladder.”

I hang out at my local game store once a week. I’ve timed the following playlist to fit the commute!

• Status Report
• How Would That Feel
• I’m Ready
• I’m the X
• We are One
• Subspace End Credit Medley