demillo@uwmacc.UUCP (Rob DeMillo) (11/08/85)
If you remember, a few monthes ago I posted requests
for information concerning the animated version
of Star Trek. (Where can I get LEGAL copies, etc.)
Well, we have an answer of sorts: for those of you with
access to Nickelodean: Star Trek Animateds will begin
on Nick, Saturdays at 5:30 CDT! They begin showing
on November 9th, with, I believe, "One Of Our Planets Is Missing."
Star Trek Animated are - in my humble opinion - fine pieces
of work, sometimes surpassing the Star Trek live action
series. Contributing authors to various episodes include
such writers as Theodore Sturgeon, Larry Niven, David Gerrold
and Harlan Ellison. (Walter Koenig - Mr Chekov - even tries
his hand at writing an episode, but I don't remember it being
very good.)
At any rate, I thought I would keep you all posted, and
thank each of you who answered my requests....
--
--- Rob DeMillo
Madison Academic Computer Center
...seismo!uwvax!uwmacc!demillo
"...I suppose you think the concept of a
robot with an artificial leg is amusing?"
-- Marvin, the Paranoid Android
tom@utcsri.UUCP (Tom Nadas) (11/10/85)
Your cup runneth over. Niven (The Slaver Wepaon << good) and Gerrold
(More Tribbles, More Troubles << awful; Bem << brilliant) both did
animated Star Trek episodes. But not Sturgeon or Ellison. Koenig's
Infinite Vulcan is actually a good story, filling in some of the
history of the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s, but suffers from a
problem that plagued the animated series as a whole: they threw in
a 20-meter-tall Mr. Spock for no better justification that the
fact that, because the show is animated, it would be fun to draw
him that way.
The series suffers from a second major problem: retreads. Far too
many episodes are just mediocre sequels or inferior rehashings of
live episodes. The aforementioned Tribbles is perhaps the worst
offender, but there's an awful sequel to Shore Leave, a version of
"Who Mourns for Adonais" with an American Indian God, a version of
"Menagerie" with elephant-like captors, and yet another story
about a cloud creature, not to mention another Harry Mudd story.
Some examples of the first problem occur to me: the crew shrinks
(Terratin incidnet), the crew gets old (Loreli Signal), the crew
turns blue (Albatross), Kirk and Spock turn into Creatures from
the Black Lagoon (The Ambergris Element) ...
Oh, and more: the crew ages backwards, the gravity goes off ...
anything that would be fun to draw, regardless of whether it made
any sense at all.
There were some good episodes: Yesteryear, Slaver Weapon, Bem,
I liked Albatross, too ...
One more retread: Ted Baxter beams aboard pretending to be an
octopus version of the incredible salt vampire ...
Enough!
RJS in Toronto
c/o
--
Tom Nadas
UUCP: {decvax,linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,allegra,utzoo}!utcsri!tom
CSNET: tom@torontodemillo@uwmacc.UUCP (Rob DeMillo) (11/18/85)
> > Your cup runneth over. Niven (The Slaver Wepaon << good) and Gerrold > (More Tribbles, More Troubles << awful; Bem << brilliant) both did > animated Star Trek episodes. But not Sturgeon or Ellison. Oops...you is right. My apologies... > The series suffers from a second major problem: retreads. Far too > many episodes are just mediocre sequels or inferior rehashings of > live episodes. The aforementioned Tribbles is perhaps the worst > offender, but there's an awful sequel to Shore Leave, a version of > "Who Mourns for Adonais" with an American Indian God, a version of > "Menagerie" with elephant-like captors, and yet another story > about a cloud creature, not to mention another Harry Mudd story. Hmm...well...I'm not sure, More Tribbles, More Troubles is a sequel, but I don't know if I'd call it a retread. (The sequel to Shore Leave I liked quite a bit...) The rest is quite true... > > Some examples of the first problem occur to me: the crew shrinks > (Terratin incidnet), the crew gets old (Loreli Signal), the crew > turns blue (Albatross), Kirk and Spock turn into Creatures from > the Black Lagoon (The Ambergris Element) ... > > Oh, and more: the crew ages backwards, the gravity goes off ... > anything that would be fun to draw, regardless of whether it made > any sense at all. > Well, I would consider this a plus, and more or less interpret it the opposite way you did. The animation allowed the authors to write about anything at all, and not worry about "budget constraints." (Incidently, I don't remember Albotross...except, of course, from Monty Python...) > There were some good episodes: Yesteryear, Slaver Weapon, Bem, > I liked Albatross, too ... > > Enough! > I agree. Sorry...ST stuff in net.startrek...whoops, my mistake, pardon me, excuse me...etc. > RJS in Toronto > c/o > -- > > Tom Nadas > -- --- Rob DeMillo Madison Academic Computer Center ...seismo!uwvax!uwmacc!demillo "...I suppose you think the concept of a robot with an artificial leg is amusing?" -- Marvin, the Paranoid Android