As you would imagine for a franchise as old as Star Trek,there
have been many TV specials over the years. Today I wanted to take a
look at some of them, the good and the not so good. Now since these
specials are all basically clip shows, going into great detail on any
one would be a waste. So instead I want to run down a ten of the more
notable specials, some of which I still own on VHS, and just give my
thoughts on them.
I am only talking about specials which aired on American TV.There are plenty of other direct to video releases but I would be here all day if I included them. Also only standalone specials, no tributes that were part of a talk show
or some other series like Entertainment Tonight, Pioneers ofTelevision,
or America Loves…. Because, well, there are a ton of them too!
1.Leonard Nimoy: Star Trek Memories
Fond memories of this one! Leonard Nimoy and a green screen,what
more could you ask for? All kidding aside, this is a fun watch. This
was when Star Trek III was being made so all the focus is on the
original series.And I like that, since at this point the classic
era gets pushed aside by the more new stuff. I think this was
syndicated but did air on TV and from what I read was filmed right here
in my home town of Boston. Yeah some of the stories Nimoy tells in this
have been told to death by now, but at the time this one of the first
times these stories were ever told and that made this special awesome.
It is on YouTube and is definitely worth a watch.
2. The Star Trek Saga-From One Generation to the Next
When TNG was in hiatus in 1988 due to the writers’ strike,this little gem came along to fill the void. Hosted
by Patrick Stewart, this special is truly worth a watch. It has one of
the best interviews with Gene Roddenberry not to mention the other cast
members. TNG was still new so that get a special preview.
The best part is William Shatner plugging how great Star Trek V
wouldbe…ah, who could have known? But this is a great look at Star Trek
before it became the money making machine it later would.
3.Star Trek 25th Anniversary Special
I
wish I could convey how much I loved this. In 1991 I was finally and
officially a Star Trek fan, and this special came along at the perfect
time for me. Hosted by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, this special
does a fantastic job analyzing the different aspects of Trek that made
it endure 25 years. The history of the show, how it inspired scientists,
behind the scenes and so on. Of course it also contained a preview of
Star Trek VI along with special segments on the making of an episode of
TNG. The one segment I never cared for was the focus on real life space
travel and Levar Burton training at Space camp. Um, just because I love Star
Trek doesn’t mean I care at all about being an astronaut. I know some
do but for me that stuff is boring.However that segment aside this is a
fantastic special and I have watched it a million times. It actually
recycles a lot of the interviews, but I didn’t know that at the time and
I can’t bring myself to hate the show for that now.If you can find it,
watch it!!!
5. Journey’s End: The Saga of Star Trek TNG
This was awesome and really got me pumped for the final episode of TNG. Hosted
by Jonathan Frakes, the special take a look back at the series while
also doing a great job of previewing the series finale as well as Star
Trek-Generations (well who knew it would suck then?). There really
isn’t much to say, the special had everything you would expect including
a look at a convention (I’ve been to two) and a nice look at the making
of an episode.This was before the explosion of Trek that would begin in
1994 and is a very nice homage to TNG.
6. Star Trek: A Captain's Log (aka William Shatner's StarTrek Memories)
This was really well done. Hosted
by William Shatner, it’s basically a plug for his Star Trek:Memories
book (which I read and still own). It works because all the cast members
from TOS are here. This aired on CBS (for some reason) and is a lot of
fun. Yeah, the stories are stories we have heard a million times. I’m
not going to lie. The special still makes for a nice love letter to the
fans. The TV special was reedited from a VHS release which I still own
and contained a segment on the movies when it aired on CBS.
7.Star Trek-30 Years and Beyond
Wow,
how times changed from that first special. This was an example of
trying real hard to do something great, and it just feels kind of flat.
This was a red carpet, live (yes, LIVE!) tribute with speeches,
performances, and a studio audience with nearly every cast member from
all four series at the time. Quite an impressive achievement, so what
was the problem? It felt like they just couldn’t live up to the buildup.
I mean, Kenny G? Ben Stiller? What do they have to do with Star Trek?
John Larroquette talking about how he was a Klingon in TWOK,yay. Ted
Danson as host whose connection
to Star Trek is nonexistent (and who vanishes halfway through the show)?
Then we get an opera singer who is nice but, why? I did like some of
the speeches, even if I have heard these stories more than a few times.
If I have to hear how Nichelle Nichols met Martin Luther King one more
time I may scream. But there is good stuff here. Kate Mulgrew does a
great sketch with the cast of Frasier, Patrick Stewart and Leonard Nimoy
were the only cast members not there but they left video message’s (Oh, would someone tell Patrick Stewart he IS NOT funny!), John DeLancie who
at least makes sense!, Joan Collins talking about her role as Edith
Keeler, more speeches by LeVar Burton, Marina Sirtis, and Avery
Brooks. And of course the clips as always were very well done BUT very
little of the original series, maybe because they seem sedated next to
the new shows. Now you see why I liked those earlier specials.
But
the best part was the end when all the cast members appeared on stage,
and William Shatner naturally had the last words saying how great NASA
was. Um, wait. NASA? When did this becomes a tribute to NASA? William
Shatner barely mentions Star Trek and seems to clearly be reading a
speech someone wrote for him. WTF? A tribute for Star Trek ends with a
speech about NASA? And no mention of Gene Roddenberry at all? I almost
miss the clip shows.
This
special really showed how big Star Trek had become….and I thinkI liked
it better when it was smaller. But in fairness this show had its moments
and wasn’tall bad. Could it get worst? Oh hell yeah…….
8. Ultimate Trek-Star Trek’s Greatest Moments
Sigh.
Well, I guess they can't all be gems. Man was this painful! Ok, let me
try to explain this. UPN presented this as a tribute but it turned more
into a parody. It gave a story around the clips and normally I would
applaud that. But this….WTF?? Jason Alexander and two comedians play
faux Kirk, Spock, and McCoy who have arrived in 20th century Earth to
determine why the broadcast signal of Star Trek was interrupted. If the
continuous broadcast is not restored their world will cease to exist.
Still with me? They track the signal down to the Paramount studio after
searching LA (and a forced Borg gag where they confuse the fashion
designer with the alien race, and how would Kirk know who the Borg were
anyway??). They restore the signal and return to their ship, on the set
of Voyager which makes no sense. This really has to be seen to be
believed.This was just awful. An SNL sketch would have had more class.
The clip packages were really cool as we got the “greatest moments” in a
variety of categories.And there was a lovely tribute to DeForest Kelley
who had recently passed away.But the narrative around the clips
was……terrible. What was Jason Alexander thinking? Will he do anything??
He was actually a producer on this. He always seem to suck when he is
behind he camera. This was so bad it made the episode of Star Trek
Voyager that followed seem reallygreat in comparison.
But wait! Want something worst?
8.Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier
Sweet mother of mercy was this boring! This was a celebration of the 40th anniversary, hosted
by Leonard Nimoy. What's so bad with that? The focus is not on the
shows or the movies, but on the Christie's auction of props and
wardrobe. And it is veerryy draggy. But there is some decent stuff in
here actually and I was kidding before, Ultimate Trek was far worse than
this. At least this felt like an honest look at the series legacy
rather than a slap in the face. And it is nice to get the fans
perspective rather than hear stories we have already heard a million
times. This aired on the History Channel and not the worst but it’s not
the best either.
The History
Channel isn't all bad. They also made “How William Shatner Changed the
World” which discussed how the technology on StarTrek inspired our
modern day tech. And it was pretty interesting.
9.The Captain’s of the Final Frontier
This
was presented by A&E…and really feels like it. This is like one of
those “What we Loved in the 80’s” shows with quick cutaways between
clips and interviews and facts popping up all over the place. It sucked.
Ok one good thing is that by the time this came out all the shows were
done, and the new movie had come out, so this special represents every
series and movie including the reboot film. However the stars are
fleeting in this with only four cast members from all the series
appearing. If the focus is the captain’s shouldn’t all the actors be
featured in it? Thankfully William Shatner would rectify this in a DVD
documentary (which is ok if a bit long). As for this show, it just flies
through the series history and talks about the captains without really
getting into them. It doesn’t bring anything new to the table. There
really isn’t much special here, and this special is a great example of
how Star Trek has gone off the rails the last few years.
Finally,
10.Trek Nation
This
may be a cheat since it barely aired on TV but I had to end with this
one. This was created by Gene Roddenberry’s son Rod as he takes a look
at the effect Star Trek has on people’s lives, and his own. It premiered
in 2011 and was something special. Why? BECAUSE IT TALKED ABOUT GENE
RODDENBERRY!! You know, the guy who created the show in 1966? It seems
over the years his name gets less and less mention so it is nice to see a
show all about him and his impact.The documentary goes more into the
classic and Next Generation series than it does the others and kind of
ignores the movies entriely which is a shame but considering
Roddenberry’s involvement with the new series and movies I guess that
makes sense. There are several interviews including a rare Majel Barrett
one,D.C.Fontana, and some interviews you may not expect like Stan Lee,
Seth MacFarlane, JJ Abrams, and George Lucas which is cool. This is just
a beautiful film. It also includes home movies and you get a real sense
of who these people were in real life. You never think of Gene
Roddenberry as a father, and that is what this is all about. And he
wasn’t perfect which is also touched on here.
The
end of the special talks about how Star Trek has changed since
Roddenberry’s death. And it has. The last few years, as we saw in the
last few specials, Star Trek has become more commercialized. We hear
more about the action and romances than the philosophy. This special
takes Star Trek out of the clouds that it had been in and brings it back
to Earth, so to speak, by discussing the philosophy behind the creation
of the show, the man whoenvisioned it, and why the fans adore it so. I
get so sick of the joke that all Star Trek fans are just losers who live
with their parents. You can be a successful adult who loves Star Trek.
Why else would it still be around after over 45 years?
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