March 14, 2026

Top 5 Star Trek Engineers

 This is even harder than the last two lists. Engineers are the heart and soul of their respective vessels even though it’s the captains who get all the glory and credit. Star Trek has a had a weird relationship with these characters however, as we’ll discuss as we go over them. 



Neither pilot really paid any respect to this position (Scotty was there but not in red yet). Did Pikr even have an engineer? It would take the series proper to finally make the engineer an integral part of the show. 



#5.Tripp

Not the worst character on the show but not the best. In fact I always forget he was the engineer that’s how much of an impact he made to me in that role. 

March 12, 2026

Top 6 Star Trek Doctors

 I talked about officers it’s only feel to turn to the next most important position. The chief medical officer! The doctor is integral since members of Starfleet are constantly getting hurt or sick. So who was the best? 






Again not including Discovery (I don’t even know who the doctor was on that show! And honorable mention for Dr Piper and Dr Boyce from the two pilots. They set the standard (and thank goodness were replaced). 



Six this time for reasons I think are obvious. And as always just opinion. 


#6.Pulaski 









She was a great doctor but a horrible person. It amazes me when I see defenders of her. She was arrogant, bossy , and a huge technophobe. Yeah she had her pleasant moments, when she wasn’t arguing about every little thing. 

March 11, 2026

Top 5 Star Trek First Officers

Here’s an idea long overdue, and harder than it sounds. Every great captain has an even better first officer behind him (or her). The first officer does more then just wait to take over for the captain. They have to run the more mundane ship functions and be there to support the captain, even if the captain is making a mistake. 






This began in the very first pilot when we saw how capable Number One was. I wish we had seen more of her (the garbage that is SNW does not count). But of the five first officers we got in the main series, how would they rank? 






This isn’t about how good a character they are, but how they specifically worked as a first officer. And let me be clear, they are all awesome I am just choosing who is more awesome than the rest. Just opinion and just for fun; of course. 


 
#5.Kira

A Bajoran first officer made sense to Sisko in the pilot and he was right. She was tough and opinionated but she always stood by Sisko’s commands. And that was it though. She was a great character who had some wonderful arcs on the show but except for stepping up when Sisko was away she never impressed me as a first officer. 

February 28, 2026

Five Things I Hated in Star Trek-First Contact


A few months I discussed the follow up episode, it’s seems high time to discuss the movie itself, It’s almost hard to believe it, but this year is the 30th anniversary of Star Trek-First Contact. The one and only decent Next Generation movie. It’s amazing what a mess those movies were, it’s a shame they were in such a rush to get them out. The creators forgot that one of the big reasons the original movies succeeded was the nostalgia factor. People just didn’t miss TNG yet (It's why people were excited when the cast did reunite on Picard Season 3 even if thar series was less than perfect). But this is the one movie which managed to at least be good. 




The movie was released November 1996 and as I noted is the one movie that was considered pretty good, even great. Making the Borg the villain was a no brained and the lovely Alice Krige made a great Borg Queen. Yeah she was a retcon but not a terrible one. It made sense, sort of. However while the movie was really good that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Here are five things I hated. 





February 19, 2026

My 12 Favorite Episodes of Modern Family

 


When I did my article on this show the one thing I did not do was discuss my favorite episodes. That was because then I did not know the show well enough yet. I have seen rectified thet so now I present the episodes I consider the best. 


Of course these are hard to rate because much like Seinfeld or Friends if you hate one story there is another you might enjoy. In fact as I look at other lists I find very few episodes on all of them and mine. That’s a real sign of a quality show when you can have five lists with very different episodes. So these episodes stand out for one story or even scene that I just love. They are arranged by season order and as always, just my opinion. 


Earthquake 

It may seem odd to start at season 2 but like any good show the first season was still trying to find itself. This was the first classic in my mind as an earthquake rattled the families lives. 

February 15, 2026

Underrated Trek:Trials and Tribble-ations (DS9)

Welcome back to Underrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek episodes that I love…which may not be the most popular or even liked by most. But today we’re doing something very special. This episode isn’t just loved, it’s beloved. And since this is it’s 30th anniversary it’s time to talk about….




The episode is simply amazing. It’s a celebration of the then 30th anniversary of Trek and is so much fun. But at the same time is it a little…overrated? 





February 11, 2026

Underrated Trek:Homeward (TNG)

Welcome back to Underrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek episodes that I love…which may not be the most popular or even liked by most. Now I’ve done a lot of these that didn’t really meet that criteria. But today I wanted to discuss a season 7 episode I really have a soft spot for, but is hated by most. 





This is a Worf episode that isn’t about Klingons for a change. Is there anything good in it?