Underrated Trek:Elaan of Troyius (TOS)

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. Last time I talked about an episode that is really pretty good and well liked. So what about one that I still like even though it is pretty much either forgotten…or hated? We venture again into third season TOS for :

Ever wanted to see Star Trek do their version of “Taming of the Shrew”? How about Cleopatra? Me neither but they made it anyway….

My Tribute to Garry Marshall

don’t t normally post a blog two days in a row but I decided to make a special exception this week. On Tuesday Gary Marshall passed away at the age of 81, and it seemed fitting that I give a tribute. So here it is.

There aren’t many names of producers and/or directors that I care enough about to want to see a movie just because their name is associated with it. But Gary Marshall was an exception. Yeah he didn’t make the greatest movies ever made, but you knew his movies were going to be sweet family friendly or rom-com movies that you’d love. Behind the camera he was a very good director and producer, and gave us some movies which will always be with us. He also did a lot of TV creating shows in the 70’s which are all time classics, and appearing in other shows over the years in guest spots which were always hilarious. He was always funny when he appeared on camera, having a way to make anything into a laugh.


So let’s go through some of the Gary Marshall appearances and/or productions I have enjoyed. As always these are all films and shows that I have actually seen, so don’t be surprised if an obvious one is missing.



The Odd Couple

I guess it’s fitting his final appearance was on the New Odd Couple, since one his first claim to fame was adapting The Odd Couple into the hit TV series starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. I watched it here and there don’t have much to say about it. Amazing casting made this work as Klugmun and Randall were perfectly cast.

Underrated Trek:This Side of Paradise (TOS)

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. Once again rather than talk about a bad episode I like for some reason, I want to talk about a good episode that seem to always fly under people’s radars. This episode is like that, a little gem from Season 1 TOS I have seem a million times because it’s really good if, well, underrated. This is:

So what makes this episode so memorable? Let’s discuss it:

A Look at Christmas in July

Today I wanted to talk about something which is almost a guaranteed to piss me off. It’s three little words :

Ah, no! Just…no! Christmas is a big deal to me and one of the reasons why is because it comes once a year, in December. So not only does it feel like dragging this stuff out in July make it feel like we’re blatantly commercializing on it, but who wants to sing Christmas songs and watch Christmas specials when it’s hot as hell outside? And even more annoying than that..July is MORE than six months since Christmas!



In doing research it is kind of a big deal. There are events out there where beach parties are mixed with a Christmas theme. Of course there are parks like “Santa’s Village” in New Hampshire which is very Christmas themed but operates in the summer. Radio stations will pull out Christmas standards and ABC Family (now Freeform, which is a stupid name) will run all their Christmas specials for one week-at least they used to. QVC has Christmas sales and Hallmark Channel is probably the worst, running all their Christmas movies that run constantly in December throughout July. Ugh.

Ok,  this is just me and if you love getting to see these movies or sing these songs more than once a year, more power to you. I just feel like only watching this stuff (or listening to the music) just during December makes it more special. Having it on in the summer makes it seem less so. And yeah I get that it’s really just people having fun more than anything and it probably isn’t meant to be taken that seriously. It still pisses me off.



To be fair, Christmas in July (or some other time of the year) isn’t without some precedent. A lot of times Christmas appears in TV and movies even though the movie or show takes place in summer and/or has nothing to do with the holiday. Sometimes Christmas works its way into the plot as a gag, and other times it’s a movie which sneaks in a few minutes of a Christmas scene before moving on. Here are some examples of Christmas scenes or gags in programs or movies like that.

Top 10 (well, 11) Star Trek Crossover’s

When TNG came along the wonder was whether or not any original characters would appear on the new series. The same was wondered when DS9 and Voyager came along. It was more than clear that the series all shared the same universe, so why not? And thankfully crossover’s did happen between the series and the fans loved them.



The above picture of Bashir and Data come from the TNG episode Birthright, and I forgot about it. So it’s not on the main list, count it as an honorary mention I guess. The episode sucked anyway. And I am not including when an actor from one show appeared on another as a different character. That’s another list. And no, Worf on Deep Space Nine doesn’t count since he became a regular. And if you’re wondering about Troi’s appearance on Voyager, that was only Ok. The first time was cute but the problem was they kept bringing her back and it got boring. And what about "Trials and Tribble-ations"? As epic as that TOS/DS9 crossover was I decided it just didn't count since the actors never physically appeared together.



Here are my ten favorites.




10.Doctor on Deep Space Nine

This was a unique way to do a crossover. Have the character..and yet not have the character. The Doctor of course was the Emergency Medical Hologram on Voyager. In one episode of DS9 his creator appeared to enlist Bashir into the EMH program.

Top 10 (All-Time) Favorite Internet Reviewers

The time has come my friends. I have wanted to do this but kept putting it off, mostly because let’s be honest my first two slots aren’t that shocking. But this is something that deserves to finally be discussed, so here we go.



Internet reviewing is a huge thing now and while I have stated before there was a time when Nostalgia Critic was all I watched, there are others I like and watch (or watched if they are no longer around). So here are my ten favorite internet reviewers, and yes there are some on here who technically have retired and do not review anymore. And yes a majority of these come from Channel Awesome, I have watched stuff on other sites including Agony Booth but never really cared enough to go back. I did like Sofie Liv, where did she go?




#10.Todd in the Shadows

This was the hardest slot to fill, several people could have fit in here. Why Todd? He seems like a nice enough guy, but man do I disagree with some of the things he says. He clearly knows about music but his tastes are very…rigid. Still it is nice to have music reviews and I enjoy some his stuff like his Madonna retrospective. I have watched his reviews more than once, though usually those are crossovers, and so it seems fitting he should get the #10 spot.

Five Disappointing Trek Episodes That Should Have Been Great

A year ago I discussed five episodes of Star Trek that really should have sucked. But the episodes had something, good acting for instance, which rose the goofy story up to a level where the episode is actually really good.



But can it go the other way? Can an episode that should have had everything going for it become a huge failure? There is a different between an episode that is just bad, and one that is disappointing. Here are five examples of episodes (one from each series) that aren’t awful but at the same time didn’t live up to their potential.





The Alternative Factors (TOS)

This is a great example of an episode that had potential, but couldn’t fulfill it. The plot? A man fights with his evil version for a parallel world. Their fight threatens to damage reality and time itself, which is where the Enterprise comes in. The premise is great, a strong sci fi premise involving parallel realities. If I read that in a TV Guide description I would think the episode sounded cool. To bad it isn’t. Instead it’s slow and plodding. Kirk and Spock have a talk about parallel worlds which goes on forever, and the goofy effects are distracting more than anything.  The episode plods on, it doesn’t get good, not kidding here, until the last fifteen minutes! Then everything us finally explained…two minutes before the episode ends. It’s actually a good final act that I like, but man the journey to get there takes forever.

Ten Favorite Patriotic Scenes From TV and Movies

Happy Independence Day!! For whatever reason, 4th of July doesn’t have a great deal of specials or movies based on it. I mean we sort of have Peanuts specials focused on America, documentaries on the presidents and founding of our nation, and Disney specials in the past which were hit or miss. And yeah there’s the New York City fireworks on every year, but that’s not the same (and I favor Boston Pops for obvious reasons). And some movies which are considered patriotic don’t work for me, the stuff in them like wearing a flag while one races across field, an action president spouting one liners, or a boxer giving a lame speech about world piece isn’t really what I have in mind.

What I mean are moments which intentional evoke patriotism with songs, a speech, or some other kind of imagery. And there are actually lots of moments that do this, but the funny thing is that sometimes the things they appear have very little if anything to do really with the holiday! The scene just is just kind of, there. And it’s a great moment but…why is it here? Here are some examples of what I mean. These are in no particular order but are things that I have seen, so don’t be surprised if some obvious one’s aren’t here.






10.Rudolph’ Shiny New Year

How weird is this, that the coolest 4th of July moment comes from a Christmas/New Year’s special? I get why Rankin/Bass never made a real special based on ths holiday, and maybe that’s the reason this is here. I could be here all day explaining context so suffice to day, there’s the island where it’s always 1776 and as a result it’s always 4th of July because I guess that’s all that happened in 1776? I don’t know this special is weird but that’s a topic for another day.