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Other Views About My Star Trek Rant

Just to see what kind of response it would get, I sent an abbreviated version of my Star Trek rant to Sci-Fi Weekly, and it appeared in the letters forum on November 15, 1999. This response showed up the following week:

I think a new Star Trek series is a wonderful idea. Those people who negatively criticize the franchise and the paths they choose should come out of their homes more often and take in some fresh air. Making money on the franchise has nothing to do with the scope of the Star Trek universe. If the show didn't spark our imagination and gain our interests, we would spend our time and money elsewhere. We choose to spend our energy in this realm because it is what we simply enjoy. A new series would keep the new adventures alive. Have people forgotten the times in the early seventies when we dreamed of a new Star Trek series or movie? --My dreams are usually about more important things than TV shows. Sorry.-- Well that dream came true in a big way. So if Paramount wants to make more dreams come true, just keep the new stuff coming. We will watch and buy more. --What is all this talk about spending money? I confess I bought a Nitpicker's Guide to TNG a few years ago, but other than that the only money I have ever spent on Trek was for the movie tickets. I never understood the allure of the merchandise.-- Don't listen to the few negative people that want Paramount to focus on a different futuristic series. The concept of continuing the Star Trek futuristic ideology is a wonderful and powerful thing. When you view these shows, the familiarity of the series really brings the viewers into the show as if they are really part of the adventure, since we have all experienced the adventures together. That's a good feeling, and what is wrong with feeling good?

We are one big happy family, Miserable siblings should just leave and wait every eight years for a re-edited version of an old Star Wars movie with three minutes of extra footage.

Mike Ajlouny

If he really thinks I'm waiting for another re-edited version of Star Wars, he obviously hasn't read my Anti Special Editions Rant.

I prefer the response I received via e-mail from a different person. He also disagreed, but was far more respectful about it. Nice to see that some Trek fans are as tolerant as Star Trek's message!

Argus:
First off, Cool-Ass name! You are definately a SF fan.

However, I dissagree with your e-mail to Sci-Fi Weekly about putting an end to the STAR TREK franchise. It's been apart of TV and film history, not to mention a Goliath in merchandising and cons worldwide. Although this year the saga has taken two fatal hits, both the passing of DeForrest Kelley and the drowning of William Shatner's third wife, it's still boldly going to the hearts of fans. I'd think again before condemning it to a quick, sudden death.

I do agree with you on one thing: VOYAGER does need some spicing up a bit. The last episode I caught was Tuvok being hit by some emmission from space and his logic and reserve was divulged from him, almost... an average being. Most illogical. That's almost reminicent of one of the dumbest CLASSIC TREK episodes, SPOCK'S BRAIN.

Yet, believe it or not, the franchise can be enhanced. I'd like to see what's going to come of the NEW FRONTIERS series conceived by John J. Ordover and Peter David. It combines the almost-common TREK intrigue with the dysfuncion of David's series on Nickelodeon with Bill Mumy, SPACE CASES. It would, at least make a few good two-hour made for TV film joints or a feature film joint, introducing Trekkies and other fans to the exploits of Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the crew of EXCALIBUR. If anything, I'd like to see an animated series based upon the STARFLEET ACADEMY series. If Paramount want to catch up to Warner Bros., Universal, Columbia/Tri-Star, Fox and Disney to ride the animation roller coaster, this would be the ticket to go with. Then again, this is just an idea.

To ease your mind of TREK, there are two upcoming shows based on more lost concepts by Gene Roddenberry, STARSHIP and ANDROMEDA. I think Kevin Sorbo's doing ANDROMEDA, and I've heard that STARSHIP is strictly CGI animation, so I'm looking forward to seeing what's to become of those series. If there's remakes of other Roddenberry concepts from the '70's like SPECTRE and THE QUESTOR TAPES, I'd be intrigued.

No dissrepect, but with a name like Argus Skylark, you should be in the writing biz, or at least creating a superhero series. Being an aspiring writer myself, I can just say don't hate...create.

Sanford S. Williams

As a matter of fact, I DO love writing SF (Don't laugh; I know we writer wannabes are a dime a dozen). I'm glad he liked the name (although it's Skyhawk, not Skylark).