This, in case it needs an introduction, is the beginning of this issue! And the beginning of the end of the second year of "Dateline". I thank you all for your indulgence and support so far, and hope you'll stick with me for issues to come.
--Data1701D
News from Over the Hailing Frequencies....
-----------------------------------------
As of March 25th, "Deep Space Nine" had been sold to 84 stations in syndication. In alphabetical order, they are:
Abilene (KRBC), Albany [NY] (WXXA), Albuquerque (KGSW), Amarillo (KCIT), Atlanta (WGNX), Augusta (WRDW), Baltimore (WNUV), Birmingham (WTTO), Boise (KTRV), Buffalo (WUTV), Cedar Rapids (KCRG), Charleston (WVAH), Charleston [SC] (WTAT), Chicago (WGN), Cincinnati (WXIX), Cleveland (WUAB), Colorado Springs (KOAA), Columbus [SC] (WLTX), Corpus Christi (KDF), Dallas (KTXA), Dayton (WRGT), Denver (KWGN), Des Moines (KDSM), El Paso (KVIA), Eugene (KEZI), Fargo (KVRR), Ft. Myers (WFTX), Gainesville (WOGX), Grand Rapids (WXMI), Greensboro (WNRW), Greenville [NC] (WFXI), Greenville [SC] (WHNS), Harlingen (KRGV), Harrisburg (WPMT), Hartford (WTIC), Honolulu (KHNL), Houston (KTXH), Huntsville (WZDX), Indianapolis (WXIN), Kansas City (WSHB), Las Vegas (KVVU), Little Rock (KTHV), Los Angeles (KCOP), Louisville (WDRB), Lubbock (KJTV), Madison (WISC), Memphis (WLMT), Miami (WCIX), Milwaukee (WCGV), Minneapolis (KMSP), Monterey (KNTV), Nashville (WZTV), New York (WPIX), Norfolk (WGNT), Oklahoma City (KOKH), Orlando (WCPX), Philadelphia (WTXF), Phoenix (KNXV), Portland [OR] (KPTV), Providence (WNAC), Raleigh (WLFL), Reno (KAME), Richmond (WRLH), Roanoke (WSET), Rochester [NY] (WUHF), Rockford (WQRF), Sacramento (KTXL), Salt Lake City (KSTU), San Antonio (KRRT), San Diego (XETV), San Francisco (KBHK), Savannah (WJCL), Seattle (KCPQ), Shreveport (WMSS), Spokane (KXLY), St. Louis (KDNL), Syracuse (WSYT), Tampa (WTOG), Toledo (WUPW), Tucson (KMSB), Waco (KWTX), Washington DC (WDCA), Wichita Falls (KJTL), and Wilkes-Barre (WOLF).
(from the weekly "Electronic Media", as posted on Prodigy)
George Takei will be doing another "Simpsons" episode next season. Takei's character will be lobbying for mass transit in Springfield -- and be opposed by Marge Simpson.
(Philadelphia Inquirer)
Denise Crosby was part of the cast for a new Fox network pilot entitled "Sex and Politics at the End of the World" (or End of Time, maybe...it was something like that). But the pilot was not picked up as a series.
(Creation Philadelphia convention)
Over in Yugoslavia, where Patrick Stewart is filming a USA Network TV movie entitled "Death Train", the civil war raging there has made working on the film a lively experience. Co-star Pierce Brosnan commented to columnist Marilyn Beck that "Croatian jets were roaring over the studios hourly on their way to the battle, and all the locals on the film crew were just back from or about to leave for the fighting." Filming, which was originally begun in peaceful Slovenia, has moved to Zagreb -- a city which has been on the front lines of the fighting.
The long-awaited Sci-Fi Channel, which (I think) still intends to carry Animated Trek in its programming, has a current start-up date of September 24, 1992.
(USA Network)
Editorial: In the Eyes of the VP
by Bill Mason (Data1701D)
-------------------------------
Good thing our esteemed Vice-President alerted us last month to the dangers to be found in "Murphy Brown". I feel saved from corruption and full of family values now. (I'm not a Democrat, I swear.)
Now the whole country is analyzing the virtues of Murphy Brown. See, and they say Star Trek fans are obsessed. |) What do you suppose the VP would have found watching the Next Generation?
Picard: tsk, tsk. Doesn't like kids much. (But he's getting better.) Terrible family values there. ("The Inner Light" seems to answer those charges, doesn't it?)
Riker: Sleeps around, used to fight with his father. Tsk tsk again.
Data: Child out of wedlock. Terrible.
Troi: Might pass VP inspection. No father for her kid, of course, but she at least didn't have an abortion as Worf wanted. (Troi, the 24th century Murphy Brown.)
Worf: Abortion-supporter, argh. Also father of another child out of wedlock, or whatever Klingons do. Worf didn't even know about little Alexander. Shame shame.
Geordi: Probably passes as well. An upright kind of guy.
Beverly: Also passes the family check. WTG Doctor Mom.
Now, wasn't this whole analysis pointless? |) Someone please tell the administration to get a life....
Live Long And Perspire...
by CPT Antare
------------------------
Please forgive any typos in this item as my fingers have been permanently fused to form a "V" between the middle (otherwise known as the "so's your mother") finger and the fourth finger, traditionally reserved for rings and use in clearing particularly twisty nasal passages.
This particular injury occurred recently at, and I'm almost ashamed to admit it, a Star Trek convention.
No, I'm not ashamed of going. I'm embarrassed that it took me more than 25 years to get to one.
The problem we here in South Florida have is that most cultural events such as Trek conventions, Papal visits, Elvis reincarnation and the weekly riot through the street of the (fill in the blank) community, are held in Miami. Well, as any dyed in the Romulan wool Trekker will tell you, this is unacceptable in that the customary semi-automatic weapons and assorted hand grenades usually worn when venturing to Miami on a shopping trip are very hard to conceal beneath the form-fitting Starfleet uniforms.
At the convention I attended, several thousand other "Trekkers" were also reveling in the world of Star Trek complete with costumes, pointed ears, phasers and Tribbles. While I own a Trek outfit, I didn't wear mine because I wasn't certain of the protocol. Because of this I was in the minority of those who came "out of uniform" and therefore doomed to spend most of the afternoon in a darkened room watching Star Trek Bloopers... available for $19.95 at any Galactic 7-Eleven this side of the Neutral Zone.
At this point I should quantify the difference between a "Trekker", who is someone that has been a fan since the original series aired, and a "Trekkie", which is someone who HAS a job.
Lots of stuff is sold at Trek conventions. Stuff that NO Trekker can live without... I know... I have my share of valuable Trek stuff which, at the rate of inflation, may aid in financing my daughter's college education. Provided that there's a market for "Glow-In-The-Dark Klingon Snot" within the next few years.
Some of the stuff I saw being retailed by folks who actually have real jobs when they're not peddling Phasers on weekends include:
-- Genuine Star Trek uniforms, rank insignias, collar brass, belt buckles and other Starfleet regalia designed for the "ultimate" Trek experience of trying to explain to the state trooper why the uniform gives "you" full authority to execute Warp 3 maneuvers in a 45 zone.
-- Actual working communicators, phasers and tricorders. For the uninitiated, a tricorder is a handheld device which allows the user to scan many different things such as mineral composition, biological readouts as well as pull in the Knicks game and latest Dow Jones quotations.
-- Volumes and volumes of books on the construction of various starships and adversary spacecraft which may also be used for that kitchen remodeling project you put off "again" so you could attend this convention. Considering that mint condition manuals cost about the same as a Buick Roadmaster, I'm sure the wife will understand why you had to "pawn" the kids.
-- Tribbles... which are fuzzy little creatures which live mostly in the lint collectors of my washer-dryer.
-- Klingon and Romulan phrase books allow you to be the only one in your office to call the chief executive officer "QIp" which, loosely translated from Klingonese, means "stupid". Chances are, considering the many Trekkers I've met, the CEO is also a fan and would respond with the customary "klaaGH TfRakk" which, also loosely translated, comes out to be "I hope you have another job lined up jerk because you're history at this company... and make sure you turn in your parking pass and washroom key."
Those Klingons were never long on words.
The type of person who attend Trek conventions rivals any Rotary Club or Chamber of Commerce meeting in that the audience is made up of doctors, lawyers, accountants and other professionals who, were their Trek fandom generally known, would probably get some strange looks in the office.
Imagine the "closet Trekker" dentist whose secret is found out. As he prepares to administer gas, his patient rises from the chair and suggest using the Vulcan nerve pinch. At this point, a simple Romulan bowling pin can do the trick just as easily.
I enjoy being an "official" Trekker because I can rest assured that mine is not the only living room where a model of the Starship Enterprise dominates the decor. Which can probably be best described in Klingonese as "vuQ".
You'll just have to purchase your own phrase book.
Judge Not, Lest....
by Steve Schar (Antlers)
-----------------------
Lately I've heard a fair amount of grumbling about the impending "Deep Space Nine" series from Paramount. "It's not Star Trek without the Enterprise"..."Sounds corny"..."It can't replace TNG"...
Who says it has to? Gene Roddenberry, rest his soul, is gone. Star Trek was Gene's from beginning to end. I don't doubt that the excellent people currently working on TNG can continue to bring us Star Trek: The Next Generation. Gene left a legacy that can't be missed; a star to follow. But I can't help but feel a bit worried at the thought of a new 'Trek' without his guiding hand.
We have a course to follow with TNG. But who would develop 'Star Trek-The Third Generation'? Therefore, it's proper that Paramount turn in a different direction for a new science fiction series. It has Star Trek roots to help it grow, but I am sure it will stand alone before its first season is in the can, just as TNG cut the Classic Trek umbilical cord.
When TNG stops production, I suppose after the seventh season, it will be missed, but Deep Space Nine will be there to bring us fresh, high quality shows. It will be Star Trek, but a different Star Trek. And I don't think I mind.
After all, it is possibly the most fitting memorial we could make to Gene Roddenberry that nobody tries to do the Enterprise without him.
Trek Attraction
by Bonnie Healy
--------------
[Note from Data1701D: this is a piece that appeared in the June 7th issue of the "Delaware County Sunday Times". It was just too good to ignore.]
Let me say right up front that I am a fan of "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Almost every afternoon, I join the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, captained by Jean-Luc (my heart be still) Picard.
I cannot claim to be a Trekkie of longstanding. My fascination with the 24th century starship and "its continuing mission to explore strange new worlds and to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before" is relatively recent.
When the old "Star Trek" gripped the imagination of my generation 20 years ago, I considered myself too busy to tune in. Never did I join the Trekkies gathered late each afternoon in the college lounge for the ritual viewing of Capt. James Kirk's dilemmas. I didn't discover "Star Trek" until "The Next Generation". Then Captain Picard's curious pronouncement "Space -- the final frontier" starting pulling me from dinner preparations in the kitchen to a cozy spot on the den couch with the kids.
I've learned to cook during commercials, and we even eat in front of the television if our schedule is tight. When we're not watching "Star Trek", we talk about it endlessly, mentally ordering the reruns into sequence, organizing the story lines of the individual characters and guessing how fast warp speed must be.
Informed sources tell me that on college campuses this generation of students continues to gather each afternoon for "The Next Generation".
(Who says traditions are dying?)
These same sources advise me, however, that this campus viewing can be sacrilegious. It's a shocking thought to a devotee, but it seems that some students, every time Captain Jean-Luc Picard straightens his jacket as he makes a decision, chug a beer (as if his gesture didn't underscore his dignity and control).
His commands, "Engage," "Make it so," "On screen" (so admirable for their economy of speech) require similar swilling. And every time the ship's counselor, the sexy Deanna Troi, a half-human whose Betazoid side gives her empathic powers, says something trite, another gulp is required (as if trite can't be true).
The list of required drinking cues is quite long, and for honesty's sake I must confess that even I laughed when I read it and saw these heroic great-great-great-etc. grandchildren of the future made silly.
Anything can be made silly, and maybe everything should be ridiculed once in a while to maintain perspective. But if I had just one word of advice to offer this week's graduating high school seniors, I would urge them to take the time to watch "The Next Generation".
Without the drinking game, of course.
"Star Trek" breaks the frames that constrain thinking about human destiny and limits. It frees the mind to explore new worlds, new civilizations, new possible futures. In the months that I have been watching "The Next Generation", I have become more optimistic. Here in the 24th century, human beings are portrayed as having overcome many of the trials that plague this time. Earth enjoys a peace that extends to the peaceful coalition of the Federation of Planets.
Technology is benevolent -- it cleans and cooks as well as calculates. Even the obsession with television passed at the beginning of the 21st century, according to "Star Trek" history. Sexism and racism have vanished in a universe where know life-forms include Klingons, Vulcans, Betazoids, Romulans and a host of other aliens. Countless more species are yet to be encountered in an ongoing process of exploration, study and understanding. Life in any form is protected -- as if the environment back home.
In the 24th century, the demand to achieve economically has been replaced with the opportunity to contribute personally. People are free to pursue self-development. The starship crew is a collection of individuals who have succeeded in doing what they want with their lives. As Tasha Yar told her friends in a hologram at her recently rerun memorial service, "I loved my life." She spoke for each of them.
The leadership of such a crew is authoritarian but flexible and accessible. The value of each crew member is never demeaned. Captain Picard is a father figure guarding his ship and his crew above all, and for his service he asks for nothing for himself.
On the Starship Enterprise, intuition is valued as highly as reason. Repeatedly, the intuitive use of well-trained intelligence saves the ship. Here, too, humankind has ended its struggle to subdue emotions and has learned to enjoy feelings, even to magnify them through restrained expression. What they understand, what Lt. Cmdr. Data, the brilliant, yet emotionless android, continually teaches them in his quest for emotions, is that their emotions make them human.
The "Star Trek" story does not claim that this "ideal" society was easily achieved. World War III is reported to have occurred at the end of the 22nd century, and the crew often stumbles across established by Terrans who left earth convinced that survival could only be achieved elsewhere.
But survive earth does, and a maturing humanity along with it. The human race grows up and graduates into a larger association of intelligent beings.
Certainly, life on board the Enterprise is not problem-free. The unexpected awaits around every light-year. Crew members struggle to balance professional and parenting roles. Mothers can be intrusive and children a challenge. Religion, oddly, thrives only in alien cultures. But still "The Next Generation" refreshes those who watch with hope and dares them to trust that the human spirit can boldly address today's problems and create a future.
This week the next generation of the late 20th century commences. They move into a future where no one has gone before, and there they will determine the fate of the Starship Enterprise and its better world.
From the depths of space, Captain Jean-Luc Picard radios back across the centuries, "Make it so."
Five Years Down....
by Bill Mason (Data1701D)
------------------------
For those who can use it, the episode list for the now-completed first five years of TNG:
FIRST SEASON: Encounter at Farpoint; The Naked Now; Code of Honor; The Last Outpost; Where No One Has Gone Before; Lonely Among Us; Justice; The Battle; Hide and Q; Haven; The Big Goodbye; Datalore; Angel One; 11001001; Too Short a Season; When the Bough Breaks; Home Soil; Coming of Age; Heart of Glory; The Arsenal of Freedom; Symbiosis; Skin of Evil; We'll Always Have Paris; Conspiracy; The Neutral Zone
SECOND SEASON: The Child; Where Silence Has Lease; Elementary, Dear Data; The Outrageous Okona; Loud as a Whisper; The Schizoid Man; Unnatural Selection; A Matter of Honor; The Measure of a Man; The Dauphin; Contagion; The Royale; Time Squared; The Icarus Factor; Pen Pals; Q Who; Samaritan Snare; Up the Long Ladder; Manhunt; The Emissary; Peak Performance; Shades of Gray
THIRD SEASON: Evolution; The Ensigns of Command; The Survivors; Who Watches the Watchers?; The Bonding; Booby Trap; The Enemy; The Price; The Vengeance Factor; The Defector; The Hunted; The High Ground; Deja Q; A Matter of Perspective; Yesterday's Enterprise; The Offspring; Sins of the Father; Allegiance; Captain's Holiday; Tin Man; Hollow Pursuits; The Most Toys; Sarek; Menage a Troi; Transfigurations; The Best of Both Worlds
FOURTH SEASON: The Best of Both Worlds, Part II; Family; Brothers; Suddenly Human; Remember Me; Legacy; Reunion; Future Imperfect; Final Mission; The Loss; Data's Day; The Wounded; Devil's Due; Clues; First Contact; Galaxy's Child; Night Terrors; Identity Crisis; The Nth Degree; Q-Pid; The Drumhead; Half a Life; The Host; The Mind's Eye; In Theory; Redemption, Part I
FIFTH SEASON: Redemption II; Darmok; Ensign Ro; Silicon Avatar; Disaster; The Game; Unification I; Unification II; A Matter of Time; New Ground; Hero Worship; Violations; The Masterpiece Society; Conundrum; Power Play; Ethics; The Outcast; Cause and Effect; The First Duty; Cost of Living; The Perfect Mate; Imaginary Friend; I Borg; The Next Phase; The Inner Light; Time's Arrow
Happy Birthday!
--------------
July 29: Wil Wheaton
August 6: Mike Okuda (TNG Technical Manual co-author)
August 12: Jane Wyatt (Amanda)
Club Happenings
--------------
The End of Season Wrap Party is getting closer! Join the fun on "The Bridge" this Sunday June 20th, from 10pm to 1am. We'll be reminiscing about this past year, mulling over this year's cliffhanger, and playing some 5th season TNG Trivia to boot!
Since the topic of uploading files to the "Star Trek Record Banks" caused a little bit of confusion on the bulletin boards last month, I'll reiterate here. Uploading anywhere on AOL is free. The time uploaded is credited by AOL back to your account; the Forum hosts (like me) don't have to do anything to get you the credit. (We can't actually. We're completely outside that process.) So upload those ST files to your heart's content!
Trek-related Products/Happenings
-------------------------------
Comic books: in DC's "Star Trek" #34, the crew finds a planet where what one thinks becomes reality (boy, sounds like a ripoff of a bunch of TOS and TNG episodes!); over in "Next Generation" #35, part 3 of "The Way of the Warrior" wraps up this Q storyline, as the crew continues to cope with being turned into Klingons. Also in July is "Next Generation" #36, otherwise known as part 1 of "Shore Leave in Shanzibar". The crew runs into a old "friend" while on shore leave -- Ardra (from "Devil's Due").
Be wary if you spot the video "Forrest J. Ackerman's Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction & Fantasy" on the shelves. The jacket announces that the video includes Gene Roddenberry's last taped appearance before his death. But the excerpt is less than one minute on a 75 minute video.
(Philadelphia Inquirer)
Personal Logs, Stardate Today
----------------------------
"They should just reach out with a tractor beam and scoop it in."
[Off the AP wire: George Takei's suggestion to the Endeavour astronauts for capturing a wayward telecommunications satellite last month. WTG to Endeavour for making the catch!
"I got a gig [that] night making $75. [He was in a band.] That was a lot of money in 1971."
[Michael Dorn, explaining why he skipped his prom. From "USA Weekend"]
And In Conclusion...
-------------------
And with that, two years of "Dateline" comes to a screeching halt. Next month, a headlong plunge into year three! Civilization trembles at the thought. |)
Credits where Credits are Due
----------------------------
"Dateline: Starfleet" -- edited by Bill Mason.
Those with an urge to offer me comments have these avenues at their disposal: America Online (E-Mail to Data1701D), Prodigy (mail to ID# WPHM91A), Internet (send to 'data1701d@aol.com'), or the infamous US Postal Service (753 Rively Ave, Glenolden PA, 19036-1118).
The Away Team of Contributors -- Antlers, CPT Antare
Copyright and Trademark Notice: In no case is use of any copyrighted material and/or trademarks without identifying symbols intended as a claim of ownership to those copyrights and/or trademarks. "Dateline: Starfleet" is a non-profit production reporting and commenting on the universe of Star Trek.
STAR TREK is a Registered Trademark of Paramount Pictures. All other copyrighted material, trademarks, and/or service marks cited herein are registered to their respective owners.
Readers are granted permission to reproduce this file wherever they think there's an interest. Just tell 'em where you got it from!
If you read all this, remember: don't take your organs with you when you die; you won't need them. (Parting advice from Jonathan Frakes at the end of the Creation Philadelphia con over Memorial Day weekend.)
