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That other sci-fi show

I wonder why they switched the uniform colors for TNG.

Same reason JMS changed some established things on Crusade, to give the show its own identity and - in the specific case of TNG - to reflect the passage of time.

And why did they wait until the penultimate season of DS9 to finally introduce non-clownishly silly looking uniforms?

The cynic in me attributes all of the post-TOS uniform changes in the Trek universe to the desire to sell more molded plastic action figures, which significantly didn't not have interchangable clothing.

The brightly colored uniforms of the original series match the look of the times. Trek was a psychedelic show for a psychedelic era. If they bring it back now, it would be hilarious.

The poster doesn't necessarily indicate that the whole costumes are going to be those colors as in the original series. Hell, there could be a shoulder patch or epualet in the colors shown, just enough of a nod to the original without being a reproduction of it. Similarly I'm betting the ship design follows Matt Jefferies' basic original configuration, but with a more 21st century, post-2001 sensibility than the original "great white ship" model.

Regards,

Joe
 
Care for another bit of color trivia? The costume featured in the first two (b&w) seasons of the 1950s Adventures of Superman was several shades of brown because that photographed better on b&w film than an accurate red and blue outfit did.
So, is this right place to bring up the fact that the "blood" that runs down the drain in the famous shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho was in fact chocolate syrup? ;)
 
* The Command color was originally supposed to be green, and Kirk's velour shirt actually was green - on the set. But for some reason the fabric photographed gold. Kirk's later wrap-around shirt, the nylon woven one with the Starfleet symbol at the waist, was also green, but it photographed properly so it also looks green on film - leading many fans to wonder why the color "changed".

Throw in colorblindness and its amazing I could tell what the heck it was :p.
 
I remember the Trek animated series but missed many of the eps. In fact I finally got ahold of them a few months ago. Granted the quality isnt that great, but I still enjoy them.
 
Off-topic, I know, but back in the days of B/W movies weren't the actors faces all covered in green make-up as that was the only way to get convincing flesh tones on the film of the time?

I kind of like the idea of an all-brown Supes as well - I can't imagine many kids begging for that brand new Superman playsuit for Christmas if it was.

:D
 
I remember the Trek animated series but missed many of the eps. In fact I finally got ahold of them a few months ago. Granted the quality isnt that great, but I still enjoy them.

I think I must've missed a great deal of them as well. I only recall about 5 or 6 episodes, and there was 22 of them over the 2 seasons. They're either recently released on DVD or being released soon.
 
I was 9 watching it when it first came out, and absolutely loved it, but haven't really seen anything of it since, so, I'm not sure that's much of an endorsement.

Some of the Amazon.Com reveiws, suggest only 5 or 6 are really good, so maybe that's why I don't remember more of them? I'm gonna take the chance and buy them, hoping that I will still enjoy them.
 
Was the animated series any good? It just came out, or is soon coming out, on DVD.
I actually have them all on *gasp* VHS. There were some very good ones. I wouldn't say that many were as good as the Season 1 and 2 of TOS, but some were close. They also threw in a couple "sequel" type episodes (one dealing with Tribbles again) which probably didn't need to happen. But it had the voices of the original cast and the quality of stories was good, which made them worth checking out.
 
Off-topic, I know, but back in the days of B/W movies weren't the actors faces all covered in green make-up as that was the only way to get convincing flesh tones on the film of the time?

No. The case of this I'm aware of is the Frankenstein monster make-up, where they used a shade of green that photographed as more of the dead white they were after. Costumes, sets, props and inanimate objects and sometimes lipstick were more apt to use "odd" colors on set for the way they looked on film.

An example of the differences in the way B&W is planned and shot came up with Kenneth Brannagh's film Dead Again. The screenplay suggested that the 1940s story be presented in B&W to capture the period feel, while the parallel modern mystery it intercut with be in color. Brannagh decided the film would work better if it was in color throughout, so that's the way he shot it. But when preview audiences saw the finished film they lost track of which part of the story they were in from scene to scene. So for the release prints the '40s segements were done in B&W, much to the horror of the DP, the costume designer and the production designer, all of whom insisted they would have done everything differently if they had shot in B&W to begin with. And, indeed, the '40s sections don't have the lush look of period B&W photography. Constrast this with Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein which was shot in B&W (over strenuous objections from the studio) and captures the look and feel of the first two Karloff films perfectly.

Was the animated series any good? It just came out, or is soon coming out, on DVD.

It wasn't bad at all. In addition to the original actors providing the voices, many behind-the-scenes folks from TOS were involved, and the series continued the original show's connection to the world of literary SF. David Gerrold wrote "More Tribbles, More Troubles" for instance, and one of the episodes was adapted from a Larry Niven story. D. C. Fontana ("A Distant Star", "Journey to Babel") contributed a memorable episode where Spock travels back in time and, in the guise of a distant cousin of Sarek's, helps his younger self through a crisis. The animated episodes also respected the series continuity, which is more than I can say for some of the other sequels. :)

The DVD set is due (in R1) on November 21st.

Regards,

Joe
 
Was the animated series any good? It just came out, or is soon coming out, on DVD.

At the time, I really liked them, especially since animation allowed Trek to break free of the budgetary limits placed on its live-action counterpart. However, in retrospect, the animation from Filmation would probably look like shit compared to the higher frame rate stuff we're used to these days. The quality of television animation was at an extreme low during that time.

It was cool that all the actors, with the exception of Walter Koenig, returned for voice work (with Majel Barrett and Jimmy Doohan pulling double duties as miscellaneous characters).

For a Saturday morning tv show, it could be very cerebral - moreso than the actual Trek, since the sex and violence quotient had to be toned down. As mentioned earlier, there are probably a handful of good episodes in the bunch, but I can't say since I was about 10 years old. The tribble sequel "More Tribbles, More Troubles" (written by David Gerrold) was pretty funny. Just picture a 1000 pound, 16 foot diameter tribble. Another great sequel was "Yesteryear" (written by D.C. Fontana, I believe) which dealt with a pivotal incident in Spock's childhood. There is also a Harry Mudd episode and a return visit the amusement park planet of "Shore Leave".

Looking over the 22 episode descriptions, it occurs to me that I don't remember most of them.
 
Problem for me is, most of those things I've either never seen or banned from my memory (like the Outrageous Okona - I saw that twice I think. I can't remember a single thing) ..

The review of Let He Who Is Without Sin was pretty funny though at least :D .. that episode I actually remembered. Well .. I remembered watching it and just thinking .. "WTF??????" :D .. as with anything involving the Worf/Dax relationship really.

Some day, I'll get around to reading the review of Armageddon .. another thing I remember due to its utter crappyness.
 
I've scanned through the Armageddon review on a couple of occasions ... bust a gut funny and pretty nails everything that's wrong with it. Another highly recommended recap is Hudson Hawk ... probably the only way to make that movie entertaining is to rip it apart ... so they did!

:D
 
See, I take issue with all the people who rip on Armageddon and pick at "everything wrong with it." Yes, there is real bad science in that movie, but you know what? WHO CARES?

The movie wasn't meant to be a factual account of what would happen if an asteroid came at Earth. It was a movie that was meant to be fun, and a great "popcorn" movie. Sit back, and enjoy the ride. I thought the movie had some fun characters, good hero moments, several GREAT and memorable lines, and was a good emotional ride.

People who look for the movie to be more than just that are fooling themselves...
 
Oh, I loved Armageddon, just BECAUSE it was so dreadfully stupid. I had seen it and Deep Impact (a friend of mine had invited a bunch of people to the cinema on his birthday for Deep Impact, Armageddon a different friend had on VHS) .. whereas Deep Impact was truely painful to sit through, Armageddon was on SUCH a level of head-up-ass science and storywriting that I just couldn't stop enjoying how bloody ridicilous it all was .. even it I was 14 when that movie came out. I only stopped enjoying it towards the end of the movie, when it started taking itself seriousley - Bruce Willis' changing places with Ben Affleck, draaaaama, drama drama drama, more drama, .. yech.

Bad science back and forth, the one plot element that REALLY put this movie in the so bad it's good category for me was how a bunch of smaller asteroids approach earth before the big one comes .. or something like that. The first one, after smashing a space Shuttle in orbit (what are the odds?) crashes right down on Manhattan (what are the odds?). The second one smashes Paris(what are the odds?). The third one smashes Shanghai(what are the odds?). Remind me never to play darts against god :D

I doubt the guy writing that review got no fun out of the movie, considering he must have watched it a few times to compose that review.
 

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