I Miss Next Generation

I was in high school when this show began its run, and I remember thinking it was clumsy and cheap-looking.

But it got better and better. It was something new: a look at how a group of extremely competent but limited people would deal with the outrageous situation of the week.

It was democratic in the extreme: anyone could join Starfleet if they wanted it enough. Compare it to Star Wars, where the only people with open futures were born Jedi. Star wars was all about a ruling class; Next Generation told of a society based on equality. And various head bumps.

Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise all did well enough, but I liked Next Gen the best. It was the strongest of the new Trek shows, outdoing the original by far.

To get a fix, I'll watch it on G4. For an even stronger fix, somehow, you can read the excellent reviews written by Wil Wheaton himself: http://www.tvsquad.com/bloggers/wil-wheaton

He reviews episodes of Next Gen; he's funny and smart. But the best part of his column is the "Behind the Scenes Memory," where he'll describe the harrowing experience of being fifteen on the set of this show. Wil Wheaton doesn't get enough credit for being awesome. Go check it out.

There are people out there who refuse to let it die; they posess iron wills and video processing equipment. Star Trek: Hidden Frontier is a web-only show put together by fans.



















It's cool. It's not a damn prequel. There are many episodes. Dig it.

The Best Show on Television (at the moment)

Reaper is excellent. It's got supernatural tomfoolery. It's funny. It was created by Kevin Smith, and he wrote and directed the first episode.

The idea is that our hero is a bounty hunter; he catches souls that have escaped from hell. This sounds like a grim-damn-serious pain in the ass of a show, but it's hilarious.

Check it out, seriously.