Comments on: To Boldly Go… http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/star-trek-cartoon/ A blog of news, reviews, commentary, and quirks from Hollywood and Broadway, with a focus on quirky, geeky stuff like Star Wars, Star Trek, and superheroes. Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:35:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: a2history http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/star-trek-cartoon/#comment-16 a2history Tue, 19 Dec 2006 03:48:48 +0000 http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/to-boldly-go/#comment-16 kgagne: Winning a bet on a sporting event starts a cascade of events that totally changes everything in the future. For example: Biff, with the help of the Sports Almanac, places a bet on a horse race in 195x that causes him to win $50,000. The money that goes to him is money that does NOT go to other people it was supposed to go to. He, in turn, continues to place bets on what the Almanac states are going to be winning events in the future. As he continues to alter economics, it has ongoing effects on those who do NOT win who were supposed to win. The losses of those who don't win have effects on the local economy (plus the purchases Biff makes with the money he wasn't supposed to have), and things begin to change in an ever widening fashion. In one way or another, it begins to have an effect that causes the statistics on future sporting events to change, and the "sure win" doesn't happen after a while. At least, in MY opinion as an expert time traveler... :-) kgagne:

Winning a bet on a sporting event starts a cascade of events that totally changes everything in the future. For example: Biff, with the help of the Sports Almanac, places a bet on a horse race in 195x that causes him to win $50,000. The money that goes to him is money that does NOT go to other people it was supposed to go to. He, in turn, continues to place bets on what the Almanac states are going to be winning events in the future. As he continues to alter economics, it has ongoing effects on those who do NOT win who were supposed to win. The losses of those who don't win have effects on the local economy (plus the purchases Biff makes with the money he wasn't supposed to have), and things begin to change in an ever widening fashion. In one way or another, it begins to have an effect that causes the statistics on future sporting events to change, and the "sure win" doesn't happen after a while.

At least, in MY opinion as an expert time traveler… :-)

]]> By: sheppy http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/star-trek-cartoon/#comment-14 sheppy Sun, 17 Dec 2006 06:47:49 +0000 http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/to-boldly-go/#comment-14 I also like time travel stories, but unlike most of you, I generally enjoyed them even in <em>Star Trek</em>. :) I like seeing different eras in <em>Trek</em>'s universe, too. I'd be curious to know what will be happening 70+ years post-TNG. What happened to the Romulan/Klingon/Federation alliance post-Dominion War, for example? I also like time travel stories, but unlike most of you, I generally enjoyed them even in Star Trek. :)

I like seeing different eras in Trek's universe, too. I'd be curious to know what will be happening 70+ years post-TNG. What happened to the Romulan/Klingon/Federation alliance post-Dominion War, for example?

]]> By: peterw http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/star-trek-cartoon/#comment-13 peterw Sat, 16 Dec 2006 14:51:22 +0000 http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/to-boldly-go/#comment-13 For the record, I agree that stand-alone time travel stories can be a lot of fun. (Not to mention I too would hate to lose Trials and Tribble-ations!) The problem is that it became greatly overused in the <em>Star Trek</em> universe. I think I felt it more in <em>Enterprise</em> possibly because to me this series was supposed to feel "lower tech" than the other series, but they seemed to do more high-tech stuff! (Even if it was via other people.) For the record, I agree that stand-alone time travel stories can be a lot of fun. (Not to mention I too would hate to lose Trials and Tribble-ations!) The problem is that it became greatly overused in the Star Trek universe. I think I felt it more in Enterprise possibly because to me this series was supposed to feel "lower tech" than the other series, but they seemed to do more high-tech stuff! (Even if it was via other people.)

]]> By: Ken Gagne http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/star-trek-cartoon/#comment-12 Ken Gagne Fri, 15 Dec 2006 19:40:49 +0000 http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/to-boldly-go/#comment-12 a2history: I agree that I generally like stand-alone time-travel stories: I have anthologies of such, and I have intentions to see films like <em><a href="http://www.showbits.net/2007/10/02/slipstream/">Slipstream</a></em>, <em><a href="http://www.showbits.net/2007/02/27/click/">Click</a></em>, and <em><a href="http://www.showbits.net/2007/01/24/lakehouse/">The Lakehouse</a></em> (even though I'm confident most of them will suck - the concept is still appealing). But in a persistent universe such as <em>Star Trek</em>, continuity must be considered; and I'm not sure that's something this franchise does well. (Of course, the exceptions such as <em>Trials and Tribble-ations</em> are priceless :-). Off topic: how would winning a bet change a sporting event's outcome? Unless you get rich enough to "buy" a team... a2history: I agree that I generally like stand-alone time-travel stories: I have anthologies of such, and I have intentions to see films like Slipstream, Click, and The Lakehouse (even though I'm confident most of them will suck – the concept is still appealing).

But in a persistent universe such as Star Trek, continuity must be considered; and I'm not sure that's something this franchise does well. (Of course, the exceptions such as Trials and Tribble-ations are priceless :-).

Off topic: how would winning a bet change a sporting event's outcome? Unless you get rich enough to "buy" a team…

]]> By: a2history http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/star-trek-cartoon/#comment-11 a2history Fri, 15 Dec 2006 19:19:44 +0000 http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/to-boldly-go/#comment-11 I agree somewhat with Peter. Moving the franchise ahead 150 years leaves you with an archival history of all the events from the 24th century (wars with the Dominon, Cardasiians, Klingons, Borg, etc.) as a background, but lets writers experiment with new stuff that they haven't had the freedom to do in the past. Regarding time travel: I have to admit that time-travelling stories in general are my favorite feature in science fiction. However, the extent to which it was being taken in the latter years of <em>Trek</em> was making it unwieldly to manage. The Federation of the future having not only time ships but also time police to fix the past was a bit of a stretch. Just like the repeated visits to the mirror universe, these just got overused. (Heck, even the time travelling in <em>Back To The Future</em> was getting a little out of hand; the first time Biff used his knowledge of the outcomes of future sporting events to place a bet and win big would have changed the outcomes of future sporting events, so that Almanac would have been useless. But I digress... :-) There are lots of things people could do with <em>Trek</em> if they wanted to; animation makes it possible to do things that live action prohibits (why did those ships have working gravity even when they were seriously damaged??? How large a mass do those floor plates HAVE, anyway??). I'd say, go for it. I agree somewhat with Peter. Moving the franchise ahead 150 years leaves you with an archival history of all the events from the 24th century (wars with the Dominon, Cardasiians, Klingons, Borg, etc.) as a background, but lets writers experiment with new stuff that they haven't had the freedom to do in the past.

Regarding time travel: I have to admit that time-travelling stories in general are my favorite feature in science fiction. However, the extent to which it was being taken in the latter years of Trek was making it unwieldly to manage. The Federation of the future having not only time ships but also time police to fix the past was a bit of a stretch. Just like the repeated visits to the mirror universe, these just got overused. (Heck, even the time travelling in Back To The Future was getting a little out of hand; the first time Biff used his knowledge of the outcomes of future sporting events to place a bet and win big would have changed the outcomes of future sporting events, so that Almanac would have been useless. But I digress… :-)

There are lots of things people could do with Trek if they wanted to; animation makes it possible to do things that live action prohibits (why did those ships have working gravity even when they were seriously damaged??? How large a mass do those floor plates HAVE, anyway??).

I'd say, go for it.

]]> By: peterw http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/star-trek-cartoon/#comment-9 peterw Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:28:20 +0000 http://www.showbits.net/2006/12/15/to-boldly-go/#comment-9 I guess the counter argument is that there's no actor (and little storyline) "baggage" to worry about if they shift forward 150 years, and basically it *is* the still the "known universe" -- just a later version of it. :-) Your comment about "too much time travel" is a huge understatement. I always thought it was a risky plot line at best, and completely destroyed any pretence at all of scientific plausibility. (If Q left any anyway...) And worst of all, across the various series it became so "commonplace" that it's a wonder that there was anything more than standing room left for all the time travellers from the future! I guess the counter argument is that there's no actor (and little storyline) "baggage" to worry about if they shift forward 150 years, and basically it *is* the still the "known universe" — just a later version of it. :-)

Your comment about "too much time travel" is a huge understatement. I always thought it was a risky plot line at best, and completely destroyed any pretence at all of scientific plausibility. (If Q left any anyway…)

And worst of all, across the various series it became so "commonplace" that it's a wonder that there was anything more than standing room left for all the time travellers from the future!

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