I grew up when the Original Series was in syndication. More often than not, it would be on after school ended. Either before supper, during supper, or after supper. During supper was a problem because supper was a time to be eating with the family and not eating in front of the television set. This was a period during which normally dads had 9-5 jobs, and moms were stay-at-home wives. And televisions didn’t exist in the dining room. I’m not sure how many of you reading can relate to this.

The television station had a show where the station manager would read letters sent in from viewers, and he would answer questions, too. More often than not, there would be a letter about Star Trek. This about guaranteed that I could expect Star Trek to be on year after year. To add some variety one year, the TV station actually split each episode into two half-hour cliffhanger episodes! (The episode Metamorphosis that introduced Zefram Cochrane, alone on a planet being taken care of by an incorporeal alien, will always seem to me to be a 2 part episode because of this.)

I don’t know how long it took before I eventually saw all the 78 or 79 episodes. This was a time before VCRs were household appliances. And before the Internet. I can’t remember which reference material I used, but I remember realizing that even after 5 or so odd years of random viewings of re-runs, there was one episode that I had yet to see. It was A Piece of the Action (this is the gangster episode). And I remember where I was when I eventually did see it.

Summer vacation. Oakville, Ontario, Canada. My parents were visiting old friends who owned a cafeteria type restaurant with Chinese take-out. My parents’ friends’ kids were not around. So I found myself eating fries with a Coke in a restaurant booth. There was a small television mounted on a nearby shelf. There weren’t any sit down customers. Some people walked in to pick up their take-out. I glanced at the television every once in a while, but nothing on kept my attention. Then I recognized a familiar strain of music.

The Original Series has the most recognizable music. Or maybe it’s because constant viewings have brought my inner being in tune with the themes. Just by listening, you could tell when there was danger, when an alien environment was being explored, when Kirk was sweet-talking a woman, when a fight was in progress, when the ship was flying through space…

It must have been some strange aligning of the planets. A Piece of the Action was on the television set! For the next hour, I was on the edge of my seat. Not because the episode was particularly suspenseful, but because at any time, my parents might say the words, “Time to go!” (Even though it’s a humorous episode, A Piece of the Action will always seem more tension-filled because of this.) Thankfully, the old friends had a lot of catching up to do, so I managed to see the whole episode there and then.

So I mention all this to relate some of the nostalgia that may play a large role in bringing people into the theatres this coming Christmas [err.. you mean, next May? — Sean]. How else does one explain why Star Trek: The Motion Picture had such a large box-office when everyone universally agreed that it was a bad film? It had been 10 years since Kirk and crew’s last adventure, although for most of the fans, this time span had probably been shorter.

(At the time, I remember a pretty girl, not known to be a Trekkie, telling me how much she enjoyed the film. I was dumbfounded. Maybe she was hitting on me. Nah!)

Maybe the Enterprise series failed because people wanted to see the familiar Kirk and crew, not a bunch of new characters. Earlier, recasting the roles seemed wrong but time has forced the realization that the original actors are too old, not to mention the death of Kelley and Doohan. (It might have been interesting to recast McCoy and Scotty with the original actors, though.)

The failure of Nemesis ended the TNG actors for the big-screen. And the subsequent series never had mainstream appeal, so bringing those characters to the big-screen is risky (witness Joss Whedon’s attempt with Firefly in Serenity). Some have suggested making a movie with all the series’ captains, or at least with a mixture of characters. Although I would enjoy any of these scenarios, perhaps Abrams made the right choice in making a Kirk and crew adventure.

Earlier today, I watched an episode of the Original Series using a television antenna. (I don’t have the Internet or even cable television at home.) It had the revamped visual FX. Changing the Changeling’s energy pulse from blue to green with a water rippling effect didn’t seem like much of an improvement, though. And the faulty TV reception was a bit annoying. But seeing Kirk’s reaction after the Changeling indicates that it can bring Scotty back to life… yes, perhaps Abrams made the right choice.