Comments on: TNG@20 – Reading Rainbow Goes Behind The Scenes

By: portland182

portland182 — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:41:03 +0000

2 things struck me about the video…

1 If the SFX supervisor is editing the show, what’s the editor doing?

2 Linear tape editing was a royal pain in the posterior, I was surprised the show wasn’t using non linear editing systems (which WERE available then), and it’s amazing the shows turned out as well as they did being edited that way.

Jim

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 18:15:42 +0000

“There will be no more belittling or attacking of fans of any series. This is a star trek site and we are all star trek fans. Many of the people here have made this place feel unwelcome to non TOS fans. Next time I see someone do that they will be banned…no warning. ”

Hear, hear! I’ve been really discouraged by all the post-TOS flaming going on here…good to see you’re finally trying to get it under control.

Long live Anthony! Long live Star Trek!

By: JPH

JPH — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 10:30:16 +0000

Watch these through to the end and note who the director of “Reading Rainbow” was… Yup, way back then it was Dean Parisot. As in the same Dean Parisot who would go on to direct everyone’s favorite Star Trek spook, Galaxy Quest, in 1999.

Weird how these things come full circle.

By: trektacular

trektacular — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 07:56:10 +0000

#62
I think the reason everyone lumps Trek together (especially shows after TNG) is because all the behind the scenes people had worked on TNG.
Don’t know if this is exactly the same for the CSI shows.

By: El_Nastro

El_Nastro — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 05:43:08 +0000

I love the way Burton delivered his lines in Reading Rainbow…It’s especially awesome how occasionally in TNG he relapsed into his Rainbow mode and talked like he was teaching little kids how to read.

By: Crusade2267

Crusade2267 — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 03:37:12 +0000

#59
“The Doctor always got a laugh from me in the comedic episodes and even touched my heart in some of his more tender moments.”

“Critical Care” was always one of my favorite Trek eps of all time. That moment when the Doc realizes that he really wanted to poison the hospital administrator was really powerful.

By: jonboc

jonboc — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 03:22:32 +0000

I, personally, regret how so many, like to lump all the Trek eggs, into one big happy basket called “Star Trek”. Despite the dramatic differences, I understand it’s trendy and convenient and people won’t stop referring to it all as “Star Trek” just because I don’t like the practice. But do these same people refer to CSI: Miami as CSI? Or CSI: New York as CSI? When discussing “The GIrl from UNCLE”, do you refer to it as “The Man from UNCLE”? It’s almost insulting to the original shows. The actual show that was created with a given name should keep that identity and not be stirred into a kettle full of other shows that are so vastly different. It’s a dis-service to all those who worked on the originals. And vice versa. If the cast and crew of Star Trek: Voyager deliver a knock-out episode…why should it be labeled as a great episode of STar Trek? IT really shouldn’t. No more than Caruso in CSI: Miami should be given credit for the exemplory work of the cast and crew of the original CSI. But the practice will continue to happen because there is so much in the Trek universe that it simplifies things. It’s a shame, really. After 5 shows and literally hundreds of episodes, they all tend to blur together as “Star Trek”. And they really shouldn’t as each show is unique in it’s own way.

By: Magic_Al

Magic_Al — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 01:30:56 +0000

These behind-the-scene videos are instructive because all the work you see in clips 2 and 3 is what would have to be redone for TNG to be remastered in HD. Mind-boggling.

It was great Burton and Paramount cooperated on this Reading Rainbow episode and made it so great. Note in clip one LeVar talks over the turbolift doors sliding and the actual wood-scraping sound is replaced with the sound effect, which means LeVar had to loop that dialog. It was just as much work as doing a Star Trek scene.

By: Anthony Pascale

Anthony Pascale — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 00:53:18 +0000

there is nothing embarassing about being a VOY fan. I like many episodes of VOY…like Year of Hell. my issues with VOY is that it had a great premise that it never fulfilled. In a way Year of Hell is a great example. Originally that was prposoed as a year long arc…great idea! but that was considered ‘too edgy’ and of course serialized shows would never work on TV (um X Files, Lost, Alias, Heroes, etc). I have always thought that DS9 had a lame premise that it turned into gold, and that VOY had a great premise (ship alone against adversity, conflict within the crew, etc) that it never fully utilized. That being said I agree that 7of9 was a good character well played by Jeri Ryan (albeit a character that was as overused as Wesley saving the day waaay too often). Picardo was great…the Chaotica stuff was fun. I have to admit it is my least favorite Trek but I dont hate it….and it is welcome here on Trekmovie.com…hopefully there will be more stuff to cover related to it

By: Voyager Fan

Voyager Fan — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 00:42:04 +0000

I guess I now feel emboldened enough to reveal the fact that I am a Voyager fan and find the constant Voyager bashing on this site to be a rather tedious.

Was it the best Trek series? Nah
Did it live up to it’s potential? No.
Was it the useless pile of poo that a lot of people seem to think it was? Definitely Not!

I guess I’m in the minority thinking that 7 of 9 was a a wonderfully complex character with a fascinating array of possibilities, and much more than a babe in a catsuit. Jeri Ryan played her to the hilt

I found Janeway to be a fascinating character, and much more in the vein of a “Kirk type” intrepid explorer than Picard. (and don’t get me wrong I LOVE TOS and TNG) She was tough when she needed to be, but not afraid to be vulnerable sometimes. I remember being especially moved at the end of “Prime Factors” When she confronted Tuvok after he betrayed her trust, telling him “you are my conscience.”

The Doctor always got a laugh from me in the comedic episodes and even touched my heart in some of his more tender moments.

There were some fascinating aliens (The Vidiians, the Hirogen)
and some not so fascinating (any alien of the week that had a couple of random ridges taped to his forehead.)

People complain about the re-set button episodes, like Year of Hell, but I’m inclined to give Voyager a break here. We see the crew struggling to survive in the most dire of circumstances, with the ship in pieces and Janeway’s heroic and dogged determination to keep going. GREAT drama here. Would it have been cool to see the crew forced to live with their circumstances while rebuilding the ship over the course of a few months or even years? sure! But in the end we all know that studio meddling more than anything else had more to do with bringing everything back to the status quo in time for next week’s episode.

Yes, it would have been great to see the Maquis/Starfleet tensions last longer.

Yes, sometimes the Borg were too wimpy.

Yes some episodes had an illogical premise with plot holes you could drive a truck through.

But dang it I just can’t bring myself to hate this series.

I’ve been re-watching the episodes on DVD, so maybe that’s coloring my judgment. But Like it or not, Voyager is a piece of Star Trek history, and I for one am glad it is.

There! I feel better.