Comments on: More Star Trek ‘Mistakes’

By: Trekcast | The Star Trek Podcast

Trekcast | The Star Trek Podcast — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:00:16 +0000

[...] Jerad Formby, we talk about his weekly blog and why have the aliens in Star Trek changed their looks and beliefs so many times over the years. On this weeks topic we discuss Star Trek as a job and how much do we [...]

By: De

De — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:50:59 +0000

What astonishes me about the current state of fandom (at least the most vocal I’ve encountered) is that they’ll bend over backwards to explain things in TOS and TNG (and to a lesser extent, DS9) but refuse to make those same allowances for Voyager and Enterprise.

By: GeneralGrin

GeneralGrin — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 07:38:49 +0000

check out part 3 and 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Q-pFlzung

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy_-TklmyYE

By: Bernd

Bernd — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:07:44 +0000

I think you are right. Anthony does an admirable job to keep this place running and to preserve a pleasant atmosphere. Personally I wouldn’t have posted fun videos among news items, but then again the concept is successful.

By: 4 8 15 16 23 42

4 8 15 16 23 42 — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:33:02 +0000

Bernd Schneider — I think these clips are useful as “comic relief” on a site where all too often emotions escalate. I really don’t think there is an underlying normative message coming from the management of this site, or at least not a hugely serious one.

By: neo

neo — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:58:51 +0000

perhaps a different clip would be better to show the contrast in vulcan strength. if i recal correctly, the man archer is shown fighting in the video is a romulan.

By: Bernd Schneider

Bernd Schneider — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:26:26 +0000

Anthony,

I have watched the second video by now. While I don’t agree that everything in it is a “mistake” as the title says, it is exactly the kind of stuff I care about at EAS, so how could I complain about its content. I enjoyed it!

Well, I still don’t think that placing the video somewhere between “Quinto says it will be great” and “Abrams promises to respect continuity” is the best choice. But I certainly respect your concept of the site and I appreciate the great work you are doing here.

As I AM THX-1138 put it, it lies in the nature of a long running TV show that it frequently contradicts itself. Right, some people need to be reminded that there are loads of previous continuity problems. But there is a huge difference between accidental errors that occur because authors were not aware of some facts on one hand and the deliberate alteration of history on the other hand. Some other people need to be reminded that Star Trek is not The Simpsons, King Kong, Batman or even BSG. Continuity is one of Star Trek’s principal virtues that has been basically upheld since its inception — it is impossible to re-invent or re-imagine it.

Once you (as a producer) lower the bar, for instance by having all kinds of stuff redesigned that should have remained the same, continuity will inevitably run out of control (entropy). This is particularly clear when your movie revisits a time whose characters, technology and events are so well known as in TOS. It may sound trivial, but small errors that would not matter a lot as long they remain isolated (like unexplained changes of uniforms, an actor who is replaced, improved ship models and effects), will accumulate. That’s what I’m worried about. If really everything is designed to look a bit different, I may not be able to accept it as being the same universe.

By: I AM THX-1138

I AM THX-1138 — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:23:20 +0000

Well put, Anthony. Plus, too, what’s more, is that Trek on TV is about a gazillion hours long, it’s bound to conflict with itself somewhere.

TV show, folks.
Funny youtube clips.
The out-takes aren’t canon either.
Breathing now, all better.

By: Anthony Pascale

Anthony Pascale — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 23:39:51 +0000

Bernd,

thanks for dropping by and as we have discussed before, I am a fan of your site as well. Just to be clear, this site is more than just a news site…it is a star trek site. Posting new amusing videos has always been part of this site. No they arent ‘news’, but I thought they were well made and people seem to enjoy them.

Don’t read too much into it

But for the record. I do have opinions and have expressed them here regarding canon and continuity. I think they are important, but not of paramount importance. I am flexible. I really do not think a fun video is going to effect the film one way or another. But I do think people forget that Star Trek has always had a flexible continuity…and that is OK.

By: Bernd

Bernd — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 23:30:53 +0000

#64 LOYAL STAR TREK FAN
I think we agree on the essential points regarding continuity as a concept of quality , only with different emphasis. Certainly it is no way to deal with continuity issues like “If the ship doesn’t look right then I boycott the whole series” or “I disregard Voyager and Enterprise because it is full of crap”.

Well, I don’t agree that Trek fans who kept criticizing Enterprise ruined the series though (They were such a small minority that B&B didn’t bother listening to anyway). On the contrary, at latest with the fourth season and a new producer the series was developed to what many long-time fans had expected it to be from day one. Manny Coto finally listened to the fans.

I hope that Abrams does the same, and that he doesn’t see it as a mere chance for cheap “name-dropping continuity” (”Hey we have all the old crew on board, plus Pike, so why do you complain?”). Also, I hope that he doesn’t think that if they get some basic facts right they can “afford” to turn the ship into something like Gabriel Köerner’s Battlestar Enterprise. Continuity is a quality that a Trek producer or writer must embrace, or Star Trek will become another run-of-the-mill space flick.