Reading: Forgotten Gems From the Twilight Zone
Music: NPR
TV/Movie: The Pope of Greenwich Village
Link o' the Day: fan website for Star Trek: The Animated Series



Picking Up the Ogre's Pick is a new weekly feature here at "ye old blog" spotlighting something that's kinda cool--but you know--cool in my particularly geek-ridden world. Might be a movie, a TV show. A book, magazine, or even food.

Why? Because there's a lot of neat stuff out there to share, and your life should be as good as mine.

Why am I calling this "The Ogre's Pick"? Do I have self-esteem issues? Good lord, you don't know me very well, do you? Actually, the name just struck me last night when I ran across an old gaming book whilst looking for my old copy of MythAdventures. There was an ogre with a pick, and hey... what did you think I'd call this new feature? Something Cool This Way Comes? (That was almost the name, but I think I use the word "cool" to describe things too much. It's a regional quirk, I think, but that's still no excuse.

Moving on...



This Wednesday, we're looking at Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Why? Well, for one thing--after years of being available at around $40 it is now available many places for as little as $15. That's 22 TV episodes, plus extras in a nice sturdy case...fifteen dollars. What's not to like?

But better than the price are the episodes themselves. I watched the series once when I was a kid but I think I was too young at the time to really appreciate it. Small wonder. While the show did get a daytime Emmy for best children's show, it's really more a show for the older Star Trek fan. The storylines are surprisingly mature, and the scripts are pretty intelligent when compared to some of the original series scripts. There are applications of the science of the Star Trek universe that are both creative and reasonable, and the writers have taken advantage of the lift on budgetary restrictions when bringing you to "strange new worlds" and seeking out "new life, and new civilizations." Many of the writers for the animated series also wrote for the original series, like David Gerrold and DC Fontana, but they also have folks like Larry Niven (who brings in his Kzinti) and Walter Koenig.



Yes, the animation leaves a bit to be desired. There's a lot of use of matte shots and stock footage. Every now and then you'll see a small animation error, but the music is good and the voice acting is decent. For me, the star of the show is the writing.

Other folks might disagree. For them, the stars of the show are...well, the stars of the show. Yes, those are all the original cast providing the voices with the exception of Walter Koenig who got budgeted out of the voice cast. Jimmy Doohan does Scotty in addition to a lot of the other male voices, while Nichelle Nichols and Majel Barrett fill in extra female voices. I can't say this was perfect. Doohan's version of Checkov's Edosian replacement, Arex just sounds like Doohan with indigestion, and the Caitian character M'Ress is just annoying when she ends every statement with what's probably supposed to be a sexy purr.



Other than that, tho, it's thumbs up to the crew. They did a good job bringing the sensawunda of the original series to the animated medium. And kudos to the Great Bird of the Galaxy, Gene Roddenberry himself for keeping the vision of the series intact and not devolving into mere kiddy-fare. He's one of those very few who understood the fans--what they'd want and what would piss them off to no end. Here that, Lucas?

The bring things to the future, he would have heartily approved of the recent Star Trek movie.

And that's The Ogre's Pick.

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In keeping with the above pick, today's link of the day goes to a fan website for Star Trek: The Animated Series. Studio execs are loosening up when it comes to fan sites, and it's good to see the fans taking thgns into their own hands. It's a pretty comprehensive site with lots of info and other goodies. Don't forget to look for info on Starship Farragut: The Animated Episodes.

Cheers!