Masterpiece Science-Fiction Theater

In this episode:  This is an audio version of my essay, The Enterprise is not a White Space: why minority representation on Star Trek was so radical and risky in the 1960s.   Much of American society, including genre TV and film, has historically been cordoned off into white spaces, which is a term coined by … Continue reading "StarTrek01.34–Post Season 1 Analysis Part 3: Diversity and Inclusivity"

The original Star Trek is known for its themes, how each adventure comes wrapped in its own unique and thought-provoking message. In over fifty years of cast interviews, documentaries, and retrospectives these themes have been reduced to shorthand: optimism; tolerance; peace; the human adventure. As we teach students in English class, words like that are … Continue reading "The Themes of Star Trek Season One | Part 1 – The Human Condition"

When Star Trek's first regular episode after the pilot was in pre-production, the director Joseph Sargent noticed a glaring problem. All of the seats that ringed the futuristic bridge of the Enterprise, including the communications chair, were to be filled with white, male actors. Sargent reflexively felt it was wrong that Black people should not … Continue reading "The Enterprise is not a White Space: why minority representation on Star Trek was so radical and risky in the 1960s"

In this episode: A complete analysis of World Building in Season One of Star Trek The Original Series: A Survey of all strange new worlds (30) and all new life forms and civilizations (25) A breakdown of categories for each, from barren desolate planets to advanced ones, and primitive aliens to evolved non-corporeals  The State … Continue reading "StarTrek 01.33–Post Season 1 Analysis Part 2: World Building"

In this episode: The first part of our post-season 1 analysis of Star Trek: The Original Series, with a focus on trends in narrative structure. Antagonist Type: There are more monster episodes than you might think, but the monsters and the villains are depicted in unconventional ways. Monster: 11/28 (39.2%) Villain: 9/28 (32.1%) Computer: 4/28 … Continue reading "Star Trek 01.32–Post-Season 1 Analysis Part 1: Narrative Structure"

In this episode: an analysis of “Operation: Annihilate!” the last aired episode of Season One of Star Trek a fitting season finale (even though 60s TV did not really do those as we understand them) because it has a grand scale and important character development for all three leads–Kirk, Spock and McCoy–which is unusual a … Continue reading "StarTrek 01.31–Operation: Annihilate!"

In this episode:  An analysis of The City on the Edge of Forever: How the episode still lives up to the hype five decades later Edith Keillor voices Star Trek’s Mission Statement, and is a stand in for all Star Trek fans A comparison with Ellison’s script–the good, the bad and the ugly–especially Keillor, whom … Continue reading "StarTrek01.30–The City on the Edge of Forever"

In this episode: An analysis of Errand of Mercy. The origins of the Klingon culture–hint: another Vietnam-era analogy. The Klingon look–not just swarthy villain stereotypes NOTE: I did not address connections to Star Trek: Discovery in the podcast, due to time. But I have included quotes from the episode that speak how Kirk viewed the … Continue reading "StarTrek01.29–Errand of Mercy"

In this episode: A literary analysis of The Devil in the Dark Everyone’s favorite silicone-based lifefrom, the Horta Roddenberry and his producers believed this episode provided Stark Trek with its organizing thesis about how to treat aliens and “the other” and the show, but I argue this thesis was marbled through the first season back … Continue reading "StarTrek01.28–The Devil in the Dark"

My initial throughs on Discovery’s second season premier, “Brother.” New and old characters on a new adventure. I also share some musings about where I think the season is headed thematically: the clash between secular society and religious faith. It may prove to be more controversial than a new Spock or the colors of the … Continue reading "Discovery005-Brother"

In this episode: This Side of Paradise a heavy sci-fi episode by TOS standards the third episode by Trek’s best woman writer, DC Fontana a counterpart to The Naked Time with strong Kirk and Spock character development A return to a major TOS theme: Life’s a bitch and you like it that way (ok, the … Continue reading "StarTrek01.27–This Side of Paradise"

In this episode: “A Taste of Armageddon” Another rare pure science-fiction Star Trek episode: a 500 year war waged by computers. While the Federation was first mentioned in “Arena” this episode is first to mention the full name: United Federation of Planets The message is not explicitly anti-war, but that if you are going to … Continue reading "StarTrek01.26–A Taste of Armageddon"

Space Seed: an episode that is not as good, and more problematic (#MeToo) than I remember it. Still a classic, but not a masterpiece. Excellent sci-fi elements: Most extreme and detailed “future history” Trek has ever attempted: Mid 1990s Eugenics Wars; a dictator from Northern India region (possibly a Sheikh), leading a band of genetic … Continue reading "StarTrek01.25–Space Seed"

In this episode, an analysis of the third quarter of Season 1 of Star Trek, where we cover the following episodes: The Menagerie Parts I and II Shore Leave The Squire of Gothos Arena The Alternative Factor Tomorrow is Yesterday The Return of the Archons We discuss narrative structure; science-fiction and technobabble elements; world building, … Continue reading "StarTrek01.24–Third Quarter Analysis"

In this podcast: The Return of the Archons One of Season One’s more science-fiction-y episodes, with many great Trekian themes Kirk talks a computer into frying its own circuits–not for the first or last time! One of Roddenberry’s top 10 episodes (of course he wrote it).

In this podcast: The Star Trek franchise’s very first time-travel romp; sets the precedent for Trek’s mix of time travel and fish-out-of-water comedy; thoughts on why TOS’s long lasting narrative tropes need to be retired in the era of Star Trek: Discovery.

In this episode: The Alternative Factor, Star Trek’s first W.T.F episode. The plot is a mess, but it did give us one of TOS’s few strong female black guest roles, and that classic closing line… What of Lazarus…?

In this podcast: Revisiting Season 8 of the X-Files, how Mulder was abducted and returned, then killed off and resurrected; how the mythology can convey great drama and pathos, but the ultimate end points and explanations ring hollow in late seasons.

In this podcast, a discussion of the narrative structure of the first half of season one. Serialized Frame with Stand Alone Episodes 1-2: Premier (Prologue) 3-5: Ripper Arc 6-8: Stand Alone Arc 9: Fall Finale (Chapter 1 Conclusion) Pacing Every episode has that fast-paced, must-defuse-the-bomb-in time segment: Pacing (ticking clock) Moral Decision Point Premier 1 … Continue reading "004) Star Trek Discovery – Plot Contrivances or “is that all there is?”"

In this podcast: An analysis of “Arena” with strong elements of science-fiction, theme, and world building (including the first mention of the Federation and Photon Torpedoes). Plus a major Star Trek: Discovery easter egg: how to watch “Arena” as a companion piece to Discovery’s two-part premier.   

In this podcast, my “not a fan, not not a fan” cohost Vince and I discuss the first three episodes of Discovery: Burnham’s No-Win Scenario Our hopes and predictions Vince’s impressive knowledge of Lord of the Ring and Harry Potter trivia

In this episode: A literary analysis of The Squire of Gothos, from Vietnam analogies to connections to Q. Two Star Trek: Discovery easter eggs the writers snuck into TOS 50 years before Discovery was created. Really.   

In this podcast: An analysis of “Shore Leave.”

In this podcast: An analysis of TOS’s only two parter, “The Menagerie.” Why Star Trek’s first, rejected pilot “The Cage” was resurrected in this episode. How much of the world building, diversity and inclusivity, and thematic elements that became the hallmark of the series were evident in “The Cage.”

In this podcast: We perform a mid-season analysis of the first season of Star Trek . 2nd Quarter Trends: no technobabble; world building is fleshed out with Starfleet Command; strong roles for women and people of color; dominant theme of humanism being superior to technology. Overall, a weaker batch of episodes than the first quarter … Continue reading "16) Star Trek Season 1: Mid-Season Analysis"

In this podcast: Justin introduces his co-host for the Discovery series: Vincent Marigna, who happens to be his husband, and who offers a unique perspective by being “not a fan, but not a hater either.” We discuss our visit to the Original Series sets of Trekonderoga and meeting Nichelle Nichols with our daughter, and our … Continue reading "DISCOVERY 002: Not a Fan, Not Not a Fan"

In this podcast: Kirk goes on trial and we meet Samuel T Cogley, attorney at law. In some stirring monologues, Star Trek firmly establishes itself as a sci-fi show that values the human over technology. A strong diversity episode with a black Commodore who dresses down Kirk, and a strong woman who prosecutes him.  

In this podcast: A very 60s episode about how a powerful military can’t squash a more primitive enemy, and a black man goes toe-to-toe with a white superior officer without it being about race–yeah, this episode has nothing to say to 2017.

In this episode: Star Trek does Shakespeare for the first but by no means the last time. Kirk continues his habit of seducing women to get close to a criminal mastermind–this time with another TOS sexist female stereotype character. And she hides a phaser on overload in the most easily foiled murder plot ever.

In this podcast: Another case of the producers hammering home the idea that Star Trek should not  be be written as straight Science-Fiction An exploration about how this episode used the parallel Earth trope, and how future Trek writers tried to explain/retcon its use for Miri’s World A takedown of the episode’s premise: 300 year … Continue reading "ST01 012: Miri"

In this podcast: A fascinating window into the producers’ views on how to avoid technobabble and other science-fiction cliches The first episode that depicts Kirk as a cad, and not just because he kisses a sexy android Another average episode about a mad scientist who lacks clear motivation for his dastardly deeds–didn’t this happen in … Continue reading "ST01 011: Dagger of the Mind"

In this episode: Why this TOS episode earns its reputation as one of the most disappointing–it could have been great but unravels in the last act. Poor Nurse Chapel–why she is not well loved, even by the actress who played her. But it can’t be all bad when you have a dead alien race called … Continue reading "ST01 010: What are little girls made of?"

In this episode we discuss: Why this classic is good but by no means perfect Roddenberry’s explanation of why NOT to use technobabble and HOW to avoid it More world building: still no mention of Starfleet or a Federation More on Kirk’s inner conflict and how it explains his deep friendship with Spock Oh, and … Continue reading "ST01 009: Balance of Terror"

In this episode of Masterpiece Science-Fiction Theater we look at the narrative trends over the first 7 episodes of Star Trek. Listen for the analysis, but you can see some of the tabulations below: Narrative Structure Antagonist Type Monster Episode: a non-human, mysterious antagonist puts the ship and/or crew in danger     Where No … Continue reading "ST01 008: 1st Quarter Analysis"

In this podcast episode I discuss my big take aways from the first Discovery trailer. If you have not see it yet, here is the link to Trekmovie’s screen cap breakdown. Also, if you have not read my piece on the implications of Sonequa Martin-Green’s Commander Burnham being the lead character but NOT the captain, … Continue reading "DSC 001: The First Discovery Trailer"

In this episode: A return to the Trekian theme of absolute power corrupting absolutely, this time with a hormonal teen Some interesting world-building tidbits: our first non-Enterprise Earth ship Discussion of the studio conflict with Roddenberry over ship-board versus planet-based stories (Spoiler Alert: Roddenberry won) The first Trek episode written by a woman: D.C. Fontana

In this Episode: An explanation of why Spock became the most iconic Trek character Why this episode is the one of the most consequential episodes of the Trek franchise How Spock invented time travel, and how Star Trek might have become Time Trek Kirk, Spock and Queer Theory–because why not?

In this episode: Boy oh boy, the critics really did not like this first episode of Star Trek to premier on TV Uhura gets a great few scenes–is her fourth episode the highlight of her character’s career? We look at the the conflict between the original writer and Roddenberry’s re-writes, and how it resulted in … Continue reading "ST01 005: The Man Trap"

In this episode: It took only four episodes for a transporter accident to happen–and I thought it was the safest way to travel How “The Enemy Within” is an improvement on its literary forbearer Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde The first show written by an established sci-fi author, Richard Matheson, and it shows: a deep, … Continue reading "ST1 004: The Enemy Within"

In this episode: Mudd’s Women: some fans love it, others wish they could forget it Justin discusses the show’s feminist strengths (yes, there are some) and problems A historical mini-lesson on “wiving settlers” and mail-order brides The world-building that Mudd’s Women contributes to the series cannot be ignored A Star Trek: Discover update–implications for Mudd’s … Continue reading "ST1 003: Mudd’s Women"

In this episode: The Corbomite Maneuver: how Trek self-parodied its technobabble decades before technobabble became something to parody The introduction of Uhura and Yeoman Rand Discussion of how people of color are represented on Star Trek versus other sci-fi franchises Interesting facts about how much the Trek actors were paid

In this episode: Justin explains the four literary elements he will us to analyze the first season of Star Trek The Original Series: Narrative Tension; World Building; Diversity & Inclusivity; The Message Discussion of how the Star Trek Universe was first introduced to viewers A feminist defense of Trek’s first female lead character, Dr. Dehner The first … Continue reading "ST1 001: Where No Man Has Gone Before"