IDIC

All the new enthusiasm for my oldest fandom makes me feel rather mushy, paradoxically because rather than inspite of the fact there are also "there is only one Star Trek, starring Shatner & Co." purists. Because you see, I remember the TNG days. Back then, A second Star Trek show? Without a Vulcan in sight? No Kirk? A Klingon on the bridge? Clearly, that couldn't be Star Trek at all. To be fair, given that TNG's first season was very shaky and the pilot still makes me cringe, I think they lucked out that there were no other space show on screen just then, so the scepticism from the purists wasn't without foundation. On the other hand, the first season did also have some good episodes, the actors and characters clearly had potential, and with the second season (hi, Borg - aka villains completely unlike anything TOS had offered! Hello, Measure-of-a-Man aka Ethical Debate Shows!), it found its footing. By the time the third season cliffhanger - Best of Both Worlds I came long, the Star Trek fans insisting that there could be only one Star Trek show, starring the original crew, forever and ever had gone from being the majority to being the minority. By the time TNG was in its fifth season, it was blamed for the poor box office of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, because, quoth the media, evidently the fandom preferred watching Picard & Co. on the small screen to Kirk & Co. on the big screen. There was teeth grinding with the movie-producing crowd, while the TV producers felt confident enough to announce they'd launch another spin-off which, gasp, would not feature the Enterprise at all, nor would it be set on another space ship, but would take place on a space station.

Actually, they should have blamed the dumb script of STV for its failure, but hey. My point is: a twenty years old fandom was given an overhaul, new blood, and a lot of new talent, both on screen and off. This didn't take anything away from the original, but made the STverse richer and more interesting. It was a great time to be an ST fan. And now we've come full circle again. 40 years, just revitalized and still going strong: that's Star Trek, your grandmothers, your mothers, and now yours.

New fanfiction:

The Helmsman: great Sulu portrait, and through his eyes of the crew as well.

and what would you change if you could: Old Spock, at the end of the movie. Heartbreaking in the best way.