Friday, January 30, 2009

Monday, January 26, 2009

Season One Lists and Rankings

J.R.'s crew members:

Least favorite: Wesley Crusher
Favorite: Dr. Beverly Crusher
Honorable mentions: Riker and Worf

Jon's crew listing from worst to best:

9. Wesley Crusher
8. Dr. Beverly Crusher
7. Lt. Tasha Yar
6. Lt. Geordi La Forge
5. Captain Jean-Luc Picard
4. Lt. Commander Data
3. Lt. Worf
2. Counselor Deanna Troi
1. Commander William Riker

J.R.'s least favorite episodes:

23. "Naked Now"
24. "When the Bough Breaks"
25. "Symbiosis"

Jon's least favorite episodes:

23. "Encounter at Farpoint"
24. "Too Short a Season"
25. "Symbiosis"

J.R.'s favorites:

3. "The Big Goodbye"
2. "Conspiracy"
1. "Heart of Glory"

Jon's favorites:

3. "Heart of Glory
2. "Skin of Evil"
1. "The Big Goodbye"
Honorable mentions: "Conspiracy," "Angel One," "Justice"

J.R.'s guest stars:

Favorites: DeForest Kelley in "Encounter at Farpoint," Vincent Schiavelli in "The Arsenal of Freedom"
Least favorite: Majel Barrett (tentatively) in "Haven"

Jon's guest stars:

Favorite: Michelle Phillips in "We'll Always Have Paris"
Least favorite: Clayton Rohner in "Too Short a Season"

Jon's villains:

Favorite: Armus
Least favorite: drugs

J.R.'s villains:

Favorite: Beatta
Least favorite: drugs

J.R.'s gadgets:

Worst: Geordi's visor
Best: holodeck

Jon's gadgets:

Worst: saucer separation
Best: the self bettering gadgets from "The Arsenal of Freedom"

Jon's planets:

Favorite: Rubicun III
Least Favorite: Vagra II

J.R.'s planets:

Favorite: Rubicun III, Angel I
Least Favorite: Vagra II

Podcast 23: We Have Romulans... Again


Here it is, the TNG end of season one spectacular! J.R. was pretty sick, so Jon did most of the talking (at least that's his excuse). Listen to the whole podcast to find out which planet from TNG we'd most like to visit.

Podcast breakdown:

0:00 -- Beginning whatevers
11:22 -- "We'll Always Have Paris"
19:18 -- "Conspiracy"
35:47 -- "The Neutral Zone"
53:50 -- Episode rankings
54:57 -- Jon's term report on The Prime Directive
59:47 -- First season lists and rankings
1.22:19 -- Wrap up and whatever end stuff

Jon's rankings:

3. "The Neutral Zone"
2. "We'll Always Have Paris"
1. "Conspiracy"

J.R.'s rankings:

3. "We'll Always Have Paris"
2. "The Neutral Zone"
1. "Conspiracy"

Check the blog for the season rankings.

Remember to rate and comment on iTunes!

This podcast is dedicated in loving memory to Mama Cass (1941-1974).

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Saturday, January 24, 2009

buh-bye tasha!

Here's the video we promised showing Tasha Yar waving goodbye in the episode before she got totally tarred (henceforth known as "yarred")


Sunday, January 18, 2009

Podcast 22: Sayonara In the Tar Tasha Yar!

Whoa! Didn't see that coming! At least those of us who haven't seen Star Trek didn't see that coming -- which is probably just one person (J.R.). The endurance of TNG season one is in its twilight. Even though these beginnings of TNG are, for the most part, a bit weak; we do discuss many risky positives. We had the death, the out of place foreshadowing episode and also the Wesley failing.

BTW, sorry about the lateness of this. Sure, we recorded this one a week ago and it's just going online now, but... well, no excuse. Hey! It gives you more of an excuse to listen live!

If you're curious about that AC/DC Star Trek parody we played in the middle of the podcast, you can download it (as well as a bunch more Star Trek parody songs) here:

http://www.christrocks.com/parody/

So go there even though the guy totally pimps out a different Star Trek podcast. Hopefully he's not pissed that we used his song without permission.

Remember to rate us and review us on iTunes (positively)! Keep the emails coming in: jrwatchesstartrek@gmail.com.

Podcast breakdown

00:00 -- Opening B.S.
08:40 -- "When the Bough Breaks"
16:55 -- "Home Soil"
23:50 -- "Coming of Age"
36:02 -- "Heart of Glory"
47:34 -- Interlude: "TNG" by Rick Moyer
49:00 -- "The Arsenal of Freedom"
1.01:14 -- "Symbiosis"
1.09:22 -- "Skin of Evil"
1.22:32 -- "Awards, rankings and all that other stuff at the end"

J.R.'s Rankings

7. "When the Bough Breaks"
6. "Home Soil"
5. "Symbiosis"
4. Coming of Age"
3. "Arsenal of Freedom"
2. "Skin of Evil"
1. "Heart of Glory

Jon's Rankings

7: "When the Bough Breaks"
6. "Symbiosis"
5. "Arsenal of Freedom"
4. "Coming of Age"
3. "Home Soil"
2. "Heart of Glory"
1. "Skin of Evil"

This podcast is dedicated in loving memory to Ricardo Montalban (1920-2009) and Denise Crosby's Star Trek career (1987-1988).

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Thursday, January 15, 2009

Ricardo Montalban (1920-2009)

I just heard a few hours ago that Ricardo Montalban passed away in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

His cause of death is currently unknown, but the guy was 88 years old. Certainly he died with the dignity that is most fitting a man who nearly bested Captain Kirk. Montalban's wife died in 2007. According to IMdB, they were married for 63 years.

It doesn't need to be mentioned here, but obviously Montalban's great role in Star Trek was playing Khan Noonien Singh in the original series episode "Space Seed" as well as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. "Space Seed" was an undeniable shining star among the strong lineup which was the first season of the original series. Although the character is quite over the top, Montalban's charisma elevated beyond the camp Star Trek. His turn in the second Star Trek movie as the same character may have been the single biggest factor to enable Star Trek II to unofficially be considered the greatest Star Trek movie so far. Plus Nicholas Meyer said it really is Montalban's real chest.

This blog and podcast also heartily endorse many of Montalban's other roles: most notably as Armando in Escape from the Planet of the Apes and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes as well as the awesome villain Vincent Ludwig in The Naked Gun.

Personally, I remember seeing Star Trek II in the the theater as a young boy. All I knew about Montalban was that he played the kind, polite Mr. Roarke in Fantasy Island; which I saw pieces of on television at the time. When I saw the genial Mr. Roarke transformed into the lunatic that was Khan on the big screen I was scared out of my mind.

In a recent email, Tim (one of the podcast listeners) opened with a long "KHHHHAAAAAAAANNnnnnnnn!" He then said sorry because "we're probably tired of hearing that." Well, actually, no. Never. We'll never get tired of "KHHHHAAAAAANNnnnn!" So feel free to keep saying it.

Rest in peace Ricky.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Podcast 21: Some Evil Twins Don't Have Beards


Things are looking better! We were able to cruise through eight first season episodes. We got lots of evil twins, lots of chicks and lots of chick flicky episodes! Plus we got the added bonus of lots of listener help.

Podcast breakdown:

00:00 -- Beginning stuff
06:37 -- "The Battle"
16:52 -- "Hide and Q"
30:14 -- "Haven"
38:17 -- "The Big Goodbye"
56:49 -- "Datalore"
1.08:36 -- "Angel One"
1.17:56 -- "11001001"
1.26:16 -- "Too Short a Season"
1.34:26 -- Awards, rankings and ending stuff

Jon's rankings

8. "Too Short a Season"
7. "Haven"
6. "The Battle"
5. "11001001"
4. "Datalore"
3. "Hide and Q"
2. "Angel One"
1. "The Big Goodbye"

J.R.'s rankings

8. "Too Short a Season"
7. "Haven"
6. "The Battle"
5. "Hide and Q"
4. "11001001"
3. "Datalore"
2. "Angel One"
1. "The Big Goodbye"

This podcast is dedicated in loving memory to Majel Barrett Roddenberry (1932-2008).

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