Watch Star Trek

My birthday was last month, and my brother got me the complete series of Star Trek, the original series. This series was my introduction to science fiction as a kid. I LOVED the adventures of the star ship Enterprise and her crew. I remember when, in 1969, they changed the time slot to 9pm. It was horrible! That was bed time! I cleverly stood out in the hall watching the television, out of sight of my parents, and would run down the hall and dive into my bed so I could answer "yes!" when they called out, "are you in bed?" I just knew I had been subtle, silent, and undetected.

Fortunately syndication brought Captain Kirk and the rest of the crew back into my life and I could watch each adventure time and again on the little black and white set I had in my bedroom by that time. I would get so excited if it was an episode I hadn't seen yet. I would practice being stunned by a phaser. OK, be fair... I've already mentioned I'm a geek.

Now, of course acting styles have changed, special effects have changed, and ensemble casts are much more common. Star Trek as an idea for a television show has come and gone and come and gone... and come... and gone. Multi-racial casts are not as ground breaking today as they were in the sixties. Doors that open when you walk up to them are taken for granted. I still want my cell phone to chirp when I flip it open, though, and I would love to hear Uhura's voice on it. "Enterprise here."

So, this summer, among the many cleaning and organizing and sewing projects and kid activities that I am planning, I am also planning on enjoying Star Trek. On disk. Without commercials, or edited for more commercials. I'll get a kick out of the overly dramatic acting, and the ripped shirts and "He's dead, Jim," just never gets old. I'll probably space them out, an episode a day to savor them. The big change? My days of practicing falling from a phaser set on stun are over.