I have a problem. I like Star Wars. I also like Star Trek. If asked which one I like better I am really not sure how to answer. I have actually been asked that question. Depending on the context I have given different answers. Now I simply say I like lots of sci-fi. Memories of both franchises are some of my earliest memories. To some degree the science-fiction things that I was fascinated with as a kid shaped who I am and what I do today. It’s only appropriate that one of the first “origin stories” about my childhood I write will be about my first memories of Star Trek.
This is a topic I have thought about it for a while before sitting down to blog. Likely I thought way too much on this. It was great fun to do it. In reality I do not know what my first true exposure to Star Trek was. All I can speak to is what I remember.
My first memories from any version of Star Trek was Star Trek the Motion Picture. I’m not sure if I saw it in the theater or not. There are other movies from around the same period of time that I do recall going to the theater, so its plausable I could have gone. Either way I do remember watching it. I was pretty young when it came out. I was 5 in 1979. That explains why I did not at the time fully understand the movie at the time. I was also too young to get that it wasn’t really that great of a movie. The visuals were great though. The story not so much. For a 5 year old that was enough to get me fascinated. I recall understanding that everyone was coming back together from something else. I just didn’t know really what. I hadn’t watched the Original Series.
I am assuming it was part of the story and mainly the effects that made me like Star Trek The Motion Picture so much. I say that I like it because I have strong memories that I was very excited to see Star Trek II the wrath of Khan. That movie I clearly remember going to see. I remember waiting outside what was a two screen theater near Bloomingdale’s and Fresh Meadows to see it with my dad. There was a pretty big line to go see it. Star Trek II is still one of my favorite movies of all time. What is not to like? It’s got a lot of science fiction, great action sequences, and pretty interesting drama. There’s also some great overacting by William Shatner. If I was a bit interested in Star Trek after the first motion picture by the wrath of Khan I was hooked. 30 plus years later I think it still aged well.
My memories of my first viewing of Star Trek III or IV were less vivid. It was very likely I saw them both in the theatres. I liked both. I was very disappointed when they blew up the Enterprise in A Search for Spock. I thought the 4th one was very fun. Even if not as interesting as Wrath of Khan. The fact that the Enterprise came back was huge for me. Each of those movies built up my liking of the franchise and kept me wanting to experience more. I do not have specific recollection however it was likely around then I would have seen some of the original series. Not much of it but a bit.
It was not until I heard that they were making a sequel to the television show that got me excited. I recall hearing about it and then being excited for months before it came out. I remember watching the first episodes and was drawn in. I enjoyed the first season. I think I am in the minority in saying I imagined myself as Wesley Crusher. I mean who wouldn’t want to be a kid on a star ship making everyone else look less intelligent! I only found out later that I was apparently in the minority and reading Wil Wheaton’s blog he talked alot about the negitivity people had towards that charicter. To heck with that, I wanted to be a kid on a a starship.
By the 2nd season of Next Generation I watched much of it but not all when it came out each week. I think with the change of Doctors just didn’t fit well with me. In that respect I think I was in the majority when Crusher came back in Season 3. Season 3,4,5 were like the golden age of Star Trek for me. I watched it as regularly as I could. If I couldn’t watch it I would record it on VHS. At one point I had most if not all of the episodes on VHS tape.
I was curious about Deep Space Nine. I watched the first season and then sporadically after that. It wasn’t until much later when I saw them all I fully appreciated how awesome it was.
I could keep going on about Deep Space Nine, Voyager, etc. By the time DS9 came out I was in College. I was already a fan. Funny enough there were times when I was younger that I was not as big a fan of the franchise vs Star Wars. So many years later I am not really sure why. I have theories but they are not worth exploring here. It is enough for me to know that the first two movies and Season One of The Next Generation are why I am still a fan today.