Persistent, Niggling Questions

[Nate the Great]

I like to watch "first time watching" reaction videos. A woman was watching The Princess Bride, and she recognized Wallace Shawn from his role on Young Sheldon. That offended me.


PNQ: What role do you know Wallace Shawn for (besides Princess Bride and Grand Nagus Zek, of course)?


Looking through his IMDB I'd probably have to say Incredibles.


And The Amazing Thing I Learned Today is that he played Professor Silverfish in a made-for-TV version of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! (I didn't even know there WAS a made-for-TV version of BAPPIJTD!)

[Nate the Great]

So with the hype around the release of Wicked: For Good, I have to wonder...


PNQ: Does it annoy you that the first movie was just called Wicked, implying that it was the whole story? Would Wicked: The Beginning or Wicked: Volume One have turned you away?


I'm reminded of when the Final Fantasy VII remake was just called Final Fantasy VII Remake without any additional subtitle.


I didn't watch the first Wicked just like I won't watch the second. I read the book a long time ago and have no interest in reading or watching any more. I want my villains to be VILLAINS, no redemption arc or justification of their actions needed.

[Nate the Great]

Postmodern Jukebox does a Andrews Sisters-style cover of "All I Want For Christmas is You"...


PNQ: Why is this song so polarizing?


To me it's...fine. Serviceable. A little overproduced but hardly garbage. But a big fraction of the populace seem to despise it and I don't understand why.

[Nate the Great]

I'm sure you guys have seen the promo poster for the new Starfleet Academy series by now...


(Insert homo sapiens only club joke here)


PNQ: Given six main characters, what would be a ratio of aliens that you would find appropriate?


Because one alien and five humans sounds like a terrible idea. Surely they could've tossed a Trill or Bajoran in there with minimal additional cost.

[Nate the Great]

A Facebook meme pointed out that in "All Good Things" warp factors bigger than ten were mentioned. A writer said that speeds were getting so big that they had to modify the scale to avoid 9.999 problems...


New Warp 10-old Warp 9.9
New Warp 11-old Warp 9.99
New Warp 12-old Warp 9.999
etc.


PNQ: Do you like this idea?


I'm reminded of the old novel Federation where the Enterprise of thousands of years in the future uses "sidewarp" factors, implying a totally new form of propulsion (no doubt tapping into something even better than subspace) that can take you to other galaxies in a reasonable amount of time.

[Nate the Great]

So one of the many Trek YouTube reviewers that I follow just posted a review of one of the DS9 Mirror Universe episodes. You all know how much I hate ANY Mirror Universe episode other than "Mirror, Mirror"...


PNQ: What's a recurring Trek episode premise that you just can't stand?


Holodeck malfunctions? Obscure family member cameos? One episode romances? Meddling with prewarp societies? Characters turning into Captain Ahab chasing their personal white whale? Crazy admirals of the week?

[Nate the Great]

On Facebook someone asked for people's choice as their own personal doctor from a selection of Trek and related shows. I don't care about that question, and I'm not inviting Pulaski bashing. I just want to point out the inclusion of Doctor Westphalen from Seaquest DSV...


PNQ: What's the pseudo-Trek series from the past that you think is the most overlooked today?


Because Seaquest DSV has to be up there. Babylon 5 still gets love, Andromeda still gets love, Stargate still gets love, but not Seaquest. Why?


PNQ: What could be argued to be the earliest pseudo-Trek series?


I hope you understand what I mean by "pseudo-Trek", because I'm not sure I can define it without a separate screed. I don't think Planet of the Apes or Battlestar Galactica or Lost in Space count.


I'm also going to exclude all of Roddenberry's failed pilots and Andromeda because they seem too easy.