"Risk is our business."
- Captain James T. Kirk, The Savage Curtain

"That which is unreal can not exist."
- Mr. Spock, Spectre of the Gun

"I'm a doctor, not an escalator"
- Dr. Leonard McCoy, Friday's Child

"The best diplomat I know is a loaded phaser bank"
- Lt.Commander Montgomery Scott

"The more you try to overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the works."
- Lt.Commander Montgomery Scott

November, 2001

What a great show!

I think Star Trek is the best thing to happen to television since the invention of the remote control *. Star Trek was the concept of Gene Roddenberry. He often called it "Wagon train to the stars". I love it because it represents an optimistic view of the future. This future has eliminated, war, poverty, and disease on earth and has embarked on scientific exploration and peaceful contact with alien civilizations. Boldly going where no man has gone before.

If you haven't noticed from the last statement, I am really a fan of the old series with Captain Kirk. Don't get me wrong, I like Star Trek: The Next Generation, DS9, and even Voyager (to a point) but you really can't beat the old series for some classic moments. More true statements were quoted during the run of that show that I have found in my daily life as a web designer to be gospel. There were real lessons that are more applicable today than they were when the show was aired. Here are some:

• The more you try to overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the works.
• Use the right tool for the right job.
• Logic is tweeting bird in field.
• Superior ability breeds superior ambition.
• What constitutes life?
• Laws of reality cannot be summarily dismissed.
• Klingons hate Tribbles and Tribbles hate Kingons and that's the way it oughta be.
• Warp 10 cannot be achieved. (Unless, of course, you slingshot around the sun for time travel.)
• You can't transport while shields are up.
• Plan "B" stands for "barricade".
• Never put your entire command crew in one shuttlecraft.
• And most importantly… If your in the landing party, NEVER, NEVER wear a red shirt.
  

Actually, my favorite scene in any of the episodes is when Kirk beats the living hell out of Finnigan. (Come and fight me now, Jim!)

But you have to love the old series for the very technology that was developed and influenced by the show itself. I am certain that electric eye door openers were a byproduct of this show, as well as video conferencing, as well as cell phones, and even floppy disks. Do you know that medical science now has a hand held magnetic imager similar to a tricorder? Watch the old series and see how many of the "futuristic tools" they used are now commonly used today in the year 2001. I get goosepimply just thinking about it.

But that still isn't the reason I love this show.

Star Trek stories are the stories of command struggle. This is elementary business management.** That's the show in a nutshell. No matter what the situation is, the chain of command is never far from the focal point of the show. The character of Captain Kirk was unique. He was able to incorporate his resources, get feedback from his crew and come up with a command decision about an unknown. You had to love his character even when all of the facts pointed in a different direction he would trust his own instincts over all of it. The other thing that people love about Kirk was that he was not beyond cheating. His credo was: When the rules don't let you win, change the rules. The classic story was about his final exam in what Starfleet called The Kobayashi Maru. This was a no win scenario in which a command cadet entered a scenario where a disabled freighter landed in an area called the Neutral Zone. If the ship entered the Neutral Zone, it would be an act of war against the Klingon Empire. If the ship stayed where it was and not gone in, the freighter crew would die. The problem with the test is that no matter what decision the cadet made, it would be the wrong one. The computer would alter the scenario to make certain that the cadet would lose. Kirk did not believe in the no win scenario and snuck in to reprogram the computer so that there would be a winnable solution. His rationale was that if the computer was allowed to cheat, then so could he. He was not only the only cadet that passed the no win scenario, but got a commendation for original thinking.

Another thing that is great about this show is that it is classically written. In the old series, First Officer Spock represented logical thinking and Chief Medical Officer, Dr McCoy, represented emotional reasoning. Both the logical issues and emotional issues would be presented to Kirk and Kirk would make his command decisions based on those issues. The closest analogy that I can think of in this type of literature is the Greek chorus in Oedipus Rex. There was always a debate between Spock and McCoy. I think the best illustration of this was in an episode called The Tholian Web. This was where Kirk was presumed dead and Spock and McCoy were running the ship in the worst possible circumstances. As they came head to head, they had to listen to Kirk's final orders which were to get along with each other. I recommend this episode highly, especially for those of you that have problems getting along with coworkers.

The issue of "superior ability breeding superior ambition" is still relevant today. In these days of cloning and genetic engineering, I wonder how close we are to creating a Khan Noonian Singh. What will happen when the "have's" come against the "have not's". I wonder. It can't be good. Ironically enough, the Eugenics Wars that spawned Khan happened right around 1996. With the issues of cloning and stem cell research currently at hand when will the next step of custom made human beings happen?

The original series only lasted 3 years of their 5 year mission. The last season sort of limped along with preposterous plots such as episodes like Spock's Brain, Turnabout Intruder, The Lights of Zetar, and The Empath. The show was cancelled in 1969. However, the residual episodes ran for years afterward and spawned six and a half movies based on the original series**. There have been many books and even a cartoon series based on the original episodes and written by the original writing teams.

Star Trek has been in the works for over 35 years. Recently, the pilot for a 5th series has premiered. This is a prequel series called Enterprise. It is about the first few years of Federation alliance and the command of Captain Archer (played by Scott Bacula). I tell you, It's REALLY good. The current writers have gone back to the basics and have made all of the right choices. It really looks very promising and now my Wednesday nights may be booked for quite a while.

In these days, I think of terrorism and biological, chemical, and nuclear threats. It is refreshing to know that man will still dream of a future where everything will work out and the best of the human condition will overcome their obstacles. Technology and science will come together with a society that is mature enough to use them constructively. I have a feeling that this will happen as they boldly go where no ONE has gone before.

* - Of course, now that I am truly showing my age, being the type of person who remembers getting up to turn the channel, I can hide my gray hairs under my Superman baseball hat and hope that no one calls me "grandpa". I'm having a problem adjusting to age, 35. This has been ever since the World Trade Center attack and finding out that I am now too old to enlist. That's right. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't go at this point. So much for being patriotic.

** - For those of you who disagree with my analogy about Star Trek and business management, pick up a copy of, MAKE IT SO. It is a business management book based on stories taken from Star Trek: The Next Generation. When I get my hands on the author's name and publisher, I'll make them available.

Update 1/31/2002 - Thank you Crystal (last name withheld). MAKE IT SO by Wess Roberts and Bill Ross was published August 1996 by Pocket Books and is available on Amazon.com