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By CaillanJuly 3, 2001 - 12:26 PM
Hello World!
Only a few years after its cancellation, I have finally seen all of Crusade, the aborted Babylon 5 spin-off. I have to say that I am rather in two minds about the series.
On the one hand, it had two episodes I'd class as excellent ('Each Night I Dream Of Home' and 'Path Of Sorrows'), but the rest of the thirteen produced varied from the average to the downright awful. What I really liked about the premise was its use of 'archaeological SF' - something that would have been a nice departure from B5, yet still set in the same universe that we know and love.
However, there's every indication that had the series not been cancelled, it wouldn't have continued in that direction. Instead, the show would have taken off on another, heavily derivative path. For instance, the unproduced scripts would have established the story arc centring around the use of Shadow technology by Earthgov. Apparently, the crew of the Excalibur would have gone on to become renegades, pursued and hunted down for what they knew.
Forgive me for being cynical, but this sounds exactly like another series - what was it called? Oh yes, Babylon 5. Not only do we have Galen spouting "And so it begins..." in the first episode, but another technomage talks of a "great darkness coming," and Captain Gideon suffered a horrible event in the past, which haunts him to this very day. The very idea of the crew being renegades was a large part of the original B5 plot.
Of course, the show could have turned out very differently in reality, but these indications show that the original "search for a cure" storyline would have been sidelined. And that's a pity, because I certainly found that the most interesting part of the series.
Trek BBS Today
Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:
- Who were the greatest guest stars of The Original Series?
- Can there ever be a Star Trek show that doesn't convey a message?
- What are your favourite Picard moments?
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Trek Two Years Ago
These were some of the most important headlines on July 3rd, 1999:
- Spock's Wedding Vow
Daily Sci-Fi announced the winning entry in its 'Write Spock's Wedding Vow' contest. Here's the winning entry:"Mr. Spock, do you promise to make Saavik your cold and ineffectual wife, to have every seven years or so, to not hold unless trudging dramatically through the snow, in pon farr and in health, until one of you gets Bendii syndrome and croaks? Hey, don't hit!"
- 'Free Enterprise' Soundtrack Review
Eon Magazine posted a review of the soundtrack to 'Free Enterprise.' "I had the life-affirming pleasure of actually watching the video of this number being filmed, meaning that I got to watch Shatner rap, perform Shakespeare, and do some classic Captain Kirk acting moves while he pretended to be stabbed by members of the rap group on stage," wrote the reviewer. "It's for that reason that I can't give a clear-eyed review of this CD: for an old Trekkie like myself, it just marks too awe-inspiring a life experience."
More news can be found in the archives.
Poll Results
Below are the results of the most recent TrekToday poll:
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25.6% - (1102
Votes)Thanks for voting! Please participate in our new poll, asking who you would least like to be stuck in a turbolift with.
Today's Television Listings
- The Sci-Fi Channel will be showing The Original Series's 'That Which Survives' at 5:00pm Eastern Time.
- In Canada, Space! will be showing The Original Series's 'All Our Yesterdays' at 10:00am Eastern Time, TNG's 'Half A Life' at 12:00pm, a repeat of 'All Our Yesterdays' at 4:00pm, DS9's 'Civil Defense' at 5:00pm, and Voyager's 'Message In A Bottle' at 10:00pm.
- In the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing TNG's 'The Offspring' at 17:00 GMT, with a repeat at 00:35. Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!
- In Germany, Sat.1 will be showing TNG's 'Wem gehört Data?' ('The Measure Of A Man') at 16:00 ECT.
- In the Netherlands, Ned2 will be showing Voyager's 'Alice' at 17:05 ECT, and Yorin will be showing 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier' at 21:00. Thanks go out to StarTrek.nl for this!
Tomorrow's Television Listings
- At 8:00pm (7:00pm Central), UPN will be showing Voyager's 'Repression' and 'Nightingale.'
- In Canada, Space! will be showing The Original Series's 'Turnabout Intruder' at 10:00am Eastern Time, TNG's 'The Host' at 12:00pm, a repeat of 'Turnabout Intruder' at 4:00pm, DS9's 'Meridian' at 5:00pm, and Voyager's 'Hunters' at 10:00pm.
- In the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing TNG's 'Sins Of The Father' at 17:00 GMT, with a repeat at 00:30, and Voyager's 'Retrospect' at 22:00. Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!
- In Germany, Sat.1 will be showing TNG's 'Die Thronfolgerin' ('The Dauphin') at 16:00 ECT.
- In the Netherlands, Ned2 will be showing Voyager's 'Riddles' at 17:05 ECT. Thanks go out to StarTrek.nl for this!
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