Before the prequels it would have been hard to choose. But now I have to admit that I like Star Trek more.
What s/he said.
I grew up watching ST on TV in syndication, and I think it's fair to say that my tastes in entertainment were shaped by Kirk, Spock et al. (and also by Dr Who, which my family watched religiously every weeknight for years); at the same time, as a child of the mid-1970s I could not have avoided exposure to SW if I'd tried, and have probably been forever marked by the fact that Return of the Jedi was the very first movie I ever saw in a real movie theatre.
I'm happy to watch the original Wars trilogy over and over, and I have great affection for much of Trek (though Enterprise got über-stupid toward the end, and some of the films, well, the less said the better). But the more recent Wars movies seemed to me to be victims of their predecessors' success (and particularly of the success of ILM; Lucas, or somebody, seems not to have heard of the idea that just because you can do something it doesn't mean you should). Trek at its best is thought-provoking and intelligent; Wars is just fun.
In recent years I've moved on to other things, mostly (Babylon 5, Firefly ...). But both franchises, as I said, have left their marks. In my family, when you want to alert someone who has left the couch that the commercial break is over, you holler "Star Trek!", and if you are the person who has left the couch you inquire "Is it Star Trek yet?" Prodding the remains of a broken object of any sort, you might remark, "It's dead, Jim." "Did you anger the Picard?" DH might ask me if he sees our six-year-old stomping off to her room. And there's nothing quite like the voice of Worf intoning "You. Are without. Honour." to really express your disapproval. Similarly, there's a Wars quote for just about every occasion. Most usefully, if we hear someone whining about anything, whether on TV or IRL, DH and I will look at each other and, in unison, whine "But I was going into Tashi Station to pick up some power converters!"
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Date: 2008-10-27 05:45 pm (UTC)What s/he said.
I grew up watching ST on TV in syndication, and I think it's fair to say that my tastes in entertainment were shaped by Kirk, Spock et al. (and also by Dr Who, which my family watched religiously every weeknight for years); at the same time, as a child of the mid-1970s I could not have avoided exposure to SW if I'd tried, and have probably been forever marked by the fact that Return of the Jedi was the very first movie I ever saw in a real movie theatre.
I'm happy to watch the original Wars trilogy over and over, and I have great affection for much of Trek (though Enterprise got über-stupid toward the end, and some of the films, well, the less said the better). But the more recent Wars movies seemed to me to be victims of their predecessors' success (and particularly of the success of ILM; Lucas, or somebody, seems not to have heard of the idea that just because you can do something it doesn't mean you should). Trek at its best is thought-provoking and intelligent; Wars is just fun.
In recent years I've moved on to other things, mostly (Babylon 5, Firefly ...). But both franchises, as I said, have left their marks. In my family, when you want to alert someone who has left the couch that the commercial break is over, you holler "Star Trek!", and if you are the person who has left the couch you inquire "Is it Star Trek yet?" Prodding the remains of a broken object of any sort, you might remark, "It's dead, Jim." "Did you anger the Picard?" DH might ask me if he sees our six-year-old stomping off to her room. And there's nothing quite like the voice of Worf intoning "You. Are without. Honour." to really express your disapproval. Similarly, there's a Wars quote for just about every occasion. Most usefully, if we hear someone whining about anything, whether on TV or IRL, DH and I will look at each other and, in unison, whine "But I was going into Tashi Station to pick up some power converters!"