My impression was that some writers and producers treated him as an annoying but very rich grandpa and had to work around his rules to create something interesting for then-modern audience, which they eventually did, especially after Mr Roddenberry had passed away. My impression may be completely wrong though (I only read these production notes from Memory Alpha) and I would love to hear more.
The people behind old Trek were very open about what did and didn't work, what they liked or didn't like. They accept failure and admit mistakes.
You're right. That IS dumb. The Changelings, as far as what's on screen, don't seem to reproduce by meiosis. Gender is taken as a form of convenience, not biological reality for them. Which also explains why the Great Link got infected so quickly and so harshly; they do not have the genetic variation that occurs with meiosis.
By the time of TNG, GR seemed to have become more of a globalist or thought that globalism would be the real Utopian future. The first episodes of TNG show the crew being oblivious at the idea of former nations and thought those beliefs were primitive. In fact, they are so ashamed of that that not even schools teach children what are flags and what they mean. I get that Worf, Tasha or Troi didn't know any of that, but there is no way Riker or Geordi didn't if they ever read any book written by a human author.
Old Trek tried to support the notion of humanity moving beyond concepts like nation and ethnicity in an enlightened future, where everyone is treated equally and can strive to be whatever they want freely... and then we have nuTrek that comes up with a black crackhead hobo character that insults Picard over owning a vineyard or that short story in STD, where a dude gets crushed by Tribbles and his captain just goes "lol, he was a dipshit anyway".
The show goes out of it's way to show that Humanity is special. Chekhov's line in VI about inalienable human rights is the perfect example of both Human exceptionalism and the moral superiority that hides underneath Starfleet.
The Prime Directive made sense when applied to Garth of Izar. Insanely overpowered despot who preyed on the weak.
Absolutely. I’m amazed nobody is bringing up how good they were in a pale moonlight.I think the Romulans were used well in DS9, albeit sparingly.
If Romulans represent Red China, then this is their most accurate portrayal: despite being at 'peace' with the Federation, their motivations are only thinly disguised, and they're still dangerous. Nice to see Sisko and Garak spar with them in a few episodes.
McHattie is to Romulus what Alaimo is to his world. They both look so comfortable in their roles.
Final Frontier at least has some great character moments once you get past the terrible comedy. Tell me you don't feel something when McCoy has to pull the plug on his father and I'll call you a goddamn liar.
Shatner was a decade ahead of his time. Tim Burton turned daddy issues into a career.
TMP is actually really good when you watch the DVD directors cut and see the finished special effects. Feels like a completely different movie and it has actual weight. Especially if you subscribe to the Vger was repaired by (and outgrew) the Borg theory.
Or Ronald Tracey giving guns to Mongolians and Cavemen or the Gangster planet or the Nazi planet.
You know what @JamesFargo ? I actually used to follow this particular blog a while ago (Back before Doctor Who was shit. He had some decent opinions about the audio dramas back when I was first getting into them.) But the dude who writes it is actually a massive faggot. (Both in the literally homosexual, and the defamatory sense). Sorry, I don't have a link to back that up, but I do remember him bringing his homosexuality up any time that it was even tangentially relevant to the plot of what he was talking about.
You may want to take a closer look at his TNG reviews. I think he's closer in line with this thread than you realize.