ST Rewatch -- first episode

[such_heights]

This week's episode on the Star Trek Rewatch is ... *drumroll* 2x15 The Trouble With Tribbles. Thanks to everyone who's shown an interest so far!

FAQs, both hypothetical and actual

How can I watch the episode?

If you don't have a copy of your own, CBS have all of the original series on YouTube.

'This video is not available in my country'.

Allow me to introduce you to my friend the Hotspot Shield. It's a program that, when activated, reassigns your IP address, which means you can bypass country-specific IP restrictions.

It's not working/streaming's not a good option for me.

Send me a PM or an email at such.heights at gmail dot com, and we'll figure something out.

*

What schedule are you working on?

Here's the provisional timeline. Every Friday, I'll put up a post for the episode of the week. On Monday, I'll post a summary of everyone's contributions, and a poll determining the next week's episode, the results of which I'll announce on Tuesday. That's three small/cut posts a week, which hopefully won't make the rest of my flist feel too murderous towards me. The schedule is subject to change if it turns out another system is going to work better.

How do I participate in the rewatch?

Comment on the post sometime over the weekend with anything you'd like to share -- parody, fanworks, graphics, screencaps, meta, thoughts, whatever you like. You can share directly in the comments, or just give us a link to your own journal -- a write-up, for example. Alternatively, just read along! There is no minimum or maximum level of contribution. You can also post on any episode post any time you like, if you find yourself with something to share sometime later -- I'll include comments to older posts in my weekly round-up.

But I don't have a Dreamwidth account.

Leave a comment with your email address (which I can screen afterwards). I have one code myself, and if anyone else has spares to offer, feel free to check the comments here and see if you can help a fan out!

I don't want a Dreamwidth account.

OpenID is a system over many journalling and blogging sites that allows your LJ account to be validated so that you can leave comments. OpenID on Dreamwidth also allows you to track entries, receive replies to comments, create a reading list, and upload up to six icons. Alternatively, anonymous comments are enabled on this journal, though I would ask that you sign a name so we know who you are!

*

Why are we starting in the middle of Season 2? What do you have against continuity?

The episodes I picked for the first poll were ones that I've seen recommended in the past/fan classics, which I thought would be as good a place as any to start. I'm still figuring out what to do in the long term -- I don't we should necessarily watch each episode, I'm sure there are some that could be skippable, and I'd welcome your thoughts on that. Everyone's going to have different ideas on how to do this, I hope to find a system that works for the majority. Next week, however, we'll go back to the beginning. There'll still be a poll, mind you, as ST:TOS had a few different starts.

My question is outside the limits of this post!

Leave a comment -- all questions, corrections and suggestions are welcome.

... and finally

Several people expressed interest in group chats etc, which sounds like a lot of fun but I don't know how compatible our time zones are. Something to work up to, perhaps? In the meantime, you can use this post to comment with a brief introduction if you'd like -- your history with Star Trek, other fandoms, the timezone you're in, anything that springs to mind.

*

See you on Friday!

Comments

Dreamwidth Codes

[such_heights]

Have them/want them? Co-ordinate here.

I have one invite - yours in exchange for an email address. Email/PM me if you'd prefer.

Introduction

[such_heights]

Hi! I'm Amy / such_heights, and I grew up with TNG, DS9 and Voyager, though I'd barely thought about Star Trek in years until I saw the reboot and fell head over heels all over again. I've seen about 3 TOS episdoes ever, and I'm looking forward to discovering it.

My other fandoms past and present include Doctor Who, Torchwood, Harry Potter, Good Omens, Merlin, SGA, BSG, Leverage and T:TSCC. I live in the UK, albeit frequently in my own personal timezone.

[heathershaped]

Hey, I'm Heather (heathershaped/heather11483). I grew up with TNG; that's been most of my exposure to Trek before the reboot apart from seeing a few episodes of TOS in syndication as a kid. I've been discovering it little-by-little since seeing the reboot, and basically having a lot of fun with it. *g*

Other fandoms I'm active in are Harry Potter, Merlin, and SGA, and I live in the US on the East coast.

[sunnyrea.livejournal.com]

I'm so excited!!!

[such_heights]

I'm excited that you're excited! :D

[such_heights]

Yay for TNG! My first sci-fi love. Also no doubt the start of my love for robots/androids/cyborgs.

[sunnyrea.livejournal.com]

there's a lot of excitement

[oxoniensis]

I probably wouldn't have bothered watching on my own, but it'll be fun doing it with others! Thanks for organising this - I probably won't have time to contribute much this week, beyond commenting on other people's reactions, but hopefully some weeks I'll be able to join in more.

Re: Dreamwidth Codes

[gorgeousnerd]

I have a code as well. Same criteria for claiming as above.

[gorgeousnerd]

I'm Lara / gorgeousnerd / cho_malfoy. I grew up watching original Trek in reruns, the movies on tape (particularly four, as my little sister loved the whales), and TNG/DS9/Voyager as they aired. I also went to a convention when I was little and met George Takei, and I went to Star Trek: The Experience last year two weekends before it closed.

Out of everything, I'm most familiar with original Trek, but I'm really glad for the refresher, since there's episodes I've only seen once or twice and haven't watched for years. And I'm looking forward to the opportunities to write fic.

[iambickilometer]

Intro, sure!

I'm iambickilometer, or just Iambic, and like everyone else I grew up on TNG, and also DS9. I've seen a bit of TOS, a bit of The Animated Series, and have been promising myself to get into fandom for years. I never got around to it until after seeing the recent movie. I most recently read the novel The Kobayashi Maru.

I live in California, which is probably inconvenient, and am involved in too many fandoms to list. Currently I'm actively writing for the Star Trek reboot, SGA, Merlin, Dollhouse, Marvel comics, and Criminal Minds.

And Amy, thank you so much for doing this. I am very, very excited for all this Trekkery to go down.

[iambickilometer]

You met George Takei? I am filled with envy Do you remember much of the encounter?

(I'm sure there will be plenty of fic generated by these discussions. :D)

[gorgeousnerd]

I actually remember it really well, even though I was only seven or eight at the time.

I was in line to get an autograph with my sisters, and my little sister went first and talked for a couple minutes about the presents she got for Christmas. She was little and adorable, and George Takei's super nice, so he was totally into what she was saying. When they finished, I went up and handed him my picture, and he asked me what I got for Christmas, and all I could say was "Really cool stuff".

Come to think of it, I think that was my first mental facepalm moment, too. XD

[gorgeousnerd]

Oh man, The Kobayashi Maru's one of my favorites! I haven't read it in years, but I love it to death.

[iambickilometer]

Oh, man. Even so, that is so cool. I'd love to meet George Takei. I'd probably be all starstruck too, though. I think it's understandable. He seems like a really cool dude.

Pretty killer mental facepalm story, though. Much better than leaving something important behind or succumbing to foot-mouth syndrome in front of your date's parents or something.

[iambickilometer]

I just found it in the $2 bin at my local comic book store. It was such a fun read, and I loved all the Sulu backstory. And the Scotty bits, and the rest, really, but especially the Sulu backstory.

[gorgeousnerd]

I would much rather tell this story than something legitimately embarrassing, that's for sure! It was my first celeb encounter, and it was a pretty sweet one, so I think it all worked out.

[prophetic]

I grew up watching TNG and VHS-recorded Star Trek movies, especially The Wrath of Khan. I remember seeing The Journey Home in the theater, which I, also, adored because of the whales.

I had an ongoing, proto-fannish relationship with Star Trek:TNG and its characters, and in getting into fandom more formally later in my life, it has always warmed my heart to know the important role that Star Trek: TOS played in it.

I look forward to watching TOS with you all, and hearing your experiences with it, and also hearing about how to interact with extra-serial materials. (Like the books? Do you have to read them in order? Where do you start? These questions keep me from ever picking them up.)

[arch]

I'm Arch, and this is my first foray into actual ST fandom. I watched TOS reruns as a titchy little thing and loved Spock -- and then I saw the episode where he gets attacked by flying pancakes. For some reason that terrified me, so I didn't watch ST again until college, when my friends kept having TNG marathons. At first I was supremely unenthusiastic (I felt that Star Wars was far superior), but Picard soon won me over!

Then I saw ST 2009, and now I can't get enough of it. I've been watching TOS from the beginning and just saw "The Conscience of the King" today. There's still a lot that will be new to me, but I'm excited about the discussions!

Re: Dreamwidth Codes

[terribilita]

I've got a few as well.

[copracat]

I am Vera and I've been a fan of Star Trek since I was a wee thing and have more or less followed all subsequent movies and TV shows. I don't read novelisations or comics very often.

I'm very happy to take part in the rewatch. Thanks so much for organising it.

[iambickilometer]

I'd say it did. :) It's great bragging rights and a good conversation starter, as we've just proven.

[sophinisba]

I'm Sophie and I watched some TNG, DS9, and Voyager when I was a kid/teenager, though I was never a serious fan. I have yet to see a single episode of TOS but I really loved the new movie (especially Spock, Uhura, and Sulu) and I'm looking forward to seeing the first version.

I love the idea of watching these together. My friend claudia603 and I have been doing something sort of similar the last few months, first with Merlin and now with Battlestar Galactica (just made it through the first season) where we'd make a date to watch an episode and then squee at each other in e-mail. I'll try to get her to join in here too.

I came into online fandom after the LotR movies and I used to write hobbits a lot. Since then I've dabbled in a bunch of different fandoms and have been really excited about Merlin for the past four months or so.

Re: Dreamwidth Codes

[lilian_cho]

I have one code left =)

Just comment or PM me with your e-mail address.

Re: Dreamwidth Codes

[lilian_cho]

Should've asked my TOS-fan friend first ^^;; Code taken.

I am doing the Vulcan gesture to my laptop screen, just to let you know

[lilian_cho]

Here via sophinisba.

et_tu_lj said she would join DW if I join the ST rewatch =P
Since I'm not crazy about Shatner, I need the extra-extra incentive to watch ToS.

I watched STxi and loved it like a v. v. squishy thing. I love EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER* in that movie, and this never happened to me before. So far I'm into Kirk/Spock, Chekov/Sulu <3 and Spock/Uhura.

* Except for Scotty's alien friend, because I'm suspicious/cynical of characters who are clearly set up to be the mascot.

Been into Merlin since Dec. '08. Got into Harry Potter on Jan. '05. Discovered LJ thanks to an FMA FF.net writer late '04.
Trying to divorce my DW from HP stuff and focusing more on Merlin (and other fandoms, and original stuff) =3

[tmtrx.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm TmTrx, and I've been a TOS fan since I was a kid. It was the first Star Trek series I watched and I was obsessive about it. I created my own VHS tape collection of all three seasons and practically wore them out. Maybe it was my age, but I too loved ST:IV - I'm a sucker for whales. I also read as many of the Pocket novels as I could get my hands on, and still enjoy re-reading a few favorites.
Fandom-wise, I'm not an active LJ-er and don't participate in fandom, aside from LOCs now and then. But, this rewatch is such a neat idea that I've decided to participate. I'm very much looking forward to it. :D