He's definitely got some semblance of emotions from the beginning. The examples of him reacting to something in a quasi-emotional manner are to numerous to mention. Sure, it's explained away as simple mimicry of human emotions, but it really seems to go beyond that much of the time. and why bother to simply mimic…

Bitch Slap
YOU are the son of a traitor!

there was a miniseries on PBS not to long ago that took an hour and examined a specific genre of TV over the years - late night talk shows, variety shows, sitcoms, etc. It may still be repeating, and it's really worth checking out if you're interested in TV history. Per the variety show episode it was mostly the…

I'm sure he addressed divorce and death (and racism as well, via those purple puppets IIRC), but the thing that really sticks with me regarding death is Mr Hooper from sesame street. That was some sad shit right there.

I think Guinan's "time sensitivity" or whatever you call it, works. mostly becuase they've haven't over-used it. Imagine how annoying she'd be if she was providing infuriatingly vague as often as all the other characters:

Nicholas Coster's reaction to Lal's death was well played.
He starts off as standard-issue Starfleet brass - which gets a bit tiring, since we've been seeing this guy since the first season of TOS. But, if you can ignore the fact that he just happens to be an expert in android neurosurgery in his spare time, his…

How 'bout female kirk from the one where he acts like a chick the whole time?

I hope B-4 is tormented nightly by memories of all the dirty sex Riker and his nephew Lal engaged in - serves him right for being a shitty maguffin and a lazy plot device!

I'm glad that I'm not the only one wondering if Lal is "fully functional"
Although if the only other one who was wondering the same thing is Riker, then I suppose I should take little comfort from the comparison. He literally goes from walking into ten-forward to get a drink to "hey, I wonder if I can put my dick into…

per memory-alpha, the NX-01 was Commissioned by the United Earth Starfleet, whereas the later iterations were commisioned by the Federation Starfleet. Presumably that (and the change in numbering convention from NX-01 to NCC-1701) negated the need for a suffix on the TOS enterprise

Tone
Yesterday's Enterprise really nails the intended tone. Even subtle touches like Wesley being an actual ensign, implying that Starfleet is somewat desparate for manpower and has reduced its recruiting age considerably, add to that feeling that things aren't quite right. And I particularly like that fact that…

If I had just scrolled down an inch further…

There was a female captain in the beginning of TVH - I believe she captained the Saratoga.

Damn! I remember that "You can never go down the drain" song - I think we sang it just about every bath time. I don't recall if it started out from any particular fear on my part of going down the drain. And that oedipal episode would've come in handy a couple of years ago when my kid kept trying to feel up my wife…

But that's exactly Ellison's point. The Brady Bunch co-opted the counter culture and used it in the laziest of possible ways to sell an incredibly mediocre TV show to children, with great sucess.

Does the Brady Bunch have any redeeming qualities?
I mean, above and beyond the whole comfort food syndicated TV quality that Noel mentions?

My personal observations would support that. In dicussing commercials/tv shows and advertisements with my 6 year old over the past couple of years, I've come to the conclusion that, not only can't he tell the difference between entertainment and advertisement, he doesn't really grasp the idea that advertisements…

yeah, whatever happened to the old GI Joe / Transformers style shows? were they always illegal and nobody cared, or did the FCC actually step in and make them illegal.

It's a funny contrast - most shows that are advertised on the AVClub tend to be the sort of shows the AVClub would like - highbrow comedies, dramas, HBO shows, etc. but I've never heard a single nice thing written about this anywhere - anytime it shows up its in the context of a complaint that Parks And Recreation's…

@ alurin - I think you're right that the time travel in Star Trek (2009) is out of place. The "different Timelines" interpretation of time travel works for other sci-fi franchise (IMO it's the only way any aspect of The Terminator makes sense), but it doesn't play to Trek's strengths. Sure, you could make a movie…