What a world, when we feel compelled to distract ourselves with questions such as "How many Enterprise crack-ups are too many?"

Keep in mind that a number of Enterprise's sister ships in the original series were also destroyed or otherwise lost; likewise such events as the battle of Wolf 359 in TNG vitiated the fleet.

At least the feature films aren't THE franchise anymore, not with the new TV series in development. (For good or ill, the last one I saw in a theater was First Contact in 1996. I liked it.)

I don't much care if no more episodes are produced. What's already been produced is so unlike Dick's novel that I can't muster very much interest.

They could have a TV in the background of a scene, showing a news story that mentions "Vice President Florrick" - without specifying whether it's Peter or Alicia.

Christine Baranski on Star Trek is something I never knew I wanted until now.

"Space needs lawyers too." Indeed. I give you Samuel T. Cogley, Attorney at Law. (Played by the excellent Elisha Cook Jr., back in 1966.) Here's a clip that ends with his big moment in front of the court-martial officers:

Anyone who's ever liked anything by Levin should locate and read (if they haven't already) This Perfect Day, his 1970 SF novel.

There's at least one joyous song in which the singer learns his not-yet-wife is pregnant: "Earn Enough for Us" by XTC. ("So you're saying that we're gonna be three now / a father's what I'll be. Don't get me wrong, I'm so / proud, but the belt's already tight / I'll get another job at night…")

Yes, the original 1963 novel was that great, or at least I can reread it with pleasure every few years, which is more than I can say for a lot of novels. Every sentence and every line of dialogue is pared down to its essence, which makes for a very fast read, even though it has more events and scenes than the movie…

How can Soon-Yi be Allen's "common-law stepdaughter" when he was living across Central Park from Farrow and her brood? Doesn't common-law marriage (in places where that's accepted) imply living together? And without marriage she can't have been his "step"-anything.

Well, I only need remind you that Tom Hardy first became widely known to U.S. audiences as the villain in the atrociously written, grievously shot and edited, Star Trek Nemesis (2002). Mr. Hardy seems to have rebounded nicely from that.

The music for IV is all wrong. Leonard Rosenman did a fine job 20 years earlier with the TV series Combat, and some would find his Marcus Welby, M.D. music soothing perhaps. But I found what he did for Star Trek IV highly repellent.

The Roddenberry novel is unreadable on the basis of extreme overuse of italics alone.

Well, with an anthology series title like that, they can't NOT do "The Electric Ant." I think Cranston could play Poole.

I know which one: "Meddler."

I don't actually think The Adjustment Bureau was bad; it simply had nothing to do with the short story "Adjustment Team" except for the general idea. I wouldn't even call it an adaptation.

Someone (presumably a fan of Time Out of Joint) created a good sketch of the new 1959 Tucker seen at the end of chapter 1:

Well, it is kind of difficult to have a climactic event at the end of a novel in which the characters have already undergone a nuclear holocaust, about 1/4 of the way in. I like Dr. Bloodmoney as it is, really.

But (as you yourself well know) it's hopeful about the adaptability and inventiveness of human nature. In the last section of the book, this is sometimes overt - such as when the younger guys are making excellent arrowheads from the 90% silver dimes and quarters they find all around. I see it as an indication that…