Anyone’s personal account of how much a show means to them should not be taken lightly. That’s evident when you see fans of the original Star Trek television series. They have an emotional attachment that arguably unlikely seen with other shows. Conventions, languages, cosplay could possibly have begun with the need to connect to a show that only lasted three seasons. It changed the way an audience viewed television. And opened possibilities that perhaps we are not alone in the universe. To some Star Trek is a bible to how they live their lives. So much of life can be understood by the actions of Mr. Spock. Or, the leadership of Captain James Tiberius Kirk. In Dave Marinaccio’s ‘All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek’ he attempted to connect periods in his life to the 50-year old series.
There are things that Marinaccio gets right when it comes to writing about his love of Star Trek. In moments he will relay how Captain Kirk revealed to him that it’s better to take a chance at life. Sometimes you can learn more in the attempt than in never doing anything at all. Unfortunately those times are fleeting. Most of this book seems to be a wasted opportunity where the author doesn’t delve beneath the surface of several cursory observations. When he discusses the impact of the episode ‘Mirror, Mirror’ as a reader you’re left with the idea of all Marinaccio has to offer is barely a page of insight. These snippets come across more like journal entries than a comprehensive book on the personal impact of this iconic television show. What’s more this nonfiction work is woefully outdated. Having been published over 20 years ago you would think that there would be a revision or at least an addendum to the material. After all since 1969 there have been four television series, a female captain, a black captain and new alien species such as The Borg. Moreover, there are four films after ‘The Undiscovered Country’ and that’s not even considering the three films based on the original characters of the first Star Trek show. With a wealth of history after the cancellation of the original series this book has little worth to even the casual fan.
Not negating Marinaccio’s fandom, he does mention ‘The Next Generation’ and ‘Deep Space Nine.’ However he mentions those series in comparison to the flagship show all too briefly. What can be considered egregious is that both shows at the time of the publication of the book were in their infancy. ‘Generation’ and ‘Deep Space Nine’ each lasted seven seasons. Several of the original cast members from the original show guest stared on ‘Generation.’ Leonard Nimoy’s Spock made several important appearances. And at the end of the third season of ‘DS9’ Sisko became a captain. He was also believed to be an ‘emissary,’ essentially a religious figure to one of the alien races in the Star Trek universe. Even though Marinaccio is discussing the original series attention should also be paid to the success of incorporating past storylines and cast members. Both series further embodied Roddenberry’s vision – alongside helping put the original Star Trek in context.
Every fan has a right to share their relationship with their favorite show and if you get a chance to get that published, then even better. The thing that makes this book forgettable is that it’s no longer 1994. It’s not even the 20th century. Between the myriad of social media outlets, relevancy and common love for Star Trek can easily be found. And ‘All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek’ could be more effective in a series of tweets than in a book.
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