Star Trek: The Greatest Television Show Ever

I'm a 2nd Generation Trekkie. That means my Dad was a huge Star Trek fan and he passed the gene on to me. I guess you can say I was destined to be a Trekkie. Which is good because I would have hated to grow up and become one of those Babylon-5-loving geeks. Those guys are such losers.

My Dad says he loved the original Star Trek so much when he was younger because of all the bright colors, the great plots, and multi-racial cast. I always nod politely when he says this and pretend to believe him but I know the real reason he loved Star Trek: Lt. Uhura and those short red skirts.

Did you know that William Shatner as Captain Kirk and Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Uhura shared the first interracial kiss ever on television. That's one of those little facts that makes Star Trek the best television show ever. Beat that BattleStar Galactica...

When I got old enough to get a job and have money of my own I immediately started buying episodes of Star Trek on VHS. Back then you got two episodes per VHS cassette and each cassette could cost you anywhere between $10.00 to $15.00. Needless to say I only bought about 12 episodes before I went overbudget and had to pull the emergency brake on my Star Trek library. After all, I was just discovering girls and while woman appreciate a good classic television show as much as men do they would much rather prefer you spent your disposable income on them.

One of the saddest days of my life was the day I auctioned my Star Trek VHS collection on ebay. I had just gotten my first car and believe it or not you had to put gas in it regularly, gas that you actually had to PAY for. I was not prepared for this added drain on my budget and therefore I did a lot of selling on ebay in those days. Still I felt like I was betraying Kirk, Scotty, Spock and the rest of the gang by selling my Star Trek collection off for cash. I mean I didnt even get Gold-pressed Latinum, Darseks, or Federation Credits.

Now, of course, you can buy the whole original series of Star Trek on DVD as well as all the spin-offs and movies. I've even found a website where I can watch Star Trek online for free. I've been chatting with a lot of other Trekkies online too. A lot of them are 2nd generation too and we get a kick out of talking about how our parents loved Star Trek and how hopefully the franchise will continue so that our kids can love it as well. 

I realize that instead of listing reasons why Star Trek is the greatest show ever I have instead been rambling on and on about myself. Sorry, I tend to do this when I write. I'll probably write a Part 2 to this article where I actually do some research and prove my point. Until then I'll leave you with this question: If Star Trek isn't the greatest show on television ever then why did William Shatner get the lead role? After all, we all can agree that he is the best actor ever....right?