Okay, I'll be the fool who speaks up for Gene Roddenberry.

I grew up watching 60s TV, mostly American programs. I first saw Star Trek in the beginning of syndication, probably 1969 or 1970. It was at my friend's house, they had a big colour set. The local CBC affiliate had picked up the show and ran it after school, then later on Saturday mornings.

Well, I was hooked. I was already a sci-fi guy, and I'd never seen anything like this on television before (I didn't come across Dr Who until several years later). Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits had featured some science fiction stories, but this was the real deal, set in the future, exploring the galaxy, using advanced technology, altruistic adventure, and humourous too (Lost In Space? kid's stuff).

There had been some attempts at the genre like Time Tunnel and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Land of the Giants, but I don't think they were as sophisticated. Roddenberry was like Rod Serling in his social commentary, but added some touches of high culture here and there, like quoting Shakespeare.

At the time I didn't think of it, but James Kirk (William Shatner) looked a lot like my own dad. Maybe I was projecting/fantasizing about him?

Go ahead and mock, I'm an unrepentant Trekkie!

In many ways, I love ST too - it's one of the main ones for me. If I flick through the TV stations and it's on - I'll watch it. However, there's no comparison to Doctor Who in my books.

Most of Star Trek has already been done elsewhere, so it's a regurgitation with better special effects. Doctor Who, on the other hand, is original from A through Z.

Dimension, Time, regenerations, Daleks, Galifrey, the TARDIS, K9, the list goes on - all original and can't really be copied, without blatantly copying. LoL

Well, most of the ideas we see on TV and movies had already been discussed in novels and short stories before you and I were born - I certainly wouldn't give ST any credit for creating the basic setting or even the details

I don't know the Dr Who oeuvre, but again, TV was/is behind the curve on most speculative fiction - robots, space travel, time travel, aliens, advanced technology had all been features of pulp fiction before the '60s

What about Battlestar Galactica I am a trekie too but I loved the old Battlestar Galactica.

Ok, BT, you started this, now you have to hear the story of how I met my husband.

It was October 25, 1987, my 22nd birthday, and my friend Jeff was going to take me to the coast for my birthday because it was my favorite place, and he was sweet. The Oregon coast in October isn't the warmest place on Earth, but who cares, right?

He had called me a couple of days earlier and asked if it was ok with me if Roger came with us. We had gone to high school with him, and he was home on leave from the Navy. I told him that was fine, but DON'T BRING ANYONE I DON'T KNOW! He was always doing that, and I HATED meeting new people, and it was my birthday.

So I was all ready to go, and there was a knock on the door of my third-floor walkup. I answered the door, and there was Jeff, Roger, and SOME GUY I DIDN'T KNOW.

They said, "This is Jim. He's Roger's friend from the Navy, and he was just discharged. Is it ok if he comes along? Oh, and he needs to use your phone." I was so pissed! I was all, "Sure. It's over there. Don't call Timbuktu."

I decided to just go with it and try to enjoy my day. I knew two out of three of them, so I wasn't too anxious. We all piled in to Jeff's International Travelall and headed to the beach. I was in front with Jeff, Roger was behind me, and Jim was behind Jeff. Jim was wearing a red plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves ripped out. I really liked that look.

We got around halfway to the coast, high in mountains, and the conversation turned to Star Trek. I think this was before any of the spinoffs, so we knew exactly which one we were talking about! Someone asked the question, "How do you know which non-regular crew members in the away party aren't going to make it back to the ship?" Jim and I looked at each other, pointed at each other, and said in unison, "It's the ones wearing the red shirts!"

Our index fingers touched. By the time we were on the way home, I was sitting in his lap. We were married 9 months later.

So I guess you could say Star Trek is responsible for the unleashing of our children into the world

Even knackered old shites like Star Trek. I read a great book a year or so ago on the whole start of ST and its rocky rise in popularity. I even had a cat called Jean Luc (TNG) (big bugger, a jet black, slimline 13 kilos, he looked like a small panther).

But..... the very best, most intellectual as well as spec effects bonanza has to be Babylon 5. A truely epic series.

Yeah Babylon 5 was awesome too I really liked that one because it showed many human flaws.

Babylon 5 was no relative of Star Trek, and I used to watch that religiously - just like Doctor Who. However, my reasons for watching it may seem a little ... obscure.
The graphics used on Babylon 5 were mostly created using the same computer I had, only in a big-brother form. Amiga! Wahahaha!

I had a spliffing A1200, with an 80MB Harddisk that I fitted, Work Bench 3.0 (think Windows, but better). I didn't purchase an additional graphics card for it, as I had the all in one version, whereas Babylon 5 was created with an A4000 in a tower (I think) and a Toaster (No, not the kind that burns bread). However, all the core components (CPU, etc.) were identical to mine - and it was just super looking at what phenomenal effects could be achieved.

I agree about Babylon 5, great show, I liked how they tied together plot elements from each season

KellyMac nice story. Trekkies were once a somewhat rare breed, before the movies and spinoffs. I did go to a convention once, it was fun, got to see Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes, this was just after the last season of Next Generation.

I can't be objective about the old show, I loved it so much as a kid that it will always be a sentimental favourite. For me science fiction and history were always more interesting than the present, could be some kind of neurosis I dunno