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Star Trek: TNG 303-304 (Patreon)

Published:
2025-11-12 13:00:10
Edited:
2026-01-08 02:36:23
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

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episodes: the survivors, who watches the watchers

Files

Comments

StonyD

Wow.....first? I'm here early.

Mastervodo

Star Trek Day! With 2 episodes that are OK, but not as good as some the rest of the Season.

Eric Wilson

YES you sholud watch Enterprise, and all the trek after. :-)

R_Van_S

I'd say yes to Enterprise (which aired after Voyager). The premise in the first season is interesting, it stumbles a bit in the second and third season and then, for me at least, really hits its stride in season 4.

Lintrinsic

I'd say yes to watching Enterprise, even beyond. I'll be here as long as you're on this ride. Especially if you stick to airdate order.

GAB

DS9 and Voyager overlap the last couple of seasons of TNG and each other in terms of when they were first broadcast, so you might want to intersperse the overlapping seasons. However, while some characters appear in more than one series, there is no real harm to the sense of continuity if you decide to finish TNG before starting DS9. The main problem with DS9 and Voyager is that they are only available in standard definition, so can look very "soft" on HD and UHD devices. I have to upscale using AI to be able to tolerate watching them. Enterprise is definitely worth watching. I find I like it more now than I did 20 years ago - although it does have its flaws and a series finale that I detest.

Joel

Yes, definitely do Enterprise too "Who Watches the Watchers" -- IMHO, this is THE Prime Directive episode

Jonathan

Yes to watching Enterprise especially since you both haven’t seen it. The pilot for that is after the Voyager finale in release order.

Northern Loon

Enterprise has pretty good moments and fun characters. It's not peak Star Trek, but I somehow really like this show. And it features Tellarites a bit (just a bit) more ! I love these Space Dwarves ! 😅 And Andorians too !

Ca$hWednesday

Should you watch Enterprise? Yeah you should.

Robert Cooper

Man, there's like 1000+ hours of Star Trek now. Enterprise isn't fantastic. I would at least watch the pilot, which is quite good and gives you a sense for what they are going for, even if they don't really get there in most of the episodes. It actually gets good in the last season, but the other seasons only really have 1 or 2 good episodes in them each. Deep Space Nine, though, is fantastic. It starts pretty strong, and after you turn the corner to the second season it is just banger after banger for 6 damned years. Voyager, I understand, has become the most "comfort watched" Trek show. I wasn't a big fan. There are a couple of episodes that are "best of all trek", but it is just consistently "Fine. That was fine," which I expect is why it is popular to stream in the background. :P

Brandon

A few years back I tried using Topaz on some DS9 episodes to test how it would look. I tried all kinds of different settings, but 1the image always looked too "smooth" even when I was making sure to add grain. I also tried it on an old episode of the 90's X-Men animated series and it ended up removing too much detail from the image that it was upscaling. Plus it took an outrageous amount of time just to upscale one episode.

Matt O'Keefe

I was waiting for Who Watches The Watchers. I knew George would love it. Kind of should have guessed that he would get hung up on the universal translators

fforw

I really have a soft spot for "Enterprise". It has some of the most awful Star Trek but also a lot of good things. I like the relationships among the crew, I like Archer very much as a Captain, I like T'Pols Arc very much. You can't just skip it.

Peter Rosin

You should absolutely watch Enterprise!

Kelley Leary

Yes to “Enterprise”. As for post-ENT series, “Lower Decks” and “Picard”. The actor who played Kevin Uxbridge filmed his scenes only a few months after the death of his real-life wife of 43 years. He was also the car salesman that Marion Crane talked to in “Psycho”.

Alan Pownall

The reason for all the humanoids is revealed in season 6, so you'll find out in about a year.

Theo Bracco

Enterprise is very uneven. It has moments of briliance, but also really bad episodes. It does look nice. Also, I reiterate my proposal for Farscape.

Zakk Pierce

Enterprise was what got me into Star Trek believe it or not. My dad would get it for me back when Netflix sent you DVDs in the mail. Its probably my favorite Star Trek actually. If at least for the nostalgia

Alan Pownall

George specifically asked, if he wants to know that's for him to decide and I didn't reveal anything that was going to happen but rather a general timescale on when something was going to happen.

Robban6948

"Stranger Tounges" is a fucking brilliant name for that show!

Patrick - Excelsior

Enterprise was released much later. Start Trek TOS Star Trek animated Star Trek TNG Star Trek Deep Space Nine Star Trek Voyager Star Trek Enterprise

Wormtongue

Enterprise is much better than Voyager imo. Especially once it gets through the usually ST problems in season 1 and 2.

Thomas Larsen

I know some people dont like it, and the eye candy can be a bit too pushy, but I really enjoy the Enterprise show (not the intro song though, it just wrong).

JD Nevesytrof

NOW we're getting the good stuff.

Scott CineRam

I didn't recognize the actress playing Rishon at first, but I soon recognized her voice: She played Jim Carrey's admin assistant in "Liar Liar".

Cinebinge

yeah no im aware, and i am enjoying those aspects of it. but i also do find enjoyment in tech/math, even if its just in poking holes. thats also fun for me and does not take away from how i perceive the show as a whole. both things are happening simultaneously.

Polecat21

nooooo! 3 episodes a week.... I'm nearing 70 and want to be around for Lower Decks......

Spacedone

It's just the Babelfish within the universal translator affecting the brainwaves to make everyone think they can see lips syncing to words, it's not a great mystery or anything...

Will Sofer

So, the universal translator issue is even worse than you think, George. It’s not an implant in their heads. “Universal translation circuits” are built into most of the tech in Star Trek. Canonically, it’s actually their com badges that are doing the translating. So, essentially, it’s like Google Translate. As I understand it, they explored the idea of dubbing over lines in a different language, as you would expect the technology to work, and it was a bust. Pardon the pun, but it apparently doesn’t translate to screen very well.

Chris Davies

Enterprise isn't good.. except for a couple of episodes in the final season.

Data Cable

I use the TNG door chime as the notification sound on my phone.

Spacedone

If you get that far, the plan to watch stuff in release order will go off the rails a bit when TNG, DS9 and Voyager start having overlapping release dates but you've got a long way to reach that point yet. A problem for another day. For now, just enjoy the almost continuous run of absolute banger S3 episodes coming up soon.

Nikodevious

Over the decades, I've gotten so much mileage out of Worf's line, "Good Tea. Nice house." :D

Data Cable

The triumphant return of Vasquez Rocks. "Who Watches the Watchers" is a variation on the Latin "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes," or "Who guards the guards themselves?" The phrase is also the source of the graphic novel Watchmen's title. George may be thinking of "Cargo Cults," or the legend of "John Frum."

Robert Elliott

I really like The Survivors, it was kind of a mystery but did figure out early the he was doing the manipulations. Who watches the watchers is ok as far as I am concerned, only really interested and hilarious part was the phase “The Picard” Saw this originally in college with bunch of friends and we would tell each other “It is The Picard’s will to be done”

akaTheBAY-AY-RON

*Wipes Dorito dust off of hands* Alright, look. I just want to address something George said in the intro. I get that watching Star Trek is sort of a fun, extra thing you do on Wednesdays, but if you're not going to take this SUPER cereal, I'm OUTTA HERE buster! Now with that being said, May the force live long and prosper with you by puttingyourNAMEINTHEGOBBLETOFFIRE *he said calmly* and lets watch some Star Trek LOL

John Rose

Don't think to hard about universal translators, everything breaks the minute you question it. As said by Mystery Science Theater 3000 intro: "If you're wondering how he eats and breathes And other science facts, Just repeat to yourself "It's just a show, I should really just relax"

Alan Pownall

No worries, it's at 54:57. Glad I could help.

Curaitis

Star Trek Tierlist for me is DS9 (by a AE) TNG Voyager (weaker start but it gets better occasionally) TOS (but only because its dated to the other ones. Cultfactor is way ahead of Voyager) Enterprise (Better then its reputation but its still not as good as the other shows) Discovery is poor trash and i mean TRASH. Picard is unacceptable, even with season 3 tries to do a better job.

Daniel

Regarding 304: "Proto Vulcans at the bronze age level" would not at all be peaceful. The Vulcans were close to wiping each other out when Surak appeared. (Just as a side note) And another thing: Should you decide to watch other Star Trek Series, I can only recommend, what I believe to be the most authentic recent Series: The Orville.

The Real Andrew Kim

YES YOU SHOULD WATCH ENTERPRISE! Everytime I get someone to watch it they always ask me why it's not more popular which should tell you something. The reason that show failed was it was on at a terrible time slot (Friday Nights I believe) on a network nobody really watched and the entire weight of all 90s trek fatigue on its shoulders, also 9/11 happened during filming so the nation had other concerns on their mind...

Robert Gendron

DS9 stated while TNG was running, Voyager started while DS9 was running, Enterprise aired after Voyager ended. DS9 is a definite "you should watch it" I'm not a Voyager fan, but both it and Enterprise are worth a watch if you're enjoying Star Trek.

Colin Reid

So to everyone but also specifically to Simone, have you seen the new Lego TNG Enterprise? I want it.

Opti_Frog

Who Watches The Watchers is a top tier TNG episode for me. Nuria and The Picard on the Enterprise is one of my favourite sequences. I don't really give two hoots about Enterprise, or Voyager for that matter. The whole Star Trek franchise peaked with Deep Space Nine.

Opti_Frog

Seconded, on all points.

Opti_Frog

I tend to get angry looks (and comments) when i say that STAR WARS is fantasy in space rather than science fiction. But not calling Star Trek sci-fi is narrowing the genre too much, i think.

Gryff

SECONDED

Gryff

Enterprise has some good stuff in it. It's another Trek show where great characters save it from itself in many instances.

Patrick - Excelsior

When you hear a language, there is a section of the brain that interprets that language, the Wernicke's area, and transmits it to the part of the prefrontal cortex that regulates thought. If you hear French for example, it receives the auditory information translates it and send the interpreted signals to the central cortex representing the thoughts, whatever those thoughts may be. There is another section that receives thought from the brain and translates that to spoken language called the Broca area. The Auditory cortex interprets visual cues and translates that into language (for example lip reading). The universal translator functions to take signals scanned from the Broca’s area of the speaker and beam directly to the listeners Wernicke's area and Auditory Cortex. It doesn't "change" one language to another. The universal translator effectively allows you to understand that language as it is spoken as your own language, for as long as the mechanism is in operation. It is in effect an artificial Wernicke's area and Auditory Cortex that gets its information directly from the Broca area. You would hear and see it as your language. The translator affects all those within its range. Giving them the temporary ability to understand any spoken language the translator is programmed with. Here is a interesting thought. We can assume that Picard, having been raised in Paris, has French as his native language but as we hear, he is fluent in English. When the translator is in operation, would he be able to tell if he was hearing it in French or English? It would depend I think on when he learned English. Secondary languages learned at a young age are usually recorded in the brain as part of the same language group and same area of the brain is responsible for interpretation. They do not require conversion from one to the other, both represent same thing. It’s like car and automobile represent same thing in our mind, you don't need to translate one to the other.

Guts

DS9 is the chronological next step after TNG. But I gotta say it (I fully expect a Star Trek mob chasing me through the Patreon streets after this): I prefer Babylon 5 to DS9. It is not Star Trek but it comes from the same era. It's an underappreciated gem of a show and that's probably why it's not reacted to that often as it simply hasn't the pull of a Star Trek show, at first maybe, but surprised how well it is doing compared to TNG on that single Youtube channel that is currently reacting to it. Also: Just 2 episodes! Booo! 😉

SuPaTiLt

It all gets really complicated as far as watch order goes if you are trying to do release order pretty soon. I suggest just watching TNG, then DS9, then Voyager, then Enterprise and not worry about trying to overlap or watch a season of this show then that show, etc.

Niklas Ekman

Star Trek is the main reason I'm a patron, so I'm a bit disappointed to hear that the show is a somewhat lower priority, if I understood your comments at the start correctly. But I understand that you sometimes, by necessity, have to choose what you prioritise so it's cool.

Henchmen21

I forgot to mention this last week but you'll notice that the extras still wear the season 1-2 uniforms. They didn't have time to make a "one size fits all" version for the extras so they had to still use the spandex ones. That changes with season 4. Pamella Segall in ep 4 is the voice of Bobby Hill in King of the Hill ep 4 has one of the best scores in TNG. Composed by Ron Jones. He and Dennis McCarthy would score a majority of the eps for the first 4 seasons of TNG (he left after season 4 for creative differences with producer Rick Berman who wanted mostly ambient music in the show that could be used over and over)

Henchmen21

That's not true. Eps were filmed the standard way back then for TNG. So the production order is not the same as the broadcast order.

Theo Bracco

Lower Decks! Lower Decks!

Theo Bracco

It holds up pretty good. The production value is quite high, even the cgi. And the writing is good.

Thall

I don't remember what SciFi book i read it in, but since I always figured that the universal translator is not just Audio in-n-out, but it translates the signal from your brain to your mouth and other language stuff. So when you speak normally, it does nothing, if you speak a language you don't know you actually speak that language without needing to consioucly think about it. Also, again, sorry for being a dick a while back. Wasn't about you, just me being a dumbass lashing out. Sorry.

Matt O'Keefe

She played older ladies a lot through the 80's & 90's. Besides this episode and Liar Liar, she was the woman who inspected Robin Williams home in Mrs. Doubtfire, and plenty of sitcoms, among other things.

Jean-Dominic Lapointe

I can’t wait for you to get to the First Contact movie, but if I remember correctly, it’s set in the middle of season 5 of DS9, so we’re not there yet. Regarding Enterprise… it’s… ok. In terms of prequels, I much prefer Strange New Worlds, but the lore is still interesting. It’s not only set before TOS, it’s even before the Federation. It’s very very early warp-travel earth era. It’s different.

Jomero

George: The Universal translator is one of the biggest flaws of the technology of Trek and is one that even the fansiest of fanboys can't mental-gymnastics their way around. Like why would the translator suddenly stop working for EVERYONE when a klingon wants to say something in klingonese to another klingon? Especially when they were already speaking klingonese the entire time? I think it's a big reason why the show Stargate SG-1 just said "Fuck it, all aliens speak English and we're not even going to come up with a reason as to why."

David N

Man, imagine if this happend to humans insted of proto-vulkcans. We would have burnt troi at the stake and everyone would be worshiping the picard insted of just us nerds.

Guts

I was curious too: The phrase "Who watches the watchers?" is an English translation of the Latin "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?", which means "Who will guard the guards themselves?" It originates from the Satires (Satire VI, lines 347–348) of the 1st–2nd century Roman poet Juvenal.

Steve Arnold

Personally I liked „Enterprise“ very much and I would be thrilled if you would watch it.

DasBigUn

how are you two going to DS9 and Voyager as they "cronalogically" {and literally} accur in the mid of season 4/5 I think. Enterprise happens after, I think, Voyager...if not just somewhere towards the end. I would HIGHLY recomend it. Like....really....for Pothus (the Captains doggo; the second pet to appear on Star Trek for Captains)

Three Dalmations

Voyager is my favourite Star Trek series and DS9 is the only one of the OG Treks that I don’t like. I think everyone will have different preferences, but as you said they’re all worth a watch.

Ben Stevens

praise be to the Picard for another glorious Star Trek day

Tom Buckley

George was referring to the prince Philip tribe on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu.

Drew Acheson

Should you watch Enterprise? Probably. But be aware it's a little rough. And the ending is contentious. Is it great? No. Do people still love it? Yes.

Misha T

Kevin's confession in "The Survivors" is one of my favorite scenes in Trek. It's such a beautiful, heartbreaking performance. The actor, John Anderson, had lost his wife only a few months before the episode was filmed, and he later said that the role of Kevin was one of the most difficult in his career due to that. As an actor myself, I'm sure that pouring his own raw grief into that character had to be extremely painful for Anderson, but I hope it was therapeutic in some way as well.

Darth Fatass

Should you watch Enterprise? Yes but not for awhile since it did come out in 2001.

doe555

Good explanation. However, I think the translation "problem" is one of those things that either works or doesn't work depending on what the story demands. Sometimes people speak their own language, even when the translator is supposed to be translating it. The Klingons are, in my opinion, the best example of this. Often, something is spoken in Klingon that isn't translated, even though it's assumed that most Klingons always speak Klingon and therefore it can be translated.

Simone's Coconut Squire

George is talking about Cargo Cults! The one he mentioned is only one of many that sprung up among remote Pacific Islander tribes in the wake of WWII. My favorite is the cult of "John Frum" where the followers imitate the US military in hopes that "John Frum" will return and bring endless bounty. They're not sure if it's named after some soldier actually named John Frum, if Frum was some part of his last name and the rest got dropped in translation, or it's a sort of pidgin translation of someone telling the natives they are "John, from...".

Misha T

I really like Enterprise. It has more "grit" and rawness to it than previous Trek series, and many of the elements that are usually taken for granted in Trek (especially technology) are stripped away. I also really care about the characters, unlike those of some other Treks which shall remain nameless. 🙃

Pendergasted

All Star Trek in release order. No other questions ;)

Angela's invisible airfryer (corey)

100% watch Enterprise. Fully great. Also I hereby predict DS9 will be George's favorite series. The best writing in all of Trek even though I hold TNG highest in my heart.

Korpse

G.I. Jane

Andrew

This is harsh but it is true. She does this often and is often right about what she is starting to say but seems to lack the self confidence to state her opinion. I understand that she doesn't want to say something wrong and have 100 people come after her in the comments but this is the profession she has chosen and reactors need to have opinions or they are boring. George on the other hand has no problem stating his opinion.

Scott CineRam

Yes! I remember her in Mrs. Doubtfire.

Ron

* Enterprise: Absolutely! I'm all in for Star Trek up to this point. After this... That's a different conversation which I think is too early to have. Actually, I'm a big fan of ENT (all seasons) and liked what they were trying to do in the first 3 seasons. * Release Order: I definitely think this is the way to go. So, please continue with this. * Universal Translator: Yes, we should see the characters with lip-sync issues in the same way that the UT worked in ST6 (which also had latency issues). Please keep in mind that all of the UTs you've seen so far have been functioning nominally. * The Survivors: Just going on memory, I didn't have high expectations for this one. But, I was pleasantly surprised. It was definitely better than I remembered. * Shooting Location: If you switch to 3D mode (on desktop or Google Earth on mobile), you can see the house from the same perspective as we see it when the landing party arrives. Unfortunately, it looks like the grass is gone now and replaced with dirt. Google Maps: Malibu, CA: https://maps.app.goo.gl/bBHQvZxsCxQvjJor9 * Who Watches the Watchers: I think this is quintessential Star Trek. If I had to give someone a list of episodes which best exemplified the ethos of Star Trek, this would be among them. * Bonus Trivia: This was shot on location at Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce, California (about 50 miles north of LA). Thus far, you've see this location in TOS's Arena (the Gorn episode), Shore Leave, The Alternative Factor, and Friday's Child. This location also appeared as Vulcan in ST4. Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/zN2RZMED2LFaGuGM6 (Some nice 360 panoramas.)

John

I would love it if you all watched Enterprise and all the Star Treks :)

Angzarr

Good show. Nice reaction.

Angzarr

He also had a very memorable and vaguely similar role in an episode of M*A*S*H ("Say No More"). Definitely worth a watch. I wouldn't be surprised if that role landed him this one. The sorrow and regret he plays in both is so palpable.

Angzarr

I said it on a previous episode: I think almost everyone agrees that Data is the funniest character in TNG, but for my money Worf isn't far behind!

MacGuffinStuff

George went full George with the lip syncing thing lol, I was just imagining the cast and day players just, "Watermelon, watermelon, watermelon" and one guy once says "Watermelon, Sir." "Hey, just stick to the script, we don't improvise lines in Star Trek (that's a real thing actually, they don't improvise, AT ALL, except that I recently heard Jonathan Frakes and someone else, can't remember, from one of the older shows, talk about how they were on set of a newer show, don't know which, and someone improvised, several people I think, and they were like WTH? But they actually liked it, so that's cool). I also really liked these episodes, especially the Watchers, with Ray Wise from Robocop and Pamela Adlon aka Bobby Hill from King of the Hill, I knew it was her even under the make-up and so young, it was her voice that tipped me off I did laugh at the escalation from. "We think God might be real," to "We need to start burning women." SO fast 🤣

Angzarr

Enterprise is my least favorite of the shows up until that point, but I'd still be along for the ride if they react to them. I get off the bus after that though. The reboot movie and everything after that point can go die in a EPS conduit explosion.

James Kelly

I guarantee George will love DS9. Especially "in the pale moonlight"

Nathan Burgess

Loving these ‘bonus’ Wednesday Star Trek content. I didn’t join for Star Trek but I eagerly await your drops each week. Simone’s attempts at syncing with the intro always brings a smile (sometimes a laugh) as does her sing along. Her being a fan is a comfort. George’s questions and insights help me see the show differently from a newbie / non-fan (maybe fan now??), really appreciated. Thanks for the mid week mood lift. In the first episode the implications of an entire race killed off with a random thought in a moment of madness and loss are huge. How do you live with that outcome especially as a pacifist?? Second episode gives a good insight into why the prime directive exists even if it has some big flaws. Probably a case of best worse option. How first contact can quickly divert a society’s evolution is really highlighted by this being a ‘logical’ society imagine an illogical society like humans!

Marcus Hicks

This is what we were getting at, George. Expect to see more of these extremely thought-provoking episodes over the coming weeks and months. Whilst there are still going to be "weak" episodes in each season, they are much less frequent and are never as cringeworthy as a "weak" epsiode from Season 1 or Season 2.

Marcus Hicks

BTW, I genuinely believe that the male Mintakan's zealotry was driven far more by recent grief and loss than any deeply held beliefs. He desperately wanted his wife restored to life, and that desire drove his need to believe in "The Picard" as a deity who could perform such a miracle.

Mike FromOz

I am so here for when you start watching DS9! As for Enterprise... Eh. I'd swap it out for "The Orville", but that's just me.

Forsythe

As someone who watched these 2 episodes for the first time today, I thought they were both better than just OK. They were great! But if you think they are just okay, I can't wait for the rest of season 3.

gfixler

The good thing about Who Watches the Watchers is that the planet had only, like, 20 people on it. They lucked out there.

Forsythe

Thanks for the explanation about why S1 & 2 were 3 episode batches. I didn't realize batches of 2 were the norm. And no worries if an emergency happens and you have to pause Star Trek Day for a little bit. As a new patreon I'm not aware that ST Day is an extra treat from the normal schedule. Thanks for everything you two do on your channel!

Tales of the Fantastic Podcast

Man - after re-watching Who Watches the Watchers - I really would love Simone and George to watch Seth Macfarlane's The Orville when they finish TNG. It starts as a parody but evolves into such a great show that has great love for Trek. (I know this has been mentioned before, I'm sure.)

Jean-Dominic Lapointe

I can’t wait for you to get to the First Contact movie, but if I remember correctly, it’s set in the middle of season 5 of DS9, so we’re not there yet. Regarding Enterprise… it’s… ok. In terms of prequels, I much prefer Strange New Worlds, but the lore is still interesting. *rest of the comment deleted because I felt it was too spoilery*

Tales of the Fantastic Podcast

Hah - yes - and another movie chose the same location that you mentioned in your bonus trivia for Who Watches the Watchers....Army of Darkness. It is the same spot where Ash leaves the king's retinue to go retrieve the Book alone!

Drew Acheson

The universal translators are installed in the com-badges. For Riker and Troi on the surface of Mentaka it is implied that the translator is built into the subcutaneous communicator they had inserted so they could talk to the ship.

gfixler

George, you're not alone about the lip sync issue. I've had that pop into my head maybe 50 times since childhood, and I've spent considerable time thinking about it on some of those occasions. I think the best I've gotten to is that you could use micro-holodeck tech to simulate a mouth over top of your own, but it would also have to be really fast to keep up perfectly with your intention, and the audio.

Landon DuVall

I would love it if you watched Enterprise!! I know it's not people's favorite but I think it's highly underrated.

Lintrinsic

DS9 and Voyager are nowhere near as bad as TNG before it was remastered. Picture quality improves as you move through the franchise. And if you watch old shows, it comes with the territory. I'd rather watch the original than an AI upscale or a fan upscale that might put you in breach of copyright.

Robert Mendoza

If you are still enjoying Star Trek by the time you finish Voyager I recommend watching Enterprise. I avoided it for a long time cause people hate on it a lot. I finally watched it a few years ago and I was pleasantly surprised. It has flaws of course but it's also got some good parts. I don't think it deserves the hate it gets.

Simon Pegged Me

Hey MacGuffinStuff, I think I know the improvisation story you're talking about, or I'm about to present another one. On Strange New Worlds, there's a crossover episode with the Lower Decks cast called "Those Old Scientists (a playful reference to TOS)," directed by Jonathan Frakes. The Lower Decks cast members were Tawney Newsome and Jack Quaid, who have backgrounds in improv and sketch comedy, and after they got comfortable on the Strange New Worlds set and comfortable with Frakes’s directing, they—both, Trek and Frakes fans—thought they'd improvise a bit in an attempt to impress Frakes. Everyone immediately looked at them like they'd done something unspeakable, like they'd just pointed to all the places on a Spock doll where Shatner had touched them inappropriately. Everyone except Frakes, that is. He thought the improv was great and encouraged them to play more in the scene. I don't know if any of it made it into the show, but it seemed like Frakes allowed them to ignore the longstanding taboo against deviating from the script. I hope I'm remembering the details correctly. Also, good eye: Pamela Adlon?! I totally missed that, and I'm a big fan of hers.

Simon Pegged Me

I think his universal translator show should be called "Star Trek: Antici.......................................pation," but I'm a Rocky Horror fan. If only a young Tim Curry were available to serve as captain.

MacGuffinStuff

That's it! It was just something I scrolled through at work one day and I did recall it had something to do with Jack Quaid. That's so cool. I honestly hope they watch ALL of the Star Trek series because I want to. That is wild. I'm just really a newbie I guess. I always respected Star Trek but I now I'm finally seeing how deep this is, episode by episode. And the lore and fandom, it's pretty fuckin awesome.

Simon Pegged Me

The Survivors is one of my favorite episodes. I particularly like the way Pickard goes from "You'll have to come with us to the nearest Starbase to stand trial for your attack on Star Fleet vessel," to "We have no laws for you crime," after hearing the true scope of his power and atrocities." I imagine this episode ended like so many TOS episodes, with the Enterprise dropping a communication buoy that says, "Stay the fuck away from this planet. Pissing the inhabitants off will end in tears." George laughing, "They worship Picard as a god." Duh? They're only human(oid)s.

WayneC

Would TV shows or movies which was dubbed in a different language would be examples of George's universal translator theory?

Patrick - Excelsior

Maybe he is speaking english where he learned it in England. The universal translator likely recognises this and leaves it alone.

Jon

Yes, you should watch Enterprise. It's not the greatest, but still fun and better than some of the newer stuff.

Alhazred

Enterprise is a little bizarre. The first two seasons are awful, and contain what is widely regarded as one of the worst episodes of the entire franchise. The last two seasons are a huge improvement (and yet still contain another of the franchise's worst episodes, as well as the series finale, which is INFAMOUSLY idiotic.) The actor who played Kevin had recently lost his wife and almost turned the role down. It's not a stretch to imagine his performance during the reveal at the end isn't entirely acting. Star Trek Online recently had the Alpha and Beta Quadrant powers finally stumble across what used to be Husnock space some 60 years after the episode is set (as an excuse for why the Husnock cruiser became usable by players; they've salvaged the derelict fleet.) It isn't gone into in great detail, but it's noted that from what can be seen of the leftovers of their civilization, Kevin may have actually undersold how awful they were.

Jpsynergy

I'm used to SG-1 and just assuming everyone knows common. Like Simone I just roll with it. Both episodes were great this time around, though The Picard is legendary. I see Patrick Stewart show up with in my bronze age society with all his grace and poise and you're damn right we're gonna venerate him.

TalynOne

No way, I couldn't stand Orville, Enterprise first two seasons were basically Voyager , same writers, same bad recycled plots. The writers admitted they were phoning it in after being burnt out on TNG. So you have basically a bunch of burn outs writing Voyager/Enterprise. Which is the same problem with Orville, they got the hack Brannon Braga to write/run the Orville writing, that's why it feels so familiar it's just recycled Voyager/TNG plots, it has no originality, it's a bad copy from a burnout. The reason the last season of Enterprise is so good is because Brannon Braga stepped down as show runner and Manny Coto took over. Also the super hated finale of Enterprise was written by Braga, as his "Goodbye Gift" which eventually he apologized for.

Ian Tellam

Regarding the translators and other details - like anything in Star Trek you can come up with some tech magic to explain all the little things, but it does get to a point where it would bog down the episode. Maybe they could have had the words piped to them phonetically or something and explained the strange way of talking as being that they had travelled from far away or something. There are plot devices that would make it work, but sometimes they just handwave the details for the sake of the brevity required for the show. I think that's pretty much the explanation canonically - that they have the technology 'in universe' but it's not necessarily depicted that way in the show for a myriad of practical reasons and some suspension of disbelief is therefore required.

Casey Leadbeater

Yes, I would recommend watching Enterprise but after DS9/Voyager....it harkens back to the beginnings of Starfleet and being the new kid on the playground.....Enterprise is set before the Prime Directive and the fastest they can fly is Warp 5. It has a lot of nods and easter eggs to the rest of Star Trek. It was filmed in the early 2000s, after DS9/Voyager, so graphically it's better, but the "technology" is clearly pre-TOS.

Daniel Lanctot

Re: The Universal translator. You are absolutely right, George, that in the real world a UT (Universal Translator) would not be in sync with the lips (although, I think it would be more like today when people have an ear piece in which someone speaks the translation and therefore the people in the Star Trek universe hear BOTH the original speaking and a second voice in their ear; only with much less delay as the computer can do it faster than a human translator)… But of course, it is one of those things where, if the show made it a 100% real life representation on screen: The show would be unbearably annoying to watch…! Does that create some unrealistic situations? Yes for sure… Like the fact that in this episode, the Mintakans DIDN’T have a translator in their heads, so how were THEY able to understand any of the humans!? The translator would not make Troi, Riker or Picard speak Mintakan; and even if it did, you’d get the lip sync thing happening and they’d be instantly weirded out by it! (Abd I am sure no one on the Enterprise learned to speak Mintakan before the mission or in the short span of getting to the planet; Data could have done it, but no one else!) And this problem comes back whenever you have any human speaking an alien language to said alien race (like in season 2, when Riker greeted K'Ehleyr in her native Klingon language: Did the UT in K'Ehleyr’s head translate it to human? Or did it omit it just because it’s Klingon? Did everyone else the room hear the translation into human?) or even when humans speak different languages (Does Picard hear everyone on the crew in French? Does he SPEAK French to them and the UTs translate his orders? When he said “Merde!” in a previous episode, did everyone on the bridge hear “Shit!”? Did Worf hear “Baktag!”?) 🤷🏻‍♂️ … It’s just one of those things that you just have to suspend disbelief for the sake of the enjoyment of the show by saying “Alright! Alright! It would not be as simple in real life, but we need the convenience for the dialogue to flow correctly!”

Maerandir Eldar

OMG THANK YOU for subduing the opening theme! That has been such a troubling experience, but I didn't want to be That Guy (tm).

JoeNotCharles

I don't think you should stick to release order - it'd take way too long to get to newer stuff! Especially if you expect to tap out at some point when you run out of time for Trek. I say alternate a season of older Trek with a season of newer Trek. A lot of the newer Trek is divisive, but no more so than Voyager and Enterprise. The shows that are definitely worth watching are TNG and Deep Space 9 (older), and Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds (newer). I'm not saying DON'T watch the others, since they've all got good points and bad points, just that since you don't have time for EVERYTHING those 4 are the ones I'd prioritize.

SpankTheMonk

The Surv: Picard 🔥, and 😢. Also put another red cone on this planet. No just you George we knew something was up- 😎.

Dan

"Ew" haha

Dan

The thought of this makes me laugh, it would probably look like Superman's upper lip/mustache cover-up in the Snyder DCU ^_^

Geoff Richards

Great that you plan to stick to release order, I think that's the right call. I try my best not to think about the universal translator. It's magic, and that's that. A wizard did it.

Misha T

Thank you! I've actually never seen M*A*S*H, but it's been on my to-watch list for years, and I think you've motivated me to finally start it.

michael denny

watch it all dammit. as long as lower decks gets watched because it is the best one.

Jef Etters

You mention Enterprise. I hated it when it came out and now it is my favorite Trek show. It has really held up and it has overcome its original bad rap in general online in 2025. While TOS is classic, TNG has my heart, DS9 has my head and ENT just holds the spot as my comfort favorite. It is the easiest to rewatch in 2025 as the most recent of the golden era shows. HD, widescreen, it becomes serialized. Some great characters and no spoilers, in season 4, it becomes a fan’s dream with all kinds of stories that fill in and connect a bunch of lore. It’s awesome.

Jef Etters

While I definitely agree that yes the lips wouldn’t line up with a universal translator, one fun thing to think about is there must be multiple telepathic species in the federation and maybe they have tech that is incorporated somehow. Maybe the lips look like they line up in your mind.

Jef Etters

Release order is always the correct answer for any franchise, sorry. The fact that some of us like different shows more than others is a moot point.

Jef Etters

You avoided it because people hated on it. A lot of people did avoid it because of that. I was a person who hated on it for years because when it came out, I watched the beginning of the first season, saw that it wasn’t what I expected as the beginning of the Federation from books and discussions over the years, and I bailed. I watched it years later and I was wrong! It’s great.

Michael Bauer

While I prefer the seasons of Enterprise that others dislike and vice versa - I'd recommend watching it. TNG will always be my favorite because IMO it best exemplifies the values of Trek, but for me, almost all Trek is good Trek :)

Jobbe Smit

Yes watch Enterprise, it's really not that bad and actually quite a neat take on the series. Much better than Discovery ever was. Skipping Enterprise would be a shame. As for DS9, it overlaps in airtime with TNG so watching both at some point makes a lot of sense. Could do one episode each when they start to overlap to not bloat the schedule.

Forbidden Donut

If you like TNG/DS9/VOY I would say watch Enterprise. I waited about 20 years but I'm glad I finally did. First two seasons aren't great but three and four are pretty good. After watching it, I think it has some of the same feel/spirit of the other 3, and by the time I finished I wished it was a 7 season show.

Michael Bauer

Personally, "The Survivors" and "Who Watches The Watchers" are another two of my favorite episodes. Sure, "The Survivors" is definitely not perfect, but the concept, the acting, and "Good Tea.... Nice house." totally make up for its flaws 😄"Who Watches Te Watchers" is maybe the most striking instance of an episode of a hugely popular US-American TV show making a case for something like secular humanism. As a teen, that was pretty significant for me.

Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-dongle-… von Hautkopft of Ulm

The "different languages not matching up" thing is covered quite well in a scene from Star Trek 6. If you want an entire movie where the lip movements don't match, Kung Pow Enter the Fist is the way to go. The television show Farscape addressed the issue of a similar (biological) technology in the first episode, and also has some fun throughout the series with mistranslations.

dys

I would be completely okay with them doing what Popcorn in Bed did for TNG, just watching a curated list of episodes that are the best/most important, and following that pattern for the rest of the Trek shows.

Jay Perry

What did they do to that poor child's head? They basically told him to hate Wharf for no reason. They were supposed to let the kid express his own feelings freely.

Chrissonator

But you miss so many good episodes that way.

Chrissonator

In fact, Oji is played by Pamela Segall who voiced Bobby Hill in King of the Hill. :)

Edina Lewis

Should you watch Enterprise?? ABSO-FRIGGIN-LUTELY!!!

Ken

Yes, you guys need to watch Enterprise, it is a very good trek. Regarding the episode, Who Watches The Watchers, this is a wonderful episode, and if you want to see an extended version of the same concept, you guys should also react to The Orville, Seth McFarlan's homage to Star Trek, and it is also a great show. In their version of this episode, we get to see how the society gets affected by their own "The Picard" incident, and what happens if nobody corrects the mistake and the society is allowed to continue believing until modern day.

RSteele

I've noticed they are shooting more episodes outside in real nature rather than those in-studio fake nature sets they had in some episodes of season 1&2. Those episodes always felt so TOS to me, it feels a lot more modern in real nature.

Neil

Enterprise is worth watching. Seasons 1 and 2 are not great but 3 is a big improvement and Season 4 is (in my opinion) one of the best seasons in all of Star Trek

hackbyte

"Should we watch Enterprise?" What a question .. OF COURSE! ;)

This Justin

There’s an episode of DS9 that explains the universal translator better, and in Enterprise, the universal translator is still new technology and doesnt always work.

Elisa H.

There's an episode of doctor who where it is briefly observed that the universal translator "even does lip syncing" which made me laugh.

Angela D. Mitchell

I love "Who Watches the Watchers." It's so thoughtfully done, and beautifully acted -- Kathryn Leigh Scott is just wonderful as Nuria, and I always love seeing character actor Ray Wise, who is possibly best known as Leland Palmer on Twin Peaks, but my personal favorite role for him is as Natty's Dad on the wonderful "The Journey of Natty Gann." I was most thrilled by two things here -- that, as you mention George, there is no "magical" or easy final fix, and most of all, that Captain Picard has to deliberately risk his own death to show them their error, that only his injury and blood will show them the truth. And it does. I get your nitpick about the universal translator, meanwhile, but I also just handwave it as "magic" because there's simply no way to show it onscreen. I tend to just think that the words are neurologically translated and spoken accurately by the speakers even if they are actively "translating as they go."