STAR TREK WEEK
As a fan of the original Star Trek television series, I’ve been supportive of all the subsequent shows under the Star Trek umbrella. But as my heart is with TOS (The Original Series), my favorite episodes of the other series’ are those that connect directly to TOS. Scotty recreating the older, familiar Enterprise bridge in the holodeck of a Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) is one, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s (DS9) “Trials and Tribble-ations” episode is another.
This short book (only 133 pages) takes a look at how “Trials and Tribble-ations” came about and what it took to make the show looks as authentic as it did. It’s been some time since I last watched this particular episode (maybe as long ago as a decade?), but I remember being excited but how great it looked – how incorporating the DS9 crew appeared seamless. It didn’t look like simple green-screen technology … and it wasn’t.
I had not realized how much work was put into this episode in terms of creating new techniques and using some advanced technology that hadn’t really been used in television. Of course today it would be fairly simple, and in fact it could probably all be done with AI, but that wasn’t the case in the 1990’s.
Some of the problems the production team faced included difficulty in finding period materials – from fabric to paint to lighting equipment, things change over the course of three decades and attempting to light a set to look like the original might be challenged due to discontinued paint colors or equipment that’s been phased out.
I definitely enjoyed this trip down memory lane. It’s a quick read – easily done in a day -making it perfect for the Kindle Unlimited plan, which is how I got ahold of this.
Looking for a good book? The Magic of Tribbles by Terry J. Erdmann & Gary Hutzel with Paula M. Block is a “Making of” book about the making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s episode “Trials and Tribble-ations.” Star Trek fans definitely should read this.
4 stars
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The Magic of Tribbles
authors: Terry J. Erdmann & Gary Hutzel with Paula M. Block
publisher: Pocket Books/Star Trek
ISBN: 9780743446235
Kindle Edition, 133 pages
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