In honor of “Star Trek’s” 50th anniversary, our Far Flung Correspondent, Jana Monji, asked her colleagues to contribute their favorite “Star Trek” moments. The comments are hilarious because we get everything from an SNL parody to a discourse on “That Girl” and “Bewitched.” But we also are reminded of the episode where they tackled the very serious topic of racism. Our correspondent from Australia, Katherine Tulich, knew EVERY episode from the original and even wrote a musical about it! We want to hear from you Trekkies. Please share your own precious memories in the Comments below. — Chaz Ebert


JANA MONJI

Sept. 8th marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of “Star Trek: The Original Series.” The series only ran for three seasons on NBC. You might have noticed that the Adam Nimoy-directed documentary “For the Love of Spock” will receive its theatrical release on Sept. 8 or 9 (depending upon where you are in the U.S.). Full disclosure: Ian and I donated to the Kickstarter campaign. 

So I’m asking for your favorite “Star Trek” moment. It doesn’t have to be the original series if you’re a “Next Gen” fan. It could even be a wistful wish that the 1999 “Galaxy Quest” had a sequel or series. 

PETER SOBCZYNSKI

The SNL skit where the ship encounters the NBC executives who have come to cancel the show.

DONALD LIEBENSON

I was not a “Star Trek” viewer. It was on opposite ABC’s power block of “Bewitched” and “That Girl.” 

Favorite “Bewitched” moment? Anything with Serena. Or Uncle Arthur. But mostly Serena.

JANA MONJI

The benefit of watching reruns is you can watch both. I also loved “That Girl” and on “Bewitched.” Uncle Arthur was my favorite!

DONALD LIEBENSON

I had epic crushes on Elizabeth Montgomery and Marlo Thomas, and “That Girl” was, like, the only TV show ever where the woman had a boyfriend named Donald.

PETER SOBCZYNSKI

Dude….Spoilers!

OMER MOZAFFAR

So many moments, but if I have to pick one, it is the final stretch of “Star Trek 2.” 

Kirk gets called in by Bones. He notices Spock’s chair is empty. Hands the command to Saavik, who had been struggling to be ready for it.

While the music rises, he tries to rush toward the Genesis device to Spock, and gets held back. “He’s dead already” and the music softens. 

Spock sees him, rises, straightens out his uniform, and stumbling along, tries to speak with Kirk, starting wth with work and philosophy, grief and logic. And farewell. 

The eulogy. “Amazing Grace” from bagpipes, to orchestra, to Star Trek music, as Spock’s casket gets shot out into space, as he merges into the new world. 

With the star blazing its nourishing light. 

SUSAN WLOSZCZYNA

I, like Donald, was on team “Bewitched”/”That Girl.” The crew of the “USS Enterprise” had nothing on Agnes Moorhead’s imperious meddler Endora and Marlo Thomas’ cute working-girl outfits. As a result, I was never a devoted Trekker. But I did have certain family members who were diehard fans. That is how I happened to be exposed to one of the most infamous episodes, “The Trouble With Tribbles,” since it aired in 1967 around the Christmas holidays and our guests didn’t want to miss their favorite show. Imagine my surprise when I watched that stick-in-the-mud Capt. Kirk awash in a sea of cooing fur balls. I now realize that given their rapid rate of reproduction that these round mounds of squishy adorableness were mini sex addicts who were binge eaters. But, in my 12-year-old mind, any show that could squeeze in that many cute stuffed outer-space critters – 1,771,571 and counting, according to Mr. Spock – can’t be all bad. 

The only other episode that I can recall seeing during the show’s first run was 1969’s “Let That Be Your Battlefield,” with Frank Gorshin (best known as the Riddler on TV’s “Batman”) as Bele, a half-black, half-white alien from a war-torn planet who is at odds with a fellow alien whose coloring is the mirror image of his in a storyline that dealt with the heavy topic of race relations. Despite a lack of subtlety, I admired Gorshin’s acting chops and his striking makeup as well as the attempt to handle such a pressing issue that just might have inspired “Seinfeld’s” ode to the black-and-white cookie. 

KATHERINE TULICH

Well guys its so much fun to read “Star Trek” moments!! I am literally a “Star Trek” kid. My sister who is eight years older was obsessed with “Star Trek,” so I know every episode of the original! (My sis to this day signs every birthday and Christmas card with Live Long and Prosper). And the merchandize back then—it was so exciting being in Australia and getting delivered boxes of Star Trek stuff from the U.S. My sister has all these original scripts signed by Roddenberry, star insignias, all sorts of crazy stuff they used to send to fans back then! We used to talk about the show and the meanings for hours (we still can). I loved Bones—she was a Spock girl! She even bought all his original vinyl LPs, and Leonard did quite a beautiful version of “Both Sides Now.”

We even wrote a little musical about the show which we performed to the family. I wrote my first song then all about Janice Rand (remember her?). So “Star Trek” has very sweet childhood memories for me, and that first feeling of a connection to a big U.S. show all the way in Sydney Australia. 

And just in another strange coincidence, when I first moved to LA, I was staying in an apartment block in Burbank, which I found out later was owned by Leonard Nimoy!

Jana Monji

Jana Monji, made in San Diego, California, lost in Japan several times, has written about theater and movies for the LA Weekly, LA Times, and currently, Examiner.com and the Pasadena Weekly. Her short fiction has been published in the Asian American Literary Review.

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