A while back, I bragged about having watched all of the existing Trek content available in the world.
First off, a person should never brag about anything. It’s not very classy or professional, and it makes you look egotistical. Arrogant, even. The word “brag” is the load-bearing portion of the word braggart, which is generally considered to be a negative word.
Also, I was lying to you.
Oh, maybe not intentionally. Don’t get up on your high horse, now. I only occasionally tell you blatant falsehoods, and, even then, I usually have good reasons for doing so. You know, to protect the innocent and all that Dragnet stuff. Or, because I’m a writer of fiction, and telling lies is sort of what we do.
But, I didn’t lie to you about watching every Star Trek episode and movie intentionally. I thought I had watched everything. I really wasn’t aware of the existence of Short Treks, which I only recently began watching. Plus, there are several fan-made productions I haven’t watched yet, some of which look pretty interesting.
And, now, CBS All Access has debuted Star Trek: Lower Decks. I was aware that this animated series was coming. Matt Mira and Andy Secunda have talked about it on their excellent podcast Star Trek: The Next Conversation (mostly lamenting the fact that neither veteran television writer was asked to contribute to the show). I think only the first episode has aired so far, but it’s going to be difficult for me to work into my current viewing schedule. I may wait until all ten episodes have aired. I believe the premise is that this is the show about the rest of the members of a Starfleet crew, the ones who do menial jobs and aren’t necessarily members of the bridge crew.
Even though I completed my rewatch of all thirteen Star Trek movies this past week, with my rewatch of Star Trek Beyond, I can no longer claim to have watched everything, even discounting Short Treks and fan films.
That’s the beauty of being a fan of a still thriving franchise. The third season of Star Trek: Discovery should be coming out this year. Plus, the second season of Star Trek: Picard, next year maybe, and the Christopher Pike series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which I’m counting on being closer to TOS in tone than the other CBS shows have been so far. Even the third season of The Orville is on the horizon. Yeah, that’s not Star Trek. I know, I know. But, just between you and me, it is Star Trek in everything but name.
It’s an embarrassment of riches, to be sure. Also the bane of existence for a self-admitted completist such as myself. I want more Trek content, don’t get me wrong. But, I also get a sense of accomplishment for having watched all of something.
When I finished watching (or, in some cases, rewatching) every episode of TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise, I purchased this refrigerator magnet to serve as a trophy.
As I had already seen every movie, this was meant to be a completist celebration. I think it still is. It doesn’t signify that I’ve watched all of Trek, although that’s probably what I claimed at the time, but it does mark the dubious, geek-nerdy accomplishment of watching all five series produced prior to the Disco era, as well as all of the movies.
I am still current on Discovery and Picard, I could add. So, I’m officially behind only by a few Short Treks and one episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks. Something to continue looking forward to . . .
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