93 thoughts on “Must. Swim. Faster.”

1. First post!! Never thought I’d get to claim that 🙂
   Wil, there was such a big stink over you being cut from Nemesis, so I was a bit shocked to see you in the reception scene? I’m guessing there was a bigger scene that got cut, perhaps with a speaking role?

2. The first time I came to your site was the weekend that they ran the Wesley Crusher marathon on TNN. You rock 🙂
   I liked ST:Nemesis. I think its the best one they’ve done in a long time.
   Merrry Holidays n’at

3. Seeing how RB screwed you over put a bad taste in my mouth about seeing the movie so I’m not going to.
   Good luck with all your holiday chores and I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas.

4. Wil,
   Why havent you seen Trek X yet? Its not too bad. Once you get over the lack of dialoge and over use of action.
   I’m waiting til Saturday to see TTT. And then Sunday I get on a plane bound for my family in Minnesota. I get to find time to pack stuff for the flight AND see a 3 hour movie! It’s going to be soo much fun!
   Hee Hee I’ve been done shopping for 3 weeks now!!! hee hee!

5. 6 more sleeps…..

6. Merry Christmas Wil! And save some of that Egg Nog for me. 😉
   I haven’t seen Trek X yet, and don’t plan to. No one I know actually liked the movie. Considering how bad Enterprise is, I’m not surprised.

7. You really thought TTT was darker than Fellowship? I thought the tone was setup to be that way, but the dialogue ended up making it very light. A lot of one-lines from Gimli, 2 or three two many with Legolas and Aragorn, and I felt the pacing was a bit rushed. I have seen Fellowship almost 10 times now, and each time I watch it I find something else to love about it. I hope repeated viewings of TTT endears me to it in the same way. Have a happy Christmas and a great new year, I will be spending the majority of mine in Vegas. Wil, or anyone else, is the Star Trek experience worth visiting?

8. I asked my wife when she wanted to see TTT, and while she was totally hooked on LOTR 1 (she even considered going to a Renaissance Festival this summer), she’s bing smart about our budget and we will probably see it in the discount theatres.
   In April.
   And I still say F Berman and the ship he rode in on.
   Trek’s not dead, just in disguise. Like Final Frontier.
   I’m going to bake apple pies again this Christmas. mmmmmmm, cinnamon.
   Later.

9. I agree with you on Two Towers, but must every movie these days be over 2 hour if not 3? Argh…quite the butt burner.
   I wish I could get more into the Christmas spirit…maybe it’ll hit me on Christmas Eve.
   Glad you had a good time in SF.

10. Wil, you’re not missing much by waiting to see Trek X. It had its moments. Although it certainly wasn’t the best TNG movie, Nemesis wasn’t the worst, either. The special effects were terrific, but some of the subplots were, well, unnecessary. You know they’re unnecessary when you find yourself not caring if the good guy makes it through the fight in one piece. Of the actors, Patrick Stewart (duh) and Tom Hardy were especially good. Everyone in your posse cheered during your scenes in the beginning of the movie. 🙂

11. Wil! Have you seen Soapbox?
    Your TTT review is going to be a 30 Megaton nuclear blog in the current war of words that has erupted.
    I wait with great anticipation.
    Ittttttssssssssssssssss Chriiiiiiiisssstttttmmmmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Woo!
    Hope you finish your christmas (not x-mas, oh no) shopping.
    I and the entire of the midlands, judging by the size of the crowds, have done ours today.
    Glad the show went well, by the way.
    Anyway, to the wrapping-mobile! Away!

12. Is it safe to say that First Duty is your fav? Happy Holidays, and a quick note: you were great in Star Trek X.

13. I also like TTT. You should check out the movies Soap on it. Some die-hard Tolkeiners hated it b/c it stayed from the book too much.
    You were also on an episode last night on TNN. The one where the couple is living on a planet and its all a big farse and Troi is hearing music.
    Use a life preserver if you need to! Don’t drown the river of holiday maddness!!!

14. No kidding, the feet-up, log-on-the-fire part can’t get here fast enough. I have been working 7 days a week for a couple of months now on a single project, and my first day off since farking September will be Christmas day. Oddly, though, after christmas it’s going to be so slow I fear for my job. Oh, well. So I will try to enjoy the oasis of the holidays for what it is – a day that, when its over, I don’t have to put onto one side or the other of the “I’m saved/I’m fucked” balance scale.
    Took a few hours away from work to see Nemesis – it’s not bad. It’s not going to bring anyone new into the Trek fold, though, so I think your call is right on about the future of the TNG movies. It will take a new franchise, a new re-imagining on the TNG scale to get a new demographic interested. I know that I thought the original Trek was kind of dated and campy when TNG came along and made me a fan.
    Anyway, thanks for the entertaining site. Good luck.

15. Hey Wil
    Is there an online stream of Screen Savers, or something? I don’t get techtv… 🙁
    I was glad to see you at all in Nemesis… i was afraid you were cut out ENTIRELY. I agree with you on TTT, too, but it’s true… there’s been quite the hub-bub in the soapbox going on.
    I’m totally missing the xmas spirit this year, and think it probably isn’t going to hit me, well, ever. Sigh. I just can’t seem to care about the holidays, except as a big calorie fest that i’m trying to avoid.

16. I guess if I comment now, it will more likely be read cause it’s further up the comment log. Some of these entry’s get 200+ comments.
    Happy Holidays to Wil and all the WWDN fans!
    I thought Trek X was pretty good and would see again.
    Just saw the DVD version of Stand by me last night. Viewed the Directors Commentary version. Interesting facts w/ the movie. Worth checking out!

17. I hate this time of year,worrying about people you have bought for or haven’t bought for, getting in touch with people, lack of money… to much stress.
    This time of year should be spent with families and enjoying yourself just like in the chesey family xmas films, it shouldn’t be this stressful. But hey that’s life.
    MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, and have a good new year.
    Spike
    8.30 GMT

18. “The First Duty” Is the episode where Wesley says that he went on ski trip to Calgary. I was so thrilled when I heard that(being that I live in Calgary). I can’t even describe how thrilled I was… I was in grade 6, and I NEVER heard of Calgary being mentioned in TV shows or movies, and to have the name mentioned on my favorite show AND THEN listed in the Star Trek Encyclopedia….
    This year we’ve had no snow to speak of at all(usually the kids are tromping through half a foot of it on Halloween). No skiing. Not that I mind. I hate the cold.

19. I’m going to see Two Towers tomorrow. Yay! (Mad dance of joy: only 1.5 hours until my vacation officially starts!)
    I like The First Duty, but I think I like Final Mission more. Most definitely not because it was Wil’s last regular episode, but because it showed how far Wes and Picard’s relationship had developed. Very cool. =)
    Nemesis was pretty good. I got a shock when I realized it’s been 15 years since TNG started, though. Sheesh…has it been that long since high school?
    Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays all!
    Em

20. Wil, about your book – when it is completely finished, where will one be able to purchase a copy? Will it be published through a publisher and sold in stores and through amazon or is it just something for this site, like the T-shirts?

21. Wil,
    I have always been a big fan of yours up until last night. I was in a pub in philly called the Worster and this fellow I met had pictures of you with several known al-queda operatives. He also had a pic of you sometime ago in full military get up he says it wasn’t for the big screen either. I hope there is a logical explanation for this perfidy. I do like screensavers and have always loved the role you played in Trek, but I think our relationship is over.

22. I don’t understand why people don’t like Nemesis. I have seen it twice already and, with the exception of the Annoyance of Troi, I loved every second of it. But I guess with the announcement from Stewart that he’s done with Star Trek movies, they’ll either stop or have to switch casts.

23. I work retail so it’s about time for me to have the “I can’t get all of the shoppers out of my store” dream.
    I have this only at christmas time…
    So sad I’ll only get 4 Star Trek Action figures for Christmas this year.. Where’s the rest of the crew? Where’s my Wes in his dress uniform!!

24. Hm…does this mean someone would want the
    Wesley action figures in my basement??
    Lots of people are NOT going to see “that movie”
    cause of what they did to you Wil.
    You should NOT be suprised at that….

25. I’ve got mixed feelings about the Nog-n-Relatives days ahead…
    On one hand, my semester is over, (along with its 20-page papers, 30-minute research presentations, and mock-qualifying examinations), so there is nothing that I HAVE to do until mid-January. I’m enjoying my empty flat, in this soon-to-be-empty college town.
    On the other hand, Christmas means a huge Production with my family, complete with petty bickering and people literally turning their backs on me to talk to someone else at family functions…
    Either way, I suppose it’s all a Learning Experience, and exercises in patience… (;

26. WWHAT?? No more TNG movie… what has the world come too?!?!? Well… I really do want to see The LOTR’s soon. I am almost done the first book 🙂 And Me and my best friend will be watch Star Trek tonight. I love that episode. Just because it is all about Wesley. Mmm.. can’t wait for egg nog SO good! Well Have a good Christmas!
    Liki

27. Number 2 rules. Let’s just hope TNN doesn’t decide to pull the ol’ switcheroo as they have in the past.
    I think you need an assistant, Wil. *hint hint*
    ;o)

28. Great job on TSS! I think it was their best show in months. They’re always good, but you somehow kicked it up a notch. Thanks for doing the show.
    With respect to Nemesis–definitely worth the price of admission. Some small gripes: some of the filters on the cameras, going for a dark look, or going for a “hey, it’s bright out here, where’s my sunscreen?” look. Also, I didn’t FEEL the peril. In ST4, when that big probe was looking for whales and boiling the oceans, I knew there was peril. Somehow, saying “Esophageal radiation could destroy the whole planet” just doesn’t scare me. And I was expecting Data to say “I have been, and always will be your friend,” just before the end. But these are really just minor things. All in all it was a fun movie experience.
    Say, couldn’t Wesley Crusher, a.k.a. the uber space/time traveller, be involved in the temporal cold war of Enterprise? Maybe he’s evil in the future. Don’t actors like to stretch a little? Just wondering.

29. I absolutely loved Nemesis! For me, it was very much like a bigger, better version of ST:TNG with all the pizzazz and delightful special effects of the “big screen”. I felt like I was greeting well-loved old friends when I saw the cast – including Wesley, who has always been part of the Star Trek family to me. The characters were everything I expected and wanted them to be.
    I didn’t realize until afterwards that a larger Wesley scene had been cut. I did, however, specifically notice him missing in the movie after the opening scene. I did miss him, and am curious as to what the cut scene was about.

30. Problems with X:
    [quote, Roger Ebert review]
    I’ve also had it with the force shield that protects the Enterprise. The power on this thing is always going down. In movie after movie after movie I have to sit through sequences during which the captain is tersely informed that the front shield is down to 60 percent, or the back shield is down to 10 percent, or the side shield is leaking energy, and the captain tersely orders that power be shifted from the back to the sides or all put in the front, or whatever, and I’m thinking, life is too short to sit through 10 movies in which the power is shifted around on these shields. The shields have been losing power for decades now, and here it is the Second Generation of Star Trek, and they still haven’t fixed them. Maybe they should get new batteries.[/quote]
    Here’s a bit of crap. Instead of taking the sum total of Voyager and reducing it to a beheaded expository mockery, an opportunity was available to take the ‘ablative armor’ techinology that Janeway brought back from the future. They could have slapped it into the Enterprise E, and instead of the tireless back-and-forth dog-and-pony show that Ebert describes above, a much more interesting space battle could have been produced.
    The failure to incorporate this plot thread from Voyager – hell, any, really – is inexcusable. Of course, other offenses abound.
    Decent enough movie. Could have been so much more.

31. Argh, Christmas shopping.. just got mine done today. We didn’t think there’d be many people there on a Thursday afternoon, alas we were wrong. Strung out folks all looking for the perfect present… phew.. least I can relax now. Good luck with the rest of your shopping 😉

32. The “sitting around the fire with friends and family while drinking egg nog” part of Christmas officially begins for the lucky ones tomorrow afternoon at 5PM (all time zones) and for the semi-lucky ones: 5PM Monday the 23rd.

33. Wil with the al-queda? ha! i knew that you were evil! hahaha

34. I loved Nemesis too! Maybe it helps that I’m not a “die-hard” ST fan, but only a casual fan, because I don’t feel the need to nitpick or analyze every detail that supposedly wasn’t right… I mean c’mon, this is Star Trek, a lot of things haven’t made sense from the beginning, so why start now?
    ST X is a great piece of entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would see it again.
    BTW, I was also expecting Wesley not to be in the movie at all. I was pleasantly surprised to see him there. 🙂

35. Hey, Wil, can you pull a few strings and get some excerpts of your latest TV success put up on the TechTV website?
    Otherwise they will face the wrath of 50,000 monkeys who want to see why everyone enjoyed it so much.
    🙂

36. i think they should release Star Trek X on DVD with your parts INCLUDED…
    at least then the DVD will get a cult following of your v. loyal fan base.
    🙂

37. Ummmm…now that the movie is playing…can you tell us what your cut scene was….what lines you had and such. Tell us Pluhease!

38. Trek X? Something new would have been nice as this film had everything the second film had . . . and it showed.
    Someone should tell the producers that they need to let the public go hungry much longer before feeding them the crap Trek X became in the can…uh…IMHO. Yes, I am the most humble person I know…even if I say so myself!

39. Wil,
    Before we get too enmeshed in the holiday craze, just want to stop in here and thank YOU for enabling this great community through your blog. It’s been a delight to read each day, not the least of which because of your generosity in sharing your thoughts, your life, and your experiences. It just makes a lot of other people want to share, too — and that’s pretty good.
    Good holidays to you and Anne and Nolan and Ryan and Ferris the wondrous dog. I look forward to reading your words — and everyone else’s — in the new year!

40. “Trek’s not dead, just in disguise. Like Final Frontier.”
    Posted by Drakensykh
    Hey, can I use that quote? That would look excellent on a t-shirt!

41. I’m taking my husband to see TT tomorrow and Trek X on Christmas day as part of his Christmas this year. After Saturday, I’ll be able to sit around the fire and drink eggnog-tommorrow is wrapping day! I pity you having to shop this weekend. I recommend you pack some Valium darts to use on bloodthirsty shoppers!
    Have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

42. I recommend egg nog mixed with sprite. It doesn’t sound it, but its bloody good.

43. Wil,
    It is strange that the money that the latest star trek movie made is considered not enough for these studios. To them, if it does not make over 200 million bucks, it sucks. I guess thats show business. Have a great holiday.
    FG

44. “The First Duty” is THE Wesley ep. One of my favorite TNG’s – and yeah, so it’s fan-girlish of me to say that. You can take it. 😉

45. Wil said: “Based on the box office, I think it’s a safe call to assume that the TNG movies really are finished.”
    I liked Nemesis, but I have to say that this may be no bad thing. The franchise is getting *really* tired. Paramount could do worse than let it lie a few years.

46. the end of next generation trek movies does not mean the end of the venerable movie franchise…there are many directions they could go which would liberate them creatively…while familiarity is fun…seeing the next generation cast all together for the first time in the wedding scene is a good example…sooner or later all good things must end…and we can’t claim we’ve been shortchanged on next generation material…there’s a whole bunch of tv episodes out there…as well as four movies…but this can also be a bad thing…the sheer volume of next generation makes it hard for the writers to come up with original material…trek will survive in films…it’s much too lucrative for paramount to let it go…and if a new crew or situation is featured in the the trek movie…i’ll be there…as i have been since i discovered gene roddenberry’s wonderful star trek universe…it was a better world he was dreaming of…and millions of us are still dreaming his dream

47. Hey Wil,
    Been reading your blog for many years, yet this is my first post.
    Just wanted to voice some opinions: I liked TTT but compared to the first one it lacked a certain something. I realize being the middle movie makes for an awkward segway but still. They seamed to hop from scene to scene randomly. However Golum (sp?) and the Ent’s ROCKED!
    Regarding Trek X: Take this with a grain of salt (I’m a huge TNG fan so..) I loved being able to watch my favorite characters in a new adventure, however I must confess… I did not enjoy it all too much. It seemed as “fake” as Insurrection. TNG is merely a franchise now, nothing more. As soon as I can afford the DVD’s I’ll at least be able to relive those wonderfull memories.
    Ciao!
    – Eddy

48. A feature film with the Voyager crew. Sweet as! I would LOVE a movie with the Voyager crew. No matter if it was 3 hours long.
    xx

49. I’m waiting for the sit back with egg nog bit myself. ***GET TO THE PEACE ‘N QUIET BIT OF THE HOLIDAYS MOJO***

50. A movie with the Voyager crew? Hmm….I don’t know how that could work. I mean they made it back to the Alpha quandrant…
    Oh, who cares! As long as Jeri Ryan is in it I don’t care *what* crew they use! 😉
    *ala Homer Simpson* Mmmmmmm…Seven of Nine!
    Gotta love those ST outfits 😉
    http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Screen/4353/7of9.htm
    (Page loads kinda slow on my DSL)

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