Thank you all for your terrific responses to my latest update! This one was a little tricky for me, because it's not nearly as easy to write about the dawn of a new medium as it is to write about the heyday of one. (Though it does make good practice, for the next Big Timeline I plan to write, however long down the line that may be, when I'll have to cover the genesis of the wireless and moving pictures). We'll be hearing a lot more about Syzygy in the coming years, so I hope that you all look forward to that.
But first, of course, for my comments on your many wonderful replies...
If we include "Journey to Babel", the following writers are responsible:
(Two of the episodes on our list were brought to us by the Coon-Pevney team: "Arena" and "The Devil in the Dark".)
You did quite well at matching the tastes of the overall populace: 8 of your 10 matched the 10+1, with another ("Space Seed") getting an honourable mention. ("Balance of Terror" and, unsurprisingly, "Arena", were left off). My score is tied with yours, but the two I missed are "Space Seed" (which I like) and "Arena" (...no comment).
But first, of course, for my comments on your many wonderful replies...
I had a feeling that you would like it, since "Arena" made it on there (and without your voting for it!). I agree, it's an incredibly solid list.You know, that list plus the honorable mention is pretty much the perfect collection of Star Trek episodes.
Thank you very much, vultan!vultan said:Congratz on the anniversary!
Much obligedLet me offer very well-deserved congratulations, then.
I appreciate the precision of your estimate. Now I know that reading my timeline makes time pass at approximately a 200% ratephx1138 said:I can't believe it's actually been a year. It felt like maybe 6mo. Proof that good fiction causes time travel. (Or something.)
The first goal I want to set for this timeline is a projected end date, and then I'll worry about benchmark milestones!phx1138 said:So, you've got a goal of 600,000 views & 5000 replies by next anniversary.
It would not, actually! You are where you should be. Both of my readers born in 1964 are (or were) regulars, as well.phx1138 said:Would that be a misprint for mine? (1963.)
Considering that it's universally regarded as one of the most influential shows ever made, I'm not sure how that's possible - perhaps you merely underestimate itphx1138 said:Looking at them, it makes me think just how good the writing was on the best episodes. (I can't speak to the directing; I'm not sensitive enough to how much difference it makes.) Yet you also see a strong "monster movie" vibe: "Arena" & "Devil in the Dark", & a comedy stream, too, with "Tribbles" & "Piece of the Action". It makes me wonder if [Star Trek] didn't influence styles of shows more than we realize.
If we include "Journey to Babel", the following writers are responsible:
- Gene Coon wrote four out of the eleven (three as the sole writer, if you don't count his having "adapted" one of them, which he actually didn't). And you wonder why just about the first thing I did for Star Trek ITTL was to keep him on board...
- D.C. Fontana was credited only for one episode, "Journey to Babel", but she also wrote the final revised draft of "The City on the Edge of Forever" (uncredited);
- David Gerrold, of course, wrote that one episode which remains his most famous work, despite an acclaimed career;
- Three episodes were written by established titans of science-fiction (Harlan Ellison, Norman Spinrad, and Theodore Sturgeon).
- And two episodes were written by dependable freelancers: Paul Schneider (who wrote only two episodes: "Balance of Terror" and "The Squire of Gothos") and Jerome Bixby ("Mirror, Mirror" was the best of his solid handful of scripts).
- Vincent McEveety and James Komack (whose name you should recognize - twice over) directed one episode each.
- Marc Daniels directed three episodes;
- and Joseph Pevney directed the other six.
(Two of the episodes on our list were brought to us by the Coon-Pevney team: "Arena" and "The Devil in the Dark".)
You did quite well at matching the tastes of the overall populace: 8 of your 10 matched the 10+1, with another ("Space Seed") getting an honourable mention. ("Balance of Terror" and, unsurprisingly, "Arena", were left off). My score is tied with yours, but the two I missed are "Space Seed" (which I like) and "Arena" (...no comment).
Well, if you put "Journey to Babel" on the Top 10 despite the tie, just how many episodes are on the list? I'll give you a hint: it's not ten!phx1138 said:BTW, I've deleted the "tie", since IMO, if there's a tie, there's room for another...which actually puts "Journey to Babel" on the Top 10. (I've never understood the reasoning of omitting the next number: if they're tied, they're equal...)
Thank you!Happy Birthday!
Hear, hear! And she may be getting on in years, but she's got a lot of fighting spirit in herFalkenburg said:Time flies and all that. Here's to the continuing adventures of That Wacky Redhead.
Thank you, Thande, and I agree with you on both counts.Interesting statistical analysis Brainbin. I think it would look better on a histogram myself, but as I annoyingly found out the other day, Excel apparently doesn't do those...
Thank you, SteveI'll echo the congratulations of the other posters, both on the TL and the statistical analysis.
Thank you, though I beg to differ as to whether or not it goes without saying. And even if it did, I still love hearing it!Another good one. (That really does go without saying with you, y'know.)
Which I mentioned fleetingly in the update. Prior to the 1970s, there seem to have been about five solid ideas for video games: one along the lines of Spacewar!/Computer Space; another which focused on table tennis (culminating in Pong); chess simulators; tactical combat simulators; and super-simple games like tic-tac-toe. Technology finally caught up with creativity in the Me Decade, resulting in the Golden Age of Arcade Video Games (and the boon of games for the Atari VCS).phx1138 said:Computer Space was also a lot harder to learn to play. It was nothing like as intuitive as Pong. (BTW, the concept of Pong goes back to 1958...)
Hold that thought; you'll note that I didn't mention the launch library of the Syzygy VCS. There's a very important reason for that...phx1138 said:Does the arcade version help finance this? And does Syzygy still have the OTL trouble in translating arcade success into home success? (BTW, I can't help wishing they'd called it Dreadstar Gaming. Or Sable Games. {Yes, Sable Games is pretty inside.})
I'll be sure to keep that in mind.phx1138 said:Can I hope for a home version of Zaxxon? (It's the only game I ever played much, & liked it a lot.)
And thank you again, Thande!Good update.
Funny you should say that. As you imply, the present reputation for envelope-pushing in the video game industry is much younger than many people realize; KISS was the order of the day (usually due to processing or graphical limitations, of course) until well into the 1990s. I'll actually be touching on your question fairly soon.Thande said:I haven't heard of Computer Space before, but if it's based on Spacewar!, I believe that would make it a rather more complex game than Pong; will that being the first public impression of videogames have an affect on the cultural role of them in society, I wonder.
Tell you what - if you can get him to come out of seclusion and post to my thread, I'll be sure to do thatThande said:Also, extra points if the successor to the VCS (maybe a better-judged analogue to OTL's Atari 5400 with less problems) gets called the "Syzygy Zyzzyva"
Now that would be telling!In this terms of "unlicensed games" does that mean the video game crash of 1983 will still occur?
I really can't say much about the Video Game Crash speculation as of yet, obviously, but this is an important point to bear in mind.The video game crash came from a perfect storm of all of these issues hitting their peak in 81-82. If say, ET never comes out, or Atari works out it's issues with Activision, they may be able to minimize an over-saturation of games for their console. If personnel computing is sped up in anyway, consoles will have to manage competition earlier. Ultimately, I don't see how the crash could have been much worse than it ended up being, and if there's a mini crash caused by any butterflies, American gaming may survive.
And thank you for the help, Andrew! Along with the complimentI think it goes without saying that this is a great update, and thanks for the shout-out, Brainbin!
I'm letting the inmates run the asylum, all right!Andrew T said:I love the idea of Atari being able to do an IPO instead of look for a corporate partner in the '70s. This is going to have massive effects on the stock market in the very near term; from 1981-1982, Atari was the fastest-growing company in the history of the world.
That, in turn, is going to reinvest an awful lot of investors' cash with Syzygy, which means they'll be able to do a lot of things in the late 70s and early 80s with none of OTL's oversight....
That sad, pitiful man really should have known better. Bruce Lee was the Real Deal. Thanks for sharing that great story, Unknown!No Bruce Lee story would be complete without mentioning the fact that a stupid challenger to Bruce thought it would be a good idea to break into Bruce's house and scare his young children, Brandon and Shannon.
Bruce then sent the guy to the hospital. With. One. Kick.
Thank you for the kind words, though I celebrated Thanksgiving over a month ago. Still, I would like to take this opportunity to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all those Americans who celebrate it on the Fourth Thursday in November, rather than its rightful date on the Second Monday in OctoberUnknown said:Good update on the technological advances of this world, Brainbin.
Keep up the good work and Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Thank you for the compliment, TB-EI! I'll be sure to keep your offer in mindLove the update, but can't really contribute anything - just outside my age range. I have some ideas if you do a follow-up on 8-bit home computers, though - PM me if you're interested.
Excellent question! We'll let the butterflies take hold here and remove Computer Space from those films ITTL, if only for the sake of variety.Did Computer Space show up in Jaws or Soylent Green like OTL?
Thanks for sharing the original logo! And yes, Google has been very good to this timeline, for which I am gratefulI found the original Syzygy logo:
Also, if you do a google image search for "syzygy logo" and scroll down to the middle of page 3, you'll find a link to this thread, even though it's less than 24 hours old! That's a pretty big endorsement of That Wacky Redhead, I think.
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