USA Today has asked its readers to name its Star Trek dream team, where the crew members can be picked from all the various Star Trek TV and movie incarnations. I didn't vote - I haven't managed to 'log in' so that I can post anything at all in USA Today - but I was interested in who the readers would pick, nonetheless. And they picked Spock! I mean, they picked Leonard Nimoy! Yay! He was my hands-down favorite when I started watching Star Trek in the seventies! And Bones, DeForest Kelley, was chosen as comic relief! (Snicker!)

USA Today picked its own dream team, too. Here Janeway was the Captain. Good choice. I really liked her. Riker was First Officer, although I don't think he can hold a candle to Spock. Scotty, Montgomery Scott, was technical/support crew, and Worf was comic relief!

USA Today Star Trek dream team

Well, I thought this was a bit of fun. Who are your favorite Star Trek characters? Who would be the members of your Star Trek dream team?

Ann

Hmmmmm, let's see:

Captain: Janeway

First Officer: Chakotay

Comic Relief: It's a tie! Quark/The Doctor (I still LOL even time I think of the Doctor's method of waking up unconscious patients...)

Support/Tech: Another tie (I truly suck at this) - Seven / Data

Also, support should have included Torres, who would probably have made it a three-way decision.

LabRat

As I´m a total fan of the original series, it simply would have been the old gang... Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty. But Picard and Seven of Nine would have been close seconds.

I'd choose Spock as first officer, Picard as captain, a duo of LaForge and Scotty for engineering, the McCoy as medical with the Doctor as support staff, and Data, Sulu and Checkov as con/ops crew.

I'm another one that would pick the original crew across the board. I loved Data from TNG, but with Spock around Data becomes a bit redundant.

Not necessarily. They held completely different positions. Spock was First Officer (TNG's was Riker) and Science Officer (TNG didn't really have one), and Data was either Ops or Helm (I can't remember which), with Wesley Crusher (and others) filling the other role.

I think Data did ops and helm both, but I like Sulu and Checkov in those roles.

However, when I referred to Data as being redundant I was doing so in regards to the fact that Spock was always the one with the answers rounded to the 100th decimal place and the "issue" with emotions.

Now I realize that Data later gained them, and that really Spock had them all along, but ignored/controlled them so that "issue" was slightly different, but storytelling wise it seems too similar.

Data just always seemed to be the "Spock" of TNG only not a Vulcan so they couldn't be accused of ripping off the old series.

As captain, I'd choose Jean-Luc Picard, though I think Riker would make a better captain if he ever had the chance (not counting the Titan books since they were never part of the TV series).

As first officer, I'd choose Will Riker as I think he'd make a better captain than Picard. Riker DID beat Locutus.

As science officer/support, both Data and Spock are almost interchangeable. I think in the end, I'd go with Spock. And Data doesn't work as well with Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock. Anyone who doesn't understand that last part needs to watch The Big Bang Theory <g>. You're missing out.

As comic relief, I'd choose Worf since he makes the perfect straight man. Data would as well but I think Worf has the edge.

So Sheldon should be an honourary member of the team, I'm thinking.

And to change the topic slightly - i can't resist adding 3 favourite villains - Q, the Borg, and Tribbles. In defense of adding to the topic, you need strong villains to bring out the heroic in the dream team - yin and yang so to speak.

Would Kirk, in truth, be actually a villain, I wonder?

c.

If Kirk's the villain then not only do I root for the villain for the first time, but I'm also confident that the heroes will lose this one.

It seems like I remember a TV Guide article from several years ago that compared the various captains. The writer posed a scenario where Kirk and Picard would encounter each other and have a misundertsanding that resulted in the two facing off. Then, he wrote, "Picard would call a halt to things suggesting that the two of them talk things out and Kirk, of course, would then take that opportunity to kill him."



In all seriousness though, I think everyone forgets that Kirk was actually quite the diplomat when the situation called for it. He just knew how to kick butt and take names when other methods were required.

Michael, I remember that article.

If that is the case, then Jonathan Archer would beat both of them as he'd shoot first. He'd be annoyed that Scotty beamed Porthos into the ether.

I'm not sure I'd call Q a villain but rather an adversary and occasionally an ally. In the end, he always seemed to be on his own side against everyone else but he had a soft spot for Picard and Riker. He did help Picard save humanity against the wishes of the other Q, who wanted the human race eradicated. Maybe Baby Q mellowed him.

If you want a villain that seriously challenged them, I'd pick the Dominion and the Borg.

What was that about? Could anybody fill me in?

Ann

Huh. I found this on a discussion site called Firstshowingnet. People were discussing whether or not William Shatner ought to return as Captain Kirk for the sequel to the new movie. Some were dead set against that idea, but others were enthusiastic. Possibly as a way of mediating between the two camps, one person made this suggestion:

Well, if that is all the backing you can find of the idea of turning Shatner's Kirk into a villain, then I'd say it's a safe bet it is not going to happen!

Ann

Ugh, that's a terrible idea that I can only assume comes from someone not very fond of Shatner....or of logic, but that's another story.

I kind of like the idea one of the script writers had to include Kirk in the current movie. It would have been a bit cheesy, but I think it would have worked. It certainly wouldn't have been anymore cheesy than having Kirk, the orignal Spock and Scotty all land within spitting distance of each other.