Is that a phaser in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Well I was very surprised by the results on this one. The Next Generation finished on top. I expected that. The surprise came when Deep Space Nine finished second. I had no idea it was so popular.

I was never a fan of Star Trek, any series, until my college roommate turned me onto TNG. I still didn't watch it for a while. I thought it was for geeks. Then as fate would have it, I was flipping through the channels one night and came upon an episode called "The Measure of a Man" in which Data is put on trial to determine his humanity. That episode hooked me and I have come to learn that "Measure" is an excellent example of the overriding theme of "Star Trek". Beyond the green women and shaking in unison camera moves, each episode is a morality play of sorts. The moral is usually that a being's differences are what makes them unique and does not make them bad. Pretty good advice there.

I have watched a few of the original series. I have one friend who is a nut for the original and who has most of them on VHS. Now the acting in those really was pretty bad but I won't hammer it too much because if it hadn't existed, then I couldn't watch TNG.

I guess what I found when I would watch TNG is that the equality and tolerance themes were well mixed with action and adventure. I also realized one day that the Klingon story lines about the struggles within the empire were closely related to the intrigue and betrayal themes of Shakespeare's history plays.

I thought the acting in TNG was outstanding for a television show. Now Counselor Troi and to some extent Riker are not going to remind anyone of Olivier and Uta Hagen but Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner did some great things.

I may have to check out DS9 in reruns now since it got such a strong showing. I could probably count on one hand the number of episodes I have seen of that one.

So what did you Trekkers/Trekkies think of this poll? Let me hear from you and tell me why you like Star Trek. I plan to do an addition to this article when I get some emails and I would like to include some reader comments. In your email, please let me know if you wish to be quoted and if you want your name printed.

The next poll is the promised "Battle of the Boobs". I am taking the top ten from each previous breasts poll and letting them battle it out. If your original vote didn't make the cut, vote anyway. Just pick the closest one on the list to your original choice. Let's see if size really does matter.

Star Trek: The Next Generation	40.3% - (105 Votes)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	33.4% - (87 Votes)
Star Trek: The Original Series	20.3% - (53 Votes)
Star Trek: Voyager	5.7% - (15 Votes)
Total Votes: 260