What is it with the women's clothes? I can forgive the first series, it was made in benighted times. But on NG it took them years to get Troi into a uniform, and by then we all knew better. Did she really do her job better with her boobs hanging out? DS9 was better -- everyone wore uniforms, just like the guys. But then 7 of 9 shows up on Voyager. The actress does a fairly good job of playing an interesting role, and the whole thing is ruined by a costume (including high heels!) that 7 of 9 would have immediately rejected as "impractical".

In general, NG and DS9 have been my favorite series. Kirk was just too much to take in the original series, the Great White Dick out playing space cowboy. In NG, the captain was much more believable, as well as being a much better actor. He came across as the executive of a group of professionals, unlike in the original series where Scot would routinely lie to Kirk about what was possible and the doctor would stop in moments of crisis to deliver homilies and wonder what life was all about. Picard rarely actually placed himself in danger by leaving the ship, and certainly the entire upper command team was never gone at the same time. I guess I prefer a dose of reality with my fantasy. Spock was, for the time, an interesting character that successfully imprinted itself on the collective unconscious of our society.

Deep Space Nine was more enjoyable because the people actually changed and grew over time. That didn't happen much in any of the other series. Also, several episodes ended on a bleak note, instead of everything always getting wrapped up in a happy little conclusion at the end of the hour. I also liked the greater ethnic diversity that has been mentioned before.

Voyager was, as far as I can tell, a return to the original series in most ways. I think Janeway must have taken Kirk as her mentor when learning how to run a crew, and how to behave in general. Torres, the one really interesting character at the beginning, was completely tamed by the second season.

I'll watch the new series for a while at least, to see if they make some of the stupidly obvious errors they've made in the other series, especially about how they treat women and how they portray minorities, and about whether or not people learn things and change as a result of experience.

John