Geekery

Geek God – Gene Roddenberry

Posted on 21. Dec, 2009 by Jake.

In the geek realm, your choice of viewing material is a highly contentious issue. There are Star Wars Geeks and Lord of the Rings Geeks, Babylon 5 obsessives and even a few lowly Buffy freaks. But, like them or loathe them, no army of geek fans has as many legions or is as obsessive as the common trekkie – a devotee of the television and film franchise Star Trek. Whether you think this is a good or bad thing depends largely on whether or not you are ‘one of them’. While lacking the, um, star power of George Lucas, Star Trek inventor Gene Roddenberry is pretty much worshipped by most of Star Trek’s greatest devotees. And I would imagine that being worshipped by some of the world’s saddest people (and before you get violent remember, some of my best friends are trekkies) is better than not being worshipped at all.

Even as a non-trekkie I have to admit that the universe Roddenberry created in Star Trek is extremely complex and well-realised. And, while Star Wars has a plot that revolves around bland themes of good vs evil, Star Trek, as fans would tell you, offers complex commentary that has tackled important issues including war and peace, authoritarianism, imperialism, class warfare, economics, racism, religion, human rights, sexism and the role of technology. Roddenberry said that the only way you could comment on controversial issues in 1960s in America was through allegory. “[By creating] a new world with new rules, I could make statements about sex, religion, Vietnam, politics, and intercontinental missiles. Indeed, we did make them on Star Trek“.

Star Trek was far from an instant success – the original show was constantly threatened with cancellation, and was kept on air only by the dedicated letter-writing of a few fanatical fans before getting cancelled in its third season. But the franchise, already a huge hit among its followers, started to grow. And grow. No other series is responsible for as many spin-offs. Since the original sixties series, Star Trek went on to become an animated series in the seventies, then the Next Generation in the 80s and 90s, before spawning Deep Space Nice, Voyager and Enterprise. There have been 11 feature films – the latest, 2009’s unimaginatively titled Star Trek, was hugely successful and renewed interest in the franchise – and a 12th is on the way. There have also been too many books, games and comics to mention. And, although Star Trek has been doing just fine since Roddenberry’s death in 1991, Roddenberry is missed, and is still a god to his fans, who affectionately call him the ‘Great Bird of the Galaxy’.

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Top Ten Geek TV Shows (currently showing)

Posted on 07. Dec, 2009 by Jake.

The modern definition of a geek – clichéd as a weedy looking character wearing specs – is somebody that relates academic studies to the real world outside of academic studies, and is normally obsessed with all sorts of gadgets and gizmos.

The following ‘Top Ten’ list of current TV programs is sure to bring out the geek in all of us. So without further ado, and in no particular order, here it goes:

Chuck – Chuck Bartowski is a computer geek turned government agent when he accidently ‘downloads’ the last copies of the worlds greatest spy secrects into his brain.

Scrubs – Medical intern John “J.D” Dorian accompanied by crazy friends Turk and Elliot learns the lessons of life and medicine from the cynical king of sarcasm Dr. Cox of Sacred Heart Hospital. Not to mention one really outrageous janitor.

Mythbusters – Two of the world’s most popular geeks Adam Savage and Jaime Hyneman go to ridiculous lengths to scientifically separate truth from urban legends.

Fringe – The show described as the modern day X-Files with better looking actors, follows an FBI “fringe division” as they use unorthodox investigative techniques in order to solve “the Pattern”, a series of paranormal events happening all over the world.

24 – Jack’s back. In what will be the 7th season of 24, Jack is back to his usual tricks as he has 24 hours to stop terrorists in their tracks using sheer determination, some very cool gadgets, and some help from a couple of computer whiz-kids.

Prototype This – A team of geniuses inventing the future one prototype at a time by building outrageous gadgets that could solve todays problems and creating some of the coolest machines around. A must see if you are the gadgets and gizmo’s type!

The IT Crowd – The computer geeks that skulk around a basement office, far away from any social interaction deal with ridiculous IT problems of the employees of Reynholm Industries, and a clueless manager. Very funny.

The Big Bang Theory – Leonard and Sheldon are bonafide geeks that know loads about science, but lack in common sense and social interaction. They also live across from a pretty waitress that wants to become an actress. Throw it all together and you have the “Big Bang Theory”. Hysterical comedy that any geek could associate with.

Heroes – This show is based on everyday people who realize they have extraordinary/super powers and as the story is based on genetics and all that ‘geeky’ stuff, it wouldn’t be right if this show did not make the list.

Numb3rs – A mathematical genius and an F.B.I agent who happen to be brothers solve crimes using a combination of good old fashioned police work and a couple esoteric theories.

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