Sexy Costumes - William Ware Theiss

The sexy gals, guys and aliens of Star Trek boasted an eye popping look like few other TV shows or even films dared to showcase at the time.  From the sexy green of the Orion Slave Girls, to Mudd's Women sexiness and cosmic allure, Trek's attractive folk lit up both the small and silver screen.  One big reason why the sexy came out - especially in the 1960's and in Star Trek: The Next Generation - was because of costume designer William Ware Theiss.  Aside from the writers, producers, make-up artists and actors, Theiss was the man who gave Trek its distinctive, yet classic and future sexy look.

Theiss won an Emmy Award for the first season of ST: TNG, and he helped launched the next level of Gene Roddenberry's futuristic legacy and romp, which would go on for seven syndicated seasons.

iPad or PADD? Star Trek Sexy Tech Is Sexy Modern Gadget

iPads may not be all that new anymore, but they are certainly some of the coolest and sexiest high tech toys around.  Star Trek also uses a tech pad of sorts - or the PADD - Personal Access Display Device.  Captain Kirk used a version way back in the 1960's and Captain Picard's streamlined version allowed him to be well informed about missions and crew rosters.

It's said that with a properly configured PADD - one could stroll down a Starship corridor and pilot the Enterprise - plotting courses and even firing on enemy vessels.  Just think of how indispensable your Android tablet or iPad has become to you now in your everyday work and play.  Engage your tablet and your PADD!

Star Trek Sexy Spotlight - Female Q - Suzie Plakson

Q!  Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) shouted this so many times, he should have trademarked it - well, maybe he did.  On Star Trek: The Next Generation, one super powered bad baddie called Q - played by John DeLancie - menaced the Enterprise crew more than many.  It was a wild ride with Q popping in every so often over the course of 7 seasons to muck up mischief.  When Star Trek: Voyager warped onto TV, with Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) at the helm, Q had a new adopted home to terrorize and it was here that we met a female Q  - Suzie Pakson.

The Female Q was Q's lover and despite some rocky romancing, they reconciled and even managed to bring a child into the world - only to have it be so badly behaved, so much of a cosmic handful, his mother basically disowned him.  Q was then left to raise Q Junior on his own.

Star Trek Sexy Spotlight - Gillian Taylor - Catherine Hicks

Captain, there be whales here!  So said the excited Scotty (James Doohan) in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, after the huge humpback whales were beamed aboard the 'borrowed' Klingon Bird Of Prey.  The whales, named George and Gracie after the great comedy team of George Burns and Gracie Allen, were the key to telling a future probe, which was devastating Earth, what it could 'go do with itself' - according to that gentle physician, Dr. McCoy.  The woman who had looked after these important ocean dwellers was Dr. Gillian Taylor - played by actress Catherine Hicks.  She's perhaps best known as the mom from Child's Play - the first Chucky movie.

Gillian was romanced - or more accurately courted - by Captain Kirk (William Shatner), so he could get his hands on her whales - literally.  The two had great chemistry, and later in a few Star Trek comic books, the two even became a couple - at least for a short time.  

What may be most interesting to die hard Trekkers is the breaking - or at least bending - of the Temporal Prime Directive here.  Unlike so many time travel adventures in Gene Roddenberry's universe, the crew of Enterprise take Dr. Taylor back with them into the future.  The logic:  Since Earth's future marine biologists are unfamiliar with real live humpback whales, Gillian will be indispensable in caring for them.

Star Trek Sexy - Starship Spotlight - The Excelsior

Star Trek's most famous space faring vessel is Captain Kirk's Starfleet starship - the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701.  Of course, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) may differ and say his Enterprise - U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-D was more popular.  Whichever you prefer - Voyager and Deep Space Nine are also contenders - the fact is the sci-fi franchise has given space ship fans a host of galactic goodies to choose from.  One of the more sleek, sexy and downright glorious is the U.S.S. Excelsior NCC-2000.

We first saw this awesome, and by the standards of Kirk's era a far more advanced star ship than Enterprise, in the feature film Star Trek III: The Search For Spock.  For all of its supposed might, however, it only takes Scotty a wee bit of tinkering to bring the grand old lady to a halt.  Our intrepid engineer removes key components of the warp drive, so that when Kirk hijacks Enterprise, the Excelsior can't follow.  Later, in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, none other than Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) now commands the trans-warp powered Excelsior.  At one point, it was even rumored that a new Trek show would debut with Captain Sulu at the helm of star trekking adventures.

Star Trek Sexy Spotlight - Janice Manheim - Michelle Phillips

Captain Picard may not have been as sexually busy as his Starfleet predecessor, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), but he still did have his share of the lovely ladies.  One of the most beautiful, classiest and pop culture ready of Picard's beauties was Janice Manheim - played by Michelle Phillips of the pop group, The Mamas And The Papas fame.

In the first season episode, "We'll Always Have Paris", Picard reunites with his long lost love - now the wife of scientist, Paul Manheim.  Though the two ex lovers try to recapture the magic of the old days, by recreating the romance of Paris, France in the holodeck, things don't work out exactly as planned.  Still, it's one of the earliest examples of how the Starship Enterprise's holodeck could serve as a place to accurately rekindle the romance of the past.

Star Trek Movies - How They Stack Up on Rotten Tomatoes

On Rotten Tomatoes, Star Trek (2009) scores highest of all cinematic treks.  There are now 12 feature films - 6 in the original cast - 4 featuring the Next Generation cast - and 2 with actors recast as Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and others. How do Captain Kirk and Captain Picard measure up on Rotten Tomatoes?

Star Trek: The Motion Picture   (1979) - Score 45%

Directed by Robert Wise (The Haunting) and reuniting the cast from the original 1966 TV show - William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig and George Takei - the big screen effort is a contradiction in cinema terms. Though awash with spectacular sets, costumes and FX, the film seems to keep both the characters on screen - and audience - at arm's length. This may have been an intentional or subliminal theme, afterall, Spock and the rest haven't been working together for years. When they must band together to fight the rampaging thing called V'ger, a little rekindling of the chemistry is definitely required.

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (1982) - Score 90%

Khaaaaaaaan!  It's the line most associated with this Nicholas Meyer directed flick, and perhaps as popular as other taglines like Beam me up, Scotty or Live long and prosper. Khan was played by the charismatic Ricardo Montalban - TV's Mr. Rourke of Fantasy Island fame. There's a plethora of reasons why STII is so popular, even favorite among trekkers, but chief among them is the powerful performance from Montalban. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role in 2013's Into Darkness, and while serviceable, and even fun, his portrayal can't touch the original Khan.

Star Trek III: The Search For Spock   (1984) - Score 78%

Spock is back - well, mostly. It's a rare and special film where the title character doesn't truly appear till the final scenes, but that's what makes STIII so engaging. Still, compared with its predecessor, the love for it is dimmer. Leonard Nimoy helmed the movie and one can say that his dual role of director and actor - as brief as it was - may have limited the care and feeding of this cinematic beast. Note to Taxi fans: Christopher Lloyd, the Reverend Jim himself, plays head Klingon Kruge. He's not the most villainous of the Trek big baddies, but he's definitely the quirkiest.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home   (1986) - Score 85%

You can't go home again? Not for Captain's Kirk crew! They not only do so, they travel in spectacular, albeit risky fashion. After the Enterprise herself is sacrificed in the previous entry, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest time warp back to the hip 1980's. Their mission? Bring back a few whales - yes, those giants of the ocean. Directed again by Nimoy, this in all respects is the lightest, even most joyous of space treking tales. There's no villain - save maybe bad future ecology. It's hands down the funniest film entry of them all.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier  (1989) - Score 21%

What does God need with a starship? Kirk fires off this line to the super baddie at the film's conclusion, so you basically get an idea of the tone of this ambitious, if off kilter 5th installment. William Shatner directed this weird romp - and provided story material - like his buddy Leonard Nimoy had in the last two outings, but sadly, the reception wasn't quite the same. Though bolstered by the solid actor Laurence Luckinbill as Sybok, the tale is hampered by a muddled narrative focus and cheap looking FX and production values. Note: For real fans and collectors, the blu-ray release looks worlds better than the DVD or even when it's broadcast on TV.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country  (1991) - Score 83%

The Klingons make a serious, yet still fun appearance, in perhaps the most political oriented entry. Writer Leonard Nimoy is on record saying he got the idea after witnessing the fall of the former Soviet Union. The Klingon Empire becomes the stand in for the Russians and Kirk and General Chang's face off evokes the tension of the cold war between the USA and USSR. Christopher Plummer as Chang delights in his deviltry. Nicholas Meyer returns to the director's chair, which results in an adventure for both the inquisitive mind and action loving spirit.

Star Trek: Generations (1994) - Score 47%

The passing of the historical and creative baton is realized here in polished style. Kirk, Scotty (James Doohan) and Chekov give way to The Next Generation alumni of Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart), Data (Brent Spiner) and Jonathan Frake's Riker. Director David Carson makes good use of the upgraded TV sets and offers up new eye candy like Stellar Cartography. While it doesn't rank up there with Wrath of Khan or the forthcoming Borg buffet, ST: First Contact, Generations utilizes no less than three villains in the self serving Soran (Malcolm McDowell) and delightfully decadent Klingon Duras sisters to great effect. While no masterpiece, it seems to grow on one after repeated viewings.

Star Trek: First Contact (1996) - Score 92%

I am the beginning. The end. The one who is many. I am the Borg.  The one and only Borg Queen, played by South African actress Alice Krige (Stephen King's Sleepwalkers), is a primary reason this feature film entertains so well. It comes in 2nd best rated on Rotten Tomatoes. In TNG's 2nd season episode, Q-Who, we met the Borg - courtesy of the clownish demi-god, Q. This cybernetic race scours the galaxy like a band of tech hungry zombie geeks. Jonathan Frakes directed this dark blockbuster, and while the parallel story of Riker, Troi and LaForge coaxing the drunkard Zephram Cochrane into action is compelling, the seduction of Data by the Queen and reuniting with her beloved Locutus (Picard) is the story we've come to see. The Borg are such a universal crowd pleaser - like The Walking Dead with blinking lights. They were covered mightily during ST: Voyager's television run, and will no doubt invade the big screen again someday.  Resistance is futile.

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) - Score 55%

Like a warp powered fairy tale or Ponce de Leon's search for a fountain of youth, this 3rd Next Generation movie feels like a lost and overlong episode. There's a great, screeching villain played by Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus), and an intriguing mystery, but the payoff and ultimate stakes are far more TV centric than big budget box office fodder. Look for a few hilarious scenes as Starfleet's finest get 'younger' from the planet's deaging radiation - Worf suffering through a bout of acne alongside Beverly and Troi's breasts getting perkier by the hour qualify for must see chuckles.

Star Trek: Nemesis  (2002) - Score 37%

Above all else, this is worthy for introducing us to one of the most in demand actors working today, Tom Hardy, whose first Hollywood flick was a small role in Black Hawk Down. Hardy plays a clone of Captain Picard, enmeshed in Romulan politcs. Though he's hindered a bit by dopey plotting, convenient alien social structure and over the top dialogue, Hardy is an actor who always commands the screen. Tom Hardy will be the new Mad Max - taking over for Mel Gibson. Nemesis was helmed by British director Stuart Baird (Executive Decision), and it's said that while filming, Baird caused tension by confusing characters with one another - frustrating many actors.

Star Trek  (2009) - Score 95%

It was a 7 year gap, but well worth the wait. J.J. Abram's big budget bonanza solidified Star Trek as a huge cinematic draw - as long as it was given enough money, time and talent. Starring Chris Pine as the new Kirk, Zach Quinto as Spock and Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy, the movie satisfies most hardcore fans, while opening things up for new ones. This one scores highest of all the Treks on Rotten Tomatoes and managed to smoothly steer the franchise into another entry four years later.

Star Trek: Into Darkness  (2013) - Score 87%

We're aging, Jim.  The Enterprise crew are aging once again - albeit a little slower this time. With four years between each big screen outing now, the fans must wait longer and see their heroes and heroines just a tad more weather beaten come the film's release. But it's OK, all that jarring CGI eye candy distracts with gleam and glee. With British thespian Benedict Cumberbatch (The Hobbitt: The Desolation of Smaug) fleshing out a new kind of Khan, and Spock and Uhura's romantic relationship rocking on into stormy territory, this one has something for every fan, new, old or merely confused.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Spotlight - Ezri Dax - Nicole de Boer

When your commanding officer - and one time best friend in another 'life', Captain Sisko - sums you up like this, "She's a Dax. Sometimes they don't think; they just do." - you know your life is one big roller coaster ride.  For Ezri Dax (Nicole de Boer), the more accurate way to sum up her life would be to go plural - as in multiple lives.  As a Trill, she's a joined species - a host and a symbiotic lifeform.

After Terry Farrell, who originated the role of Lt. Dax on Deep Space Nine left the series, Nicole de Boer was brought in to replace her in the seventh and final season of the syndicated show.  And since Trill sort of do the old body swap as a rule anyway, viewers weren't left as shell shocked as when some TV shows plug in a new performer swapped for an old.