Wil Wheaton is a truly funny man. Memories of the Future is an hilariously irreverent collection of reviews of the first thirteen episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation—a show on which the author starred. Being both an actor and a fan of the show as well as a writer himself, Wheaton brings a unique viewpoint to all aspects of the show that are evident through the constant humor.
While reviewing episode Where No One Has Gone Before, when a warp drive experiment gone awry causes the crew to experience hyper-realistic visions, Wheaton pens one of my favorite observations: “Not all the hallucinations are bad, though: one crew member is seen playing a violin with a classic string quartet, another is dancing a ballet, and Picard stops to have tea with his mother. Of course, the audience’s suspension of disbelief is tested when Troi and Dr. Crusher walk past male crew members and remain entirely clothed. Picard figures out that what they think becomes reality, and he orders everyone to go to general quarters and concentrate on the 1976 Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders having a pillowfight.” This is a perfect capsule of what Wheaton imparts: thoughtful observations on the writing, an understanding of what the fans watching are really thinking, and snarky humor.
I’d seen early forms of these reviews on Wheaton’s blog and still found myself laughing out loud more than once when reading. The more serious sections are also really interesting, especially when he discusses why Wesley Crusher (the character he played on the show) became so widely hated by the fan base. My only disappointment is that there is no schedule for Volume 2’s release so I don’t know how long I have to wait for the next batch!
In August 2006, Brad Hill, an editor at Weblogs, Inc., hired me to write humorous reviews of Star Trek: The Next Generation from my unique point of view as an actor and a fan of the show.
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