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Review by Susan Granger
3 stars out of 4
I confess: I am a "Star Trek" fan. I tape "Deep Space Nine"
and "Voyager" when I can't be home. I even had a bit part in a "Star
Trek" movie. But my enjoyment of this sci-fi series is nothing
compared with the fanaticism of hard-core devotees of Gene
Roddenberry's cultural phenomenon. Before there was a "Star Wars,"
there was a "Star Trek." Over 30 million fans watch "Star Trek"
programming each week. "Trekkies" are the only fans listed by name in
the Oxford English Dictionary. "Star Trek" is seen in more than 100
countries, translated into dozens of languages. More than 63 million
"Star Trek" books are in print and, since July, 1986, every "Star
Trek" novel has been a New York Times paperback best-seller, making it
the best-selling series in publishing history. The average Trekker
spends $400 per year on merchandise, which is why "Star Trek" products
have earned over a billion dollars in retail sales in the last five
years. And "Star Trek" conventions are held every weekend of every
year, in at least three different cities, attracting a million
fans. In this funny documentary, Denise Crosby, who played Lt. Tasha
Yar on "The Next Generation," and film-maker Roger Nygard capture the
obsessive behavior of some truly serious "Star Trek" fans - people who
live through and for "Star Trek." Like print-shop worker Barbara
Adams, who claims she's a Starfleet officer and always wears a
uniform. Like a Florida dentist who converted his practice to Startrek
Dental. Like devotees who learn the Klingon language and an elderly
man who wants to have his ears Spocked. On the Granger Movie Gauge of
1 to 10, "Trekkies" is a benign, amusing 7. Don't forget, the
U.S. Space Shuttle was dubbed "Enterprise" after NASA received 400,000
requests from "Star Trek" fans.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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