My sci-fi fandom contains one (I hope only one) potentially frowned-upon aspect, and it's one that I’ve been open about: my general disinterest in basically all things Star Trek. Abrams’ prequel/reboot was nothing short of awesome, but aside from that film and The Wrath of Khan, I just have never enjoyed the series, despite having seen every Star Trek film there is and a small smattering of episodes.

A few weeks ago, I came across this great quote Abrams gave Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatch blog, concerning the evolution of his feelings for the franchise:

I didn’t feel like I could relate to any of the characters ... I didn’t feel cocky or self-confident like Kirk. I wasn’t as logical or rule abiding as Spock. I wasn’t grumpy as Bones or as wide eyed as Chekov. I didn’t have the intelligence of Scotty or the reliability of Sulu. I knew I wasn’t Uhura. I was none of these characters. Looking at the whole group, they were all wonderful archetypes, but I didn’t feel a bond with any of them. But working on the movie I fell in love with all of them. The torment of Spock. The full-of-potential-but-unrealized Kirk. The strength of Uhura, the wit of Scotty, the bravery of Sulu, the innocence of Chekov — I loved them all. It took working on it for a long time to not just love them, but become them.

As I read this, I realized that my feelings of Star Trek are exactly as Abrams’ were. It then occurred to me that a journey through the series, a journey similar to the one I imagine Abrams took before making his movie, might – just might – be able to sway my personal opinion of the franchise as a whole. At the best, I can come to love it. At the worst, I can gain a greater appreciation of it as well as a better understanding of why it is such a beloved series (though, to a great extent, the reasons for the latter are already obvious).

So, this is my New Year’s resolution: Try to love Star Trek. I am going to give the show the absolute best chance I can to suck me in, and I’ll record my progress in a weekly series of blog posts. After conferring with a number of Star Trek fans (including The Sci-Fi Block's own Eric Miller), this is how I have decided to do it: I will watch one Star Trek episode per week, alternating between Star Trek the Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation. I am going to watch the good episodes and the bad, giving all aspects of the series an equal chance. However, since the general consensus (that I’ve found, at least) is that TNG doesn’t really get good until Season 3, I’m going to do a little more alternating within my alternating. For my TNG weeks (every other week), I’ll start off by going through the first disc of the Season 1 DVD collection. Then, (still just for the TNG weeks), I’ll be switching to the first disc of Season 3. I will then go back and forth in that manner (TNG Season 1, Disc 2; TNG Season 3, Disc 2; TNG Season 1 Disc 3; TNG Season 3, Disc 3; and so on). This is to give the show as fair and as full a chance as possible. Plus, I really don’t wanna miss out on the good stuff.

My goal is to continue this blog series for at least a year, which, if everything goes as planned, should have me covering almost all of TOS Season 1 and half of each of TNG Seasons 1 and 3. My hope is that I will be able to continue at least through Season 2 of the Original Series, but we’ll see how things go – that would make this a pretty long project. In short, I’m not setting anything in stone. The end point will probably come whenever I determine my feelings for the franchise have been solidified -- again, though, I plan to give it at least a year. And who knows? If this turns out just to be loads of fun, I’m likely to keep it going much longer. The one thing I definitely am going to do, no compromises, is give the franchise as much of a chance as (if not even more than) I deem reasonable.

I would ask all the Trek fans, as I do this, to leave their thoughts in the comments sections of my posts. I want to hear your opinions of the episodes I watch, and I want to know what you think about my thoughts of them, especially if you disagree. What better way to learn to love Star Trek, after all, than in the company of others who love it?

Whew. That’s a pretty lengthy introduction, but there it is. It is my sincere hope that I will indeed come to love this series. It is my belief that I will at least gain a better appreciation of it. Star Trek, here’s your chance. I’m talking off my (Mandalorian) armor and letting you hit me with all you’ve got.

With that out of the way, let’s begin. My first post is up right now: “Learning to Love Star Trek, Part 1: Stepping into the Man Trap” ...