It was incredibly important that I finish out the year in style and the release of Rogue One in cinemas provided me with the perfect opportunity that I couldn't resist. So those of us at KLRNRadio just had to debate the merits of Star Wars and Star Trek on live radio.
Star Wars vs Star Trek
(First aired live on KLRNRadio, Saturday, December 17, 2016)
It was great to have one of the station owners take part. Rick Robinson, also the host of America Off the Rails, is quite an active debater, but I can guarantee that he didn't expect to come up against me. However, I have to admit that I totally agreed with everything that he said.
Then there was Paul Jacob Evans who joined us. It was so nice to have someone else around that wasn't all pro-Star Wars (he like Rick sat on the fence and debated both sides). (Paul's Twitter handle is @pauljacobevans)
Dave Brewer joined us. There was no doubt about it... He was massive PRO-Star Wars.
While Rick had to leave us part way through the show, Dan Wright joined us and took over Rick's debating posturing.
As a nice surprise to me, a close friend of mine (and the godmother of my children) Neerja skyped in from New Zealand to join in on the debate. Who would have thought that a rabid Star Wars fiend could be best of friends with a Star Trek fan?
During all of this, Jessie Sanders, my producer, had fun with all the sound effects that she had been collecting over the last few days.
We talked about the quantifiable influence that Star Trek has had on our technology. We spoke of our favorite movies. The weapons came up, something that I did a previous show on, as did the menagerie of ships in Star Wars. We even discussed how Wesley Crusher is Star Trek's version of Luke Skywalker — the whiny brat that was told to "shut up."
We didn't really come to any conclusions, except that we're not entirely sure if it was a good idea that Disney has taken over Star Wars, but overall it was fun.
I really had no idea what to expect. When you get practiced public-speakers together so knowledgeable on a given topic, you really struggle to get a word in. Regardless, it was definitely worth doing. No doubt, we'll find an excuse to have another debate like this, but I'll likely throw in Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5 and some of the other classic sci-fi shows that we all loved.