Star Trek Casino Episode
Pretty good episode where Data/Riker/Worf get stuck in a world of a 1960's Vegas casino (I don't know the time frame for sure). They have to play out a fictional book and "break the bank" of the casino in order to buy it out. The entire episode is kind of ridiculous on many fronts, especially with Data recommending a "stay" with a player 13 and a dealer showing a face card. I've been a star trek fan for over a decade and never saw this episode before, I'd highly recommend it.
Quote: ahiromuTNG Episode 2x12
Pretty good episode where Data/Riker/Worf get stuck in a world of a 1960's Vegas casino (I don't know the time frame for sure). They have to play out a fictional book and "break the bank" of the casino in order to buy it out. The entire episode is kind of ridiculous on many fronts, especially with Data recommending a "stay" with a player 13 and a dealer showing a face card. I've been a star trek fan for over a decade and never saw this episode before, I'd highly recommend it.
"The Royale", from the second season. these are being reviewed by The A.V. Club. I always thought the episodes that relied on the holodeck were pretty lame, but this one was OK with me.
Quote: Mosca"The Royale", from the second season. these are being reviewed by The A.V. Club. I always thought the episodes that relied on the holodeck were pretty lame, but this one was OK with me.
At least it wasn't really a holodeck episode, but one of those "alien creates a holodeck type scenario", like Future Imperfect. There were some really ridiculous situations in it though. But I did like that they showed a slice of life on Earth (with an American astronaut) between the present and the far future where the show was set. (Not that that's when the casino was set, but that would have been cool, too.)
Quote: cclub79At least it wasn't really a holodeck episode, but one of those "alien creates a holodeck type scenario", like Future Imperfect.
Given how many times, and under how many different conditions, the holodecks malfunction and put people in danger, you'd think they'd have been banned from all Starfleet ships by now. Or at least used as weapons to repell boarders.
Ok, there were a few good holodeck eps, the ones with Proffessor Moriarty come to mind. But overall the fabled R&R room must have produced more stress than combat.
Quote: NareedQuote: cclub79At least it wasn't really a holodeck episode, but one of those "alien creates a holodeck type scenario", like Future Imperfect.
Given how many times, and under how many different conditions, the holodecks malfunction and put people in danger, you'd think they'd have been banned from all Starfleet ships by now. Or at least used as weapons to repell boarders.
Ok, there were a few good holodeck eps, the ones with Proffessor Moriarty come to mind. But overall the fabled R&R room must have produced more stress than combat.
I think it was those darned Binars that should be blamed. In the early first season, the holodeck was just used to create scenery and objects and Parisi's Squares Courts. Then they do their "upgrade" and all of a sudden you've got interactive people with the ability to learn and adapt and screw everything up. The ship coming alive in the final season was awful though. The show hit its stride 3rd, 4th, and 5th seasons, and was downhill after that. The episodes that I still enjoy the most are Yesterday's Enterprise, Best of Both Worlds, and Clues (my wildcard that's not on most people's favorites list)
Quote: cclub79I think it was those darned Binars that should be blamed.
There are extenuating circumstances, namely Minuet.
Quote:The ship coming alive in the final season was awful though.
Among the worst episodes prior to the advent of "Enterprise"
Quote:The episodes that I still enjoy the most are Yesterday's Enterprise, Best of Both Worlds, and Clues (my wildcard that's not on most people's favorites list)
I wonder if "Yesterday's Enterprise" would have been such a fan favorite if they hadn't resurrected Tasha for the occasion. My guess is no.
Trek did time travel episodes well. "The City on the Edge of Forever" is one of the best classic Trek eps. The best Trek movies, "The Voyage Home" and "First Contact" both involve time travel.
Quote: Nareed
I wonder if "Yesterday's Enterprise" would have been such a fan favorite if they hadn't resurrected Tasha for the occasion. My guess is no.
I can't speak for everyone, but I was never a superfan of Tasha, and I just love the backstory of the previous ship. Maybe it's because of my mathematical mind, but I really like shows that focus on things making sense continuity-wise, and showing the other Enterprise sacrificing itself in a hopeless battle to secure the Klingons' trust and admiration was just a great story, Tasha or no Tasha, (though it was one of Whoopi's greatest performances IMO). Plus seeing the alt-world was cool. Too bad Deep Space Nine thought that they could build a mini-franchise on an alt-world continuously existing for several seasons. Lame.
Quote: DocMy favorite holodeck episode was the one where Data has been playing the role of Sherlock Holmes. He gets bored with how easy it is to solve the cases and asks the computer to create a villain and situation that are suitably challenging. The computer complies, creating an adversary challenging not to Holmes but to Data. The impact spreads well beyond the confines of the holodeck and creates a crisis for the ship. I found the end solution quite amusing. No idea at all of the episode name or number.
Season 2, because it has Dr. Pulaski in it. The title is "Elementary, Dear Data." (Not that much of a Trekkie no, but www.epguides.com is a handy website to know).
As I recall the change in adversary was Geordi's idea. He was miffed that Data knew all the Holmes stories, so he solved the crime at the start of the holodeck novel, rather than play along.
Quote: NareedQuote: DocMy favorite holodeck episode was the one where Data has been playing the role of Sherlock Holmes. He gets bored with how easy it is to solve the cases and asks the computer to create a villain and situation that are suitably challenging. The computer complies, creating an adversary challenging not to Holmes but to Data. The impact spreads well beyond the confines of the holodeck and creates a crisis for the ship. I found the end solution quite amusing. No idea at all of the episode name or number.
Season 2, because it has Dr. Pulaski in it. The title is "Elementary, Dear Data." (Not that much of a Trekkie no, but www.epguides.com is a handy website to know).
As I recall the change in adversary was Geordi's idea. He was miffed that Data knew all the Holmes stories, so he solved the crime at the start of the holodeck novel, rather than play along.
Doc, I hope you were able to see the one where he came back to life 4 years later and they make it so he thinks he's alive and off the holodeck- well I'm not going to give it away if you haven't seen it.
I was always hoping Dr. Pulaski would fall down an empty turbolift shaft, a la L.A. Law
Quote: cclub79Doc, I hope you were able to see the one where he came back to life 4 years later and they make it so he thinks he's alive and off the holodeck- well I'm not going to give it away if you haven't seen it.
Well, if it's not obvious, I'm not a serious Trekkie. The finale that you allude to seems similar to the one I remember -- the one I said amused me. Perhaps I saw the second episode rather than the first one, or perhaps I saw both episodes and have them confused. My fuzzy recollection is that the episode ended with the captain having a small black box to save as a memento, with holodeck experiences playing out inside. It was a game-inside-a-game thing. The last character on screen tried to have the computer "end" the reality, just in case it was another holodeck experience, and he had lost track of the levels. Does that sound about right?
Quote: DocMy fuzzy recollection is that the episode ended with the captain having a small black box to save as a memento, with holodeck experiences playing out inside.
That's the second ep, "Ship in a Bottle." In the first Moriarty gains sentience accidentally, holds people hostage, figures out where he is, etc etc. In the end they just wind up saving the Moriarty character.
Edit: C'mon Data! They are playing blackjack, and the lady has 13, dealer showing a 10, and Data says "The odds favor standing pat." Boooo!
The dealer replies "Sorry, sir. The limit is two do-overs."
Quote: IbeatyouracesWhy not just roll 12's or 2's and bet the 30-1 shot?
I'm going to say that because they were promotional chips given for free at check-in, they were only allowed to play them on the Pass line and other even money bets. Still, it only took them 17 rolls to go from $100 to $13 million.
Quote: ahiromuTNG Episode 2x12
Pretty good episode where Data/Riker/Worf get stuck in a world of a 1960's Vegas casino (I don't know the time frame for sure). They have to play out a fictional book and "break the bank" of the casino in order to buy it out. The entire episode is kind of ridiculous on many fronts, especially with Data recommending a "stay" with a player 13 and a dealer showing a face card. I've been a star trek fan for over a decade and never saw this episode before, I'd highly recommend it.
Oh....God. "The Royale". That episode that teeters on the brink of "Dumb but fun" and manages to fall straight into "Just plain dumb."
Now, the Vic Fontaine bits in DS9...I was a fan. :-)
98Clubs and the WayBack Machine.
Quote: IbeatyouracesWhy not just roll 12's or 2's and bet the 30-1 shot?
Because Hollywood thinks we're all just a bunch of idiots who don't understand anything over 8th grade level. Therefore, in their minds, the only thing we know about craps is that a 7 wins.
(They don't even specify when, because then they'd have to explain that it's a loser sometimes (against a point) and apparently we're all too stupid to understand that. Next time you see a movie with a craps table in it where it's only a setting and not the true focus of the scene, watch carefully - 7 will almost never cause anyone to lose!)
Quote: Toes14Because Hollywood thinks we're all just a bunch of idiots who don't understand anything over 8th grade level. Therefore, in their minds, the only thing we know about craps is that a 7 wins.
It's not that Hollywood thinks we're all a bunch of idiots. It's just lowest common denominator. If the intelligence level of a programme is set low, more people will watch - because smarter people will still watch something below their level, but less-smart people are unlikely to watch something they cannot understand.
Quote: Toes14Because Hollywood thinks we're all just a bunch of idiots who don't understand anything over 8th grade level. Therefore, in their minds, the only thing we know about craps is that a 7 wins.
(They don't even specify when, because then they'd have to explain that it's a loser sometimes (against a point) and apparently we're all too stupid to understand that. Next time you see a movie with a craps table in it where it's only a setting and not the true focus of the scene, watch carefully - 7 will almost never cause anyone to lose!)
Which is why this episode was cool. They did exactly what you said they wouldn't do. Data established a point (either 6 or 8) and then 7-ed out. Riker even asked something like "I thought you wanted a 7?" and Data explained that the game changes. Thinking back to Craps in a lot of pop culture shows, they actually do a pretty good job. The Simpsons: "Baby on the table! That's good luck!" (Rolls dice.) "Seven out! Everyone loses!" The Office: "I need to roll an eight, then everyone wins." "Then roll an eight, Dwight." "Thank you Angela."
I also don't understand why people have a hard time with it.Quote: konceptumI don't know why people have such a hard time understanding craps, and the difference between rolling a 7 on a come out roll or rolling a 7 when a point has been established.
I can distinctly remember playing craps as a kid. I was maybe 8 years old.
The ONLY part of the game my friends and I understood, was the Pass line bet. We didn't know it was called a "pass" or "line" bet, although we did know the game was called "craps". We didn't know anything about odds bets, come, place, field, or even hard ways.
So the only thing we did was pass line bets.
We didn't play it much, because, as you might expect, we thought it was boring.
Quote: DJTeddyBearI also don't understand why people have a hard time with it.
I do, for the same reason I had a hard time with it.
To begin the table layout is large and complex. The first time I saw a craps table I looked around in vain for signs to explain the layout. To continue, there are cryptic plates stating 3x, 4x, 5x below the table's minimum and maximum limits. FInally as noted seven can be good or bad depending on what you're playing (pass, don't, come out roll, etc).
If you get past all that, there's the slang unique to the game. Sometimes it seems people at a craps table, dealers and players both, ahve their own little private language, which is spoken nowhere else at the casino.
