Steven Helmer Publications

Like a lot of Star Trek: The Next Generation fans, the introduction of Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur ) in season 2, was an unexpected surprise that didn't go over well and other than maybe Wesley Crusher (sorry, Wil Wheaton ), I always thought of her as my least-liked character. I recently began re-watching the series on Paramount Plus and as I make my way through this infamous second season, I'm starting to realize maybe she isn't as bad of a character as I remember. If anything, the series' writers didn't do her justice. For those of you not familiar with this series, Muldaur was added to the cast after Dr. Beverly Crusher actress Gates McFadden was fired at the end of the first season. McFadden/Dr. Crusher would return in season 3, in part because of Patrick Stewart (who played Capt. Picard) wanted her back and partially because Pulaski wasn't a fan favorite. In many ways, Pulaski was actually a better character than Crusher was. She was an experien...

Even though the jury is still out regarding the Melissa Rauch -led Night Court reboot I do think the fledgling series has shown potential by modernizing the stories while still honoring the original that went off the air in 1992. So far, the show has focused solely on Abby Stone's (Rauch) relationship with her deceased father, Harry ( Harry Anderson ) and a now-elderly Dan Fielding ( John Larroquette ) and it still needs to give the supporting cast a little more depth. However, there is an opportunity for the reboot to bring closure to a few storylines from the original series: What happened to Bob and June Wheeler? Bob and June ( Brent Spiner and Annie O'Donnell ) were frequent and popular guest characters on the series and their hard-luck stories were some of the funniest moments on the show. Their last appearance was in Season 4, when they purchased the courthouse concession stand for $250,000 only to watch it fail because they had to raise the prices to obscene amounts. Th...

Synopsis: After more than 100 years of silence, an alien race contacts the Enterprise staking its claim to a planet and insisting a previously unknown Federation colony be removed in two days. Review: Since the weather hasn't been cooperating enough for me to go for walks at lunch, I've gotten back in the habit of watching this show. I had a chance to watch this episode a couple days ago and, after seeing it again for the first time in a while, I have to admit it is one of my favorite episodes. This did surprise me a bit because I'm not usually a big fan of episodes that focus on negotiations and are mostly just talking. But, this one did intrigue me. I think the reason for this was the seemingly impossible situation faced by both Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) and Data ( Brent Spiner ) with the former trying to negotiate with a stubborn alien race that wanted a complex treaty obeyed to the letter while the latter had to convince the colony it needed to leave the pla...

Synopsis: The Enterprise saves a planet by destroying an inbound asteroid and, a short time later, begins to experience a series of mechanical issues caused by the metal-eating microbes that had called the asteroid their home. Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) arrives on board the Enterprise because she plans to get married. She causes her normal disruptions but, in particular, creates a rift between Worf (Michael Dorn) and his son, Alexander (Brian Bonsall). The review can be found here:  https://wizzley.com/star-trek-the-next-generation-episode-review-the-cost-of-living/