|
TREK CALLERS 
THE PROPOSITION: Tommy sets the topic for discussion and makes a case for his views on Star Trek. File Size: 1.6 meg (approx 14 mins)
CHRIS CALLS: The first caller for the night arguing against Tommy's proposition is Chris from Leeds. File Size: 870k (approx 7 mins)
MICHAEL CALLS: All the way from Tampa, Florida is the second caller of the night, Michael Hinman.
File Size: 1.7 meg (approx 14 mins)
REX CALLS: A few emails and Rex calls in from Salt Lake City, USA. File Size: 2 meg (approx 17 mins)
SETH CALLS: All the way from Fort Myers, Florida, Seth calls in and he sounds a lot like Mr Armstrong from Emmerdale... File Size: 400k (approx 3 mins)
MIKE CALLS: Mike from St George, Utah calls in. File Size: 1.9 meg (approx 16 mins)
THE EMAILERS: And the emails flood in... File Size: 730k (approx 6 mins)
MORE EMAILS: Much more emails accusing Boyd of being ignorant... File Size: 730k (approx 6 mins)
CHRIS RETURNS: Chris has called back from Leeds and he's not very happy... File Size: 1 meg (approx 8 mins)
KEVIN CALLS: All the way from Arizona, USA is Kevin... File Size: 1.2 meg (approx 7 mins)
EVEN MORE EMAILS: The emailers are getting more angry... File Size: 800k (approx 7 mins)
FINAL CALLERS: Tom calls in followed by Bernard to round the show up. File Size: 1.2 meg (approx 10 mins) 
|
United in Hatred - The Anoraks Are OffThe Phasers Are Set to Kill A Star Trek Night Post-Mortem UK Radio Presenter Incites Temporary Unification of Trek Fandom Whilst Becoming the Recipient of Ugly Yet Entertaining Internet Retaliation Hundreds, possibly thousands, of online Star Trek fans (where internal bickering is more than rife) were brought together (in the Star Trek spirit of putting aside past differences to fight a common foe) to participate in a live showdown on BBC Southern Counties radio. 
"I have had a bad day... But that has pissed me off no end. My god... what a massive wanker. Why Star Trek?" The topic was Star Trek. The proposition: the danger its influence poses for our future; and the possible authority that people with a racist agenda could have imposed upon the shows inception. Purely original research was put out over the airwaves, and the possibilities explored. No concrete conclusions were made, but the findings are there for the conspiracy theorists, and investigative Star Trek journalists, to have fun with. "Boyd said that Desilu's biggest corporate backer was Phillip Morris, who at the time was promoting their cigarettes, and that rumors have always abounded that the company may have been affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan." This theory is taken further, in a possible revelation that has never before been aired among or by the Star Trek fanbase. "When a writer takes a product to a sponsor, the sponsor wants something in return. Rarely is that only the smell of straight profits. They have agenda. I've made over a thousand nationally networked TV shows including stuff for Disney and the NBA, I know what happens." Given all that, what is the Star Trek community now dwelling on? "He said he wanted to do this show because people were calling him a wanker, i've got news for you Boyd: YOU ARE STILL A WANKER " It's a bit like panto really. You cast someone as the villain -- and when they're on stage you get the hisses and the boos. How panto differs from what happened on Saturday night is that when the actor comes off stage, most people are asking for their autograph... The is not the case with Tommy Boyd's Star Trek night. Far from it! "Oh My F***ing God! I so want to send him a flame email. How can anyone be such a f***ing moron? " Before the show aired, people wanted blood. One message board advocated actual violence, flame spamming our email address, and called Tommy every name under the sun including a wanker. "Tommy Boyd Is a complete asshole,what right does he have to call trek fans lonesome, antisocial people, F***ers like him should BURN IN HELL!!! DIE SOB. Also feel free to send flaming emails to him " During the show, people emailed in calling him names that are illegal to broadcast and we would never dream of editorialising on this internet site. "Anyone curious about the ballistic effects of a 5.56x45mm JHP to this morons skull?" 
"I am" Source: Save Enterprise Forums, Martok201 One fan site decided to put a lot of effort in creating a plaque for Tommy: 
The full image can be found
here at the Subspace Comms Network
Tommy's response to the plaque: "The guys with the plaque can't spell "contemptible" - unless they do mean "contempable" which comes from contemper; means to moderate." After the show, the knives were further sharpened, weaponry reloaded, and knuckles ready for further combat. The fact that the show may have brought up something deep and meaningful about our acceptance of reported events; and that we should always question that which we believe is true, was lost on the majority of new listeners. But not lost, by most accounts from the feedback we've been getting from the sharp and intelligent representatives of the fanbase that appeared live on air. "...I had a great time on Boyd's show. He's very entertaining, and I can definitely see why he has a following. I had to burst out laughing a few times, because he's very good at what he does. " It has been said that Tommy Boyd lied about the interacial kiss. Research has shown that Captain James Kirk actor William Shatner himself had this to say on page 381 of his Star Trek Memories novel: "The widely held assumption that Star Trek features the first interracial kiss in the history of television is absolutely untrue." It was filmed in such a way, that they appeared to kiss. But their lips never actually touched. So unless the main actor in that scene was lying, the point still stands that the kiss never actually happened. It was studio propaganda -- and it worked. The whole point of the show was based on various possible behind-the-scenes propaganda devices that may have manifested themselves in some unsettling observations about the representation of alien races. "Why are the recurring enemy so evocative (physically and behaviourally) of racial steroetypes which right-wing establishment would regard as domestic and international threats?" It has also been said that Tommy was rude and obnoxious in regard to Star Trek fans, their lifestyles and their social horizons. Sorry folks but when you go fishing, you have cut the fish's mouth before you can reel it onto the boat! Fishing is never a clean business, and millions of people are happy to eat the fish once the dirty work has been done. "Your all proving him right by continuing this, and people calling for his sacking - even calling for TrekBBS to take legal action in one thread??? All this does is prove his point - to a degree where I'm starting to believe him myself. To use a time worn, but relevant phrase: Get a f***ing life. It has gone on way too far now." Two excellent interviews have appeared in which Tommy has had his response to various bright Star Trek journalists still wanting to learn more: So in the interest of providing some further balance to the night, let's hear from the people who actually got involved and spoke to Tommy during the show. Surely their views count for a lot more substance because they can actually back their opinions up through the actual experience of appearing that night. The Shrine sent a series of questions to each one of our Volunteers. Below are the unedited and honest responses from those who got back to us: 1. Did you enjoy debating with Tommy? If not, what didn't you like? CHRIS: By and large, yes! He's clearly very good at what he does and whilst it would be interesting to see if he performed as well in a situation where control didn't rest with him, he's clearly a pro at debating in that format. Perhaps my only complaint was that he did have the ability to draw the argument to a close when he so wished (and talk over the guests!) but I can't see that I went in not fully aware of what I was getting into! MICHAEL HINMAN: While I disagree with some of the outlandish claims that Tommy made, I was afraid he might be like many American radio talk show hosts where he would try to talk over me. That's why I talked so fast in the beginning, lol! But Tommy was very polite, and I was highly entertained. KEVIN: Yes I did, I thought it was a fun thing to do. SETH: I did enjoy the chat, although it was very brief and I didn't get to talk about the lack of manure in the cargo-holds on the starship Enterprise. Obviously a conspiracy against Bogdale farmers in the future. 2. What did you think of Tommy Boyd after the discussion? CHRIS: I was singularly impressed with his manoeuvre at the end of "it was all silly anyway, but you still couldn't prove it wrong!". I felt he didn't have the better end of the argument nor did it feel like he'd "won" the argument; but you had to admire the way he made it seem plain that he was right. Whilst I don't usually go in for sensationalism and hype, he seems to wield his words very skilfully and you've gotta take your hat off to him for that. MICHAEL HINMAN: Actually, I think I might tune in again. I know a lot of Star Trek fans are pissy with him right now, and I still think his claims are very outlandish. But he was entertaining, and kept me interested ... interested enough to listen again. KEVIN: I think he's well educated and has insightful ways of interpreting the media. SETH: That he's a daft Southern bastard! Captain Kirk is and always will be the dogs bollocks. Get a life Tommy and pick on some other poor sods, not us Star Trek fans. Other than that, I really like the man. 3. Does this view differ to your thoughts on Mr Boyd before the show aired? CHRIS: My father said to me earlier on Saturday, "Son, tell him how you saw him on kids' TV a decade ago, and he was a wanker then too!" I confess after hearing his TalkSport Trek show, I had a pretty low opinion of him. I feel he's gone from a tabloid-like style to a more broadsheet-like style; and like such a newspaper, he might be on the opposite side of the opinion to me but I can at least take him seriously now! MICHAEL HINMAN: I honestly wasn't that familiar with Tommy beforehand. I listened to a little bit of his work online before I came on the show, and I felt he was highly entertaining then. So, I don't think it's too different. I still think he's highly entertaining. KEVIN: Before the interview I had feared he was just a blow-hard trying to get ratings by being caustic on the air. SETH: Before the show I remember Tommy as that arse-hole from Children's television. Thankfully that is now replaced with newer thoughts. I now know him as that arse-hole from BBC radio! 4. What are your reactions to the proposition that the KKK *may* have had a slice of the Star Trek pie, or that somebody, other than Gene Roddenberry, influenced the way that minorities are being perceived on the show in a negative light? CHRIS: If they did have such an involvement, it has backfired spectacularly. If such a subtext was there, it was so subtle that generations have missed it and instead seen a positive, upbeat take on the future where equality is everything. You can never say that they didn't have involvement; but you can never say that the Americans landed on the moon and you can never say Tony Blair is a closet transvestite. I just don't happen to believe any of those assertions because they seem a tad unlikely. MICHAEL HINMAN: Herb Solow was the man who served as the network's representative on the set, and I know that there was a lot of conflict over what the network wanted, and what Gene wanted. Gene was hardly a perfect man. No one denies that. But wanting to gain more influence for organizations like the KKK? I don't think so. And not even because he was from Texas. I'm from Pennsylvania, that doesn't make me Amish. KEVIN: I think that is a conclusion reached rather at arm's length. There are certainly elements of latent racism but they are, in my opinion, rather diluted and there is too much counter-evisence to support this. SETH: Complete and utter bollocks. If true then why didn't Captain Kirk wear a white hood? Roddenberry was allegedly boning the actress who plays Uhura. And anyone can tell you if you're having sex with a lady on the side you have to keep her bread buttered the right way. You can't hide anything from women. 5. Is there anything you would like to say to Tommy that you didn't get a chance to during the broadcast? CHRIS: There were plenty of issues I wanted to brush but obviously Tommy wanted to move on rapidly (or perhaps he was frightened he'd be proven wrong!). I did want to tell him I'd seen him on the Sooty show at age five emerging from a giant television, and that at the time I was not a fan of his CITV replacement with a giant animated caterpillar. MICHAEL HINMAN: Yeah ... I'm really sorry that you turned a major, well-organized fan base against you. But hey, at least they'll be listening to what you might say next! KEVIN: Many of the actors playing Klingons were white, and there are a host of white-skinned bad guys throughout the different series. In another instance it is said that Khan's villany is supported by his Latino qualities. "White" is a rather loose term in the USA due to our history of cross breeding, and personally Ricardo Montalban strikes me as a white guy. SETH: I would just like to tell Tommy that there are conspiracy theories for everything. It doesn't make it true. In fact I have heard a a theory that the reason Tommy was axed from Children's television is because he got caught shafting Anne Diamond behind the TV-AM sofa. Just a rumour like. 6. Would you ever be willing to talk to Tommy again on a future show (Star Trek or other based)? CHRIS: Probably so. I think more than anything else, it's the challenge that would motivate me. It would be interesting to see whether more chatting with Tommy would lead me to respect his work more or revert back to thinking he was an overpaid sensationalist hack. MICHAEL HINMAN: Tommy can bring me on anytime he likes. I love talking movies and television, and I would enjoy speaking with him again. KEVIN: Of course, although I was not a vitriolic as the other guests as I agreed with many of Tommy's points I thought it was great fun. SETH: Oh absolutely. I would be willing to give Tommy a right seeing too on the radio again about anything (that's metaphorical you understand). 7. Finally, any additional comments? CHRIS: Yes! Those emails he read out near the end of the show that he attributed to me weren't. For the record, none of my e-mails got on to the show. Oh, and Allison is very nice on the phone. Can we see a show where she presents and callers have to get through Tommy instead to get on air? MICHAEL HINMAN: No further comments. KEVIN: Please give me a heads up if the show plans on having me on again. SETH: Yes, there was a lesbo kiss on Deep Space 9, so you were wrong that there aren't any gays on the show. The fact that they were man and wife (male and female) in a past life does not discount that fact. Anyway I have yet to see how that story ends as my video chews up from too much freeze-frame. Don't tell the wife! "I have nothing against Star Trek fandom. I wonder though, what percentage are white middle class youths compared to minorities?" |
