![]() ![]() It’s now a long-established fact that Trek inspired gadgets we take for granted today-the flip top cell phone to name one-but it also looks at the advent of the proliferation of video game worship or mania with more than a wary eye.īefore "The Game," there was a Lt. Trek’s not only forward-looking in a socially responsible way-it always strives to get science right. ![]() Gene Roddenberry may not have been psychic in a Kreskin kinda way, and certainly he was no gypsy fortune teller (dilithium crystals, not crystal balls), but the visionary writers he assembled coupled with his own innate feel for science, technology, and the future bestowed on Star Trek a kind of impressive clairvoyance. ‘The Game’ Predicts Pokémon Go and Ashley Judd’s Ascendance But of all the "Wesley returns" episodes, "The Game" remains a wild ride-for storyline, execution, and a certain young guest co-star. I always felt Wheaton’s work was excellent, but I never whipped up a story pitch for him, since the guidelines discouraged me from attempting a Wesley epic. When I starting writing for TNG and pitching to Trek, Wesley was gone, but writing guidelines Paramount sent always included a reminder to NOT pitch stories involving recurring characters such as: Guinan, Q, Ensign Ro, or Wesley Crusher. Now that the net has exploded with "SHUT UP, WESLEY!" memes and animated gifs-it’s all the more wonderful how Wheaton escaped a sad ghetto of being the one character on Star Trek who was most joyously despised-until Neelix on Voyager came along. Game, Set, and Match? The fun conflict sets up a notion of Wesley Crusher being written-certainly in the early days of TNG-as little more than an irritating plot device, a tech-y solution-spouting cypher. Sir Patrick Stewart-Jean-Luc Picard himself-weighed in on the controversy and here’s his royal commanding take on Shut up Wil. However, even in the real world, there’s that wacky thing called hierarchy. From now on, I'm insta-blocking anyone who does that. Wheaton tweeted: NEW RULE: I'm officially over people saying "shut up, Wesley" to me, even in jest. Despite those who argue the phrase has now taken its place alongside lovable Trek slogans such as "Beam me up, Scotty," "Let’s see what’s out there," or "Live Long and Prosper," it irritates the actor, and he’s made it verboten in his cyber world of social media goodness. It’s become such a social media nuisance that Twitter champ Wil Wheaton blocks all who tweet him the phrase or a graphic of said meme. Cheeky configurations of it can be found far and wide on the net. "Shut up, Wesley!" has taken off as a Trek meme. Maybe, if we’re lucky, we'll see if we can apply a Starfleet-savvy strategy to the Pokémon Go addicts of today. Today’s mind-numbing mobile game mega hit, Pokémon Go, plays suspiciously like that fictional game-so let’s see just how Wesley dealt with it. The Walking Dead meets The Gaming Starfleet in this quirky cautionary tale. In the TNG episode "The Game," Cadet Wesley Crusher, visiting the Enterprise-D, fresh from Starfleet Academy, stumbles upon a dastardly alien conspiracy- aliens are morphing Captain Picard’s crew into mindless, video game playing zombies. Will the galaxy and then the universe be next for the harvesting? Now, a Japanese video game, Pokémon Go, has taken us over. Not that Wesley didn’t do some truly incredible shit before, but this isn’t only technical geeky bliss, but also truly Earth-shattering. Wesley Crusher-aka actor Wil Wheaton-can now officially be numbered among Earth’s iconic, and even mythic champions. He only said it once on Next Generation, but he’d never be saying it these days. Captain Picard admonished Wesley and shushed his Chief Medical Officer’s son in dramatic fashion. ![]() It was an excruciatingly memorable moment when Patrick Stewart’s noble Starship leader blasted young Wesley Crusher in his distinctive baritone voice. “Shut up, Wesley!” – Captain Picard in “Datalore,” Star Trek: The Next Generation, First Season. ![]()
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