by Kristina Hutchinson

Created on: June 19, 2009   Last Updated: June 20, 2009

My mother has always been a fan of science fiction and growing up I was immersed in fantasy television shows such as The Twilight Zone, Lost In Space and films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey. My mom filled our china closet with her Star Trek collectibles and my parents' bedroom bookshelf showed off this side of her with books by Terry Brooks and RA Salvatore, as well as literature on the Star Trek universe. My father was a fan of Ray Bradbury and Dr. Who, so I had to be a SF fan, right? Wrong. Somehow this all turned me off SF. I can't explain why, but it was as if I was born with an aversion to all things fantastical. This didn't make for a less imaginative childhood, but I may have missed out on some great, well stuff. As a child I didn't read 'A Wrinkle In Time', but instead opted for Judy Blume and Paul Zindel. And as a teenager I fell in love with V.C. Andrews, which I suppose was the norm for all girls.

However, when I turned 20 and I found myself slowly becoming a convert. It all happened because of insomnia. I was wide awake at 3 am and miserably so. The television was on for hours and the only thing on aside from the usual infomercials was Star Trek: The Next Generation. At first, I admit, I didn't 'get' it: the aliens and all the technical jargon, but I found myself watching and soon looking forward to each following episode. When my insomnia began to subside I actually set my VCR to timer record the show and each evening I would rewind my tape and tune in. I found myself becoming involved in the intricate storylines and even charmed by the well developed characters, including the klingons and romulans. And I even developed a slight crush on the personable android Data. What will mom think? I wondered, and when I spoke to her on the phone I began to discuss ST with her. She loaned me her video collection and I quickly got caught up on TOS. Yes, I was becoming a Trekkie!

I also began to watch other classic science fiction television shows. On Friday nights into early Saturday morning during the late 1990's,The SciFi Channel aired a series of old SF shows under the title of 'Retro Television'. I became introduced to such wonderful programs as Night Gallery, The Original Outer Limits, Science Fiction Theater and The Invisible Man. The stories were fantastical, yet somehow believable and very engrossing. These were some of the best of what was a great era in early television!

That was over 10 years ago and since those long restless nights, I have seen every episode of every spin-off and every film of Star Trek along with other famous SciFi television shows. I have even, yes I am proud to say, began my own collection of Star Trek memorabilia displayed in my own china closet. Yeah, mom is proud!

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