I actually don't have a satisfactory answer to my own question.
Star Trek was a prominent part of the popular culture when I was a kid, so it was easy to have a basic knowledge of TOS without actually seeing it.
I think I probably saw Star Trek IV first, and the first episode I can clearly remember watching is "Unification II", though I'm pretty certain I saw something before then.
I was mostly concerned about the docking pylons being too realistic, but I can't guarantee that wouldn't happen, either.
It looks cool, but potentially dangerous?
I think those have all been added, IIRC.
Not sure about the Enterprise-G.
I think the episode implies ethical issues, but stops well short of spelling them out. The fact that Kingsley concealed the childrens' true natures for as long as she did suggests that their research was not on the up-and-up.
My best guess is that the station's research, on paper, fell within Federation regulations, but their actual work did not. But that's stretching pretty far, given that no one explicitly raises the issue.
This is the first I've ever heard of a login required at star trek dot com.
It's mainly a charity thingie - TrekCore has a summary.
Maybe more importantly, it doesn't look like they're doing any panels on Star Trek Day this year.
I'll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces
All day through
I think the season really gets cooking with "Boom," and there's a string of pretty solid episodes in there.
All in all, a pretty average season (and I don't mean that in a bad way - it was just pretty typical highs and lows).
Interesting take. Do you have an example?
All right, I'm convinced. Henceforth, every Friday is Bell Riots Day, forever.
I struggle to put my feelings on speculation into words. Obviously, it has its place, and there would be something very wrong with the show if we didn't feel the urge to speculate about where the story is headed.
I think it's runaway speculation that spawns ridiculous conspiracy theories that really irks me, if that makes sense.
This is probably well beyond the scope of what these nights are about, but I do wonder what they did with the "Picard" season three bridge set.