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Celebrating 15 years. One more year until this site can drive.

It’s that time of the decade again. Every March in a year divisible by 5, I reach a nice, round milestone. This time, it’s 15. Yes, that’s right: It’s the 15th anniversary of Jammer’s Reviews being on the web.

I guess technically it’s only the fourth anniversary of “Jammer’s Reviews,” since the 10 years before that the site was called “Star Trek: Hypertext.” I think for the first year or so it was actually called “Hypertext Reviews of Current Star Trek Episodes.” Talk about prosaic. If you remember when it was called that, please send a shout out in the comments below.

I feel a need to mark this milestone because, well, how many non-family-related things does anyone continue to do after 15 years? A lot of people don’t stay in the same job or company for that long. And when it comes to an independent non-commerce-related web site like this one, 15 years is a fairly big deal. I’ve seen a lot of web publications come and go over the past 15 years. We’re still standing. Sometimes we limp along rather than sprint, but that’s how we work. We must pace ourselves. We’ve evolved over the years and taken on new projects and managed to stay somewhat relevant.

(And by using “we” in all the references above, I mean “I,” as in the royal we, you know, the editorial.)

Jammer’s Reviews has never been intended as a blockbuster-hit sort of a web site. It’s a niche publication. It do what it do, and I’m perfectly happy with that. It has allowed me to write stuff that gets read by some people, and to build web sites where I can run things my way, rather than the way a boss or corporation would tell me to.

Back maybe 10 years ago, I figured that all the readers I had then would be all the readers I would ever have. I mean, if you hadn’t wanted a Star Trek review site up to that point, why would you want one later? But that’s the beauty of a niche area of interest: There will always somehow be newcomers to a site like this, who have stumbled across it just now, even though it’s been online for a decade and a half. There are people who are only now just catching up on DS9 or Voyager or Enterprise or BSG, and every once in a while I’ll hear from them. Often times I’ll see what they’ve posted in the commenting section.

In the past five years since I’ve written one of these things, Battlestar Galactica has come and gone and become a major part of this site. Now we’re on to Caprica. I’d mentioned in my 10-year milestone marker that I’d be reviewing BSG and — oh, yeah — Star Trek: The Next Generation. How’s that TNG thing working out for me? (Weak laugh.) Don’t worry, the one thing I can pretty much guarantee you is that the TNG reviews will be finished before I write another one of these articles on my 20th anniversary. (Weaker laugh.)

So we’ll keep the reviews coming, for now at least. Hopefully we’ll be able to roll on to 20 years. One never knows what the future holds.

To make this an interactive nostalgic experience, the theme of the comments below should be: How did you first learn about this web site, and how long ago was that? If you’re a long-timer, do you remember how different the site was several generations ago?

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49 comments on this post

Let’s see. First found this website in 2004 when I purchased DS9 in its entirety for my first (and I guess only) entire rewatch. It was fun to read through the reviews after I watched each episode. I knocked out the whole series in 2 months I think.

Ah memory lane, it was only November 27th, 2008, when I posted this “Redemption Part 2 is one of my favorite TNG episodes. At least when you start back up on the reviews here… you start with a great one by Ronald Moore. ”

At the time, I never thought a year and a half would pass without a new review and that I would even remotely care at that point. Probably should do more with my life. In the meantime, any new TNG reviews to read?

I don’t remember how I found out about this website; I really don’t. But I do know that it was the summer after Deep Space Nine went off the air, and somehow or another I spent hours discovering reviews online–Tim Lynch’s, the Cynic’s, and of course yours. I was, let’s see, about 12. (This is probably a little frightening to consider.) And then I remember every week after Voyager, waiting in bated breath for your reviews to come up; I would usually write a little review for myself (and not share with anyone), and be curious to see how ours would line up. I read your Enterprise review for a while until I, er, gave up on the series, but I still would make a point of reading your very negative reviews because these were invariably good for a laugh. (Same with your Andromeda reviews, though I never even bothered trying to watch the show.)

It was exciting and fueled my (so far) lifelong obsession with criticism. I now read and write movie reviews constantly (though still share very little with others). I checked out your BSG reviews as well, though I didn’t watch that series until after its third season had ended; I’m planning on doing something similar with Caprica (catching up at the end of this season) as I’m a bit low on time at the moment. Anyway, your site really is a class act, even if, ahem, those TNG reviews seem not to be writing themselves….

Hmm. Let’s see – I remember when this page was a subdomain of Epsico (I think that was the name of the parent site). I couldn’t honestly say when exactly I discovered you, Jammer, but it must have been over 10 years ago, because I remember waiting for your reviews of the final arc of DS9 (and I also remember your tribute to Gene Siskel). And, yes, I do remember that things looked a teensy bit different back then.

Ah, the good times. I read and watch quite a lot of different review and criticism pages nowadays, but you never forget your first one. 😉 Keep up the good work.

I’m still a relative newcomer as I think I only discovered your site in the hiatus between season 4.0 and 4.5 of BSG, which I had also just watched for the first time in a monster marathon. I think I was eager to see the reactions to the 4.0 cliff hanger Revelations, and I was pleasently surprised.
I think the site also rekindled my interest in Star Trek, and definitly made me relize that I still hadn’t seen all the episodes of just TNG. I do still have to atually watch many episodes before I read your reviews though.
Your site also got me interested in DS9, a series I had previously passed over, I don’t really know why. And it made me aware that Voyager was not on par with The Next Generation (my fav star trek series)

Happy Birthday, Jammer’s Reviews, or, perhaps, Happy Birthday, to the Brain-child behind Jammer’s Reviews, and good luck in the future.

I live in Argentina and I’ve been visiting this site since around 96 or 97, years before having an internet connection at home, and right in the middle of modern Trek’s “golden age” with First Contact, DS9 and Voyager around at the same time.

I’ve never stopped coming back, as I’ve always enjoyed your insights into some of my favorite series. My deepest congratulations on this 15-year-old feat. While everything tends to age and die more quickly on the internet, your efforts have proven that when what’s offered is really worth it, you don’t need daily updates.

Here’s to as many more years as you enjoy doing this. I’ll be around.

I must have been about 13 or 14 when I first started reading your reviews. I was a huge fan of Voyager and I wanted to read some reviews so that I could know what other people thought of it.

Yours was just about the only game in town, and certainly the best, so I stuck it out here even though you didn’t like Voyager and kept talking about this DS9 series that I hadn’t bothered with for whatever reason. You were one of the things that convinced me to check out that show in its final season. I loved it.

Heh, I actually disagreed with you pretty strongly at times and even wrote you an email for the Voyager episode “Virtuoso”. You replied with a nice rebuttal. I disagreed with that also, but there was no denying the strength of your arguments.

I think that’s what I’ve always loved about your reviews. Even when I disagreed with you, you always backed up everything you said with examples and sound logic. You challenge me to rethink my opinions and often to make them stronger than they would have otherwise been.

That’s what’s kept me checking this site during your long bouts of silence over the years. I’m really pleased about the latest direction you’ve taken as it seems to have paid off with more frequent content for me to discover.

Here’s to another five years!

I don’t have a very interesting story. One time in…2006?…I was actively looking for Star Trek reviews, so I googled “Star Trek reviews” and this site was one of the listings. I came here and enjoyed reading all of the reviews for all of the episodes of Star Trek (except for Next Generation, ahem 😉 ). I followed along through the reviews of BSG and am reading the reviews for Caprica even though I’m not watching the series. Jammer, I like your sense of humor, and I’ve often been impressed with the insight you show in your reviews. You’re doing good stuff.

I started reading this site around 5 years ago… Enterprise was ending, and somewhere I had run into The Cynic’s website. After laughing my ass off at his reviews, I looked at some of the links, and one of them led me here!

I’ve been checking the site a couple of times a week for updates since then. Also, this site is one of the reasons I got hooked on BSG. I had heard of it, but thought it was another Star Trek/Stargate/Andromeda/Babylon 5 clone. Glad I read the reviews here first.

Congrats, Jammer!

I think I started reading these reviews in Voyager’s 4th season. When was that? Anyway, glad I found it!

I was there from the beginning. Garner 3 FTW! Workin’ on da homepage! Policy violation, system lockout!

You’ll be pleased to know you are getting new readers: by some more pleasant coincidence, I discovered your site today.

Yes, I also will add that I had not watched NuBSG until seeing such positive scores on your reviews for the 1st season.

Thanks for recommending the show!

I think I found this website in 2002 or 2003. I had a major Star Trek kick in college and started looking for episode reviews to get an idea of what other people thought. I happened upon your site and found that your reviews were interesting and insightful. After reading one, I would often want to watch the episode again and try to find new things about it. I think that’s a mark of a good review. After that, I never left!

I also have you to thank for getting me into BSG. In 2008, I found the miniseries DVD in my Dad’s cabinet. I don’t think I’d read your reviews (fortunate, because I was happily unspoiled), but I remembered that you enjoyed the series. With that in mind, I borrowed the DVD. After watching, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Season 1.

I am glad you are still writing and I look forward to the next five years!

[Major spoiler deleted] on BSG threw me for a loop and I went looking for something that would help me come to terms with the plot twist. I have since watched Voyager in reruns with my offspring and really appreciated the validation I got from your reviews. I lost interest in DS9 when it was first broadcast, but with your reviews for company, I’m thinking of giving it another try.

Long-timer here. I don’t remember how I came across your site – possibly via an Altavista search (ah, the good old days) for Star Trek reviews or the like. It would have been around the beginning of Voyager’s fourth season – I remember your making a comment about the buffoons behind the previews trying to shroud in mystery the secret of which cast member was leaving, ignoring the fact that Jennifer Lien was no longer in the opening credits (sorry for the spoiler, VOY newbs) and thinking, “Yeah, I like this guy.” Imagine the life I could be leading if I remembered useful information instead of these tidbits.

Whatever the case, I’ve greatly enjoyed watching your writing style mature over the years. I followed your site religiously for the next decade or more, and through it found other reviewers such as Tim Lynch and The Cynic. I never got into BSG and gave up on Enterprise early in the third season, so visits became scarcer until you announced that you’d be tackling TNG (and I’ve just been coming back for that dangling carrot ever since).

A year or two ago, I re-watched DS9 from start to finish, and it was fascinating re-reading your late teens/early 20s perspective on the show, wondering what your reaction today might have been, and reflecting on what did/didn’t work for me then versus now. I really appreciated the comments section; it opened up a whole new dimension to the reviews and helped reinvigorate debate/discussion among your readers.

Anyway, here’s to another five years under your belt. May your pen continue to flow for the next five.

Hmm. I’m not entirely sure how I found the site, but I do remember reading a review of a voyager episode that I had seen in syndication, and liking it so much that I went and read every review you had written for voyager.

I didn’t always agree, but like Matt L above, I found that I always had to respect your opinion because you always backed it up with good examples and logic. I think I enjoyed going through all of them because it made me see things I’d never seen, and it made me think much more deeply about a TV show then I ever had before.

I followed your reviews through Enterprise, and your BSG reviews inspired me to check out the series when it came to DVD since I didn’t have access to the network it was airing on. Now, I’m watching Caprica and eagerly awaiting the next review. ^_^

I found this site while googling for TNG reviews. Man, what a disappointment.

I can’t completely remember when I first came across the site, but I’m pretty sure it was while I was watching Voyager through via re-runs in the late 90s early 00s… for the life of my I don’t remember how I was referred or anything… maybe it was just a random google search or something. But then this site lead me to sign up on TrekBBS in 2004 and about 8000 posts later I’m still there, talking about Lost, Caprica/BSG, and The Neutral Zone stuff.

What a long strange trip it’s been… I don’t even think Voyager was a good show anymore.

Oh and PS, I must thank you for being the reason I ever checked out BSG when it came out. I never would have otherwise and I would have missed out on television greatness.

I was looking for BSG reviews, probably saw a link to here on scifi’s forums. Lots of great reading for all the series. I hope someday you’ll setup a Caprica section like the rest. Looking forward to another 5!

I can’t remember exactly when it was, but I guess it must have been somewhere in the spring of ’08 after just having discovered BSG that I stumbled across this site while looking for reviews of the individual episodes or season recaps and I sort of stuck around since then. I find your reviews a thoroughly enjoyable read (as is the blog, by the way) and very insightful.

Here’s to keeping up the great work for hopefully many years to come.

Think I found this place as a result of a search for Trek news. Voyager was still going strong (sic).
Love the review style and whilst I don’t agree with every review I always enjoy reading them.

Just want those TNG reviews. Are you accepting bribes?

I found this site as a result of–get this–Andromeda.

The second season had reached the three-quarter mark, and I was hunting for information on why the show had begun to suck beyond all belief.

That makes me a regular reader since, holy hell, 2002. I then rented the DS9 DVDs and used your reviews as food for thought. I thoroughly ignored the initial airing of BSG up until I noticed Ron Moore as the writer of several of my favorite DS9 episodes.

All these years reading Jammer’s reviews, and I have never yet punched my computer screen.

I found this while I was a grad student in history–oh say 6-7 years ago and desperate for some fun reading. I googled “Star Trek reviews” and there you were–#1. I had long been a fan of DITL–which is also still going strong–but was looking for some more in-depth reviews. Been a pretty regular reader ever since.

Here’s the fun part–I haven’t yet read your reviews of DS9 because–I haven’t watched it yet! I assume there may never be another Star Trek series, so I’ve been holding off.

It’s nice to have something to look forward to, and nice to know I will be able to read all the reviews after I watch the episodes.

Thanks for running a great site that, as you say, “do what it do.”

I think I originally found the site while looking for Battlestar reviews just after the reimagined series started (I watched the first eight episodes and miniseries in a marathon with some friends). So that means I’ve been lurking around here for five years or so.

After watching an episode, the first thing I would do is check your site to see what you thought of it. Your reviews are thorough, well-written and enthusiastic, and I’ve enjoyed reading every one.

Anyway, thanks for running the site, and hopefully it’ll keep going for at least another fifteen…

Mea culpa – I will write 100 times – “I will not reference plot information from a different show in comments.”

Shoutout to Hypertext Reviews of Current Star Trek Episodes. Been here since the start and visit at LEAST twice a day to check for updates, even though I have the RSS feed, lolz

Grats on 15 years dude!

I can’t remember when I first came to the site. It was definately from a TrekBBS link though, and I think it was sometime during Enterprise’s run, prob either 2002 or 2003. I’m still a bit of noob in some regards!

Eight years though? That’s still a bit yikes!

I’ve had a lot of fun going through old reviews whenever I’ve rewatched DS9, VOY or ENT. I also watched BSG from the start so was here then too, and will be for Caprica and TNG in the future.

Your reviews are very well written, and are often insightful. There are always things I overlook or occasionally miss that you will cover, and I lok forward to it all knowing you will write about it ina thoughtful way. I find myself nodding at the screen when I agree with you, and shaking my fist when I don’t. Well not really, but you get the gist.

Congratulations, and here’s to the next 15!

I found this site thru a link on one of your Deeper Side Of Trek essays on Space.com. Not quite the beginning, but close. I remember the Star Trek Hypertext name well, and also remember being concerned when you changed it. I was worried that you might have jumped the shark (as in, well Jump The Shark, for those who remember it), but was happy to see the same ole Jammer with just a site name change. Congrates on being able to stay alive and true in an Internet world that changes on a minute by minute basis.

Congratulations on 15 years Jammer. What are your top 10 favourite episodes of all the shows?

Well, my IE favourite still points to st-hypertext.com, one day you’ll drop that forwarding address and I’ll momentarily freak out (whaaat? It’s gooone!).

I’m guessing I found your website through a strange chain of internet browsing (you know the ones, where you set out to look up a train time and, six degrees of clicking later, find yourself reading about Guam on wikipedia for no particular reason).

I’m struggling to remember exactly when…I think about 2001, I was at uni at the time and never read a DS9 review ‘live’, only Voyager, so that’d be about right. I was happy to find a reviewer that posted long, interesting, considered essays on each episode, and it helped that we had similar general responses to DS9 (yay) and VOY (sigh) (although, I thought those Ferengi episodes had their moments).

Eagerly await your opinions on everything and anything (especially Lost, have I mentioned that? Oh yeah, I have. I’ll stop now =P )

Been dropping in regularly from about ’96 or so, hard to remember exactly when, or how i found the site – dementia setting in early i guess. I think it was around the 5th season of DS9. Hard to believe the time has gone so quickly.
Got caught out on a couple of your April fools jokes – vaguely remember one, some years ago about the site closing down. It was a definite WTF! moment.
Anyway, congrats on 15years, i have always enjoyed your reviews and hope to continue to visit as long as you keep doin’ em.

Not sure exactly when I found this site, probably in 2001 sometime if I had to guess. I did a search for “Star Trek Reviews” when bored at work one day and was quite pleased to find this site, especially since you shared my love for DS9 that a lot of other Trekkies I know don’t seem to share. Back then there were no comments, but I did e-mail you a time or two with some feedback. I love the improvements you made to the site while still keeping it fairly straightforward.

Congratulations on 15 years and I hope you will continue to do your thing for many years to come 🙂

I like Cian Devane’s question. Jammer, you should do a top 15 favorite episodes you’ve ever reviewed in honor of the big 1-5 anniversary.

I first came to this site, oddly enough, for the Andromeda reviews. I had remembered watching most of the first season as it aired, than dropping the show in season 2 when it felt like the show jumped the shark (actually, they fired the head writer). I wanted to see if the show was worth watching for the rest of the seasons, and whether I should bother getting the dvds. Thanks for saving me the trouble!

At the time I noticed the other Star Trek reviews, and came back last year to read your thoughts on Deep Space Nine episodes as I worked through the series on dvd. It was a lot of fun following along with the reviews as I watched, although I learned that comments didn’t respect spoilers for future episodes, and sadly had a few things spoiled. I still enjoyed your reviews, which went into a lot of great depth and detail and focused on things in the episodes I hardly noticed myself (down to the lighting at times!) I loved some episodes you hated, hated some that you loved, but usually I agreed a lot with your ratings.

Now I am reading your reviews of Caprica (hope the mid-season finale is posted soon). They are the best reviews of the series I’ve seen, and I think that Caprica is very under-rated right now. It’s a bit flawed, yes, but there is a lot of promise and potential in that series and I hope that bad ratings don’t kill it and the show gets the chance to grow.

Congratulations on 15 years!

not sure how I found this website. I think by accident.

I had gotten into watching some of BSG when it was still on air, and bought the DVDs cheap off Amazon and watched them. I think I remember being pretty blown away by something by Resurrection Ship, Part 2 and just started looking at reviews online and this was one of the first I found.

Pretty sweet. Dig all the reviews of Trek, BSG, and Caprica.

Here’s to many more years.

Hi Jammer. Congrats on 15 years! Quite the accomplishment. I discovered this site roughly 3 years ago. I was now turning into a ST completist back then and collecting all the series and wanted to find some review sites. Yours was one of them and it’s also my favorite. It was great to watch a batch of episodes and then see what you had to say.

It’s also allowed me to start thinking more critically about the various ST series. Also by reading your reviews it’s allowed me to learn things I probably missed when I first watched an episode or movie.

Keep up the great work, I am one of the many waiting for the rest of the TNG reviews.

Happy 15th!

An amazing thought–I’ve been visiting this site since before I started high school, so over twelve years now. Somehow, I’d never really thought about it in those terms. But I read your reviews through most of Voyager and then went back and started over, years later, when I discovered Netflix. Then was really excited a few years back when I learned you were reviewing BSG. Crazily enough, I’ve been reading your reviews for almost half my life…

I can’t remember exactly when I started reading your stuff. It must have been in the mid to late nineties when Tim Lynch gave up on Voyager. I also was a fan of Homicide:LOTS and remember thinking that that show and DS9 were the best on tv at the time, a sentiment I remember you shared.

Congrats on surviving this long.

I also agree we should get a top 15 for 15 years. They can’t all be DS9 episodes though. ;o)

Hi Jammer,

I don’t remember exactly when I found your site, but I know it was when you were doing the DS9 reviews. Over the years, I’ve collected all of your reviews in a set of 3-ring binders, and still have them all … now including Caprica. Congratulations on 15 years of reviews.

We’re kindred spirits in a sense, since I’ve also had my own site since 1996 (www.sandcastlevi.com) where I’ve had a very modest Star Trek/scifi episode section in addition to sections on other general topics of interest to me. Before that, I was active on the old CompuServe SciFi SIG. It now helps to keep me busy in retirement.

Thanks for all the effort you’ve put into your reviews over the years. They’ve helped me to appreciate the various shows so much more than if your reviews never existed.

I remember looking for a website that reviewed Star Trek episodes just as I was really getting into DS9, probably around season 4. I was just nerding out online and i stumbled accross your website.

I can’t remember but I think it was ST: Hypertext at that time but I do know this is one of longest websites I’ve followed since my first Pentium 100 computer (you know, back when you had to hand crank your PC to start it and hope you didn’t blow a vacume tube).

I was think I was only 3 or 4 years out of college at the time. I’m really starting to date myself now.

Great work Jammer, I’ve enjoyed your reviews as much as I’ve enjoyed reading Roger Ebert.

Like most, I don’t remember how or when I found your site. It was definitely before you had the st-hypertext domain name. My guess would be twelve to thirteen years. I distinctly remember watching DS9’s “Far Beyond the Stars” and thinking this one going to be four stars.

Would have been mid ’95, was using DS9 as a distraction whilst in Denmark, Pentium 90, 56k modem…and a site that stayed on top of DS9. Very cool. Thank you for the rich perspectives over a decade plus five.

Oh that reminds, believe i sent you an email congrats when the ticker passed 100,000 hits…time flies 😉

I started following you very early on, but I’m not sure if I was looking at your website at the time. I was definitely reading the newsgroup startrek.reviews.moderated or whatever it was called.

I haven’t been a continuous reader, as there were times when I left the country for a while, missing out on parts of Deep Space Nine (though I was a big fan) and an internet connection. I also gave up on Voyager completely when it was first aired. However, I eventually watched all episodes of both series from season 1, reading your reviews as I went. We generally agree on those 2 series and Enterprise.

We disagree on Ron Moore’s more recent work, however. I thought BSG was OK, though it never really got me excited, and I gave up on Caprica. So I read all your BSG reviews as they went up, but only check your site occasionally now.

wow!

been reading your site since 2002, when you were a mod over at TrekBBS.

st-hypertext is still the number 1 site for star trek reviews on my internet 🙂

Just found you this year – I started watching BSG at the insistance of my friends (after the finale aired, of course), and usually relying on the A.V. Club for TV episode reviews, did a quick search for BSG episode reviews.

The reviews are great. I believe that TV is a naturally stupid medium, and in order for it to not be a complete waste of time, one has to actually think about what one saw afterwords. These are a good jumping-off point for that, so Thanks!

Bit late with the congrats on 15 years but what an achievement! I would reckon I have been a (semi) regular visitor for almost all of those years. I e-mailed you a couple of times but can’t find the messages after all this time. I remember that DS9 was still running, but coz I live in the UK we were shown them later and I would try to resist the temptation to skip ahead and read the reviews before the episode had aired over here. Sometimes I managed to resist, other times not.

A lot has changed in my life over the years, but I am so pleased that you are still here to entertain me with your witty, incisive reviews of Trek and other stuff. In an ever changing world it is nice to see some things are still going strong.

Hey, Jammer! You have a new reader. I love how critical you are on these episodes and you help to make me strengthen, or rethink, my beliefs.

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