I was surprised the other day when I was reading something posted by a friend on Facebook and I realized he was a rabid fan both of "Star Wars" and "Star Trek."

Funny, I always thought it had to be one or the other. And don't get me started on "Lord of the Rings."

Seriously, though, I was re-watching the most recent "Star Trek" movie the other night, and I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed it. But what also surprised me was something that never really crossed my mind before. For all the talk about the various things the show was about, what it really comes down to more than anything else is that the original "Star Trek" was a show about friendship.

A friendship between two men, Kirk and Spock.

<em>"I have been and ever shall be your friend."</em>

[caption id="attachment_1303" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Friendship"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/kirk-spock-new-star-trek-2009-5592398-458-344.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1303" title="kirk-spock-new-star-trek-2009-5592398-458-344" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/kirk-spock-new-star-trek-2009-5592398-458-344-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>[/caption]

Probably not the best-known line about friendship from a movie. Bogart in "Casablanca" probably has that honor with the final line from the picture, but there are few lines that have been so poignant in three different movies. Whether it's a dying Spock saying it to a weeping Kirk in "The Wrath of Khan," a reborn Spock with almost no memory remembering it in "The Search for Spock" or Spock Prime saying it to a young, unknowing Kirk in the 2009 movie, it is a line that hits the emotions like a sledgehammer.

"Star Wars" never had anything like that.

I'm not a huge fan of modern science fiction. I don't think I saw more than one episode of the last three "Star Trek" series, and even "Next Generation" is one that I haven't seen half of the episodes.

<em>Note: I did buy a bootleg DVD version of TNG in Beijing, so if I ever get around to it, I can watch all seven seasons. Of course, I've got nine seasons of "X Files" to watch before that.</em>

I have seen all 79 episodes of the original "Star Trek," although oddly enough, I never saw the show during the three seasons of its original run. I just didn't watch that much TV in the late '60s.

It's weird to think that both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, the original Kirk and Spock, both celebrated their 80th birthdays earlier this year. But from what I've seen of the new cast, of Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, I have a feeling the characters of Kirk and Spock will outlive both of them.

At least I hope they will.

Great friendships should never die.

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