Product Details

• Actors: LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden
• Directors: LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Gabrielle Beaumont, Robert Becker, Cliff Bole
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: May 31, 1995
• Run Time: 46 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302457068
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #366,021 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The holodeck needs a bit of maintenance, so the Enterprise checks in to Starbase 74 to allow some Bynars (beings who can speak in binary code and who sound like fax machines) to update the programming. While Riker doesn't trust the Bynars, he forgets all of his complaints when he tries out the holodeck. Setting himself up as a trombone player in a 1958 Bourbon Street bar, he meets up with a sultry brunette. "What's a knockout like you doing in a computer-generated gin joint like this?" is his none-too-subtle pickup line. Her reactions turn out to be more complex and more "human" than the program ever exhibited before, and when Picard walks in on the couple he is equally charmed. While they're lost in the holodeck program, the Enterprise starts to self-destruct. This forces an evacuation of everybody (except Riker and Picard) and an eventual hijacking of the ship. The reasons behind the events are very smart, making this a nicely thought-out episode, despite little things like Data learning to paint and Riker's masturbatory fantasy. --Andy Spletzer

From the Back Cover

The Bynars, an alien species interdependent with computers, have been dispatched to the Enterprise to upgrade the starship's computer system. But after the Bynars' programming, the computer alerts the crew that the Enterprise's magnetic containment field is deteriorating and the starship will be destroyed. Unable to locate Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Data (Brent Spiner) must order the crew to evacuate.

Unbeknownst to Data, the captain and his commander have been in the holodecks, captivated by a beautiful temptress (Carolyn McCormick) with a deadly directive: detain Picard and Riker until the Enterprise self-destructs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Program Enhancement, January 18, 2001

By 

picardfan007 (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 16: 11001001 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Minuet and the Gin Joint Program Enhancements

The surprising aspect of this episode is that it wasn't only humans that programed the Enterprise. The Bynars make their first and last appearance in this segment. The Enterprise returns to star base for the Bynars to work on updating the programming. Supposedly each one of them works as part of the greater whole. Shades of the Borg mentality here. Wonder why they didn't help out the Federation? Well, they hijacked the big E to their planet were a supernova was set to destroy their master computer.

The crew is evacuated by a false warning. Riker and Picard are still on board. This is were it gets interesting.......Riker steps into a holodeck Jazz bar in New Orleans in the 20th century. Since the program is influenced by the Bynar everything has more "enhancement."...not the run of the mill shallow programs. When Riker asks for the perfect date it creates Minuet. Will Riker jumps into a relationship that can't last.

The Jazz Bar scenes and the abduction of the Enterprise by Bynar hive mind make this an unusual mix of drama and romance. Scenes of the Enterprise entering the star base were lifted from the effects shots from the movie the "Search for Spock."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars why to the binary Bynars spell their names with a Y?, August 26, 2004

By 

Shelley Gammon "Geek" (Kaufman, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 16: 11001001 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Enterprise docks at Starbase 74 so that the Bynars, a species of twins that speak in binary code and have become dependent on computers for their very survival, can upgrade the ship's computer. Why the master computer core of the flagship of the fleet is handed over to an alien species is beyond me - especially since they are not Federation citizens and they obviously neglected to do a background check on these individuals.

The pale, friendly looking Bynars chatter with one another in binary (sounds like a group of modems having a ho-down) and they make Wesley Crusher nervous. He is the only one smart enough to suspect they are up to something.

The Bynars quickly enhance the Holodecks to distract the senior officers, who are unaware that the rest of the crew has evacuated in what was thought to be a failure in the magnetic containment. After their ruse, the Bynars take control of the ship and race at maximum Warp to their homeworld. Amazingly, there are no other ships at Starbase 74 that can make chase and the stranded crew wonders what will befall their beloved Captain and First Officer.

Riker asks the computer to create an old Jazz lounge on the Holodeck - when he enters, he is blown away by the Jazz singer, a shockingly real and seemingly sentient character named Minuet. She is computer generated, but proves to be more than just a sum of programmed responses. She is subtly seductive, yet has an innocent appeal and Riker falls for her, despite the fact he knows she's just a bunch of light and atoms. Picard joins Riker and they are both captivated by Minuet as the Enterprise is zipping across the galaxy. Only after Picard mentions that he will leave the two of them does the ruse become evident.

When Picard & Riker finally escape the Holodeck and make it to the bridge, they find themselves on the other side of the quadrant, and all the Bynars are near death. They have to decipher some of the binary code just to figure out what is going on. Where is Data when you need him?!

Intriguing at many parts, some interesting concepts, but not too deep when it's all said and done. Minuet's character is revived in a future episode when Riker is abducted by Romulans (or is he?).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the gems of the inaugural season, January 26, 2003

By 

B.C. Scribe "trekviewer" (Brooklyn Center, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 16: 11001001 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Among the best shows of the first season was this very succinct and compact story of Riker meeting and falling for the woman of his dreams...with a twist. Although the storyline of Trek characters falling in love only to lose their loved one is an oft used plot device, the unusual background and setting for this episode rises above the mundane and entertains us supremely.

Arriving at a starbase, the crew is introduced to the Binars a computer-independent and androgynous alien race who will initiate some necessary repairs to the Enterprise. Most of the crew is granted shore leave during the interval with Riker somewhat inadvertently ending up on the holodeck immediately following some updates and enhancements implemented by the Binars. He designs a program to reflect a mid-20th century New Orleans jazz club where he meets an incredibly beautiful and sultry "woman" named Minuet. She instantly causes the first officer to fall head over heels in love with her and he all but completely forgets that she is a creation of the holodeck. During this time the crewmembers still present experience a ship wide emergency causing them to evacuate and the starship is then placed on autopilot to clear it's space dock. Only after the starship is gone a great distance does the crew at the starbase realize that someone is attempting to hijack the Enterprise - and that the captain, the first officer and the Binars are most likely still aboard.

'11001001' is a well-conceived episode that balances both ongoing plots expertly. The Binars were one of the most interesting alien races the Enterprise and crew encountered and it's a real shame they weren't brought back for additional appearances. Carolyn McCormick as Minuet is a knockout and it's easy to see why Riker would fall so hard for her; the writers constructed the ending of the show excellently, helping make the point that you fall in love with the illusion and the image not the person. Riker's conversation with Picard in the finale bears this out. Riker also has the best line in the show. When he checks in with Data he finds the second officer getting painting lessons from Geordi. Quickly thinking on his feet he tells them to keep notes on the session. Befuddled, Geordi asks him why. "A blind man teaching an android to paint? That's gotta' be worth a couple of lines in some historian's book," is Riker's smart reply!

I found an oddity in the story when I watched it recently. When Picard and Riker sense a problem they question Minuet about it and she explains she isn't programmed to give that information. Several minutes later they approach her again with the same question - and without hesitation she spills her guts this time! An oversight by the writers? Perhaps.

Some final notes: Gene Dynarski, who played one of the miners in the Star Trek original series episode 'Mudd's Women', becomes the first guest star to make separate appearances in the two different Trek series. The auto destruct sequence changes drastically between this show and the second season show titled 'Where Silence Has Lease'. Here it's observed that it is automatically set for five minutes and cannot be altered; in the latter episode Picard and Riker are allowed to choose a time limit.