It's been some time, but as the specter of a season 2 of Picard and a season 4 of Discovery looms, forebodingly in the near future, I thought I would take another look at what turned out to be a pleasant surprise last year... Star Trek Lower Decks.
To be completely transparent, I was not very optimistic when I first heard about this show. I just didn't see how a animated comedy could be good Star Trek. But as a fan, I was willing to watch the first few episodes and see how it went. The fact that I live in Canada and if you have CTV Sci-Fi as part of you general cable package, means it's free. So at least there is that.
So after the first episode I still wasn't sold. The episode was alright, but to be fair, I found the character of Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) was just a little bit manic and annoying. But otherwise not terrible. All the rest of the main characters: Ensign Brad Boimler (played by Jack Quaid), Ensign Tendi (Noël Wells) and Ensign Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero).
Each of them had their charm. Boimler was trying to be the perfect Starfleet officer. Rutherford just enjoyed everything about being an engineer and Tendi was the newcomer on the ship, wide eyed and eternally optimistic. The rest of the cast playing the senior officers seamed to be well thought out. The only one I wasn't really clicking with was Beckett. She was so over the top, going out of her way to push the boundaries and get away with something...seemed like there would be no way someone like that would end up in Starfleet, and even if they did they would be court marshaled. Semi-spoiler alert...there is a reason as to why she isn't...turns out her dad is an Admiral and her mom is the ships Captain.
USS Cerritos
Star Trek Lower Decks Senior Staff
But after a few episodes it all started to grow on me. the design of the ship, which at first was kind of meh, I started to like as I understood the type of ship it was supposed to be. An older engineering starship. A workhorse not meant to be pretty, but tough and reliable. The ships registry is even facing the rear of the ship (according to the show runner, Mike McMahan) because as an engineering/recovery ship she is often towing other starships with her tractor beams. I'm cool with that. And over the course of the series we get to see a few more starships. The USS Vancouver was a really cool design for instance.
USS Vancouver and USS Cerritos in orbit.
Right of the starters block there were a lot of cool references. Not just cool, but deep cut nerd cool. from obscure Andorian weapons to a classic Romulan Bird of Prey to "Spock's helmet", you could tell that the people making this show were fans with a deep love of Star Trek. Even Mariner started to grow on me as you got to know her character arc and her history.
And the cameos and references continue, Ferengi, Edosian, call backs to Chief O'Brian, and the original Star Trek episode "The Return of the Archons", and episodes poking fun at the movies (especially the more recent JJ ones) It just kept getting better. But the cherry on top was the final episode. After years, because according to CBS the show is canon, the USS Titan is shown. Commanded by Captain Riker (Jonathan Frakes) with Commander Troi (Marina Sirtis).
Riker and Troi
USS Titan
So when it was all said and done, I ended up really enjoying this series. It has a few flaws. It is after all still produced by "he who shall not be named" (Kurtzman). Although is seems clear he has little to do with it...as it's actually good. I look forward to a second season due out this August.
Crew of the Cerritos
USS Cerritos MSD
Mariner figuring out a mystery. Suliban to Salt Monster to Humpbacks
Watch out for that Ferengi...although he seems nice and helpful.
I have seen all kinds of cool stuff in the last few weeks. Videos, TV shows, movies. But I think this just might be the neatest thing I have seen in a few weeks. It just made me smile.
Footage from Star Trek (TOS), made into a video for William Shatner's"Common People", from his album "Has Been" - released 2004. Just brilliant.
As a old long time fan of Star Trek I was very sad to here of the passing of Mr, Leonard Nimoy,
A talented actor, he suffered the same problem of type casting that many other actors on the show did. Maybe to a greater degree more because the character of Mr. Spock was so iconic and connected with the show. Many will forget he was also a successful director, singer and photographer. One more of the original crew gone. Farewell Mr. Spock....you will be missed.
On this date, the 8th of September 1966, the first episode of Star Trek aired. Though not the first episode shot (the shows pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and a number of other episodes before it). The episode "The Man Trap" introduced the world to Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future.
Always have, from as far back as I can remember. There is really not one incarnation of the franchise that I don't enjoy (although I do have some issues with the "JJ-verse" and his "starwars-ification" of Star Trek, but that is something I have talked about before and will most likely talk about again but that is a post for another time.
At the end of the day though, when I think of Star Trek I think of the Original Series. That is what Star Trek is...what I grew upon and for trekkies during the lean years of the 70's all that there was. Sure, there was the Animated Series, and lots of
cool books and fan fiction. And it was this fan base back if the 70's that really kick started the whole modern sci-fi convention.
Finally in 1979 we got Star Trek the Motion Picture. It was originally supposed to be a reboot of the series, but the success of Star Wars prompted the studio to re-work it into a movie. And for the first time in years, despite its flaws,we got to see a new Star Trek story. It began a golden age for Star Trek fans. New interest, new movies, eventually leading to Star Trek the Next Generation, and beyond.
Star Trek: New Voyages episode with George Takei
What prompted this particular post was a web series called "Star Trek Continues". I came across it purely by chance the other day, and...wow! This was fantastic! Now I like to pride myself on being a bit of a geek and keeping up to date on all things going on in nerd-dom. Not much escapes my Sauron like gaze. I have been aware of many
fan based series over the years, two of the best being "Star Trek:New Voyages" (aka. Star Trek:Phase II) and "Starship Farragut". So how this little gem slipped by me I have no idea.
The production value is top notch, with excellent stories and a marvelous cast. Playing Kirk is an actor I had heard of before by the name of Vic Mignogna. An excellent, actor most well known for his voice work in Full Metal Alchemist, Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon. He bares a resemblance to William Shatner and uses all the right mannerisms to make you believe he is Kirk. Two other cast members that stand out are Grant Imahara of Mythbusters fame as Sulu and Chris Doohan, the son of the late James Doohan playing the role his father made so iconic as Mr. Scott. The rest of the cast are excellent as well. I just can't say enough about how excellent this series, and the others as well, is. if you have a little free time I recommend that you check Star Trek Continues, and the others out.
Cast of Star Trek Continues
Also on the horizon for old school Star Trek fans is Star Trek: Axanar. Another Crowed funded endeavour through Kickstarter with names like Richard Hatch (Apollo-original BSG), Michael Hogan (Col. Tigh, Re-boot BSG), JG Hertzler (Martok, DS9) and Gary Graham (Enterprise) as Ambassador Soval. It tells the story of Garth of Izar, one of Kirk's personal heroes and the model for all Starfleet captains after him. Set 21 years before the Original series it is the story of the battle of Axanar, a pivotal point in federation history during a four year war with the Klingon's and the one that cemented Garth's fame and the Federation's future.
All this got me to thinking. What an outstanding time to be a Star Trek fan. With the quality of these fan based episodes, thanks to the love of some vary talented, dedicated fans and the level of CGI technology available these days, to some of the awesome toys and collectibles coming out and a cool MMO in Star Trek: Online. As well as the rebooted universe. There is so much cool stuff to see, do and choose from. truly a new "golden age" of Star Trek fandom.
To the Great Bird of the Galaxy, thanks for everything Gene!
I had seen this a few days ago at a local comic book shop. I knew right away I would need to have one, but restrained myself. Not sure why I did, because I was kicking myself as soon as I left the store and for the last few days. I ended up making a special trip down there today to pick it up. I couldn't be happier
.
This replica of the comm panels on the U.S.S. Enterprise (TOS) is one of the coolest things I have picked up in quite some time. It is a motion sensitive "door chime" that you can mount beside any door you want. It is available at ThinkGeek, and here is what they have to say about it...
Product Specifications
Motion-sensitive door chime for fans of Star Trek
Modeled after the communicator panels on The Original Series
Mount it next to your door (on whatever side you choose)
When someone crosses the threshold, the chime will sound
Two settings: Door opening sound or Red Alert sound
Officially licensed Star Trek collectible
Required Batteries: 3 AA Batteries
Dimensions: 6 1/2" x 5 1/4" x 1"
It really is just fun, and looks really neat hanging by the door to my hobby room. That and when it comes down to it I am always a sucker for any old school Trek stuff.
Last weekend my wife and daughter along with my son and his girlfriend (although they went down on their own a day early and were doing their own thing most of the weekend) attended the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. What a great time.
We saw lots of cool stuff, like the Bat-mobile from the 60's TV show, and the DeLorean from Back To The Future. Had our pictures taken with some members of the 501st Legion who where there fundraising. We saw all kinds of cool comics and collectibles at the many vendors. Bought a few cool t-shirts and ate some overpriced food. My Daughter was happy as she got to see a few of her favorite actors including Mr.Adam Baldwin (she is a huge "Firefly" fan), and I got some time to myself to cruise the artists area.
Saturday was a little bit out of control because attendance was way more than they had anticipated. It go so bad that the Fire Marshal stopped letting people in which really sucked for some, because staff where telling some people to go outside and around the building to bypass the congestion. It really, really sucked for the husband of a woman in line behind us whose husband was trapped outside because he was trying to get to the photo op for the entire cast of Star Trek: TNG (Cost of photo op ticket: $495 ). Even after explaining this to the people outside, they would not let him back in.
According to the organizers of the event, it wasn't that they oversold tickets just bad timing as much of the congestion was around the ST:TNG events. And I have to agree. I mean, I am a huge Star Trek fan, but even I took one look at the craziness around all the ST:TNG cast and thought to myself, "There is no way, as much as I would love to get an autograph from Sir Patrick Stewart or Johnathan Frakes, that I am wading into that mess." And the lines they had for some of their guests were woefully too short like Wil Wheaton (his line was quite short. I don't think they took into account his new found popularity thanks to "The Big Bang Theory"), as was the autograph line for James & Oliver Phelps, aka: Fred & George Weasley (never underestimate the insanity of Harry Potter fans).
Luckily the promoters did their best to honour tickets from Saturday on Sunday as much as they could and you can still get refunds on their website till the end of May. At the end of it all, I think they handled the overflow as well as can be expected. Even with all the congestion and the standing forever and long days our family had fun. and we even found the time to visit our daughter who lives in Calgary. Best of all, I had a chance to meet and get a picture with Mr. Stan Lee. All in all a fantastic weekend and we can't wait till next year. Excelsior!
Well, I finally found one of the new Star Trek "die-cast" ships. *heavy sigh*. What the hell was the marketing dept. at Paramount thinking. Really....really, really.First off, calling them die-cast...well that is a bit of a stretch in my opinion. The one I found is the Enterprise from the first three movies, so that is what I am basing my comparison on. The only part that is metal is the secondary hull...primary hull and nacelles are plastic. kind of like saying I'm a cyborg because I have a couple of metal earrings. That and the detail leaves a lot to be desired. Add to that there seemed to be a bit of a cost increase (but I can't be sure about that because the only place I have found one is a specialty collector store...). You know, I was just saying that a few days ago..."Gee, I wish I could find some more starship models like the Star Trek line Johnny Lightning made...but not as well detailed...or cool...and harder to find...oh, and I want to pay more." Ya...that's what I want.
Here is a comparison of the two ships by Hotwheels and Johnny Lightning.
My other beef with this line is that I assumed that by going with a larger company like Mattel, you would think that the toys would be a little more available. You know, as in "be able to find in a regular store like Wal-mart or Toys'R'Us". But such is not the case...when will I learn not to make assumptions. Even when they make so much common sense. So I say again...what the hell! I guess it's back to collecting the line by Furuta. Is there anything that the Japanese make that isn't cool.
Seems odd, I know to be talking about "Enterprise" (or "Star Trek:Enterprise")...what has it been now...about 4 years after it was cancelled. But the "Space" TV channel here in Canada has been running every incarnation of Star Trek every weeknight for awhile now and "Enterprise" comes on right about the time I get home from work every night. So I have been watching them all over again. And true be told...I like it.
When the series first came on, I was glued to them. over the next few seasons my interest wained a little (part due to the stories, but a big part was constantly shifting time slots). I enjoyed the show for the most part, but by season three they were starting to lose me a little bit. I was not a fan of the big season long Xindi storyline. I realize they were trying to re-energize the series, but in my opinion, went the wrong way. By season four though, I was totally hooked. They had finally found their footing and hit their stride. Season four had some fantastic episodes! But unfortunately, it was to little to late as far as Paramount was concerned. Truly a shame. If you look at the first two or three seasons of any of the other Star Trek spin offs, none of them hit their stride till the third of fourth season either. Watch any episode from "The Next Generation", "Deep Space Nine" or "Voyager"...every one of them, the acting is a little stiff and the actors hadn't quite "found" their characters yet. So why the powers that be found it necessary to cancel the show is beyond me.
Say what you will, I think the show was killed before it's time. A million cool story lines where right around the corner. The developing relationship between Earth, Vulcan and the Andorians, the Earth - Romulan war...so much potential for so many story's. And I feel bad for Mr. Rick Berman, one of the creators of the series. For a time he was vilified as one of the men who "killed Star Trek". After seeing the brutal slashing of the "re-imagined" Star Trek this summer, it was at worst a flesh wound. And at least he had a certain amount of respect for what came before and for the fans. Even "Next Generation" star Brent Spiner credits Berman with having "protected Gene Roddenberry's vision. "
In watching the shows again, with a fresh perspective, most of the episodes are really quite good. Sure, not every one of them is pure gold, but there were lots of stinkers in every other version of Star Trek as well, over all the series had a bright future ahead of it. It's always a shame when something so young dies to soon.
I have been playing video games for years. MMO's for the last couple of years and still going. Still totally addicted to World of Warcraft, and gave Warhammer a good long try. But I have to say, the game that I am most looking forward to is "Star Trek:Online". I know...huge surprise. But come on...ask any Star Trek Geek what would be the coolest thing in the world (short of commanding an actual starship) is to have a game like this to play. How cool is this game! You get to command a starship (Federation or Klingon!) and fly around the galaxy exploring and getting into the occasional fight. Awesome!! While there is no official release date yet for the game, all indications are pointing to a release sometime around the end of this year. I can hardly wait! Looks like it will be a very Merry Christmas for me!
*UPDATE: Well, looks like it might not be such a Merry Christmas after all. Looks like the release date (which still hasn't been released yet) will be sometime in the first quarter of the new year. That's ok....maybe I will take a look at the MMO Stargate: Universe after all.
I have been thinking about the new Star Trek movie ever since I saw it on opening day. Now, as a long time Star Trek fan I watched the movie with as much of an open mind as I could muster...and you know what? I liked it. It was a good movie. A couple of little things bugged me, but over all a good movie. You would think as a fan, I would be totally blown away by it! But there in lies the rub. As a cool science fiction movie it was awesome! But as a Star Trek movie it was just...ok. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, besides all the little things that bugged me about the movie...finally, it hit me the other day! That is it!
"The devil is in the details" as they say. A lot of the little things that bothered me is what the problem is in my mind. Little things like how they must have saved all kinds of money shooting the engine room scene's in a bottling plant. Surely they could have spent a few dollars on a better set that didn't make it look like the engine room on the Titanic. The Uniforms for the crew of the USS Kelvin. I don't think it would have taken much work to have them give a little nod to the original (pilot) uniforms. Last, and it may seem trivial, but the fact that the ends of the warp nacelles were blue bugged the hell out of me. Making them red would have in no way affected the movie or the look of the new "old" Enterprise, but would have been a nice touch of continuity for the old fans. But I don't think Mr. Abrams really cared all that much about the old fans as much as he said he did.
Concerning the new Enterprise...didn't like it the first time I saw it. The lines where there, but all wrong. And don't get me started on what J.J. Abrams say is the size of her (according to J.J, its 900 meters....yes...meters. The exact number from ILM is aparantly 2357 feet.compared to the Star Trek:The Motion Picture/Wrath of Khan Enterprise at 305 meters.)but to be truthful, it's started to grow on me. I still think they were a little lazy with the design (the whole primary hull is basically the one from Star Trek: The Motion Picture with some minor cosmetic changes).
Then there was the cast. Loved Karl Urban as McCoy...totally sold me on that. Zachary Quinto as Spock was good as well. Chris Pine did an ok job of Kirk, but I don't think I ever really bought into his character. Zoe Saldana as Uhura was good as well, and Bruce Greenwood as Pike did a fantastic job (really like his role). Eric Bana as Nero was not to bad as a villain, but unless you had read the prequel comics you didn't really understand why he was so pissed. As for some of the other characters, well to be honest they didn't get a lot of attention (which is kind of funny, as they didn't during the original series in the 60's either!). They felt kind of tacked on. Like they just had to toss them all a few lines and a little camera time and its all good. I was a little disappointed in that..Scotty was always one of my favorite characters, and I was kind of looking forward to Simon Pegg's take on him.
In the end, as mentioned earlier, it was a great sci-fi movie, but not a great Star Trek movie. The funny thing is, most of the comments on fan sites that are very positive are from people that were fans of other sci-fi series (Star Wars, BattlestarGalactica, etc.) Most of the original fans of Star Trek haven't been so kind with their comments and criticism. When all is said and done, will this movie be a huge hit? Seems to be so far. Will it re-energize Star Trek? In the short term, I think so, but I don't think so in the long run. Will this incarnation of Star Trek create the next generation of astronauts, scientists and inventors? Highly unlikely.
The sad thing is, the management of the franchise has said to us old school fans "piss off" and appealed to Joe Public in an attempt to squeeze out as much money as possible from this property. Unfortunately just as the ancient Emperor's of Rome learned, the masses are quick to lose interest and tend to be quite fickle.
I have been playing video games for years. MMO's for the last couple of years and still going. Still totally addicted to World of Warcraft, and gave Warhammer a good long try. But I have to say, the game that I am most looking forward to is "Star Trek:Online". I know...huge surprise. But come on...ask any Star Trek Geek what would be the coolest thing in the world (short of commanding an actual starship) is to have a game like this to play. How cool is this game! You get to command a starship (Federation or Klingon!) and fly around the galaxy exploring and getting into the occasional fight. Awesome!! While there is no official release date yet for the game, all indications are pointing to a release sometime around the end of this year. I can hardly wait! Looks like it will be a very Merry Christmas for me!
