Despite Strange New Worlds getting a renewal announcement, this April it feels like a Universe of endings for Star Trek with Discovery’s final season currently running on Paramount+ and Lower Decks announced to follow with it;s fifth and final season. Though there has been more positive news from across the Universe…
Kurtzman: Streaming Challenges
Earlier this month Star Trek’s top Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman spoke to Cinema Blend about the current state of Star Trek and the modern world of storytelling through streaming services.
When asked about the difference between the high episode count of past Star Trek compared to the modern era – reducing from 24 episodes to less than half those numbers, Kurzman noted, “I don’t know, it’s very hard. I mean, the fact that Discovery went to go on five seasons is sort of a miracle.”
Kurtzman continued, comparing the older era of coming up with so many ideas and filling space in a demanding schedule to running shorter stories on a higer budget, “I think what ten episodes a season forces you to do is really make sure that every story counts as much as it possibly can. And I like that, you know, I like that. I like what that affords us now.”
The Original Enterprise Finally Makes It Home!
After being missing since 1977, the original model of the USS Enterprise has been found, verified and brought home! While the more commonly used 11 foot model used during the original series was restored and now on display at the National Air and Space Museum, the very first three foot model – used for the Cage and the series’ opening credits – has finally been found.
Verified by Heritage Auctions as the original with the help of several Trek veterans including Doug Drexler and Mike & Denise Okuda, the model was known to be on display on Gen Roddenberry’s desk before going missing. Now returned to Rod Roddenberry, the model is set to be restored and much like it’s counterpart, put on display for fans to see.
For now, you can check out pictures of the model posted on Mike Okuda’s Facebook page.
Paramount Announce New Star Trek Film. Again…
Yep. It’s that time of year again for Paramount to announce Star Trek’s return to the big screen! Eight years and multiple announcements later, we’re not taking this one too seriously until it happens.
So far we’ve had the original announcement of a fourth Kelvin film in 2016, which died out with contract negotiations. Quentin Tarantino wrote a script and that became a big deal. SJ Clarkson was brought on as director, then that fell apart in 2019. Noah Hawley led a project soon after that was cancelled. Then a release date for another Kelvin Timeline film was announced, which was a bit of a surprise to the cast who no one told, that may or may not have been connected to the script Kalinda Vasquez was hired to write which seems to have also quietly been shelved. But was more likely Matt Shankman’s version which didn’t happen after he got a job with Marvel. It’s hard to keep track….
Now it’s 2024 and we have another writer, Steve Yockey and another film in development based on the origins of Star Trek. Which is quite ambiguous seeing as we already have a prequel to TOS happening right now as we’ve had Enterprise already…
Will it happen this time? Who knows. But we look forward to the next announcement of another Star Trek film in development in the coming months and years.
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[Retro Review] Dagger Of The Mind
Dropping by a penal colony focused on rehabilitating the criminally insane, the Enterprise beams down some much needed supplies while one of the inmates sneaks on board to beg for asylum. But it's no regular stowaway. Dr Simon Van Gelder used to be part of the staff before he began to lose his mind and he's not just afraid of having dodgy meals and no windows, but reveals to Kirk that the facility runs through torture and abuse. Van Gelder arrived broken. His memories scattered, and any glimpse of those memories would trigger a painful and violent reaction. The colony's lead scientist and essentially warden, Dr Tristan Adams, waves it off claiming Van Gelder's techniques were tested on himself and that the rest of his story was delusional ramblings. Not entirely convinced, and given a heavy nudge by McCoy, Kirk […]
[Treknology] Shields Up! Red Alert!
Different writers, directors and plot points paint Starfleet as multiple and occasionally conflicting things. Both a military and exploratory force, there's many layers to the fleet and how it operates. Handling everything from border defence to mapping unknown territories, even the most mundane mission in peace time can be a risky one. Especially as not every new person you meet will want a cup of tea and a chat, and accidentally dropping into someone's back garden doesn't always go down well.So when the shooting starts, you have to be ready to defend yourself, and in a world of weaponry that could burn an entire planet into ashes, sticking some armour on your hull just isn't going to cut it. One of the most vital systems always ready on stand by, deflector shields help to keep a ship and it's crew […]
Behind the Viewscreen: Gene L Coon
As it's creator, the name Gene Roddenberry is part of the Star Trek legend. But when it came to shaping what the show was, and forming it's foundations, there was another Gene behind the scenes who help build on and refine the shows concepts into the world we know today. Originally brought into the fold in August 1966, Coon was hired to handle day to day production and script revisions during the shows first season, with his first credit appearing on the first seasons eighth episode, Miri. Beyond that day to day production, as well as his creative relationship with Roddenberry, Coon's efforts would help shape the shows identity, helping to form it's unique blend of science fiction, drama and political commentary and in shaping the shows moral compass that would be a keystone of the Star Trek experience. Giving […]
Across The Universe: A Trio of Spocks, 60th Anniversary Goodies and More!
Celebrating 60 years of Star Trek, our September News recap spotlights new goodies for fans to mark the landmark year, new missions for STO fans, and more! Spocktember in Star Trek Online Long running MMO Star Trek Online joined in the anniversary fun by bringing back a legendary character to their September release. On it's original launch STO utilised the vocal talents of Leonard Nimoy as he introduced players to the wider galaxy. In the latest release, archived dialogue from Nimoy has been used to bring Spock back into the new ongoing story.https://youtu.be/Da9UohgplIg?si=pAtm5D1bTSIXxREOAlongside Piotr Michael, who voiced Spock in Star Trek Resurgence, adding new lines as his version of Spock, and introducing Strange New Worlds star Ethan Peck in his own version of the character, all three era's of the iconic Vulcan come together thanks to the Guardian of Forever. […]
[For The Uniform] Generational Upgrade: 2350’s-2370’s
After solidifying a formal military style with stiff dark reds and heavy duty fabrics through the latter half of the 23rd century, the 'Monster Maroons' defined Starfleet as a more serious, more robust organisation. With minor tweaks the look stayed strong for almost 80 years when suddenly Starfleet decided they needed a dramatic change. It's not uncommon. Starfleet goes through uniforms faster, and in more rapid evolutions than any other organisation in history.Maybe it's because of the constant evolution of the Federation? Bringing in new members, new styles, new sensibilities and adapting to their needs. Maybe the MonsterMaroonians joined the Federation and would only absorb their navies into Starfleet if they adapted to their style, and it took eighty years for another species to come in and make fashion related demands. Maybe a new Admiral became Commander in Chief and […]
[Treknology] Clearing The Way: The Deflector
Over the decades the technologies of Star Trek have become so popularised and well known that even someone who's never seen an episode knows what a phaser is, or that warp drive goes really, really fast. Even if someone couldn't tell you what a transporter does, “Beam Me Up” is still a phrase you can say and people will just know what it means.But when you look at ships like the Enterprise, there's one big feature built into every design since that might not be as well known as the saucer, the bridge or the glowing warp nacelles, but is one of the most vital parts of any and all starships flying from planet to planet. When you think of space, you imagine this big empty void of nothingness. But while there is a huge expanse of distance between locations […]
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Across The Universe: A Trio of Spocks, 60th Anniversary Goodies and More!
Celebrating 60 years of Star Trek, our September News recap spotlights new goodies for fans to mark the landmark year, new missions for STO fans, and more! Spocktember in Star Trek Online Long running MMO Star Trek Online joined in the anniversary fun by bringing back a legendary character to their September release. On it's original launch STO utilised the vocal talents of Leonard Nimoy as he introduced players to the wider galaxy. In the latest release, archived dialogue from Nimoy has been used to bring Spock back into the new ongoing story.https://youtu.be/Da9UohgplIg?si=pAtm5D1bTSIXxREOAlongside Piotr Michael, who voiced Spock in Star Trek Resurgence, adding new lines as his version of Spock, and introducing Strange New Worlds star Ethan Peck in his own version of the character, all three era's of the iconic Vulcan come together thanks to the Guardian of Forever. […]
Across The Universe And Back To Strange New Worlds!
Time has certainly flown by as Strange New Worlds penultimate season is just days away. Things have been a little guarded since the show was announced to be ending with a shortened 5th season, but it gave the production plenty of warning to wrap things up and bring an end to the original Captain and his crew! With some cast announcements for Season 5 seeing new additions including Thomas Jane as Leonard McCoy, as well as knowing it'll a shorter season to bring the show to a close, the fourth instalment feels a little bittersweet. But from recent hype from Paramount, we might just be in for a fun time. Season 4 Episode Titles Ahead of the series launch, the Star Trek social media team have been hard at work with some teases including short clips of each of the […]
Across The Universe…. into the Holodeck…?
As the Star Trek Online world is celebrating it's annual Summer event on Risa, the wider gaming world is adding some new dimensions to the gamers of the fandom as we see even more games announced within the Star Trek Universe following some already surprise additions in the past year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YK_Fw4_kLk OUTPOSTS UNKNOWN Set in the 23rd Century era of Strange New Worlds, Outposts Unknown comes from Magic Fuel Games, made up of former developers of various simulations including The Sims and Sim City and delivers exactly what you'd expect from them! The player takes command of the USS Resonant as the core of a new outpost building game where you lead a crew across a newly found system and build your perfect colonies with a mysterious force building up in the background... Sim City meets Strange New Worlds is […]
Starfleet Academy to end with with Season 2
Announced first by Variety, it's been announced that Starfleet Academy will end with Season 2. Having just launches in January with the first season finale receiving positive reactions, and it's second season now in post-production following the completion of filming, the announcement comes at an unsurprising time with Paramount undergoing new ownership under Skydance and more business shenanigans with further consolidation in the works with plans to absorb Warner Brothers into the mix. Set in the 32nd century and using Discovery's season 3 'Burn' storyline as a reset point, Starfleet Academy was focused on new original characters who had signed up to be the new stewards of Starfleet's future to rebuild the strength and vision of the Federation. Opening strong, Academy improved throughout it's first season and used it's setting to help strengthen the hopeful vision of the future and […]
New Cast Welcomes Aboard for Season 5 of Strange New Worlds
As the media hype is starting to ramp up for Academy's debut, Strange New Worlds is adding the finishing touches and along with cast such as Anson Mount saying goodbye to their Enterprise, we have some new names announced to have joined for the final season. Acting as a prequel to the original series, Strange New Worlds has helped to expand legacy characters having brought over Ethan Peck's younger and less refined version of Spock, the first career steps of Nyota Uhura, a completely revamped Christine Chapel and smaller parts – such as Dr M'BEnga, Samuel Kirk and T'Pring among others – being revived for the new era. Since then we've also spent some time with a young Jim Kirk, even seeing his first time in command last season, and Scotty's joined the lower decks of Engineering. As the show […]
Across The Universe This November!
As the year comes to an end, the new cycles are spinning up as Star Trek looks ahead towards new frontiers... UNDER CONSTRUCTION.... AGAIN... It's safe to say the biggest news of December had all eyes back on the film side of the Star Trek franchise again as Paramount seems to have found a new plan to revive Trek on the big screen. Which, sure, comes with a lot of scepticism. We've already had the Tarantino plan, the Kelvin revival announcement, the Hawley film that went into pre production before another announcement and probably more that we've forgotten about. But this one comes from the all new Paramount under Skydance, so lets be cautiously hopeful! According to Deadline the new pitch is coming from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley who will write and direct a completely new take on […]
