Star Trek Continues releases second episode “Lolani”

The fan production Star Trek Continues will premiered it’s second installment this weekend. Star Trek Continues, a TOS-era production, made a splash last year when it released it’s first episode, “Pilgrim of Eternity” – a sequel to the second season TOS episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?”, which featured the return of actor Michael Forest as Apollo. See our story. The second episode, “Lolani”, which was crowd funded as part of a successful Kickstarter campaign last fall, debuted before a live audience Saturday night at the Dallas Sci-Fi Expo, and has now been made available online. Click on for the details and the video.


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A survivor from a distressed Tellarite vessel pulls Captain Kirk and his crew into a moral quandary over her sovereignty.

“Lolani” features appearances by two longtime genre favorites. Lou Ferrigno (yes, THE Lou Ferrigno), whom many fans remember fondly as The Incredible Hulk, will be playing an unspecified role. Erin Gray, known to many fans as Colonel Wilma Deering in the 1979 television revival of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, will be playing Commodore Gray.

The series stars voice actor Vic Mignogna (who is also executive producer) as Captain Kirk, voice actor Todd Haberkorn as Mr. Spock, Trek author Larry Nemecek as Dr. McCoy, Chris Doohan as Scotty, Mythbuster Grant Imahara as Sulu, Kim Stinger as Uhura, Michele Specht as Dr. McKennah, and Steven Dengler as Drake.

After a successful run on Kickstarter, Star Trek Continues has been funded for another 3 episodes. More information about the production, which includes several short video vignettes, can be found at http://www.startrekcontinues.com

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Shall we try again folks? Let’s be respectful this time…

I really enjoyed this episode. I’m not going to even attempt to nitpick. Great job Vic and crew!

Thanks Matt, it’s getting crazy around here. The episode was great. It was like watching one of the classic episodes from back in the day. Great casting and acting. They have the mannerisms down to a t. Didn’t realise the stand-in for Chekov is the same actor who played little Boba Fett in Star Wars Episode 2. I continue to be incredibly impressed by the team.

Honestly, personally, I prefer Phase II’s style; but I’m not going to complain about new ‘Trek!

In my head cannon “Star Trek Continues” takes place *between* TOS & NV/P2, and I’m just seeing it all out of order.

Unless the “Continues” people deliberately do something in their series to create an irreconcilable inconsistency between the two I don’t see any reason why not to view it that way…

This is a very well-crafted piece of work. Very watchable.

Love the guest starring roles… the inside baseball references… and love to see Trek shown respect.

I really enjoy both Phase II and Continues. I just wish that Continues would use the 16:9 ratio to film their shows. I understand their desire to keep to the 4:3 format used during the TOS era, I just prefer 16:9. I am always conscious of the difference while viewing Continues. It kind of takes me out of the show.

Best fan film yet!

Two thumbs up…WAY up!

I do have a problem watching all of these fan films at their respective sites, though—whether it be STC, Phase2, or Starship Farragut. I guess my computer processor isn’t good enough to keep up. When I watch them at YouTube, though, I have no problems at all.

Outstanding! The quality of “Lolani” equals that of many real TOS episodes in almost every respect.

Excellent episode. Dialogue and pace are remarkable for a 50 minutes, low budget fan film. This one holds more “Trek” value than recent movies and truly brings the spirit of Roddenberry to life.

Well done!

I liked it. Did anyone else notice that the audio is in mono, as the episodes of the original series were? Nice performances by all actors/actresses but Erin Gray’s performance really stood out, she clearly still has what it takes to be a pro and Chris Doohan gave a performance that I think his father would be very proud of.

I’m just about to sit down and watch the episode now. As far as the comments about the aspect ratio, I don’t care either way but if their goal is to remain faithful to the original show then 4:3 is the logical road to take. It’s an artistic choice and really, in 16:9 it can’t feel the same as the original because it gives the show a different scope due to the framing of the shots. I’m very happy with Continues as is.

I loved it, and I want to be respectful to those who love what JJ Abrams has done. So don’t take it personally if I like this character of Kirk much better. The small details of having Kirk read a book and need glasses was a nice touch. Also this Kirk is a scholar and is reading Gibbons’ Rise and Fall of Roman Empire was more of the Kirk that I respect. JJ’s Kirk was not “a stack of books with legs” or was he the type of serious Hornblower like Captain from the original series. You don’t need to crash a starship into a building to get me to watch, just tell a great story in the morality play format with a touch of action and adventure and you have a great show. So far New Voyages World Enough and Time is my favorite fan film but this one is a very close second! Great work to all those involved, or as we say in the US Navy, Bravo Zulu!

Vic is Kirk! Best Kirk performance in a fan production yet!

Story was mediocre though — seemed like an excuse to show a very attractive half-naked green woman. Kind of sexist as well.

I think I’m now a fan of Star Trek Continues!

Acting has improved. Todd Haberkorn has got Spock’s dialogue pacing down, and brings much of the gravitas Nimoy had.

Mignogna was even better in this episode than in the first, and has a nice energy/tension with ‘Dr McKenna”. The other cast members did great work as well, especially young Ens Kenway and Lolani. Ferrigno, I had difficulty understanding, but his acting was good.

I liked the funny moments and the solemn ones; in these respects they really capture the spirit of TOS. I’ll be watching this one again.

My quibbles are mostly makeup related. I’ll go into these later in another post. There was a sound glitch early on the Bridge [Kirk speaking with Sulu and the new navigator – whom I liked quite well btw], a continuity error with Uhura’s hair, and perhaps other things I didn’t notice.

Overall the the music was well employed, production looked like Trek TOS, and the cast and crew caught the spirit of TOS. I am very happy with this episode.

One MAJOR item, though. The creators of TOS’s original musical scoring, which adds so much to the authentic and emotional feel of the episode[s] SHOULD BE CREDITED. It is very wrong not to do so. Jeffries’ original set designs, prop styles, &c. should be credited also.

I do hope another hour is on its way to us soon. Thanks for making this happen, Vic Mignogna, cast and crew!

@1. You’re not holding your breath, are you? Keep your finger on the insta-ban button, my friend….

This episode was great!

As I’ve stated, my one gripe would be that Courtney Stodden was not cast as the Orion slave woman.

My other comment would be, I am pretty sure that Crewman Kenway had Lolani beamed right to his quarters. Seemed to me like he was still trying to do Lolani’s bidding. Especially with his request for time off at the end.

Thanks everyone! This hit all the correct original series chords witht he great writing! And the sets were fantastic, too.

Loved it!

#13

Didn’t you just describe a quarter of TOS episodes?

18 Vultan, maybe more than a quarter ;-)

AND DON’T GET ME WRONG I LOVE TOS.

That was remarkable, and a very good moral tale. It speaks out against the sex trade, which is still a very real thing. I disagree that it was sexist given the overall message of the story. I enjoy Vic’s Kirk a great deal.

Remarkable job by Vic and his team, the lighting, sound and atmosphere was perfect. Like others here, Vic plays a very convincing Kirk.

My only gripe, which is small, was the performance of Lou Ferrigno. I found it hard to understand him and he seemed to have an odd accent.

Other than that, the best fan production episode yet in terms of Roddenberry’s vision and the stories of the original series.

Really enjoying this fan film. Great work guys!!!!

#19

Oh, me too. I love TOS. But I admit the show wasn’t without its bad writing and sexist moments. Maybe the new movies are a little TOO faithful to the original in that regard.

On first viewing “Lolani’s” treatment of slavery and human (Orion?) trafficking seemed to me to be simplistic and obvious. That of course is a bug, not a feature, of all too many TOS episodes, particularly in the second and third seasons. Much as we all love the old show, producers with the benefit of a half-century’s worth of hindsight should be under no obligation to slavishly copy what was always weakest about it, even as was noted at the time.

After watching the episode again, however, I can see that it presents a dilemma for Kirk and the Enterprise crew that’s more morally complex than I initially gave it credit for. Starfleet’s complicity in handing over Lolani, ostensibly for the greater good, is particularly effective, as is Kirk’s complete failure in salvaging the situation, realizing far too late that working within the parameters of the Orion trader’s culture by offering to buy the girl probably would have much more effective than lecturing him on his moral inferiority. That unlikely tactic worked for Kirk in far too many TOS episodes, and because the captain is at base a decent man, its failure here and the guilt he would feel in its aftermath could well have some interesting repercussions for the character.

Tech values once again were excellent. Much as I appreciate Tobias Richter’s feature quality work in Phase 2 I tend to prefer the scaled-back attempt to emulate the TOS visual FX style in STC. Many commenters on the previous thread felt the Enterprise sets were too dark, but I loved the look myself, seeing in it Jerry Finnerman’s atmospheric lighting set-ups that so distinguished TOS’ first season. With a few exceptions, blocking and direction were fine (I particularly liked the tracking shot in the corridor outside the hangar deck).

As to the acting, while I wish the role had been played as more ‘exotic’ I thought the wonderfully named Fiona Vroom did just fine in the title role. She certainly has the looks and the energy necessary for the part, and I especially appreciated that the character, while sympathetic, is portrayed as manipulative, selfish, and by no means altogether likable. And may I say that I thought Lou Ferrigno was pretty damned awesome in this show? His Zuminhon was exactly the right combination of physical menace with an overlay of not-quite-convincing charm that the role called for. Were it not for the speech impediment brought on by his deafness I’m guessing he might have had a more varied and interesting career than playing a ’70s-TV version of a Marvel superhero, and I’d bet good money that he had more fun with this role than all the episodes of “The Incredible Hulk” put together.

Though I ended up thinking quite highly of “Lolani” I still wouldn’t put it in the same class as Phase 2’s “World Enough and Time,” another story featuring a doomed heroine whose stay on the Enterprise turns out to be all too brief. But that the producers got as close as they did on only their second try bodes very well, in this fan’s opinion, for Star Trek Continues. My sincere congratulations to everyone involved.

@ 13. MJ – February 10, 2014

“Story was mediocre though — seemed like an excuse to show a very attractive half-naked green woman. Kind of sexist as well.”

As Vultan pointed out, this was the case with most of TOS episodes. Also one recent nuTrek movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTmXQHjpODA

Good second work. But the story dragged at times. And you are not developing the other main characters. There is no need for a new doctor/counselor when you could develop Uhura and have her work with Lolani.

Wow these guys have nailed it again,

teleplay, check
first class lighting, check
good to excellent acting, check
sets, check
scoring with original music, check

The attention to detail is ectraordinary, and Vic’s Kirk seems exceptionally good. This McKenna character fits right in. Chris Doohan, gives me goosebumps as Scotty. It’s got a few warts but on the whole I’m extremely impressed.
I honestly think this is one of the best TOS Treks ever, despite the obvious differences.

I love the use of previously unused music scoring, very effective

I enjoyed this episode. The acting and production was excellent, for the most part. Vic is a great Kirk. The story seemed a bit too preachy and sexist, though. Also, I noticed the green make-up rub off of the actress’ skin during the kissing scene.

I still think they should be filming in the 16×9 format.

Ugh, anyone complaining about sexism is an idiot.

Ahmed and Vultan,

I don’t dispute your points about TOS or STID concerning sexism. And my point is not contrary to your points, other then to comment that “we should know better” now here in the 21st century…and that goes for STID as well.

I get that this is suppose to be like it was made in the 60’s, but that can be taken too literally.

i believe lou ferrigno is either deaf or has a severe hearing deficiency….he has always spoken being a little bit difficult to understand because of it…heck if everyone got past arnold s. unique dialect lou shouldnt be a prob heheh

Another decent episode from STC, no doubt about that. On technical aspects, they are top notch.

I liked the acting as well for the most part, I just thought that Kirks flykick was way over the top, as was the overacting of the actor playing Kenway.

The story, as many have already pointed out, wasn´t very original or gripping – and it was another bottle-show. With the huge amount of money they have available through their Kickstarter I was hoping for something more exciting. I would have loved to see the

interior of the Tellarite ship for example. The constant discussion and talk with Starfleet was more TNG then TOS. It feels like Kirk isn´t the old Kirk yet.

I was never able to get an emotional bond to the slave girl. The solution to just buy the girl was so obvious that it made me wonder why any of the main characters didn´t find that solution earlier.

What sets STC apart from other series like P2 is their focus on the old “style”, the – by todays standards – strange aspect ratio, the old school looking effects. But on the other hand they try to bring in new elements that do not quite seem to fit in there – like the holodeck or the counselor. I hope this will even out with the next episodes.

Of our main characters, McCoy and especially Uhura didn´t get much to do because of the addition of the overmakeuped counselor. She seems to take most of the lines off these two and has a much too close relation to Kirk. So, less counselor in the future, please.

The sets and lights looked great, although the lighting was extremly dark, like it all played at night. But that might be a youtube-issue. The VFX were solid, with the slight exception of the intro – the planet looked very strange.

So, despite the critic – a watchable episode – with lots of room for improvement…

I thought this episode was absolutely outstanding! I would hesitate to use the word “fan” when describing it as the production and acting are totally professional IMHO.

I realised after a while that I was mentally making notes on how it compared to TOS rather than a fan film. My thought was that it seemed a bit “talky”, but then I realised that it was a bottle show by necessity and that it actually had something meaningful to say. I liked that sometimes the prime directive is NOT the human thing to do.

There’s so much I could single out for praise here but I’m at work and tapping away on my iphone, so I’ll address my comment to Vic and his whe crew – congratulations! And thank you.

“Continues” on a whole has so far been absolutely extraordinary. As others have stated here, it captures the essence of TOS perfectly! This is first and only fan series, Trek related or otherwise, where I’ve actually sat through entire episodes in one go.

Keep up the great work guys, and I hope to see more episodes coming in as a faster rate ;)

33. Dr Beckett

Continues is doing a great job. So much so that I think these new episodes are giving the big budget movies a run for thier money, or at least, attention. This struck me as an episode between one of the second or third season episodes. But seriously, this was a very enjoyable episode!!

And with these productions, I am beginning to think that we do NOT need the over bloated messes that appear on the big screen every so many years!

Now tell me, exactly which production is hurting and who is helping the Star Trek brand these days? These can only help Star Trek. And it would be nice to see Lou turn up in the next big screen Trek.

@ 1. I have a feeling I missed something, lol

35 TrekGirl

Be grateful that you did.

Excellent! I could see this being done on Enterprise as well. Good job :-)

Ha, all the bad kids got sent home! Once again I will say I thought this was an excellent episode. I totally enjoyed it and am looking forward to more STC.

It seems that I missed some sort of fracas over this. Again.

There should be no friction between ‘camps’. Each and every fan production is worthy of consideration and respect. For each endeavor is a manifestation of a deep and abiding love for Star Trek. Production values vary but the fandom should not. Each of these productions do their part to keep to keep the 47 year legacy alive.

With that said…

Like other productions, namely Phase II, Continues, Secret Voyages, there will always be glitches, continuity errors, critiques on story, costuming, makeup, sound, et al. I’m a firm believer that respectful and constructive criticisms only serve to make these productions even better.

Our organization strives to support every fan production, be they live action, cgi, animated or in some cases fan fiction.

We’re Trekkies/Trekkers. It’s who we are and what we do.

Erika Y. Figueroa
Director
Carolina Alliance of Star Trek Fans

My two cents as I know cast/crew of Continues read these comments:

Stinger – Hair continuity issues

Haberkorn – eyebrow issues. Understanding that these episodes are filmed over a span of days and makeup may not always be perfectly the same as the day before, Spock’s eyebrows in a few scenes were harshly drawn on. As a woman who paints her face every work day and draws on eyebrows I couldn’t help but wince. It was glaring to me how amateurish his eyebrows and ears looked in some scenes. The line of demarcation between prosthetic and his skin was quite visible at times. Small things like this can take a viewer out of a story.

Vroom – even if it isn’t caught on set, the makeup problem on her neck during the ‘romantic’ scene could’ve been address in post production

The Bridge- footsteps were very loud on the bridge. Having been on that set I’ve felt and heard my steps during a time with many other folk milling around. In soundstage mode it was very distracting. Never hear it anywhere else on the set though.

Specht – someone mentioned her heavy makeup. She is a beautiful woman and perhaps her very glamorous makeup is part of her character’s back story not sure. But this episode was far better than Pilgrim as last time the under eye concealer was startlingly bright and very distracting, actually aging her. This time it was toned down and there was far better blending. It actually took years off of her face.

Kudos:
Haberkorn – really getting the pacing and tenor of Spock’s voice down. Much better
Vic – looks great, Shatner-esque while still making it his own
Vroom – great job shifting between sympathetic to manipulative
Specht – Makeup is much better
Doohan – channels his father but it’s not a caricature. Great job.
Gray & Ferrigno – SQUEEE!

LOVED this episode.

It’s a great time to be a Star Trek fan. These films/webisodes gives us a way to get ‘new’ stories while we continue to patiently wait for a CBS tv series.

Who else is excited for Phase II’s The Holiest Thing premiering this week? I know I am.

I have to say, this was the best-written, best-acted, best-filmed and best-edited fan production I have ever seen. The production values on this one rival (and in some cases surpass) those on today’s network television shows. I don’t have any real nits about sets, props or makeup (heck, Kirk’s phaser fell off during a take in the Botany Bay on “Space Seed,” but the take was allowed to continue). The story took an interesting twist (no spoilers if you haven’t seen it), basically rescuing Kirk from his failure (if “rescuing” could be used in this instance). I had no problem with Dr. McKenna – how many times has a military organization forced personnel onto a commander with no real reason or need for them? I think if each episode continues to improve as this one has, great things are in store for these folks.

The feel and look of this series is absolutely spot on to what we experienced in the Original Series. It was also refreshing to see a wholly-character driven episode, with no phaser fights or chase scenes. Not that those kinds of episodes can’t be good too, but some mature drama focus is part of what I miss about Star Trek, and I am glad this series has brought that back.

I loved this. I thought it was a very well made fan production, and think it’s one of the best “revival” Treks that’s ever been done.

I felt as if I was ACTUALLY watching Trek, and it gave you that Sixties sensibility that TOS actually gave you when you sat down and watched it back then.

I thought the episode “Lolani” was a huge up-tick in the acting. It was more than credible, it was substantial. The writing and directing were great. Great story line and all actors suberb. Even Vic pushed his acting skills up a huge amount in the second episode. Now here’s the but… Please, take this in the spirit in which I give it. First there needed to be better lighting. It appeared dark in many situations… secondly… there was an absence of significant drama to sustain the great story line. Mr. Ferrigno was so imposing and great for this role, that I felt there should have been more interaction with the crew and captain other than that short sequence. The ending was at first confusing.. the explosion with no reaction or verbage as to what happened. I almost felt this story line needed more time than the 50 minutes given to develop or a little more editing on Lolani and her effect on the ships males. I felt it was a good pick based on TOS and felt real comfortable. There should have been a alien ship scene with Mr. Ferrigno but I understand the set constraints. Having seen the first episode and this one, I feel we have seen enough of the briefing room for episode three. I can’t say enough on the acting.. which was superb!!!!

Just wanted to chime in that I thought STC’s latest effort was terrific! Praise all around to this fan production! And the guest stars were also really good…loved seeing Mr. Ferrigno and Ms. Gray again!. And Ms. Vroom did a great job as Lolani.

Even my non-Trekker parents like it. My mom (in her 70s) said…and I quote…”That was really good!” And again, this is coming from someone who only knows Trek through watching the occasional episode with me through the many years I have been a fan (since the early 1970s).

Infinitely better than a certain recent “Trek” outing that was “Trek” in name only, IMHO.

Paramount/CBS: Hire these guys for a TV series!

Jon

13. – What’s wrong with being sexy?

I loved it. Absolutely loved it. I realize that there is always going to be those who don’t like it as much as I, but I simply do not care. I loved it.

The 4:3 aspect ratio is perfect, as is the familiar “graininess” to the FX shots. The dark, atmospheric lighting is so iconically TOS I don’t know why it bothers anyone. But again, that’s their problem, not mine. The Hangar Deck sequence was a fine little treat, as was the drop kick (I actually raised my arms in triumph. That was such a Shatner/Kirk move-loved it!).

Vic’s Kirk as fantastic. Nether an impersonation nor a parody, it captures Shat/Kirk’s look and natural cadence. Doohan is gold and Haberkorn is really starting to capture the nuances of Nimoy’s TOS Spock. Heck, I was even impressed by the performances of the extras. I also agree that Big Lou did a great job. Yes, it was sometimes difficult to understand all of his dialogue but like any good Star Trek fan I chose to chalk that up to the way Orion male’s dialects sound. Problem solved.

Tellarites. They freaking had Tellarites.

One thing I want to know: The Orion Ship–that’s totally based on the Leif Ericksen model, is it not? If so, I am so totally doing a build up of that model as an Orion Slaver ship.

Again, I am in love. CBS, put some money behind this show and put it on the air. I would watch this every week. And again, if we happen to not share the same point of view, remember:

I simply do not care.

@35. You did. Just another pointless on-line flame out that was, thankfully, deleted.

I find I am drawn to this very well made and acted production far more than anything on network/cable television. I have been a die-hard Star Trek fan since the mid 70’s and this show is so close to the feel of classic trek that it is almost indistinguishable. I hope this effort has a long and successful run. Networks executives should take notice!