[Short Treks talk starts at 15:20]
Tony and Laurie cover the latest news: To The Journey (the Voyager doc) breaks a fundraising record, Paramount+ plans a panel-packed First Contact Day, science advisor Dr. Erin Macdonald joins the writing team, and awards and honors are given to John Eaves, William Shatner, and Leonard Nimoy.
Then they jump into this week’s main topic: Star Trek: Short Treks. They look at why it was created, what it evolved into, what they hope for the future, and do a quick take on each episode.
The podcasters wrap up with a look at recent invocations of Star Trek in local American politics and a huge repository of behind-the-scenes photos.
Links to news topics discussed in the pod:
‘To The Journey’ Wraps Up Campaign As Most Successful Crowdfunded Documentary In History
Celebrate First Contact Day 2021 With Paramount+ Star Trek Celebrity Panels, Marathon, And More
WonderCon CBS panel on “Science of Smart TV” with Star Trek science advisor Dr. Erin McDonald
Vulcan Salute Monument Honoring Leonard Nimoy Being Developed For Boston’s Museum Of Science
Additional mentions:
SDCC18: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Mini-Episodes, Spock and Number One Confirmed for Season 2
Showrunners Promise ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Will Fit Together With “Calypso” Canon
The USS Discovery Refit And Two ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Theories To Resolve A Canon Conundrum
Interview: Jonathan Frakes On ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’; Hopes To Helm ‘Short Treks’ Musical
‘Star Trek: Short Treks’ With Ethan Peck And Rebecca Romijn Coming
The All Access Star Trek Podcast Ponders A ‘Strange New Worlds’/’Lower Decks’ Crossover
Trekbits:
Laurie: Star Trek behind-the-scenes picspam
Tony: Star Trek and politics: Iowa House approves bills to facilitate broadband, cryptocurrency and State Senator Proposes “Star Trek” Rule to Protect Florida’s Economy from Restrictions
Let us know what you think of the episode in the comments, and please post your suggestions for topics we should cover in the future as well as guests you’d like us to have on.
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Short Treks was (is) a good thing in the wrong format. It was obviously conceived as its own series which it never really was. The first Short Treks were DSC vignettes not unlike the short films that we got with great fan series such as New Voyages/Phase II. It was nothing more than DSC bonus material.
Later it became teaser material for upcoming shows: PIC and SNW…
The only episodes that really stood on their own where those (weird) animated eps, although not really that independent either.
I like the actual footage a lot but it shouldn’t be considered a “Star Trek series” on its own. I dislike that Short Treks is formally counted as a Star Trek show while it is nothing but a compendium of bonus add-ons for existing series. They should continue making more shorts but under the umbrella of their respective mother series… The Short Treks format is confusing though…
It’s an anthology series without a fixed schedule, that basically supports to current shows in production. It is what it is.
I Would love to see them use it to bring back characters from past shows, but I get that might not be the best strategy for a franchise trying to expand into new markets.
“It is what it is.”
No, it’s not. It pretended to be an anthology series but as the name says, it’s far too short for that… It’s not Outer Limits, Twilight Zone or American Horror Story… It’s a number of spin-off vignettes based on actual Trek shows. And it should be discarded as its own entity to solve the numbering issue.
Sorry, it’s probably just my autism speaking with regards to that formalist structural purity I demand for :-) Most people wouldn’t even bother… but my mind needs order…
I appreciate quirkiness in Fandom, but you’ll probably feel better if you just relax a little on this one.
You may wonder why this is even important to me. Well, I guess I’m a bit of a formalist. The number of Star Trek series is an important issue to me. In my book, there are currently seven live-action shows and two animated series, with live-action series 8 and animated series 3 in the making. But if we count Short Treks as its own show that numbering doesn’t work properly at all.
As it is neither completely live-action nor animated and doesn’t even contain material fully independed from other series, it is simply confusing to contextualize it numerically. One would have to count all Trek series – animated or live-action – as one line-up, which would make TAS series 2, TNG series 3 etc…but the idea of ENT being series 5 and a potential follow-up being series 6 has been deeply embedded in my mind for decades and I don’t want to abandon that order.
We would end up with TOS 1, TAS 2, TNG 3, DS9 4, VOY 5, ENT 6, DSC 7, ST 8, PIC 9, LD 10 and SNW / PROD as 11 and 12… I kind of dislike that account.
It should be:
TOS 1, TNG 2, DS9 3, VOY 4, ENT 5, DSC 6, PIC 7, SNW 8
TAS A1, LD A2, PROD A3
That makes a lot more sense to me. ST being counted as its own series is a grave mistake. It should be reworked into bonus material and continued that way within its respective main show.
I guess it’s the main reason I like Star Trek so much more than for example comic book franchises! No one would ever be able to create a numerical line-up of all DC-related shows, given all the countless animated formats, live action series, ex-multiverse imprints and early b/w serials.
Understandable, but I’d suggest getting used to this not working anymore.
The roller-coaster turbolift scenes don’t bother me that much. I think of them as abstractions for the audience’s benefit, like the “streaking stars” warp effect in TNG or all of the sound effects we “hear” in the vacuum of space.
The 2nd batch haven’t been released on either Netflix or Prime internationally. They are only on the boxsets.
If they can’t be sold internationally don’t expect anymore to be made.
Hello!
In my opinion, the short trek ” The Brightest Star” was the best one. It reminded me of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Saru was living in darkness and ignorance looking at the cave wall. Until he discovered the light and begun to walk out of the cave to find enlightenment and to see the world as it really is. I’m a big fan of philosophy and this one was trek at it’s most intelligent.
Hello back! I think I can agree with you if I view it as a standalone, separate from what we learned about Kelpiens in season 2 of Discovery. It’s only within that context that I think it stumbles a little. But it’s produced very well and has a good story.
Nice to hear your views on Short Treks. Here in the UK, the first batch is available on Netflix along with all the TV series (with exception of Picard and Lower Decks which are on Amazon Prime), but neither Netflix or Prime have the second batch. Shame as many would like to see them as part of their subscriptions without having to purchase a Blu-ray.
I love The Trouble With Edward. It is just a fun and silly Star Trek adventure. I have no problem believing that an idiot like Edward could make it into Starfleet. He had the book smarts needed to actually genetically engineer the Tribbles, and Starfleet is full of stupid jerks. If he hadn’t died, Edward probably would have become an admiral. Any canon violations are very small and easy to ignore. Maybe McCoy lost the tape with the information on Edward on it.
Enjoyed the episode. Also enjoyed Short Treks and it’d be great to see more. Definitely agree they’d be a useful way to do some of the character development that doesn’t fit into an episode during the season. There are quite a few interesting characters on Picard and Discovery who’s backstory I’d like to see more of.
Also had to laugh because shortly after listening to your convo about Q&A, I saw a tweet about how every musical episode of any TV series is terrible. Without exception. And I’ve a liked that tweet a million times if possible. I will never understand why this needs to be a thing.
I have to say, I ended up loving SPECIFICALLY the musical part in “Q&A,” in the end. It surprised me and confused me and eventually delighted me.
There’s a musical crossover episode of Supergirl and The Flash that I have watched a million times since it aired. I never get tired of it and I often put it on when I’m having a low day and need a boost. (Also a big fan of the new show Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.)
We also did a musical moment roundup here at TrekMovie. I am pro-musical!