57 years ago, Star Trek was born with the premiere of The Original Series on September 8, 1966. This year, Paramount is celebrating the anniversary of its venerable franchise with online, broadcast TV, and theater events, and more. We have all the details on this global celebration of Star Trek coming on Friday, September 8, 2023.
Star Trek Day streaming special hosted by Jerry O’Connell
Paramount has produced a Star Trek Day special program hosted by Jerry O’Connell (Jack Ransom on Lower Decks). NOTE: Content was recorded pre-strike.
Here is how they describe the program:
A salute to the franchise, the special program will include segments that look back at memorable moments over the past 57 years; commemorate 50 years of Star Trek animation; pay tribute to Star Trek: Discovery, ahead of its final season; provide an exclusive sneak-peek clip from the upcoming fourth season of Star Trek: Lower Decks; and commemorate many other moments that highlight Star Trek’s legacy.
Check out the trailer for the special…
The Star Trek Day special will be available to watch for free globally on StarTrek.com/Day, YouTube (Paramount+ and STAR TREK official pages), Twitch (ParamountPlus), and Facebook (@StarTrekOnPPlus and @StarTrek). In the U.S., the special will be available to stream on Paramount+, Pluto TV (Paramount+ Picks, STAR TREK, More STAR TREK and Pluto TV Sci-Fi channels) and Mixable and will air on select local CBS affiliates, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Pop TV, Fave TV and Smithsonian.com.
Animation Celebration/Lower Decks theater screenings
This year Paramount is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of Star Trek: The Animated Series, which debuted on September 8, 1973. This includes special animation celebration theater screenings. Here is the official description:
This “Star Trek Day” commemorates the 50th anniversary with an evening of cartoon comedy, including four specially selected episodes of the hit animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks. Fans can attend these exclusive, free promotional screenings and experience the brand-new season of Star Trek: Lower Decks on the big screen. The day is jam-packed with sneak peeks and surprises, free concessions, giveaways and more! This is a can’t-miss event for long-time fans of Star Trek and adult animation across the U.S., Canada and the UK.
All screenings are free to attend, and fans can register at STAR TREK ANIMATED CELEBRATION SCREENINGS on Thursday, August 24, at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET. The special Star Trek: Lower Decks fan screenings will take place in Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, Washington D.C., Vancouver, Calgary, and London.
Strange New Worlds on CBS
Star Trek Day will also feature special airings of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on CBS. Beginning at 8 pm (ET/PT) they will air the first two episodes (“Strange New Worlds” and “Children of the Comet”) back-to-back.
Anson Mount as Pike in “Strange New Worlds”
Star Trek Day merchandise and sale
Finally, on September 8, fans can use the code STARTREKDAY for 25 percent off site-wide at shop.StarTrek.com, which includes curated “Star Trek Day” and Star Trek: The Animated Series collections.
Keep up with news for the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
Looks like they are celebrating “some” Star Trek animation…
Exactly. No Prodigy. P+ doesn’t actually care about Trek as a body of artistic work that has meaning to millions. Caring would mean that they wouldn’t just scrap Prodigy and pull it if it didn’t perform well. These are just C-list basic Brads and Beckys who couldn’t get a job at Netflix or Disney+. They are here for a short time to add some entry to their desperate and pointless LinkedIn profiles. But they don’t care about something that was here before them and will be here after them. Their platform wouldn’t even be viable minus the Star Trek IP.
I think Prodigy as a nickelodeon action/adventure with STEM with kids was a win-win making Nick happy they get a “Blaze and the Monster Machines” for a slightly older audience and some action (like Transformers used to be in the past) while Paramount gets some new fans. And for the first episodes it worked. That’s what I think management wanted and expected.
But as Prodigy instead went Voyager reboot for adults that cry over seeing things from when they were kids, the Protostar self destructed and went down in flames. Sad so much potential in that debris. I guess we always knew that if Picard didn’t assimilate them and give them PTSD the Burn was coming anyway but still.
I think Prodigy as a nickelodeon action/adventure with STEM with kids was a win-win making Nick happy they get a “Blaze and the Monster Machines” for a slightly older audience and some action (like Transformers used to be in the past) while Paramount gets some new fans. And for the first episodes it worked. That’s what I think management wanted and expected.
You kind of had it. You had the kids. You had the frontier. You had it where the kids were in command but a nice niche with holo Janeway where they had a teacher too.
But as Prodigy instead went Voyager reboot for adults that cry over seeing things from when they were kids, the Protostar self destructed and went down in flames. Sad so much potential in that debris. I guess we always knew that if Picard didn’t assimilate them and give them PTSD the Burn was coming anyway but still; what could have been on the frontier.
Murf is in the picture! Look to the right (our right, not hers) of M’Ress.
The big question to me is why is Worf there as well (!). Is he going to be in one of the TAS commemorative shorts, or an upcoming Lower Decks episode (or even one of Prodigy)?!
Where’s Kirk and Archer on that promo image then?
I think we all know the answer to that.
Right next to the Prodigy characters.
Too soon Drew…too soon
They have Nichelle Nichols Uhura standing in for Kirk again this year. (Someone probably forgot they replaced his with that shot they have of her because she passed on July 30 2022 – and they put her image on the Star Trek Day poster in 2022 in place of Kirk/Shatner.
I assumed Nichelle Nichols features due to the recently released documentary about her on Paramount Plus. Thinking that maybe they’ll give it a plug on the day, at some point.
Why replace, why not just add? I mean love Shatner or hate him, he started the whole thing. He deserves representation.
Captain Pike is missing his apron in this promo.
Who?
That’s the very first question I had!
ENT always gets left out, I’ve gotten used to that already. As for Kirk, other people are allowed to represent TOS. If DS9 was represented by Jadzia Dax or by Quark I wouldn’t mind at all
If ENT does happen to feature, it’s always a double take moment. It’s pretty rare.
Right exactly
Kirk is in the upper right, above M’Ress.
I’m pretty sure I’m reading way too much into that promo image, but on first seeing Sisko and Janeway on the right-hand side, my brain leaped to the idea of remastered DS9 and Voyager news. But… yeah… wishful thinking and then some. Same with Michelle Yeoh. She’s probably not included due to anything forth coming S31 news. All they can really say is ‘it’s still a thing’ at this point.
Surprised CBS is resisting the urge to put more of SNW on the network with their stockpile of content being so affected by the strike. Not that I mind seeing the UK “Ghosts” getting more exposure, but there’s still some life in Broadcast and they should maybe put a little more effort into resuscitating it.
UK Ghosts is far superior to the US version. Couldn’t stick w/ the US version past half a dozen episodes
The UK one is fantastic. I appreciate the American version has more episodes to fill and a different audience on a network, but it’s so broad and has too many dated pop culture references.
I guess the issue is they need people to subscribe to P+ more than they need people to watch CBS. And if you throw on one of it’s more popular shows from that site on the network, its less motivation for people to subscribe.
Then again, I just remembered they played the entire first season on YouTube for free, so ignore me lol.
Yeah, I figure there’s less harm in putting season 1 on the network. Needs very little editing compared to Discovery, too.
1883 went up on Paramount Network, I think it’s a sound idea to bolster broadcast ad revenue while giving some promotion to P+ years after they premiered there.
Still crazy that CBS, the Tiffany Network, has become an afterthought though. The marketplace changes in the last decade are seismic.
I’m a bit surprised they are not showing Picard as well, at least the first season. But who knows, that may come at some point as the strikes continue.
But you’re right, even CBS is not the powerhouse it used to be.
Unfortunately I am calling it now. These strikes are going to kill streaming for any service not named Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, or Apple.
That’s certainly a possibility but I see Disney+ sticking around for sure. I think it’s the third biggest service behind Netflix and Amazon. And I saw a report that Apple is not doing amazing. It only has 20 million subscribers. Now maybe that’s just in America alone but for all the fanfare over it, it’s not close to a bustling service, just one backed by a super rich company and can take the loss.
Several Apple shows have been getting good metrics, not just Ted Lasso, which is impressive considering those subscriber numbers. But Apple looks at streaming differently than entertainment companies. It’s mostly about selling the concept of services, and contributing to their prestigious image. And the money they put into it is chump change to them, whereas Paramount is betting the farm.
Disney + is the outlier for me. Yes Disney is a huge force in the industry but rumors are they bit off more than they can chew with + and they are looking to sell off part of their biusiness like ESPN to Apple since Steve Jobs had such a close relationship with Pixar and the Disney CEO.
Hulu will just be absorbed into Disney+. In the rest of the world much of the Hulu content is on Disney+ as well as all of the 20th century content.
I think it is the opposite, Hulu will absorb Disney + Hulu IIRC has way more subs and is the bigger streaming name. Also it has live tv whereas Disney does not.
What are you talking about? Disney+ has way more subscribers. Hulu is not international, Disney has global brand recognition.
Yes I was corrected below
Shockingly, P+ has over 60million subs while Hulu, which has been around for what seems like forever, has only 48 million subs. That said, Disney (with 155+ million subs) owns them so they won’t be going anywhere. Apple TV surprisingly reportedly has only 25m subs, but they deep pockets. As you said, Netflix is the king with I believe well over 240m subs.
Btw hard to categorize Amazon. My prime sub gives free shipping for online shopping, my ebooks, Amazon music plus streaming VOD tv and movies, something I often forget about.
The P+ numbers are a bit questionable though. From what I read, the 60 million included Showtime which I think was around 20+ million subscribers. But then they merged both platforms and the Showtime subscribers were now counted in. I mean I guess that was the point and to merge sites with smaller numbers into a bigger force. There is talk Disney+ and Hulu will officially merge in the next year or two as well.
But I think only Netflix, Amazon and Disney has subs above 150 million. And everyone else is kind of just there but surviving…for now.
Also Hulu is the only service besides Netflix that’s making a profit. That’s what Wall Street is more interested in at this point. One reason the studios are in no rush to end the strikes is it’s giving them an excuse to cool their spending sprees and get audiences used to new content being rationed out more sparingly. Bob Bakish was practically giddy about what Q4 numbers would be when decreased spending was factored in.
Yes it is quite shocking about the # of subs P+ has but the bigger issue is they are in the red for the service. IIRC Hulu is 3/4 Disney and 1/4 Comcast. I am shocked to learn they only have 44 mil subs, I thought it was WAY more than that! Maybe I was wrong in what I said above and Disney + will absorb Hulu?
As for Apple, I suspect they don’t care about direct # of subs or even direct profits. For them its all about selling iOS devices and Apple TVs and like you said, DEEP pockets.
Amazon, Prime obv goes way beyond streaming as you mention. I don’t even own them for the streaming because I don’t usually drive so I do a lot of my shopping there.
Most of those Amazon Prime movies and television shows aren’t free; you need to rent or buy them. It seems that only about 10% to 20% of it’s content is free to Prime members. They made a big deal over acquiring exclusive rights to the Bond franchise, but only a few of them can be streamed free.
Huh? There are tons of original Amazon streaming TV shows that are free with crime — ALL of their original content, TVs and movies, do not cost any extra.
The typo is still right, it can all be free with crime. Since pirating is one.
Disney already announced that they’re absorbing Hulu into Disney+ this year.
I’d be happy to see the Trek IP sold away from the C-list cubicle warmers that P+ can afford. Pulling Prodigy created ZERO good will. OK, cancel it if the numbers don’t work. Fair. But to just pull it like the fans won’t be bothered means that they don’t understand the and respect the fans or value the body of work that Trek is as a whole.
I seriously doubt anyone who could theoretically afford to outright buy Star Trek would do it prouder. Star Trek is a Paramount crown jewel and they invest in it heavily. We may not love every creative decision, but we’ve gotten multiple live action series in different eras, animated series, renewed merchandising, and three big budget films.
Hand Trek to another media giant and it’s automatically an also-ran next to Jurassic Park or Harry Potter or Star Wars et al. Hand it to Netflix and it’s a flash in the pan binged bit of content everyone talks about for maybe 3 weeks when each season drops and then gets lost in all their other offerings (and say goodbye to any hope of theatrical films again). Amazon would be a morally dubious parent company, AppleTV+ is super niche.
Star Trek is a priority to Paramount and they give it the attention it needs, even if that’s frustrating at times.
Exactly!
The amusing thing is that Paramount never actually wanted Star Trek; they just wanted the land the Desilu studio sat on and got Star Trek into the bargain. Talk about your silver linings. :-)
No LA, no New York, no Chicago, no Toronto? Lol, OK, book your flights to Columbus and Calgary.
Where is Bob Uecker when we need him?
Mr. Baseball?
hmmm….torn. On the one hand, I want to support any effort to promote Trek and show that the fan base wants more Trek content.
On the other hand, I am also inclined to not give the studios a dime while the strike is still going on.
If the entire fanbase basically went on strike as well, while the intent would be good, I’m afraid the studio would take it as the opportunity to say ‘oh see, nobody likes Trek anymore” :\
Sadly there is probably no appetite for a grassroots wholesale pausing / cancelation of all streaming accounts (apple, netflix, hulu, etc…). If that were to happen then that would really get the attention of the studios.
What would the economic impact to their bottom line be if even for one or two months everyone just stopped paying the subscription fees?
Right. The striking Guilds have not (yet) asked for consumers to boycott.
With subscription fees on the rise and the talk of a possible yearly subscription model, consumers might just want to start thinking of boycotts.
Right, because totally nuking a struggling system is sure to result in everyone getting paid fairly…instead of the jobs just disappearing forever.
That’s the catch 22. People want to support the actors and writers any way they can, but if start cancelling their streaming services in mass, then a lot of those will disappear and a lot of actors won’t have jobs to go back to. A few shows have been cancelled now, including one I been watching, The Peripheral on Amazon. If subscriptions start dropping, then a lot of shows are going to go away faster if they are not making the money to even keep them running.
Wow Star Trek day sounds like it will be a lot of fun. Always excited for it.
However I am disappointed a LDS screening isn’t in my city. I know it can’t be everywhere obviously but I am greedy lol. And I live in a big city where this stuff shows up a lot so it’s nice if somewhere new gets it for a change. It really sounds like fun though. Can’t wait to hear reviews! :)
Ya I’m near San Fran and I thought we might get one but nope. San Diego is too far.
Yeah it’s surprising it’s not in L.A. or San Francisco like Picard was. But was Picard in San Diego? Can’t remember but if not it’s cool other cities are getting this. It doesn’t have to be the usual big cities that always gets this stuff, we’ll live. ;)
(But really did wanted to go)
Not sure but I’d be shocked if it wasn’t in San Diego. I mean forget Comic Con for a sec, It’s a really REALLY popular city!
A couple of locations for the Animation Celebration, specifically Dallas and Denver, are about an hour away from the actual cities.
I’m grateful to have the options. It just means a bit more planning to attend.
lol yeah – Denton does *not* equal Dallas. Denton wouldn’t even equal Ft. Worth but it would be a little closer to the truth.
It’s like saying the location is Minneapolis but the showing is in Rochester.
Yeah, sorry, this just demonstrates the complete short term lunacy of the executives who “run” this industry… a few months after you cancel your most sophisticated, acclaimed Star Trek animation show BEFORE running the second season that has basically already been produced, you want us to believe Paramount gives a flying crap about any of this. By the way, the show that was literally made with the idea of bringing young fans into the franchise, but you couldn’t figure out how to properly market it. The way this franchise is being handled is such a travesty, a model of dysfunction. Which is such a waste because there are so many talented creatives who are doing good work like the Hagemans, or are clearly fans of the franchise and want to be involved. The ineptitude of the leadership at Paramount (which, is a Star Trek tradition I suppose) is such a restraint on the potential of Star Trek, when compared to other studios that do such a better job of this stuff. Sorry, this just touches a nerve. Just looking at the promo pictures that are clearly missing an entire cast… we’re sure those stupid fans will just forget that show ever existed, but let’s also celebrate Star Trek animation!! The most annoying thing in the world is folks who take something good and manage to make it a lot less good (while trying to keep telling us how good it is).
“The most annoying thing in the world is folks who take something good and manage to make it a lot less good (while trying to keep telling us how good it is).”
Agreed! 100%. SNW has made me numb. I’m not longer excited for Star Trek. I’m finishing LD and then I’m out. Unless, they hire Terry to do Legacy. It’s heartbreaking for sure.
You don’t like SNW? I thought second season was good. But still not at the level of Lower Decks for me. The crossover was amazing!
I’m pulling for the Legacy show as well! 👍
SNW season 1 was really solid, not perfect, but a great improvement. Season 2 has been a serious downgrade in quality.
I liked both seasons but yeah season 2 was definitely a step down. But I look at it as glass half full, compared to season 2 of Picard, it’s amazing lol. I think season 1 was maybe just too good. It’s the best first season in live action since Voyager’s first season for me.
I’ve said this before but IMo season 2’s biggest issue is that it was written and even in production when Season 1 was airing. The producers and writers had no change to gauge season 1’s response. Now maybe the one good thing to come from these strikes is that TPTB can see what our reactions were to seasons 1 vs 2
Yeah that’s true, but I don’t know how much it would’ve changed things. Look at Picard season 2. They didn’t even start shooting it until a full year after first season ended and it ended up being worse for many. They definitely listened to some things like no more cut and paste ships and why we got such a lovely myriad of ships in the opener. But as far as I can tell, that’s pretty much the only major difference that improved the season. And Goldsman was show runner for both of shows and seasons.
But I’m sure season 3 will get some modifications but don’t expect too much if Paramount wants to get the show in production ASAP. They are probably not going to give them 6 months to rewrite scripts if the show has been off the air over a year which is likely.
For what it’s worth, I feel like Picard season 2 may have been hit hard by Corona. It’s been reported that they had originally planned a more ambitious story but decided to simplify it/scale it back. Also, splitting the crew up into small groups for long stretches of the season and having them go on separate side missions (some of which had little connection to the main story) felt like they were afraid to bring all the actors together due to the risk that an infection might shut down the whole production.
Anyway, what’s done is done.
I also don’t think they will do large changes to season 3 of SNW based on fan response to season 2, not the least because the AR wall means that a lot of time/work that used to be in post-production now needs to happen during pre-production. So they can certainly fine-tune the tone but completely changing the setting of the episodes may not be possible because they’re locked into what was already done (and spent in terms of budget) before the strike.
The second season just made my blood boil. I can’t get behind the direction they want to take the franchise. But, it was made for a different audience and I’m not the target.
To be fair, I did like three of the episodes. I enjoyed the musical, the court martial episode, and really liked the Kirk/La’an time travel episode. Paul Wesley and C. Chong were great.
The musical and time travel episode was OK but neither great for me. Measure of a Woman though is one the shows best episodes for sure. The finale was a mess in terms of both canon and story but I liked it too. But man so much wrong with it lol.
But I actually liked the comedies like TOS and Charades the most. Fun stuff!
SNW is tied with Enterprise for me. Not amazing but some strong stories. And not very big on prequels but this is the best one IMO.
Agreed! My new rule is no more trek prequels. It has to be post nemesis, no Akiva Goldsman, and no young adult trek. SNW became a young adult show. It’s not for me.
Same for me too.
I just think Star Trek should always be going forward, not backwards. It’s why I didn’t really care about Enterprise, JJ verse or Discovery. All three of those were a big shrug for me at first although I actually liked Discovery more than I liked Enterprise…and I still didn’t like Discovery. 😂🙄
Today it’s better because we at least have more post Nemesis shows on with SNW; that makes a big difference. If it was just SNW I would still like it but not very excited about it either like I was with Picard or Lower Decks. But good Trek is still good Trek.
Ive never likes prequels myself. Not ENT and not Kelvin. But IMHO SNW is the best of the bunch. Honestly I don’t even view it as a prequel since it *might* be a different timeline. But overall I agree with both of you. The prequel era of shows needs to go away. Post Nemesis please.
Wait I thought you like Enterprise? Or do you mean when it first started?
SNW is good but I’m hoping we go back to post Nemesis again soon. It doesn’t have to be the Legacy show, just something near that timeline again if they can’t afford it. Not a lot of people want more prequels.
Same thinking as all of you, I’m ready for another live action post-Nemesis show; not really interested in another prequel. I’m sure we will get another prequel and I will watch it of course, but my heart is in more 25th century Trek, Legacy or not. It’s why I prefer the SFA show but I know it’s probably a bit too far in the future for a lot of fans, sounds too teenish and a non-starter if you’re not big on Discovery.
The time travel ep was my fav one. Not just because of the ep itself but because it brought back the idea of the Temporal Cold WEar which could undo any canon issues I have
I interpreted it that way too. I call it the Khan timeline which has ENT, Disco, SNW, and Pic S2. I thought it was a smart move because SNW doesn’t fit with the prime universe and the episode explained the differences. I did like how Wesley portrayed Kirk in that episode too.
Right, because sappy nostalgia fests with abysmal writing and gaping plot holes that cater to aging out Gen Xers desires to still be relevant is a sure fire way to save Trek…
Did you just describe SNW or Discovery? ,😂
I’m teasing bro. Not a fan, got it. I think the writing is mostly OK but they made a mess out of canon.
But not really bothered by it personally.
And I don’t pretend Trek in general is relevant to anyone but mostly old Trek fans. I think Prodigy being cancelled and the death of JJ verse made that clear unfortunately.
If we’re being honest most of the shows are basically surviving by older fans. That is the sad irony the Kelvin movies and Prodigy because they were made specifically to bring in newer and younger audiences. Kelvin movies did that with the first two films but by the time Beyond came I think a lot of them had moved on. Star Trek was no longer the new shiny toy anymore and it was back to us regulars. Probably another reason Paramount is too scared to even make another movie, it doesn’t have the younger demographics or not enough to make it a success. And we saw what happened with Prodigy, which I had said over and over and over again I was very worried about. And I was right to be worried.
And the other funny thing is according to TG47 at the time he was saying both Prodigy and Discovery were drawing in younger audiences according to Parrot Analysis. And both got cancelled a few months later. Why I don’t put much stock into that site. I’m sure their metrics are (mostly) accurate, but it’s obviously not the only metrics that determines if a show lives or dies either. And my guess those viewers are still on the lower side.
Again, that’s why it’s not a surprise there is so much fan service and nostalgia bait on all these shows, especially SNW and PIC because those shows probably get the bigger numbers and yes probably by mostly older fans. But if Star Trek was relying on just new or younger fans to sustain it, most of these shows wouldn’t be on today.
But there are certainly newer and younger fans watching both the old and new shows. They are on Reddit every day. A lot of 20 somethings watching VOY, TOS, TNG, etc for the very first time and many of them are now watching SNW, LDS, PIC etc for the first time as well. But they probably make up a tiny minority of overall fans.
This is solely just my opinion, but my guess is the last time Star Trek had mostly 20 and 30 something fans watching was when VOY was on the air; because a lot of them like me at the time were kids to college age when TNG started. I think with the new shows, it’s basically the kids in the 90s now watching these, but not very many Gen Z age groups like it was in the 80s and 90s. They are there, but not the main drivers to keep these shows alive.
If people listened to the All Access podcast when they went to the Las Vegas convention, they said it was mostly 50+ year old people there. The MCU Star Trek is not.
An issue that Star Trek faces is that it is not globally popular and that is what these corporate studio executives want these days. Being US domestic or broadly English speaking world isn’t considered good enough anymore. To be honest much of the ‘messaging’ in Star Trek is unpalatable to much of the world’s cultures.
Yeah true. And not a surprise why the screenings for Lower Decks are in America, Canada and England. My guess is this where the show is the most popular.
The Kelvin films were also big indicators of that because where the movies (the first two anyway) did at least decent numbers abroad were Canada, western Europe and Australia but OK to poor everywhere else. The only outlier was China which did good, if not amazing. But I suspect those were flukes based on how much Paramount marketed and pushed the films there at the time. I don’t think a new film would get even half the business there today.
For TV shows, you don’t need the entire world to survive, mostly just America really and a few western markets. For films, it has to be a global affair or they just can’t pull in the money to justify it.
Unfortunately its still hard for Trek to translate beyond the tried and true.
As an international trekkie living in a very conservative Muslim country I can tell you how much I want Trek to be popular here. Actually TOS was quite popular back in the day when my parents were younger and they used to watch it all the time, but almost no one is even aware of the modern shows post TNG era. Yes, the themes of Trek maybe part of the reason but I also think that Trek itself needs to be more internationally varied too in terms of characters, ships etc.. I mean they could incorporate Muslim imagery in certain ships and make those the focus. We know starships have chapels, they could also have synagogues or mosques for those starfleet personel who still want to continue their religious traditions. I know Roddenberry didn’t really want religion in Trek, but perhaps to make it more accesible worldwide it needs to have it.
Would you mind disclosing what country you live in?
As an aside, when did we see a chapel? The only time was in “Balance of Terror,” and that struck me as a makeshift chapel or a non-denominational prayer room, like you find in some unaffiliated hospitals.
I live in Turkey which used to be a quite liberal, modern country back in the day but unfortunately in the last 20-25 years have been taken over by the more conservative and hard-nosed religious elements. Yeah I was thinking about that scene where Kirk is officiating the wedding in the chapel.
An interesting point; do elaborate. I actually think that the Prime Directive is a bit of a counterpoint to the “liberal hegemony” school of foreign policy that is unpopular in the Global South.
Easy, pro-gay rights, pro-trangenderism, lack of religion as a focal point of everything, full female equality, strong emphasis on liberal secular democracy – even countries like India are anti liberal democracy, as they prefer nationalist democracy especially centred on Hinduism.
I’m sorry but as a trans person. Where is this so called pro transgenderism. A minor one episode character being played by a trans actress is not pro trans rights. The religious thing is fair. As a Jewish person I want more representation for that too.
But as I have said time and time again. It’s very much lacking on LGBT issues. It also doesn’t treat LGBT characters and relationships very well. Yes it’s better than legacy in that area but that’s not hard. And no the fact that LGBT characters exist doesn’t mean anything. It feels like Paul Stamets is the Miles O’Brien of current era of Trek in that he’s suffering every time you turn around.
And the Una episode can be interpreted in other ways besides supporting the LGBT community.
Also the strong support for multi-culturalism and support for tolerance and acceptance of different people’s ways. I can’t see Saudi Arabia or China being in that camp.
I can tell you from experience how true a lot of this is. At my job there are about 3 Trekkies but they are all older, in their 50s and 60s. Two of them watched TOS when it originally aired. The youngest became a fan when DS9 started and was in his late 20s. And two of them don’t even watch the new shows. Only one of them do and his favorites are Picard, LDS and SNW (and I was the one who got him into LDS which he originally hated). The others just watch the old shows because they don’t like the Abrams and Kurtzman stuff.
But all the younger people there, in their 20s and 30s Star Trek doesn’t exist to them. Couldn’t tell you the name of any of the new shows; probably don’t know they exist. It’s not on their radar at all. But you mention MCU, Harry Potter or anime, they can talk your ear off for hours.
When I’M the youngest person I know watching Star Trek today, that’s not a great sign lol.
Funny enough, at my job all the Trek fans I know are in their 40s like me or older. There actually was one person I knew personally who was in their early 20s and was a fan, but that was because he grew up watching it with his mother who watched it at his age and she’s now my age.
So yeah, this is probably more the norm than the exception. I don’t pretend to understand it because at least with TOS all the way through the 90s shows and early 2000s, it did pick up younger people. Maybe not a ton but certainly more. And that was evident because all those shows had tons of toy merchandise at the time. It wasn’t just over priced collectors items or models online for rich adults like today. There was just as much Trek toys and games merchandise made in the 80s and 90s for kids just like Star Wars, Transformers and GI Joes at the time. That made it obvious kids were watching these shows. It wasn’t people in their 30s and 40s buying that stuff.
It was also a lot of specialty stuff too like Pogs (remember those), interactive games and even collector cards. I remember collecting the TNG trading cards. I was in the 11th grade at the time. There was a group of us who traded them with our little nerdy hearts out. Good luck finding DIS, PIC or SNW collector cards at the mall today. None of that stuff exist for NuTrek because sadly there is not a market in those age groups anymore like it was back in the 60s-90s.
But for some reason it’s been having trouble picking up a lot of new young people today. I can’t tell you the reason, maybe it’s just seen as not just being nerdy but also too old fashioned for younger generations now.
It’s also the lack of merchandise. Accessible merchandise. If you could go into stores and find playmates figures of SNW Spock, that would help a lot. It’s also pricing a lot of fans out like me. I can’t afford to pay 40 dollars in shipping to get a ten dollar LEGO knockoff set of a Jem’Hadar fighter that’s only available in Germany.
Agree. I definitely miss seeing real Trek merchandise. Stuff normal fans buy like T shirts, toys or games. The stuff now is only online and just for hardcore fans. No one is buying a $200 Archer or Spock figure except rich collectors.
My first Star Trek merchandise was a Toy Voyager ship that light up and made sounds. I got it at Toys R Us for $32. Sometimes I really miss the 90s.
The stuff like your Voyager ship toy need to return. Funko pops are also fairly in right now so making pops of the SNW cast and etc would help a lot too. That aren’t online exclusives of someone like Khan.
I was saying last night to my best friend who is like a whole decade younger to me is that I don’t understand why there’s not much LD merch. The character designs of both Boimler and Tendi would make very popular merch. Then you add in the growing popularity of Jack Quaid to that mix.
Also man it’s now almost September of 2023 and there’s been no available DS9 merch anywhere to be found. Just a few online things that are super generic and the preorder of an awful Kira Nerys statue from EXO-6.
Yeah I want a return to more mass produce merchandise that is for all ages and fans wallets. It is odd even if you don’t have merchandise targeted for younger people as I expressed, why is there just isn’t stuff like SNW T-shirts or more funko pops, etc? Just general merchandise you can buy at a store and not just online?
I honestly thought they were making animated shows because they wanted to build up on more merchandise and kids stuff. But LDS barely has anything and while they made some deals for Prodigy like a toy line, it still barely exists. And now that it’s cancelled that stuff is probably on hold too until they find it another home. They will sell what has already been made but I wouldn’t look for anything else after that and as said it’s still just a fraction that would’ve found for the classic shows decades ago.
There is just no drive to make Star Trek merch which is so ironic because it was the merch sales that also helped convince Paramount to bring the show back in the 70s. Now there is more content than ever and barely a blip in merchandise or products.
I got an DS9 anniversary mug for a (late) Chanukah gift. The mug was just an image of the station and the anniversary logo. Now admittedly that’s just fine for a mug but the person who got it for me said that that was about all there was besides t-shirts advertising Quark’s bar and like two items with Jadzia on it. My birthday is August 27th… Which is tomorrow wow… And if some decent DS9 merch existed I would have told people to get it for me as a gift.
As it is I’m looking at character designs from DS9 and wondering why they didn’t make anything of individual characters there too. Both Daxes have cool designs, Ferengi and Klingons would both make good merch people. And I’m admittedly biased but if they had made any merch of Weyoun I think it would sell. Even in the 90s when DS9 actually got merch. I think that because Combs has a lot of fans and Vorta have a very unique look.
Yeah my best friend got all of the PRO figures that were released. There is Super7 making smaller figures too but they’re online exclusives. And right now their stuff is coming out very slowly and all they’re releasing is variants of TNG main cast and the occasional generic character to army build with, like a fox drone. If I could go into Target and randomly find Worf dressed in Klingon armor and buy it that would be better but I can’t. That’s also an issue in itself that all they’re making is TNG. It would be a lot less of one if the waves were a mix of old and new shows. Like a wave of Picard in casual clothes, DS9 Worf, Scotty holding tribbles, SNW Chapel, D’Vana Tendi, etc., would be a lot better than just the same few characters coming out in variations in every single wave of figures.
My best friend says it makes Trek feel dusty and I get what she means there.
Yeah I don’t know what happened either? I remember seeing all that stuff everywhere even before I was a fan. It was aimed to a much younger base.
When JJ verse started they did try to sell toys to kids but that stuff bombed. Nobody wanted it. And STID and STB they didn’t even try again.
I think when Discovery and then Picard came, those shows were rated mature and not for kids at all and what helped shoot themselves in the foot. Maybe if stuff like SNW and Prodigy started first and pushed it to families it might be a little different today IDK.
But NuTrek just doesn’t pull in younger people. When I was in college there used to be DS9 and VOY watch parties. Maybe that happens with the new shows but doubt it. It’s strange everyone I knew who into Trek were in their 20s. I know a lot of people that age now and like I said it’s just doesn’t have the same pull like it did when I was around 20.
Even this board makes that point. Everyone sounds like they are at least 40 years old and this is probably the most famous Trek board. Not many young people here at all
It is a bit sad most people who care about Trek are usually over 40 these days. Why Prodigy probably never had a chance with young people.
It was predictable that this move would fail.
Yeah, sadly true. I was never really sold that kids were going to just fall all over it no matter how good; but had my fingers crossed.
Star Trek will continue on. With so many now, I had to accept that there might be one or two that isn’t going to work for me. They want a younger audience, which is cool, but if that means taking away the DNA of what makes Star Trek great, then I’m out. I feel that the vision and spirit of Genes show isn’t here anymore. If everyone else likes it and it aligns with their own interpretation of Star Trek, then cool. But, I don’t recognize the Star Trek I fell in love with in my childhood. It’s not for me.
In that image of Jerry up there, he looks unbelievably young & geeky — sort of the way I thought Wil Wheaton would’ve aged (really missed the boat with that prediction), mixed with Anthony Starr as he looks on THE BOYS.
I’m totally against using AI to create any kind of programming, but if there had to be an outlet for it, this kind of show would probably be it, where you just program in key facts, amusing anecdotes and Roddenberry rejection protocols and then say, ‘run with it.’
I love Jerry O’Connell, ever since Sliders. Now that’s a show I wish they would bring back and give him a role in it.
Ditto. I’ve been a fan of his ever since My Secret Identity WAY back in the day!
None of the screenings are near me. Story of my life. We rarely get the cool stuff.
But it’s great to see all the Lower Decks love! The fact they are even doing this is crazy. Picard I could see but to do it for LDS is another level. 😎
And they have the LDS actors hosting the day again like last year. This show has had a big influence in the franchise in its short life. Love this show so much! Just pure Star Trek with great characters, fun stories and a sticker to canon!
It’s still funny to me with all the ‘belt tightening’ that P+ is going through it’s SNW and LDS that has survived the storm lol. Discovery and Prodigy cancelled (but PRO still has a good chance to return). Legacy can happen in the future but obviously until it does, i’s not a project. SFA is on the books, but until that gets going, that’s probably 50-50 until all the strikes clears up. So at the moment, LDS and SNW are really the only two shows with future seasons on the table and of course had one of the most hyped events in NuTrek with its first big crossover between the two shows.
As a fellow LDS lover, it’s really great to see the company give it so much support. I really wasn’t sure if it would get passed its second season; but now it’s about to enter its fourth in a big splashy way and basically the face of Star Trek’s anniversary this year. Our boy did good! ;D
I’m still pulling for 7 seasons and a movie! But four seasons and a theater screening are awesome too! :)
I can’t make it to Dallas or St. Louis myself. Since it probably just won’t be anything new I can just watch it at home like I normally do. And I can add Where Pleasant Fountains Lie to the mix.
Also a friend that I got into the franchise via LD and PRO is now watching DS9. The last episode they watched was Move Along Home and they loved it, said they’re now invested in it.
With Picard it was only two hours away and probably would’ve went if I got tickets. This one is several states away. 😂🙂😒😥
I don’t even care about seeing it in a theater but just be around of other Lower Decks Trekkies! That would’ve been fun. I probably would’ve watched them at home first. I can’t wait a full day!!!!
Bro it’s amazing you got a friend into Star Trek and they are watching LDS, PRO and DS9! You can’t go wrong there! If they love Move Along Home, then it should be a home run now. 😂
As the strike drags on, expect to see more repurposed Paramount+ content on CBS and the Paramount Network. Paramount+ is about to exhaust what little original content it has left and CBS will need to draw eyes to a network with no new original content this fall. CBS can fill hours while promoting Paramount+ originals.
Their situation is not unique but they’re in a much more vulnerable position.
I really hope the finally add Star Trek:The Animated Series to iTunes on Star Trek Day this year since they’re celebrating its anniversary. I’ve given up hope for The Cage to ever be added to their (in)Complete Original Series set, but I’d like to be able to finally buy the only Trek series that’s missing there, especially since it’s my second favorite Trek series. I’ve asked this before, but if anyone on this site has any connection to CBS/Paramount Home Video would you PLEASE lift this up to them? I really believe it has to just be an oversight that it’s the only Trek series you can’t buy digitally and given Paramount’s financial situation you’d think they’d want any income they can get no matter how small…
Someone go get Interplays audio files to “Secret of Vulcan Fury” and make that into a CGI movie. That I’d see in theatres.
I wonder whether there is any chance that they might “celebrate 50 years of Star Trek animation” by announcing a new home for Prodigy.
Not counting on it, but it would be nice.
Well a day later and it looks like all the locations are filled up except for two of them and they will probably be filled by tomorrow. It looks like it’s going to be a popular event. I still wish I can go but I’ll get over it.
Do they mean Mixible?