Articles by Joseph Dickerson

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Editorial | September 1, 2013 | By: Joseph Dickerson 2048 comments so far

EDITORIAL: Star Trek is broken – Here are ideas on how to fix it

At last month’s official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas, I had the privilege to speak about “Treknology”. The experience was great – I was thrilled at the response of my fellow fans to my presentation. What struck me was the response from Jordan Hoffman’s “One Trek Mind” panel on the best Star Trek movie. The feedback from fans was pretty unanimous – the best film was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and the worst… was Star Trek Into Darkness. Fans were more kind when a similar vote took place at the Seattle Star Trek Convention a few days later, where STID ranked 6th, but even then the fans were very vocal and very critical of the film. The sometimes-rabid criticism, much of which was echoed by some film critics and online commentators, gave me pause… and as I reflected on this reaction I came to a conclusion. Star Trek is broken.

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Editorial, Star Trek Into Darkness | July 11, 2013 | By: Joseph Dickerson 1725 comments so far

Star Trek, after Darkness: What is next for the franchise?

As readers of this site know, Star Trek Into Darkness opened domestically and internationally late Spring and has earned over $443 million dollars. This is a success for Paramount, albeit a modest one. It’s not a flop, by any measure… but it’s not a home run, either. It’s a solid double or triple, but Paramount (like all studios do with summer blockbusters) was swinging for the fences. So, what’s next? Well, to quote Donald Rumsfeld, there are some “known knowns” and “known unknowns.” Let’s cover what we know, and spend some time theorizing what comes next.

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Editorial | July 1, 2013 | By: Joseph Dickerson 99 comments so far

The human adventure is just beginning: How the optimistic future of Star Trek is more likely than we may think

“We are locally optimistic, and globally pessimistic.” The creator of Star Trek Gene Roddenberry did not share this “globally pessimistic” point of view. Instead, he was incredibly optimistic about our future, about the human potential. “We’re just beginning,” he said in an interview shortly before his death. “We have wonders ahead of us. I don’t see how it can be any other way, with the way the future is going. We now have got a telescope up there, photographing the universe. We’re inventing the next life form, the computer. We’re in the midst of it. And it will happen.” According to Roddenberry, the future we see in Star Trek is not just possible but probable. How so? Read on…

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Editorial, Marketing/Promotion, Sci-Fi | November 2, 2012 | By: Joseph Dickerson 653 comments so far

Will Star Wars Episode VII announcement hurt Star Trek Into Darkness marketing rollout?

Disney announced on Monday its purchase of Lucasfilm, and with Lucasfilm comes Star Wars. Disney’s also said that a new Star Wars trilogy will be made. This is interesting timing for science fiction, when new Star Wars movies are being made alongside new Trek. What does this latest announcement mean for the upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness film? Op-ed guy Joe Dickerson takes a look at the merger in this latest editorial. Hit the jump for the story.

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Fan Productions, Interview, Memorabilia | October 26, 2012 | By: Joseph Dickerson 309 comments so far

Save the bridge! A behind the scenes look at the project to restore the Enterprise D bridge

“Imagine being a Star Wars fan driving past Lucasfilm, and seeing the Millennium Falcon in a dumpster.” Would never happen, right? Well, it did. Only it wasn’t Star Wars, and it wasn’t that infamous Corellian freighter found in a trash heap, it was the bridge of the finest ship in the galaxy, the USS Enterprise-D. And the Star Trek fan that found it is named Huston Huddleston, and he’s currently working to restore the bridge set to its former glory. I talked at length with Huston about how he was able to acquire the Bridge, the details of how he started his project to restore the set, how the project is going, and the support he has gotten from fans and Star Trek professionals alike.

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Editorial, Science/Technology | October 22, 2012 | By: Joseph Dickerson 189 comments so far

“Treknology:” What technologies need to be invented to bring us up to speed with Star Trek?

Since The Original Series first aired in 1966, we’ve certainly seen technology that seemed like magic then become a reality today. Smart phones, tablet PCs, voice controlled computing, 3D printing… But, what technologies are we still lacking (or currently working toward) in order to make our lives like what we see in Star Trek? Joe Dickerson takes a look at up and coming technologies in the works that could Trekify your life in the not too distant future (and some that you might be waiting a while for).

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CBS/Paramount, Editorial, Trek on TV | October 2, 2012 | By: Joseph Dickerson 435 comments so far

Should Star Trek Come Back to TV? An Objective Evaluation

Op-Ed guy Joseph Dickerson joins us again, this time to talk about Trek’s role on the small screen. Fans were informally surveyed by Larry Nemeck at the official Star Trek convention in Las Vegas last August as to what they wanted from Trek. The overwhelming response was that the fans want Star Trek back on TV. “Star Trek started on TV, and Star Trek is best suited to be a TV show,” one fan said. But does the idea of a new Star Trek TV series make sense for CBS-Paramount? Joe gives us a bit of perspective on how to answer this question from both a business and creative perspective.

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Editorial, Review, TOS | August 30, 2012 | By: Joseph Dickerson 173 comments so far

In Praise of the Doomsday Machine (and William Windom)

In this latest guest post by Joseph Dickerson, we dive into the Original Series episode “The Doomsday Machine” and revisit why it might just be one of the best episodes of Star Trek. Dickerson’s review is timely, too, and, after William Windom’s (Commodore Decker) passing this month, serves as an homage to the great actor and a thank you for portraying one of our (dare I say?) favorite characters. Hit the jump for the review.