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Del J. Trame Memorial Chat

 

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Happy New Year, everyone. Keep on Grokkin’!

A belated Happy New Year to all! May 2020 be an improvement over last year’s clusterf*ck *_*

Well, this post didn’t age well…..

Really sad to read of Syd Mead’s passing; his fingerprints could be found on a lot of classic sci-fi movies including Blade Runner and ST:TMP.

Watched Joker. Phoenix is good in the part, but NOBODY will ever match Heath Ledger’s performance. That was one for the ages.

Haven’t seen Joker, but have seen 1917 and Knives Out. Would recommend both.

We must discuss ‘Orphan 55’ on Doctor Who! Was that Barf’s sister or what???

Just seen Picard. All I can say is WOW!!!!!!!!

Yes, Emperor Mike, I just watched it as well. Superb.

They finally got it right with Picard. Patrick Stewart is just an amazing actor. The rest of the cast did really well.

Now THAT is some good Star Trek.

Good to see you here, AJ! How are you these days?

Doing pretty well. Working in Bangkok the past year. Everyone’s worried about our big neighbor to the north and their Corona Virus. And now, it looks like I’ll move to Poland in June. Never a dull moment. How’s about you, Harry? How’s like up (and over) north?

AJ, it’s been a trying couple of years. Two years ago (this month) my wife was hit by a TTC bus and almost killed. She was in the trauma ward for a week before being allowed to go home, where she rested and slowly recovered over the next few months. I took most of the next year looking after her around the clock (juggling work at the same time). She has mostly recovered, but still suffers from the major concussion she received. We’re lucky she lived through it. It has, in all honesty, diminished her quality of life.

Didn’t know that you had all that going on, Harry. Positive vibes and strength to both of you. It’s tough when you have to stand in the gap for a loved one.

Thanks, Phil. It’s amazing how you can find the strength when you HAVE to.
How is everything with you these days?

Wow, Harry. Sometimes life hits us hard in the face. Looks like you met it head on, as did your wife. I hope she makes a full recovery. Best wishes to you both!

Thanks, AJ!

So sorry to hear this!!! Came here to ask what everyone thought about ST:P and found this. How terrifying for both of you. I haven’t been here forever so missed a lot. Wishing you both much better times this year. xo

Thanks, Katie. It’s nice to hear from you!

Well, damn. Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash…..

Was in Vegas for a couple of days, for a seminar at the Westgate Resort. Formerly the Las Vegas Hilton, former home of Star Trek: The Experience. Last time I was on the property ST:TE was still there – the monorail station sits out front now, nothing left of the exterior, but a couple of the retail spaces still sport some Treky looking exteriors. Talked to a guest services rep who fessed up that some of the retail spaces were pretty much repurposed as is, but current ownership is renovating the entire facility, so it’s just a matter of time before those remnants of Trek are gone, too.

Bronze Elvis is still in the lobby, though. Some things don’t change.

Not happy with the Oscars. They did not include Rene Auberjonois in the in Memoriam. I mean. He was not just Star Trek. He was also in many shows. M.A.S.H the Movie, Benson,Star Trek DS9,The Hindenburg,The Ballad of Little JO,The Princess Diaries, and so forth. –

Good point. Everyone was fixated on the “Slap” rather than contribution from actors and what they meant to the business and society. Shame on the academey

Meanwhile, in Paramount movie news….the studio seems to have a hit in it’s reasonably priced CGI animation Sonic the Hedgehog. I suspect , while unreported, that when someone wanders into Paramount to pitch a Trek project, they are probably getting cut off three minutes into the presentation and being asked ‘can you make this for 120MM….or less?’. So far, I suspect the answers have been no.

It’s gotten quiet on the movie news front again. Won’t be surprised if Noah Hawley’s project bit the dust….

Hey, Discovery is off the Trekmovie banner.

I hope it comes back. Unlike many I LOVE that ship. Gorgeous.

The aesthetic grows on you. Somehow I doubt anyone has done a full deconstruct of what Starfleet would actually look like – space is very big, even with 7K ships in the Discovery era fleet, it’s highly unlikely they just wander the universe, looking for stuff. Specific ships to specific tasks….

So, my company is moving me out of Thailand to lovely Poland (where I spent 3 pleasant years earlier in the century). Was going to happen in July, but COVID-19 led the Boss to tell me yesterday to leave tomorrow (I leave Monday). See you all from there next time!

Happy kielbasa!

Good luck in Poland. If you like the music of Chopin, there should be plenty of performances to see!

How’s everyone doing these days?

No virus in my Corona. Just hanging out in the office in Corona, CA…feelin fine.

The Great Max Von Sydow has passed. He did many a great movie. From the Exorcist to Jesus in the Greatest Story ever told to Star Wars. Of course a personal favorite of mine as Ming the Merciless in 1980s Flash Gordon.

Max Von Sydow and Timothy Dalton. They must have needed a paycheck….

But wait, there’s always a Trek tie in…..Deep Roy!

I just saw the latest trailer for the new Black Widow movie. All action, no real story. Hollywood is so f*cked up these days. Why not have great effects AND a great story?

Unfortunately, that’s not where the sci-fi (or action) market is right now. Everything has to be spectacle. Apparently Invisible Man and Call of the Wild aren’t horrible, may have to check them out.

I also think this is why we haven’t seen solid info on a new Trek movie. I strongly suspect that the studio is telling prospective producers they have to make the next Trek feature on a 100-110MM budget, not a dime over. Whatever comes out on the big screen in the future isn’t going to be like any Trek we’ve seen since Save the Whales.

I can live with that….unless they remake Save the Whales.

Phil,

More like they’ll shoot for something akin to the 1st DEADPOOL movie, but I wish them lots o’luck. The chance of successfully translating THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES into something like that seems miniscule.

Maybe they’d have better success if they include GALAXY QUEST in a cross-over?

Stay healthy, everyone!

So far, so good…

Stuck at home and finding stuff to watch.
Found a good one, The Live action Our Star Blazers based on the Animated one from Japan. Use to love this show as a kid. This was put out a while ago but I just found this today and watched it. Really well done and a great story with pretty good FX. Here is the Link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-T9-nDy4cY

But, no Gamalons??? I do love the Yamato, though!

The Yamato was really well done.

I’ll throw this out there – Paramount was on shaky ground financially in a good economy. Now, I’d have to wonder if they can survive at all, considering the entertainment sector is taking a beating…

Phil,

And CBS isn’t doing too hot with all the lost ad revenue: no sports, major retailers laying off and shuttering, daily long COVID19 news conferences interrupting regular programming and commercials, etc.

It’s a wobbly ship for certain.

I don’t know if this has been covered already, so forgive me for inquiring if it has: a while back there was an interview with Roberto Orci about his experience working on his first Star Trek film and there was supposed to be a Part Two of that interview forthcoming. Did it ever appear? I couldn’t find anything…

When it comes to Orci, maybe there was no interest in a follow-up to his interview.
(ooooh, snap!)

Is anyone enjoying ‘Devs?’ As much as I loved ‘Ex Machina,’ ‘Sunshine,’ and ’28 Days Later,’ I found ‘Annihilation’ empty and depressing and get the same vibe from this new show. I couldn’t get through the first episode. Likewise, ‘Tales from the Loop’ makes me think ‘stylish’ is Hollywood code for boring as hell.

Ok. I’m ready for this bad Pandemic movie to be over with, time to hit the fast forward button.

FF……….oh, s**t, it’s Mad Max!

I’m still scratching my head over how Bill Gates became Dr. Evil in all this….

Ok. MY Top 5 Pandemic movies.
1. The Andromada Strain,
2. Outbreak.
3. Night of the Living Dead.
4. I am Legend.
5. Contagion

Not a pandemic movie, but I remember, as a child, watching the original (black&white) Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Scared the living shit out of me at the time.

Hey mon ami Harry! How is the second nicest Canadian on this site doing? I hope you’re staying safe and healthy.

Hey Silvereyes! My seminar/public speaking business was completely washed away for March-June. Bloodbath! We shall somehow prevail. Lot’s of quiet time to ruminate and reflect on life.
How are you doing, old friend? Hope you are well.

Yes, no time for public speaking now… unless you do it through Webinars. Doing well thank you. Started reading those books I had begun and never finished. Gave up on the current iterations of Star Trek. Discovery lost me in the middle of season 2. I had already lost interest in season one. Never even touched Picard. I’m getting too old for BS and nonsense. It’s like they’re thinking since it’s Sci-Fi anything goes. A mushroom subspace network with a space tardigrade interface… Sci-Fi still needs to make sense no? Take care my friend.

Silvereyes, you may want to watch the Discovery episodes where they showcase the bridge of the USS Enterprise. Of course, you can probably just catch those bits on YouTube.

That was one scary movie as a Kid. Lol.

Chris Pine interview for the BBC. The first third is Trek related. It’s a bit salty, asides from that the guy has a very dry sense of humor…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XetYaZRp-4

Is there any talk about making the Arrogant modle ? It is a very nice looking ship

Doubt it, it looks like something that’s just floating around out there in the land of fan art.

my only comment on the new Star Trek series, Discovery, Picard, short treks, there is something inefficient or wrong, the story lines for Discovery have not been particularly good, sans, Pike and Spock, and the incredibly long times to complete a season. Discovery season two ended around Feb 2019. I recall a series has a summer hiatus and comes back in the fall with new season episodes, now it is over a year between seasons. why are they not filming next season while showing the current season. seems inefficient to me.

I just finished binge-watching (3 seasons) of Medici on Netflix. All about a powerful family running Florence (Italy) in the 15th century. It was superb!
Anybody else catch it?

Caught the first few episodes of Lillihammer over the weekend. Might have to finish that up soon

They don’t seem to have the seasonal deadlines we used to have when it was just “TV.” They just make it and release it when it’s ready, as many punters are expected to wait until the shows are fully available for binge-watching, rather than tuning in for the Fall Season Premiere, and then the same Bat-Time/Bat-Channel every week.

Streaming shows aren’t tied to seasonality like traditional broadcast TV was. I don’t really have any feelings about it, one way or the other. Things change.

The Inner Light is on tonight. I just noticed, when the beam from the probe is inturrepted, Dr. Crusher struggles to stabilize Picard, including failing cardiac functions….. even though Picard has an artificial heart, and should not be having any cardiac issues at all.

I see Richard Herd passed today. A very versatile character actor…

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to seem Picard since it went to CBS All Access. I need to catch back up, but, sadly that will never happen here.

Hi, Angela! What part of the world do you hail from?

Thank you for organizing this virtual event. I hope you consider additional ones in the future as it opens up opportunities for those with limited income to travel and/or mental/physical disabilities that make traversing crowds in person difficult! Just food for thought…THANK YOU!

I think all the comments about what’s next for Disco 3 have forgot one thing. The time jump to the future has been done before. The great Roddenberry had another child and we all know how that went.

I was sitting around thinking watching Kelvin Movies, and fresh off of watching Picard. We are snobs. Yeah you know the Abrams movie the size of the ship, and technology was awful and not canon. But we are all about our canon. If Kirk isn’t in the movie or spock, we hate it or think its awful. Blah blah.

I had an idea for Star Trek 4, making it like an Avengers Endgame movie, bring all the characters back into the fold. There’s the gateway in the Guardian of Forever, and instead of killing the character Chekov off simply he was resigned or was reassigned somewhere, the crew are still on their 5 year mission and come across the Guardian and they step inside the gateway to stop Nero, ending up on the USS Kelvin or possibly they enter the future where they meet Picard, Janeway and Sisko and they try and save the Romulans and stop Nero. In the end they prevent George Kirk death, the destruction of Vulcan and Romulus and furthermore repair the Kelvin timeline.

How is this going to work? Abrams Kirk, Spock, Scotty, McCoy, and Uhura. All the original characters have since past away. Kelly, Doohan, and Nimoy. Use digital work like they used in Star Wars for Princess Liea.

I loved Picard. Cried at his death, went hell ya when Capt Riker arrived. They could easily blend in with the USS Titan if Frakes was on board.

or if anyone has read the Q Conflict story that would have worked. Paramount made a great mistake by not listening to Shatners pitch by using his story line the Return to bring him back. Missed opportunity, as I said, we are not satisfied unless Kirk and Spock are in the movies. There can never be a passing of the torch from TOS to TNG because it would not be acceptable.

Lol, you must be Psychic. They just brought back The Gaurdian of Forever on last weeks episode of Discovery!

New format. New features. New effects.
Still 2020 though. That kinda sucks.

I’m not going to retype what I already wrote in the (completely buried) comments section for today’s John Billingsley article, and I’m not going to post a link because you’ll just flag it for moderation where it will never see the light of day.

Just… please.

I’ve been here over 13 years now, since almost the beginning of this site, so you know I’m not some drive-by kook. (I’m the permanent kind of kook.)

Just… please.

Take a look at what I wrote, and what others have written, about how utterly broken the site is with the tsunami of super-annoying ads. If this is new normal, I will sadly but surely take my kook business elsewhere.

Thanks.

Yeah, you wern’t the only one who noticed that. I’m assuming it was a technical issue, I see a couple and the little pop up in the lower right hand corner, but that’s all. Much less annoying….

Hi all. Alive and well, I hope! AJ

Yep, AJ, alive and well. Tested negative about three weeks ago, though a neighbor tested positive a few days ago. In semi-self imposed exile now, as Washington has its head up its collective @$$. Absent anything to do, when not working, it’s gardening. Just not Brian May style.

That’s good news. In Moscow, things are just as stupid as back home, but much less chaotic. My fiancee and I know people close to us who have lived through COVID at home, and we’re both mask-wearers despite the locals having given up on the things weeks ago. Russian cases are slowly deceasing now, but most are expecting a move back upward soon. My professional life is at a standstill, but I’m where I want to be at the moment!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL MY AMERICAN PALS!!

Yes, very sad. RIP Grant Imahara. Loved him in Mythbusters. Brilliant man.

I think of Grant most for his role on Star Trek Continues. He brought a lot to the production.

Nice video here… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4YlSAywsJ8

Loved that guy. too bad. There was always a great aura about him, all the time

We will see him again someday.

Come on TrekMovie. Where is the tribute article already?

Respect.

Very sad. Much too young.

I am also Harry. And also still sad that TM, STILL, has not written even a small article.

Can’t believe that.

Did I miss something?

RIP, Grant. Thank you for the fond memories and your many contributions to Trek and our world.

I just binge watched all 3 seasons of DARK, a German sci-fi thriller involving time travel. Convoluted plot, but worth the effort.

Hello everyone!

I’ve binged 3 seasons of Babylon 5. Impressed with the characters and concept of Ambassadors Mollari and G’Kar.

In fact they are the main reason I continue watching.

Season 4, ho-hum so far, space battle after space battle.

There have been moments when I was on the edge of my seat, but for the most part, I’m trying hard to get past the writing ideas I saw on several series of Star Trek. Occasionally there are wonderful bits of philosophy dropped by one character or another. But [to me] it’s much rougher in execution than Star Trek.

I do like the concept of a multi-year story. A novel I couldn’t put down until I got to “Book 4,” where the main things that interest me are the Centauran court intrigues and Narn politics after the blows to their society.

And nothing … NOTHING compares with “The Expanse” — not even my beloved Trek, which comparatively, does not even seem to happen in space. Thanks to Cmdr R for so highly recommending The Expanse! Waiting with bated breath for Season 5. Despite the whole Cas Anvar thing. GRRR! [My attitude is, why punish all the other people who worked on the project. Recast Alex with Sendil Ramamurthy who grew up in Texas. Move on past Cas and continue to honor the fans and other cast who saved the show.]

I believe I have rewatched The Expanse 4 times this year … ;^)

A best friend of mine was an extra in the first few episodes of The Expanse.

TM has been weird like that. When real space hero Neil Armstrong died, they were quiet for quite a while, then tossed out a cut and paste obit along with some half assed reasoning why they avoid real world remembrances.

It’s not my page, my opinion wasn’t sought, and they are free to run it as they see fit. Oh, well….

As we have said before, for memorials (and birthdays) we use our social media. We have a couple of social posts and RTs about Grant. Our Twitter feed is visible on the front page as well.

When a major Star Trek personality passes away we will do something on the site of course. This has been our policy for years, sorry you consider it “weird”.

Hey, Anthony, you ole honey dripper! Nice to know you peek in here once in a while!

Oh-oh, you’ll have to behave now Harry!

Behave? Me? NEVER!!! RELEASE THE HOUNDS!!

Good point! Glad you made this clear.

Interesting trip to Nevada this weekend. May have a line on some stuff from ST: The Experience that found its way into storage. Stay tuned…..

But, Phil, what about the old adage, “whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”?

I finally got around to watching Star Wars: The Last Jedi. What a piece of shit!

Hey Harry, I didn’t even see it… I read the reviews and commentary and knew I would feel like you do on it, so I didn’t bother. Kind of like Picard actually. Haven’t seen that either. Well anyway, thanks for the confirmation!

But it is amazing how Star Wars special FX and CGI are always top notch. It has to be to hold those “movies” together.

You really won’t like the Rise of Skywalker, then….

You’re probably right, Phil. I’m going to wait until it’s listed for free.

I caught the last two SW movies on cable, with an adult beverage. That takes the edge off. Same with the Marvel/DC movies. Can’t remember the last one I went to the theater to see…..

That flick is quite the dumpster fire. JJ took Star Wars down a few notches, for sure. Now the Lucas prequels are being reassessed as underappreciated classics.

Well, technically, this would be Boulder City, but that’s splitting hairs…..

what I think makes star trek movies great, that there’s no real swearing in these movies, a few little things like
“go to hell” but to me no swearing and good entertainment, and some humor is better.

I wouldn’t go far as to say that “no swearing” is what makes the films great. We’re definitely not used to hearing our heroes use foul language, so the films make do without it pretty much without fans noticing. It also helps to bring in families who would otherwise look at a Warning on language as a reason to leave the kids at home (kids become new fans). It’s also hilarious to hear Spock dryly employ “colorful metaphors” as a commentary on how we all speak in informal situations (in 1986, and in 2020).

Ben Cross has passed, best known for the movie Chariots of Fire, and from here Sarek in the rebooted Trek movies.

He was brilliant in the short lived remake of the series Dark Shasows in 1991 .

A bit surprised the site hasn’t covered this yet:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/nichelle-nichols-family-turns-to-gofundme-in-an-ongoing-1844774781

Apparently this guy, a self-styled producer, wormed his way into Nichelle’s good graces, and managed to defraud her of a LOT of money and somehow got control of her finances when she was ill. Her nephew is now managing her affairs.

I’d not blame the admins for not wanting to stick a GoFundMe on the main boards. Whenever there is an announced appearance by Ms. Nichols, it is questioned how this is occurring in her diminished state. It is a shame she has this much drama occurring in her life in her final days, I’m not sure how you’d generate content around that gracefully….

I can’t figure out how to comment on an article. If a story is beyond a certain age, are comments disabled?
I wanted to comment on the story about how the TNG episode “Code of Honor” is racist. I don’t understand how it is racist, but I’d be interested in hearing why people think it is. The story just has people saying “it’s the most racist episode”, but not how or why it is.

Hi, if an article is more then 60-days old the comments are closed. The article is past that threshold.

That sucks. Chadwick Boseman died….

I’ve been binge watching ‘Babylon Berlin’. A German TV series. F*cking BRILLIANT!

There is a rumour that Paramount is tempted to have a big name in the next Star Trek film. Names being floated are Will Smith, Robert Downey Jr and Brie Larson. Out of that list I would go with Downey.
Thoughts?

Hopefully they’ll resist that temptation. Not sure any of these names are going to get enough virtual cheeks in the seats to justify the coat. The talent is there with all of them to make a well written character work….but as a lot of people have pointed out, Trek movies have never strayed from the basic formula all that much.

Phil, I agree with you, but at this point, what have we got to lose?

Discussing talent over a friendly pint somewhere will always be a pastime. Unless Paramount has put something together completely under the radar, I don’t see Trek returning to the big screen until late 23 – mid 24, if at all. Coronavirus has been a serious disruption to the distribution model, what going to a movie looks like in 12-18 months is likely to change.

Yes, but Paramount seems to be flexing it’s muscles in trying to revive the brand. They love franchise movies and this is one of the few brands that they own.
Nothing to do with the character from Voyager, but the execs at Paramount are probably thinking about rolling the dice as they shout, “c’mon, SEVEN!” :-)

My SoCal DISNEY local KABC just did a bump for an upcoming news story:

How a kiss on STAR TREK led to its cancellation.

It was part of a series of reports KABC reporter, David Ono, calls FACEISM.

David’s colleague , Jovana Lara provides a link to ir on her facebook page:

https://m.facebook.com/abc7jovana/videos/249261953083393/

It seems as though the Hallmark Christmas movie – Star Trek connection just gets deeper and broader.

At this point, I’m thinking that a crossover Hallmark-Trek panel on one of the virtual cons should be a thing. When one thinks about it both Hallmark and Star Trek are aspirational – one for personal relationships the other for society.

Beyond Doug Jones being an enormous fan of Hallmark movies (to the point of their including him in promotional features for their events), a good portion of the Discovery cast are starring in new Christmas movies. So far Ronnie Rowe and Mia Kirshner are each staring in one of the 40 new Hallmark movies. Patrick Kwok-Chung has just tweeted a photo of himself with his makeup crew for a Christmas movie, so it looks like he has a major role in one of the remaining “to be announced” movies in the lineup.

Last thought: perhaps Hallmark and Star Trek should make a one-off connection beyond ornaments? How about a stand-alone television or streaming aspirational romance movie in the Star Trek universe?

Kurtzman and SH are looking to cover different niches. Well, here’s one that’s not mapped out.

It’s a Wonderful Trek Life….

Thanks for responding Phil!

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is somewhat the flavour. We’re definitely not talking about lurid CW melodrama: the Hallmark understated vibe would work better for Trek.

I was thinking though more of the story of how Sarek and Amanda got together. We now have a pair of actors who could pull it off, and Mia Kirshner is younger than she portrays Amanda to be in Discovery.

There are lots of character-driven stories that could fill in the universe, and that would be appreciated by both fans and the Hallmark audience. It could really work as a crossover.

e.g. I can imagine Worf’s honour compelling him to return 15 years later to the moon with the prisoner+of-war colony at the edge of Romulan space. He would not be able to leave the Klingons there to be annihilated by the Romulan supernova. Re-encountering the half-Vulcan, half-Klingon Ba’el, now very much adult woman could make for a great romance story.

Or a story of how Leeta, Rom and their younger children come to terms with Nog’s death and reaffirm their family.

A “Sarah, Plain and Tall” kind of colonization story could work too.

But in some ways TNG does offer that aspirational Wonderful Trek Life element, even if the family is the made family of the crew and most of the senior officers have fraught relationships with their families of origin.

By the way, completely out of the blue yesterday, my spouse piped ups with, “You know, the romance niche is one that the new Star Trek hasn’t mapped out.”.

The obvious one off would be Wesley Crusher and Robin Lefler crossing paths several years later. She’s a Janeway type captain, not letting anyone too close…until Mister Crusher reenters her life….time to break a rule.

Interesting. Yes Phil, Wesley and Robin Lefler definitely.

And I’m sure there are many fans who would love to see Ashley Judd back on Trek.

Just dropping a further note that the Canadian actors from Discovery seem to be making a significant contribution in terms of raising the diversity on Hallmark movies. Good to see that Trek’s diverse casts are helping raise the representation in other domains.

Ronnie Rowe Jr is starring opposite a Latinx actor in the movie that will kick-off Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas this year.

Apparently, this is a huge thing because not only has Hallmark been criticized for having almost exclusively white, straight couples as the focus of their movies, they haven’t had interracial couples, even in background roles. (Can’t say I knew anything about this until I looked as Hallmark hasn’t been my thing.)

So, Ronnie Rowe Jr. is starring as a black man in the first interracial romance story on Hallmark as I understand it.

Mia Kirschner is in a story about a woman discovers she has a Jewish identity. As Kirshner is herself the child of parents who escaped the Holocaust, she brings important representation.

I’ll be interested to learn what Patrick Kwok-Choon’s role is (assuming it’s one of the TBA Hallmark movies on the schedule). Asians haven’t had a significant presence in those either it turns out.

Back to Trek romance ideas, perhaps Garrett Wang could get a star turn as a more mature Harry Kim finding an authentic relationship.

At first thought you could also plug LeVar Burton’s Geordi LaForge into a similar flick, maybe finally hooking up with Leah Brahms….but if his character ends up appearing in Picard, they may backfill a little of his personal life into the story.

Klingons are a bit too much of a caricature to get the Hallmark treatment. Jeffery Combs Shran, however, hinted at a bit of passion. That could be interesting…..

Oh, yeah, Ashley Judd is a win…..

I’d hope that she’d enjoy being back on Trek, especially as a strong captain.

There’d be strong fan support for this. In fact, I think they could set her up with Short Trek of some sort: Lefler 30 years on, on the bridge, showing her In-game.

There could also be some support for an older Jake Sisko, perhaps visiting Bajor for a holiday event, finds himself with help of a Kai who has unusual connections with his father. I know some are loathe to consider recasting characters, but I believe there is talent out there that could bring Ben Sisko to life. There wouldn’t be a dry eye anywhere if a temporarily lineal Ben Sisko is bouncing a granddaughter on his knee….

It’s interesting how quickly the two of us have come up with at least a half a dozen stories that would not only draw fans but also appeal to the 25-45 female audience market that Hallmark is dominating.

The thing is, force fitting these kinds of stories into other Star Trek niches, comes off as fan service. Exploring “domestic” and romance stories in their own right could expand the franchise’s reach without compromising anything.

Adjacent thought: Nepenthe was a kind of domestic detour story in Picard season one.

Many think it was the best episode.

Others liked the slow paced exploration of life on the vineyard with Laris and Jhabon in the early episodes.

So, we know these can still be done well by Trek writers and producers. It’s just that they’re not for the audience that’s looking for either violence or melodrama.

Hiving them off to their own anthology would spare them from the duty to be context for something else and allow them to breathe.

I’m only just seeing this, but these kinds of ideas have been the staple of fanfic for decades. Romance! Heartbreak! Healing!

I’d watch it!

I admit I haven’t seen much fanfic since the late 80s / early 90s.

But it makes sense.

The market niche generally just doesn’t get well served…but then Hallmark figured it out and seems to do amazingly well.

Scanning the ratings and review scores, Lifetime also has this type of made-for-TV movies but their ratings are on average lower. Netflix is trying it’s own thing, but TV-MA or a bit edgier. Not sure they really get the aspirational idea.

Hi y’all. Not sure who here is watching/enjoying all the new Trek, but I am, and it’s superb. The last episode of the 1st season of Lower Decks was immensely satisfying Trek, including some deep-dive fan service. Good stuff. Hope everyone is safe and doing well!

Definitely watching, and happy to hear your enthusiasm AJinMoscow.

Phil and I have been chatting (just below) about the potential to fill in the franchise universe with some lighter, romantic or “domestic” stories.

Since we never thought we’d be enthusiastic for an adult animated comedy, it makes me wonder what other audience and product niches remain that would fit with Trek’s aspirational ethos.

A “Holiday Special” would be a nice dry run. I would also love to see the Sareks at home with the kids. Seriously, if you’re going there, why not do Sarek and Amanda? So much there to examine.

Sarek and Amanda getting together would be interesting, and was the first that came to mind below.

I would avoid a “holiday special” though: the SW one is infamous enough that just that title should give any franchise exec hives.

I wouldn’t necessairly poo poo the idea of a holiday special….time travel seems to be a common occurance in Trek, and Picard was having Xmas dreams while stuck in the Nexus. It would clearly need to be done right, though.

Odd as it sounds, while I’ve heard of the SWHS, I’d not seen it, or knew anything about it. Just looked it up – a strange alien returns home to participate in a cultural gathering. Not so much different then Amok Time?

A Amanda and Sarak at home movie would be complicated. Taking a hard look at Pon Farr, that’s potentially a bit creepy unless Vulcan females also enter a reproductive murderous rage every seven years. Yeah, I don’t spend enough time in Trek fandom to be sensitive to the subtle nuances of Vulcan family life.

The Vulcan family life bits we saw with T’Pol, her mother and Trip in Enterprise were amusing (and would answer your questions Phil).

For Sarek and Amanda though, I was thinking of winding back the clock to their initial meeting, how they got together, and what would lead to her choice to join him on Vulcan.

We know he’s a diplomat and she was a teacher, but little more than that is in canon.

Spock seemed more puzzled by his father’s choice to marry a human, but Amanda’s choice was a very difficult one, especially for a modern audience that doesn’t assume that a woman will follow her husband and adopt his culture. Choosing a life in a culture that doesn’t respect yours and is prejudiced and paternalistic towards your species (as Vulcans demonstrably were in that era) is something many would walk away from.

Discovery portrays Amanda with more respect and sympathy than DC Fontana’s TOS episode “Journey to Babel” , but I suspect many fans would be interested to know how it all happened .

It really was a hoot, wasn’t it? Loads of “call-outs” to all Trek, and witty to boot.

So you’re back in Moscow, AJ. Are you liking it?

Hi, Marja (and all): Moscow in the age of COVID-19 is neither here nor there. I’m getting a bit tired of staying in one place for so long, actually. But, better safe than sorry!

Sigh.

I hope you’re getting out and about before the snows really hit.

Moscow is brutal to get around in a car at the best of times, I can’t imagine what it’s like with people avoiding the Metro.

I keep this seeing this term “gatekeeping” – used not just in fan contexts but also political contexts. And it makes little sense. Gatekeeping connotes a power on a gatekeeper to keep others out of a group. A random person expressing a personal opinion has no actual power over another and controls no gate or entrance. This term is bestowing an imaginary power on one who does not possess it. Furthermore, if some punter types on the internet, “Discovery will never come close to the intelligence or quality of TNG or DS9” – why does such a bog standard utterance deserve any kind of specialized jargon?

“Wordsworth could never match the genius of Keats.”

“Oh you can’t say that around here. That’s toxic counterflange bombardment. Read the room. Do the work.”

Good Morning Campers. Looking forward to seeing what Discovery will be up to. I hope it’s good. But will see.

I come from the past.

….and I need something to do.

I will return to the end of the beginning!.

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.

Just remember, if time didn’t exist, everything would happen all at once.

(whoa, I just blew my own mind, man!)

…dude!

Whoa, dude. DUDE! :-)

WB is tamping down expectations of what 2021 will look like, and are talking about different means of content distribution. Warner, Sony, and Disney won’t have issues in the long haul, but it does call into question how a smaller outfit like Paramount may fare. CBS seems to be putting all it’s eggs in the streaming basket at this point, most likely this is where we’ll see a feature length Trek show up. I’m really thinking it’ll be four – five years, if ever, before Trek hits the big screen again…..
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/22/warner-bros-says-tenet-wasnt-a-home-run-not-optimistic-about-cinemas.html

I agree Phil.

Paramount’s advantage, like Universal, and Fox/Disney is that they are integrated with a streamer.

ViacomCBS needs to move more quickly in rolling out their streamer internationally content, and generate new content where they can while the entire industry is constrained.

I see Axanar trailers reappearing on Youtube.They have either resolved their legal differences or are just pressing ahead. Unfortunately, I don’t pay enough attention behind the scenes to really know what the deal is.

Richard Hatch is in the opening voice over. I’d assume his estate signed off on use of him image if the project is alive again.

UGH. I saw Axanar come up on my YT home screen and thought, “Does it never end?!”

Coming back to my musing with Phil about potential Hallmark-style or analogue Trek productions, I looked up the ratings for Ronnie Rowe Jr’s leading man turn in Hallmark’s first Christmas movie of the year “Jingle Bell Bride” which premiered on October 24th.

WOW. 2.7 million unique viewers in the United States & 2.8 million households that day (not counting PVR recordings or the replay the following Thursday). Only 3 of the college football games rated higher on cable, and all the cable news rated lower. For the weekend as a whole, Hallmark had over 9 million viewers and was the top cable channel overall.

The Canadian premiere is next weekend on W, a cable channel that carries Hallmark but isn’t just that. It’s the highest rated channel for target age women.

Observations:

1). Ronnie Rowe Jr really seems to have leading man appeal – Discovery’s writers need to give him more to do since he’s quickly getting a Hallmark viewer following — suddenly over 3,200 Twitter followers and rising.

2). This kind of emotionally gentle, aspirational drama has a very large viewship, and there is currently no crossover product with sci-fi to serve this market.

Ronnie Rowe is a VERY attractive man. They bumped him up from the shuttle driver in Episode 3 of Season 1, to Communications Officer on the Bridge, because he has presence. Not to mention a nice voice.

The modern era of Trek has cast some fantastic actors, starting with the Enterprise crew in the Kelvin movies and coming forward to now.

Marja!! How’ve you been?

Yeah, we’ve been having the off topic conversation here, about stories that could be told in the Si-Fi universe that are people stories. I knew Hallmark was popular, but I had no idea how popular. There’s a creative vein to be tapped here…..

Definitely great to have you join in Marja.

Missed you dropping in on the review threads too.

Thanks TG! Good to see everyone popping in and out.

I’ve been spending too much time on Twitter, political and Trek, and podcasts, my god, they proliferate by the day ….

I love the Trek podcasts too, but have to avoid spoiling the new episodes for others in the household, so I don’t get to listen to as many as I might.