Vic
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Veteran Star Trek author Dayton Ward, most recently represented by Star Trek: Discovery: Drastic Measures, will return to action this spring with Star Trek: The Next Generation: Available Light. The adventure, which will be offered in the trade paperback, eBook and eAudio formats, features cover art by Doug Drexler and Ali Ries -- and StarTrek.com is pleased to share an exclusive First Look at the cover, as well as additional details about the book.
And here's the Available Light plot synopsis, direct from Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books:
Section 31, the covert organization which has operated without accountability in the shadows for more than two centuries, has been exposed. Throughout the Federation, the rogue group’s agents and leaders are being taken into custody as the sheer scope of its misdeeds comes to light. Now Starfleet Command must decide the consequences for numerous officers caught up in the scandal — including Admirals William Ross, Edward Jellico, Alynna Nechayev, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard who, along with many others, are implicated in the forced removal of a Federation president.
Meanwhile, deep in the distant, unexplored region of space known as the Odyssean Pass, Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise must put aside personal feelings and political concerns as they investigate a massive mysterious spacecraft. Adrift for centuries in the void, the ship is vital to the survival of an endangered civilization which has spent generations searching for a world to sustain what remains of its people. Complicating matters is a band of marauders who have their own designs on the ancient ship, with only the Enterprise standing in their way....
Set for release in April 2019, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Available Light will run 304 pages and cost $16.00. Visit www.amazon.com to pre-order it.
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Gentle Giant, the company behind the recent and wildly popular Lt. Saru bust, will soon offer two new products: a Michael Burnham in Starfleet Long-haul Space Suit Star Trek: Discovery Collector’s Gallery Statue and a Klingon Torchbearer Star Trek: Discovery Collector’s Gallery Statue. Set for release in the spring of 2019, both are available now for pre-order.
To create the 1:8 scale Burnham statue, Gentle Giant’s artists worked directly with production to obtain original concept models, reference photos and authentic production files to accurately match and recreate the costume worn by Sonequa Martin-Green. Every detail of the costume has been captured -- from the insignia-shaped mesh, to the clear visor, to the jets, vents and scribe-lines of the suit. Fans can display her solo or have her facing off against the in-scale Klingon Torchbearer statue (also available for pre-order). The limited-edition Burnham statue is hand-cast, hand-painted, hand-numbered and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Much like the Burnham statue, the Klingon Torchbearer Star Trek: Discovery Collector’s Gallery Statue resulted from Gentle Giant’s artists working directly with production to obtain original concept models, reference photos and authentic production files to accurately match and recreate the costume worn by the Torchbearer, Rejac. The team at Gentle Giant Studios have a personal connection with this character, as they helped 3-D print and prototype the costume used in production. Each element of the costume, designed by Neville Page and Glen Hetrick, has been realized, including the intricate armor plating, Klingon insignia and Klingon bat’leth. Also a limited-edition piece, the Star Trek: Discovery Klingon Torchbearer is hand-cast, hand-painted, hand-numbered and comes with a limited edition Certificate of Authenticity.
Keep an eye on StarTrek.com for additional details about the release of both products. Visit www.gentlegiantltd.com to pre-order Burnham and the Klingon Torchbearer.
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CBS All Access has just shared the promo trailer for the very first Star Trek: Short Treks installment, “Runaway,” which will debut on Thursday, October 4.
As previously reported, "Runaway" is written by Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman, and is directed by Maja Vrvilo. In it, while on board the U.S.S. Discovery, Ensign Tilly (Mary Wiseman) encounters an unexpected visitor in need of help. However, this unlikely pair may have more in common than meets the eye.
"Runaway" kicks off CBS All Access's rollout of Star Trek: Short Treks, four standalone stories building toward the early 2019 return of Star Trek: Discovery. Each short will run approximately 10-15 minutes and will be an opportunity for fans to dive deeper into key themes and characters – including Tilly, Saru (Doug Jones), Harry Mudd (Rainn Wilson, who directs his segment as well) and a new character, Craft (Aldis Hodge) -- that fit into Discovery and the expanding Star Trek universe.
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Today would have been Roger C. Carmel’s 86th birthday, and the occasion got me thinking about a happy memory. A few years ago, I caught a rerun of one of the original Star Trek episodes and it just made me smile the whole way through. It was “Mudd's Women” and it's a favorite for a lot of reasons. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Harry Mudd episodes. Yes, that lovable rogue and notorious conman also known as Harcourt Fenton Mudd. Harry brought a bit of levity to the Star Trek universe. Poor Harry seemed to end up on the wrong side of the law, but he never really wanted to hurt anyone and, of course, he needed to escape the wrath of his shrewish wife, Stella. Who could resist that roguish smile just underneath his curled handlebar moustache?!
Ol’ Harry was a fun character to watch and I suspect that’s why he appeared twice on The Original Series. However, it wasn’t until I met the man who played him that I truly realized why that character came so magically to life for me. Roger C. Carmel was a giant of a man. He had a boisterous personality and immediately made you feel welcome. A big bear hug as a greeting and you were on your way to liking him straightaway. I had decided that I wanted to interview Roger for The Official Star Trek Fan Club magazine back in the early 80’s. So I arranged to meet him while I was in Los Angeles on a business trip to Paramount. We coordinated a lunch interview at the historic Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant which, sadly, no longer exists due to a fire in 1987.
As I waited in my booth for him to arrive I wondered if he would be anything like Harry Mudd. Over my shoulder I hear this booming, rich baritone voice, “Danny, my boy! How are you, lad?!” I looked up to see that familiar smile underneath a less-curled moustache and immediately was embraced in Roger’s giant bear hug. We sat in that booth for over two hours, enjoying our hamburgers, talking about his career, his memories of working on Star Trek and bringing Harry to life. Up to this point, Roger had not done any interviews on his time with Star Trek, so this really was his first time talking about it.
Some revelations that I didn’t know that came out of that interview:
- During the last season of TOS, the producers were planning a third Harry Mudd episode for the next year but, of course, as we all now know… there wasn’t to be a fourth season.
- A Harry Mudd spin-off series was, at one time, being considered. After TOS ended, there was a party at the studio. In Roger’s words, “Gene Roddenberry was there and we started talking and Gene said, ‘It’s a shame that series thing for you never worked out.’ I said, ‘What series thing?’ He said, ‘Oh, didn’t you know? Well, after the successful Harry Mudd episodes, NBC wanted to know if I would develop a spin-off series for you starring the Harry Mudd character. A space pirate, intergalactic con-man kind of thing.’ ‘My God Gene, I didn’t know anything about that. What happened?’ He said, ‘Well, the artists didn’t have enough time to develop it.’ And, of course, you couldn’t blame Gene; he didn’t want to let somebody take it off in a direction he didn’t approve of. Since he didn’t have the time to handle it all, the Mudd series project died. But it was a real blow to me because that was the first time I had heard of it. But what a great chance that would have been for me to star in my own spin-off series.”
- In the episode “Mudd’s Women,” Roger had a wonderful, lengthy monologue in which he is trying to seduce Uhura into taking the Venus drug. “They had to cut that,” recalled Roger, “because it was just too long. I remember being very disappointed because I felt the monologue was very effective and very much to the point of the show’s philosophy.”
Those two hours seemed to fly by and it still stands out as one of the most-enjoyable interviews I have ever done. Roger and I continued to stay in touch after that, right up until his unfortunate passing in 1986 at age 54. Of course, I primarily focused on his association with Star Trek in my interview, but Roger was an enormously talented character actor who appeared in hundreds of television series, films and commercials. Yet, he was forever recognized on the street for Harry Mudd, and it was one of his favorite roles. After his death, Starlog reprinted my interview with Roger in issue #127, so that more fans could hear his Star Trek stories. At the time of my interview with him, he had just begun to realize how much fans loved Harry Mudd. He related to me during that lunch meeting how he had seen a poll recently with one of the questions being, “Other than the regulars, which character would fans most like to see in an upcoming Star Trek film?” He said with a big grin, “They mentioned three or four people and one of them was me! I think it would be a very, very wild trip for old Harry to go careening around space with the old gang again and I would love it!”
I sincerely wish we had been given the chance to see that happen and, perhaps, had Roger lived longer we would have seen Harry Mudd return in some incarnation of Star Trek – though I’ve enjoyed Rainn Wilson’s portrayal of Mudd on Star Trek: Discovery, which echoes Carmel’s. Before Roger and I parted that day, I asked him if there was anything he would like to say to the Star Trek fans who would be reading this interview. Without a beat, and again with that big, infectious smile, he responded, “Just keep the faith all you wonderful people!”
Dan Madsen is the former founder, president and publisher of the Official Star Trek Fan Club and Official Star Trek Communicator Magazine. He now works with actress Ashley Eckstein on Her Universe (www.Heruniverse.com), which produces fashionable, female-focused apparel for Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who and other Sci-Fi properties, and is a partner in FanSets, which produces collectible Star Trek pins. He is also working on his first independent feature film, Short Story, based on his original story (https://www.facebook.com/shortstorythemovie). -
Emily Coutts made her mark on season one of Star Trek: Discovery with her role as Keyla Detmer, cutting quite a striking figure thanks to the helmsman’s unique eyepiece and severe haircut. She was equally striking as First Officer Detmer on the I.S.S. Shenzhou during the show’s time in the Mirror Universe. Viewers mostly glimpsed Detmer in the heat of the moment, initiating the spore drive, for example, or guiding the ship out of a gravity well. Coutts is currently shooting season two of Discovery, but during her time at Star Trek Las Vegas in August, the actress sat down with StarTrek.com to chat about her career, her experience so far on Discovery and her upcoming projects. Here’s what Coutts had to say in this, the latest in our series of StarTrek.com interviews building toward the November 13 release of Star Trek: Discovery: Season One on Blu-ray and DVD...
How much did you know about Star Trek before you hooked up with the franchise via Discovery?I knew people were very into it, that it was a show about imagination and about a world that I really didn't know much about, but that was really exciting for a lot of people and really important for a lot of people. But I hadn't seen much of it. My family didn't watch it. So, when I got the call I had to brush up and learn everything, and the more I learned, the more I realized how much of a magical world this is. We get to create a reality that is full of hope and full of what the future hopefully is going to look like.
What were some of the Star Trek shows and films you checked out?
I started with The Original Series. My boyfriend gave me a Best-Of list, and he enjoyed showing me, because he was a big fan. And then I went to TNG and really enjoyed that one and watched a lot of episodes. So now I'm still going through the shows. I'm just starting Voyager and watching the films.
What was your audition process like for this?I auditioned once in the room with a Toronto casting director, and that was in October, and I didn't hear anything until January. So, I had assumed, like every actor does, that I didn't get the part. And then I got a call when I was traveling overseas in Morocco. I had very limited reception, and I was on a rooftop with some friends, and I just saw this Star Trek email come through from my agent. I was like, "No way." It just made the trip.
When you auditioned, did you know what you were auditioning for?
I knew I was auditioning for a Conn Officer. I didn't know that I was going to be on the Shenzhou. I got to set the first day and was like, “Does anyone know what's happening here?” And then it all started to fill in.
What's your sense of Detmer, who she is, what she stands for? Did you come up with a backstory in your own head or are you waiting for them to give it to you?I did come up with a backstory. I'm also waiting for that collaborative process of revealing the character and the backstory. I'm excited to hear about what the writers are thinking for her.
But what's in your head?
She's extremely dedicated to her job. She's a bit awkward and nervous. Because she came from the Shenzhou, she was used to one atmosphere, and then she gets thrown in with Lorca, the Discovery, and things are very different. His energy is very different. So, I think she's just trying to maintain her calm, be professional, and grow her knowledge and rank with the people around her.
Which episodes were you most satisfied with season one?I loved the Mirror Universe because it was a lot of fun to play the first officer. She was sassy and angry, and it was just a lot of fun to play. The whole bridge transformed, our costumes transformed, and it came across beautifully. I got a side toupee. Got my hair back for a second. Those episodes ended up being some of my favorites.
Prime Detmer really earned her keep in season one. She initiated the spore drive, she got the ship out of that gravity well. What did you feel were her biggest contributions to the crew in season one?I think there was a real sense of calm in those moments, where she had to do tight maneuvering with an aggressive captain, and with these very high-stakes situations. Despite her feelings underneath, she was like, “This is do or die time. I’ve got to maneuver this thing.” And she did it!
Tell us about your eyepiece. How long does that process take?
It looks quite simple, but it actually takes a while. It takes an hour for the prosthetics and then an hour for hair and makeup. So, I'm actually an earlier call than Saru, believe it or not.
Really?Yeah. They're fantastic at it, the makeup team. They make it look so much a part of my skin and that the piece actually sinks into my skin. The coolest part of the prosthetic is that it's actually bigger than it looks on the skin.
Have they explained why Detmer has the eye piece in any detail to you?They haven't. It's fixing an injury from the Battle of the Binary Stars. But we will hopefully find out more about the piece soon.
How close did you get with your co-stars over the course of year one?
Extremely close. I've never worked with a group like this, and coming in as a Toronto local, I was like, “Oh, this is the big leagues. Obviously, everyone is going to be mean and terrible.” I was so pleasantly surprised. Sonequa (Martin-Green) organizes game nights. We hang out. We go to shows together. We talk. And it really is a family. Everyone is saying it, but I feel like, at this convention with all the fans and just as a cast and crew, we're extremely tight. You can see it.
How is season two going?It's going well. Very well. I love the scripts. Every time we read a script, we're all just sitting in the room after, tears or laughter, everything in between. It's going to be a great season.
Will we see a bit more of you? Learn more about Detmer?I can't really answer that one yet. We'll see.
You're a new face to a lot of people, especially in the U.S. Where are you from, and how/why did you get into acting?
I grew up outside of Toronto, in a small town. I started singing from a young age and doing musicals in a town called Stratford, Ontario. I did community theater, fell in love with the whole thrilling experience of putting a show on. I went to theater school in Toronto, and then I got an agent and started auditioning for film and TV, and just have been able to be involved in some really cool projects. I got to work with Guillermo Del Toro on Crimson Peak as one of my very first jobs, which Doug Jones was in as well. Toronto is a really exciting place to be right now as an actor. I was on Designated Survivor, which was exciting. I've been on shows like Murdoch Mysteries a couple times, a mix of American and Canadian shows. I work on my own projects as well. I wrote a short film that I'm going to be making this year.
Tell us more about that…I’m writing, producing and acting in it. My best friend is directing and editing, and we're going to shoot it on the East Coast of Canada, in Prince Edward Island, where the story is set. So, we’re really excited.
Some actors love a long run on a series, and others are wary of playing one role for a long time. Where do you stand on that, since Discovery could run for several years?At first, it felt scary, but now I'm like, “I could do this for so long because it's so amazing to work with the cast and crew that we have. It would be terrible to have to say goodbye.” So, I'm hoping for many years. I'm not afraid at all. And with the off-season, I love doing films and I hope to do films in between seasons. So, there's still lots of flexibility and freedom for art and creativity.
Your autograph line is growing as we speak. How are you enjoying this, meeting the fans, speaking in front of a large audience, signing pictures?It's overwhelming. The people are so sincere. The interactions are so honest. This franchise has really changed a lot of lives, obviously, and to be able to be a part of that and have people just say “Welcome to the family” in such an honest way has been very emotional and very exciting.
Star Trek: Discovery on Blu-ray
Star Trek: Discovery: Season One will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD on November 13 from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Media Distribution. The four-disc Blu-ray and DVD collections, available to U.S. and Canadian fans, will feature all 15 first-season episodes of the CBS All Access series, as well as featurettes and other special features that will include cast and crew interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and deleted and extended scenes.Fans in the U.S. and Canada can pre-order on Amazon.com now.
Star Trek: Discovery's first season is available on CBS All Access in the U.S. and Space Channel in Canada. It's available on Netflix in the rest of the world.
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Our systems are showing heavy traffic in the holosuites on Deep Space Nine. Holo-enthusiasts are being enticed by an enigmatic hologram named Minuet. This phenomenon isn’t limited to the station -- reports are coming in from across Starfleet of similar behavior. Crew members are becoming addicted to the holodecks, resulting in them abandoning their duties.
Why is Minuet appearing so frequently in so many simulations? Is there an insidious motive, or is it just a matter of holograms wanting love and companionship like anyone else? Find out in Star Trek Timelines' Holodeck Mega-Event, “Photonic Fantasies.”
Over the course of four events, Starfleet needs its captains to investigate the sudden surge in holodeck addiction, discover if Minuet has any ulterior motives, and meet new crew from across the Star Trek universe -- including Minuet herself, Guinan’s holodeck alter-ego, Gloria, the “Author” Doctor, and many of your favorite hologram characters.
Check out the schedule of events featured in the “Photonic Fantasies” Mega-Event:
• October 4 – Pygmalion, Hybrid Faction/Galaxy Event
• October 11 – Updated and Revised, Galaxy Event
• October 18 – What Is a Man?, Faction Event
• October 25 – Captain Proton to the Rescue!, Skirmish EventStarfleet calls on all available captains to join the “Photonic Fantasies” Mega-Event, play Star Trek Timelines via the App Store, Google Play Store, Amazon App Store, Steam or Facebook. For more information on the game, follow the Star Trek Timelines Facebook page.
Star Trek Timelines merges the characters, stories and settings from Star Trek: The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise and now Star Trek: Discovery. Gather your favorite heroes -- or villains -- to build your dream crew, explore the galaxy and lead Starfleet through a crisis threatening the very fabric of time and space.
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Oh, what difficult times these are. A veritable Vulcan's Forge-like desert for those of use looking for more adventures with the just-introduced characters from Star Trek Discovery, right? Wrong!
As we've mentioned before, this is the first time in franchise history that tie-in materials from a Trek show are being published with direct oversight from the television producers. In addition to three novels already in stores, there are two comic series waiting for you on the shelves or the digital reader of your choice. Comics are just like regular books, except if you stare at the pages and go “Whoooaaaaa!” people tend to leave you alone on the bus.
First up is The Light of Kahless, co-written by longtime Trek comic author Mike Johnson and Discovery staff writer Kirsten Beyer. The four-issue miniseries concludes right where the first episode of Discovery begins, then flashes back to give us a greater understanding about Voq, L'Rell and the mysterious would-be messiah T'Kuvma of the House of Girjah.
There have been glimpses of T'Kuvma's tale on Discovery, images, mostly, that give us a sense of how he intended to unite the various Klingon houses in an attempt to “maintain its purity” against outside influences. His early years were rough; he was taunted by older siblings for being small. His discovery of the abandoned Sarcophagus ship triggered in him an urgency to restore a chivalric Klingon order. During his studies at a monastery in Boreth, he had a vision from Kahless. Some believed that he was even Kahless reborn, and while he wasn't quite so sure about that, it didn't hurt to have such ardent followers, especially when trying to convince Kol to listen to his plans for confronting the Federation.
Between these scenes of political machinations, the comic offers plenty of Klingon color. The first page shows, as discretely as is possible, the victorious Klingons feasting on the corpse of their vanquished foe: Captain Phillipa Georgiou. “I will wipe my ass with this 'armor'!” L'Rell laughs, mid-chomp. Hey, it's just make-believe.
On a much, much more pleasant side of things, there's Discovery Annual #1, a “giant-sized” single issue comic also from Johnson and Beyer.
It's also a prequel, and about one of the greater love stories we've seen so far in the franchise: the one between Lt. Commander Paul Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber. Turns out they courted one another just like the kids do today, through texting.
Well, that's a slight exaggeration, but their relationship is forged over late-night chats, especially as Stamets starts losing his marbles while working on a tough project. Which project? Why, only the creation of the mycelial network with his lab partner Straal (who we know is going to run into some tardigrade-size problems early in the first season.)
The story details how the sometimes-cranky Stamets makes the leap from civilian to Starfleet, and also shows how his relationship with Culber offers him the perspective he needs to accomplish his tasks.
There are also some really far-out panels of mushrooms from illustrator Angel Hernandez. Groovy.
Prequels, prequels, you say, but what about the future? That's where the series Succession kicks in.
When Michael Burnham “leaves” Captain Lorca on the other side and takes the Terran Emperor with her, Discovery's story traveled back to our timeline. But what damage was left in her wake? Johnson and Beyer have the answers, and some of them are gruesome.
Georgiou has a cousin, Alexander (keeping with the Greek theme), and he declares himself Emperor. I doubt I'll surprise you by saying he's not a nice guy. But you know who is? Harry Mudd. (Yeah, that's right, Mirror U Rainn Wilson is in this one; keep track!) And when Mirror Burnham, long thought dead, needs a favor that's who she turns to. (On Risa, which is now a refugee planet. There's a lot going on.) It gets nuttier with the bridge crew. With no one clearly in command, Detmer and Owosekun have at it, and it ends up with Ariam (the chrome-blue cyborg character) taking control of the ISS Shenzhou with the goal of wreaking vengeance on behalf of all synthetic organisms.
I love Mirror Universe stories because anything is possible, so all I'll say is divert power to your forward shields when you get to the final pages of this one. It's all set 10 years before Captain Kirk took that fateful transporter ride through the ion storm orbiting the Halkan homeworld, so that's plenty of time to clean this all up.
Read these comics. Share them with your friends. Study them. Season two of Discovery is coming. You don't want to miss an opportunity to annoy your friends with strange backstory tidbits. And remember, this time it's canon!
Jordan Hoffman is the former host of Engage: The Official Star Trek Podcast. He is also a writer, critic and lapsed filmmaker living in New York City. His work can be seen on Film.com, ScreenCrush and Badass Digest. On his BLOG, Jordan has reviewed all 727 Trek episodes and films, most of the comics and some of the novels.
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Eaglemoss Hero Collector has unveiled the publication of the first volume in their new Star Trek Shipyards series, the definitive visual encyclopedia to each and every ship that’s ever appeared in any corner of the storied Star Trek universe, either on television or in movie theaters. Written by Ben Robinson, Marcus Reily and Matt McAllister, Star Trek Shipyards: Starfleet Ships 2151-2293, is a comprehensive, 184-page hardcover chronological history and visual guide featuring in-depth profiles of Starfleet ships. It spans from the birth of the Federation to the launch of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-B and the presumed death of Captain James T. Kirk. It also includes a chapter on Earth’s pre-Federation vessels, including Zefram Cochrane’s Phoenix, which made mankind’s first faster-than-light journey.
Illustrated with CG artwork – among them dozens of brand-new images -- using original VFX models created for the Star Trek TV shows and films, Star Trek Shipyards also provides fans with what will be, for most of them, the first opportunity to see all the starships from Star Trek: Discovery in close detail, even ships barely visible in the climactic battle sequence from the series’ second episode, “Battle at the Binary Stars.”
Star Trek Shipyards: Starfleet Ships 2151-2293 is also available in a deluxe window-boxed edition that includes a die-cast collector’s model of the U.S.S. Enterprise NC-1701 from the classic 1966 original Star Trek television series along with a display base.
Star Trek Shipyards: Starfleet Ships 2151-2293, like all Eaglemoss Hero Collector books, may be purchased from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indigo, independent booksellers, and select specialty stores including comic shops and gaming stores. It is priced at $29.95 in the U.S. and $39.95 in Canada. The boxed gift set is priced at $49.95 in the US and $65.95 in Canada.
A second volume, Star Trek Shipyards: Starfleet Ships 2294 to the Future, will be published on November 13, 2018. Fans can pre-order from Amazon. Both volumes are part of Eaglemoss Hero Collector’s “Premier Editions,” exquisitely designed, painstakingly researched visual guides and books that delve deep behind the scenes of some of most beloved icons of comic and sci-fi fandom.
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One of the many treats of watching the stories of the Star Trek galaxy is seeing familiar actors appear in key roles. On occasion, some reappear in recurring part or turn up later as entirely different character role. One season they might play a benevolent scientist, the next an evil genius. As fans of the performer as well as the role, we dig into their career, following their path, ever aware that no matter what they go on to, they are forever a part of Star Trek.
We continue our talent spotting cruise through the cosmos with a man who not only commanded as an Admiral but also played… God. Yes, that God (kind of) -- George Murdock.
Background
Born George Sawaya Jr. on June 25, 1930 in Salina, Kansas, George was the second of seven children and destined for a career in film and TV that would touch on six decades and some of the best-known television series of all-time. His television debut came in a 1961 episode of Shannon, a first step into a professional career that made the most of his craggy appearance, deep voice and stern demeanor. Roles on The Twilight Zone, The Untouchables, the hugely popular 77 Sunset Strip and the long-running Bonanza followed soon after, cementing his position as a capable and reliable presence. His versatility saw him appear in two of the longest-running TV series ever -- Gunsmoke in 1967 and L.A. Law in 1992 -- as well as both Smallville and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, not to mention Battlestar Galactica and Torchwood, the Doctor Who spin-off.
On Star Trek
1989 saw the arrival of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, directed by William Shatner, and with it Murdock’s entry into the Star Trek galaxy. His arrival on Trek was originally intended to be in a different role, that of the Klingon Commander Korrd. However, after Charles Cooper aced his audition, Shatner decided to switch Murdock across to an arguably even more iconic role, that of the God-like deity on the mythical world of Sha Ka Ree, at the very center of the galaxy. That gave Murdock and Shatner a classic exchange that included the infamous Kirk line "What does God need with a starship?" before being zapped by the irate entity.
The critical and commercial fate of The Final Frontier is well known, as is the adoration for Murdock’s next Trek foray in Star Trek: The Next Generation, with “The Best of Both Worlds.” Appearing in the season three cliffhanger – still the best season-ending episode of any TV show past or present, in my humble opinion – and meeting his fate in season four’s opening episode, Murdock’s role of Admiral J.P. Hanson put a human face on the unfolding tragedy.
Why It Was Unique
With humanity hanging by a thread, Hanson took the U.S.S. Melbourne into battle at Wolf 359, messaging the Enterprise before being destroyed by the Borg. Across TNG we had seen Admirals with questionable motives, ones co-opted by aliens or arriving on the Enterprise to admonish Picard. We rarely saw one that took it to the enemy in quite the way Hanson did.
Links to Other Trek Figures
Murdock’s career path intersected with a number of other working Star Trek figures. Over the many decades of his career he appeared in T.J. Hooker opposite William Shatner and in Benson with Rene Auberjonois, as well as the recurring role of Lt. Ben Scanlon in the classic cop series Barney Miller alongside fellow Trek actor Ron Glass, best known to sci-fi audiences for his role as Shepherd Book, though he appeared in the season-seven Star Trek: Voyager episode “Nightingale,” directed by LeVar Burton. Back in 2007, he co-starred with Christopher Plummer in a movie called Man in the Chair. Murdock also guest starred on numerous episodes directed by past and future Trek directors, including Joseph Pevney, Robert Butler and Alexander Singer. And, just to show how things really come full circle in this crazy universe of ours, Murdock guest starred in a 1970 episode of Bracken’s World that featured “Space Seed” actress Madlyn Rhue as a series regular and was directed by Gerald Mayer, whose nephew is Ian Spelling, the editor of StarTrek.com.
What Happened Next
Following his appearances in both classic and Next Generation Trek, Murdock’s career continued unabated. Roles in Batman: The Animated Series, Lois and Clark and Law and Order followed, as did a role on the smash hit Seinfeld and a job opposite his Streets of San Francisco co-star Michael Douglas in The American President. Parts in Chicago Hope and E.R. preceded two excursions into the X-Files universe, one coming in 1998 during the sixth season and the other with the big-screen feature film X-Files: Fight the Future that same year.
The 21st century saw no let up in output from the veteran actor, as he appeared in Judging Amy, the aforementioned Smallville, Orange County and CSI. His final credited screen roles were as a preacher in Torchwood: Miracle Day in 2011 and as an aging fisherman in a 2012 short titled Caterwaul. Soon after that, on April 30, 2012, Murdock succumbed to cancer in Burbank, California. He was 81, and left behind more than 200 film and television credits (and we’ve not even touched on his stage career) for fans to enjoy long into the future.
Mark Newbold has been an avid Trek fan since the 1970's, when TOS was shown on UK TV, but it was the original cast movie series and TNG era that sealed the deal. Mark is a writer for Star Trek The Official Magazine, is editor-in-Chief of Star Trek: The Neutral Zone and was a stage host at Destination Star Trek Germany in 2018. At heart, he's a Niner. Follow him on Twitter. -
Which crew faced the toughest enemies? That's the question we asked for StarTrek.com latest weekly poll. Fans, of course, could choose from Star Trek: The Original Series , Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Discovery. Thousands of you voted, and here are the results:
Voyager (39%)
Deep Space Nine (28%)
The Next Generation (19%)
Enterprise (7%)
The Original Series (5%)
Discovery (2%)
How did YOUR crew of choice fare?
Be sure to vote in this week's poll...
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Plants are seen all over Star Trek, especially in the crew quarters on The Next Generation. Headboards anyone? What remains to be seen is whether the Terran Empire would find value in plants besides some Borgia to perhaps poison an unsuspecting-enemy. Nevertheless, the throne of the Terran Empire is an ideal plant stand for decorating your own I.S.S. Charon. This craft doubles as an action-figure stand for those who don’t have a Boothby-level green thumb.
*Red Alert! This project is ranked a Lieutenant Level mission because sharp tools are required, so please use senior officer supervision, young cadets.
Supplies:
Jar lid in desired size to fit plant base
3 cork discs
Black acrylic paint
White acrylic paint
Gold metallic paint marker
X-Acto knife
E6000 Adhesive
14 Bamboo Treat Sticks (found in baking section at Michael’s)
Sheet of sandpaper
Cutting mat
Small foam paint brush
Small paint brush
Step One:
Measure and cut the cork discs to fit inside the jar lid using the X-acto knife on the cutting mat.
Depending on the depth of your jar lid, you may only need two cork discs to fill it.
Step Two:
Protect your work surface with newspaper and paint the top cork disc black using the foam brush. Let dry for 1/2 an hour. Set aside.
Paint the outer edge of your jar lid gold using the paint marker. Let dry and set aside for 1/2 an hour as well.
Step Three:Using your sandpaper, sand down the flat heads of the bamboo treat sticks to stagger the height of the posts. Use even pressure and your own judgement on the length you prefer. Leave at least 2-4 sticks the height they came as.
Step Four:
Paint all 14 bamboo treat sticks using the gold paint marker. Let dry for 1/2 an hour standing upright in styrofoam to avoid smudging. When dry, paint the flat heads of the sticks using your small paint brush and some white paint. This will appear to be the light source of the throne.
Step Five:
Glue your cork discs together inside of the jar lid using your adhesive in a circular pattern.
Step Six:
Push the bamboo sticks into the cork in a semi-circular pattern around the edge of the jar lid. Leave some space between the edge of the lid and the start of the cork, so the sticks will stand up straight and taut. In between each stick leave approximately 1 cm of distance depending on what size stand you're making. For larger stands, you can leave 1 inch in between the sticks. Note: Your tallest sticks should be in the back and the shortest sticks should be in the front to give the horseshoe effect.
Step Seven:Once the sticks are in place you can place a small amount of adhesive in the base of the holes to ensure the sticks stay in place.
Step Eight:
Using a small amount of white paint, place a dotted pattern around the base to represent the lights in the floor. Lastly, put your favorite plant or action figure in the center and place in a prominent position in your quarters for all to worship.
Mary Czerwinski is a Los Angeles-based crafter and host of an online DIY-series, Glue Guns & Phasers. She hosts crafting workshops at Star Trek conventions and local businesses. Czerwinski was featured in the Star Trek Craft Book.
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It is a challenge to qualify and quantify the variety of contributions Michael Minor made to Star Trek. Minor's sheer creative output, from the last season of Star Trek: The Original Series through the 1980s, is inspiring and impressive. Even though we lost Minor in May of 1987 at the terribly young age of 46, his work continues to inspire Star Trek artists and designers today. This article, we share a few of our favorite contributions that Minor made, which added much to the world of Trek.
In his late 20s, Minor, an artist and a fan of Trek, had a meeting with art director/production designer Walter “Matt” Jefferies and Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Both were impressed by Minor himself and his art portfolio, and several of his items were purchased for use in the show. Among Minor's work were the planetary landscape paintings seen behind the Enterprise crew as they dine with Dr. Miranda Jones and Larry Marvick in the episode “Is There In Truth No Beauty?” and reused in Captain Kirk’s quarters for “The Tholian Web.”
Minor’s contributions to TOS did not stop with his paintings. He also helped design and make both the Melkot alien in “Spectre of the Gun,” the aggression-feeding Beta XII-A creature from “Day of the Dove” and the Tholian Web itself. The redesigned environmental suit helmets used in “The Tholian Web” were made by Minor.
As result of his work on TOS, Minor was also asked to work on the eventually scuttled Phase II 1970s Trek TV revival and then on Star Trek: The Motion Picture. His work on TMP and then Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, reunited Minor with his mentor, Joseph Jennings. The duo would, individually and together, make another round of important contributions to the movies of Trek. For example, Minor’s beautiful designs for Phase II would eventually shape not only TMP, but also inspire many iconic elements of The Next Generation. This is especially seen with his design of the Phase II Enterprise engine room, which directly influenced the Enterprise D’s set.
In addition to helping with the refit Enterprise, Minor and Jennings also designed the U.S.S. Reliant. Their challenge was to create a ship that looked as if it belonged to the same fleet as the Enterprise, yet would be easy for audiences to distinguish from Kirk’s ship during the battle sequences of TWOK. Interestingly, when approving the design, producer Harve Bennett was looking at Minor’s blueprints upside down. Since the blueprints were approved upside down, the flipped design was kept for the film.
Minor’s contributions to The Wrath of Khan were not limited to his work as art director. An early version of the script titled "The Omega Syndrome," by Jack B. Sowards, involved the theft of a Federation super-weapon called the “Omega System.” It became a concern that the Federation would never create a super-weapon, and it was Minor – drawing upon his own fan experiences – who recommended that the Omega System should instead be a terraforming device. Thus, the Genesis Device was born. Bennett reportedly turned to Minor and told him that he saved Star Trek!
Included below are special, rare images from our research of the Papers of Nicholas Meyer Collection at the University of Iowa. The images show the collaborative working relationship shared by Minor and Jennings.
One of our favorite images shows Minor and Jennings on the Ceti Alpha V set before the sand was added, surrounded by the wood mounds built by the production team.
It speaks to the behind the scenes genius of artists like Minor and Jennings, whose creativity and talents crafted one of science fiction’s most-iconic films -- despite limitations of time and technology.
Mike Minor has been gone now for more than 30 years, but he left behind a legacy of artistry that endures.
Special thanks to Nicholas Meyer and the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections.Maria Jose and John Tenuto are both sociology professors at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois, specializing in popular culture and subculture studies. The Tenutos have conducted extensive research on Star Trek’s history, and have presented at venues such as Creation Conventions and the St. Louis Science Center. They’ve written for the official Star Trek Magazine and their extensive collection of Trek items has been featured in SFX Magazine. Their theory about the “20-Year Nostalgia Cycle” and research on Trek fans has been featured on WGN News, BBC Radio, and in the documentary The Force Among Us. Contact the Tenutos at jtenuto@clcillinois.edu or mjtenuto@clcillinois.edu.
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The sun was setting, lengthening the shadows and giving Starfleet Academy a beautiful, orange glow. This was Captain Anton Schaefer’s favorite time of day. Normally, it would be time to pack up, go home, maybe visit his favorite little Italian restaurant in North Beach, and see what kind of trouble he could get himself into. As a Starfleet Captain and an instructor at the Academy, it usually wasn’t much. Most nights, he would be about to order when a gaggle of his students would wander in, eyes wide that their teacher was a human being who had a social life, too.
But tonight would be different. He loved that magic hour light, but it was getting too dim to see the mountain of paperwork he still had to go through before he could turn in for the night.
“Computer, lights,” he said. There was a small buzz, and his office lit up with harsh, white light. He blinked and shook his head, closing his eyes until everything adjusted. He liked to keep things comfortable, relaxed even in his office. Hell, in his younger days he might’ve even unbuttoned the top of his uniform on a night like this. But there was tension in the air, and it weighed on every part of this hallowed institution. To be casual now would be to seem like he didn’t care.
Three days ago, the U.S.S. Shenzhou had encountered a Klingon ship in a binary star system on the outer edge of Federation space. A combination of failed diplomacy and, of all things, an on-board mutiny had led to the first major conflict with the Klingons in over a decade. The Battle at the Binary Stars, they were calling it.
Four days ago, his classes had been looking forward to a future of exploration amongst the stars. Now, Starfleet was at war. Schaefer knew what was needed – he’d gotten into plenty of scraps out there in the black, before he settled down here to teach. These kids were bright, and enthusiastic. One redhead cadet in particular seemed to see the whole world with an infectious optimism. He hated to see them beaten down by the terrors of war.
Schaefer stood up, and walked to his window, looking out onto the lights of San Francisco, twinkling in the distance. All right, then, if the universe was going to beat these kids down, he could show them how to spit in its eye. Humanity had a place up there, in the whole wide universe, and he’d be damned if the universe was going to crush his cadets. Let ‘em shine bright.
Star Trek Online, the online RPG that continues the story of Star Trek’s Prime Timeline, is taking its first steps into the world of Star Trek: Discovery. In the weeks after the Battle at the Binary Stars, a lot has changed for the Federation, and for your class of 2256. The galaxy is still in turmoil over the beginning of war with the Klingons, but today is a day for celebration. You and your friends, including underclassman Sylvia Tilly, will be taking your first steps into the Final Frontier. It’s a training cruise, just to get your feet wet.
With the launch of Age of Discovery later this fall, you’ll be able to create a Discovery-era Starfleet character. Choose from a few Discovery-era races, head out into space on a Malachowski-class Starship, and experience a reimagined starting experience that will begin a new journey in Star Trek Online. We can’t wait for you to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Star Trek Online is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game that allows players to explore the Star Trek universe from within. Players can forge their own destiny as Captain of a Federation starship, champion the Empire through the far reaches of the galaxy as a Klingon Warrior, rebuild the Romulan legacy as the commander of a Romulan Republic Warbird or carry out daring missions on behalf of the Dominion as a Jem’Hadar soldier. Captains can also explore iconic locations from the Star Trek universe, make contact with new alien species and battle alongside other players in customizable starships. Star Trek Online is currently available on PC, PlayStation4 and Xbox One.
To download and play Star Trek Online today for free, visit www.playstartrekonline.com.
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Mark the date: Thursday, October 4. That’s when CBS All Access will begin to roll out Star Trek: Short Treks, the four standalone stories building toward the early 2019 return of Star Trek: Discovery. As previously reported, each short will run approximately 10-15 minutes and will be an opportunity for fans to dive deeper into key themes and characters – including Tilly (Mary Wiseman), Saru (Doug Jones), Harry Mudd (Rainn Wilson, who directs his segment as well) and a new character, Craft (Aldis Hodge) -- that fit into Discovery and the expanding Star Trek universe.
The Star Trek: Short Treks will roll out in the following order:
“Runaway” – Thursday, Oct. 4
Onboard the U.S.S. Discovery, Ensign Tilly (Mary Wiseman) encounters an unexpected visitor in need of help. However, this unlikely pair may have more in common than meets the eye.
Written by Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman. Directed by Maja Vrvilo.
“Calypso” – Thursday, Nov. 8After waking up in an unfamiliar sickbay, Craft (Aldis Hodge) finds himself on board a deserted ship, and his only companion and hope for survival is an A.I. computer interface.
Teleplay by Michael Chabon. Story by Sean Cochran and Michael Chabon. Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi.
“The Brightest Star” – Thursday, Dec. 6Before he was the first Kelpien to join Starfleet, Saru (Doug Jones) lived a simple life on his home planet of Kaminar with his father and sister. Young Saru, full of ingenuity and a level of curiosity uncommon among his people, yearns to find out what lies beyond his village, leading him on an unexpected path.
Written by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt. Directed by Douglas Aarniokoski.
“The Escape Artist” – Thursday, Jan. 3Harry Mudd (Rainn Wilson), back to his old tricks of stealing and double-dealing, finds himself in a precarious position aboard a hostile ship – just in time to try out his latest con.
Written by Michael McMahan. Directed by Rainn Wilson.
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"This is the best and coolest piece of news I’ve read in a while," Anson Mount -- Star Trek: Discovery's Captain Pike -- posted the other day on his Facebook page. "Planet Vulcan is real, people!"
Here's the scoop. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, along with Sallie Baliunas, Robert Donahue and George Nassiopoulos, a trio of astronomers with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, chose to link Vulcan with an actual exoplanet, which orbits a star named 40 Eridani A. That occurred back in July, 1991, in a letter published in Sky & Telescope, just a few months before Roddenberry's death. References were made to 40 Eridani A in several Trek-related books, as well as on Star Trek: The Next Generation. It became canonical on Star Trek: Enterprise, while "Eridani D" was mentioned in the first-season Star Trek: Discovery episode, "Lethe."
Fast forward to the present. The Dharma Planet Survey, via a new study spearheaded by University of Florida astronomer Jian Ge and a team that features Tennessee State University astronomers Matthew Muterspaugh and Gregory Henry, has located what could be Trek’s iconic planet Vulcan.
“The new planet is a ‘super-Earth’ orbiting the star HD 26965, which is only 16 light years from Earth, making it the closest super-Earth orbiting another Sun-like star,” Ge said in a statement. "The planet is roughly twice the size of Earth and orbits its star with a 42-day period just inside the star’s optimal habitable zone.” According to an article on the Science & Wellness page on the University of Florida site, the discovery was made using the Dharma Endowment Foundation Telescope (DEFT), a 50-inch telescope located atop Mt. Lemmon in southern Arizona. The planet is the first “super-Earth” detected by the Dharma Survey.
“The orange-tinted HD 26965 is only slightly cooler and slightly less massive than our Sun, is approximately the same age as our Sun, and has a 10.1-year magnetic cycle nearly identical to the Sun’s 11.6-year sunspot cycle,” noted Muterspaugh, who helped to commission the Dharma spectrograph on the TSU 2-meter automatic spectroscopic telescope. “Therefore, HD 26965 may be an ideal host star for an advanced civilization.”
And, Henry added, Trek fans might recognize the star HD 26965 by its other moniker... 40 Eridani A. Henry, whom the UF article reports collected precise brightness measurements of the star at TSU’s automated observatory needed to confirm the presence of the planet, stated, “Vulcan was connected to 40 Eridani A in the publications Star Trek 2 by James Blish (Bantam, 1968) and Star Trek Maps by Jeff Maynard (Bantam, 1980)." The aforementioned letter from Roddenberry, Baliunas and Nassiopoulos confirmed the identification of 40 Eridani A as Vulcan’s host star. Per the UF story, the 40 Eridani star system is composed of three stars. Vulcan orbits the primary star, and the two companion stars would, quoting the letter, "gleam brilliantly in the Vulcan sky."
“This star can be seen with the naked eye, unlike the host stars of most of the known planets discovered to date," noted Bo Ma, a UF postdoc on the team and the first author of the paper published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. "Now anyone can see 40 Eridani on a clear night and be proud to point out Spock’s home."
Sounds perfectly logical to us.
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Rainn Wilson wanted to get in on Star Trek: Discovery. He let it be known and, lo and behold, along came the opportunity for him to play the role of the dangerous, rascally Harry Mudd. Wilson, stepping into the part originated by the late, great Roger C. Carmel, portrayed Mudd in the first-season episodes “Choose Your Pain” and “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.” It’s been confirmed that the former The Office star will play Mudd and direct a Mudd-centric installment of Star Trek: Short Treks. StarTrek.com chatted with Wilson about all of the above and more moments after he completed his day of panels, photo ops and autographs at the recent Star Trek Las Vegas event. Here’s what he had to say…
You’re about to race to the airport to fly back home to Los Angeles, but how did you enjoy your time at STLV? How Galaxy Quest-ish was it?I've done Comic-Cons before, so I've been around sci-fi fans. We even had a big Office convention when The Office wrapped, and a parade, and stuff like that, which was pretty amazing. Yeah, it's great. I will say that this experience is basically like Galaxy Quest. It's like Galaxy Quest come to life, and it's fantastic. But the thing that I didn't really realize is how amazing these Trek fans are. They're really like... Of course, they're nerdy. I'm nerdy. We're all nerdy. But they're sweet and kind and thoughtful, and really passionate about Star Trek and science fiction. It's like they're a family, like they've made a family, and even the actors from the various shows, the way they interact. They're these big families as well. And so, it becomes this great community, really. It's a terrific community, and it's just got a lot of heart. And it's been a real pleasure interacting with the fans.
How much of a sci-fi fan were you, and where did Star Trek fit into that?
I'm about the biggest sci-fi fan that you could imagine, because my dad was a science-fiction writer.
Robert G. Wilson…So, I grew up with it. We read science-fiction all the time. I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey when, I think I was maybe four years old, and that blew my mind.
Gary Lockwood is here at STLV, actually…Oh, man, I didn't know that. Oh, fantastic. I would come home from school and I would watch Star Trek reruns. They would be on weekends all the time in the '70s. I'm talking starting in like '70, maybe as early as '71, '72, '73, definitely. So, it had just gone off the air. And it's an odd thing, because… I was just thinking about this, like, now, because of the Internet, and because of conventions like this, you can find your tribe. I remember there was a while I was really into the band R.E.M. I just love R.E.M. and I have all their albums, and I memorized their lyrics, and I just thought they were amazing. Then, I was in a record shop once, and I found an R.E.M. fanzine. I picked it up, and it said something like “This is for R.E.M. fans.” It was hand-printed, mimeographed, or something like that, by some fans in Georgia. I paid $3.50 for it, or something. And it was incredible, because it was like, "Oh, there's other people that feel the way that I do. There's people dissecting the lyrics, and people talking about what their favorite albums are, and drawing artwork inspired by R.E.M.” It was so touching to me.
All pre-Internet…You couldn't find a message board. You couldn't find that community. So now, there's this community, but even back then I went to Norwescon, which is a science-fiction convention, several times. My dad had written a book that was published, I think, in 1975 or 1976, called Tentacles of Dawn. And I would go play Dungeons & Dragons there, and I would go to the panels. They had a 24-hour movie room, movie marathons playing constant sc- fi movies, and horror and stuff like that. I still have my science-fiction book collection from the '70s, which numbers about 3,400 science-fiction books. So, I was – I am -- a huge, huge fan.
Let’s talk Mudd. How much did your great costume help you get into the character?Gersha Phillips, she's brilliant. She's phenomenal. These costumes are next level Star Trek stuff, and I'm not just saying that. I really think they're exquisite and her designs are immaculate. Yeah, the costumes always help you find your character. Dwight Schrute has a polyester suit, has got a calculator wristwatch. He wears a beeper, even though beepers are defunct, because he didn't want to give up his beeper. He's wearing one as late as 2015, or 2014, whenever the show ended. Harry Mudd, he's almost part pirate. It's a little operatic. Leather boots, a lot of buckles and straps and rings. It feels very ornate. He's kind of conman, smuggler, raconteur, roustabout, and it is really informed by his wardrobe.
What elements of “Choose Your Pain” worked best for you?
A lot. I love the way that it's set up at the end, Mudd's betrayal by Lorca. Obviously, Mudd was the big betrayer there and the spy for the Klingons, trying to weasel his way out. But to really get just left there, especially by a starship captain, who has a responsibility to the Federation and to the citizens of the Federation… We got a glimpse of the dark side of Lorca with that. I thought that was really cool. So, I thought the way it set the stage for the next one was really great, and the setup the Stella backstory was great.
How much of a nod did you want to give to Roger C. Carmel with your performance?
Everything that I’d done is really a testament to his performance. He cracked this character. He has the comedy, charm, loquaciousness, kind of the dark edge. He's willing to sell people out. That mercenary streak that you... Because so much of the Federation, let's face it, it's goodie-goodie two-shoes. Like, "Oh, the Federation, we can't do this, and we're so law-abiding." It's refreshing sometimes seeing someone playing with the rules. Carmel nailed all those elements. So, I wanted to make him my own and take it to the next level and modernize what he did.
How big a kick did you get out of “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” with the time loop and killing people, especially Lorca, again and again?
It was a blast. Don't get me wrong, it was a tough episode. It's really, really hard to write a time-travel episode with a time loop. If you've ever thought about writing a time-travel screenplay, or anything like that, it makes your head start to hurt. It's really, really difficult. They struggled with how to make him come back. What are the rules of the time travel? But, ultimately, at the end of the day, they figured it out brilliantly. And David Barrett, the director, did a fantastic job. He's a very visual director, and that helped it a ton. The flashback replay of shooting Lorca over and over again, killing Lorca in all these different ways, was fun. The cast was game, fun, collaborative. They let me improvise a bunch of lines and have creative input. It was a dream job.
And you got to fire a phaser.
I got to fire a phaser. My inner Trekkie went crazy. I got to fire phasers. I got to be beamed up, beamed down.
I got to sit in the captain's chair. I got to be captain for a while. He controlled the ship. When you have the poster of all the Star Trek captains, I want Harry Mudd on that.
You’ll be acting in and directing one of the Short Treks installments…There's going to be that 10, 15% of fans that go, "Oh, no way. I'm not going to watch a short film about Star Trek. This isn't how it works." But I love that they're breaking molds and breaking new ground, and it's a terrific mini Harry Mudd adventure. It goes to a lot of different places, from different aliens, lot of fun situations, some great twists and turns, and I get to direct it and star in it. It's like a dream come true. It's like, “Write me a dream job.”
Is this a stepping stone to directing more?Possibly, yeah. This is a great way to cut my teeth as a director. I directed three episodes of The Office, and I directed some short films and digital shorts, but this is special effects and visual effects. I've got my work cut out for me.
Star Trek: Discovery on Blu-ray
Star Trek: Discovery: Season One will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD on November 13 from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Media Distribution. The four-disc Blu-ray and DVD collections, available to U.S. and Canadian fans, will feature all 15 first-season episodes of the CBS All Access series, as well as featurettes and other special features that will include cast and crew interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and deleted and extended scenes.Fans in the U.S. and Canada can pre-order on Amazon.com now.
Star Trek: Discovery's first season is available on CBS All Access in the U.S. and Space Channel in Canada. It's available on Netflix in the rest of the world.
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Even with all power to the forward engines, season two of Star Trek Discovery is still months away. We've gotten to know and love these new characters, but our craving for more is like an M-133 Creature on a low-sodium diet.
New episodes (and mini-films) are on their way, but there are other routes to the 23rd century. For the first time in Star Trek history, the tie-in novels are being published in direct consultation with the producers of a show. Never again will we read an awesome Trek novel, then have any of its nuts and bolts retconned away. (Big ups to Kirsten Beyer, current Lit Czar of the Alpha Quadrant, for keeping an eye on the telemetry.)
There are currently three Discovery titles in stores (and on your Kindles, Nooks and whatever else they call a PADD these days.) And each is terrific. All are set before the Battle of the Binary Stars, but digging in with these characters brings additional shading to the first season, and one big honkin' Easter Egg is sure to have repercussions once the show is back on the air.
The books can be read in any order, but my nerdish devotion to The History of the Future suggests going according to the timeline. That means first up is Dayton Ward's Drastic Measures, set 10 years before the Battle of the Binary Stars and 19 years before the events of “Where No One Has Gone Before.”
That's the when, but what's more exciting is the where: Tarsus IV.
That's right, scan your record tapes. That's the planet where Kodos the Executioner sentenced 4,000 Earth colonists to death. We know about this from the TOS episode “The Conscience of the King,” because young James T. Kirk was there. What we didn't previously know was that Gabriel Lorca (a Lt. Commander at the time) was stationed there at the Federation's advisory post. (Tarsus IV was stalwartly independent of the UFP, but still on good terms.) When the food blight that caused havoc to the outpost hits, the U.S.S. Narbonne is the closest ship, so its Commander, Phillipa Georgiou, is dispatched to offer assistance.
Hardcore fans will drool during the scenes that fill in the blanks of the Tarsus crisis, and may perhaps drop the novel from their hands in delight during the few scenes with a teenage Jim Kirk. Even though we know how the story will end, there are surprises. More importantly, we get in some quality time with Georgiou and Lorca.
Lorca, as is no surprise considering his opposite, is a righteous and noble man, and one whose heart has been broken. Georgiou, as has been evident through glimpses of Michelle Yeoh's performance, is a forthright woman who likes to take chances, and has a bit of a warped sense of humor. This last bit is something that extends through all three of the books; Georgiou loves a good zing (especially one that takes a moment to land), especially if it is one aimed at one of her senior officers.
This leads us to Fear Itself by James Swallow, set six years later. (That's four years before the Battle of the Binary Stars if your math isn't too good.) Georgiou is now captain of the Shenzhou and she's got, among other things, two officers who rarely see eye-to-eye: Michael Burnham and Saru.
Fear Itself is definitely a Saru story, and we get a great deal of insight into his quite-peculiar existence. Just how, exactly, does a creature who is always afraid function in Starfleet? Not easily, is the short answer. The longer answer is a rich inquiry into his character, much of it in the heat of conflict. When aiding a ship from Peliar Zel (remember them from TNG's “The Host”?), Saru discovers a cargo hold packed with members of a telepathically sensitive race called the Gorlans. Why they are there is a mystery, as is also the question of who the real villain is when Saru and other members of the Shenzhou are taken captive. Then there's more trouble when the Tholians show up. (And those Tholians are nasty.)
This is the shortest of the three books, but it doesn't lack for impact. The scenes between Saru and Burnham are particularly great, and I can't wait for Discovery's second season now that I understand our Kelpien friend a little better.
Next up, the first book published, is David Mack's Desperate Hours. Set just one year before the Battle of the Binary Stars, this is a terrific yarn in which we get to really understand the dynamic between Georgiou, Burnham and Saru. There's also some great stuff in here about Burnham's early years on Vulcan and, for those of you excited about seeing her interact with a certain Mr. Spock for the first time in Discovery's season two, well, hate to break it to you, he's all over this book.
A colony is under assault from an advanced underwater spaceship that's been at rest for centuries. The Shenzhou comes to save the day, but so does the Enterprise. Georgiou and Pike nearly blast each other out of the sky while citing regulations, but Burnham and Spock cool everyone down after contacting one another on back channels. There's a race against the clock and, as away missions divert, Saru pairs up with the Enterprise's Number One … and he kinda has a crush on her? Who wouldn't!?
Desperate Hours is the most TOS-ish of the bunch, and a rousing, juicy read. I definitely recommend saving it until last, and savoring it. If you time it right, you'll put it down just when it's time to join the crew of Discovery for season two.
Oh, and that Easter Egg I mentioned? Yeah, I'm not going to tell you where it is. (Okay, it's in Drastic Measures.) You'll know it when you see it, trust me. And if I read it right, I look forward to seeing an old friend in an upcoming episode.
Jordan Hoffman is the former host of Engage: The Official Star Trek Podcast. He is also a writer, critic and lapsed filmmaker living in New York City. His work can be seen on Film.com, ScreenCrush and Badass Digest. On his BLOG, Jordan has reviewed all 727 Trek episodes and films, most of the comics and some of the novels.
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Are the holidays here already? Apparently, they are over at IDW Publishing, as they’ve just unveiled their Star Trek comic books for December. So, StarTrek.com is getting in the spirit and sharing details about those titles and also First Looks at their covers.
The epic mashup Star Trek vs. Transformers #4 brings together writers John Barber and Mike Johnson, along with artist Philip Murphy, who’s also rendered the cover. The synopsis is as follows: With the Enterprise disabled by the Klingon-Decepticon alliance, things look dire for Spock, Optimus Prime and the landing team. But with the Autobots’ help, can Captain Kirk come up with a solution to save the day from a massive Cybertronian threat?
Star Trek vs. Transformers #4 will run 32 pages and cost $3.99. Fans should be on the lookout for variant covers by Priscilla Tramontano and George Caltsoudas.
Also on the sleigh, er, on the way for December is Star Trek: The Next Generation: Terra Incognita #6. Written by the tandem of Scott Tipton & David Tipton, with art by Angel Hernandez and a Tony Shasteen cover, the latest installment of The Next Generation Mirror Universe saga – set during Star Trek: The Next Generation’s fourth season -- comes to a twisted conclusion as Mirror Barclay unleashes his fiendish plan on Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Terra Incognita #6 will run 32 pages and cost $3.99. Elizabeth Beals and J.K. Woodward are creating variant covers, and IDW will also offer a photo cover.
And lastly, there’s Star Trek: New Visions, Vol. 8, the final volume of writer and photo-manipulator John Byrne’s Star Trek teleplay series. Presenting all-new tales set in the Star Trek: The Original Series universe and done in a unique photomontage style, using images from the classic TV series, Byrne’s New Visions books are as close as fans will ever come to getting new episodes featuring the original cast. Vol. 8 – which will span 128 pages and cost $17.99 – will feature the stories “The Enemy of My Enemy,” “An Unexpected Yesterday,” and a reinterpretation and adaptation of the TV episode “The Cage.”
For additional details, contact your local comic book retailer or visit www.comicshoplocator.com to find a store near you. And keep an eye on StarTrek.com for additional details about the IDW's upcoming Star Trek adventures, as well as exclusive First Looks at covers and preview pages.
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We took first daughter, Kat, to Boston to visit third daughter, Jenn, and her husband, Chris. We had also made arrangements to visit the Star Trek The Original Series Set Tour. Long-time Trek friends Brian and Kathy Mix joined us in Boston to drive into the wilderness to find Ticonderoga. Being from Southern California, we’d never seen “the colors” in person. Calendars and photos do not do justice to a New England autumn. Along the way, we stopped at interesting restaurants, particularly for homemade pie.
We got up early the next morning to follow local suggestions to a ranch-house restaurant where other fans showed up, which always happens no matter where we end up. We soon filled our end of the restaurant. The alert waitress kept the coffee coming, so we were finally awake enough to go find the set tour.
We were well introduced ahead of time by James Cawley’s announcement that “Trimbles Set to Appear at Original Series Set Tour.” Unlike the theme attractions in California, the outside of the tour building is very unassuming. We were told the building had once been a grocery store. Inside the lobby, we met Cawley and several of the staff. The lobby had a small ticket sales counter, items for sale, and wonderful things on display: costumes, studio lights, and prosthetics.
The sets are not evident from the lobby. What you see is the back of a stage, as would’ve seen it at Gower or Paramount Studios. We passed through the doorway onto a passageway that led to the transporter. This was our first evidence of the detail that went into this set. The fans we met were amazing; many of them saw their work on the set as a labor of love. We were happy to see pleased grins when we praised their craftsmanship. The transporter was another cause of slowdown on the tour, while we explained how the transporter effect was done (it involved dropping glitter).
Son-in-law Chris Eplett and Brian Mix brought their fancy cameras and promptly started taking photos. Among friends from the Boston area were Michelle Ligouri and Chris M (to distinguish him from Chris Eplett). They arrived in TOS uniforms, providing ambiance.
We investigated Dr. McCoy’s sickbay - complete with beds that tipped, and medical lab, with a large Tribble in a jar. The lighting was very good; it was difficult not to stand there with mouths open. Kat enjoyed this set because Dr. McCoy is her favorite character. Kirk’s and Spock’s quarters were careful duplicates of the rooms we saw so many times on TV. Tour assistants pointed out some of the things they’d worked on, generously including fellow workers.
The “meeting room” was the set’s catch-all space. It was variously redressed as the lounge, reception room, chapel, mess hall, and military court, among other venues. Along with the 3-D chess set, there were many other props, including a handsome Vulcan lyre made by John (whose last name we don’t have – apologies). He demonstrated that the instrument could be played and asked us to autograph it on the back that already had several famous names.
One feature in a passageway was a big hit with everyone: the Jefferies Tube. Fans were not allowed to climb into it, but they could take photos at both ends. As with most sets, the engineering tube is not as long as it looks. Matt Jefferies designed this feature to make it possible for a story to move along. It turned up some amazing things at the old Desilu set. But that’s another blog.
While we were admiring the loving details of everything on display, others arrived to visit the set. Some were fans who’d worked the magic, and others had traveled to see it, just like us. John and I soon found ourselves sharing TOS stories (as usual) with anyone who wanted to listen. Kat’s heard all our stories, so she wandered around, a staff volunteer always with her. Chris and Brian brandished their cameras at every inch of the sets.
John’s favorite room (not counting the bridge set, of course) was the engine room. It was lit exactly as the original, and brought a tear of nostalgia to John’s eye. A very proud crew of hard workers were pleased to show off everything to an appreciative audience, and explained how they’d recreated the screen in front of the dilithium warp generators. With big smiles, they displayed all the winkie-blinkies. John didn’t miss his chance to get melodramatic in the engine room.
We eventually ended up on the bridge set, which was very realistic. Of course, everyone in our party had to sit in the Captain’s chair. Because why visit a TOS set and not sit in the Captain’s chair? Chris, our son-in-law, took a serious pose that needed a TOS uniform, not shorts and a Hawai’ian shirt. It turns out that not everyone on a tour gets to sit anywhere on the bridge set. John and I answered questions from tour visitors and reminisced about the original set and how many “true” Captain’s chairs exist in the world.
Both of us were surprised to be asked to autograph the fan edition of the Star Trek Concordance. James had found a copy somewhere, along with a fanzine with some of Bjo’s cartoons. Both publications are now some 50+ years old.
We went back through the whole set again, just to take it all in. The staff tried to keep people moving, but we weren’t much help. Practically everything we saw reminded us of a story or two, and we’d stop to tell it. So, the whole tour would stop. We’d start walking again, until we’d see something else, and stop. Everyone else would stop. We suspect the staff felt like they were herding butterflies.
Kat has made several visits both TV and movie sets at Desilu and at Paramount. She was thrilled to see this well-done replica and enjoyed looking at everything. She knows not to touch anything on a set. She was also pleased that the fans treated her as just another Trek fan, instead of a mentally handicapped person.
At the end of our tour, we presented James with a little plastic button from the original bridge set. We explained that when the Enterprise bridge set was donated to UCLA Theater Arts, it had been left outdoors. Hot weather popped many of the resin buttons off the set. Fans tried to save as much as they could, but weren’t particularly successful. We were given a small orange button that was found in the weeds and decided to present the button to James. He was delighted, and started figuring out where on the bridge set it should go.
All of us thoroughly enjoyed the day. Chris and Brian took over 1000 photos each, some of which illustrate this blog. We agreed that it’d be fun to visit the set again, perhaps for next year’s August Trekonderoga. We want to return to the set and the wonderful fans who built it.
Bjo and John Trimble are iconic figures in Star Trek history, as not only did they become known as “the fans who saved Star Trek,” but she wrote the seminal reference book, Star Trek Concordance, as well as a memoir, On the Good Ship Enterprise. They’ve written articles for many magazines and websites, including StarTrek.com. -
Star Trek’s 52 years as a thought-provoking, game-changing franchise were celebrated during last night’s telecast of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, as Trek received the prestigious Governors Award. Bill Nye led the proceedings, calling Gene Roddenberry’s creation “a social commentary on the state of humanity brilliantly disguised as science-fiction… Star Trek may have started out as an entertainment series, but it changed the world. And I feel it changed the world for the better.” Nye went on to introduce a three-minute video that paid tribute to all six live-action Treks…
Nye next welcomed more than 100 creatives from the shows to the stage. They were then joined by representatives of each series: Walter Koenig from Star Trek: The Original Series, LeVar Burton from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Terry Farrell from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Jeri Ryan from Star Trek: Voyager, Linda Park from Star Trek: Enterprise and Alex Kurtzman from Star Trek: Discovery, as well as a Kelpien and a Klingon. Sonequa Martin-Green and William Shatner then took the stage, with Shatner accepting the Governors Award on behalf “of all the artists who have worked to make Star Trek a success... those people who are with us and those that have passed away, and CBS. I accept this award with honor.” -
Fans made the logical choice. StarTrek.com, for our latest weekly poll, asked fans, Which species would you want to belong to? They chose from the following: Andorian, Bajoran, Borg, Cardassian, Ferengi, Klingon, Orion, Romulan, Vulcan and Xindi. Thousands of fans voted, and here are the results:
Vulcan (43%)
Bajoran (14%)
Klingon (13%)
Romulan (8% - 576 Votes)
Andorian (8% - 566 Votes)
Borg (5%)
Orion (3% - 210 Votes)
Cardassian (2%, 186 votes)
Xindi (1%)
And how did YOUR species of choice fare?Be sure to vote in this week's poll...
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In the Star Trek: Discovery episode “Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum,” Michael Burnham is part of an away team who have beamed down to the planet Pahvo, which sensors indicate is uninhabited. Pahvo contains a naturally occurring crystalline transmitter Burnham intends to use to detect cloaked Klingon ships. The team’s mission is blocked when they encounter mysterious shimmering lifeforms that vibrate at the same frequency as the planet. “Now our duty is to follow first contact protocol,” Burnham tells the team. “And we can't borrow or alter their property without them understanding our objective and agreeing to it.”
First contact procedures form one of the guiding principles of Star Trek. Laid down in Starfleet General Orders, they describe a philosophy of respecting the sovereignty, property, beliefs and right to self-determination of alien cultures. General Order One, also known as the Prime Directive, states, “the right of each sentient being to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred.” All first contact procedures are governed by this founding principal, and Burnham cannot violate them… even to save lives on her ship.
A lot has changed since 1492 when Christopher Columbus first made landfall in the Americas and, according to his own diary, “did take possession of the said island for the king and for the queen.”
First contacts historically favor the more technically advanced culture, and Starfleet has procedures in place specifically to prevent this. As Captain Picard explains to Dr. Crusher in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “Symbiosis,” “History has proved again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less-developed civilization, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous.”
Assimilation, the process of individuals or groups of differing ethnicity blending into the dominant culture of a society, has been traditionally considered a positive outcome. As late as 1996, Canada was removing Native Canadian children from their families and placing them in boarding schools, depriving them of their ancestral languages and disenfranchising them from their culture. According to a 2008 Canadian report condemning the process as inhumane, “the belief [was] that the colonizers were bringing civilization to savage people who could never civilize themselves. The 'civilizing mission' rested on a belief of racial and cultural superiority.”
By the 24th century, such beliefs are firmly in the past. The United Federation of Planets has formed on the principles of universal rights, liberty and equality. Believing that all cultures have equal value, the Federation is dedicated to a policy of non-interference.
In “Symbiosis,’ Picard is faced with two cultures whose planets orbit the same sun in the Delos system, the Onarans and Brekkians. The Brekkians have been exploiting the Onarans for centuries by supplying them with addictive drugs in exchange for their servitude. Picard not only must refuse to intervene, but also cannot reveal to the Onarans they are being virtually enslaved by the Brekkians with narcotics. When Doctor Crusher insists Picard end the unhealthy and unbalanced relationship between the two cultures, he responds, “Why? Because it offends against our sensibilities? It is not our mission to impose Federation or Earth values on any others in the galaxy.”
Non-interference is a double-edged sword, and one Star Trek crews must continually grapple with. In “Galaxy's Child,” the Enterprise experiences a first encounter with an entity as large and majestic as a starship that lives in space. When the crew react to the entity’s defensive release of radiation with a low-level phaser burst, they inadvertently kill it. Picard is visibly upset: he had miscalculated how vulnerable the entity was to phaser fire. Minutes later when Commander Data reports the presence of an unborn offspring in the entity’s corpse, Picard calls a conference of senior officers in his ready room. He’s about to break the Prime Directive and the Federation policy of non-interference to help the baby entity break free from its mother’s corpse. Using their phasers as a scalpel, the crew cut a hole in the carcass, allowing the baby entity to emerge into the universe.
It is impossible not to feel joy at the birth. Do we support Picard’s decision so wholeheartedly because it reflects our own highest value of preserving life at all cost?
In 1964, a group of aboriginal Australians were hunted down by a patrol in the Western Australian desert. The area was designated as the dump site for Australia’s rocket test program -- the place where fiery rockets would crash land into the earth -- and the patrol’s mission was to clear the area. The 20 women and children they captured were members of the Martu tribe. It was their first contact with Western civilization and the end of a way of life.
Yuwali, one of the adolescents held captive by the patrol, is still alive today. “They tied the kids up with rope around their ankles,” Yuwali tells us, “to stop them running away.”
Terry Long, a member of the patrol, believed at the time the women and children could not survive any longer on their own in the desert and his actions were saving their lives. He now acknowledges, “We ought to have handled this much, much better.”
Star Trek’s procedures for first contacts continue to evolve along with our own. They reflect our changing values and beliefs as humans while also providing a vision of equality, tolerance and humanity for mankind to aspire to. As Picard says in “Galaxy’s Child,” “We're out here to explore, to make contact with other life forms, to establish peaceful relations but not to interfere. And absolutely not to destroy.”
J.V.Jones is a USA Today bestselling writer whose acclaimed Sword of Shadows series is published by Tor Books.To learn more about this subject, please visit www.LearningForASmallWorld.com. The course "Star Trek: Inspiring Culture and Technology” provides greater depth on this and many more aspects of the history and impact of Star Trek.
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Forty-four years ago today, on Saturday September 14, 1974, planet Earth was a distinctly different place. The President of the United States was Gerald Ford. “I Shot the Sherriff” by Eric Clapton was the number one song in America. Tatum O’Neal and her father, Ryan, won over cinema audiences in Paper Moon, while Darren McGavin spooked them as Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Arcade kids would have been laying down their hard-earned pocket money playing Elimination, Tank or Qwak!, just as Charles Kowal was announcing the discovery of Leda, the 13th satellite of Jupiter.
Very different times indeed.
But within the realms of the Star Trek universe, it wasn’t all that different. That long-distant Saturday morning saw the first screening of “Bem,” the second episode of the truncated sophomore season of Star Trek: The Animated Series, and while we may now look back at those episodes with a mixture of charm and nostalgia, the messages and themes of the episode are every bit as relevant in 2018 Star Trek as they were in ’74.
Let’s first read Captain Kirk’s log entry as the mission begins.
"Captain's log, Stardate 7403.6. The Enterprise is on a series of exploratory and contact missions. Traveling with us as an independent observer is a member of a recently contacted alien species. Honorary Commander Ari bn Bem is from the planet Pandro in the Garo VII system. We have taken up orbit around Delta Theta III, a newly discovered Class M planet. A previous scouting mission has reported possible aboriginal lifeforms here and the Enterprise is to investigate and report."
Written by “The Trouble With Tribbles” scribe David Gerrold, “Bem” (taken from the old-school sci-fi term meaning “bug-eyed monster”) tells the story of the U.S.S. Enterprise mission to the world of Delta Theta III. Discovering “several groupings of aborigines” on the surface, Kirk orders a landing party to beam down, accompanied by the observer Bem, who elects to join them on his own first Enterprise mission. However, unbeknownst to the crew, Bem swaps out their phasers and communicators with fakes and alters the transporter co-ordinates, so Kirk and Spock down beam down to the wrong location.
Uhura’s discovery of a potentially intelligent lifeform leads the crew into a forest, where suddenly Bem breaks into a sprint, leaping into the trees and separating into different body parts to get through the dense foliage. With Bem being held by the natives and a force field surrounding the village, Kirk and Spock use the cover of night to find and liberate the captured Pandronian. However, Bem does not wish to be rescued, and as Kirk notes his irritation at Bem’s unorthodox methods, the alien explains his dislike for phasers and communicators, vocalizing his wish to see if Kirk can manage a mission without his weapons and the casual violence they bring.
Bem once again splits into smaller parts and returns their equipment to them, revealing himself to be what Spock describes as a colony creature. They leave, but are captured in a force field by an alien entity who chastises them for trying to harm her “children.” Kirk explains their mission of exploration and is relieved when the entity orders them to leave immediately. Bem accuses Kirk of failure and runs away again, captured a second time by the planet’s natives. Angry at the crew not leaving, the alien entity returns, and Kirk explains that just as the entity is responsible for her “children,” so he is responsible for his crew. Placated, she allows them to once again leave. Bem is crestfallen, deciding that for his failure he must disassemble into his smaller parts, or, in other words, die. It’s the alien entity who explains that the only way to develop is to learn from our mistakes.
Originally written as an episode of the third season of The Original Series, “Bem” found its home in animated form. Already mostly written and paid for, the episode was picked up by Filmation for the shortened second season after the exit of associate producer and story editor Dorothy "D.C." Fontana. Gerrold further worked up the story with The Great Bird of the Galaxy himself, Gene Roddenberry, who suggested adding a number of elements, including the concept of finding God on the planet. Fifteen years later this would resurface in 1989’s Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, as well as be a key element in the development of Phase II and pre-The Motion Picture era stories.
“Bem” is also notable for a number of other reasons. While James Doohan and his magnificent radio voice were often called upon to provide the vocals for guest characters, this episode employed the skills of Nichelle Nichols, who voiced the alien entity. It was also the first time we heard Captain Kirk’s middle name – Tiberius. Taken from a book that Gerrold had read about torture, the previously undiscovered “T” became - with Rodenberry’s blessing – Tiberius. The name later saw print in Alan Dean Foster’s 1979 novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and on-screen in the original crew’s final big-screen hurrah Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, released during the 25th anniversary year of 1991.
While the story is reminiscent of March 1967’s TOS season-one episode “Errand of Mercy,” “Bem” displayed many Trek elements that live long and prosper to this day. Starfleet’s mission of exploration and first contact is a Trek staple, as are working with officers from other organizations and factions. Here it’s Bem as visiting officer, but stepping ahead 15 years in the Star Trek: The Next Generation season-two episode “A Matter of Honor,” we see Riker assigned to the Klingon vessel the I.K.S. Pagh, while the Benzite ensign, Mendon, comes aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D. The hunger to learn more about the galaxy and our fellow species is a continuing thread through all series.
Powerful alien entities are another staple, as seen in numerous episodes across Trek, from Armus, the malevolent being who infamously murdered Tasha Yar on an away mission to Vagra II in TNG season-one’s “Skin of Evil” to the Pah-Wraiths of Deep Space Nine. And let’s not forget Q, the Sha Ka Ree god of Star Trek V, the Douwd, all alien entities with God-like powers, and ones that our respective crews must face down and communicate with.
Forty-four orbits of the sun after its premiere, let’s raise a glass of prune juice and celebrate “Bem.”
Mark Newbold has been an avid Trek fan since the 1970's, when TOS was shown on UK TV, but it was the original cast movie series and TNG era that sealed the deal. Mark is a writer for Star Trek The Official Magazine, is editor-in-Chief of Star Trek: The Neutral Zone and was a stage host at Destination Star Trek Germany in 2018. At heart, he's a Niner. Follow him on Twitter. -
Star Trek Online, the free to play online roleplaying game that continues the story of the Prime Timeline, is releasing two brand-new starships on PC this week. Both of these ships are updates to classic designs from Star Trek history, including a ship that was almost lost to time.
First up is the Narendra, a new Federation starship named after the Klingon Colony on Narendra III, where the Enterprise-C was lost. It’s a fitting tribute, because this update to the venerable Ambassador class is based on the original design for the Enterprise-C by Andrew Probert. While this design didn’t end up being used in Star Trek: The Next Generation, a model of it briefly hung in the Enterprise D’s Observation Lounge. Both of these ships were modeled by superstar 3D artist Tobias Richter, who was responsible for the Enteprise-D model used in the TNG HD releases.
The Var’ral is an update to one of our most-popular and classic Klingon ships, the Vor’cha class. The Vor'cha was originally introduced in 2367 as a response to the increasing tensions of the Borg, Dominion and Cardassian threats that marked this stressful time in history. Over the next few years, this versatile and sturdy warship proved its worth time and again, captained by many different able-bodied Klingon warriors. This updated version of such an honorable lineage has taken the same qualities that made it a staple of the Empire's fleet, and improved them for this new age of conflict, with the intention that the Vor'ral-class will be the answer to the instability of this age.
Both of these ships are now available in game, as a bundle or separate purchases.
Star Trek Online is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game that allows players to explore the Star Trek universe from within. Players can forge their own destiny as Captain of a Federation starship, champion the Empire through the far reaches of the galaxy as a Klingon Warrior, rebuild the Romulan legacy as the commander of a Romulan Republic Warbird or carry out daring missions on behalf of the Dominion as a Jem’Hadar soldier. Captains can also explore iconic locations from the Star Trek universe, make contact with new alien species and battle alongside other players in customizable starships. Star Trek Online is currently available on PC, PlayStation4 and Xbox One.
To download and play Star Trek Online today for free, visit www.PlayStarTrekOnline.com.
Interact with Tilly, Face Off Against the Ju'la
in Star Trek Games
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A new voyage of discovery is about to begin, Captains, and we’re proud to share it with you. Interact with Cadet Sylvia Tilly, face off against the sinister Ju’la, and take your first steps into a new era when Star Trek Online: Age of Discovery launches on October 9th. You’ll be able to bring your reputations to a new tier, compete in random Task Force Operations, and experience the beginnings of a fresh story that will have ramifications for all of Star Trek Online. The Age of Discovery is coming, very soon. Keep reading for details on the first two missions you’ll take part in for this new era.
This is Admiral Kensington. I have a special assignment for you. A Klingon raiding party attacked one of our science stations near the Delta Volanis Cluster. Please assist them in any way you can.
A Klingon raiding party attacked a Starfleet research facility near the Delta Volanis Cluster, but left survivors and took nothing. The station is damaged, however, and the staff could use your help to resume normal operations.
Be on your guard – this could be a Klingon ruse. Be ready for anything. If things get desperate, one of Starfleet’s top-secret vessels is in the area and can assist. Get on this as soon as you can – Starfleet Command needs to know what the Klingons are up to out there.
Secrets is the first episode available to Discovery-era Captains after completing the tutorial. It will also be available to 2409 and TOS-era Captains as a historical simulation, in the mission journal after Victory is Life. Go boldly in the Age of Discovery.
I’m not going to lie to you… this war is not going well for the Federation. Every day, the Klingons gain ground, and every day, we fall a little further back. Well, not today. Today, we stand, together, as Starfleet. Today, we prove that our ideals can withstand a hostile invasion force. I’m honored to serve with each and every one of you. Go out there and make me proud.
You were just a cadet, stepping out into the cosmos for the first time, when the Klingon War broke out. Now it’s come home. In Downfall, the second episode of Age of Discovery, you’ll find yourself standing in defense of Starbase One, in what could be her final battle. Enemies, including Ju’la herself, are going to attempt to take this last bastion of defense for themselves. Only you can stop them.
Downfall is the second episode available to Discovery-era Captains after completing the tutorial. It will also be available to 2409 and TOS-era Captains as a historical simulation, in the mission journal after Victory is Life.
Star Trek Online is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game that allows players to explore the Star Trek universe from within. Players can forge their own destiny as Captain of a Federation starship, champion the Empire through the far reaches of the galaxy as a Klingon Warrior, rebuild the Romulan legacy as the commander of a Romulan Republic Warbird or carry out daring missions on behalf of the Dominion as a Jem’Hadar soldier. Captains can also explore iconic locations from the Star Trek universe, make contact with new alien species and battle alongside other players in customizable starships. Star Trek Online is currently available on PC, PlayStation®4 and Xbox One.
To download and play Star Trek Online today for free, visit www.playstartrekonline.com.
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