Tag: Star Trek

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STAR TREK – STRANGE NEW WORLD [News]: Meet The Cast On #StarTrekDay.

Paramount+, the streaming service from ViacomCBS, today revealed which characters the previously announced cast members Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, and Babs Olusanmokun, along with the newly announced Bruce Horak, will portray in the upcoming original series STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, alongside series stars Anson Mount (“Captain Christopher Pike”), Rebecca Romijn (“Number One”) and Ethan Peck (“Spock”).

Their character names are as follows:

· Jess Bush is Nurse Christine Chapel

· Christina Chong is La’an Noonien-Singh

· Celia Rose Gooding is Cadet Nyota Uhura

· Melissa Navia is Lt. Erica Ortegas

· Babs Olusanmokun is Dr. M’Benga

· Bruce Horak is Hemmer

The announcement was made in a surprise video featuring the series’ cast during the STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS panel that took place at today’s global live-streamed Star Trek Day celebration. The STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS panel featured series stars Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, and Ethan Peck, and co-showrunners and executive producers, Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers in a conversation with host Mica Burton.

https://youtu.be/EBE7d8sH5Rg

The remaining Star Trek Day celebration panels are available to live-stream for free at StarTrek.com/Day and on Paramount+ and Paramount+’s Twitch page in the U.S. The Star Trek Day panel schedule can be found at StarTrek.com/Day. After their initial airing, the panels will be available on-demand on Paramount+’s YouTube Channel and on Paramount+.

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS is based on the years Captain Christopher Pike manned the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series will feature fan favorites from season two of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY: Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One, and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock. The series will follow Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock, and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy.

The series premiere was written by Akiva Goldsman with the story by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet. Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers serve as co-showrunners, with Goldsman directing the premiere episode. Goldsman, Kurtzman, and Lumet serve as executive producers in addition to Alonso Myers, Heather Kadin, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, and Aaron Baiers. Akela Cooper and Davy Perez serve as co-executive producers. The series is produced by CBS Studios, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment.

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS will stream exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Latin America. In Canada, it will air on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and stream on Crave.

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STAR TREK DISCOVERY [Season 3 Premiere Review]: Cats and Fireflies.

“El Sacerdote” J.L. Caraballo Twitter @captzaff007

Having evaded the confines of continuity and the 23rd century at the conclusion of season 2, Star Trek Discovery finds itself reinvigorated nearly 1000 years into the future of Gene Roddenberry’s universe. Meeting the Han Solo-esque Book (David Ajala), and learning that the long-fought peace of the Federation has since crumbled following a yet-to-be explained cosmic cataclysm, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Greene) finds herself clinging to the one thing Star Trek has always embodied: hope…

Destiny “Evangelical” Edwards
@mochaloca85

Oh, yeah– New Trek, who dis? When they said Disco Season 3 was going to be a reboot, they meant it. The premiere focuses exclusively on Burnham as she experiences this strange future where the United Federation of Planets is gone. In fact, the only evidence that it ever existed is an abandoned outpost where a man has sat for 40 years, hoping that one day a Starfleet office will appear.

J.L.: Which is wild, Destiny, with Season 2 finding its footing after a rocky as hell S01. So I guess the far future seems to be the best fate for Star Trek. The post (far-post-) TNG era was always ripe for solid storytelling ground, and now that the show is no longer beholden to story traits, established characters and continuity, and an era that seemed mined to death (did we really need a second prequel series?) Discovery is thankfully free to live up to its name and potential, free of any preconceived moorings.

Hey if Carol Danvers can have one…

DESTINY: And what is the year 3188 like? Firefly, apparently. As you mentioned, we also see plenty of Book, the courier (read: smuggler) whose ship Burnham crashed into, and his giant cat. Even the way the two of them escape is Firefly-esque. It’s not bad – #Browncoat4Lyfe – but it felt probably the least Trekkie the show ever has. I’m sure this will change when we eventually catch up with the crew of the ship, but right now it’s just weird. Enjoyable and intriguing, but weird. 3.25/5 Broken Tricorders.

J.L.: While so very true, Alex Kurtzman seems to have a deft sense of what this series is, and the advance renewal of season four makes for a confidence in where the series is going. And I’m all for it. Hitting that “Firefly” territory is where Star Trek Discovery should have hit to begin with; glad it’s finally made the journey– and my initial theory of where it would wind up proved correct! 4/5 Bibles.

-J.L. Caraballo & Destiny Edwards

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STAR TREK – LOWER DECKS [Review]: Vibrant Voyage.

“El Sacerdote” J.L. Caraballo Twitter @captzaff007

The third currently-running incarnation of the long-running, and wildly influential, Star Trek series is one of its least likely: a half-hour animated comedy.

The brainchild of Mike McMahan — alumni of Second City, and former writer and/or co-creator for Rick And Morty, Solar Opposites, and with experience working on both Drawn Together and South Park — the series is a thematically different approach to a very familiar universe. Set aboard the USS Cerritos, the series follows the grunts of the ship who are responsible for day-to-day operations, leaving the more exciting, glamorous adventures to the bridge crew.

The pilot episode introduces us to the quartet of main characters — Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells), and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) — all ensigns working in the titular lower decks at the aft of the ship. Their mission is to establish Second Contact with the planet Galar, a process which includes bureaucratic processes and parliamentary procedures; basically, the nitty-gritty of establishing a functioning society with the Federation.

Mariner, hyperactive and smarter than she at first lets on, has been acting beyond her mandate and responsibilities, something that rankles captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) to the point of assigning the career-minded Boimler to keep tabs on her. Freeman, we later learn, is Mariner’s mother, and has been looking for any excuse to get her daughter reassigned.

In the middle of Boimler and Mariner’s misadventures — they’re trapped for half the episode by a giant, yet herbivorous, alien farm animal on Galar — the Cerritos crew is inadvertently infected by a Galarian virus that turns its victims into mindless, flesh-eating rage zombies, a cure for which the short-tempered Caitian Doctor T’Ana (Gillian Vigman) has to render with Tendi’s assistance.

All of these elements occur within the show’s 23 minutes, and it flies by at a breakneck speed. The strength of the show lies in its economy of time: with such a confined timeslot, the energy is cranked to 11. The effect is similar to JJ Abrams’ rebooted first movie, but less jarring since these are characters we’ve never seen before, in a medium where hyper-active movement is the norm. It would make sense for Tendi and Rutherford to backflip over and jump-kick infected crewmembers since the animation warrants such fluid action (seeing Spock, for instance, attempt the same sort of action in Star Trek Into Darkness had the opposite effect; that was a man who had no need to do anything more complicated than a neck pinch).

The use of animation also allows something to return to Star Trek that has been missing for some time: light! Color! The show is vibrant and buoyant and returns a feeling of optimism to the universe that had only just begrudgingly been reinserted in later episodes of Discovery and Picard. Setting the series after the events of Nemesis (but before the events of Star Trek Picard) is also refreshing: no longer is this universe coupled to the past (as in Discovery, and the rebooted movies), nor anchor itself to familiar characters that were already well established.

Star Trek hasn’t been animated since 1974, and where that iteration was basically the original series in cartoon form (with all the headiness and pacing intact), Lower Decks is wise in revving up the pacing and embracing the conceits of the genre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HzRGqvRK8U

The references to events from other series, and characters, grounds the series to what we already know, but even referencing things like the Monkees, or seeing the characters getting drunk makes them more real (to say nothing of hearing them swearing. Star Trek Discovery likewise introduced all these additions to…mixed results. It seems to land better in animation).

Right now, I’m onboard for this series. It’s smart, funny, buoyant and, more than anything else, fun as hell. 5/5 Bottles of Romulan Whiskey.

-J.L. Caraballo

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STAR TREK DISCOVERY / LOWER DECKS / PICARD [Comic-Con@Home]: Strange New Worlds.

Destiny “Evangelical” Edwards
@mochaloca85

When this panel called itself “Star Trek Universe,” it meant it. The nearly 80-minute Zoom meeting brought together the casts of Discovery, Picard and Lower Decks, along with Executive Producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin. The panel kicked off with Kurtzman mentioning that writing has started on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and that they’ve come up with 10 stories, so far.

The biggest piece of news followed. Kadin announced that Dan and Kevin Hageman (Ninjago) are developing a new Trek animated series for Nickelodeon that will premiere next year. The show, Star Trek: Prodigy, will follow a group of teens who find an abandoned Starfleet ship and use it to go on adventures. It will, Kadin said, serve as an entry point to get children into the franchise without sifting through 55-years of lore.

Up next was the cast of Discovery. After a table read of the Season 2 finale (the first act, anyway), they launched into a Q&A. Very little was revealed about the upcoming season, with the cast instead discussing how important it was to live up to Star Trek’s tradition of diversity and ideals of hope. Doug Jones, who plays Saru, did hint that we may see more of his race, the Kelpiens, in Season 3. Michelle Yeoh said that Emperor Georgiou is “really pissed off” at first but that she’s “a survivor with many skills,” while Anthony Rapp said this coming season “really explores family in wonderful new ways.”

After Disco, we got a first look at Lower Decks, the animated series that starts streaming on August 6, followed by another Q&A with its cast. The clip was absolutely hilarious and made me anxious for the first episode’s release date. Most of this section was the cast describing their characters, but Jerry O’Connell about how he plays Number One in Lower Decks, his wife Rebecca Romijn (who was on the previous segment) is Number One on Discovery and that they’re good friends with Jonathan Frakes, who was the original Number One.

The panel ended with the cast of Picard recapping Season 1 and just being a giant Trek lovefest. My best friend summed this segment up in the most accurate way possible: New Trek Stars: Patrick Stewart is radiant, resplendent, practically perfect in every way. Marina Sirtis: He ain’t shit.

The panel ended on a positive note, with Michelle Hurd reflecting again on Star Trek’s commitment to diversity and hope in response to a fan question about what the cast wishes they could take from the show out into the real world. “We always talk about Star Trek holding a mirror up to society; perhaps society needs to look at us and start replicating what we’re doing, because we’re trying to tell the stories to heal.” This was an A-plus panel, a must watch for all Trekkies and Trekkers. 5/5 Bibles.

-Destiny Edwards

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STAR TREK UNIVERSE [Comic-Con@Home]: Picard Discovers the Lower Decks.

CBS All Access and CBS Television Studios invite Star Trek fans from across the United States to transport into a virtual Star Trek Universe block of panel programming during Comic-Con@Home, on Thursday, July 23. Expect back-to-back panel sessions will feature the season two cast of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, the voice cast behind the upcoming new animated comedy series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS and the season one cast of STAR TREK: PICARD, including Patrick Stewart. Comic-Con@Home panels will be available to view on Comic-Con’s YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/user/ComicCon.

“STAR TREK UNIVERSE” VIRTUAL PANEL, THURSDAY, JULY 23, 10:00 AM, PST

Star Trek broke barriers when it first premiered more than 50 years ago, inspiring people of all walks of life by championing cultural diversity, scientific advancement and the exploration of new frontiers. Today, this legacy carries on through the Star Trek series on CBS All Access, where Starfleet and new characters alike take on exciting missions and explore uncharted areas of the universe, while keeping true to the ideals of Star Trek that society needs now more than ever.

Dominic Patten, Deadline’s senior editor, moderates the overall Star Trek Universe panels with an introduction and discussion with Secret Hideout executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin, who give a glimpse of what’s ahead in the ever-expanding franchise.

The cast of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY reprise their roles in a virtual table read of the season two finale, “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2.” Cast scheduled to appear include Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Doug Jones (Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Commander Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Ensign Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Tig Notaro (Commander Jett Reno), Alan Van Sprang (Captain Leland), Jayne Brook (Admiral Katrina Cornwall), and the Discovery Bridge crew Emily Coutts (Lt. Detmer), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. J.G. Owosekun), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Rhys), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. J.G. Bryce) and Sara Mitich (Lt. Nilsson).

The upcoming STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS stars Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Rebecca Romijn (Number One) and Ethan Peck (Spock), alongside STAR TREK: DISCOVERY executive producer and co-showrunner Michelle Paradise and executive producer Olatunde Osunsanmi, who also directed the season two finale. Act one of the table read will be shown at Comic-Con@Home followed by a brief cast Q&A.

Mike McMahan (“Rick and Morty,” “Solar Opposites”), creator, showrunner and executive producer of the upcoming animated series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS, which premieres on CBS All Access on Thursday, August 6, will debut an exclusive extended first look from the premiere episode. McMahan also moderates a fun discussion with the Starfleet crew residing in the “lower decks” of the U.S.S. Cerritos, including Ensign Beckett Mariner, voiced by Tawny Newsome, Ensign Brad Boimler, voiced by Jack Quaid, Ensign Tendi, voiced by Noël Wells, and Ensign Rutherford, voiced by Eugene Cordero, as well as the ship’s bridge crew including Captain Carol Freeman, voiced by Dawnn Lewis, Commander Jack Ransom, voiced by Jerry O’Connell, Lieutenant Shaxs, voiced by Fred Tatasciore, and Doctor T’Ana, voiced by Gillian Vigman.

Join Patrick Stewart and the lively cast of the hit original series STAR TREK: PICARD, as they come together (virtually) for the first time post-finale to discuss the critically acclaimed first season. Cast members scheduled to appear include Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Alison Pill (Dr. Agnes Jurati), Isa Briones (Dahj/Soji), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker), and Santiago Cabrera (Cristobal Rios) along with special guest stars Brent Spiner (Data/Dr. Soong), Jonathan Del Arco (Hugh), Jonathan Frakes (William Riker), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi).

About CBS All Access:

CBS All Access is ViacomCBS’ direct-to-consumer digital subscription video on-demand and live streaming service. CBS All Access gives subscribers the ability to watch more than 15,000 episodes on demand – spanning exclusive original series, CBS Television Network’s primetime, daytime and late night shows, plus classic TV hits – as well as the ability to stream local CBS stations live across the U.S. CBS All Access’ original series include THE GOOD FIGHT, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, TOONING OUT THE NEWS, NO ACTIVITY, WHY WOMEN KILL, INTERROGATION, THE THOMAS JOHN EXPERIENCE and TELL ME A STORY, as well as the upcoming event series THE STAND, THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH, THE HARPER HO– USE and GUILTY PARTY. CBS All Access is also the exclusive domestic home to STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, STAR TREK: PICARD and the upcoming animated series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS and the U.S.S Enterprise set series STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS. CBS All Access also includes the ability to stream CBS Interactive’s other live channels, CBSN for 24/7 news, CBS Sports HQ for sports news and analysis, and ET Live for entertainment coverage.

The service is currently available online at CBS.com, on mobile devices via the CBS app for iOS and Android, and on Roku Players, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Fire TV, Samsung Smart TVs, Vizio Smartcast TVs, LG Smart TVs, Amazon Prime Video Channels and Apple TV channels. Versions of CBS All Access have now launched internationally in Canada and Australia (10 All Access), with unique but similar content and pricing plans. For more details on CBS All Access, please visit https://www.cbs.com/all-access.

-Press release provided by CBS

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GHG’s 8TH ANNIVERSARY / MAY THE 4TH [Zoomcast]: Memory Lane

What a long and winding road it has been for GodHatesGeeks, geeeeeeeeks!

Travis Moody (up center), Lance Paul (up right), Dana Keels (right), Myke Ladiona (bottom center), Robert Bexar (left), J.L. Caraballo (up left), Derek Vigeant (middle).

What started out as a “Solo” geek blog has grown over the past eight years to a full blown blogazine that has seen a Clone Trooper army worth of writers, podcasters and an all-around buckethead-kicking group of awesome personalities.

We brought order to the Republic last night, just in time for everyone’s favorite Star Wars fan holiday and a look back at our favorite moments with GHG, best Comic-Con stories, what we love most about that franchise with the lightsabers and wookies, and what other nerd franchises we love best– since, you know, almost everyone picked.. that one that’s celebrating its best movie’s 40th Anniversary this year…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmNk_JTdOmg

We could only ever be so lucky. Cheers to all of our amazing followers who’ve joined the Clergy of Cool on this momentous journey, and with that, I give you GHG’s 8th Anniversary Zoomcast (in the YouTube video just above). And as always, May the Fourth be with you all!

-Robert Bexar and Travis Moody