Ep 18: Star Trek Tutorial

Topic: Star Trek Tutorial

We've been talking alot about fantasy and wrestling, and figured we needed to get back hard in to Nerdy stuff.  Thus, one of the most popular fantasy topics, I present Star Trek.

 

Tutorial

Broad-scope of Star Trek, not in-depth.

Created by Gene Roddenberry
Originally pitched as “Wagon Train to the stars.”
Each episode was meant to work on to levels, one of morality and one of suspenseful adventure stories.

Trekkie or Trekker = Star Trek Fan

Things to know:
Enterprise is main Ship
Starfleet is like united nations: Peaceful, Diplomatic, Explorers, multiple Alien Races
Klingons = bad, but not all the time
Symbol for Starfleet is the Starfleet Delta, it changes through out time.
Many gadgets and inventions made their way to real life (iPads, Cellphones, wireless communicators, Alexa/Google home)
Uniforms have a purpose, which shows ranks and which division you are with
Captains = Main Character

Enterprise (22nd Century)
•The Original Series (1966–1969) on CBS
A bit more in the vein of “Wagon Train to the Stars”.
Very Episodic
Campy to a Fault at times
o William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk
o Leonard Nimoy as Spock
o DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
o James Doohan as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott
o Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
o George Takei as Hikaru Sulu
o Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov
Still popular in syndication for nearly two decades
Considered ground breaking for multi-racial cast
Tackled some civil rights issues
Popularized Fan conventions & Fan Fiction

•The Animated Series (1973–1974) on CBS
Reprised a majority of the Cast
Not well received by Many Trek fans
Considered non-Canon

Movies 1-6 based on Original Cast

Modern Series (23rd Century)
• The Next Generation (1987–1994) on Independent channels
Created because the Movies did so well, but Paying William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy would be costly, so new unknown cast = cheaper to produce
Created to continue longevity of franchise.
o Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard
o Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker
o Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi
o Michael Dorn as Worf
o Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
o LeVar Burton as chief engineer Geordi La Forge
o Brent Spiner as Data
o Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher
Reintroduced Star Trek to Modern audience, popularized many races that would play rolls in later series
Episodic in Nature, but many episode would have themes/character returning to reprise conflicts
Popularized the Season Ending Cliffhanger
Movies 7-10 Based off TNG Cast

• Deep Space Nine (1993–1999) on Independent channels
Created as Star Trek was BIG
o Avery Brooks as Commander/Captain Benjamin Sisko
o Nana Visitor as Major/Colonel Kira Nerys
o René Auberjonois as Odo
o Armin Shimerman as Quark as Bar
o Alexander Siddig as Lieutenant Julian Bashir
o Terry Farrell as Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax
o Nicole de Boer as Ezri Dax
o Michael Dorn as Commander Worf as
o Colm Meaney as Chief Miles O'Brien
o Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko
Episodes are more Serialized than Episodic
Instead of a traveling ship, set in a stationary star base, allowing writers to create more compelling and dramatic character interactions/Interpersonal Conflics.
Mix of Religious and Science conflicts
Shows a full scale War from eyes of Starfleet
No Movies were made

• Voyager (1995–2001) on UPN
Created with the intention of starting a new network/tv channel.
Paramount wanted two series running at the same time
o Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway
o Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay
o Tim Russ as Lieutenant commander Tuvok
o Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris
o Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres as Chief engineer
o Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim
o Robert Picardo as The Doctor
o Ethan Phillips as Neelix
o Jennifer Lien as Kes
o Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
Created with intention of giving writers new stuff to play with, recreating the feeling of Original Series
Introduced new creatures and continued intrapersonal conflicts
Decisive amongst fans
Episodic in nature, wonky with continuity
First series to use fully CGI ships/effects

Before Original Series
• Enterprise (2001–2005) 22nd Century on UPN
Paramount wanted more Star Trek, but Creators wanted to do something simpler
Decided to focus on Pre-Starfleet and Federation
o Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer
o Jolene Blalock as T'Pol
o Connor Trinneer as Charles "Trip" Tucker III
o Dominic Keating as Malcolm Reed
o Linda Park as Hoshi Sato
o Anthony Montgomery as Travis Mayweather
o John Billingsley as Travis Mayweather
Decisive amongst fans/critics for its place in continuity
Tries to explain future events/characters (Klingons)
Considered campy and bland compared to other Star Trek Affairs
Seasons 1 and 2 are episodic, 3 & 4 are more Serialized
Very unhappy ending

• Star Trek Reboot Movies
Rebooted in 2009 after Paramount broke away from CBS
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Movies Include: Star Trek, Into Darkness, Beyond
o Chris Pine as James T. Kirk
o Zachary Quinto as Spock
o Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime
o Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura
o Simon Pegg as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott
o John Cho as Hikaru Sulu
o Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov
Set in alternate timeline where events didn’t act out quite the same way.
Added more Humor, Action, and much needed Glitz and Glamour to Star Trek.
New Cast well received, introduction of Leonard Nimoy was welcome addition

• Discovery (2017–present) 21st Century on CBS
Considered a prequel to The Original Series, Takes place on USS Discovery
First new Tv series since Enterprise ended in 2005
o Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham
o Doug Jones as Saru
o Shazad Latif as Voq / Ash Tyler
o Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets
o Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly
o Jason Isaacs as Gabriel Lorca
o Wilson Cruz as Hugh Culber
o Anson Mount as Christopher Pike
First time focus on 1st Officer and not Captain
Carries over design style from Star Trek Movies
Ship is considered a proto-type and uses a space drive that can go anywhere

Review
Star Trek TNG
Offspring, Season 3, Episode, 16
The Pegasus, Season 7, Episode 12
The Drumhead, Season 4, Episode 21
Tapestry, Season 6, Episode 15
The Inner Light, Season 5, Episode 25