When The Orville launched, many of the show’s characteristics matched what we loved about Star Trek more than Star Trek: Discovery did.
So I wanted to come on here and take a look back to 2017. You see, for fans of science fiction, and more importantly, Star Trek, 2017 was going to be a big year for us because while Star Trek had been given a fresh coat of paint and a revival, so to speak, with the JJ Abrams’ movies starting in 2009 and continuing on with Into Darkness in 2013 and Beyond in 2016, CBS announced plans to produce a new Star Trek television series for the first time in 12 years! Because while those JJ movies were ok, Star Trek…historically speaking, has largely enjoyed its best years on the small screen, in the form of a weekly television series. So in November of 2015, CBS announced plans to produce a new Star Trek television series called Star Trek: Discovery, which would air weekly on their new streaming service, named CBS All Access. Discovery would debut September 19, 2017.
Interestingly enough, Discovery wasn’t the only weekly sci-fi show to debut around that same time. Turns out, Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy & American Dad) had pitched his own Star Trek-esque sci-fi show to FOX, which was greenlit and aired its first episode just over a week earlier, on September 10, 2017. That show was named The Orville. It starred Seth as Captain Ed Mercer of the titular ship, The Orville. However, this was anything but the Enterprise. Because while the Orville was a ship of exploration, much like we’d get to know the USS Cerritos from Star Trek: Lower Decks for, Ed and his crew weren’t given any real important assignments. Also, we’re informed in the first episode, as Ed is first taking command of the ship, that his first officer was to be his ex-wife, Kelly Grayson, who had previously cheated on him. Hilarity ensues as he makes a few panicked runs from the bridge to his ready room onboard the ship to protest the assignment, but to no avail.
Among a good majority of Star Trek fans, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine holds a special place in our hearts.
When you look at the formula for Star Trek, it goes a little something like this:
Crew members on spaceship exploring the cosmos
Weekly conundrum involving either an alien species or some technological issue with the ship
Said conundrum is taken care of by the end of the episode
Lather, rinse, repeat for about 26 weeks
When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine came along, the established formula for an episode of Star Trek got thrown out the window. Being a space station, it resides in a singular place in space, so that first rule of “exploring the cosmos” has been killed immediately. In fact, for me, it was the fact that that first rule was nixed that made me not jump onboard the DS9 wagon at the start. It’s only through going back to watch the series years later, that I realized exactly what it was I had been missing!
So much happened in the seven-year run of this series that in looking back at its run, I think it did more to progress Star Trek than possibly almost any other series. That’s why today, I’m here to share what I think are some of the best things that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine did for Star Trek – in no specific order.
First & foremost, I really want to give props where they’re due: Triple H has done a masterful job of putting together a product in which a large part of the roster is incredibly over with the crowd! I mean if you look up & down this roster, just about everyone elicits a good crowd response!
From your World Champion, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Cody Rhodes, Gunther, The Judgment Day, and all the women: Becky, Bayley, Iyo Sky, Zoey Stark, Rhea Ripley…the crowd cares about everyone! Even Dominic Mysterio does his job incredibly well of being a smarmy, underhanded heel who’s not afraid to take the easy way out, and the crowd loves to boo him for it! And this isn’t John Cena or Xpac “go away” heat, the crowd is reacting exactly as they’re supposed to to this ass. Bravo!
Onto the matches…
I’m not sure how Asuka & Kairi Sane were added to Damage Control, but I like it! Also, great storytelling with the tension between Charlotte & Becky teaming together for a common cause. While the three remaining 4 Horsewomen of NXT were incredible in this match, everyone else involved more than held up their part in this awesome War Games match! I loved it when Asuka went for the second mist shot, which was ducked & countered by a fire extinguisher shot was inventive. Also, Dakota Kai’s help on the outside was a fun surprise as well, though I’d have had her play up some reactions to the camera if I’m going to have her there. My only gripe is one I’ve had with Iyo Sky for awhile now…if she’s trying to play a heel, she needs to stop playing up to the crowd when she’s going to hit her high spots. Heels shouldn’t care about crowd reactions. But maybe I’m nit-picking.
I didn’t know who Dragon Lee was, and wondered if it was Kalisto under a new persona before googling him to find out it wasn’t. His match with Santos Escobar was fine for what it was…filler. Santos is a great heel & should never be turned face again, he’s just a much more natural heel in my opinion.
Gunther vs. Miz was fantastic! Being a big fan of both guys, I’m sure I’m somewhat biased here, but they garnered good reactions from the live crowd with some very large pops when it appeared Miz might actually take the title! Great job by Triple H in rehabbing Miz recently. The dude can still draw, and SELL! Man, how long did he lay there clutching his lower back after submitting to Gunther? Great story as well with Gunther underestimating Miz & Miz showing great fire & resistance all match long! Gunther’s nod to Miz in the end put the icing on the cake for me in terms of telling us that Miz can hang with the best.
Rhea Ripley vs. Zoey Stark had some serious, hard-hitting, big moves involved & both women really worked a great, stiff-looking bout! I don’t think Zoey is quite ready yet to be a champion, but she’s certainly on her way if she continues putting in performances like she did last night. Also, Rhea is just such a big-time performer now, it’s awesome every time out. She’s an amazing worker with a great sense for the dramatic & plays her character incredibly well! It’s been so rewarding seeing her grow as a performer over the years!
And the mens’ War Games match certainly didn’t disappoint either. I couldn’t tell if the Chicago crowd knew CM Punk was coming back or if they were just chanting his name as they tend to do in Chicago. With Randy Orton’s “is he coming or isn’t he?” game, one had to wonder if he was being replaced by Punk since it was Chicago & all. Also, the whole Rhea Ripley running down with the briefcase for Damien Priest sure made a fresh new scenario for a cash in. Also, the tension between Cody & Seth over Orton’s questioned participation, plus the tension between Drew & Damien just all felt like it was overdone since the women had already played that card earlier with Charlotte & Becky coexisting on the same team.
On the flip side, Michael Cole & Corey Graves’ commentary, I felt was really on-point pretty much all night long with great mentions of the levity of Cody’s father first creating and fighting inside War Games back in 1987. However, the product placement spots got annoying. Early on, when they had the bags of ruffles on the commentary table, it almost looked so fake that they could have been superimposed on the scene since neither Cole or Graves actually came in contact with either bag. And the silly skits backstage with the New Day or Alpha Academy, R-Truth (he’s still employed there?) and whoever the other two were, were just flat out awful segments, but I suppose you have to pay the bills somehow.
Also, it wasn’t lost on me all the connections between Randy Orton & Cody Rhodes with their time together in Evolution or Randy & Seth together in the Authority along with the history Jey Uso had with Randy and the tie-in with Jey and Sami’s time together in the Bloodline. So many great moments with Randy lining up to hit Jey with the RKO, only for Jey to notice & then take out Priest before he could hit Orton from behind. A lot of really great thought went into these War Games matches!
And finally, the big surprise…
Sometimes, WWE still pulls off the big surprises & especially this one, I’m not going to complain one bit about! After 9 years away, CM Punk has returned to WWE! It’s no secret, I’m a huge CM Punk fan. I can remember when he first appeared in WWE’s ECW program that like a lot of people, I just didn’t get the attraction, but once he started the Straight Edge Society and was given some time to talk, yeah…I was hooked. Now, anytime I hear Cult of Personality (which is a real song by Living Colour that gets played in other venues other than just wrestling events), my mind immediately goes to him, kneeling in the entryway, yelling, “It’s clobberin’ time!” The dude is just so entertaining to me. So much so, that a few years ago, after he had walked out on WWE & before he returned to wrestling for AEW or even before his UFC stint, I went out of my way to go meet him at a sci-fi convention out on Long Island with one sole purpose: to meet and get a picture with him. That was probably the most expensive photo op I’ve ever gotten, but man was it ever worth it!
I also made sure not to miss either of his two UFC fights & while I was down that he didn’t do so well, the fact that he set a goal for himself and accomplished it, I was happy for him. Also, seeing him walk out to the octagon to Cult of Personality on a UFC Pay Per View was surreal. Plain and simple, CM Punk is my hero.
I downloaded his 2-part tell-all interview on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling Podcast and have listened to it numerous times & also paid to see his interview with Mike Johnson at Conrad Thompson’s Starrcast a few years ago. When he showed up on an episode of AMC’s Talking Dead, I watched. Even when he was signed by FOX to be a cohost on the short-run WWE Backstage, I watched every week! And when he made his not-so-secret debut in AEW, though I had already made up my decision about that company and their brand of wrestling, I still watched for him. Truth is, I’m not a fan of the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega or any of those other clowns & chose to believe the guy I felt had always been honest with his fans. And though I was sad that he wouldn’t be on AEW television any longer, I understood. CM Punk doesn’t always play nice with others, but that’s also a quality of his I’ve come to respect…his uncompromising view on what’s right & what’s wrong. He’s real. And probably more real than 90% of the people in the wrestling business. And because of that fact, I think that he and Paul “Triple H” Levesque probably get along far better now than they ever did 9 years ago when both were fighting to be top dog in WWE.
I hope this run lasts, but inside, I do worry that someone like a Seth Rollins — a more volatile personality within the company may rub him the wrong way and that’ll be it. But I will say this…the WWE main roster is filled with a whole new generation of talent that weren’t there the last time he was there, so I am excited to see those interactions! Sign me up for a CM Punk/Kevin Owens promo segment! Or a match between Punk & this version of Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes or even LA Knight! The possibilities are endless, I’m just praying to be able to witness it all!
Welcome home, CM Punk…it’s been a long time coming!
Paramount’s done a pretty nice job in fleshing out their new Star Trek series on Paramount+
As it stands, Paramount+ has given us a number of new Star Trek series since first launching Star Trek: Discovery in September of 2017. Those new series include: Discovery (4 Seasons), Star Trek: Picard (3 Seasons), Star Trek: Lower Decks (4 Seasons), Star Trek: Prodigy (1 Season), and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2 Seasons). You can also count Star Trek: Short Treks, but those are just shorts that don’t tie into one another and don’t have any consistent characters.
Though some of these series rely on previously established characters like Captains Christopher Pike, Jean-Luc Picard, and Kathryn Janeway, there have been a good number of new characters added to the Star Trek Universe and given quite interesting backstories and quirks. While not every one of their new characters have been fully fleshed out as I’d have hoped, there are a few notable, well-written characters who I’m here to shine a spotlight on today.
In the coming slides, I’m going to share some of my favorite new additions to the Star Trek Universe, many of whom, aren’t the central characters of their various series. In fact, most of them are actually supporting characters that I believe, their respective series would suffer greatly if they were left out. I’m here to explore some of their stories, and the reasons why I think they’re great additions. The following are my favorite new additions to the Star Trek Universe – in no specific order.
Last month, Scopely’s Star Trek Fleet Command celebrated its 5-year Anniversary.
For those of you who haven’t tried out Star Trek Fleet Command (available for Android, Apple iOS, Mac OS & Windows), it’s a mobile strategy game published by Scopely & CBS Interactive. When the game first launched, visually, it centered around the crew, ships, and content associated with the Star Trek 2009 rebooted series of movies that starred Chris Pine as a young James T. Kirk.
Over the course of the ensuing five years, quite a bit of content has been added to the game to bring together both the Kelvin and the Prime timelines. From new missions involving the ships & characters from Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager along with the recent additions on Paramount+ of Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Lower Decks & Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. They’ve done a nice job in incorporating all the various characters & ships we’ve gotten to know over the last 50+ years.
Players are urged to form and join alliances to claim territories, mine resources & materials used for constructing & upgrading new ships and buildings within your station, and also compete against one another in specialized daily events.
Neelix started out quite the questionable character on Star Trek: Voyager.
When we first meet Neelix, he’s tending to his debris field where he seemingly would be selling off junked starship parts that he procured via numerous, possibly underhanded ways, and selling them off for profit in order to survive in the Delta Quadrant. The one commodity he seemingly could not obtain was something that Federation ships were able to synthesize in an instant: water. Upon realizing this, he decided to take advantage of the Voyager crew’s generosity and innocence to free his girlfriend from enslavement at the hands of the Kazon.
Neelix proved himself to be quite the conniving individual, always seemingly having friends of questionable morals in the right places throughout his region of the Delta Quadrant. The one being whose existence he held above all else was Kes, his 3-year-old Ocampan girlfriend. Since the Ocampans live abbreviated lives, with the eldest Ocampans typically living only eight or nine years, by comparison, that puts Kes to be about the equivalent of being in her mid-20s to early 30s, alternatively, it was always my understanding with all of Neelix’s life experiences, that he was fairly significantly older than Kes…not only in physical age but also in cognitive age as well, which kind of makes him a bit of a creeper. However, just as I wrote previously here, I always viewed Voyager as the story of the redemption of Nick Locarno/Tom Paris & I think the same can easily be said about Neelix as well!
One common practice of Star Trek over the years has been to take a pause from the weekly exploration of the cosmos to center on the exploration of ourselves, our own rules or laws.
They’ve done this traditionally by holding trials. Sometimes it’s because of something that has happened in the everyday operations onboard the starship; other times it has to do with a new occurrence of the week. Either way, something has happened which has created a conundrum which must be cleared up for our characters’ lives to move on, and in order do clear up said conundrum, we’re treated to a Star Trek trial episode!
I’m sure for some these aren’t always the favorite episodes because we’re largely confined to a courtroom or inquiry panel hearing setting, so there’s far less phaser fire or meeting new and interesting alien species and the like. But for others, like me…I’ve always loved these style episodes of Star Trek! They stray from the “norm”, tend to make you think and usually there is some truly great dialogue between the characters…which sometimes includes an epic speech from the Captain!
For each entry, I’ll include the Star Trek series, season and episode numbers, and I implore you to go check out the episodes. If you have Paramount+, these episodes are all included on the subscription service, because for as detailed as I’ll try my best here to be, I can only do the episode so much justice in print form. These episodes are all well worth a good viewing in your spare time!
So I’m sure if you follow this site, you may have noticed a lack of new content over the last month or so, and there’s a good reason for that.
About a month ago, I decided to try to branch out and see what else might be out there from a writing standpoint. So I headed over to FanSided.com to see how the writers for that site got to do what they do & ostensibly get paid to do so. After looking around on the site for a bit, I found a link to apply to become a contributor, so naturally, I clicked it.
For as interesting as her rise to Captain on Star Trek: Discovery has been, Michael Burnham is the weakest written female Captain in Star Trek history.
In Star Trek’s over 50 year history, we’ve had a number of female Starfleet Captains, and most of them have benefitted from a writing staff who cared deeply to make them strong characters. Even during the 90s, when women like Jeri Ryan were mostly objectified and used as sex symbols to get viewership numbers up, the female Captains were generally treated differently.
Going all the way back to The Next Generation episode, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, we’re introduced to Rachel Garrett, Captain of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C). As her story goes, she responded to a distress call from a Klingon Outpost at Narendra III, who were under attack by a squadron of Romulan Warbirds during a time when the Federation and the Klingon Empire weren’t exactly as friendly as they later would come to be.
Even after being sucked into a temporal rift which sends her ship 22 years into the future, she understands her place in time and decides to return to her proper time in hopes to better the future. But it’s her call to duty and dedication to the Federation’s morals to attempt to give aid when requested, that her and her crew’s ultimate deaths are viewed as honorable by the Klingons, which sows the seeds for the eventual Khitomer Accords peace treaty between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. We may not have known her for long, but what we do know of her are her extreme heroics in the face of adversity.
Why do Trekkies try so hard to resist accepting new content?
So it’s no secret, we as Trekkies (or Trekkers as some prefer to be called) hold Star Trek canon in high regards. So much so, that when new content is released, often we’re hesitant to fully accept it. This was the case back in the day with series we now hold sacred like Voyager, Enterprise, and even The Next Generation! For those who were fans of The Original Series, the mere thought of another crew onboard a NEW Enterprise, exploring the cosmos was unfathomable!
Where’s Kirk? Where’s Spock? Where’s Bones? This is the NEXT Generation, but it’s being led by some old bald British dude? And yet, he we are…and even a new series starring the same (now, even older) bald, British dude took a couple of years to be fully accepted by the Trek faithful — if it truly even has, yet. It only took bringing back almost every other cast member from TNG for us to accept it.
I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t like the first two seasons of Picard either, and even while watching the first episode of Season 3, immediately, I’m yelling at my television, “No! No! You can’t receive subspace communications on a personal communicator! That’s not how this stuff works!” It took a conversation with a close friend for me to realize that I was taking things way too seriously and needed to look past that storytelling flaw. However, once I did get past it, I REALLY enjoyed Season 3 of Picard!
Marcs Two Cents 