Screenrant:
Celia Rose Gooding Is Taking Uhura Closer To Nichelle Nichols In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4
https://screenrant.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-celia-rose-gooding-interview/
"When Tawny Newsome guest-starred in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2's beloved crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks, her character, Ensign Beckett Mariner, was thrilled to meet her hero, Uhura, only to learn that Nyota was a workaholic who can't relax. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's ode to The Hangover, "Human Best Friend," saw an inebriated new side to Nyota: Rave-hura.
Playing Rave-hura "was such an exhale," Gooding beams, noting how
>"I've been dying to play a much more chillaxed party girl role. I think, just because of the nature of me as a dramatic actor, that I am often pulled towards very serious, very busy. very Capricorn-type divas. And so, to play a version of her that is so zenned out and blissed out, and really protective of her peace… I loved the idea that she won't hang out with her best friends because they're having a really hard time with something right now, and their energy cannot come in and like muck up what Uhura's got going on."
>"I found it to be very funny when I read it in the script where she's like, 'No, you guys are doing way too much for me right now, and I'm chilling in here,'" Celia explains. "Besides the fact that her costume was incredible, besides the fact that her makeup was incredible, besides the fact that the nature of the episode is so comedic and fun, I think Rave-hura is incredibly inspired by her relationship with Mariner, the one that she had in the Lower Decks crossover. I think that the voice of Mariner, the voice of Tawny Newsome, lives in Uhura's head, just like the voice of Tawny Newsome lives in mine."
>I don't know that there has been so much unspoken evolution of Uhura and the different facets of her, and I think we get to see one that we didn't really expand on after the Lower Decks crossover in season two. I like to think that Mariner and Ortegas, if she wasn't in this sort of buddy-cop sort of situation with Scotty, I think that they would both be very proud of Rave-hura for finally letting her hair down. Even if it required atmospheric inebriation, she got there, and that is what deserves celebrating. So yeah, I love it. It's a nice callback to that episode in season 2. ..."
ScreenRant: I also loved the jokes. “Her hands are so soft.”
>Celia Rose Gooding: Well, yeah, because no matter where she is, Uhura is always moisturized. We cannot forget that.
Read more:
https://screenrant.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-celia-rose-gooding-interview/
Slashfilm:
https://www.slashfilm.com/2161714/star-trek-gene-roddenberry-spock-green-blood-explained/
By Witney Seibold
>"... by techniques of the highly advanced Vulcan school of medicine — just as our own present Earth school of medicine is learning to beat the RH factor. There is actually no inconsistency in having a pulse rate of 242 beats per minute and practically no blood pressure by our standards."
Roddenberry explained that this is due to Vulcan arterial diameters, continuing:
>"The average diameter of [Spock's] arteries is larger than Terrna, more efficient, and the faster, lower pressued hydraulic action of his 'slightly different heart' results in about the same volume delivered as our slower, higher-pressured system.""
One can only speculate if Roddenberry consulted any medical professionals on this matter, if he had some kind of cursory knowledge of blood pressure dynamics, or if he was just B.S.ing a correct-sounding theory to a concerned Trekkie. Regardless, Roddenberry took the time to address a fan's concerns in a technical fashion, which all Trekkies appreciate. We love a good, thick block of dense, scientifically plausible techno-jargon. Roddenberry was either a detail-oriented nerd, or he merely understood that "Star Trek" appealed to detail-oriented nerds.
Gene Roddenberry also went on a tangent about alien physiology in general. Notably, he explained why most of the alien species in "Star Trek" seem to resemble humans so closely. The practical reason, of course, is that human actors had to play them on camera, but Roddenberry pointed out an in-canon reason as well, saying that it was all based on real science. He wrote:
>"We depict humanoid aliens because we (along with Cal Tech studies and others) do believe that parallel evolution is a distinct possibility. Natural laws govern life development just as other natural laws govern time, space, and atoms. There are no 'accidents' in nature, probably not even social development."
Cal Tech is, of course, the California Institute of Technology, although I was unable to find the Cal Tech studies pertaining to parallel alien evolution. Regardless, Roddenberry felt that it was completely in the realm of possibility that aliens would evolve to look and behave like humans. That, of course, is a handy theory when you only have human actors to work with, and when the special effects of the mid-1960s didn't allow writers to visualize too many non-humanoid aliens.
This letter, of course, was written before the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "The Chase," which indicated that all "Star Trek" humanoids evolved as a direct result of an ancient, ancient humanoid alien species seeding thousands and thousands of worlds with their own DNA. That, too explains why so many "Star Trek" aliens look like humans, are sometimes medically compatible for transplants, and — and Roddenberry would like this best of all — could have sex."
Read More:
https://www.slashfilm.com/2161714/star-trek-gene-roddenberry-spock-green-blood-explained/"
Redshirts:
https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/star-trek-snw-season-4-episode-4-case-chiaoscuro-una-spoiler
By Steven Thrash
"Strange New Worlds executive producer and co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman addressed the new season’s propensity to warp-speed from one particular genre to another, while also bringing up Una’s importance in “A Case of Chiaroscuro," by saying in an interview:
>“I think that we've always tried to pick and choose in a way that served the storytelling. The Casablanca idea, the noir idea, serves as an Una exploration of self.”
Goldsman continued by saying:
“I think fundamentally, once we pick a thing, we're always at risk of going too far because that's what we're trying to do. We're really trying to reach the very edge of where the genre can tell us more in a Star Trek episode than might traditionally be told. And that's often the trick, right? Bend it, just don't break it.”
In my opinion, the reward far outweighs the risk Goldsman and fellow showrunner Henry Alonso Myers took in the film noir-centric Strange New Worlds episode with Romijn's Una Chin-Riley and the other characters basking in the black-and-white values caused by the infrared blackbody spectra.
Even though Una has been featured heavily in the first few episodes of Strange New Worlds, with my favorite of Romijn’s on-screen moments being when she sang “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in Klingon, she clearly steals the spotlight in SNW’s exploration of the gritty black-and-white film noir world. ..."
Read more:
https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/star-trek-snw-season-4-episode-4-case-chiaoscuro-una-spoiler
TV Line:
https://www.tvline.com/2234499/julie-newmar-star-trek-episode-original-darker-ending/
By Gil Macias
>"In "Friday's Child," Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) must protect Eleen, the pregnant widow of Capella IV's slain leader, from a usurper. The broadcast episode ends on a triumphant, maternal note: After McCoy delivers her baby boy, Eleen — who was initially resentful of her pregnancy — gains a newfound maternal instinct and claims leadership as regent for her newborn son, whom she affectionately names "Leonard James Akaar" after McCoy and Kirk.
>But originally, Eleen was never meant to make it out of "Friday's Child" alive. Because Capellan culture places greater intrinsic value on male heirs than women, Eleen was to give her child to her captors in hopes of escaping, but they would execute Eleen anyway. During an interview with the Television Academy, Fontana revealed why her script explored a much darker side of motherhood. "I wanted to tell a story about a woman who would even use a newborn child to save herself," Fontana said. "... I had a good time creating that culture, that society that didn't especially revere women except as broodmares."
>Yet when D.C. Fontana presented her script, she bumped heads with "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, who held a far more traditional view of motherhood. "I really wanted a very strong woman, and we got Julie Newmar, who was great," Fontana said. "It was really about a woman who was willing even to use her child to serve herself."
>Much to Fontana's dismay, Roddenberry changed that ending, leaving her very unhappy with the ending that eventually made it to the small screen. "I don't think all women are mommies, and I don't think all women love their children. I mean, just look at the news," she argued.
>Fontana pushed back and explained her personal views to Roddenberry but ultimately conceded to her boss. "He regarded women a different way ... women were mommies, naturally, and they all love their children," Fontana recalled. "I didn't have any children; I didn't want any children. So, to be honest, I didn't have that view."
Read More:
https://www.tvline.com/2234499/julie-newmar-star-trek-episode-original-darker-ending/
Screenrant:
https://screenrant.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-episode-order-different-weird/
By John Orquiola
>"The shift can be felt most strongly when observing Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh's (Christina Chong). In "Valles Marineris," La'an punches a dinosaur, confirming her fears that being turned into a Vulcan (or a Romulan) in Strange New Worlds season 3 activated her recessive augment DNA and is changing her.
>If Strange New Worlds season 4 had aired in production order, then La'an's psychotic behavior while intoxicated in "Human Best Friend" would have led her to seek out Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) to monitor and counsel her mood swings and paranoia in "A Case of Chiaroscuro." Then, La'an would've been possessed by the evil entity in "The Griffin Incident."
>Now, La'an's character arc in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 has her being infected by the Griffin's evil in episode 2, but waiting until episode 4 before confessing to Spock (Ethan Peck) that her augment DNA is changing her.
>Had "The Griffin Incident" been episode 4, it would have been a more natural and alarming escalation of La'an's troubles, instead of something she seems to have shrugged off. It still works as is, but the shift is noticeable to attuned viewers.
>"The Griffin Incident" becoming episode 2 affects Lt. Commander James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) even more. James endures the horrors of seeing a vision of his brother, Lt. Sam Kirk's (Dan Jeannotte), gruesome death, and then being stabbed and nearly killed by La'an.
>However, Kirk shows no ill effects of his ordeal in "Human Best Friend," which would make sense if "The Griffin Incident" had happened after it, as the production originally intended.
Finally, "A Case of Chaioscuro" was Una Chin-Riley's (Rebecca Romijn) first away mission since her promotion to Commander, and Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) congratulates her, despite weeks having passed. It gives the sense that the events of this episode were supposed to happen sooner. ..."
Read more:
https://screenrant.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-episode-order-different-weird/
Looper:
https://www.looper.com/1510969/star-trek-enterprise-hoshi-sato-end/
By Shane O'Neill
>"She appears in a whopping 94 of the program's 98 episodes, last appearing at the celebration commemorating the establishment of the United Federation of Planets in the series finale, "These Are the Voyages...". Sadly, as nearly revealed a few episodes prior, the true end to her story is a rather tragic one.
>In "In a Mirror, Darkly," biographical data about Sato's life is shown, but an unseen portion — written by the writer behind the episode, Michael Sussman — shares exactly how she dies. Governor Kodos (Arnold Moss) of Tarsus IV faces a crisis on his planet when an exotic fungus destroys the food supply and threatens the entire population. In an effort to save the rest of his colony, he orders the murder of thousands of his people, including Sato, in 2246. In the aftermath, she's laid to rest in Kyoto, Japan beside her husband, Takashi Kimura (via @TrekCore on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter).
>Even though she meets a sad end, as detailed in this biographical information, can her demise really be considered canon?
>At the time of this writing, Hoshi Sato has yet to appear elsewhere in the "Star Trek" timeline outside of "Star Trek: Enterprise." As mentioned, she makes her last appearance in the "Enterprise" finale, "These Are the Voyages...," from Season 4, which reached the airwaves in May 2005. Without any other update on her life after the events of this episode, it's safe to assume that the contents of her "In a Mirror, Darkly" biography are legitimate. Then again, according to the man behind said bio, that's not quite the case.
>In response to the X post by @TrekCore featuring Sato's extended bio, Michael Sussman chimed in with his feelings on its canon status. "Well... that was an unused page 2 of the graphic and didn't appear on screen, so not really canon. #HoshiStillDeadTho," he wrote, claiming that she's still dead anyway. Sussman also brought up the unseen extended bio of Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), which also details his demise. Unlike Sato, Archer is hinted at being alive in the Kelvin timeline, thus rendering the claim of his death in the unseen bio data non-canon.
>With all of that said, it stands to reason there will be some measure of controversy surrounding Hoshi Sato's true fate until the minds behind the "Star Trek" franchise elect to make it a bit more straightforward."
Link:
https://www.looper.com/1510969/star-trek-enterprise-hoshi-sato-end/
Movieweb:
https://movieweb.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-klingon-cloaking-tech/
By Daniel Bibby
>"'Strange New Worlds' Just Showed Star Trek's First Canonical Look at the Klingons' Cloaking Technology
>Although developed by the Romulans, cloaking tech was also later acquired by the Klingons. We saw the Romulans unveil this game-changing advantage not only in The Original Series' "Balance of Terror," but also in Strange New Worlds' "A Quality of Mercy," the episode that reimagined "Balance of Terror" but with Captain Pike (Anson Mount) in charge of the Enterprise in an alternate future. While Star Trek: Enterprise retconned the debut of this tech from the Romulans by showing it in the 22nd century, cloaking didn't quite have the same level of efficacy as we see in the TOS episode and its SNW counterpart.
>Still, the Klingons having acquired cloaking technology isn't canonized until Star Trek: The Animated Series, which was essentially a direct continuation of TOS in 2D form. "The Time Trap" showed Kor's return, and the fact that his vessel could hide itself from sensors and the naked eye. That was a pretty big moment, as it made the Klingons even more fearsome. In "A Case of Chiaroscuro," we find out that cloaking tech was actually in the Klingons' possession long before "The Time Trap," even if Captain Pike and company didn't realize it in Strange New Worlds.
>In a sequence that sees La'An (Christina Chong) seeking Scotty's (Martin Quinn) insight on a strange transmission being picked up by the Enterprise, the ship's future Chief Engineer points out that he's having trouble tracking Kor's ship, and that it's blipping on and off the sensors. He attributes the phenomenon to Ma'taar 12's unique sun, as its radiation has some pretty unusual properties, including making everyone see in black and white. It's not a bad theory, but regardless of whether he's correct, Scotty comes up with a smart workaround that helps the Enterprise to track where Kor's ship is.
>As it happens, Scotty is correct...sort of. He doesn't figure out that the Klingon vessel is cloaking itself, because the crew hasn't come across that tech yet. Therefore, he has no frame of reference for what could be happening. Instead, my theory is that by mistakenly assuming that the strange star's properties are messing with the Enterprise's sensors, Scotty inadvertently develops a solution that intermittently sees through the Klingons' cloak. He achieves his goal of tracking Kor's ship, even if he did it somewhat accidentally. I guess that proves why he's one of Star Trek's greatest engineers – and his "mistake" also allows the big reveal in "The Time Trap" to retain its potency."
Read more:
https://movieweb.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-klingon-cloaking-tech/
Slashfilm:
By Devin Meenan
>"But if there's one particular film noir that jumps out as the main influence for "A Case of Chiaroscuro," it's "Casablanca." Set during World War II, "Casablanca" takes place in the eponymous Moroccan city, which at the time was under the control of France and, by extension, the France-occupying Nazi Germany. "Casablanca" depicts the city as a waystation for refugees looking to flee Nazi encroachment across Europe. "A Case of Chiaroscuro" places the Klingons in the role of the Nazis, and many of the planet's natives likewise want to flee their new colonizers.
>Several scenes in "A Case of Chiaroscuro" take place in a local saloon, much like the one Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) operates in "Casablanca." As Una, M'Benga, and Uhura are not native citizens, they do not have the identification needed to get past Klingon checkpoints, and getting appropriate ID is one of their main goals. In "Casablanca," the central MacGuffin is a set of letters of transit that Rick's ex Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband, a French resistance member named Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), need to get to the U.S.
>One of the most famous scenes in "Casablanca" features German soldiers' singing being drowned out by bar patrons singing the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise." An almost identical scene happens here. Klingon soldiers walk to the bar singing to themselves, the bar's self-playing piano begins playing a local anthem, and several of the patrons begin thumping their hands on their table in rhythm, much to the annoyance of Commander Kor (Demore Barnes).
>If you're going to steal, steal from the best, and "Casablanca" is absolutely the best film noir has to offer."
Read More:
Giant Freakin Robot:
https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/scifi/star-trek-abandoning-storytelling-vibes.html
By Chris Snellgrove
>"Cynics might say that Strange New Worlds has been mostly vibes-based from the very beginning. However, I maintain that the first two seasons were a pretty solid, modern take on the franchise formula established by Star Trek: The Original Series. Season 3, however, started to feel more like Doctor Who: episodes were more about having fun than anything else. The series also veered away from science in a big way, giving us a season finale involving vaguely defined cosmic evil. Season 4 has continued this trend, eschewing traditional Star Trek storytelling in favor of tales involving dinosaurs, ghosts, and partying.
>These episodes are fun, but they are as tonally different from the Star Trek stories of yesteryear as they can possibly be. However, three episodes into Season 4, I’ve discovered an interesting pattern: Strange New Worlds keeps giving characters throwaway lines at the end of the episode about things that, once upon a time, would have formed the basis for an entire classic episode. For example, near the end of the season premiere (“Valles Marineris”), Pike ponders a predestination paradox involving “us answering our own Mayday from a subspace buoy we deployed 65 million years ago. One sent here by a storm that we created after it sent us back in time.”
>Admiral April replies, “Everything happened as it was meant to … So don’t overthink it.” That last part has basically become Star Trek’s new mission statement (more on that later), and this trend continues in subsequent episodes. In “The Griffin Incident,” La’an is horrified that a ghostly presence on the USS Griffin compelled her to stab James T. Kirk, and she is shocked that Pike leaves this out of his official report. “Whatever you encountered, the only thing that matters is that you survived. And that is all Starfleet needs to know.” It’s a good character moment for Pike, but it cements the episode’s desire to not actually explain a freakin’ ghost!
>The most recent episode, “Human Best Friend,” has our heroes taking shore leave on a planet whose very air makes them drunk. This is meant to help them relax ahead of a major negotiation. Unfortunately, the drunkenness works too well: when the negotiations are suddenly moved up, Scotty and Ortegas must conduct a hungover, Dude Where’s My Shuttle investigation, eventually discovering a bomb aboard their shuttlecraft. Wait, who set the bomb? Pike lets us know in a breezy throwaway line: “Some Rodaxian militant that would clearly do anything to stop the negotiations.” Who is he? Why is he so motivated? How was he captured?
>We never get answers to those questions. Obviously, the show wanted to go back to being silly, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that earlier Star Trek shows would have dedicated an entire episode to figuring these things out. In fact, figuring out which unknown assassin is trying to disrupt a diplomatic conference is the whole plot of The Original Series episode “Journey to Babel.” For that matter, figuring out whether the ghost was real was a cornerstone of the Next Generation episode “Sub Rosa.’ And understanding and subsequently completing a predestination paradox was at the heart of the TNG two-parter “Time’s Arrow.”
>When people gripe that NuTrek isn’t like classic Trek, this is what they mean. Every episode of Strange New Worlds’ fourth season has, so far, gestured at what would have been a classic Trek story and then dismissed it with a throwaway line of dialogue. Why are they doing this? So the show can engage in timey-wimey, Doctor Who-style hijinks. It’s all about vibes, silly character moments, and quotable quips. It’s brainless fun in the same style as the Kelvinverse movies. Unfortunately, Paramount hasn’t figured out that they are bleeding classic Star Trek fans because they no longer know how to make classic Star Trek.
>Will they ever figure it out? Maybe. Somehow, though, I suspect an executive will dismiss it with a pithy throwaway line before getting back to discussing what’s really important: Starfleet officers punching dinosaurs."
Link:
https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/scifi/star-trek-abandoning-storytelling-vibes.html
Screenrant:
https://screenrant.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-episode-4-ending-explained/
By John Orquiola
>"When the EMP brought down the Klingon defense grid, it also disabled the D7 battle cruiser orbiting Mat'aar XII. This allowed Una, M'Benga, and Uhura to make their escape and return to the Starship Enterprise undetected. What happens to Mat'aar, and whether they can drive the Klingons off their planet, were questions left unanswered.
>Una forced to "pretend she's someone she isn't" nods to how she kept the secret that she is a genetically engineered Illyrian for most of her Starfleet career, until she chose to come clean and won her inalienable rights in a court-martial. Yet Una impersonating Nevette, who was posing as a Klingon collaborator while secretly leading the resistance, tested her moral resolve as a Starfleet Officer.
>Roman was a murderer, and so framing him to go down for detonating the EMP means certain death at the hands of the Klingons. Yet Una still condemned a man to die in a situation where she, as a Starfleet Officer, had no legal cause to interfere. The events transpiring on Mat'aar are in Klingon space and out of the bounds of the United Federation of Planets. Una acted and broke Starfleet protocol to help the innocent people on Mat'aar, citing that "Starfleet isn't always right."
>Meanwhile, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 4 hinges on the contrivance that Una has an exact doppelgänger who isn't a clone or from Star Trek's multiverse, and that no one, not even Kor, could tell she wasn't the real Nevette, except for Roman because he killed the real deal. Somehow, everyone on Mat'aar speaks English, and Una even sounds exactly like Nevette. It is a lot to accept up front to enjoy the episode. ...
>Chapel confessed that she was contacted by the captain of a medical starship she previously served on, the USS Yang, which illegally entered Mat'aar space without Starfleet approval to answer a distress call. Christine did what her former captain asked and deleted the proof of their incursion to protect everyone aboard their starship.
>Nurse Chapel asked La'an to be "a friend" and keep her secret, which she did when reporting back to Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Like Una, La'an broke Starfleet protocol to protect Christine and the starship crew whom Chapel is protecting. Meanwhile, Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) feels growing distance from La'an, and their romance seems to be on the rocks. ...
>In "Errand of Mercy," Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) withstood the mind scanner (also known as a "mind sifter" and "mind ripper") thanks to his Vulcan logic and mental discipline. Either Kor used a low setting on Uhura, or Nyota unwittingly exposed the flaws of the Klingons' fearsome weapon of torture. Either way, it's now canon that Uhura beat the Klingon mind scanner years before Spock. ...
>Ortegas and Scotty became true friends at the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 3, "Human Best Friend." The helmsman and engineer now being buddies, after loathing each other so publicly, was surprising and noteworthy enough for La'an to report it to Captain Pike. Scotty and Ortegas bantering over their chicken sandwich lunches was genuinely funny.
>Meanwhile, not making any (human best) friends on the Enterprise is the new Vulcan Ensign, A'Sha (Bianca Nugara), who was as unfriendly to La'an as she was to Uhura in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's premiere. A'Sha seems to see everyone else on the Enterprise in black-and-white terms and treats her crewmates with equal disdain. ..."
Read more:
https://screenrant.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-episode-4-ending-explained/
Comicbook.com:
By Tom Bacon
"Apparently this story would have centered on the Klingons; Star Trek has always used the Klingons as stand-ins for the Russians, and Matalas intended to base the plot on real-world tension with Russia. He’d have tied it in to Worf, whose son Alexander would have been one of the unstable elements causing problems in Klingon space. ...
>TERRY MATALAS: "The first season of Legacy was going to be about the Klingons. The Klingons were always stand-ins for the Russians. Echoing today, there was an unstable element in the empire and one of those elements was going to be Alexander, so it would've have been a very different Worf-Alexander storyline."
It’s a fascinating concept, not least because it stands apart from what Star Trek eventually did with the Klingons instead. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy revealed the fate of the Klingons, and it completely abandoned the Russian parallels; the Klingons were almost wiped out when a cosmic event known as the Burn destroyed dilithium across the galaxy, with the resulting explosions rendering the Klingon homeworld Qo’noS almost uninhabitable. The Klingons battled to stave off extinction, insisting on facing their fate without compromising their historic ethical codes. Starfleet found a strange way to help, identifying a possible new homeworld for the Klingons and staging a fight over it.
While this was an interesting concept, it must be noted that it sits uncomfortably with the Russian parallels Matalas noted always lay at the heart of Star Trek‘s Klingon plots. In contrast, his appears to have wrestled with real-world imagery. The story would no doubt have evolved, and would sadly remain timely given the continued war between Russia and Ukraine. It would certainly have been fascinating to see how Worf’s son Alexander played into this story, and this – combined with Picard’s son, Jack Crusher – would certainly have meant the show lived up to its “Legacy” title. ..."
Read more:
MovieWeb:
https://movieweb.com/tar-trek-wil-wheaton-returns-big-bang-theory/
By Rebecca Sargeant
>"In 2024, actor Wil Wheaton, who portrayed Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation and several other Star Trek titles, announced that he was retiring from "on-camera" acting. While it was a disappointment that we wouldn't be seeing more of Wheaton on our screens, many of us were still happy to see him in the public eye working on other projects. However, Wheaton has now come out of retirement to star in the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory's newest spin-off, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.
...
>Emerging from a portal that randomly opens in the comic book store, Wheaton tells Stuart that TBBT's returning character Bernadette is actually a demon, and that he needs to be destroyed for helping her. This results in an incredible action-packed fight sequence that sees Wheaton and Bert throwing balls of fire and electricity at one another, destroying the store in the process, and Kripke, who has been turned into a penguin, waddling to escape.
...
>The Big Bang Theory's nerd culture cameos are plentiful; there's no doubt about that. But can we really say that the likes of Stephen Hawking or Stan Lee are supporting characters, like Wil Wheaton eventually becomes in the later installments of the show? In the world of TV, there are several examples of actors playing themselves in a show, but only a few are steered away from their real selves, and instead end up portraying a ridiculous, fictional person who just happens to share their name and face.
>Wheaton's role in Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, if anything, proves that fictional Wheaton is just as powerful a figure. Across the multiverses, he still ends up reuniting with The Big Bang Theory characters, and in the magic universe, it's apparent he's familiar with Stuart and the gang.
>Does this mean that Wheaton is completely coming out of retirement? At the moment, it's unclear. Wheaton's recent post on his website about Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is full of enthusiasm, and it makes sense why he's so excited about it, considering he's also co-hosting the show's companion podcast with Felicia Day. It seems that Wheaton's involvement is more because this is a passion project for him, enjoying a bit of nostalgia from his days on TBBT, rather than a full-blown return to the acting profession. ..."
Read more:
https://movieweb.com/tar-trek-wil-wheaton-returns-big-bang-theory/
Trekmovie:
"The movie pairings will each get one evening showing on its own night, but they will also be shown marathon-style on Sept. 8 for anyone who’d like to spend the day taking Trek in on the big screen. Here are the pairings and show times based on Cinemark’s website, which could vary depending on your location. AMC has not listed showtimes yet.
>“The Changeling” and Star Trek: The Motion Picture Director’s Cut on Sept. 4 in the evening, Sept. 8 at 10:30 a.m. ET
>“Space Seed” and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut on Sept. 5 in the evening, Sept. 8 at 2:40 p.m. ET
>“Amok Time” and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock on Sept. 6 in the evening, Sept. 8 at 6:30 p.m. ET
>“The City on the Edge of Forever” and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home on Sept. 7 in the evening, Sept. 8 at 10:05 p.m. ET
AMC also revealed a collectible popcorn bucket plus a cup that comes with one of four ship toppers. ..."
Read more:
Comicbook.com:
>"Speaking to ComicBook, Quinn noted how Scotty is changing in “Human Best Friend” and beyond. “Scotty has to let people in a little bit, and [he] needs to not just focus on himself and the way he goes about that, as well… He was being kind of passive aggressive [toward] Ortegas in certain ways, putting a red light every time she’s pushing the thrusters too hard. And perhaps, if he was just able to have a conversation, but instead… he needs to realize he’s got to play as a team member.
>“And he’s slowly but surely realizing this is part of the whole thing Scotty needs to learn. He’s got to let people in and then he can achieve his full potential, and he can then become the miracle worker that we all love.”
>This is the joy of Strange New Worlds; we get to see the heroes evolve into the form we know and love. Scotty has always had an irritable edge, and Strange New Worlds has revealed he started out even sharper – in part due to tragedies he’d experienced at the hands of the Gorn. “Human Best Friend” was a delightful character piece, a humorous tale following the previous episode’s full horror approach to Star Trek. The title referred to the dynamic between Spock and Kirk, but it turned out to be something of a trick, because we really did dive into the relationship between Scotty and Ortegas. ...
Read more:
Giant Freakin Robot:
https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/scifi/star-trek-actors-insane-audition.html
By Chris Snellgrove
>"Frakes first beamed into the franchise with Star Trek: The Next Generation. While he had roles in shows before and after TNG, it’s fair to say that first live-action spinoff was the series that made him famous. Would you believe, though, that the future Commander Riker actor almost landed a role in a different iconic show nearly a decade before TNG premiered? In 1978, Frakes auditioned for a role on Welcome Back, Kotter , one of the nation’s most beloved sitcoms. Why is that important, you ask? Because you can watch the audition online, and Frakes sports a southern accent so bad that it would make Dr. McCoy want to kill him! ...
>Welcome Back, Kotter premiered in 1975, and Jonathan Frakes auditioned for the show in 1978. While his character is not named, his hilariously thick Southern accent implies that the future Trek star was auditioning for the part of Beau De LaBarre; he was introduced in the show in its fourth and final season. Furthermore, he was introduced to replace Travolta, who was now parlaying his TV fame into a successful film career. Why make Travolta’s replacement a smooth-talking southerner, though? Money, of course: the show’s producers wanted to get better ratings in the South (where audiences didn’t cotton to the New York setting), so they added someone good old boys would admire and sweet southern belles would drool over.
>Sadly, Frakes didn’t get the part; instead, Beau was played by Stephen Shortridge, who ended up quitting acting altogether in the ‘80s. Does that mean that Frakes missed out on a role that would have defined his career even earlier? Maybe, maybe not. Frakes was auditioning for the fourth and, ultimately, final season of Welcome Back, Kotter. In the subsequent years, he’d appear in numerous smaller roles, including a very memorable stint in the two North & South miniseries. Later, after six weeks of exhausting auditions (in which he superstitiously wore the same shirt each time), he landed the coveted role of William Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation. ..."
Link:
https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/scifi/star-trek-actors-insane-audition.html
