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EXCLUSIVE: Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin on that Nickelodeon STAR TREK Show, If We’ll See a DISCOVERY Movie, PICARD Season 2 (!), and Much More

Ken Reilly
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EXCLUSIVE: Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin on that Nickelodeon STAR TREK Show, If We’ll See a DISCOVERY Movie, PICARD Season 2 (!), and Much More

Header photo: Lizette Azar / CBS

After the two whirlwind Star Trek Universe panels at New York Comic Con this past Saturday, the cast and crew of Star Trek: Discovery made their way to the Paley Center for the Media for a special evening event where a few more details about the in-production Season 3, still filming up in Toronto.

Before that event kicked off — where we learned that Discovery will be visiting the Trill homeworld, and that the Federation is “challenged,” but not gone, 930 years into the future — we had a chance to chat with Star Trek franchise heads Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin about the state of current and future Trek productions, their thoughts on the return of Jean-Luc Picard, and why a kid’s Trek show is right for today’s audiences.

‘Star Trek’ executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin on October 5. (Photo: The Paley Center for the Media)

TREKCORE: After filming in Jordan for the series premiere, Discovery has gone overseas once more for Season 3. How did the shoot in Iceland come about?

ALEX KURTZMAN: Well, obviously we jumped to the future, and so we wanted a place that looked very different. I’ve wanted to shoot in Iceland for a really long time, so we looked at a bunch of different options and Iceland turned out to be doable — so we did it!

TREKCORE: Do you think this will be the last time production will be filming internationally?

KURTZMAN: Oh no, I definitely want to do it again, sure.

HEATHER KADIN: It was just incredible. The [Discovery] trailer went online today, and, I mean, it’s just stunning.

(Gestures to nearby ‘Discovery’ co-showrunner Michelle Paradise) You went, right?

MICHELLE PARADISE: I did, yeah.

TREKCORE: You got to supervise, huh? 

PARADISE: (Laughs) Yeah, I had to “work!” It was amazing. The landscape is absolutely incredible, and it feels otherworldly just walking around. The places where we got to shoot were just tremendous and everyone [we worked with locally] was phenomenal.

We felt very fortunate to have been there.

TREKCORE: How long was the shoot in Iceland? 

PARADISE: We did six days there.

Kadin, Michelle Paradise, and Kurtzman talk to the TrekCore team on October 5. (Photo: TrekCore.com)

TREKCORE: At this point, though, everything else for Discovery Season 3 will be filmed in the Toronto area?

KURTZMAN: Yes.

TREKCORE: Discovery production takes up a lot of space at the Pinewood studios in Toronto. Now that the big new CBS Stages Canada facility is open, is that something you plan to use as things continue in Toronto? 

KURTZMAN: Oh yes. We’ve already locked down some space there.

TREKCORE: For…? 

KURTZMAN: Something. (Smiles)

TREKCORE: Mm-hmm. 

PARADISE: There are always more shows to come. (Laughs)

https://www.instagram.com/p/B244I9pnN_0

TREKCORE: Could we talk for a few minutes about some of the things that you’ve already announced for the future?

KURTZMAN: Sure!

TREKCORE: You’ve got Picard coming up in January, it’s wrapped filming and in post-production now. How far along are you on Discovery Season 3?

KADIN: We’re shooting episode 6.

KURTMAN: Yeah, and we’re like writing the last three [episodes] pretty soon. 

TREKCORE: Are you doing thirteen episodes this year? 

KURTZMAN: (Nods) Thirteen.

TREKCORE: Do you see any additional episodes extending the season, like the extra two for Season 1, and last year’s extension to 14 episodes?

KURTZMAN: Not this year. I think we’re going [stick to] thirteen this year.

TREKCORE: Back in February you said that the Section 31 series with Michelle Yeoh would likely start up production after Discovery Season 3 was complete. Is that still the plan?

KADIN: Yes, that’s the plan.

KURTZMAN: Yep.

KADIN: And then Lower Decks!

TREKCORE: Yeah, we’re looking forward to that one — our team got a chance to meet Mike McMahan and his team briefly at Las Vegas… 

KADIN: Oh, great. Yeah, he’s amazing.

TREKCORE: How about the Nickelodeon animated series that was announced back in April? The writers room was revealed on social media a while back… is that something to look for, maybe, in 2021?

KADIN: Looooonger. I was surprised! As someone who makes big, live-action shows, I heard how long it was going to take and I was like, “What?!” Because it’s 3D animation, so just takes that much longer…

TREKCORE: Oh, so it will be more of a digital look, compared to the “cartoon” animation in Lower Decks?

KADIN: Exactly.

KURTZMAN: (Nods) Very different animation style.

KADIN: But the Hageman brothers [come from] Ninjago and TrollHunters, they’re doing it, so it’s definitely going to be more in that visual look.

TREKCORE: Lower Decks was picked up to series with a two-season order, due to the animation work, I believe.

KURTZMAN: Yes.

TREKCORE: Is that the same for the Nickelodeon show? 

KADIN: Yes.

TREKCORE: When do think there might be a title for that series? 

KURTZMAN: We have a title. We’re just not going to tell you what it is! (Laughs)

TREKCORE: The other Star Trek shows are accessible, mostly, to younger viewers, but some fans have expressed a bit of apprehension about a Trek show that’s aimed to be specifically for a younger audience.

What are your thoughts on that reaction, for those who think it might not be the right move for Star Trek? 

KADIN: The reason we went to the Hagemans is because if you’ve seen their work, you know that they’re not writing “Muppet Babies.” It’s not “Little Spock and Little Kirk.” It’s not playing down [to viewers] that way.

Even [with] their characters in Ninjago — they are teenagers — I was able to watch that with my kids and they write with a very epic quality. They tell stories the way we tell stories in live action: serialized, turning over cards…

I think it will be a great way for fans to introduce the franchise to their kids, and for new fans to be formed, because it’s such a big franchise, [it can be hard] to get into as a kid.

TREKCORE: So you expect it to have some ongoing storylines, and not just be an ‘episode of the week’ kids show? 

KADIN: (Nods) A hundred percent, yeah.

CBS Corporation headquarters in New York City. (Photo: TrekCore.com)

TREKCORE: Speaking of the “big franchise,” I’m sure you’ve seen the speculation from fans — and in the trades — about the CBS / Viacom merger and how it might impact Trek.  Has that affected your plans, or have you been thinking about what opportunities the merger might make available to you?

KURTZMAN: (Shakes head) No, it’s very business-as-usual for us. It has not impacted our plans at all. We have a slate of shows that’s going to take us easily through the next five years. So that’s the plan looking forward, and if movies come into play then we’ll be ready.

TREKCORE: You’ve said if often, with Discovery especially, that you’re trying to blur the lines between film and television. If the opportunity presented itself — purely hypothetically at this point, of course — would you want to try bringing the Discovery story to the big screen?

KURTZMAN: I think that question, for me, is more, “What’s the story that is specific to the big screen, and why would it be better told [as a movie]?” And to me, that’s a story better told in two hours, or if you’re looking at the model of a lot of serialized movies these days, it maybe a few two-hour movies that tell a larger story… almost like you do with a season of television, but over the course of five years in the theaters.

I wouldn’t rule anything out, but I also feel like we have to keep forging new ground, and Discovery is such a great place now that we would have to have a reason that inspires us to want us to take it to the big screen.

TREKCORE: With the Short Treks, we have the three Pike ones (“Q & A,” “The Trouble with Edward,” “Ask Not”) and the Star Trek: Picard prequel (“Children of Mars”). The December ones (“The Girl who Made the Stars,” “Ephraim and Dot”) are the two animated shorts, right?

KURTZMAN: Yes.

TREKCORE: You’ve been very quiet about those since you first mentioned them all the way back in January…

KURTZMAN: Well, as Heather said, it takes so long to do the animated ones… we thought they would be the easiest ones, but they turned out to be the absolute hardest, just because it takes time to iterate the animation.

We’ve now seen cuts of both; they’re fantastic.

TREKCORE: And would you say they are Discovery stories, or are they tied to some other part of the franchise? 

KURTZMAN: They’re both tied to Discovery, but in interesting and surprising ways.

The former Enterprise captain’s return seems like it isn’t finished just yet. (Photo: CBS)

TREKCORE: We’re getting the wrap-up signal, but before we go: what are your hopes for what the Picard show is going to bring to the existing Trek audience… and to people who have only heard about Jean-Luc Picard for the last 30 years? 

KADIN: I just hope that it delivers for everyone. I think people have this love for The Next Generation… obviously, people’s love for Trek informs how they feel about Discovery, but we were introducing brand new characters.

And [with Picard] you can tell when we released the trailer, people’s love for [the TNG characters] is so deep and so real, we all felt so obligated to not let people down — which I don’t feel we’re going to — but I think we just really want people to embrace it and love it as much as we have, and they’re so excited about it.

KURTZMAN: You know, we feel a tremendous responsibility to the fans who have loved [the Picard character], and Patrick himself, who took a massive leap of faith with us in choosing to come back and play Picard [after] he said he was done forever.

He also said, “I want to make sure if I come back, if you loved TNG, you’ll feel we’re honoring it, but this is a very different experience.” This is really a very different experience. It looks incredibly different, the kind of storytelling is different, but if you’re someone who’s never watched it at all, it’s been built for you to come into it and get to be dropped into this very emotional story about this captain who’s in the late stage of his life and is dealing with the sum total of all his choices.

It also has an incredible new crew — incredible, to a person, they’re all so wonderful. And we have now started showing it to the studio, and they’re thrilled with it, so that gave us a lot more confidence that we’ve hit the mark.

We’ve now watched five episodes with Patrick and he’s thrilled with it too. Because he was so happy with it, it makes us feel like it honored what we promised.

TREKCORE: And you’re hoping, working, planning, for a potential second season of Star Trek: Picard? 

KURTZMAN: Definitely. Already in the works.

TREKCORE: Can’t wait to see it. Thanks so much. 

So what’s your take on what Kurtzman and Kadin had to say? Do the new details on the Nickelodeon kids’ show pique your interest, or are you more intrigued by the notion of an already-in-the-works Season 2 for Star Trek: Picard… or whatever might be in that “next five years” plan for the franchise? Let us know in the comments below!

* * *

Star Trek: Short Treks continue on CBS All Access with “The Trouble with Edward” on October 10, and with following installments monthly leading up to the launch of Star Trek: Picard on January 23. Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 and Star Trek: Lower Decks will debut on CBS All Access later in 2020.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Descends on New York Comic Con

Alex Perry
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STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Descends on New York Comic Con

Members of the cast and producers of Star Trek: Discovery descended on a packed house at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden for the first half of a 90 minute panel presentation at this year’s New York Comic Con for both Discovery and for Star Trek: Picard.

We got the release of a new trailer for next year’s Season 3, and the assembled fans were also surprised with the news that the first of this fall’s Short Treks, “Q & A,” was made live in the US for viewers on CBS All Access before the panel concluded. “It’s available right now!” Star Trek franchise showrunner Alex Kurtzman told the surprised crowd.

Representing Discovery were co-executive producers Kurtzman, Heather Kadin, and Michelle Paradise, along with series actors Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Mary Wiseman, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, and newcomer to the show David Ajala.

The ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ team beams down to New York City.

Speaking of the decision to move Star Trek: Discovery some 930 years into the future at the end of last season — the new setting for the show — Kurtzman said, “[i]f we don’t deliver you something that is completely surprising and unexpected then we will have failed.”

Regarding the ever-present Star Trek canon, he elaborated that it is “wildly important” to him and the Discovery writing team. “It’s not like we’re tossing canon out the window,” he continued. “We’re saying: canon existed, we’re not rewriting it. We’re not changing it. There are no timeline adjustments, and the events of canon have absolutely informed everything that happens in the future.”

Panelists kept coming back to the idea that, as Kurtzman said, the future the Discovery crew arrives to is “not at all what they expected when they get to the other side [of the wormhole].”

He went on to say that with the relocation to the far future, the Discovery writers get to “take everything you assume about Trek — the species, the planets, the Federation — and you put it in a blender… It’s almost 1000 years in the future. It couldn’t possibly look like what it looks like when they jump.”

‘Star Trek’ franchise boss Alex Kurtzman (center) at NYCC on October 5. (Photo: CBS)

Kurtzman also talked about how Discovery Season 3 would take on more of an allegorical tone as the show looked to draw more connections with the modern world:

“We often talk about how ‘Star Trek’ is a mirror that holds itself up to the world as it is. And we look around and we see a lot of disillusionment, a lot of confusion, and a lot of disconnection. Many of the things that we long for–hope, understanding, compassion, empathy… those things seem to be waning more and more.

‘Star Trek’ is the ultimate beacon of hope, so if you go into the future that doesn’t quite look like what you imagined it to be ‘Trek’ is always the anchor to bring you back to what’s possible and who we are at our best. And ‘Discovery,’ as they enter into that future, becomes this beacon that reminds people what’s possible and what hope means…

We’re looking to have something to say about the world as it is now presented on screen.”

Series newcomer David Ajala, who will be joining the cast of Discovery as a series regular for Season 3, said about his character “Cleveland ‘Book’ Booker:

“You will meet [him] in the first episode…

It’s exciting being able to dabble and explore new territory… as you guys can be watching and exploring the new world, you’ll be seeing it through Book’s eyes and Burnham’s eyes.”

The actors also had the opportunity to reflect, without giving away too much, on what the show moving into the future was likely to mean for their characters.

Anthony Rapp remarked that he thinks it’s “cool” that Discovery jumped to the future. “They’re allowing everyone to reckon with… what it’s like to leave everything behind, and what it might do to people to make that enormous strange leap,” he said. “They haven’t shied away from that, and it’s really special.”

‘Discovery’ cast members Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, and David Ajala. (Photo: Marina Kravchuk)

On young Ensign Tilly’s growth as a character, and continued growth in Season 3, Mary Wiseman said:

“We jumped to the future, it’s a leap of faith, and it’s those moments… where you have to make big decisions…. in this season you’ll see more of her stepping into her power in the way that she can.

It’s not a time to wilt or step back…but a time to step forward. I think you’re going to see why she has gravitated to these people and they have gravitated to her.”

But the question many people want answered for Discovery? Who is going to finally end up as the ship’s captain, Burnham or Saru? We did not get an answer at NYCC, but Doug Jones explained why the question is just one of many facing the pair.

“Many variables exist that we don’t know about. We jump to the future to find: is there a Federation still, and what condition is it in? Would they respect either one of us captain, or would be able to self-govern?

All of those questions remain unanswered right now… for you.”

Doug Jones and Mary Wiseman on the NYCC stage. (Photo: Marina Kravchuk)

Speaking of the surprise release of the first Short Trek, “Q & A,” and the decision to focus three of the Short Treks on the Pike-era Enterprise characters, Kurtzman acknowledged the fan demand for more Captain Pike tales.

“[We] heard you loud and clear how beloved those characters were” he said, “so we did a bunch of Short Treks with them.” Responding to fans shouting out requesting a whole show centered on Captain Pike, Kurtzman would only say, jokingly, “I love that idea!”

Kurtzman also said that he did not think Discovery would return to the 23rd century, but he did tease that the time period was in play for future Star Trek productions.

“I don’t know that we have plans on Discovery to return to the 23rd century.

There are many shows in the works now and they are in different timelines… so anything is possible.”

And will we find out what happened with the last year’s far-future Short Trek “Calypso,” or how that story ties into Discovery‘s new time period? “Maybe,” the producer said with a smile.

Cruz, Jones, Sonequa Martin-Green, Wiseman, Ajala, and Rapp pose at the end of the panel. (Photo: CBS)

Responding to a fan question about what to expect from Discovery Season 3 when it comes to balancing standalone and season-long serialized storytelling, co-showrunner Michelle Paradise implied that this upcoming year will feel similar to Season 2, which had episodic elements among the overall Red Angel arc.

“We have a serialized story that will take us from the beginning to the end. Within that we will have some episodes that focus more fully on one or other of the characters, but we’ll always be teasing that larger story through.”

The panel wrapped with Alex Kurtzman taking a moment to celebrate the fans. “Star Trek fans are the living best,” he said, praising the thoughtfulness of the audience questions, along with the comments that the cast and producers receive about Discovery. “[Fans are] the living fuel that keeps us going.”

We don’t yet know exactly when we’ll get to join the Star Trek: Discovery crew 930 years in the future — as production on Season 3 isn’t even halfway done filming yet — but we expect the series to return sometime in mid-2020.

In the meantime, we’ll have five Star Trek: Discovery “Short Treks” to hold us over, with the three Pike-crew tales arriving in October and November, and two animated Discovery stories debuting in December 2019.

There’s still more to come from our time at New York Comic Con this weekend, to keep your sensors trained on TrekCore for all the latest Star Trek and Star Trek: Discovery news!

STAR TREK: PICARD Beams Down to New York Comic Con

Alex Perry
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STAR TREK: PICARD Beams Down to New York Comic Con

Producers and cast from the hotly anticipated Star Trek: Picard took the stage on Saturday in New York City to round out the “Enter the Star Trek Universe” panel at New York Comic Con. Including the premiere of a new trailer, we also got a confirmed release date for the show: Thursday, January 23, 2020 in North America, followed by a release the next day on Amazon Prime in the rest of the world.

Appearing on stage were Star Trek franchise showrunner Alex Kurtzman, executive producer Heather Kadin, supervising producer Kirsten Beyer, executive producer Akiva Goldsman, executive producer Michael Chabon, and cast: Sir Patrick Stewart, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, Michelle Hurd, Alison Pill, Harry Treadaway, and Evan Evagora.

Sir Patrick Stewart (center) joins the ‘Star Trek: Picard’ production team and cast on stage.

The panel began with the story of Sir Patrick Stewart being recruited to return to Star Trek, with the added detail that the original discussion had been about Picard returning for a Short Trek only — and not a full series. After Stewart largely turned down the producers on the idea of returning for a series, he asked for a written proposal that Michael Chabon was asked to put together. “I seem to remember 35 pages,” Stewart joked after having requested a four page write up. “I got into it!” Chabon responded.

On the decision to include other characters from The Next Generation in Picard, Heather Kadin said:

“A big concern was that we didn’t want it to be – and especially Patrick didn’t want it to be – a TNG reunion show….we only brought people back if their story really mattered to the story we were telling.

I don’t think the fans would have appreciated that… If we’re going to go to them, and they join a show that’s called “Picard” we give them something significant to do. And I think you’ll see that each one of them has a pivotal, emotional story to tell in those ten episodes.”

On the question of whether someone needs to be fully familiar with The Next Generation prior to watching Picard, Kadin said that has been “a big consideration for all of us,” and that it was not necessary. She also indicated that Isa Briones’s character, Dahj, is a major point of view character that helps pull new viewers in, in much the same way that Tilly does on Discovery: “I think people are going to be welcomed into it without a problem.”

Hanelle Culpepper, Kirsten Beyer, Heather Kadin, and Akiva Goldsman discuss ‘Star Trek: Picard,’ (Photo: Marina Kravchuk)

On where Picard finds himself in the show, Akiva Goldsman said that it was an intentional choice to set the show as far forward from Star Trek: Nemesis as we are from Nemesis being released in theaters. “We all spent a lot of time collaboratively filling in those 20 years,” Goldsman said. “Even though you’ll see in the narrative object there are hints of [backstory], we know pretty much everything that happened in those 20 years.”

Speaking of her involvement in the franchise as the director of the pilot episodes for Picard, director Hanelle Culpepper said, “I became a Star Trek fan because of The Next Generation, and I’m a huge fan of Picard and Sir Patrick. So when I got the job it was an incredible honor – and also terrifying in a way – because I knew I could not let you guys down.”

And Kirsten Beyer —Star Trek novelist turned Discovery writer,  and now Picard producer –talked about how she used her experience with writing Voyager novels that continue the story of the characters beyond the end of the show in Picard. “The idea of taking these beloved characters beyond where the shows left them, or where the films might have left them, was sort of what I woke up every day to do anyway,” she told the audience. “It was a tremendous challenge but also really rewarding.”

In talking about being asked to participate in the Star Trek franchise and then in Picard, showrunner Michael Chabon recalled becoming a Star Trek fan at 10 years old in 1973 and said “from that moment until the day Akiva [Goldsman] proposed to me [to write for Star Trek] I never stopped living in that imaginative world… it comes very naturally to me to think in terms of Star Trek.”

Goldman, Michael Chabon, Alex Kurtzman, and Sir Patrick Stewart on stage. (Photo: Marina Kravchuk)

Turning to the cast, Isa Briones talked about the first encounter between her character and the former Enterprise captain. “When Dahj and Picard first meet,” she said, “it’s this really special moment of two lost souls colliding in this crazy circumstance borne out of tragedy…it starts with me asking for people, but I think in a way we help each other.”

Santiago Cabrera, who plays Chris Rios, expanded upon the little information we know about his ex-Starfleet character. “Due to some traumatic events in his past in relation to Starfleet he’s stepped away [from the service],” he shared. “So he’s very reticent to take on Picard when it’s proposed to him by his friend Raffi [Musiker, played by Michelle Hurd]. What’s really fun about my character – and I think I can speak for everyone – is that we’re sort of a band of misfits, a motley crew as we like to call ourselves… it’s a great group dynamic.”

“Talk about complicated,” followed up Michelle Hurd, of her character Raffi’s relationship with Picard. “She’s very complicated in general. I wouldn’t say she’s warm and fuzzy. She’s sarcastic. She has vices that she leans on as crutches…but she has history with Picard and I can’t wait for you guys to discover it.”

She went on to describe Musiker and Rios as “partners in crime” who have their own history, which Hurd called “a unique, strong bond.”

Stewart, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, and Michelle Hurd. (Photo: Marina Kravchuk)

Alison Pill, who plays Dr. Agnes Jurati, said of her character that “Picard’s mission ends up being exactly what she’s spent her entire life dreaming about. They have the same goal in mind,” she continued, “and the possibility of it invites this woman to want to go on an adventure unlike any she’s wanted to go on.”

The two Romulans, Narek and Elnor — played by Harry Treadaway and Evan Evagora, respectively, spoke a little about the comparison between their two characters. “We’re kind of like an odd couple,” said Evagora. “They’re both very different. We’re both Romulans raised entirely differently. [Narek] was raised more typically as a Romulan – [Elnor] was raised very differently. He’s more secretive, lying…my character was raised to tell the truth…I don’t think he’s capable of telling a lie.”

In answering fan questions, Sir Patrick Stewart talked about how the ensemble nature of The Next Generation and now Picard was so important to him. “You have used the word that has been most important to me since an April day in 1987,” he began.

“I looked on every aspect of The Next Generation as being ensemble based… I think when we first met and talked [about Picard] it was my use of that word – the ensemble – and the uniting of a group… here we sit in love with all these [actors] and that’s where the ensemble element comes from.”

Number One’s dog collar, on display at New York Comic Con.

Stewart also confirmed that it had been he who advocated that Picard’s dog,  Number One, should be cast as a pit bull.

In his closing remarks on the panel, Alex Kurtzman indicated that the plot of Picard had been written to grapple with modern day issues in a serious way. “Star Trek is a mirror. It holds itself up to society,” he said. “We’re in the middle of a massive immigration conversation right now, and we are very proud I think to say we are diving headfirst into that and to using Star Trek as a way of exploring it from all points of view.”

Star Trek: Picard is now only three and a half short months away from our television screens, but thanks to yesterday’s announcement, we also learned that “Children of Mars,” the Picard-backstory Short Trek, will be debuting on CBS All Access on January 9, two weeks ahead of the Picard series premiere.

Keep checking back to TrekCore for all the latest news on Star Trek: Picard as we approach the series’ January launch!

New STAR TREK Trailers for DISCOVERY and PICARD! SHORT TREKS Start Today! PICARD Starts January 23!

TrekCore Staff
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New STAR TREK Trailers for DISCOVERY and PICARD! SHORT TREKS Start Today! PICARD Starts January 23!

We’ll have a full recap of today’s massive Star Trek Universe panel from New York Comic Con soon enough, but here’s the biggest update we got today from today’s event: new trailers for Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Star Trek: Picard Season 1, and the full schedule this year’s new Short Treks!

First up, here’s the new Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 trailer, showing what the future looks like when Discovery and crew lands in the far future of the Federation.

We also got four new photos, including what may be a visit to the symbiont caves on Trill by Commander Burnham.

Next, here’s the hot new Star Trek: Picard trailer — with a confirmed release date for Season 1, January 23 — and our first looks at Hugh (Jonathan del Arco), Riker (Jonathan Frakes), and Troi (Marina Sirtis) as they return to the franchise.

We also got a few new photos from the Star Trek: Picard series, including the reunion between Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Riker.

Finally, the six new Short Trek tales kick off with a Number One (Rebecca Romijn) and Spock (Ethan Peck) story — “Q & A” — which debuts on CBS All Access today, and run through January 2020 ahead of the Picard launch.

A new teaser for “Q & A” also debuted, as franchise boss Alex Kurtzman announced the streaming debut of the Short Trek tale, along with a number of new photos from the short.

Keep following us on Twitter this evening as we report live from The Paley Center in New York City, where the cast and crew of Star Trek: Discovery will be making a special appearance starting at 7PM ET.

Review — STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE Novelization

Alex Perry
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Review — STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE Novelization

The original five-year mission of the Starship Enterprise to explore strange new worlds and to seek out new life and new civilizations has ended.

Now James T. Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise have separated to follow their own career paths and different lives.

But now, an overwhelming alien threat—one that is ignoring all attempts at communication and annihilating all opposition in its path—is on a collision course with Earth, the very heart of the United Federation of Planets.

And the only vessel that Starfleet can send in time to intercept this menace is a refitted Enterprise, with her old crew heeding the call to once again boldly go where no one has gone before….

The release of a reprint of the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Gene Roddenberry is a double celebration for Simon & Schuster. Not only does the book celebrate 40 years since the release of The Motion Pictures into theaters in 1979, but also 40 years since Simon & Schuster began publishing Star Trek novels.

Back in 1979, The Motion Picture was the first novel released in the line, and though the imprints, editors, and authors may have changed over the years the line as a whole has not. Spanning hundreds of novels, 40 years of publishing works from one fictional universe is a celebratory occasion, and so what better way to show off and reach back and revisit the very first novel?

And The Motion Picture is quite a read. The only Star Trek novel written by Gene Roddenberry, the book is a mostly faithful adaptation of the screenplay for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, with a number of additions by Gene Roddenberry that combine together to heighten the book’s weirdness and its tropes.

The original release compared to 2019’s trade paperback edition.

Your love — or lack thereof — for The Motion Picture won’t be moved by its novelization. Roddenberry uses the prose to smooth over some of the inconsistencies seen on screen and provide a fuller explanation for some of the characters’ motivations, but the core story remains largely the same. We dive deeper into Kirk’s state of mind – his jealous need to reclaim the Enterprise and his antagonistic relationship with Will Decker, as well as learning a little more about Decker and Ilia’s relationship before boarding the Enterprise.

But, with the broad strokes of the story locked in amber, and the dialogue nearly identical to that on the screen, the only thing left to dwell upon is quite how weird this book is, and what an insight it gives us into the mind of Star Trek’s creator.

Roddenberry certainly lets loose with a number of his signature moves. We’ll get the most obvious out of the way first: this book has a lot more sex than the movie does. Whether it’s Kirk experiencing arousal at a number of quite inappropriate times, or Roddenberry dwelling on his conception of how sex will have changed in the future, it can really only be said thusly: this is a very horny novel.

The Ilia probe decides to check out a carbon unit for itself…

Rather problematically, while the relationship between Decker and the probe that takes the form of Ilia are shown to be nothing if not awkwardly platonic on screen, Roddenberry decides they should have an off-screen sexual encounter, that is only briefly referenced before the final act of the novel really picks up. Issues of consent aside, Roddenberry punched up as much of the sexual and erotic elements of the movie as he could, and the story does not benefit from it. Rather than giving us any greater insight into the characters or the story, it just reads as needless and puerile.

However, the weirdest part of the book isn’t even part of the main narrative. Prior to the first chapter, there is a first person preface from “Admiral Kirk” in which he discusses his feelings about his original five year mission — largely distorted by the admiralty to enhance his fame — humanity, and space flight. Roddenberry uses this short preface to interject some of his boldest ideas yet about the humanity of the future.

Kirk (whose first name is James thanks to his “father’s beloved brother” and his mother’s…ahem…”first love instructor”) posits that by the time of The Motion Picture there are two humanities; the more rugged old school version of Kirk, McCoy, and his crew, and an evolved “new human” who eschews many of the former’s baser instincts. While Kirk recognizes his advancement over, say, present day humanity, he discusses how Starfleet is crewing its ships with humans of “more limited intellectual agility.”

Admiral Kirk prepares for departure.

“New humans” get one more brief shout out in the body of the novel, but alas, this curious and actually quite interesting idea is never followed up on again. It does seem to indicate a fascinating insight into Roddenberry’s own evolution of his views of the future, however. For Roddenberry, he is between the Original Series and The Next Generation, moving from the western wagon train to something akin to showing us those “new humans” in The Next Generation. More intellectual, more adaptable, less conflicted…less primal.

The Motion Picture novelization is a fast read – relatively short by the modern standard of Star Trek novels. But it’s a fascinating time capsule into the mind of the man who created Star Trek and shows very strongly the things that he cared about and obsessed over when he was the only master of the narrative and did not have to share writing credits with anybody.

That includes the good – ruminations on the evolution of man, his interest in spirituality. But it also includes the bad – demonstrating that he possessed the sexual maturity of a teenage boy. Perhaps appropriately for the 1970s, The Motion Picture novelization is a trip. If you haven’t read it, you simply must.

In addition to this 40th-year reprint, there are a few more Star Trek: The Motion Picture print works arriving over the next several months in honor of the film’s ruby anniversary.

Coming in mid-December, IDW Publishing will be issuing a reprint of Marvel Comics’ original graphic adaptation of the first Star Trek film, written by Marv Wolfman with artwork by Dave Cockrum, Klaus Janson, and Bob Larken.

Just announced this week, May 2020 will beam down a brand-new retrospective from Titan Books, as authors Jeff Bond and Gene Kozicki bring us Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Inside the Art and Visual Effects, a hardcover coffeetable book filed with design work from the 1979 picture.

Forty years ago, Star Trek: The Motion Picture bought Kirk, Spock and the Enterprise crew to the big screen and changed the course of the Star Trek franchise. Now celebrate this landmark anniversary by discovering the visual artistry that made this an enduring science fiction classic. For the first time ever, explore archival material created by legendary Star Trek collaborators, including Robert Abel, Syd Mead, Ralph McQuarrie, Andrew Probert, and Ken Adams.

We’ll be sure to bring you preorder links on this new book as they become available!

Hero Collector Announces NY Comic Con STAR TREK Plans, Including Event-Exclusive “Cloaked” USS DEFIANT Model

Ken Reilly
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4
Hero Collector Announces NY Comic Con STAR TREK Plans, Including Event-Exclusive “Cloaked” USS DEFIANT Model

We’re just a week away from New York Comic Con, the last big convention event of the year here in the United States, and our friends over at Eaglemoss Hero Collector have announced their plans for the October event, including their first convention-exclusive Star Trek product of the year.

Based out of Booth #737 on the Javits Center convention floor, EHC will have a number of models from The Official Starships Collection on sale for the first time for US purchases, including the variant Borg-assimilated USS Voyager from “Scorpion, Part II,” the XL-sized USS Excelsior (as seen in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country), and the Reman battleship Scimitar which faced off with the crew of the Enterprise-E in Star Trek: Nemesis.

There will also be a special NY Comic Con-exclusive model available only on the show floor this year, a special “cloaked” edition of Captain Sisko’s USS Defiant battleship, produced from a transparent resin material. (We don’t have any product photos yet but we’ll make sure to share them once in hand!)

In addition to the new models arriving in New York City, the team will also be offering a special NYCC-exclusive variant of the recently-published Star Trek: Year Five #6 comic with cover art based upon ECH model photography of the XL-sized USS Enterprise, with imagery by photographer Nils Walter Khan, who will be signing at the Hero Collector booth on Sunday, October 6 alongside Star Trek: Year Five writers Jody Houser, Jackson Lanzing, and Collin Kelly.

On top of all that, Hero Collector will also be hosting a panel for their entire line of products on Thursday, October 3 — at 11AM in Room 1B03 — which will include “special guests” as well as “details on upcoming releases,” according to their announcement.

We’ll bring you all the details from their event, including any new product announcements, as soon as we know them!

Outside of the NY Comic Con floor, Eaglemoss boss Ben Robinson will be having a special presentation and signing on Friday, October 4 at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on East 17th Street, where he will be in conversation with Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard production designer Todd Cherniawsky, along with introducing the next round of Eaglemoss Star Trek book publications.

This is a ticketed event which requires a book purchase to attend; the full details and ticket pricing options are available through EventBrite.

Keep checking back to TrekCore for all the latest in Star Trek product news!

INTERVIEW: Catching Up With STAR TREK’s Denise Crosby

John Kirk
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164
INTERVIEW: Catching Up With STAR TREK’s Denise Crosby

Denise Crosby just hasn’t got the adoration of Star Trek fans to fall back on; she has a long career to be proud of and is a “school of hard knocks” veteran actress who knows all about the dark corridors of Hollywood.

She has worked with some of the best of people in the what could be considered the worst of times for the industry. The 1980’s made up a decade of great inequity and Denise Crosby was there to see and learn from it. She got to share some of those lessons learned at Fan Expo Canada, when I caught up with the one-time security officer at the end of August.

Crosby in recent years.

Before she signed up for Starfleet, Crosby spent 1983 as part of the cast of the romantic comedy The Man Who Loved Women. While it was a great opportunity for the actress and gave her access to some of the brightest stars of the day including Burt Reynolds, Julie Andrews and Kim Basinger, she also had the chance to work for the legendary Blake Edwards. While it seemed like a dream opportunity, there were some teaching moments and hard lessons learned.

“I I was as green as they came at that point. I remember driving to the set – it was a house in Malibu. My first scene, in typical Hollywood fashion, it was a love scene with Burt and along comes Kim Basinger to join the fun. It’s a threesome – and that was my first scene,” she recalled. “I had been fitted with wardrobe by multi-Oscar-winning Anne Ross. She had designed this lovely, sexy little lingerie. I’m in bed with Burt and Blake wants to shoot all the love scenes in one week, so he can get to the good stuff, and all the previous women were nude.”

Blake Edwards had to be one of the most influential producers/directors in Hollywood in the eighties. The amount of pressure that was on Crosby at this time was clearly obvious in her tone as she related the story.

“I come out in my little lingerie and in my robe, and he says ‘No! No! You gotta have nothing on.’ And I was like a deer in headlights. And Anne says ‘Blake, this is actually sexier.’ He said back to her, ‘No, the other girls were nude – they did it – that’s how we’re doing it.’ I was all of 25 years old, and I didn’t know that I could have said no – and here we go: Me Too,” she shared.

Crosby (third from left) and the cast of “The Men Who Loved Women.”

“Haskell Wexler, the Director of Photography looked at me and said ‘I got you,'” Crosby continued. “You don’t see anything in the film, but to do that to an actress, you know, now that I’m this age, and in hindsight, is not okay. And literally, I would have been fired if I stood up. But it ended up being an initiation by fire. The only one who’s got your back is yourself.”

Crosby connected that moment to the film industry of today.

“The whole point of #MeToo is to go forward to a different place with different rules. Women don’t have to be victims of this. The younger actresses, I hope, aren’t going to go through the same sort of thing we had to go through in the 80’s,” she said.

“I couldn’t go to anyone in the studio and complain that after being fitted, this guy wanted me to be naked? No-one cared. If you didn’t do it, you were out of there.”

It was clear at that moment that this meant a lot to Crosby. Her demeanor was serious and the message resonated in the room, where my daughters — who had joined me at the event — listened intently to her story.

“I have never told that story. I have done other movies with Blake. He ran a mild-mannered set and purposefully created a calm relationship with his crew,” she continued.

“I felt privileged. I had done other movies with Blake, but that was the first time I worked with him. I just think that it was part of the time when the power in the movie business completely ran amok. Men had free reign. I was just lucky I didn’t have worse things. Many women suffered, you know.”

Crosby with “Star Trek: The Next Generation” co-stars Marina Sirtis and Gates McFadden in 1987.

Crosby left the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1988 under a mixed set of emotions. If she was ever going to make it as an actress, she made a sad realization that Star Trek was not where she could afford to be if she wanted to be successful.

“It was frustrating as an actor. Gene Roddenberry was very set on keeping the template he had success with on the Original Series,” Crosby recounted, thinking back to her time on board the USS Enterprise.

“There were a lot of us on that crew and TV was shifting [into] multiple storylines in TV shows, and that’s where my head was — and where I thought [The Next Generation] was going to go… and Gene corrected me. ‘It’s going to be about the captain, the first officer and Data,’ he said. So, I had to make decision – after an unheard-of 26 episodes in a season, this is not what I wanted to become an actor for. I didn’t want to stand on the bridge and say ‘aye-aye, Captain.’ “

Her insight is a teaching experience for other aspiring actors. Crosby learned early enough that it was important to be yourself, know yourself and to know what you wanted. She expanded on this idea.

“In the 80’s, there weren’t a lot of women who looked like me. I had short hair, but I was still a feminine role model in a different way that wasn’t the standard. It was a breakthrough when I walked into Gene’s office and he loved it. ‘It’s modern – let’s do it!’ He said. Now, women can be whatever they want to be.”

“As a woman you want to have equal opportunities, equal pay, a voice heard,” Crosby continued. “We’ve been silenced at times and had to continue to fight. Women are finding their call to action and it’s important when we have the opportunity to do it, to do it for the other women in other countries who don’t have the same chance.”

Crosby wasn’t happy behind the horseshoe, she recounted.

In her panel at Toronto’s Fan Expo Canada, Crosby recounted how she and the other female characters shared the same sense of devaluation with a humorous anecdote.

“I actually asked them to make some fake legs! You know how the bridge was elevated in the horseshoe shape? Well, all you could see were my legs above the captain’s chair. You could just stick my legs there behind and Tasha was at her post,” she laughed. “You know, Gates and Marina and I were talking: we had NO scenes together. It couldn’t be just about the girls.”

Leaving Star Trek: The Next Generation was one of the hardest decisions she had to make in her fledgling career, but Crosby was struck by a resolve that it had to happen if she wanted to break out into more recognizable roles. It was another lesson for her of the harsh environment of Hollywood.

“It was a long process. It was not a rash ‘me-coming-in-on-Monday-and-doing-this-on-Tuesday’. I ran it by everyone. Nobody wanted me to leave,” she said. “They tried, in their own way, to say it’ll get better. Then there was the final meeting with Gene and he literally told me ‘it won’t get better’. That’s when I knew I had to leave and that he was going to kill this character.”

However, there has to be something said for Crosby’s determination.

“Gene said to me: ‘You know, [if you leave] you can’t come back.’ Well we showed him!”

Crosby returned as Romulan commander Sela in four episodes of “The Next Generation.”

Of course, every Star Trek fan knows that Crosby actually did reprise the character of Tasha Yar in “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and “All Good Things…,” and she even managed to pitch a second character, the Romulan commander Sela, appearing as Tasha Yar’s daughter in multiple episodes.

“[Seeing Sela in Star Trek: Picard] would be so good,” Crosby said. “Sela wasn’t fulfilled for me. I had great ideas for that character. She also shows up in Star Trek Online. One of the lead designers for Star Trek Online just emailed me yesterday and had a meeting with a story consultant for Picard to discuss how right it would be to bring Sela into the world of Picard.”

Wishful thinking? Perhaps, as Crosby assured me she was not promising an appearance in Star Trek: Picard.

“I don’t want to be that annoying person, trying to get on to the show,” she said. “But if they asked… of course!”

Sela appears in the gaming world in ‘Star Trek Online.’

The question had to be asked though: what would she take from her own experiences?

“In hindsight, one of the greatest takeaways I have from my time on Star Trek is the young women that I’m meeting that watched as a young girl and saw the possibilities of being a determined, strong, outspoken personality who wasn’t afraid – and had a right to be there. That’s my greatest love.”

After departing the series, Crosby went on to star in 1989’s Pet Sematary, became a mother, and grew an extensive filmography. In recent years, she could be seen as part of AMC’s The Walking Dead and she just finished a stint in the final season of USA Network’s Suits, a production that just wrapped filming up in Toronto.

“Your actions speak for themselves,” Crosby said, leaving me with her final thoughts. “I’ve learned that people respond to kindness, people respond to love and compassion and that’s the world I want to live in.”

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Win a STAR TREK ONLINE ‘Awakening’ Science Bundle!

Bob Stutzman
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6
Win a STAR TREK ONLINE ‘Awakening’ Science Bundle!

Once again, TrekCore is partnering up with our friends at Star Trek Online to launch a new giveaway!

To celebrate the launch of the new PC update “Awakening,” which welcomes Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp to the game, we’re giving away 50 codes for an Intel Science Bundle!

This contest has ended, and winners have been notified.

The Intel Science Bundle contains two ships from the new expansion, which features new patrols and missions in the Star Trek Online universe!

From the Federation, the Somerville Intel Science Vessel [T6], a design for the core of Starfleet’s values. This vessel is equipped for exploration, scientific missions, and information gathering.

However, the realities of a dangerous galaxy also require this vessel to be a combat capable vessel, and as such this vessel features powerful defensive shielding, a standard Starfleet compliment of ship weaponry, and powerful deflector dishes.

From the Klingon Empire, the Balth Intel Science Vessel [T6] fills an important role in the Klingon fleets. Gathering intelligence and advancing Klingon science is a vital component of ensuring that the Klingon Empire remains able to fight to the best of its ability as time goes on.

It has powerful shielding to keep its crew safe, or a battle cloak to surprise foes looking for the same information.

To enter the contest, just email us your name by October 8 — and on October 9, we’ll pick 50 names to win a Intel Science Bundle.

All winners will be emailed the in-game code and instructions how to add the bundle to your Star Trek Online account. Good luck to all!

Trek Comics Review: STAR TREK YEAR FIVE #6

John Kirk
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2
Trek Comics Review: STAR TREK YEAR FIVE #6

Comics can be such an over-looked and under-appreciated medium.

I touched on this point with my last review of Star Trek: Year Five #5, so it’s appropriate that it’s a resurfacing topic as I look at Issue #6. It can be this lack of appreciation that makes it difficult to attract the right writers when you have a high-profile franchise like Star Trek to take care of.

You see, continuity is something that fans automatically look for and writing for Star Trek doesn’t just require talent, it also demands that the writer has a vast amount of subject knowledge to support that continuity.

Drawing comparisons. identifying possible loose ends that could spawn their own stories and a vast repository of character lore – these are all things that Trek comic writers need to keep in mind because telling stories within an established universe can be more challenging than working in your own.

It needs to be appreciated, and that brings us to Star Trek: Year Five #6 from writer Jody Houser and artists Silvia Califano, Thomas Deer and Neil Uyetake.

When we last left the crew of the Enterprise, they were experiencing the effects of an unknown alien device recovered from an archeological expedition that interfered with their ability to communicate with each other. At the same time, Lieutenant Uhura had just made a significant step forward while trying to communicate with their reluctant Tholian child refugee.

The cover, the preamble – it’s clear that this is Uhura’s issue to shine. As the communications officer, she was responsible for so many things that were explored in subsequent books and other media after TOS ended. Not only was it revealed that she was a gifted linguist, but she also was an expert in electronic warfare, surveillance and other areas that are too many to list.

But it’s clear that Houser is aware of her capabilities and the justly-deserved focus as she works out the mystery of the effect of the archaeological artifacts – which is also gives rise to the communications breakthrough with the Tholian child, affectionately nick-named “Bright-Eyes”.

I enjoyed the fact that Houser knew enough about this character’s background from those additional continuity sources to turn this into Uhura’s comic to shine. It makes for greater appreciation of the characters of Star Trek and brings to light Houser’s adeptness with them.

The same thing can be said about her portrayal of the Klingons at this period of Captain Kirk’s career. For continuity reference, we must be close to the point when the effects of the Augment virus will start to wear off. Klingons are returning to their original forms and losing the human DNA.

Remember, we were told in Enterprise that it would take a generation or two before the full effects would be fully purged from Klingon DNA. That’s about the same time as Kirk’s final year on the first five-year mission — and the setting of the Year Five storyline.

Houser makes use of that fact as the Enterprise encounters what looks like an early Bird of Prey design from the movie era, and as Kirk remarks that he’s never seen a Klingon that looks like Captain U’Jahl.

I also remarked that I had enjoyed Houser’s streamlining of the plot in last issue. This book sees that same type of focus on solving the communications mystery. However, there’s also a delightful cadence of interplay between Uhura and “Bright-Eyes” and how Houser gives us further insight into “Bright-Eyes’” character. A child, Houser shows us that the young Tholian is eager to please, as he says “did good.” It’s a soft moment that brings the reader closer to the alien and we see the child more.

Artist Silvia Califano has not disappointed in her rendering of the captain and crew of the USS Enterprise. Her work last issue was a very pleasant introduction for me to her work and I have to likewise say the same for it in this book. She excels in presenting the emotional expressions of the characters and that goes a long way in capturing likenesses.

However, I had to also admire her interpretation of the early Klingon Bird of Prey in presenting the transitional nature of this point in the Trek timeline. That must have taken research and care to carry that degree of specificity in a ship design.

The same sort of appreciation clearly went in the covers for this book as well. Stephen Thompson’s regular cover really showcases the importance of Uhura in this story, and while there might be an over-dramatization of the amount of Klingon opposition the Enterprise faces in this story, it’s a gorgeous representation of the deadly sleekness of the Klingon D-7 Battlecruiser and his portrayal of Lieutenant Uhura is stunning.

J.J. Lendl maintains his wonderful 1950’s “Travel Guide” style of presenting the story in this month’s retailer-incentive cover. He captures one of the dominant thematic elements – in this case, the archaeological expedition – and manages to extrapolate it into a fantasy piece that does more than capture our eyes; it captures our imaginations. Of course. That’s what every good Star Trek story is meant to do, and he effortlessly pulls that trick off.

Next weekend is New York Comic Con, and this month’s issue will also have a featured convention-exclusive cover variant available to fans on site; starship model licensee Hero Collector gets their own design, composited from model photography by artist Nils Walter Khan.

Again, it’s the appreciation that matters when writing, penciling, coloring or lettering stories about Star Trek. Comic work often gets overlooked for the long hours, the deadlines, the specificity of the fans who expect their creators to not only have the same love of the franchise that they do, but also the same amount, or more knowledge.

Comic creators are expected to write a story arc, broken up into various installments over a length of time of eventually about novella’s length or, in some cases, more. Regardless of how episodic the story is, its authenticity and enjoyment of the fans still has the same level of expectation as any other medium, and that needs to be appreciated.

Actor Aron Eisenberg, DEEP SPACE NINE’s Nog, Dies at 50

TrekCore Staff
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47
Actor Aron Eisenberg, DEEP SPACE NINE’s Nog, Dies at 50

Ferengi troublemaker Nog started off on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as a bad influence on young Jake Sisko, only to grow into one of the most well-rounded characters on the series — through learning to become a good friend to the station commander’s son, working to convince others that he was more than just a profit-seeking Ferengi, finding his way into Starfleet and eventually struggling to overcome his own personal trauma after a wartime injury.

The TrekCore team was saddened to learn last night that the man behind Nog’s struggles and successes, actor Aron Eisenberg, has passed away at the age of 50, as announced by his wife on social media.

 

The specifics of Eisenberg’s passing were not made public, but the actor faced a number of medical issues throughout his life. Eisenberg was born with only one kidney, as he explained in a 2018 Facebook post, which required a transplant replacement at the age of 13 — and eventually began to fail, requiring a second transplant which the actor discussed back in 2015.

Eisenberg was a mainstay at Star Trek conventions, where he would often undergo a full costume-and-makeup transformation to go on stage as Lieutenant Nog (the character’s rank at the end Deep Space Nine), and pose for photos with fans in full character.

In recent months, Eisenberg partnered up with his on-screen best friend Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) to revisit episodes of their series on the podcast The 7th Rule, which often included never-heard stories from the Deep Space Nine sets.

Other members of the Star Trek family, including the some of the Ferengi “first family,” shared their reactions to Eisenberg’s passing on social media as the news spread overnight.

https://twitter.com/Marina_Sirtis/status/1175771735410368512

Last night, a GoFundMe campaign to help Eisenberg’s family offset the cost of funeral expenses was launched, organized by Megan Elise (wife of Star Trek: Voyager actor Garrett Wang).

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