In our next video exclusive from the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, curator Margaret Weitekamp talks about the need to find pre-1974 photographs of the classic “Star Trek” USS Enterprise model for the in-depth conservation project.
CBS Interactive Exec on ‘All Access’ Demographics
It’s been three months since CBS dropped the bombshell announcement that Star Trek would be heading back to television… and after we all caught our breath and looked closer, it became apparent that the new show would actually be debuting on the CBS television network — but then living exclusively on the studio’s online streaming video service, CBS All Access.
While viewers around the world are still waiting for news on how they’ll be able to watch the upcoming series — as CBS was clear to specify that international distribution plans are still being developed — Trek viewers in the United States were surprised to learn that while the dream of an on-demand Trek show was finally being answered, it would be only available through a service still in its relative infancy (when compared to Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu).
Fans were immediately divided into several camps, including those who are already clamoring to sign up for All Access, those who are waiting to hear if the show’s going to be worth their money… and of course, those who claim that they “will never pay” for another streaming service and (of course) immediately declared their plans to illegally pirate the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xBLol05Uh8
CBS Interactive calls it “complementary” to Netflix – not competition – in this 2014 report.
CBS Interactive calls it “complementary” to Netflix – not competition – in this 2014 report.
While we’re not going to spend time on that last topic here, a few gripes about the All Access services started to come up in discussions in many conversations, including claims that “nobody uses [All Access]” and that the programming has “too many ads” — and while he wasn’t willing to offer specific numbers, CBS Interactive CEO Jim Lanzone spoke on both viewership and advertisement in a new interview published today by Decider.
On who is using the streaming service, and how the network’s ratings compare to their over-the-air numbers:
The overall demographic of All Access is younger. Seventy percent are between 18 and 49, the average age is 42 years old, and about 60 percent of All Access subscribers are female.
‘Big Bang Theory’ and ‘NCIS’ are consistent across both [TV and online] platforms. ‘Supergirl’ outperforms [TV ratings] online. ‘Limitless’ is another one that does really well online.
We’re absolutely pleased with our subscriber numbers, but we’re not releasing [specific figures] at this point.
On the launch of CBS All Access in 2014, and the consideration of an ad-free payment tier:
All Access came out of our experience with CBS.com… within [that userbase] there was a subset of super-fans who wanted access to a deeper catalog of content. All Access was designed around those super-fans.
Those users pay $5.99 a month for the five trailing episodes within a current season of a show and a deep catalog of full seasons of our 24 current series and other things like local live streaming and a lower ad load.
People are willing to pay for that deeper level of service.
[An ad-free tier] is something we’re considering. Super-fans consume twice as much content as people who access it for free, and there’s a subset of that user base who would be willing to pay for an ad-free environment.
I wouldn’t look at it as something that would replace the overall business model or the overall way our platforms work.
Lastly, Lanzone also touched on whether the upcoming Star Trek series is going to be the first of many All Access-exclusive programs.
We have a dedicated audience online, and we’re looking at [the new ‘Star Trek’ series] as an opportunity. We think it’s a show that will match up really well with All Access’s audience.
‘Star Trek’ is the only scripted original that we have announced, but we’re obviously looking at whether it makes sense to do more.
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It’s clear that even though we are along way out from 2017’s Star Trek launch on All Access, there are still a lot of questions about the service that fans will need answered before many will open up their wallets for another streaming subscription, even before we start talking about the content of the new show itself.
Will their be an ad-free tier, and at what cost? Will the All Access service be available through more devices, perhaps through Amazon Video like the recent Showtime / Starz expansion? Will the show be released all-at-once a la Netflix — allowing subscribers to sign up, watch, and disconnect — or will it be a weekly event requiring a longer commitment?
There’s one question, however, that looms above all the rest: with Trek expected to leave Amazon Video this month, is Netflix or Hulu to follow — leaving All Access soon to be the only way to stream the franchise?
We’re all waiting for those answers, hopefully coming soon.
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Enterprise In Pieces: Our New Smithsonian Photos
As you may have noticed by our headline the other day, we had another chance to go behind the scenes with the National Air & Space Museum’s conservation team, who have been working on the classic USS Enterprise filming model since late 2014.
Thanks to curator Margaret Weitekamp and conservators Malcolm Collum and Ariel O’Connor, our video and photography team traveled once again to the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA, to get up close and personal with the disassembled Enterprise model, being prepared for the extensive overhaul which is being started soon, to get the model back on display by July 2016.
Now that the model is all separated into its component parts, our contributing photographer Kelly Phillips of Pixelation Photography was able to produce several dozen wonderful shots of all the pieces that make up this decades-old starship – check out some of our shots below!
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Our full collection of photos are in our Original Series gallery.
We’ve got a whole bunch of video interviews coming over the next few weeks, diving deep into the different restoration and conservation processes that the Smithsonian team will be implementing over the next several months.
In the meantime, be sure to check out our first feature, with conservator Malcolm Collum and how a new deflector dish is being prepared for the model.
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Stay tuned, as we’ve got lots more to come!
Doug Jung on Writing TREK BEYOND with Simon Pegg
We haven’t heard that much from STAR TREK BEYOND scribe Doug Jung, who teamed up with co-writer Simon Pegg for the final version of the script at the beginning of 2015 (after Bob Orci and the other writers were let go from the project).
Today, however, a new interview with the Writer’s Bone podcast gave Jung the forum to talk a bit about his career to date, and of course, his involvement with BEYOND. While the entire interview lasts almost forty minutes, the Star Trek discussions starts at about 24:00.
In addition to talking about the now-well-known short lead time that he and Pegg had to take BEYOND from script to screen, Jung also gave his perspective about taking on such a well-known property:
I was hesitant to take [the job] because, I mean, you’d have to be kind of an idiot to not see that opportunity – but it’s a little intimidating. There’s just a huge amount of information and so many years and layers that go into [the Star Trek] canon.
Once he and Simon Pegg began their work, it wasn’t just another job — their shared history with Trek had an impact.
There were definitely times when we were sitting there together and we would both be like, “All right, this is just weird. We need to think of a really good Spock line.” Or whatever – A really good Bones quip.
We’d have some cool idea, but think, “Did they do that once in some Next Generation episode? Is that what’s coming to us? Is that where we’re getting it?”
It was stuff like that that came up.
Not only did they do their own research when needed, they also welcomed feedback from other Trek experts during the writing process:
[We had] so many people who were such fans of Star Trek, who knew it so well; [we were able] to lean on those people a little bit. We had this guy who did all the alien dialect, and in the script where there was something about Vulcan theology, and I got it wrong…
He sent me an email saying “In the Original Series, we did establish that Spock…” And I literally was like, “That’s great!” How fantastic is it that?
We would take that from anywhere we could get it.
Jung also spoke at length about the writing partnership, and how Pegg’s familiarity with the material added to their efforts.
What I liked about [Simon’s] point of view is that he is an actor in the new reboot franchise, and he could kind of take a different point of view on it at certain times.
That was really cool, because we would be doing scenes where there was heavy back-and-forth dialogue, and he could sometimes say, “You know, I don’t think he’d say that.”
He knew the characters and the actors really well, so he would even sometimes tailor things to certain actors, as Simon knew what their strengths were.
Lastly, he also talked about the pair’s work to try to build the characters of the Enterprise crew in this new outing:
One of the other things were trying to determine while we were doing it, was what are all the inter-dynamics between these characters? I remember we were talking one day… “Have Chekov and Sulu ever had a conversation on-screen?” We went through the other two movies and they actually, literally, never had a conversation on-screen.
So just because he was there, he knows all that how it sort of went down and we were able to go, “Oh, there’s an opportunity.” Something where we can maybe build certain relationships that haven’t been explored before.
STAR TREK BEYOND hits theaters this July.
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STAR TREK BEYOND Concept Art Reveals a New Starship
As you may recall, Omaze ran a wonderful multi-week fundraiser campaign bringing Star Trek fans a chance to take a trip to the Vancouver STAR TREK BEYOND soundstages, all while helping to earn money for several great charities around the world.
Aside from those few winners who made it up to British Columbia before production flew off to Dubai, there were plenty of other contributors who earned To Boldly Go pins, photos, special video messages, props from the film, and even concept art from preproduction.
Now, a few if of those fans who donated to the charity drive has unexpectedly received their STAR TREK BEYOND concept artwork, months ahead of the film’s July release — and it’s something hinted at in the BEYOND trailer released last December.
Fan and Omaze contributor DB Wilson received this framed 20″ x 36″ poster this week seemingly out of the blue, as the Omaze donation page (now closed) had advertised its shipment after the summer release of STAR TREK BEYOND.
This poster features the USS Franklin, a Federation ship that appears to be the setting of the opening shots of the BEYOND trailer, where the Enterprise crew reunite after their dispersal across the planet where their own starship has crashed.
An odd design not featured before in the Star Trek canon, this starship certainly falls within the design aesthetic thus far established in the two previous films – those blue-bussard-collector nacelle caps and exposed main viewscreen portal line up with Chris Pine’s Enterprise, but the Starfleet markings have a decidedly prime-universe look to them.
So is the USS Franklin an unexpected name to see in the BEYOND storyline? Well, not quite — December’s trailer already told us this ship exists.
Looking closely, one can see that the patch on Spock’s jacket reads USS Franklin.
Also, a brief shot of Simon Pegg’s Scotty passing by a systems monitor also seems to highlight the outline of a ship that looks very much like this poster image, in profile:
So what role does the Franklin really play in the upcoming film? Well, we don’t know specifically yet, but we can make an educated guess.
We know that the Enterprise destruction sequence happens in the early minutes of the movie, after the starship has left Starbase Yorktown. The crew is obviously scattered across the planet — the trailer features Chekov alone outside an escape pod, Scotty narrowly avoiding falling off a cliff, etc. — but the shots of the seemingly old-fashioned spaceship interior have the crew back together.
We’re assuming that is the Franklin, on the surface of the planet — and this old ship must be their ticket back into space.
Back in August we saw some of the cast on the hull of some kind of vessel — one that had faint English writing printed on that hatch cover — so that too is likely the Franklin.
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Here’s a closer look at the STAR TREK BEYOND logo used on the poster — not expected to be used in the upcoming marketing campaign — sporting the same design last seen at September’s press conference in Dubai.
The logo is seen here behind producer Jeffery Chernov at the Dubai press briefing.
Thanks to DB Wilson for sharing his photos with us!
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Smithsonian Visit 2016: First Video!
We’ve just gotten back from our catch-up session with the Enterprise model conservation team at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum facility in Virginia — and while we’ve still got a whole lot of work ahead of us to prepare our big video and photographic update, here’s a preview of our discussion with conservator Malcolm Collum about a NEW deflector dish for the Enterprise!
CBS Announces “Mission New York” Convention
FEBRUARY 18 UPDATE:
The first tickets have been set for sale starting today at 1PM Eastern, with both single-day and weekend passes available for the three-day show. In addition, a $400 VIP pass option is also available for those wanting some extra swag and access at the event.
No guests have yet been announced for the show, so it’s understandable if some may want to wait to spend their cash until more details are available; ReedPop! commented on the delayed guest announcements today on their Facebook page.
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ORIGINAL REPORT FROM JANUARY 25:
In what came as a surprising release today, CBS Consumer Products — partnered with the ReedPOP events groups — have revealed a new fan convention centered in New York City this fall!
Arriving in the Big Apple this coming September, this new East Coast event is set to take place at the Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, the same location as the annual New York City Comic Con.
CBS Consumer Products and ReedPOP, the world’s largest producer of pop culture events, are teaming up to launch an all-new original Star Trek fan experience in the birthplace of the Star Trek convention with Star Trek: Mission New York in 2016.
This three-day event will be the ultimate destination for Star Trek fans, filled with interactive exhibits, exclusive merchandise, celebrity guests, panels, screenings and much more. Its creation adds to a year filled with Star Trek events and experiences celebrating the franchise’s milestone 50th anniversary.
Star Trek: Mission New York will take place September 2-4 at the Javits Center in Manhattan. Additional details about the event including ticket sales, hotel information, guests and exhibitors will be revealed in the coming weeks. For more information, please visit www.StarTrekMissions.com and the Star Trek: Mission New York social media pages (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
The arrival of Star Trek: Mission New York marks the return of the Star Trek fan fest to the Big Apple. The first Star Trek convention, which helped spark the fast-growing experiential fan event industry, took place January 21-23, 1972 at the Statler Hotel – now the Hotel Pennsylvania. Originally planned for 500 guests, the event became an instant blockbuster with more than 3,000 in attendance. ReedPOP, global experts at producing and curating the world’s best fan experiences, will develop a unique program that will entertain and engage thousands of Star Trek fans for a new and different stand-alone experience.
“Star Trek fans set the gold standard of what these type of experiential events are all about, truly establishing this industry that we’ve been so proud to be a part of,” said Lance Fensterman, Global Senior Vice President of ReedPOP. “Star Trek: Mission New York will be a completely unique fan event unlike anything seen before, giving them the chance to go beyond panels and autograph signings, and immerse themselves in the Star Trek universe.”
Liz Kalodner, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Consumer Products, added, “There has never been a better time to be a Star Trek fan than right now with the 50th anniversary celebration on tap. Star Trek: Mission New York will celebrate everything going on in the Star Trek universe, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to bring it back to the birthplace of the original Star Trek convention and do so with a partner like ReedPOP.”
There’s still a long way to go until September, and so far there’s been no announcement of any guest speaker or actor participation at this convention — but with this being the first official Star Trek convention in years to not include Creation Entertainment in some way, it’s likely CBS will be doing whatever they can to draw in some big names for this show to draw visitors.
In addition, since this weekend falls just days before the 50th Anniversary of the Original Series’ television debut in 1966, there’s sure to be a few surprises in store for the crowds as well.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated as we learn more about this event!
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STAR TREK Leaving Amazon Video on February 15?
Four and a half years after the Star Trek television shows became part of the Amazon Instant Video catalog, the five live-action series now seem to on their way out.
Over the last view days, paid Amazon Prime subscribers have begun to see a countdown on the Trek collection, indicating that the shows will be removed from the streaming service on February 15.
While CBS extended their partnership agreement with Amazon back in early 2014, it seems that what may have been a two-year renewal of that contract is now coming to an end.
Netflix is trying to come to a deal to keep CBS and CW shows on their streaming service as well, all while rumors of an online, subscription-based version of The CW are brewing in Hollywood.
No matter what happens between Amazon, Netflix, or other streaming services, CBS is already branding their CBS All Access program as a home for Star Trek, as evidenced by one of their frequently-seen banner ads which are appearing online now.
With the forthcoming sixth live-action Trek series coming exclusively to the CBS All Access platform in 2017, it’s not too surprising that CBS may start to bring their entertainment holdings — including Star Trek — back home under their control.
There’s no indication yet that this pending removal will affect any purchased digital copies of the individual episodes, but we’ve reached out to Amazon for comment and will update this post once we hear back.
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Trek Comics Review #53: “Reunion, Part 1”
It’s this month’s issue of IDW Publishing’s Star Trek comic series: the first installment of “Reunion,” the next adventure in the new Five Year Mission.
This month’s story offers a pair of cover art presentations:
Order Star Trek #53:
- The first of a pair of striking covers comes from interior artist Tony Shasteen. The dominant image is a portrait of Gaila, played by Rachel Nichols in the 2009 film, on the left side of the cover. Her brother Kai looks determined, wearing Starfleet reds and holding out a phaser out.
Under his image is Kirk in profile, looking as though he’s pondering something weighty. All three characters look great. This trio is superimposed over a shot of space and a blueprint outline of the Enterprise. Everything is great, and having two of the characters being Orions really makes the coloring on this pop.
- Pictured above. The second cover, the subscription cover, is by Cat Staggs. Brother and sister are back to back, each with phaser posed as ready. They are atop a cloudy shot of space than on the Shasteen cover, and the Enterprise is coming out of the top left corner and turning before Kai to take center stage.Good composition on this; I like seeing the two back to back, showing a strong relationship between the two. Gaila has a smile on her face, while Kai has a faint turn of the mouth. It’s rare to see people smiling on comic book covers, so this was nicely warm. The colors are really dark, but it works to make this issue stand out against all others on the stands.
The first five pages of the book are a flashback to fourteen years earlier involving an important moment in Gaila and Kai’s lives. It gives some good backstory to the pair and sets up for fans what troubles to expect. In the present, The U.S.S. Enterprise and the U.S.S. Tereshkova have met in deep space and the crews are mixing to break up the monotony of solitary exploration.
This provides an opportunity for Gaila, who’s a science officer aboard the Tereshkova, to meet with her brother, who’s aboard the Enterprise. Naturally the Orion meets up with Nyota, who offers to show her friend around the Enterprise.
Gaila is quite the popular character online (with her first appearance being memorable), so creating a story around her is a good way to get instant fan buy-in. Writer Mike Johnson does a really good job with fleshing out her past, with the first five pages being a nice look into Orion culture. Gaila’s reunion with family and friends is good, and the moment she meets with a specific individual on Page 10 is as fun as one could imagine.
The action on that page is followed up on 11 with the best cut away I’ve seen in a while on this title. There’s a welcome bit of humor in this book before the situation becomes inevitably dire. Page 9 introduces the captain of the Tereshkova and I’m glad to see another captain enter the series, as well as her ship. Hopefully there will be more to see of this captain.
The troubles that both captains encounter isn’t really surprising, given the first few pages, but it was still fun to read, and I’m looking forward to seeing how this story will wrap up next month.
With this issue artist Tony Shasteen has cemented his ability to illustrate believe looking characters, be they the numerous bipeds that populate Star Trek or the bizarre twisting of known creatures into something truly otherworldly.
Page 2 is the perfect example of this, with a pair of Orions, looking very realistic, but a new alien race that seems to resemble something found on Earth, but in a close-up on 3 they have elements that make them absolutely horrific. Readers will have the same reaction as little Gaila on this page after seeing the characters so close.
In the present Gaila looks terrific, with Pages 8, 11, 13, and 14 being stand outs. Galia’s father is also really well done, such as on 4, 12, and 13. Familiar faces Kirk and Uhura also look great, with the captain looking really strong at the top of 18.
It’s the interiors, again, that bring the look of this book down. There’s a difference between photo referenced and photo inserted, and the bridge of Enterprise continues to be a compilation of fuzzy photographs that distract that from Shasteen’s fine figure work. Any panel that shows the bridge is just poor.
The crew lounge aboard the Tereshkova is an interesting design: it looks like Vic’s Las Vegas lounge from Deep Space Nine. I’m really mixed on this location: there would be a lounge aboard a Starfleet ship, but would it be this big and would it look like this? Pages 12 and 13 have a very different setting for this book, but given its location it fits perfectly with the story, regardless of the time period.
I’m liking Shasteen’s characters, but am disappointed in the settings.
It’s such a seemingly simple thing, changing the colors of a character’s skin, but having Orions be major players in this issue brings a pleasurable tone to this book. With the opening five pages, colorist Davide Mastrolonardo does some sensational shading on their skin, both in natural light and during an explosive moment. The colors of the new alien species introduced are superb.
Every character in this book pops off the page, while the backgrounds are a mismash of faded blues and grays. Having an Orion on the page really brings some punch to the colors. One nit with the colors occurs when a red alert is sounded; the backgrounds change to a nice rose, though the crimson hue doesn’t spill onto the characters — This was odd. However, the majority of the book looks very well, save Pages 16 – 18.
Narration, dialogue, and scene settings (the same font), the new alien species’ dialogue, sounds, yells, and the issue’s “To Be Continued!” are crafted by Chris Mowry. Were it not for the coloring of dialogue boxes, it would be impossible to separate narration from dialogue from scene setting. These should be their own unique fonts.
Mowry makes up for this slight with a visually arresting font for the new aliens. Not only do the characters look interesting, their speech looks just as incredible.
REVIEW: Deep Space Nine — “Ascendance”
The post-television Deep Space Nine saga continues with this original novel from New York Times bestselling author David R. George III!
On the original Deep Space Nine, Captain Kira Nerys watches as the nearby wormhole opens and discharges a single, bladelike vessel. Attempts to contact its crew fail, and the ship is soon followed by another vessel of similar design. When an armada subsequently begins to emerge from the wormhole, it seems clear that DS9 is under attack.
Kira orders her first officer, Commander Elias Vaughn, to board the U.S.S. Defiant and defend the station, and alerts Starfleet to send additional forces as her crew prepares DS9’s shields and weaponry for the onslaught to come.
Meanwhile, on the lead ship, Iliana Ghemor considers launching an attack on DS9 and finally ending the life of Kira, the fountainhead of all the ills in her miserable life. Her vengeance demands more than mere death, though—it requires pain. Ghemor refocuses, choosing to follow her plan to mete out her revenge on the captain by first decimating the population of Bajor…
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In last year’s DS9 novel Sacraments of Fire, we got a taste of the Ascendant storyline at long last, with it having been abandoned a few years ago when the Star Trek novel line changed editors. Now, we get the continuation of that story in this month’s new novel, Ascendance.
The novel is largely split into two parts, the first dealing with the Ascendant attack on Bajor in the 2370s. We learn how the attack was carried out, Iliana Ghemor’s ultimate fate, and the role that Taran’atar and the Even Odds played in thwarting the attack. While it is nice to get some resolution to these events, the true meaning behind what happened and the fallout from it isn’t fully realized until we get to the “current” period of the novel.
After years, Illiana Ghemor’s fate is finally revealed!
In Sacraments of Fire, Odo traveled to a secret Starfleet facility to assist researchers there in investigating a massive life-form that exhibits some of the characteristics of a Changeling. In this novel, after Odo touches the creature, it breaks containment and flees the system, heading for Bajor and the wormhole. The Defiant under the command of Commander Stinson attempts to stop it, but instead, the Changeling-esque being completely envelops the ship and then mimics it in perfect detail. It then cloaks and resumes its course for the Bajoran system.
The final reveal of what exactly this life-form is and how it connects to the events surrounding the Ascendant attack is really very surprising, and something I definitely did not see coming.
There is a lot to like in Ascendance. As is the case with Deep Space Nine in general and the post-finale novels in particular, the character work is a definite standout. In the last novel, the focus was on Colonel Cenn Desca, and in this book, it’s Commander Wheeler Stinson we learn more about. This continued focus on the newer characters is very welcome, as I feel there is still a lot to learn about most of the new faces on station Deep Space 9.
I enjoyed Ro Laren’s arc in this story, and am curious to see where it goes from here.
I also particularly enjoyed Ro Laren’s arc in this story, mirroring Cenn Desca’s. Whereas the recent discovery of a “falsework” has shattered his faith, it has opened up Ro to the possibility that the Prophets really are divine beings, a choice on the part of David R. George that I find very interesting. I’m curious to see where her journey will take her.
While Ascendance wraps up a number of storylines, it opens and leaves hanging a few new ones. What has become of Vic Fontaine’s program, and will Nog be able to rectify his program? What about Morn? Quark continues his search for the absent barfly in this novel, but it is never resolved.
Finally, I do have to say that I am a little disappointed in the path that Sisko seems to be on now. While he feels that his time as the Emissary is at an end, I can’t help but think that there is still more for The Sisko to do in his role as Emissary of the Prophets.
I hope we get to see more of Sisko as the Emissary in the future.
Perhaps his voyage into the Gamma Quadrant aboard the Robinson will reveal a new path for the Emissary, but I sincerely hope that he still has a role to play in the affairs of Bajor. Only time will tell.