The fourth of five VERY Short Trek animated promos just made its way onto the official Star Trek video channels! This time, it’s holodecks within holosuites in “Holograms All the Way Down.”
“Holograms All the Way Down” stars the voices of Connor Trinneer (Trip Tucker from Enterprise), Jonathan Frakes (Riker from Next Generation), Armin Shimerman (Quark from Deep Space Nine), Noël Wells (D’Vana Tendi from Lower Decks), Angus Imrie (Zero from Prodigy), George Takei (Sulu from the Original and Animated Series), Doug Jones (Saru from Discovery), Bruce Horak (Hemmer from Strange New Worlds), and Ethan Phillips (Neelix from Voyager).
Bonnie Gordon again voices the ship’s computer; the short was written by Star Trek: Prodigy’s Aaron J. Waltke.
“Holograms All the Way Down” will be followed by one final (non-canon) Animated Series-style short next week; “Walk, Don’t Run” will be available at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT on October 4.
Check back to TrekCore often for the latest in Star Trek franchise news!
Though the second ten episodes of Season 1 live on through digital purchase options through iTunes and Prime Video, actually holding a physical copy of the otherwise-unavailable episodes is a welcome relief while the behind-the-scenes efforts to bring Season 2 to the public trudge along silently.
“All the World’s a Stage” (Paramount Home Entertainment)
Star Trek: Prodigy — Season 1 (Episodes 11-20) is a two-disc Blu-ray collection which contains a few behind-the-scenes bonus features, along with episodes “Asylum,” “Let Sleeping Borg Lie,” “All the World’s a Stage,” “Crossroads,” “Masquerade,” “Preludes,” “Ghost in the Machine,” “Mindwalk,” and the two-part “Supernova” season finale.
The back half of the season holds the strongest elements of the Prodigy story, including the Protostar crew’s full embrace of Starfleet ideals, backstory reveals on all of the young heroes, cat-and-mouse escapes from Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the USS Dauntless, and of course, Dal (Brett Grey) and the gang’s ultimate arrival to the heart of the United Federation of Planets.
“Mindwalk” (Paramount Home Entertainment)
The lovely animation of course transfers beautifully to the high-definition Blu-ray release, so there’s nothing to fret about there, but unfortunately the audio options remain limited with only English, Spanish, French, and German audio and subtitles included.
As for the trio of bonus features, here’s what’s included.
THE ODYSSEY OF PRODIGY (21:01)
Concept artwork for the return of Thadiun Okona in “Crossorads.” (Paramount Home Entertainment)
Creators Kevin and Dan Hageman and co-producer Aaron Waltke touch upon the major plot elements of the episodes — the Living Contruct weapon buried inside the Protostar’s code, encountering the Borg, Admiral Janeway’s pursuit, et cetera — along with some minor commentary from series actors Kate Mulgrew, Brett Grey, and Ella Purnell (clipped from 2022 publicity interviews).
Director Ben Hibon also comments on the body-swap acting of “Mindwalk” where Gray and Mulgrew must play each other’s character.
PRODUCING PRODIGY: THE PLANETS (14:15)
Concept artwork for the Tars Lamora asteroid colony. (Paramount Home Entertainment)
As its name implies, this piece covers the various alien worlds visited by the Protostar crew. Director Ben Hibon and senior supervising producer Patrick Krebs share their insights on the digital design work which bring each environment to life, along with interesting input from concept artists Gus Mendonca, Bastien Grivet and Jessica Rossier. Series composer Nami Melumad also talks about her musical score, a topic sorely missing from the first Blu-ray release.
Thankfully, the lovely concept artwork and graphic design work featured in this piece are no longer constricted to a small box on the screen — one of our main complaints about the first Prodigy Blu-ray set.
PRODUCING PRODIGY: THE SHIPS (12:39)
A close look at an LCARS panel aboard the Dauntless. (Paramount Home Entertainment)
“The 2380s are a really interesting time in Star Trek,” opens Aaron Waltke in this piece that covers the design of both the exterior and interior of the Dauntless, as well as the effort that went into creating the ship’s LCARS design elements — and the the Borg Cube seen in “Let Sleeping Borg Lie.”
There are also good looks at the digital models of the various legacy-design Starfleet and alien starships brought back for the Living Construct battle in “Supernova.”
Character cards included with the Blu-ray set. (TrekCore.com)
Additionally, like the first Prodigy Blu-ray release, this set also includes both a gloss-print slipcover as well as a four-pack of character art cards (this time with Zero, Jankom Pog, Murf, and Drednok), each of which includes information about the various Trek elements encountered by the Protostar crew.
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“Supernova, Part 2” (Paramount Home Entertainment)
Star Trek: Prodigy lives in a unique space within the Trek franchise; at present it’s the only series without easy streaming availability, and the only one with a murky future. During this era of uncertainty, it’s comforting to know that fans won’t be cut off from the show we’ve experienced so far, at least — and we’re sure that the second Prodigy Blu-ray release will be a treasured part of fans’ home media collections.
Until CBS Studios announces a new home for the show — and when we’ll get to see the story of Dal, Gwyn, Rok-Tahk, Zero, Jankom Pog, Murf, and Admiral Janeway continue — we’ll be revisiting the series on disc to keep the Protostar saga alive.
Star Trek: Lower Decks is back for the next episode of the new season this week, and today we’ve got new images from “Empathalogical Fallacies” for your review!
This week, a trio of party-loving Betazoid women visit the Cerritos, and chaos ensues. Meanwhile, mysterious attacks against alien starships continue around the quadrant.
Here are eight new images from this week’s new episode:
STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS — 405: 'Empathalogical Fallacies'
1 of 8
"Empathalogical Fallacies" (Paramount+)
"Empathalogical Fallacies" (Paramount+)
"Empathalogical Fallacies" (Paramount+)
"Empathalogical Fallacies" (Paramount+)
"Empathalogical Fallacies" (Paramount+)
"Empathalogical Fallacies" (Paramount+)
"Empathalogical Fallacies" (Paramount+)
"Empathalogical Fallacies" (Paramount+)
EMPATHALOGICAL FALLACIES — A trio of Betazoids cause chaos on the Cerritos.
Written by Jamie Loftus. Directed by Megan Lloyd.
Star Trek: Lower Decks returns on Thursday, September 21 with “Empathalogical Fallacies” on Paramount+.
A few weeks ago, we reported about a seemingly-erroneous edit in the Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Blu-ray discs — and today, Paramount Home Entertainment has acknowledged the issue and have shared an update on plans for action.
As we noted, the opening shot of “The Last Generation” included a version of the Enterprise-D flying by camera which was a much-less-interesting sequence from the one seen on Paramount+ when the episode aired.
Initially thought to be an editing error using an early version of the sequence — as it was similarly shown in European streams of the episode, before it was quickly corrected by Paramount+ in the UK and elsewhere — today Paramount Home Entertainment cleared the air on what actually occurred.
“The version of the series finale episode of Star Trek: Picard (“The Last Generation”) included on the North American Blu-ray and DVD release was indeed a finished version of that episode, intended for air. The shot of the Enterprise-D was later enhanced for a theatrical screening for fans and subsequently made available for the streaming audience on Paramount+.”
Paramount Home Entertainment is updating that disc to include the final episode with the enhanced shot of Enterprise-D, so that it will appear on all new manufacturing of the physical product.
This is likely good news for fans overseas (where the Season 3 set has not yet hit stores, scheduled for a 20 November release in the UK), and is also a positive update for those of you who have preordered the huge Star Trek – The Picard Legacy Collectionbox set — the studio says they’re working to update the discs for future sales to include the finished version of “The Last Generation” for future releases.
“Star Trek: The Picard Legacy Collection, which includes the complete series of Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: The Next Generation plus all Next Generation movies, will also include the updated version of the series finale.
The domestic release date will be pushed back from October 17th to November 7th to accommodate this change. We thank the fans for the love and passion for all things Star Trek, including their attention to detail!”
The slight pushback to the Legacy Collection’s release date is something that shouldn’t be much of a concern to folks who have preordered the large box set; getting the proper content with only a three week delay is about as good as one could hope for in this kind of situation.
As for those of you who already own Picard Season 3 on Blu-ray,there’s no word yet if the studio will be offering disc replacements — it may simply be too early to launch that kind of exchange program, especially if corrected discs haven’t yet been produced.
We’ve got an open line to Paramount Home Entertainment on that subject, however, and you’ll certainly get an update as soon as we know more.
Keep checking back to TrekCore for all the latest in Star Trek Blu-ray news!
“Something Borrowed, Something Green” marks the latest step in Star Trek: Lower Decks’ journey from “Star Trek show that uses other shows’ canon to tell stories” towards “Star Trek show comes into its own and makes its own canon for other Star Trek shows to use.” It’s a delicious exercise in Orion world-building, elevating and continuing to build on “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris” and “Hear All, Trust Nothing” by taking us finally to the Orion homeworld.
After an Orion ship is destroyed by the mysterious enemy from earlier episodes who has been attacking ships across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, Tendi (Noel Wells) is granted leave by Starfleet, and encouraged to return to Orion for her sister’s wedding. Joined by Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz), Tendi grapples with the past that she left behind and gives us our clearest look yet at Orion culture.
The beating heart of “Something Borrowed, Something Green” is Tendi, Mariner, and T’Lynn’s trip to Orion. In a 24-minute episode, the Lower Decks team has managed to show us a lot of the planet, including how its major families live, what its cities are like, and some of the more unseemly parts of the planet — and in the process, we finally learn Tendi’s full backstory.
T’Lyn, Mariner, and Tendi on Orion. (Paramount+)
Hinted at in those previous episodes with an Orion tie-in, particularly “Hear All, Trust Nothing,” we learn in this episode that Tendi was trained to be the “Tip of the Moonlit Blade” — an assassin for the Orion Syndicate — and the “prime” for her family who would make its greatest contribution to the Orion Syndicate’s villainous enterprises. Rebelling against her upbringing, Tendi ultimately decided to leave Orion for Starfleet, where she’s been holding onto the secret of her background this entire time.
Establishing Orion family dynamics is really interesting, and works very well with what we already know about green-skinned aliens. It also tells us so much more about Tendi and what she has had to fight for in order to get to be the person that she wants to be. Tendi becomes extremely relatable for anyone who has had to leave their upbringing behind and find spaces in which they can be comfortable and be themselves, and it’s a rich addition to the character.
Lower Decks is also establishing itself in the Star Trek pantheon as a show just as capable of shaping our understanding of the Star Trek universe as any other. To take a big race like the Orions — who have been a part of Star Trek since the very beginning, but only lightly explored — and to build them out like this is great. It is also effective, meshing nicely with what we already know but adding new dimensions and layers to the species.
Tendi encounters old rivals. (Paramount+)
If a future Star Trek show ever visits Orion, they will need to look at what Lower Decks already established and build from there — and that’s very cool for the adult animated comedy entry to the franchise that was initially derided by a number of fans as being somehow “less than” because it was an animated comedy.
The decision to replicate the “girls’ trip” dynamic from “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris” with the addition of T’Lyn was also great. T’Lyn especially has some great lines in this episode commenting on Orion culture, and Mariner has just the right devil may care attitude to fit in well into the Orion surroundings and allow the story to focus on Tendi.
I will just briefly dwell on the apparent fever dream of Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) overcoming their disagreements on bonsai maintenance through playing Mark Twain on the holodeck. When Lower Decks leans into the absurd, it is sometimes successful and sometimes not, and I’ll let you decide how successfully this subplot succeeds. To me, it just seems to be based on a love for Jerry Hardin’s accent choice for Mark Twain in “Time’s Arrow,” which — don’t get me wrong, I love too — but it didn’t seem like there was much more to this subplot.
What, I say, in tarnation? (Paramount+)
But none of that really matters, because it was so cool to finally get to visit Orion and to learn the full picture about Tendi’s upbringing and how she ended up joining Starfleet. Three and a half seasons into Lower Decks, it is really difficult to point to any deficiencies for our core foursome in how their characters have been developed and how established they have become.
Each has an interesting backstory and roles to play in the show, and it’s created a nice balance that does not leave any of the characters feeling underserved.
TREK TROPE TRIBUTE
Tendi is the latest in a long line of alien characters on Star Trek whose backstories have been slowly revealed over time. Like Spock’s surprise family members and meeting Worf’s parents, we slowly get the full picture over the course of several seasons just like has happened here with Tendi.
The Orion ship destroyed in the teaser is an updated 24th century version of the Orion interceptor designs seen in Star Trek: Enterprise.
The captain of the competitor ship for scanning the oscillating nebula is a Chalnoth, seen before in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Allegiance.”
The ship in the Orion junkyard that Tendi used to spend time on dreaming about a life in Starfleet is the same class of ship as the USS Raven, the vessel used by the Hansen family to investigate the Borg.
T’Lyn and Mariner bond. (Paramount+)
OBSERVATION LOUNGE
Great T’Lyn lines this episode include “Celebrating a lack of purpose is illogical,” and “their emotional closeness is unpleasant.”
Like every gangster movie you ever watched, of course the crime families’ homes are ostentatious compounds.
Tendi’s parents are The Warrior Queen Shona and B’Rt. Other Orion names in this episode are D’Erika, Madame G, Nya’al, and Ingreeta.
The Murder Bug Drinking Game (which is the only name for it, provided by Mariner) is a really cool concept and I would be interested to learn the writers room process in developing it!
Counteracting the pheromones. (Paramount+)
This week brings a welcome exploration of Orion that teaches us more about Orion culture, and it’s long overdue for a Star Trek show to explore this race in more depth. In doing so, this episode adds significant depth to Tendi’s character and adds meaning and poignance to her enthusiastic and bubbly persona.
“Something Borrowed, Something Green” makes a big contribution to the Star Trek milieu in a fascinating way, and it is to be applauded and enjoyed for that, I say, I say!
Star Trek: Lower Decks returns September 28 with “Empathalogical Fallacies” on Paramount+.
The third of five VERY Short Trek animated promos just made its way onto the official Star Trek video channels! This time, Commander Riker and Doctor Crusher make first contact with a new alien species that isn’t exactly the most comfortable group to meet.
“Worst Contact” stars the voices of Star Trek: The Next Generation actors Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker and Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, along with Dana Snyder as Bragu and Sarah Sherman as Mucara.
The short was written directed by Aaron Hawkins.
“Worst Contact” will be followed by two additional (non-canon) Animated Series-style shorts over the next few weeks, each available at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT on the days listed below, continuing with “Holograms, All The Way Down” on September 27.
Check back to TrekCore often for the latest in Star Trek franchise news!
The second year of Captain Pike adventures may be over, but fans of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will be able to bring the show’s 2023 season home on Blu-ray and DVD in just over two months.
Paramount Home Entertainment today announced that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — Season Two will be released on Blu-ray, 4K Blu-ray, and DVD on December 5, in both standard and Steelbook packaging.
The four-disc Blu-ray set (and 3-disc 4K Blu-ray set) will contain all ten episodes of Strange New Worlds Season 2 — “The Broken Circle,” “Ad Astra per Aspera,” “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” “Among the Lotus Eaters,” “Charades,” “Lost in Translation,” “Those Old Scientists,” “Under the Cloak of War,” “Subspace Rhapsody,” and “Hegemony” — along with behind-the-scenes bonus features typical of past releases.
While there don’t appear to be any audio commentaries on the Season 2 set — a disappointment for sure, given this year’s Lower Decks crossover and musical episode — there will be five featurettes along with a collection of deleted, extended, and alternate scenes including a different version of the Klingon song from “Subspace Rhapsody.”
Producing Props
The Costumes Closet
The Gorn
Singing in Space
Exploring New Worlds
Deleted, Extended, and Alternate Scenes (Exclusive)
The standard Blu-ray Steelbook set. (Paramount Home Entertainment)The 4K Blu-ray Steelbook set. (Paramount Home Entertainment)
There will also be two different Steelbook sets, as has been standard for all of the Paramount+ live action seasons of Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds to date.
The standard Blu-ray release will include the season’s four discs, as well as a miniature version of the “Subspace Rhapsody” episodic poster — while the 4K Blu-ray Steelbook will contain the discs, the poster, and four cover-art magnets that will allow collectors to change which Strange New Worlds character appears on the outside of the package.
We’ve seen fans call for access to good-quality Star Trek posters for years — and beyond some highly-stylized (and now years-out-of-print) releases through companies like Mondo, options outside of eBay or dubious reprints have been limited.
Now, the UK-based Vice Press has beamed onto the scene with a new run of officially licensed Trek poster art prints — expected to bring fans highly-remastered runs of classic theatrical poster designs, but brand new artwork as well.
Vice Press teases their new poster line. (Image: Vice Press)
Here’s the official announcement:
VICE PRESS BOLDLY GO WHERE NO GALLERY HAS GONE BEFORE WITH OFFICIALLY LICENSED STAR TREK FINE ART POSTER AND PRINTS, LAUNCHING WITH STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE BY MATT FERGUSON
Series will feature remastered versions of original theatrical posters alongside pieces featuring newly commissioned artwork
Vice Press, the UK based pop-culture art and collectibles brand, will celebrate both the cinematic and small screen universe of Star Trek with an ongoing series of limited edition fine art posters, prints and collectibles. The series will see Vice Press both revisit original theatrical posters and artwork from across Star Trek’s rich creative history with fully remastered artwork, as well as release pieces featuring newly commissioned works.
Star Trek could not be in better hands than with Vice Press Creative Director Matt Ferguson, a huge fan himself with over 30 years of knowledge and passion for the franchise and our first release in the series will feature brand new art by Matt Ferguson for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
“Star Trek has always been a part my life. I come from a family of Trekkies, so for me getting to make new Star Trek art for my own company is such a thrill. I can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve got cooking! Engage!” said Vice Press Creative Director and Artist Matt Ferguson. Classic pieces in the series will include remastered editions of Bob Peak’s original Star Trek: The Motion Picture posters, with new pieces by artists including Florey, Paul Shipper, Rachael Stott, Danny Schlitz and Matt Ferguson himself.
Teases of upcoming Vice Press releases, including MOTION PICTURE and KHAN theatrical artwork, and Paul Shipper’s “The Last Generation” poster from PICARD. (Image: Vice Press)
Along with The Motion Picture, the company has also hinted at their additional projects to follow — revisiting the artwork for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Paul Shipper’s Star Trek: Picard series finale poster design, each teased in the snippet images above. (Vice Press tells us they’ve got plans for Trek television beyond Picard, with plans for the Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Lower Decks in the works as well.)
For the remastered Star Trek theatrical poster artwork, the company is going back to the studio source material wherever possible. As Vice Press creative director Matt Ferguson tells us:
“Where we can, we have accessed the original Bob Peak paintings, made new scans, and cleaned them up extensively — and then I have remade all the graphic design elements for the posters from scratch. That includes remaking the titles and credits from the ground up, and the paintings have also been colour-matched to the final posters.
[Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Directors Edition producer] David C. Fein has been incredibly helpful on TMP. There’s a few instances where the studio didn’t have original scans of those paintings, so what I have had to do is gather resources online, buy original one-sheets, have them scanned, and then rebuild the art that way.
It’s been a months-long process now that started last year. The aim is for it to match the original one-sheets nearly exactly, but just be brought up to modern standards. We can get a lot more detail from the painting scans now, and get colours to pop like never before.
Think of it a bit like a 4K UHD HDR remaster… it’s cleaned up, but retains the original intent.”
A close look at Ferguson’s artwork of the Ilia probe from THE MOTION PICTURE. (Image: Vice Press)
Beyond the classic theatrical designs, Vice Press is also kicking off their new Star Trek poster artwork sales this week with two editions of Matt Ferguson’s original Star Trek: The Motion Picture poster art.
Available for sale starting Thursday, September 21 at 6pm BST (UK) / 1PM ET / 10AM PT will be an extremely limited, hand-numbered run of each of the below Motion Picture poster designs, measuring 24″ x 36″ each.
Matt Ferguson’s original MOTION PICTURE artwork, standard (left) and foil-variant (right) editions. (Image: Vice Press)
The blue-white lithograph will be limited to 200 prints at a price of £39.99 (approximately $50 USD), while the rainbow foil variant (which uses the Japanese Motion Picture title treatment) will be limited to 175 prints at a cost of £49.99 (or $62 USD).
Due to the low quantity of each design, it’s expected that these first Star Trek: The Motion Picture posters will likely sell out relatively quickly — so if you want one, be at the Vice Press website this Thursday when sales open.
We’ll be sure to bring you all the updates on Vice Press’ next Star Trek poster release — and as always, keep checking back to TrekCore for the latest in Star Trek collectible news!
Star Trek: Lower Decks is back for the next episode of the new season this week, and today we’ve got new images from “Something Borrowed, Something Green” for your review!
This week, Tendi (Noel Wells) must return to her Orion homeworld for a family wedding — and both Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) tag along for the trip. Meanwhile, Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) must find a way to compromise on roommate conflicts.
Here are five new images from this week’s new episode:
STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS — 404: 'Something Borrowed, Something Green'
You may just be pulling out the Halloween decorations, but for Hallmark ornament collectors, Christmas is already on our minds!
The first Star Trek ornament we’ve gotten our hands on for 2023 is the charming “Ode to Spot.” Who can forget Data’s adorable feline companion (who turned into a lizard that one time) from Star Trek: The Next Generation?
(Photo: TrekCore.com)
Featured in the episode “Schisms” — did that episode mess anyone else up? Just me? — the poem “Ode to Spot” has a special place in this 90s kid’s Star Trek lovin’ heart. I was delighted to see that Hallmark decided to immortalize this iconic TNG moment in this year’s ornament line up.
The push button audio includes the first and final stanzas of the poem, leaving out the two in the middle as such:
Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;
Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.
[…]
O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display
Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.
In a perfect world, I’d have loved for the ornament to include the whole poem. I don’t know if this was some kind of technical limitation or just a creative decision, but it’s a small demerit on what is otherwise a lovely ornament for my collection.
I thought the paint and sculpt job was really well done. Data has those striking gold android eyes and the precision brown haircut just as he should. Spot is painted beautifully in all her cuddly orange tabby cat glory. I also thought the red 1701-D bridge carpet-inspired base was a clever touch.
(Photo: TrekCore.com)
One of the reviews on Hallmark.com noted a “a manufacturing flaw on the arm sleeve as well as general poor paint job on the shirt,” but nothing like that jumped out at me on my version — so most probably won’t have that kind of issue.
Unlike previous years’ ornaments which require a power cord connection, “Ode to Spot” uses two button batteries that are provided — and as the parent of a toddler, I was both impressed and frustrated by how secure the packaging was on those little guys!
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“Ode to Spot” is available for purchase now, along with “The Hand of Apollo” ornament inspired by the Original Series episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?”
Joining them in October will be a mini Captain Kirk and mini U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701, along with an ornament from Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Relics” and two Badgey ornaments from Star Trek: Lower Decks. There will also be a U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Tabletop Decoration with light and sound.
