Along with the Andorians, the Tellarites are one of the most memorable races from Star Trek that got almost no love after The Original Series went off the air. Even the TOS films merely gave them blink-of-an-eye-cameo attention (in The Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country). But never fear! As with their fellow, antennae-donning Federation-founders, Enterprise came to the rescue. Sort of. The first Tellarite the 22nd-century gave us didn’t look—nor act—much like those we met in “Journey to...

Of all the contributors to Star Trek: The Next Generation's creation, none are as overlooked as Maurice Hurley. The writer and co-executive producer served and showrunner for the first two seasons of the series, helping to shape it into the show we know and love. And along the way, he also created the Borg. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike begin a new series looking at Hurley's work as a screenwriter. For the first part of the series, they are joined by the author of...

Larry Nemecek joins us to talk about plans for this year’s Geek Nation Tours one-day trek into the Valley of Fire, where fans can face relive the showdown between Picard and Soran along with special guest Michael Westmore. We also preview plans for the big 50th anniversary year tour in 2016, which expands upon the usual Geek Nation Tours adventure with the addition of a San Francisco leg.   Originally published as Hyperchannel 76: Admiral, There Be Fans Here!

Leonard Nimoy is, of course, best known for his role as Spock. Not only was he there in the Original Series pilot episode “The Cage,” he was also there in the most recent film, Star Trek Into Darkness. No one epitomizes Star Trek more than Leonard Nimoy. But beyond the screen and stage—and he appeared in many productions beyond Star Trek—Leonard was also know for his photography. And from behind the camera, he moved people just as he did on film. In this episode of Matter Stream, Christopher...

He inspired generations. As Spock, Leonard Nimoy became one of the most recognizable figures in the world, changing the lives of countless fans, the nature of pop culture, and bringing a rare creative vision and kindness to the world. In his final public statement he said “A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP.” Just three days later, on February 27, 2015, he passed away. The collective reaction from around the world has shown just how...

The third season of TOS is a divisive one for many Star Trek fans. The fight for survival behind the scenes led to shoestring budgets, sparse sets, unbalanced scripts, and—in eyes of many—questionable directions for Spock. But before this feeling really set in, Judy Burns and Chet Richards delivered a bottle show that put Spock in the command chair, at odds with Bones, and in search of Captain Kirk. What’s more, they delivered one of the franchise’s most intriguing attempts at a truly...

When the lights went down in the theater in 1998, we all sat there with trepidation. We hoped that the new Star Trek movie would live up to it’s predecessor First Contact and when it didn’t, many of us wondered what had gone wrong. Jonathan Frakes had directed and Michael Piller had written the script, this should have been a dynamic duo. In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Matthew Rushing and Dan Gunter are joined by Larry Nemecek and Daniel Proulx to discuss Michael Piller’s...

The familiar credits roll during every episode of The Next Generation. But how did our favorite actors get these timeless roles? And how close did other actors come to crewing the first version of Star Trek to take place in the 24th century? In this episode of Earl Grey, "Dr Trek" himself, Larry Nemecek, joins us to discuss casting The Next Generation. Darren, Phillip, and Daniel talk about how important it was to get "famous" names in Trek's second televised live-action incarnation, where...

First introduced in “Journey to Babel,” Sarek of Vulcan is one of the best known characters from The Original Series, perhaps due primarily to his role in The Search for Spock and subsequent TOS films. Following McCoy’s cameo in “Encounter at Farpoint,” it took a while for familiar faces from Star Trek's past to return to the screen. Finally, in the TNG's third season, the wall between past and present began to come down as Spock's father came aboard Picard's Enterprise. Seeing Sarek shed...

In 1979, ten years after the cancellation of the original series, Star Trek made the jump to the big screen. In an effort to pull out all the stops, Paramount hired Oscar-winning director Robert Wise to helm Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The rest is history. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Max and Mike are joined by Larry Nemecek to look at Wise's work on the film. We discuss Wise's place in film history, the atmosphere of fan culture leading up to the picture's release, and...

One of the most famous aliens in Star Trek is the Orion slave girl, and the most classic “green” moment comes from “The Cage,” compliments of Susan Oliver. The prolific star is best known to Star Trek fans for this role, yet her appearance in Star Trek is but a speck on the landscape of her career as an actress and director. In this episode of The Ready Room we take a break from our usual format as we're joined by Larry Nemecek and writer/director George Pappy to talk about his new...

Choosing the actors who will bring new characters to life is one of the many creative challenges in launching a new Star Trek series. The process itself can change the nature of the roles, resulting in adjustments to name, the background story of a given character, and their relationship with others. In this episode of The Orb we bring you the second part of our two-part conversation with Larry Nemecek about the casting of Deep Space Nine and the evolution of the characters. Originally...

One of the many creative challenges in launching a new Star Trek series is casting. Finding the right actors to bring the characters to life takes time and careful consideration. And the process itself can change the nature of the roles, resulting in adjustments to name, ethnicity, background story, and in some cases requiring a completely new character to be created. In this episode of The Orb we're joined by Larry Nemecek for the first part of a two-part discussion about the casting of Deep...

Last year saw the return of author Larry Nemecek to the world of Star Trek non-fiction with his second book, Stellar Cartography. Featuring maps by Ian Fullwood, Ali Reis, and Geoffrey Mandel, Nemecek's companion essays offer a comprehensive look at the history of the future. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and Max are joined by Larry for the second part of their two-part interview. We discuss the genesis of the book, the challenges of completing such an ambitious project in...

For over a decade, Larry Nemecek chronicled the making of Star Trek in the Next Generation era. But what about the making of the making of? In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Max and Mike are joined Larry himself to discuss his career as an author. In the first part of a two-part interview, he discusses his work on The Next Generation Companion, as well as his Voyager episode, "Prophecy," and other episode pitches which he wrote for Voyager. He also blows Max and Mike's minds with...

1994 was an incredibly busy year for Star Trek. Upon the conclusion of TNG's seventh season, the cast and crew went straight into production for Star Trek Generations. On top of that and the third season of DS9, they were also starting production on Voyager. And, as many fans know, the fallout with Genevieve Bujold added uncertainty as to whether a woman would stay in the center seat, putting other character roles in jeopardy—on a production timeline that was already behind schedule. In this...

One of the most momentous conflicts in Federation history is also one of the most mysterious ones—at least for fandom. Of course Starfleet itself knows what happened, but the writers didn't give us a lot to work with over the years. First introduced in the Original Series episode "Balance of Terror," the Earth-Romulan War is the basis for centuries of animosity between these two powers. The details remained elusive and over the years bits and pieces came out through the various spinoff...

If Kirk was the meat and Spock was the potatoes, then Leonard McCoy was the grumpy broth that held them all together. Now, finally, the good doctor is getting his due. In this episode of Standard Orbit, Drew and Mike are joined again by Larry Nemecek to discuss the original Enterprise’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. McCoy. We find out why Larry loves him so, share our favorite Bones scenes, and reveal how McCoy is finally getting the fan base he deserved from the beginning. Originally published...

No one seems content with the 80 episodes of The Original Series that we ended up with. Everyone wants more, even if they have to make it themselves. In this episode of Standard Orbit, Mike and Drew are joined by Larry Nemecek to talk about Star Trek Continues and Larry's part in it. Find out more about how this continuation of TOS is being made, and even a bit about other fan projects you might never have heard of. Originally published as Standard Orbit 27: Med Scanner Thumb Pivot.

In 2001, Star Trek landed with great fanfare in a cornfield in Oklahoma. It was the launch of Enterprise, as the series was known for its first two seasons, and the pilot episode, "Broken Bow," was well received. Over the years, perceptions of the series have changed more than once. The story of "Broken Bow" and Enterprise is one of creative change, great promises mixed with missed opportunities, and a tug-o-war between studio and network. In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by...

Last month, the world lost legendary Star Trek director Cliff Bole, who helmed 42 hours of Trek—including 25 episodes of The Next Generation—more than anyone else in the show's history. Among those 25 was "The Best of Both Worlds," commonly considered to be the best TNG episode, and one of the best television episodes, of all time. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and Max kick off a new series looking at the work that Bole did in another beloved franchise, The X-Files. But...

As any Star Trek fans knows, the original mission of the Enterprise 1701 was to span five years. Unfortunately, the television executives of the 1960s had other plans as Kirk and his crew sailed off into the darkness after just three seasons. But that doesn't mean the mission didn't continue. What happened after "Turnabout Intruder"? The independent series Star Trek Continues picks up where TOS left off, continuing the five-year mission by telling the stories we didn't see. In this episode...

Few aspects of Enterprise—and perhaps of Star Trek as a whole—have been more controversial than the show’s third season. The 26-episode arc is an outlier in a number of ways. It was the first (and only) time a season-long arc was attempted in Star Trek, and it also focuses on aliens and events with no connection to the rest of the franchise. Some fans love it. Some fans hate it. In this episode of Warp Five we’re joined by Larry Nemecek to discuss the third season of Enterprise, the pressure...

During the third season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Michael Piller "stepped back" from his daily duties and handed the writing staff to his Number One—Ira Steven Behr. It was at this point that Deep Space Nine went from being a great show to being the best show. Ever.  This week, we begin a new series looking at Behr's career as a showrunner. In Part 1, Max and Mike are joined by Larry Nemecek to look at Behr's work on Star Trek. We discuss his origins on The Next Generation, how Piller...

One of the goals in writing for any series is to tell stories that can’t be told anywhere else. With its early technology and proximity to our own time, Enterprise had an opportunity to put characters into situations that the other series couldn’t. One great example is the idea of a ship lost at sea facing a terrible storm, and this challenge of early exploration was examined in the second-season episode “The Catwalk.” In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Matthew Rushing and...