13 September 2019
Djolaantru!
I bring you tidings of joy and entertainment, or tedium and redundancy, depending on whether I’m cluing you in or just now catching up.
I spent most of Thursday (9/12) binging on Auld Trek. I’ve been an ardent Trekkie since 1966 and have rarely been able to get my fill of all things Trek. I also have never objected to being called a “Trekkie.” Though some of the cognoscenti act like it’s a slur, I wear it proudly
Find “Star Trek Continues” on line. It isn’t “real” Auld Trek. It’s an elaborate non-profit fan-production that looks and sounds and feels just like the real thing. Once I got past the actors (the originals are all too old or too dead now) it felt like I’d stumbled across eleven lost episodes from the fourth or fifth season.
While it takes a little to get past the new faces, this company makes it easy. Crafting a sound-alike crew from a pool of accomplished vocal actors, Writer-Director-Producer-Star Vic Mignogna has assembled a spectacular sound-alike ensemble of bridge officers. Look-alike bonus Chris Doohan nails the old man’s franchise with his own stellar turn as Scotty. Additional kudos to polymath sensation Mignogna for his careful study of Bill Shatner’s body language and delivery. From the right angle, he IS Shatner. From other angles he’s Kirk Douglas or Rod Taylor, but from all angles he’s a handsome fella in his own right and a damn fine James T. Kirk!
Assiduously following the set designs and costumes and wild bouffant dos of the original, and piling on intelligent and thought provoking original scripts, makes it easy to believe that, “Popping Planetoids! It’s 1970 all over again but THIS time Star Trek is still on and it’s still great!”
This aptly named continuation seamlessly follows from the foundations laid down during the first three seasons, even tying up a few loose ends that Roddenberry et al had left dangling all these decades. And while it’s all new actors playing old friends, there are a few familiar pros (either on screen or voice-over) as well. Watch and/or listen for John de Lancie, Michael Dorn, Michael Forest, Erin Gray, and Marina Sirtis.
And fanboys gotta know, “Is it canon?”
And serious fanboys understand that “canon” is in each fan’s head, where the worlds actually come to life. Federation Space is a BIG universe and only the tiniest fraction has ever been recorded. (Oh the adventures that Qinic, Romulan Renegade, has had, just running guns for the Maquis!) But yeah, it’s canon. The Great and Powerful Lethargy Lad says so, and Rod (son of Majel and Gene) Roddenberry says so too, and avers that his Dad would agree. It’s that good and that smart!
With just eleven episodes from Vic Mignogna and company, there is still plenty of room to fill out without crowding the last two seasons of that “five year mission” we were promised. Set phasers to “fun.”
update 211001, correspondent “STC” indirectly endorses this message and offers explicit thanks for these “kind words and support for [Star Trek Continues]” and also admonishes us to share this joy and to
Live Long and Prosper!