Oct. 12: After one year, it's an open house for Portal 47!

My baby is one year old! Portal 47, the monthly insider deep-dive to more in-depth Trek, was launched a year ago this month—and we're having a party to celebrate!

Well, a virtual open house, actually, and you're invited: On Oct. 12, a special edition of one of our guest telebriefings. And in the spirit of #StarTrek50, it's a doozy: None other than Robert Butler, director of Trek's 1964 first pilot, "The Cage."

I thought Robert, whom I've met at a couple of recent panels here in L.A., would make a wonderful guest for this opportunity to show off one of the key features in the Portal package.  At 88, he can't travel much, so the phone-conference format is a perfect way to open up his appearance to the whole world. And there's not a lot of his colleagues still with us.

As the Portales do once a month, you can even send in questions in advance for our guest. Just reserve your virtual seat at this link, and see how, when and where to join in—and forward your pre-questions, if you like. We'll have some visuals, too, for those online...where we never have bandwidth issues.

It's just one of the features our deep-divers get every month—a part of what we call a mini-con all year long, no matter where your center seat is. (Seriously. Any continent, or wilderness... with a wi-fi signal, that is.)

But next week, all are welcome to see what that's like, and get a dose of first-hand Trek tales in the process... where no savvy fan has gone before. Hope you can make it!




(And by the way: If you tried to make our launch call a year ago and could not get in...don;t look for that to happen again. We're good!)

Best News Ever, Part 3: Bryan Fuller gets Nick Meyer onto #ST2017

See how simple it is when the right mix of pro producer and Trekkie get the keys? 

We are barely out of the gate, but if Bryan keeps making boldly obvious choices like adding Nick Meyer to his writing staff (and is allowed to) there's no telling what we'll be warping with come January. 

It also shows the paradigm-ripping nature of streaming, now. Just go be smart and creative--no TV-vs-film "boxes"/ labels to stop up the flow.

Hmmmm--maybe it's time to dig out my long Hi8 vidchat w Nick I never posted back from 2009.

Ironic it is that I last saw Nick at Harve Bennett's memorial last spring (photo above)--and now it's news because another Trek runner has come calling. Of course there's a lot of hurdles, both financial and human, to get over between now and premiere night. Nothing is ever certain, sadly.
But let's hope for at least an equal outcome to ST II Etc .... and to more undiscovered country in Trekland.

A music gift from Five Year Mission & Geek Nation Tours

Everybody's partying this year, and now Five Year Mission band and Geek Nation Tours have teamed up to present their own gift to Trek fandom—a new song and video, "Take A Ride."

Take a Look! It's just a fun freebie to everybody—all about "taking a ride" through Star Trek to "STLV," the big annual Vegas "Khaaan" that expands to five August days this year in the crazy anniversary frenzy....and doing it via the tour stops of the expanded #LA2VEgas tour that I lead.

"We commissioned a song with Five Year Mission as a gift to the Star Trek community on this most important of years," says my bud Teras Cassidy, "head geek" at Geek Nation Tours. "It is especially dedicated to Star Trek fans making trips around the world to events celebrating the 50th anniversary."

So whether that's New York, England,  your local con down the road, or your own imagination via plasmascreen, podcast or any other portal — as always, it's all about the Trek travels of the imagination... and the friends.  Vegas #STLV is sold out and the tour is closing, so it's not so much about selling as celebrating. It's just a glorious fun road-trip song fest. That's the spirit!
 
I'm gonna cut FYM a hit-break and send you to their YouTube channel for the song—and give you a very non-spoilerific still above (and below). You can also download it easily at the GNT 50th anniversary Tour page: scroll down to July 29 and click "Take a Ride" to get the song.

...And both of them ready for sharing from either Facebook page, of course.

I expect to have a full orchestral and choir arrangement by the time we set sail in San Fran for the tour in July... if I don't take it with me everywhere I go this year already. Seems like just the thing for San Diego, Scarborough and CLEVELAND as well; OKC is soooo cool already, it can only help the gloss.

Happy 96th, De—a cowboy in and out of Starfleet

Especially this week... if it was ever a secret how I felt about DeForest Kelley and his
creations, and indeed his life, it is no longer—thanks most recently to The Red Shirt Diaries.

It used to be lonely being a vocal De fan—not so much for any negatives for him, but purely for any attention at all. Yet now, with every year that goes by I see more and more appreciation for his long-understated role in the original Star Trek success chemistry...as well as his other roles, including those delicious bad guys.

If you have been a Treklander here for any length of time, you likely know I take a moment on Jan. 20 each year to celebrate De's day by sharing a photo from his life and career. And while many know of all De's TV and film Western roles before Star Trek, in that genre's heydey, few know of those he had after Trek's 1969 cancellation.

And thus comes this year's portrait: Taken during a guest appearance on ABC's short-lived series The Cowboys... In 1974—just five years after Trek's demise. It was the last sojourn in spurs of his career—but boy, De's time in outer space did not dull his feel for the wide open spaces. Don't you think?

Red Shirt Diaries: Ashley, Jason—and who's Bones?!

The truth HAS been out there for some time, but it hit home today: The Red Shirt Diaries is the cutest, bestest and yet heart-felt little Trek parody webseries out there: The fans are flocking, even before last year's "Season 2" Indiegogo that upped the bar this year … the buzz is growing… and now—yes, I got to don McCoy's dark hair and blue tunic once again!

THANK YOU, ASHLEY AND JASON.

That's Ashley V. Robinson and Jason Inman, of course, who not only announced their engagement recently but also have quite an up-and-coming profile—doing RSD as well as their awesome Geek History Lesson podcast/ YouTube, Jason's  DC All Access webshow co-hosting, and Ashley's burgeoning acting career (listen to this clip!). And of course, they first came on Trekland's STV radar a year ago during that Indiegogo drive (and yes, I still need to post the rest of the vidchat). 

This nighttime fun on Hollywood Boulevard came last Sept. 11 as they held a mini-season premiere screening at IO Club and Theatre for crew, cast and local backers, but I held off the posting until our McCoy spoiler was closer…which, of course, with "Operation: Annihilate!" meant late in the "season." Never fear—you can catch their "finale", RSD's angle on "Amok Time," on Monday next—and of course gotta catch 'em all on YouTube or via the RSD site. (At 5 minutes each, tisn't difficult).

Quite aside from moi's return to solid/dotted-rank, this is quite a landmark episode for Ashley's Ensign, er, Lieutenant Williams as well—and remarkably a big dose of pathos in what is admittedly a winky fun vibe of a series. And how many past World of Williams references can you catch? 

WILL there be a Season 3? WILL their Mirror Universe dream come true? Will Ashley's crack about Commodore Decker bear fruit? It's up to you guys and what they call "online analytics," of course—so, and she says, "SHARE AND LIKE! SHARE AND LIKE!"

Santa forgot your Trek? Quick, get the Costumes book!

Good on my old friends and colleagues Paula Block and Terry Erdmann for being such a holiday hit: Their new must-have coffeetable book Star Trek: Costumes, Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier was smack front and center (right) in the foyer at my local Barnes & Noble this season!

So, if your Christmas haul didn't include enough of a Trek fix, and maybe somehow the "real" James T. Kirk story is not your cup of tea… maybe you need a heavy-duty dose of Star Trek's incredible costume history… in coffeetable book form (i.e., tons of big photos).

And that's just what you get in Star Trek: Costumes—the other early entry in the book bash for Trek's 50th anniversary.  A huge tome of reprinted, rare and exclusive all-new photos of Trek's finery for any cosplay need out there, this must-have is fresh from Paula & Terry via Insight Editions. Due to our distantly uncrossed paths I can't get you a vidchat here yet (as with David Goodman and other authors in recent months) but take it from me: This is amazing. Including a wonderful intro by TV and film Trek's longtime costume maestro Bob Blackman about his daily life for 16 years, four films and four TV series.

Star Trek: Costumes is 208 pages in 9 1/4 x 12 3/4-inch hardback format, over an inch thick, and covers it all— like the subtitle says, from "The Cage" through Into Darkness. Most of all, Paula and Terry have not only done a host of new interviewing but, for those giants of Trek tailoring and modeling who have passed—led by the great original series' costume designer and motif-maker, Bill Theiss of course—they have pulled together nuggets and insights from others as well from a zillion scattered sources to accompany these vivid, living images. 

The photos are incredible—including all the new imagery of mannequin-adorned iconic designs—but the text is every bit the insight icing on that costume cake. 

The best part is, as with any good Trek research effort, they have have come up with bits that were news to me, too. Anyone who can still give me a fanboy moment after all these years digging in Trekland myself is hardly a dunsel in my book! One was bellydancer/actress Tanya Lemani's revelation that her Kara outfit was a plastic skirt and her own bra, adorned with even more plastic to cover cleavage at studio insistence. Or that the original Motion PIcture Klingon uniforms had been out on loan and tour for five years and had to be rebuilt or recast from tatters for ST III. 

Most of all, I was tickled and very appreciative to Paula and Terry for a shout-out in the thank-yous, and for annotating some writing of mine from some hot-and-heavy details-talking time with Bob and the film costume designers. Thanks, guys! We'll do that vidchat AND I'll get mine signed then.

Yes, you'll want this one for your shelf for ages. It may even be up in after-holiday sales, now.

Here's some sample spreads, including memories from our lovely friends Mike Forrest and Barbara Luna: 

STV: David Goodman edits Kirk's bio! —Part 1

Didn't get all the best Trek goodies on your list for the holidays?

If you didn't already grab a copy of David Goodman's The Autobiography of James T. Kirk from Titan Books, maybe now's the time! Available everywhere live and online, it's David's second foray into non-fiction gap-filling, after FEDERATION: The First 150 Years in 2012. (And you know how I am about Trek gap-filling.)

In fact, I grabbed David once again in the off-hours at his office as Family Guy writer-producer to talk about the tome in a new vidchat: his choices, the process, and even fan feedback after Federation. 

WARNING: Loaded with all kinds of sidelong and unexplained Trek references, of course.

SECOND WARNING: Watch for the remainder of this chat in follow-ups in coming days!


FYI: Portal 47 members got to view this video up to 72 hours early before it went public—one feature of their deep-dive Trekland access.

Star Trek 2017: Five questions I still have

It’s been two weeks now since The Big News, when this is where my mind went in the first few hours …  while many fans went off, not on the potential show but on its potential delivery system.

But with all the immediate hand-wringing since by media types, pundits, and fans somehow armed with a Twitter account… there’s been absolutely no news on the content side of the equation. 

Which itself speaks volumes.

But it has been two weeks… and I still have a lot of unanswered questions.  Maybe the dust has settled enough for others to see this as well, but….

Here’s what I just want to know:

1)    How big is the show order? Eight, 10, 12, 18 episodes? As an expensive streaming show, how much investment and risk is CBS willing to stake, and for how far ahead a commitment? 

2)    Where they will shoot this for CBS Television Studio... in LA (at Paramount, a CBS studio, or elsewhere) … or out of town: Vancouver, Toronto, who knows? I ask purely for selfish and convenience reasons...as well as for that great pool of experienced Trek talent from all areas of production who would easily and seamlessly help jump-start a new production--no matter who was in charge or their best "same but different" vision. And who of course could use a job. 

3)    Is the "CBS preview" an hour-long promotional preview with interviews and demo features, or the actual pilot episode? 

4)    Is Alex Kurtzman to be an actual hands-on showrunner, or a Dick Wolf “nameplate” type who picks a showrunner and then moves on, leaving all in the hireling’s hands? And, if so, who IS that “real” showrunner to be, and then who else will be in on the format development of characters and setting? The actual CBS press release was not shy about admitting that writers have been interviewed—but did not to specify if they were actual show runners, or pilot writers, much less who had been hired. Obviously, no one, as of then—or even now: that hire and clarification will surely be a news-making moment. 

5)    And ultimately, of course, the big le-matya: The timeline choice between Prime and alt-JJ as the setting.

And that last brings up a couple angles in this tale you may not yet have considered:

It struck me, after the CBS-Bad Robot tug-of-war over the legacy fate of all things Prime, that CBS has that vested interest $$wise in building on the existing library and its spin-off products. By 2015, surely it is hardly Trekkie mumbo-jumbo to the network brass to understand this, and to push for hiring creatives who can easily design and tell stories in “canon” and still feel unencumbered and unchained in their storytelling/visualizing. (#primeisnotscary #primeisnothard )

Of course, many may be confusing the potential apples and oranges of this  “JJverse” vs “prime” question: there's also the visual canon versus the timeline canon—and then, the mistake of equating either choice as simply the 1980s and the 2010s. They aren’t, of course: a “modern Bad Robot” quality can be both indulged and intelligently applied to a pre-TNG setting or a post-TNG setting in Prime as well as alt-verse…if the right drivers are given the keys. Don't assume that a "Prime" show means it has to look like 1987 production technology, or even 1995. 

My own preference? Many of you know I've said it time and again for years, both in podcast interviews and live at cons--since the end of Enterprise: Prime, of course, since that's the franchise strength of 730+ hours... And in the "B/C" era, midway Kirk/Picard. It's the most open and most intriguing...and still plenty latitude for nervous nellies worried about "canon freak." The Tomed Invident? Cardassian first contact? Perhaps Bajoran and Breen, too? Evolving Klingon detente, and the Romuksns "silent" reaction against them? But only as touchstones--still lots of open spacescape to explore, both literally and figuratively.

Which leads to another reality that’s been overlooked here: Of all the potential showrunners we might like to see, with or without Trek credits already… how many of them are not tied up by contract to another studio and are even free and clear to navigate to CBS's Trek?

Seen in that light, this business-driven renaissance that had Kurtzman in the first press release might have been more about having his name and friendly CBS-based deal involved than his recent film experience—an experience he had already chosen to end for the third movie, even before former partner Bob Orci was taken off the project.

Yes, it will all come out in the wash—sooner than later, actually, in these next 15 months.  So many, many questions still unanswered—and maybe a few assumptions to be second-guessed as well.

So, 49 years ago …

… THIS happened:

Happy birthday (formally), Star Trek! We'd party more today, but we are already too busy planning the blowout for the big 5-0…. NEXT YEAR.

In Seattle? See this summer's Outdoor Trek, 'Amok Time'

If it's Trekland in the summer in Seattle, then it must be time for "Outdoor Trek"—a live Trek-in-the-park by the homegrown Hello Earth troupe that plays for donations as a non-profit, and offers an innovative, fun, Shakespeare-esque approach to minimalist staging, the Redshirts backing band, and "blind-sex" casting.

Here's my impromptu vidchat (below) with director Joy DeLyria and Kris "Kirk" Hambrick at Emerald City Comic-Con in 2014 (just before my panel!) and their goals and history—but the keys are all the same as they are for this summer's offering, "Amok Time". Listen for their intriguing thoughts about Star Trek's boldness, then and now, and translating that via today's cultural and gender points of view.

The group, with assistant to the producers Phillip Duff along (and standing just off-camera here), took their cue from Portland's "Trek in the Park," which since has run its planned five summers and ended. The Seattle crew has received good press and support locally, as well as around the fandomosphere, and has no plans for stopping with a similar five-years-only mission: The tell me that show number six is due to follow for 2016, and audience-goers once again vote by coin and cash for their choice among finalist titles for the next year's TOS script.

Check the links to the website and their Facebook for more details, both under Hello Earth (Twitter too) ...but "Amok Time" performances are 7 pm Saturday and 2 pm Sundays in Blanche Lavizzo Park, with pre-show musical guests an hour prior (Marc Okrand helped kick off opening weekend!), and food trucks on hand an hour before that. See the video for images as well from past and current park-TOS moments (Photos by This Apeture, Phil Duff, and others).



OH—and I love the live stage transporter beams.

De-Day 2015: I'm an actor, not a doctor! OR a cowboy.

If it's January 20, it must be my annual, personal tribute —as it has since this blog began—to my guy, Jackson DeForest Kelley, who would have been 95 today. Wow.

Don't need to say much more than what I've said in past years... aside from the groundswell of Kelley fandom that seems to be shaping up everywhere (perhaps, not coincidentally, since THIS first happened).

In any case, I'll just drop this year's edition here. You're welcome.

De with Susan Hayward, getting out of the haybarns and hitchin' posts for once, co-starring with her and Bette Davis in 1966's Where Love Has Gone (and thanks, once again, Sue Keenan):

STV: Watch Gerald Fried play his OWN '60s Trek music

A little Trekland gift for all Trekfans everywhere... and one that is long overdue: 

This, posted at last, is the HD video I shot of what can only be called an amazing night in Star Trek history—shot off guard, from my seat, on hand-held zoom, on Dec. 3, 2012. It was already an electric evening at Hollywood's Egyptian Theater—the ballyhooed launch party for LaLa Land Records' incredible 15-disc original Star Trek complete soundtrack box set, a landmark moment for Trek and true film audiophiles everywhere. Friends Jeff Bond and Neil S. Bulk, among others, had all labored with love over it. And I have more vidchats from that night to share as well.

But the breathless moment of the evening was its climax, when an audience sat spellbound and delighted as TOS composer Gerald Fried, then 82, not only presented a duet medley of themes from his three classic scores for "The Paradise Syndrome,"  "Amok Time" and "Shore Leave"—but took to the oboe to play them himself, with pianist Rich Ruttenberg deftly adding the undertow.

It was simply 9 minutes of music intersecting history for a result I'd never experienced before, much less in Trek—and with no other apparent video cameras around, I'm just glad to have been able to capture it and share it now. The audio alone would be one thing—and those audience recordings are out there, I believe—but this decidedly unfancy video still adds the visual joy and drama as well...including the audience's delighted reaction to you-know-what from that Vulcan episode, and their 45 seconds of final applause.

Maddeningly, I ran out of chipspace just before the piece ended, but was covered by my iPhone mic—so I hope you enjoy what I edited together here, with sounds and sights alike:

STV: Ensign Williams logs in from 'Red Shirt Diaries' !

Finally… on the last day of their Indiegogo…I finally get this posted. Good thing it's not as if they needed my help! 

Meet Ashley V. Robinson and Jason Inman, whose Red Shirt Diaries web series is the slyest, most inventive little take on what NCC-1701 lower-decks life for redshirts 'n' redskirts might have been like…and now an Internet cult hit, to boot. It's all in bite-sized, three-minute weekly "log entries" from Ensign Williams of security, her friends—and, yes, her famous superiors. Organized, of course, by historical records otherwise known as the first 10 outings of Star Trek—original series style.

Are YOU hooked yet? It's so simple—and yet more addicting than a cordrazine slush.
If you're a noob, give a look here on their YouTube channel at the 10 episodes up so far—the TOS classics in aired order, through "Corbomite Maneuver"…told of course, through the long-suffering yet surviving ensign's oddly eventful personal logs, right from her simple quarters on Deck 8.  

Want to see more? Today is the last day of their very modest campaign and they've met two stretch goals already—including a bonus show and location shooting! So, you can still help them out with their drive for RSD's "Season 2", which would get the enterprising duo (and more) through the remaining 16 episodes of TOS' Season 1…and maybe even to Vulcan and plak tow...

Give a listen and find out all the backstage secrets, the genesis, what lies ahead for as we present this first of a four-part visit with Ashley and Jason RIGHT ON THE SET (ie, their living room)—and even a surprise visit from Gertrude/Beauregard. 
 

Happy 48th, Star Trek: How they sold it in '66

No— I was not there at 7:30 p.m. Central Time on Sept. 8, 1966, breathlessly awaiting the premiere of the most adult attempt at episodic, non-anthology science fiction ever on American TV.

I was just a kid, you know, and one who didn't control the TV —which was by a rotary knob...that got you to three networks and "NET". But I had heard vaguely about a show with a guy with pointed ears, and it sounded scary.  Far scarier than the Lost in Space robot that I loved to imitate on the playground at recess.

No, it took my ninth grade science teacher to "shame" me into watching Trek reruns, finally.

But it IS official Star Trek "Birth" Day today (even though, as I always point out, you can make a case for marking it from some date in 1964 related to "The Cage" as first pilot—a subject coming up in a big feature I just did for the next official Star Trek magazine from Titan, Issue 51.)

So, amid all the cool documents coming out for the 9-8-66 anniversary—I loved seeing this one, thanks to theinvisibleagent.wordpress.com—and I'll just celebrate with it.

Look below that for a little personal add-on:  the re-run of my first-ever Star Trek T-shirt, made with a Lincoln Enterprises iron-on scene!  

LA ALERT: FREE TOS/STC screening/writers Saturday

 

If you are in the LA area and love you some Original Series, plus Star Trek Continues' depiction of it... you have a don't-miss triple whammy this Saturday, July 12, 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. in Glendale.

 

And it's all free!

First up at the Glendale Central Library, 222 E. Harvard St., there's a stellar Star Trek panel with Walter Koenig (Chekov), Marc Cushman (award winning Star Trek author of These Are the Voyages TOS books), Mark Altman (writer/producer of Free Enterprise), John D.F. Black (sole surviving producer of Star Trek, TOS) and Scott Mantz of Access Hollywood.

After that, hang on for the screening of a clip from STC's most recent, "Fairest of Them All" (the mirror universe follow-up) -- and then a panel with director James Kerwin, assistant director Chris White, and actress Kipleigh Brown.

That's a knock-out, historic first panel—and if you have somehow not seen Marc's books yet, they are incredibly dense with TOS material. I know all those buds on the TOS side—as well as that lineup coming on afterward. I wish I could be there...but family calls, during my "rest" this month.

Yes, the day is free—plus get 3 hours' free parking (with validation from library) at the Market Place shopping center parking structure off Harvard Street.

Click in at the Facebook event page here.

Wow: The real-life birthplace of the Enterprise—TODAY

Buddy Dayton Ward's reposting of this iconic 1964 photo with a reminder of the 49th birthday of the "real" NCC-1701 earlier this week was a great kick in the butt to get something done I'd meant to do for years.

Meant to, in fact, ever since we had first published that photo and many more 13 years ago in a great piece by model historian William McCullars in the old Communicator (#132). It was piece that made me realize once again that, duh, we do live in SoCal here—and that once again the future "San Francisco" had again been faked for Star Trek. About a mile from me.

For just as, say, the Bird-of-Prey "Bounty" had really set down on Will Rogers' polo field in ST IV, not Golden Gate Park... so too were the Starfleet "San Fransisco Navy Yards" actually located at ... 104 E. Providencia in Burbank. That, you see, was the 1964 location of Volmer Jensen's Production Models Shop ... and the location of that iconic photo above, snapped on the occasion as primary model contractor Richard C. Datin (at left in photo) took delivery of the 11-footer for Howard A. Anderson Effects and Desilu.

I had been meaning for years to go over, scout the area, and try to recreate the angles in that now-famous photo—and another couple more we had from William but didn't publish. It was Dec. 30, only a day later and about the same long-shadowed time of late afternoon.

What I found... was astounding. Click and compare for yourself—12/29/64 vs. 12/30/13:

The distant church, the midground building on left, and especially the motel and the brick-topped short stucco sidewalk wall at right are all intact and obviously visible. Even the sidewalk and many phone/power poles appear to be the same. Changes in trim, doors and windows plugged since 1964—all can be picked out.

This second UNPUBLSHED photo (aside from William's now-gone website), which has a bit of Jensen's shop sign, gets an updated angle too. The dang modern green-screened gate is in the way, but try to look past it and see the short stucco "fence" turn back anyway. I was staring into a late afternoon sun-blanked MacBook monitor for reference, so my angle is not as true as I'd like; I should have been further left into the street, but hey:

 

There is no photo (to my knowledge) of Jensen's shop head-on, but here's the angle of what's there today (right): a tile and flooring shop, where I met the owner's brother Tony—who was well aware of the historic nature of his brother's little enterprise. They had not received many pilgrims like me, but the notoriety of the place had been handed down from neighbors and prior owners.


All these pics are another good reminder why both Tonight Show's Johnny Carson and Laugh-In writers thought the irony of a 1960s global media capital with a "Mayberry" downtown was too much to pass up—and so "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" was as much a local joke as a worldwide catchphrase.

I got by just in time, as Tony reminded me: the downtown modernizing of Burbank since the 1990s now means that a new IKEA and parking lot are going in this year just behind the shop, and a new downtown Hilton is going in across the street —taking out all the surrounding block of old 50s-60s low-story, freeway-adjacent industrial buildings. The building across the street at left and all the low-key use will be gone in a year—as will the flooring shop's neighbors.

Somehow, THIS shop escaped the new IKEA plan buyout... so, like Independence Hall amidst tall downtown Philly, this little Burbank division of Starfleet appears to live on—for now.

(What—you think the comparison in history is too much? Get out of here, Herbert.)

You found your way here: It's Stellar Cartography day!

I'm already hearing... from reviewers, from fans lucky enough to get an early delivery...

For today, finally, is the birth of my latest baby, Star Trek: Stellar Cartography, from 47North/Amazon and Becker&Mayer, a trio of talented artists, and concept folks who approached me about it last winter.
And I expect, for this newest generation of JJ/Bluray-borne Trek fans of the past decade, this title will really put Star Trek star-charting on the map.

So far, the early word has been great: "Lords of Kobol, these maps...I think I am going to need more walls...!" my twitterbud @StarbaseUGC declared Monday when his set arrived early ... his franchise-mixing forgiven.


"I have my set all over the floor—it has taken over my house!" an interviewer from WIRED magazine/website confided to me.

Did you reserve your copy on pre-order? (We'd love it if you used our link—and it's gift season, you know.) I'm just bracing for the reaction from all levels of fandom: canonistas, tech heads, art fans, armchair fans, Klingon fans, DS9 fans (see photo left), TOS fans... even general pop culture fans and map fans (yes, map fans).

(NOTE: These grabs are made from low-res pdf files;  actual printing is MUCH sharper.)

Now, nothing is perfect; I know in thousands of data points (and "gap-filling" in lieu of others) there are things we missed, or with a third or fourth voice might have tweaked a little differently. And yes, these are couched as being the Top 10 Most Viewed maps at Memory-Alpha—and having 2-D maps in a 3-D century is a bit of stretch.. but hey.  But this project is built on the sturdy and well-tested shoulders of those who have gone before; we didn't so much re-invent the wheel as come up with some new upholstery fabric, some antique accessories, and all-new foreign materials to make the body out of.

Need some details? Well...
I first talked about "Maps 2013", my own nickname—as opposed to Maps 1977, Maps 1980, and Maps 2002!—in this Trekland post. We did a preview at Vegas Trek, and startrek.com has carried both my thoughts and an interview with artist Ian Fullwood, who tackled six of the maps; the magazine and website 3DArt Direct carried an interview with Ali Ries, the other talented artist who completed three of the alien maps (at right). Sometime I hope to get some thoughts from my old star-map buddy Geof Mandel, who I've worked with on ALL of those projects to one degree or another—and who contributed the "kitchen sink history map" in this set.


Everyone who agonized over the limited book format of "tiny" pages in Geof's 2002 classic Star Trek Star Charts should love our ten varied 2x3-foot posters here—and you even get a LOCATOR INDEX for the main maps, this time around! My guidebook is not as sexy as the maps, but there's a ton of new observations, conclusions, imaginings—and, finally, real sense made of the Dominion War's "astrography,' which turned out to be my biggest single all-new contribution here (aside from figuring out how the heck the Delphic Expanse once fit into local space.)

In coming weeks online and live at cons I'll be talking about some of the hundreds of snap-decisions on "gap-filling" I made here, at times consulting the think tank when needed—our good friend John van Citters at CBS, and of course under the wrangling of Becker & Mayer editor Dana Youlin, who survived another sprawlingly dense Trek backgrounder after David Goodman's Federation: 150 last Christmas, and art editor Rosanna Brockley.

But for right now, I'd appreciate hearing what YOU think, no matter what slice of fandom you hail from. Please sound off here, if you will!  I already suspect we overlooked a beloved TOS "guest planet" that got clipped from the 2002 book (we did re-include many more of them); there's likely others, so we'll start a to-do list for the Next Iteration. At the same time, the text and maps (and a few name in-jokes) in this set will keep you scouring for hours... and, I'll bet, adding some 2x3 poster frames to your shopping list. Ali and Ian's maps are all somewhere between cool and gorgeous and deserve to be the works of art they were dually intended. And better get Geof's map framed as well: it'll save inevitable wear and tear from the fingerstains of constant use.

Yes, original and cool-concept Trek backgrounding is back, baby! Merry Christmas!

Well, here we are: at THAT Birthday

In a summer full of life distractions from our ever-busy Trekland, there's one moment at least that I simply must stop and celebrate.

I mean, it's September 8!  It's Star Trek's July 4th, or May the Fourth ... it's THE Anniversary. The date of first airing on NBC in 1966! We herald it every year, right? RIGHT? I mean, you DO  have your Star Trek Day presents all shopped and wrapped? The cake decorated? The Holodeck programmed?

But, hey—forget your 20th or 25th anniversary... or the 40th or 45th. Hey, forget the 50th coming up in 2016 (gulp).

Nope, if there's one Trek birthday year above all others, as unique as anything could be, it's THIS year: 2013.

Otherwise known as Star Trek's 47th anniversary!

Now... I'm sure some readers just blinked, and assumed that "47" was a typo.

Maybe you're one of them.

Well, it wasn't. It's not.

So let me take another opportunity to get one more fan educated on the best inside joke of them all: Yes, it's high time you found out about Star Trek's own Legend of the 47. Thanks to staff writer-producer Joe Menosky's influence on TNG and later Trek series, and all the writers and other designers around him, the infamous status of 47 as the universe's most common random number—you heard me right—was transplanted from his alma mater at Pomona College right into the heart of the Star Trek universe. With that seed Joe sowed from Pomona's "47 Society," the Trek franchise would never be the same again....at least, on an insidiously subversively subtle level.

The legion of "47" fans and perpetuators even extends to the alternate universe—writers and artists working in JJ's recent  films. Don't believe me? Then check out what area alt-Kirk rides his motorcycle into at the Riverside Shipyards in ST09.

We laugh and wink about the 47s— and yet, go back and see how often "47" pops up in TOS—long before, obviously, the mid-TNG years after Joe had a chance to soak it all up at Pomona and bring the 47 phenom to his place of work.

That pre-Joe time includes, incredibly, the name of TOS's *47th* episode.  Look it up! I kid you not: it's "Obsession." The names says it all, eh?

Of course, I always throw out the caveat that Sep. 8, 1966 is hardly the "birth" of Star Trek. There had been two pilot episodes already filmed, much less written, (much less several episodes of the series) long before then: You can go back to at least March 1964 and Gene's infamous and original Star Trek format pitch for CBS, then NBC.

But, while every series gets to celebrate its own premiere, or finale (or syndication week thereof, in the case of TNG and DS9), we pretty much rally around Sept. 8 to mark all things Trek across the franchise

So, yes: party long and hard today as you mark the grandest anniversary ever of your favorite futurist sci-fi morality fable and cool gadget generator. And reflect on what it all means—or Google it if you're unsure. Heck, you worship this thing the other 364 days of the year—a little research won't kill ya.

Maybe you could even put in 47 minutes of research. On my mark ...

"It All Started With a Big... Borg?"

Did today's Geek Revolution really all stem from Locutus and "Fire!"?



This was my most recent guest blog over at startrek.com, on June 20 — (with new mashup art!) and I just wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to see it. It elaborates on a thread I got into on a podcast brainstorm recently... and really stuck with me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

All right— I have a theory to propose. See what you think. It’s pretty deep, so hang with me:

Ahem.

For the current “geek revolution” that permeates our culture and brought all things “genre” to the mainstream of America ….

... we can thank Next Generation showrunner Michael Piller. And his insecurities.

Yep, I think it was the late, great executive producer of TNG (left) who set in motion events that led to all the fan-love that’s sweeping the country (and a lot of corporate board rooms to boot).  After the last round of CBS’s incredible TNG Blu-ray remasters and their Fathom Events theater showcase, well… my mind started to put 2 and 2 together one night while I was yakking away as a guest on a Trek podcast.

And it hit me like a ton of thermoconcrete. Here, just follow along:

It’s obvious that we live amidst a “Geeks Rule the World” vibe these days, right? For a lot of us over a certain age, it’s incredible that Star Trek fans and every other nerd nirvanist of all ages are allowed—nay, encouraged—to wear their con badge of honor openly, their heart on their sleeve, as it were…in full uncloseted view of everyone! The “geek girl” explosion, the cool-kids cosplay club… football Trekkies... the designers of cell phones, iPads, even a Vulcan-loving President —yep, it’s an amazing time, when you think about it.

What lit the fuse on such an explosion? Well, network TV can play a big role in changing the culture, reaching millions easily and putting new memes and ideas into play almost overnight —and there’s the clue. We have more than anecdotal evidence of this, of course: What better old-guard metric to check than your friendly A.C. Nielsens, the same TV audience ratings that ironically once doomed the original Star Trek (using, by the way, only raw numbers, not targeted demographics). Yes, check out the runaway No. 1 comedy on the list for forever, and—duh— you’ll come up with The Big Bang Theory. (For that matter, you could also check out the top syndicated-rerun package in every local TV market, and just about get the same answer. TBBT rules.)

Sheldon and Leonard’s excellent adventures (with constant Trek references and guest stars in the mix) have been a hit ever since their debut, and come from the great comedy bloodline of creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. But there are never guarantees in show biz, and TV series are an expensive gamble for a network —which is why few survive the process to be written, green-lit, filmed as a pilot episode, and then picked up to be risked in a high-pressure prime-time slot to deliver ratings and pay back the investment, with dividends. Now, what might have helped convinced CBS to take such a chance on an offbeat premise back in the spring of 2007?

(Okay, stay with me— it’s about to get thick and fast:)

I remember it well: 2007 was the year that everything melted down at San Diego Comic-Con, the granddaddy of what we now know as the new generation of megacons . This and every other “comic con” are hardly about just comics, writers and artists anymore, right?  It’s the stars who have the magnetism, and those tens of thousands of fans who swelled attendance numbers in the Aughts were there because of stars brought in by Hollywood—the Hollywood  that had begun to put those blockbusters on the big screens in a big way never seen before. The “day trip” vibe down to San Diego, for one thing, and the fertile audience of hard-core fantasy, sci-fi and comics fans just ripe to test-market: it was too much for studios to resist, and the mutual love affair bloomed big-time. That shockwave of numbers and the pop-culture headlines couldn’t help but put an obvious “new” hot audience on the radar of any network savvy enough to jump on it in a smart way.

But what had happened to Hollywood in the first place, going all-out on summer blockbusters and epic franchise flicks? I mean, comics-borne movies and fantasy epics have always been around, but this many? And with this attitude? And with this much respect—usually!—for the source material? (Oh, and cue the return of even the Star Wars saga by the late 1990s.) And—why the merger of studios and comics lines landing front-page in the Wall Street Journal as well as Variety?

Probably, in turn, because the small screen just couldn’t hold it all anymore. Yes, in many ways those big genre movies of the Nineties and Aughts were a no-brainer after all the sci-fi, swords and superheroes making inroads on network TV—like Buffy, Angel, Firefly… Lois and Clark, that begat Smallville … not to mention X-Files and the new quirk of humorous paranoia, plus Voyager and Enterprise, of course. It was also a time when, with the coming of CSI and all it inspired, a typical police procedural drama suddenly had more CGI “real science” visual effects each week than any ol’ space opera ever dreamed of.

The Big 4 networks, in turn, were just passing along the spillover from the genre explosion they saw on lower-risk cable nets, and even non-network syndication—like Babylon 5, Hercules, Xena, Farscape, Andromeda: Where did they and the wanna-bes suddenly come from? In fact, where the heck did syndication come up with anything but talk shows and game shows, anyway ?

You got it—you can “blame” it all on the riskiest gamble of all, The Next Generation (with Deep Space Nine the original second-wave series). As executive producer Rick Berman has noted, the TV world of 1986 gave TNG little chance to survive its triple knock as sci-fi, as a sequel and as a syndicated show.  The first two seasons were rocky—but eventually the show not only settled, but skyrocketed in quality and viewers ... and did, indeed, set off that sci-fi boom of the Nineties. All of which, of course, became competition for the Trek franchise itself.

So where did TNG’s turnaround occur? Remember—the show was budgeted to last seven years, yes, but a full yet mediocre run would never have sparked a revolution in anyone’s entertainment universe. In the long run, we can all pretty much agree it was that amazing, rags-to-riches third season when Piller came aboard —with “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” “Sins of the Father,” “The Offspring,” “The Defector,” “The Price,” “Hollow Pursuits,” “Captain’s Holiday”… But even with that list, we know what really put TNG on the map with the masses in one fell swoop.

That amazing cliffhanger, “The Best of Both Worlds,” the Borgification of Picard… Riker’s one word, “Fire!”… and then a blackout, a slamming music cue, and the simple but excruciating words “To Be Continued."

That epic moment, borne of head writer Piller’s angst about returning to the series or not, was his way of painting the conclusion writer into a horrible corner—before he knew that writer would be himself, after all.  

Of course, you could argue there’d be no TNG at all without the original Star Trek… and no Star Trek without Gene Roddenberry’s inspiration from The Twilight Zone, Have Gun Will Travel and Forbidden Planet, for starters. Yes, you could take this back even further, if you wanted.

But for now, I like this cause and effect. Without Michael, Locutus and “The Best of Both Worlds”… there’d be no Evil Wil Wheaton,  snark, and the verbification of “cosplay.”  We owe today’s sweeping freedom of geek pride to a Borg wash-out and a last-minute red laser unit.

I mean, isn’t it obvious to you?

My secret's out and you can order it now: The Starfleet Stellar Cartography maps/book set

UPDATE: Just need to pre-order now? Quick link is here!


Yes, I can finally say it. The big Trek "secret project" I've teased but stayed mum on in recent months is out there: the Star Trek Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library poster map set and guidebook is now on Amazon for pre-order, as ballyhooed on the front page of startrek.com today. In case there was any doubt—Star Trek non-fiction is BACK, baby!

I do not know what is cooler: that we finally got to do evolved-canon star map posters suitable for framing, that we got to do starmaps from not only various historical eras but from various alien origins ... or that I got to update and "massage" some background gaps that have bugged canon fans like me for years.

Look, I don't want to spoil everything here—there's a lot in the press release, which you can see below—but just know that we didn't reinvent the wheel. We took the bedrock work of Geof Mandel in the 2002 Star Trek Star Maps as our touchstone—indeed, we got Geof back for a massive "historical" UFP map in the set of 10—and then got artists Ali Ries and Ian Fullwood to help take it from there for the various vibes needed. Together, they sweated a lot of our details—and that cover you see here does not begin to reveal the depth of what we get into.

You get the set of ten 2x3 maps I oversaw, plus the hardback guidebook I authored (at left)—all in the guise of a curated collection from the analog and digital archives of Memory Alpha. In those pages, we update for the Prime universe since 2002 (real-time) as of 2386 (canon time), we tie together a lot of threads like that whole confusing "Alpha Quadrant powers" thing, and we even deal with the onetime "Delphic Expanse" of Enterprise and, in a special update, JJ's Romulan subspace supernova.

What I may be most singly proud of, though, is for the first time finding a way to choreograph the known elements of the Dominion War onto that grid in a way that makes sense—including all that "threatened Federation homeworlds" business—and not only illustrate some major canon battles but make sense of those onscreen DS9 wall maps, too.

You guys who have read my "Fistful of Data" column in Titan's UK-turned-US Star Trek Monthly magazine since 1998 know my belief that most all canon hiccups can really be solved—and more simply than you think. This is actually my fifth time to work on a Trek maps project—the last four all with Geof in some way, amazingly, and the last three licensed ... and in all of them I got to put my credo into practice for that era.

I am so proud to have my name on this monster, and for everyone who worked on it—including my very patient becker&mayer! book editor Dana Youlin and art director Rosanna Brockley, plus CBS' John Van Citters, of course. They are veterans of lots of projects both in and out of franchise properties, including fellow background nerd David Goodman's incredible Federation: ... 150 Years book last year... but this was the most intense title for Dana and Rosanna yet. You'll soon see why!

The only bummer on the whole thing is that it won't release until Dec. 3, 2013—just in time for holiday gift-giving, of course—but you can pre-order now, exclusively at amazon.com (and no money due til it ships!). If you do hurry up and jump on now, every pre-order sends a signal to CBS and Amazon, etc., that we want more of this new-wave creative but intense non-fiction "gap filling," as I call it—since it may be some time before we get any on-screen Prime Universe backgrounding again. (For one thing, I do know that tabletop or paper-and-dice Trek space gamers will just have to have a set.)

We'll talk more, but for now know this:  If Stellar Cartography floats your boat and you are headed to Vegas Khhaaann in August, please stop by the panel already planned on this book and fire away on your questions. There'll be lots more to say and detail as we go along.


FULL PRESS RELEASE:

47North and becker&mayer! announce STAR TREK^TM Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library

Officially licensed, georgeously illustrated collection featuring ten original, fully removable large-format maps of the Star Trek universe

From the publishers of Star Trek Federation: The First 150 Years comes a stunning new map collection straight from cartography archives of Starfleet Academy: STAR TREK Stellar Cartography: Starfleet Reference Library (47North/becker&mayer! On-sale: December 2013; ISBN-13:, ISBN-10: 1, $79.95).  These beautifully reproduced maps provide a rare opportunity to view the expanse of Federation space (and beyond) through the multiple lenses of the Galaxy's key players—visually expanding the Star Trek universe in never-before-seen ways. Compiled by Star Trek expert Larry Nemecek (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion) with illustrations by Ian Fullwood, Ali Rees and Geoffrey Mandel, STAR TREK Stellar Cartography: Starfleet Reference Library will release in December 2013.

The original maps include an ancient Vulcan map, a Klingon Empire map from the pre-Organian Peace Treaty era (in the native Klingon), an official Romulan government map of the Empire, a native Cardassian Union map from the occupied-Bajor era, along with Federation maps from the modern era. Housed in a handsome clamshell case and paired with a fully-illustrated reference book providing detailed information on planets, systems, and topography, this 48-page collection, licensed by CBS Consumer Products, will have something for Star Trek fans of all ages.

No Star Trek fan will want to miss this definitive collection. Visit www.amazon.com/StellarCartography to find out more about STAR TREK Stellar Cartography: Starfleet Reference Library and to pre-order this deluxe special edition book in advance of December. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Larry Nemecek is an author, editor and Star Trek consultant. He wrote the New York Times bestseller Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. Nemecek edited the Star Trek Communicator magazine for eight years, contributed to Star Trek Fact Files in the UK, and served as a consultant on Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. He lives in Burbank with his wife, Janet.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATORS

Ian Fullwood lives and works in rural Herefordshire, England, and has clients both at home and in the USA. With more than 20 years of experience in technical illustration and commercial art, Ian's love of the technical has taken him from traditional earth bound engineering type illustrations to the far flung galaxies of the Sci-Fi genres, illustrating more recently the maps of the Star Trek Stellar Cartography and previously Star Wars Vehicles, Weapons, Droids and Planets.

Ali Ries is a 3D digital artist from Salem, Oregon. Coming of age in the NASA era of Gemini and Apollo anchored her artist roots in space. Like many children of the Sixties she was mesmerized by Neil Armstrong’s historic first moonwalk, wishing she could be standing beside him in the grand adventure.

When Star Trek premiered on network television her future was paved with dream of some future in the world of Sci-Fi and Fantasy art or special effects. With the equivalent of a mental Hubble platform, Ali began creating astronomical star scapes, nebulae, and other space scenes as real as the night sky.

Today her work is used on book covers, television projects and other media around the world, including the recent SyFy network project, BSG: Blood and Chrome, Riddick 3 and Star Trek Fandom movies.

Geoffrey Mandel began his career as an art department P.A. on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Since 1995 he has worked as a graphic designer for films and TV shows, including many projects in the Star Trek franchise and various genre shows, such as The X-Files, Space: Above and Beyond, and the 2005 film Serenity, a spin-off the cult sci-fi series Firefly. In his spare time, Mandel designs and illustrates props, blueprints and star maps for various science fiction franchises, including the Serenity blueprints, and maps of the Star Trek, Firefly and Battlestar Galactica universes.

™ & ©2013 CBS Studios Inc. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

About 47North

47North is an Amazon Publishing imprint specializing in books for readers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.  47North offers a wide array of new fiction and cult favorites, from urban fantasies to space operas, alternate histories to gothic and supernatural horror.

About becker&mayer

For over 30 years, becker&mayer! LLC, the largest book packager in the U.S., has created hundreds of innovative nonfiction books and book-plus products for adults and children in formats that integrate paper components, digital content, electronics, audio, and other specialty features for publishers worldwide. www.beckermayer.com