STV: Happy 50th from Star Trek crews past

YES! Finally, new Trekland video—and a brand-new intro! But the 50th celebration has only just begun ... for a whole year, yes?
 
So here's some faces and voices I've been holding back for the Happy 50th party—just the kind of behind-the-scenes insight that I love recording and revealing... from the TNG Companion where I met many of them, to our deep-diving Portal 47 today. Some you know; most you will not. (A few have been P47 guests; many others will be, too.)

For all or part of 18+ years, various teams of skilled show-biz folk brought us 737 hours of TV and films from Gene Roddenberry's universe...and could not help but form their own bonds of workaday friendship as well as professional pride.

With social media to help, the group held its third reunion in six years on May 22 in LA's Griffin Park—and it seemed natural to record for posterity some shoutouts for the 50th. I only regret that this was the smallest turnout of the three, and I did not get more folks on camera—to represent even more of the older series, or more of the various departments that go into getting an episode made.

Of course they have all gone on to other shows, other projects or even other careers now... but you can tell how most would agree that their working Star Trek years were something special, if not the highlights of their resume.

And that they are all fans, too.

STV: Why Doug Drexler backs that petition for a Netflix ENTERPRISE

Amid all the hoopla over that movie that came out May 17, or even our little Star Trek Continues ...

You might have choked on your gagh a few weeks back to read about a campaign to get Netflix to fund a "fifth season" of none other than... Star Trek: Enterprise?

It may have even popped up on your Facebook. That's how I first dropped my jaw over the topic. But I find out all about in this vidchat--just below. But first, consider this:

Netflix funding of original series and now the return of "old" series, of course, is a done deal already: new eps of cult classic Arrested Development are a movie lead-in, Kevin Spacey's original House of Cards aired there too—and now a Veronica Mars comeback movie, of all things, is green-lit after zillions of Kickstarter backers.

So look at where we are in 2013!

For the first time, a "dead" show could actually be brought back to life with non-network backing .... even an online streaming service. And the show's still-pissed-off fanbase would actually have a hand in resurrecting it by demand, and continued streaming.

And so that leads us to Jen DeSalle and Robert Bolivar, who decided to launch their own Facebook et al petition campaign to convince Netflix to do the same thing for Enterprise. After all, if zillions got a 20-something mystery drama back in production, surely many times more would stand up for the disrespected and increasingly missed final incarnation of TV Trek?

Then what to my wondering eye should appear than the respected name of Doug Drexler among the "backers" of the petition drive. No fan-flak he, make-up and CGI pro Doug went on to the Battlestar franchise of course and works all over now—but Trek is still his heart and soul. He wouldn't attach his name to this Facebook petition to Netflix lightly—so I had to track him down and ask, given all we know about Trek TV these days...



So the Facebook campaign HQ is here—and I wrote the founders to get more about it.

Jen told me that she was for the campaign to convince Netflix even with the Paramount/CBS "moratorium" on Trek TV. "Trek on TV has consistently done better than any of the movies by far. Now, CBS may not see this in the short term but over time, one of the things we hope to show them, is that the TV side is not only profitable, but, in the case of a series like Enterprise, also cost-effective." And, she adds, the "selfish" chance for a lifelong fan to create a page, CGI mockups and promo banners on such a campaign with Doug and other sites was "too much to pass up".

It was a comment by exec producer Brannon Braga, of all people, about using Netlfix to revive Enterprise as a renewed series or even TV movie that nudged Bolivar to jump ahead with the campaign for fans who feel "cheated" at the early departure of the NX-01. "Network interference, declining ratings and other studio red tape are something that every show has faced," Rob says. "Enterprise was just hitting its stride when it was cancelled. With our Facebook campaign, we are doing something that has never really been done with Trek before. We have gathered the fans, actors, production staff, etc.— all of them in basically the same place to support each other and the cause. Are there hurdles? Absolutely, but we have the ability of hindsight this time around. We know what works and what doesn’t. We know how to keep costs down and with the advances in digital sets; we can film just about anything. I think that Netflix is the perfect medium for this type of endeavor. Enterprise fans deserve this. We just want to see the series played out the way it was supposed to be.

" It's a worthwhile cause, and I hope, and pray that it is noticed, that we are heard, and we get our dream, at least one more season of Enterprise, to see some of what we can do now, and of course maybe the Romulan War wouldn't hurt.," Jen adds. As does Rob: "Streaming media is the future of television, and so is Star Trek."

What do YOU think? Does this really have a chance of appealing to Netlfix, much less persuading CBS to let it be done in the first place?

Or do we truly live in an "all bets are off" media world of change today, and who knows?