My panel, my table, my stuff —just a corner of Trekland in the HUGE Star Trek year at Comic-Con San Diego

Wow.  Maybe it's because this is Comic-Con NUMBER 47?

San Diego Comic-Con has never been about Star Trek; it's always been about, well, comic books. And manga. Superheroes. And, for the past 20 or so years, the blockbusters derived therefrom. Sci-fi, fantasy, horror and anime, you get to come too.  

"Oh well, see you in Vegas" has been the cry among Trekfolk at SDCC the past decade or so, since I started going in 2006.  I've always felt badly that Star Trek's golden age and its incredible casts and creators came too soon for the bigtime, Hall H Comic-Con treatment.

UNTIL NOW. And good on CBS Consumer Products, and CBS and Paramount in general, for finally corralling an historically huge, Dyson Sphere-sized year for Trek. Having both the new mpovie AND the new series AND the 50th anniversary to play off is about as natural an opening as you're going to get, and they have not disappointed. Starting with a Comic-Con program cover featuring Leonard Nimoy's Spock (at right)!

Of course if you don't have a way in by now, you ain't gettin' in ... but if you're among the 150,000 plus on business and/or pleasure in San Diego his week...Here's a huge list of all things official Trek and licensees here. Huge! The MAC Trek cosmetics line and the 50 on 50 art exhibit with artist signings and that cover Spock image are among the panels and products.

And I'd just add to that, the first Trek pin collectibles from my old buddy Dan Madsen's FanSets (too new to get its own booth) will be at Comikaze and StylnOnline booths—and an even bigger hit now that folks can see "augmented reality" with the PokemonGO craze.

Now for my little corner of Trekland, here's my deets—and THANKS AGAIN to Cat Roberts, our Lt. Palmer of Star Trek Continues et al, and John for hosting our "Dr. Trek" crowdfunder again on Friday night!

—WEDNESDAYMaybe I'll see you before or after the 8 p.m. IMAX World Premiere of Star Trek Beyond?

—THURSDAY:
8-9 pm, 29AB: "Trekland's Between the Cracks Show: The How We Got To 50 Edition" PANEL — Our annual updated look at all things Trek in-perspective and in-jokey will also this year hopefully have a brand-new sneak-footage reel for The Con of Wrath! Plus we'll have a lightning PORTAL 47 beam-aboard bonus for this night only!

I'm up against some good folks in this slot, sadly, but you can click here in to the SDCC event site/app scheduler here as well. Please do!

—FRIDAY:

2:30-5:30 pm, AA23: Autograph Alley table— Easiest place to catch me! I'll have photos, On Speaker CDs, Portal 47 info, maybe even a book or two--and get into the Portal 47 prize drawing.  Oh and opinions and news on all things hot. Click here to save on your SDCC site/app scheduler.

Just be advised I must leave sooner than the normal 7:00 ending time because of ...

First SDCC doc crowdfunder, in 2012!

6:30-8:30 pm, Dr. Trek Show crowdfunder for The Con of Wrath, adjoining Petco Field*—The annual event supporting my doc wherever I am a live con guest—now wrapping up its final year of filming: as usual $20 not only gets you a screen credit but here live it's access to prize trivia, rare Trek footage and newest sneak-peek footage for the doc—including the latest, of Nichelle Nichols and Laura Banks.
*Check out the Facebook event page for the exact address and arrival directions. Share it if you can! 

—SATURDAY:

4:30-7 pm, AA23: Autograph Alley table—Ditto as above! But note I will be delayed past the 2:30 start time due to covering the big Hall H panel 2-3 and media afterward. Still, it's the last, easiest place to catch me—photos, On Speaker CDs, Portal 47 info, maybe even a book or two--and last chance for the Portal 47 prize drawing. Late news punditry, too. Click here to save on your SDCC site/app scheduler.
This schedule means, sadly, I will be timed out of Ben Robinson's Star Trek Ships panel immediately afterward with Rick Sternbach and Dan Curry...but again, it's all Treklanders all long overdue for a little Comic-Con love.



Here's hoping we all survive the Comic-Con crazy.... Especially me, because Tuesday starts our incredible #LA2Vegas / #SFx2  50th anniversary expanded edition of the Trek Film Sites Tour. And then right into sold-out, five-day #STLV.

Trek well!

Sulu is gay! The retcon of all retcons—or was it?

And the Trek headlines keep comin':

Now comes word from down-under Sydney, from the first true world premiere of Star Trek Beyond (sorry, gold-ticket Comic-Con San Diego, you're only the IMAX world premiere)...

...that Sulu is GAY. 

Gene and Rick and all the rest, trying to be progressive even at their limits of commercial TV in the 60s and even the 80s, always said the point to having a gay character would be that it should not be a major point. And that's apparently what writers Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, director Justin Lin and actor John Cho have done here, per this reporter:

Hikaru Sulu, played by John Cho, is shown in Star Trek Beyond as the loving father of a daughter with a same sex partner. And in typical trailblazing Trek fashion — it’s just not a big deal.

And you though Sulu's cool movie moment for Beyond would be that trailer-glimpsed nod to Demora—an alt-verse spanning fact that did not have to be the same in both timestreams, obviously, but cute and harmless fanservice by Pegg and Lin.

Who cares if they've stolen a little thunder from Bryan Fuller's onrushing new CBS All-Access Trek series, where I'm sure—knowing Bryan, and the annoying time-lag in getting an LGBTQ character finally to onscreen Trek—it is in the offing somehow.

It's an obvious nod and choice to beloved George Takei, who came out himself in 2005...but I'm sitting here realizing that it's far more than that. Don't even be limited by any post-Kelvin Prime/non-Prime distinction: his parents were the same in both universes, yes? And part from the offscreen implications of a daughter Demora, Sulu through all his appearances in TV and film was never even seen fakily paired up with a female other than in a cordial social sense. Certainly not like hot-blooded helm-mate Chekov...or infamous Kirk, pub-crawler Scotty, divorced Southern gentleman McCoy ....and even seven-year Spock. (Oh, and those Deltan pheromones do it to anybody, deleted scene or not.)
 
It's the retcon that was there all along—whether or not George had had a behind-the-scenes understanding with Gene and Co. about not portraying Sulu as outwardly heterosexual to begin with. Any of the supporting cast getting that much screen time for any character development was a miracle—and yet even Uhura got a hetero moment with her salt-vampired crewman, much less even Rand and Chapel.

Yes, THIS is much more the kind of surprise I like to keep getting about my Trek as 2016 and #FiveOhFever roll along. Stay tuned... I have a feeling there'll be more.

Including a comment soon from George....here seen with husband Brad at our The Con of Wrath shoot:

From the fan-film guidelines to Rihanna, and Beyond — My take on all those Trek headlines, in one fell swoop

 
Wow. I picked the wrong week to go off-the-grid into bad wi-fi back home in Soonerland...!

I have so much to get done with "5-0 Fever" con summer and the Trek tour bearing down, plus a new On Speaker archival CD edition to get out ... and a nice website redesign for Trekland, finally, and Portal 47 both in the works...

But I have to say a few things about the crazy going down in Trekland the last few days—starting with the fan film guidelines came out the day I traveled to SoonerCon. (Of course. Oh, and the reaction.)
 
So take an extra 4.7 minutes and I'll wrap it all up for now in one subspace blast and say...

REALLY, Trekland? So much hate and trolling and boycotting...and, right NOW?

Take a breath and step back a sec. Let's put it on the main viewer, shall we?

It's July, 2016. We have a Star Trek feature film that is not only looking more like Star Trek to the hardcore than its two priors... but an exciting episodic series under an award-winning Trek vet with a mix of both Trek alumni and newer voices ...on a platform that will not be ruled by ratings numbers or even note-popping censors ... and, in Rihanna's "Sledgehammer," a Bond-like music hit and video mix from an actual fangirl superstar that will cross generations, continents and media to bring all-new eyeballs to all things movie-Trek and start the pipeline of fresh cadets and warriors and drones all over again.

Rihanna's "Sledgehammer" video w alt-Enterprise: Anyone else see a "The Doomsday Machine" homage here?

PLUS an awesome 50th anniversary that *is* living up to far more than just party hype—with major conventions around the globe, concerts and museum /science tours and the return of the 1960s original 11-footer Big E to its rightful place of inspiring honor in the Smithsonian, complete with a highly researched paint and detail restoration. I just missed seeing the 1701 in 1976, saw it in 1986, was disappointed in 1992... and can't wait to glimpse her return to glory in a couple weeks, right before Shore Leave.

And this is all grabbing mainstream media attention ...smack in the middle of the Big Bang Theory Era. That's what they used to call "synergy."

How people can be poking holes in all that positive, franchise-refreshing force for good is just beyond me. Really. But hey, don't misunderstand: I'm not saying go vanilla—I'm just saying go smart.

What I really refuse to do is get too sucked into the time and negativity sink over the Axanar lawsuit and all the tangent spinoffs from it—while still avoiding any "deer in the headlights" blindsiding.  While you might be feeling a bit down that the Golden Age of Fan Films seems to be over, let me just suggest that it might simply be ...evolving. For I remember all the prior times "Paramount" was decried by fans— from the marketing study and boycott over Spock's death threatened for The Wrath of Khan, to the upset over the "new" upstart TNG without Kirk/Spock/McCoy... and the yell over every new iteration of series to come. And somehow, it all came out in the end just fine. I even hear Star Trek AND its fandom hung around and pressed on.

Look, my low-key friend John van Citters of CBS licensing is now an unlikely Internet star front-and-center over the "fan film guidelines" (thanks to Jordan Hoffman's new official podcast Engage)—but that's the same JVC who used to point out to me years ago, at the clamor for embracing such "rules," how "a Lucasfilms model of 5-minute festival entries would never fly with Trek fans so let's just leave it in the gray area to avoid getting those lawyers involved"--the guys who care less about promotion and brand-building, and more about fiduciary duty and legal precedent. As is their oath. 

That's how I know what a huge leap these guidelines were, for the corporate machinery to agree to as much as they did—even as, to some fans, that 15/30-minute limit may seem restrictive...which is inevitable. There will be a bit of customizing in reaction, on a case-by-case basis ... but look, guys: For nearly two years, I've been worried. I mean, I've been soooo proud to have acted in, and remain a part of the think thank, for Continues; I appeared in New Voyages early on, and have supported Starbase Studios back home in OKC plus any other project that asked for it, on principal.  And yet, sadly, the boom does seem unsustainable in some ways: Today's zooming crowdfunding and temptations mean it was increasingly likely this ever-more-overloaded plane was going to have a rough landing on the choppy sea of expectations sometime— and becoming more apparent every month to many of us.


And face it: As I've said for a couple years now, I was also expecting a lot of the fan-film fire to go out—by fan producers, if not backers and attention spans in general—once a Trek series got going again, sucking all the air out of the room with new canon content to follow and fathom. That's right around the corner, now.

Question is, when and where and how rough would that landing be, who'd take charge in the crisis (if anyone), and who would get hurt in the crash? And would the "owner" CBS/Paramount get blamed, no matter what?

The post-guidelines world will not be this way forever—just ask the website owners who freely post scene clip frames today, unlike in 1996 when C&D's by Paramount went out as frame-grabbing exploded ... or the "official" editors like me four years later who could not mention actors' non-Trek crossover projects in depth—until we could. (Professor X in a Trek mag, anyone?) Or the idea of limiting later-generation Trek cast and crew to only licensed conventions (ca 2001).

The truth is, things in any pop culture franchise "poppish" enough to be alive are always the edgiest on the cutting edge—the fun frontier where no attorneys or rights-protectors have gone before. Until everyone does go there, at least, and things settle down....and then start up again in another paradigm. That's just the world we live it. It's unsettled, but it's ever-fresh: And it's the price you pay for having an incredibly attractive, thought-provoking little space show that keeps attracting new fans, new iterations, new business ...and refuses to die after 50 years.

The other truth is this: For all the meme meltdowns online past and present, fan film fandom... con-going regulars  ....hell, all Internet Trek fandom... are just a drop in the bucket among all the armchair fans out there. You know: the folks who watch the shows, buy the books and toys, and raise their kids with Trek?

And now... a boycott? Really? Aside from the basic math, consider the timing.

Because Vulcan's Forge was never like this: We are FINALLY emerging from wandering the Trek desert of the last 12 years, and have now a transition time from what *was* to what *is*—whether it's fan film parameters or a hit music/movie video or a for-pay streaming platform in the fast-changing media landscape. Same as 1979, 1982, 1987, 2001 ...and 2006.

Thank the Prophets it's happened again. It means we're still alive... and that a 100th anniversary Trektennial in 2066 is a pretty sure bet.

Oh—and beyond our selfish fun? Star Trek remains a good bet for a wracked world that could really use some hope and intelligent futurism in its free time right about now. 

Just like in 1966.

Onion moment on 'Conan': Star Trek still too popular?

Sure, it's a fun clip... played for laughs by Conan & crew.

But it brings up a larger question:

Is it a good thing that we live in a world where Star Trek has gone so mainstream, having helped lead the successful geek revolution ... that it smacks of joyless canonista to point out that an actual "lost" TOS-era clip would have had swarthy, smooth-head Klingons—not ridgeheads?

Or would that prove the fact that once again Trekfen can't take a joke, and can't be equally ridiculed on the mainstage as all other aspects of culture should be open to?

I mean, you can be a clueless fan and call in to Conan to correct that... and you know it'll just lead to more comebacks that will prove the point.  Or already have.
 
Where DO you draw the line? And no father?  #firstworldgenremetaproblems

Some new thoughts on thankful—Dateline: Trekland

Normally, any Thanksgiving post by me anywhere turns on a fun recall of the epic WKRP episode. You know.

But this year—and not through any trauma, or epic turn of life—I"m feeling my thankfulness in some all new ways. And no, not even for the 50th anniversary of this driving force that has entertained,  enraptured, inspired and even connected so many around the world in such good works and ideals.

And not even for a new series, finally... much less another stab at a feature film.

No, I'm feeling thankful for all of you out there who are reading these words, following my projects, sending good thoughts my way or even sounding off. And most of all, taking active part.

Because, bit by bit, that thankful feedback and my own slooow evolution of awareness has helped me to really, finally, figure out my place in Trekland...and the greater world today. Exciting wacky projects still come along out of the blue, of course, but the scariness of losing old "big box" bosses and paradigms has finally begun to yield to an excitement for the new world of DIY business ...and how that might apply to all things Trek.

And, especially, to those who love, treasure, and unabashedly honor Gene's creation as a driving force of fun or even philosophy in their lives.

Some of you may recall I talked about a couple of major goals at the dawn of 2014... and how I had to make priorities, even among my beloved Trek projects. Now, almost two years later, I'm finally getting there.

Finding the ways that today's tech and culture allow me to freshen the old, uncover the forgotten, and help those folks connect the Trek dots even as new dots are being created .... well, I'm grateful and thankful for the sense to figure that out, and for all those who seem to want me to. Just about the time I decided that every story, insight or memento in Trek's First Fifty is moldy-old or just tired ... along comes a new fan who needs a new shot of Trekland goodness—or a whole generation who does, too. And they in turn regurge, and bring a shiny fresh take on it to entertain and inspire all of us. Especially me!

I love how Trek, via its fans, never grows old. What a core, future-leaning gift of intelllgence, love, fun and respect that Gene and all his collaborators left us in that silly little failed TV show.

So yes—thanks to you all for finding the worth and enjoyment of my experiments in bringing  the Trek odyssey to life in unique, all-new ways —my ways— with On Speaker, with The Trekland Trunk... and now, especially, the real cherry on top: Portal 47.

It's still a new, evolving experiment with a long way to go, but I'm thankful so many of you all feel the ride is worth it, and continue to jump aboard—and share the word.

In fact, I'll be sharing a word or two here tomorrow on my new Trek works—just in time for Cyber Monday. More on that then, but for now...

No, I've never felt a Thanksgiving like this before. With the new economy, new self-awareness, and Gene's vision still exciting all of us young and old, I look forward to moving on ... with many more thankful days to come.

Listen: I deep-dive the Trek 2017 news on NPR & Trek.fm

For those of you who prefer your Trek 2017 info and discussion audio-style as well as deep,
I took part in two great discussions this week that are now downloadable for a listen at your leisure.

Many are familiar with The Ready Room, the flagship program of Chris Jones' Trek.fm network of podcasts—and for the third time this year he invited me on for a breaking-news special edition. This time, rather than the deaths of Leonard Nimoy and Harve Bennett, we had a much more upbeat time talking about the future: the news, business angle and still many questions surrounding "Star Trek 2017"—as well as the stupifying and varied fan reaction to the CBS All Access streaming platform it would pioneer. It's 90 minutes and quite a deep dive, by the times we plumb the angles and implications...and as usual I hope I brought some historical and production context many fans might not have thought of yet.

Also this week, NPR radio host Tom Ashbrook in Boston invited me on his On Point call-in talk show Friday to join two TV critics and bring the hot-news Trek perspective to the topic—the current so-called TV  "reboot" wave. Of course I made the point that Star Trek has already passed through its initial "regeneration" not once but twice, 1986 and 2009—and that to fans this represents not a TV fad but just the latest volume in the series FINALLY coming out, dammit. I had the last half-hour of the hour-long show, but it's all great fun with X-Files and Gilmore Girls getting the secondary attention from the other guests, as well as Trek. You can listen or download it as well at the link.

And if you are not in the download audio habit—that's simply what a podcast is!—they make a great on-demand companion for your long commute, your long jog or workout, or whenever meaningful (and specialized) audio can come in handy. 

Here's as good a time as any to try them out!  I've been a guest on 30+ shows all across Chris's Trek.fm network for years now and he even has a special page made up for them in Trek.fm's coveted "featured iTunes" status section...although you can get to them in a zillion ways—including just direct audio play off the website.

Of course, this was also the topic of this month's "Ask Dr. Trek" Roundtable telebriefing in my Portal 47 group of backstage deep-divers (that's the session where they pepper me, instead of a wonderful guest Trek voice you've likely never heard from—which is the second one of the month). And true to my archive opening feature in P47, I shared both Bob Justman's 1986 memos and Interstat fan letters that year to show how much things are still the same between 1986 and 2015.
 If you're diggin' these type of second-level info, past or future, you really should come through the Portal with us each month for the whole package!

Thoughts on June 11: Spock again illuminates McCoy

Or, rather, Leonard Nimoy illuminates DeForest Kelley.

It seems here in the Blog Age I've settled into a tradition each year of celebrating De's life career on his Jan. 20 birthday ... and using the anniversary of his passing on June 11, 1999—today—to reflect on what he's meant to me, to fandom, and to the world. Nothing radical there.


But I look back at my Trekland posts on the major markers of his death—the tenth anniversary, and then the fifteenth—and realize that, like all history and anything connected with the non-Prophets' linear existence, the passing years only shed more light, more texture and more nuance on what it is we already know.

So it was this year with Leonard Nimoy's own passing Feb. 27, and how I caught my own thoughts and reaction, upon hearing the news, first shifting to 6/11/99 and De—and then comparing and contrasting the two, and reflecting on first fandom and then our culture's reaction and modes of today... as I wrote about for Star Trek Magazine just a few days later for the rushed first edition after Leonard's passing. Very proud of that piece, as once again sometimes the simplest writing turns into my favorite.

Come to think of it, it's where my thoughts went when we lost Majel in 2008, and even grand old producer A.C. Lyles a year back. With Gene so long gone, De continues to be my adult anchor and reference point to all Trek, it seems. Hmmmmm.

One thing that has not changed, in fact perhaps accelerated by Leonard's passing, is the ongoing stampede of fans and appreciators of De's role of McCoy and his humble, understated performance overall. What I wrote about that explosion last year, sparked by finding my first Trek T-shirts (above), has not only mushroomed, but the awareness of it as well — especially among younger fans who can take their 24/7 remastered streaming fandom and see it all for themselves, much quicker, and go online and spread it further.

When I finally shed a professional veneer during our last interview and confessed to De that he and McCoy were both my favorites, he laughingly cracked a great retort: "Well, where were you in the 60s when I coulda used you up, against Bill and Leonard?" I've told that story more than once, but it occurs to me now: I think he'd love to shoot it back at all his new fans today, as well...and be just as appreciative.

McCoy fans: This is how far we've come

I've talked about how I felt like I'd found the lost De Kelley Fan Club chapter when I walked into the Star Trek Continues wardrobe room last year to play McCoy and found his fans all over the place… and then wondered where they'd been all these years.  De as much joked about the same thing to me once.

And now, still amidst some personal archeology after last year's move, I came across some real artifacts that brought it all home to me again about what it was like to be an early-day McCoy fan:

For lo: my very first Star Trek T-shirt:

It was an iron-on transfer from a still (and thus the fade) bought by mail-order from Gene and Majel's own Lincoln Enterprises (now roddenberry.com)... and I specifically recall having to go that route because it was the only way to get ANY shot of McCoy on a Tshirt from them, in any form or fashion. I was yet to find my second and third mail-order companies.

So, yes: I could only get McCoy in a NAZI UNIFORM … sharing frame with Kirk and Spock... to get him at all.

Oh well, I was a kid, what did I know? Except bafflement.

But hey— if I was laying out my own cash (or begging Mom for it), that short had better be proclaiming McCoy on its chest. There were enough Enterprise, and show logo, and Kirk, and Spock shirts floating around by then. Geez. But that was it.

The NEXT year, I finally found a place that would take a photo and make a custom iron-on from it—woohoo, high-tech!  And so, you can tell by the fading how much I wore...

...my SECOND Star Trek T-shirt:

Still a shared pose, but at least a fun and pretty moment from fave "Journey to Babel." But still, though:  few choices.

You modern-day McCoy fans don't know how good you've got it!

And now, get off my astro-turf.

When Tweetworlds collide: Star Trek and my Sooners

We've come so far.

As a kid and teen in Oklahoma, your fandoms of football and Trek were almost never even allowed to intersect, much less thought of as even on the same plane—and it wasn't from a mainstream culture-vs.-geek minority standpoint, either. Many litfans I know zealously guarded their anti-sports reputation (and in Oklahoma that might as well have been anti-football). IDIC, schmIDIC—you got it both ways if you were caught in the middle!

No longer. The subject comes up from time to time—and, with a growing relationship between Trekland and trek.fm, the podcast/online empire of Alabama native and fan Chris Jones, Thursday's Oklahoma-Bama meetup in the Sugar Bowl was an inevitable Tweeparama in the making.

First off, I had to share when this graphic flashed across the screen of the pre-game show—and I knew any Vegas Khaaaaan veteran of more than 3 years could have told ESPN Something was Wrong with their captions!

But then I was blindsided by this gem that Chris Photoshopped:

(Apologies to the Rikers and to Late Season 2)

But them, as my Sooner crimson outplayed the Crimson Tide and shocked not only the whole world but their own fans as well ...thanks to the sudden blossoming of young quarterback Trevor Knight!... I had this exchange of Tweets with Chris that hopefully you TOS'ers will appreciate:

Followed up by a great touche from my gracious-in-losing target:

Finally, after a goofy, salt-in-the-wound fumble off 'Bama for a late touchdown that OU unexpectedly added on:

What can I do when they just keep slapping me in the face?

And if you are wondering just what that 47 is doing in my temporary Twitter avatar this weekend, it has nothing to do with Trek or even that play. You're welcome.



So—do you notice sports and geekery colliding more these days? Or is it ALL just becoming one big pastiche of enriching distraction?

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?

That third "Disruptions" teaser for INTO DARKNESS

So, I'm headed to a STID screening tonight ... eight days prior to the formal May 16 opening, with more screening to follow... and with considerably less angst that I did four years ago with ST09.

You TREKLAND readers know I've barely touched on Into Darkness so far—my reason being you can get drowned in that everywhere else and I'll stick to the unique takes on "everything else" I want to bring you instead.

In fact, I'm almost regretting finally seeing the damn thing after all the wait... it's going to cut off my "virgin" perspective on all the passing speculation, and also the untainted questioning of marketing goals and ambitions.

In that vein, then yeah—let's talk about that little trailer, the "Third Disruptions Teaser." (see it below) The one that caused such a brouhahah last week among Klingon fans online for its glimpse of a "non-canon" departure in Klingon look.... Really? You're upset about this? Isn't that just Chang's family? Bear in mind, too, that just as not all surviving Romulans have a tattoo—only Nero's miners-turned-henchmen—not all Klingons look lke this, nor have "glowy eyes." Do we know what they're on? Or what they might be wearing? Well, we'll find out soon enough—and have another 30 years to fix it, if we need to. But I doubt it.

No, what got my attention in that third "Disruptions" teaser was a single word—and I bet it flew right past you, saying a ton without saying it out loud: the re-drawing of Trek's troika. Listen here (below) as Uhura is described as the ship's "soul" —to cap off, on the other two "Disruptions,"  Kirk being the "heart" and Spock being the "mind." Right there, ladies and gentlemen, far more than any Klingon makeup tweaks, you have confirmed the major affect of a 21st century feature producer's take on Gene's classic sandbox: Kirk/Spock/McCoy is now Kirk/Spock/Uhura.

Or... maybe that's just marketing by a bunch of after-market editors with access to Cumberbatch's "promo extras" contract. Maybe it's a bow to perhaps endless focus groups who want a female lead in their flicks in general, and McCoy's place truly is still the third seat in the Trek triumvirate (as some early-bird reviewers have said.) And not to say that Trek shouldn't have strong female leads, obviously;  there was a lot to beef up with Nyota "And how often do I get shore leave?" Uhura that poor Nichelle would have gladly loved to take on in her "sub-second banana" days of pre-ensemble 60s TV formats. The TOS movies made up a little of that ground for her, but not much.

But it sure looks like modern movie format sensibilities have taken over "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." In any case, even for marketing's sake for English-language consumers, it's as interesting a perceived plot for success as that pedal-to-the-metal global hoopla tour to again try to crack open a Trek worldwide audience beyond the known UK, Australian and German outposts.  Karl Urban's McCoy is one of the quiet gems of the JJVerse, and neither one has really gotten much overt love in any of the posters, trailers, and press clambakes so far that I can see.

Then again, that's just about the way it always was with De and his McCoy.

We'll soon see.

So bring on The Darkness... and maybe I'll see you at the Khan.

Vegas: First thoughts

Quick thoughts from a Vegas survivor: If you didn't laugh at Trek's many doomsday death notices back in 2005, you can safely chortle and guffaw now.

Fully half of the steady-to-higher turnout at Creation's annual Vegas shindig were either first-timers or those coming back to the fold after 15 or 20 years. And this with no ST: The Experience to visit at the Hilton... or anywhere ... yet. I heard it over and over again from the folks who stopped by my table—many of them true stereotype-busters. I even saw an honest-to-goodness Barbie-and-Ken who'd be totally out of place if not for their wide-eyed stares as they paced the dealer's room—and they were on Day 2 of their honeymoon!: he the armchair fan who stumbled into the con with no advance idea, she the patient one who "gave him one day" to indulge.

Credit J.J.'s Star Trek '09, of course, and the energizing new green blood it pumped into not just fans but mainstream media and public perceptions.

More proof: The "side room" at Vegas notoriously draws maybe 30 or so fans between all the bigger events elsewhere; this year, a thrown-together panel on the new movie I co-guested with Anthony Pascale of trekmovie.com and host Doug Murray had 300+ ... who were, by shows of hands, a room HALF-full of first-time Vegas attendees, about HALF-full of first-time con attendees anywhere, and somewhat less half a room of completely new fans brought in by the movie.

And not just questions, but testimonials. From adult NEW fans who say they've gone to check out the TOS DVDs, or even moved on to TNG and later shows. From preteens who, somewhat stillin shock, said they are no longer the "outcast Trekkies" of their class but the "cool kid" with all the info on teh hot new summer movie.

My friend Dr. David Williams even reports the same for his real science visual talks on the NASA science missions he works on: 300 for Friday, 150+ Saturday, from the routine 30 or so. Even the larrynemecek.com --AKA "startrek.com Memorial"--trivia quiz Sunday morning had 50-60 in line and 150+ in the seats for over an hour...

As I said at the panel—this is music to a lot of folks' ears. Pointed or otherwise.