I would be okay with a story involving Klingons or Romulans, but not bringing back previous Klingon or Romulan characters. Those are two races that would also be relatively simple to do in terms of makeup and costuming (assuming they stick with the TOS styles). The idea inferred in TOS (re: "The Immunity Syndrome" as well as Spock's constant presence) of other aliens in Starfleet is something I'd like to see bolstered by seeing an Andorian or at least another Vulcan as a Starfleet officer even if it were done in similar manner as they handled Erin Gray's Commodore in "Lolani" by being visible on a viewscreen. It could be fun to see a somewhat light-hearted story in similar vein as "Shoreleave" (although I'm not advocating a return to the Shoreleave planet). Were there any rejected story ideas that (in basic concept) could be salvaged and fleshed out into something worthwhile? Matt Jefferies did sketch out an idea for a largish space station that, unfortunately, never got realized and they went with the K7 design instead. But MJ's concept has since been modeled in 3D (by Mgagen I believe) and it would be cool to see it onscreen given the appropriate story need. STC has already done this sort of thing by using a MJ sketch as the basis for the Tellerite ship in "Lolani." I'd love to see Doug Drexler do justice to the original Klingon D7 battle cruiser rather than the sloppy work seen in TOS-R. In extent while MJ was sketching out ideas for the D7 design maybe there's something in among those sketches that could serve as the basis for a diferent class of Klingon ship.
On the FB page STC jas announced that actor Martin Bradford will be playing the role of Dr. MBenga in Episode 5. And yet nothing I've suggested involves revisiting past characters or past stories.
To be honest, I don't care about the fact the next episode includes Dr. M'Benga. He's a perfectly valid character from the series, and I would expect that one or another fan production would use him. So now we know that STC is using him. Unfortunately, the one thing this announcement doesn't do is give me any reason to care about this episode in particular. It's sort of like casting Kevin Riley, it's just a role, what matters is the story.
I'm sure there is. It's just that the simple announcement isn't enough to get my excitement going. I'm interested in the episode because I like STC, but I'm not specifically interested in this episode because I don't know enough about it. There's a balance between too much information and not enough. For me, STC is currently erring on the side of "not enough" at least when it comes to promoting specific episodes. Right now, I have more episode-specific excitement for "The Holiest Thing," and "Torment of Destiny" than I have for "episode 5" because I know just enough about those episodes to pique my interest. Specifically I have a clue about the character stories in those episodes. I may be utterly wrong about how they play out, but there's something to think about. I'm waiting for the poster or one-sentence teaser that will capture my imagination.
Yes, STC is erring on the side of minimal reveal. But for some of us old enough to remember this is very much like what television used to be like back in the day where you had no inkling of what was coming "next week" until about a week before when the TV Guide issue hit the stands or you could refer to one of the TV weekly supplements often included in the Saturday edition newspaper. No, that Dr. MBenga is in the next episode isn't a big deal in of itself. It might suggest that McCoy is offworld and thus leaving MBenga in charge in McCoy's absence. If so that would fit with the information stated already that the next episode is supposed to take place mostly offship. But it doesn't tell us anything more. While I am curious I can live with it because so far I've been quite satisfied with STC overall even considering some things that didn't wow me. Additionally there aren't any other productions out there that have been able to grab me in the same way. The only exceptions presently are Axanar based on the Prelude To Axanar featurette and the next Starship Farragut episode, "The Crossing" because I'm curious as to what they will do with this story. I can't find any enthusiasm for P2/NV. I am simply left completely underwhelmed by the production.
I doubt you're the only one here who remembers how hard it used to be to find out information about next week's episode of your favorite show. Sometimes we didn't even know it wasn't going to be on the following week until we either saw TV Guide if we were lucky, or saw something else appear on the TV if we weren't. The thing is, in most cases that little bit of information only had to tide us over for a week or two; this thread alone has been going for two months, and the episode isn't expected for at least another month or two. Maintaining interest and excitement over a four month period in a world full of alternatives isn't the same thing as holding it for a week in a world of limited distractions. I actually wasn't comparing PII/NV and STC in quality just then, but rather in the way they are promoting their upcoming episodes. I personally find that while STC's output is more consistent, but I wouldn't call all their episodes better than all of NV's, or all of NV's better than STC's. They're both good and I want to see more from both productions as well as others.
in a month or two? I thought that they had filmed some scenes a few months ago (most likely the shipboard scenes, if this is the episode with an off world storyline), but are they really that close to release?
I don't know for sure where they are in production, but I'm expecting it in the usual October/November fall timeframe. Since October is two months away, I figured saying at least one or two months would give some wiggle room. I wanted to establish an absolute minimum possible time before we could expect the episode, rather than predict exactly when it was coming out.
Just thought I'd go back upthread and you might actually be correct if what was posted is accurate, DCR. STC might already have all their raw footage in the can already (take it with a grain of salt until it is officially confirmed). I think we can already assume with this weekend's announcement of Dr MBenga's inclusion, that Spock becomes injured during this episode? Well, he's the Vulcan specialist, don't know if he's also the assistant medical dept. head as well. Frankly if Spock isn't injured I really don't see why MBenga and not some other doctor shouldn't be in charge, apart from pleasing the fans...
Seeing MBenga again is cool since he was already established as a member of the ship's medical staff. The impression I got from a podcast a couple of weeks back is that Ep. 5 will debut "this Fall." That can be interpreted two ways. Fall as a season doesn't actually come around until the end of September, but many people accept September 1st itself as the unofficial end of Summer. So my impression is possibly around late September into early October.
I am not officially a disseminator of STC info, so I try not to spill anything they might not want spilled, but if it's already been mentioned publicly SOMEWHERE, I feel free to share it here: All the ship stuff was shot concurrent with White Iris in January, and all the "planet" shooting took place in February. So yes, it's been in the can for months. Andy Farber just mentioned on fb yesterday that a scoring session is coming up Monday. There has been a cut for some time, it's just a matter of finishing sound and FX. I believe "this Fall" is the intended release window. The teaser has been shown publicly at cons twice now, and even discussed in a podcast...but I'm going to stop there, if someone else spills the beans of what it reveals, so be it.
While I agree that what ultimately matters is the story, I'm also glad that they're featuring Dr. M'Benga. And not because of the name or the nostalgia of a previously featured character. It's because fan productions tend to lack diversity in their casts.
I would like to think M'Benga isn't on board just to work on Spock, but is a fully qualified human physician.
My own thought is that for whatever reason they need a second doctor in this episode, and M'Benga is the most logical choice because he's an already existing character.
I have to agree with that for the most part, though Farragut has added one black crewmember in the Crossing trailer, and Valiant has Michael King as a black Captain. But true, it seems that all characters are american. Some more latinos, europeans (without bad accents, please)...samoans?, and etc. would be great!!
I don't know. Really the only totally caucasian cast in a fan film I can think of would be Dreadnought Dominion. Starship Farragut, New Voyages, and Project: Potemkin all feature a diversity actors and characters as well. But even then with these examples, those characters of diversity are almost one-note or included on a token basis. New Voyages, for example, revived a character - "Ensign Walking Bear" of Native-American ancestry from TAS. He's a glorified extra in "Mind Sifter," but doesn't do much else than fly the ship. Potemkin has a wide range of characters as well, owing likely to how it's produced and its original inspiration, but apart from one or two standout characters, not many of their cast members are playing characters who are especially well developed either, white or no. So while there is absolutely a visual diversity in respect to the casting on these fan films, the writing more often than not does not service everyone as it probably should in any of these productions. Really, the only time I've watched a fan film and felt it was done properly so was with Starship Exeter's (arguably) best actor, Michael Buford, who was featured heavily in both episodes.
No question. You are a very small minded person despite believing your words make you look bigger than you are.