STC Episode 6 (news and speculation)....

[Karzak]

OK,

All this cool Farscape action has me thinking-

Wait...

Robert Crichton was played by Ben Browder- who later went on to play Cameron Mitchell on Stargate - which did an episode spoof of - Star Trek and Farscape.

Now we have an actress from Farscape, in a continued Star Trek.

and I just hurt my head.

BTW
Kudos on Continues' nab of Gigi Edgley.

John Crichton.

 

[Jedman67]

OK,

All this cool Farscape action has me thinking-

Wait...

Robert Crichton was played by Ben Browder- who later went on to play Cameron Mitchell on Stargate - which did an episode spoof of - Star Trek and Farscape.

Now we have an actress from Farscape, in a continued Star Trek.

and I just hurt my head.

BTW
Kudos on Continues' nab of Gigi Edgley.

John Crichton.

Michael Crichton. He wrote a bestelling novel about dinosaurs when he finally got back to earth.

 

[Christopher Miles]

OK,

All this cool Farscape action has me thinking-

Wait...

Robert Crichton was played by Ben Browder- who later went on to play Cameron Mitchell on Stargate - which did an episode spoof of - Star Trek and Farscape.

Now we have an actress from Farscape, in a continued Star Trek.

and I just hurt my head.


BTW
Kudos on Continues' nab of Gigi Edgley.

John Crichton.

Of course it's John. Tolja my head hurt. John Robert Crichton Jr.

There was also that other Crichton, who was in Buck Rogers 2nd season with Gil Gerard (who was in Kitumba), and Erin Grey (who was in Lolani).

So now my head hurts again.

 

[Zaminhon]

Julian Higgins is going to be directing Episode 6. He directed a fan film inspired by "Firefly" called "The Verse" and and it looks totally awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B24h1SYIxEc&feature=youtu.be

Of course the STC connection is apparent around the 8:45 mark.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

Scotty Whitehurst ("Billy" in Episode 5) will be assistant director on Episode 6.

Also, they installed the ladder and railings in Engineering today.

 

[Astra]

Of course the STC connection is apparent around the 8:45 mark.

Thank you for pointing that out! Interesting to see him in a different role.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

^^OK. @ Warped 9

Did not at all mean to take you out of context.

My opinions about a ship's counselor in 1969 produced Trek are my own.

For the record, I quite like Ms Specht's work as an actress. She brings a great energy to every scene she's in.

There are a lot of small ways STC projects our present ways of thinking into the show -- primarily through vocabulary. "Closure," "nanites," "firewalls," perhaps even "offline"... these terms would not have been used in their modern-day senses, if at all, back in 1969. So it's not a perfect re-creation of the times.

But the show has to walk a fine line that way; it's no good to fake a total 1969 mentality if it's going to force you into creating episodes like The Way to Eden. They can't completely ignore all developments in the real world during the last 46 years without becoming a parody of TOS. McKennah is part of that retro-projection, but her character works. It was a clever idea to have Kirk (vicariously for the audience) resisting the idea of a ship's counselor until the events of The White Iris, thus easing the character into acceptance.

 

[Maurice]

I don't think it's that difficult to give a retro piece a voice which neither is anachronistic nor sounds out of date. Instead of "nanite" you say "molecular machine". Instead of "closure" you say "come to terms". Instead of "firewall" you just say something like "all security" etc.

 

[Warped9]

I can't help but think of Mad Men which had little problem writing dialogue to sound 1960s as well as giving the characters period perspectives.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

I don't think it's that difficult to give a retro piece a voice which neither is anachronistic nor sounds out of date. Instead of "nanite" you say "molecular machine". Instead of "closure" you say "come to terms". Instead of "firewall" you just say something like "all security" etc.

I certainly wouldn't have used the anachronistic terms if it were up to me. For "closure" I would have used "resolution," and "security barriers" for "firewalls." It's those words that I find more jarring (or, in the case of "closure," grating) than anything else in the production.

But I assume they must have a slightly different vision of continuity for the show that allows for the occasional 21st-century turn of phrase. At least I'd rather assume that than a tin ear for period diction.

I can't help but think of Mad Men which had little problem writing dialogue to sound 1960s as well as giving the characters period perspectives.

I've never seen Mad Men, but it's a little different with Star Trek because they're supposed to be characters in the 23rd century. So it's a present recreation of a past vision of the future. Maybe they see that as requiring a little compromise with the present that is now a part of the known future of that past, just as they try to harmonize with the known future-future events of the movies and TNG.

 

[Kor]

I can't help but think of Mad Men which had little problem writing dialogue to sound 1960s as well as giving the characters period perspectives.

I made a similar comparison in the STC Episode 5 thread. Let me see if I can find it...

Voila

Which brings me to a story idea I believe had been floated way back during TOS dealing with a planet where blacks were the dominant race and whites were the slaves.

That sounds like "The Negron Complex," Paul Kinsey's terrible Star Trek script on Mad Men.

And, like Mad Men, I see STC as very similarly trying to authentically re-create the 1960s more than half a century later. It's simply impossible for the writers, producers, etc. not to see everything through the lens of contemporary sensibilities. Despite all of the meticulous attention to period detail, you can still tell it wasn't actually produced in that era. Certain aspects of character, story and production give it away.

I would clarify that, while Mad Men feels extremely authentic to the period, if you compare it side-by-side to TV shows and films actually released during that era, it's easy to tell that MM wasn't actually made at that time.

For example, I would say there is a certain self-awareness in its depiction of race and gender relations.

Then there is the production, format, etc. I have a book of academic essays on Mad men laying around somewhere, and it makes the point that the lighting and colors are closer to a slightly washed-out 1970s tone than the saturated Technicolor of the early 1960s. Other aspects could be pointed out as well, but I think it's going outside the scope of this thread.

Kor

 

[Warped9]

^^ Well Mad Men was trying to create a sense of 1960's life and not a 1960's television show. We saw things in MM we never would have seen in television of that era. Maybe some of it could have been depicted in film in that era, but not television.

 

[Kor]

^ True, that. And I would say it succeeded brilliantly.

Kor

 

[Christopher Miles]

^^OK. @ Warped 9

Did not at all mean to take you out of context.

My opinions about a ship's counselor in 1969 produced Trek are my own.

For the record, I quite like Ms Specht's work as an actress. She brings a great energy to every scene she's in.

There are a lot of small ways STC projects our present ways of thinking into the show -- primarily through vocabulary. "Closure," "nanites," "firewalls," perhaps even "offline"... these terms would not have been used in their modern-day senses, if at all, back in 1969. So it's not a perfect re-creation of the times.

But the show has to walk a fine line that way; it's no good to fake a total 1969 mentality if it's going to force you into creating episodes like The Way to Eden. They can't completely ignore all developments in the real world during the last 46 years without becoming a parody of TOS. McKennah is part of that retro-projection, but her character works. It was a clever idea to have Kirk (vicariously for the audience) resisting the idea of a ship's counselor until the events of The White Iris, thus easing the character into acceptance.

1) Regarding production timeframe idioms and tech on all Fan Treks-

I think the line can be walked... carefully. 60's produced Trek routinely used the terms "record tapes", "miles" and so forth. (Distance even switched to metric depending on writer/production year) The current use of "firewall" and so forth is no better than "tape" was.

Next Gen/Berman Trek was so full of contemporary computer and tech jargon it routinely took me out of the story. I'm surprised no one has used "The intruder has made its way into the IP stack!" or "Presentation layer is indecipherable, Captain" or other current IT babble.

Example- The White Iris scene with Chekov and Scott trying to hack the Defense Grid thingie was chock full of contemporary IT Security terms.

Better to be vague when it comes to tech, and while you're at it- avoid specifics when writing about time or distance.

2) Regarding the specific verisimilitude of a "Trek Continues" branded production-

I wish (the very enjoyable!) Ms Spect would have been chosen for an expanded Ann Mulhall (or similar) role. No need to shoehorn in something which didn't even exist in any mid -late 70's Phase II scripts that I've seen. (Anyone can feel free to correct me here, I am strangely fascinated with Phase II).

Why wouldn't a counselor have been on the bridge? And why not have a female backtalkin' our Captain?

Look no further than the mindset of our intrepid producer(s) back in the early 70's (and put aside the clear example of Planet Earth's quite weak "Harper Smythe") instead- go find out what Roddenberry and company had in mind for a Questor lead, "Candi McPherson")

The producers would have fit right with the Mad Men fellas.

Still think there would have been a counselor in 1970 or '71?

No way.

Action and passion (and impassioned speechifyin') were each the order of the day. That's why the music was vibrant, the colors wild, etc. This was in no way a subdued show. No navel gazing.

Finally, given how Shatner treated Will Wheaton in '89 "...no kid on my bridge..." and so forth. Even if the writers had gotten an adult shrink/counselor on the bridge... would Shatner's ego have allowed her to stay there for long? Kellerman's role as Denher was a one shot appearance, not a recurring one. Look how Shatner played Janice Lester. He added in the nail filing scene... For Laughs.

Ugh.

Verite be damned.

They might as well change the logo to red.

 

[Maurice]

Mad Men did a pretty good job of sounding authentic, but it still stumbled a lot in authentic portrayal of how people spoke back then, as this article indicates (link).

 

[Warped9]

Mad Men did a pretty good job of sounding authentic, but it still stumbled a lot in authentic portrayal of how people spoke back then, as this article indicates (link).

That's quite interesting. But it takes a good ear to recognize where MM slipped up where many of us average Joes can spot the inconsistencies in STC pretty easily.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I don't think it's that difficult to give a retro piece a voice which neither is anachronistic nor sounds out of date. Instead of "nanite" you say "molecular machine". Instead of "closure" you say "come to terms". Instead of "firewall" you just say something like "all security" etc.

"Molecular machine"! I love it.

 

[Warped9]

I wouldn't mind getting hold of one of the scripts and see if I could tidy up some of the dialogue. Could be interesting.

 

[Warped9]

I wouldn't mind getting hold of one of the scripts and see if I could tidy up some of the dialogue. Could be interesting.

I'd forgotten that when I gave a bit of cash to STC's last Kickstarter I got the scripts to the first three episodes as a reward.

Looking over the script for "Lolani" I don't think this is a final draft given that in this draft it's Spock who identifies the Tellerite transport rather than the Navigator.

Still, I'm going to look this over and see what changes I could make.

Just for fun.

 

[Christopher Miles]

@Warped 9
Let us know how it goes.