TREKKIES "cast" - Whatever happened to...

[comicbookwriter]

I just purchased another DVD copy of Trekkies since my old one was either stolen or lost and I was wondering whatever happened to a lot of those people interviewed?

(side note: It's amazing to notice the difference between the Trek fandom then, late 90s, vs. now)

I know that Gabe Koerner ended up being a SFX guy in Hollywood which is a cool thing to do and I was happy to see that he took his passion and turned it into a career.

Then there's Barbara Adams who was a Whitewater juror and there's almost no information on her anywhere.

I wondered what happened to the Talk Trek Radio Show because I've never been able to track down a reference to the show online nor does there seem to be an archive somewhere.

Starbase Dental still exists, but with a new dentist/owner. I couldn't find much on the original guy, Dr. Bourognion, or something like that.

Douglas Marks (the cross-dressing filk singer) is also impossible to find.

I would love for there to be some kind of redux of Trekkies, but 10 years after the "boom" era.

CBW

 

[Owain Taggart]

Well, I have a friend in Romania who's been in Trekkies 2, who I keep in contact with. Probably not quite the same though.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I'd like to know what happened to those two girls who sang "I'm the Expendable Guy".

I saw Gabe Koerner on myspace back in the day and asked him if he accepted requests from fellow Alabamians. He never responded. I imagine he gets a lot of requests from random trek fans.

 

[mythme]

I wondered if the Spinerfem chick went over the edge when Data was killed in Nemesis

 

[comicbookwriter]

I wondered if the Spinerfem chick went over the edge when Data was killed in Nemesis

Yea, she had a VERY creepy vibe to her. I have to hand it to Denise Crosby, she stayed respectful of these people even when they seemed borderline insane.

CBW

 

[Tosk]

A lot of them had me laughing, but we all have our eccentricities...who am I to judge?

I am "friends" with Gabe on facebook, and several months ago at work, I served one of the ladies from Trekkies 2. She was surprised to be recognized.

[Goes to take a Billingsley-break...]

 

[Therin of Andor]

I just purchased another DVD copy of Trekkies since my old one was either stolen or lost and I was wondering whatever happened to a lot of those people interviewed?

"Trekkies 2" did a followup "Where Are They Now?" on most of the prominent fans in the first doco, IIRC.

 

[Smellincoffee]

A lot of them had me laughing, but we all have our eccentricities...who am I to judge?

As someone in one of the movies said..."This is a great way to be crazy."

 

[comicbookwriter]

I just purchased another DVD copy of Trekkies since my old one was either stolen or lost and I was wondering whatever happened to a lot of those people interviewed?

"Trekkies 2" did a followup "Where Are They Now?" on most of the prominent fans in the first doco, IIRC.

Trekkies 2 was really weak IMHO. It didn't do much in terms of exposing the depth of fandom and it felt like they were all going through the motions.

Trekkies had a great vibe to it, Trekkies 2 felt like a cash grab with a lot less insight.

I liked the follow up on Gabe Koerner, but I wanted to see Douglas Marks, Starbase Dental, I also wanted to see more conventions other than the ones on the West Coast.

It would have been nice to see a profile done on Star Trek fans of color and what the conventions have been like for them.

In any case, I'm glad those were both made, but Trekkies 2 was a great missed opportunity for fans.

CBW

 

[comicbookwriter]

Whoops, its time for my "Sirtis-break."

LOL

CBW

 

[Owain Taggart]

Trekkies 2 was really weak IMHO. It didn't do much in terms of exposing the depth of fandom and it felt like they were all going through the motions.

Trekkies had a great vibe to it, Trekkies 2 felt like a cash grab with a lot less insight.

Yeah, I agree. I know Trekkies was criticized a lot for showing the crazy side of fans, but it had a lot of charm and heart that I felt was missing from Trekkies 2. Trekkies 2 on the other hand seemed like it was trying too hard not to offend.

 

[Tosk]

I didn't mind Trekkies 2 at all. I thought it was a nice mix of revisiting people and meeting new Trekkies from around the world. Another purely US-centric one could have been boring.

 

[comicbookwriter]

I didn't mind Trekkies 2 at all. I thought it was a nice mix of revisiting people and meeting new Trekkies from around the world. Another purely US-centric one could have been boring.

Going global was fine, but not getting to really explore the idea of what Star Trek meant to people (something that was the thematic core of the first film) made Trekkies 2 less relevant for me as a Trek fan.

It felt scattershot as a film. It looked cheap and Crosby did not seem as focused as she was in the first documentary.

The people profiled (no offense meant) were VERY boring as subjects. The wackiness of the Trekkies in the first film made it SO much fun. Trekkies 2 spent too much time with awful sounding rock bands, geeky soccer moms and long segments about nothing in particular.

I don't hate Trekkies 2, but it was a looooooong drop off from the first film's level of quality.

CBW

 

[WillsBabe]

(side note: It's amazing to notice the difference between the Trek fandom then, late 90s, vs. now)

That's interesting, in what ways would you say?

 

[Dick_Valentine]

Wasn't there like a really long space battle type animation that was being made for this that you could download somewhere?

I remember that being released with a big "as seen in TREKKIES!!" tag, completely for free, but its filesize was something my poor old 56k modem could never handle in one sitting and never found a download manager (back in the days when we needed them!) that would resume it properly so I never did get to see it.

Anyone know what I'm on about??

(Also, OT, but anyone know if you could ever see the the made for Star Trek the experience Borg attack movie anywhere?
I'm always fascinated by these bits of "extra" Trek not made for TV or whatnot, that could be a whole thread in itself tbh!)

 

[comicbookwriter]

(side note: It's amazing to notice the difference between the Trek fandom then, late 90s, vs. now)

That's interesting, in what ways would you say?

The Trek franchise was super "hot" from around 1987 - 1998 and a lot of fans (younger folks especially) jumped on board the Trek boat during that period.

I remember it being such a wonderful time where Trek fans finally came out of the closet and showed pop culture that it was okay to be into Star Trek.

Now, fandom has retreated back into the shadows as the franchise has dimmed in stature. Although the Trek (2.0) movie/universe was successful, it's not the classic Trek and those who gave the movie a fair shake didn't become Trek fans, they just enjoyed the movie as summer entertainment.

The Creation Conventions are operating alongside the economy and they've dramatically reduced the frequency and scope of their Trek shows.

We're in a Trek nadir overall until the franchise comes back to television in a big way.

Someday...

CBW

 

[NuFan]

they just enjoyed the movie as summer entertainment.

Getting tired of this myth.

 

[comicbookwriter]

they just enjoyed the movie as summer entertainment.

Getting tired of this myth.

I live in Los Angeles and I work in the comic book and animation industry as a writer and I was invited to several Trek themed events in Hollywood and NYC and while the general response was heavily enthusiastic on the preview audience reply cards, most - when asked if this increased their interest in the Trek franchise - replied that it did not.

While there is no other way to quantify this and anything else I say will be anecdotal, I haven't seen an increase in Trek-related material from large new groups of fans.

Star Trek comics sell okay, but aren't blockbusters by any measure. Trek novels do okay as well, but are nowhere near selling the numbers they used to.

Trek video games have fared even worse when compared to other large scale franchises.

If this was a myth, when the Star Trek (2.0) universe launched, you would have seen a spillover into ancillary markets. Sort of what happens when Pixar movies are released. They create their own market upon the release of the movie (Cars, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, etc).

If this has happened with Star Trek in the last few years, I'm thinking I missed something.

CBW

 

[comicbookwriter]

Although Star Trek sales are shaky in general, the comics have had a somewhat respectable showing considering the state of the industry these days:

SOURCE: http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2011/2011-09.html

129 Star Trek Ongoing 1 $3.99 IDW 15,943

 

[Therin of Andor]

while the general response was heavily enthusiastic on the preview audience reply cards, most - when asked if this increased their interest in the Trek franchise - replied that it did not.

That doesn't mean they didn't change their mind after filling in their cards. CBS responded online, a few months after the movie, that boxed DVD sets of all ST series and movies were doing renewed, brisk business in the video stores, so something stimulated that buying frenzy: the new movie.