This week, we’re Trekking Out a possible release window for the Michelle Yeoh-led Section 31 series. Then, Star Trek: Discovery saw two new actors taking on two old roles, and Dr. Trek put a name to a face, solving a half-century old mystery!
In Star Trek Online and gaming news, console players get an extended Anniversary event and WizKids is releasing yet another Star Trek tabletop game.
COMMUNITY QUESTION: Do you play any Star Trek tabletop games? If so, what are your favorites?
by Jake Morgan
On March 11th and 12th in Jerusalem, Keshet Media Group hosted the “INTV” International conference on TV innovation – and CBS was present. Executives discussed the importance of tentpole writers, the need for original content…and the value of reboots – including Star Trek. There wasn’t MUCH disclosed about our favorite franchise, but there was a Trek crumb dropped.
During the CBS presentation, CBS Television Studios President David Stapf gave a vague timetable for the upcoming Section 31 Michelle Yeoh spinoff. Stapf confirmed the show will be filmed in Toronto, the same location as the currently running Star Trek: Discovery, and said, “It’s a good couple of years away.”
This seems to fit in with the timetable laid out by Star Trek head Alex Kurtzman and CBS All Access Executive Vice President of Original Content, Julie McNamara. In mid-January, McNamara told The Wrap, “When I look at how the [Star Trek] schedule is theoretically laying out on my desk, it does not feel like it’s one after another […] Some of these can be considered as replacements as opposed to additions. These ‘Trek’ shows take a lot of incubation, because they’re very prep heavy, visual effects heavy… we’re seeing it more as we’re getting a good jump on making sure that there is a good fulsome stream of ‘Trek’ material.”
At the TCA Winter press tour in February, Kurtzman corroborated the timetable, telling website Comicbook.com, “[Section 31 showrunners Erika Lippoldt and Bo Yeon Kim are] amazing, and they’re a big part of Discovery, so they’re on our staff too. So they’re doing double duty this year, and our hope is that we will have a script in the next couple months, and then as soon as Discovery Season Three is over we’re rolling right into that show. That’s my hope.”
This week also brought with it our first REAL look at Ethan Peck’s Spock. Following the newest Episode, however, Peck sat down with The Ready Room’s Naomi Kyle and opened up about Spock’s relationship with Burnham, Pike, himself, and what to look for later this season.
On Burnham, Peck said, “So the relationship between Spock and Michael Burnham – That moment in their childhood when she left him, really was the beginning of his – in my opinion sort of – shutdown and compartmentalization of his emotions, which – as I said – is half of who he is, right? It’s what makes him special as a member of the Vulcan civilization and of the Human civilization. And so that’s really what we’re dealing with is this moment in the season and I think it’s a big cornerstone in who he is – sort of – qualitatively and his personality.”
In regards to Spock’s relationship with Captain Pike, Peck explains, “It is not spoken about explicitly, but I had decided that he was a sort of like an older brother figure. And that I had secretly admired him because Spock has been so closed off emotionally for so long, but that there was a relationship with Pike that was – He’s teaching him to be human, he is teaching him to be a man, a Human man and not a Vulcan man”.
In a bit of character self-reflection, Peck said of Spock, “Because he’s half human, he has this huge emotional capability that he’s basically ignored for many of his years that he’s been alive. And the interaction with the Red Angel, I think, is opened himself up to himself – and he’s unprepared to handle it. And it’s a lot of emotional content that he just doesn’t have the tools to handle. Which is I think what this season’s really about for Spock – is like – getting to know himself and getting back to his routes and to his origins.”
Finally, when asked to describe what’s next for Spock in three words, Peck replied, “Faith, family and wonder. And I think that you can expect Spock to become more like you have known him to be. So This is a big transitional period for him, and I think that’s true for all of the characters in the season. Which is really wonderful. I think origin is really compelling for all of us as we move through life.”
The Ready Room airs every week, following the newest episode of Discovery, on CBS All Access’ Facebook page, and can also be viewed on YouTube.
Ethan Peck wasn’t the only actor to try on a classic role in “If Memory Serves”…Australian actress Melissa George surprised Trekdom with her appearance as the iconic Vina!
In an interview with SyFy Wire, the 42-year-old George talks about the experience of playing Vina, what she brought to the role, and how original Vina actress Susan Oliver contributed to her performance.
George told ScyFy Wire, “When you first see Vina with that perfect blonde hair and that perfect blue eyeshadow, you think, ‘Oh, she’s a bit off with the fairies.’ But she’s actually got such gravitas and is in fact very strong and grounded. So I decided I was going to embrace being a woman, with all her beauty and the hair, and those high heels, and being comfortable in my own skin. And that’s how I am in my own life, too. I think that women often get perceived in a certain way. If you’re ‘too pretty,’ you’re perceived as maybe not being smart enough. So, no, she’s not a victim. She’s everything, this woman. She’s clearly a woman in love, too. So [I] decided to be comfortable and strong with it.”
The sound team played a part in George’s performance as well, with George re-recording some of Susan Oliver’s iconic lines, and then merging the two voices together, “They did put some of my voice on top of hers to kind of meld the two together. I couldn’t recreate her acting because so much has changed the way we act today. There’s a different kind of inflection. But I wanted to watch it and pay homage to her and the way the character felt.”
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There are some mysteries that have haunted us for decades: Where is Cleopatra’s tomb? What is the fate of the fabled Ark of the Covenant? Is there – or has there ever been – a city of Atlantis? Well, listeners, our friend and colleague Larry Nemecek has an answer to possibly the most vexing mystery of them all – Who played the human version of Gary 7’s cat, Isis!
That’s right! Dr. Trek himself, Larry Nemecek, has uncovered the extra castings call sheet from the January 5th, 1968 filming of “Assignment: Earth”, and the actress listed as “1 Cat Girl. Cost Furn” is actress, contortionist, and dancer April Tatro.
The human form of a shape-shifting cat Isis, which was an uncredited “extra” role, was long thought to be played by actress Victoria Vetri. Vetri denied the appearance, stating in the Oct 24, 2018 edition of “LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #41”, “I was never in an episode of STAR TREK. I know that people think I was.”
In the newest episode of the Roddenberry Podcast Network’s “Trek Files”, Larry sits down with April Tatro, and she recalls her time on set, her bewilderment of Star Trek fandoms fascination with the part, and an interesting story with William Shatner. It’s a great listen, so be sure to Trek it Out.
by Anthony Cox
The Centaur-class light cruiser starship, both Tier 1 and Tier 6 versions, have gotten a face lift. With the latest update on PC all parts for the starter ship variant are being replaced with a brand new, Motion Picture-era look. The Centaur-class, which originally debuted in Dominion war battles scenes for Deep Space 9, has been a starter ship variant option in Star Trek Online since the game launched. The studio model was kitbashed together from pieces of the Excelsior and Miranda classes. STO ship artist Ian Richards took the same approach in game, by combining and re-scaling digital model pieces of the in game Excelsior and Miranda. These updated visuals will replace the current visual options and are free, so if you log in and your Centaur looks a little strange, be sure to visit the ship tailor in game to re-apply the new skins.
The planet Pahvo has been the epicenter of temporal and dimensional events recently, and those aftershocks will continue to be felt. In Peril over Pahvo, a new featured TFO, players will team up to fight off enemy forces from from both the past and altered realities to allow Pahvo’s new planetary defenses to come online. The event will run for 3 weeks on PC starting March 21st, then will debut on consoles in the fall. Participating in this featured TFO daily will grant you the usual TFO vouchers which can be turned for the special TFO project. With 14 vouchers you can earn 3 featured TFO rewards boxes containing either an Enhanced Universal Tech Upgrade or a Captain Specialization point, dilithium, and marks. You will also earn the Terran Guerilla Combat Armor which has a special ability to redirect incoming damage to damage-over-time effects for several seconds. It will also give a costume unlock for the Terran Guerilla vest and jacket, first worn by Gabriel Lorca in Star Trek Discovery’s mirror universe episodes. For more information and an image of the costume, trek out the show notes.
The most recent PC patch also brought with it some notable improvements. First of which is reputation ground and space sets, along with experimental weapons, are now eligible for re-engineering. If you’re not familiar with re-engineering, right clicking on certain equipment items will give you the re-engineer option where you can spend salvage and dilithium to re-roll the modifiers on the selected piece of gear. To get salvage you right click on an eligible piece equipment and select salvage. This breaks the gear down giving you not only salvage, but a small amount of R&D components. And captains with the Styx Terran Dreadnought and the Mirror Escort Carrier now have a Terran bridge variant as an option. Also, the Walker-class bridge has been added as an option for the Crossfield-class Science Spearhead vessel.
And on console, due to an issue with the Omega molecule mini-game, the Anniversary event will be extended by seven days until April 9th. Links to the patch notes for both PC and console can be found in the show notes.
This weekend, from now until March 18th at 10am, captains on PC can queue up for Tzenkethi Red Alerts. These TFOs will reward 35 reputation marks each run through and have no cool down. Red Alerts are a great way to grind out those much need marks.
by Anthony Cox
Modiphius Entertainment has announced new upcoming releases for the Star Trek Adventures tabletop game. The first of which is the Science Division supplement releasing this month. Along with having new science based trek lore and additional options for science characters, this sourcebook will also include tips on how to involve time travel and the omni-powerful Q to your adventures. Then in July the Alpha Quadrant sourcebook releases with new resource for those wishing to incorporate Deep Space Nine, Bajorans, the Ferengi Alliance, and many other Alpha Quadrant species and locations. The final planned release will be the another “Strange New Worlds” mission compendium. This follows “These are the Voyages” with 9 original missions ready for crews and aways teams to attempt.
WizKids is releasing yet another Star Trek themed tabletop game. Scheduled to arrive sometime in August, Star Trek: Alliance is a cooperative campaign style game set during the Dominion War. Players take on the rolls of starship captains experience a series of missions against the Dominion forces. The game will include 1 Excelsior-class and 1 Akira-class starships, along with 3 Jem’Hadar attack ships, and six mission scenarios. This is intended for 2 players, but multiple copies of the game can be combined to accommodate up to 6 players. The starship miniatures in this game will be fully compatible with the Star Trek Attack Wing tabletop game. The suggested retail price for the game is $49.99.
For more information on those events, be sure to keep an eye on our social media channels, and we hope to see you there!
Elio is a Northern New Jersey Cuban-American and graduate of Kean University, having earned his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance in 2011. He has performed in internationally renowned performance halls such as Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic, as a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, and in Beijing, China as a representative for Kean University. Since 2012, he has had the wonderful opportunity to Executive Produce Priority One – the premiere Star Trek Online podcast. Whether recruiting, managing the global team of talented volunteers, arranging interviews with special guests, editing, web-development, finding sponsors, managing crowd funding, or writing content for the podcast, Elio has a hand in it all. A long-time Trekkie, Elio has been watching the series since he was a child and sneaking in late night, back-to-back, episodes of TNG reruns. He finally embraced the Trekdom in college and spent many hours catching up on the entire multiverse…. instead of studying.
This episode of Priority One is sponsored by Gameprint.net. Get your starship 3D printed and save 20% off your order when you use offer code PRIORITY20. This week, we’re Trekking […]
seannewboy on 2019-03-18
Loved the show everyone, great job. Thanks as always for visiting Al.
Looking forward to peril over pahvo.
I used to play the old FASA starship combat game, but currently am in a live gaming dead zone.
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