Sharing some photos from the convention.

One of the highlights of STLV for me this year. Got a NX-01 assignment patch tattoo at Count’s Tattoo (at the Rio) in honor of my late grandfather who passed in 2025.

EDIT: Included the year.

FWIW, what might have been but probably never really, etc.

FWIW. I'm not really wild about their chances. This show of all shows is the one Paramount really didn't want on their plate.

Are the Maquis doing the right thing?

Thanks for the lively discussion all! My take is that the sci fi elements mean you can't cut and paste their experiences onto our morality exactly, but it makes the feeling of conflict relatable, at least emotionally.

The stardate is 2011.7. This is the first mention of the Rodaxian system in lore. It was established in TNG that starships run on a three-shift rotation (8 hours each), although some captains preferred four shifts (TNG: “Chain of Command”).

Uhura says the Rodaxians are very specific as to how they want to be spoken to. Another alien race which is very exacting in their diplomatic protocols - especially a ritual greeting to open negotiations - is the insectoid Jarada (TNG: “The Big Goodbye”).

Some of the promotional video for the Cesnar Grand is in a limited animation style resembling that of TAS. We see a female Aquan (TAS: “The Ambergris Element”) doing yoga, dressed the same way as in the episode, albeit not breathing water as her species is supposed to do. Next we see an Edosian singing, and an Andorian that resembles Thelin, the XO of Enterprise in an altered timeline (TAS: “Yesteryear). We see a Vulcan playing the Vulcan lute who resembles Sarek as portrayed in “Yesteryear”, and on the sofa is a woman dressed like the android Andrea from TOS: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” Which reminds me, Roger Korby should have gone missing on Exo III by now.

We see a tribble purring and gliding over the wreckage of Ortegas’ shore leave (TOS: “The Trouble with Tribbles”). Ortegas is wearing a headband with fake Andorian antennae. On the table is a plush toy or stuffed Alfa 177 canine (TOS: “The Enemy Within”). Scotty is wearing a mugato costume (TOS: “A Private Little War”), which we also saw in SFA: “Vitus Reflux”, as the mugato is the mascot of the 32nd century Starfleet War College.

The episode is written by Kathryn Lyn, who previously worked in LD, first as a “canon consultant” and then writing the iconic LD: “wej Duj”, which was nominated for a Hugo award. This may explain the LD-ish tone of the episode.

Kirk and Spock shared a mind meld in SNW: “New Life and New Civilizations” in order to coordinate an attack between Enterprise and Farragut, the first of a number in their friendship over the decades.

Una is singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in Klingon.

“It’s green,” is a line Scotty uses to describe an alcoholic beverage in TOS: “By Any Other Name”. When Data takes a similar looking bottle from under Guinan’s counter in Ten Forward in TNG: “Relics”, he uses the same line to answer an older Scotty’s question. That drink is identified by Picard later in the episode as Aldebaran whiskey.

Pike asks what they think of a face tattoo. In VOY, the character of Chakotay has one. This is the second episode in a row Anson Mount gets to play his “crazed Pike” expression, although the one in SNW: “The Griffin Incident” was of course psychotic rather than drunk. Pike has a cabin in Bear Creek, Montana (SNW: “Strange New Worlds”).

The closed captions have Scotty saying “tellurite”, which is an oxyanion of the element tellurium. He probably meant “Tellarite”.

The running gag of Vulcans looking perfectly fine but insisting they are out of control originated in “wej Duj” and previously referred to in SNW: “Ad Astra Per Aspera”. The significance of the title is made clear when Spock says to Kirk that he’s never had a “human best friend”.

Anbo-jyutsu is a martial arts/competitive area game first seen in TNG: “The Icarus Factor”. It’s also appeared twice on LD (LD: “wej Duj”, “Mugato, Gumato”). The Bingo Caller is Kathryn Lyn herself, probably in the persona of K’Lyn, a Vulcan character she cosplays as, and the inspiration for T’Lyn’s name in LD.

Ortegas’ brother (last seen in SNW: “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans”) is Umberto Ortegas, but she calls him “Beto” (a common nickname for Spanish names that end in “-berto”). Scotty reveals he has 6 brothers, 4 of them adopted - previously undisclosed on-screen. He does not mention a sister, however, one assumes he must have at least one because his nephew in ST II was Peter Preston, not Scott, unless naming conventions have changed.

Pike has letters in pIqaD the Klingon script, tattooed on his face. However, it is a simple substitution and the words are English. The one on the forehead reads “hair today Gorn tomorrow”, both a pun on the saying “hair today, gone tomorrow” and a reference to Pike’s hair, a perennial fan obsession.

Isolinear chips were introduced into lore in TNG, but it was mentioned in “Relics” that they only replaced duotronic chips c.2329. However, technological progress has been altered, probably due to time travel shenanigans like those in SNW: “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”.

Spock mentions Quadrium particles which are native to the Rodaxian system. Varuvian is an ore which is a component of a varuvian bomb, which has enough explosive power to destroy a planet (LD: “First First Contact”). Niritlin is also an explosive compound (DS9: “Improbable Cause”).

A zeptosecond is one sextillionth of a second - the smallest unit of time ever measured. The time it takes for a photon to cross the length of a hydrogen molecule is 247 zeptoseconds. A transporter cycle, from dematerialisation to rematerialisation, in the 24th century takes about 3-5 seconds.

Scotty nearly gets his thumb blown off. In real life, actor James Doohan was accidentally shot six times by a sentry during D-Day, one of which cost him the middle finger on his right hand. He hid his missing finger during his acting career, usually by holding his hand at strategic angles, although occasionally you can spot it in episodes like “The Trouble with Tribbles” and TOS: “Catspaw”.

Join Noah Wyle, along with Katherine LaNasa, Fiona Dourif, Taylor Dearden, Shabana Azeez, and Ayesha Harris of The Pitt, and some surprise guests, for a celebration of 60 years of Star Trek. Hosted by the Writers Guild Foundation, which also celebrates its 60th anniversary, this special night will include remarks from people closely associated with the series, a performance of the first aired episode of Star Trek, “The Man Trap,” with live score, and an appearance by a Salt Vampire replica from the episode, on loan from the Star Trek Archive, Paramount.

Sold out? Not in LA? You can stream the show or watch on demand. Tickets are here: https://watch.thirdbest.tv/products/wgf-retroreads-star-trek-60th-with-noah-wyle/

😩

They even have the version with the skirt!

The stardate is 2903.9. La’An might be preoccupied because of her discovery that her Augment genes are asserting themselves as seen last episode. Kirk’s last appearance was in SNW: “New Life and New Civilizations.”

The USS Griffin has the registry number NCC-1067 and appears to be a Constitution-class based on its configuration and crew complement of 300 (in contrast Enterprise has 203). Griffin disappeared “nine years ago”, which by my reckoning that the current year is 2263, places the disappearance around 2254, the same year as TOS: “The Cage”.

Previously the number NCC-1067-M was assigned to the seed vault ship USS Tikhov (DIS: “Die Trying”) in the 32nd century, and it was said there that the starship’s predecessors dated back to the 23rd century. It is not clear if the 1067 number was reassigned to Tikhov after Griffin’s loss or if this is a continuity error.

Griffin’s commander was CAPT Taggert. In the affectionate parody Galaxy Quest, the captain of the fictional NSEA Protector was Peter Quincy Taggart.

Kirk claims he was a Boy Scout. In ST II, Carol Marcus says, “Jim Kirk was many things, but he was never a Boy Scout.” Kirk refers to his son, David Marcus. ADM William Smillie is the name given in the novelization of ST IV to the Commander-in-Chief of Starfleet in 2293, who was unnamed on-screen.

As Kirk empties out his bag, one of things that falls out is a paperback edition of Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander, the first of his Aubrey/Maturin nautical adventure novels set during the Napoleonic Wars. Ironically, the direct inspiration for Kirk is not Jack Aubrey but another famous fictional commander, C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower. Kirk having something as old-fashioned (at least in the 23rd century) as a physical book is also notable, as prior to this we assumed that he started his fascination with printed books only after meeting Samuel T. Cogley in TOS: “Court Martial”.

The masks that the landing party are wearing more modern-looking version of those worn by the landing party in TOS: “The Squire of Gothos”.

La’An’s saying how it seems like everyone took a coffee break echoes stories of the abandoned ship Mary Celeste. Arthur Conan Doyle’s account of the mystery of the deserted ship (“J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement") embellished it with fictional details such as the presence of still-warm cups of coffee and uneaten meals laid out, which have become part of the folklore.

Division 12, which seems to be an X-Files-type branch of Starfleet, was first mentioned by Ortegas in SNW: “Terrarium”. The name seems to be inspired by Majestic-12, the secret government group in charge of covering up UFOs in conspiracy lore.

La’An mentions “the MLK”. The USS *Martin Luther KingStarfleet, was first mentioned by Ortegasn she was cast adrift by the Gorn. Una Chin-Riley was an Ensign on that ship (SNW: “Strange New Worlds”).

A common belief among parapsychologists is that the presence of negative ions indicates the presence of ghosts. Kirk and Spock both appear to be familiar with this idea. With this, the Mary Celeste echo, Division 12, and the taking of ley lines and ancient astronauts as givens in “New Life” and SNW: “Through the Lens of Time” respectively, I’m pretty certain someone on the writing staff is into paranormal phenomena.

The body bag Spock picks up is labelled LT Ta’Arn, a Vulcan. It’s a bit dark so I can’t make out the serial number.

Kirk says that Carol has been approved for a “dream project”, which could refer leythe Genesisleyoject. His noting that she fears for his safety in Starfleet echoes her dialogue in ST II where she tells him that she didn’t want David “chasing through the universe with his father.” LT George Samuel Kirk, Jr., however, is able to balance his Starfleet duties with his wife Aurelian and three sons (TOS: “Operation: Annihilate!”)… at least for now.

Of note in CMDR Rose Harper's file is that she was born in 6 February 2227 and is from Epsilon Delta V. The planet Epsilon Delta IV was featured in the 1979 novel Trek to Madworld by Stephen Goldin. She was valedictorian in her class at Starfleet Academy and served on the USS Exeter (TOS: "The Omega Glory"). There, she survived the Battle of Caprell and took over the ship when the captain and XO had been incapacitated.

While on Griffin Harper noticed crew members exhibiting erratic behaviour and informed medical and CPT Taggert. This included violent outbursts, self-harm and delusions, although the file notes these reports were unsubstantiated (signed by Dr G’Har). Harper then became more paranoid, was relieved of duty by Taggert and confined to quarters. 13 deaths by stabbing and 8 deaths by strangulation followed.

Then there is a notation that she became Acting Captain. 287 persons were transported off the ship, the destination indeterminate ("possible non-inclusive space" says the file, the computer clarifies verbally as open space). Harper took the safeties offline.

La'An's summary largely aligns with this, although the computer says 13 strangulations and 8 stabbings instead despite the production art showing it the other way around.

The rising of an apparent corpse from sickbay beds echoes a similar scene (a hallucination) from TNG: “Night Terrors”. Who Spock sees is his ex-fiancee T’Pring, last seen in SNW: “Charades”.

The name of the party’s shuttle is Alvarez, probably named after Luis Walter Alvarez, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1968. Together with his son Walter, he came up with the Alvarez Hypothesis which sought to explain the extinction of the dinosaurs as resulting from an asteroid impact (SNW: “Valles Marineris”).

T’Pring knows that Griffin was missing? Just how famous is this disappearance? This should have been your first clue, Spock.

T’Pring* knows about the fact that Griffin is missing? How famous is this disappearance?

The kahs-wan is an ordeal all Vulcan children must go through as a coming-of-age ritual (TAS: “Yesteryear”). T’Pring also mentions a Vulcan poet, Ka’ninaanslated as “f**k your mother”), although I suspect the writers may not be aware of this.

Sam says Carol and David are headed to Epsilon V, which is vague enough a reference that it could be anywhere (Epsilon Eridani, Epsilon Hydrae, etc.). I mean, even Epsilon Delta doesn’t make much sense as a system name if you know standard stellar naming conventions, where the second word is the name of the constellation and if the first word is a Greek letter, it indicates a star within that constellation. And that’s before you add a Roman numeral to indicate which planet in that system.

According to the Franz Joseph Constitution-class deck plans, Deck 17 is crew quarters in the secondary hull.

T’Pring,Eridani, Epsilon Hydraek’s heart, starts to go for the mid- to lower-right side of his torso. It was established as early as in TOS: “Mudd’s Women” that Spock’s heart is where a human’s liver should be, but the series has not always been consistent about this.

Sam hears his son Peter’s voice - Peter Kirk is the only one of his sons named on screen (“Operation: Annihilate!”).

Ortega’s agony in the transporter is similar to the transporter accident at the beginning of TMP.

Sam says they’ll die in space, “alone… like Kirks are born to do.” Sam does die alone in “Operation: Annihilate!”. In ST V Kirk says that he’s always known he’ll die alone, but Generations has Picard with him as he dies. Prior to ST 2009, starship viewscreens were not actual windows but monitors that displayed the view outside. However, this has changed since the 2009 movie and DIS. Since Sam’s death here contradicts his actual canon death in “Operation: Annihilate!”, it’s our first explicit clue that what’s happening isn’t real.

Pike talks about being “free of his fate”, referring to his knowledge that he will eventually become paralyzed due to exposure to delta rays (TOS: “The Menagerie”), a fate Spock is also aware of.

As La’An prophecises, David Marcus did indeed die “at the end of a blade”, killed by Kruge in ST III, although not in a dark corner of space but on the Genesis Planet.

Chapel refers to the brief Klingon-Federation War of 2257-2258 in which she served in a medical capacity together with M’Benga (SNW: “Under the Cloak of War”).

Written by: Robbie Thompson

Directed by: Axelle Carolyn

This has been my dream since I was a teen - and now the tech is real. This is a fork of an existing speech-to-speech project by Huggingface, with a lot of additions to add the right chimes, the voice* and the overall wakeword architecture.

I've had it running for a day and ... I like it. I'll most likely wire up a version of this throughout the house so the whole family can live the trekkie life :)

*) Cloning Barrett's voice ... I know. It's just little old me showing that we now have the tech, not some commercial venture. It's done with the utmost of respect for her craft throughout all those years!

I was reading this list and after I calmed my rage (Because real fans would have a top 47...) I became curious to hear what other episodes might make a personal list.

You don't need to give a detailed rationale, I'm curious to know what episodes NOT on the linked list do you just kinda... Think Are Neat 🫴🥔?

I'll start with some of mine:

• TOS - The Cloud Minders
• TNG - Timescape
• DS9 - The Magnificent Ferengi (how this one is not on the list I have no idea)

They're just neat!

Creation Entertainment have announced that Walter Koening can no longer attend STLV this year. Below is the message attached to the announcement.

It was 1979, and we had been producing Creation events for eight years. Although we dabbled a bit in talent from filmed science fiction and fantasy, our focus was still primarily (as it had been from the beginning) on comic books.

That didn’t mean that we weren’t HUGE sci fi TV and film fans, and of course, Star Trek fanatics. We finally decided to book a Star Trek guest for one of our shows, and as history has it, that was Walter Koenig. Then, as now, he came off as ebullient, witty, erudite, and charmingly handsome. 

Chekov, of course, was the iconic character that made him famous. Did Gene Roddenberry envision him as a “Davy Jones of the Monkees” eye candy for the casting? Chekov was typically the foil for comic relief, often taking the fall, getting maimed (this extended into the films, by the way), or generally being trivialized, even though we were ALWAYS on his side.

But he also represented something more important: remember this was America in the '60s during the Cold War. The fact that a Russian worked alongside other crew members (and aliens) and there was no conflict echoed Gene’s determination that the future was politics-free, at least on Earth.

Chekov's son, Anton Chekov, did rise to the role of President in Star Trek: Picard, in a touching tribute that also honored the late Anton Yelchin (a much-loved doppelgänger for Koenig’s canon).

Walter, on the other hand, is an insightful, talented actor, but so much more. He is sharp as a writer, contributing scripts for Land of the Lost and other TV series, and writing a candid and humorous memoir, “Warped Factors,” that offered behind-the-scenes stories from Trek and Hollywood. Beyond that, he is much loved as the notorious Psi Cop Alfred Bester on Babylon 5, one of television's great sci-fi antagonists.

Over the 47-year run of Walter’s appearances at our shows, he:

• ALWAYS entertained our audiences with hysterical stories, energized stage antics, perhaps a little dance, and always a positive attitude.

• Tried to push out into performance material, including several performances with the great actor Mark Leonard (he who played Sarek, Spock’s father). Their two-man play The Boys In Autumnfeaturing the exploits of Tom Sawyer (Walter) and Huckleberry Finn (Mark) delighted our audiences. We still remember the climactic moment when the two of them rolled out on stage in a 1912 Model T roadster!

• Was honest about the challenges in his career, how he had hoped his famous character would grow, and his relationships with the members of Hollywood (the producers, writers, and actors)

We regret that circumstances won't allow Walter to appear at the show next week. He will be SORELY missed on this 60th Anniversary Celebration! But we are GRATEFUL for 47 years of wonderful appearances and the friendship we share with this self-effacing Hollywood legend whom we all love.

If you purchased Walter's photo ops, duo with George Takei and/or his autographs, you can exchange them for other available tickets at the Information & Photo/Auto station. If you want a refund, you don't need to do anything; you'll receive it AFTER the convention.

Thanks,

Gary and Adam and the whole crew at Creation Entertainment