Are They Really That Bad? Move Along Home. Daniel continues his series of giving those "bad reputation" episodes another look. In this second installment, the trio looks at Deep Space Nine's entry, "Move Along Home." This season one episode is considered to be among the pantheon of terrible episodes - but is there more to this Gamma Quadrant alien board game demonstration? From increasing the difficulty of levels, to writing more of a story, to considering how many contributions the chu-la Kicks...
Jul 20, 2018•1 hr 6 min
Original Star Trek Stories on Big Finish This month marks the debut of "Star Trek" on Big Finish productions ( https://www.bigfinish.com ). The first set of stories are an audiobook - but what could this mean for original audio dramas? Phillip, Daniel, and Darren pitch different ideas that incorporate Star Trek actors and continue the stories of "lower decks" characters. They also discuss the different approaches to canon and the Trek novel-verse. What story would you pitch as an original Star T...
Jul 13, 2018•51 min
Star Trek at Hogwarts Darren, Daniel and Phillip imagine a far of world where Hogwarts has been populated not by witches and wizards but by Star Trek characters. Listen as we try to see just how far we can stretch this idea.
Jul 06, 2018•1 hr 1 min
Are They Really That Bad? - Spock's Brain Daniel kicks off his series, focusing on so-called infamous Star Trek episodes. But are they really that bad? The trio begins with The Original Series entry "Spock's Brain." A mix of odd camera angles, a focus on secondary characters, and an episode title that just can't be ignored, this third season opener becomes a mixed bag. But Daniel, Darren, and Phillip discuss whether it deserves the title of worst episode ever. What's your most memorable part abo...
Jun 29, 2018•49 min
Proposed Star Trek Spinoffs, Part 2 Star Trek is wonderful - fans are gifted with so many series (and movies) to watch, from the 22nd to the 24th Century. But - what if there was MORE Star Trek? Phillip, Daniel, and Darren take another meeting and pitch their ideas for more spinoffs from the existing Star Trek live series. What if we finally saw a “whatever happened to Prime Lorca?” series from “Star Trek: Discovery”? What about a show about intergalactic con men and women “cleaning up” from Voy...
Jun 22, 2018•51 min
Proposed Star Trek Spinoffs Star Trek is wonderful - fans are gifted with so many series (and movies) to watch, from the 22nd to the 24th Century. But - what if there was MORE Star Trek? Phillip, Daniel, and Darren take a meeting and pitch their ideas of spinoffs from the existing Star Trek live series. What if Star Trek: The Next Generation led to a medical drama starring Nurse Ogawa? What if Star Trek: Deep Space Nine saw an "Office"-like comedy prequel based on Utopia Planetia? A "Saved by th...
Jun 15, 2018•44 min
Star Trek in Wonderland. Star Trek provides so much to their fans - great stories and characters, a sense of hope for the future, a dazzling prediction of future technology and more. There is also the simple sense of wonder - whether in special effects or small moments. Darren, Daniel, and Phillip look at the moments of "wonder" in Star Trek, and why they are so important. What's your favorite "wonder"ful moment in Trek?
Jun 08, 2018•46 min
What If ... It Wasn't the Vulcans at First Contact? April 5, 2063 - one of the most historic days for Earth in "Star Trek." However, Daniel, Darren, and Phillip imagine a reality where it wasn't the Vulcans that landed in Montana. What if it had been the Klingons? Or Cardassians? Or Denobulans? The trio goes through the effects on human history if Earth's first contact had been with any other Trek alien species. Which alien species would you most want to have first contact with?...
Jun 01, 2018•48 min
"The Cage" Overview The season one finale of "Star Trek: Discovery" gave viewers their first glimpse of the Captain Christopher Pike-led starship Enterprise since The Original Series. Phillip, Daniel, and Darren decide to view the original source material of the first Star Trek pilot, "The Cage," to see where the season two premiere episode of DSC will lead us. They discuss the characters, technology, and other features from the first ever episode of Trek that they are looking forward to seeing ...
May 18, 2018•50 min
Star Trek Theme Park With Star Wars land coming to the Disneyland Resort next year Daniel, Darren and Phillip decide what a Star Trek theme park would look like. Located in central Montana your stay will be surrounded by Klingons, Vulcans and Starfleet. What would you add to your Star Trek theme park?
May 11, 2018•49 min
Writing the Star Trek Discovery Movie The final scene of Star Trek Discovery's first season showed us the starship Discovery meeting the U.S.S. Enterprise. The trio decides to pitch their idea of a Discovery movie that answers the question - what happens next? They imagine an epic story where Captain Pike's distress signal leads to a starship Enterprise caught in a temporal dimensional eddy leading to the Discovery crew traveling among multiple Enterprises -- but only one can survive in the end....
May 04, 2018•52 min
Trek Marriages. We know that romantic stories can play a part in many “stories of the week” in the Star Trek franchise. But what about the long-term romances? Phillip, Daniel, and Darren look at the trial and tribulations of committed couples in Starfleet and wonder why they are so rare. Who is your favorite married couple in Trek?
Apr 27, 2018•49 min
If the Enterprise-D Had Lived in the Movies We all know that the Enterprise-D was destroyed and unable to be salvaged in "Star Trek: Generations." In this episode, Darren, Daniel, and Phillip try to imagine the rest of the Next Generation feature films with our favorite Galaxy-class vessel. What if the flagship went through the same evolution as The Original Series' Enterprise in the movies - with a modified version as its successor, analagous to the "All Good Things" model. How would it have fa...
Apr 20, 2018•46 min
The Ultimate Star Trek Crew Bracket. There has been a lot of uses of “pop culture” brackets following the end of sports ball bracket season. Daniel, Darren, and Phillip put their own spore drive spin on the concept - they pick a captain and crew member from each series and “pit” them against each other in a “Hunger Games”-esque scenario. Which pair will come out on top? And which partners might turn on each other? What Trek character makes it to the end, with arms raised in victory? Join this ce...
Apr 13, 2018•56 min
Shakespeare in Star Trek VI In this week of 4/1, the Ceti Alpha 3 duo tackle the ubiquitious use of William Shakespeare in The Original Series' final feature outing, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. From the film title itself to General Chang's frequent quotations, Jessica and Phillip look at how Klingon culture embraces the Bard and more. What is your favorite Shakespeare line from the movie?
Apr 06, 2018•45 min
Picking Your Fantasy Starfleet Assignment We all dream of serving on the Enterprise with Captain Kirk or Voyager in the Delta Quadrant. But the trio decides to pick their fantasy Starfleet assignments outside of the "main" ships and space stations. This leads to some surprising choices across time and space. Join the stranded team as they do a round-robin exercise of picking their future starship assigments. Which secondary Star Trek ship would you choose to serve on?
Mar 30, 2018•51 min
Star Trek: Titan Pilot Episode. Star Trek fans hunger for the continuing adventures of the 24th Century. Many of those stories live on in the novels, including those with Captain William T. Riker and the starship Titan. However, Daniel, Darren, and Phillip decide to write and pitch their own television pilot for “Star Trek: Titan,” with new characters and some familiar faces. They fill in the senior officers with a diverse group of aliens, and a story that strikes at the heart of the United Fede...
Mar 23, 2018•1 hr 7 min
Switching Trek Crew Roles Every so often in Star Trek, a crew member will be asked to take another's role - Worf took over for Yar after her death in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and Saru got placed on the command track after Burhnam was sentenced to life in prison in "Star Trek: Discovery." In this thought experiment episode, Phillip goes through every live-action Star Trek television series and has Daniel and Darren fill a "vacated position" with an existing person from that same series. ...
Mar 16, 2018•38 min
Episodes That Should Have Been Movies. We love our Star Trek movies (er, most of them...) and those two- and three-part episodes. However, there are still some individual Star Trek episodes that could have shined on the silver screen. Darren, Daniel, and Phillip take turns pitching episodes from 50 plus years of Star Trek that would have brought our favorite characters to feature length stories (and budgets). Which idea do you think would be the best movie? Which episode should have been made a ...
Mar 09, 2018•56 min
Creating a Star Trek Escape Room The trio has been stranded on Ceti Alpha 3 for while, so it's time to think about escape! Daniel, Phillip, and Darren are joined by Escape Room GameMaster Zach LaVoy (@ZachLaVoy) as they create a Star Trek-themed escape room. They establish "Professor Moriarty's Holodeck Mis-adventure," as well as specialized escape room ideas for each of the live-action Star Trek series/movies. Join them as they use Satan's Robot to give clues, have an apple waiting in the Kobay...
Mar 02, 2018•57 min
The Ultimate Star Trek Convention Daniel, Darren and Phillip plan the ultimate 2 day Star Trek Convention. There will be sets, stars, cosplay, music, bars, dancing, escape rooms and more. Listen as we spare no expense to make thousands of fans happy.
Feb 23, 2018•1 hr 8 min
"Will You Take My Hand?" Analysis Chapter one (or is it chapter two?) of "Star Trek: Discovery" comes to a close with this season finale. Daniel, Darren, and Phillip take one last trip in the Crossfield-class Starfleet vessel before turning off the mushroom drive for hiatus. They discuss whether the Klingon War came to a satisfying end, how Michael's redemption was earned, and if all the characters landed in an interesting place at season close. They also give their season one ratings and look t...
Feb 16, 2018•1 hr 14 min
The penultimate episode of season one gives us a Mirror Empereor with a surprising new role, a devasted and perhaps morally-wounded Federation, and a plan to end the Klingon War once and for all. So this should all get wrapped up nicely in the one remaining episode! Darren, Daniel, and Phillip follow the episode chronologically, looking at character moments and how all the previous episodes have led the Discovery crew to desperate acts. The trio attempts some predictions for the season finale, a...
Feb 09, 2018•1 hr 6 min
"What's Past is Prologue" Analysis The first season of "Star Trek: Discovery" is coming to a close, and things are happening fast. So fast, that the trio does their first-ever "quick reaction" episode, recording just an hour after "What's Past is Prologue" was uploaded onto CBS All Access. With all the twists and turns in this Mirror episode, and a plot moving at mushroom warp speed, Phillip, Daniel, and Darren try to absorb it all in, talk about how fan predictions were proved wrong (or right),...
Feb 02, 2018•51 min
"Vaulting Ambition" Analysis In the shortest episode of Star Trek ever we get many confirmations, reveals and questions about what the last 3 episodes will hold. Captain Lorca is ... revealed. And the trio has a lot to say about it. Join them as they examine the Discovery’s continued adventure into the Mirror Universe with Emperor Georgiou, sampling Kelpien dishes, and Stamets meets himself & his departed partner. Where do you think these storylines are going? What surprised you the most?...
Jan 26, 2018•1 hr 9 min
"The Wolf Inside" Analysis "Star Trek Discovery" finally commits to revealing some long-awaiting plot twists in "The Wolf Inside," but unfortunately the Mirror Universe swallows co-host Darren Moser. However, Daniel and Phillip welcome Andi VanderKolk (@firsttimetrek) to help discuss Lt. Ash Tyler's tendency to sweat and look nauseous, when it's appropriate to tell someone who their Mirror version counterpart is, and Captain Lorca's true identity. Join this Mirrorverse trio, and then let us know...
Jan 19, 2018•57 min
“Despite Yourself” Analysis Star Trek: Discovery returns with a mid-season premiere that puts our crew in the Mirror Universe ... and starts killing people off. The trio is join by Lee Hutchison to not only gauge the accuracy of Captain Lorca’s Scottish accent but how we should handle all the plot twists in this episode. Are the myriad of “surprises” getting you excited about the rest of season one? Or does the producers’ chants of “trust us” make you nervous? Let us know!
Jan 12, 2018•1 hr 11 min
"Star Trek Continues" Series Finale Discussion The five year mission of the original starship Enterprise, NCC-1701, was cut short by NBC in the 1960s. But fans kept the stories alive in a variety of forms, one of those being the recent series "Star Trek Continues" ( http://www.startrekcontinues.com ). The two-part series finale "To Boldly Go" features our favorite Star Trek characters, along with "new" members of the STC crew, joining together for a final mission that leads to goodbyes, promotio...
Jan 05, 2018•43 min
Ceti Alpha 3 Holiday Special. The trio has spent over 50 episodes talking about the Star Trek franchise. This holiday week, Daniel, Phillip, and Darren take the time to reflect on holidays in Star Trek, how various characters would view the myriad of Christmas traditions, and what makes a Ferengi say "Bah Humbug!" Join the stranded crew and enjoy the festive roundtable discussion of a Ceti Alpha 3 Holiday Special (with no mentions of Life Day ... we swear).
Dec 29, 2017•32 min
Trek Outside of Trek, Part 2 There are a variety of Star Trek episodes that take place outside of the environment of starships, space stations, aliens, and technology. They depict almost "day in the life" episodes that are far and away from the trials and tribulations of Starfleet and its time. In this second installment, the trio looks at two such "Treks" outside of Trek with "Carbon Creek" (ENT) and "Far Beyond the Stars" (DS9). The former is considered a good entry for its series, while the l...
Dec 22, 2017•1 hr 6 min
