When the lights went down in the theater in 1998, we all sat there with trepidation. We hoped that the new Star Trek movie would live up to it’s predecessor First Contact and when it didn’t, many of us wondered what had gone wrong. Jonathan Frakes had directed and Michael Piller had written the script, this should have been a dynamic duo. In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Matthew Rushing and Dan Gunter are joined by Larry Nemecek and Daniel Proulx to discuss Michael Piller’s unpublished bo...
Feb 06, 2015•1 hr 38 min
The familiar credits roll during every episode of The Next Generation. But how did our favorite actors get these timeless roles? And how close did other actors come to crewing the first version of Star Trek to take place in the 24th century? In this episode of Earl Grey, "Dr Trek" himself, Larry Nemecek, joins us to discuss casting The Next Generation. Darren, Phillip, and Daniel talk about how important it was to get "famous" names in Trek's second televised live-action incarnation, where each ...
Oct 30, 2014•1 hr 2 min
First introduced in “Journey to Babel,” Sarek of Vulcan is one of the best known characters from The Original Series , perhaps due primarily to his role in The Search for Spock and subsequent TOS films. Following McCoy’s cameo in “Encounter at Farpoint,” it took a while for familiar faces from Star Trek's past to return to the screen. Finally, in the TNG's third season, the wall between past and present began to come down as Spock's father came aboard Picard's Enterprise . Seeing Sarek shed tear...
Oct 16, 2014•2 hr 6 min
In 1979, ten years after the cancellation of the original series, Star Trek made the jump to the big screen. In an effort to pull out all the stops, Paramount hired Oscar-winning director Robert Wise to helm Star Trek: The Motion Picture . The rest is history. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars , Max and Mike are joined by Larry Nemecek to look at Wise's work on the film. We discuss Wise's place in film history, the atmosphere of fan culture leading up to the picture's release, and whethe...
Sep 25, 2014•1 hr 24 min
One of the most famous aliens in Star Trek is the Orion slave girl, and the most classic “green” moment comes from “The Cage,” compliments of Susan Oliver. The prolific star is best known to Star Trek fans for this role, yet her appearance in Star Trek is but a speck on the landscape of her career as an actress and director. In this episode of The Ready Room we take a break from our usual format as we're joined by Larry Nemecek and writer/director George Pappy to talk about his new documentary T...
Sep 05, 2014•2 hr 11 min
Choosing the actors who will bring new characters to life is one of the many creative challenges in launching a new Star Trek series. The process itself can change the nature of the roles, resulting in adjustments to name, the background story of a given character, and their relationship with others. In this episode of The Orb we bring you the second part of our two-part conversation with Larry Nemecek about the casting of Deep Space Nine and the evolution of the characters. Originally published...
Jun 17, 2014•52 min
One of the many creative challenges in launching a new Star Trek series is casting. Finding the right actors to bring the characters to life takes time and careful consideration. And the process itself can change the nature of the roles, resulting in adjustments to name, ethnicity, background story, and in some cases requiring a completely new character to be created. In this episode of The Orb we're joined by Larry Nemecek for the first part of a two-part discussion about the casting of Deep Sp...
Jun 13, 2014•56 min
Last year saw the return of author Larry Nemecek to the world of Star Trek non-fiction with his second book, Stellar Cartography . Featuring maps by Ian Fullwood, Ali Reis, and Geoffrey Mandel, Nemecek's companion essays offer a comprehensive look at the history of the future. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars , Mike and Max are joined by Larry for the second part of their two-part interview. We discuss the genesis of the book, the challenges of completing such an ambitious project in a ...
Jun 05, 2014•1 hr 5 min
For over a decade, Larry Nemecek chronicled the making of Star Trek in the Next Generation era. But what about the making of the making of? In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Max and Mike are joined Larry himself to discuss his career as an author. In the first part of a two-part interview, he discusses his work on The Next Generation Companion, as well as his Voyager episode, "Prophecy," and other episode pitches which he wrote for Voyager. He also blows Max and Mike's minds with the hi...
May 30, 2014•1 hr 26 min
1994 was an incredibly busy year for Star Trek. Upon the conclusion of TNG's seventh season, the cast and crew went straight into production for Star Trek Generations . On top of that and the third season of DS9, they were also starting production on Voyager . And, as many fans know, the fallout with Genevieve Bujold added uncertainty as to whether a woman would stay in the center seat, putting other character roles in jeopardy—on a production timeline that was already behind schedule. In this e...
May 28, 2014•40 min
One of the most momentous conflicts in Federation history is also one of the most mysterious ones—at least for fandom. Of course Starfleet itself knows what happened, but the writers didn't give us a lot to work with over the years. First introduced in the Original Series episode "Balance of Terror," the Earth-Romulan War is the basis for centuries of animosity between these two powers. The details remained elusive and over the years bits and pieces came out through the various spinoff series, b...
May 13, 2014•2 hr 1 min
If Kirk was the meat and Spock was the potatoes, then Leonard McCoy was the grumpy broth that held them all together. Now, finally, the good doctor is getting his due. In this episode of Standard Orbit , Drew and Mike are joined again by Larry Nemecek to discuss the original Enterprise ’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. McCoy. We find out why Larry loves him so, share our favorite Bones scenes, and reveal how McCoy is finally getting the fan base he deserved from the beginning. Originally published a...
Apr 20, 2014•1 hr 5 min
No one seems content with the 80 episodes of The Original Series that we ended up with. Everyone wants more, even if they have to make it themselves. In this episode of Standard Orbit , Mike and Drew are joined by Larry Nemecek to talk about Star Trek Continues and Larry's part in it. Find out more about how this continuation of TOS is being made, and even a bit about other fan projects you might never have heard of. Originally published as Standard Orbit 27: Med Scanner Thumb Pivot....
Apr 14, 2014•1 hr 12 min
In 2001, Star Trek landed with great fanfare in a cornfield in Oklahoma. It was the launch of Enterprise , as the series was known for its first two seasons, and the pilot episode, "Broken Bow," was well received. Over the years, perceptions of the series have changed more than once. The story of "Broken Bow" and Enterprise is one of creative change, great promises mixed with missed opportunities, and a tug-o-war between studio and network. In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Matt ...
Apr 08, 2014•2 hr 17 min
Last month, the world lost legendary Star Trek director Cliff Bole, who helmed 42 hours of Trek—including 25 episodes of The Next Generation —more than anyone else in the show's history. Among those 25 was "The Best of Both Worlds," commonly considered to be the best TNG episode, and one of the best television episodes, of all time. In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars , Mike and Max kick off a new series looking at the work that Bole did in another beloved franchise, The X-Files . But firs...
Mar 06, 2014•1 hr 5 min
As any Star Trek fans knows, the original mission of the Enterprise 1701 was to span five years. Unfortunately, the television executives of the 1960s had other plans as Kirk and his crew sailed off into the darkness after just three seasons. But that doesn't mean the mission didn't continue. What happened after "Turnabout Intruder"? The independent series Star Trek Continues picks up where TOS left off, continuing the five-year mission by telling the stories we didn't see. In this episode of Th...
Mar 04, 2014•1 hr 56 min
Few aspects of Enterprise —and perhaps of Star Trek as a whole—have been more controversial than the show’s third season. The 26-episode arc is an outlier in a number of ways. It was the first (and only) time a season-long arc was attempted in Star Trek, and it also focuses on aliens and events with no connection to the rest of the franchise. Some fans love it. Some fans hate it. In this episode of Warp Five we’re joined by Larry Nemecek to discuss the third season of Enterprise , the pressure f...
Jan 09, 2014•1 hr 20 min
During the third season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Michael Piller "stepped back" from his daily duties and handed the writing staff to his Number One—Ira Steven Behr. It was at this point that Deep Space Nine went from being a great show to being the best show. Ever. This week, we begin a new series looking at Behr's career as a showrunner. In Part 1, Max and Mike are joined by Larry Nemecek to look at Behr's work on Star Trek. We discuss his origins on The Next Generation , how Piller lure...
Dec 12, 2013•1 hr 17 min
One of the goals in writing for any series is to tell stories that can’t be told anywhere else. With its early technology and proximity to our own time, Enterprise had an opportunity to put characters into situations that the other series couldn’t. One great example is the idea of a ship lost at sea facing a terrible storm, and this challenge of early exploration was examined in the second-season episode “The Catwalk.” In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Matthew Rushing and Larry N...
Nov 12, 2013•2 hr 11 min
Generations officially passed the baton from TOS to TNG on the big screen, but the relay began long before The Nexus swept away Kirk and Picard. Doctor McCoy appeared in "Encounter at Farpoint," Spock played a central role in "Unification," and Scotty was found hiding in a transporter buffer in "Relics." In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Larry Nemecek as well as Phillip Gilfus and Daniel Proulx from our TNG show Earl Grey to discuss the Enterprise -D's encounter with TOS's miracl...
Oct 22, 2013•2 hr 23 min
It's been more than a decade since the last update to the Star Charts reference book, but thanks to Larry Nemecek and 47North fans will soon be able to get around the galaxy more efficiently than ever. In this episode of Literary Treks, Christopher Jones is joined by Larry to learn about the genesis of his new book Star Trek: Stellar Cartography, the process of creating it, and how Larry's career in mapping stars dates back to the 1980s. We also make sense of the Delphic Expanse and choreograph ...
Jul 06, 2013•1 hr 20 min
The holodeck malfunction was a staple of storytelling on The Next Generation. So as the Deep Space Nine writing team set out to chart a different course, they shied away from this perhaps overused plot device. But sometimes a story comes along that it is just too fun not to tell. And if you can find a way to do it that ties into your overall premise, that’s all the better. In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Michael Fisher and Larry Nemecek to discuss DS9’s romp through the 1960s l...
Jun 24, 2013•1 hr 48 min
In 1983, Nicholas Meyer followed up Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan with The Day After, a television movie depicting a nuclear war from the perspective of Lawrence, Kansas, a small town in middle America. The film is, and always shall be, the most watched television movie in history, and went so far as to influence the actions of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. This week, Mike and Max are joined by Star Trek expert Larry Nemecek, who worked as an extra on The Day After while in college. We discuss...
May 23, 2013•35 min
When the 30th Anniversary of Star Trek rolled around in 1996, the creative teams of both Deep Space Nine and Voyager were charged with the task of paying homage with a special episode. Inspired by the revolutionary techniques of Forrest Gump , the DS9 writers set out to pen a story that would insert Sisko and his crew into the middle of one of the franchise’s most iconic episodes—“The Trouble with Tribbles.” The result was one of the most memorable moments in Star Trek history. In this episode o...
Apr 15, 2013•2 hr 25 min
Does Data have rights? This is the central question asked in Melinda Snodgrass’s classic courtroom drama “The Measure of a Man.” But beyond the fate of Data himself, the real question is how artificial life will be treated in the future. Though it may sound like science fiction, it’s a decision we will someday have to make in the real world. The difficulty of the issue was presented brilliantly more than two decades ago by TNG, and the uncertainty of its message still rings true today. In this e...
Feb 26, 2013•2 hr 9 min
Our planet may have recently found itself in the path of a large meteor, but it could have been worse. There could have been a planet-eating machine with Earth in its sights. In this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin is joined by Lou Costanzo of The Lou Trek Show and renowned Star Trek historian Larry Nemecek to discuss the classic TOS episode “The Doomsday Machine.” In addition, Larry fills us in on the latest developments involving his documentary “The Con of Wrath”… and his annual Los A...
Feb 22, 2013•1 hr 16 min
While The Motion Picture did its job of resurrecting Star Trek on the big screen, it was the second outing of Kirk and crew that really propelled the franchise forward. Nicholas Meyer, a director who was not a Trekkie, somehow “got” the very core of Star Trek and put together once of the most amazing stories ever filmed. But the road from initial idea to final cut was a lot less straightforward than the flowing narrative might suggest. In this episode of The Ready Room we are joined by Star Trek...
Jan 06, 2013•2 hr 34 min
Nestled between the relentless vengeance of Khan and the near destruction of Earth at the flippers of whales is an emotional nugget whose power is often overlooked. Star Trek III suffers from the middle-child syndrome, but it highlights the relationships between the crew of the USS Enterprise in a way rarely seen. It also planted the seeds for many of things we now take for granted in later incarnations of the franchise. In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Charlynn Schmiedt and Lar...
Nov 13, 2012•2 hr 24 min
It took Voyager seven seasons to make her way across the Delta Quadrant, and during that time we were teased with Klingons on occasion. There were holographic Klingons, Klingon Borg, a vivid dream about Klingons, and even a photograph of a Klingon. But for the real thing we had to wait until near the end of the seven-year journey. Finally, Janeway and her crew crossed paths with real warriors—three generations removed—and a little old-school pre-Khitomer action was served up. Oh… and Neelix got ...
Jun 11, 2012•2 hr 16 min
Over the course of 45 years Star Trek has had its ups and downs—from cancellation three years into the original five year mission to revival on the big screen, the birth of The Next Generation to the golden age of the 1990s, the fizzle of Enterprise to the J.J. Abrams reboot. Through it all Star Trek has remained a part of our lives in a way few things have. In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Star Trek historian Larry Nemecek, and Trek veterans Doug Mirabello and Jose Munoz of Zer...
May 07, 2012•2 hr 22 min
