Star Trek: Forever
I have lately been wandering around the web wondering about entertainment possibilities. It seemed reasonable that given high-speed connections and streaming audio-video, that there would be something out there. And there is - lots of somethings :)
Smart Digital Television offers hundreds of web accessible TV stations from all over the world. Categorization is sketchy so you’ll have to try things and see what happens. The largest part of these offerings are news or public access but there are some that offer other types of programming. Real Player and Windows Media are required for viewing.
What I didn’t expect to find, was this, Star Trek: New Voyages, or this, Star Trek: Hidden Frontier . Both of these are new shows, produced for the web and released free for the entertainment of Star Trek lovers. Neither of these is streaming media; they are composed of download-able files that you can then view on your computer. New Voyages uses Windows Media and Hidden Frontier uses QuickTime.
I have been a Star Trek fan but I’ve never been rabid about it. I was 12 years old when the original series debuted and Friday nights with The Wild, Wild West followed by Star Trek set my adolescent heart (and other things) all a-flutter. I lived for Friday night! I was disappointed when the series ended though even I knew it had gotten pretty silly by then. But I was agog and delighted when Star Trek: The Next Generation came along in 1987. Sadly, I never got Deep Space Nine and only occasionally joined Voyager on its journey home. I had some hope for Enterprise, partly because I’m quite fond of Scott Bakula, but gave it up after the second year. Never been to a con, never bought an action figure. A pathetic excuse for a fan :)
So I wasn’t looking for Star Trek in particular. I just stumbled over it.
New Voyages picks up where the original series left off - in the fourth year of the 5 year mission. The original characters are intact though the actors are, necessarily, different. It’s the more recent of the two projects mentioned above, having gotten underway in 2003. Two episodes have been completed and are available for download. There are several mirror sites listed; mirror 7 has both the first and second episodes as well as trailers. Most of the others only carry the second.
I haven’t seen the premiere episode yet, only the second one, “In Harm’s Way”. I have to tell you, I was surprised. First, this isn’t a cheapo production. Oh there are things that could be better - the fight scenes are ludicrous. Then again, they often were in the original series as well. The story is pretty good and faithful to the canon of the original series. The acting is adequate - no better or worse than the original and the special effects are better by orders of magnitude. But even more surprising, and entertaining, were the appearances of these people (this is incorporated as a non-profit organization, therefore a non-paying gig):
Recognize these folks?
How about now?
From left to right they are William Windom, Malachi Throne and Barbara Luna. This may not be a network production, but it’s a long ways from amateur hour!
Hidden Frontier is produced in LA and is also done for love rather than financial remuneration. I have only seen the first episode but there are a lot more to go as this web series in in its 5th season (35 episodes). I won’t comment much on this one because it is a large body of work of which I have only seen the first and smallest part.
This series’ connection is to the Next Generation film Insurrection and uses the setting of the Briar Patch. The focus is on the starship Excelsior and its home base, Deep Space 12.
There are also other things in production and at least one other short film out there (Starship Exeter, which I haven’t seen). The New Voyages site has links to most of this.
Okay, confession time. I can be a real snob sometimes. I don’t mean to be but sometimes my mouth gets in front of my brain and it oozes out anyways. If I had been told about these web series, rather than stumbling across them myself, I would have hooted at the very idea and suggested that all involved needed to go out and get lives.
But you know what? They already have lives and are sharing their passion for something they love with the world. In that sense, it’s not unlike a knitting blog, is it?
And it’s fun :)
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oh great- still another reason for me to moan and whine about the necessity of using a dial-up connection! we’re geographically unable to get cable or dsl and the satellite connection we tried tended to have such weather-related problems that it was a ‘no go’- it’s bad enough to lose the tv program when there is a cloud or whatever that interferes but constant reconnecting is really a pain-
i enjoyed the series (except the ‘enterprise’ one- now they are back to wwii in that one and it’s gotten silly) but am not a real ranting panting fan- it would be nice to see what these new forms are doing with it-
stay happy-
Barb - These shows aren’t streaming video, they’re downloadable fles. They are biggish files so downloads might take a while on dial-up, but you should be able to get them. If you can’t and are interested, let me know, I can burn them to CD and send them to you :)
It’s amazing what can be found out there. Thanks for the heads up! I have a sneaking suspicion that downloading them with a dial-up would take a long time, but it’s something to look forward to when we finally get a cable modem.
I,too, am an original fan - I was 6 or 7 when the original debuted (yep - that’s about right with the difference in our ages :::wink:::), faithfully watched re-runs, bought every series synopsis book, etc., etc. I felt exactly the same as you did about “Next Generation”, “Voyager”, and “Deep Space.” I *just* gave up on “Enterprise”, though, after last week’s episode. And with Brent Spiner coming on for 3 episodes, I gave up none too soon! Talk about a last ditch effort to improve ratings. Harummph!
But like the Energizer Bunny, the franchise just keeps going and going and going.....
Bron - Comrade!! I was just flabbergasted to see this stuff - but it’s kind of interesting. It’s gone way beyond the show that wouldn’t die and seems (to me) to have almost passed into myth. The whole process is fascinating (raising eyebrow) to watch - and, of course, entertaining in the process!
I agree with your comments about it not being unlike a knitting blog - good point! 
Thanks Nathalie :) Everybody loves something!
I always loved Star Trek. My fav was Deep Space Nine although not many fans felt the way I did about it. I particularly liked all the episodes that involved the Klingons--there’s something about a good battle episode to get the adrenaline pumping. I’ve stopped watching Enterprise also since they started airing the WWII episodes--it seemed to come to an end..? Does that mean the Enterprise series is over? They’ve taken all the Star Trek stuff off the air here in my neck of the woods unless you have cable (which I don’t).
Cheryl - As far as I know, Enterprise is still running - Brent Spiner (from </i>Next Generation</i>) is doing a three week guest stint.
DS9? I always thought a table leg had more warmth and personality than Avery Brooks but I loved Quark - entertaining little weasel :)
