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CLL #38 - Generations at 30
36 Plays4 months ago
Jonathan and Chris got together to discuss the 30th Anniversary of Star Trek Generations. This is a film that Jonathan hadn’t seen in almost 20 years and at the time he wasn’t a fan. Did a rewatch of the film change his opinion? Listen and find out. But before that reveal, Chris recounts his trip to a Star Trek Convention in Seacaucus, New Jersey, they visit the Fandom Frontier, and their thoughts on the new Wicked film
0:00 Introduction and Catch-Up
3:00 Something Wicked
6:30 Fandom Frontier
14:20 Chris’ Trek to New Jersey
28:28 Star Trek Generations at 30
1:08:00 Wrap-Up & Outro
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Captain's log Han Solo. I'm Captain and Millennium Falcon. This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise.
00:00:19
Speaker
Priority one message from Starfleet coming in on secured channel.
00:00:31
Speaker
You're listening to Captain's Logs and Lightsabers.
Origins of the Podcast
00:00:37
Speaker
Hey, welcome to Captain's Logs and Lightsabers. This is the podcast on Feast of Fandoms, where we discuss both Star Trek and Star Wars in the same show. Chris and I, my co-host, were fans of both franchises, so we decided what better way to get into podcasting but by talking about two of the things that we love most. So if this is your first time listening, thank you for joining. And if you are a longtime listener, thanks for coming back.
Personal Updates and Challenges
00:01:04
Speaker
so I'm going to kick things off by introducing my co-host Chris and give him a chance to just you say whatever he wants to. It's been a little while since we recorded, so here we are catching up. I am doing quite well. How are you doing? Pretty good, man.
00:01:20
Speaker
Since our last show, it's been a pretty busy number of weeks over on my end, had to get my gallbladder removed unexpectedly, had the flu, and then I'm just finishing up a week-long sinus infection. So it's been quite, it's been nuts on my end. Yeah, you' you've had quite a lot of health stuff in the past several years since we've been doing this show.
00:01:43
Speaker
Yes. Yes. A lot of it's mostly just, it's usually COVID or, you know, some sort of bad cold or something, but this surgery got added into the middle 24. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. 20, 24 said, uh, you thought you thought it was bad the past couple of years. Exactly. So as we hit the 25th year of the 2000s, things are going to get a little better. Let's hope, let's hope.
00:02:12
Speaker
know But what have you been up to since we last recorded? Honestly, not a whole lot. I mean, I've been well, I picked up a part time job over the summer. I don't know if I ever discussed that on the show.
00:02:24
Speaker
But that's something yeah yeah something that, you know, we we weren't able to save as much as we normally could before getting laid off in the summer. So I ended up taking a job in July delivering pizzas for Domino's. And so I've been doing that several days or like, you know, two to three days a week, most weeks in addition to my other job. So but So that you know that keeps me busy. And then we've gone to lots of movies, of course, as as we always do.
Movie Discussion: 'Wicked'
00:02:53
Speaker
we We do love going to the movies. So the most recent one that we saw was Moana 2. And before that, we saw Wicked.
00:03:03
Speaker
Okay, very nice, very nice. My wife and I also saw Wicked on Black Friday. I was just wondering what you think of it. I thought it was incredible. I really wasn't sure how I was going to take the Ariana Grande specifically as Glinda.
00:03:21
Speaker
But she she nailed the role. I really, I really thought that, you know, from the time that I heard that I heard they cast they cast Cynthia Arevo as Elphaba, I knew she was going to nail it. I was not concerned about her. It was just I didn't know how she was going to play against arian andri Ariana Grande because I'm not as much of a you know I don't know as much about her music or her acting as ah as some people do. So I was like a little Confused at first when they cast her but you know, she she did well Mm-hmm. Yeah. Oh, I agree with you I think she like you said she knocked it out of the park and that the actress playing Elphaba She did a really wonderful job. ah Her voice was amazing. Mm-hmm songs. I just that she was saying it was incredible I think Michelle yo kind of tying it into Star Trek here. She did a really good job as that sorceress and It was yes's at the university. She did a yeah really great job. i just Jeff Goldblum did a great job as the wizard and what they set up to go into the next movie. I'm more excited, I think, about the second part than what I saw in part one. ah and and you know i'm I don't know if you're familiar with the story of Wicked at all. like Have you ever seen the show or read the the book that the show was based on? Yeah, things are going to really you know take a turn
00:04:42
Speaker
And you're going to, you're going to see some, you're going to see a lot, you know, a lot of the resolution from things that were set up in the first one. You know, you're going to find out how the wicked wit gets her reputation and you know, you can kind of see how the whole, well, I don't know if we want to talk spoilers yet. If you're not familiar with the story for those, ah for those of you that are listening, but just know that everything that was set up in the first one is going to have a payoff.
00:05:09
Speaker
Oh, well, that's wonderful. I'm glad to see because I went into this with a complete blank slate. I had no clue. So it was just like, wow, this is a totally different spin on this this story that I've ever seen before. So yeah, I think part two is going to be what, another year away, right? Yes, it comes out, I believe in September. Oh, oh, I thought I read it was November. tour maybe You know what? Maybe it is. Maybe you're right.
00:05:37
Speaker
I think you're probably right. I think so. Yeah, you know who actually posted it was my ship's captain of the Stella pariah Okay, she said here we go guys next next next activity already of your plan you know so like okay All right, so yeah, so we we both seen wicked we both really enjoyed it I'm a huge fan of the original show and um very I was very familiar with the show and the music and everything. I had never read the book, but everything else I'm very familiar with. So I really had high expectations and I'm glad that they were exceeded. but the Absolutely.
Diverse Interests Beyond Star Trek and Star Wars
00:06:14
Speaker
So we are going to now go into Phantom Frontier, and this is the segment of the show where Chris and I get to talk about something that's not Star Trek or Star Wars. ah We kind of already had a little bit of a discussion on Wicked, so that was going to be my ah a Phantom Frontier. So I'm going to shoot it to Chris and let him take over.
00:06:37
Speaker
Well, to be honest with you, since last show or in the last week or so, i haven't besides Wicked, I haven't really done anything nerd-wise. I did a review of the 30th anniversary of Star Trek Generations on my small YouTube channel, Pittsburgh's Trek Chat. I did that about two weeks ago. But beyond that, really not much else. The big event, and we're both going to it, is this coming weekend at Steel City Con.
00:07:02
Speaker
on December 6th through the 8th. So that that's going to be the bigger kind of thing. But let me ask you about this. I know there are a couple of people from the Star Wars universe that are going to be coming to Steel City Con. Yeah. so Most of them are are are voice actors or actresses from the cartoons. But I know Tamora Morrison is coming for the Book a bob of Boba Fett, right? And we play Django Fett in the movies. We know that. but Right. You know, so are you planning on getting any photo ops or meeting anybody?
00:07:29
Speaker
I am not sure I would not mind meeting Matt Lanter who voiced Anakin in the Clone Wars. I'm a fan of not only him from his portrayal of Anakin, but there was the show on NBC several years ago that I really, really got into called Timeless. And he was one of the main stars of that. Oh, nice. Okay. I don't know if you can stream it anywhere, but it's like a a time travel show almost kind of like Quantum Leap, but without the leaping into another person's body. People go back in time and they have to ensure that certain events happen the way that they were supposed to, or they may be able to change historical events to to affect the outcome.
00:08:13
Speaker
But he was like
Media Consumption: Past and Future
00:08:14
Speaker
this military guy who was brought a part of the this time travel team. Well, that sounds interesting. I never got into it. you know the The crappy part about my work schedule is I'm never home. I usually get home till 10 o'clock at night, most work days. So I'm never here to see like a lot of the new shows. I barely even get to watch any shows that i really like I've watched over the years. yeah you know That's kind of a luxury. you know So the fact that you're able to get to watch that, it sounds like a pretty cool show.
00:08:42
Speaker
I live off of my DVR. so I don't blame you. I don't blame yet it's just you. know That's just part of adulting and having a work, you know right trying to find the time to get to enjoy these little nuggets of things. you know so But yeah, really on my end, i trying to look I'm looking around my man cave trying to see if there's anything I've done.
00:09:03
Speaker
I bought the um next to the last issue of Star Trek Explorer magazine. It's going to be ending at the end of the year after 14 issues. and I guess really what it came down to is just sales started to go down. yeah Everything's going digital now, so I guess there was just no world profit in it anymore. which is It's a shame because I've been subscribing on and off to different Star Trek magazines since I was a kid. start you know Starting with Star Trek, the official fan club, which became the Star Trek communicator, then moving into These these ones that Titan magazine did it's just it's sad seeing that dying off again So I'm hoping someday somebody will pick the license up and start it again
00:09:40
Speaker
And it's a shame because that's happening all over. It's not just fandom magazines like that. it's yeah and Entertainment Weekly stopped printing a magazine. like They only have a website now. And one of the biggest like magazines for gamers, what Game Informer, they stopped earlier this year. They stopped entirely.
00:10:04
Speaker
Like they don't, they don't even have a website or anything anymore where they, you know, like, and like entertainment weekly does. So yeah print, print media like that and print like magazines are just, yeah, they're, they're not doing well. Yeah. It's just, it's sad. I don't know. Like I'm one of those physical media kind of people. I love all that stuff, whether it's, you know, DVDs, blue rays, magazines, whatever, you know, it's just, it's such a change from what we've grown up with, you know, it's,
00:10:33
Speaker
Yeah. And I mean, physical media is at least making a comeback, which yes is nice because people are realizing that the initial promises of streaming where everything was going to be available at all times. And, you know, it was never going to disappear. That's not true. You know, licensing agreements between the studios and I mean, you know, even even companies like Disney who.
00:10:59
Speaker
you know They put a lot of money into their Disney Plus series. ah they'll They've removed shows from that platform already. like like New stuff that they created specifically for that platform is gone. so ah Yeah, physical media is is making a comeback because you know people just want to watch their favorites.
00:11:17
Speaker
Exactly, exactly. And you know, it's happening with the Star Trek movies, too. How many times have they been moved off Paramount Plus, where you think they'd have a permanent home? You know, what was it where they moved to one point was Max and then Netflix and then all over the place. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, it was wild. You know, so but yeah, i I'm glad that it's starting to have ah a little bit of a comeback.
00:11:38
Speaker
So you know what what I thought it was interesting. We went Black Friday shopping early at a mall a couple of days ago. And one of the mall we went to, South Hills Village, just picked up a brand new FYE store. And I thought they were those stores were dying out because some of you don't. Yeah.
00:11:55
Speaker
You know, so it's like a brand new storage. So we went in, they had no physical media at all, except vinyl. That was it. No, wow no blue, no d blue brick, nothing, nothing but vinyl. and So it was just like a, like a collectible store. Wow. Okay. I mean, that's sad. Yeah. I mean, I remember when Suncoast video closed.
00:12:23
Speaker
we're devastating Because that was the only place you could get like a widescreen. you know if you if you walk to If you went to your local Walmart and wanted the Star Wars trilogy special edition, the only one version they had was the standard 4x3 for the the old square you know old style like square televisions.
00:12:44
Speaker
yeah If you wanted the you know if you wanted the the versions that didn't have the side wings cut out of the picture, you know you had to get the widescreen and you can only get that at a specialty store like Suncoast. Now, all you have to do is go to Amazon. That's right. and pretty much yeah and Pretty much everything comes in widescreen format now because all the TVs are widescreen.
00:13:11
Speaker
yeah Absolutely. Thank goodness for that. I used to hate the widescreen. I used to hate those black strips at the top because I also used to fill in the whole screen. Then I didn't realize until later on, I was like, wow, you see more of what's going on in the movie when it's widescreen. So now it's like, I want it that way. Wow.
Star Trek Conventions and Experiences
00:13:32
Speaker
So that was a very interesting segment.
00:13:35
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah, that, that definitely took some twists and turns that I was not expecting. But it was, it was a fun way to nerd for a few minutes. Right. Right. alright So before we get into our main topic and Chris kind of sort of teased it a little bit earlier, before we get into our main discussion today, Chris, you took a little road trip a few weeks ago to New Jersey. Yes. Yeah. We, my wife and I went to the caucus.
00:14:03
Speaker
So what in yeah what in the world took you to Secaucus, New Jersey, please? So it was actually a Star Trek convention. and It was nice. It was the first Star Trek convention for creation entertainment that I've gotten to go to since 2021. And that one was also in New Jersey, but I think it it was in a different city. But this one we went to and it was loaded with with some really top notch Star Trek celebrities. And I decided, says I have a big collection of, or not super big, but I've got like 14 photo ops that I've had over the years of the different people.
00:14:37
Speaker
and I decided i was gonna save money and i was gonna try to get a big lump of them all at once. And i ended up saving enough money over a thousand dollars i saved my copays from work. Nice over a couple months and i'm getting sixteen photo ops with the so the celebrities.
00:14:57
Speaker
I knew you did a lot. I did not know that 16 was the number. 16 was the number, yes. but So some of the ones I got were, let's see, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Marina Surtis, Todd Stashwick, let's see who else, Jeffrey Combs, Casey Biggs, Vaughn Armstrong, Max Grojenschik,
00:15:20
Speaker
The the young lady who played Renee Picard, but her name is I'm blanking on the name. Mm-hmm. I got a picture with her The see Dawn Lewis. She does Captain Freeman's. Yes, our trick lower decks But I also wanted to get that picture because I remember her playing Jaleesa back in the 1980s and 90s say calm a different world Oh my yeah, that was me. That was like, yeah, this is great. You know, I got like a two-for-one with her and then see Connie Newsom I got J.G. Hertzler. Oh, Marta. Yeah. Got me some more talk. See who else? Oh, man. Oh, Robin Curtis, who played Savick in Star Trek three or four. Yes. She was a sweetheart. She was the first picture I got. And she asked my name, shook my hand. like it She was amazing. That's awesome. Yeah. So you had a little bit more of ah a back and forth compared to other photo ops.
00:16:17
Speaker
a little bit. it It depended on the situation, but it was always them who initiated it. Dawn Lewis, again, who you know she actually I was the first in her line, and when she came in, she was in such a good mood, she saw me, she started singing to me, and I'm like,
00:16:32
Speaker
well huh Oh, another one I got was her Melanie Smith. She was the third actress to play Torres y'all on Deep Space Nine. And okay, he was another one who she actually started dancing with me. I was like, you didn't want to see me busting a moogle.
00:16:49
Speaker
but just to do it with her because she's initiated it I was like okay but this is great so but there were a couple other people like I got let's just I got 16 all together and another fun thing that happened at the convention was that I was runner-up in a Star Trek trivia contest Oh, okay. So do you remember the question that you lost on? Yes. So it was the, who, the name of Grand Nagus Zex son was named Kras, K R A S. And I got it confused. I thought that that was General Martok's son.
00:17:27
Speaker
but but General Marr talks someone's actually named Rex. So I got I got it messed up. It was crafts and I said no. So that's where I messed up. $100 gift certificate. but Hey, you know, it was so fun to do be on stage and do that kind of stuff. So that way it was worth it.
00:17:46
Speaker
you know Yeah, we got the tour a little bit of the city and I've never been to New York City So actually getting this so look and we can actually see the skyline of New York City from the caucus It was just it was the coolest thing and then also the first but on the Friday that we were there we went into was an Outback Steakhouse, I think it was and the the lady sat us down. Two boos behind my wife were Von Armstrong, Jeffrey Combs, and Casey Bakes. I was like, holy cow. I made sure I just... Because I didn't want to be that fan that was going to be like, oh, they're going to stare and geek out. So I just kind of sat... at it and Was that my booth? I basically just stared at Brandi the entire time.
00:18:29
Speaker
I'm like, I don't want them thinking I'm creeping out on them or anything, but that was the coolest thing, you know, just to see them just having a regular meal like anybody else. Yeah. Yeah. And I think most stars you like that, you know, they wouldn't mind you saying hi, but they don't want you to spend it, you know, like a bunch of time at their table asking them inane questions or, you know, interesting them while they're trying to enjoy a peaceful meal. But, you know, if you walk past their table and just kind of gave them an acknowledgement or a nod or a wave, you know, I'm sure they'd be okay with that.
00:18:57
Speaker
Oh, sure. I'm sure. I just wanted to play it safe. Yeah. I fear whenever I meet these people, I'm going to do something dumb and um it's going to ruin my experience for the right, you know, and the memory of it. So I try to be very calm, cool and collected anytime I meet them. Anxiety is wonderful, isn't it? Oh yeah. It's a real blast.
00:19:19
Speaker
You know, so but yeah, so that that was a lot of fun. They now they weren't planning on bringing another convention back to New Jersey for next year. But because of the good turnout that they had, they actually decided they're going to go come back to New Jersey next year. And and this is creation, I assume. OK, yes. And they're they're the the one that ran Star Trek Las Vegas all those years, right? Yeah, they still do. Yes, it's just they don't have the official license now from CBS.
00:19:48
Speaker
right right because they because cbs gave it to the same ones that did star wars celebration and then they canceled the the one and only yes you know convention they were going to have the the star trek mission chicago right yes yeah it was mission chicago and and i think they were supposed to do mission seattle and then it got canceled that's right so they did they did chicago but seattle got canceled that's right yes Yeah. And then now nobody has in the license or they, or repop still does, I guess. Yeah. As far as I know. Yeah. Um, I'm just, I keep keeping my fingers crossed. The creation is going to get it again because that convention in Vegas, a man is top notch. know and And I haven't been to it since they lost the license. I see pictures though. It just doesn't seem to have the same feel. And I mean, I could be wrong. It's just, just from an outside perspective, having gone three times.
00:20:45
Speaker
You know, they just like certain things like they don't have corks bar anymore. And they have like the official war gal coast, like things that they used to have, you know, but it's still, it still would be fun to go. And Brandi and I are actually talking about going back to Vegas in 2026 for the 60th anniversary. Star Trek convention. So that would be fun. Yeah. So whether they have the license or not, who knows, but it'll still be cut. It'll be cool. Yeah.
00:21:09
Speaker
All right. oh Yeah, I'm glad you had a good time. Like I had no idea that you got 16 photo ops. I knew I've been following you on Facebook and, and you know, kind of seeing the the things that you had posted, but I just must have lost count or not seen all the posts because, you know, Facebook doesn't like to show you everything. Exactly. Exactly. Only one. I think only one other person beat me out. He had 17.
00:21:33
Speaker
I mean, that's still impressive. Like, guess you know what, though? It is the most exhausting thing because I had to go back left and right and right. I mean, for hours. Oh, I'm sure, you know, like they were a lot of them were like right one after the other. So it's like I was exhausted by the end of the trip. Oh, but I can imagine. So, yeah, so we got you and I were going to Steel City Con over the weekend. Any photo ops plan there or?
00:21:59
Speaker
As of now, no. Now, originally, Laurie Metcalf and Sarah Gilbert from Roseanne and the Conners were supposed to be there. I think they had scheduling conflicts, so they had to cancel. Those two I would have gotten because next to Star Trek, Roseanne was like my obsession growing up as a kid. Yeah. Show. Yeah, that's such a great show. It was. It really was. So i was so they're gone. So I'm debating whether or not to get to Mora Morrison.
00:22:28
Speaker
I mean, yeah, that that would certainly be worth it. who i like i'm sorry go ahead yeah i I don't know if I'd want to do a photo op or get something autographed though. here yeah are you're more the Are you more of an autographed person or are you more? ah Honestly, i'm not I'm not really either. i you know I've only really done one professional photo op and that was with ah Was with Giancarlo Esposito and Mingna Wen and that was that not the last Steel City con but the the one in the spring Okay that we went to and I've never done autographs either like, you know waited in a line like that and paid for an autograph But I just I don't know. I think I would I know you get a little bit more time to interact with The stars when you do autographs. Yeah, then you do with the photo op
00:23:19
Speaker
That is true. Yeah. In the photo, opp you're like you're seeing them for like three seconds and then out, you know, onto the next one. That's why when you asked me on Facebook, if I had told Todd Stashwick that we had tried to get the interview ah before the that the the strike, I said, i I wasn't able to because I have seconds. Yeah, I didn't figure I just I was more doing this because because you were yeah I mean to know how how little time you have from, you know, yeah.
00:23:49
Speaker
You have to have that one thing plan that you want to say. and exactly yeah And really all I did was high and put my hand out. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty much. He's cool as hell though. Oh yeah. Yeah. He's, he's, he's definitely a nerd's nerd. And yes that's why I was so excited to talk to him. But unfortunately that, that SAG after strike just threw a wrench in that plan. And absolutely I don't know if you'll ever get that opportunity again, but I want to try. now now i have it Now I have to make it a mission to try. Yes. I hear what you mean. All right. So again, and anything else with you about Steel City Con that you're excited about?
00:24:27
Speaker
No, I'm I'm kind of excited for some of the panels because, you know, that's I love the Q and A's. I think it's fun to to get you know to listen to people ask, you know, questions to the the stars and hearing the stories that they have around them. I usually try to, at you know, throw out a couple of questions depending on who it is. And yeah, I always have a good time in the Q and A panels. Those are fun. Oh, I can't remember specifically which one I'm most excited for, but. Mm hmm.
00:24:56
Speaker
I mean, there's the Star Wars Clone Wars one. So what about the American pie reunion? You know, I do. I did like the original movies. I like the first few. I don't know. It's I probably haven't watched an American pie movie in, oh, gosh, at least 10 years. But I remember, you know, that those kind of came out right at the tail end of my high school career and writing and going into college. So it kind of hit for me at that at the right time, which was kind of cool. But yeah, I just haven't really given those movies a thought in 10 plus years.
00:25:35
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah, I haven't seen any of them in a while either. But boy, do they bring back some memories because the first one came out in between graduating high school and starting a cow. So right there in like in 1999 was, you know, so those I mean, even their class, like their characters graduated class in 99. So yeah, i like right in their age group.
00:25:56
Speaker
Yeah. It'll be cool to see them on stage and hear about some of the things they have to say. I think who's going to be there? Tara Reed, Thomas, Ian Nichols, Sean. What's stiffer? What the hell? Sean William Scott. There you go. but John William Scott. And I think there might be one. Oh, Shermanator is going to be there. Yes. He was added, but I saw that Eddie K. Thomas, who played Shitbreak, the one that actually, you know, the one that slept with Stiffler's mom, he's not going to be there. He canceled.
00:26:25
Speaker
Oh, that stinks.
00:26:30
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I was kind of bummed when I saw that he had just, you know, he had had to cancel, but yeah. So, you know, even though there's not anybody really want to necessarily get a photo up with, there are a few people that the panels will still be fun to watch either way. You don't always have to go and get that one picture or whatever. Just fun to see the people in general just talking and sharing memory. So yeah.
00:26:52
Speaker
Yeah, and it's I don't know. it's i I only missed the last Steel City Con, but it seems it feels like it's been so long since I've been to one. And I only sat one out. Mm hmm. Yep. I'm surprised how fast they went this year. This this whole year just flew. Yeah. Well, I guess that's not a bad thing, right? and No, hopefully 2025 will bring a lot of happiness for a lot of people. Yes, let's hope we we shall see.
00:27:19
Speaker
ah So, okay.
Celebrating 'Star Trek Generations'
00:27:22
Speaker
So what, uh, what do you say we move on to our topic of discussion for this episode? Sure. Absolutely. Don't get technical with me. i It is the beginning of wisdom. Not the end. ah gen uses their horse knowledge anything Okay. So Chris, you kind of tease this a little bit, you know, towards the beginning of the show, but.
00:27:46
Speaker
black November was the 30th anniversary of the the first feature film to have the next generation crew, and that's Star Trek Generations. But it was kind of a a nice little handoff because you know you had and you had crew from the the original series ah in parts of the movie in addition to the next generation crew. So a very good way to you know to appeal to fans of the original crew and there you know and give them a final send off as well as introduce you know the the film going world to the next generation crew.
00:28:23
Speaker
So it it's yeah, it's the 30th anniversary of that film. And Chris, I know you said that you did and ah ah an episode of Pittsburgh's Trek chat all about it, but I wanted to you know discuss that here with on our show because it gave me a reason to watch Star Trek Generations again, a film that I probably haven't seen since I was in college. So it's been about 20 years since since you've seen it.
00:28:49
Speaker
ah Probably because i you i I had watched all of the feature films after I got into and into really got into Star Trek in college. But I just remember at the time, maybe I didn't have enough appreciation for the characters. But yeah at the time, i i just never really I didn't really enjoy the movie, I guess.
00:29:10
Speaker
But i was I was eager to watch it again, having seen pretty much everything that Trek has produced, including all of the new series. And I wanted to give it you know a new set of eyes. So thank you for for reminding me that this is the 30th anniversary. So we could talk about it, and I could watch it again.
00:29:28
Speaker
Absolutely. So I've been dying to ask you since you said you rewatched it. What have what are your thoughts now, 20 years on? i thought it was I thought it was really, really fun Star Trek film. I mean, I don't know why it got so much hate upon initial release. because yeah it's i loved There were so many things that I could i picked out that I really enjoyed.
00:29:54
Speaker
I guess but the the the the first thing that I noticed was that quick cameo from Tim Russ. I recognized his voice and I knew that it was Tuvok, but I didn't see the Vulcan here. And of course it was you know in the 23rd century, who not the 24th century that Tuvok would have been in. So yeah, I was just like, I knew the voice. I'm like, ah, that's Tim Russ. Okay, that's that was really cool.
00:30:21
Speaker
I forgot about the the emotion chip with data. I really, I still don't like you know the init like the the the first part of that where you know what or after after the chip goes all weird.
00:30:36
Speaker
I don't know. I just I don't know what bret Brent Spiner's directions were for that sequence, but I just didn't like the the portrayal of the character of Data. So it's still that that yeah that's still just didn't resonate with me. But what did what do you think of that? You know, the that that particular plot point of of the film?
00:30:59
Speaker
i that So there are several different thoughts I have about it. So I enjoyed that they used the movies to expand data and using the emotion chip was was key in that. And we got to see a lot of that being expanded on in first contact as well. But I think they did a better job of it in first contact. Yes, yes. I think they used it for too much. I think the comedic stuff went too far in generations and it ended up kind of making some some groaning moments and it's like data shut.
00:31:27
Speaker
but When they're on the Amargosa Observatory trying to open up the door to the solar probe and he's just laughing and there's Mr. Tricorder. It just, it gets old after a while. Yeah. I was, I'm wondering if they really didn't have much direction and they just kind of let Brent Spiner do his thing because, I mean, I have to imagine he's pretty good at ad-libbing or improv.
00:31:52
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. As a matter of fact, that whole part on the bridge before the Klingon attack where he's singing life forms on his his control panel, that was all improvised. they didn't That was not in the script. He ended up doing it. They filmed it and put it in.
00:32:09
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I just had that feeling that he was, he's one of those classically trained actors that could probably really improv well and yes completely deviate from the script. And it, and it, and it could be better than what's initially w written.
00:32:24
Speaker
Absolutely. I mean, he did really well with it, with what he had. But like I said, I think when it went on into first contact, he seemed to be a little bit more serious with it. Like he was using it to experience the anxiety when he was starting to go near the board, but he shut it right off. But then the board queen ended up using it as a way to manipulate him into kind of serving her.
00:32:43
Speaker
it Is this the movie went on? Yeah, so it it made more sense there But I'm glad that they actually they brought it in as a because it was the beginning way for data to grow Now they didn't use it in insurrection, which is kind of odd. They just mentioned it one time and then in nemesis It wasn't brought up at all So it's kind of ambiguous whether or not he had the even had it in him or on or what. Right. Well, I mean, I guess they just decided not to make it a part of the script or, you know, give it any attention. But I guess maybe we're just supposed to believe that it was there and it was yeah functioning properly and much more subtle then than yeah then when he initially applied it.
00:33:27
Speaker
Right. And here's another thought possibly too is for generations, first contact and insurrection, there were two years in between the movies. After insurrection, there was a four year gap before Nemesis hit. So maybe the plot point just kind of got forgotten and lost. You know, I mean, it's fun to speculate any, and it really doesn't matter, but but it's, it's, it's interesting. But I think it, I'm glad they, they put it in. I'll just say that. Yeah. Uh, I got,
00:33:56
Speaker
I, you know, this time watching it, I really paid attention and and caught the line where Jean-Luc Picard, he was talking, he was processing his grief over Robert and Rene passing away. And the one line that he says that don't be no more Picard's. Obviously, we we know that's not true anymore.
00:34:18
Speaker
Mm hmm. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing how that you never when that was made, you had no clue that in 30 years they were going to bring his actual son in with Dr. Cruster. Right. Right. as that So so the the Picard blood line still carries on.
00:34:33
Speaker
Yep. And now even, you know, the big, big thing that happened in the movie besides Kirk was enterprise D being destroyed, which was a bright sequence. I mean, they did a really good job filling that and putting all that together. But now we know the enterprise D survived.
00:34:48
Speaker
which was really cool. I, for years, I say, look, the saucer behind and that was it. But all these years it was being rebuilt and and then given a new star drive section. So that was, and it got us a real resting place. and Yes. Yes. And it was critical. It was integral to resolving the the conflict with the Borg in Picard. So absolutely. So yeah. So the enterprise E and the D both got to do some Borg stuff in the, in the movies and going on into Picard.
00:35:18
Speaker
Yes. Of course, Malcolm McDowell is always a treat to see, you know, as, as Soren, but he, he's just such a great villain. Anytime he pops up in a villain role, you know, it's going to be stellar. who Absolutely. Yeah. he He really knocked it out of the park. And you know, what's interesting about him being in this role.
00:35:39
Speaker
it There are two conflicting stories about his thought with this. so what What drew him to the project was is he wanted to be the one to kill Captain Kirk. in the, that was big for him. what He's like, I know I'm going to be now I'll be at going to conventions and I'll be a trivia question and answer. but That was, I found that. So I saw that in the research I was doing. And then, but there's also areas where he basically said that he thought the script was shit. Those are his words, not, that was his word, not mine. Yeah. but and Like something McDowell would say, yeah. Exactly. Exactly. So he didn't seem thrilled with the script, but now, but he knows he was going to have such an important piece of track history. Yeah. So, you know, so, but yeah, I mean, he put his, he put his all into the role. Definitely.
00:36:26
Speaker
the yeah I do want to circle back around to the saucer section crash landing on on the planet and how good that still looks today. like you know And it just goes to show you that that with all of the the computer generated graphics and everything that can be done with CGI, it will never, ever replace practical effects for their longevity and the the fact that they still look good regardless of the age of the movie. I mean, look at the original Star Wars.
00:37:00
Speaker
You know, we're talking, ah you know, almost 50 years now. we're We're three years shy of the 50th anniversary of of Star Wars and right.
00:37:12
Speaker
And let's, you know, it let's the the practical effects, the the dog fights, everything still looks good in Star Wars because of the practical effects. And, you know, just like with Star Wars, the generations, you know, Paramount had ILM.
00:37:29
Speaker
come in and do the special effects for the film. Mm hmm. Absolutely. Now, if you want to actually watch them, how they did the saucer crash on the generations DVD and and on the Blu-ray and their special features, they have a whole thing that shows that whole sequence of how they did it. with The models and and stuff. I don't know if you have them on physical media or not, but they. Yeah, there's the whole thing.
00:37:54
Speaker
You know, I don't think that I do or you know what? I don't know. I will have to go and look. Honestly, I may I may have it. I am fairly certain that I bought all of them at some point on some format more than likely DVD if I had to guess. So yeah it would it would not be on the original DVD release that was like in the late 90s. OK, special edition one that came out around 2002, 2003, something like that. Yeah. And I have no idea which version I own.
00:38:24
Speaker
OK, yeah, yeah, that the if it's the two disk version, then you should be fine. OK, good to know. So. Yeah, the one thing that I I don't I don't know, again, I don't know if I just hadn't been.
00:38:41
Speaker
as familiar with the characters. I think ah I think I had seen generations before I had really watched all of Star Trek The Next Generation. So I thought I was it was really fun to see Lursa and Beethor being involved in in the movie. And, you know, of course, the the the their ultimate fate just couldn't have happened to nicer people.
00:39:06
Speaker
Yes, exactly. They deserved it, very much so. yeah It was great that they brought them back for one last little adventure, because they were a great duo, a sister duo. He loved to hate them.
00:39:18
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, and who does not love the part in Generations where they're looking at Dr. Crusher and they're showing their rotted out teeth and saying how human females are so repulsive. that It was perfect. It was perfect. Now there was actually plans. They weren't originally going to kill off Lursa and Bator. They were actually going to survive. The the two of them and a handful of the Klingons are on the ship were supposed to have transported down.
00:39:43
Speaker
Viridian III when the ship got destroyed and they were going to end up meeting some of the Enterprise survivors and and they're going to have some sort of battle in a jungle is what I found out, but they nixed that. Okay. Any particular reason why they ended up nixing it? Not from what I could see in in in the research. I yeah used Memory Alpha as the primary source from the behind the scenes stuff and they didn't really say anything about it, just that it was a little piece that that originally they had considered.
00:40:13
Speaker
Got it. Okay. I mean, I imagine that you really didn't need to have that scene. And I understand it makes sense from, you know, if you're trying to edit unnecessary stuff out of a movie and still preserve the main plot, something like that doesn't need to occur. The, you know, their, their death in the explosion more than sufficient.
00:40:35
Speaker
Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, I guess there was no real point to continue the characters on. I mean, Next Generation was over, Deep Space Nine was going off with the Dominion and everything. And then you have Voyager, you know, they were lost on the other side of the galaxy, so they really weren't needed anymore. Right. Right. Exactly. Now, let me ask you this. Again, we're 30 years out from this movie
Themes of Time and Memory in Star Trek
00:40:59
Speaker
coming out. So Watching it again recently, really the the theme, the concept of time being a predator, this really hit me this time around. you know i thinking I was thinking, you know and i when I first came out, I had just turned 14 and I was in eighth grade. Now we're at the 30th anniversary. I just turned 44.
00:41:22
Speaker
You know, and I was back going, wow, you know, time really is marching on. Now I don't necessarily see time as a predator, like Soren did, you know, it's just something that we all have to live with and go through. yeah But in the last couple of years, losing my father-in-law, losing one of my best friends.
00:41:42
Speaker
It's, you start to see changes. You start to start seeing time catching up with you a little bit. you know And if we're, you know honestly to say it, it's we're half, at least I'll say for me, half my life is gone if I live up to into my 80s. So you know so starting it's starting to catch up. And and I know, um'm hopefully not at the point you have where Picard said, there are fewer days ahead than there are behind.
00:42:08
Speaker
But you do, you sit back and it's like times catching up to you. You're starting to move up to the head of the line when it comes to, you know, people starting to say goodbye. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and it's reflect on that more now. Yeah, it's it's very sobering to to really think about that line 30 years later. And I mean, I don't know. I don't I don't know how to articulate this. I I have had
00:42:39
Speaker
I've had way too many experiences with death yeah and from such a young age too. It's it's marked my life in in quite a significant way. you know just yeah I've lost, I mean, before turning 40, I've basically lost the vast majority of my family, my parents. you know they're you know my my My biological mother passed away when I was in my 20s. My parents, the ones that essentially the ones that essentially adopted me, you one passed away when I was in my late 20s and then the other passed away in February. My dad passed away in February of 2020, plus like aunts and uncles, well yeah like family members and stuff. i
00:43:33
Speaker
I just, I just, I don't know if I have anyone left to grieve other than, you know, my wife's family, of course. who it It's, it's weird. I just, I don't know, maybe I'm just numb to death. Unlike you where, you know, it's, it, things are hitting you, you know, later in your life. Yeah. I mean, before I, my father-in-law died two years ago and then my, my, like my best friend for But my college years, he died. He was 41.
00:44:04
Speaker
last year. And before that was my grandma, my one grandma, she was, let's see, she was, I was like 27 when she passed away. My other grandma died when I was nine, but she had had so many health ailments that we really didn't know her very well. yeah And both of my grandfathers let were not around with my, my, even my parents. So, ah and my parents are still alive. You know, so I've lost a few, maybe little uncles sprinkled in here and there, but like when my father-in-law died, man, that was just like,
00:44:33
Speaker
holy cow. yeah you know He had been around my whole adult life and it's just gone. And so like just kind of tying it back with the whole generations thing, it's like you know now time all of a sudden is like, oh, okay, now now you got to understand now everybody's starting to get old. you know You're on borrowed time with everybody. And then like Dorothy said in the Golden Girls, it moves you up to the headline.
00:44:55
Speaker
and on its And then on top of that, you know, we ah I'm sure you know this, too. We've been seeing a lot of celebrities passing away that we spent a big chunk of our lives. why Sure. Sure. no and lot And for us, sake that seems like family, too. Right. You know, right so it's like it's like, holy cow. what's What are we in store for next?
00:45:16
Speaker
You know, it's, it's, it's just weird, but I, i want i when I watching the end of generations, I tried to understand what Picard was saying to Riker is that time is a companion that kind of basically follows us our entire lives, you know, and that time it's basically what, what it's precious and we make what fit what we want.
00:45:37
Speaker
You know, so we, if we want to be miserable and and do things that and waste that time, that's on us, but we can make it the best that we can, essentially. Yeah. yeah yeah and And I think that's why he was he wasn't even upset. I was like, why is it nobody upset that the enterprise was destroyed? You watched Star Trek III and they were like near york tears watching it disintegrate in the atmosphere of Genesis. and ah For the and for the data or the next generation crew, they were all like in the movie like, oh, okay, whatever, see ya.
00:46:08
Speaker
whatever And so Picard was like, I, I doubt this will be the last ship to bear the name enterprise. It was true. But I mean, that was the whole thing with time as a companion is that this was a good part of our lives, but we have to say goodbye. We have to move on to new things. And that's okay. Yeah. And I mean, you still, we still have all of the memories of the time spent with those that have left.
00:46:37
Speaker
Exactly. And you know it's funny you say that because I lead a grief counseling group every other Saturday at my practice. And that's one thing I always tell the people in the group is that that's one thing death can't take away is the memories, the feelings that we've experienced. you know We can choose to focus on a lot of those those horrible things, but it will never take that that stuff away. that's That's safe with us forever.
00:47:06
Speaker
keep it locked away. and you know Recall, know remember it whenever you're you know you're you're thinking about the person that you've lost. you know when When things get difficult, yeah focus on the memories, focus on the positive, the happy. who Yeah, because i mean the other option is those memories didn't have to happen at all. Right. you know so it's yeah All right, so that was pretty heavy. Yeah, I was. We're we're we're definitely checking a lot of boxes here with this episode tonight. Certainly. And I didn't think generations was going to do that, but it did. So let me ask you this. What were your thoughts about Captain Kirk's death? Um. I. I felt that it was I felt that he earned it. I felt that it was. Yeah, I.
00:48:01
Speaker
I like that he got to be the hero one last time the and, you know, be critical to the survival of the Federation as he had been so many times before. You know, having that opportunity and, and and you know, hit kirk realizing that the, you know, the him living in the Nexus and.
00:48:29
Speaker
ah you know, essentially having an ideal life with no worries, no cares. It's still, you know, the the call of of his duty as a Starfleet captain still broke through the happiness. And, you know, he got to have one final one final ride into the sunset.
00:48:49
Speaker
Mm hmm. Absolutely. You know, and and I think he died super heroically. A lot of fans at the time were really upset when with the way he died falling off a bridge, you know, but if you think about it, I think they're just looking at it as all he should have died more heroically. But he did his eye hero. I mean, he literally fell to his death on a bridge that came, you know, was that broke off its suspensions. And he died trying to save 230 million people.
00:49:17
Speaker
So, I mean, he, how much better could you have had in terms of his death? I think ever, if you asked, I guarantee you, if you would have asked all those fans, how do you think he should have died? That would have been better. They would have all looked and got, you know, cause they know they thought they they have an idea or thought that they think it could be better, but they wouldn't know what to say. You know, I mean, originally he was supposed to die by sore and shooting him in the back with this disruptor that was actually filmed.
00:49:45
Speaker
And then test audiences didn't like it. So they redid it. Yeah. Yeah. That, I mean, that's a terrible way to go out. That is not a heroic death at all to be shot in the back as your. Whatever. Yeah, exactly. I mean, any, how many movies so in Hollywood over the decades and they had people getting shot in the back and that's how they had their hero goes out. I mean, this was unique for any early, any cinema.
00:50:11
Speaker
Yeah. And I think everybody always has their expectations so high, you know, your own head cannon, the way you, the way you want it to go may not all is not ever.
Fan Expectations vs. Reality
00:50:22
Speaker
ah Let's be honest. The way you want it to go is probably not going to happen exactly that way.
00:50:28
Speaker
Read all the stuff in Star Trek and Star Wars and Doctor Who fandoms all online. You know, they're always mad about something, not going the way they thought it should go. But I mean, it just can't please everybody. Yeah, but that's the beauty of fandom is, you know, we are passionate about the things that we love, but At the same time, yeah, I'm not a professional writer and I probably could not write a better ending to anything or better, you know, better into a character's life than, than what gets put up on screen. Can I, do I reserve the right to be, you know, grumble about it and complain about it online? Absolutely.
00:51:11
Speaker
me But it doesn't mean that I can do it better. Mm hmm. Absolutely. No. And i'm I'm the same way. I can't write to save my life, you know. So I i think I do think that he went out super heroically. And he went out fitting for Captain Kirk, I thought. so Yeah. And, you know, I love the the riding horseback scene, you know, that it still is so beautifully shot. Like it's the music.
00:51:42
Speaker
i I swear I heard a variation on the DS9 theme in that music sequence when Kirk is riding horseback through in the Nexus. who did you Did you notice that or? i I don't think I've ever noticed that, excuse me but I'm willing to listen to it again. Because I'll be honest with you, the sound gen the soundtrack for Star Trek Generations is my favorite of all the Star Trek movies. so So that's, I have no problem going and listening to that again and trying to hear it. Yeah. Uh, yes. So the, okay. So the, this is the fanfare. Okay. So I'm looking up on Google. So yes, the only distinct theme theme from the film blends the theme from the first season and notes from the deep space nine theme, as well as parts of Alex courage's Star Trek theme. So.
00:52:39
Speaker
It it it actually combines three different themes in the yeah in that piece. Wow. OK, that's so that's a neat little bit of trivia. Cool. Boom.
00:52:52
Speaker
Yeah, so it's a version of the DS9 theme with bells, whistles, and gongs. And which which song was this when they were doing go and jumping the ravine? so this is Yeah, so this is the the fanfare when Picard and Kirk meet, and then it continues through the horse horseback riding sequence, yes. Gotcha. OK. OK.
00:53:13
Speaker
OK, so I did hear notes from the DS9 theme. I wasn't I wasn't imagining it. All right. I feel validated. There you go. go go So tell me, when since you were 14, whenever Star Trek Generations originally came out, where were you the first time you saw it?
First Encounters with 'Star Trek Generations'
00:53:35
Speaker
I was in North Huntington, it was a little theater that's still, the building's still there, but it's been closed for years. And we saw it on screen number three, if I remember correctly, it was screen number three. We went to the three o'clock or 3.15 showing because my dad, who was a tree cutter at the time, had work and he ended up having to come home a little bit.
00:53:57
Speaker
He had to come over around one, like two o'clock, something like that. And so we had to wait. So my twin brother and I actually spent that cold morning into the afternoon watching next generation reruns from season four. Nice. Yeah. So that was that was a big thing that we did. And I remember afterward, my mom went home, my dad my brother and my brothers, we went to Hoss's in Greensburg to eat after that.
00:54:22
Speaker
ah And then we went to Toys R Us out there in Greensboro and brought to Star Trek, the next generation, Borg Cube. And sadly, only one of those three places still remains. Yep, exactly. Do you remember the North, the North, North Norwin Hills? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was up. It was up on the hill, which is where right now where Aldi.
00:54:46
Speaker
is the Hallmark store. Yeah, all of that there. That's all up there now. But yeah, the building just sits there. It was a gym for a while after the theater closed. And then- Yeah, that looks like fitness. Yep. And then I believe during the pandemic, Accela used that space as their vaccine clinic for the COVID vaccine.
00:55:09
Speaker
Oh yeah, for at least a year that was over not maybe longer. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And now it's just nothing again. Exactly. Yeah. I just keep saying to myself, please don't tear it down. Please don't tear it down. Like that would be like destroying a piece of my heart because I've seen so many movies there are growing up.
00:55:26
Speaker
You know, so but let me ask you, what were your memories of going to see it the first time? So I never saw it in the theater. I did not. I did not. had I didn't. My Trek fandom didn't really begin until I was in college. So, you know, early 2000s. So the way that I would have watched Star Trek Generations would have probably been because ah it it was most likely during college. It probably would have been either going to the video rental store in in the college town where where we went to school, or it was Netflix. I got it from the Netflix DVD by mail, which had just really started up and at that time that I was in college. so those would have those It would have been it would been renting it in some way or fashion. Okay. I got you. I got you.
00:56:17
Speaker
All right. I'm glad that you enjoyed watching it again since you hadn't seen it in 20 years. That's yeah it's cool to get your your perspective on it after so much time. Yeah, yeah. Like I said, it's definitely having much more experience with Trek, having the benefit of time. And, you know, yeah, it it definitely was more enjoyable, more poignant for me this time around. who You know, there's some really interesting facts about how this movie all came about.
Development Insights of 'Star Trek Generations'
00:56:49
Speaker
So they started talking, Paramount reached out to Rick Berman during the sixth season of The Next Generation to start discussing this.
00:56:56
Speaker
And it was originally Brandon Tartikoff, who was the head of Paramount Pictures, and then eventually Sherry Lansing, who wanted this movie to happen. And then they wanted it to be obviously a torch passing from the original series to the next generation. And so there were several people who actually came in as writers for this movie. And well, Ronald Moore and Brandon Braga, they were the ones who obviously won.
00:57:17
Speaker
But there was a Maurice Hurley, who I think written a couple episodes of The Next Generation. He actually came up with a script where there were some sort of interdimensional beings coming into, into our realm or whatever. And Hard was going to create a hologram of Captain Kirk to help him with the crisis. Obviously that didn't follow through. I can't imagine what the kind of story that would have been, you know, but we're on a war. Brandon Braga actually said that their initial head thought was having a ah a movie poster of the two enterprises actually fighting each other. But but they said they would they had no idea how they can make that kind of movie work. So they realized they needed some sort of thing that spanned two generations with Guinan as kind of the focal point. It's like bringing the two together. And that's how it started. Yeah. So was this the was this the the only the first movie to establish that what Guinan's race was?
00:58:13
Speaker
Yes. yeah so They left it very ambiguous, almost like Yoda. Yes. you know like They left it but like that for years. It won't be Goldberg explained part of part of what her... She never really was supposed to ever tell anybody, but I guess what she had said, if I'm remembering correctly, was, like she obviously, we knew she was already 1,000 years old or something like that, but that she was so old she could actually be maybe a oh grant multiple great-grandparent of some of the Enterprise crew members.
00:58:44
Speaker
but that That was kind of like the the thought that Gene Roddenberry had about her when they first developed the character, but they didn't mention her as an Ellorian until this movie. Now, a year earlier on Deep Space Nine, there was ah an episode, I believe it was called Rivals, and it was work corrk had there was this guy named Martis who actually opened up a rival bar across from Quarks.
00:59:06
Speaker
And, but his character was an El Orian and they, Odo even said to Martis in the episode, you El Orians, you're a race of listeners. And so that carried on into generations. I'm just trying to throw some fun little trivia facts about some of this. I don't know how much you know, but, um, they did want to have all of the original cast back, but they couldn't get it really to work. So they scaled it though, or they were going to have Kirk, Spock and McCoy. So, and they also offered Leonard Nimoy the chance to direct the movie, it's which a lot of people don't know.
00:59:36
Speaker
Yeah. huh So, but a couple of little things happened. So Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelly felt that they gave really good the buys to their characters in Star Trek six. And Leonard Nimoy was even quoted as saying that he just felt that there was no role that Spock didn't do serve any purpose in the story. And you could just give it his lies to somebody else and it wouldn't matter. And then also and he, will as the director,
01:00:00
Speaker
He but in the past he used to be ah able to like he helped develop the stories. Yeah, have it so yeah order movies in this this case He realized that Rick Berman was the one making the decisions and that he would just kind of have to go along with them So he opted out But then I think they're able to get James Guana Walter Koenig to come in and that's how that all came in to be Yeah, that's, that's really cool. I love, ah I love the behind the scenes trivia of, of how these things come together. And yeah, I can understand why Nimoy would
01:00:34
Speaker
not have wanted to get back you know behind or get back in the director's chair again, get back behind the camera if he didn't have that ability to shape the story. Exactly. Exactly. and and you know He was a very elegant, very and good person good kind-ordered person. so you know He respectfully bowed out. It wasn't yeah some big you know chaotic thing like some people do.
01:00:58
Speaker
But there's also some other little bits of trivia. I don't know if you watched during the Enterprise B, the science officer there with the red hair. he is That's actress Jeanette Goldstein. And she played, she was best known for playing Vasquez in in Aliens.
01:01:16
Speaker
She also played John Connor's stepmom. Oh, okay. Now, the reason why they put her in the movie was because Vasquez was the actual was the inspiration for the creation of Tasha Yar for the next generation, which came out a year later. and So yeah, and originally, the character's name was going to be Macha Hernandez, because they wanted her to be a feisty Latina like Vasquez was an alien.
01:01:42
Speaker
and Denise Crosby got the part so they made her more of a Ukrainian kind of background But that's why she's the science officer in that movie is a nod To that that beginning of the next generation. oh That's really cool. Mm-hmm trying to think if there's anything else That might it be kind of little fun facts. Oh Not that I can really That's what I can really think of at this point. Well, Brandon Braga and Ron Moore, they actually said they thought that they wrote all good things as well. They thought that was the better script than the generation script. I mean, yeah, I think so. I would have to agree. But it yeah the thing is, that's you know, that's a 90 minute teleplay versus a 90 minute feature film where you don't you don't you have to
01:02:33
Speaker
You have to make the movie have a mass appeal to the general audience, right? you that The Star Trek fans that consume everything, that know everything are such a small percentage of the film going, the cinema going crowd. So you don't have the, you know, like where all good things was a culmination of seven years of of the show, of TNG. g This was meant to be, you know, a closure for the original series cast and introduction to the next generation class cast for the general movie going audience. So, yeah, I you wouldn't have the ability to create such a poignant script for a feature film like that than you would a series finale.
01:03:26
Speaker
Absolutely agreed agreed. Mm-hmm, you know, and I can't imagine them making generations for TV It just only he wouldn't have that grand scale that it did actually in on the big screen No, no and you would never have the Enterprise D crashing the way that it did and and no how it did if it were a made for TV film Mm-hmm. Absolutely But i mean yeah so that's pretty much my basic spiel about star trek generations i love the movie the movie is very special to me because i got to watch the next generation brought me into a star trek fandom when i was six so watch it leave the small screen and graduate to the silver screen.
01:04:07
Speaker
You know was was really cool I was devastated when the enterprise was destroyed cuz that was like my ship you know and that so that was rough But you know we got the e couple years later And that was really cool too and then the enterprise d30 years later gets its proper send-off You know you can't ask for anything better right very true so yeah, I i think I definitely have a greater appreciation for Star Trek Generations that I did originally. i'm I'm glad that I took the time to watch this. I'm glad that you this, you know, that you propose this as an episode topic for us, because I don't know if I would have gone back and watched the film if it hadn't been for this. So thank you.
01:04:51
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. You know, in two years, maybe we'll do the first contact 30th review. and And that one I've seen more recently. So yeah, it'll it'll be interesting. i I do really. I do remember one of my favorite parts of first contact was James Cromwell as Zefram Cochran. So I think he I think he plays that part very well. Yes, he does. So I'm excited if we do revisit that in a couple of years, i'm I'm excited to to watch that again. Absolutely.
01:05:21
Speaker
All right, so I think that's going to do it for this episode. We are just over an hour. So I think we'll be back. Yeah, we'll be back in January with our next episode. And I think by that point, we'll have a good bit of Star Wars skeleton crew ah available to watch. It may even be finished by the time that we record again. So if that's the case, I think that will be our topic of discussion for that episode. So. I'm really excited for that show, by the way. i yeah i The more press, the more information that I see about it. I'm really excited.
01:05:57
Speaker
And actually by the time that this episode comes out, the two episode premiere of skeleton crew will have already been on Disney plus. They, it was originally supposed to be on Wednesday, December 4th, but they moved it to Monday, December 2nd for the two episode premiere. So oh yeah yeah <unk>yd I thought it was going to be Tuesday. So all man, you just made my night. Nope.
01:06:21
Speaker
Nope. And and as we're recording, however, that is tomorrow. Monday, December 2nd is tomorrow. So, yeah, really excited. It's it's and it's new Star Wars Eve. And I'm really excited to to really see where where where this skeleton crew series goes, because if it's anything like what the publicity is, the hype machine is building up for it. It's going to be a very much an 80s kid venture film like The Goonies.
01:06:50
Speaker
Uh, but it's going to be, uh, you know, in, in Star Wars and it's going to be multiple episodes. And I mean, we've got Jude law. why This is going to be, I'm really, really excited for this show. And I'm hoping that this age as well, and that I'm still really excited about the show after it's run.
01:07:08
Speaker
Oh, that's great. Just as a side note, when I was out Black Friday shopping with Target Friday, they already had a skeleton crew figure out of Jude Law's character. Okay, okay. There was just one on the peg, but it was there. Hey, the merchandise presence in the stores is good. If you have something coming out around the time that the thing premieres, that's a good thing. That's very good.
01:07:32
Speaker
so Alright, that's gonna do it for us, so we'll see you in January for the next episode of Captain's Logs and Lightsabers. May the Force be with you.