Commentary: Trek Stars: The Work of Star Trek Creators Outside of Star Trek

April 2013
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Thu, 25 April 2013

Commentary: Trek Stars 25: "The" or "A"?

Braga Part 2: FlashForward.

Four years after the cancellation of Enterprise, Brannon Braga teamed with David S. Goyer, his producing partner on Threshold (no, not that one), to create a television series based on Robert J. Sawyer's novel, FlashForward. The series begins with a worldwide blackout, in which everyone on Earth sees two minutes of the future. The show was an obvious attempt by ABC to fill the gap created by the end of Lost. But unlike Damon Lindelof's hit, Braga's series lasted only one season.

This week, Mike and Max are joined by Mike's wife, Melissa, to disect Brannon Braga's non-Trek show. We discuss the calculated attempt to make FlashForward the "next big thing," the differences between the series and the book, the cliffhanger ending, Braga's use of time travel, and how easy it would be to determine if what the characters saw was "the" future or "a" future.

Direct download: ctrek-025.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00pm MDT

Thu, 18 April 2013

Commentary: Trek Stars 24: Get Off My Threshold!

Braga Part 1: Trek.

Brannon Braga has written more hours of Star Trek than anyone else in history. But despite being responsible for some of the best work the franchise has to offer, many fans tend to focus on his lesser works.

This week, Max and Mike begin a new series which looks at the work of Braga as a television creator. In Part 1, we’re joined by Josh Bradley of the Soulless Minions of Orthodoxy to talk about Braga’s work in Star Trek. We cover the Next Generation finale, “All Good Things…”, his two movies, Generations and First Contact, his work as showrunner on Seasons Five and Six of Voyager, and his creation of the last Star Trek series, Enterprise. We also try to figure out why people hate “Threshold” so much.

Direct download: ctrek-024.mp3
Category:Brannon Braga -- posted at: 9:00pm MDT

Thu, 11 April 2013

Commentary: Trek Stars 23: More Like LindelON!

Lindelof Part 4: Recap.

Since the end of Lost, Damon Lindelof has written two movies, with another two coming out this summer. After one more movie next year, he will return to the small screen for a new series on HBO.

This week, Mike and Max look back at Lindelof’s first two movies, Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens, and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. We also look ahead at his next three, J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek Into Darkness, Marc Forster’s World War Z, and Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland, as well as his upcoming television series, The Leftovers, based on the novel by Tom Perrotta.

Direct download: ctrek-023.mp3
Category:Damon Lindelof -- posted at: 9:00pm MDT

Thu, 4 April 2013

Commentary: Trek Stars 22: A Tragedy of Alien Biblical Proportions

Lindelof Part 3: Prometheus.

23 years after his groundbreaking film Alien, Ridley Scott returned to the beloved franchise with Prometheus. He hired Damon Lindelof to re-write Jon Spaihts’s original screenplay. With Lindelof, the movie became less of a prequel to Alien, and more of a standalone story inside of that universe.

This week, Max and Mike are joined by Mehul to talk about Lindelof’s second feature film. We discuss whether or not Prometheus lived up to the expectations of Alien fans, its depiction of science, the differences between the Spaihts and Lindelof drafts of the screenplay, Scott’s influence over the writers, the intention behind distancing Prometheus from the rest of the franchise, and the career path that Scott has taken in later years.

Direct download: ctrek-022.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:00pm MDT