Star Trek Continues Is Finishing The Original Five Year Mission

First, I'll get on my soap box.  I'm a fan of the independent people out there creating new entertainment content through crowd funding and sharing it on sites like YouTube for free.  I actually enjoy some of that more than what's on corporate TV.  Shows like Journey Quest, Standard Action and Space Janitors are fun to watch.  Then, you have fan content that is created using other people's IP, such as Chad Vader Day Shift Manager, Adult Wednesday Addams and Star Trek Continues.  At any moment, the IP holder can shut you down as they did with the Addams show.

I don't much care for the current Star Trek product.  In my opinion, it's gone too far from the Roddenberry vision, and that's my problem with all of these "reboots" that claim to make it better that we remember.  Hollywood has run out of ideas.  With technology as it is now, it's cheaper for fans to create content that looks as good visually as the original.  That's the case with Star Trek Continues.  Vic Mignogna is a life long fan of the original Star Trek.  William Shatner's James T. Kirk was a hero of his.  When he started to create Star Trek Continues, he called it a love letter to the original series.

He invested his own money into creating the first episode and gave it away on YouTube for free.  Having shown what he could do, he started crowd funding efforts to pay for new sets and new episodes.  Every episode is free.  He's not doing it for the money.  None of the crew is.  They do it for the love of the show.  The show has gained the respect of Gene's son, Rod Roddenberry.  Chris Doohan, the son of James Doohan, play Scotty.  Even William Shatner himself had praise for Vic's performance as Captain Kirk.  What could possibly win the praise of these people?

For starters, they have the look of the old show down to a science.  The lighting is dead on.  The ship looks like it did then.  The sounds and the uniforms are perfect.  The show looks like it could have picked up right where the original left off, which is the intention.  They are completing the original five year mission.  We have different actors playing the iconic roles, and though they all have big shoes to fill, they do an amazing job and show respect to the original show in their performances. 

Vic always said he was planning 13 episodes, but that has been cut to 11 due to new guidelines from CBS and Paramount on what can be done.  This happened after a company using the Star Trek IP made an attempt to profit from what they were creating, which is a direct violation of the IP.  This caused guidelines to be released that severely limit what can be done. 

Another well known fan creation even had actors from the Star Trek franchise playing their famous roles, and they've gone back and cut out all mentions of Star Trek IP from that show.  The writing is on the wall.  With the IP holders flexing their muscles, big efforts to create new fan content will fade away.  I'm not happy about that, but this is what happens when you play in somebody else s sandbox.  We've seen some interesting Middle Earth projects get shut down by The Tolkien Estate.

If I had the power, I'd authorize Vic and his team to do as many Star Trek Continues episodes as they need to tell the story of the rest of the original mission.  They aren't rewriting the original cannon.  They are simply telling the rest of the story.  Paramount and CBS will probably never go back to that.  The movies are creating history in an alternate timeline that many of us couldn't care less about.  However, having Star Trek Continues around gives us at least a taste of the Star Trek that many of us prefer.  I think Roddenberry would approve.  I'm disappointed that there's only three more episodes left, but I understand why it has to be that way.  Vic never intended any disrespect to the copyright holders.

In the episode that was just released a few days ago, Still Treads The Shadow, Vic takes on a dual role as Captain Kirk and old Captain Kirk.  Wouldn't it have been cool to have Shatner play old Kirk?  The older Kirk was created after a previous encounter with the USS Defiant.  A second ship in another time line was created.  The current Kirk came back safely from his first encounter with that ship.  In the other time line, the other Kirk was created and abandoned by the crew.  His only companion was the ship's computer.  It evolved to be his friend and protector.

One of the themes of this episode is one in which the other Kirk is coming to terms with the fact that he has lost all of those years out in the middle of nowhere.  All of his friends and family are gone.  He was abandoned.  There's the idea that he couldn't do some of the things he wanted to do because he was so far away.  I can relate to that a bit.  Years go by quickly, and before we know it we're looking back on what we did.   Was it a good life?  Did I make good use of my time, or was it squandered?  The older Kirk also has an over protective ship's computer looking out for him.

There was a scene in sick bay that I'm particularly fond of.  If you remember the sometimes heated discussions that would take place between Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock, you can appreciate this moment.  Todd Haberkorn plays Mr. Spock pretty well on this show, and Chuck Huber plays Dr. McCoy.  The scene had the feel of those old discussions, and it made me smile as I thought back to the days of Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley.  Scenes like that are part of what made the old show so special to many of us.

I'm not giving away spoilers, because you should watch it for yourself.  It's that good.  This was the eighth episode, and you can find all of the episodes on their website.  If you haven't seen any of these shows and you are an old Star Trek fan, you are in for a treat.  You can now binge watch eight episodes.  After you are through, you'll be sad to know that it's not going to be around much longer.  At least we still have three more episodes to go.  Who knows?  Maybe fate will smile on Vic and the talented crew and allow them to continue this show?  The IP holders have the right to decide who can and can't use it.  It's a nice dream anyway.

You can check out the official Star Trek Continues Site HERE