Star Trek Continues? Oh YES it does!
Somehow I found this amazing video on Youtube.com, the first installment of a web series called Star Trek Continues. It's 51 minutes of a show that looks incredibly like the original show from circa 1966. For the most part the actors not only act, but do remarkable impressions of the original cast. Vic Mignogna has mastered Shatner's body language to an extent that is just amazing as well as his....dramatic...pauses!
But more importantly, the show has the look and feel of the original show. It is a relatively low budget affair and does not spend a lot of money on special effects. But Star Trek was never about special effects. Rather it was a prophetic vision of the future. There will come a time, I believe, when humanity really will start to explore the worlds around us and we will look back on these shows as something much more than entertainment.
Back to Star Trek. Special kudos to Chris Doohan, who does a perfect Scotty (perhaps not surprising since James Doohan was his dad!). I was also very impressed with Grant Imahara, who also appears on Myth Busters, who sounds exactly like George Takei's Lt Sulu.
We are also introduced to some new characters, notably Dr. Elise McKenna (Michele Specht, who is Vic's real life leading lady, incidentally).
"Say, you new around here? I'm Captain Kirk..."
The first episode is about a character that was encountered in the original show. The alien known as Apollo revisits the Enterprise, but has mysteriously has aged some 47 years while the Enterprise crew has been only two years removed from the first encounter, shown below.
Note: Most actors are shorter than they appear on TV. Can you guess which one is Apollo?
The old boy actually is very well preserved, I'd say, though under restraint in Sick Bay.
Apollo actually looks great (maybe he really does come from Olympus?). I mean, when I first saw him I assumed that this show must have been shot 20 years ago, but no. This is a 2013 production.
Anyway, Apollo tells us that the realm that the Gods had created for themselves--a kind of Obamacare realm for the Gods--didn't actually work as well as they thought when they commissioned it, and for that reason he now wants to become human and live out his remaining days in obscurity.
But how can he be happy to live down on the farm after being Apollo? Can he be trusted?
Then there is the business of the mysterious extra organ he has (familiar to devotees of the original show). Should McCoy operate on it? He seems quite eager to slice and dice. Maybe I have a corrupted mind, but the solemn discussion of Apollo's mysterious organ made me laugh. It's probably just a prostate problem, gang.
In any case, it is a fitting sequel to the original episode, and Michael Forest is fantastic in reprising his role as Apollo.
The link to the episode appears here:
The show has asked independent bloggers (like me) and fans (like me and you also, hopefully) to consider contributing to the production of the next show. This show a labor of love. Like the original, none of the networks or even independents wanted it, but doggone it, these renegade TV actors wanted to do it, and I think it is great. I waited 44 years for this, and so I've sent a few bucks their way. I hope you do too. You can use the "Kirkstarter" here, and if you are a Trek blogger you can paste it on your site. They've already made their goal, but I say let's keep the funding going! Let's get this show into syndication at least! What the heck, set phasers to kill!
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