As you probably know by now, Star Trek Continues - the fan series helmed by Vic Mignogna - is coming to a close this year, a little earlier than planned due to the fallout from the Axanar (another production) lawsuit and the ensuing guidelines for fan episode productions issued by CBS.
The cast of Star Trek Continues - Source
Mignogna had planned for 13 episodes in total but now there will only be 11. No scripts were shelved, however, and the original planned story arc for the season will still come to its intended conclusion. You can learn more about this in the interview with Mignogna at the end of this post.
Mignogna plays Captain Kirk as well as being a director, producer, editor and music scorer. It's his baby - he's been the driving force behind the series since day one.
8 episodes of Star Trek Continues have been released to date, the last just a couple of months ago. Episode 9 is due to be released at the end of July.
So what can we expect from it?
Guest Star #1
Star Trek Continues has a track record of bringing in actors well known in the sci-fi genre to guest star on its episodes. This episode is no different.
First up is John de Lancie!...
Vic asked me if I’d be interested in appearing in STAR TREK CONTINUES, and he told me a little bit about the show. I asked him to let me read the script, and I was immediately impressed with it. It’s definitely classic STAR TREK, because it’s a secular moral story and one that I think is particularly poignant in our current times. I believe the material is the most important thing, and this is really good material.
The episode was written by Kipleigh Brown, who appears as Lt. Smith in the series.
De Lancie said...
I'm also very sympathetic to people who put together their own projects. I know how much work it is. And in this case, Vic has his hands in every element of the production. It was an easy choice to say yes because I knew I could be somewhat helpful in a modest sort of way. And I knew I would be acting in an interesting story.
De Lancie said he didn’t really have any preconceptions about Star Trek Continues, since he had not seen any of the series’ episodes.
II have to say legitimately that I was really impressed. There is a lot of attention to detail, and a lot of love went in to all of this.
...he said once he joined the production crew on set in southern Georgia. He said that he was surprised and “got chills” as he walked the halls of the Enterprise.
I had the feeling that I was on a historic set, even if it is a facsimile of the original. These were the identical colors to what was used in the 1960’s, when they were trying to sell color TVs. And the other thing that struck me is that these sets have a certain 1960’s look, from the gadgets to the crew quarters. This had the same look of all the shows that I used to watch as a kid.
de Lancie grew up in the 1950s and said that he didn't get much of an opportunity to watch TV at that time as his parents had taken the TV away. Apparently he wasn't reading enough and his folks thought that the TV was too much of a distraction. His escapism was attending sci-fi movies in his local theater on Saturday afternoons.
Nothing has been revealed about his character except that he has recognizable human traits and deep-seated prejudices, like many of us. It's unlikely that he's playing Q in any capacity.
A convention regular, de Lancie had just returned from FedCon in Germany when he spoke with Star Trek Continues.
I really do enjoy meeting the fans at the conventions. I enjoy being up on stage and answering the questions. And I enjoy having drinks later with the actors. But what is becoming wearisome is the travel – especially if you go overseas. It takes your body about three days to adjust to a new time zone, and then the event is over and you’re heading back the other way.
Guest Star #2
Anne Lockhart may be best remembered in sci-fi circles as Sheba in the original 1978 series of Battlestar Galactica. She's also the daughter of June Lockhart (Maureen Robinson on the Lost in Space series).
I’ve known Vic for a couple of years. He called me one day and said that he had an idea to talk about regarding STAR TREK CONTINUES, which was a guest starring role in an upcoming episode. And I asked him what took him so long! It’s such an honor to be in an episode, because I’m a fan. I love the whole look and the concept of it. And the fact that I got asked to be part of that universe is amazing. I was there before I’d even read the script!
This wasn't the first time she'd worked with de Lancie though...
We did the first two-hour episode of EMERGENCY, a long time ago. I don’t think he remembered being in that one with me. He played a doctor, and I was his patient – rescued from a burning building. I remembered him because he was so dear. Working with John is joyful. There are so many actors who just show up and do it in their sleep. But not him.
Lockhart started out as a child actress, appearing in Lassie in the 1950s. Many years later, Glen Larson approached her about appearing in his then upcoming series, Battlestar Galactica.
The role of Sheba was written for me. I knew Glen Larson because I had done episodes of the The Hardy Boys for him. He sent me the barebones pilot script for Battlestar Galactica. And basically it was about a bunch of guys and a girl who came in every few pages and said ‘don’t forget your laser gun.’ I turned it down. Glen said he could always rewrite the character, and the script went through several re-writes. Jane Seymour didn’t want to do a series. So they killed her character. The character of Sheba was so strong and so wonderful to play – and it was nothing like the original script. I ended up with a better character.
Lockhart currently has a recurring role as a dispatcher on Chicago Fire. Her time was tight due to commitments on that series so on Star Trek Continues...
We worked our tails off. Vic shot over twenty pages in three days. That’s just insane. But that shows how good he is. It shows how good the crew is. I was just so overwhelmed with the commitment and the people who were there volunteering their time, just out of love. It was really a wonderful experience.
More Episode #9 Info
No plot details have been revealed but John de Lancie, Chuck Huber (McCoy) and Vic Mignogna will each be guests at Florida Supercon which takes place from July 27-30 in Fort Lauderdale.
The episode title is “What Ships Are For,” and its World Premier will be at SuperCon (screening details will be on their site).
It should be available to watch on the Star Trek Continues website and on their YouTube channel a couple of days later.
The final two episodes, #10 and #11, are in the can and undergoing post-production. They will form an exciting 2-part finale that will bring a satisfying conclusion to the series and the Enterprise's original 5-Year Mission. Episode 10 is set to premier at Salt Lake Comic Con (the weekend of September 21) and Episode Eleven will have its debut screening at New York Comic Con October 6.
Will you be sad to see this series draw to a close?
Now here's that interview with Vic Mignogna...
