Nichelle Nichols - Ep 24
The Unofficial Trek Podcast
This week we want to celebrate the life of a person whose impact was much bigger than just her role on Star Trek. We’re talking, of course, about Nichelle Nichols and her recent passing. She played Lt. Uhura. A female, African American officer who was stationed on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise. In the 1960s, African American characters did not have prominent positions of authority. So Lt. Uhura, a woman as well, was a special character. Nichelle was not only a ground breaking, African American actor, though. She was also a ground breaking for all women. Lt. Uhura was a strong...
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Assignment Earth - Ep 23
The Unofficial Trek Podcast
It's nostalgic when contemporary Star Trek producers touch on characters and ideas first presented in The Original Series. And that’s what’s happening in Star Trek Picard Season Two. The character Tallin is an agent from an advanced civilization, the same group that placed Gary seven on Earth in 1968. It’s a nice way to tie in The Original Series episode, Assignment Earth. This week, co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto talk about that show and its various iterations. It was first presented back in 1968. *** In The Unofficial Trek Podcast, hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto...
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Composer Jerry Goldsmith - Ep 22
The Unofficial Trek Podcast
With the recent release of Star Trek The Motion Picture: The Director's Edition on 4K Ultra HD, we thought it might be fun to take a look at one of the film's major contributors. that would be composer Jerry Goldsmith. His work on Star Trek The Motion Picture created the musical template for the franchise for the next 26 years. Goldsmith re-imagined what Star Trek music could be in 1979. He created a score unlike anything that had come before. This week, co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto talk about this award-winning composer who made a lasting impact on the franchise. His legacy is...
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Ronald D. Moore - Ep 21
The Unofficial Trek Podcast
This week, we take an “unofficial” look at one of the most prolific, and profound, writers in all of Star Trek, Ronald D. Moore. Co-hosts Kelly Casto and Bob Turner talk about the Star Trek writer and producer in this week;'s episode of The Unofficial Trek Podcast. Of course, Ronald D. Moore is not to be confused with Star Trek visual effects supervisor Ronald B. Moore. Ron had a unique journey to Star Trek. He was a fan who wanted to write for the show. He got his break by passing along a script to a tour guide during a Star Trek set tour. It finally reached Michael Piller who bought the...
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TMP in Ultra HD - Ep 20
The Unofficial Trek Podcast
The release of the 4K, Ultra HD version of Star Trek The Motion Picture, The Director’s Edition, is big news. Fianlly fans can see the film the way director Robert Wise intended. Star Trek The Motion Picture was originally released in theaters in 1979. It culminated ten years of hard work, false starts and frustrations. The movie ran 132 minutes and it brought live action Star Trek back. But because of problems during production, the film was little more that a rough-cut. The version we saw in theaters was never intended to be the final edit. But because of marketing commitments, director...
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Scotty's Time Paradox - Ep 19
The Unofficial Trek Podcast
This week, co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto explore a time paradox that came out of The Next Generation and involved a character from The Original Series, our beloved Montgomery Scott. The issue comes from Mr. Scott's appearance in The Next Generation episode Relics, and the movie Generations. It’s a bit of a head scratcher why this in-universe paradox happens. Also, it's very curious why writers and producers allowed such a mistake to occur on their watch, especially in light of the fact that the same group worked on both productions and those shows were only separated by two years!...
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The Enemy Below - Ep 18
The Unofficial Trek Podcast
The Enemy Below is the story of a battle between an American Destroyer captain and a German U-Boat commander during World War II. It stars Robert Mitchum as Captain Murell and Curt Jurgens as the German commander. As you watch The Enemy Below, similarities to the Star Trek episode Balance of Terror jump out. Trek writer Paul Schneider had never written a science fiction story before. So when Gene Roddenberry asked him to submit ideas to the show, Schneider looked to The Enemy Below for inspiration. When Roddenberry saw what Schneider did, he got behind the effort. The...
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Two Spocks - Ep 17
The Unofficial Trek Podcast
This week, we take a look at a strange phenomenon that has appeared in Star Trek TV, movies and books. It's the idea of having two Spocks in the story. That's right! These are stories that feature two different versions of the Spock character. This week, co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto will explore this phenomenon in this episode of The Unofficial Trek Podcast. *** In The Unofficial Trek Podcast, hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto give their "Unofficial" take on the Star Trek universe. From 2019 through 2019, Bob and Kelly hosted the show 70s Trek. It was a look at the events that...
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Behind the Scenes of The Alternative Factor - Ep 16
The Unofficial Trek Podcast
This week, we go behind the scenes of an episode many consider to be one of the worst in all of Star Trek: It’s The Alternative Factor. But could it be there were real reasons why this episode ended up…well…the way it did? Author Marc Cushman wrote a series of books called “These Are The Voyages.” They are an in-depth look at the production of each of the 79 original episodes. So when we thought we would do a show about one of the worst episodes of Star Trek ever, we broke out March Cushman’s books. But what Cushman describes shocked us. The Alternative Factor IS a bad episode, but...
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Ranking the Star Trek Movies, Part 2 - Ep 15
The Unofficial Trek Podcast
This week, co-hosts Kelly Casto and Bob Turner rate the Star Trek Movies...Part 2. Bob and Kelly will rate them from worst to best, starting with Kelly's number 7. The idea of rating the Trek movies was inspired by a recent Slashfilm.com poll that aksed readers to identify their favorite movie in the franchise. The film that got the most votes was…you guessed it…The Wrath of Khan. In fact, 21% of the votes went to this film. Here are the vote percentages for the other movies: Star Trek The Voyage Home received 16%, Star Trek First Contact and the JJ Abrams reboot Star Trek (2009)...
info_outlineThis is an Addendum to Episode 11 on The Multiverse. In it, Co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto have some additional information on the topic of parallel universes.