Star Trek: Very Short Treks (Animated ~ TAS 50th) ~~ Possible Spoilers?

corkie · 08-09-2023 4:49pm #1

https://www.startrek.com/en-un/news/star-trek-very-short-treks-announce

10:00 am PT which is 18:00 GMT.

Posting this here in preparation for the episodes, and somewhere to share them and discuss without them getting lost in the general thread.

Hoping they will also be available internationally

corkie · 08-09-2023 6:02pm

Star Trek: very Short Treks | Skin a Cat | StarTrek.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xD7QCSjkBc

https://www.startrek.com/en-un/news/very-short-treks-skin-a-cat-comic-chapter-one

^^ Link includes a Comic Chapter

eadrom · 08-09-2023 6:42pm

Well that wasn’t very good.

pixelburp · 08-09-2023 7:37pm

Ahhh I laughed; totally surreal but it made me chuckle the more ludicrous it got. And props to Ethan Peck for lending his voice.

Inviere · 08-09-2023 9:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121086585#Comment_121086585

Indeed, you're being very kind there too.

Kurn · 08-09-2023 10:52pm

I enjoyed it. Light simple little trek romp.

breezy1985 · 09-09-2023 2:12pm

Twas funny enough. The opening and battle animation were great too.

Spear · 09-09-2023 2:16pm

The basic joke is okay, but it gets stretched out a bit too far.

Nice recreation of the 70s animation syle though

AMKC · 09-09-2023 2:31pm

OK not what I expected but it was funny even if it was a bit dragged out lol.

pixelburp · 09-09-2023 2:41pm

Wasn't that familiar with the Animated Series, I wasn't aware of the character M'Ress. Ahem. My Google search history will never be the same, lol. No, I have no shame.

corkie · 09-09-2023 4:12pm

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/M%27Ress

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Edosian

M'Ress Played by: Majel Barrett

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek%3A_The_Animated_Series

New characters, such as Arex and M'Ress, were also featured. The show was the most expensive animated show on the air at the time, primarily because six "name" actors from Star Trek: The Original Series provided the voices for their characters.

pixelburp · 09-09-2023 7:16pm

Oh, my searches went way further than that corkie 😆

Stark · 11-09-2023 11:53pm

Well that was a case of "all our professional writers are on strike, get us a couple of 8 year olds who aren't afraid of a bit of scab labour" if ever there was one.

corkie · 12-09-2023 10:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121099437#Comment_121099437

I believe these where produced well before the strikes, so can't be used as an excuse, how else would they have got the below to give their voice?

voiced by cast members from across the Star Trek universe, including icons Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker, Doug Jones as Saru and Armin Shimerman as Quark, and a new line-up of exciting voices, including Ethan Peck as Spock, Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, Celia Rose Gooding as Uhura, Connor Trinneer as Trip Tucker, Bruce Horak as Hemmer, Noël Wells as Tendi and the legendary George Takei as Sulu.

Spear · 12-09-2023 7:12pm

Animated series aren't covered by the strikes apparently.

corkie · 12-09-2023 8:43pm

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek%3A_very_Short_Treks

it is "anything but canon".

At least they are getting wiki page as officially Star Trek.

The captain tells M'Ress there's no time to argue, because they have "bigger fish to fry."

"You want to fry me?!"

This, in turn, offends an Antedian ensign.

I knew we had seen that species in live action. Assassins in (TNG: "Manhunt") also in (LD: "An Embarrassment Of Dooplers")

corkie · 13-09-2023 6:03pm

Star Trek: very Short Treks | Holiday Party | StarTrek.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txQqpGr1qQw

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Holiday_Party_%28episode%29

Edit: - This link contains the second chapter of the comic.

https://www.startrek.com/en-un/news/very-short-treks-holiday-party-chapter-two

Spear · 13-09-2023 6:16pm

Funnier than the first, but that's possibly one of the darkest pieces of trek ever.

Also, Saru in a future uniform? That seems too deliberate given the care shown otherwise.

pixelburp · 13-09-2023 7:18pm

Oh man, that had a dark streak; I know deadpan Spock not getting humour has been done - but not this macabre!

Also, I miss Hemmer. He was a good character and it's a shame he was chosen as the Dramatic Death of season 1.

13-09-2023 8:25pm

Oh that was great.

Hemmer was (like Shaw) a missed opportunity

Stark · 14-09-2023 12:03am

Okay that was a lot better than the first one.

DoctorEdgeWild · 14-09-2023 12:37am

Ah, much better that second one. First one felt like a massively missed opportunity. So many creative people love Trek and would kill for the chance to write for it. Second one seems to 'get it' a little more. No problem with the occasional comic moment in Trek but not to the extent of LD for me, although anything that gets more people into Star Trek, the better.

Short Treks would be a great vehicle to try out some new writers, new ideas, cast the net a little wider to find new directions. All while staying 'safe' and keeping the long term fans on board.

eadrom · 14-09-2023 12:41am

That was pretty good!

Greyjoy · 16-09-2023 12:45pm

Much better than the first episode (which I've seen described as a SNL sketch that just keeps going for too long). Spock's line of "She has dumped me for other men many times" got a good laugh out of me.

corkie · 20-09-2023 6:03pm

Star Trek: very Short Treks | Worst Contact | StarTrek.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bij0nWXBKHI

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Worst_Contact_%28episode%29

https://www.startrek.com/en-un/news/very-short-treks-worst-contact-chapter-three

Spear · 20-09-2023 6:19pm

That last one didn't work for me. The core concept isn't bad, but it goes too heavy on the kids gross out humour too quickly. If they had ramped up more subtly or kept more to the vein of microwaving fish it might have landed.

AMKC · 20-09-2023 8:26pm

I liked Rikers solution to that. This specious are not clean destroy their warp drive and get the hell back out if here. They seemed far too stupid to develop warp drive if you ask me. Riker made the right decision. Well done Riker.

20-09-2023 9:03pm

This is why they do pre-contact prep

pixelburp · 23-09-2023 11:46am

Oof that Worst Contact one was terrible: nothing inherently wrong with gross out humour, but there is an art to it all the same; this was more like a bad sketch comedy set, the gag being to just say the lines without any kind of wit.

StevenToast · 23-09-2023 11:52am

Star Trek is dead....

Just leave it alone.

pixelburp · 23-09-2023 12:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121146306#Comment_121146306

Huh? Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds says otherwise.

23-09-2023 1:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121146306#Comment_121146306

Just because Clem Fandango got to be on Trek and you didn't

eadrom · 23-09-2023 2:14pm

I don’t like these shorts. The original animated series had a bit of class to it. A little childish maybe but it wasn’t just dumb scooby-do antics and slapstick. If anything the tone was oddly serious and earnest.

These shorts aren’t funny, imo, and certainly don’t do anything to honour the old animation.

pixelburp · 23-09-2023 3:11pm

For context I think these shorts have taken inspiration from Sealab 2021, or Space Ghost Coast to Coast; that was where my brain went at first when I realised they were going for pure comedy with the TAS style.

eadrom · 23-09-2023 5:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121146948#Comment_121146948

Fair enough but a bit incongruent. I’d have liked to see a bit more TAS and also SNW and TNG in the classic TAS style, considering it’s the show’s anniversary, but in the style of Space Ghost or Sealab?! Who asked for that.

Just feels like they’re actively taking the piss rather than celebrating or respecting the original.

corkie · 27-09-2023 6:02pm

Star Trek: very Short Treks | Holograms All the Way Down | StarTrek.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPCGkHjsK9M

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Holograms_All_the_Way_Down_%28episode%29

https://www.startrek.com/en-un/news/very-short-treks-holograms-all-the-way-down-chapter-four

AMKC · 27-09-2023 6:23pm

That one started of good and just ended silly. Like the last two parts should have been either at beginning or in the middle of it. A pity.

27-09-2023 7:09pm

Damn, don't you give me random Prodigy after doing it dirty

Spear · 27-09-2023 7:13pm

It was dumb and slightly amusing, but was mostly coasting on the admittedly rapid fire guest stars.

pixelburp · 27-09-2023 7:42pm

Haha I loved that. Incredibly silly and surreal, but laughed all the way through the inanity. And the cameos must have been the easiest work asked of the actors in donkeys; I wonder after his voice being "off" during his Lower Decks appearance, did Armin Shimerman wear the false teeth to make the voice more authentic?

AMKC · 27-09-2023 9:22pm

Was that supposed to be Archer on The Enterprise NX-01 or who was it?

Spear · 27-09-2023 9:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121166556#Comment_121166556

Trip wasn't it?

pixelburp · 27-09-2023 9:41pm

Yup, it was Trip and sounded like Connor Trinneer was voicing him n' all.

corkie · 27-09-2023 9:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121166556#Comment_121166556

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121166600#Comment_121166600

In order of appearance, "Holograms All the Way Down" features cast Connor Trinneer (Trip), Jonathan Frakes (Riker), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Noël Wells (D'Vana), Angus Imrie (Zero), George Takei (Sulu), Doug Jones (Saru), Bruce Horak (Hemmer), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), and Bonnie Gordon (Computer).

Plus Background characters.

Don't know why I bother posting the wiki links, if nobody checks them?

Stark · 27-09-2023 10:03pm

Really enjoyed the first minute but then it got a bit too frantic.

Greyjoy · 28-09-2023 10:44pm

I thought this was easily the best of the animated shorts so far. It felt like they were escalating the joke instead of just repeating it like a bad SNL sketch the way the other shorts did. Sadly the pay-off to the short with the final joke felt just random and flat.