All Access Star Trek - A TrekMovie.com Podcast TrekMovie.com editors Anthony Pascale and Laurie Ulster

[Discovery 508 review starts at 15:17] Laurie’s back from vacation, just in time for Anthony to fill her in on the latest about Paramount’s attempts to find the right buyer. Not a lot of other news this week but they catch up on a comic book milestone and some nominations for IDW. They talk about Star Trek: Discovery‘s first appearances on the Nielsen charts and play some audio from Tony’s recent interview with Doug Jones (Saru), then launch into their review of episode 508, “Labyrinths” with bonus commentary from co-writer Eric J. Robbins. Tony and Laurie agree it was an excellent episode weaving in Burnham’s character deep dive with the Breen plot action. They wrap up with updates on some local Star Trek conventions.

[Discovery 507 review starts at 24:00] Laurie is still away on vacation, so once again Shuttle Pod’s Matt Wright joins Anthony to talk about the Trek news of the week, and again we start with the chaos at Paramount Global as they continue talks with Skydance and Sony/Apollo, with our analysis of what this all could mean for Star Trek’s future. In better news, the Star Trek franchise just won a Peabody Award. We then catch up with the latest from some Kirks: Chris Pine wondering why Star Trek 4 needs yet another screenwriter, and William Shatner pondering the possibility of returning to Trek through the magic of CGI de-aging. Turning to Star Trek: Discovery, they get an update from Doug Jones explaining his mid-season absence (he took time off to promote Hocus Pocus 2) before rolling in some audio from Tony’s new interview with actor Elias Toufexis, including what it was like for him to perform as L’ak in “Erigah” in full makeup in a bed for the whole episode. The avowed Star Trek fan also took on a nitpicky question about the Breen from “Erigah” as well. NOTE: The full interview with Elias will be going up on TrekMovie.com this weekend.  We then rolled in our previously recorded review with Laurie for “Erigah” where she and Tony agreed it was a strong fast-paced episode that got a lot done for the season plot and the characters, with a lot of fun from Reno and more. Matt sticks around for bits of the week, where we take a look at Michelle Yeoh’s Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a recently unearthed film from one of the fist Star Trek conventions in the 1970s.

[Discovery 506 review starts at 21:39] With Laurie away on vacation, Shuttle Pod’s Matt Wright joins Anthony to talk about the Trek news of the week, starting with the chaos at Paramount Global with the CEO leaving and competing bids to buy the company. They also catch up on Toronto’s new “Star Trek Stage,” get an update on TeakTrek from PanCAN PurpleStride, and consider the value of Star Trek teaming up with World of Tanks. Matt and Tony also take a look at fan efforts to support (and maybe even save) Star Trek: Lower Decks. Turning to Star Trek: Discovery, they play some audio from Tony’s new interview with Mary Wiseman talking about Tilly’s adventure in this episode and her potential future. The podcast then rolls in Tony and Laurie’s previously recorded review of “Whistlespeak” where they agree it is a rich episode that is a bit of a throwback to classic Trek. Matt sticks around for bits of the week, where we take a look at Laurie’s European adventure with Little Riker and wish veteran Star Trek director Ralph Senesky a very happy 101st birthday.

[Discovery 505 review starts at 17:00] Anthony and Laurie start with a Star Trek: Strange New Worlds production update, then round up the latest on the William Shatner documentary, a new Discovery coffee table book, and IDW’s “Star Trek: Celebrations” comic. Then they play some audio from Tony’s recent interview with Carlos Cisco, co-writer of this week’s Star Trek: Discovery episode, “Mirrors.” After that, they give “Mirrors” a full review; Tony liked it more than Laurie, but they both enjoyed the Moll and L’ak backstory. We also have a quick reminder about the PanCAN Purple Stride walk happening this weekend, which you can hear all about in our supplemental interview released on Monday. They wrap up with two podcast recommendations: first a deep dive into the competing Paramount bids on The Town, and a recent interview with makeup legend Michael Westmore on The 7th Rule.

In this supplemental edition of All Access Star Trek, Anthony and Laurie are joined by Armin Shimerman, Kitty Swink, Jonathan Frakes, and Juan Carlos Coto (Manny Coto’s brother) to talk about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, the Purple Stride walk on April 27th, the importance of early detection and family support, the improvements in detection and symptoms to watch out for, why there’s hope for the future, and the power of Star Trek fans to do good in the world as a group. They also talk Trek, covering topics like Ferengi makeup new and old, the cancellation of Lower Decks, the definition of “filler episodes,” the differences on set between Star Trek in the ’80s and ’90s vs. now, and more. John Billingsley was going to join the group, but was unable to make it at the last minute. He will be at the Purple Stride walk! If you can, please join Purple Stride, donate to the cause, or both. If you can’t, please spread the word via social media and word of mouth. purplestride.org/TeamTrek

[Discovery 504 review starts at  26:00] Anthony and Laurie start with the good news that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been renewed for another season and the bad news that Lower Decks will end after its fifth. The Trek on TV talk continues with Alex Kurtzman’s description of the challenges of making Trek for streaming networks and the benefit of shorter seasons, plus Martin Quinn’s comments about being the first actually Scottish actor to play Scotty. Then they start talking movies: the announcement that the origin movie has been officially added to Paramount’s production slate and a cryptic conversation on The View about Whoopi’s potential involvement in a Trek film. Next up, the return of the original Enterprise model to the Roddenberry family and the latest on Star Trek: Discovery—and then it’s time for a full review of Discovery episode 504, “Face the Strange,” which Tony and Laurie consider the highlight of the season so far. They wrap up with the invoking of Star Trek at a White House State Dinner and the Trek-adjacent series The Librarians.