The Captain's Blog

2009-07-12T06:30:00.002-05:00

Wow! There hasn't been a post here in two years!

VST closed down - the person who had the domain didn't want to keep it anymore, and very few people were active enough to keep it going. Josh has moved the effort to Monster Zero Productions (MZP), and we were going to start fresh, with re-releases of the new episodes. But then Josh started film school, and has been working on his movie "The Way of Seeming" for about a year now.

So I wonder if this will ever happen now...

From the Ashes

2007-04-15T10:20:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that Frontiers has had some release issues in the past. In fact we may be close to surpassing the record held by our forefather show, Renaissance. But there's another thing about Frontiers that isn't a secret: our readers are the best. They're about as patient as it gets, and when we do put new material out they never fail to share their thoughts for better or worse.

Ever since Ascent came out in November, we've had a number of false starts and hiatus projects that have kind of tanked.

So I'm extremely happy to announce that you can expect Frontiers to return sometime next month. Yes, next month. As in, May. My current target date is for late May, and since I'm writing 3 of the first 6 episodes (I know, I know...) I am saying late May. A specific date will be forthcoming soon.

All of those cool features we had lined up will still be released throughout the course of the season, as we continue to keep things organized and moving. In the meantime, we'll be making blogs and trying to stir interest back up.

I have faith those efforts will succeed as well, since as I said, our readers are the best on the web. And they deserve the best fan fic on the web.

Next month, they'll get it.

Three Months!? Seriously?

2007-02-24T21:12:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's already been three months since our last... well, anything. New release, blog posting, you name it.

Never fear, loyal Frontiers fans. Whilst I've heard it mentioned, in public and private, that our current hiatus brings back unfortunate memories of when our proud forefather and virtual series pioneer Star Trek: Renaissance left and never came back, I want to assure you that we WILL be back.

Our staff drought has come to an end with the addition of two new staff writers: Phil Wilson and Christopher Hare. We were all impressed with the samples these gentlemen sent in and I believe they will make a fine addition to our little family. With Adam Murray Briggs also now occupying the First Officer's chair, we're well prepared for the third season and the Restoration project.

So what are our goals moving forward into the much anticipated third season? Well, we've said a lot about that in the forums already. I have two main goals for the staff this season, so forget everything else you've heard: 1.) Produce high quality Star Trek scripts 2.) Produce # 1 on time, everytime

Sounds simple, right? I don't think the first part of that has ever been a problem. The second, however, has been a recurring issue. All of our first season, and the last few episodes of our second, were released sporadically. So our goal is to put an end to that.

Within the next week or two, we will announce the official launch date of Season 3. This date will be decided upon only after we're sure it will be possible to meet both that date and all subsequent dates. So stay tuned for that and more!

Where ARE You Guys?!

2006-11-15T17:30:00.000-05:00

It's been almost two weeks since the launch of Star Trek: Ascent. I recently received the download numbers for the film, and I must say I'm happy and dismayed at the same time. For the first twelve days, Ascent has received 225 downloads; that's pretty amazing and is almost definitely a record for the series. My thanks to our loyal readers and our new readers alike for making that happen. With that level of interest, it's a sure bet Frontiers will be around for awhile.

Now you know why I'm happy. So here's why I'm dismayed. In our thread devoted to Ascent discussion, we've had maybe three comments from individual users, and that's it. These are our loyalists, folks who I can count on to share their thoughts about every episode. The download activity shows one thing: people are coming but they aren't talking.

I'd like to see more action on our message boards. So if you're a regular reader but not a regular forum visitor, I'd love to hear from you on why you don't share your thoughts too often. Send me an e-mail, a PM at the forums, or even just comment on this blog. I'm interested in knowing what we can do to improve our readers' experience at the message boards and get more folks posting. I would love to have more visitors posting their thoughts on Frontiers (and all of our VST shows) so please, let me know what it is you're looking for in an online community and we shall try to accomodate!

So now that Ascent is behind us, you can expect some serious special features as we prepare for season three. First on the agenda, "Ships of the Wagon Train". This is going to be a unique analysis of ships that our more Treknology inclined fans will drool over. It will feature a look at our "wagon train to the stars". The premiere "episode" if you will, is on 11/29 and will feature a mission overview detailing the scope of this unprecedented adventure, as well as a detailed look at the Enterprise-H and her role in the mission.

Accompanying the mission overview and Enterprise summary, you'll also get our official tech specs on the ship (hopefully full of details for you guys to debate over) and a look at the profiles of her command crew.

From there, each week we will release a new summary with new ships that will be part of the journey. Each will cover one "department" of the mission: explorers, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, fighters, and support vessels. Each department has its own function on this mission and its own number of ships. Not all of the ships are Starfleet either, so keep that in mind as well. You'll get an interesting look at some alien technology and how it stacks up compared to the Federation.

We're also planning a V-DVD release of Ascent, which will include plenty of special features. Stay tuned for news on that as well.

That's all for now. Don't forget to share your thoughts on what we can do to make the boards a more enjoyable and inviting place for all of you to come!

OMFG! The BORG!

2006-10-31T08:37:00.000-05:00

That was exactly the reaction I was hoping for when we dropped the very big bombshell that the Borg are going to make an appearance on Frontiers, and that's pretty much what we got.

So what happened? So far as everyone always knew, I was very much against doing the Borg on Frontiers. That's pretty much true. They were such great villains initially, but their frequent appearance on Voyager, as well as Seven of Nine's constant reference to various Borg-related things, really emasculated them. The addition of the Queen in First Contact, and then again in Dark Frontier and the remaining Voyager Borg episodes, turned them into cookie cutter sci-fi villains instead of the compelling, scary monsters we had come to know on TNG.

One of my rules from the beginning for Frontiers was that we wouldn't touch the Borg. Eventually that gave way to a willingness to explore them if the story was unique and exciting. If it brought the Borg we loved back and yet still evolved them somehow. For the first two seasons of the show, we got a lot of pitches. That scene from "All the World's a Stage" where the Borg are suggested every staff meeting was inspired directly from reality. Jay shared some of our pitches for them in the forums some time ago. If inspiration strikes me sometime I might go back and get all of the pitches verbatim and post them publically.

Jay was always an advocate of bringing the Borg back, especially given the nature of the Frontiers Project. Clearly, if we were going to span the galaxy and beyond with transwarp hubs, the probability of running into the Borg again should be pretty high. And it was Jay's pitch that I ultimately greenlit.

I'm not going to reveal any of that pitch. It looks very different from what the movie ultimately became, but there are still a great many spoilers. Eventually we'll probably post the original pitch, but for now let's just say that the film does achieve what I wanted to do with a Borg story. It brings them back the way they probably should have been all along, in the days of "The Best of Both Worlds" and even "First Contact". But it doesn't let them stagnate either.

So here we are, just a few days away from Ascent's release. There's a lot of buzz around the movie, and I look forward to seeing the reaction to where we took things. Not just with the Borg but with the Frontiers project as a whole. I happen to agree with Joss Whedon's notion that a television episode shows the day-to-day but movies are event moments in characters' lives. This proves VERY true in many ways. Ascent is most definitely an event movie, for some of our characters, for the Borg, and for the galaxy at large.

I'd also like to announce another VST first. What's a big movie release without some previews at the beginning? Don't worry, we aren't going to subject you to thirty minutes of previews for movies no one wants to see, or commercials for cars or trivia quiz games. But we WILL be featuring a special preview of the forthcoming Star Trek: Knight's Haven. That's right, for two weeks only, every download of Ascent will feature a three page preview of Kyle West's upcoming VST series, Knight's Haven.

So when you add all this together, why wouldn't you want to check out Ascent this Friday? Come on, you know you want to. Resistance is... useless.

Gotcha.

It's all about to begin...

2006-10-24T14:49:00.000-05:00

Things are falling into place. The script is done and being polished up. The trailer is about to be released. We've even got a "real" movie poster.

Yessir, things are about to get rolling. Once the trailer hits it's pretty much non-stop stuff until Season 3 premieres in January. We've got a load of features discussed in the previous post and more.

So what's the point of this brief blog?

To stir up some hype, of course. ;-)

Watch this space. The trailer for Ascent should be online VERY soon. (As in hours, not days.)

Countdown to the Trailer!

2006-09-29T06:28:00.000-05:00

It's going to be an exciting few months for fans of Star Trek: Frontiers.

The trailer for our first feature, "Ascent", is done. It's an early cut. The edit is sound right now, all that needs to be done are the sound effects. Those will be added by audio master Henrik. Unfortunately, Henrik is away for a few days, so he won't be able to get to it until he returns. That said, we should have the trailer out by mid-October, two to three weeks before the film is released.

So what can you expect to see in this trailer? Quite a bit, actually. There's a story element that we were originally going to hide until the film was released. But after some discussion, we decided it would probably generate some interest (and spirited debate, I hope) if we released the trailer (which contains spoilers for this element, though not big ones) a few weeks before the film.

So after the trailer, expect to see some more of Paul Weaver's gorgeous artwork in the weeks running up to the film.

The film releases on November 3rd, which is a Friday and one of our previouly scheduled release slots from when S3 was supposed to be out by now. (Ha ha - remember that? Good times.)

But we're not done there. No, no. Things aren't going to slow down in the two months between the feature and the S3 premiere. In the weeks following the movie, we will be hosting a number of special features. Those include:

- Ships of the Wagon Train: A look at the starships that will be comprising the incredible journey to the Great Attractor. We'll have multiple views of the vessel, those tech specs fans eat up, and a brief crew compliment highlighting the major players on each vessel.

- Frontiers and The Great Attractor: A look at the very real Great Attractor (yes, it's a real anomaly and it's really out there).

- To Boldly Go: Highlights from STAR TREK: FRONTIERS. While the specifics of this one are being worked out, "To Boldly Go" will be a Frontiers-exclusive podcast that will feature a look at our first two seasons and, tentatively, real-time commentary from most of our staffers. It will be quite an event, and will be released a week or two before the Season 3 premiere.

I'm genuinely excited - I haven't been this excited about Frontiers in a long time. With the return of Randi and the addition of Adam, plus outstanding stories from our returning writers, and more great teasers and animations from Paul Weaver, Frontiers' third season promises to be very exciting.

And we're just a few weeks away from kicking it all off. I, for one, can't wait. I'm so excited I made this blog entirely about Frontiers. How crazy is THAT?

White & Nerdy

2006-09-13T12:06:00.000-05:00

God, I am so white and nerdy.

I just realized this... Well, I guess I always knew a little, but when you hear a song saying as much, it really starts to sink in. I'm talking about the newest single from Weird Al' - "White & Nerdy". It's a parody of rapper Chamillionaire's "Ridin' Dirty" and it's filled with references to Star Trek - many of them - comic books, and a career in web design.

So either he's been spying on me, or i am the stereotypical white nerd.

I swear, it's like I'm becoming more and more of a nerd all the time. You see, back in high school it was all about wrestling. Then, i got into Trek, and recently I've added the title of "comic geek" to my resume. Oh well, who cares? I suppose there are many things you can be that are worse than a nerd. Still, the song is worth a listen - hopefully I'm not the only one who doesn't feel like it was written about them.

It's available free at Weird Al's MySpace page - http://www.myspace.com/weirdal

Well, the 2006 football season started Sunday for my Panthers, and it didn't start well. They lost 20-6 to division rival Atlanta. I'm not concerned for the season, but it seems like they always lose their first game. This is the 3rd straight year they've lost the season opener, the 2nd they've lost to a division opponent. Well, at least i didn't have to drive seven hours and spend $80 on a ticket to see them lose this year's opener. Last year I made the trip to Charlotte with some friends, and they lost 20-17 to the Saints.

It was announced recently that Ultimate Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley - who has been with the book from day-one - will be leaving after issue #110. This really sucks. His work is outstanding - he really is THE Spider-Man artist. I hope whoever they find to replace him doesn't change the look of the book too much. The good news is that he and writer Brian Michael Bendis will break the record for the longest collaboration between a writer and an artist with issue #103.

Okay... Maybe some Frontiers now? Yeah.

The movie teaser video is VERY near completion. Expect it out sooner rather than later. This one, like every one we release, is the best one yet. I really expect people to be blown away by this, for more than one reason.

Season 3 is shaping up nicely. The first few episodes are really starting to take shape from a story standpoint. We always knew the basics of what was going to happen, but now that we have some details, it's looking great. Expect more than one character from Trek's past to make a guest appearance, and I'm not talking minor characters either. These are MAJOR players - pretty much as big as it gets in Trek, and before you ask, yes, they do serve a purpose story-wise.

A big one in fact.

Speaking of which, one character - this one a recurring character from a canon series - will be joining the Enterprise crew. I've said this before, but now that it's getting closer, i figured it was worth mentioning again. I don't want to give too much away, but this is a character from one of the 24th century shows.

Like that's really a clue ;)

To the Stars

2006-09-09T20:14:00.000-05:00

To say that Star Trek is an important part of my life is to make a gross understatement. I can't say that Star Trek IS my life, but it has inspired a great deal of it. In this, I am not alone. Star Trek means a great deal to a great many people all across the planet. It has touched lives in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, and has influenced everything from social behaviors to technology. For every Star Trek fan under the vast, unending final frontier, there is a story. This one is mine.

The first real memory I have of Star Trek is a scene from the feature film: Spock, on Vulcan. I was perhaps six at the time, and I distinctly recall that seeing Spock stirred within me a sense of familiarity... it called to mind, not specific details, but elements. A ship. Pointy ears. Aliens. I suspect that I had actually seen Star Trek in those years still darkened beyond my memory, and seeing Spock triggered something. For years, I remained vaguely aware of Star Trek. My aunt and grandmother liked it, and often spoke of it. I saw a movie once or twice on television, and I remember going to see The Final Frontier in a drive-in when it came out.

It wasn't until my dad took me to see Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country that I really began to understand and get into Star Trek. Though much of the political subtext and intricate plot passed right by me, I knew that I was entertained, and that I was watching something special. A story with the power to captivate me and move me.

I told my grandmother (who lived with us at the time) how much I enjoyed it and together we rented the entire collection of feature films - from number one through number six. We watched them together, and through me it was as though she had seen them for the first time. Through the sorrow of Spock's death to the humor of the 20th century to the touching moments of Captain Kirk's final log entry, I became immersed in classic Trek. And, it brought my grandmother and I closer than I could have imagined. The time we spent together was quality.

Not long after, my aunt suggested we watch an episode of The Next Generation. I knew nothing of TNG at the time and thought it was a cheap knock-off of my beloved classic series. Still, when we were told Spock would be guest starring, we made it a point to watch. It was that episode - Unification - that truly cemented me as a Star Trek fan. I fell in love with the TNG characters, the new Enterprise, and the more complex and interesting storytelling. Suddenly my grandmother and I had almost nightly appointments to watch TNG reruns during the week and new episodes on Saturday. I became best friends with another Trek fan at school, and he taught me all there was to know about the Trek universe. We explored the technical manual together, went to see Generations together, and we even developed our own starship: the USS Brahms, named in honor of Leah Brahms. To this day I still have tech specs for it. But more than that, I began to understand the ideals of Star Trek. I heard them spoken of in news articles and on television, and I saw it for myself in the episodes. These men and women were not the men and women of today. They had conquered their petty problems and were aspiring to be better human beings simply because they wanted to. They were fair and just and friendly to everyone. They met their enemies with honor and aided those who needed it. These were noble people whose pursuit of higher ideals had raised their entire civilzation out of the darkness and into an age of enlightenment. I saw this. I wanted this.

As time went on, and TNG became DS9, became Voyager, became Enterprise, I continued to watch. Star Trek's culture and philosophy became a part of my life. It left an indelible mark more profound than even religion had at that point in my life. I was grounded enough to understand that the utopian future the Great Bird imagined would probably never happen. I was intelligent enough to realize that its improbability shouldn't stop us from trying. I was passionate enough to want to pass the message on through my own lifestyle and, eventually, through story.

But perhaps even more profound than Star Trek's influence on my worldview was its influence on my personal life. Because of the time we spent together watching Star Trek, I became closer to my grandmother than to anyone else. (Indeed, only my wife is closer to me now.) We became best friends, compasions of the heart. We would talk about episodes and characters we liked, speculate on where things would go... we shed tears at the touching finale of DS9 and shrugged impassively at the finale of Voyager. We watched Enterprise with great anticipation. And through it all, we bonded in a way I just cannot express through words. Even when I married and moved out, I came home every week to watch Star Trek with my grandmother. It was our thing, our special night. And since her passing in 2001, I continue to watch... and I know she's right there watching it with me.

Yes, Star Trek's legacy is beyond anything we've ever experienced. Its philosophy of the future, its inspiration for modern technology, its exciting adventure stories that challenge our minds. But perhaps its most profound contribution is not found in the technology of tomorrow or the philosophy of a better world... but in its ability to bring two people together to sit for an hour, forget their troubles, and simply be. Perhaps that is the real wonder of the final frontier. Two people, together, bonding and united, putting aside their differences and becoming better people for it. Perhaps that is where this trek to the stars truly begins.

Thank you, Gene Rodenberry, for bringing Star Trek into my life and into my grandmothers, and for every ounce of inspiration and hope it has given us. May forty years be just the beginning.

To Boldy Go...

2006-09-08T13:29:00.000-05:00

In keeping with our 40th anniversary of Star Trek here at Frontiers, I will also add my feelings and thoughts on the franchise. I know you'll love it...

I was first introduced to Star Trek around 1988, at the wee age of three. My dad would watch reruns of the original series and the new episodes of The Next Generation. As a child, it was the original show that fascinated me. I can remember watching the heroic Captain Kirk struggle against a terrifying lizard alien and thinking to myself. I love this; that is what I want to do.

Now what does that mean? Star Trek has inspired me to be a writer, an actor, a philosopher, and more simply, a human being. Those original episodes thought me so much about who we are as humans and what we can do. To this day, the original show has probably influenced me more than anything. I loved TNG, but I don't care what anyone says, it was a much weaker show in terms of characters and story. It was virtually impossible to relate to these people that didn't seem real. That's probably why I connected with Deep Space Nine more, it told real stories about real characters about things we could relate to and care about...and besides, it was damn entertaining.

Voyager and Enterprise, sadly, became more standardized popcorn science fiction and lost some of the imagination and depth that the other shows had. But the Star Trek franchise is almost microcosm for the human soul and it too has it moments of faltering. That's why I still don't doubt where the franchise can go because it is a growing show about life...something sadly missing from entertainment today.

So, here's to you Trek and Gene Roddenberry for having this remarkable vision. May the great bird of galaxy bless you all!

This Star Trek Thingie

2006-09-07T20:13:00.000-05:00

Well, I figured I'd chime in here about the whole Star Trek 40th Anniversary thingie and tell you how I found myself delving into the fine world of trek fandom.

My very first memory of Star Trek was when I was a little girl. I have a vague memory of sneaking out late at night due to a bout of insomnia. I was mildly curious what was on television in the wee hours of the morning. After channel surfing a bit, I came across this curious show that had this blond captain and his compadres: A tall, dark-haired man with funny eyebrows and pointed ears and a southern doctor that seemed to say, "Dammit, Jim!" and "Why, you green-blooded Vulcan!" more than anything else.

I'm sure that I don't have to tell you that I was enamored immediately. The first episode I saw was "The Menagerie II" I recall being quite disgusted with the aliens' pulsating heads, but the show was fascinating. I snuck out a few more times to try and catch the adventures of Kirk and crew.

I'll be honest, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is by far my favorite series, which is only confirmed again as I watch it once more in syndication. I know that many are put off by its utopian ideals, arguing them to be unrealistic. But that is what I love most about the show: The hope that someday we can shake the chains of our intolerance, our apathy, our greed and pride to come together and recognize that despite our religions, our traditions, our cultures, our races that we are, underneath it all, humans.

I think that the Vulcan mantra of IDIC sums it up best: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Culture. Perhaps that is why the Vulcans are my favorite Trek aliens.

In closing, I'll add why I participate in fan fiction. It is because, despite Paramount holding the copyrights to Star Trek, it's the fans who keep it alive. There may be no plans to put a television series into production but I doubt it will be forever. 40 years is an incredible legacy for any television series in any genre and Paramount has less to do with that than the fans do.

~Randi

Birthday's

2006-09-06T12:20:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to... ME!

Yes... Well, yesterday anyway, but this entry isn't about MY birthday - it's about someone else's.

Something else's, anyway...

I'm speaking of the 40th anniversary of Star Trek, of course.

We on the Frontiers staff have decided, to celebrate, we're going to post our own personal thoughts on what Trek means to us. You can expect quite a few more entry's, but I figured I'd get this thing started.

As some of you may know, I was introduced to Trek through a very unlikely source - Pro Wrestling. I was a huge wrestling fan back in high school, and when UPN ran a re-run of Voyager after WWE Smackdown! I happened to catch the episode and was hooked. I made a point to do some research into this Trek thing.

Now, like most people who aren't die-hard fans, I just assumed it was shoot-em-up Scifi - all about the action. The fact that it wasn't was one of the major reasons I became so interested in it. Eventually, I re-discovered TNG (which I had actually watched before) and started watching DS9 re-runs as well as some classic TOS episodes, and finally, the movies.

As I discovered, Trek is, in reality, far from the space-action fest many people confuse it with. What it is is a vision of the future - a mostly peaceful vision - created by a man that, despite not being the saint many people think he was - was far ahead of his time. In a lot of ways, Trek is still ahead of the times. I'm not talking about the technology - that's just part of it - I'm talking about its concept of a society where people actually care about others as much, and in most cases more, than they do themselves. A world where people actually took notice of the fact that their world sucked, and actually took steps to fix it.

What a concept. Too bad it took World War III, and first contact with aliens to kick-start the process, but I'm not convinced that even those events would convince today's society to change. Even in the darkest moments of DS9, that vision was there. Maybe not as evident, but it was there, after all, what's the point of fighting a costly war if there's nothing to fight for?

The fact that this vision was often concealed underneath layers and layers of fleet battles, god-like aliens, Romulan plots, and the occasional wise-ass comment from the attending physician changes nothing. It may not have been understood as well by certain producers, but it never fully went away. Even the worst Trek episodes have that spirit about them, and that's what kept it alive - what IS keeping it alive.

Star Trek will be around for as long as people like us keep it alive. All of us. Anyone reading this blog, anyone who reads VST episodes, and anyone who keeps popping those DVD's in from time to time to get their Trek fix. The folks at Paramount may think they control Trek's future, but they don't. There will always be sites like VST, TrekWeb, and fan films like New Voyages to keep the vision alive.

After all, how many TV series last longer than a couple seasons, let alone get to celebrate 40 years of anything?

Clones, Cats, & Movie Facts

2006-08-29T11:34:00.000-05:00

What do clones, cats, and the upcoming Frontiers movie have in common?

Well... Nothing, really.

They do however, share the distinct privilege of being part of what kept me entertained over the last week. Something everyone should strive for, of course.

Now, I've probably spent WAY to much time here talking about my latest obsession - Ultimate Spider-Man, but I have to say - the latest issue (#99 for those keeping track) blew me away. It was the most twists & turns I've ever seen in a comic, TV series, movie... Whatever. The big arc at the moment is the Ultimate re-telling of Marvel's infamous clone saga. The original concept saw a clone of Peter Parker's come in, become the Scarlet Spider, and then briefly assume the Spider-Man identity, all while a failed, deformed clone tried to make both their lives hell.

It's much more complicated than that, but I don't have 80 years to write a re-cap.

The Ultimate version so far is nothing short of excellent. They've taken the bare bones of the original, and shortened it into a series of shock after shock, after bombshell after bombshell. Talk about not knowing where something is headed. My God... I'm completely lost. You can read the issue, and a much more detailed recap for yourself at: http://home.ec.rr.com/nx84/usm_99.html

Okay... Next up, those cats. Well, not cats exactly, but Panthers. The Carolina Panthers, who recorded win #3 of the NFL preseason last Thursday night against Miami. Man... could this really be the year? They look as good as I've ever seen any team.

Just read the latest update to the Frontiers movie script, and it's starting to come together nicely. I won't speculate on when it'll be released, but expect a few hints and teasers in the next week or so that should help shed some light on its plot.

I just read over at TrekWeb that Paramount has contacted Shatner & Nimoy about Star Trek XI. Now, I'd like to see them back as much as anyone else, but I hope they're not actually going to be the stars of this thing. There are plenty of younger actors that could step into those roles well, and while they may never be like the originals, it'd be better than two 70-year-old men trying to play action hero - because you know that's what we're going to get with any Trek movie - action. It was the problem the TNG films faced - too much action, and not enough of what made the series to popular in the first place - the characters.

Thankfully, the Frontiers movie doesn't have that problem. There's plenty of both.

VST to Reality?

2006-08-15T16:21:00.000-05:00

Here goes another one... maybe a bit more VST-related.

Hopefully...

Maybe?

I was reading over a thread on TrekWeb last week about the future of Trek - a popular topic these days - and i began to compare VST's shows to some of the ideas being thrown around. How would each VST series fare if the execs at Paramount suddenly decided to produce it as the next Trek series or movie?

I'll start with the original - Renaissance. The first thing you have to understand about REN is that it's quite a bit darker than anything Trek has done before - yes, even DS9. That would be the biggest thing for audiences to adapt to - audiences unfamiliar with VST anyway - but given the state of most live-action drama's these days, that darkness could help draw in more viewers. At the same time though, there are many hardcore Trek fans who dislike that take on Gene Roddenberry's universe. These same people disliked DS9, and are the TOS-core types, still, there are a growing number of TOS fans who are beginning to get more and more into DS9-style Trek.

REN's character-driven approach to Trek - perhaps more than any other Trek series, virtual or otherwise - would give audiences a new take on Trek, especially those who weren't DS9 fans. That works both ways, though as REN is heavily based on the events of DS9. Because of that, it would likely appeal more to the DS9 fans than anyone else. Still, the quality stories and great characters would likely make REN a hit with casual audiences as well. By that i mean the 24 fans out there, the Lost faithful, and the 4400 fanatics (myself included). The biggest question is how the hardcore TOS fans would react to REN's gritty, DS9-style approach to the franchise.

Next up, Frontiers. It's been said that Frontiers is "Star Trek in its purest form" and i think that's true. The concept of Frontiers is the one i could most see making it to the small screen. The tech geeks out there would have plenty of new tech gadgets to geek-out about, but Frontiers has never really been about technobabble at its core - it's more a mix of that old TOS exploration, mixed with TNG's science and family atmosphere between its characters, with a pinch of DS9's political drama thrown in for good measure. That's why it would likely have the best shot at success - it's got a little of everything, and a little something for everyone.

The TOS faithful would love Frontiers concept of actually EXPLORING, and exploring NEW galaxies, rather than the same old Milky Way we're used to. The DS9 fans would get their character drama and political intrigue, and the TNG buffs would get their science & technology. Don't get me wrong though - I'm not saying Frontiers is a better series than any of the others - in fact, i happen to think Renaissance is the best Trek fan fic ever written, script-based or otherwise. Frontiers would however, make the most logical choice as an actual live-action series.

Star's End takes the concept of DS9 one step further. Instead of being set on a space station, it's set planet-side. This would likely be too radical a change for the hardcore audience who never even gave DS9 a chance because they weren't moving. Still, SE provides great character drama, and some of the most innovative stories you'll see in a Trek setting. It could build its own audience, but there would likely be the same type of rift as when DS9 first launched. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing it produced, though.

Avalon... what can i say about Avalon. The first Trek series to be given a TV-MA rating no doubt. Maybe aired late-night, or edited for content, which would make room for uncensored DVD releases. Seriously though, Avalon's attitude is quite refreshing to me. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it's very much a fan fiction series when it comes to the language and such - not to mention a certain... Scene. If Avalon were to ever make it to TV, it would have to be so cleaned up, and be changed so much there would be little point of even trying. It's really better suited to the internet, where it can be as creatively free as it wants to be - and needs to be. Otherwise, it just wouldn't be Avalon.

Knight's Haven I'm not sure about since i know next to nothing about the series until it launches. Maybe I'll discuss it later.

The 4400 this week was amazing. I'm beginning to think that, not only is this the best show currently on television, but maybe one of the best shows in the last decade. If you haven't checked it out yet, you're cheating yourself.

The Dead Zone, on the other hand, has disappointed two weeks in a row. It's really apparent how much the tragic death of Michael Piller has affected the creative process behind the scenes with the show. The man really was brilliant when it came to storytelling.

Once again, i continue my crusade to convert everyone on VST to an Ultimate Spider-Man reader: my sample's still up at http://home.ec.rr.com/nx84/usm.html - contact me if you want the first 96 issues - they're FREE (if not entirely legal).

Marvel announced this week that they're going to do a live-action Avengers movie, largely based on the Ultimate universe version of the group - The Ultimates. This could be good... very good. Then again, they could really screw it up!

The Frontiers movie trailer is very nearly complete. Be prepared to be blown away...

The Carolina Panthers played their first preseason game of the 2006 season Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills, and wouldn't you know it - the local FOX affiliate had "technical difficulties" connecting to the satellite feed, causing everyone in the area to miss the game. I was forced to listen on the radio - bad reception and all, and as you can imagine was just a little bit pissed off.

Anyway... the Panthers won the game 14-13.

A Writer's Blurb

2006-08-12T15:31:00.000-05:00

Hello world! Joining our prestigious producers, I arrive at the Frontiers blog and add my two cents into the goings on for our little, but HUGE show. With our big movie and the anticipated Season 3 drawing near, it's a good time to be part of Frontiers. Speaking of Season 3, I think there is some excitement coming your way. I recently told our Exec. that I'm really happy with how it's turning out, especially with Adam joining the staff and Randi making her return. While I can't go into the details of what we're planning, I'll give you some sneak peeks into what I'm working on.

When I first came aboard, after a failed attempt to launch my own fan fiction show, I was completely green and had no idea what I wanted to do. Once I got started working on episodes, namely "Second Coming" and my first solo effort "All the World's A Stage," I realized that I really wanted to do character study shows. For Season 3, I get to work on a little character study trilogy. While these stories are in no way related to each other, they each deal with their own specific character and nothing else.

My beginning entry for the season is an episode entitled "One for Doran," and is the first of the three. I won't say who it deals with, but I will say that she has tentacles. Working on the rough draft of this episode is quite difficult as I realize more and more how complex a character she is right now and the expectations of the fans in regards to her. It's quite a unique story for her and for Frontiers in general. In fact, the other major characters only make very brief appearances. It's a dark, but poetic piece that deals with self-image and penitence. So there's something to look forward to.

Also, I'm currently working on a secret Frontiers film project that, hopefully, will arrive sometime during our first Season 3 hiatus. I'm not going to say anything about this one, except that it will not feature ANY of our beloved Frontiers characters. But you can expect some more updates once "Ascent" and Season 3 have launched.

And speaking of "Star Trek: Ascent," I hope you guys are gearing up for it; it's going to be intense! I'll admit, when Josh first pitched the idea, I was a bit skeptic. In fact, I down right hated the idea and wanted nothing to do with it. However, the more it's been worked on and the more I've seen, the more excited I get for it. I'm a convert to Ascent now and I promise that it lives up to hype generated by us. Kudos to Josh for making it happen, I can't wait until this puppy is released!

In other new, I saw that new Talladega Nights movie and it is hysterical. Granted, you have to be a Will Farrell fan to appreciate it. If you are, drop what you're doing, get in the car, and go see it right now!

I think that about does it for my blurb. Until next time, folks...

STF Movie, Panthers, & USM - Put up or shut up!

2006-08-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

Okay... Another update. You know, it seems like this blog is getting more & more off-topic with each update.

I'm here to say - it will continue!

Okay, well, i do hope to add more Frontiers-related content, but i doubt if our off-topic rants will stop. The problem is, we can't really post many updates on Frontiers without giving away stuff. I'll try to give away as little as possible, but I'm sure you'd just assume we do give it away.

Now, i know last time i went on a rant about how good these Ultimate Spider-Man comics were, and i know Josh did as well in his recent entry, but i have to go back to this for a moment. I just picked up the latest issue, and it's fantastic - the kind of thing you read 8-10 times just because it's that good. Granted, it takes a whole 5 minutes to read through one issue for me, so it's not a huge investment time-wise, but still...

So, i figured it was time to put up, or shut up about these things. I have issues 1-96 on my laptop, so if anyone wants them just let me know - I'll get them to you, and you will not regret it. Until then, though, I've put together a USM sampler of sorts - just a few pages of two issues that were part of the "Hollywood" arc - one of my personal favorites. It has it's share of action - fight scenes and the like - but it's the character moments, and the humor that make USM so great. This arc had plenty of both, so i put together a few of my favorite moments from the arc as a preview for anyone who might be considering getting into them:

http://home.ec.rr.com/nx84/usm.html

Back to Frontiers business - the movie is progressing well... Just read the latest update, and it's great. I think you guys are going to be shocked, and hopefully pleasantly surprised by the turn of events in this one. Right now, it's very Bruce-centered, but there's probably as much, if not more Sito to come, and of course plenty of twists & turns as you've come to expect from us.

Just read the first draft of a certain S3 episode, and it's looking good as well. The influx of new staff is working out well. We have some things planned for S3 that will shake the very foundation of the series - and the entire franchise - if STF was a canon series.

http://home.ec.rr.com/nx84/usm.html - Click it

I spent this past weekend making the 12-hour round trip to Charlotte with a few friends to attend the Carolina Panthers 2006 Fan Fest. During the event, i had the chance to go down onto the field for two games they had - a 25-yard field goal attempt, and a 15-yard touchdown pass through what seemed like a 6-inch hole drilled into a piece of wood.

Now, i didn't succeed at either, but i didn't really ever think i would. I must say though, it was a surreal experience stepping onto that field. I've watched my team play there for years, and to actually be able to step onto the same field where so many great moments have taken place throughout the team's history was a big deal for me. I know it may sound silly to you non-football fans, but it was something I've wanted to do for a while, and finally doing it was really a big thing for me.

http://home.ec.rr.com/nx84/usm.html - Really, click it.

The 4400 was amazing this week - better than usual - and usual is brilliant, so this episode really impressed me. The Dead Zone wasn't as good, but following the 4400 can't be an easy thing to do.

Well... That about does it. More off-topic nonsense, and a few sentences about the movie... Oh well, it's a blog - have you ever seen one that stays ON topic?

P.S. - http://home.ec.rr.com/nx84/usm.html

:)

Pirates and more...

2006-08-09T12:42:00.000-05:00

Who would have thought that a quirky little ride in a Disney theme park would turn out to be one of my favorite movie series of all time?

I loved Pirates of the Caribbean. I always enjoyed the ride, and the movie surprisingly captured the feel of the ride perfectly, in particular at Port Royal. But the first film was a masterpiece, weaving a compelling tale with colorful and interesting characters with whom I could identify, cheer for, and weep for.

From the moment I saw the trailer for Dead Man's Chest, I knew the second film would be good. But I couldn't have possibly understood HOW good. The film was, from start to finish, the best "middle chapter" since Empire. The story was different but just as compelling as the first. There were clever nods to the first movie throughout, but the adventure this time was of a far grander scale. And that, of course, is as it should be. Everyone knows the basic plot: that Jack Sparrow made a deal with Davey Jones and that now he is a marked man because of it. But this is really just the surface of a much more complex plot that is about far more than one man's debt to the devil of the ocean. What is at stake here - and we only realize this near the end of the film - is not just Jack Sparrow, but his entire way of life. Piracy, itself, is in jeopardy.

Despite the week that's past since I saw the movie, images of it still haunt me. The Kraken wrapping its tentacles around the Pearl... Jack grinning at it and saying, "Hello, Beastie"... and those last 10 seconds or so when... well, I don't want to spoil it. Let's just say, this is a more than worthy follow-up to the first movie, a fantastic movie in its own right, and definitely my favorite film of the year so far. It had its flaws but for me, they are so overshadowed by the incredible story and the high entertainment value that they just don't matter. Dead Man's Chest is the movie to beat this year, at least for sheer escapism entertainment (with heart, no less) and I'm willing to be it won't be topped until At World's End, the final chapter of the film series... or possibly Spider-man 3.

And on that topic... dear lord, can you believe how many great movies are coming out next spring/summer? Spidey 3, Pirates 3, Transformers... and many more than I'm not even mentioning. It will be a good year.

My final rant is about Ultimate Spider-man. My co-exec for Frontiers, Jay, has introduced me to these fantastic comics. I was never a big reader and never read superhero comics in my youth. I had every issue of GI Joe and Madballs, but that was about it. But I've now read through the first sixty-some issues of Ultimate Spider-man and I cannot tell you how impressed I am.

The concept behind the "Ultimate" line of comics is to update the classic comics by setting them in the current day and age. In Ultimate Spidey, Peter is 15 years old when he gets his powers. The relationships are altered from the original series... most notably Gwen Stacey... wow, is she EVER different. But the issues that the books raise about our society are so poignant and dead-on, I cannot help but applaud the writers for tackling them. The social commentary alone is worth the read. Of course the storylines are top-notch and interesting and I find myself truly caring for Peter Parker and Mary Jane in a way I haven't before, even with the films. It is the most relevant superhero work I've ever read and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Check them out. Contact either myself or Jay if you want to read them, we've got most of them. Really, it's THAT good.

Okay, now onto some Frontiers stuff. This IS a Frontiers blog after all. The good news is, the movie is - you guessed it - coming along fairly well. It's not done yet but it's getting there. We'll be announcing the film's release date and a season three schedule soon.

Another interesting note is that we're examing Celtx, a freeware screenwriting program that seems to boast just as many features as Sophocles, plus some very impressive collaboration capabilities. So far it's working out well; I'm officially now writing the movie script with it, so we'll see how it works out. It's worth a look for anyone who doesn't own a copy of Sophocles or whatever other screen writing software. You can find it at http://www.celtx.com - check it out.

That's all for this round. Until next time... go see Dead Man's Chest and then read Ultimate Spider-man.

Reboot?

2006-07-26T13:28:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I just realized something.

I have obsessions. Damnit.

Well... Maybe I've had them all along. We're all Trek fans here, so I guess most people would say we all have at least ONE obsession, but lately I've been getting into some other things on a level only Trek has touched before - and of course my future Super Bowl champion, Carolina Panthers. Well... There was the wrestling thing way back when, but that's ancient history since Vince McMahon seems hell-bent on running his company into the ground with crappy storylines, and a wattered-down in-ring style.

But, that's another issue.

As I said in my last entry, I've come to the conclusion that the 4400 is the best show on television. Now, I have dozens of shows programmed into my DVR, but there are a few that I actually have to BE there to see as they air. I just can't wait to watch the recording, and at times I actually change other plans to ensure that I'm there to see it "live".

Does that make me weird?

Now, to me, that's when something goes from being a "favorite TV show" to an obsession. It's not the only one either - The Dead Zone, Smallville, Psych, and Doctor Who all fit into that same category. The obsession continues...

Okay... So I figured I had enough of these damn things - then I clicked that link. Yes... That link. The link on Wikipedia that introduced me to Ultimate Spider-Man. Now, I've never been a comic book fan... I always thought of them as being for children - guess what? Turns out I was wrong all along. This may sound strange once you understand the concept of Ultimate Spider-Man - which reboots the Marvel universe, and starts the Spider-Man story over again, with a new, more modern take on the characters.

That means that in USM, Peter Parker is a high school sophomore when he gets bitten by the spider. Going back to my former opinion that comics are for children - this seems to support that. Surely nobody outside of the 12th grade could get into a comic book about a high school Spider-Man. Well... No more than they can get into watching a show about a teenage Clark Kent developing his powers in Smallville.

So, after reading up on the concept on Wikipedia, I did what anyone with an interest in something that costs money, but who has very little, would do:

I did a Google search: "Ultimate Spider-Man Torrents"...

Guess what? Within the next few hours I had the first 90 issues downloaded to my trusty laptop. Over the next few days, I quickly read through them... And then headed straight for the local comic shop and picked up issues 91-97, and purchased a 12-issue subscription.

I'm hooked. Addicted. Another obsession.

*SIGH*

Also, it turns out Marvel also has Ultimate X-Men, Fantastic Four, Avengers (now called the Ultimates) and various other reboots of classic titles. For now though, I'll stick with Spidey... Wait - screw Spidey, the truth is the Peter Parker character is much more interesting.

On a semi-related note: why is it these teen super hero types all have all uber-hot girl friends - not girlfriends - girl friends? On Smallville, Clark's best friends are Chloe, Lana, and Lois. In USM, Peter's best friends are Mary Jane (also his girlfriend) and Gwen Stacy (well, until... nevermind).

Guess it pays to have super powers.

All this talk of rebooting Spider-Man has me thinking: would Star Trek benefit from the same type of reboot? I'm sure we've all seen the JMS pitch - I for one liked it. I can however, see both sides of the debate here. Trek has such a long history within the franchise - a huge continuity to follow - that maybe it would benefit from just starting over, from taking the basics of what made it such a success and re-tooling those basics into something new and different.

On the other hand, Trek fans are notorious for how much importance they place on continuity. Would a rebooted Star Trek be accepted? Would you watch it? Personally, I would. Take a cue from USM, and call it an alternate universe, or another timeline, or whatever works. The classic continuity doesn't have to be done away with completely - just placed aside, and used in future movies, or maybe even another series. Would it really be THAT crazy to have a rebooted Trek series, and a series set in the classic universe on the air at the same time?

Wow. This has to be my most off-topic entry yet. I've gone this far without a single VST-related sentence.

*takes a bow*

On an actual Frontiers-related note: the movie script has hit a crucial point in its story. One I've been waiting for for some time. Actually... This may be one of the biggest scenes we've ever done. The trailer is coming along slower, but it'll be well worth the wait - trust me.

I know Josh has already done so, and myself as well in the private forums, but I'd like to welcome Adam, and re-welcome Randi to the Frontiers family. We've been understaffed for a good while now... It's nice to actually get some new staff coming in. That's three new writers we've added when you include Henrik - in the last few months. Hopefully, it'll help us keep a decent schedule in S3 and beyond...

Well... That ends my (mostly off-topic) rant for today. Have a nice day...

Read Ultimate Spider-Man, and have a better day.

Cheers...

New Staff and More...

2006-07-26T09:14:00.000-05:00

I've recently had the distinct pleasure of announcing the arrival of two new staff members for Frontiers' third season. I thought maybe I'd chat a bit about them here as well.

RANDI ANDERSON: The Frontiers Hot Chick Returns!

I've known Randi since Frontiers launched. She was one of our first readers, Sito's first real fan, and much to surprise after talking to her for awhile... she was a chick! After reading our first few episodes, she decided to join the staff. She wound up jumping in with both feet, writing 1.07: Hidden Souls and 1.12: Thyself Thy Foe. Her playful banter and lovely visage (and status as "the only female staff member) earned her the title of "Frontiers Hot Chick"... a title that in retrospect, I think she coined for herself. In Season 2, she collaborated with me on 2.09: Onyx, which also featured material by Craig McCue. She brought a unique and fun perspective to Frontiers, and I was sorely disappointed when she decided to leave the staff as a writer mid-S2, and leave altogether shortly after. (Though I completely understood why and supported her decision!)

Randi recently came back to VST under the guise of "Maybe". After awhile she let us in on her secret and has since become an active member of the VST community once again. She's tested a number of ideas for us for Frontiers, including the S3 trailer (to which she also provided the voice of Marissa Lighthart). She recently opted to return as a staff writer. She'll be doing one episode for S3, and while I don't want to spoil anything, it's about her favorite character.

ADAM MURRAY BRIGGS: Taking Over VST, One Show at a Time!

When VirtualStarTrek.com first launched, no one had ever heard of Adam Murray Briggs. One fateful day in the early days of Virtual Enterprise's nascence, Adam made his first appearance. In the days since, he's joined the staff of Knight's Haven as a Producer and Star's End as a staff writer, remained on-staff as a consultant for V-ENT with their movie to our friends at TrekOnline, created his own Doctor Who series, and is now onboard Frontiers as a staff writer as well.

Adam is quite fond of TOS, and telling stories of adventure and exploration, which makes him a perfect fit for Frontiers' more TOS/TNG style. Last October/November, he gave the Frontiers pilot a read, and apparently liked it enough to read the rest. Then in March, I got a PM from Adam with his first pitch as a contributing writer. We gave it the greenlight, and he followed it up with probably more pitches in a shorter amount of time than I've ever received from anyone. But I noticed something about the pitches - they were all quite good. I approved several more and I started thinking how I'd love to just bring him on staff.

Now, Adam's a full-fledged staff writer and I'm excited to see how things unfold from here. With the addition of Adam and Randi to the staff, I can officially state our staff writer drought is now over and we're back up to where we should be.

The Movie has a Name

Our Frontiers movie now has a title: ASCENT. Now whether it's ultimately going to be "Star Trek: Frontiers - ASCENT" or "Star Trek: Ascent" or "Frontiers: Ascent" I don't know. But the yarn we're spinning is ASCENT. What is ascending, you ask? Well if I told you it would spoil the movie. But I'll say that the title works on multiple levels (including one that's quite subtle) and it's very appropriate. It's a working title only, and it might change, but it's something at least.

Season 3

Obviously, Season 3 isn't launching in July. In fact I'm working out a release schedule as we speak now that we have a somewhat larger staff and are moving along. It will be similar to our current plan, just modified for later dates.

Other Rumblings from Geekdom

Aside from Trek, there's a lot to be excited about in Geekdom. The Spider-man 3 trailer is making the rounds and now there are images of Venom coming out. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back in a new film, set after "The Secret of the Ooze". (Sadly, the actor slated to play Splinter, Mako, recently passed away.) The teaser is out and looks great.

I'm also looking forward to checking out "A Scanner Darkly", a film based on the novel by Philip K. Dick. Dick is one of my favorite authors. His mind-bending stories about what is real and what isn't are very entertaining and are obviously archetypes for similar stories. If you haven't read his works, I recommend you give them a look. The Man in the High Castle is especially good.

That's it for this round. Until next time, Happy Trekking.

It. Is. Inevitable.

2006-07-15T22:42:00.000-05:00

It won't be long now.

The Frontiers movie is coming along nicely. Josh's updates in the dev. forums have me on the edge of my seat, and I know what's going to happen! I hope you guys enjoy the final product as much as I am the in-progress bits.

Speaking of the movie, we're currently deciding on when to release the trailer for it - before the film's release, or after. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, but this trailer is EXTREMELY heavy on spoilers, and releasing it would drop a massive, and I do mean MASSIVE bombshell as to the movie's plot.

This trailer is also the first one we've done with actual voiceovers - well, aside from the season 3 trailer where Lighthart spoke at the end, but that was just one line. We've got lines from several different characters this time around, including both Sito's, Taija (a previously unseen character), and a few others.

The voices were done by various Frontiers staff members, as well as Cynthia from Star's End. Unfortunately, my "good ole' boy" accent doesn't exactly lend itself to any of our characters... well, unless we suddenly decide to bring in Charles Tucker the 14th...

For my usual off-topic rants, I'll start by saying just one thing:

The 4400 is the best show on television.

I've been a casual viewer of this series from day one, but this season really has me hooked. Each week the show delivers, and in spades. The actors are great - even the young ones, which is rare. Unlike most shows around these days, you never know what to expect from the 4400. The fact that Trek alumni Jeffery Combs has become a pivotal recurring character doesn't hurt, but it's the innovative stories they come up with, and the even more innovative ways to tell them that sets it apart from every other drama (scifi or otherwise) on TV at the moment.

If you haven't watched this show yet, make a point to watch it, or record it, or TiVo it, or download it, or whatever it is you do to watch TV - do it. You won't be disappointed. This show is so good that I'm going to do something I'd never do with any other series - recommend that you go buy the DVD's sight unseen. Hell, if I had the cash, I'd buy them FOR you... for all of you.

Speaking of quality television, I caught the first two episodes of USA's new series "Psych" this week. While it's not in 4400 territory quite yet, this show really impressed me in its first two episodes. The real kicker is that it did it without being scifi, or even fantasy - it's just a detective series - with a twist. The lead character, Shawn Spencer, has this unique ability - not a special power... just a honed skill. He has a photographic memory, and notices even the most minute details around him, on tv, or wherever.

In the pilot episode, Shawn notices something on a tv news report on a theft. He reports it to the police, who attempt to pin the theft on him because of the details he knows. To get out of the situation, he lies and tells them he's a psychic. He's so convincing the police give him a job investigating the kidnapping of a millionaires son. He solves the crime, using some unique and usually funny methods, all the while having fake 'visions' for the police. He recruits his best friend, and starts a private psychic detective agency called "Psych". It's the performance of the lead actors that make the show. It's heavy on humor, but at the same time does it all with serious undertones. The most serious aspect being Shawn's relationship with his father, who he doesn't get along with at all.

Anyway... It's only two episodes into its run, but I also recommend you watch this. It's great TV, and different than anything else I've seen recently... or ever.

Random Product Endorsements:
The Movie: Superman Returns - If you can look past Kevin Spacy's Lex Luthor, a solid film.
The Music: Family Force Five: Business Up Front - Either the worst, or the best thing I've ever heard.
The Virtual Series: A recent discussion on the forums reminded me of the brilliance that is Star Trek: Renaissance. If you haven't started reading this series, you're cheating yourself.

That's about it... Hopefully you'll be getting a look at the film trailer soon, and hopefully the script itself sooner rather than later.

That Darn Movie, Spider-man 3, and more...

2006-06-28T14:09:00.000-05:00

If you're one of the two people who haven't seen the teaser for Spider-man 3, go to Apple.com right now and watch it. Seriously.

I haven't been this excited about a movie release that's so far off in years. Maybe not ever. The scope and magnitude of the film's story is impressive, and despite the inclusion of multiple villains it is still very much Peter Park's story. No worries about BSS ("Batman Sequel Syndrome") here - Spider-man 3 looks amazing. Up until I saw that teaser, I had really been looking forward to seeing Superman Returns tomorrow with my son. Now all I can think about is how fantastic Spider-man 3 looks, and I eagerly await seeing the teaser on the big screen tomorrow prior to Superman Returns. Amazing how swiftly Mister Raimi has stolen the Man of Steel's thunder. And the funny thing is, I wasn't a big Spider-man fan growing up. I enjoyed the cartoon but I never read the comic books and didn't know much about the mythos until the first movie. That sparked my interest in the comics and the original storylines. I'm by no means a Spidey master, but I can hold my own amongst the trivia buffs.

Speaking of movies, I'm sure there are many questions about the Frontiers movie. Most of them being, "Where the heck is it?"

Time to fess up - for most of June, I have been struggling with the script. It just wasn't coming together, and no matter how hard I glared at my screen or yelled at my keyboard, I couldn't make it work. The story elements were there, but they weren't gelling properly.

But last week, that intangible something that was missing seemed to fall in place, and now script pages are dropping like flies. I can promise a bit of romance, a lot of action, and some surprising revelations.

Some fun details about the film (avoid if you don't want spoilers):

- We get a look at Bruce's summer home
- We have visits from several recurring characters, one of whom might not make it out
- A certain captain gets a ship of her own
- Bruce, Salea, Kaol... big problems on the horizon...
- We run into not one, but two El-Aurians
- Waterworld (no, not the Kevin Costner movie...)

So, there you have it. We've also got a few titles in the works. You can bet the title will be announced here or on the forums as soon as the call is made.

Finally, An Update!

2006-06-19T16:46:00.000-05:00

So, I've been busy lately. I wish I could say it was with Frontiers, but unfortunately it hasn't been. I won't go into details (far too boring for a VST blog) but hopefully things are in the process of slowing down a bit...

I have found the time (thanks to the wondrous technology that is DVR) to catch a few good episodes of my favorite SciFi/Fantasy series. I won't get off topic again, and review each one of them, but I will give my overall opinion:

Smallville Season Finale: Darkness, it seems, was the overall them for season 5. The cliffhanger was nice, but I'm ready for some daylight in season 6.

Doctor Who 1st Season Finale: Here in the states, the SciFi Channel just aired the 1st season finale, so that's as far as I've gotten. Solid episode, but I was a bit disappointed with the explanation of "Bad Wolf"'. I look forward to the "new" Who...

The 4400 Season Premiere: I love the 2-hour format here, especially for such a great episode. This show is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

The Dead Zone Season Premiere: Aired just last night. A decent episode, but I just can't help but think of REN when they're talking about shadowy conspiracies involving "Janus".

Now, for some completely non-VST related rants...

My Carolina Panthers have been picked by several national publications, and many experts to win the Super Bowl next season. You guys have no idea how amazingly nuts I would go if that happens...

I wouldn't imagine many pro wrestling fans read this blog, but I have to say this anyway: WWE's new ECW revival appears to completely suck. For those that don't know, ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) was a small, yet highly-influential wrestling promotion in the mid-90's. Known for its realistic and often violent style, it helped fuel the wrestling "boom"of the mid-90's. The company went out of business in 2001, but WWE (formally WWF) has resurrected it with an hour-long show every Tuesday on,of all places, the SciFi Channel. Thus far, I am not impressed. I guess you just can't catch lightening in a bottle twice...

Jay's Random Product Endorsement of the week:
The Music: AFI- Decemberunderground - Great stuff
The Game: Guitar Hero (PS2) - Strangely addictive
The Movie: Batman Begins - Saw it for the first time yesterday - best Batman ever

Now, onto the business at hand: Frontiers. I figured a good way to get folks talking would be to rank my top-5 un-used (or scrapped) Frontiers ideas. So,here they are...

5. The Original S1 Finale
The plan was for Aidan Rahl to blow-up the Enterprise-G, and destroy the Frontier, which would lead to the introduction of the Enterprise-H.
Status: Altered Plans

4. The Andor-Tellar War
This was planned for the end of season 2. It would have been at least a season-long affair,or so. Worked into the story was going to be Sito & Rahl's mission to Andor (seen in 2.16). The Enterprise would discover their shuttle destroyed, and Spiran & Andorian DNA as the season ended, leading the audience to believe they'd been killed.
Status: Altered Plans/Scrapped Idea

3. The Resurection of The Borg via Andoria
This kind of ties in with the war mentioned above. The Andorians would attempt to use salvaged Borg technology against the Tellarites, and the plan goes wrong, leading to a possible resurrection of the Collective.
Status: Scrapped Idea

2. Salea the Spy
Remember when the Enterprise-G's systems went down in the pilot episode during the battle with the Faust? Salea was to be revealed as the culprit, and a Separatist spy. She was also to die somewhere around the S1 finale, or early S2.
Status: Altered Plans

1. The Borg Cult
This was my pitch - basically, a group of nut-job Starfleet officers create their own little collective, and then try to revive the real "sleeping" Collective. Kind of a twisted hero-worship type of deal.
Status: Scrapped Idea

That'll do it for now... Discuss!

Virtual Trek Awards

2006-05-22T16:42:00.000-05:00

Well, the first ever Virtual Trek Awards are in the books, and what a night it was. Henrik, the host and producer of the show (and the excellent VST podcasts) did a wonderful job and making the evening very enjoyable.

So the question everyone wants to know: how did Frontiers do? The answer: extremely well. We picked up six out of the eight awards we were nominated for. Those awards include:

- Best Male Character: Commander Bruce Andrade
- Best Artist: Paul Weaver
- Best New Writer: Jaron Hatch
- Best Episode: All the World's a Stage
- Best Stand-alone Episode: All the World's a Stage
- Best Multi-Authored Series

That's quite a list. I'm extremely proud of the Frontiers team - this is their moment. (The two "Episode" awards were ties with eps from Star's End.)

So what's going to change now that these are over with? Nothing. The recognition is very nice, and I can't overstate how grateful I am for the staff's work. But letting something like this become too big a deal can inadvertantly prompt changes in behavior. But our focus as a staff remains to producing quality Star Trek stories and that is where our focus remains.

So, going off-topic now, I watched the series finale of Charmed last night. I was quite pleased. It wasn't the big, epic send-off I had hoped for (despite the gargantuan battle in the week prior to) but it was touching and truly got back to the girls being sisters... being family. No, we didn't see Cole or Prue... but we saw an enjoyable romp through the Charmed Ones' past and future, and a touching, fitting finale.

That's all for now. Stop by the Frontiers forums to get some movie script excerpts and see another guest star for the film. Until next time!

Updates and More Randomness...

2006-05-08T19:42:00.001-05:00

Man, it has been a while, hasn't it? I've been busy with the end of the semester, and whatnot, and I know Josh is hard at work, slaving over the movie. Anyway, time to get cracking!

First thing's first: updates.

The movie is progressing well. I actually had a chance to read through the first 20 pages or so about a week ago, and it's looking great. Another classic, as only Josh can bring you! As I understand it, there's quite a bit more written - hopefully i'll be getting a look at it as well (wink, wink, Josh!)

Anyone remember our old buddies at Holonetwork 17?

Me nether. But apparently, a certain Marissa Lighthart does.

The S3 lineup has really started to fill-out. I don't think there's an open spot left, and in fact, I think there's actually a few solid ideas that were left hanging. Funny how they were all mine. Kidding, of course. Quite a few of the episodes you guys will be reading actually did come from pitches of mine. Hopefully they'll live up to the rest of the stuff we're planning...

Man, where have I been all this time? I can't believe there was a show out there as good as Doctor Who, and I didn't know about it until a few months ago!

I'll be embarking on a side project of sorts in the next few months, along with someone i've recently met on a Smallville forum. A non-VST-affiliated crossover script featuring a number of familiar scifi/fantasy series. It might take a year or so (because my Frontiers work always comes first) but I hope to make a mini-series out of it.

I can't say for sure yet just who will be involved, but there will be Smallville characters featured heavily, along with a certain timeless Doctor, "leaping" scientist, and possibly even a certain former coma paitent, and current psyhcic...

I know it sounds odd, and it probably will be, but that's kind of the point.

Think you know Frontiers? Test yourself by taking this quiz, and post your scores in the Frontiers forums...

http://www.allthetests.com/quiz19/quizpu.php?testid=1146499394

That'll have to do for now. Not as much info as i'm sure you all were hoping for, but there's not much we can say without spoiling certain bombshells...

The Movie Draws Near

2006-04-13T23:44:00.000-05:00

Each passing day brings us closer to the first ever Frontiers movie. The story is growing and coming together nicely, and there are some big surprises in store for the Enterprise crew. And for our readers as well.

But first, some random musings on other stuff. Stuff like, say, Charmed. I finished all of the DVD's, which means I've seen every episode in the first four seasons. I was blown away at the quality of season four. The transition between Prue and Paige was done quite well given the circumstances. And the subsequent season was just fantastic. Killing the source - three times in fact - and then getting the chance to lose their powers and not taking it. Good stuff. And finally a happy ending for a season, with the revelation of Piper's pregnancy. The one downside to the finale was Bruce Campbell's character being an villain. Campbell is one of my favorite actors pretty much ever, so seeing him go out like that was kind of a bummer. But, I'm primed and ready for season five when it gets here. Bring it on!

I watch TBS quite a bit, and they're gearing up to show Lord of the Rings. They've had quite a few funny commercials in the run-up, but one of the funniest and most disturbing is one focusing on Sam and Frodo, with the song "Secret Lovers" playing in the background. A little disturbing, but it's meant to be a joke and I take it as such. Just a sign of the times, I guess.

Okay, now onto Frontiers business. As I said, the movie is coming together nicely and it should be fantastic. We gave a brief look at it in the closing scenes of our S3 trailer. But we're also releasing a companion trailer alongside the script that is a more traditional trailer. It reveals one big plot detail that we want to keep for a surprise, so we won't release it until the film is released. CG guru Paul "Blaze" Weaver is making sure this trailer will be an improvement over the S3 trailer. A tall order, but I have no doubt he's up to it.

I've opened a new thread in the Frontiers forum where readers can pose any question they like about the movie and I will answer it. It's a chance to get some insight without spoiling too much of the plot.

Also, we've decided to bump the launch of S3 by two months. It will give us more time to get things going - time that we're already deciding how to use. We've got some great stories coming up this season, and we want to make sure they're of the highest quality.

You can also expect things to be a little bit more formal around Frontierland. We're going to implement a more organized ratings system, adhere to release dates by having eps done in advance (and going bi-weekly), and some other things.

Our new website is, for all intents and purposes, ready to go. We have a bug to work out in Internet Explorer but it's not major, it just affects the alignment of certain things. We might just push ahead and release it with the film.

That's it for now, but as we get closer to the movie you can expect more details to emerge. Until then, this is Grimm, signing off.

What is IT?!

2006-04-04T09:58:00.000-05:00

Well, our S3 teaser video is out, and already the speculation has started. The final scene was meant to cause a fait bit of it, I admit, and it certainly has done that.

What is "it"? Well, "it" is for us to know, and for you to find out. So far, everything from Species 8472, the Kelvans, and even the dreaded Borg have been suggested as possible candidates for "it". As I said on the forums, it's not 8472, but that's as big a clue as you're going to get.

The Frontiers movie is shaping up nicely. There's actually been a fair bit of progress, and a huge change in its premise. What we've done, basically, is swap the story originally planned as the opening for season 3, with the story originally planned for the movie.

JAY'S RANDOM ADVICE COLUMN:
The Movie: American Wedding - BETTER THE SECOND TIME AROUND
The Music: Enterprise "Broken Bow" Soundtrack - BRINGS BACK MEMORIES
The Show: Doctor Who - CONTINUES TO IMPRESS

Back to business now. As for S3, there will be several interesting things going down throughout the early part of the season that ou guys probably wouldn't have expected. Like the identity of "it" I don't want to give too much away, but I will give you a few things to watch for:

As Doctor McCoy would put it, "You green blooded, son of a bitch!" Everyone's favorite logic-lovers will make their presence felt early-on.

Not to be outdone, the Bajorans make their return in a major way, and as you probably know by now after watching the teaser video, that old, beat down, busted-up Cardassian-built mining station will play a big part in the events to come.

Dear old Dad makes his return, as Ambassador Majenka Sito sets his sights on an even more powerful position.

Celeste in skimpy clothing... oh wait, that's the movie, but really, who cares when it is? We'll have to get Blaze to work on a... special image for that scene.

There's something else... I know I'm forgetting something.

Oh yeah! An established recurring character from another Trek series (a canon Trek series) will join the Enterprise crew. A cookie to whoever guesses who it is first.

And some more hints, this time for later in the season...

Celeste, you're not in Kansas anymore.

Just what does Clark W. Griswold have to do with anything?

Why does Kaol have blonde hair? Well... maybe we'll tell you.

Sticks & stones may break my bones, but transwarp maps... that's another story.

Enough teaser material yet? I hope so, because that's all you're getting for a while...

Smallville's back with new episodes as of last week. Looks like they're going the angry, confused, soon-to-be evil girlfriend of Lex Luthor route with Lana. God, I hope so.

Well... I've run out stuff to talk about, so I guess that's it for me this entry. Enjoy the teaser video, and know that we the staff will continue to tease & torture you with subtle hints at the things to come.

Charmed... and Dangerous

2006-03-25T20:57:00.000-05:00

Okay, I admit it. For no reason I can come up with, I am hopelssly addicted to Charmed.

Yes, Charmed. The long-running WB supernatural drama.

I started watching reruns on TNT a few years ago; the post-Doherty stuff that focused mostly on Cole. And I was pretty darn impressed. Enough so that I bought the first season on DVD (cheaply, I might add). I was inexplicably hooked. It's not the fact that the show features three uberhot leading ladies (although they're certainly far from being eyesores). It's not that it says something deeply profound or breaks any kind of ground whatsoever. It's not that it's overly thought-provoking or laden with deep spiritual or cultural observations. And I don't particularly believe in magic as it's portrayed on the show (which is kind of a generic mythos anyway) so it's not that.

The only explanation I can come up with is, I find it entertaining. Sometimes in a funny way, sometimes in a heartfelt way. For whatever reason, I'm drawn to the Halliwell sisters and their various plights and problems.

I'm approaching the end of season three on DVD and I just bought season four... as anyone who has seen the show knows, this is a pivotal moment in the series as it sees the departure of Doherty's "Prue" and the arrival of Rose McGowan's "Paige". I've only got five episodes left to watch with Prue in them, and I have to say I'm approaching this milestone with some trepidation. Regardless of whatever really went down on the show that prompted Doherty to leave, I'm very fond of Prue and of the three sisters as portrayed in the first three seasons. I like a lot of the early Paige episodes too, especially leading up to the 100th episode (the stuff I saw on TNT) but I can already tell it's going to be tough to see Prue leave. At the risk of sounding absurdly, patently, terribly cheesey, there was a real magic to how Prue, Piper, and Phoebe interacted. So I'm both looking forward to and dreading the end of season three.

So go ahead and laugh. I don't mind. I don't have a good explanation for being addicted to this show, except that it entertains me. It mixes a bit of supernatural thriller, a bit of melodrama, and a bit of humor and the result is a show I've found to be consistently good in its formative years. I've heard terrible rumors about the more recent stuff, but I'll reserve judgment until I get those on DVD. And I may just have to resist watching the series finale in May. (Charmed and 7th Heaven have both been axed by the new supernetwork, "The CW"... the bastard love child of the WB and UPN.)

Okay, so witches aside, let's talk my other great syndicated love: Star Trek. Or better still, let's talk about a script-based adaptation of that syndicated love.

Progress on the Frontiers movie was made this week. How much? Well, lots. And with lots more still to come. This movie is definintely shaping up to be one of my most enjoyable and challenging writing experiences since Frontiers launched. It's our first film, and VST's first film. And it's an event picture - a LOT of stuff happens that will fundamentally change the universe in which Frontiers is set. And there's a certain risk to that. When you take a formula you know works well and change it, you risk losing some fans. Not unlike, say, replacing one uberhot leading lady with another uberhot leading lady, and shaking up the basic mythos of your series. No, Salea's not going to be replaced by another uberhot alien babe... but the core of what Frontiers is about will shift.

And everyone in the cosmos is going to feel it.

It's Been A While...

2006-03-21T11:05:00.000-05:00

... since I could hold my head up high, and it's been a while...

Okay, enough Staind lyrics.

For now, anyway. Our S3 teaser trailer is nearing completion, and I have to say it's the best one yet. Paul has really outdone himself this time. It's not only the best quality animation we've seen in a Frontiers teaser video yet, but it's by far the longest at well over 2:00 in length, and the most revealing in terms of the events to come.

Oh yeah, and back to those Staind lyrics. If you're not familiar with the band, then you will be soon. The teaser trailer's audio track (mixed by yours truly) contains a big piece of one of their songs. I won't say which one - but if you'd like, take a guess in the forums. It'll be interesting to see what some of you think.

A hint: it doesn't contain the lyrics from above.

Jay's Random Advice Column:
The Movie: V for Vendetta - SEE IT
The Music: Fort Minor, Rising Tide - BUY IT
The Show: Doctor Who - WATCH IT

That is all.

In my previous entry, I mentioned that the SciFi Channel's current Friday night lineup was not exactly my favorite thing to watch. After doing so, I noticed an ad for the BSG season finale, and realized that their finale night was upcoming. Now, I had given these three shows a bashing in the past, but I figured, why not give them a second chance? What harm could it do?

So, I prepped the good ole' Dish DVR to record the shows, and having watched them all, here are my thoughts:

I was right about BSG all along. The characters are detestable to the end, and the overall feel of the show is downright depressing. I will say though, that if I actually cared for these characters, the final scene of the Cylons marching into the city would have probably driven me nuts.

As it stands, though - I'm rooting for the Cylons.

Stargate SG: 1 needs to die. The episode itself wasn't that bad, but I just get the feeling every time I see these characters that it's time for them to hang it up. The addition of Ben Browder is the only thing that makes the series worth watching anymore. The only way I can see it continuing is if they start off with a whole new cast around Browder, and do something to shake up the series, because when you're main storyline is searching for an ancient artifact in, of all places, Camelot, you know it's time to call it a series.

Stargate Atlantis delivered the best finale of the night, and having seen only a handful of episodes up until now, I was still able to understand the situation and actually care what happens. I love the character of Doctor McKay, and Major Sheppard is great, too. The final scene when the Wraith reveal their destination as Earth was the perfect cliffhanger, but also the perfect example of why SG1 & Atlantis can't ever co-exist successfully. If SG1 ever bites the dust, Atlantis might just have a chance to do some special things, but until then, it will always be limited in what it can do.

I did enjoy the first two episodes of Doctor Who, though. Pretty original stuff, at least for me, as it was the first time I had ever watched the show.

Back to the land of Frontiers - That is what this blog is about... right?

A recent post in the REN forum regarding who should be cast as the characters gave me the idea for this next topic. By now, I'm sure everyone is familiar with our choices for the Frontiers main cast, but you may not be as familiar with some of our choices for many of our recurring characters. So, here's a brief rundown of some of our choices for recurring characters, past & present:

Jason Isaacs (The Patriot) as Aidan Rahl

Christopher Gorham (Jake 2.0) as B'Lin Tevis

John Glover (Smallville) as Majenka Sito

Lou Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman) as Admiral Jim Farrels

Peter Greene (Pulp Fiction) as Grant

Alan Scarfe (7 Days) as Admiral Miller

That'll do it for now. Be on the lookout for more news on the movie, and the release of the teaser video mentioned here. It'll be well worth the wait...

Movie Update and More...

2006-03-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

What's up, Frontierland? I had a bit of free time on my hands, so I thought I'd throw in my second post here.

For those of you who don't know, I do part-time videography. Mostly weddings. My beast of a PC has been giving me so many problems... one of the fans quit working, the motherboard went bad, it was plagued with performance problems, and it constantly froze up on me. Imagine doing forty minutes or more worth of editing and rendering only to have the machine freeze seconds before you hit the save key.

I thought about buying a new motherboard, but there were other problems with the machine. It was a thrown-togther unit, not really built terribly well. I decided it was time for a new machine, and my research led me to a place I never thought I'd go; Apple.

Growing up a Microsoft brat, I was indocrtinated with ideas about Apple computers. Even though the first computer I ever turned on was an Apple IIe. I still remember playing Oregon Trail back in sixth grade on one of those clunkers. But for a Microsoft Certified Professional as myself, we were taught to look down upon Apple; they were lesser machines, of lesser quality, not even worthy to be called computers. You couldn't rip them open and play with them like you could a PC. They didn't support Windows. They were to be avoided.

But now that I'm not in that field anymore, my opinion of Apple has changed; specifically, the all-in-one wonder that I'm entering this blog from... the iMac G5. I bought this machine specifically for video editing. I don't care about being able to open it up and play, or reinstall the OS five hundred times. This machine serves one purpose: to edit video. And from what I can tell so far, it does a damn fine job. It doesn't bother me in the slightest that my high-end, dual layer DVD burner is built into the back of the machine. I don't care that my 20" flat panel monitor is integrated into the unit. And the fact that everything is altogether like that saves me a great deal of desktop space, which I can use for my camera, tape decks, and all the other gadgets I need to do my job.

That, perhaps, best sums up the contribution of the iMac to the creative individual - it stays out of the way. Physically, and technologically. I've experienced no system crashes or malfunctions. It hasn't locked up, froze, or hung. It doesn't demand a great deal of technical knowledge to run it. It just sits there and lets me do what I need to do.

There are of course some problems, that segue nicely into my Frontiers topic of the day. For some reason, I can't read most of the video clips Paul has rendered up for the season three premiere video. I suspect it's a codec issue, but I'm still working it out. This won't affect my professional use of the machine in the slightest, so if I need to do our fairly small, modestly sized Frontiers video on my XP laptop it's not a big deal. But, it would be nice to do it on the iMac.

Speaking of the video - I've gotta tell you guys, it's really amazing. This is by far Paul's best work. I hope my editing is up to the task. Our latest staff writer - who is helping us out with several things, actually - Henrik - is scraping together some sound effects for the teaser as well. I really think Paul has raised the bar with this video. Everyone involved - from Jay Everington laying out the scenes to Paul's animation - has worked hard to get this thing looking great. I can't wait to release it.

As to the movie, I had hoped to be started on it by now but we've changed the fundamental concept a bit, so I'm still adapting the rest of the storyline. It was going to deal with three or four plotthreads, but the fact is that's just too much. I wanted to tighten the focus and explore Sito. This is Frontiers' first movie (and VST's for that matter) so it needs to have a strong focus on the captain and a tight storyline. As I told Henrik in the forthcoming premiere of the VirtualStarTrek Podcast, things happen in this film that begin setting up the rest of the series - threads begin here that will be easily traced all the way to our final episode.

And then season three will start with a bang. We've got a huge two parter planned for season three's opening, and it just keeps going from there. It's going to be an exciting time for fans and staff members alike. And for those of you who have passed over Frontiers, there couldn't be a better time to join us. The feature film will get you caught up on Frontiers lore so that you can jump into season three all caught up.

So, be sure to watch for the premiere VirtualStarTrek Podcast, coming later this month to VirtualStarTrek.com. Aside from an interview with yours truly, we'll be hearing about Knight's Haven (one of VST's forthcoming shows), a nod to our blog and the one from Star's End, some information on the upcoming Virtual Trek Awards, and more.

Keep checking back!

Reality Bites! Unless...

2006-03-06T12:04:00.000-05:00

Is it just me, or does all of TV seem like one big reality show? I'm not just talking about American Idol, and Survivor, and such; even the modern-day tv drama seems to be reality-based. Shows like 24, Prison Break, Bones, and Grey's Anatomy are all very reality-based.

The one exception seems to be Lost, but the few times I’ve actually watched the show, it just struck me as being annoying. I'd rather watch Idol than most of this crap. In my opinion, there are currently three quality sci-fi fantasy drama's airing on television. Please note that I don't consider the Sci-Fi Channel's not-so-quality Friday night lineup of the original Stargate (time to call a series, folks!), Stargate: Atlantis (its not so original spin-off), and Battlestar Galactica (a couple smiles every few episodes never hurt anyone!)

That being said, my three series are:

Smallville:
I've just recently began following this series, and I highly recommend it to anyone reading this blog.

The Dead Zone:
Rumor has it, this summer's 5th season will be the show's last. Figures.

The 4400:
Finally, something interesting with aliens... actually... well, I don't want to spoil anything for anyone.

Anyway, back to my rant of reality tv. Watching one of MTV's current reality series got me thinking. If you're going to do reality TV, and if Star Trek is going to sit on the shelf for a few years, why not merge the two.

I can see it now...

Cue fantasy cloud:

SURVIVOR: VST
The staff of Virtual Star Trek get together in three groups (REN, SE, & Frontiers) and are given the resources to shoot their series respective pilot episode. We're talking live-action, great SFX - the works. Each week, the audience gets an inside look at how each staff works, and at any potential last-minute alterations to the existing scripts.

Join the production staff as they choose a cast, and who they want doing their SFX. Finally, each group airs their final product, and Trek fans around the world vote on which series they'd like to see continue production. The winning team is rewarded with contracts, and a new Star Trek series to run.

End Fantasy cloud...

Okay... so maybe I’m a bit ahead of myself. It would be interesting, though.

RANDOM NON-VST TOPIC OF THE DAY: NFL LABOR DISPUTE
I get the gut feeling that nobody reading this is a big fan of football (that's American football, the NFL.) Because of that, I’ll try and keep this brief, but I just need to rant about it for a minute.

In 1993, the NFL and its players (the NFLPA or NFL Players Association, aka the Player's Union) signed a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Prior to the agreement, there existed no salary cap in the league, which meant teams could pretty much spend as much money of players as they had to spend. This provided an unfair advantage to team's with rich owners (rich being a relative term here, more like the difference between millionaires and billionaires). The NFL was dominated by 3-4 teams during that time.

In '93, when the CBA was signed, it placed a limit on how much each team could spend, making the NFL a much more fair league. Since then, the NFL has had loads of success, and made more money than... well, lots of money. Now, the CBA is on the verge of expiring if the two sides can't come to an agreement on a new one. Without an extension, the salary cap will become a thing of the past, along with a fair NFL.

It's said that the main dispute is between the millionaire owners, and billionaire owners on a revenue sharing agreement. Basically, the richer owners would have to share their cash with the less-rich owners, and don't want to. Greed seems to be the name of the game. It's not like these guys don't have the cash.

Besides, after the first $300 million, why bother keeping count?

BACK TO BUSINESS: EPISODES TO WRITE
I've agreed to write two episodes for our 3rd season. Hopefully, this time I can stick to them. I would like to have a couple of episodes under my belt by the time this thing's all said & done. 2.09 was written by me, but Joe & Craig helped out as well, so technically I’m a co-writer.

Anyway, both episodes are from pitches I made, and both deal with pretty important subject matter. S3's shaping up nicely, as is the movie. I hope you guys are prepared, because nothing we've done previously will prepare you for what is to come.

Cue evil laugh.

About Time:

2006-03-03T09:56:00.000-05:00

I guess it's about time I actually start using this thing, I actually forgot it was here for a while.

Anyway, with season 2 now behind us, and a truly epic season 3 on the horizon, I thought I'd reflect a bit on some of the things we did during our 2nd season. Originally, the season was scheduled to be much longer than it eventually turned out to be. I think we had 26 episodes planned (actually, I believe at one point it was 28!) But, as happens frequently in the world of virtual tv series, delays came, episodes were pushed back, and moved around, until finally we decided to go with 16 as our new standard season length, which fits with our 1st season, so yeah... it made sense.

There were many great concepts that were dropped due to the change. I won't get into any details about them, because many of them may still see release later in the series, but I will say there were a couple of two-parters in there that I think could have been great, and I have a feeling we'll be using them after all. In fact, I just re-pitched one of the concepts as a standalone episodes for season 3 a few weeks ago, with a few slight changes.

You can't reflect on season 2 without first reflecting on the final episode of season 1. "To The End of Reckoning" launched the most important arc the series had ever seen. To this day, that arc is in my opinion, the best Frontiers has ever gotten as a series. Maybe you disagree, but it took me re-reading the episodes a few months after the arc was over to really realize it myself. The way each character plays into the story in their own way really helped the pace of the arc, because we were able to take a break from Lighthart & Rikilis in M106, and go to Sito on Spirus, and then to Salea & Kaol on Orion with Section 31, and then to Koth & Celeste on Earth. Nothing ever got "old" or dragged out longer than it needed to, because there was literally so much story to be told, from so many different angles, that it was impossible for any one aspect of the story to be overdone.

The arc also brought back, and introduced several key recurring characters to the series. Aidan Rahl had not been seen since the pilot, and was thought to have been killed, yet he has become our most important recurring character without a doubt. Zach Bradford was really just a one-off character in the pilot, but even he became a key contributor. Captain Johnson and the Avalon were introduced, and have been used several times since, and lets not forget the introduction of the new Enterprise-H.

As good as that particular arc was, if I had to name our best episode of the season, I'd go with 2.12:
"All The World's a Stage". So much of Frontiers is, and has been arc-based that it's very hard to name any one of the arc episodes "best of the season", or "best of the series" because each episode is so dependent on the others surrounding it. I'd put the story from the arc I just mentioned above any single episode, or other arc we've ever done, but I don't think any individual episode from the arc can be considered "the best" (although, 2.04 was one of the series' best, IMO as well.)

Looking ahead to season 3, I think I can say, without giving too much away, that it's going to be the most epic, important arc not only in the history of Frontiers, but if it were being done on a live-action, canon Trek series, of the entire franchise. No series, virtual or otherwise, has embarked on a mission quite like we're about to. Sure, DS9 had its war arc, and Voyager had 75,000 light years to travel, and yes, Enterprise had their expanse mission, but I think I can safely say none of them have ever attempted anything like what we're about to do.

To be honest, I'm not sure that you readers even realize the scope of what we're planning. The movie will help that, but I will tell you now that it won't be Voyager version 2.0, or the expanse mission, part 2. Also, if I were you, I'd be on the lookout for some pretty epic (there's that word again) twists & turns throughout the upcoming Frontiers movie, and in the early episodes of season 3.

That's all I've got right now. Hopefully I didn't spoil anything, and I'm hoping even more that I didn't overhype this thing, but I seriously doubt that. Just you wait & see...

Welcome to the Captain's Blog

2006-02-22T18:51:00.000-05:00

Original title, huh?

We thought it was time to get a blog set up for Frontiers and see if we could make something interesting out of it. The "Making Of" feature our reader and friend "Terminus" is making seems to be quite popular, so perhaps something like this will go over nicely as well.

At the moment, updates will be made by myself and my co-exec, Jay Everington. I might open it up to all of our writers eventually. And of course, we'll be working on a more customized appearance. Jay is planning a series of specials during our hiatus for here in the blog as well, so keep an eye out for those!

So, what are we up to at the moment in Frontierland? Working out the storyline for our first (and VST's first) feature film. Yes, originally it was going to be a miniseries, but a lack of both time and writers prompted us to tighten the storyline up a bit and turn it into a film.

A movie based on a series while the series is still on the air isn't unprecedented. The X-Files had a pretty successful film come out after its fifth season. And while in many circles, the show is thought to have lost quality after its film, I don't think that will be the case here. We've got some exciting stuff planned for season three. But more on that in a later blog entry.

For now, welcome to the Frontiers blog!