Star Trek Continues

***I have the next Kolchak written up, but I didn’t want to post two television shows in one day, so I’m going to go over the entire season of Star Trek Continues with this post, and I’ve scheduled Kolchak for next Friday! Sorry for the interruption. *** BTW… the link to next week’s episode is THIS. 

I can’t tell you how excited I was when I found this 11-episode Star Trek a few years ago. It’s called Star Trek Continues, and it’s so well done! That link gives you ALL the episodes on YouTube. I added an episode at the bottom so you can check out the look of this. The only non-consistent thing is…much like the original (another doctor in the pilot), one actor plays Dr. McCoy in the first two episodes and another (a better one) plays him in the rest of the series. The same characters: Spock, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura. It’s as if they went back in time and took over the sets while the original stars were on break, then filmed this show. 

When I did the Star Trek series, going over every episode, I meant to write this one up, but never did. This series was made between 2013 and 2017. They were professionally made but fan-made. When I say “fan-made,” what I mean is a Kickstarter drive with professional actors who are huge fans.  They got it down almost perfectly. Good writing and a talented cast to bring the original characters to life. It’s such a labor of love with these Star Trek-obsessed actors. They went to great lengths to recreate the original atmosphere. The space scenes even look like the remastered original series. 

This is not a “Star Trek: The Next Generation”; it’s a copy of the original with new stories. They have the lighting, look, feel, and everything pretty much on target. This show only has 11 episodes total. Some shows are continuations of the original shows. It was a 5-year mission, but the original series only got 3 years. So this picks up in the 4th year and goes through the 5th and even sets up the first movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture. 

When I watch Star Trek TOS and get through every episode, I wish there was more… then I found this. They have some guest stars from the original series, and Chris Doohan, son of Scotty (James Doohan), plays Scotty, and the rest of the cast is really good. The only one that is hard to get is Todd Haberkorn, who played Spock. That is probably the hardest role you could get, but he does make it work. I don’t think he got Leonard Nimoy’s toughness as much. 

All of these were released straight on YouTube when made. If you like the original series and wish they had made more…this is for you. Rod Roddenberry, son of Gene Roddenberry, said the show was superb and should be in the canon.

Some of these episodes are great, especially the two-part ending. You do get one character that was made up just for this. That would be the ship’s counselor, Michele Specht, as Dr. Elise McKennah. They do explain in the last show why she isn’t in the movies. 

You also get a character named “Smith” played by Kipleigh Brown, which I think is super cool. The reason is there WAS a “Smith” in the original episode Where No Man Has Gone Before. She only had one line, but they used her in this series. She ties into the two-parter conclusion because of what happened in that original episode. This was brilliant to me. Getting a basically unknown character and making a story around her.

The original Barbara Smith is holding hands with Marshall in that episode. 

The new Barbara Smith…same character

  • Pilgrim of Eternity: A direct sequel to the TOS episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?”, featuring the return of the character Apollo. Michael Forest played Apollo in the original AND in this one. 
  • Lolani: Inspired by the portrayal of Orion slave girls (Green is my favorite color!) in the original series. Lou Ferrigno makes an appearance and is GREEN again.
  • Fairest of Them All: A continuation of the Mirror Universe, picking up from the events of “Mirror, Mirror“.
  • The White Iris: A head trip for Kirk that deals with the fates of women he met on previous missions, such as Rayna from “The Ultimate Computer” and Miramanee from “The Savage Curtain” and more women that Kirk was involved with. Even the Joan Collins character (Edith Keeler) from The City On The Edge Of Forever.
  • Divided We Stand: Kirk and McCoy are trapped in an incident from the American Civil War, inspired by the time travel episode “Tomorrow Is Yesterday“.
  • Come Not Between the Dragons: The Enterprise is threatened by a pursuing alien creature.
  • Embracing the Winds: Kirk is recalled to a starbase to face an ethical dilemma.
  • Still Treads the Shadow: The Enterprise discovers a lost starship and an unlikely passenger.
  • What Ships Are For: Kirk struggles to aid a society with a unique view of their world.
  • To Boldly Go, Part I: The Enterprise returns to the starting point of Kirk’s five-year mission. These last two episodes go back to Where No Man Has Gone Before.
  • To Boldly Go, Part II: The series finale concludes Kirk’s mission with a final battle. This episode takes you up to the movies. 

Primary Cast
Vic Mignogna as Captain James T. Kirk
Todd Haberkorn as Mr. Spock
Larry Nemecek as Dr. McCoy (Episodes 1 & 2)
Chuck Huber as Dr. McCoy (Vignettes & Episodes 3-11)
Chris Doohan as Mr. Scott
Grant Imahara as Mr. Sulu
Kim Stinger as Lt. Uhura
Wyatt Lenhart as Ensign (Later Lt.j.g.) Pavel Chekov
Michele Specht as Dr. Elise McKennah, ship’s Counselor
Recurring Cast
Steven Dengler as Lt. William C. Drake, Security chief
Kipleigh Brown as Lt.j.g. Barbara Smith, relief Conn officer (formerly Ship’s Yeoman)
Cat Roberts as Lt. Elizabeth Palmer, relief Communications officer
Martin Bradford as Dr. Jabilo G. M’Benga, relief Medical officer/Vulcan specialist
Reuben Langdon as Lt. Kubaro Dickerson, Security officer
Liz Wagner as Ensign Lia Burke, nurse
Marina Sirtis as ship’s Computer voice
Amy Rydell as Romulan Commander

I hope you enjoy this!

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

28 thoughts on “Star Trek Continues”

  2. Pingback: Star Trek Continues – MobsterTiger

    1. Oh cool…I saw some of The Enterprise…I liked that. In one episode Jim, they go back to “The Trouble With Tribbles” and interact with the original cast…it’s pretty cool.
      This one was brillian on how they recaptured that feel.

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  4. Max, I did not know of this series before now so it was cool to discover it here. If Gene’s son says it should be in the canon, that is good enough for me. It looks so fresh…and yet so familiar (in a good way). I have to check these out. This sounds like a great binge for any Star Trek fan!

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    1. Bruce…I’m a huge fan of Star Trek the original…nothing against the others…but I love those characters…and if you see a little of that clip…I think you will agree they caught the spirit of it really well…also very good writing. These episodes could have been in the original series…most are that good.

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      1. I checked out IMDb for more info on this series, and the user reviews were for the most part really enthusiastic about this. Sounds like a fan-fiction produced series. As irony would have it, one of the cable channels had on Star Trek The Voyage Home tonight, so since you got me in a Star Trek mood I threw it on. Gotta love a guy who would put his career on the line to save some whales!

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  5. well that’s pretty interesting. I’ve never heard of this version. Granted I’m not a Trekkie but I just flat out never heard of it, you’d think it would have generated some mainstream publicity. Great idea to reboot it via crow-funding but it seems a shame that it didn’t find a better market initially (ie, a network or streaming service) to allow it to generate some real money allowing for more.

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    1. Trekkie’s ate it up…as you can see Dave…they got it down pat as far as the spirit…and the writing is wonderful. I like how they tie in the original series and continue a few episodes from that time. Even the sound effects are the same lol.

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    1. Dana….if you like the original series…you probably will love this. They are very faithful to the original…and when you see the just a few minutes of that clip I left at the bottom…you will see it feels like the original.
      I mean no one can beat Nimoy and those actors…but I’ll take this!

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  7. I’ll be in. I prefer the original to all that came after. It sounds the best of all possibilities, and done with love. Does Vic Mignona channel the scenery chewing essence of Shatner?😉

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    1. He does do some overacting no doubt! You can tell he does it on purpose at times. I like how they took the “Smith” character and grew her. The alternate universe one…Spock with a goatee…they finish that one.
      It was a wonderful idea to do this. I do think you will like it.

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      1. Yep, I’ll give it a look-see during the week. After your last message about the original series I was thinking about the old first series you highlighted 2 or so years back. (Where does the time go?)

        This should be fun, I love idea of the actual fans getting stuck in and doing it.

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      2. I went back and watched the original episodes again….especially Mirror Mirror and Where No Man Has Gone Before. .
        You could tell they really loved it because they didn’t get paid I don’t think. I know Scotty’s son must have been proud.

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  8. Max, I love this! I know you told me about it before and I did watch at least one episode. Being A.D.D. I got sidetracked and didn’t see the rest. I will try to watch them all. As you said, they do an *excellent* job of recreated Star Trek’s TOS! Happy you shared it here today and sorry I got to it so late today. Been a busy one.

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    1. This is the reason I delayed Kolchak….I was so excited about it that I just wanted it out lol. It was a labor of love for them…they didn’t profit on it… good actors and good scripts.
      Awesome! Tell me if you like it or not once you start!

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  10. As a Trek, 60s pop culture, and baseball fan myself, I’m so glad to have found your blog. I was the primary director on Star Trek Continues, and as story editor/producer I co-wrote most of the episodes. Very happy that you enjoyed it!

    (And I’m glad you caught the “Smith” connection! Kipleigh has been a friend and colleague for 20 years — we’ve done several films together — and when we cast her in STC, I pointed out the uncanny resemblance between her and Andrea Dromm (who played that role in TOS) and decided to make it the same character!)

    In any case, we had a great ensemble of both west coast and east coast film industry professionals (both behind and in front of the camera) who came together to make this series on a small budget in our spare time. Thrilled to see it’s still getting some love!

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    1. Oh thank you for taking the time to comment here! I so appreciate it.
      I just hope I got most of it right. Thank you for doing this project. For me, I just like the original characters the best. Nothing against the spinoffs…but this was brilliant to me. Many times in reboots or whatever…it seems the little things are forgotten that fans knew…you all covered the small details…just great. You stayed true to it and even the counselor fit with those characters.

      Thank you again…it was fantastic and I hope more people find out about it.

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