Post-STLV, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and the Best of the Vegas Con [AUGUST 2024]

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This month, we look in detail at the best of the 28 panels Bill attended at the STLV24 trek event, from our favorite Gorn guy to the Rat Pack and everything in between. But first, we review the 'what we know' about Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and look at the cast.

Chapters

• 0:23 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy - our first look and thoughts
• 4:19 STLV24 Wrap up - a recap of the best of the 28 panels Bill attended
• 29:47 Closing banter and wrap up...

Transcript

Welcome to The Trek Convention Podcast thank you for joining us as always, we'll be discussing all the convention updates our track headlines, and discussing in the star trek universe, of course from a fans point of view welcome petition convention podcast question this is the August it is right after the Vegas convention just wrapped up a couple weeks ago and will have more about that in the second half but since our July so a lot of things have happened in the two biggest for me are Star Trek Academy was announced and section 31 seems to be on the and honestly, i could spend an hour talking about section 31 in the way it's being rolled out as a movie event and what that means in the streaming world but for i was focused on Star Trek Stargate Academy. The cast came out I believe at San Diego comicon and the list that I've seen which has been widely distributed is Holly Hunter, Paul Giamatti, Caris, Brooks Bell Shepherd, George Hawkins Dion, Zoe Steiner genius year Sandra Rosa, Te, Notaro, Robert Riccardo, fair and weissman I think we had heard about Holly Hunter early early on she's known for a broadcast news if he ending incredible in the excited about giamatti he's really great actor. He doesn't seem to fit the universe which I think is exciting he usually plays sort of curmudgeon and or which is star trek, the rest of the cast are kind of at least unknown. They've been in smaller fractions. I see like the prom. See it TV miles tell me everything one of us is lying significant others Bob hearts have a Take Notaro we saw a discovery and I was going through withdrawals as far as Star Trek discovery being canceled and not being able on a regular basis, so the fact that she's in this, I'm very very excited about and Robert Ricardo he was at the convention talking about what his role would be clearly, his character, the doctor and Robert Ricardo are both immortal for intensive purposes and of course fair and Mary Weissman Discovery and the fact that fair and Mary Weissman are considered guest stars I guess is that is to give star Academy as a show its own voice and tone, and not simply like discovery part two so I haven't looked into too much of the story other than that I i kinda wanna see it. I don't wanna read about it. The cast I think is a pretty good indication of where they're going and what they wanna do which exciting but I am very much looking forward to this. It's clearly not something that will happen in 2024. All the IMD notices are on the 2025. I don't know when that will be and I'm not I'm not gonna make a guess. I'm sure I'll happen when it happens and will be very excited. Having said that I'm not too far down the road as far as what the story is gonna be like or what it's gonna be I think the title alone gives us pretty good indication of whether stories will take us and what they'll you and etc. I think we saw some of that in a few of the Star Trek discovery episodes where the characters especially Mary Weissman was involved The Academy and some cadets and things like that so I think that's sort of the genesis of it like I say I wanna be surprised when it comes out and it sounds like till 2025 and even then I'm not sure what part of next year it'll be who knows what can happen between now and then but again very after the convention in Las Vegas and now let's go talk to hey Jenna, how are you? How are you good I like how we have to pretend that we have been chatting before haven't seen you in minutes wearing my 55 year mission Las Vegas polo I was looking we're at like 58 or 5959 can't believe how fast time is moving your shirts already out of tape within six months and then I think since I lost the franchise, I don't i mean, they tend to pick the theme that is that event. They have that artist that they use her work and that gets to be on T-shirts were a little higher price point and they weren't moving so they went there's T-shirts and long sleeve T-shirts I bought a long sleeve shirt last year kind no, they don't. we haven't even started talking about the convention and you're talking about well, the convention is not unusual. That convention would come up, but we have a 58 year mission yes a couple weeks ago and apparently I did. I've never done this before I've did all the panels I went to but I went to roughly 28 panels I know 28 including the pack which panel no, it's not but that's wrong but it would be like halftime. It's 28÷4 is seven hours they tend to run later into the evening if there's like the karaoke, karaoke nights I'm not say that you pronounce karaoke, but I learned to say it in Japan and I've never learned to stop so it's like a full in the morning, you gotta find food somewhere along the line and it's not on our list of things to talk about, but I'm gonna bring it up anyway the Rio has not a lot, but they replaced a lot of carpeting and they've got a food i know they got rid of the buffet like a lot of places that have buffets were they were looking to anyway cause I don't know what would've been for, but after the pandemic, they kind of got a bit of a stigma so they took their food cord and basically ripped it out and food and buffet but it's got it's not food like everything is around the edge of the walls kind of thing there's there's freestanding ones. There's one against the walls a number of restaurant that I hadn't heard of, but I got the impression they were popular part of the world because people were staying in line for a i had had sushi much better nice yeah yeah that makes it so much can't go to in the middle of a convention. You really can't take the time to stop and go to a buffet and sit down and get your food and then you know it's it's really something that you do when you have a couple hours which you don't wanna spend when you're at a convention able to go in have a variety of food and a quick must've been a real help yeah and the convention in Itself because host a lot of event types of stuff and they have food service that they can set refrigerated typical hopefully within the last few and sandwiches and things like it's very much grab and stand in line for a really long time and pay a lot of money for it. I've done that because it's convenient because you're but it's nice to have a few other things around, which is a little bit of a checkmark for the for the Rio as far as they've done that so good for them now that they are affiliated i believe with the Hilton hopefully things continue to improve let's hope did stay in the tower. This time it used to be the tower was like the fancy i think they've renovated the less than fancy place so that's where people renovate the other part from the convention and I hear you had a really good time i always do I always feel like something, but I don't think I did OK because I've got a list here of panels and events that you attended that's like 28 items long so how could you miss something there's a hole this is just main stage there's stuff that happens on other stages that are cool. I said in one of them kind of briefly I don't kinda what it was, but it was a similar to one of the main stage but yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on not to mention there's like the room with yeah, the lego bricks there were somebody there that had like a group that has a contest about building ships out of Legos and you can win stuff and there's a as a room that you can do art stuff and paint and create, there's a lot in the vendors room you've been to addictive almost got arrested on the way home motion activated and I had it in my carry-on so the whole way through security, it was going off like a mother and I had to I had to put it down and get it x-rayed and it was it Shaking and the whole time they're like, what do you have in his bag had to put it down I assume little no I didn't yeah, I almost didn't make it home that time so you still it sounds like you've got to panels and other events so it sounds like you had a really good time. Why don't we talk about highlights a little why don't we talk about? Why don't we talk about the highlights starting a panel called the discovery Ridge crew what was that about well discovery they picked out Patrick Cune and Kunes, Sarah Mitch I'm sorry, Mitch Orville Cummings, David, Benjamin and raven Dowda and Ronnie Rowe some of these have been on stage before I got the impression that Orville is he's also very young, but yeah, so it was basically the bridge between cakes and things like that. They stand around together for and they're not like the feature characters so it's not like green or or any of the other yes, but they just talked about their experiences. The time they spent together talk to a little bit about Orville is the newest to the group a young man so he had lots of like questions about like wasn't like the first time on the bridge consistently actors who talk about stepping onto the bridge sat it's up, but it's overwhelming and I think he mentioned his first day was they were explosion so on top of it being overwhelming as far as like oh my God, I got a job and I'm on this side and it's really so it was interesting to hear that someone asked Ronnie like we hadn't seen you a lot in the last few last season and he admitted got kind of the stage cask kind of quiet and he said well you know why I had an offer for producers and doing a lot of work I don't know. I don't have a lot going on on the on the show. Is there something that can be i think denise crosby conversation, which is like i'm on the stat every day cause i have to be on bridge crew but I don't have a lot to do while I'm so i'm leaving the show for the other opportunity so I like that do we have those Ronnie Bryce Orville played Lieutenant Christopher and again I remember seeing Orville I don't I don't know I'm character, but I I remember any specifics about the characters as far as what station they were at or what they're like job was he may very well have replaced Ronnie Ross character price and there was a conversation because I think I forgot which season where they replaced one of the died the augmented one and they replaced actors they kept the originally somebody else for the season where that character was taken off and then the original actor played augmentations a lot of questions about which one is that a good panel so onto the next one which is out of dry dock relaunching the enterprise from the car yes if you haven't seen Picard through to the end, this is a bit of a spoiler, but they do bring back the enterprise, there's reason they do some of the like how come this is here in the last movie we saw in and that sort of thing and it's it was a really good reason to bring back LeVar Burton, but they brought there is folks from the art department there's dermatologist as a showrunner. He was the one that had the idea like oh we really want to build this and the was like I didn't really have any concerns about the franchise and having another do with and under budget or budget sure but there were no original plans kicking around these people put 80s or so I know they brought in the Audas for a reference and how to find things and looking for stuff and just the color Kudos Michael Okuda was one of the original. He was a actual title, but I think he was the Director and he met his first, i can't remember she was like a video display artist for the route for the for the next generation so they met working together and married and now there's something called, but they've written a lot of books on the technology of the generation and the chips and technical manual back in the 7060s and they've updated that so that they go to for all technology of the sense in them so they were brought in and they again talking to people that haven't worked on the show in decades and trying but it was, it was a saga in itself and of course they have backstage footage of bringing like the on the stage, but little booties and scratch anything and they're just overwhelmed being sad that hasn't existed in 15 years or something so it was it was it was speaking of the card it was a panel called Picard recurring stars that you have flagged as one of your favorites. What was that about and why did you like it so undercard I think all of them are from the third season, but they included they included you know and honestly any panel with Todd Stashwick is is gonna be but also include Melanie wise, Stephanie, who she played Lieutenant last name and jonathan DeLarco, who we saw, I think in the second season of and Ashley Sharp oh, she played a forges so that was fun apparently trying to or maybe they're doing it together trying arrival and existing nemesis situation where they were they are each other's rival between himself and Jonathan Friggs he stood up at one point and loudly. He has a very deep voice audience, terrible man he was unfriendly and hostile and and how he smelled funny he had a smell you can tell when turn on he has an odor that he leaves behind, but yeah, it was very funny but yeah, it was OK. It was a good before you drop that on us without saying he he wasn't being serious he was he was playing at that rivalry by certain I think I don't know if they're just building they've been friends for years so I feel like they got bored and decided maybe each other you don't know that i don't know. I don't know how it got somebody did ask is it true that you have? I don't even think anybody asked a question. I think he just decided to say that so anyway, it was it was it was funny. I'm still laughing speaking of Stashwick about the figures the musical interlude known as the action figure. Yes it was fun. I don't think I think I took a few photos at Tim Ross plays an instrument. I think Michael Dorn plays. I don't remember what Michael i don't know very well I am talentless when it comes to music, but yeah, it said they've got a group. Apparently they do like corporate events and things like was the sort of the idea behind it I would last year they pointed out that the cost of getting in the criteria for getting you have to be an action has been an action figure based on a character. There is the navigator from is in an actors name, but yeah they do. They do rather long show. It's very I wanna say it's a very rock centered oh, but yeah, they're all very good and they bring out like guest guest to play instruments for a while and although more than Occasion, my watch did remind me that I was in an environment that was hazardous to my hearing so some people would actually find out to be the criteria for a good concert something to bear in mind the only other concert that I went to was the rat pack music to Star Trek brain who was the talking about a couple of these, I went to one sort of in the smaller theater that the other stage and I don't remember who was there, but they were it seem to be focused on that the production of things writers to producers and what it takes to run a show for like a season and put it in the context of the franchise and keep characters alive and they all point out the nl seasons are like 10 episodes long and they're like we were doing 26 and so we were they were cranking them out. They started in the summer and they're there you know every week you know as soon as one production is done you're spending money on the next one so you better be producing so this was Steve and I both well-known producers as well as Brandon Braga he worked on a voyager and I think he picked up one of the other series I was Stephen and Ronald Moore and Brenda Bragga. They have been on TNGDS9 so i don't remember if Brendan Braga worked on the enterprise or not, but they they wrote them all they written a lot of these episodes, but they're also looking at you know the studio was like OK great we've got you as soon as the other like what's gonna come after that or you know as soon as DS nine is on the air you know it's overlapping with and they're gonna want something after DSI is over and you know what's the next thing and then the push bill between it's gonna be Star Trek and but it can't be so new we don't recognize it, but it can't be just like the last one so there's that bouncing active like it's gotta be better can't be the same really very interesting and that's why I put it on my list of favorites favorites a lot of panels that were great and you went to a lot of events that were fun with the concert but you went to one that was both panel and musical event so let's wrap up with the rat pack. Tell us about the rat pack who is the rat pack and what did they? What did they talk in the in the show for the weekend, they happen one of the last things if you signed up for next year's ticket, which I have, there's an opportunity to get like a better seat so the whole process if you get a number and so while that's going on, they have an auction so that's like the last function of the event but but the last show is the right everybody's there's no more stars to see. There's no more tickets together. There's no more photo op. It's just a rack and for years and years and I think I've talked about it and that I like it it's it's fine for one thing it's very relaxing and that there's no more to do you've all the stuff there's no dinner there's no watch. When is the next one start that kind of thing you just go in your pop yourself in the same seat you had all all week and the idea was it was supposed to be much like the Frank Sinatra rack i don't remember who is for my time, but they explained that whenever they were shooting a movie and in Vegas, they would always say you Frank Sinatra, what do I say to the director? We gotta get in one because we all have to be at another sands or be at whatever whatever at a certain time so it was it was their to be away from sad and hang out together and drink and smoke and do all the things that you did back in the 50 so that was the model for the Star Trek, I don't think Star Trek anymore, but they do have albums out. They've been they produced an album they were selling actually at the show but they do little riff son on famous songs. Max writes the lyrics and this year it was and I'm gonna rip half of everybody's names I can picture everyone, but obviously Max is there so typically the rat pack in years it included he hasn't done it for a couple years and they make jokes about that but no more limo sorry Jeffrey combs visitor has the last couple seems to be sort of like kind of coalesces around him so it's it's just the impression is it's a bunch of friends getting together and playing some song again. They tend to play the same song, but I am OK with and they have a good time they've released an album like I say I think I think they had it there. I don't know they're giving away. I kind of because that's the way the world is and so kind of funny it's it's it there is there's some some jokes and there's a few video titans with with other other folks that they sang i know George has a line they have a song that includes him so they have a pre-recorded bit of him like chiming in on whether he likes it or not so that's why it's my favorite highlights a lot yeah, and like i say there were stuff that i didn't do you know some of the original series stars and things I've seen them before as well, so I tend to skip them. I feel bad about it cause you know obviously the ones gonna start the whole thing of course one of the final stars that shows up on stage is always on Sunday anyways and a lot of people shop specifically for him this year Lloyd was there of course I forget what anniversary it is Star Trek three but they did. They did talk about that but usually it's a cast of people but yeah, there's a lot a lot a lot to do a lot, but I'm saying i have next year it's I wrote it down somewhere but it's it's also in August I think it's the it's on the convention calendar already convention calendar. I lied. I lied like a rug, but I august 7 of next year but plenty of time to do that. Check the creation site in the meantime it went well although I did have a 6 flight on Monday morning to get back to LA and Uber picks you up at like 3:15 in the morning so it's it's an abrupt to a lovely weekend and I am unpacked, but I haven't started packing up, but I have decided to keep a list of things that worked when I there and things that shouldn't bother to take next time and things I should take next time so always worthwhile so one more question for you though do you or did you not give me Bobby Clark autograph? I did tell me. You ordered it on the show and I think you asked me about it. I was there. I got a text with it so at this point, your short and long-term memory are in question but yes and he's very nice. There was like a line of people i waited till Sunday, cause there was always people around and so I waited till since the last day of the show and stood behind somebody else and and he was there that was his wife. don't wanna make that assumption, but i am assuming but yeah he had a hole. I think I showed you the pick out a picture autograph said he has a fee for it and he gives you and I'm not sure why but it's a little like very call like one dollar bill with the photo of it on it and the side of the president and of course Bobby Gorn do not know play the Gorn in one episode of the original series he was he was the guy in the rubber shoot yes but he was he was the main guy in that soup but yeah, he's the one that took those really fast swings at but yeah, yeah and I have a photo with him with the photo autograph photo in front of so there's a lot of stuff going on to unpack there, but yeah, I have it here on the shelf waiting to send it a little closer to is it is it your birthday gift or is it a Christmas gift? my birthday is October 24. Everything up to the point of when you give me the gift as long as I get don't care but yeah Clark so yeah I was happy to see you there but I think he didn't appear on any of any of the panels and I don't know what it takes to get because there was a panel called something about guest stars and he wasn't on that even though he was at the convention, yeah makes me mad. I don't know what the criteria for in the room versus on the stage, I did find a kind of interesting because some of the some of the questions from the audience like you know are on or you know what if you sins and then that sort of thing and one of the actors did point out there like you these conventions are pretty much my income and pretty good way to earn a living. It's just convention which I had always been curious about like why there's so many people that go on the exercise production side and the fact that it it's it's a stainable job afterwards, of course they point out that they are promoting themselves at these events so it could lead to more work, but it could be a job so my new goal is to get in a shell that's quirky enough where there's a there's a convention circuit for me to be on then I that was that was the show is always a little sad when it's over and it's always a little relieving because there's there's no i did get five photo apps this year, which is pretty good. All I have for this addition what about you? That's all I have at home. I'm thinking of rolling the Brittany, five to watch track headlines into his own podcast so that this channel will be it'll be just Bill and Jenna talking about convention stuff until then, hi bye episode are you enjoying the convention? why not follow us on Facebook Twitter and Instagram just look for convention and convention updates convention photos, and merchandiseconvention.com I'm dashing thanks for listening. Have you about Star Trek want to be a guest on the trek convention podcast head over to trekconvention.com/podcast and tell us a bit more about be sure to keep listening