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‘Star Trek’ made its first ever musical episode, but was it any good? Our writers discuss

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This article contains spoilers for “Subspace Rhapsody,” the ninth episode of Season 2 of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .”

On Thursday, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” (Paramount+) debuted “Subspace Rhapsody,” which has been announced as the first musical episode in the franchise . (Some will, of course, remember Spock strumming on a Vulcan lute and Uhura singing in the original series or Data’s rendition of “Blue Skies” at Will and Deanna’s wedding in “Star Trek: Nemesis.”)

Whether or not one views this as an insult to or a delightful expansion of the series, it has become, if not quite de rigueur, not unusual for a comedy or drama or even a soap opera to get its inner “Rent” on. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was perhaps the most ballyhooed show to take this step toward Broadway, but all sorts of series have danced into the footlights: “Fringe,” “Psych,” “Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Futurama,” “One Life to Live,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Community,” “Transparent” and more.

Entertainment and arts reporter Ashley Lee, who knows a lot about musicals but little about “Star Trek,” and television critic Robert Lloyd, who knows quite a bit about “Star Trek” and less about musicals (at least any written after 1970), got together to discuss the episode.

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Ashley Lee: Because I love musical theater, I’m always intrigued when TV shows take the risk to make a musical episode. The task of creating original songs for the screen is already tricky enough, especially in a way that invites along the show’s weekly audience and still moves its stories forward. And then there’s the task of asking the actors to perform them, whether or not they’ve ever sung or danced onscreen before. It’s an episodic experiment that, over the years, only some shows have gotten right.

I admittedly put on the musical episode of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” with low expectations because, outside of “Little Shop of Horrors,” putting sci-fi to song hasn’t historically been so harmonious (R.I.P., “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”). Even though I had no prior connection to any of these characters, I found “Subspace Rhapsody” to be a pleasant surprise.

I loved how the songs, written by Kay Hanley and Tom Polce of the ’90s alt-rock band Letters to Cleo, poked enough fun at the oddity of suddenly breaking out into song without insulting the TV tradition. And I found it hilarious that the episode, directed by Dermott Downs and written by Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff, deemed “confessing highly personal, emotional information” a legitimate security threat. (When you think about it, such can definitely be true in the real world!)

I’m surprised that, after all these years, this is the first ever “Star Trek” musical episode. Robert, as a longtime fan of the franchise, were you open to the idea?

Robert Lloyd: In sci-fi fandom, any unusual step is bound to raise some hackles. But as a TV critic since before flat screens, I have seen at least a few of these “special musical episodes” mounted in otherwise nonmusical series. I suspect the impetus came not from viewer demand but from the producers or the writers, who are always looking for something new to entertain the audience and, not incidentally, themselves and was seized upon happily by cast members, many of whom will have had backgrounds in or at least a love of musical theater, even if only from their high school production of “Guys and Dolls” (which I mention because it was produced at my high school — not with me).

History shows there’s no sort of show more likely than another to take on this challenge, but of all the “Star Trek” series, “Strange New Worlds” is perhaps the one most amenable to it. It’s got a strong vein of humor, and, as a highly episodic show, it’s subject to — in fact, embraces — tonal shifts from week to week. This season has been particularly … goofy? Two weeks prior to “Subspace Rhapsody,” they aired a crossover with the animated spinoff “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” in which cartoon characters became flesh and fleshly characters cartoons.

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I thought it was smart to give the musical element of the show a “scientific” rationale — if the usual “Trek” technobabble — with the Enterprise overwhelmed by feedback from a substance fault into which, on the inspiration of Carol Kane’s Pelia, they sent a playlist in an attempt to communicate musically.

And it’s quite appropriate for a season full of romantic subplots, including Ethan Peck’s Spock — who, you must know, is more about logic than feeling — having a thing with Jess Bush’s Nurse Chapel, and security chief Noonien-Singh’s (Christina Chong) awkward reunion with a young James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), who doesn’t recall their relationship from an alternative timeline. (That bit may have made no sense to you, Ash.) Appropriately, the story makes it clear that heightened emotion is what causes the characters to sing — which is, of course, the underlying rationale of music theater.

All else aside, how did the music strike you? It was odd that although the music they fed into the fault was the “Great American Songbook” — the standards of early to mid-20th century popular song, often written for musicals — none of the songs in the episode were actually modeled on that tradition. Not much in the way of Jerome Kern or Rodgers and Hart there. It all sounded post-Andrew Lloyd Webber to me.

Lee: Haha, you’re right! While I did appreciate the use of Cole Porter’s show tune “Anything Goes” as a very literal cue to the audience of the storytelling “rules” ahead, many of the tunes were more contemporary than Golden Age. The one that’s most “vintage” in style was the sweet duet “Connect to Your Truth,” when Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) shared key leadership advice with Lt. Kirk.

Regarding the romances, I admittedly became deeply invested in these will-they-won’t-theys by the end of their musical numbers. I particularly loved La’an Noonien-Singh‘s song “How Would That Feel,” about contemplating vulnerability; it was like an introspective, angsty version of “Company’s” “Being Alive” in the musical style of “Wicked” (and is a promising preview of her music — Chong just released a debut EP). And the stark differences in genre between Spock’s brooding electropop ballad “I’m the X” and Nurse Chapel’s Amy Winehouse-esque fellowship celebration “I’m Ready” definitely maximized the tension amid their miscommunication.

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Beyond those, the opening number titled “Status Report” was so strong — a perfect example of musicalizing a familiar routine of the world (think “Opening Up” from “Waitress” or “Good Morning Baltimore” from “Hairspray”) — and the choral, orchestral rendition of the show’s main title was a delight. Also, the double meaning of communications officer Nyota Uhura’s anthem “Keep Us Connected” was very satisfying and, in my opinion, only scratched the surface of Celia Rose Gooding’s vocal abilities (she earned a Tony nomination for her performance in “Jagged Little Pill”).

If “Star Trek” ever officially makes the leap to the stage, I imagine these three songs in particular would transfer well. (Though if so, I’m gonna need a full expansion of that brief interlude of autotuned, rapping Klingons.) Bravo to Hanley and Polce for writing all the music and lyrics of this episode; while many have attempted it over the years, only a few pop stars and rockers have successfully walked the tightrope of writing effective and entertaining stage musicals (e.g., Cyndi Lauper, David Byrne and Elton John).

Overall, did you enjoy “Subspace Rhapsody”? Was the first musical episode of the franchise worth the wait?

Lloyd: I can’t say I was waiting for it, but I certainly enjoyed it. I’m all about nutty “Star Trek,” going back to “The Trouble With Tribbles,” and also found it a really effective way to embody the emotional crises being faced by “Strange New Worlds’” eminently likable characters. Certainly, the cast bursting into song (and the occasional dance), with music dropping in from … somewhere, is no more nonsensical than about, oh, a hundred things that have happened to the various starship crews over nearly six decades.

But let me ask you, did it make you liable to keep watching the series? (No judgment.)

Lee: Robert, these subplots were so genuinely compelling, even when concisely moved forward in song, that I’ll likely start this series from the beginning and continue on past this episode. Plus, I’m so intrigued by Lt. Kirk and Noonien-Singh’s romance in that alternate timeline!

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Ashley Lee is a staff reporter at the Los Angeles Times, where she writes about theater, movies, television and the bustling intersection of the stage and the screen. An alum of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Critics Institute and Poynter’s Power of Diverse Voices, she leads workshops on arts journalism at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. She was previously a New York-based editor at the Hollywood Reporter and has written for the Washington Post, Backstage and American Theatre, among others. She is currently working remotely alongside her dog, Oliver.

Robert Lloyd has been a Los Angeles Times television critic since 2003.

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‘star trek: strange new worlds’ musical episode announced, trailer revealed.

Paramount+ revealed a surprise first look at a 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' musical episode and announced the 'Strange New Worlds' and 'Lower Decks' season four live-action crossover is getting released today.

By James Hibberd

James Hibberd

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Are you ready for singing and dancing Captain Christopher Pike?

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The announcement was made at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, where Paramount+ had a Star Trek franchise session in Hall H.

Based on what’s shown in the trailer, the U.S.S. Enterprise gets zapped by a space anomaly, which makes the crew break into song.

In addition, Paramount+ is releasing the Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks live-action vs. animation crossover episode early. The episode will be available on the streaming service starting at 4 p.m. today. The rest of the season will premiere Sept. 7.

The company also released some first-look art of the episode and the trailer for Lower Decks season four.

Here is a look at the crossover episode, which brings Lower Decks voice actors Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid into live action:

The panel showed the first five minutes of episode one of season five of Star Trek Discovery , which featured Sonequa Martin-Green as Captain Michael Burnham on top of a ship in the middle of a warp jump while two Federation starships are in pursuit. The scene can be seen here . The fifth and final season will premiere in early 2024.

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How Strange New Worlds pulled off the first-ever Star Trek musical episode

To boldly go...

by Dylan Roth

Throwing an hour of light comedy into the middle of a 10-episode arc with galactic-level stakes could derail an entire season, but Star Trek: Strange New Worlds dances gracefully from week to week between courtroom drama, time-travel romance, and its latest wild swing: a musical episode.

In “Subspace Rhapsody,” the crew of the USS Enterprise encounters a strange cosmic phenomenon that induces them to break into song and reveal their innermost feelings. The episode features 10 original songs by Kay Hanley and Tom Polce (of Letters to Cleo fame) and highlights the vocal talents of the cast, including Tony nominee and Grammy winner Celia Rose Gooding and singer-songwriter Christina Chong.

Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman, who heads up the franchise at Paramount, has been teasing the possibility of a Star Trek musical since 2020. But at the time, his only venue for bizarre genre experiments was Star Trek: Short Treks , a short subject anthology series that filled the gaps between Discovery and Picard . Short Treks eventually became the launchpad for Strange New Worlds , whose tone has proven equally elastic. After the warm reception to its first season, which contained everything from a screwball body-swap comedy to a grim political drama involving child sacrifice, it was time to set phasers to “sing.”

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According to the episode’s director, Dermott Downs, Chong was the cast member who pushed the hardest for a musical episode. Chong, whose debut EP Twin Flames is also out this week, confesses in her Spotify bio that her screen acting career began as a way to raise her profile as a singer and stage actor. “Subspace Rhapsody” would seem to be an important landmark in her career, as she features heavily on the soundtrack, including the solo ballad “How Would That Feel?”

(Chong is unavailable for comment due to the conditions of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, as is the rest of the cast and the episode’s writers, Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff. Songwriters Kay Hanley and Tom Polce also could not be reached via Paramount publicity.)

Indeed, one of the interesting challenges of producing a musical episode of an established television show is tailoring the music to suit the talents of the existing cast. Who’s a belter? Who’s a crooner? Who’s funny? Who might not be comfortable singing at all? The tools at hand impact not only the distribution of the songs, but the shape of the story. The narrative and emotional weight of a musical has to fall on the shoulders of the cast members most prepared to carry it.

So, it’s no surprise that, while “Subspace Rhapsody” gives nearly every regular cast member an opportunity to show off, the heart of the story is Ensign Nyota Uhura, portrayed by Celia Rose Gooding. Gooding’s performance as Frankie in Jagged Little Pill , a Broadway jukebox musical featuring the songs of Alanis Morissette, garnered them a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, as well as a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album (shared with the rest of the cast). Gooding sings the episode’s 11 o’clock number, “Keep Us Connected,” an undeniable earworm that showcases their impressive vocal range and power. Gooding’s Broadway bona fides bring a level of legitimacy to “Subspace Rhapsody” that’s lacking even in top-tier TV musical episodes like Buffy ’s “Once More, With Feeling” and Community ’s “Regional Holiday Music.”

This also isn’t Downs’ first crack at a musical episode, as he also helmed “Duet,” a crossover between The Flash and Supergirl that reunited former Glee castmates Grant Gustin, Melissa Benoist, and Darren Criss. Downs used this experience, as well as his long resume as a music video cinematographer, to secure the “Subspace Rhapsody” gig from the list of episodes in development for Strange New Worlds ’ second season. Combined with his fondness for the original Star Trek , the possibility of working on Trek’s first musical episode was too exciting to pass up, despite the obvious risks.

“There was a great potential to jump the shark,” says Downs, “because if you’re this grounded show, how are you going to do a musical in outer space? And to their credit, they crafted a great story. Once you understand the anomaly and how music pushes forward all of these interior feelings through song, then you have the potential for so many different kinds of songs.”

However, the prospect of singing for the viewing audience was not immediately appealing to every cast member, a fact that is lampshaded within the framework of the episode. Much of the Enterprise crew fears the subspace anomaly’s ability to make them spill their guts through song. Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) is afraid of getting into an argument with his girlfriend, Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano), and the pair ends up airing out their relationship issues on the bridge. (This song is, appropriately, entitled “A Private Conversation.”) Mount’s singing role is simpler than his castmates’ on a technical level, but leverages his comedic talents and awkward, boy-next-door charm.

“He crushed it,” says Downs. “It was like a country ballad gone wrong.”

Babs Olusanmokun, who portrays the multifaceted Dr. Joseph M’Benga, sings the bare minimum in the episode, and his character makes a point to tell his shipmates (and the viewer) that he does not sing . For his part, Downs cannot comment on any studio magic that may or may not have been employed to make the less seasoned vocalists in the cast more tuneful, but a listener with an ear for autotune will definitely detect some pitch correction.

Downs says that Ethan Peck, who portrays the young Lieutenant Spock , was among the more apprehensive cast members, but if anything, this becomes an asset to his performance in the episode. Spock has spent this season actively exploring his human feelings, even entering into a romantic relationship with Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush). Spock’s solo “I’m the X” sees Spock retreating into his shell, and the actor’s shyness feeds into the character’s conflict. Peck’s performance of the song, which was written for his smooth baritone, was the production’s most pleasant surprise. The temp track of the song that the crew worked with (until Peck recorded his version over a weekend, like the rest of the cast) featured a bigger, more conventionally Broadway vocal, but Peck performs it in character — superficially steady, but with strong emotional undercurrents just below the surface.

On a character level, however, the musical format might be most revelatory for Rebecca Romijn’s Commander Una Chin-Riley, aka Number One. Una began the series as a very guarded person harboring a secret that could end her career. Even as far back as her appearance in the 2019 Short Treks episode “Q&A,” her advice to new arrival Spock was to “keep your ‘freaky’ to yourself,” in this case referring to her love for Gilbert and Sullivan ( inherited from Romijn herself ). Since then, her much more consequential secrets have been revealed, and she finds herself unburdened, and uses the opportunity presented by the musical anomaly to encourage her mentees to do the same. Una’s songs, “Connect to Your Truth”’ and “Keeping Secrets,” see her offering advice to rising first officer James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) and her protege La’an (Chong), respectively, about the futility of withholding your full self from others.

“Subspace Rhapsody” concludes with an ensemble number about the crew’s common purpose and fellowship — an appropriate sentiment not only for a musical episode but for Strange New Worlds . Star Trek has always been about friendship and cooperation, but no previous incarnation (save, perhaps, for Deep Space Nine ) has granted each member of the cast such even amounts of attention and importance, from Captain Pike to Ensign Uhura. Previous Trek series could perhaps have sustained a musical episode (Ronald D. Moore even pitched one for DS9 back in the ’90s). For a series sold to fans as a return to “old-school Star Trek,” Strange New Worlds has taken some wild creative risks. While the show has resumed its time-tested episodic “problem of the week” format, its writers and producers have used this structure to experiment in ways that its sister shows, Discovery and Picard , could never have gotten away with. As corny as it might be, on Strange New Worlds it feels particularly appropriate to close a story with the entire crew singing about their trust in each other, in perfect harmony.

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Captain Pike (Anson Mount) sings his heart out in  Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "Subspace Rhapsody"

Behind the scenes of shooting "Subspace Rhapsody"

The Making of Star Trek ’s First Musical Episode (Exclusive) 

Strange new worlds ’ cast and crew set phasers to “sing” for this in-depth oral history..

The words “ Star Trek musical” might seem like an oxymoron, but as any Trekker knows, music has been a major part of the scifi franchise since its beginning. Uhura sang on the original 1960s series, as did several characters on the spinoffs. For Deep Space Nine , supervising producer Ronald D. Moore pitched a musical episode but lost that battle. On Picard , season-one showrunner Michael Chabon also struck out when he tried to recruit Lin-Manuel Miranda as a songsmith.

Finally, in its second season, the Paramount+ prequel Strange New Worlds  made the long-gestating dream of a Star Trek musical episode come true. Here, the cast and crew of “Subspace Rhapsody” explain their extraordinary group effort to emmy contributor Jennifer Vineyard.

OPENING NOTES

Akiva Goldsman (Co-showrunner): When we started Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , [a musical episode] was a dream.

Christina Chong (Actor, La'an Noonien-Singh): My persistent nagging did it. I started pitching the idea. They said, “Funny you should say that … .”

Celia Rose Gooding (Actor, Nyota Uhura):  Christina has this magical way of manifesting cool episodes.

Alex Kurtzman (Executive Producer): How far out did we start before we were shooting this episode?

Henry Alonso Myers (Co-showrunner): About six months. By the time we had a composer and a lyricist, we had broken an episode. They were sending us the songs as our writers were doing the script.

Bill Wolkoff (Writer): I pitched to make it seem possible as both Star Trek and a musical. That’s where the idea of the improbability field came in, which creates this reality that unleashes them to sing their feelings in a way that causes trouble.

Goldsman: The infinite-universe theory would suggest that there is a musical universe — and in that, why wouldn’t there be music in the air, in the way there’s oxygen? It’s the most improbable universe ever known to man, short of the one where we turn into bunnies.

Dana Horgan (Writer): The episode’s dialogue about bunnies, that’s an homage to Buffy the Vampire Slayer ’s musical episode. That was the bar. When we were trying to think about the structure, we had recently fallen in love with Encanto . It was a language to talk about what our musical could be, with the mystery.

Myers:  I sort of expected that people would think this is silly. The goal was to do something gut-wrenching, because that would surprise them.

Tom Polce (Songwriter):  I enlisted my sister in rock, [fellow Letters to Cleo member] Kay Hanley. We got a sense of who wanted to sing, who could sing, what their skill set was. And we had ringers. Rebecca Romijn: ringer! Christina Chong: ringer! Celia Rose Gooding: ringer of all ringers!

Goldsman: It was more tailor-made to an ensemble cast. You discover Celia’s voice, and you’re like, “Oh! That’s going to land there at the end.” She led us there.

Dermott Downs (Director):  They gave me two weeks for additional prep. We didn’t have a full script then. We had songs, an outline and a temp track. It was scary, like, “What’s this going to be?” And then we got the songs.

“Status Report” After encountering an anomaly, the Enterprise crew files station reports, only to be bewildered that they appear to be singing an ensemble number.

Downs: In the first number, this musical virus moves through the ship. It’s a sound wave that motivates the singing.

Horgan:  It feels like the opening of Into the Woods or the opening of Newsies — setting the world.

Wolkoff: There’s a lot of Treknobabble. It’s a song that has science in it.

Polce:  Dana and Bill would give us these ammo emails with nomenclature. I thought it would be amazing to open up with Spock’s voice, especially since he has to be the first person to clock that they are singing.

Wolkoff:  “Status Report” relies a lot on cast who aren’t primarily singers. When Anson Mount sang on the end, we knew, “This is going to work.”

“Connect to Your Truth” Combining the talents of Rebecca Romijn (singing) and Paul Wesley (ballroom dancing), their characters Una Chin-Riley and James T. Kirk do a “Waltz of the First Officers” while chatting about their respective roles aboard the starship.

Polce:  This is our one hat-tip to old-school musicals.

Downs: It’s a light waltz.

Kurtzman: We did a series, Short Treks . For one of them, I called Rebecca and I said, “What hidden talents do you have?” She said, “I can sing any Gilbert and Sullivan song.” Obviously, that made its way into Strange New Worlds .

“How Would That Feel?” La’an hides in her quarters to sing a heartbreaking torch song and debate the danger of revealing feelings in public, since they can be security risks. (She has a classified crush on an alternate-timeline James T. Kirk.)

Chong: The only song I could think of when Tom asked me to sing was “Summertime.” He said, “You have a big range!” I said, “I do?”

Horgan: We had a conversation about La’An’s story arc, how she could tell Kirk how she feels, even though she can’t break time-travel rules. We felt that the moment where she says this should not be a song. It should not be a subspace rift that is compelling her to do it, but a choice.

Downs:  The song is an interior monologue about her fear. The flashback was going to be like a Terrence Malick film.

Chong:  Swaying trees, longing looks. I said, “That feels weird. She needs to be on her own.”

Downs: They were doing pickups, shooting in a hotel room, so it became, “What if it’s just in her mind? Let’s just shoot handheld, make it intimate, in and out of focus.”

Kay Hanley (Songwriter):  I felt in touch with the theme, which is, “Why does everybody else seem to have the manual for how to interact with other people?” I dove into it in a way that I had never really done before.

Horgan: “Defying Gravity” [from Wicked ] was on our mind, and “On My Own” [from Les Misérables ]. La’an was like our Éponine in her longing for a Kirk who didn’t exist, whom she couldn’t have.

Chong: My solo is fricking hard. Vocal acrobatics.

Wolkoff: Christina had never sung a torch song like that before. Now she’s launching a musical career.

“Private Conversation” Captains Christopher Pike (Mount) and Maria Batel (Melanie Scrofano) — who are in a romantic relationship — inadvertently reveal too much when talking becomes singing in front of their respective crews.

Downs:  La’an wants to share with Pike that this song is moving through the ship. Pike goes full live singing in front of everybody.

Polce:  Anson Mount said, “I don’t sing.” I said, “Do you want to sing?" “Heck yeah.” So we sang some John Mellencamp, Bryan Adams.

Anson Mount (Actor, Christopher Pike): I’m more comfortable doing rock ’n’ roll and country.

Horgan:  We talked about “Confrontation” from Les Misérables , with the two escalating.

“I’m Ready” Dance break! Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) gets good news — she’s decided to leave the ship and take a fellowship — and sings a rousing number that gets the crew’s groove on, save for one holdout, Spock, who’s disappointed.

Wolkoff: It’s a freeing song, like Treat Williams’s song in Hair , “I Got Life.”

Gooding: It’s an almost–Amy Winehouse bar number.

Polce: I was watching Grease , so I said, “We need a dance number! Can I put in 16 bars so we can do a dance break?"

Roberto Campanella (Choreographer): We went from a few to almost 20 dancers, because Dermott kept saying, “We need more.”

Downs: Roberto crafted this dance moving through the whole bar, with the trust of falling back into dancers, being lifted up and surfed.

Wolkoff: At the end of shooting that night, everybody started singing. Our poor assistant director had to wrap the crew: “That’s great, I love it. Now get off my set!”

“I’m the X” Spock retreats to embrace his more stoic Vulcan side, singing a dark reprise of Chapel’s “I’m Ready.”

Polce:  Ethan said, “I used to play cello, but I don’t sing.” So I said, “Why don’t you show me some artists you listen to?”

Ethan Peck (Actor, Spock): I think I presented Nirvana, Twin Shadow, Frank Sinatra.

Polce: When there were some singers with lower voices, I said, “Can you sing along to this?” So the kid opens his mouth, and it’s a beautiful, velvety baritone. Just delicious — “Oh my god, Spock’s going to sing!”

Hanley : But we did not plan to make the Chapel and Spock songs companions.

Wolkoff: We wanted Spock to have a big emotional moment in song. Spock has a serialized emotional arc with Chapel, and we wanted the episode to culminate with a big moment for both of them. It was Tom’s idea to do the same melody with tonal differences. A song of pure joy for Chapel, a torch song for Spock.

Hanley: Yin and yang, dark and light. Tom started playing this dark chord progression, Joy Division–style. Then I heard “This news really changes everything” in a different key. The melody fit over it. We were like, “Boom!”

Peck: His experience with Nurse Chapel could arguably set him on his path to being much more like Leonard Nimoy’s Spock. With my Spock, we are definitely exploring much more of what’s useful, or not, about being human. We can trace his development back to this moment.

Polce: This might be the moment that Spock turns almost fully Vulcan. This is why Spock is Spock.

Kurtzman : It’s less that it’s a retcon [retroactive continuity] of what was there, and more that there are blanks to fill in.

Hanley:  Tom and I stretched out how to make that work as a lyric, through math. The first thing I brought was “I’m the X” — like, I’m the ex-boyfriend. I wanted to take the language of the equation and make it an analog for his disappointment and disenchantment.

Polce: One of the notes said, “Can you make it more yummy?” The line I’m most proud of is, “I solve for Y,” or “why.”

Hanley: Cracking that code is how it felt.

Peck:  It was only a two-minute song, and it probably took me nine hours to nail it, which blows my mind.

The complete version of this article originally appeared in emmy magazine, issue #5 2024, under the title "All About That Space." 

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‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’: ‘Subspace Rhapsody’ Is TV’s Best Musical Episode Since ‘Buffy’

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The joke, in the context of the episode, feels slightly random and out of step with the show’s typical sense of humor. But for anyone who has ever watched “ Buffy the Vampire Slayer ,” the reference to bunnies instantly brings to mind a specific song from another musical episode, maybe the most famous one in the subgenre — “Bunnies,” Anya’s (Emma Caulfield) rock solo in Season 6’s “Once More With Feeling.”

“Once More With Feeling,” which focuses on the cast of the teen fantasy drama fighting a demon that cursed the town of Sunnydale into singing their inner thoughts, wasn’t the first musical-themed episode of TV ever produced; there was a 1997 episode of medical procedural “Chicago Hope” where the cast burst into song as a result of brain aneurysm-induced hallucinations, to name one example. But the “Buffy” episode is notable for the acclaim that it received, becoming a fan favorite in a series that already drew obsessive adoration from its audience. And in the years since its 2001 release, it has seemingly inspired other shows to force their characters to belt their hearts out in (hopefully) epic fashion for an installment or two.

The appeal of the musical episode, separate from full on musical shows like “Glee,” is obvious; it’s an easy way to make an installment that departs from formula and sticks out as memorable, and the extra level of time and effort involved in bringing one together can be impressive. But in practice, the majority of musical episodes tend to be frustratingly superficial, gimmicky ploys for attention that dilute rather than enhance a show’s narrative; look at the series of “Riverdale” episodes that focus on the cast’s school productions of musicals like “Carrie” or “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” as examples, installments that clumsily graft the shows’ songs onto the characters with little to no regard for how they fit into the storylines of the people singing them. The question that underlines every piece of musical theater is what do the songs and dances achieve that dialogue and blocking cannot; most one-off musical episodes don’t try to bother answering.

In “Once More With Feeling,” the central conceit of the curse that musical demon Sweet (Hinton Battle) places on Sunnydale is that the songs that the citizens are forced to sing reveal their deepest truths. For the Scooby Gang, this means Giles (Anthony Head) and Tara (Amber Benson) both realize they need to abandon the person they love for very different reasons, while Anya and her fiancé Xander (Nicholas Brendon) share their mutual doubts about their impending nuptials. Most prominently, the entrance into a musical reality causes Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) to finally open up about the intense depression she’s been feeling all season, and give herself over to her desire for former enemy Spike (James Marsters).

And “Subspace Rhapsody” almost directly pulls “Once More With Feeling’s” fantasy musical logic into its sci-fi universe. Early on, Gooding’s Uhura, the resident musical theater geek on the ship, explains how the new reality the crew is briefly living in works; they sing when their emotions are their most intense, overriding rational thinking and giving way into a vocalization of their purest id.

The curse of being forced to reveal your innermost secrets through song is a particularly cruel one to put on the cast of “Strange New Worlds.” As a crew of highly decorated officers for Starfleet, the main characters of the show aren’t exactly a cold bunch, but they’re a group whose interactions and relationships are undergirded by the Enterprise chain of command. Many characters, like Rebecca Romijn’s Una Chin-Riley, purposefully keep themselves at a distance from their subordinates due to their own secrets or past traumas. Spock (Ethan Peck), a character synonymous with cold logic over emotional openness, is one of the main faces on the ship.

Una comes to an emotional realization about the effect hiding her status as an augment has had on her life, Pike admits his doubts and worries about his relationship with girlfriend Batel (Melanie Scrofano), and Uhura is able to express, and heal slightly from, the trauma of her mentor Hemmer’s (Bruce Horak) death in Season 1. The empathetic Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) vocalizes, through a free-wheeling group number, that she prioritizes her career over her nascent romance with Spock, who in turn sings a response song expressing his humiliation and a resolve to further bury his human side. These are all revelations that theoretically could be done in a non-musical episode, but the beauty of “Subspace Rhapsody” is how the songs so efficiently break down the cast’s emotional barriers, shifting the way they communicate with one another entirely.

In the episode’s best scene, La’an decides to come clean about her unusual circumstances to Kirk before the musical logic forces her into it. Kirk is gracious and sympathetic, but awkwardly reveals he’s already in a relationship (with Carol Marcus, who “Star Trek” fans will remember from “The Wrath of Khan”). Chong, very often the show’s MVP, plays her reaction beautifully, with a wistful sadness and longing for what could have been palpable in her every word. You expect her to break out into song at some point, but it never comes. For a very brief moment, La’an doesn’t need music to say what she’s feeling.

“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” is now streaming on Paramount+. The Season 2 finale premieres August 10.

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Let’s Rank the Songs of ‘Strange New Worlds’ Musical Episode, ‘Subspace Rhapsody’

At last, the Star Trek: Strange New World s musical episode is here! TMS’ Lauren Coates has us covered with a review of “Subspace Rhapsody” as a whole, but I’m here to talk specifically about the music . After all, a musical is judged by how likely you are to keep singing and listening to the songs long after the show is over. At least, that’s how I rate musicals.

So, how does the music stack up? Allow me to provide a humble ranking of the songs from “Subspace Rhapsody” from least to most awesome. Feel free to disagree with me about the order in the comments!

10. “ How Would That Feel ” – La’an Noonien-Singh (performed by Christina Chong)

Sadly, my least favorite song was performed by one of the characters I was most looking forward to hearing from.

La’an’s going through a lot: she traveled through time, she’s not supposed to talk about it, and she had romantic feelings for a version of Kirk who is now dead. She’s also one of the more guarded members of the crew, due to her harrowing experience with the Gorn and the assumptions people make from her last name. I was sure we wouldn’t hear from La’an for a while, but when we did, it would be meaningful .

Instead, we got a La’an song way too early, singing feelings I’m not convinced she’d sing, even on her own. Especially since she had the self-control not to sing when revealing her actual strong feelings to Kirk later in the episode. Imagine how much more powerful Kirk’s rejection would’ve been if it followed a heartbreakingly honest musical confession. Instead, we were served an emotionally incoherent, lyrically generic ballad way too early in the episode.

9. “ Keeping Secrets ” – Una Chin-Riley (performed by Rebecca Romijn)

Una Chin-Riley is another character who’s way more fascinating than the songs she was given. Unfortunately, Una’s two numbers in the episode are among the weakest. “Keeping Secrets” is the weaker of the two, as Una commiserates with La’an by comparing her unrequited love of Kirk to … her own battle to keep her identity a secret to avoid persecution? Una, all secrets are not equal. And in this context, Number One doesn’t know the timey-wimey reasons why La’an’s feelings for Kirk are so complicated. So, the fact that her approach is this serious in this song makes little sense.

I’d be able to forgive that if the music or lyrics were more interesting, but like “How Would That Feel,” this was another plodding, generic ballad during which I found myself checking my phone.

8. “ Connect to Your Truth ” – Una Chin-Riley and James T. Kirk (performed by Rebecca Romijn and Paul Wesley)

“Connect to Your Truth” was a stronger song for Number One, not only because it was a fun callback to her love of Gilbert & Sullivan—which she expressed in the Short Treks episode “Q&A” —but because it was a duet with a James T. Kirk who is not yet a captain. This allowed Una to give Kirk advice on how to be a better leader by staying true to who you are and connecting to your crew through vulnerability.

Also, this song was fun , which goes a long way. While this song is only slightly better than the first two songs on this list (and it’s probably the cheesiest song in the episode), both Romijn and Wesley seemed to be having a great time singing it. The song also makes sense on a character level as well as thematically.

7. “Main Title (“Subspace Rhapsody” Version)” – composed by Jeff Russo

I love when a themed episode of a TV show goes to the trouble of creating something different for the opening title sequence. SNW already did this once with a Lower Decks -inspired opening for “Those Old Scientists.” For “Subspace Rhapsody,” composer Jeff Russo orchestrated a boppy, choral version of the opening theme that will give you chills.

Hearing this version in the trailer truly got me excited about watching the episode! Literally the only reason for its “low” placement on this list is that it’s an instrumental and not really a “song,” but it needed to be on here!

6. “ Private Conversation ” – Christopher Pike and Marie Batel (performed by Anson Mount and Melanie Scrofano)

“Private Conversation” is a fun and hilariously awkward moment between two characters who are still trying to figure out what their romantic relationship looks like long distance.

Before any of the singing starts, we know that Pike and Batel have been discussing taking a vacation together. As Batel shares her preferred destination, it’s clear that Pike isn’t into it. But rather than being upfront about it, he deflects. Then, despite being so not thrilled about the singing, Pike is forced to reveal how he feels in song when Uhura patches a call from Batel to him on the bridge.

Hearing them both absolutely hate that they’re being compelled to sing while also having an awkward lovers’ squabble in front of subordinate crew members was an absolute delight.

5. “ Status Report ” – Enterprise Crew (performed by the SNW Cast)

“Status Report” understood the assignment, and is a perfect opening number for a Star Trek musical. It manages to sound very Trek (technobabble and all), while also sounding like a true musical number. Every cast member takes part in the number in a way that is true to their character. The song is a perfect, fun, and funny introduction to the unique nature of the problem: there’s nothing technically “wrong” on the ship, and yet there’s something very, very wrong on the ship.

I mean, just look at Pike’s face above. He really, really hates that this is happening, and I love it so much .

4. “ I’m the X ” – Spock (performed by Ethan Peck)

This darker, angrier reprise to Nurse Chapel’s song (which is slightly higher up on the list) is not only a perfect song for Spock at this point in his life, but it marks the beginning of the more stoic Spock that we (and Boimler) will come to know in the future. Freshly dumped by his fiancée, Spock learns that the woman he basically left her for has no qualms about leaving him to take a fellowship. So Spock decides that the only way to handle this is to put away emotions entirely . Oh, Spock. You adorable stupid jerk.

And leave it to Spock to sing a song about emotions and romantic relationships that uses math as a metaphor. I mean, it’s no “ The Math of Love Triangles ” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend , but it is more accurate about math.

3. “ I’m Ready ” – Christine Chapel (performed by Jess Bush)

Thankfully, not all the women of the cast got sub-par songs to work with. “I’m Ready” has the distinction of being the only song in the episode that truly works both as a song for Chapel (in the context of the story) and as a completely standalone song that I cannot wait to hear someone crush at karaoke.

It’s also a great song musically and has a fun, flirtatious energy. Not flirty as in “with a person,” but flirting with the possibilities of life. And I love that the song subverts TOS Chapel, whom we see pining after Spock all the time. “I’m Ready” gives us a Christine who has feelings for Spock, but is more in love with her own future. Like Billie Eilish .

2. “ We Are One ” – Enterprise Crew (performed by the SNW Cast)

“Subspace Rhapsody” came out of the gate strong with a solid opening number, and it ended strong with a finale as optimistic as Star Trek is at its best. Of course the solution was going to be that we need more voices singing . Of course the solution was going to come from Uhura, Trek’s Queen of Communication. And of course, Uhura was going to highlight that music isn’t just about expressing one’s bad or secret feelings, it’s about expressing the good ones too!

She rightfully points out that cultures throughout history have used songs to celebrate and engage in communal activities, and she reminds the Enterprise crew that they are always at their best when they work together. “We Are One” ended the episode on a joyful note that made me proud to be a Trekkie.

1. “ Keep Us Connected ” – Nyota Uhura (performed by Celia Rose Gooding)

The clear standout of the episode is Uhura’s passionate ballad, “Keep Us Connected.” This song is an emotional roller coaster, and it was the one song in the episode that made me cry.

First, it honored a Trek legacy character whose contributions can never be praised enough. Second, it was deeply personal for Uhura, charting her journey from experiencing the death of her family at a young age to making a career out of bringing people together, giving her a depth that she’s rarely been given elsewhere. And third, because this song resonates on the same level as Encanto ‘s “Surface Pressure,” relatable to every woman who’s ever felt the pressure of, and recognized the strength required for, the invisible labor in which they so often engage in to care for others.

And Gooding performs the song brilliantly. They have an amazing voice, and while it took the entire cast to make me feel this strongly during the opener and the finale, Gooding was the only cast member able to elicit this level of emotion all on their own. I loved that what started as a song of grief and self-pity turned into Uhura recognizing that her ability to help others communicate is a gift. And in recognizing this gift, they arrive at the solution that saves the Enterprise from being a forever musical.

I will be listening to this song on a loop all weekend. You can, too, as the soundtrack for “Subspace Rhapsody” is available wherever you stream music.

(featured image: Paramount+)

‘Starfleet Academy’ Adds Legacy Cast & Cadets: Everything We Know About New ‘Star Trek’ Series

Star Trek fans may have said goodbye to two of the Paramount+ series in the franchise in the last two years ( Picard in 2023,  Discovery in 2024), but there are new additions still to come. One of them is  Starfleet Academy , first said to be in development in February 2022. Just over a year later, it was announced that Paramount+ had picked it up to series (in March 2023).

“Admission is now open to Starfleet Academy! Explore the galaxy! Captain your destiny! For the first time in over a century, our campus will be re-opened to admit individuals a minimum of 16 Earth years (or species equivalent) who dream of exceeding their physical, mental and spiritual limits, who value friendship, camaraderie, honor and devotion to a cause greater than themselves. The coursework will be rigorous, the instructors among the brightest lights in their respective fields, and those accepted will live and study side-by-side with the most diverse population of students ever admitted. Today we encourage all who share our dreams, goals and values to join a new generation of visionary cadets as they take their first steps toward creating a bright future for us all. Apply today! Ex Astris, Scientia!” co-showrunners and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau said in a statement at the time.

“We are excited to introduce Star Trek  fans to a whole new generation of Starfleet officers in training as they navigate the rigors of the Academy and the brink of adulthood in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy ,” added Domenic DiMeglio, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Data, Paramount Streaming. “Introducing new characters and compelling storylines, this all-new original series will serve as a fantastic addition to the franchise and Paramount+, bringing new generations of viewers and long-term Star Trek fans alike together to enjoy the next chapter in the iconic Star Trek universe.”

Now that casting has begun for the new series, we’re taking a look at everything we know below. Keep checking back for updates!

What Is  Star Trek: Starfleet Academy ?

The series will follow the adventures of a new class of Starfleet cadets as they come of age in one of the most legendary places in the galaxy. This young group of cadets will come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves, and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.

Has Filming Started?

According to Paramount+, the series will begin production later this summer.

Inside ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Musical Episode With the Cast

Who’s in the  starfleet academy cast.

Holly Hunter stars as the captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy.

“It feels like we’ve spent our entire lives watching Holly Hunter be a stone-cold genius,” said Kurtzman and Landau in a statement.  “To have her extraordinary authenticity, fearlessness, sense of humor, and across the board brilliance leading the charge on Starfleet Academy is a gift to all of us, and to the enduring legacy of Star Trek .”

Paul Giamatti has been cast in the recurring role of the season’s villain, described as “a man with an ominous past connected to one of our cadets.”

Said Kurtzman and Landau, “Sometimes you’re lucky enough to discover that one of the greatest actors alive is also a huge Star Trek fan, and meeting Paul was one of those miraculous moments for us. The sheer delight with which he dove in on Starfleet Academy is only surpassed by the gratitude we feel about him joining our incredible cast.”

Discovery ‘s Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), Tig Notaro (Jett Reno), and Oded Fehr (Admiral Vance) and Voyager ‘s Robert Picardo (The Doctor) are reprising their roles. Notaro and Picardo join as series regulars, and Fehr and Wiseman join as guest stars.

And playing cadets are Kerrice Brooks, Bella Shepard , George Hawkins, Karim Diané, Zoë Steiner, and Sandro Rosta.

When Will  Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Premiere?

It’s impossible to guess until production has wrapped.

Will Any  Star Trek Characters From Other Series Appear?

That has yet to be revealed.  Discovery ‘s Tilly ( Mary Wiseman ) is a teacher there (and after the time jump in the show’s series finale , said to be the longest-tenured Academy instructor ever), but nothing has been said to suggest she will show up. We’ll have to wait and see.

Who’s Behind the New Series?

Kurtzman and Landau serve as co-showrunners and executive produce alongside Gaia Violo, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Onsunsamni, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa, and John Weber. The series premiere episode is written by Violo. The series is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment.

Plus, Jonathan Frakes , Trek legend and director extraordinaire, told TV Insider he’s “[looking] forward to Starfleet Academy ” when discussing his work behind the camera still to come in May 2024.

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Scott bakula returns to talk star trek: enterprise for the first time in years.

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Star Trek: Enterprise Cast & Character Guide

Star trek's prequel movie means enterprise's original premise can finally happen, chicago fire season 13’s latest romantic couple reunite in new bts image.

• In a rare appearance, Scott Bakula discusses Star Trek: Enterprise on The D-Con Chamber for the first time in years.
• Fans appreciate Star Trek: Enterprise more today after streaming the series on Netflix and Paramount+.
• The D-Con Chamber is the revamped version of The Shuttlepod Show, featuring big Star Trek names interviewed by Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating.

Scott Bakula returns to talk about Star Trek: Enterprise for the first time in years when he appears as a guest on The D-Con Chamber podcast on Sunday, August 11, at 11 am PST . The D-Con Chamber is hosted by Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating, who co-starred with Scott Bakula for four seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise . Bakula played Captain Jonathan Archer, while Trinneer portrayed Chief Engineer Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III and Keating embodied Armory Officer Lieutenant Malcolm Reed. The D-Con Chamber can be found on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Star Trek: Enterprise aired from 2001-2005 on UPN (United Paramount Network). It was the last of an 18-year run of Star Trek series and films produced by Rick Berman, who co-created Enterprise with Brannon Braga. Enterprise (its original title minus the ' Star Trek ' prefix that was added for season 3 onward) was a prequel launched with lofty ambitions, including the hopes that it could follow Star Trek: The Next Generation and become a movie franchise. Yet despite a bona fide star in Scott Bakula and the show improving greatly in its fourth and final season , Star Trek: Enterprise wasn't the hit in ratings and pop culture impact that TNG was, and UPN canceled Enterprise after 4 seasons .

Interest in Star Trek: Enterprise was renewed when the prequel series streamed on Netflix and Paramount+, with fans who skipped Enterprise during its UPN run now finding a greater appreciation for it.

Star Trek: Enterprise introduced new faces to the prequel series set a century before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Why Scott Bakula's Return To Talk Star Trek Is A Big Deal

Bakula rarely discusses star trek.

Scott Bakula appearing on The D-Con Chamber on Sunday, August 11th, is a big deal for Star Trek fans. Bakula rarely talks about Star Trek after he exited the franchise following Enterprise 's cancelation. Bakula did reunite with his Enterprise cast mates for a roundtable discussion accompanying Star Trek: Enterprise 's Blu-ray release, and Scott also joined William Shatner for his 2011 documentary, The Captains . Bakula usually skips Star Trek conventions, and it's been about a decade or more since Scott joined his fellow Enterprise actors to discuss their shared Star Trek experience and memories. However, Bakula joined his fellow Star Trek luminaries to accept the Peabody Award for the Star Trek franchise in 2024, which perhaps set the stage for his D-Con Chamber guest spot.

It's thrilling that Scott will join Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating to reminisce about Enterprise on The D-Con Chamber.

After Star Trek: Enterprise ended, Scott Bakula's career continued to great heights. Scott was already renowned as the star of NBC's Quantum Leap , portraying time-traveling hero Sam Beckett, before Bakula signed on to become Captain Jonathan Archer of the NX-01 Enterprise. Post- Star Trek , Bakula appeared in numerous TV series, films, and stage productions, including l ead roles in Men of a Certain Age and NCIS: New Orleans. While Bakula has moved on from Star Trek , he remains indelibly connected to the final frontier as Captain Archer, and it's thrilling that Scott will join Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating to reminisce about Enterprise on The D-Con Chamber.

The D-Con Chamber Is The New & Improved Shuttlepod Show

Scott bakula's episode is the d-con chamber's season 1 finale.

The D-Con Chamber is the next generation of the podcast that was formerly known as The Shuttlepod Show . In 2022, Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating launched The Shuttlepod Show, produced by Mark Cartier, as a successful vehicle to discuss not just Star Trek but the lives and careers of their fellow Star Trek actors. With Trinner's probing questions and Keating as the irrepressible raconteur, The Shuttlepod Show hosted huge Star Trek names like Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, and LeVar Burton in its two seasons. Keating and Trinneer then exited The Shuttlepod Show in late 2023 and early 2024, revamping their podcast into a new incarnation.

Now produced by 455 Films, The D-Con Chamber (a fusion of Dominic and Connor's names as well as a nod to the NX-01 Enterprise's infamously sexy decontamination room ) continues with a new look and energy, but Trinneer and Keating's podcast still delves deeply into the lives and careers of its guests. The D-Con Chamber premiered with the biggest name in Star Trek - William Shatner - and its guests have included Star Trek: Discovery 's Sonequa Martin-Green, David Ajala, and Mary Chieffo, and Star Trek: Picard 's Michelle Hurd, Ed Speleers, Peyton List, and showrunner Terry Matalas. Scott Bakula's guest spot marks the season 1 finale of The D-Con Chamber , and his long-awaited Star Trek: Enterprise reunion with Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer will, no doubt, be one for the record books.

You can support The D-Con Chamber on Patreon .

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Published Aug 15, 2024

Before Home Video and Streaming, Science-Fiction Fans Worked Hard to Keep Fandom Alive

In the mid 1900s, fans kept their favorite shows alive by helping to build modern fandom.

Getty Images / StarTrek.com

When you watch something on Disney+, Netflix, or physical media, you can do so at your convenience. This is a relatively new phenomenon.

You can choose to watch something "live," but you don't have to. You don't, for example, have to make it a priority to watch a TV pilot as it premieres at 7:30 on a Thursday night; you certainly can, but you'll have other chances to watch it.

A preview for Star Trek from the September 3-9 issue of TV Guide

StarTrek.com

On September 8th, 1966, however, there was no other way to watch Star Trek . VHS and Betamax, the true originators of home video, would eventually premiere in 1970, but even then, it would take until the end of the decade before tapes, VCR recording, and time-shifting became affordable. There was simply no way to catch a TV show without the studio deciding to air it, and even then, you had to consult the TV Guide and make sure to be in front of your TV at a certain time.

Star Trek , luckily, got a chance to live again in reruns, but many shows and films never got a second chance. For a time, media lived entirely in a fan's memory. Thus, before the VHS tape, fandoms and fans had to find different ways to grow and survive.

Without the benefit of being able to import, export, share, or binge the source of their obsession, fans had to get creative. Through their creation and community, fandom became the powerful, resourceful, and innovative force it is today. And those who loved science fiction and worked to keep the memory of Star Trek alive were no exception.

Spockanalia 1, the first Star Trek fanzine

The first fanzine (fan magazine), The Comet , premiered in 1930 and was created by the Science Correspondence Club in Chicago. First created to share club news and recent scientific developments, fanzines would grow and spread in popularity over the coming decades. Fanzines could be made cheaply with supplies that were available to many people, and they facilitated fandom moving from one-on-one conversations to a larger community. Science fiction fanzines mostly published club news, convention reports, and self-published original fiction. When Star Trek burst onto the scene, making fanzines that featured fan-fiction became very, very popular.

With increased fan interaction came fan meetups. There are a few contenders for "first fan convention," including the first Philcon in 1936, which was a meeting of nine fans at Milton A. Rothman's home . Just a few years later, the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) was inaugurated in 1939 in New York City, with a much more robust 200 attendees.

Forrest J. Ackerman and Myrtle Douglas in the world's first cosplay

At that first Worldcon, Myrtle Douglas made costumes for her and her boyfriend, Forrest J. Ackerman, to wear, inspired by science fiction magazine covers. Ackerman reported that children in the streets believed he was Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. The next year, for the 1940 Chicago Worldcon, several dozen people showed up in costumes. Ackerman would later recall taking advantage of the fact that cosplay was so unheard of:

I got kind of a quixotic notion around eight o'clock that night, after the masquerade. I asked the 25 people in costume to come with me five blocks to the major newspaper of Chicago. They didn't know what I was up to, but we went through the streets and I went into the office of the night editor. With a very straight face — as the editor looked up at these spacemen and vampires, wondering what all of this was about — I explained to him that we were time travelers. I said, 'You see, tomorrow we picked up your newspaper, and saw that there was a photograph of us and an interview, so naturally we had to get in our time machines and come back here to be with you tonight.'

Myrtle Douglas

The Star Trek Concordance by Bjo Trimble

As television rose in prominence, fans kept up with conventions, fanzines, and cosplay, but they sought new ways to capture and discuss a medium that couldn't be traded, collected, and couldn't be consistently seen.

Fanzines like the Star Trek Concordance by Bjo Trimble would include episode guides, with detailed notes on people and places as well as episode synopses. These reference guides helped fill fans in on things they missed and kept intricate details fresh and accurate for fans.

Reference guides would sometimes even cross international waters, with Doctor Who plot synopses coming out in fanzines years before those episodes would come to the United States. Other fans opted to preserve episodes by holding tape recorders up to their televisions as episodes aired, recording audio, if not video. Many fans would also simply take photos of their TV sets, sometimes called telesnaps; in Textual Poachers , Henry Jenkins describes the album of reference photos one Quantum Leap fan made of Scott Bakula's face.

Photo still from King Kong (1933), printed in Famous Monsters of Filmland #108 (1974)

Famous Monsters of Filmland

The meticulous ways in which these fans preserved the memory of temporary things was amazing, and in some cases, entirely saved history from being lost. The format TV stations used to keep recordings, VTR, was expensive.

However, the magnetic tape could be wiped and recorded over, which happened a lot, to some near-priceless pieces of media. NASA recorded over the moon landing. The BBC recorded over hundreds of early Doctor Who episodes, including the first Dalek episodes.

But using fans' audiotapes and telesnaps, many of those Doctor Who episodes have been successfully reconstructed. Forrest J. Ackerman and other fans also worked tirelessly to preserve and rediscover history; in 1974, Ackerman was able to find photo evidence of a lost sequence from 1933's King Kong that had long been dismissed as rumor.

Sing A Song of Trekkin', a filk songbook by Roberta Rogow

One of the most creative ways fans celebrated fandom was through filking. 'Filk' was initially developed as science fiction folk music, but has come to be an umbrella term for folk music created by and for fans.

Filk songs were, like folk itself, designed to be communal, and enjoyed in group settings. Filk songs were often set to traditional folk tunes; "What Do You Do With a Drunken Vulcan," by Roberta Rogow, was to the tune of "What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor."

This made them easy to perform, and to print in fanzines, sharing them with wider audiences. While filk is rarer now, conventions like Dragon Con still host filk as a subsection, and filking would help inspire future genres like wrock ('wizard rock' inspired by Harry Potter ) and musicians like The Protomen, whose songs all focus on the Megaman video game series.

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Fans could even play with video as a creative medium without home video. In 1974, Star Trek fan Kandy Fong met her future husband, Ron Fong, who had "several shoeboxes" of outtakes and cut footage from Star Trek . Looking for something new to show at her fanclub, Kandy worked with Ron to make projector slides out of key shots and scenes, and then rearranged them to music, and to original stories she wrote.

Her first slideshow, set to "What Do You Do With a Drunken Vulcan," was a hit with the fanclub, and when she brought it to Equicon in 1976, it had to be run continuously to keep up with the crowds. Kandy's slideshows were able to create new stories out of old Star Trek simply by rearranging scenes and using narration and music to create entirely new meanings, leading to the creation of 'fanvidding' once home video was accessible.

Perhaps what best defines fandom is that it is a culture created by those without a monetary or corporate stake in the franchise. Fandom has always worked from the grassroots up, and is therefore defined by the creativity used to keep it alive and vibrant, even when facing technological and economic barriers. We see so much creativity and variety in fandom today because so many of those barriers have been removed by advancing technology. But even with barriers, early fandom was able to find a way.

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This article was originally published on December 19, 2019.

Cindy Massre (she/her) is based out of Florida, where she works with public libraries and nerds out on the regular. Cindy talks about Spock on Twitter @yipp33kiyay.

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