This is a special live joint podcast from the 57-Year Mission convention, recorded on Thursday, August 3rd. At Star Trek Las Vegas the two TrekMovie podcasting teams got together for a “State of Star Trek” panel to discuss what’s going on with the franchise and where things are going, especially in light of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes along with changes in content strategy at Paramount+. The panel was comprised of the All Access Star Trek duo of Anthony Pascale and Laurie Ulster joined by The Shuttle Pod‘s Kayla Iacovino, Brian Drew, and Matt Wright. the panelists offered their thoughts on Star Trek in 2023 and also took questions and comments from the Las Vegas crowd.

With the TrekMovie gang all at the STLV 57-Year Mission Convention, this week’s pod doesn’t include a news wrapup and focuses solely on reviewing the new musical episode of Strange New Worlds. TrekMovie editor and Shuttle Pod co-host Matt Wright joins Tony and Laurie to talk about “Subspace Rhapsody.” As is certainly the case with fans in general, this “big swing” of an episode garnered differing opinions among the group, but all the podcasters were impressed with the artistry that went into crafting the singing and dancing and how the songs were tied into the character arcs from the season.

[Review starts at 26:55] Tony and Laurie have updates from San Diego Comic-Con about Star Trek: Discovery, Prodigy, Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, and some new animated shorts. They talk about the new clips and trailers as well as some new merchandise coming our way. After the news, they dig into their review of Strange New Worlds‘ “Under the Cloak of War,” which they agree was ambitious and hit the mark more for Tony than for Laurie, although both felt it had impressive performances, raised important questions, and touched on some key Star Trek themes. They wrap up with a new tidbit from the Delta Flyers podcast and a new crowdfunded documentary about Star Trek locations, plus a reminder to come see the TrekMovie team’s panel at The 57-Year Mission in Las Vegas next week.

With the early drop of “Those Old Scientists,” the long-awaited Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover, Tony and Laurie decided to squeeze in an extra podcast to talk about it. No news, no bits, just a straight-up review. Spoiler alert: They loved it.

Tony and Laurie sort through the latest updates on the SAG-AFTRA strike and how it will affect the production of upcoming Star Trek shows as well as what its impact might be on San Diego Comic-Con and The 57-Year Mission in Las Vegas. They also talk about the Star Trek events coming up at SDCC, including the screening of the long-awaited Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover episode. After the news, they dig into their review of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ “Lost in Translation,” which they both liked. They’re both happy to see Hemmer again as well as Pelia, loved Celia Rose Gooding’s performance, and despite some quibbles, enjoyed the episode thoroughly. They wrap up the podcast with an Enterprise-themed (TOS era) hotel room in Oregon and an astronomy talk with Tim Russ and TrekMovie’s Kayla Iacovino.

[Review starts at 20:51] Tony and Laurie start off discussing the SAG-AFTRA strike and how that can impact Star Trek production and promotion, especially San Diego Comic-Con and the 57-Year Mission convention in Las Vegas. . They then round up the latest news on awards, including an Emmy snub for Picard and Strange New Worlds making it into the streaming top 10. There’s also a new book offering some clues on Lower Decks season 4. Finally, the podcasters talk about the passing of Enterprise executive producer Manny Coto. For Strange New Worlds the podcast first looks over the latest TrekMovie exclusive interviews including listening to what Jess Bush (Christine Chapel) had to say about Roger Corby. Tony and Laurie then turn to the week’s main topic, reviewing “Charades,” where they mostly agree, but also had different takes on this “big swing” towards another rom-com style episode. They wrap things up with talking about a special Treksperts podcast about Manny Coto and a special moment between William Shatner and Picard production designer Dave Blass at Star Trek: The Tour.

[Review starts at 12:42] Tony and Laurie round up the latest news: Star Trek: Prodigy‘s TCA nomination, the upcoming exit of most Star Trek content from Canada’s streaming network Crave, an exclusive clip from the docuseries Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982, and Akiva Goldman’s explanation for moving the timeline of the Eugenics Wars. Then it’s time for this week’s main topic: a review of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ “Among the Lotus Eaters.” Tony and Laurie talk about the story’s premise, the connections to canon (and whether or not they’re needed), and have completely different takes on the punchy conclusion as well as Captain Pike’s burgeoning romance, although they both enjoyed Ortegas’ scenes as well as the episode’s main guest star, Reed Birney. They wrap things up with a look at an incredible fan-written book recapping the oral history of the Battle of Wolf 359 and a review of Rainn Wilson’s new book Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution.

[Review starts at 05:35] Tony and Laurie give an update on the removal of Star Trek: Prodigy from Paramount+ including talk about efforts to save the show and the fan petition. They also talk about their hopes it will find a new home and where you can buy the show while we wait for more news. For merchandise news, they discuss the new Halloween-themed comic mini-series coming from IDW. After the quick news update, the focus of the podcast is their review of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” diving deep into what it means for La’an’s character, who this version of James Kirk is, and where the show tries to both explain and tweak canon. They also talk about how the new episode celebrates Canadian culture and specifically the city of Toronto, where new Star Trek shows are filmed. Finally, we wrap up with a book co-written by Laurie that comes out next month and a T-shirt design inspired by their All Access Star Trek interview with Prodigy co-EP Aaron Waltke.

After the big news broke on Friday that Paramount Global is canceling and removing a number of shows including Star Trek: Prodigy, the TrekMovie podcasting teams assembled for an emergency pod to talk about it. Kayla and Brian from the Shuttle Pod join Tony and Laurie from All Access Star Trek to break down the news and put it into context with what is going on with Paramount and the streaming business. The podcasters also express their sadness to see such a great show get canceled but are hopeful it will find a new home, as Paramount has said they plan to license both season 1 and the upcoming second season to another network. They also have a frank discussion about the state of Star Trek merchandise and about what all of this could mean for the future of Star Trek on television.

[Episode review begins at 20:48] Tony and Laurie start the podcast with Akiva’s comments about the “undeniable” appetite for a Star Trek: Legacy show as well as Patrick Stewart’s wish for a Picard movie. They give some details on the upcoming Picard Blu-ray and DVD set and the “Picard Legacy” limited edition set, the upcoming Star Trek: Infinite game, and IDW’s new Star Trek: Picard’s Academy series, along with a long-awaited audiobook from DS9’s Andrew J. Robinson. They cover the latest news on Strange New Worlds (including fan reaction to Akiva’s canon comments and new info on Carol Kane’s Pelia). The rest of the pod is their review of the newest episode, “Ad Astra per Aspera,” comparing it to other Trek courtroom episodes as well as seeing how it fits into SNW lore. They both liked the episode a lot, but still have their nitpicks. They wrap things up with a look at two different podcasts: Trek Politics with Mary L. Trump and Bob Cesca and the SyFy Sistas with Ira Steven Behr.