Anthony and Laurie are joined by TrekMovie’s Aaron Bossig, Dénes House, and Joe Andosca plus Ann Marie Segal of Virtual Trek Con and The 7th Rule to talk about everyone’s Star Trek favorites of 2023 and what they’re expecting in Trek in 2024. Categories include best episodes of the three shows that had new seasons last year, best merch, best return of a legacy character, best podcast, and more. As for 2024, topics include new seasons of current shows, the final season of Discovery, the arrival of the Section 31 movie event, books, comics, cons, and more, as well as some speculation on possible new shows and what might happen with a Star Trek feature film.

Anthony and Laurie start their last podcast of 2023 with the latest on the possible merger between Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery and how that could affect the Star Trek franchise, and some insight into the shelved Quentin Tarantino Star Trek movie, based on a new interview with its writer. They also discuss Michelle Yeoh’s update on prepping for the Section 31 TV movie event, the early success of Star Trek: Prodigy on Netflix, and what the producers have said they’d like to do if the show gets additional seasons. [23:35] Then it’s their interview with Enterprise‘s John Billingsley, who has come by to talk about the upcoming benefit for the Hollywood Food Coalition: an all-day marathon of Star Trek panels on YouTube on January 13th. He also talks about the legacy of Enterprise, speculates on ways Phlox could return to the franchise, and discusses his career as a character actor and why being on the board of the Hollywood Food Coalition is so important to him.

Anthony and Laurie are joined by Shuttle Pod‘s Brian to round up all the latest Star Trek news. They start with a production update: With the strikes over, Strange New Worlds is already back in action and Section 31 has start date set, plus Prodigy has wrapped post-production on season 2 and Discovery has set its premiere for April. They talk about the latest awards nominations for Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, and Picard,, then talk about the latest merch (DVDs and starships!) and what to expect at Trek Talks 3 in January. The big topic this week is Shari Redstone’s interest in selling her controlling stake in Paramount Global, how that could affect Paramount+, and how that in turn could affect Star Trek. They wrap up with a 1960s RCA ad featuring TOS, the Delta Flyers watching DS9 with Terry Farrell and Armin Shimerman, and William Shatner on a comic book cover with Batman and Superman.

Anthony and Laurie discuss the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery panel at CCXP, the latest on Nicholas Meyer’s Khan audio drama, Michelle Hurd’s interest in a Worf/Raffi spin-off, Chris Pine’s lack of Star Trek 4 news, and some new Trek merch. They then turn to Laurie’s interview with Tawny Newsome, who talks about Lower Decks season 4 and season 5 as well as being in the writers’ room of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Newsome also talks passionately about her love of Deep Space Nine and more. They wrap up with a fun video from Red Letter Media featuring the Enterprise-D and the announcement of TREKTalks 3, a day of streamed Star Trek panels for the Hollywood Food Coalition.

[PODCAST REPOSTED TO FIX AUDIO ISSUE] Tony and Laurie start with a news round-up now that the strikes are over and everyone can talk Trek again: Strange New Worlds is gearing up for production again (and Jonathan Frakes will be doing some directing) as is the Section 31 movie event, guest star Elias Toufexis is excited about Discovery season 5, and Mike McMahan’s talking about the next season of Lover Decks. There’s also news about the missing 3-foot Enterprise model that used to sit on Gene Roddenberry’s desk, which may have just resurfaced after 46 years. Today’s big interview is with Star Trek: The Original Series‘ Walter Koenig, who talks about life on the set back in the 1960s, the emotional Chekov scene he filmed but never saw in Generations, his take on people who say William Shatner overacts, and his uncomfortable moment on the set of The Wrath of Khan. They wrap up with a quick plug for each other’s recent appearances on other podcasts—The 7th Rule‘s news show and Trek, Marry, Kill.

Tony and Laurie start with a news round-up now that the strikes are over and everyone can talk Trek again: Strange New Worlds is gearing up for production again (and Jonathan Frakes will be doing some directing) as is the Section 31 movie event, guest star Elias Toufexis is excited about Discovery season 5, and Mike McMahan’s talking about the next season of Lover Decks. There’s also news about the  missing 3-foot Enterprise model that used to sit on Gene Roddenberry’s desk, which may have just resurfaced after 46 years. Today’s big interview is with Star Trek: The Original Series‘ Walter Koenig, who talks about life on the set back in the 1960s, the emotional Chekov scene he filmed but never saw in Generations, his take on people who say William Shatner overacts, and his uncomfortable moment on the set of The Wrath of Khan. They wrap up with a quick plug for each other’s recent appearances on other podcasts—The 7th Rule‘s news show and Trek, Marry, Kill.

Anthony and Laurie are very happy the SAG-AFTRA strike is over! They briefly cover what this could mean for the various Star Trek productions, then keep celebrating good news as Prodigy season 1 has a launch date on Netflix and scored an Emmy nomination. They talk about Walter Koenig joining The 7th Rule podcast, then play interviews they both did with Star Trek: Picard production designer Dave Blass and makeup artist James MacKinnon, done to help promote the new Picard Legacy Blu-ray box set.

Anthony and Laurie quickly cover the latest on the SAG-AFTRA strike, then chat about their recent interview with makeup artist James MacKinnon, who talks about being hired to work on the next Star Trek movie… for a week. They talk about some new Trek books coming next year, new Lower Decks merchandise, and an update on recording for season 5 of Lower Decks. The podcasters then launch into their review of the Star Trek: Lower Decks season finale, “Old Friends, New Planets,” talking about how the slow build all season paid off so well. There was a bit of debate over the merits of this season’s villain and how well the plan and motivation was crafted. But both agree that season 4 was the best so far and this episode brought back plenty of surprising callbacks along with some exciting cameos from The Next Generation. They wrap up with some Lower Decks deep-cut costumes from Halloween and a fun podcast with Sir Patrick Stewart.

Anthony and Laurie give a quick recap on what’s happening with the SAG-AFTRA strike, then [starting at 4:51] review the penultimate episode of Lower Decks season 4, “The Inner Flight,” talking about the episode as a standalone and as a reflection of the show itself and all the surprising connections to franchise lore. The podcasters end with some thoughts on what to expect for Star Trek in the coming year after next week’s season finale of Lower Decks.

[Lower Decks review starts at  34:41] Tony and Laurie dig into all the news from New York Comic Con! Alex Kurtzman thanked the fans for their successful efforts to save Star Trek: Prodigy and gave updates on all of the Trek shows still on the Paramount+ roster, including the ones in development like Starfleet Academy and the Section 31 movie event. Kid Cudi talked about his collaboration with Trek and Mike McMahan talked about what’s to come on Lower Decks. They do a quick recap of upcoming comics from IDW and books on the way, then talk about Mike McMahan’s post-panel interview, where he talked about the future of Lower Decks and what he has planned for season 5. They wrap up with a chat about the season 4 trailer for For All Mankind and a 7th Rule episode with TNG writer Melinda Snodgrass.