Commentary: Trek Stars: The Work of Star Trek Creators Outside of Star Trek

Bloch & Stefano, Part 1: Trek.

In 1959, Robert Bloch wrote his most famous novel, Psycho. One year later, Joseph Stefano adapted that novel into a screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock. The rest is history. Years later, both Bloch and Stefano would go on to write for Star Trek.

In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John are joined by Grace Moore from Women at Warp to begin a new series looking at both Bloch and Stefano, and their work on Psycho. In Part 1, we examine their contributions to Trek, including Bloch's original series episodes, What Are Little Girls Made Of?, Catspaw, and Wolf in the Fold, and Stefano's Next Generation episode, Skin of Evil.

Running Time: 1 hour 5 minutes 31 seconds

HostsMike Schindler and John Mills

GuestGrace Moore

Editor and ProducerMike Schindler

Executive ProducersCharlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C Bryan Jones

Associate ProducerBecome one! Support Trek.fm and Commentary: Trek Stars at the $25/month level or plus! Visit http://patreon.com/trekfm http://patreon.com/trekfm

Production ManagerRichard Marquez

Content ManagerWill Nguyen

ChaptersBloch & Stefano (00:02:08)What Are Little Girls Made Of? (00:08:22)Catspaw (00:16:03)Wolf in the Fold (00:23:58)Skin of Evil (00:34:12)Final Thoughts (00:43:06)Wrap-up (00:46:44)

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Piller, Part 5: Recap.

Michael Piller was a master of many things. But one particular area in which he excelled was as a writer of pilots. 

In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike recap their look at Michael Piller's pilots. We discuss the first episodes of all five of his creations, including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Legend, The Dead Zone, and  Wildfire. We also discuss the merits of young adult fiction.

Running Time: 47 minutes 20 seconds

Hosts

John Mills and Mike Schindler

Editor and Producer

Mike Schindler

Executive Producers

Charlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C Bryan Jones

Associate Producer

Become one! Support Trek.fm and Commentary: Trek Stars at the $25/month level or plus! Visit http://patreon.com/trekfm http://patreon.com/trekf 

Production Manager

Richard Marquez

Content Manager

Will Nguyen

Chapters

Star Trek Pilots (00:00:49)

Non-Trek Pilots (00:11:09)

Final Thoughts (00:32:45)

Wrap-up (00:35:58)

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Piller, Part 4: Wildfire.

Michael Piller may be known best for his science fiction work, but that by no means  was the extent of his talent. His final television series, Wildfire, is about an eighteen year-old girl who is released from juvenile detention to work on a horse ranch.

In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John are joined once again by Star Trek writer and Wildfire associate producer Eric A. Stillwell to discuss Piller's work on the show. Eric tells us how the show came about, Piller's dedication to research, the challenges of shooting outside of California, and the impressive cast, which includes Nana Visitor. Eric also shares some more details of Michael Piller projects that went un-produced.

Running Time: 1 hour 1 minute 2 seconds

Hosts

Mike Schindler and John Mills

Guest

Eric A. Stillwelll

Editor and Producer

Mike Schindler

Executive Producers

Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C Bryan Jones

Associate Producer

Become one! Support Trek.fm and Commentary: Trek Stars at the $25/month level or plus! Visit http://patreon.com/trekfm http://patreon.com/trekfm

Production Manager

Richard Marquez

Content Manager

Will Nguyen

Chapters

Research (00:01:48)

The Premise (00:15:45)

Collaborators (00:31:36)

Final Thoughts (00:39:33)

Wrap-up (00:49:22)

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Piller, Part 3: The Dead Zone.

In 2002, Michael Piller created his fourth television series, The Dead Zone. The show, which starred Anthony Michael Hall and Nicole de Boer, was adapted from Stephen King's novel about a man who develops the ability to see events in the future.

In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike are joined by The Dead Zone associate producer and Star Trek writer Eric A. Stillwell to look at Piller's work on the series. We discuss other projects that he was developing, his writing process, and the impact the he had on other writers.

Running Time:  1 hour 7 minutes 57 seconds

Hosts

John Mills and Mike Schindler

Guests

Eric A. Stillwell

Editor and Producer

Mike Schindler

Executive Producers

Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C Bryan Jones

Associate Producer

Become one! Support Trek.fm and Commentary: Trek Stars at the $25/month level or plus! Visit http://patreon.com/trekfm http://patreon.com/trekfm

Production Manager

Richard Marquez

Content Manager

Will Nguyen

Chapters

Other Projects (00:03:00)

The Dead Zone (00:10:20)

Promoting the Show (00:28:25)

Final Thoughts (00:43:43)

Wrap-up (00:48:22)

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Piller, Part 2: Legend.

A mere three months after creating the show which launched the network, UPN debuted Michael Piller's third television show, Legend. The series featured Richard Dean Anderson as a writer in the Old West whose fictional hero comes to life with the help of an inventor played by John de Lancie.

In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John take a look at Piller's first non-Trek show. We discuss the fun tone, de Lancie's under-utilized talent, and the fact that this show actually existed, despite what Max says.

Running Time: 46 minutes 23 seconds

Hosts

Mike Schindler and John Mills

Editor and Producer

Mike Schindler

Executive Producers

Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C Bryan Jones

Associate Producer

Become one! Support Trek.fm and Commentary: Trek Stars at the $25/month level or plus! Visit http://patreon.com/trekfm http://patreon.com/trekfm

Production Manager

Richard Marquez

Content Manager

Will Nguyen

Chapters

Legend (00:00:50)

Piller's Pilots (00:11:34)

Westerns (00:30:26)

Wrap-up (00:36:10)

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Piller, Part 1: Trek

Few people have had  a greater impact on the history of Star Trek than Michael Piller. In addition to turning The Next Generation around in Season 3, Piller also created both Deep Space Nine and Voyager.

In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike are joined by Larry Nemecek, author of The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, to begin a new series on Michael Piller which will look at each of his television pilots. In Part 1, we cover Piller's work in Trek. We discuss how he impacted Season 3 of The Next Generation, what he brought to the creation of Deep Space Nine and Voyager, and challenges he faced writing the third TNG movie, Insurrection. We also give our thoughts on the new Starfleet uniforms debuting in Star Trek Beyond.

Running Time: 1 hour 15 minutes 38 seconds

Hosts

John Mills and Mike Schindler

Guest

Larry Nemecek

Editor and Producer

Mike Schindler

Executive Producers

Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C Bryan Jones

Associate Producer

Become one! Support Trek.fm and Commentary: Trek Stars at the $25/month level or plus! Visit http://patreon.com/trekfm

Production Manager

Richard Marquez

Content Manager

Will Nguyen

Chapters

The Next Generation (00:02:37)

DS9 and Voyager (00:23:55)

Insurrection (00:39:15)

Wrap-up (00:51:02)

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Goldsmith, Part 2: The Omen.

In 1978, Jerry Goldsmith won the only Oscar of his career for composing the score to Richard Donner's The Omen. The film stars Gregory Peck as a man whose secretly adopted son is the child of Satan. Spoilers: They all live happily ever after.

In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike is joined by Marcelo from The Talk Film Society Podcast to look at The Omen. We discuss the film in general and Goldsmith's score in particular. We also touch on our favorite Goldsmith scores from throughout his career.

Running Time: 54 minutes 58 seconds

Host

Mike Schindler

Guest

Marcelo Pico

Editor and Producer

Mike Schindler

Executive Producers

Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C Bryan Jones

Associate Producer

Become one! Support Trek.fm and Commentary: Trek Stars at the $25/month level or plus! Visit http://patreon.com/trekfm http://patreon.com/trekfm

Production Manager

Richard Marquez

Content Manager

Will Nguyen

Chapters

The Omen (00:03:45)

The Score (00:15:15)

Goldsmith's Career (00:23:07)

Wrap-up (00:41:09)

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Goldsmith, Part 1: Trek.

When Star Trek made the jump to the big screen in 1979, it was important to the filmmakers that Star Trek: The Motion Picture was not just a big episode of the television show. It had to be a MOVIE. In order to reinforce this concept, Oscar winner Jerry Goldsmith was hired to compose the film's music.

In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike are joined by John Tenuto to look at Jerry Goldsmith's work on Star Trek. We discuss his score for The Motion Picture, his return to the franchise with The Final Frontier, his theme for Voyager, and his work on the Next Generation movies. We also talk a little bit about Generations. Because why wouldn't we?

Running Time: 1 hour 16 minutes 34 seconds

Hosts

John Mills and Mike Schindler

Guest

John Tenuto

Editor and Producer

Mike Schindler

Executive Producers

Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C Bryan Jones

Associate Producer

Become one! Support Trek.fm and Commentary: Trek Stars at the $25/month level or plus! Visit http://patreon.com/trekfm http://patreon.com/trekfm

Production Manager

Richard Marquez

Content Manager

Will Nguyen

Chapters

The Motion Picture (00:01:53)

The Final Frontier (00:23:35)

Voyager (00:37:43)

The Next Generation Films (00:42:45)

Wrap-up (01:02:39)

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Horner, Part 2: Titanic.

In 1997, James Cameron's Titanic was the king of the world. It shattered box office records and won eleven Oscars, including Best Picture. Two of those Oscars went to James Horner for his work on both the score and the song "My Heart Will Go On".

In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, Mike and John take a look at what is arguably the crowning achievement of Horner's career. We discuss our thoughts on Titanic on the whole, the score in particular, and, of course, that song. We also look at other highlights of Horner's career, including Aliens, Apollo 13, Braveheart, Willow, and his final film, Southpaw.

Running Time: 1 hour 1 minute 33 seconds 

Hosts

Mike Schindler and John Mills

Editor and Producer

Mike Schindler

Executive Producers

Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C Bryan Jones

Associate Producer

Become one! Support Trek.fm and Commentary: Trek Stars at the $25/month level or plus! Visit http://patreon.com/trekfm http://patreon.com/trekfm

Production Manager

Richard Marquez

Content Manager

Will Nguyen

Chapters

Titanic (00:01:17)

The Music (00:20:10)

Other Work (00:33:41)

Wrap-up (00:52:47)

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Horner, Part 1: Trek.

In an attempt to differentiate from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and perhaps save a little money at the same time, the producers of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan hired a new composer. James Horner was a young talent just starting to make his name in the business. No one knew that he would go on to win two Oscars, leaving  his sonic stamp on the musical landscape.

In this episode of Commentary: Trek Stars, John and Mike are joined by John Tenuto to discuss Horner's work in Star Trek. We look at what led him to The Wrath of Khan, why he stayed for The Search for Spock, and why he did not return for future installments. We also review the new Star Wars novel, Dark Disciple. Because why not?

Running Time: 1 hour 15 minutes 15 seconds

Hosts

John Mills and Mike Schindler

Guests

John Tenuto

Editor and Producer

Mike Schindler

Executive Producers

Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C Bryan Jones

Associate Producer

Become one! Support Trek.fm and Commentary: Trek Stars at the $25/month level or plus! Visit http://patreon.com/trekfm http://patreon.com/trekfm

Production Manager

Richard Marquez

Content Manager

Will Nguyen

Chapters

James Horner (00:03:20)

Thoughts on The Wrath of Khan (00:17:55)

The Search for Spock (00:31:20)

Final Thoughts (00:46:33)

Wrap-up (00:52:42)

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