Punch It: Writing in Star Trek

Star Trek: Enterprise was a great show. Some of its characters were not.

We all know the walking void that was Travis Mayweather but what about the lack of personality coming from Malcolm Reed? While we love these actors, we also realize that they weren't always given enough to work with. But what if they did?

In this episode,​ we take a critical look at Reed's character and try to tweak, change, and even sometimes erase certain aspects in order to get a fuller and more interesting character.

What if Janeway was the commander of Deep Space Nine?

A few weeks ago we asked about Sisko on Voyager. A few weeks before that we talked about Archer on the 1701-D. This week we discuss what Star Trek: Deep Space Nine would have looked like if there was no Sisko but in fact Captain Kathryn Janeway commanding the station.

As always, this was a fun exercise​ and allowed us to explore the different types of relationships she would have with the crew.

Listen to find out what is different and what is the same of what you know.

Where's Carol Marcus?

This week's Punch It started with searching for a story. Where are the gaps? Where are the areas to expand? We began looking in the original series movies but ultimately ended up in the Kelvin universe.

Where did Carol Marcus go and would things end differently than in the Prime universe? Listen to find out.

Can we treat Troi from Star Trek better than the writers did?

That's the main question. Troi is by no means a bad character but she didn't have the best start and even after she was developed, not enough time was devoted to her. Char and Tristan explore her character, her backstory, her traits, and see if they can be altered or enhanced with hindsight​ being 20/20.

How would you change the approach to Troi?

What if Sisko was the captain of Voyager?

Last week we asked that question and just focused on Caretaker. This week we were able to expand that to his relationships with his crewmates. How would Chakotay work with him? Would he tolerate Neelix? Would Tom be able to foster a paternal relationship with him? We ask all these questions and a whole lot more.

What if Sisko was the commander of USS Voyager?

Star Trek is the perfect testing ground for "What if?" questions. Last episode we discussed what Star Trek: The Next Generation would have looked like if Jonathan Archer was the captain of the 1701-D. This week we tried to answer the question of what Voyager would have looked like if Benjamin Sisko was the commander of USS Voyager.

We mainly discuss what Caretaker would have looked like and logistically how Sisko would have ended up on the ship and ultimately in the Delta Quadrant.

What would Star Trek: The Next Generation have looked like if it was captained by Jonathan Archer?

We love our "what if?" scenarios on Punch It and this is one of our more exciting ones. If Archer existed in the 24th century and captained the 1701-D, what would TNG have looked like? Nothing else is different other than no Picard. Riker is the XO, Data is the science officer, etc. We explore that and hopefully many more scenarios like this one in the future.

What makes a Star Trek episode a guilty pleasure?

We all have them but some are easier to admit than others. Are we convinced that an episode is bad because of peer pressure? Or deep down do we know it's bad but we just don't care? Is it the premise, the writing, the story, the acting, the directing, or all of the above? In this week's episode we try to find out what it takes to be considered a guilty pleasure Star Trek episode.

We tackle rewriting Star Trek: Enterprise's series finale: These are the Voyages

This is not a beloved episode of Trek. Some say it's hated on too much but you'll never hear "I love this! What a great ending!" Enterprise was robbed of further seasons and Rick Berman once described the episode as a "valentine to the fans". This was the end of 18 years of consecutive Star Trek on television and the showrunners felt the need to incorporate Trek outside of Enterprise to give the franchise a send off instead of just the show. This resulted in a situation where Riker and Troi have more focus than Archer and company. 

Your Punch It crew has the gift of hindsight and boy do they use it. Listen to hear what we change because whatever it is, it's an improvement.

We take a fan suggestion and rewrite Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Attached" on-the-fly

We often take fan suggestions and we got a lot of them via Twitter just a few days before this recording. There were so many great ones but one stood out because it was a challenge. Rewrite TNG's "Attached". This episode is a solid episode with a lot of good parts so what could we make better?

Listen and find out what we kept and what we didn't.