Punch It: Writing in Star Trek

Hoshi Sato didn't get enough love on Star Trek: Enterprise. So we talk about what happened to her after the show.

There were more than a few underused characters on Star Trek: Enterprise. Much like with Beverly Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation; great character, just not a lot to go on. When we sat down to do an episode on-the-fly, we had no idea it would result in a Hoshi episode but then again we never know. There's so little we know about Hoshi and even less about her after the show, for obvious reason.

In this week's episode, we try to do Hoshi Sato justice and play to her strengths. It's said that she was promoted three times in 5 years and then left starfleet. Why? Well, we answer that question.

Can you rewrite Neelix from Star Trek: Voyager to be more beloved by the fans??


No matter how you feel about the adorable hedgehog, he was not a big hit in the fandom. People were annoyed and irritated by him right out of the gate. Even though he came before, he is now referred to as the "Jar Jar" of Star Trek. Tristan of Punch It thinks that's unfair but Char wants to explore it.

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In this episode, your Punch It crew takes a look at the writing of Neelix and tries to figure out what could have been done back in the 90s to make Neelix more palatable.?

Last week we took a look at aging characters and now we do the same but with Artificial Intelligence? in Star Trek

Characters age just like actors. Some get taller, larger, thinner, change their hair, or get wrinkles; except when they don't.

This week we discuss Data and The Doctor. How they changed, grew up, modified their own programs, and experienced pain. Both have a lot in common beyond being artificial. They both aspire to be more human, to be larger than the sum of their parts, and they both have experienced loss.

Great characters not only have an arc, they grow up in Star Trek as well

While a character's arc can be linked to growing up it can also be separate. This can be facilitated by the natural aging process of the actor or by the writers allowing the characters to change in addition to their surroundings.

In this episode, we focus on a handful of characters we think "grew up" the most on Star Trek. Seasoned, if you will.

Spock's Brain is one of the worst episodes in Star Trek. So we fixed it.

We have been bucking the trend lately with redoing horrible Star Trek episodes. Normally, we just punch up mediocre episodes but it's just been so much fun to go after the terrible ones. Spock's Brain definitely falls into the "atrocious" category.

This week we take a look at what worked and what didn't with the episode. You'll be surprised with how much we kept though. Listen to find out.

What if Riker and Troi tried one more time before Worf snuck into the picture??

A lot of what Punch It is, is fan fiction on-the-fly. Tristan and Char are shippers at heart and they would be neglecting their nerd duties if they didn't discuss one of the greatest Star Trek ships of all time: Riker/Troi. Thankully, this romance resulted in marriage but it was a bumpy road on that journey. But what if Riker wanted to give it one more go with Troi before Worf snuck in?

BoJack Horseman

Tristan’s taking a break this week, so Char is joined by her husband, Patrick, to talk about one of his favorite shows of all time: BoJack Horseman. 

In this Punch It away mission, Char and Patrick explore how this animated show achieves the complicated task of blending the serious with the surreal, and why this black comedy appeals to them so much.

Have you watched BoJack Horseman on Netflix? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments!

What would a Star Trek show look like that took place on a Starfleet ship ran by Artificial Intelligence?

Char is off this week and Tristan is joined by John Mills! Co-Host of Aggressive Negotiations and Great Shot, Kid! on The Nerd Party Network.

This week we set out to design a new crew from scratch in a post-Nemesis world. What happened was far better and more complex than that. We went to the far-flung future and discussed what a Starfleet ship would look like if it was run all by Artificial Intelligence.

Listen to our show pitch that we created all on-the-fly and let us know what you think.

Rewrite of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Let He Who is Without Sin"?

In this listener suggested topic, we rewrite this disasterous episode. For those who don't remember, this is the one where Dax and Worf go on vacation to Risa while they're fighting. While they are there, a group called the "Essentialists" say that the Federation has become too soft and they mock the visitors for being too comfortable on the pleasure planet. For some reason, Worf agrees with them and he helps sabotage the weather system. This all results in zero reprecussions for Worf and his career.

Normally, we just rewrite middle of the roads episodes but this one was begging for attention.

We analyze A Year in the Life for our final Gilmore Girls episode

This is our last time talking about Gilmore Girls on Punch It. It's been a long road to this point but we are finally at the revival where we analyze Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life on Netflix.

In our last episode, Char discussed what she would like to see happen in the revival as well as what would most likely happen. Listen to find out what she got right and what ultimately was disappointing.