Yahoo News ‘Star Trek’ Day to Reunite Past ‘Trek’ Casts, Celebrate Franchise’s Future
“Star Trek” is aiming to keep its fans… engaged.
To commemorate the 54th anniversary of the original “Star Trek” TV premiere on Sept. 8, 1966, CBS All Access is mounting an all-day celebration of the full “Star Trek” franchise, including panels featuring cast members from and a marathon of selected episodes of every “Star Trek” series to date.
The marathon portion will stream for free for viewers in the U.S. only at the “Star Trek” website, starting at 12 a.m. PT / 3 a.m. ET. Twelve hours later, at 12 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. ET, the marathon will pause for eight panels for the various “Trek” series over a three-and-a-half hour period. Those panels will be free for viewers worldwide.
According to a release from CBS All Access, the panels will include:
“Star Trek: Discovery,” which premiered on CBS All Access in 2017, featuring series stars Sonequa Martin-Green and David Ajala (who is joining the show for Season 3), and co-showrunner and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise.
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” the new “Discovery” spin-off series announced in May, featuring series stars Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck; executive producers Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers; and co-executive producers Akela Cooper and Davy Perez.
“Star Trek: Enterprise,” the UPN series that ran from 2001 to 2005, featuring series stars Scott Bakula, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery and Connor Trinneer.
“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” the syndicated series that ran from 1993 to 1999, featuring series stars Terry Farrell, Alexander Siddig, Armin Shimerman, Nana Visitor, Cirroc Lofton and executive producer Ira Steven Behr.
“Star Trek,” the original series that ran on NBC from 1966 to 1969, featuring series star George Takei and the CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment, Rod Roddenberry — the son of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry.
“Star Trek: Lower Decks,” the animated comedy that premiered in August on CBS All Access, featuring voice cast Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells and Eugene Cordero and series creator, showrunner and executive producer Mike McMahan.
“Star Trek: Voyager,” the UPN series that ran from 1995 to 2001, featuring series stars Kate Mulgrew, Robert Picardo, Robert McNeill, Garrett Wang, Tim Russ and Ethan Phillips.
And a panel for “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” the syndicated series that ran from 1987 to 1994, and its CBS All Access sequel series “Star Trek: Picard,” which concluded its first season in March, featuring cast members Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes.
“The Next Generation” star Wil Wheaton and Mica Burton (daughter of “The Next Generation” star LeVar Burton) will host the panels, which promise to include exclusive first looks at what is coming up with in the larger “Star Trek” Universe.
Along with the event, CBS All Access will run a “pub quiz” on Twitch at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET, debut “Star Trek” emojis on Twitter, and offer a flash sale of “Trek” merchandise.
Also, for every person who tweets with the hashtag #StarTrekUnitedGives during the event, CBS All Access will donate $1 to organizations that promote social justice and scientific advancements, including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Equal Justice Initiative.
Star Trek Day is the latest in a series of virtual fan events that have proliferated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as networks and studios attempt to cultivate and nourish fans’ engagement with genre entertainment in the absence of live fan conventions and events. Results have been mixed. Last month, Warner Bros. launched the DC FanDome: Hall of Heroes event to promote upcoming feature films, generating 22 million views worldwide over its 24-hour run. A second DC FanDome event, subtitled “Explore the Multiverse,” will be held Sept. 12.
By contrast, Comic-Con@Home in July — the five-day, virtual fan convention meant to replace the massive impact of the annual San Diego Comic-Con — barely made an impact. That event also featured a “Star Trek” Universe panel, featuring casts from three CBS All Access “Trek” series: “Discovery,” “Lower Decks,” and “Picard.” To date, it’s earned just over 72,000 views on YouTube.
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