Entertainment
How Riker Accidentally Inspired One Of Star Trek’s Most Hated Episodes
By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
There are few characters in Star Trek quite as beloved as William T. Riker. On The Next Generation, he was basically Kirk 2.0: a brilliant, cocky Starfleet officer who was as friendly as he was flirty. It helps that he was played by Jonathan Frakes, one of the most charismatic actors in the entire franchise. Frakes eventually got behind the director’s chair, giving us the two best TNG movies and episodes from six different shows in the franchise. He’s practically the de facto brand ambassador for Star Trek, securing Riker’s popularity with fans all around the world.
However, would you believe there is one Star Trek spinoff that started by using Riker as a negative example? When Enterprise came out, it was designed as a prequel that took place about a century before Captain Kirk was exploring strange new worlds in The Original Series. Therefore, the crew of this show was far less seasoned, and they didn’t always handle problems with grace and dignity. Case in point: in “Unexpected,” Trip freaks out when visiting an alien vessel for the first time. It’s meant to show that he’s very little like Riker, but the episode ultimately validates his fears. After all, this is the episode where an alien babe gets him pregnant!
Subspace-ive And Breedable
“Unexpected” begins with a similar initial plot to many episodes of Star Trek: the Enterprise crew encounters aliens who need a little help. Specifically, they need help with their engines, and Captain Archer graciously volunteers the services of his chief engineer, Trip Tucker. Trip visits the alien vessel and, Kirk-style, ends up hitting it off with an alien babe. They don’t have physical sex, but due to a quirk of her biology, one of their interactions gets him pregnant. Fortunately, the Enterprise crew is able to successfully remove the implant, keeping the engineer from becoming the ship’s newest dilithium daddy.
It may sound like faint praise, but Executive Producer Brannon Braga (who was one of the key writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation) commended the writers for making Trip the opposite of William Riker in this episode. Regarding the plot point where Trip is excited to visit the alien vessel and then wants to leave because it’s so weird, he told Star Trek Communicator, “That’s the kind of stuff you would never see a Riker do, because they’re just too seasoned.”
At Least He Parties Like Riker
The comparison is apt, as there’s arguably nobody in Star Trek history who vibes with alien cultures like Riker. He certainly took enough of them to bed, including one woman who used him to deliver a mind-controlling game to the Enterprise. On another occasion, he fell in love with an andyngious gal, even though their romance was basically a crime. And let’s not forget the time he had to violate the Prime Directive by banging a hippie just to escape an undercover mission that went sideways.
Riker’s comfortable with aliens because, as a seasoned Starfleet officer, he doesn’t see them as any different than himself. Trip, however, is on his first deep space mission, encountering various aliens for the first time in his life. Instead of presenting him as instantly cool with everything, Enterprise chose the more realistic option of showing how alien culture freaked him out. To his credit, though, Trip rallies and works on his alien relations so much that he ends up pregnant. Fortunately, the actor was able to carry the heavy narrative weight of this episode. As Braga put it, “Connor [Trinneer] just brought more to Trip than we could’ve imagined.”
Can You Get Pregnant From Decon?
That was, of course, intentional on Trinneer’s part. Realizing that this was the first Trip-focused episode, the actor decided to give it his all. He showed the producers how well he could perform the scripted material and how well he could improvise. Best of all, he showed them he was equally adept at both comedy and drama, and the actor credits this episode for helping everyone learn who his character really was. He put in the work, and it paid off, but maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised. After all, who’s going to put more “labor” into their performance than the actor playing the first pregnant man in Star Trek history?
Entertainment
Dreames newest vacuum mop basically pressure-washes your floors
TL;DR: You can grab the Aero Ultra Steam on Amazon or Dreame’s website starting July 15 for $799.99.
If you’re tired of scrubbing sticky kitchen floors or dealing with stubborn pet messes, Dreame’s newest wet/dry vacuum mop is basically built to pressure-wash your house.
Launching on July 15, the Aero Ultra Steam is the latest flagship in the company’s lineup and, according to an email from the brand, the first in its class to combine high-temperature steam, hot water, and foaming detergent into one seamless system. (I’m particularly excited for this release — I have two beagles and the Dreame L60 Pro Ultra robot vacuum has literally changed my life.)
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It features a “Tri-Force” cleaning system that hits your floors with 392°F SaunaClean steam for chemical-free sanitizing, dissolves tracked-in mud and other non-mentionables with 194°F ThermoRinse hot water, and dispenses a floral-scented FoamWash to neutralize 99 percent of pet odors. (And this is all at 30kPa, Dreame’s most powerful suction yet.) It also uses a specialized TangleCut 2.0 scraper to keep the brush roller tangle-free — which is non-negotiable when you’re constantly cleaning up hound hair.
The Aero Ultra Steam dispenses a floral-scented foam designed to neutralize 99 percent of pet odors while you clean.
Credit: Dreame
Bonus: You’ll get 100 minutes of runtime in Eco mode, and the super-slim 3.88-inch profile makes it super easy to reach underneath your couches (or wherever) without moving all the furniture.
You can grab the Aero Ultra Steam on Amazon or Dreame’s website starting July 15 for $799.99.
Entertainment
Stargate Stars and Fans Over 100,000 Strong In Petition To Save Reboot
By Jennifer Asencio
| Updated
For one brief moment, it looked like fans were going to get a beloved show rebooted into something new, but it was not meant to be. Amazon Studios cancelled their planned revival of Stargate, which devastated the cast, crew, and fans in equal measure. It was going to be helmed by veteran Stargate writer Martin Gero. The other executive producers included those who had a direct hand in the creation of the original movie, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis. Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin co-wrote the movie, and Emmerich directed it.
Brad Wright and Joe Mallozzi, who have long been associated with the Stargate franchise, were also brought on board, along with Joey Harold and Tory Tunnell. This revival with this creative team behind it had the power to bring Stargate back to the present time. And that is where the show ran into the snag that ultimately led to it being cancelled by Amazon Studios.
Gero and others involved, including actors like SG-1 star Michael Shanks and sci-fi staple Robert Patrick, urged fans to push back against this decision by Amazon Studios. Creators and actors were so invested in the quality of their content that they were willing to speak out so publicly. Fans rallied behind the actors, and soon #SaveStargate gained momentum on social media. There was a Change.org petition that gained over 113,000 signatures as of this writing. Fans created websites dedicated to saving Stargate. That is how deeply fans feel about the Stargate franchise.
A Flawed Reboot Logic
The reason that Amazon Studios gave for canceling the reboot is that they felt the show would appeal only to the original fans and not to a broader “modern audience.” We really need to just move beyond that descriptor. The modern audience doesn’t watch science fiction; they just demand that everyone else hold their worldview and have diversity and messaging that so deeply twists the story it wouldn’t be what fans wanted anyway.
Many other revivals that were cancelled or died after the first season often saw the cast and crew blaming fans for not tuning in to their show. We’ve since watched Sabrina and a rebooted Charmed come and go with characters that remind us nothing of what we used to love about the original series. We are given lectures on what the message should be. You can no longer really watch any sort of programming without the “modern agenda” being forced into it, bludgeoned with such force that it resembles nothing about the original, but checks corporate boxes on gratuitously inclusive metrics. That is all the studios seem to care about, even if it costs them billions of dollars.
That is the thing that Amazon did not fully understand or want to understand. Maybe the revival didn’t check enough of their corporate boxes for them to avoid backlash from a vocal minority that demands these companies bend the knee.
Here it is, though: if the quality of the show and the storytelling is good, you will bring in fans. With Gero and the others at the helm, the original fans would’ve flocked to Stargate. Word of mouth of how great it was would spread. Those fans would want to share it with their friends and family. That brings in more viewers and more of those metrics a company looks at. SG-1 ran for a decade. Atlantis lasted five seasons, and Universe lasted only two before it was cancelled with many plots unresolved. They later released a comic book to help tie up some of those loose ends.
When done properly, Stargate has staying power with fans who wanted to watch programs that had great storytelling and emotional weight. It was axed because it did not appeal to the modern audience. That is not to say that Amazon Studios is done with Stargate; they are just not moving forward with the production helmed by Gero and the others. We will see if this bold strategy pays off for them, or if their future revival fails to generate traction with the modern audience, as we’ve seen many times already.
Entertainment
National French Fries Day 2026 deals: Score free fries from McDonalds, Five Guys, Sheetz, Chick-Fil-A, and more
If you’re not eating free fries this week, you’re doing life wrong. Just kidding (kind of).
Friday, July 10, is National French Fry Day, which means a bunch of your favorite fast food chains are giving away free fries. While some require a minimum purchase of some kind or a (free) rewards membership, others require nothing but your will to face the crowds at a local establishment. Regardless, this is a made up holiday I, for one, can get behind.
If you’re curious which fast food chains are participating in the free fry celebration, we have a running list below. Just be sure to check the details before rushing out to the restaurant of your choice.
Arby’s
Arby’s Rewards members can get a free fry of any size on July 10 with the purchase of a Cheesesteak online or in app.
Checkers & Rally’s
Celebrate National French Fry Day at Checkers & Rally’s from July 10 through 12 with BOGO free Famous Seasoned Fries of any size and $1 sauce trios.
Chick-Fil-A
From July 7 through 13, Chick-Fil-A is giving out free medium-size Waffle Fries as a reward in the restaurant’s app. Just play the in-app “Spot the Cow” game to get the deal. It’s limited to one fry reward per person.
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Del Taco
July 10 through 13, you can score a free regular fry at Del Taco with with a $3 minimum purchase.
Five Guys
From July 8 through 10, customers who buy a burger, hot dog, or sandwich through the Five Guys app or Five Guys.com will get one free Little Fry. Sign in or create a Five Guys account and enter promo code FRYDAY26 at checkout to get the freebie.
Jack in the Box
Sign up to be a Jack Pack Rewards member if you’re not already and you’ll be able to grab a free fry of any size on July 10 with a minimum purchase of $1.
McDonald’s
On July 10th, National French Fry Day proper, McDonald’s is giving out free medium-sized French Fries to Rewards members. Just make a purchase of at least $1 through the McDonald’s app to get the deal.
Sheetz
From July 10 through 16, Sheetz is giving away one free bag of fries with any purchase of $10 or more through the Sheetz app (under the OFFERZ tab). The freebie is limited to one per My Sheetz Rewardz member.
Wendy’s
Are you a Wendy’s Rewards member? Head to the app and make a purchase of at least $5 and you’ll get a free fry in any size on National French Fry Day, July 10.
Whataburger
Whataburger rewards members can score a free medium fry with no purchase required on July 10. The offer is valid online or in the app.
White Castle
Head to White Castle on July 10 and pick up free Cheese Fries by using the promo code CHEESY when you place an online or in-app order.
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