Entertainment
NuTrek Is Better Than Classic Star Trek In Exactly One Way
By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
Right now, Star Trek has failed as a franchise. That’s not just a matter of opinion, either: all of the NuTrek shows have been canceled prematurely with the exception of Picard, which was planned for only three seasons. Starfleet Academy got canceled as soon as Season 1 was over. Now, Paramount is pivoting the film to the big screen, meaning that we may go a long time before getting another new show. It’s easy to get mad at Paramount, but all of this ultimately comes down to the power of math, people: with a minimum per-episode budget of $8 million, these shows just don’t get enough views to justify their price.
Long before Paramount pulled the plug on Trek’s TV shows, fans negatively compared these newer shows to earlier series like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. The general consensus is that classic Trek was just better than what came later, with fans fervently waiting for Paramount to fire Alex Kurtzman and hire someone who could bring the old magic back. However, according to the franchise’s greatest actors, NuTrek is better than classic Trek in exactly one way: letting people improvise dialogue instead of sticking to the script.
Improv? Make It “No”
Classic Star Trek shows like The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager had amazing dialogue, courtesy of writers who understood the franchise and truly loved it. For better or for worse, the writers and producers were very protective of their scripts. After some of the TNG cast mocked a script from Maurice Hurley, the show stopped doing table reads with the actors. Furthermore, improvising new lines was frowned on by many people on the show; this included Patrick Stewart, who actually scolded the TNG cast for improvising funny lines, ultimately storming off the set in frustration.
Stewart eventually mellowed out, but this became a moot point as producers effectively tightened the leash on improvisation of any kind. There was a method to their madness: writer Ronald D. Moore once told the official Star Trek site, “We had to lock down scripts and make sure that everybody was going to say exactly what they were going to say well in advance of production.” Why is that? Rick Berman and Brannon Braga once told ComicBook.com that they wanted everyone to speak the lines exactly as written to create a timeless style that was very distinct from contemporary speech.
Beaming Up Shenanigans
How bad did things get? On Star Trek: Voyager, Neelix actor Ethan Phillips once read the line “Can you hand me that PADD?” as “May I have that PADD?” This shut down production of the episode and led to a joint discussion with the writers, the director, and all three producers. They ultimately decided that the new line was fine, but Phillips was so aghast at causing this much trouble that he never tinkered with the dialogue again. Decades later, NuTrek more or less abandoned this practice, allowing actors to improvise if they had better lines or better ideas for their characters.
This astonished Riker actor Jonathan Frakes when he directed the crossover episode between Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks. When he appeared on the D-Con Chamber podcast, he described his astonishment when Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid began improvising new lines. He huddled with two producers, and they all agreed that the new lines were (in Frakes’ words) “f*cking great!” From that point, he began encouraging improvisation, something that Anson Mount and Ethan Peck really took to. Now, Frakes and other directors encourage NuTrek actors to improvise lines. In fact, Sam Kirk actor Dan Jeannotte recently told a Trek convention that “Frakes lets us do whatever we want.”
Even in the NuTrek era, there are still directors who prefer everyone stick precisely to what is written. But Frakes helped lead the way in normalizing improvisation and generally trusting the actors to bring their characters to life. Arguably, this is a far better approach to creating Star Trek, one that leaves room for others to make the episode as strong as it possibly could be. Now, the franchise is about to boldly go into a new era of film, and we can only hope future directors encourage future Trek actors to make these characters their own instead of slavishly sticking to every single syllable they are given.
Entertainment
Simpsons Social Media Teases Long-Awaited Return Of Cancelled Fan-Favorite Character
By TeeJay Small
| Updated
By now, even the most casual Simpsons fan is aware of the controversy surrounding Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. The fan-favorite character, once voiced by Hank Azaria, first appeared all the way back in the show’s inaugural season and has become a staple of the series for decades. Unfortunately, Apu has been all but written out of The Simpsons and ignored since 2017, following the release of a documentary titled The Problem With Apu. In the years since, Fox has effectively pretended that the Kwik-E-Mart clerk doesn’t exist, until a recent social media post.
On July 11, the official Simpsons X account shared an image of Apu passing a golden, glowing Squishee cup across the counter at the Kwik-E-Mart. Eagle-eyed fans quickly recognized the frame as being pulled from the 2016 episode “Much Apu About Something.” Others questioned if the still was from an upcoming episode, which would place Apu back in the spotlight. Either way, there were a myriad of reactions from fans regarding this sudden acknowledgment of a character who has been relegated to the distant background since “Gucci Gang” and fidget spinners were all the rage.
Soft Lanch, Or Hot Air?
In case you’re not up to date, comedian Hari Kondabolu created The Problem With Apu to raise concerns regarding Indian stereotypes in media, and the damaging effects they can have on real-life Indians. In the special, Kondabolu claims that he and others have been tormented by refrains like “thank you, come again,” and jokes which call back to The Simpsons as a singular cultural touchstone. Needless to say, the Indian people are not a monolith (the diaspora accounts for some 1.4 billion), and others, like Akaash Singh, have argued that the character actually brings positive representation to the cultural forefront.
If this social media post is indeed a soft-launch of Apu’s return, the network will surely be met with plenty of questions. For starters, will Hank Azaria return to the role, or will Apu be recast by an actor of actual South Asian heritage? Azaria has been asked multiple times if he’s open to a return, and made it perfectly clear that he has no plans to offer up a “thank you, come again” any time soon. Other Simpsons characters, including Dr. Hibbert and Carl Carlson, have been recast in recent years, as a greater cultural push demands characters be played by actors who share their lived experience.
The Simpsons is not the only animated series that’s faced this backlash. Futurama, Family Guy, and Big Mouth have also agreed to swap caucasian voice actors out of non-white roles. BoJack Horseman (which concluded before this controversy became relevant) was criticized for Alison Brie’s performance of Diane, a Vietnamese-American with very few roots to her ethnic homeland.
No matter what happens with the Apu character, some subset of fans will surely be up in arms. For now, it seems like Fox will make their decision based on market research, and try to offend as few potential viewers as possible, while cashing in on rage-bait politics with cryptic social media posts.
Entertainment
Avengers, Disassemble? The Doomsday Trailer Is Finally Here
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Last year, Marvel tried building hype for Avengers: Doomsday by releasing a series of different teasers, each focused on different characters. It was an interesting strategy, but it didn’t work out: not only were the teasers intended for theaters leaked early online, but the only one that really got people excited was the one with the X-Men. Sure, these teasers raised awareness about the upcoming blockbuster movie, but they arguably did a poor job of generating hype, especially for fans who have felt burnt out on the MCU since the credits rolled on Endgame.
Now, Marvel surprised everyone by dropping the first proper trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. Previously, many assumed they’d be unveiling a trailer at San Diego Comic-Con this week. Maybe the studio feared another leak, or maybe they have something bigger and better to show off at SDCC. Either way, you can now watch the trailer for yourself with the click of a button. No need to get Wong to open a portal; below, we’ve got the full trailer and a breakdown of what everything in it means for your favorite characters.
Doomsday Is Finally Here
The Avengers: Doomsday trailer begins at the X-Men’s home, where Xavier is watching an incursion event (more on this later). The whole thing is narrated by Doctor Doom, whom Robert Downey Jr. gives a gloriously thick accent. The villain discusses how “something’s coming…something we may not be able to deter. Before this day is done, we will be faced with an unthinkable decision.” After that, we see various heroes gathering (including Avengers, Thunderbolts, the Fantastic Four) while Thor gives a speech about how he’s fought alongside far stronger warriors who died fighting foes that scare him far less than this new threat.
During Thor’s cheerful speech, we see various shots, including Namor on a throne, Black Panther and her fellow Wakandans, Shang-Chi fighting Gambit, and Thor walking towards Doctor Doom. There’s a brief shot of Loki looking at a TVA card and of the Wakandans teaming up with the other heroes, with M’Baku shaking Thing’s hand. We see Yelena fighting Mystique, who shapeshifts to look like her foe. There’s also an emotional shot of a tearful Xavier holding Magneto’s hand. We then get an action montage that culminates with Doom stopping a blow from Stormbreaker while Thor’s speech ends with him saying they’d need “a miracle” to win.
It’s Hammer Time
As if on cue, we see Thor, carrying Mjolnir, encounter Steve Rogers, who greets the god with a soft, “Hey, pal.” Thor says, “it’s not possible” and holds his hammer out, testing if this is the real Captain America. Steve holds his hand out, and Mjolnir comes right to him, and America’s greatest hero smiles at his old friend. After that, we get the title card, a reminder of the release date (December 18), and one of the countdown clocks that we first saw in the earliest teasers for Avengers: Doomsday.
This first trailer doesn’t really tell us much about the story of Doomsday. What’s really going on here? Basically, different realities are colliding. Normally, this destroys both universes, but one universe can survive if it destroys the other. The bright explosion Xavier is looking at is one of those realities (most likely the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man universe) getting destroyed. This is the “unthinkable decision” Doom speaks of: to save everything and everyone they have ever known, our heroes must be willing to doom countless lives in another universe. In all likelihood, Thor’s speech is referring to the incursions themselves and how they’d need a miracle to avoid this “kill or be killed” scenario.
So far, fan reaction to the trailer has been mixed. Many are just happy to see familiar faces (especially Patrick Stewart’s Xavier and Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers) back onscreen again. Others are disappointed that the trailer tells us so little about the plot and does very little to establish who Doctor Doom is and why we should care about him as a villain. Here’s hoping Marvel can generate a little more hype for Avengers: Doomsday before the movie comes out. Otherwise, the movie intended to reenergize the entire fandom may end up destroying the MCU.
Entertainment
Sopranos Creator Is Cooking Up The Best Sitcom Idea Of All Time
By TeeJay Small
| Updated
Since The Sopranos concluded back in 2007, series creator David Chase has remained mostly quiet. Sure, he’s stepped outside for anniversary events, wrote the Sopranos sequel film The Many Saints Of Newark, and even directed a very underwhelming family drama titled Not Fade Away in 2012. Mostly, though, he’s remained as cryptic and shadowed as possible, coasting on the success of TV’s greatest show. Things seem to be changing, however, now that Chase is promoting his new miniseries Project: MKUltra.
Per Variety, David Chase began openly toying with some new project ideas during a recent appearance at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic. While addressing the crowd, the seven-time Emmy winner explained “I’d like to do a story … about four people, Italian Americans, going back to the old country, and what surprises they have in store for them.” This idea was apparently inspired by Lorraine Bracco, who portrayed Dr. Melfi in The Sopranos, after she purchased some extremely cheap property in Italy.
A Fish Out Of Water Scenario
Chase says he’s interested in exploring this idea, where a group of Sopranos-style guidos moves overseas to capitalize on cheap Italian real estate, only to learn that they’re not as authentically Italian as they thought. “This happens a lot lately,” Chase said to the crowd, “Italian Americans who buy property in Italy … all kinds of Americans are buying these houses and moving there because things in our country are questionable.” He even stated that he’s interested in joining forces with some of his previous collaborators, including John Magaro, Jack Huston, Will Brill and Bella Heathcote.
If you’re a Sopranos super-fan, this premise should sound all too familiar. Chase previously explored themes of clashing Italian-American identity in the Sopranos season 2 episode “Commendatori.” During that episode, Tony Soprano, Paulie Gualtieri, and Chris Moltisanti pack their bags and head to the boot for the very first time, hoping to close a few new deals with their connected friends from overseas. In doing so, they experience some serious culture shock, trip over their Americanized Italian accents, and meet Furio, who later joins the North Jersey crew.
Ironically, David Chase himself has a cameo in the “Commendatori” episode. He plays a snooty Italian who sticks his nose up at Paulie outside of an espresso shop. This interaction, and several others like it, make Paulie feel like a complete fish out of water, even though he’s identified as an Italian all his life. By the time the mobsters return home, they’re shocked to learn that they find more comfort in the presence of McDonald’s Golden Arches and Exxon Mobil gas stations than they do in front of Mount Vesuvius and the Trevi Fountain.
Personally, I’d really like to see David Chase follow through on this idea. I have my doubts about it turning out as groundbreaking as The Sopranos, but I’m certain there are millions of fans across the world that would love to get Chase’s comedic take on the state of modern politics and the cultural divide between ‘real’ Italians and the gang you’d find pumping their fists on the Jersey Shore boardwalk.
Simpsons Social Media Teases Long-Awaited Return Of Cancelled Fan-Favorite Character
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