In this extra-long episode, Mike & Jess have the distinct honor of trying Bear Fight Whiskey’s Kentucky Reserve, a beautiful whiskey aged in a tequila barrel. Perhaps it’s this unique flavor that makes them wistful, as they wax poetic about their love for Ted, their hopes for the inevitable season 2, and the joy they find in making this show togeth…

Mike and Jess welcome Seth back to discuss the seventh and final episode of season 1 of Ted, “He’s Gotta Have It.” While the episode centers on Johnny’s quest to lose his virginity before prom, it delves into much deeper themes—like why you should never sit on top of a moving vehicle. Join us next week for the last episode of our series, Talking Te…

Perhaps the most poignant and heartfelt episode of season one, Mike & Jess discuss “Loud Night,” the episode where another inanimate object comes to life. They also talk to VFX master and creator of the application, ViewScreen, about is work with Ted, The Orville, Bad Robot, and so much more! Join us next week for, “He’s Gotta Have It” with special…

For this Susan Bennett centric episode we get none other than the mom herself, Alanna Ubach. Mike and Jess spend some time talking with Alanna about episode 5 of Ted, “Desperately Seeking Susan,” as well as fawning over Alanna and her many amazing roles over the years. Join us next week for, “Loud Night.” - Check out Bear Fight Whiskey’s amazing dr…

We welcome back special guest Giorgia Whigham to talk about episode 4 of Ted, “Subways, Bicycles, and Automobiles.” She and your hosts discuss the antics Blaire and Ted get up to in this buddy episode, as well as the bounds of Ted’s whimsy, and more! Join us next week for, “Desperately Seeking Susan” with special guest, Alanna Ubach. - Check out Be…

Mike and Jess deep dive into episode 3 of Ted, “Ejectile Dysfunction.” They share their favorite funny moments from the episode, their own first brush with porn... porno?, and discuss the complexities of the industry itself, all while sipping on a bit of Bear Fight Whiskey. Join us next week for, “Subways, Bicycles, and Automobiles,” with special g…

It turns out that there are plenty of morals, messages, and meanings to glean from episode 2 of Ted, “My Two Dads,” whether it’s learning how to have empathy for your enemy or helping a dog in his hour of need. This week, Mike and Jess deep dive into the episode and share their favorite moments all while sharing a sip of Bear Fight Whiskey. Join us…

We welcome the moral compass of Ted the series, Blaire Bennett, aka Giorgia Whigham, to discuss the first episode, "Just Say Yes." We'll ask what her impression of the 90s was before doing the show, how it feels to be the person who introduced John and Ted to weed, and what it's like to be an older sister to three brothers in real life! All that, a…

In the first episode of our Shore Leave Series, "TALKING Ted," Mike and Jess look at the Ted franchise as a whole and welcome special guest, and creator of Ted, Seth MacFarlane to talk process, 'stuffies', facial expressions, and more. Next week, we welcome special guest, Giorgia Whigham, who plays Blaire Bennett, to chat about the first episode of…

The 44th edition of popular science fiction convention Shore Leave is coming up, and there are some changes afoot. Michael Schilling joined me to talk about them, plus the convention’s history and the celebrity guests you can expect to see if you attend. I’m T. Rick Jones and this is your Daily Star Trek News. Shore Leave website: https://www.shore…

Your Mission Log: The Orville hosts have been granted shore leave to talk about the hit series Ted, by Seth MacFarlane, streaming now on Peacock. Join Mike Richards and Jessica Lynn Verdi for Talking Ted Presented by Bear Fight Whiskey as they invite you and actors from the show to explore each episode of the hit series. Be sure to head over to htt…

There’s a lot of fan crossover between Star Trek and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous creation, Sherlock Holmes. In fact, the world’s first consulting detective makes a few cameos in our favorite science fiction series. Robert Stek and Monica Schmidt are Star Trek fans who also happen to belong to The Baker Street Irregulars, America’s p…

There’s a lot of fan crossover between Star Trek and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous creation, Sherlock Holmes. In fact, the world’s first consulting detective makes a few cameos in our favorite science fiction series. Robert Stek and Monica Schmidt are Star Trek fans who also happen to belong to The Baker Street Irregulars, America’s p…

You know him as “Dr. Trek,” but how much do you really know about Larry Nemecek? How did he discover Star Trek? Why was he asked to create the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion? And what is his reaction to the news that the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror is giving the TNG cast a Lifetime Achievement Award? I’ve got the answer…

Design and effects legend Doug Drexler drops by Mission Log: The Orville to talk about his contributions across multiple science-fiction series. Plus, special guest appearance by Beaker the parrot! Thanks to everyone who joined us on Virtual Trek Con 5. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/live/m2qdu6e5uRc?si=2EO6Ka82BMYl5_ax…

Join T. Rick Jones, Chris Post, and Aster Lufkin as they review the top news stories for the week of February 4, 2024. To read all the stories we talk about, warp over to https://www.dailystartreknews.com/. Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access to news roundups and interviews and additional content like deleted clips: patreon.com/dailystar…

Tawny Newsome is excited to be able to talk about Star Trek again now that the SAG-AFTRA strike seems to be over. I was able to monopolize a few minutes of her time to talk about her character, Beckett Mariner, in Star Trek: Lower Decks, as well as that crossover episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and being in the writers room of the upcoming…

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 took some big swings, but did the show's creators hit a home run or get sent back to the dugout? Sci-Fi Talk's Tony Tellado sits down with our Managing Editor, T. Rick Jones to talk about the highs and lows of their bold sophomore season. You can download Sci-Fi Talk wherever you get your podcasts and visit th…

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 took some big swings, but did the show's creators hit a home run or get sent back to the dugout? Sci-Fi Talk's Tony Tellado sits down with our Managing Editor, T. Rick Jones to talk about the highs and lows of their bold sophomore season. You can download Sci-Fi Talk wherever you get your podcasts and visit th…

You might know J. Lee as the face and voice of the Orville's chief engineer, but we can neither confirm nor deny that right now. Jessica and Mike instead quiz him about his musical career, writing, directing, and the current state of Hollywood. Join us each week for a discussion of the themes, morals and messages in each episode of "The Orville." F…

On July 13, SAG-AFTRA went on strike, walking off film and television sets and joining the WGA in demanding a square deal from producers. Nearly two months later, that deal seems as distant as ever. You know Michelle Hurd from her work as Raffi on Star Trek: Picard, but you may also know that she is the Vice President of SAG-AFTRA. She joined me to…

The Gorn were created for an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, with a stuntman portraying the lizard creature in an unwieldy costume. We saw one again in Star Trek: Enterprise, courtesy of some pretty bad CGI. Now they’re a recurring threat in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds where the combination of practical effects and CGI make them arguab…

The latest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Under the Cloak of War,” is a look at the emotional consequences of war. When Klingon Ambassador Dak’Rah, known as the Butcher of J’Gal, boards the ship claiming he’s on a mission of peace, it stirs up strong emotions from the crew, many of whom are suffering from PTSD from the Federation-Klingo…

Mike and Jessica welcome P.J. from Orville Nation and get inside the the making of The Orville comics with artist David Cabeza, plus a visit with Elyse Hargreaves from Phoenix Development with an update on upcoming Orville games and a give-away! LINKS: David Cabeza’s ArtStation Phoenix Development on Itch.io To enter the “All Kidding Aside” T-shirt…

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 is halfway over, and while it is not universally hailed as the best modern Trek show, it certainly has a preponderance of fans proclaiming it as such. The latest episode takes Spock where he’s never gone before when an alien race “fixes” him by removing the genetic markers that make him half-Vulcan, thereby re…

A renowned scientist boards the Orville for a ride to the discovery of a lifetime. But is he motivated by pure research or something more sinister? Artifacts goes into the Mission Log. Support Mission Log: The Orville – “Artifacts” is available in The Orville Library Edition Vol. 1.By Roddenberry Entertainment

Did the alternate timeline from the end of the second season break your brain? Join Jessica and Mike as they go further down the alternate-universe rabbit hole as Digressions goes into the Mission Log. Support Mission Log: The Orville – “Digressions” is available in The Orville Library Edition Vol. 1.…

Talla, LaMarr, and Dr. Finn visit a planet that Talla has been to before, only to find that it's under new management - whether the people living there like it or not. Heroes goes into the Mission Log. Support Mission Log: The Orville – Order “Heroes Part 1” and “Heroes Part 2” now from Amazon! “Heroes” is also available in The Orville Library Edit…

You know LeVar Burton as Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge of the USS Enterprise-D and more recently as a Commodore and curator of the Fleet Museum. His daughter Mica is known as a professional cosplayer, a video game enthusiast, and Commodore La Forge’s daughter Alandra. But what was it like for this father-daughter team to work together on Star Trek…

A planet long out of contact with the Union suddenly gets the attention of both the Union and the Krill, and Ed is assigned to find out what's happening there as Launch Day goes into the Mission Log. Join us each week for a discussion of the themes, morals and messages in each episode of "The Orville." Follow @ML_TheOrville on Twitter and be sure t…

The Orville crew intercept a ship of Union citizens who all have something in common: their desire to leave the Union and hear the Word of Avis. Our journey into the official Orville comics continues as The Word of Avis goes into the Mission Log. Support Mission Log - order "The World of Avis" from Amazon! Join us each week for a discussion of the …

Late last year, Celestis Memorial Spaceflights announced their next flight. Dubbed the Enterprise mission, it will see the remains of several Star Trek luminaries journeying into the final frontier on the Vulcan Centaur rocket. Since the announcement, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing friends and family members of the late, great cast and crew …

The lingering aftermath of war, a tragic ending, and a surprising number of penguins for a desert planet. This week, Jessica and Mike begin covering the official Orville comics as New Beginnings goes into the Mission Log. Support Mission Log - Order "New Beginnings" from Amazon! Join us each week for a discussion of the themes, morals and messages …

On May 3rd I was a guest on an early-morning BBC Radio 2 program hosted by OJ Borg. The segment’s called Midnight Mastermind and the idea is that Borg’s guest gives him a subject which he has the length of a song to research. At the end of the song, the guest quizzes him to see how much he was able to absorb.…

Late last year, Celestis Memorial Spaceflights announced their next flight. Dubbed the Enterprise mission, it will see the remains of several Star Trek luminaries journeying into the final frontier on the Vulcan Centaur rocket. Since the announcement, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing friends and family members of the late, great cast and crew …

SciFi Talk's Tony Tellado has been on DSTN's podcast before, and our Managing Editor, T. Rick Jones, has been on his. They both enjoyed the third season of Picard so much that they wanted to geek out about it, and they decided to give you the opportunity to listen in! They also discussed the latest announcement by Paramount of a Section 31 event mo…

Late last year, Celestis Memorial Spaceflights announced their next flight. Dubbed the Enterprise mission, it will see the remains of several Star Trek luminaries journeying into the final frontier on the Vulcan Centaur rocket. Since the announcement, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing friends and family members of the late, great cast and crew …

Late last year, Celestis Memorial Spaceflights announced their next flight. Dubbed the Enterprise mission, it will see the remains of several Star Trek luminaries journeying into the final frontier on the Vulcan Centaur rocket. Since the announcement, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing friends and family members of the late, great cast and crew …

Late last year, Celestis Memorial Spaceflights announced their next flight. Dubbed the Enterprise mission, it will see the remains of several Star Trek luminaries journeying into the Final Frontier on the Vulcan Centaur rocket. Since the announcement, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing friends and family members of the late, great cast and crew …

Late last year, Celestis Memorial Spaceflights announced their next flight. Dubbed the Enterprise mission, it will see the remains of several Star Trek luminaries journeying into the final frontier on the Vulcan Centaur rocket. Since the announcement, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing friends and family members of the late, great cast and crew …

The Orville: New Horizons soundtrack has arrived, and we talk to The Orville composer Joel McNeely about his work on the season (and recording an orchestra in a pandemic), collaborating with Seth MacFarlane, and more! Join us each week for a discussion of the themes, morals and messages in each episode of "The Orville." Follow @ML_TheOrville on Twi…

February was Black History Month and March is Women’s History Month, so there’s no better time to celebrate the legacy of Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols. A new book for children was released in late January. Entitled To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights, the book makes good on its title’s promise, taking a look…

Our in-depth interview with Brannon Braga, The Orville's executive producer and frequent writer/director, continues, covering the work on other shows that brought him to collaborate with Seth MacFarlane on The Orville. Join us each week for a discussion of the themes, morals and messages in each episode of "The Orville." Follow @ML_TheOrville on Tw…

The first part of an insightful, in-depth interview with Brannon Braga, The Orville's executive producer and frequent writer/director, covers his entry into the business, and his years in the Star Trek franchise. Stay tuned for part 2, coming soon, covering his work on The Orville. Join us each week for a discussion of the themes, morals and messag…

If you’re not listening to the podcast SciFi Talk you should be. Host Tony Tellado brings you original interviews and news from throughout not just science fiction, but horror and fantasy, as well, in all their forms: television, films, video games, and comic books. Tony’s a big Star Trek fan and he and I sat down to discuss host-to-host the franch…

Julie Nimoy followed in her father Leonard’s footsteps in that she became a filmmaker, producing a number of films with her husband, David Knight. I had the opportunity to talk with Julie about growing up in the Nimoy household and her career, which included working with her dad on projects like Star Trek II. David joined us to talk about their fil…

If you have a favorite astromycologist, I’ll bet a week’s worth of replicator rations that it’s Commander Paul Stamets of the USS Discovery. Anthony Rapp, who breathes life into the character, got his big break playing Mark Cohen in the groundbreaking musical Rent. Rapp wrote a memoir about the experience, which he then adapted as a stage musical, …

Back in November we brought you an interview with Star Trek: Enterprise’s John Billingsley and Bonita Friedericy about The Hollywood Food Coalition. David Livingston, the most prolific director in Star Trek history, is on HoFoCo’s board. He joined me recently to talk about beginning his career with Star Trek, transitioning from directing to photogr…

You know Armin Shimerman as the scheming Ferengi Quark on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and possibly also as the principal of Sunnydale High on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But if you asked him what he considers to be his primary profession, you might be surprised by his answer. “I am primarily a teacher,” he tells me in the interview below. Shimerman i…

Mat Kaplan has been hosting the Planetary Society’s podcast, Planetary Radio, since its inception 20 years ago. He recently announced that he was retiring from the program, with Sarah Al-Ahmed taking his place. Managing Editor T. Rick Jones wanted to talk to him before he left the show and also wanted to meet his successor. This video is the result…