Category: Star Trek Musings

RAW (June 9th, 2025) – Nobody Can Handle The Truth

It’s the RAW after Money In The Bank, where a couple people won briefcases that they’ll have to carry around for months on end until their eventual scripted cash-in takes place where they will win whatever title they will challenge in cheap fashion… oh and R-Truth was hired back after his contract ran out earlier in the month and fans protested because WWE wouldn’t re-sign him.

Well, they did re-sign him. And the first thing they did was have him cut a promo where he adopted a more serious demeanor and is now going by his real name. Yes, it took a contract expiration and a fan riot for WWE to free Ron Killings from this one-note joke character that he’s been playing for years and give him one last hurrah as the serious competitor that you only really saw ages ago when he was in TNA or even early on in his last WWE stint. Where they go from here is anyone’s guess, but whatever happens from hereon out, I hope it was worth it.

In other news, GUNTHER made Jey Uso pass out to win back his World title and end this YEET experiment that has been going nowhere. I’d imagine they need GUNTHER to hold a title so that they can fast track that rumored Goldberg match, but in any event, Jey Uso as the World Champion was worth a shot, but clearly not something that had anyone excited. Oh well.

Also, Nikki Bella made her return, teased future involvement, and got into a spat with Liv Morgan, who is supposed to be the heel in this program, but actually got more cheers than Nikki. That can’t be a good sign… also, the backstage bit where Nikki and IYO SKY is exchanging pleasantries and IYO claiming that Nikki “paved the way for the rest of us” felt so dirty and so wrong. I’m not going to deny Nikki was a major player back in the day, but let’s be real; the Bellas on top was not exactly a high point in the women’s division and it took the influx of NXT talent to really give the WWE women some actual worth. There is a reason why a lot of those Diva segments back in the day were called “designated piss breaks.”

Also, we have tournament matches for the King and Queen of the Ring titles, whose finals will be held at the next WWE Blood Money show at Saudi Arabia. And speaking of which, CM Punk – who once told some WWE Superstar to go suck on a blood money soaked dick in Saudi Arabia – will be challenging John Cena for the title at said Blood Money event. What a world we live in.

And that’s about it, really. To tell the truth – no pun intended – I didn’t watch the show… I’m only going by bits and pieces I’ve seen online as well as some recaps here and there. Haven’t renewed my Netflix subscription because I’m presently in the middle of a Paramount run, which may or may not continue if this Strange New Worlds thing ends up being worth a follow for the next couple months.

A friend did offer a recording of this Friday’s Smackdown show if I wanted to watch. Apparently, the big John Cena vs. Ron Killings rematch is taking place there. Should be fun to do a musings on… maybe give Impact a bit of a spotlight in a couple weeks.

On The 31st Day… A Declaration Of Not Having Watched Section 31

It is May 31st of the year 2025 and I am following previously established mandate that requires me to inform the readers of this blog that I have NOT watched the Section 31 movie starring Academy Award Winner Michelle Yeoh.

I am aware that it is on some semblance of physical media.

I’ve got better things to do with my money.

I’m helping myself to a Baconator today.

Some Neanderthal Way

The new teaser for the upcoming third season of Strange New Worlds… doesn’t inspire much confidence, as it continues to dive into weird genre-bending episodes that seem more the cast and crew having fun doing whatever than doing anything worthwhile and resembling good old fashioned classic Star Trek.

Yes, the Original Series had episodes that the crew visit alien worlds modeled after 1930s Chicago, Nazi Germany, and the Roman Empire, but those episodes happened because the costumes were available and thus those episodes cost less money to make. Once we got to the later spin-offs, episodes of these kinds were the rare breed to break away from the norm.

When you only have a ten-episode run and every episode is some wacky gimmick episode, it feels less like a consistent series of standalone episodes and more like an anthology series of sorts that happen to feature the same cast of characters. It’s too bad that they decided to go this route, because I thought the first season of Strange New Worlds was one of the better live-action seasons of Star Trek to come out of this uneven Kurtzman era, but once the second season decided that we’re gonna do gimmicks galore, that’s where it lost me.

It also bring pause to the casting of Paul Wesley as Jim Kirk as he’s sharing a drink with the much younger looking Scotty as played by Martin Quinn (or vice versa – since Scott is actually supposed to be OLDER than Kirk by a few years.)

I’m hoping that I’m wrong and this season turns out to be quality. For what it’s worth, my older brother – who has been into Trek almost all his life – is more excited for this direction than I am, so I’m willing to at least give this thing a shot. I just don’t want what was a promising show degrade into pointless schlock. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like schlock. But I also like Star Trek. And I can really use more Star Trek right about now.

On The 31st Day… A Reminder That I Did Not Watch Section 31

It is March 31st of the year 2025 and I am here to tell you that I have still not watched the critically-divisive Section 31 movie starring Academy Award Winner Michelle Yeoh.

The idea occurred to me to make this a regular tradition. For every month that passes, I make a post on the 31st day of the month (should it apply) that I have not watched this film.

I do this not out of pride.

I do this not out of integrity.

I do this because it amuses me greatly.

Tomorrow, I have something special for you folks.

An Epiphany Of Sorts…

For those who don’t know, I have a question gimmick on the sidebar of the blog where you can write a question and I would attempt to use it as fodder for this blog. It used to be a thing that would fuel the old DTM-Cast audio program when I was still doing those, but now it just sits there… unloved and untouched.

Or so I thought.

Some time ago, I got a message from someone asking if I actually got around to sitting down to watch that Section 31 movie… and the answer would, of course, be no. In fact, I had not thought about that movie until this post came along. And so, I gave the question a little more thought and you want to know what popped up in my mind?

Leonard Part 6.

For those who don’t know, Leonard Part 6 is an old movie starring Bill Cosby as a retired CIA agent who has to save the world from an evil plot or something. It is generally considered to be one of the worst movies ever and, up until his recent indiscretions came to light, an otherwise huge blight on the career of Bill Cosby. Why I was thinking about Leonard Part 6 over a question about Section 31… I couldn’t even begin to tell you.

But then something else came to mind… a thought occurred that I didn’t think was possible, but when it did, I was both pleasantly surprised and horrified at the idea. The fact that I gave this thought consideration and didn’t immediately push it aside made this even more disturbing.

See, it just occurred to me that while I am in no hurry to watch Section 31 – which would require a subscription to Paramount+, which I do not have – I do have a mild curiosity regarding Leonard Part 6… dare I say, I’m actually curious to see how bad that movie really is. Never mind the fact that even during his beloved period – yeah, I know, such a thought is impossible to process these days – I was never the biggest Bill Cosby fan. I didn’t dislike the fellow; he just wasn’t my cup of Jello.

Jello, I’m so sorry.

So yes, what I’m trying to say here is…

I would rather watch Leonard Part 6 than Star Trek: Section 31.

Now if only I can find a cheap copy somewhere so that I don’t feel entirely dirty…

In A Change Of Pace… An Audio Show About KHAN

Source: https://trekmovie.com/2025/02/27/surprise-production-has-wrapped-on-star-trek-khan-audio-series-with-naveen-andrews-in-title-role/

So they announced that production had concluded on the Khan audio show… this would be an audio program produced by Star Trek II director Nicholas Meyer that would focus on Khan’s time on Ceti Alpha V in between the episode Space Seed and the aforementioned Wrath of Khan. I’ll be honest; I’m unfamiliar with any of the people they’ve casted. The guy who is playing Khan apparently looks the part, so if his voice carries as much weight, we have someone who could probably play the role on TV.

In regards to this series being a thing… I’m ambivalent on another thing about Khan Noonien Singh after Into Darkness and one of the SNW people being a descendant of the character, but the idea of Star Trek venturing into full-cast audio dramas does intrigue me. They attempted something like this with No Man’s Land, which tried (and failed) to build on the (lack of) chemistry between Raffi and Seven. That, and the story itself wasn’t all that great, but it did open the door for more of those type of things to be made and I do hope that it’s a direction that the franchise explores further, even if these stories end up being relegated to B-canon material that is eventual overridden by something on TV that turns out to be even shittier.

Curious to see how this turns out… and whether more of this follows…

On the bright side… aren’t you glad we’re not talking about Section 31?

DON’T Bring Back Shatner

So word has gotten around that William Shatner is interested in reprising his classic role of Captain James T. Kirk. He’s expressed as much at a recent convention appearance and is supposedly in talks with a writer with a good story idea.

I’m sure some fans will be salivating at the opportunity to have Shatner come back for one last hurrah as Kirk… possibly follow up on a breadcrumb of a bad idea that was left during that last season of Picard… I, on the other hand, have no interest in seeing Shatner make one last hurrah.

I had no interest when he was making this kind of noise fifteen years ago when the first JJ Abrams Trek was making the rounds… and he was much more spry back in the day.

More than that, however, what’s the point of bringing back Shatner at this point?

“Hey, Captain Kirk. I’m Section 31 gal as played by whoever we can get. We brought you back to life because we need your help in dealing with something that could have serious ramifications throughout the Federation… um, yes, it involves a SuperWeapon of some kind… um, yes, it involves someone you may have dealt with in the past and is probably looking for revenge of some kind… yes, I’m sure there will be some emotional comprises that will be made along the way and… um, Captain? Are you still awake, Kirk? KirK?! KIRK!!!!!”

Yeah… thanks, but no thanks.

Some folks made a little fanfilm film of Kirk undergoing his last days. That was actually nice and pleasant. That’s a good note for Kirk to go out on. Go watch that, instead.

I end this post on two beeps.