John Christopher

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John Christopher

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In the 1960s , Christopher applied to become a NASA astronaut but he just missed getting into the program. ( TOS novel : The Rings of Time )

When the USS Enterprise was thrown back in time to 1969 , Captain Christopher was sent in an F-104 Starfighter to intercept what the Enterprise considered by the United States Air Force to be a large UFO . ( TOS episode : " Tomorrow is Yesterday ")

Following the encounter, Captain Christopher was interviewed by James Wainwright of Project Sign on July 10 , 1969 . ( TOS - Strange New Worlds III short story : " The Aliens Are Coming! ")

Christopher's son Shaun followed his father's career path into the Air Force, before becoming an astronaut and later a founding member of Starfleet . ( ST performance: Star Trek Live ) Whenever Shaun went into space, he took John's dog tags with him. ( TOS novel : The Rings of Time )

He was still alive in 2020 . By this time , he had at least three grandchildren, Katie , Kevin and Rory , all of whom were Shaun's children by his former wife Debbie Lauderdale . In 2021 , Shaun married his fellow astronaut Alice Fontana and had two other children, one of them being James Kirk Christopher-Fontana . ( TOS novel : The Rings of Time )

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Perry: Tomorrow Is Yesterday’s Captain John Christopher

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Roger Perry , who played Air Force Captain John Christopher in the original series episode Tomorrow is Yesterday , remembers landing the job and he shares a Shatner makeup room moment.

Being cast as Christopher was a snap for Perry. “I remember that it was one of the easiest jobs I ever got,” he explained. “To this day, I don’t understand why it was so easy.”

One of Perry’s most vivid memories of filming the episode had to do with what happened before the cameras began rolling for the day. “The unusual thing, but I have to say this because I remember it,” said Perry. “The very first day going into makeup I was in the makeup room and [ William ] Shatner was a couple of chairs down. I remember looking over and I was very shocked because they were putting his toupee on. I said, ‘Wait a minute. He’s a young man.’ At that time he was very young and I thought, ‘Well, that’s interesting.’ I didn’t know at that time whether they were doing it because of the character. Then I heard later on that he’d been wearing a toupee for a long, long time.”

Perry found the story of Tomorrow is Yesterday to be intriguing. “I liked the whole idea of the episode,” he said. “Going back in time, it’s very confusing and mysterious, but it’s also fascinating. I liked the idea that [Christopher] found out he was going to have a son, and we had a lot of fun with that.”

What would Perry do differently if he could redo his work on the episode? “I watched it again a few months ago, before I went to Las Vegas for the big convention there,” said Perry, “and I remember watching the scene when he’s first beamed up and saying to my wife, Joyce [ Bulifant ], who was watching it with me, ‘I think maybe I could have done more at that particular moment with that particular scene.’ I said that because one minute he’s in a fighter plane and the next moment he’s in this strange situation where he’s in this room with these different people. It’s such a momentous moment for him that I think I should have tried some different things.”

Perry’s post- Star Trek work included shows such as Love, American Style, The Facts of Life, Barnaby Jones, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Falcon Crest, The F.B.I. , and Ironside .

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2 thoughts on “ perry: tomorrow is yesterday’s captain john christopher ”.

Okay, this is the part where I can’t resist mentioning that THE RINGS OF TIME, my new novel about John Christopher’s son, Col. Shaun Christopher, comes out from Pocket Books in a few weeks. And I always imagined Shaun as looking a lot like Roger Perry . . . .

I find an extraordinary resemblance between Roger Perry and Jason O’Mara, who plays Jim Shannon in Terra Nova; maybe it’s just that look they have, sort of gobsmacked: Wow, I’m gone way back in time!

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Shaun Christopher

Colonel Shaun Geoffrey Christopher, the son of United States Air Force Captain John Christopher , made history by leading the first successful Earth-Saturn probe . [1]

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  • ↑ Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "Tomorrow is Yesterday." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 19 (Production 21). Directed by Michael O'Herlihy . Written by D.C. Fontana . Desilu Productions , 26 January 1967 .
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Star Trek: The Original Series

“Tomorrow Is Yesterday”

4 stars.

Air date: 1/26/1967 Written by D.C. Fontana Directed by Michael O'Herlihy

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

Review Text

The Enterprise is hurled back through time to Earth of the 1960s, where they inadvertently become the subject of Air Force Captain John Christopher's (Roger Perry) UFO sighting. After beaming him aboard the ship following an accident that destroys his jet, Kirk is forced to prohibit him from returning to Earth and contaminating the timeline with knowledge from the future. The only problem: Removing Christopher from Earth would also contaminate the timeline, because his unborn son would not be able to make a vital contribution to Earth's history as the future knows it.

As Trek 's first time-travel outing, "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" is a brilliantly fascinating story, beginning with its exciting opening shots of the Enterprise flying through Earth's sky, and continuing through an adventure where the crew must remove all traces of their presence in the past by breaking into an Air Force base and stealing video recordings of the Enterprise . All of this is a great deal of fun, but the subtext of "Tomorrow" is what really stands out here: Through Christopher, this becomes a story analyzing the significance of any random individual and how they can make a difference in the world. And putting Christopher in the center of the story allows us to see the Enterprise and the future through his eyes.

True, the ultimate solution to the story's problem has its share of inconsistencies and loopholes (why is it traveling back in time would only clear Christopher's memory and not the Enterprise crew's?), but who really cares? This was a pioneer time-travel outing for Trek , and a great one at that, beginning a tradition of storytelling open to limitless possibilities.

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60 comments on this post.

I wouldn't give this 4 stars, but I loved this episode. The atypical opening scene, the more serious speculations/paradoxes involving Christopher, the action/suspense, the way the episode just leaves you thinking about all the possibilities, the fistfights (I looooove TOS-style fistfights) and the light humor scattered throughout--it's all very well balanced and very effective. Ang the guy playing Christopher did an excellent job of conveying a sense of awe and wonder at the future life he was experiencing. The only problem that keeps it just short of 4 stars in my opinion is the ending- it gets a little confusing and Treknobabblish, to the point where I couldn't quite understand it and it kind of snapped me out of the moment. Also, you'd think the Enterprise would have better security, or keep a closer watch on Christopher after his multiple escape attempts. But those are just small nitpicks in an otherwise awesome episode. Jammer pretty much nails it. 3.5 stars (but it comes close to a 4)

I also like when Kirk is temporarily in the custody of the military MP - they threaten him with putting him in the slammer for 200 years if he doesn't come clean, and he rather non-chalantly says that sounds about right. Definitely an entertaining, and seeing the enterprise in the atmosphere is a cool visual. Though one would think the enterprise would just drop like a rock, what's keeping it up, anti-gravity units?

3 or 4 stars? Light moments but ending was incorrect. I think we all know that there was no reason for the 1060s characters to forget what happened to them. Didn't really understand the ending. Noticed voyage home referenced this episode a lot. Especially 'what's what?' when his comm chirped.

In my view, one of the most underrated episodes in the Trek pantheon. Provides the perfect balance between drama and humour. My favourite moment is when Christopher walks on to the bridge and says "I don't believe in little green men", and then Spock replies "I don't either". The delivery of Nimoy is priceless!

I love this episode. I am a big fan of time travel plots and this was really well done. Apart from the obvious question - why doesn't the Enterprise crew forget what happened, while captain Christopher does?? But I find there are one or two (or more...) little slips like that in almost every Star Trek episode and by now I'e become perfectly willing to overlook them for the sake of the story. And this was a great story. One of my personal four-stars episodes.

DutchStudent82

I prefer GOOD science, in my science fiction. this episode fails HORRIBLY in that regard. (even for 1960-standards) *WARP speed is supposed to be FASTER than light. (the WARPING of space, thats why normal relativity does not count) *the sling-shot effect of a star might give you fast speed, but NEVER faster than light, hence it would at best give you normal (aka impuls-speed) *one can NOT travel back in time in normal impuls speed, only slow down time that effect at 0.5 impulsspeed (or halve the speed of light would be nearing a factor 6000 (or 1.7 hours passing relativily for ever second experienced while traveling at 0.5 impuls) The story that gravity would cause rime to go BACKWARDS is total bullshit. *the kind of slingshot effect needed to even GET a proper time dialation effect would need something FAR more massive than our sun, like the black hole at the center of out galaxcy, one slingshot around that MIGHT give a ship 0.5 impuls. *there IS no difference between speed and gravity, both are the same force, having the same effect on time. *they are slingshot away from the sun, saying they travel at off the chart speeds, way faster than warp 8. given that warp-factor is compression factor. they should move out of the solar system in a blink, the distance they travel (sun to earth) should have taken them a lot shorter and at that speed they should have flows far out of the solar system in no second at all. Here is the data : (warp 1 = 1.00-9.99* speed of light) (warp 2 = 10.00-99.99* speed of light) (warp 3 = 100.00-999.99* speed of light) (warp 4 = 1000.00-9999.99* speed of light) (warp 5 = 10000.00-99999.99* speed of light) (warp 6 = 100000.00-999999.99* speed of light) (warp 7 = 1000000.00-9999999.99* speed of light) (warp 8 = 10000000.00-99999999.99* speed of light) (warp 9 = 100000000.00-99999999.99*speed of light) Given that it's of the chart.. it must have been at least warp 9.0 thats at least 100 MILLION times faster than the speed of light. the distance between the sun and earth is about 6 light-minutes. It would have taken : 0,0000036 seconds to reach earth at warp 9.0 given that we have seen this speed activated for about 57 seconds (time between sulu saying of the chart, and the captain being beamed down) the distance traveled would have been a little over 180 lightyears. the only thing that MIGHT be possible is that black matter star, causing a distortion in the warp-field causing it to warp time too, into the negative. -> getting back would just have needed them to travel a while at impuls speed. (one other common mistake in star trek, they travel WAY to much at impuls without showing any of the time-differiental problems that that would cause.

Andy's Friend

@DutchStudent82: What?! Do you mean that they don't really fly super super fast in Star Trek? Do you mean that... when Superman flew around and around the Earth so fast that time went backwards, that it... never really happened?!... Do you mean that... that... that Father Christmas doesn't exist at all?! Bwahaha, I want my mommy...!!! ;)

Too funny you two. Never crazy about this one. Produced well and had its cute moments, but what really happened? What was the story? Beam pilot aboard, beam him back, go back to future. Yawn. The whole time travel vehicle has been utilized very well in the trek universe, just not here, imho.

Well RedShirt I believe the story was exactly what the review said it was... The impact one random individual can have on the world and the future. Or if you would prefer the ramifications of seemingly unimportant moments... Maybe by beaming that particular pilot aboard he took the hope and awe he saw in the future back home with him and gave his son a belief and not a dream. Or maybe it was just "beam a pilot aboard,beam him back and go back to the future.

I enjoyed this episode. I would give it 3.5 stars out of 4. It was a very good ep., but not perfect. Especially with the goofy time-warp stuff that provided such a neat and tidy ending. I have to say that I wasn't really looking forward to re-watching it on Netflix, but it was more enjoyable than I remembered it being. And hey, it provided a basis for "A Voyage Home", goofy 'science' and all. :) Also, I found it funny that the military people watching the skies immediately presumed, "UFO! Let's go look at it, and maybe blow it up!" Wouldn't they really have thought, "OMG, it's mysterious Russian technology sent to blow us sky high! We'd better blow it up NOW. Nuclear missiles at the ready!" In reality, the Enterprise probably wouldn't have stood a chance of survival.

I remember this episode from when I was a kid and it was shown for the first time on TV. As always, I was front and center for my favorite show, only one of a few I was allowed to watch all week (straight-A student, strict parents). I felt such extreme disappointment that I'd missed it as I silently cursed (no cursing out loud!) how I could have gotten the time wrong... only to have my breath taken away literally in surprise, in joy, awestruck when I saw the Enterprise against a blue sky and clouds. Few things have stuck with me as much, perhaps, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," which I didn't see coming, and maybe, "Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear" as another wide emotional swing from pure tension to giddy laughter.

Interesting that Jammer and most of the commenters gave this one such high ratings. I have to say that I found it to be the weakest episode until now (still haven't reached the end of season 1). As someone above said: Nothing really happened. Plus I thought the crew acted pretty stupid, especially Kirk. He beams past guy aboard, shows him aorund the whole ship (don't you just love how on all incarnations of Star Trek, every random doofus can just enter the command bridge?) and tells him everything about where they came from. I get that certain time travel tropes where not fully formed yet when this was written, but shouldn't the logical course of action be to have Christopher confined to a cell and isolated, or better yet: just stun him? Then they break into an army base, get captured by a generel or whatever (who would have thought that sensitive files in a military base would be guarded?) and end up beaming him aboard the Enterprise too. All remaining problems are solved by beating every soldier they meet senseless. Well, all that would simply make for a stupid episode, but what really made me hate it were the attempts at humor and how they were accentuated by the annoyingly obvious music. A woman on a spaceship? Cue some sexy sax! Spock raises his eyebrows? Time for a whimsical little theme! But of courße, the visuals were auite striking, so all in all there are about two minutes worth of watchable material here. :)

I liked it. Also, when Kirk throws a punch, he really THROWS a punch.

grumpy_otter

I'm with CPUFP--is Kirk seriously such an idiot that he just starts telling Christopher EVERYTHING after beaming him aboard? He needed Spock to inform him that there might be consequences for messing with time? That made me so angry. Then, they decide to hold Christopher prisoner because of their screw up? I don't think I have ever seen such a cruel suggestion. Christopher is a man of honor--how about they just stress to him how important it is that he not reveal what he knows? That being said, I did find this an enjoyable outing. Unlike Pam above however, i did not enjoy the fighting. We are supposed to believe Kirk is the best fighter ever, able to take on three military men by himself? He's not Superman, just from the future.

@Andy's Friend - Actually, in Superman, the intent was that Superman is flying faster than light, and that's why he's going back in time. IIRC, in an interview or DVD commentary I heard that they had him fly around the Earth, because they thought showing the Earth spinning backwards would indicate to the audience that time was flowing backwards. Of course, we all read it the other way, that is, that superman is causing the Earth to spin backwards to reverse time. :)

Speed and gravity are not the same thing. Acceleration and gravity are equivalent.

Good stuff, DutchStudent82. Perfect parody of nerd complaints!

@graham True, acceleration and gravity are two words describing the same effect of force applied to an object over time, and how that changes the amount of weight we experience. but I believe what DutchStudent82 was referring to was that Speed and Gravity have identical effects on time dilation. Extreme Increases in either and the time dilation effect is increased. About this episode, while I am a huge fan of reading Hard Sci Fi, I am willing to give a lot of the bad Science in movies and TV shows a pass. My biggest pet peeves are when the motivations of the characters are so Out of Character, just to move the plot forward. As many here have noted, Kirk would never have just walked this pilot from the past around the Enterprise, describing all the future tech. But as a kid, I thought this episode was fantastic.

Definitely an enjoyable episode but one that requires a lot of hand-waving to believe the time travel aspect. Time-travel episodes make for good episodes, but they really require a greater stretch of the imagination. Jammer makes a good point about the significance of a random individual, but is also generous with his rating. What I liked about the episode is the unpredictability. One of the great things about TOS is the injection of humor -- its own brand of humor. What I didn't like -- aside from the treknobabble about slingshot effects etc. -- is how Kirk shows Christopher around, Uhura starts showing him stuff etc. Proper procedures with non-Enterprise personnel are simply ignored which compound Kirk's problem. Of course, then we wouldn't have a decent episode. And then there is the loophole of returning Christopher back to before being beamed aboard the Enterprise and so he doesn't remember anything, but the Enterprise crew does. I fully agree with the first comment (NCC-1701-Z's) although I'd give it 3/4 stars. The idea of an air base reacting to a UFO at the start of the episode is an original twist and well done with a shot of the Enterprise in the Earth's skies.

It's a good thing Trump wasn't president when this happened, or we would be at war with North Korea! LOL I am really bad at pointing out inconsistencies in any kind of show or drama or comedy, but I do realize that to enjoy entertainment, we do have to acknowledge the inconsistencies, suspend belief comma and move on. I find it really hard to do sometimes and I can accept that others do as well. If you look at time travel in the dust on a butterfly's wing theory, you would go absolutely crazy trying to deal with the impact of time travel. Sometimes you just have to enjoy!

If your going to poke holes in the "science" of time travel than you're not a science fiction fan. The big word here is "fiction". Who knows how time travel would work or if it's even possible, but who cares. Is this a perfect episode? No. Is it 4 stars? Yes. I look at it in the sense that nothing is perfect, but if the story is enjoyable and the ideas it throws out there are interesting and the performances are good, the episode can eclipse its flaws and have a 4 star rating, easily.

Star Trek's first time travel episode, "Tomorrow is Yesterday" is a fun romp that blends drama and whimsical fish-out-of-water humor effortless. Here we get to view our main cast through the eyes of the present (circa 1966) and it's a lot of fun for the characters. I agree with Jammer's four star rating. Most Star Trek films have their origin in an episode of the series: The Motion Picture clearly comes from The Changeling; Wrath of Khan comes from Space Seed; The Search for Spock has a lot of Amok Time in it; and The Voyage Home finds its inspiration in this episode Tomorrow is Yesterday, where the Enterprise crew has to complete a mission in present-day America and travel through time by slingshotting around the sun. The episode is obviously a more modest and simple story than Star Trek IV, but it's still got some great gags and is a strong ensemble piece. The crew's scenes with Captain Christopher, the MP, and the airbase staff are fun. Spock (love the scene where he drily tells McCoy he's working on computations while standing next to him) has good bits with Christopher, whom he realizes will say or do anything to get home rather than follow Kirk; Sulu is fun on the landing party with his judo chop and little smirks at things like the bulletin board. And McCoy has a few choice moments with Christopher. Uhura and Scotty are more window dressing in this one, but it's nice to see Transporter Chief Kyle (John Winston) make his first appearance in the series, starting a semi-recurring role that will take him all the way from good moments in episodes like "Mirror Mirror" to a cameo as the Reliant comm officer in Star Trek II. Jammer highlighted the episode's thoughtful notion of how one seemingly insignificant individual can make a bigger impact on the world than he or she realizes. But for me, "Tomorrow" is all about the picaresque visuals (the opening sequence with the fighter jet and limiting starship remains a great shock teaser) and sense of fun we have as the crew tries to tie up loose ends and get home. Yes, we know there's not much to the main plot other than recovering photographic evidence and repairing the ship for time travel. But it doesn't matter since the fish-out-of-water view of our heroes through 20th century eyes and the moral dilemma of Captain Christopher feel compelling enough on their own.

PS - I suppose we all excuse little things if we find a show entertaining overall, but I actually found the time travel gimmick in this one -- beaming a person back to their point of disappearance from the timeline, where they will lose their memories -- somewhat unique and fascinating. (Also, we don't really know if Christopher retained his memory or not at the end.) Time travel itself doesn't make any sense under any circumstances, so how it happens is really a matter of apples and oranges. Voyager and Enterprise start to do some unusual things with time travel; the Abrams Trek reboots suggest "the timeline can be changed" insofar as a new stream is created without obliterating the "Prime" timeline. Arguing about it feels like a pleasant but useless waste of time (pun intended) since time travel is really a story device more than a serious scientific possibility; it works when we're entertained and doesn't work when we're not. As for Kirk showing Captain Christopher around the Enterprise, it's easy to overthink it from the perspective of later Trek shows, but we don't get any sense in "Tomorrow" that anyone has ever traveled through time before or that there are any established rules for what to do. Spock offers a number of theories in this episode, but nobody ever cites Starfleet regulations on time travel, because I think this episode is really trying to present it happening for the first time in Starfleet history. And the writers themselves haven't figured it out yet. But just because Spock foresees time travel issues doesn't mean Kirk and the others would if nobody from Starfleet has ever done it before; they've just been stranded in the past and Kirk is trying to earn Christopher's trust (Kirk's usual instinct) by showing him around the ship. It's not inconceivable that Kirk wouldn't realize the import of his actions, as he's basically doing triage in this story to hold everyone together while figuring out how to get back to the future. And in TOS, the tendency is always to trust the outsider, unlike many shows on later Trek series which relish paranoia and fear of others.

Peter Swinkels

Even though the logic during the last part was a bit questionable this was a pretty good episode. Some nice reactions from 20th century men to 23rd technology. :-)

I really liked this episode, but I wish Captain Christopher's child that would change the future had been a daughter instead of a son. And that the thrilled comment from him had been "I'm going to have a daughter? Wow!" I know, I know, this was 1967.

This ep is on right now - Heroes and Idols - I always found this ep filled with meanness and silliness. The first comment on this ep stated fist fights. That was because the CBS suits had to be happy and so did the viewing persons because that was the era of knock'em down cowboys and they had to knock each other around to make everyone happy. That sassy mouthed from the past pilot would have sung a different tune if it was a few years later and "aliens" grabbed him. He made me angry even back then. >> Then there is Dr. McCoy with usual nastiness toward Spock and in front of a stranger. >> I have always failed to understand why every creature that gets aboard a Starfleet vehicle gets the run of it. Even in the 1960's in real life it would not have been done, nor would it be done today. >> I would never in the past nor now, give this episode anything but ten zeroes. AND, worse yet, the bridge crew did not have any idea how to solve their problem because they stand there and let a prehistoric alien tell them what to do.

I will overlook the nitpicking and the caviling and the other negative stuff and say that this was a thoroughly enjoyable comic episode---all of it. I was never very fond of time-travel tales, but I liked this one---including the chicken-soup scene, where the security guard tasted it and found it good and orobably gobbled the whole thing up! And when Captain Kirk told Christopher "Take a good look---you were there ahead of all of them"---so were we. I remember one sci-fi writer, probably Asimov, who stated that "today's fiction may be tomorrow's fact", and as I watched I started thinking about some of the things that have become reality thanks to Star trek---like cellphones and the equipment in hospital exam rooms...and I wonder just how long it would be for warp drive to become a fact? Indeed, this is one of the many things I just love about this original series.

Loved it. Just pure fun.

Great episode as long as you dont take it seriously, time travel show are always a mess of science and logic.

A funny romp, but that ending … ugh. There’s just so many things wrong with it: • How is Christopher’s memory wiped? They just hand-wave it away as “those things haven’t happened yet, so you won’t remember them”, but by that logic, the entire crew should be amnesiacs. • How do they beam him back into his fighter jet? They destroyed the jet. They would have to radio the other Enterprise and tell them “hey beam this guy out, we’ll beam him back in, and for god’s sake don’t use the tractor beam”. • The guard on the base — ditto. This one makes even less sense, since they beam the guard out/in at a point when he hadn’t yet found Kirk and Sulu. (In fact, this suggests that the poor guard is now caught in a time loop where he keeps finding Kirk and Sulu, getting beamed out, getting beamed back in a few minutes earlier, finding Kirk and Sulu again, etc.) • The chronometers going backwards again. That’s not how chronometers work, damnit. (And I always wondered why people on Quora asked silly questions like “if I went backwards in time, what time would my watch say it was?”) • Seriously, if time travel were this bloody easy, all wars would be time wars and things would just get very ridiculous very fast. The entire ending of this episode made _no_ sense. I realise this is Trek, and Trek always puts the “fiction” in “science fiction”. But usually they at least try to have some basic consistency in their plots. Even in that wacky episode with Alice and the White Rabbit and the samurai and the strafing WW2 planes, they wrapped it up nicely with “well your thoughts became real, so weird stuff happened”. This one just seems to give up and go “we’re out of time, let’s just handwave everything away”.

Mrs. Picard

I so enjoy reading everyone’s salient comments...thanks to you all! Great fun!

I generally like the time-travel episodes in all of Trek - no matter how silli or illogical they are. This one, however, was one of the more clever ones. Quite enjoyable. I'm probably one of the few who has seen every Star Trek series except from TOS, but I finally started watching this as well. 4/4, indeed!

"I'll put you in the slammer for 200 years." "That sounds about right" Perfection

The Enterprise floating in blue cloud skies looked so wonderful to me—-many years later The Voyage Home’s brief similar shot of the Bird of Prey “Bounty”. Just looked fantastic.

Kirk is very gay in this episode especially the way he looks at captain Christopher.

I didn't understand the ending at all. How could you beam Christopher back into his cockpit without him running into his younger self? How could you beam the military soldier back to the Nebraska base without him also running into his younger self? Why did the younger version of the Enterprise in the sky suddenly disappear at the end so that Christopher ended up seeing nothing? Why did that younger version of the Enterprise not lock on its tractor beam to the jet and beam him aboard again? Why did the Enterprise not beam up the Nebraska military base officer again after the older version of the Enterprise beam him back days earlier? I don't get it.

Some of you are trying too hard to act like the show was too hard to be believable. Its a science fiction show for goodness sake. Everything is not going to be logical. 200 years ago, people would have called us crazy for wanting a phone that was portable. They would say thats not possible. Enjoy it for what it is. Its not supposed to be totally predictable. Wow.

Tomorrow is Yesterday Star Trek season 1 episode 19 "This is the five thirty news summary. Cape Kennedy. The first manned Moon shot is scheduled for Wednesday.” - Wait, Star Trek predicted that Apollo 11 would take off on a Wednesday 2 1/2 years before it happened!?!? 3 1/2 stars (out of 4) Pure, unadulterated fun. What more can you really ask from a TV show? Maybe inspiration too? “Tomorrow is Yesterday” aired 5 years after the Apollo space program was started, and more than 2 years before man ever set foot on the Moon. Talk about perfect timing. Each trekkie takes something different away from the episode. But for me, this is record of the hopeful ambition of that age. Kirk’s reactions are not weighed down by artificial concepts like the Temporal Prime Directive or the Federation Charter. Rather, as Kirk says, KIRK: Our authority is the United Earth Space Probe Agency. As I mentioned in my review of The Corbormite Maneuver, this Enterprise isn’t part of the Federation. It is part of a United Earth agency. And as I mentioned in my review of Galileo Seven, this is not a crew burdened with the Prime Directive. So the way we see Kirk and team react is basically how a person in the 1960’s might think is the ideal way a person from an ideal future would react. And that is, with genuine openness, warmth, compassion, and friendship. @Leanne thinks Kirk is gay for Captain Christopher. But its more platonic than that. Kirk sees a kindred spirit. A man of roughly the same age who has also dedicated his life to service. And Kirk is completely open with Captain Christopher in all phases of the episode. He treats Christopher with respect, as an equal. It is so revolutionary, I can almost see why @Leanne might have confused genuine warmth with romantic interest. We’re just so jaded after 55 years of Star Trek - the last few decades of which have included such abominations as Star Trek Picard. We almost can’t recognize basic human decency anymore. It’s interesting that recent Star Trek shows like Discovery bare no real relationship to “Tomorrow is Yesterday.” In the first few minutes of the very first episode of Discovery, they discuss the implications of the Prime Directive for interacting with a native species. The next season, when Captain Pike joins the crew and they meet a group of humans from more than a hundred years ago, Pike is convinced that the Prime Directive applies, since these are pre-warp humans. But of course the Enterprise of Kirk takes place 10 years after Discovery, and Kirk was not part of any Federation in the episodes before “Tomorrow is Yesterday”, nor does the crew have any concern about the Prime Directive when dealing with pre-warp humans. The truth is, Discovery and TOS just don’t take place in the same moral framework. That might change. Discovery’s computer now has an AI. There is a possibility she might start calling Captain Saru “dear". No red-SKIRT of the week here. Unless you count Uhura splayed out on the floor. “Are you all right, Lieutenant?"

vanzespleen

This time travel episode is pure fun, to be enjoyed. Critiques should note when this was produced: in the last century. We did get to see Mr Spock applying his unique neck pinch. And his dry humour about "little green men" ( he is green-blooded, but taller than "little" green men.) This is a rewatch, first seen in 1970's on tv, but still thoroughly enjoyed it. Big fan of Nimoy's Spock

ZITA CARNO says ***I remember one sci-fi writer, probably Asimov, who stated that "today's fiction may be tomorrow's fact"***. Indeed! The space shuttle Enterprise was named after the Trek starship— then in a subsequent Trek episode it’s revealed that the Enterprise was named after the space shuttle! Anyhoo, this is a classic **** episode. So full of action, humour, and thought-provoking “time paradox “ moments. My only carps — like everyone else — are with the ending. They are travelling very fast through time yet are able to activate a slow transporter beam to place Captain Christopher back in the time and space of his fast moving jet without stopping! Well, you have to suspend belief sometimes , it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the show.

What was the point of stealing the documents if they reversed the timeline anyway? Also the importance of a single man is a very fragile thing... what if he was supposed to conceive his son that particular evening, but because of the alleged UFO had to stay longer at work? The episode is a great watch (though slightly above the average on sexism), but it's better not to think about it too much. ***

A really wonderful episode that made time travel a hot topic. The Cold War was in full swing then and it was interesting to see the old fighter jets and base from the 1960’s. I don’t know why it was so vital to beam into the base and get the film footage. Couldn’t all of that have just been dismissed as a ufo? The whole deal with Captain Christopher having to do with future events was a great touch as were his attempts to escape the Enterprise. You’d think he’d have had a red shirt or two stationed outside his quarters if his confinement was that important. Nice seeing the old computers and equipment. An A+ episode if I ever saw one, well done!!!

Beaming the two officers back into their own younger body was too weird. Doesn't it actually mean that they also needed to beam their younger selves OUT in order to replace them? and if so, did they just murder their data in the transporters' buffers to get rid of their younger versions?! Mmmm, actually I approve this episode

My biggest problem with this episode was, why didn't they just put the captain in the brig? Why on earth show him the ship? What I loved most about it was the acting for the captain - an absolutely perfect balance between humorous astonishment without making the guy ridiculous. But honestly, why wasn't he blindfolded and taken to the brig with reassurance that he wouldn't be harmed?

Proud Capitalist Pig

A high-school science teacher of mine had a theory that alien abductions are actually people being studied not by extraterrestrials, but by humans from the future. “It's us, people,” he said emphatically. And who knows, maybe that’s more realistic. Is time travel somehow more feasible than traveling faster than light? We’ll probably never find out, but maybe our descendants will. Hell, maybe there are people from the future on our planet right now, and I’m sure they’re doing a much better job at keeping a low profile than Kirk and Sulu do here on the Air Force Base. But I digress. I liked the depiction of Captain Christopher here. They took pains to paint him as just an unremarkable guy in an extraordinary situation. His banter with Kirk was just as believable as his actions of pulling a gun on the Future Guys once the opportunity presented itself. He’s an amiable but resourceful man, and I thought it was a nice touch how he would always start smiling whenever they mentioned his yet-to-be-born son. Star Trek is a made-up science-fiction show, and while I’m no expert, I’m pretty sure it plays fast and loose with the “science” part of that. I would think that critiquing its lack of realism and accuracy, as several do above, would be ultimately self-defeating. This was just a fun romp (and nothing more, really). But when you consider that this was made in 1967, two years away from the moon landing, I’m sure there was a certain infectious optimism that many felt after watching this simple episode that is literally reaching for the stars. Every now and then it’s nice to take a pause from all-powerful beings, predictions of doom and Cold War allegories and just bring Star Trek down to its most basic level--a mostly entertaining show that makes you think and appeals to our better natures. Best Line -- Spock: “Captain, our tractor beam caught and crushed an Air Force plane. It’ll be impossible to explain this as anything other than a genuine UFO.” My Grade: B

Late to the Party

Only recently found this site. One thing that struck me years ago when I saw this episode was that the situation of a pilot chasing a "UFO" was based on the 1948 incident when Captain Mantell chased a UFO too high without oxygen and crashed after blacking out. It was one of the incidents that really sparked off the interest in UFOs as possible extra-terrestrial phenomena.

Hey Dutch student Awesome parody Kirk acting fast and loose with Starfleet secrets Spock had to rein him in multiple times

This episode is not as thought-provoking and philosophical as others, but I’ll join the chorus of all those who praise its perfect balance between serious elements and comedy. In the first half, the serious elements prevail: the threat of remaining trapped in the wrong time is imminent for both Christopher and the Enterprise crew. When McCoy asks: “Jim, what if we can't go back? What do we do, sit up here and wait for our supplies to run out, our power to die? (…)”, all Kirk can answer is: “Yes. But we're not in that position yet.” And he sounds more worried than dismissive. In the second half, however, we see a brilliant comedy. The first outstanding scene is when Kirk and Sulu break into the airbase. For a minute or more, they don’t speak at all, but their interplay is amazing: just glances, gestures, facial expressions and silent team-work. Like long-time partners in crime, they understand each other without words – I particularly like the short bit when Kirk opens the door to the Statistical Services Division, then just raises his hand while still peering into the room, and Sulu gives him the torch. And besides their surprising skillfulness in this kind of activities, they also seem to enjoy it, like two naughty little boys playing a prank. My favorite scene is the interrogation – Kirk playing the innocent fool is a surprising deviation from his usual demeanor, and it’s fun to watch him trying to keep a straight face while the colonel is messing around with the phaser right under his nose (“If you don't stop being careless with that, you'll have one. A big one.”). But I also enjoy all the other funny little moments, like Sulu’s innocent “I didn’t hear anything”, Kirk’s baffled look when the sergeant is beamed up, and Spock deadpanning: “Our guest seems quite satisfied to remain where he is.” And, already in the first half, McCoy at Spock admitting a mistake: “Oh? This could be an historic occasion.” Speaking of humour, I also admit that I find the “female personality” computer quite funny. The first point – which has nothing to do with the “female personality” – is that the computer registers and confirms Kirk’s instructions, but it doesn’t follow them until he threatens to scrap it, with a malicious grin on his face. The second point is that low, breathy voice constantly referring to him as “dear”, which I don’t think is meant to be seductive: combined with the first point, it’s meant to annoy him (every time he uses the computer) and embarrass him (when others witness it, like in the very last scene on the bridge: note Uhura’s amused grin and the angry look Kirk throws at her!). I always had the impression that the engineers on that female-dominated planet programmed this bug on purpose, with the intention to drive him up the wall… which, of course, leaves the question why. Heaven knows what he did to offend them… maybe just being his usual, skirt-chasing self…

Poor photography.

Decent episode but Starfleet comes across as Authoritarian Dictators when they refuse to let this man go back home to his life and family. A great line from this one... "I'd love to see how things workout with your girlfriend but I need to get back home." Of course this is when Kirk coldly tells him he's a prisoner for life. All because he "saw the future."

Over decades, my opinion of Tomorrow is Yesterday has slipped from great to good. This slippage is not due to the bad science it employs, but rather because time travel has subsequently been handled better elsewhere. Even now I'm willing to accept TisY's bad science because we have yet to discover how to actually do such travel, and thus have no experience with what strange effects might then emerge. Additionally, if we were to limit sf to only scientifically-correct depictions, there wouldn't be much sf left. Otherwise, TisY is fun and relatable. Who hasn't wondered what their future holds? Who hasn't thought of seeing and visiting the Enterprise? Well, there it is in the skies over 20th century Earth. Enjoy the ride.

It always struck me as un-ergonomic for Sulu to have to control the helm using his fingertips while the ship is jostled around.

What did Scotty mean about the engines when he said "They're buckling!"?

It’s difficult to be harsh towards an episode like TisY whose whole existence just seems to be geared towards being a lighthearted comedy. I generally dislike time travel stories as a genre, all the paradoxes, deux ex machina’s, and, shall we say, flexible science just kick me right in my brain’s shins and leave me wanting to take a rage nap. But even I, with time travel hate in my heart, can look past TisY’s loose take on plot science and time line shenanigans and just enjoy the show for what it is. And what it is, is a pretty good time. There’s a lot to enjoy in this episode: iconic imagery, goofily fun fight choreography, nice character beats, an overall sense of humor, and as far as I can tell one of, if not the first depictions on television of the concept of “time line integrity”, or protecting the future by avoiding involvement in the past. Regardless of my personal irritation, I respect groundbreaking in any medium. It’s also fun to see just how much of this episode’s DNA is in Voyage Home. And I laughed out loud when Christopher does a full on double take at a (gasp!) woman walking around the ship, that was a meta little jab at the chauvinism of the 60s. My only real criticism of this episode is Kirk giving Christopher a full tour of the enterprise. That seemed a bit overly naive. I get that Kirk feels for the guy, he’s essentially being kidnapped after all, it’s a real weird situation. But to compensate for that by walking Christopher around basically saying: “Hey Chris, check this out, here’s how you might blow up the ship, oh and that’s where all the power is generated, very sensitive stuff. This over here is where we control everything, you know, life support and such. If you go in that room over there you could probably escape, you know, if you felt like it. Oh and here’s the mess hall! You hungry?” It’s like, come on Kirk, think about it for a sec. At any rate, there are definitely more philosophically powerful episodes of TOS, but I’d watch this episode again, and that’s all that really matters in the end I suppose.

Stable time loop = ONE timeline and ONE only - what happens is and was ALWAYS going to happen, no matter how much time travel is involved. Unstable Time Loop - one timeline = Many divergent outcomes with the ability to return to your own timeline. Unstable Time Loop = Many divergent timelines - all possible timelines exist at all times, with ones own actions determining which timeline you emerge into but lacking the ability to return to an earlier version of that timeline. There's probably a hundred other iterations and theories I'm not listing here.

The radar operator in the teaser (saying "Directly over the Omaha installation, sir. Holding there.") looks and sounds like Paul Comi, who played Lieutenant Stiles in Balance of Terror.

This is a great Star Trek episode. Neil DeGrasse Tyson loves it. Good enough for me.

Michael Miller

Not sure what happened to my comment but this episode was on again last night, and I dint get the whole flying toward the sun at warp speed thing. If they are already going warp speed, how does that tiny bit of extra speed from the sun pulling on them help? Warp drive isn't even normal propulsion to begin with. There's not even time dilation with warp drive, let alone going backwards or jumping forwards in time l. Further, why does what direction they get slingshotted through space, affect whether what direction they go in time? The whole idea of whiplash plunging them into a time warp backward and then a slingshot around the sun sending them back forward seems dumb, even for sci-fi. You would think if it were that easy there would be ALOT more time travel missions. Then of course you have the comedy in this episode, like how an unarmed Captain Kirk can take out THREE trained and armed airforce security personnel at the same time with his bare hands! That must be some state of the art star fleet training! It's too funny when the fighting scenes in the original series become like a luny-toons cartoon LOL. Same goes for all the people flopping all over on the bridge, those inertial dampers never work when you need them too!

Oh and a 3 week long overhaul of the computer to get rid of the female program? What the?? Just remove the subroutine! This is the 23rd century, it doesn't even take them 3 weeks to repair a fried warp engine.

@ Cinnamon CBS suits? TOS was broadcast on NBC. (Sorry, I hate that NBC was the one to cancel our beloved TOS, but we have to give them credit for putting it on TV in the first place.) Loved the comedy in the one. Agree with nitpicks others have stated, but even after seeing it a dozen times, I still enjoy it.

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Timeline to Tragedy: Captain Pike’s Story So Far | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

As star trek: strange new worlds debuts, let’s look back at the beginning (and end) of the original captain of the uss enterprise..

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What a long, strange trip it’s been for Captain Pike. The original Star Trek captain, it took over 30 years before his debut episode actually aired on TV. But before that, the only story to feature him that had made it to screens was also, well, his last story.

But that all changed in 2019 when Pike was revived for a season-long run on Star Trek: Discovery. And the popularity of that version of the character, as portrayed by Anson Mount, led to him getting his own show, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

But how did Christopher Pike get from there to here, and where exactly does Strange New Worlds fit into his story – a story that we know has a definite end? Let’s, um, engage with it all – this is Captain Pike’s timeline… so far!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Images

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 finale - "A Quality of Mercy"

Captain Pike and “The Cage”

There are two ways to look at Pike’s story – chronologically in the Star Trek universe, and chronologically in the sitting-on-the-couch watching Star Trek for most of our lives universe. We’re gonna approach this mostly from the former point of view, if only because we need to get off the couch more.

It all started when a guy named Gene Roddenberry came up with this crazy idea for a TV show set in outer space. While developing what would become the first Star Trek pilot episode, called "The Cage," Roddenberry originally named his captain Robert April. This changed a few times, from April to James Winter and then finally to Christopher Pike. Interestingly enough, the name Robert April would return in the first Trek animated series where we learned he was the captain of the USS Enterprise before Pike. He’s also an admiral now on Strange New Worlds.

(Also, let’s just get it out of the way and say, yes, we know that there was also the so-called Kelvinverse version of Pike from the J.J. Abrams movies. He was played by Bruce Greenwood, but that’s set in an alternate reality and hence doesn’t count for our purposes here.)

Anyway, actor Jeffrey Hunter played Pike in “The Cage,” where the captain is suffering from serious self-doubt over a recent mission where he lost several crewmembers. Hunter’s more melancholy take on the character is a far cry from the gung-ho, shoot-from-the-hip Captain Kirk who would eventually replace him.

Canonically, this is also the first appearance of Pike. Sorry nerds, there’s no stardate in the episode, but we can piece together that it’s the year 2254. For perspective, that’s two years before Star Trek: Discovery’s first season, and 13 years before The Original Series’ first season.

During the events of “The Cage,” Pike and his crew, including his second-in-command Number One and science officer Spock, encounter the illusion-creating aliens known as the Talosians. Pike is captured by these cranially-enhanced guys, with their plan being to repopulate their desolate planet by having him mate with a human named Vina who had crash-landed there years earlier. In the end, Pike manages to escape, of course, but learns that Vina’s true form is a physically scarred, um, hunchback. Because the Talosians who can read minds and recreate reality didn’t know how to put her back together after her crash. Somehow.

Vina, desperate for human companionship, is given the illusion by the Talosians that Captain Pike stayed behind with her. But the experience on Talos IV helps restore his confidence in himself, and he jets off on the Enterprise, despite forging a bond with Vina. To be continued here.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Hunter also jetted away, opting to not return to Star Trek after the pilot was rejected by NBC. In the real world, this is where William Shatner and Captain Kirk come in, but that’s a whole other story…

The Road to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

After the events of “The Cage,” Discovery establishes that Captain Pike and the Enterprise sat out the Klingon War that that show’s first season depicted. The Enterprise was too valuable a resource and Starfleet ordered Pike to continue with the five-year mission that he and his crew were currently on.

A year later, in 2257, the Enterprise crew was investigating a series of mysterious red bursts across space that, frankly, we’re still a little confused about ourselves. But the important part is this is the point where Anson Mount took over the role of Pike for Discovery Season 2 in 2019. That’s 54 years after NBC rejected “The Cage” pilot, for those of you on the couch keeping count.

Pike takes over as temporary captain of the Discovery for the bulk of the season, and many an adventure is had as he and the Disco crew uncover the truth behind the red burst phenomenon – which, again, is pretty confusing and doesn’t really matter here anyway. The main thing is they save the galaxy along the way.

But also, during this stint Pike has another run-in with Vina. Spock, now played by Ethan Peck, and Discovery’s Michael Burnham wind up on Talos IV, which was a pretty crazy revelation when the episode first aired, since the Talosians had always felt off-limits in the Star Trek world since The Original Series. Indeed, they were off-limits in-universe: Visiting Talos IV was designated death-penalty worthy after Pike’s visit there in “The Cage,” so dangerous were the Talosians’ mental abilities deemed.

Anson Mount as Pike and Melissa George as Vina on Star Trek: Discovery

Played by Melissa George here, taking over for Susan Oliver from “The Cage,” Vina is reunited briefly with Pike via Talosian telepathy.

Interestingly, this resolves a long-standing question regarding the – let me push up my glasses here – canonicity of “The Cage.” The last bit in that episode where Vina was granted an illusion version of Pike was never quite confirmed as part of the story on Talos IV during the run of The Original Series. That’s because, while big chunks of “The Cage” were utilized in the flashback-heavy episodes “The Menagerie” Parts 1 and 2, the particular moment of Vina and Illusion Pike was repurposed in a different context. But here, Vina clearly knows that her “Pike” wasn’t real after the real Pike left the planet, though she puts it more gracefully than that.

“They brought you back to me,” she says. “Not the real you. It’s illusory of course. But the part of you that still lives inside of me… We’ve spent a lifetime together.”

It’s a really nice moment, and also goes a long way to solidifying the relationship and dynamic between Pike and Vina, which we shall soon see is very, very important for Pike as a character.

Captain Pike’s Wheelchair and the Unavoidable Accident That Led Him to It

Shortly after this encounter, Pike also learned that he was fated to be tragically injured at some point in the future – a fate that Trek fans always knew was coming due to the character’s appearance on “The Menagerie.” While visiting a Klingon monastery on the planet Boreth, Pike encounters something called a time crystal, triggering a vision of his future where during an accident he is severely burned and subjected to radiation. Pike is given the choice to leave the monastery without the crystal – an act which would allow him to change this future – or take the crystal and lock the future in. Knowing that he needs the crystal to save the galaxy, he accepts his dark fate.

At the end of Season 2 of Discovery, Pike returns to the Enterprise. By now it is the year 2258 – in Star Trek time, anyway.

And that’s basically where Strange New Worlds Season 1 picks up. There’s plenty of room here for the creators of the show to play with, as the next time we see Pike in canon is that very first aired episode to feature him, “The Menagerie” Part 1, which is set nine years after 2258. Of course, in our world the episode actually aired in 1966.

Vina (Susan Oliver) and Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) find happiness in "The Menagerie."

At some point before the events of “The Menagerie,” we know Pike will accept a promotion to fleet captain and hand over command of the Enterprise to James T. Kirk. And in 2266, the accident he foresaw on Boreth will come to pass. While conducting an inspection tour of a cadet ship, a radiation leak will occur. Pike will save a group of cadets but he will be doused with delta rays and forced to live out the rest of his days in a life-support chair, unable to speak or even move, really.

But Mr. Spock had a last-ditch plan to help his old captain. In “The Menagerie,” Spock hijacks the Enterprise with the disabled Pike onboard, risking the death penalty in the process. When the Enterprise arrives at Talos IV, Captain Kirk comes to understand and agree with Spock’s extreme actions. Captain Pike is beamed to the surface of the planet, where the Talosians use their power of illusion to restore him to his young, Jeffrey Hunter self, so that he can live out his days with Vina. And that’s where that final moment from “The Cage,” of Vina and the illusion of Pike walking off together, is used. Only now, in its repurposed form, it’s Vina and the real Pike, finally together for good.

And so Christopher Pike’s story ends where it began. Which is kind of cool when you think about it. As the Talosian Keeper says to Captain Kirk as the illusion of Pike walks off with Vina, “Captain Pike has an illusion, and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant.”

For even more on Star Trek, check out our Strange New Worlds review or our interview with the stars of the show .

Talk to Executive Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottCollura , or listen to his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3 . Or do both!

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Jonathan frakes' advice about star trek: discovery haters: "they hated tng too".

Sonequa Martin-Green shares the perspective TNG icon Jonathan Frakes offered about the fan hate Star Trek: Discovery received upon its debut.

  • Jonathan Frakes provided support to Star Trek: Discovery cast facing fan criticism, drawing on his own experiences with The Next Generation.
  • Frakes welcomed Discovery actors as part of the larger franchise family, acknowledging that previous series also faced initial resistance from fans.
  • Sonequa Martin-Green praised Frakes for guiding them and emphasized the understanding and respect they had for fans' critiques.

Sonequa Martin-Green shares the advice and perspective Star Trek: The Next Generation 's Jonathan Frakes offered to Star Trek: Discovery 's cast regarding the hatred they received from fans. Discovery season 1 was a lightning rod of controversy' as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, Discovery seemed to constantly violate established Star Trek canon . The tide started to turn during Discovery season 1's Mirror Universe arc , followed by the introduction of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) in Discovery season 2, which resulted in the series shifting its setting to the 32nd century.

Star Trek: Discovery actors Sonequa Martin-Green, David Ajala, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Chieffo, and Eve Harlow were spotlighted in a panel on Star Trek: The Cruise VII. As reported by TrekMovie , Martin-Green spoke about the hatred Star Trek: Discovery initially garnered from some fans, and how director Jonathan Frakes told Sonequa that fans also hated Star Trek: The Next Generation and its cast at first. Read her quote below:

Remember y’all in the beginning when we had a lot of criticism, and people [were] coming for us for a lot of reasons. It made sense. We always said we understood where they were coming from. And we had so much respect because those criticisms were coming from a place of love and loyalty and intelligence and intellect and all of that… But we were like [makes pained expression] 'We’ve got so many people to prove and to ourselves too.' So Jonathan Frakes – one of our favorite directors – really shepherded us and took us under his wing. He welcomed us as a proxy for the rest of the franchise. And he was like, 'No, no, no. Welcome. This is how it goes. They hated us too.' They used to get letters like, “We don’t need you… why are you trying to get in the way of our Kirk and Spock?" He said it took [TNG] like three seasons for them to finally take hold of us. I remember how we were so comforted by that. I’m still grateful for him to this day because he was really kind of like a Papa Big Brother for us in the beginning.

Jonathan Frakes directed Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 9, "Lagrange Point," which is the first half of Discovery 's 2-part series finale.

Everything we know about star trek discovery season 5

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 - Everything We Know

Star trek fans did hate tng in the beginning, every star trek show starts off with haters.

Over 35 years later, Jonathan Frakes and his co-stars recall the fan ire heaped upon Star Trek: The Next Generation during its first few seasons, Devotees of Star Trek: The Original Series were incensed at the idea of a different USS Enterprise crew 'replacing' Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and there was plenty of scorn towards TNG in the form of angry fan letters in the pre-Internet era. Frakes is also right that the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation is when the series became popular. Today, TNG is held up as arguably the best Star Trek series of all.

Fans hating on a new Star Trek show is an unfortunate tradition.

Jonathan Frakes returned to Star Tre k as a director thanks to Star Trek: Discovery, which he considers his "home" series. The hatred Discovery elicited from hardcore Trekkers must have felt like déjà vu to Frakes. But fans hating on a new Star Trek show is an unfortunate tradition, one visited upon Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (not set on a starship), Star Trek: Voyager (a female captain), Star Trek: Enterprise (unnecessary prequel), and of course, Star Trek: Discovery and every Star Trek on Paramount+ show created as a result of Discovery 's success.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premieres April 4 on Paramount+.

Source: TrekMovie.com

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Star Trek: How Old Kirk Was When He Became Captain (In Both Timelines)

  • James T. Kirk was the youngest Captain in Starfleet, rising fast in both timelines.
  • Kirk went from Cadet to Lieutenant to full Captain in Star Trek 2009's Kelvin Timeline.
  • Chris Pine's Kirk became Captain of the Enterprise at just 25 years old.

Star Trek 's James T. Kirk was a young man when he became Captain of the USS Enterprise, but in the Kelvin Timeline of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies, Kirk gets his promotion a lot faster than he does in Star Trek's Prime Timeline. Introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series in 1966, William Shatner portrayed the original Captain James T. Kirk, who was the hero of Star Trek: TOS for 3 seasons before he starred in 7 Star Trek movies from 1979-1994. Chris Pine took over the role of Captain Kirk in Abrams' reboot films, which resulted in a successful Star Trek trilogy from 2009-2016.

In the annals of Starfleet, the five-year mission of Captain Kirk and the Starship Enterprise is legendary. Along with Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Kirk's Enterprise boldly explored the final frontier, initiated numerous First Contacts with new species, and saved the galaxy on several occasions. At the end of his five-year mission, Kirk was promoted to Admiral and became Chief of Starfleet Operations. However, Admiral Kirk yearned to be on the bridge of his beloved Enterprise. Star Trek: The Original Series ' movies chronicle Kirk's journey to stay in the center seat. This resulted in his demotion back to Captain, the rank James Kirk preferred and would retain until his death in Star Trek Generations . But how old was James T. Kirk when he became Captain of the Enterprise in both Star Trek timelines ?

William Shatner Kirks Best Line In 7 Star Trek Movies

How old william shatner's kirk was when he became enterprise captain, kirk was the youngest starship captain in starfleet.

In Star Trek 's Prime Universe's canon, James T. Kirk was born on March 22, 2233, in Iowa, and he joined Starfleet Academy in 2252. Cadet Kirk entered the Command Training Program (where he infamously cheated to beat the Kobayashi Maru no-win scenario ), and he served aboard the USS Republic, where Ensign Kirk was promoted to Lieutenant. Kirk became an instructor at Starfleet Academy before he joined the crew of the USS Farragut, where Kirk became the youngest First Officer in Starfleet in 2259. In 2265, Kirk was promoted to Captain and assumed command of the USS Enterprise at the remarkable age of 32.

Lt. James T. Kirk becoming Starfleet's youngest First Officer at 26 years old beat the record set by his own father, Lt. George Kirk.

How Old Chris Pine's Kirk Was When He Became Enterprise Captain

Kirk went from cadet to captain in one mission.

William Shatner's Kirk had nothing on the improbably meteoric rise of his Kelvin timeline doppelgänger because Chris Pine's Kirk became Captain of the Enterprise at 25 ! As seen in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009), Kirk was born in outer space when his father, Lieutenant George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), was killed during the USS Kelvin's encounter with the time-traveling Romulan, Nero (Eric Bana). Kirk grew up in Iowa, but it was a chance encounter with Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) in a bar in 2255 that led Jim to enlist in Starfleet. 3 years later, Cadet Kirk stowed away aboard the USS Enterprise and earned his Captaincy by saving Earth from Nero.

Chris Pine's James T. Kirk was born on January 4, 2233, in the Kelvin Timeline - 3 months before William Shatner's Kirk's birth.

It may seem like Kirk jumped directly from Cadet to Captain in Star Trek 2009, but James actually rose through the ranks throughout the film. Before Pike beamed over to Nero's ship, he shocked the crew by promoting Kirk to Acting First Officer to serve alongside Acting Captain Spock. This meant Kirk received an instant field promotion to the temporary rank of Lieutenant. Kirk later tricked Spock into stepping down from command due to being emotionally compromised from the destruction of Vulcan.

Kirk then promoted himself to Acting Captain and teamed with Spock to lead the Enterprise. After the successful defeat of Nero, Starfleet formally promoted Kirk to full Captain, and James assumed command of the Enterprise relieving the injured Captain Pike. But considering the events of Star Trek (2009) 's main story only lasted the span of a few days, Kirk was still just 25 when he went from Cadet to Lieutenant to Captain at warp speed.

When William Shatner & Chris Pine's Kirks Became Captain Of The USS Enterprise-A

There's an even greater age gap.

In Star Trek Beyond , which took place in 2363 in the Kelvin Timeline, the Starship Enterprise was destroyed and Chris Pine's Captain Kirk assumed command of the USS Enterprise-A at the age of 30. In comparison, William Shatner's Captain Kirk was 53 in 2286 when he got the Enterprise-A at the end of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . So, it seems nearly everything about J.J. Abrams' version of James T. Kirk was designed to consistently beat Shatner's version to the punch.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Can Show How Kirk Becomes Enterprise Captain

Kirk's promotion in the prime timeline hasn't been depicted.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds introduced Lieutenant James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) , the younger version of William Shatner's Kirk in the Prime Timeline. Lt. Kirk is about 26 years old in Strange New Worlds ' era (2259 onward), and James was promoted to First Officer of the USS Farragut in Strange New Worlds season 2. It's possible that Strange New Worlds could eventually end by depicting James T. Kirk's promotion to Captain and his inheriting the USS Enterprise from Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has already shown Kirk's first meeting with Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and the Prime Timeline's Lt. Kirk becoming Captain Kirk could be a pivotal Star Trek event audiences will finally see.

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: The Original Series movies are streaming on Max.

Star Trek: How Old Kirk Was When He Became Captain (In Both Timelines)

Memory Alpha

Roger Perry

  • View history

Perry began acting in movies in 1958, and television a year later. Working steadily until the early nineties, he amassed nearly a hundred movie, series, and guest starring roles; many of the movies were made for television and B-movies. For twenty-five years, he was married to comedienne Joanne Worley , who is best known for her role in the Laugh-In comedy sketch show.

Perry was a regular in ABC's crime series Arrest and Trial which ran for one season in 1963-1964, and had two episodes directed by Ralph Senensky and one by Robert Butler . Writers of the series included Max Ehrlich and Barry Trivers . In 1969, he appeared in an episode of Adam-12 as a district attorney, opposite a defense attorney played by Phillip Pine . In 1977 he appeared in the film The Man with the Power , along with Tim O'Connor , Persis Khambatta , John de Lancie , James Ingersoll , and Jason Wingreen .

During the third through fifth seasons of the 1980s series The Facts of Life , Perry appeared in the recurring role of headmaster Charles Parker, principal of the Eastland Girls School. Other Star Trek alumni who appeared in The Facts of Life included Kenneth Tigar , Paul Comi , Clyde Kusatsu , Robert DoQui , Nehemiah Persoff , Clive Revill , Eve Smith , William Windom , Nicholas Coster , Robert Hooks , and Ian Wolfe . Lead Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor Armin Shimerman also made a brief appearance in the show's seventh season premiere episode.

Perry died on 12 July 2018 at the age of 85. ( Screen Actors Guild Magazine , Special Edition 2019, p. 95)

External links [ ]

  • Roger Perry at Wikipedia
  • Roger Perry at the Internet Movie Database
  • Obituary at StarTrek.com
  • 3 Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Justin willman unveils new netflix series ‘the magic prank show’ set for april launch, kenneth mitchell dies: ‘star trek: discovery’, ‘captain marvel’ & ‘jericho’ actor was 49.

By Denise Petski

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Kenneth Mitchell

Kenneth Mitchell , who played several characters in Star Trek: Discovery , and also was known for his roles in Jericho and Captain Marvel, has died from complications of ALS, his family revealed Saturday. He was 49.

“With heavy hearts we announce the passing of Kenneth Alexander Mitchell, beloved father, husband, brother, uncle, son and dear friend,” his family shared on X/Twitter.

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Mitchell announced publicly that he’d been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2020 in an interview with People.

“The moment that they told us it was [ALS], it was like I was in my own movie,” Mitchell told the publication. “That’s what it felt like, like I was watching that scene where someone is being told that they have a terminal illness. It was just a complete disbelief, a shock.”

Mitchell played three Klingon characters in Star Trek: Discovery’ s first two seasons. He portrayed Kol in Season 1, Kol-Sha and Tenavik in Season 2. In Season 3, as the disease progressed, he played Aurellio, a character who used a hoverchair, created to incorporate his need for a wheelchair, into the series.

He also voiced three characters in the first season of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1, a black ops operative and a Romulan guard.

StarTrek.com also posted a tribute to Mitchell.

“Being a part of Star Trek keeps me inspired and gives me purpose,” Mitchell told Syfy Wire in 2020. “Hopefully, that will keep going.”

Mitchell is survived by his wife, Susan, their children, Lilah and Kallum, his parents and in-laws and several nieces and nephews.

The family asks that any gifts be directed toward ALS research or toward his children. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for the children.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kenneth Mitchell (@mr_kenneth_mitchell)

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Kenneth Mitchell, 'Star Trek: Discovery' and 'Captain Marvel' actor, dies at 49 after ALS diagnosis

2018 Star Trek Convention Las Vegas

Kenneth Mitchell, the actor who starred in "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Captain Marvel," died Saturday. He was 49 years old. 

“With heavy hearts we announce the passing of Kenneth Alexander Mitchell, beloved father, husband, brother, uncle, son, and dear friend to many,” his family said in a statement shared on Instagram. 

Mitchell died after a 5 ½-year struggle with Lou Gehrig’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. 

Despite the “series of awful challenges” Mitchell faced as a result of the disease, his family said, he “managed to rise above each one with grace and commitment to living a full and joyous life in each moment.” 

Mitchell, born Nov. 24, 1974, in Toronto, rose to fame for his portrayal of the Klingons Kol, Kol-Sha and Tenavik, as well as Aurellio, on "Star Trek: Discovery," and for playing Joseph Danvers in "Captain Marvel." 

He also acted in the hockey drama "Miracle" and appeared on "Grey’s Anatomy," "NCIS" and "Criminal Minds," among others. 

The “Star Trek” universe paid tribute to Mitchell on its website Sunday, saying it was “deeply saddened” by his passing. 

Kenneth Mitchell

“The entire Star Trek family sends their condolences to Mitchell’s family, friends, loved ones, and fans around the world,” it said. 

His family remembered him, among other things, as a “hope seeker,” “dream believer,” “beach walker” and “garden grower,” but most of all as a “proud father.” 

He is survived by his wife, Susan, and their children, Lilah and Kallum. His family said he requested that any gifts be directed toward research for the disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. 

According to a passage Mitchell wrote and shared in the tribute, he wished to be buried under the roots of a tree, "so I can be soaked up, all my matter, my energy, my love, my laughter, my tears and I want to reach up through the branches and touch the night sky.”

Mike Gagliardi is a researcher with the NBC News Network Desk.

IMAGES

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  3. Christopher John ∊Λ∍ CZ Kontinuum Star Trek fan klub

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COMMENTS

  1. John Christopher

    Captain John Christopher was a male Human military officer in the 20th century. Christopher served in the Air Defense Command, a command in the United States Air Force. He had qualified as an expert pilot in this command. His serial number was 4857932. As of 1969, he was a husband and the father of two daughters. After 1969, he was the father of Shaun Geoffrey Christopher, the commander of the ...

  2. John Christopher

    Captain John Christopher was a male Human military officer in the 20th century. He served in the Air Defense Command, a command in the United States Air Force. He had qualified as an expert pilot in this command. His serial number was 4857932. As of 1969, he was a husband and the father of two daughters.

  3. In Star Trek, why does Capt. Christopher lose his memory when the

    In the Star Trek episode, "Tomorrow is Yesterday," the USS Enterprise is thrown back in time to the 20th Century of Earth.The crew saves the life of an Air Force pilot, Captain John Christopher, by beaming him aboard.. Fearing Christopher could disrupt the timeline if returned to Earth after glimpsing the future, Kirk decides Christopher must stay with the Enterprise.

  4. Tomorrow Is Yesterday

    "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Michael O'Herlihy, it first aired on January 26, 1967. It was the first Star Trek episode to be written solely by a woman (Dorothy Fontana had previously written the teleplay for the episode "Charlie X" but the story was ...

  5. Where Are They Now: TOS Guest Roger Perry

    Talk to any Star Trek fan, though, and there's one credit that matters more than any other. Perry played Captain John Christopher in the TOS episode "Tomorrow is Yesterday," a time-travel adventure in which the Enterprise winds up back in the 20th century and Captain Christopher of the United States Air Force is beamed aboard the ...

  6. John Christopher

    John Christopher was a male Human who lived on Earth during the mid- 20th century. Christopher was a Captain in the United States Air Force, and the father of astronaut Shaun Geoffrey Christopher. He also had two daughters. In the 1960s, Christopher applied to become a NASA astronaut but he just missed getting into the program.

  7. "Star Trek" Tomorrow Is Yesterday (TV Episode 1967)

    It was an accident. Captain John Christopher : You seem to have a lot of them. Captain John Christopher : Too bad, Captain. Maybe I can't go home, but neither can you. You're as much a prisoner in time as I am. Captain John Christopher : You don't trust me, Spock. Mr. Spock : In fact, I do. But only to a certain point.

  8. John Christopher

    John Christopher was a Captain in the United States Air Force, where he served as a fighter pilot assigned to Air Defense Command in 1969. ... Star Trek, Season 1, Episode 19 (Production 21). Directed by Michael O'Herlihy. Written by D.C. Fontana. Desilu Productions, 26 January 1967.

  9. Christopher Pike

    You're a Starfleet captain. You believe in service, sacrifice, compassion, and love. No. I'm not going to abandon the things that made me who I am because of a future… that contains an ending I… I hadn't foreseen for myself.Christopher Pike Christopher "Chris" Pike was a 23rd century male Human Federation Starfleet officer who was perhaps best known for serving as the commander of the USS ...

  10. "Star Trek" Tomorrow Is Yesterday (TV Episode 1967)

    Captain John Christopher : I never thought I'd make it into space. I was in line to be chosen for the space program. But I didn't qualify. Capt. Kirk ... STAR TREK 1966-1969 Favorite Episodes a list of 25 titles created 14 Feb 2020 Star Trek Season 1 Ratings ...

  11. Perry: Tomorrow Is Yesterday's Captain John Christopher

    Share to Twitter. Roger Perry, who played Air Force Captain John Christopher in the original series episode Tomorrow is Yesterday, remembers landing the job and he shares a Shatner makeup room ...

  12. Christopher Pike (Star Trek)

    Christopher Pike is a fictional character in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. He is the immediate predecessor to James T. Kirk as captain of the starship USS Enterprise.. Pike first appeared as the main character of the original unaired pilot episode for Star Trek: The Original Series, "The Cage", portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter.When this pilot was rejected, Hunter withdrew from the series ...

  13. Captain John Christopher/Roger Perry, passed away at age 85

    Roger Perry passed away today from prostate cancer. He was 85 years old. He was an actor for Desilu Productions, being on a couple short-lived series, and acted in episodes of TV shows such as the Munsters.

  14. Shaun Christopher

    Colonel Shaun Geoffrey Christopher, the son of United States Air Force Captain John Christopher, ... ↑ Roddenberry, Gene (Executive Producer). "Tomorrow is Yesterday." Star Trek, Season 1, Episode 19 (Production 21). Directed by Michael O'Herlihy. Written by D.C. Fontana. Desilu Productions, 26 January 1967.

  15. Shaun Geoffrey Christopher

    More Fandoms. Sci-fi. Star Trek. Colonel Shaun Geoffrey Christopher was a male Human military service member. He was born after 1969 to US Force Captain John Christopher and his wife. Shaun also had two older sisters. In 1969, the USS Enterprise, which had accidentally traveled back in time from the year 2267, took aboard...

  16. Star Trek (TV Series 1966-1969)

    Star Trek: Created by Gene Roddenberry. With Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols. In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

  17. "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"

    Review Text. The Enterprise is hurled back through time to Earth of the 1960s, where they inadvertently become the subject of Air Force Captain John Christopher's (Roger Perry) UFO sighting. After beaming him aboard the ship following an accident that destroys his jet, Kirk is forced to prohibit him from returning to Earth and contaminating the timeline with knowledge from the future.

  18. Star Trek: Every Captain's First Ship (& How The Earned Command)

    The Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) fans met in Star Trek: Discovery season 1 was his Mirror Universe doppelganger, who accidentally switched places with the Prime Universe's Lorca at some point in 2256. The Mirror Lorca was given command of the U.S.S. Discovery on the onset of the Klingon War. But little is known about the original Prime Lorca and how he took command of the U.S.S. Buran ...

  19. Robert April

    Robert April is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. April was the USS Enterprise's first commanding officer, preceding Captain Christopher Pike.. The character first appeared in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "The Counter-Clock Incident" (1974), in which he is voiced by James Doohan.April's first live-action appearance was in the pilot episode of Star Trek ...

  20. Star Trek: Tomorrow Is Yesterday

    The Enterprise travels back in time when escaping the gravitational pull of a black star. Captain Kirk and crew find themselves in orbit around Earth in the...

  21. Earth-Saturn probe

    The Earth-Saturn probe was the first manned mission from Earth to Saturn that took place in the early 21st century. The expedition was led by Colonel Shaun Geoffrey Christopher; other crew members included Fontana and O'Herlihy. In 1969, the USS Enterprise, which had accidentally traveled back in time from the year 2267, took aboard Shaun Geoffrey Christopher's father, Captain John Christopher ...

  22. Timeline to Tragedy: Captain Pike's Story So Far

    The original Star Trek captain, it took over 30 years before his debut episode actually aired on TV. But before that, the only story to feature him that had made it to screens was also, well, his ...

  23. Jonathan Frakes' Advice About Star Trek: Discovery Haters: "They Hated

    Discovery season 1 was a lightning rod of controversy' as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, Discovery seemed to constantly violate established Star Trek canon. The tide started to turn during Discovery season 1's Mirror Universe arc , followed by the introduction of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) in Discovery season 2, which ...

  24. Star Trek: How Old Kirk Was When He Became Captain (In Both ...

    Star Trek's James T. Kirk was a young man when he became Captain of the USS Enterprise, but in the Kelvin Timeline of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies, Kirk gets his promotion a lot faster than he ...

  25. Roger Perry

    Roger Perry (7 May 1933 - 12 July 2018; age 85) was the actor who played John Christopher in the Star Trek: The Original Series first season episode "Tomorrow is Yesterday". He filmed his scenes between Monday 28 November 1966 and Monday 5 December 1966 at Desilu Stage 9 and Stage 10. Perry began acting in movies in 1958, and television a year later. Working steadily until the early nineties ...

  26. Kenneth Mitchell Dead: 'Star Trek: Discovery' Actor Was 49

    Kenneth Mitchell, who played several characters in Star Trek: Discovery, and also was known for his roles in Jericho and Captain Marvel, has died from complications of ALS, his family revealed ...

  27. Kenneth Mitchell, 'Star Trek: Discovery' and 'Captain Marvel' actor

    Mitchell, born Nov. 24, 1974, in Toronto, rose to fame for his portrayal of the Klingons Kol, Kol-Sha and Tenavik, as well as Aurellio, on "Star Trek: Discovery," and for playing Joseph Danvers in ...