Let The Child Waffle About Picard

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Tonight. The live card. The child makes muffles. And we remember the man who brought Ming Marcellus to life. A little more on the five multiverse. Tonight. Here's our host, Thomas Townley. Hello, everyone, and welcome to episode 66 of Multiverse Tonight. I'm of course your host, Thomas Townley. And well, I have some sad news that starts this episode. I've had a death in the family. Our dog family uh just passed away. Uh you know, she stopped eating and drinking a few days ago, and then on Sunday night on Sunday, she just passed away. Yeah. It hurts, but I I'll get over it. Uh to quote George Carlin, you know, life is a series of dogs, and unquote. And uh Fanny was a very good dog. And I know she's in she's, you know, a better place right now. But uh, you know, other than that, uh looking forward to Planet Comic-Con in Kansas City uh coming up next week. And I hope to get a few good interviews out of that. I will uh be talking to Dayton Ward about his new book and uh hopefully, you know, have a lot of cosplay photos. But let's go ahead and go on to some Star Trek news. So, you've been watching Star Trek Picard, but you have concerns about the violence and the darkness, and you know, especially the recent scenes in the episode Stardust City Rag, where we saw poor Ichab getting unwanted surgery, and 7 of 9 deciding to go all dirty hairy on the person who killed him. Uh some fans have even taken their concerns to showrunner Michael Chabon on his Instagram. Now his answer, quote, I am not unambivalent about the violence myself. The choice was not made lightly, though it was made collaboratively, and therefore with a good deal of conversation and debate among the creators. And so I assure you that is not there simply because we can, or because we are trying, as you somewhat uncharitably put it, to be in. My partners would all have their own reasons for its presence in this in the story, as some of us had our own reasons for shying away from it. For me, it came down to this. There has always been violence and even torture in Star Trek. Sometimes that violent has been implicit, sometimes explicit, according to the dictates of censorship. The nature of the situation being depicted, the a stake of individual creators, or technical or and or budgetary limitations. And the reason that there has always been violence in Trek is that Trek is art. And there has always been violence, implicit, implicit, and explicit in art. It belongs there. It belongs in any narrative about human beings, even human beings of the future. Violence often is the narrative, its source, its engine. The question of whether it's too much or not is ultimately a matter of taste. Personally, I come out closer to the less is more end. But that is just me. In the end, I saw how little time and space we had to convey a sense of Seven's history post-Voyager, and the things that drive and haunt her. I decided with my partners that intensity was warranted. Seven lives outside the rationale confines of the Federation, because that is where she finds her sense of purpose. But life is hard. You know. But life is hard out there, but if it wasn't, people wouldn't need her help so badly, and she wouldn't have found such a compelling reason to carry on in spite of her history of trauma. But I hear you, unquote. Well, in our words, what he's saying there is it it was a necessary evil in order to tell the story. However, Mr. Chabon uh wasn't finished. He also talked about the show's tone and how it reflects our current reality. Quote, first of all, I think that the phrase or a version of it, Star Trek, has always reflected its time, is open to multiple, potentially conflicting interpretations. It can mean individual Star Trek series have always consciously reflected thematically many of the most pressing issues of the time when they were made. I think that's the sense intended by people involved with making the two current series, and it's pretty obviously true. Starting with persistent themes of nuclear annihilation, racial pr racial prejudice, mechanization, totalitarism versus liberal democracy on the original series, through Deep Space Nine, with the themes of individual versus group identity, chosen family, reason vs. faith, and the inevitable moral compromises of war. That's only the conscious way in which Trek has reflected the times in which it was made. But the phrase could also be taken the way I think you take it. That the world, the milieu depicted by Star Trek, the characters and their interactions, their capabilities and limitations as individuals, the social institutions and mores and techno technologies and economics and culture reflect the world and era in which it was made. I think you're saying that this is wrong. And here's exactly where Trek doesn't, hasn't, and shouldn't reflect the world in times. That has always presented its crew, Starfleet, and the Federation as improvements, as realizations on our best potential, as aspirational. If Trek has reflected our world, it's a kind it's in a kind of utopian funhouse mirror where everything looks better. I would say that by and large that has been true, though possibly not as to the degree that many Trek fans claim or feel. But there's another side to the world, the people and society, depicted in Star Trek, which is all the characters, planets, cultures, mores, and interactions that takes place outside of Starfleet, the Federation. Many of these outside cultures and characters, the empires and alliances and unions, have deliberately aspects of our world, with all its imperfection, intolerance, brutality, its humiliations and justices, its evils. I don't mean just in a thematic sense, but in the behavior of individual non-federation, non-starfly characters, in the construction of societies around prejudices and inequalities, violence, lust for power, etc. That brings us to Picard. In the one long ten part story we're telling, we're asking two questions about the greater world of Star Trek, i.e. the Federation and everything outside the Federation. One, a venerable Star Trek question with a long pedigree in previous series and films. What happens when the Federation, the Roddenberry Federation, with all its enlightened and noble intentions, free from want, disease, internal war, greed, capitalism, intolerance, etc., is tested by forces and micable to its values? What happens when two of its essential principles, security and liberty, say, come into conflict? The answer has to be, at first, it buckles, it wobbles. It may to some extent compromise or even betray its values, or at the very least be sorely tempted to do so. If not, there's no point asking the question, though it's a question that any society with aspirations like ours or the Federations need to ask. If nothing can ever truly test the Federation, if nothing can rock its perfection, then it's just a magical land. It's Lothorion, it's in its enchanted bubble, untouchable by the shadow, and also profoundly inhuman. To me, it's the humanity of the Federation, which means among many admirable things, its imperfection, its vulnerability, and the constant need to defend it from our own worst natures that makes it truly inspiring. The other related question we're asking is what about the people who live outside, at the edges or even within the Federation, but who, for various reasons, aren't quite of it? Ex-Starfleet officers, refugees, people like Seven who served on a Starfleet ship but was never actually in Starfleet, people who have fallen through the cracks, or fallen victim to their own weaknesses. What is life like for people who, for whatever reason, live beyond the benevolent boundaries of the Federation where, for example, post-scarity scarcity is a dream, and there is a monetary economy. Again, there is precedent for this kind of story on trek, but the fact that our story only resolves over ten episodes, not one or two or four, out of a season of twenty-three might make it feel sometimes that there is more darkness, more trauma in our characters' lives, more struggle. This show unquestionably has darker tonalities than some others. DS9 is the standout exception. It lives more in the shadows where the Federation's light can't always reach. That isn't to condemn, criticize, undo, break, or, God knows, betray the Federation or Jean Ronbre's vision. Shadow defines light. Every new start Star Trek series since TNG has sought to escape what can feel like the confines of previous series, not simply of canon, which can also be a strangely liberating force, but of the kinds of stories about the kinds of characters and societies that have already been told. Each new series has expressed its impulse to light out for the territories in a different way. TNG went a century into the future of TOS. DS9 went onto a station full of aliens that was both beyond the edge of the Federation and next to a wormhole that led to the Gamma Quadrant. Voyager put 70k light years between it and its predecessors and introduced a raft of new species and worlds. Enterprise went deep into the early past of the Federation. Next season's discovery goes into Trek the Trek universe's far future. The space we found for Trek is not Dark Federation. It's one of people who live and work at or beyond the margins of the Federation who travel beyond its boundaries to find the truth. That was a long that that was that was a lot of words. Um well I can definitely say he's a writer, you know, that that is a lot of words, and I think there's a lot of of truth in what he's saying there. I think he's he's he's kind of laid it out, you know. Basically, the the if you think of the original series, next generation has kind of, you know, this is what's happening within the boundaries of the Federation. Yes, they're enlightened, yes, you know, there's no money economy. Uh, you know, that's great. But you know, he's talking about, you know, what what what does the world outside the boundaries of the Federation look like? You know? You know, light tends to, you know, light and darkness tend to define each other. So I think there's a there's a lot of uh good in what he's in what he's saying. Now, uh he also had more to say on Twitter when asked if there was a connection between the state of the Federation in Picard and the State of the Federation in the 32nd century that Discovery Season 3 will take place in. Mr. Chabon replied, quote, Federation downfall? What Federation Downfall? The Federation is still very much alive and well and home to trillions, quadrillions of safe, housed, fed, educated citizens with the potential to lead full fulfilling lives. There was a crisis fifteen years ago in the wake of the costly Dominion War and the Romulan Emergency, which had a negative impact on the lives of many people, including most of our principal characters, in one way or another, during which Starfleet, and by extension, the Federation, did not acquit itself well in Picard's eyes. From Admiral Clancy's viewpoint, which is likely the mainstream view, Picard's attitude was unrealistic, quixotic, and even dangerous. She may be right. They may both be right and both wrong, but that was fifteen years ago, and the Federation is still going strong. Perhaps in the eyes of some it lost its luster, its air of invulnerability, its claim to the moral high ground, a process that began during DS9 times, that is hardly a downfall though. As to another fan's question as to why Picard doesn't make reference to the Dominion War in the show, Michael Chabon answered that he had planned to originally, but was convinced not by colleagues that doing so might confuse newer fans. Bad move, Chabon, uh, for this one. Fans will know about it. New fans will want to go back and watch Deep Space Nine find out about it, or they'll, you know, go and read about it on the internet. You know, it's all right that have continuity that not everyone has seen. You know, people are adaptable. You're you're kind of telling us we're not that s we're not smart enough to do our homework, which is, again, a really bad move. You know, trust your audience. You know, trust that trust that we're going to, if we're really interested, go out and say Dominion War? What Dominion War? Click click click click click click. Oh, that Dominion War. See? Anyway, Robert Picardo says that he's in talks to appear in season two of Picard. He could he could either appear as the EMH creator, Louis Zimmerman, and EMH, or the Doctor. He's quoted as saying, I am pleased that they, CBS, have expressed interest in me. They have reached out to my agent about next season, so I'm looking forward to seeing what it is. As you know, I play two characters, primarily the doctor, but also Louis Zimmerman. Lou Zimmerman, the engineer who created the Doctor's program, certainly would have aged. He's in the same timeline as Patrick Stewart and all the Star Trek the Next Generation folk. The Doctor, of course, like Data, doesn't age, but there are ways to address that as we all know. I joked the other day that my daughter does visual effects. That's exactly what she does is digitally correct actors, so I said, if they hire the two of us, she could make me look 25 years younger. Anyway, it will it it will be interesting to see when something happens, if something but uh but I might have a chance to be on screen with Jerry again. It would be an honor and a delight, obviously, to have scenes with Patrick, so you know, we'll keep our fingers crossed. You know, I think I unquote. I think that would be a very cool idea. It'd be nice to see the doctor again, even if it was like a short cameo, or maybe, you know, in in season two they have to go save Louis Zimmerman because because the events of season one have gotten out of hand. Star Trek Voyager is turning twenty-five. So far, we've seen Jerry Ryan return as seven of nine on Picard, and the group is getting a monument erected in Captain Janeway's hometown of Bloomington, Illinois. Now 455 Films is producing a documentary about the series. 455 Films had previously done the Star Trek documentaries The Captains, Chaos on the Bridge, and For the Love of Spock. Studio president David Zabone hinted about what was coming on Twitter, saying, quote, okay, who likes Star Trek Voyager and thinks it deserves to have a documentary to commemorate its 25th anniversary? He also confirmed that they will be filming during Star Trek the Cruise 4, filming testimonials from Voyager fans. The cruise this year has a Voyager theme, and guests on the cruise include Kate Mulgrew, Jerry Ryan, Robert Picardo, Roxanne Dawson, Ethan Phillips, Tim Russ, and Garrett Wang. No word on when the documentary will be out, but I'm gonna guess the fall. So, have you ever been watching the classic uh original series episode, The Trouble of Tribbles, and wondered how long would it take to fill up the ship with those cooing balls of fur? Yeah. No? Well, someone has to uh answer that question. So a group of undergrads at the University of Leicester at the UK at in the UK calculated that the growth rate of the tribles and published a paper on it. It was a relatively simple calculation involving an exponential formula. Spock himself gave the initial set of variables in the episode estimates that each tribble born pregnant can give birth to ten or more tribbles in twelve hours, and puts the number of tribles on board in j after just three days at 1,777,561. The students, assuming that Spock's assessment was correct and presuming that no tribles died, they came to the estimate that it would take 18.4 to the tenth to the ninth power, and also estimated that would take 18.4 ti to times 109 tribles to entirely fill the enterprise. That's 18 billion four hundred million tribles. So under these conditions, they came to the conclusion that it would take four point five days for triples to completely fill the ship. That's a lot of tribles. Of course, in the episode, the triples had been poisoned to death by contaminated quadrotriticale. In that case, the authors proposed a further paper saying, quote, a further calculation, including a death term, could be done to find out how long it would take for the population to become extinct if there was an unlimited supply of toxic grain. You know, I love science. Now, some sad news. Star Trek Discovery actor Kenneth Mitchell, who has played three different Klingons in Discovery's first two seasons, Cole, Koleshaw, and Tav and Tenovic, has revealed that he has been diagnosed with ALS, aka Lou Gerig's disease. He was originally diagnosed back in 2018. A few months ago, in October, he was forced to use a wheelchair. In an interview with People magazine, he said, quote, the moment they that they told me told us it was ALS, it was like I was in my own movie. That's what it felt like. Like I was watching the scene where someone is being told that they have a terminal illness. It was just a complete disbelief, a shock. I'll never forget one of my Star Trek co-stars told me because they had dealt with some trying times with illness and stuff, and I remember them communicating communicating to me saying, You have a choice. You can look at this in many different ways, but maybe try to look at this like a gift, where you get to experience life in a way that most people don't. However, he's not going to try to be down about it. He told people that he and others are looking into new roles with his diagnosis in mind. Well, yeah, at least he's he's he's looking on the bright side of life. You know. Oh, we look on the bright side of life. Let's go to Star Wars News. Well we start uh Star Wars News with Are you going to be In Las Vegas anytime soon? If you are, hop on down to Immersion Vegas at the Fashion Show Mall to see Fans Strike Back, a 10,000 square foot exhibition showcasing Superfan Daniel Prada's 1,000 square foot uh Daniel Prada's collection that includes more than 600 collectibles, figurines, costumes, models, and lightsabers. The exhibit will also showcase a 7 a 16-foot job of the hut and a recreation of an Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer main bridge. Now there's no opening date yet for it, but tickets will be priced at $29 plus taxes and fees for adults and 15 plus for kids 11 and younger. I'll have a link to it in our show notes. Chewbacca actor Juanus Suotamo has a new baby daughter. Juanus and his wife Mila Pujasvara welcomed their second child on Friday, the 28th. The man who took over the role of Chewie during the final movie in the sequel trilogy posted an announcement on Instagram with a caption of a daughter, a photo of his daughter, saying, Quote, We have some exciting news. We were blessed to welcome the newest member of our family, our little princess or senator, or general, or whatever she wants to be, was born this week and is doing great, unquote. He went on to thank the hospital staff, and ended it with, quote, Welcome to the world, Princess Baca, unquote. He would later clarify that she has not been named yet, and that Baca is just a nickname. When her and her old and her brother are older, maybe they should go trick her treating as the Chewy family, or show up at Star Wars Celebration in costume, or film an all-new Star Wars holiday special. Although you know Disney Plus would think about that. Let's not. Anyway, one of the complaints about the rise of Skywalker was the feel of missing scenes. By the way, as an old timer, as as someone who's been around the block, the one thing I can tell you is that if you want different takes of scenes or missing scenes, check out the novelization or the comic book adaptation. And sure enough, the novelization for The Rise of Skywalker has something that was missing when Ben Solo passed away. His last words. According to the book, it goes like this quote A voice came to her through the force, clear and strong. I will always be with you, Ben said. She smiled, let the truth of it wash over her. No one's ever really gone, she whispered. Unquote. By the way, if you're wondering if Ben's forced ghost shows up in the book, nope. It's been confirmed that there's not a ghost of a chance of that. The novelization of Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker comes out on March 17th. The comic book adaptation, which sounds like it will have some added material as well, will come out this summer, in June. And the movie comes out on digital on that date, and the disc versions hit shelves on March 31st. The Mandalorian will be premiering on Pro Sabon in Germany on March 22nd, prior to the launch of Disney Plus on March 24th. The first episode will air as part of a Star Wars night on the broadcaster that ends with the German free television premiere of The Last Jedi. However, there is bad news for Amazon Fire users in Germany, as according to German tech news site Heisleinen, Disney recently removed the Amazon Media Player from its supported device list. If that changes before launch, I'll let you know. The Mandalorian's visual production supervisor for ILM, Visual Effects Ian Milham, gave some behind-the-scenes explanations of how some of these scenes were brought to life. On Twitter, he wrote, quote, For space fights, we populated the scenes with lasers and explosions in different quadrants and distances, hooked them up to custom buttons on the iPad, and let the director go to town. Like playing X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter on a 70-foot screen. Season 2 of The Mandalorian comes out in October. By the way, there is now an official The Child waffle maker. Although since it prints the child and the Mandalorian logo on it, it kind of resembles more of a pancake than a waffle. You know? A relatively flat waffle is always a pancake. If now if you want one or want to see what it looks like, they cost about $40 and can be ordered from GameStop. GameStop, it's still a thing. Lucasfilm is preparing to launch new adventures in an old point in Star Wars history. Star Wars The High Republic takes place at the Galactic Republic and Jedi Orders High Point, some 200 years before the events of the Phantom Menace. Since this unexplored section of the galaxy of Galactic History is untapped, the creators have free reign to make what they want. New adventures, new characters, and of course new merchandising. In a statement, Lucasfilm Publishing creative director Michael Siglian about this new venture said, quote, Star Wars, the High Republic, features the Jedi as we've always wanted to see them, as true guardians of peace and justice. This is a hopeful, optimistic time when the Jedi in the Galactic Republic are at their height. Of course, into this glorious new era, something wicked this way comes. This initiative will give readers, young and old, a new corner of the galaxy to explore through rich, meaningful stories. Plus, readers will learn what scares the Jedi. Unquote. I don't know. What do you think scares the Jedi? Uh lack of money? Uh raid? I don't know. Anyway. The first book, books and the comics, are set to debut at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim in August, with Star Wars The High Republic, Light of the Jedi being a massive interconnected story that's told across various formats by various publishers, including Star Wars, The High Republic into the Dark by Claudia Gray, Star Wars, The High Republic, A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland, Star Wars, The High Republic Adventures by Janiel Jose Older, which is an IDW uh comic book series, Star Wars, The High Republic Adventures by Daniel Jose Older. Didn't I just say that? Anyway, Star Wars, The High Republic by Kevin Scott, which is will be a Marvel comic book series, and Star Wars The High Republic, Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule, which is an adult novel. Yeah. Well, I guess that's more s more stuff for uh people to, you know, keep their keep their minds on Star Wars while they decide what's next for the movie franchise. Now, let's go on to Geek News. Sci-fi has announced that The Magicians will be ending this April. The show's fifth season will be its last. The show, based on the series of novels of the same name, premiered back on Sci-Fi in January of 2016 and has been one of the most consistent shows Sci-Fi has had on schedule. In a statement, the channel said, quote, The Magicians has been a part of our sci-fi family for five fantastic seasons. As we near the end of this journey, we want to thank John McNamara, Sarah Gamble, Henry Alonzo Myers, Lev Grossman, and our entire brilliant cast crew and writers and directors for their beautiful creation. But most of all, we thank the fans for their tremendous support and passion. Because of you, magic will be in our hearts forever. Now, Sy-Fi is definitely on a streak. They've also cancelled the third annual Leprechaun St. Patrick's Day Marathon. The past couple of years, the network has aired all the Leprechaun movies back to back. This year, it will be it will just show Leprechaun's Revenge and Leprechaun Returns. Well, I guess you can always stream the rest of them. But yeah, it's kind of being a spoil sport. James Blum would love to build himself a Frankenstein movie. Talking with the Evolution of Horror podcast, the producer said, quote, I'd love to do Frankenstein. I've taste I've tasked our filmmakers with trying to figure out just straight Frankenstein. Again, I don't know if someone else is doing it. I don't know anything about it, but I would love to try, and I'm waiting for the great idea. The invisible man, I agree. The best ideas feel like, my gosh, it's it's so obvious. Why didn't that happen before? If you could come up with something as good for Frankenstein, I'd love to try that. So does and then does anyone out there want to see Jason Blum's Frankenstein? Anyone? Anyone? If you do, yeah. Let me know in in the in the comments. Anyway, uh Octavia E. Butler's novel Dawn will be made into a TV series for Amazon. The drama has been given a directed series order and will be written and directed by Victoria Mahoney, who is the second unit director on The Rise of Skywalker. She will team up with Ava Duverne, the director of Disney's Big Budget A Wrinkle and Time adaptation. The novel was published in 1907 and follows around an African-American woman who works with aliens to resurrect the human race some 250 years after nuclear war. There is no word on when it will be produced or aired. The tenth season of American Horror Story will have Macaulay Colkin joining the cast for the new story. Ryan Murphy shared the news of the casting with an Instagram video of what resembled the opening credits to the tune of Orval Peck's Dead of Night. Season 10 will premiere in the fall of 2020. Stranger Things, Finn Wolfhard, is set to star in the thriller movie Rules for Werewolves, based on a short film of the same name that also starred Finn. The film will be based on writer Kirk Lynn's debut novel, which he also adapted for the screen. Deadline reports that the film, quote, investigates the rituals and rhythms of a pack of wild teens as they break in and loot a new home, leaving someone or something behind for the cops to find. Well, we're going to have to wait to find out about the new shows coming out in the fall of 2020. Due to fears about the spreading COVID-19 coronavirus, a lot of upfronts have either been cancelled or postponed. Also, the new James Bond film, No Time to Die, has been pushed back from April to November, and Peter Rabbit 2 has been pushed from April to August. But yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll see what happens. Now, some sad news. Actor Max von Sidau has passed away. The man, born Carl Adolf von Sidau, was born on April 10th, 1929, in Lund, Sweden. He grew up to star in more than 100 films and TV shows, including 11 films by famed director Ingmar Bergman, including The Seventh Seal, which saw him playing a get a chess game with Death. Modern movie fans might know him better as Father Lancaster Murren from The Exorcist and The Exorcist II, Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon, King Osric in Conan the Barbarian, Dr. Keynes in Dune, The Voice of Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters 2, Judge Fargo in Judge Dread, Director Lamar Burgess in Minority Report, and Lor Santeca in Star Wars The Force Awakens, and many, many more roles. He was married twice and has two sons. Max von Sidau died on March 8th at the age of 90. And that brings us to the end of another sci-fi edition of Multiverse Tonight. Now, uh, if you'd like to check us out on our social media, we're at Twitter at multiverse tom. We're also on Facebook and Instagram as Multiverse Tonight as well. And if you'd like to uh contribute to our show, please visit mtpodcast.com to go to our coffee, Patreon, and now glow.fm as well. And be sure to visit multiverse tonight.com and check out the affiliate marketplace links, the link to our Tea Public store, our show notes, and so much more. Now, if you're a subscriber, be sure to share us with your friends. And if you're brand new to the show, please be sure to subscribe and leave us with some feedback and let us know how we're doing. Special thanks to Shane Ivers for our intro music and Lobo Loco for our outro music theme. Thanks for watching the sci-fi edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in just a couple of days with the comic book book edition. Now please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. Multiverse tonight is a production of Half Big Genre Productions. Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.