Punch It: Writing In Star Trek

Picard is on its way and hopefully, so are some Short TreksThe new teaser trailer for Picard dropped and it asks more questions than it answers. It begs you to watch it find out more and it feels like a tonal shift from Discovery that might bring in some different types of fans. In this episode, we discuss what types of Short Treks could be made as a lead up to Star Trek: Picard as well as Discovery season three. We also talk about how other Star Trek shows would have handled Short Treks if given the chance.

Would Tom Paris fit on any show other than Star Trek: Voyager?This week we take a look at everyone's favorite pilot, Tom Paris, and see how his character would fit and/or develop on all the other iterations of Star Trek. From TOS to DSC. The hardest part seemed to be how to get a person with his past physically on the ship/station. Listen to find out how we did it. How would you do it?

The Sound of Thunder's Prime Directive ProblemPike made a decision in Star Trek: Discovery's season two episode "The Sound of Thunder" that changed the course of evolution for one species and altered the balance of power with another. These were both non-federation races. The captain had a split second to make that monumental choice. How would other captains react?In this episode, we discuss how Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and Archer would have done if they were the captain of Discovery during that mission. We also discuss how the episode would have looked on their respective shows.

What if Seven came aboard the Enterprise-D instead of Voyager?Adding to our "What If?" catalog, we tackle Seven of Nine and transplant her as a show regular on Star Trek: The Next Generation. How would Scorpion be different? Would it be a rewrite of I, Borg? How would she get along with the crew. We discuss this and more on this week's episode.

Star Trek: The Next Generation "Ménage à Troi" RewriteAfter taking a forced two weeks off due to illness, Punch It is back and we are tackling Ménage à Troi from season three of TNG. An episode that was not as good we remembered it but was chock full of fun parts. We open the show with a Star Trek: Discovery season two wrap up. Mild spoilers.

The Adventures of the U.S.S. KelvinWe know so little about the U.S.S. Kelvin but it's impacted the Kelvin-Verse immensely. Hell, it's the reason it exists in the first place. But what about Kelvin Prime? How did this ship continue on in the Prime Universe? We know George Kirk lived to see James T. Kirk become the captain of the Enterprise but not much more than that. In this episode, we explore how this ship could have been built, how George and Winona met, and why Captain Robau is a badass.

We most likely won't get a Star Trek 4 so we wrote our ownCompletely on-the-fly we write our own version of a fourth Kelvin Star Trek film. As stated above, it most likely won't happen so we didn't​ want this prime opportunity to go to waste. We ask ourselves what kind of bad guy do we need? Where is Jaylah? Does it need to be another world ender?We open the show with our reactions to Star Trek: Discovery's "Red Angel" and the likelihood of a Quinton Tarantino Star Trek film.

What is Star Trek V featured the Voyager crew?Some of you might have already started to roll your eyes, but you only need your ears to hear this amazing tale! We take the template of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and alter it to fit the Voyager crew. Who breaks Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok out of jail? Does Neelix need his pain? Listen to find out.

What If Discovery's characters were transplanted to other shows?We love our "What If" scenarios but we've purposefully left out Discovery until now. We always felt like we need more episodes under our belt to get to know the characters better. Now that season 2 is more than half over, we felt we could pursue it. What would Michael look like on DS9? Would Saru fit on Voyager? Listen in and let us know what you think.

Almost everyone is excited about the new Picard show, but what comes after?We know that there are a few things on the docket, Lower Decks, Section 31, and maybe even a few more. But what shows would come out if we were pitching them to the studio?This week, we discuss what type of shows we would like to see produced on CBS All Access. Some are limited events, some are Short Treks, some are episodic. Listen and lets us know what you think.

Part three of our Star Trek Voyager: The Next Generation movie trilogyThe last two episodes we have grafted the Kelvinverse movie framework onto the Voyager crew. What ended up happening was the next generation of Voyagers commanding the Voyager-A. We have already done Star Trek 09 and Star Trek Into Darkness. This week Star Trek Beyond is added to the adventures of Miral Paris and Naomi Wildman.

What if the Voyager crew was in Star Trek Into Darkness?Last week we did a "what if" with the Voyager crew and Star Trek 09. Long story short it ended up being a kick-ass Voyager: The Next Generation. Miral and Naomi are commanding the Voyager-A and Admiral Harry Kim is there instead of Pike. We won't spoil anything but you should listen to last week's episode before this one.We open the show with a quick opinion on Star Trek: Discovery and the current state of fan interaction online.

What if Star Trek 09 had the cast of Voyager instead?This is a way out there idea that was a lot of fun to talk about. The concept is simple and followed the same idea as last week. Take a Star Trek movie and replace the crew from another show. How on earth were we going to adopt 09 to Voyager?Would it be a Kelvin version of the Voyager crew? Would it take place in the 24th century? Do we try to make it fit within established canon? This episode took a lot of twists and turns and we can't wait to hear what you think.

What if Star Trek The Voyage Home was a Next Gen movie?We love our “what ifs” on Punch It: Writing in #StarTrek so we asked ourselves the above question. Star Trek IV is a movie beloved by millions and is instantly recognizable. Even non-Star Trek fans know “the one with the whales.”So, who goes and gets the transparent aluminum? Who winds up in the hospital? Does Picard hit it off with Dr. Taylor or does someone else? We answer all these questions and a whole lot more in this very fun episode.

What if Picard, Sisko, and Janeway were all in a movie together?You read that right. Tristan and Char develop the movie we all wanted after Nemesis ended to celebrate their 100th episode. Taking place after Nemesis but before the upcoming Picard series set in 2399, Tristan and Char write, on-the-fly, what would bring these three amazing captains together.What new thread is lurking? Who will make a cameo? How will it end? Listen to find out.

Rewriting Wesley Crusher for Star Trek: The Next GenerationWesley is not exactly a fan favorite. In fact, he was voted just below Jar Jar as sci-fi's most annoying character. On this show we have the supreme gift of hindsight so what could have been done differently?On the previous episode, we punched up Beverly Crusher so how would that effect Wesley's development on the show? We start with Farpoint and work our way all the way up to Nemesis.

Rewriting Dr. Beverly Crusher from Star Trek: The Next GenerationIn another example of a fantastic character where the writers had no idea what to do, we bring you Beverly Crusher! In this episode, we take a look at the character of Crusher and try to figure out what works and what doesn't. We even go down the path of punching up her relationship with Wesley. Could this mean that they have to have ... the talk? Listen to find out.

Ayala was Chakotay's right hand man back in the day. What did that look like?This week we take a listener suggestion and develop a story on-the-fly talking about the first time Chakotay and Ayala met. We don't know much about Ayala but we had his name mentioned often in Star Trek: Voyager. He even had more to do than our beloved Lt. Jae.Listen and subscribe to hear our story of intrigue, espionage and escape.

What is daily life like in the 24th century?We don't have a lot to go on with this question. Star Trek focuses on adventure in space and not so much the 9-5ers back on Earth. Sure, we've had some glimpses from a New Orleans restaurant and Harry's apartment in San Francisco but not too terribly much beyond that. So we try to postulate what transportation, housing, and work might look like in Gene Roddenberry's utopia.

What if Kes stayed for all seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager?No Seven of Nine, no writing off Kes. What if she stayed and finished the entire run of the show? This is something that we're sure many a Star Trek: Voyager fan has pondered. We ended up rewriting Scorpion as well as Endgame (making it better in the process) as well as everything in between on a high level. What would Kes' life be like on the ship post Scorpion? How would she age? Would she find companionship in someone other than Neelix? Would she have another Elogium? Find this out and more by listening.Warning: This episode discusses traumatic events involving childbirth.