Ceti Alpha 3: A Star Trek Podcast

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish It's been a long road, starting from 2016, with the first episode of Ceti Alpha 3. The trio now find a way to escape from being stranded on their planet and their endless discussion of all things Star Trek. Join the discussion as they look back at previous discussions, from what if Thomas Riker was in season seven of 'The Next Generation'? to writing their own n...

Lower Decks' Last Season Another Star Trek series has come to an end. It's odd to think how many Star Trek shows, post-Discovery, fought for our attention. But the third "new" Kutzman-era series has now officialy ended with the finale of "Star Trek: Lower Decks." The trio portal through the last few episode of the season, sharing what made them laugh, the many reference to Trek trivia, and how tha...

Holidays in the Star Trek Universe As 21st Century Earth approaches the festive season, the trio ask - what are the holidays of the Star Trek future? Throughout many series, we have seen small references to our current holidays. How are they celebrated by Starfleet personnel? Has the meaning changed? And outside of Terran culture - what holidays have we seen on screen? And what others must also ex...

Star Trek Movie Posters What better discussion to have on an audio podcast than the review of Star Trek visuals? The trio takes a journey into the wayback machine to review all the movie posters from the 13 feature films in the franchise (6 TOS, 4 TNG, and 3 Kelvin-verse) - with a bonus add-on for the upcoming "Section 31" TV movie. How were all these movies advertised? Especially in the age when...

New-New Trek Favorite Characters With Trek fans "of a certain age", it can be tempting for your list of favorite characters to be cemented from the 1990s and earlier. In order to shake things up, the trio look at post-JJ films era of television series and pick their favorite characters from "Discovery," "Lower Decks," "Prodigy," "Strange, New Worlds" and "Picard". Which characters stand out the mo...

Georgiou and Disco Season One "Star Trek: Section 31" will arrive January 24 of next year, centered around the Mirror Universe version of Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh). The trio revisit the introduction of both versions of the character, the "Prime" Captain Georgiou and the "Mirror" Terran Emperor, in the first season of "Star Trek: Discovery." What did we think of both of these characters? Wh...

Lower Decks Season 5 Catchup The final season of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" began this month - a bittersweet moment for the animated series. The trio look at the first four episodes - looking at what made them laugh and what portents may have been dropped about how this show will end. They  focus on each character, their remaining storylines, and whether the remaining episodes will be more in the sp...

Mirror Universe - Star Wars: Andor Overview The trio enter the Mirror Universe to become a dedicated Star Wars group - looking back at the first season of "Andor." With season two of Andor expected in 2025, three years after the first, the trio looks back at this revivial of Star Wars on TV. Disney+ brought Star Wars to streaming with "The Mandalorian". It was then followed up with "The Book of Bo...

Star Trek: Prodigy Season Two Overview The kids are back! "Prodigy" has been on a wild road - there was a substantial break between the first and second halves of the first season, then it was unexpectedly cancelled and then dropped from Paramount+, and then there was a quest to find someone to host a second season (which had already mostly been completed). But Netflix finally took on this young a...

If we were in charge of Star Trek... It's not the new year yet, but the trio are ready to look to the future. With the sale of Paramount still not quite official until 2025, and the renewal of some series, the cancellation of others, and the development of even others - it's time for a brief thought experiment. What if we ran Star Trek? As the helm of the franchise has gone from Gene Roddenberry t...

Whittling Down Season Four (VOY) to 10 episodes The trio continues their series of chopping down the longer 1990s seasons of Star Trek into the 2020s average ten-episode limit. This time "the victim" is season four of "Star Trek: Voyager," also known as "when Seven of Nine joined the show." The season begins with battling Species 8472 with the Borg in "Scorpion, Part II" and ends with "Hope and Fe...

Change in Star Trek Shows It is not a suprise that many shows in the Trek franchise evolve in style and tone from their very first episode. But what about during their entire span - which series changes the most during its run?  The trio discuss every show in the franchise from TOS to Lower Decks, determining which show changed the most over time. Is it TNG with its introduction of new uniforms an...

Star Trek Comic Con News The past few weeks have brought many updates for the Star Trek franchise that the trio jump into: The release of teasers/trailers for "Star Trek: Lower Decks," "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," and "Star Trek: Section 31." Cast news about the upcoming Starfleet Academy series News about a new live action Star Trek comedy series in development The sale of Paramount Global to...

Star Trek Collectables There is no shortage of "merch" when it comes to Star Trek. From action figures to playsets, 3D-printed accessories to uniforms, there is so much to choose from. Which ones have been most meaningful to the trio during their fandom?  They explore what they bought or acquired from their younger years to what "adult money" has helped them enjoy in their current period of Trekdo...

Building Series Off of Guest Ships The Star Trek franchise is led by our different heroes and their ships (or station). During the course of their many adventures, they encounter other ships and crews, sometimes for just one episode, that nevertheless prove memorable. The trio pick the most interesting "guest ships" throughout the franchise that could lead their own series. Join us as we go round-...

Catch-up with Prodigy S3E1-E3 "Star Trek: Prodigy" is back! After an unexpected "cancelation" on Paramount+, season two finally found its way to Netflix (after a brief French detour). The entire season dropped at once, but the trio is taking itheir time to enjoy it - they chat about the first three episodes, encompassing the two-parter "Into the Breach" and "Who Saves the Saviors."  The trio talk...

Animated TNG series A lifetime ago (in another Star Trek podcast), the trio, along with some help, created the idea of a zany late 1990s animated version of The Next Generation. Since then, real Star Trek animation has evolved, with the arrival of both "Lower Decks" and "Prodigy." As the crew of "Prodigy" begin their second season, the trio revisits "Star TreXtreme", adding to what modern animated...

Celebrating Captain's Day Fans were introduced to the concept of "Captain Picard Day" in the seventh season of The Next Generation. Since then, it has taken a life of its own, with references in later shows like "Picard" and "Lower Decks", as well as real life celebrations of Captain Picard Day (typically June 16).  The trio get into the holiday spirit to look at how Captain Picard Day may have st...

New 90s Trek Show Pitch Welcome to the late 1990s. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" has been off the air, entering the universe of feature films. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" is ending, having found its voice and identity. "Star Trek: Voyager" has taken its first steps, and now carries the weight of continuing the franchise. What's next? In the original timeline of TV, Berman and company, under th...

TOS plots in TNG Trek has experimented with either re-visiting older episodes with new crews, as in DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations" or SNW's "A Quality of Mercy", or recycling plots with TNG's "The Naked Now." The trio look at how exact stories from The Original Series would play out with The Next Generation crew. How would "Galileo Seven" work in Next Gen? Which Enterprise-D crew member would b...

TNG First Season Stories for Trek Games The game, "Star Trek: Resurgence", came to various platforms in 2023. It introduced several new characters (as well as some old favorites) in its post-Nemesis 24th Century storyline. At the heart of the game's story was a sequel to the first season Next Gen episode "The Last Outpost." Since the trio are revisiting the beginnings of TNG, they look at what oth...

TNG's beginning Is it possible to view something from long ago in the Trek canon as a new viewer might? The trio attempt to make the old come to life again by re-examining the pilot episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." It is hard to begin a Star Trek series re-watch. Which one? Where to start? Do you go 20th or 21st Century shows? After a mix of picking their own series recently, the trio...

Starfleet Uniforms Fans enjoy cosplaying the many costumes in Star Trek. Starfleet uniforms in particular have been represented onscreen in a variety of ways, from the 22nd century fightsuits of "Enterprise" to the colorful and innate unforms of the 32nd century in "Star Trek: Discovery."  The trio go into the costuming department to evaluate the myriad of Starfleet uniforms, from looking at what...

Ship Profile: NCC-1701-A The history of onscreen Enterprises is rich in detail for some and scant for others. Then there's the U.S.S. Enterprise-A. First introduced in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home as a reward for our TOS-era heroes saving Earth once again, we saw this Constitution refit-class in the next two movies ( Star Trek V and Star Trek V I). The trio looks at this ship's origins and purpor...

Whittling Down Season Four (DS9) to 10 episodes Love it or hate it, today's Trek means less episodes than the 20th Century series. For some, it's a sign of tighter storytelling, focusing on quality plot and themes. For others, it means missing episodes that are more "day in the life," outside of one season's particular villain/mystery. Or maybe it's just show business wanting to spend less money!...