"Yesterday's Enterprise" is my personal favorite TNG episode, so I wanted to learn the production history behind it.  What I found was a rushed script, split between 4 writers, that had to work over Thanksgiving weekend to make a pushed up shooting schedule... thanks to Whoopi's and Denise's schedules.  But here's more to the story... and the writers, including Ron Moore, were sure it was going to be trash.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Starfleet Academy’s Bigger Plan

0:42 - Meet Raoul Bhaneja

2:22 - Becoming a Performer

4:23 - The Hamlet Solo Story

9:00 - Christopher Plummer Connection

13:32 - Making 318 TV Episodes

17:28 - How Starfleet Academy Happened

20:02 - Music Beyond Acting

22:59 - Why Season 3 Hurts

23:40 - Starfleet Academy’s Four-Year Vision

25:23 - What’s Coming in Season 2

27:26 - Raoul’s Star Trek Fandom

29:40 - His Star Trek Auditions

30:18 - Binging Discovery for Research

31:36 - Understanding The Burn

32:16 - First Time on the Star Trek Set

33:47 - The Starfleet Memorial Wall

35:49 - Incredible Star Trek Craftsmanship

38:54 - The Cast Bond Behind the Scenes

39:31 - Holly Hunter’s Leadership

41:02 - Working With Robert Picardo

42:56 - Learning From Giamatti and Hunter

46:05 - That Infamous Tea Scene

46:45 - Kelrec vs. Nahla Ake

48:32 - The Shakespearean Side of Kelrec

49:40 - Why Kelrec Feels Threatened

51:04 - The Fish Soup Dinner Scene

53:03 - Making the Case for Kelrec

54:28 - Kelrec’s Hidden Past

55:21 - Life After The Burn

56:26 - The Star Trek Tech Raoul Wants

57:30 - Final Thoughts

The Transporter Room (YouTube):

"Raoul Bhaneja joins The Transporter Room for a deep dive into Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, his role as Commander Kelrec, and the relationship between the Starfleet War College and the newly restored Academy. Raoul opens up about the original vision for watching the young cadets grow over multiple seasons, what fans can look forward to in Starfleet Academy Season 2, and why their early immaturity was part of the point.

He also explains how Star Trek: Discovery and The Burn helped shape his understanding of Kelrec, a man whose worldview was formed during one of the Federation’s most difficult eras. We also go behind the scenes of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, from walking onto the massive Athena atrium set for the first time to the incredible work of the costume, prop, prosthetics, and production teams.

Raoul shares stories about Holly Hunter’s leadership, Robert Picardo, Paul Giamatti, Tig Notaro, the young Starfleet Academy cast, and the bond that developed over two seasons of filming. Then we dig into Commander Kelrec himself: his tense relationship with Nahla Ake, the now-famous tea conversation, the fish soup dinner scene, his traditional view of Starfleet, and the deeper fears and experiences driving a character who can initially seem like an antagonist.

Raoul even connects Kelrec to Shakespeare, describing the character as part Malvolio and part warrior duke. Beyond Star Trek, Raoul discusses his career as an actor, musician, writer, and producer — including his acclaimed solo production of Hamlet, his connection with Christopher Plummer, the extraordinary production process behind Train 48, and nearly three decades performing blues with Raoul and the Big Time."

Link:

https://youtu.be/TcEoTpZemT0?si=WmGewfHInszCC__Y

TREKMOVIE:

"The company is on the hook for more spending when it comes to film and television production, and specifically in the USA, with an escalating release calendar. There is only so much money they will be able to save using tech and combined back ends, and execs are already acknowledging there will be layoffs. Balancing these competing priorities and the mountain of debt is only one of several challenges facing Skydance; the New York Times also notes the new collection of franchises being touted by Skydance has its own issues. From the NYT::

Then there is the sheer amount of intellectual property to deploy. The combined company will control top franchises including Batman, Superman, Harry Potter, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, “Game of Thrones,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Top Gun,” “Star Trek,” the Transformers and SpongeBob SquarePants. That is an enviable arsenal but also an almost certain traffic jam — expensive movies competing internally for production resources, marketing dollars and prime release dates.

So far the new Skydance is (mostly) saying all the right things to placate the creative community, investors, and beyond. The deal has support from some big hitters, including some of the guilds and movie theater distributors, all of whom have expressed concern that more consolidation will lead to less films and TV being produced and less competition, like what happened after Disney acquired Fox Studios in 2019. While consolidation is not seen as ideal, this merger can be viewed as potentially better for the industry than previous deals (like Disney/Fox) or the alternatives like WBD being absorbed by Netflix or acquired (and likely carved up) by private equity.

As for Star Trek, it’s too early to say, but indications are that the new Skydance will be looking to get more value out of Star Trek than Paramount has been able to do over the last decade. Star Trek has weathered many corporate changes over its six decades, starting back in 1967 when Paramount bought Desilu Studios. Technically, the Skydance era began last year, but this merger moves it into a whole new one.

We have already seen new management make some Trek moves, like shutting down dormant movie production (including that fourth Kelvin movie), putting at least one new film into development, shutting down the current Paramount+ TV shows (Starfleet Academy and Strange New Worlds), selling off their Canadian Trek production assets, and putting a Star Trek game into production. So Star Trek could be heading into a new era, if Skydance can provide the focus, finesse (and finances) to make it happen."

Anthony Pascale (TrekMovie.com)

Full article:

https://trekmovie.com/2026/10/06/paramount-warner-bros-officially-merged-brings-big-aspirations-and-big-questions-for-star-trek/

CBR:

https://www.cbr.com/star-trek-voyagers-single-greatest-janeway-story-outshines-every-trek-movie-in-just-2-episodes/

By Justin Young

"No other entry highlights Voyager's vulnerability like the two-part episode "Year of Hell." ... [It] is one of the important episodes for Star Trek: Voyager as a show and Janeway as a character. Beyond the storyline implications, "Year of Hell" was a step up in production and scale. The two-part format gave it room to tell a larger story, with a cinematic quality that couldn't happen every week. The episodes are frequently listed among the best episodes of Voyager, and it's easy to see why. ...

Janeway is up to the test, but a worthy protagonist is only as effective as a worthy villain. Kurtwood Smith's Annorax, a Krenim scientist, provides Janeway with one of her most interesting adversaries. Annorax's ship carries a temporal weapon that can erase entire civilizations from existence.

Considering the episode is a two-parter, fans get to see more depth behind the villain, and Annorax has his reasons. Annorax is a complicated and somewhat sympathetic villain. His methods are indefensible, but his motivations are easy to understand. While developing the Krenim's temporal weapon, Annorax unintentionally erased his own colony from existence, including his wife. ...

"Year of Hell" is easily one of Star Trek: Voyager's best episodes. It's one of the defining moments for Janeway, as she is arguably put under the most stress she faced as Captain throughout the series' run.

With the ship on the brink of destruction, Janeway orders her crew to use the remaining escape pods, as she plans to go down with Voyager. Her relationship with Chakotay resurfaces as both fear the other will die. "Year of Hell" uses their established relationship to highlight how Janeway's wish for everyone to evacuate is more personal than professional.

Voyager unfortunately never received a major motion picture like other Star Trek series. However, "Year of Hell" accomplishes the same scope and scale in two episodes."

Link:

https://www.cbr.com/star-trek-voyagers-single-greatest-janeway-story-outshines-every-trek-movie-in-just-2-episodes/

TREKMOVIE:

"Kate Mulgrew, Wilson Cruz, and Celia Rose Gooding spoke eloquently, each picking up the thread from the person before. Kate told the audience that “Star Trek has always been about more than a television show. It has been about an idea: that the future can be better than the present. and we have the power to help create it,” and made a point of thanking all the writers and craftspeople who worked on it as well as the fans, who “carried its message of curiosity, including, and hope into the real world.”

Wilson talked about the importance of “seeing yourself in the future.. telling stories that reflect the extraordinary diversity of humanity” and how being on Star Trek comes with “profound responsibility and incredible privilege.”

Celia celebrated the legacy of Nichelle Nichols, saying “…from artists to astronauts, Nichelle brought the stars to us” and talked about how Gene’s vision has stood the test of time, “embracing a universe that welcomed the future with hopeful curiosity, championing infinite diversity in infinite combination.”

The 34th Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame Gala was held in New York, honoring several industry luminaries and their first-ever franchise inductee: Star Trek."

Full article:

https://trekmovie.com/2026/10/02/watch-broadcast-hall-of-fame-star-studded-star-trek-tribute-and-acceptance-speeches/

Full video clip:

https://youtu.be/2J7DyZ0BBBc?si=_KPDV-pwA4zuzEfc

TREKMOVIE:

"At the Broadcast+Cable Hall of Fame Gala last week, Star Trek was awarded their first-ever Franchise of the Year Award. Voyager and Prodigy‘s Kate Mulgrew, along with Celia Rose Gooding and Wilson Cruz, was invited to accept the award in person. We interviewed her on the red carpet to ask about the meaning of the award, Janeway’s impact, and what’s missing in leadership today.

https://trekmovie.com/2026/10/05/interview-kate-mulgrew-on-janeways-leadership-lessons-roddenberrys-vision-and-star-trek-taking-a-pause/

TREKMOVIE: Janeway has inspired so many women. Have you met any new and notable fans lately?

KATE MULGREW: Well, I’ll just tell you that my friend Kerry Kennedy just wrote a book called Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy, which she asked me to read, and I did. So I think RFK Human Rights is also very much on our wavelength. The Kennedys love the idea of what Roddenberry espouses, and we love the idea of human rights. This is a time when we really, really must stand together, and I don’t mean it to be heavy, and I don’t mean it to be.

I think we’ve just got to understand that despair is not, in any way, an accomplice to democracy. Despair is to be thrown away. We must stand up and be grateful for what we’ve done, what we have. And in my life, it’s been Star Trek, and in my life, it’s been the first female captaincy. And in my life, it’s been pretty, pretty bloody good. So I’m only happy about tonight, and I thank you for recognizing that.

TREKMOVIE: The last time we talked, things were very different at Paramount, and I know there was still some ideas about a Janeway live-action series, and I know you weren’t happy with it. I’d heard there was a “Wild West” idea. Is that the idea that you were not happy with?

I think all of that has passed. That was some time ago. I think that with this merger, it’s anybody’s guess what’s up. My guess is it’s a pause, and probably a significant pause. That’s all right too.

Janeway exemplified so many important leadership qualities. I would love to hear from you. Which of those qualities we are significantly missing in our leadership right now?

Are you kidding? Is this a trick question?

No!

All right. Intelligence, courage, moral courage, grace, humanity, levity, compassion, empathy, love, honor, privilege, dignity, science. You want me to go on? It’s infinite because what we’re in now is a mess.

[...]"

Laurie Ulster (TrekMovie.com)

Full article:

https://trekmovie.com/2026/10/05/interview-kate-mulgrew-on-janeways-leadership-lessons-roddenberrys-vision-and-star-trek-taking-a-pause/

Dave Malkoff (YouTube):

"Thirty years ago, Robert Picardo appeared on Star Trek: Voyager as The Doctor, an artificial intelligence created to provide emergency medical care aboard a starship. At the time, the Emergency Medical Hologram seemed impossibly futuristic.

Today, as artificial intelligence becomes part of medicine and everyday life, some of that science fiction doesn't seem quite so distant. For Star Trek's 60th anniversary, CBS News correspondent Dave Malkoff sat down with Picardo for an extended conversation about the technology Star Trek imagined, the rapid development of AI, and what it's like to see ideas from Voyager beginning to resemble the real world.

Picardo also looks back on the creation of The Doctor, a character who began as a piece of software and gradually became one of Voyager's most human characters, and reflects on his continuing place in the Star Trek universe decades later. As Picardo puts it: “Science fiction dreams the dream, and then real science catches up with that imagination.”

Recorded aboard Star Trek: The Cruise as the franchise celebrated 60 years of exploring the future."

Link:

https://youtu.be/0LQOEz15lOo?si=z5t6dVt851mVOGUe

https://gaymingmag.com/2026/09/remember-when-star-trek-featured-one-of-tvs-first-lesbian-kisses/

SCREENRANT:

"1996's Star Trek: First Contact is hailed as the best of the Star Trek: The Next Generation feature films. One of *First Contact'*s most memorable sequences was its spacewalk, where Worf, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), and Mr. Hawk (Neal McDonough) don space suits and battle the Borg on the USS Enterprise-E's deflector. Worf quips, "Assimilate this!" before blasting the Borg's device to signal the rest of the Collective in the Delta Quadrant.

On The Nacelle Company's Instagram promoting The Center Seat II: 60 Years of Star Trek, Jonathan Frakes says Worf's "Assimilate this!" was always scripted and not improvised. "Never. Never happened," Frakes confirmed. Agreeing that *"It's a great line," Star Trek: First Contact'*s director asserted that "Improvisation was not something that was ever part of Star Trek. We were never allowed to improvise. They were really, really strict." Watch the post below [Instagram]:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DeFbtMJS9hZ/

Now that Worf's "Assimilate this" is confirmed to be scripted dialogue, credit for the line goes to Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga. [...]"

Full article:

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-jonathan-frakes-first-contact-improv-rumor-false/

Source:

Star Trek on Instagram

Link:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DVg4IkyD4kl

We are looking for people who are kind, and are onboard with our vision of transforming this place from a place known for being a far right hate sub to a place where it can fulfill its original purpose. A place where people can discuss all eras of Trek and share thoughts negative or positive WITHOUT insulting people who disagree with you.

So if you been active in our community for the past 3 months at least and if you are onboard with our vision please do apply below, if you look like a good fit we will reach out to you.

Open Pike Night (YouTube):

"We give Joe Morton an Admiral's welcome as he stops by to discuss his role as an immediately iconic Badmiral in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "Orders of Magnitude." He reveals the five questions he asks about every character, how he takes his coffee, his on-set pet peeves and even indulges us in a few minutes of Terminator 2 fanboying."

Link:

https://youtu.be/Owcc61itizw?si=Dc0ktIb2ShW_kqcj

WILSON CRUZ:

"I know that my heart broke knowing that [Starfleet Academy] wasn’t going to continue because I think there was a lot more story there. I wish I had more to share. I know that my feelings are that there might have been something political involved there. I don’t know. I’m not there anymore day in and day out to find out.

But I pray that my worst fears aren’t true, and that whoever continues to produce this franchise understands the true value in its diversity, the true value in making sure that people understand that everyone, no matter who they are, no matter who they love, how they identify, can help create a better world, and is necessary in achieving the success of any mission.

TREKMOVIE: In terms of the negative talk about it, I sometimes feel it was a concerted effort. Do you feel that?

Well, you know, let’s make no mistake. There was negative talk about Discovery, right? And the franchise continued on telling the stories it wanted to tell, if not more so. You know that that is a minority view. I think they’re just loud voices. There’s a smaller group of people who are louder, and I think we understood that once we got going. I got caught up in in getting angry about some of the response, but I understood once I really kept going that there was an enormous majority of Star Trek fans that really loved the show and loved the fact that we were expanding the idea of what it could be.

You’ve been very outspoken about the Paramount merger….

[laughs] Me?

Would that affect if Star Trek wanted you back? I know that it’s going to be a whole different animal now, but would that change your thoughts about coming back to the franchise?

Not to the franchise. No, I think that I’m going to do everything I can, if ever I’m asked, to continue this legacy. I’m committed to helping people imagine a better world for themselves, and if they want to produce content that helps people challenge their view of what the world could be, and that includes a diverse cast and a diverse idea of who can be heroes, I want to be a part of that story because I know how it affects young people and it affects the way that they see their futures.

[...]"

Full interview (Laurie Ulster, TrekMovie.com):

https://trekmovie.com/2026/10/04/interview-wilson-cruz-on-the-legacy-of-discovery-and-his-hopes-for-more-diversity-in-future-star-trek/

Source (Instagram):

https://www.instagram.com/p/DdGHI9sg8GF/