Star Trek Continuity for the Casual Trekkie

This lovely graph demonstrates the production continuity but is not very descriptive about story continuity.

While having a conversation about Star Trek: Into the Darkness with my mother, it was expressed to me that she thought the latest Star Trek movie was a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series.  This was alarming to me because I felt the entire concept of the alternate timeline was thoroughly explained by the King of the Nerds JJ Abrams in his prior Star Trek film.  It was apparent that Star Trek was an unintended victim of George Lucas.  The Star Wars prequels have caused confusion in the science fiction world leaving people to think that a young Kirk, Spock and McCoy in a feature film is a prequel instead of a continuation of Gene Roddenberry’s futuristic vision of mankind.  My wife seemed to understand the alternate timeline, but in my mother’s defense, my wife was subjected to hours of conversation…excuse me…lecturing from me about the 40+ years of established Star Trek continuity.  Thus I have set out to explain some of the more important details in Abrams’ Star Trek.

Let’s first examine the last time we saw Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in the Star Trek timeline prior to the JJ Abrams Star Trek (2009) film.  Spock last appeared in a two part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled Unification.  Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) was sent to investigate a possible defection into the Romulan Empire by Spock.  It was in fact not a defection but more of a mission of sorts.  Spock was preaching peace and logic to the Romulan’s in hopes of merging the planets of Romulus and Vulcan into peace.  The two part episode ended with Spock remaining with the Romulans and preaching his cause to whoever would listen. 

Both versions are pretty cool.

Fast forward to the end of Star Trek: Nemesis, it appears that the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Empire will barter a peace. Of course the peace is never seen because The Next Generation movies were subpar and Paramount pulled the plug on continuing the lackluster films.  Then we roll into Abrams taking the reins and rebooting the franchise.  In Abrams first installment we come across the older Spock who, chronologically speaking, was last seen in The Next Generation.  Spock explains in the movies that he was chilling out with the Romulans.  He goes into the details about Romulus’ sun going Supernova and concocting a way to save the planet.  This is all consistent with The Next Generation established continuity.  Spock’s plan is unsuccessful and then somehow ends up sending the Romulan Nero (Eric Bana) back in time to when James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is born.  Nero proceeds to wreak havoc on the timeline and gives JJ Abrams freedom to do whatever he wants with all future Star Trek movies.  That was how it became possible to destroy the planet Vulcan or place established characters that lived full lives in situations where they could die.  It’s a completely new timeline.  All other stories in Star Trek: The Original Series happened via older Spock’s perspective in the past, via young Spock’s perspective in an alternate reality. 

No matter the continuity Red Shirts will be killed.

I have heard complaints that much of Star Trek: Into Darkness was copied from other Star Trek movie installments.  This was clearly more deliberate that many are aware of.  Referring back to Star Trek (2009) Spock points out an odd coincidence that Kirk and Scotty happen upon one another.  He was postulating (without outright stating such because there was not enough evidence to support the hypothesis) that the timeline which was utterly destroyed by Nero was trying to correct itself.   This is why events seem to mirror prior adventures of the crew of the USS Enterprise.  The timeline is gradually trying to correct itself and fall in line with the already established events.  Abrams is clearly demonstrating the natural cycle of time and the application of the Course Correction theory.  Events are directed to certain instances or circumstances that must happen or cannot be avoided. 

Not as accurate as Google maps but it gets the job done.

In closing, when watching the latest Star Trek films, treat them as their own stories that have no affiliation with previously established continuity because that continuity has been utterly destroyed.

Written by

Joseph Ammendolea

Owner/President

“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®

ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

Winter Con Nerd Fight

It's an all out battle of the nerds as they argue over who's more supremely awesome Zombies or Star Wars.  What's sad is that the answer is clearly Star Wars because George A Romero never achieved the same success as George Lucas.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The Star Wars teaser trailer is here and it looks awesome.  To be fair if they just showed a title with some Star Wars music I would have been said it looks awesome.  The storm trooper costumes look slightly different.  The red light saber with the mini saber things shooting our the sides look cool.  It makes the saber look like a sword.  The Millennium is awesome looking.  Awesome awesome awesome!

Written by

Joseph Ammendolea

“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®

ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

Dave and a Storm Trooper

Dave interviews Zach Galligan of Gremlins and Stephanie interviews the band Demon Boy

Dave interviews the dude from Gremlins


Stephanie interviews the peeps from Demon Boy

Breckin Meyer announces The Home Court Feature Film

Breckin Meyer announces The Home Court feature film to be produced and directed by George Lucas.  (See video below).

This is an “I Like To Play With Toys” Productions® exclusive.  Breckin Meyer announced during the 2013 New York Comic Con that he will be involved in a feature film version of the short lived NBC sitcom The Home Court.  For those of you who don’t remember the mid 1990s classis.  Sydney J. Solomon (Pamela Reed), a Chicago family court judge, who can intimidate the toughest prosecuting attorney and the most hardened repeat offender can lay a hand on the one group capable of "benching" her honor, her own children. Meyer costarred as Mike Solomon a reluctant college student intent on taking a non-academic route to "finding himself." 

A cast photo of the 1995-1996 season of The Home Court.  From left to right a teenage girl, tween girl, a judge, Meyer, and a mid 90s douche in flannel. 

One can now deduce that the real reason George Lucas sold Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), which included the film franchise Star Wars, was not retirement.  It was to garner capital for this impending mega blockbuster.  There has been no confirmation as to whether Meyer's costar Pamela Reed, Charles Rocket, Meghann Haldeman, Phillip Van Dyke, Meagen Fay, or Robert Hy Gorman will also return. 

A picture of what we think it looks like when Breckin Myer and Geroge Lucas hang out. 

Joseph Ammendolea

Owner/President

“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®

ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

Lobot and Nien Nunb to be featured their own Star Wars spinoff: The Men Who Love Lando

Amid all the latest Star Wars movie rumors this is the most promising.  Details are sketchy but sources at Disney have announced yet another Star Wars spinoff movie.  It will feature former Chief Administration Aide to Cloud City Lobot (John Hollis) and Sullustan smuggler turned rebel alliance Millennium Falcon copilot Nien Nunb (Kipsang Rotich).  Both men were Lando Calrissian’s (Billy Dee Williams) go to guys in their respective movies. 

Lobot illegally downloading music on his earPod.

Lobot assisted Calrissian in the day to day operations of Cloud City.  His brain was connected to the city's central computer which allowed him to communicate directly with the city's network.  In Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strike Back.  Lobot was instrumental in Calrissian’s plan to rescue Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and C3PO from the Empire. 

Nien Nunb right after a fresh haircut.

In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Nien Nunb was chosen specifically by Lando Calrissian to co-pilot the Millennium Falcon during the Battle of Endor.  Nunb single handedly saved the rebel fleet when he warned Calrissian that the Death Star deflector shield was still operational just before the rebel fleet approached for its final assault.

Disney has not revealed much about the plot but one can gather from the title that the story will focus on Lobot and Nien Nunb’s bond over their shared love of Lando Calrissian.  One possible rumor is that the two will adventure on a journey similar to 2005’s cowboy romance Brokeback Mountain. Other opinions believe it will more reflect the 1942 classic Casablanca with Lobot featured as the Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) character and Nien Nunb portraying a part similar to Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid).  That would place Calrissian as the Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) of the story. However the tale unfolds Star War fans have another release date to pin in their calendar.

A poster for George Lucas' Casablanca: Special Edition.  In this version Major Heinrich Strasser (Conrad Veidt) shoots at Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) a millisecond before Rick gets to shoot him. Lucas also digitally replaces Louie (Claude Rains) with Hayden Christiensen.

Written by

Joseph Ammendolea

Owner/President

“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®

ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

Were Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine Prohibitionist?

The Real Reason the for the Fall of the Galactic Empire.

Mark Goldstein creator of geekandyoushallfind.com and I were discussing the finer points of the current 2012 US presidential election. Mark stated he would prefer to endorse Palpatine/Vader for 2012. I informed him that Vader would probably want to repeal the 21st amendment.

For those of you that don’t know, the 21st amendment repelled the 18th amendment which was prohibition. I was of course thinking of the 22nd amendment which set term limits for the presidency.

Mark holding a deep intellectual discussion about Star Wars with some lifelike statues. The weird part was he lost the debate.

Rather than admitting I was a total moron that didn’t know the constitution I threw down a gauntlet of historically geeky proportions. I began to insist that Darth Vader would be against the purchasing and selling of alcohol. Mark stated Vader would be all about getting his subjects intoxicated in an effort to better oppress them. We debated for several days and then realized an article should be written discussing the finer points of this topic. In an effort to show blog superiority I have decided rush my blog into publication first and thus thrust geekandyoushallfind.com’s article into the poor imitation category.



In Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones Obi-Wan Kenobi was offered the option of buying death sticks at a local hot spot on the planet of Coruscant. Given the colorful name and the cloak and dagger approach from the Death Sticks supplier the viewer is left to assume that he is propositioning Obi-Wan for expensive loving or some type of narcotic. The ever wise Obi-Wan uses his Jedi Mind Trick to convince the poor narcotics dealer to stop peddling the Star Wars equivalent of E and go home and think about the direction his life is headed. Obi-Wan seemed pretty confident that this drug dealer had no future in Death Stick sales. Obi-Wan is so confident this dude's career choice is wrong. He manipulates this dude’s life ambition of becoming a drug lord into getting a minimum wage job and the Star Wars equivalent of Chic-Fil-A.

Our friendly Death Stick salesman Elan (third from the left) in a group photo with his food service colleagues.

As we all know Obi-Wan trained Darth Vader in the Jedi arts before he turned to the Dark Side of the force. The strict view on Death Sticks can at least apply to a dislike for all types of inebriating substances. Therefore Darth Vader was raised to be personally against alcohol. These ideals grew into adulthood. Even when Vader was all hardcore evil, he was still trying to enact his childhood ideals, just in a more ruthless manner.

Darth Vader embracing his inner child with a quick game of Red Lightsaber, Green Lightsaber 1-2-3. The kid in the cape didn't survive.

Let’s look at Darth Vader running the Empire with Emperor Palpatine. Emperor Palpatine knows that Darth Vader is planning to take out the Emperor and rule the galaxy himself. As referenced in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back when Vader plotted several times to take out the Emperor. Palpatine needs something to keep Vader busy. Palpatine already had his apprentice hunt down and kill all the remaining Jedi. What’s left? The best way to keep Darth Vader busy is to give him a task that will be all time consuming and a cause he believes in. Thus the 18th amendment is passed. Alcohol is illegal.

Darth Vader and Nancy Reagan promoting the Empire's anti-drug campaign.

History shows that a black market will crop up to compensate for such an oppressive law. Palpatine decided to have his best and brightest put this new black market in its place. Thus Darth Vader becomes one of the biggest prohibitionists in the galaxy. With an iron fist and goes from system to system crushing the degenerates that buy, sell, and consume alcohol.

The reason the rebellion against the Empire was so organized was because no one had the chance to get wasted. Notice how the Ewok celebration at the end of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi had plenty of dancing but few drinks. Jabba the Hut’s failed public execution of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker had plenty of drinks but Jabba was a known gangster who found ways around little things like the law. He was a gangster who placed a bounty of Han Solo for dropping his illegal cargo (probably liquor) before being boarded by an Imperial Cruiser. What other cargo would someone smuggle to different systems? It wasn't Tickle Me Elmos.  The deflector shield on Endor wasn’t still on when the rebellion fleet arrived because Han and Chewy were hung over from partying with the Ewoks the night before. It was still on due to the efficiency of sobriety from a very sober Darth Vader regiment of Storm Troopers.

A very rotund but sober Rebel Alliance.

The Emperor’s fear of a Vader uprising caused him to create a policy that gave the illusion of power as well as the application of distraction. The distraction kept everyone sober enough to realize the regime sucked and also kept the men in charge from truly focusing on the rebellion until it was much too late. While being drug and alcohol free definitely is better for society it should not be at the cost of people’s liberty to make that decision themselves. One last item to note regarding prohibition in the Galactic Empire is directly connected to Lando Calrissian. Billy Dee Williams did not start endorsing Colt 45 until after Return of the Jedi, thus solidifying that prohibition ended with the fall of the Galactic Empire.

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com