Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Mike Poteet
Why Star Trek fans should watch "The Night That Panicked America"
The Night That Panicked America boasts two fun Star Trek connections. It’s altogether appropriate Nicholas Meyer is slated to write and direct an audio podcast prequel to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It’s not simply because Meyer directed Star Trek II and, without credit, crafted the film’s final script from several previous versions. It’s also appropriate because one of Meyer’s earliest credits as a professional screenwriter revolves around audio drama.
Demons by J.M. Dillard: Should Star Trek fans read it for Halloween?
Demons by J.M. Dillard is a vintage Star Trek horror novel. When I was younger, I steered clear of horror movies and horror novels as much as I could. I greatly preferred the bright, utopian future I found in Star Trek. So when I first read Demons by J.M. Dillard (pen name of Jeanne Kalogridis)—her second Star Trek novel, published by Pocket Books in 1986, the same year as her first Star Trek novel, Mindshadow—my teenage Star Trek fan sensibilities were shocked.
7 must-see Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes for Halloween
Star Trek TNG episodes for Halloween range from eerie to revolting. If you want good Star Trek episodes for Halloween, you might not immediately turn to Star Trek: The Next Generation. OK, there’s “Sub Rosa,” the seventh-season episode in which Dr. Crusher gets intimate with a “ghost.” (Sheesh.) But other than that? Overall, TNG stands out as the sunniest of the Star Trek series by far.
Nicolas Coster from Star Trek TNG "The Offspring" passed in June
Nicolas Coster, a memorable Star Trek: The Next Generation guest star, died this summer. He’s best known to Star Trek fans for having played the Starfleet “badmiral” (bad admiral) who made life difficult for Data in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fan favorite episode “The Offspring.” But Nicolas Coster, who died on June 26, 2023, had a long and varied career, during which he crossed paths with other Star Trek actors several times.
Star Trek Day strikes draw Takei, Burton, Billingsley, and more Trek talent
Star Trek Day strikes were the order of the day on both coasts. Last Friday, September 8, wasn’t only Star Trek Day 2023 and the 57th anniversary of the franchise. It was also Day 130 of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike and Day 57 (serendipitously) of the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike.
Star Trek: Picard season 3 Blu-ray boo-boo disappoints fans
A goof on the Star Trek: Picard season 3 Blu-ray is causing a stir. Some fans experienced a shock of disappointment when they watched the just-released Star Trek: Picard season 3 Blu-ray set.
Star Trek II book makes long-awaited debut in time for Star Trek Day
John and Maria Jose Tenuto’s long-delayed Star Trek II book is now available. The Great Bird brought me something very special just in time for Star Trek Day 2023: A brand-new Star Trek II book! Yes, my copy of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: The Making of the Classic Film (Titan Books) by John Tenuto and Maria Jose Tenuto, which I pre-ordered in June 2022, finally arrived.
Star Trek's Enterprise-D build-up model makes a triumphant return
Fanhome is relaunching the Enterprise-D build-up model. The revelation, in season 3 of Star Trek: Picard, that Geordi La Forge rebuilt and restored the U.S.S. Enterprise-D was one of the season’s highlights for countless Star Trek fans. Sure, the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E that succeeded the NCC-1701-D was a sleek and impressive craft.
Star Trek musical episode ideas from The Original Series: 3 possibilities
Several classic adventures would make memorable Star Trek musical episodes. Three weeks after it debuted, “Subspace Rhapsody”—the musical episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2—continues to leave large swaths of fandom singing its praises.
Strange New Worlds season 2 finale “Hegemony” doesn’t quite stick the landing
by Mike Poteet 35 minutes ago This article includes details about the Strange New Worlds season 2 finale, “Hegemony.” I think Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 was consistently stronger than season 1—which, while uneven, wasn’t too shabby. Seeing the voyages of the U.S.S. Enterprise under Anson Mount’s Captain Christopher Pike has been fun.
Subspace Rhapsody: The 3 best songs in Strange New Worlds musical
“Subspace Rhapsody” crushed it, especially with these 3 showstoppers. We heard Lieutenant Uhura sing a few times in The Original Series. We heard Vic Fontaine croon some tunes in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. And we heard the Emergency Medical Hologram show off his operatic pipes in Star Trek: Voyager. But “Subspace Rhapsody,” the next to last episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, is the Star Trek franchise’s first all-out musical episode.
“Under the Cloak of War” continues Star Trek tradition of exploring war trauma
“Under the Cloak of War” is a new story about old questions of war. Star Trek fans seem divided over season two, episode eight of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Under the Cloak of War.” The episode revisits Dr. M’Benga’s experiences during the Klingon War (depicted in season one of Star Trek: Discovery).
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ “Lost in Translation” weaves variations on “The Tholian Web”
“Lost in Translation” harkens back to a classic original series adventure. As I watched “Lost in Translation,” episode 6 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, I couldn’t help but think of a classic third-season episode from the original series. “The Tholian Web” first aired almost 55 years ago (November 15, 1968). I suspect it directly or indirectly inspired Onitra Johnson and David Reed as they wrote “Lost in Translation.” My observation isn’t a criticism of the Strange New Worlds episode.
Dinner aboard the Enterprise isn't always a recipe for good times
Dinner aboard the Enterprise isn’t always smooth sailing, as “Charades” illustrates. It seems Star Trek: Strange New Worlds may make strange changes for Spock (Ethan Peck) a mid-season tradition. The first season’s midpoint episode, “Spock Amok,” saw Spock and T’Pring (Gia Sandhu) experience an unintended body swap. This season’s midpoint episode, “Charades,” sees Spock turned fully human by the ancient, extra-dimensional Kerkhovians.
Pike's Enterprise boasts a tech feature we've seen only once before
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’“Among the Lotus Eaters” shows Pike’s Enterprise has an almost-forgotten tech edge. One way Star Trek: Strange New Worlds asks long-time Star Trek viewers to suspend their disbelief is by accepting that the gleaming, spacious, high-tech starship we see on screen is the same vessel we see in Star Trek: The Original Series, which is set about a decade later.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow sets the Strange New Worlds bar high
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is the best Strange New Worlds episode yet.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow sets the Strange New Worlds bar high
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow sets the Strange New Worlds bar high Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is the best Strange New Worlds episode yet. Some Star Trek episodes are so strong, fans know from the first time …
Flight of the Protostar fan film makes impressive plea for Prodigy future
“Flight of the Protostar” is the first Star Trek: Prodigy fan film. It’s one thing to complain loudly online about Paramount’s cancellation of Star Trek: Prodigy and its abrupt removal from the Paramount+ streaming platform. And it’s one thing to create and sign online petitions in hopes of reversing that decision.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ episode “Ad Astra per Aspera” doesn’t hold up
As a Star Trek trial episode, “Ad Astra per Aspera” is guilty of negligence. In the second episode of its second season, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds goes where the franchise has frequently gone before. It is a Star Trek trial episode. Picking up from the season one-ending cliffhanger, “Ad Astra per Aspera” finds Commander Una “Number One” Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) on trial for having concealed her status as a genetically modified Ilyrian.
In the Hands of the Prophets is urgent Star Trek viewing 30 years later
In the Hands of the Prophets first aired 30 years ago this week. The Star Trek community celebrated the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s premiere episode, Emissary, earlier this year—with good reason. The Deep Space Nine pilot episode is arguably still the franchise’s finest. But this week marks the 30th anniversary of In the Hands of the Prophets, the final episode of Deep Space Nine’s first season, which first aired in broadcast syndication on June 20, 1993.
Spock’s first command in Star Trek canon has been changed
Spock’s first command is apparently no longer “The Galileo Seven.” Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returned to Paramount Plus on June 15.
Was Star Trek V on to something with the center of the galaxy revelation?
Was Star Trek V onto something about the center of the Galaxy? “The center of the Galaxy?” Captain Kirk (William Shatner) incredulously asks as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier nears its climax. Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), the charismatic, emotion-embracing Vulcan has just announced his intent to take the Enterprise through the “Great Barrier” at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy to the mysterious planet, Sha Ka Ree. “The center of the Galaxy can’t be reached,” Kirk continues.
Trek Problems reassures fans: On the final frontier, your fate could be worse
Matthew Cupka’s Trek Problems has fun with Star Trek characters’ conundrums. The next time you think you’re having a bad day, remember: If you lived in the Star Trek universe, things could always be worse. Star Trek fans tend to focus on the sunny side of our favorite fictional future. But from the 22nd century to the 32nd, if our Star Trek heroes never faced problems, we wouldn’t have as many great stories to watch about them, would we? Dark matter distortions. Torture at the hands of alien enemies.
3 of the worst episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Strange New Worlds season one had some big misses. Fans of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are everywhere. I recently went for my annual physical, wearing a shirt embroidered with the Starfleet delta.
Devil's food cake with 3 Star Trek episodes on the side
Devil’s food cake is even more delicious with these Star Trek episodes. Friday, May 19 was National Devil’s Food Cake Day. How that date earned this distinction is a mystery—as is why any sweets-lover would feel they need a special excuse to eat devil’s food cake. But the occasion seems like a great excuse to think about some memorable “devils” in Star Trek. Interest in, and sometimes fear of, the devil has been with Star Trek from the beginning.
Star Trek Into Darkness at 10: 3 things to like about it
Star Trek Into Darkness debuted in the U.S. on May 16, 2013. The email from the official Star Trek site in my inbox caught me off guard on two fronts. First: Star Trek Into Darkness was already celebrating its tenth anniversary? It hardly seems possible, but sure enough. Although the film hit some international markets sooner, its U.S. release date was May 16, 2013. I sure do wish time would stop flying by at warp speed.
ChatGPT couldn't answer this question about Star Trek stars
ChatGPT knows a lot about Star Trek, but not everything. As I sat down to research my recent post in honor of Carol Burnett’s 90th birthday, I thought, “Eleven seasons of The Carol Burnett Show? That’s a lot of credits to comb through in search of her guest stars who also appeared on Star Trek.” Then I thought cross-referencing the two series’ credit lists might be the perfect job for ChatGPT. The generative AI has caused so much hullabaloo in so many industries since it debuted late last year.
Carol Burnett has some cosmic and comic Star Trek connections
Carol Burnett has had some fun with Star Trek in her career. TV viewers around the world know Carol Burnett, who turned 90 last month, as one of America’s funniest, most significant, and best-loved comedians. She was the first woman to host her own variety TV show, which ran for 11 seasons (1967-1978), winning 25 Emmy Awards (and 42 more nominations).
Star Trek Regeneration short brings back a key legacy character
Star Trek Regeneration, a new video, features a familiar face. If you’ve seen Star Trek: Picard season 3, or, by this point, even if you haven’t, but are spending time online (as you obviously are), you know the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D makes a triumphant return to action. No less than an authority than Jean-Luc Picard declared, at the end of Star Trek: Generations, that the vessel could not be salvaged after its crash on Veridian III.
Sharon Acker, memorable Star Trek guest star, has died
Sharon Acker, a classic Star Trek guest star, has passed away. In 1969—the same year she was a guest star in the original Star Trek series’ third season—The Motion Picture Exhibitors of Canada named Sharon Acker their first “Film Star of Tomorrow.” As her IMDB biography notes, she never achieved that movie star status. But when Sharon Acker died at age 87 on March 16 in a Toronto retirement home, she still left behind an impressive body of work.
Picard's toast to his crewmates might have surprised Shakespeare
NOTE: This post about Picard’s toast contains spoilers for the Star Trek: Picard series finale. The series finale of Star Trek: Picard gives Sir Patrick Stewart one final chance to quote William Shakespeare—whose birthday (in 1564) and death day (1616) are both observed on April 23—in character as Jean-Luc Picard. Gathered with the senior crew of the Enterprise-D for, presumably, the last time, Picard offers lines from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (Act III, Scene IV) as a toast.
Star Trek: Picard gives the captain’s catchphrase “tradition” a twist
NOTE: This post contains spoilers for the Star Trek: Picard series finale. As the teaser trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 reminded us, starship captains in the franchise these days need to have a catchphrase. “Everyone who sits in the chair has ‘their thing,’” Ortegas tells Spock. Presumably, Spock is in command only temporarily. Even so, Ortegas expects him to “have his thing” because she thinks it’s some sort of Starfleet tradition. Who knows?
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds trailer for season 2 has highs and lows
What does the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds trailer portend for season 2? By now, like most Star Trek fans, you’ve probably watched—and maybe even rewatched and rewatched—the first official teaser trailer for season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which begins streaming June 15 on Paramount Plus. Without a doubt, the sophomore season of Strange New Worlds is highly anticipated.
Star Trek: Picard season 3 has been intensely disappointing
Star Trek: Picard season 3 has set a forward-looking franchise back by light years.
Star Trek First Contact: 3 top visual effects moments
Star Trek First Contact boasts some spectacular visual effects. Special visual effects usually aren’t the main attraction in a Star Trek production. And not all of its visual effects are equally successful. But Star Trek First Contact made it clear to any moviegoers who may have still doubted: Star Trek could play in the big leagues of eye-popping, amazement-inducing special effects. Surprisingly, the only Academy Award for which the film was nominated in 1997 was Best Makeup.
3 Star Trek First Contact nits we’ll never stop picking
Star Trek First Contact is a great movie—but nothing’s perfect. Star Trek First Contact consistently lands at or near the top of lists of the best Star Trek movies. Indeed, as of this writing, it enjoys a 92% “Certified Fresh” rating at Rotten Tomatoes, putting it second only to Star Trek (2009)’s 94% rating. It’s not hard to understand why fans, critics, and general moviegoers alike can enjoy Star Trek First Contact.
Sherlock Holmes Star Trek action figures are now available
New action figures celebrate Star Trek’s biggest Sherlock Holmes connection. Sherlock Holmes isn’t an intellectual property you might associate with toys. Books? Absolutely. Books are the medium in which the world’s first consulting detective made his mark. (Strictly speaking, though, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, appeared in the pages of a magazine, Beeton’s Christmas Annual for 1887). Puzzles? They make sense for Sherlock, too.
3 reasons Star Trek will miss Discovery when it’s gone
The end of Star Trek: Discovery will diminish the franchise. No doubt by now you’ve heard the news. The fifth season of Star Trek: Discovery, which will stream on Paramount Plus early in 2024, will be its final season. Discovery will, in a sense, be the first Star Trek series to keep The Original Series’ “promise” of a “five-year mission,” although its five seasons will have spanned seven years in real time by the time its end arrives. News of Discovery’s impending demise has divided Star Trek fans.
All 5 of his Star Trek episode scores ranked
Gerald Fried composed several indispensable Star Trek scores. Not all Star Trek fans would recognize the face of Emmy-winning composer Gerald Fried, who died last week at age 95. But most, if not all, would recognize his music. Gerald Fried’s list of credits is long.
This LEGO Star Trek: Deep Space Nine video is your dream brick set
Jason Dewey animated the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine credits in LEGO style. The LEGO Group has never produced Star Trek-themed building sets. But this merch gap didn’t stop animator Jason Alan Dewey from recreating the opening credits of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the finest LEGO fashion. (The seventh season’s iteration, to be specific—note Nicole de Boer’s name in the cast list.) Everything is awesome about Dewey’s Deep Space Nine video.
Annie Wersching created a captivating Borg Queen in Star Trek: Picard
Annie Wersching began and ended her career in Star Trek. Annie Wersching, who died far too young on January 29, began and ended her career with roles in the Star Trek franchise.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko: 3 things we want to see
The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko by Derek Tyler Attico will arrive in 2023. Last week, Titan Books announced it will publish The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko later this year. The book is part of the franchise’s year-long 30th anniversary celebration of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It also joins Titan’s steadily growing string of Star Trek “autobiographies,” including those of James T. Kirk, Spock, Jean-Luc Picard, and Kathryn Janeway.
Michelle Yeoh, of Star Trek: Discovery, earns a historic nomination
Michelle Yeoh makes history with her Academy Award nomination. Fans of Star Trek: Discovery know Michelle Yeoh best as the actor who plays Philippa Georgiou, Empress of the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe. Yeoh has now earned a historic accolade in another role, in another story about multiple universes. Nominations for the 95th Academy Awards were announced yesterday.
Alexander Siddig, Andrew Robinson reprise their roles DS9’s 30th anniversary
Alexander Siddig and Andrew Robinson give Deep Space Nine fans a treat. Alexander Siddig, who played Dr. Julian Bashir in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Andrew Robinson, who played Elim Garak, recently teamed up to create what Siddig’s official fan site called, on its Facebook page, “a very special treat” to celebrate the series’ 30th anniversary.
5 ways “The Immunity Syndrome” anticipated Star Trek: The Motion Picture
“The Immunity Syndrome” turns 55 years old this week. Fifty-five years ago this week, on January 19, 1968, the original Star Trek series on NBC returned from its mid-second season break with “The Immunity Syndrome.” Original series fans tend to recall “The Immunity Syndrome” as “the one with the space amoeba.” An enormous single-celled organism has invaded our galaxy. It’s up to the crew of the Enterprise to stop it before it reproduces.
Kate Mulgrew beams down from Star Trek: Prodigy to Center City Philly
Kate Mulgrew recently visited a historic bar in Philadelphia. Nearly two years ago, Kate Winselt caused a stir by mastering—more or less—a Delaware County, Pennsylvania accent for her series Mare of Easttown. The area’s unique sound grabbed some time in the national spotlight, even becoming fodder for Saturday Night Live’s “Murdur Durdur” sketch. Now, another famous Kate—Star Trek:Voyager and Star Trek: Prodigy’s own Kate Mulgrew—is putting her vocal skills to the southeastern Pennsylvania test.
“Past Prologue” presented many Star Trek: Deep Space Nine firsts
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Past Prologue” includes an impressive number of Deep Space Nine firsts. “Past Prologue,” the first regular, hour-length episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, first aired 30 years ago this week (the week of January 11). “A Man Alone” was produced before it, and aired the next week. But “Past Prologue” makes a far stronger first regular Deep Space Nine episode because it marks an impressive number of “firsts” for the series.
Deep Space Nine's first episode gave us these 5 top moments
“Emissary” launched Deep Space Nine with one great moment after another. “Emissary”—the first episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which first aired 30 years ago last week—is arguably the finest pilot episode Star Trek has produced. No other pilot episode so clearly delineates the setting, stakes, and character relationships that define the ensuing series. The Deep Space Nine creative team didn’t have all seven seasons mapped out.
StarTrek: Deep Space Nine 30 most memorable characters ranked
Deep Space Nine featured a wide range of unforgettable characters. I remember the skepticism some Star Trek fans expressed when Paramount announced Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the franchise’s newest series. “A Star Trek series set on a space station?” they asked. “What will the new mission statement be—‘to boldly stay put where no one has stayed put before?’’ That tag line might actually have served Deep Space Nine well.
Judy Levitt, Star Trek film actor and Walter Koenig's wife, has passed away
Actor Judy Levitt, the wife of Walter Koenig, has died. In 2022, Star Trek fans lost several people familiar from its series and films. Some, such as Nichelle Nichols and Kirstie Alley, were famous even to non-fans. Others, such as two-time Star Trek: Voyager guest star Marva Hicks and Maggie Thrett, one of “Mudd’s Women,” were better known for their careers outside of the franchise but have a cherished place in many fans’ hearts.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Mike
Contact Mike, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack