Trek is best watched with a friend! A podcast where a die-hard Trek fan and a rookie watch the original Star Trek series (and beyond!) together. Join them for laughter, discussion, and boundless adventure through the Trek universe, episode-by-episode!
Ira Heinichen, Joshua McClenney
The LAST episode of the Animated series! It's also the LAST episode of classic Trek TV that Josh will be watching for the first time, and the second entire show that we've watched together for this podcast. And it ends on a great note! The Enterprise travels into a backwards universe where stars cast shadow instead of light, everyone is growing younger, and we do a look back on the series and talk about how much we look forward to Trek RETURNING to the animated style.
100 EPISODES!!! As TG1T crosses the century mark, we're on the brink of finishing the Animated Series. To commemorate, we try out Red Shirt cologne and discuss its Carpe Diem philosophy, the Enterprise crew encounters the Mayan snake-god of Kukulkan, and we ponder how successful this series has been at balancing its children audience and the larger, real-life themes that are so much a part of all Trek.
Bones...what the f*ck did you do now?! This week, Bones may have killed a lot of people, Josh has a bone to pick with a Christmas Movie classic, and we cast the Enterprise crew as gangsters, complete with what their nicknames would be. We have fun!!!
KIRK IS A JERK! The Enterprise keeps pulling wacky, zany, practical jokes on its crew, Ira remembers watching this episode when he was only three or four years old, we debate who on the Enterprise can take a joke, and we both do a deep dive on what we watched as kids that really left an impression on us.
In which a dude can split his body into multiple parts! This week, we look ahead to the fast-approaching end of this animated show and what lies beyond...the movies...we decide the Arex is massively underappreciated, and...that, though our titular character doesn't make any sense, this episode was still pretty fun. At least it had a dungeon!
That episode when you learn that "Orion" is pronounced like "Oreo" with an "n" on the end! Who knew?! Ira tries to convince Josh to watch The Room, we decide that the new word for "cool" is "coke," and we take a quick tour of the dope stories from childhood including Masters of the Universe and Lion King.
Earthquakes! Convertibles! Lava! Loc'd up dudes! This is the episode that has it all! Josh feels like Miles O'Brien is being wasted on the Enterprise and airs out his feelings on Riker, we absolutely fall in love with this episode's self-confessed 'coward,' and Kirk *gets* hit on for once. This episode grew on us the more we talked about it!
The Enterprise crew are the newest exhibit in an alien zoo! We talk about Bill Shatner's joy over any time the script calls for miming out forcefields, cover anxiety over taking a big plunge in life, and we decide we love snailephants.
Larry Niven meets Trek! The Enterprise crew must deal with the fearsome Kzinti and the powerful Slavers, Josh and Ira decide what our favorite Trek characters want for Christmas, and they share the own greatest holiday gifts they've ever received.
Trek gets wet this week! We dive into a water world under siege from earthquakes and disease, talk about how great a voice Deforest Kelley has, and Josh--being the rhythm man that he is--realizes he can't get down without a beat.
Forget ion trails; just follow the trail of sandwiches. Ira hits a personal milestone this episode, we cast a new ensign on the ship that doesn't know how to handle Kirk's crazy commands, and the boys decide their version of the Enterprise would have eject buttons all over the ship for easy garbage disposal.
Welcome to Trek Tours! Our stop today involves getting really, really small, reveling in the show delivering on the promise of animation doing things that live-action can't, and discussing the stress level of a canary in a coal mine.
Harry Mudd is BACK with a love potion! Josh confesses his undying affection for this rapscallion of a con-man, we appreciate the show getting off the ship, and we veer off into sharing our love for Wallace & Gromit.
Bones completely forgets that he hated the Shore Leave planet the first time they visited it (they're back), the Enterprise loses gravity for the first time in history which Josh is super psyched about, and we go down memory lane on how long we've been working together. This episode is a sleeper great one!
...and then Kirk had a drink with the Devil. Literally, the Devil. Easily one of the wackiest episodes of Star Trek, this episode features Spock drawing pentagrams on the floor doing magic, too many mid-sized sedans to count, and we discuss that bitch-ass Edmund from Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
There is a GIANT Spock out there in the universe somewhere! Josh shares about listening to TG1T out in the wild, we get surprisingly deep casting each of the Enterprise crew as plants . . . and the entire episode turns out to be about plants!!!
A shifting squid-man is loose on the Enterprise, we lament how often we're stuck on the ship in the show thus far, Josh realizes he's digging Arex, and Josh and Ira cast the Animated Series crew as superheroes with superpowers and a group catch-phrase.
Josh finally reveals his obsession with The Shawshank Redemption, he's horrified by the glommer straight-up eating a tribble, we revel in the space battles and consider how Star Wars changed the game, and we discuss the power of knowing what kind of show you're making, which the Animated Series does!
No diggity, no doubt indeed! For some reason, Kirk, Spock and the boys can't figure out how to swim out of a filling pool, the animated show takes a (sexist?) page from the Original series, and ya boys are digging the artwork style of the show.
Josh didn't expect to like the animated series as much as he does, the boys cast the Enterprise crew as wrestlers with signature moves and catchphrases, and DeForest Kelley laments that while everyone else got ripped in animation...he just got older.
We're going back in time! The Guardian of forever makes another appearance, this time with insight and adventure in Spock's past. Josh and Ira engage in an epic rap battle, we talk about the close bond between pets and children, and marvel at just how freaking GREAT this episode is.
Star Trek goes ANIMATED!!! Ya boyz are back ready to take on 1974's animated Trek series. Everyone is yoked except for Bones, Ira shares just how deep deepdeep his nerd-dom went during his teenage years, and it's the birth of the 5-Scotty Rating System!
The boys check out of their hotel room at the Rio (Rio Las Vegaasss!) and head down for the last day of panels, shopping and signing at STLV. Then, back at home in LA, they break down the experience and Josh offers his tips for anyone going to the convention for the first time.
The panels today in Vegas were that fire. Josh breaks down what Kate Mulgrew (Janeway) said on stage that cut right into his very soul, and you know...normal shenanigans too. Enjoy!
Josh and Ira get more autographs, find new (even more!) respect for LeVar Burton and James Darren, and hit Klingon Karaoke, the FanSets Party and STILL manage to finally get to bed at a decent time! What a day!
Today was the day that the nightlife got really, really real. From the windows to the walls! Dominic/Malcolm from Enterprise makes a surprising impression on Josh, we consider how many buttons its okay to un-button on a shirt, and inspired by the Picard Exhibit, Josh asks Ira if he might be THE captain of our current time, if he's the leader we need. And...the nightlife. Holy Jesus, the nightlife.
Josh and Martok become best friends, realizes Malcolm Reed might be his nemesis, and then the nightlife gets REAL. Josh and Ira hit the floor for Day 2 of the Star Trek Las Vegas convention!
Josh and Ira have arrived in Las Vegas for the 2019 annual Star Trek Convention. They hit the floor to register, Josh buys a t-shirt, and they hang out at the Masquerade Bar to see old friends and make some new ones. Good lord, what a first day.
Josh and Ira are heading to Star Trek Las Vegas tomorrow morning. Josh has never been. He wants to know what to bring.
The Original Series airs its very last episode. The guys fulfill their original mission for this podcast, and decide there might have to be more treks to come…
We’re going back in time! Kirk, Spock, and Bones visit the coolest library ever, Josh and Ira talk “penultimate” and Game of Thrones, and we figure out that Pixar loved this episode as much as we did.
Floating. Space. Lincoln. That's it. That's the summary.
We spend time up in the clouds for this episode, Ira has Josh cast the OG crew as other fictional characters, and the boys lament the lack of season 3 dungeons.
Space Hippies! Chekov’s old crush is part of a cult now, Spock and Josh are natural “Nows” while Kirk is a total “Herbert,” and we get excited to enter the home stretch of season 3.
The crew discovers a really, really old dude with a hot daughter—enter Kirk—, the boys talk about how important it is to finish, and dare us all to take a drink every time Scotty is shocked or bewildered. Good luck staying sober!
Thank god the boys are drinking by “volume,” Scotty’s girlfriend gets possessed by some really creepy lights, and we decide that Trek is like comfort food; it always makes you feel good.
Kirk just can’t fall in love with a line, Ira fondly remembers watching the SNL “Best of” videos back in the day, and Bones can’t stop talking about cells getting “blasted.”
Breaking News: Kirk gets another girlfriend! This time she’s sick, Kirk finds himself on an empty ship…but there are terrifying faces in the windows. Creepy.
This episode is *definitely* about race, that much certain. It’s also about Ira directing Josh to the bathroom on the Enterprise-D, Josh fantasized about decking Chakotay on the bridge, and we watch some really oily, sweaty face make-up.
For the second time, the Enterprise crew find themselves trapped in an insane asylum. This time, there’re fake Spocks, surprise explosions, and that sweet, sweet feeling of unpredictability. Also, Josh confesses he’s watched Galaxy Quest, one of the best “Trek” movies ever made.
Trek goes “Taming the Shrew” on us, complete with all the problematic themes, Josh describes his love of Voyager and Deep Space Nine, and we discuss what “soiling” means (hint: it’s poop).
Kirk finds himself a mint-condition Ozaba in his retro strawberry mento uniform, Spock can’t be contained by emotional force-fields, and Josh & Ira consider the inevitable point in human history where candybars are removed from society.
Kirk gets sped up really, really fast, Josh reminds everyone “you have no idea who you are,” and Ira tries to find the sweet spot in the car-boat of life.
Evil Greek aliens, oh my! The boys consider how far pantomime can carry you in a TV episode, things almost get suuuuper dark, and we get the first interracial kiss on TV!
Almost an entire episode without Kirk forces Bones and Spock to get along, we navigate some microphone issues, and the guys remember how hard it was to talk when trying to stop crying as a kid, and the good old days when Star Trek was actually on the TV airwaves.
Can the most poetic Trek title of them all live up to its name? The boys find out, Josh imagines a block-sized piece of street art, and Bones FINALLY gets to kiss the girl.
Engineering is the most dangerous room on the Enterprise; you heard it hear first! Ira shares his childhood dream home with a life-sized replica of the bridge, Josh casts the crew as band members, and we all learn how to be friends with the Klingons.
We make a visit to the O.K. Corale (it’s ok, it’s not AMAZING, it’s just “okay”), Ira makes Josh sing yet another on-the-spot song, and the guys lament missed opportunities while being rather swept away by some fun visuals.
The Enterprise takes aboard a passenger who will drive you crazy if you look at them, Ira deep-dives the phrase “irons in the fire,” and the guys talk directly to Bro Bronson about workplace harassment.
Ah, yes, the episode where we meet annoying 60s Ira and a creepy Marlon Brando ghost, Al Pacino sings “I’ve got the whole world in my hands,” and Ira gets emotional talking about how important Star Trek’s optimism is.
I am Kirok!!! Kirk goes native…literally, he’d be loving it if it weren’t for the crippling nightmares, and Josh imagines the perfect Star Trek porn.