Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to Feature First-Ever Star Trek Musical Episode | SDCC 2023
'Subspace Rhapsody' will be available to stream on Thursday, August 3 and features 10 original songs!
Let's face it: this isn't even in the top five strangest things to happen to a Starfleet vessel. Arguable if it's even in the top 10.
This sounds ridiculous. And I'm so down for it.
Trek has a very, very long history of having weird shit happen to the crew because of space anomalies--
Once More With Feeling was in 2001, and Trek trying to follow in BTVS's wake would have felt derivative at the time. The closest it came was The Doctor's hallucinations... and that was hilarious.
If anyone can pull this off its the SNW crew.
The retro poster has a Once More With Feeling vibe. Hoping Subspace Rhapsody will approach (or even meet) the standard that Buffy set as far as TV show musical episodes go.
I was soooo skeptical when they advertised this Buffy episode first-run (yes, I'm old), but it was so well done and moving! I'm hoping SNW can also pull it off.
If the audience can roll with the Naked Time and the Naked Now, why not an ‘everyone breaks into song and dance’ episode?
There was also a musical episode of Xena. I forget which came first.
Oh My.
Pelia had better sing.
For those who don't know, Carol Kane (though not particularly known as a singer) has sung on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and has appeared in the US tour of the musical Wicked as Madame Morrible.
Umm... what. Is there an overlap between Star Trek fans and musical episode fans that I didn't know about? 😅
YES
Computer, play Nightbird.
Hi, I didn’t know it until I heard about this episode but apparently I’m that overlap.
I'm actually not a huge musical fan, but I do enjoy it when it's worked into something I already enjoy like Trek, as long as the song writing is good, I'm hyped.
This will either be really fun or total nonsense. I like that they're trying new things instead of only recycling old Trek tropes with aliens that have a different kind of bump on the forehead.
I think the word you’re looking for is “and.”
First a crossover with an animated comedy series, and now a musical episode? They have lost their minds over at SNW and I am so here for it.
For those who can't read music, the song on the poster is (of course) the TOS theme, specifically the iconic part following the voiceover where "STAR TREK" appears on screen. In other words, what you expected it to be. 😉
And the TOS theme does have lyrics, though they're terrible and Roddenberry just wrote them to unapologetically steal half of Courage's royalties.
Ilia's theme from TMP also had lyrics.
I feel like this has happened before, but maybe I’m just remembering The Doctor singing about Tuvok going into pon farr
That was Picardo singing a parody of "La Donna e Mobile", an aria in Verdi's opera Rigoletto.
DS9 also had some episodes where they showed off their cast's vocal chops, eg Avergy Brooks and James Darren singing "The Best is Yet to Come" and Nana Visitor singing "Fever".
Can't wait for Lower Decks to parody this episode.
We'll see... Can't say I'm stoked, but maybe it'll be better than I anticipate. I'm not really a fan of musicals in the first place. I could count the ones I find 'acceptable' on one hand, and can only think of two atm. If it turns out merely 'acceptable' I'll be happy enough. Hopefully the actors had fun.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!
i dont watch the trailer for, i hope, obvious reasons but i am hyped for the series in general so i want to see how this turns out ^^
Noooooo. I despise musicals and hate it when the shows I like do one, I guess I can skip this episode
Hell, you could even skip commenting. 🤣
I love musicals, but not on my TV shows.
Are they going to explain why everyone is suddenly singing and dancing (like some kind of subspace interference that causes the crew to break into songs) or are they treating it as artistic license for this episode?
How much for just the planet?
While I don't mind the idea it has to be done right to work. And i don't trust modern trek to do it right.
Strange New Worlds had been pretty consistent. I don't mind the occasional flub, it's better to go out on a limb occasionally than play it totally safe.
Kurtzman!
I can't believe snw beat Orville to a LARP and a musical ep
I'm getting Buffy "Once More With Feeling" vibes, especially with that font at the end. Loving it!
me_irl
I know this is a staple troupe that shows drag out but who actually enjoys these musical episodes. Like I get it, it’s novel but I’m not sure if I’m the demographic but since a lot of the shows I’ve watched has had these episodes I’m wondering if I’m not supposed to like them also… but the record I’m skipping this one. All the singing is cringe and gets in the way of the storytelling. I’m fine with zany antics but not with random song and dance escapades.
If you don’t like musicals, it’s likely best to pass on this one. Many of us do, and welcome them.
For me, the key factors are whether the main cast have the musical theatre chops to pull it off well and whether the music is written by people who know what they’re doing in that specific form.
In this case, there is an award winning Broadway musical performer and others who have significant experience in touring companies. Likewise, the songwriters are both experienced alt musicians but also have written musical episodes for DC. I expect the quality to be high.
I guess I'm the target audience, since I like musical episodes (Xena and Buffy especially) ... hell, even a bit of DS9 holosuite crooning is enjoyable.
I adore musical episodes, assuming the cast has the chops to pull it off. I'm genuinely saddened by some of the salty takes in here about it.
Dan Abbnett managed to pull of a musical issue of his comic Lawless, a gritty space western set in the Judge Dreed-verse, with a recorded soundtrack to listen to while reading and it was dope. I reckon SNW can pull it off.
I generally love musical episodes (OMWF is my favorite Buffy episode and the musical episodes of the Magicians are always the best episodes of that show), but there are some stinkers (Fringe did it? Why?) and I'm really not at all sure that SNW is the right platform for this (It would work better on Lower Decks).
But I've been disappointed with SNW season 2 relative to season 1. I'm not sure SNW is going to keep me as a viewer
Ugh… why..!! Lets sing about this monster that eats children and farts fire lalalala. Ugh..
The show is good why fuck it up
You obviously feel very strongly about this.
Have you considered bursting into song to give your feelings full expression?
The Lower Decks crossover is bad enough, but this? No, just... no.
I had hope for this series, s01 was ok. Can't watch it now.
Wasn't this supposed to be the spin off that took us back to star trek? After Dystopian trek and Geriatric Trek, we saw a little bit in season 1 of star treking.
This season, we're going to have had: Spock's comedy capers, a crossover with family guy and a high-school musical one-off.
We've gone from alien of the week to bad American TV genre of the week. Season finale is a mockumentary, The Office-syle, 4th wall breaking comedy. Cast members doing pieces to camera in fake interviews, Spock doing that look to the camera that whatever the attractive guy's name was did.
Are you forgetting you're talking about the series where:
Like... my guy, Stark Trek has always had an element of camp and being a goofy-ass series. It has a lot of thoughtful and contemporary dialogue in a lot of the episodes, yes, but you can't say stuff like the SNWxLD crossover (which, as somebody who has never watched LD and grew up with TNG & DS9, I thought was pretty good) and the next couple of episodes are straying from Star Trek as a whole. Why do you think a lot of Trek fans would consider GalaxyQuest as an honorable Star Trek film?
For real! Like, how can you be a Trek fan and not like SNW?? It's fantastic!
When Galaxy Quest came out, Wil Wheaton called Patrick Stewart and told him to go to the theater and see "the best Star Trek movie ever made."
Spock’s comedy capers was tonally different from data’s day… how?
You’re acting like goofy shit is not an intrinsic part of trek’s charm
@doleo TOS had a gangsters comedic episode, and a cutesy animals comedic episode.
And Tribbles!
Yes, I too want the same old rehashes of 60s and 90s Trek plots so we can have full series burnout in record time.
Star Trek is a place to tell stories. Some of those stories involve weird shit. "Weird," as Janeway says to Kim after he comes from a cloned version of the ship where everyone he knows and loves just died in a self-destruct explosion, "is part of the job."
So the only options are: rehash old Trek plots or rehash wacky American TV tropes?
Has chatGPT really run dry this quickly?
Personally, I think SNW doing all this stuff is more Trek than we've seen in a while. Most inventive and creative live action series since Enterprise ended.
I mean, come on! Star Trek is about exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations, not bursting into song at the drop of a hat. What's next? A dance-off with the Klingons? A Romulan rap battle?
I've stuck with this franchise through thick and thin, through the highs of "The Wrath of Khan" and the lows of "Nemesis." I've even tolerated the questionable decisions in the recent series. But this... this is a bridge too far.
Star Trek is not Glee. It's not High School Musical. It's a science fiction show with a rich history and a dedicated fanbase who appreciate the serious themes and complex narratives it often explores. Turning it into a musical spectacle is a slap in the face to fans like me who have been with the series from the beginning.
I can't help but feel this is a desperate attempt to appeal to a younger audience, a misguided effort to stay relevant in today's saturated TV landscape. But at what cost? The integrity of the franchise? The respect of its long-time fans?
I'm not against innovation or trying new things. But there's a line, and this musical episode crosses it. It's a gimmick, a cheap trick that undermines the very essence of what Star Trek is all about.
I've been a Star Trek fan for over 60 years, and I've never been more disappointed. This is not the Star Trek I fell in love with. This is not the Star Trek Gene Roddenberry envisioned. This is not my Star Trek.
So, to the producers of "Star Trek: Brave New Worlds," I say this: Boldly go back to the drawing board. Because this idea? It's highly illogical.
Agreed! Let's stick to exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new civilizations. And maybe throw some fights into the mix too. It's time we stop trying to appeal to the "younger crowd" by turning everything into a musical. There's no shame in being nerdy and loving science fiction. We can have fun while still staying true to the franchise's core values. I think that's why so many people love Star Trek in the first place. Furthermore, if the producers are looking for ways to make their show more relevant, they should focus on telling deeper, more meaningful stories instead of resorting to gimmicks. That's what makes a good TV show great - compelling narratives that resonate with viewers on an emotional level. I hope they take our feedback seriously and return to making quality content that honors the legacy of Star Trek. For now, let's all agree to never speak of this musical episode ever again lest we forget what made us fall in love with this incredible series in the first place. Let's end this thread on a high note, shall we? 😊 Here's to hoping the next season of Star Trek is one we can all be proud of!
