| Star Trek: Very Short Treks | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Casper Kelly |
| Based on | Star Trek: The Animated Series byGene Roddenberry |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Running time | 2–5 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | September 8 (2023-09-08) – October 4, 2023 (2023-10-04) |
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Star Trek: Very Short Treks (stylized asvery Short Treks) is a series of promotional short films created byCasper Kelly for the 50th anniversary ofStar Trek: The Animated Series. It consists of five non-canon shorts that are two to five minutes long. They feature characters and settings from all previousStar Trek series.
The series was announced in July 2023. Kelly was encouraged to push the boundaries of humor for the franchise. The animation was provided byAwesome Inc and is in the same style asThe Animated Series. ManyStar Trek cast members returned to reprise their roles, with several comedians also hired to provide voices.
Very Short Treks were released onStarTrek.com andYouTube from September to October 2023.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Skin a Cat" | Aaron Hawkins | Casper Kelly | September 8, 2023 (2023-09-08) | |
Amidst a Klingon attack, theUSS Enterprise's captain keeps accidentally insulting his crew members by using figures of speech they find offensive. Cast : Ethan Peck asSpock;Pete Holmes as the captain; Cristina Milizia asM'Ress, the dream woman, and the Knickersonian;Bonnie Gordon as the computer;Eric Bauza as the Antedian, Ass Face, and Screwhead | |||||
| 2 | "Holiday Party" | Aaron Hawkins | Claire Friedman | September 13, 2023 (2023-09-13) | |
At aFirst Contact Day party on theEnterprise, Spock is in charge of entertainment and showcases what he calls ablooper reel, which disturbs the crew. Cast : Bruce Horak as Hemmer; Ethan Peck as Spock; Bonnie Gordon as additional voices; Eric Bauza as additional voices;Celia Rose Gooding asNyota Uhura; Gia Sandhu asT'Pring;Doug Jones as Saru | |||||
| 3 | "Worst Contact" | Aaron Hawkins | Casper Kelly | September 20, 2023 (2023-09-20) | |
William Riker andBeverly Crusher initiatefirst contact with a new alien species with particularly gross customs. Cast : Jonathan Frakes as William Riker;Dana Snyder as Bragu;Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher;Sarah Sherman as Mucara | |||||
| 4 | "Holograms, All the Way Down" | Aaron Hawkins | Aaron J. Waltke | September 27, 2023 (2023-09-27) | |
Situations are revealed to be holodeck simulations within holodeck simulations to the point of crashing. Cast : Connor Trinneer asTrip Tucker; Jonathan Frakes as William Riker;Armin Shimerman asQuark;Noel Wells asD'Vana Tendi;Angus Imrie as Zero;George Takei asHikaru Sulu; Doug Jones as Saru; Bruce Horak as Hemmer;Ethan Phillips asNeelix; Bonnie Gordon as the computer | |||||
| 5 | "Walk, Don't Run" | Aaron Hawkins | Casper Kelly | October 4, 2023 (2023-10-04) | |
D'Vana Tendi hosts a celebration ofStar Trek: The Animated Series' 50th anniversary which quickly devolves into an insane musical number. Cast : Noël Wells as D'Vana Tendi;Carlos Alazraqui asScotty; Cristina Milizia as M'Ress; George Takei as Hikaru Sulu; Jonathan Frakes as William Riker | |||||
Star Trek: The Animated Celebration, a celebration of the 50th anniversary ofStar Trek: The Animated Series, was announced in July 2023 atSan Diego Comic-Con. As part of the celebration,CBS Studios was set to release five promotional shorts from creative consultantCasper Kelly later in 2023. Kelly announced the shorts alongside John Van Citters, CBS's vice president ofStar Trek brand development.[1] The shorts were revealed to be calledStar Trek: very Short Treks in September.[2] This is a reference to the existing shorts seriesStar Trek: Short Treks, though, unlike that series,very Short Treks is not part of officialStar Trek canon.[3]
Kelly was first involved inStar Trek when producerAlex Kurtzman brought him in to work onShort Treks.[4] Forvery Short Treks, Kurtzman was inspired by Kelly's work on a series ofWonder Twins shorts forAdult Swim. He encouraged Kelly to push the boundaries of humor for the franchise in the shorts, saying, "I want you to do the weird stuff you do, but withStar Trek". Kelly saidvery Short Treks would be more experimental and "fucked up" than the animated comedy seriesStar Trek: Lower Decks. He received approval fromLower Decks creatorMike McMahan for some elements of the shorts.[5] Ten shorts were written but only five were produced; Kelly expressed interest in making the other five in the future.[6] The animation was provided byAwesome Inc, who Kelly worked with on the shortToo Many Cooks, and done in the style ofThe Animated Series.[5]
When the shorts were first announced, Kelly and Van Citters saidStar Trek actorsJonathan Frakes (William Riker),Doug Jones (Saru), andArmin Shimerman (Quark) would be reprising their roles.[1] Additional returning cast members were announced in September:Ethan Peck asSpock,Gates McFadden as Dr.Beverly Crusher,Celia Rose Gooding asUhura,Connor Trinneer asTrip Tucker,Bruce Horak as Hemmer,Noël Wells asTendi, andGeorge Takei asSulu.[2] Takei was initially ambivalent about returning for the shorts, until Kelly wrote him a "fan letter" that won him over.[6] Kelly cast comedians who had not worked onStar Trek before to fill the other roles.[5]
The first short premiered onStarTrek.com and theStar TrekYouTube channel on September 8, 2023, which is known asStar Trek Day. The other four shorts were released weekly through October 4.[2] An additional episode, "The Making ofvery Short Treks with Casper Kelly", was released on October 10 and explores the making of the shorts.[6]
Kelly was also asked to write a comic book for the celebration. He originally thought to adapt one of the unproduced scripts before deciding to write an original story.[6]Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents The Scheimer Barrier was announced alongside the shorts in July 2023. It was also released on StarTrek.com on September 8, with physical copies fromIDW Publishing available atNew York Comic Con in October.[1][2]
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