The 50th anniversary of Star Trek's original Animated Series should be a time for celebration.
It was the first spin off from Star Trek, coming four years after the cancellation of the show and return the majority of the classic cast to their roles albeit vocally.
So what better way to honour those memories with the arrival of five mini-episodes in the same visual style as the Filmation series. Not only that but Trek alumni including Doug Jones, Ethan Peck, Gates McFadden and Jonathan Frakes have lent their voices to the shorts.
Imagined from the mind of Casper Kelly, the non-canon stories are shall we say distinct in their vision. Opening with Skin a Cat, the story here openly tackles the limits of political correctness, Holiday Party has Spock introducing a cringe-worthy blooper reel aboard Pike's Strange New Worlds USS Enterprise and Worst Contact places Riker and Dr Crusher into a rather sickly encounter with a recently warp capable race.
Sounds good? In principle the idea of these Very Short Treks seemed perfect but each week has brought disappointment and dismay. Each has utterly missed the mark and thank goodness for the non-canon safety net.
Take Skin a Cat. Including the vocals of Ethan Peck as Spock, everything the captain says manages to offend someone on the bridge and creates a new and (even for Star Trek) far-fetched bats-arse alien race purely as a punchline. Initially the "cat" reference offends the (brilliant to see) M'Ress before each line angers the Ass Face, Screwhead and Knickersonian bridge crew. Yes, seriously. It's that kind of comedy level.
Those things might be dealt with in the first 90 seconds before the ship captain realises a politically correct way to save his vessel from Klingon attack but these totally override the twist completely. I had to rewatch it just to be reminded of what happened for the closing 90 seconds for that reason.
Holiday Party is a slight improvement with at least the imagining of the SNW crew in this 70s animation style as well as Bruce Horak taking a turn as Hemmer and Celia Rose Gooding as Uhura. Spock's misunderstanding of humour and the probably outdated concept of a blooper make for uneasy and uneven viewing. Spock saying "fart"? Why not here. More accurately... why? This isn't the way to nod to the past and at just over three minutes it's still too long.
The bloopers chosen are themselves somewhat grim with disembowelling to ice that proverbial cake. Worst Contact draws level with the snotty, hygiene unaware species coming off as annoying clown parodies. McFadden and Frakes deliver the dialogue as best they can and easily have the stronger lines and verbal relationship but the jokes just fall flat and firmly in the territory of "gross". Walls covered with boogers, microwaved rotting fish and eyeball licking are the orders of business for these aliens and certainly not for Starfleet.
Ok, so there are underlying "serious" issues in here. Political correctness, appreciation of humour and acceptance and understanding of different peoples and customs but they get lost under the bizarre way in which the animated skits have been written. I find American humour an acquired taste and for me a lot of Trek's humour can be miss rather than hit however this has gone very far of the mark in almost every sense.
The visuals and music cues are perfect however and truly reflect the nature of that series' style and essence. At times the Animated Series could be off the wall but it felt right for the show and the time as well as pushing the limits of Star Trek as restricted by a live action budget and era.
The shots of the SNW and TNG Enterprises are lovingly created as are the visuals of characters such as Riker, Saru and Spock but the parts are far off making a greater sum. We still have Holograms, All the Way Down and Walk, Don't Run still to go and I'm not holding out for a massive change in tone. These are shorts worth checking out for the visual style and then probably only the once. The tragedy is they just emphasise how great a loss it is that Prodigy failed to get its second season on Paramount.
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