Watch Star Trek Continues: The Critically-Acclaimed, Fan-Made Sequel to the Original TV Series

in Sci Fi, Television | February 8th, 2016 39 Comments

Despite its lega­cy and influ­ence, the orig­i­nal Star Trek ran three sea­sons (or 79 episodes in total) before NBC can­celed the show in June, 1969. Only in syn­di­ca­tion did Star Trek achieve cult sta­tus, and did its grow­ing num­ber of fans start to won­der: What if Star Trek had con­tin­ued? How would the sto­ry have played out? Enter Star Trek Con­tin­ues, a crit­i­cal­ly-acclaimed, fan-pro­duced web­series cre­at­ed by direc­tor and actor Vic Mignogna.

If you ask the son of Gene Rod­den­ber­ry, the cre­ator of the orig­i­nal TV series, Star Trek Con­tin­ues has man­aged to cre­ate a bona fide sequel. “I do have to say … I’m pret­ty damn sure my dad would con­sid­er this canon. The fact that you do sto­ries that mean some­thing, that have depth, that make us all think a lit­tle bit… I real­ly think he would applaud you guys.”

The Wall Street Jour­nal adds to this:

[Star Trek Con­tin­ues] comes fright­en­ing­ly close to repli­cat­ing the orig­i­nal series, in the sets, make-up and hair­styles, cos­tumes and music… The art direc­tion pre­cise­ly cap­tures the Day-Glo visu­als of ear­ly col­or TV. Most remark­able is Mr. Mignogna; no actor play­ing, for instance, James Bond has imi­tat­ed Sean Con­nery out­right, but Mr. Mignogna comes so scar­i­ly close to the dynam­ic, stac­ca­to ener­gy of William Shat­ner that we keep for­get­ting we’re look­ing at anoth­er actor.

Thanks to fund­ing raised by two Kick­starter cam­paigns, you can now watch 5 episodes. Click play and watch the episodes on a Youtube playlist above, from start to fin­ish. Or watch them on the offi­cial Star Trek Con­tin­ues web­site, where, among oth­er things, you can take a 360 vir­tu­al tour of the set. You can also make a dona­tion, which will help sup­port the 6th episode due out in May, and anoth­er 7 episodes beyond that.

If you would like to sign up for Open Culture’s free email newslet­ter, please find it here. Or fol­low our posts on Threads, Face­book, BlueSky or Mastodon.

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Relat­ed Con­tent:

How Isaac Asi­mov Went from Star Trek Crit­ic to Star Trek­Fan & Advi­sor

Nichelle Nichols Explains How Mar­tin Luther King Con­vinced Her to Stay on Star Trek

The Com­plete Star Wars “Fil­mu­men­tary”: A 6‑Hour, Fan-Made Star Wars Doc­u­men­tary, with Behind-the-Scenes Footage & Com­men­tary

Hard­ware Wars: The Moth­er of All Star Wars Fan Films (and the Most Prof­itable Short Film Ever Made)

Star Wars Uncut: The Epic Fan Film


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Comments (39)
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  • Rick Wood says:
    February 8, 2016 at 12:20 pm

    I have been a long time fan of Star Trek since I was a boy and my favorite series has always been The Orig­i­nal series. When I first start­ed see­ing sev­er­al dif­fer­ent fan based series of Star Trek on youtube, admit­ted­ly I was dubi­ous whether any work could do TOS jus­tice.

    Those doubts where put to rest the first time I watched Star Trek Con­tin­ues! Every­body respon­si­ble for this series, in front of and behind the cam­era does an amaz­ing job in keep­ing Rod­den­ber­ry’s vision alive and well. Watch­ing each new episode, I feel like Star Trek TOS has nev­er and will nev­er end and the 5 year mis­sion is alive and well. My con­grat­u­la­tions to this amaz­ing group of peo­ple respon­si­ble for this series.

    Reply
  • V. Morton says:
    February 8, 2016 at 12:35 pm

    I’ve been tout­ing STC to all who will lis­ten (and many who wish they could shut me up) for a cou­ple of years now. It’s amaz­ing­ly well-done and faith­ful to TOS, and I applaud the STC crew who give of their time in this beau­ti­ful­ly craft­ed labor of love.

    Reply
  • F.Shutts says:
    February 8, 2016 at 12:44 pm

    Love this show, Ive nev­er seen any­thing so close to the actu­al show. I wont point any­one out in the show because they are amaz­ing, but they all cap­ture the orig­i­nal char­ac­ters amaz­ing­ly well (even the one that was­n’t in the show “Ship’s con­sular”). I’m amazed with the writ­ing, the music, props and scenery, and IMO the best retro effects Ive ever seen. If you haven’t watched this show yet, and you love Star Trek, you are wrong.

    Reply
  • Rodger Heckman says:
    February 8, 2016 at 12:52 pm

    STC is very awe­some. The peo­ple who play the char­ac­ters, espe­cial­ly Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock do a great job chan­nel­ing their char­ac­ters. It is a shame they have only one episode left before they dis­con­tin­ue. I wish them all the best in their future endeav­ors.
    Live long and Pros­per.
    Peace
    Rodger

    Reply
  • Rodger Heckman says:
    February 8, 2016 at 12:55 pm

    I \for­got to men­tion Chuck Huber is also excel­lent with Dr. McCoy and it is great he has been able to play in a few of the episodes as Dr. McCoy.

    Reply
  • Lisa Hansell says:
    February 8, 2016 at 1:01 pm

    Hi Roger! I’m a Co=Producer for STC, and I want­ed to let you know that our cur­rent plan is to com­plete 13 full episodes — so 7 more after our newest one pre­mieres in May. We’re not even halfway done yet! Thanks so much for your kind words. LLAP :)

    Reply
  • Suffering Fools says:
    February 8, 2016 at 1:01 pm

    Mr. Heck­man is mis­tak­en — they are not stop­ping after 6 episodes. They are already fund­ed through episode 7 and will be rais­ing funds on Indiegogo for fur­ther episodes start­ing March 5!

    Reply
  • Charles Shepherd says:
    February 8, 2016 at 1:19 pm

    Excel­lent series. Real­ly does a great job recap­tur­ing the authen­tic feel of TOS. If you’re a Trekker, it’s a must watch. Give it a try, you won;t be sor­ry.

    Reply
  • Yvonne Blasy says:
    February 8, 2016 at 1:23 pm

    This series rocks, and I hate to admit it as some­one who’s fol­lowed Trek since 1966, it’s amaz­ing­ly just as good. Try­ing to get friends who love Trek to tune in, check it out, and help sup­port the effort.

    I just love you kids! You’re doing fine work, and the sto­ries are deeply mean­ing­ful. Don’t let go of that. And I so much agree with the fore­go­ing remark “Mr. Mignogna comes so scar­i­ly close to the dynam­ic, stac­ca­to ener­gy of William Shat­ner that we keep for­get­ting we’re look­ing at anoth­er actor.” (Wow! Did Shat­ner bestow his “katra” on you already? Oops — only Vul­cans do that. But it seems to fit here.)

    You’re all car­ry­ing on the lega­cy and are top draw­er in this hum­ble view­er’s opin­ion. Keep up the good work.

    Much love, long life, and pros­per­i­ty to you all.

    Reply
  • Mrs. Violet Sweezy says:
    February 8, 2016 at 1:26 pm

    I start­ed watch­ing Star Trek when I was twen­ty in 1966. I was part of the write in cam­paign to save the show and felt cheat­ed when it was unfair­ly can­celled. Star Trek Con­tin­ues is great! From the start, it has only got­ten bet­ter. The actors are superb and, of course, in my mind, so is every­thing about this show. I love it. Thank you for your efforts.

    Reply
  • Jim McClure says:
    February 8, 2016 at 1:37 pm

    So glad you guys dis­cov­ered Star Trek Con­tin­ues, it tru­ly is an orig­i­nal jew­el in and of itself. Hav­ing watched the orig­i­nal real-time, I can say that it is unmatched in both the accu­ra­cy and in the sto­ry-telling of new adven­tures with old friends. I’ve nev­er cried, laughed or “Wow!‘d so much watch­ing a pro­gram. This is the endur­ing qual­i­ty worth fund­ing I have been wait­ing decades for!

    Reply
  • Suzanne L. says:
    February 8, 2016 at 1:40 pm

    I saw the first episode of Star Trek Con­tin­ues open in the huge ball room of the Phoenix Comi­Con in 2013. It was so right on, in atmos­phere, in sto­ry con­cept, it brought down the house. After decades of reruns, see­ing a new sto­ry for the first time felt like I was a kid again!

    Vic Mignogna and William Shat­ner both had auto­graph lines, but Vic’s was much much longer, because he’s already got a youth audi­ence from his ani­me voice act­ing. Not only that, Vic (also in his 50’s), is a musi­cian, and gave a won­der­ful won­der­ful con­cert. The kids, who know him from his ani­me theme songs, all dropped their jaws as their par­ents also sang along with Vic, on the old clas­sic key­board rock songs.

    We learned that week­end from an audi­ence ques­tion ses­sion, that Vic does­n’t just mim­ic the musi­cal back­grounds of the orig­i­nal series, he also com­pos­es com­plete­ly orig­i­nal music for it, while suc­cess­ful­ly cap­tur­ing the orig­i­nal fla­vor. The atten­tion to detail this crew puts in, on sets, on audio, on cos­tumes, is exquis­ite.

    It was just a charmed week­end. Star Trek Con­tin­ues is a spe­cial project to sup­port.

    Reply
  • Chris Doohan says:
    February 8, 2016 at 1:47 pm

    Actu­al­ly, we have sev­er­al more to share over the next cou­ple years.

    Reply
  • Trent T says:
    February 8, 2016 at 1:52 pm

    I have been a Star Trek fan all of my life, and a Star Trek Con­tin­ues fan for sev­er­al years.
    I find myself so eager with antic­i­pa­tion for each new episode that it hard­ens me back to when the motion pic­tures were being released and I was so excit­ed to see my favorite actors again!
    Vic and his team are spot on and are help­ing me to enjoy Star Trek anew with their ded­i­ca­tion and love for the series.

    Reply
  • Alan Jahns says:
    February 8, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    As a fan of the orig­i­nal series I was pret­ty skep­ti­cal, but the pro­duc­tion val­ues and act­ing made me a believ­er. I’m a hap­py sup­port­er of the project and will con­tribute more in the future.
    I just wish the set was local and I could get a tour.

    Reply
  • Don Smeltzer says:
    February 8, 2016 at 2:06 pm

    I have been a life­long fan of Star Trek, par­tic­u­lar­ly the orig­i­nal series, and I was hooked on STC from the first episode I saw. They’ve done an excel­lent job of cap­tur­ing the look and feel of the orig­i­nal series as well as main­tain­ing a cou­ple of direct con­nec­tions to it. I think it was a cast­ing coup to get Chris Doohan to play the role his father made famous. Some­times it’s easy to for­get that we’re not watch­ing James Doohan. But let’s not for­get Michael For­est repris­ing his role of Apol­lo. I can hard­ly wait for episode 6, due out in May.

    Reply
  • Sherrie Casteel says:
    February 8, 2016 at 2:29 pm

    I grew up watch­ing Star Trek with my dad. It was our favorite show. It was Star Trek that real­ly helped me see dif­fer­ent cul­tures as a won­der­ful thing, and to believe human­i­ty could achieve great­ness. I wish my dad could see the great work STC is doing. Hats off to the oth­er fan shows, I believe sev­er­al of the actors have worked with oth­er projects.
    Can’t wait to see new episodes!

    Reply
  • William McEvoy says:
    February 8, 2016 at 2:34 pm

    I have been a fan since day 1. Last year, I watched a few episodes with my kids. I watched a new episode, and one from 50 years ago. They did not notice a dif­fer­ence, and they enjoyed both equal­ly.

    I think that says a lot about the ded­i­ca­tion of the new team. Star Trek Con­tin­ues is amaz­ing.

    Reply
  • Bob Stewart says:
    February 8, 2016 at 3:29 pm

    Sim­ply the best fan made series out there. Peri­od…

    Reply
  • Bill Ross says:
    February 8, 2016 at 4:13 pm

    The guest actors also push this series over the top, from Michael For­est, Lou Fer­rig­no, Col­in Bak­er, Mari­na Sir­tis, Michael Dorn, Fiona Vroom, Naki­ta Bur­ris, Erin Gray, Jamie Bam­ber, Gigi Edg­ley, to name a few. A Who’s Who in sci­fi-dom. You also can’t beat the scor­ing with new orig­i­nal music and a full orches­tra. It’s a superb pro­duc­tion all around.

    Reply
  • Ken Hayashida, Jr. says:
    February 8, 2016 at 4:35 pm

    Star Trek Con­tin­ues is an infu­sion of 60’s col­or and ener­gy in the chaos of 2010 media. Con­grats to the team at STC for their on-going jour­ney pow­ered less by a warp core and more by a core of vol­un­teers. Each episode is true to the orig­i­nal intent of the series and explores themes and motifs that are famil­iar yet orig­i­nal. If you’ve been miss­ing your Star Trek fun, join the crew of the Enter­prise as the orig­i­nal five-year mis­sion con­tin­ues!

    Reply
  • Michele Specht says:
    February 8, 2016 at 4:39 pm

    Hi Roger,

    Just so you know, we plan to make 13 episodes of “Star Trek Con­tin­ues”, so if all goes accord­ing to plan, you will have 8 more episodes to enjoy beyond the 5 already released. :)

    Best,
    Michele Specht (Dr. Elise McKen­nah on STC)

    Reply
  • Nanette says:
    February 8, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    Find­ing this show on the inter­net was a dream come true for me. It is a trip back in time to the Orig­i­nal Series in every respect. How won­der­ful to find a ded­i­cat­ed crew of indi­vid­u­als with the pas­sion, tal­ent, and dri­ve to make Star Trek live again as it was meant to be: as a char­ac­ter-dri­ven, plot dri­ven series that depicts our abil­i­ty to rise above the inhu­man­i­ty of this era and the hope for a future that takes us where no man has gone before. Bra­vo To Vic and his team, from the bot­tom of my heart. May you all live long and pros­per!

    Reply
  • Joshua Scott Hotchkin says:
    February 8, 2016 at 5:44 pm

    Star Trek/Idiocracy mashup episode should hap­pen.

    http://advancedape.com/idiocracy-assimilated/

    Reply
  • Lisa Hansell says:
    February 8, 2016 at 5:48 pm

    Thank you, Dan!

    Your cov­er­age is gold for us as we head into our next fundrais­er on March 5th: “To Bold­ly IndieGoGo” So pun­ny…;)

    We VERY MUCH appre­ci­ate your sup­port. We have shared your won­der­ful arti­cle on our Face­book page: https://www.facebook.com/StarTrekContinues
    Twit­ter: https://twitter.com/TrekContinues
    and in our Fabe­book Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/296755610382975/

    Our fans are lov­ing it! Thank you, sir!

    LLAP,
    Lisa Hansell
    Co-Pro­duc­er/­Make­up Supv.
    Star Trek Con­tin­ues
    http://www.startrekcontinues.com

    Reply
  • Bryan sluder says:
    February 8, 2016 at 6:55 pm

    I actu­al­ly found you by acci­dent on Face­book. I was­n’t sure about it till I watched the first episode. I was hooked. You have done an out­stand­ing job. Your sto­ries are true to the intent and style as the orig­i­nal series. I sim­ple can­not wait to watch the next episode. That is episode 6. Thanks so much for what you have done.

    With grat­i­tude
    Bryan Slud­er

    Reply
  • Jane Buchi says:
    February 8, 2016 at 11:06 pm

    Star Trek Con­tin­ues is an amaz­ing homage to the orig­i­nal Star Trek. It has incred­i­bly high qual­i­ty pro­duc­tion val­ues and actors who cap­ture the essence of each of the orig­i­nal char­ac­ters, while not doing out­right imper­son­ations. The sto­ry lines are cre­ative, both plot and char­ac­ter dri­ven, and with the same social con­scious­ness as the orig­i­nal series. LLAP to Vic and the entire STC crew!

    Reply
  • Tommy Livoti says:
    February 9, 2016 at 1:34 am

    Star Trek Con­tin­ues unites Star Trek fans by cir­cling back to the begin­ning and relaunch­es the fran­chise for mul­ti­ple gen­er­a­tions of fans! 🖖

    Reply
  • STC Fan Club says:
    February 9, 2016 at 6:22 am

    Star Trek Con­tin­ues is the best mod­ern day rep­re­sen­ta­tion of TOS.

    The sub­urb qual­i­ty of actors/actress’ is so close to the orig­i­nals.

    This is my Star Trek fix. The sto­ry lines, the atten­tion to detail, the sets etc etc ~ make this the best ST going on the plan­et at present time.

    Keep up the great work cast and crew, and donors! We want many, many more.

    STCFANCLUB.com

    Reply
  • Larry says:
    February 9, 2016 at 8:30 am

    Even if you are not a Trekker check out the sets, light­ings, etc. It’s amaz­ing how they have it down to the small­est detail.

    Reply
  • Jeffery says:
    February 9, 2016 at 9:54 am

    This show is such a treat! Visu­al­ly, it could­n’t be bet­ter. The sets, cos­tumes, and cin­e­matog­ra­phy are spot on what Star Trek did in the 60’s. The sto­ries are writ­ten to com­plete­ly match the style and feel of Star Trek. The actors do a great job match­ing the char­ac­ter­i­za­tions of the orig­i­nal cast.

    I would encour­age every­one to check it out, sub­scribe to their chan­nel, and throw in a few dol­lars when their new indiegogo cam­paign starts.

    Reply
  • Judy says:
    February 9, 2016 at 10:45 am

    SOOOOOO excit­ed!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

    Reply
  • Bill Ross says:
    February 9, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    That’s Nakia Bur­rise of Pow­er Rangers

    Reply
  • Mike Akins says:
    February 14, 2016 at 3:32 am

    I know this is a sil­ly ques­tion but where do I go to find Star Trek Con­tin­ues? No where on cable tv have I been able to find it.

    Reply
  • Bill Ross says:
    April 20, 2016 at 4:17 pm

    The lat­est Indiegogo cam­paign is in full swing but it’s behind the curve. The ini­tial goal is sup­posed to fund up to episode 10 and with 14 days left, it’s less than 40% of their ini­tial goal. Of the sup­pos­ed­ly mil­lion views a lit­tle over 1500 have cho­sen to donate. The lack of sup­port / response is just dumb­found­ing.

    Reply
  • Rodger Heckman says:
    July 21, 2016 at 7:03 pm

    Thank you Lisa, I just saw this. You all do awe­some work. I found out Vic has invest­ed a lot of his own mon­ey. And of course all the time he has put in. It must be awe­some to be in his pres­ence, like a real Capt Kirk run­ning STC. Just stum­bled upon this web­site again. Peace

    Reply
  • Steve Glover says:
    August 19, 2016 at 10:01 pm

    Just got­ta say as a major fan of TOS and the chem­istry of the orig­i­nal cast, I’ve been blown away by how I am drawn in to the TOS world again. Just watched “White Iris” and was moved to tears at the end of the episode. As an ama­teur script writer I am very crit­i­cal of sto­ry lines that chal­lenge the view­er. These are some great sto­ry lines. (Can you guys call Hol­ly­wood for the next movie please?). Keep up the great work as you keep a boy­hood dream alive for so many of us!

    Reply
  • Russ McCoy says:
    February 9, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    Are there any plans by Vic or Todd to even take a stab at the era after the 5 yr run…so lit­tle is known in canon…and would that be risky unchart­ed area that both Para­mount and CBS…I real­ly dig those uni­forms when the Motion Pic­ture came out…it would be worth the effort..no fan film I know of has gone into this area at all

    Reply

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