Multiple Choice: What Seinfeld actor had a cameo on Star Trek: Voyager?
A. Jason Alexander
B. Jerry Seinfeld
C. Julia Louis-Dreyfus
D. Michael Richards
Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the “Astronomy Question Answer Sheet” page.
Given that Hollywood has apparently given up on summer blockbusters about space aliens and similar science fiction, we need to look to television. The summer has already been a lot of fun given the new series Murderbot, as well as the new seasons of Foundation and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
But wait, there’s more.
Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise is coming to a television near you. That’s right, some things cannot be contained to the screen.
The new series Alien: Earth will premiere on FX, Hulu, and Disney+ on August 12th. The latest trailer will show you that the screaming and running has just started. But instead of a two hour movie, you now have eight hours of terror spread over eight episodes.
So what is the spin this time? It’s in the title. Hell has come to our planet.
It is basically a tale of childlike super soldiers taking on the Xenomorph, or Alien creature. This future Earth is more advanced and nothing like ours, but it does not seem advanced enough to understand what just crash-landed onto the planet.
Here is the plot summary from FX:
When the mysterious deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-lands on Earth, “Wendy” (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat in FX’s Alien: Earth.
In the year 2120, the Earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold. In this Corporate Era, cyborgs (humans with both biological and artificial parts) and synthetics (humanoid robots with artificial intelligence) exist alongside humans. But the game is changed when the wunderkind Founder and CEO of Prodigy Corporation unlocks a new technological advancement: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness). The first hybrid prototype named “Wendy” marks a new dawn in the race for immortality. After Weyland-Yutani’s spaceship collides into Prodigy City, “Wendy” and the other hybrids encounter mysterious life forms more terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.
The Alien story was always about the hubris of humanity, corporate greed, and scary technological “improvements”. It is all here again in this television series.
We seem to be slow learners, even with our technology.
Now that the Comic Con 2025 events are over, all we can do now is await the showing of the new Star Trek series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, slated to premiere early next year. We can also rewatch the first look teaser trailer a few times.
So what can be shared about the new series? Startrek.com provided a helpful summary of the new crew members of the U.S.S. Athena, which will be the location of much of the action. You might also remember a few actors rejoining the series, including Robert Picardo as The Doctor and Tig Notaro as Jett Reno. Finally, Holly Hunter will be playing captain of the U.S.S. Athena while a new half-Klingon villian will be played by Paul Giamatti.
Another familiar face behind the series is Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who is the executive producer on other familiar Star Trek series, including Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
And what is the setting for this new series? While earlier discussions about a Starfleet Academy series looked to an earlier era, this version is set in the 32nd century after some rough times for the Federation (see the Star Trek: Discovery series to understand that mess). Co-creator of the series Alex Kurtzman explained it in this way to the Los Angeles Times:
As the father of a 17-year-old boy, I see what my son is feeling as he looks at the world and to his future. I see the uncertainty; I see all the things we took for granted as given are not certainties for him. I see him recognizing he’s inheriting an enormous mess to clean up and it’s going to be on his generation to figure out how to do that, and that’s a lot to ask of a kid. My thinking was, if we set “Starfleet Academy” in the halcyon days of the Federation where everything was fine, it’s not going to speak to what kids are going through right now.
So this is really a show for the Gen Z viewers out there who need to put this world back on track. I can understand the desire to be relevant to a new generation, as Star Trek was when it came out in the confusing and troubling 1960s. Though whether or not one is part of Gen Z, I believe we can all take something away from the new series, as we have with all of those that preceded it.
If you had a chance to watch Murderbot on Apple TV+, then you will not be surprised to learn that it has been green-lighted for a second season. If you missed it, then you should add it to your watch list.
While I was a little nervous about the casting and ability to bring to story to the screen, it all worked out well. It was not because the first season closely followed the book, because it did not, but because it followed the spirit of the book.
The characters were fun and likable, while Alexander Skarsgård was just plain enough to be believable in his role as the robot. I also liked the development relationship between Murderbot and fellow augmented human Gurathin. An additional subplot involving the soap opera The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon also helped to take the edge off of all the violence.
Overall, it’s a tight-knit crew that you would follow anywhere, no matter what Murderbot has to say about it. I only wish the episodes were longer so that we had more time together. You just get comfortable with the storyline and then the episode is over.
Fortunately, Martha Wells, the author of The Murderbot Diaries, has already written seven books and has an eighth due next year. That should be sufficient to keep the television series going for some time. When that ends, we can always go through the endless episodes of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon.
So, the long anticipated Andor is over. It was certainly worth the wait. But what is next?
Last I looked, this was the status of the many Star Wars live-action television series (chronologically):
It seems the live-action television series have hit a wall. Ahsoka is said to be filming now, but you will be waiting until the summer of 2026 to see anything. I would have replaced Ahsoka with Skeleton Crew, which I thought was a better series with more energy that took itself a little less serious, but it appears the cast of Skeleton Crew is moving on to other projects.
So after all of this Disney hype, all we have left is a few crumbs and The Mandalorian and Grogu movie (maybe premiering in May 2026). While there is still some talk about a season four for The Mandaorian, the movie may be the last hurray.
There had also been talk about a Star Wars: Lando television series, but that then turned into a movie idea instead. I don’t have high hopes if it is a weak as the Star Wars: Solo movie.
Television may be dead for a while while a few other Star Wars movies are released, including Star Wars: Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling.
Disney really dropped the ball with Andor by condensing it into only two seasons, and yet the delays between seasons was enough to frustrate fans. Given the current pace at Disney, it would have taken more than 10 years to see all five planned seasons.
We may need to look elsewhere for our inspiration in the future. Star Wars started back in the 1970s, and Star Trek back in the 1960s. I think we have plenty of talented writers and producers who can create that next television series to bring us into the next generation. And it is not Dune, first written in the 1960s, nor Foundation, based on stories starting in the 1940s (though both are terrific revivals and recreations).
Time for a whole new vision.
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