One of the great things about Star Trek fan films is that many of them approach Star Trek from new and fascinating directions…whether it’s a fan series about a crew of Klingons or Romulans on board a warship, a look at classic TOS episodes from the point-of-view of a redshirt ensign sitting in her quarters on deck 7, or a Star Trek parody featuring talking puppets rendered out in 3D.
Oh, the creative possibilities of fan films are nearly endless!
And the latest fresh idea comes from YouTuber and Podcaster STEVE SHIVES, whose channel has nearly 200K subscribers and more than 3,500 videos!!! Most of his videos deal with pop culture, sci-fi, politics, religion, and of course, Star Trek…nothing that anyone would ever get particularly passionate about, right? But the guy is REALLY hilarious and deeply insightful. If you’re a liberal (like me), his political content is totally on the money. And if you’re a conservative, well, stick to the Star Trek stuff (trust me on this).
Anyway, in April of last year, Steven began releasing what he describes as Star Trek “skits” but I’ve decided to classify as Star Trek fan films because, honestly, they totally are. His first one, STARFLEET LAWYER, was a 15-minute “interview” with Commander Richard Tuckman, Esq., an officer and attorney in the Starfleet Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) corps. Steve plays the role with a sardonic, amusingly resentful flair, as an attorney on a starship turns out to be one of the least respected individuals in the crew. It turns out that captains and first officers always seem to think they’d do a better job as lawyers than someone who is actually trained in law (think: “The Measure of a Man”). As the interview goes on, Tuckman gets increasingly drunk, increasingly sardonic, and increasingly hilariously resentful.
Two months later, Steve was back as Chief Petty Officer Jimmy Gruniger, the Chief Custodian aboard the U.S.S. Knoxville. About as different from lawyer Richard Tuckman as you can get, Gruniger loves his job, even though it’s one of the messiest ones on a starship. But this STARFLEET JANITOR is about as lovable as can be, and just as hilarious as his high-brow predecessor from the previous skit. Take a look…
In October, shortly after the Writers Guild strike ended but while the Screen Actors Guild was still striking along with the United Auto Workers, Steve introduced us to Crewman First Class Albie Milano, STARFLEET UNION REP for the enlisted personnel in the Vehicle Maintenance Department. “Wait!” you say. “How is there a union rep if the Federation doesn’t use money in the future?” Steve deals with this question by setting this interview shortly before the launch of NX-01 in the 22nd century. But it isn’t just about the money. It’s about safety initiatives like installing inertial dampeners and gravity nets throughout the entire ship, and a host of other reasonable concerns. And everything is delivered with an Italian flavored Bronx accent by yet another unique and lovable character.
And finally, January of this year brought fans the most recent of these characters, Lt. Charles Barkdull, a part of Starfleet’s Department of Civil Education. Barkdull is assigned to the U.S.S. Independence as the school guidance counselor because, if you’ll recall, many starships in the 24th century carry crew members who bring their families to live on board with them. But is that really such a good idea?
STARFLEET GUIDANCE COUNSELOR, while somewhat funny in places, is not nearly as humorous as its three predecessors. And it isn’t meant to be…which was completely unexpected (in a good way). In fact, this one tugged at my heartstrings and got me wondering whether GENE RODDENBERRY’s novel concept of the Enterprise-D carrying children on board was really such a good idea after all. And I like a fan film that challenges me, especially with an unexpected real-world message at the very end. Check it out…
Pretty hard hitting, right? Well, after seeing that, I decided to put the full-court press into setting up an interview with Steve—which wasn’t easy because he’s a tough guy to get a hold of! But eventually, I found a way to get his attention and set up a video call.
What follows is a fascinating look at Steve, his experiences as a YouTuber (is this his full-time job?), and what made him choose these particular Starfleet jobs as his first four releases—and is he planning to make more? Take a look…