Paramount+ to Celebrate ‘Star Trek’ With First Contact Day: A Guide to the Panels & Marathon
What better way to celebrate April 5 — which, in Star Trek history, is the day in 2063 when humans first made contact with Vulcans, as depicted in the movie Star Trek: First Contact — than with a day full of panels, news, marathons, and more?
Paramount+’s First Contact Day is a follow up to Star Trek Day (on September 8). The #StarTrekUnitedGives initiative, where for every person that tweets the hashtag, the streamer will donate $1 to organizations that champion equality, social justice, and the pursuit of scientific advancements, will be part of First Contact Day as well.
Panels will run from 3:00-5:45 PM ET, with hosts Wil Wheaton and Mica Burton. During each, the cast members and creatives from the universe will discuss exploration, unity through diversity, and new frontiers in the franchise, plus offer up sneak peeks of what’s ahead.
Check out the panels, their descriptions, and the panelists below:
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Star Trek: First Contact 25th Anniversary Panel: Cast members Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner and Alice Krige discuss behind-the-scenes memories and the film’s importance 25 years after its premiere.
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“Creating First Contacts” Panel: Costume Designer Gersha Phillips (Star Trek: Discovery), Senior Concept Designer Neville Page, VFX Supervisor Jason Zimmerman and Make-up & Prosthetics Department Head James Mackinnon (Star Trek: Picard)
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“Women In Motion” Panel: Star Trek: Discovery‘s Sonequa Martin-Green, Star Trek: Picard‘s Michelle Hurd and Isa Briones, and Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Dawnn Lewis look back at how Star Trek: The Original Series actress Nichelle Nichols helped pave the way for women of color on television and her lasting impact on not only Star Trek, but also science and culture.
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“Second Contact” Panel: Mike McMahan, the creator of Star Trek: Lower Decks, Paul F. Tompkins, the co-host of “Star Trek: The Pod Directive” and Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes of Star Trek: The Next Generation discuss how some of the hilarious B-stories from past series like Star Trek: The Next Generation paved the way for new iterations of Star Trek, including Star Trek: Lower Decks, the franchise’s first animated comedy.
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Star Trek: Prodigy Panel: Executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman are joined by Captain Kathryn Janeway herself of Star Trek: Voyager and Kate Mulgrew, who is reprising her role in animated form to talk about the highly anticipated upcoming CG-animated kids series from Nickelodeon and CBS Studios.
Panels will livestream for free at StarTrek.com/FirstContact — where you can also find additional information about the day — and, in the U.S., on PlutoTV and Paramount+’s Twitch page. The panels will then be available on-demand on Paramount+’s YouTube Channel and on Paramount+.
U.S. fans will also be able to stream a “Best of First Contacts” marathon — with episodes from 10 different Star Trek series — beginning at 12/11c (and pausing for the panels) and ending at 9/8c at StarTrek.com/FirstContact. Check out the list of episodes below:
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Star Trek: The Original Series: Season 1, Episode 18 – “Arena”
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Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 1, Episode 1 – “Second Contact”
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season 4, Episode 7 – “Little Green Men”
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Star Trek: Short Treks: Season 2, Episode 6 –“Children of Mars”
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Star Trek: Voyager: Season 4, Episode 1 – “Scorpion, Part 2”
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Star Trek: Discovery: Season 2, Episode 2 – “New Eden”
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Star Trek: The Animated Series: Season 1, Episode 7 – “The Infinite Vulcan”
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Star Trek: Enterprise: Season 1, Episode 6 – “The Andorian Incident’
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Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 4, Episode 15 – “First Contact”
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Star Trek: Picard: Season 1, Episode 8 – “Broken Pieces”
