On this autumn Friday, we bring you the latest tidbits from CBS Trek productions around the web.

Short Treks

Michael Giacchino’s influence on second season music

As many have noticed, there’s a bit of a similarity to Michael Giacchino’s scores to the Kelvin films in the latest Short Treks episodes. That’s because Giacchino is not only directing and scoring an episode this season (“Ephraim and Dot”), but he’s been mentoring the composers scoring the other shorts.

I’m overseeing a great group of young composers who have been scoring the new Short Treks. It’s been a lot of fun working with them. I myself am directing – and scoring – one of the shorts – it’s called “Ephraim and DOT.” Look for it to air in December. https://t.co/YUYblX3Eza — Michael Giacchino (@m_giacchino) October 6, 2019

Chabon’s throwback novel cover for “Q&A”

Showing his love of TOS and the ’70s-era fandom, writer of the episode Michael Chabon made his own retro “Q&A” design based on the classic novel Spock Must Die! by James Blish. The book was the first licensed Star Trek novel based on an original story, published in January 1970.

So many Tribbles!

Discovery Producer/director Olatunde Osunsanmi shared a behind-the-scenes look at all the tribbles used in making “The Trouble With Edward.”

Tribbles, tribbles, tribbles. We had to test them before putting them on camera. Inanimate ones, remote control ones, different colored ones. And they really are fun to pet—not kidding. @Mario_Moreira72 did an amazing job putting them together. pic.twitter.com/8ah75lpwEa — Olatunde Osunsanmi (@CenterWillHold) October 11, 2019

Prop master Mario Moreira jumped in with some details:

Over 500 — Mario Moreira (@Mario_Moreira72) October 12, 2019

This my buyer, Maria’s office,during tribbles prep. pic.twitter.com/gYOoyHL2QP — Mario Moreira (@Mario_Moreira72) October 12, 2019

H. Jon Benjamin interview

The official StarTrek site has a brief interview with Edward Larkin actor (and voice of Bob from Bob’s Burgers and the eponymous Archer) H. Jon Benjamin. He spoke about his earliest exposure to Trek:

I can’t specify the exact year, but I will say mid 1970s and it was The Original Series in my living room on the television. I watched when I was probably — I must’ve been like 10 years old. I remember a whole bunch of them [because] I’d watch pretty regularly when I was a kid. That was probably the first science fiction I’d ever seen. So I was fascinated by it.

The well-known voice actor discussed what appealed to him about doing the short:

I’d read the script and thought it was really funny and as I said, because I was a viewer of The Original Series, [I remember] the tribbles episode being particularly iconic just because of how unique it was relative to the other [episodes]. So when I read “The Trouble With Edward,” it was a really funny idea, based on the outside. That’s sort of what got me interested. And then finding out later that a lot of people had no idea what tribbles were even; [as in] younger people who had come to Star Trek later. Some were not aware that tribbles came from TOS.

And Benjamin revealed that there’s a deleted scene from his Short Treks episode “The Trouble With Edward.”

I’m not sure if it made it into the episode, but [we shot a scene where] Edward was eating a cross-section of a Tribble. Like really eating it. We used watermelon to make it look like meat. It ended up looking kind of like prime rib, so it seemed like it wasn’t too bad!

Discovery goings on

Work on Discovery’s third season is well underway, but a few folks have taken a moment to share some updates and insights on social media.

Paradise shares Iceland photos

Co-showrunner Michelle Paradise put up a few behind-the-scenes photos of the production’s time in Iceland after the season 3 trailer premiered at New York Comic Con.

Now that the #StarTrekDiscovery season 3 trailer has dropped, I can FINALLY share some photos from our trip to Iceland. Spoiler alert: It’s gorgeous… pic.twitter.com/FvIZxfmjVv — Michelle Paradise (@michelleparadis) October 12, 2019

And a few more, just for fun! (Though I can’t post the 2nd photo without noting that the glaciers were once much, much larger… #GlobalWarming) pic.twitter.com/OUKLrULVzh — Michelle Paradise (@michelleparadis) October 12, 2019

Frakes is back

Jonathan Frakes was back in Toronto directing his second episode of the season, the eighth episode. He took time out to pose for a fun photo with executive producer Olatunde Osunsamni and actress Michelle Yeoh.

Disco syndication deal in UK

Channel 4 in the UK has recently acquired the rights to the previous seasons of Discovery. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it will join the line up of Channel 4’s entertainment-focused digital network E4 in 2020.

Guest actor in season 3 revealed

Indian actor Adil Hussain, probably best known to American audiences for his role in award-winning film The Life of Pi, took to social media to point out his involvement in season 3. Hussain plays the Federation representative who is waiting to greet Michael Burnham.

Excited and thrilled to be a part of the @StarTrek Cast in the 3rd Season. Here is the trailer. Have a look you might be happy to see me 😁👇 @SonequaMG @Dibang https://t.co/jwqzXQlpyY — Adil hussain (@_AdilHussain) October 23, 2019

Writers’ Room adds a new pet mascot

Meet Romeo the Disco Dog:

There's a new crew member in the writers' room! Romeo is our resident expert on all things Porthos, Number One, Mollie, Butler, targ, and the canine species from Alfa 177. pic.twitter.com/RkVQtNNexM — Discovery Writers (@StarTrekRoom) October 22, 2019

The universal translator is still struggling to understand him, but the rest of us are well versed in belly rubs and treats. He doesn't seem to mind! — Discovery Writers (@StarTrekRoom) October 22, 2019

He's a big fan of Tribble Kibble. It's strange – we never seem to run out! — Discovery Writers (@StarTrekRoom) October 22, 2019

Star Trek: Picard special effect tease

Picard’s first season is now in post-production, and visual effects artist Charles Collyer teased folks on Instagram with a very mysterious object draped in blue screen fabric. The hashtags included only add to the mystery, the most cryptic being: #itsnotwhatyouthinkitis #strangethingsonset #flyingdelorian.

Nicktoon crew getting into the Trek or Treat spirit

Over at Nickelodeon, the writers on the forthcoming youth-focused Trek cartoon poked their heads up and showed off their “Trek-o-ween” spirit with two unfortunate members of a landing party.

Getting spoopy around the @NickAnimation Star Trek writers' room for Halloween… 💀👻🖖 pic.twitter.com/pC6t5g4cfs — Julie Benson (@TheJulieBenson) October 9, 2019

The team also showed off their Halloween Trek costumes and office party from Friday afternoon

The rivalry continues… pic.twitter.com/31gXzb2GHk — Dan & Kevin Hageman (@brothershageman) October 25, 2019

Halloween at @Nickelodeon is boldly ghouling where no one has gone before… #StarTrek pic.twitter.com/Y4tAbTjzqm — Aaron Waltke (@GoodAaron) October 25, 2019

Keep up with all the news on upcoming Star Trek shows here at TrekMovie.com