Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Showrunners Opened Up About Transforming The Cast Into Puppets For Season 4, And It Involved Talking To Talent From Buffy Spinoff Angel

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Each season of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” has featured one episode with a wildly imaginative plotline. Season 1 presented a fairy tale narrative; Season 2 offered both a “Lower Decks” crossover and the series’ first-ever musical episode, and this week in the 2025 TV schedule, we witnessed La’an Noonien Singh resolving a murder mystery within a holodeck prototype for Season 3. For Season 4, it has been announced that the “Strange New Worlds” actors will spend time portraying puppets. Showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers have shared insights about the effort put into this upcoming episode, which involved seeking advice from some professionals who worked on the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” spinoff “Angel.

Despite the uncertainty about when Season 4 of Strange New Worlds will air among the upcoming Star Trek series, the team behind the show has moved on from this specific episode. After unveiling Anson Mount’s character Christopher Pike in puppet form at San Diego Comic-Con, Goldsman and Myers informed Entertainment Weekly that “over six months of work” was invested in this episode, and that along with regular meetings for each episode, there were always additional gatherings specifically for the puppet. Later, Myers stated:

In simpler terms, I was well-versed in handling certain aspects of the work. During actual production, we often engaged in lengthy discussions with our director regarding the management of puppets, particularly focusing on their creation and operation. We also had numerous talks about managing our team of puppeteers due to their presence. Essentially, it’s like producing a unique episode, and it demands a substantial amount of time and attention to execute properly.

As a die-hard Star Trek fan, I can tell you that crafting a regular Star Trek episode is already no small feat, with actors skillfully portraying their characters. But when you toss in puppets? Well, it’s no wonder it took an extraordinary amount of time. And let’s not forget about the talented puppeteers who had to be recruited for this unique production. If I were to guess, the Strange New Worlds puppets were probably created by the Jim Henson Creature Workshop, which might mean constructing entirely new stages to accommodate those puppeteers, much like a Muppets production or even The Dark Crystal.

If you’re a fan of Star Trek, consider subscribing to Paramount+ as it provides access to both classic shows and recent series such as Strange New Worlds for around $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year. Upgrade to the Essential plan for more content, or enjoy an ad-free experience with double the catalog by adding Showtime through the Premium plan for $12.99 a month. Check it out here!

Absolutely, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” isn’t the first television series to use puppetry for its characters. A memorable example from the past is the “Smile Time” episode in Season 5 of “Angel“. Henry Alonso Myers reached out to Jeffrey Bell, a writer, director, and producer for “Angel“, to discuss how to approach this entertaining concept. Myers reminisced about their conversation.

Recently, we exchanged several discussions on various topics with him. Initially, I thought these talks were merely casual chitchat, but in retrospect, I realized they were incredibly beneficial.

Although we haven’t yet determined when other Strange New Worlds characters will be unveiled as puppets, Akiva Goldsman was speechless upon seeing Christina Chong’s La’an puppet. Both Chong and fellow actors Jess Bush and Rebecca Romijn commended the script, leaving me anxiously awaiting the outcome of this episode. For now, I can only enjoy watching Puppet Pike exclaim “Hit it!” and seem puzzled about where everyone else on the Enterprise bridge disappeared to.

Fresh installments of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” debut every Thursday on Paramount+. Given that the series has been extended for a concluding fifth season with only six episodes, I’m eagerly waiting to see if creators Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers can manage to include an additional “special” episode within this condensed production schedule.

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2025-08-01 16:48