TNG and Kelvin movie actors being interviewed
The Center Seat was produced by the Nacelle Company and directed by CEO (and Star Trek superfan) Brian Volk-Weiss. For Star Trek, Nacelle drew on experience making several pop culture docuseries like the popular The Toys That Made Us and The Movies That Made Us, on Netflix. As noted in the TrekMovie review, the series, narrated by TNG’s Gates McFadden, is “a fun way to see the story of our beloved franchise come alive.”
The 2021 series had episodes dedicated to each of the five classic shows (TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise) as well as episodes focusing on the TOS movies, The Animated Series, and even a couple of special episodes: one on guest stars and one all about starships. But there were some big things not covered, notably the TNG movies, the Kelvin era movies, and the modern streaming era TV shows.
There are indications that Nacelle is now covering the TNG movies and likely the Kelvin movies, based on some hints provided by Brian Volk-Weiss on his Instagram feed. In mid-November, he posted a picture from an interview he’d just conducted with actor Alan Ruck with the joke “if only it was a Tuesday this would of been the perfect interview!” The line was clearly a nod to Ruck’s role as Captain Harriman from the first TNG movie, Star Trek Generations.
Still, this one post didn’t really prove anything, as he could be working on anything related to Ruck, maybe even a doc about Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But things started coming together a week later when he posted a shot from another interview, this time with Alice Krige, who played the Borg Queen in the second TNG movie, Star Trek: First Contact. This time, Brian’s post hinted there was something in the works, referring to “an unnamed yet poorly hidden show we’re working on currently!” He also quoted the Borg Queen with “Finding your weakness is only a matter of time!”
Brian’s post with Alice included tags for #startrek #ussenterprise #startrekfirstcontact #ncc1701 #resistanceisfutile #borgqueen. And if you still need more proof, scroll back to October in his feed to see a photo of Brian with Brannon Braga, who co-wrote both Generations and First Contact, with the message that Braga was a guest on the Nacelle stage, meaning for one of their documentary interviews. And again, this included the tease “And wait till you see what we were interviewing him for!!!” along with another #startrek tag.
Oh, and just today Brian posted about yet another Star Trek actor interview, this time with Walter Koenig. While the original Chekov actor is best known for his role on TOS and in the six TOS movies, he was one of the few who also appeared in the first TNG movie, Star Trek Generations. This time Brian’s message was “Photon torpedos ready, Admiral!!” I love my job, baby!!” along with a #startrek tag.
So yeah, they are working on something related to the TNG movies. But go back even deeper into Brian’s IG feed and to find a shot of an interview in September with Peter Weller, teasing “boy did we get some scoop!!! Wooo, get psyched for 2026 people!!” In this case there were no Star Trek tags, and the #robocop tag originally made it appear he was working on something for the franchise Weller is best known for. However, Weller did appear in 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness, playing the villainous Admiral Marcus.
The other big topic not covered in the 11-episode docuseries in 2021: the streaming era shows, which kicked off with Star Trek: Discovery on CBS All Access (now Paramount+) in 2017. Volk-Weiss has not posted any photos from interviews with any actors associated with streaming era Trek. However, about a month ago he posted a picture with himself and Bryan Fuller, co-creator of Discovery. Fuller was the original showrunner until he was fired by CBS during production of the first season. Unlike the other hint posts from Volk-Weiss, this wasn’t from the Nacelle offices where they shoot their documentaries, but from “an awesome lunch” with Fuller. And the post made no mention of Discovery, but did mention how Fuller worked on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Pushing Daisies, and American Gods.
Nacelle: “Stay tuned”
Taken together it does appear that this 2026 project will cover at least the TNG movies, probably the Kelvin movies, and maybe more. TrekMovie reached out directly to Volk-Weiss, pointing to all of his Instagram hints. He didn’t confirm a second season of The Center Seat was currently in production, but he didn’t deny it either. Brian told TrekMovie:
“At this point in time I have to be a little coy and simply say: stay tuned!”
It’s likely that the company wants to wait until they can make an official announcement for whatever they have cooking with details on when and where it can be seen and maybe a trailer. It’s a good bet they would want that out early in 2026, as his hints have already indicated whatever they are working on, it is intended for a 2026 release, which is the 60th anniversary year of the Star Trek franchise.
When something official is available we will be sure to report on it. Until then, we will stay on the lookout for more clues.
Watch The Center Seat on YouTube for free
In September the Nacelle Company posted all 11 episodes of The Center Seat on their YouTube channel. Here is the first episode (and the full playlist), streaming for free:
There’s also a companion book, The Center Seat – 55 Years of Star Trek: 55 Years of Trek: The Complete, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek, with interviews that didn’t make the documentary.
