CelebWatch: Stardate 07.17.08

This week, the Watch brings news on a possible new home for Shatnervision, Patrick Stewart becoming a real-life professor, a new movie for Marina Sirtis, an interview with Terry Farrell, Wil Wheaton on writing and killing Wesley Crusher, and George Takei giving an award to Nichelle Nichols. As if that weren’t enough, there’s news on not one but two Trek alumni who had run-ins with the law this week.

Stewart awarded professorship
TNG star Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard) has played a professor in the three X-Men films, but now he’s a professor in real life. BBC News reports that Stewart was named Professor of Performing Arts at Huddersfield University, having been the university’s chancellor since 2004. He received the honor in a ceremony held on Monday, July 14th, after which he led some 400 students in a procession through the town center. Stewart had this to say of his new-found professorship:

Since the dawn of existence, there have always been moments when the course of history shifted. Such a turning point is upon us now.

Oh, wait, sorry, that’s from the X-Men 3 trailer. This is what Stewart had to say about his professorship:

I’m truly honored to receive this title. The university is an outstanding educational institution, one that I am extremely proud to be associated with, and I look forward to continuing to work with the staff and students.

You can view pictures from the event at the university’s official site here and here.

Give yourself a round of applause, Professor!

Dick arrested, Bonsall on the lam
[warning: the following true crime story contains adult situations, we have not changed the names to protect the potentially innocent]
Two Star Trek alumni are in big trouble with the law this week… and it’s far from the first time for either of them. Whacked-out comic and Voyager guest star Andy Dick (the EMH Mark II in “Message in a Bottle”) was arrested on suspicion of drug possession and sexual battery in Murietta, California, on July 16th, according multiple sources such as The LA Times, TMZ and Newsday. Apparently, Dick urinated in public outside of a Buffalo Wild Wings Bar & Grill then commenced with fondling a 17-year-old girl and pulling down her tank top and bra to expose her breasts. When arrested, Dick was heavily intoxicated and had marijuana and Xanax in his pockets. He was released after posting $5,000 bail and is awaiting trial. In the meantime, an arrest warrant has been issued for former child actor Brian Bonsall (Alexander Rozhenko on TNG) in Boulder, Colorado after he failed to appear at a scheduled probation violations court hearing, as reported by E! Online. Bonsall has been accused of violating the conditions of his probation stemming from an assault charge in 2007 (which we reported on back in September). At last check, Bonsall has not yet been apprehended.

Mug shots of Dick (left) and Bonsall (right). Stay classy, guys

Shatner headed to YouTube?
William Shatner (He Who Was Kirk) and his video blog, Shatnervision, shut down operations at LiveVideo.com months ago. The folks behind ShatnerVision announced they are looking for a new home and TrekMovie thinks we have spotted it. Checkout YouTube.com/WilliamShatner. The channel uses the same logo as ShatnerVision and links back to Shat’s official site. But for now there are no videos so we still have to wait until Bill gets back into to vlogging groove. While you’re waiting, you can pass the time by reading a new interview with the Shat at The New York Post or by listening to two new audio interviews available at Jimbo Talk and CBC. Enjoy!

Wheaton: no more Manga… or Wesley
In the first part of an extensive interview with ComicMix, actor-turned-writer Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) says he won’t be writing any more stories for Star Trek: The Manga. Discussing his experience on the ”Manga”, he said:

Star Trek manga was really, really fun. It was scary. It was hard. But it was ultimately really fun. The whole experience was like writing a script in the late ’60s for the original series. And I felt like a real writer when I was doing that. I was making characters do things and I had to follow an internal logic. I had to follow the rules of the universe … When I wrote the second one, I was less self-conscious. I felt like I had done one already, received good reviews and audience feedback. But what a difference between something being enjoyed by the audience and your friends and actually getting good reviews. I got real lucky with that one and I received good notices all around. So with the second one, which comes out next month, I think, I just wanted to challenge myself.

Wheaton explains how he was asked to write a Wesley Crusher story for the TNG Manga and why he declined:

…I didn’t want to do it because it felt to me like there was no way in that equation that I could return a positive result. Ultimately, I’m just not interested in Wesley Crusher anymore. It’s been a long time and he’s sort of frozen in amber in a certain state. I don’t have anything to add to that. I don’t have anything new to bring to it at all.

When asked if he had any thoughts about killing off Wesley Crusher, Wheaton explains:

No. I’m way more interested in working on my own original stuff. And there’s a finite number of time/energy/creative units that I can gather on my “collect resources” turn. I would rather put those into building my own story than into repairing the Wesley Crusher building.

Wheaton also announced he is writing a story for a comic book he loves, though he couldn’t give the title. Oh, and he didn’t like X2 (the best of the X-Men films). For the full interview, head over to ComicMix.

Wheaton, Alexander take on ‘Criminal Minds’
In more Wheaton news, everyone’s favorite uber-geek announced over on his own site that he began shooting his episode of Criminal Minds on Wednesday, July 16th, following a costume fitting the day before (TrekMovie mentioned earlier that Wheaton had landed a role on the series). Wheaton isn’t the only Trek veteran appearing on Criminal Minds next season, however. TV Fodder reports that Jason Alexander (Kurros in VOY’s “Think Tank”) has a “really crazy role” as a “possible
psychopath” in an episode of the show. New episodes of Criminal Minds begin airing September 24th.

Takei to present award to Nichols
Nichelle Nichols’ latest film Tru Love will premiere at the closing night Gala of the 2008 Outfest in Los Angeles next Monday. Nichols tells TrekMovie she will be at the event and that she is to be honored by the ACLU with an award which her Star Trek co-star George Takei will be presenting to her. More info and tickets information at the official OutFest website.

Takei sightings + talking on SyFy Radio
Speaking of Takei, the actor and his partner, Brad Altman, were spotted at the New York Gay Pride March on June 29th (see image below).

Last weekend, Takei attended Shore Leave convention in Baltimore. Also in attendance was Star Trek Generations‘ Malcolm McDowell (Tolian Soran a.k.a. He Who Killed Kirk). See pics below.

In other Takei news, the actor will be a guest on SyFy Portal’s SyFy Radio on July 23rd “to talk about life as an icon, his role on “Heroes” and his upcoming nuptials with longtime partner Brad Altman.” There will also be a show from Vulkon Orlando on July 19th that will include such guests as Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker) and Nana Visitor (Kira Nerys). See SyFy Portal for more details.

Sirtis at ’31 North 62 East’
Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) will be starring in a movie called 31 North 62 East, a
psychological thriller about a Special Air Service veteran who seeks justice (or is that revenge?) after being betrayed by the government. According to Sussex Express, Sirtis will spend ten days on the movie, which begins shooting in Horsham, England on July 21st.

Farrell and Hcⁿ at Tanagra Polaris
The good folks at Harcore Nerdity have a new podcast containing an interview with DS9 star Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax) conducted at the Polaris convention in Toronto. The immensely down-to-earth actress discussed her experiences on the show (including her make-up process and working as part of an ensemble cast), the evolution of her character, being a hero (even if it was “for pretend”), her decision to leave the show, and more. Just head on over to the site and download the podcast to hear it for yourself.

Terry Farrell (second from right) poses with the Harcore Nerdity crew

Crosby at OSFest
Last week, we reported that Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar) Denise Crosby (TNG’s Tasha Yar) would be the “Media Guest of Honor” at this year’s OSFest in Omaha, Nebraska, which ran from July 11th through the 13th. Well now, we have a pic of Crosby at the event (see below).

Trek stars on mobile
Want Bill Shatner, Bob Picardo, or Jeri Ryan on your mobile phone? The mobile service Fonepark is offering downloadable wallpapers of these Star Trek actors and many others, in addition to TV theme ring tones and more. See ROK Comics for more on that.

TrekBits

• Several sites are offering fans the opportunity to submit questions for Robert Picardo’s upcoming panel discussion at Comic-Con 2008: TV.com, Zap2It, and i09.
• Babysitter Wanted, the horror film starring DS9’s Nana Visitor (Kira Nerys), will make its Canadian premiere tonight Montreal’s Fantasia Fest in the Hall Theater. (MarketWatch)
• Christopher Lloyd (Star Trek III‘s Kruge) and Bill Campbell (Okona in TNG’s “The Outrageous Okona”) are currently on location in Taft, California, shooting a mini-series called Meteor. (Taft Midway Driller)
• The Becker Film Group has acquired distribution rights for the film The Last Station, which stars Christopher Plummer (Star Trek VI‘s General Chang). (Variety)
• Actors Brad Dourif (Lon Suder on VOY) and Sid Haig (First Lawgiver, TOS: “The Return of the Archons”) will be among the guests at the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre the weekend of August 22-24, 2008. (Movies Online)
• Actors Mark Harelik (Kashyk, VOY: “Counterpoint”) and John Schuck (Klingon ambassador, etc.) attended the opening of the musical Damn Yankees on July 10th. (Playbill)
• Apparently coming this fall is a new TV series starring Gary Graham (Soval of Enterprise) entitled Dead End City which rips off of Sin City. (io9; DeadEndCityTheSeries.com)
• Lastly, there’s, um… there’s this.

The Trek Continues: Trek Birthdays
Among the Trek luminaries celebrating their birthdays in the coming week are: actor Lee Arenberg (Gral, Prak, Bok, Pelk & Gral), 46; actor Ronny Cox (Capt. Edward Jellico), 70; actor Ike Eisenmann (Star Trek II‘s Peter Preston), 46; actress Louise Fletcher (DS9’s Kai Winn), 74; actor Chris Sarandon (Martus Mazur), 66; director Joseph Sargent (TOS: “The Corbomite Maneuver”), 83; and actor Christopher Shea (Keevan, Saowin, Sajen & Telev), 39. To these and everyone we couldn’t list here, TrekMovie.com wishes you all a very happy birthday!