Trek on TV


Happy First Contact Day

According to Star Trek future history, on April 5th, 2063 Dr. Zefram Cochrane became the first man to break the warp barrier (with a little help from the crew of the NCC-1701E) and garnered the attention of some Vulcans in the neighborhood…sparking the ‘first contact’ between humans and aliens…and the beginnings of the United Federation of Planets and all that came with it.




Koenig On Visiting New Star Trek Set

In a recent interview the new Chekov, Anton Yelchin, talked about Walter Koenig visiting him on the set of JJ Abrams Star Trek. Now in a new interview with the Joplin Globethe original Chekov says that, although it was ‘odd’ to see someone else play Chekov, what he saw on his visit to Paramount was ‘conscientiousness’ and ‘loyal’ to the original Trek.


Takei Dishes On Shatner

George Takei appeared on Conan O’Brien last night and immediately Conan asked George about his ‘hate’ for William Shatner and how he got a chance to roast bill on Comedy Central. Takei talked about how Shatner never got his name right and how he thought Bill’s acting “sucked.” The original Sulu also talked about the Stern show, dubbing Godzilla, and appearing on a new talent show…check out video below.


Patrick Stewart Defends Trekkies

Back in February we reported that Patrick Stewart (TNG’s Capt. Picard) had to ask fans not to come to his plays dressed in Starfleet uniforms. In a new interview with Newsweek, however, the actor gets a bit testy (much like Simon Pegg did recently) and shows his love for Trekkies, assuring that we are not, as Newsweek calls us, “weird.” He still doesn’t like those damn uniforms, though.


Library Computer: The Enterprise Relaunch + Exclusive Preview Of “Kobayashi Maru”

Captain Jonathan Archer and the crew of the NX-01 may have cut their TV adventures short, but they continue in print. This week’s Library Computer takes a look at the Star Trek Enterprise releaunch including an exclusive sneak peek at the next fall’s "Kobayashi Maru," written by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin, as well as a tease on next year’s Romulan War books.


Shatner Live Chat Now April 4th + Recent Shatner Q&A

The twice postponed Live chat with William Shatner has now been set for this Friday. Bill (and his daughter) will be taking fan questions at LiveVideo.com April 4th at 5PM (Pacific). Instructions on participating below. Plus we have some recent ‘ShatnerVisions’ videoblogs about Boston Legal season 5, his new autobio and Shat discussing some of his favorite things.



Nimoy Talks Life With Spock

In January we ran early excerpts from an unpublished interview with Leonard Nimoy, and now the full interview is available. In the interesting discussion, the original Spock talks about aging, photography, his long career and politics. He also talked a bit about the character of Spock and how it has influenced his life, excerpts below.


Shatner Met Quinto and Pine

It has already been reported that members of the new Star Trek crew have had a chance to meet their predecessors (Quinto and Nimoy, Saldana and Nichols, Yelchin and Koenig, plus Pegg has met James Doohan’s son, Chris). Now, finally, William Shatner reveals on a new ShatnerVision video that he has met the new Kirk, Chris Pine (and Quinto as well).



Moore: Star Trek Had Too Much Continuity

Last week Ron Moore talked about his visit to the new Star Trek set and today there is more at Sci-Fi Wire. The TNG/DS9 vet writer/producer says after seeing Trek at Paramount again, “all that kind of really hardcore, Trekkie geek stuff came flying back.” Moore (who has not read the Trek script, but has experience rebooting the Battlestar franchise) opined on Abrams’ plan to bring Trek back.



77 Reasons Why William Shatner Is Awesome

Today is William Shatner’s 77th birthday. The original Captain Kirk is still going strong both acting as well as with all his other myriad of activities (as pitchman, writer, philanthropist, entrepreneur, etc.). He is an endless source of inspiration and entertainment and so we thought we would honor him with a list of the 77 reasons why we think he is awesome.



Shatner Live Chat March 31st + Recent Shatner Q&A

A couple of weeks ago we reported that William Shatner will taking his ‘Shatnvervision’ live with an online chat with fans, but it was postponed. Now The Shat’s team have set a firm date of Monday March 31 at 3:00PM Pacific. The chat will be on LiveVideo.com (for more info check out this announcement). In the mean time Bill has been taking fan questions the old fashioned way via his regular Shatnervision Blog, some recent answers below.


Moore: No Trek-like Films For BSG – But Yes For TV Prequel

Today brings lots of news on the future of Trek vet Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica franchise. The BSG co-creator tells The Hollywood Reporter that he doesn’t expect the show to follow in the footsteps of Trek to the big screen. However, the show will be finally getting the TV prequel announced two years, ago as Sci-Fi have given the greenlight fo the pilot of Moore’s Caprica.



Vintage Video: Shatner On Kirk v Crane, Why He Did Trek and Kirk’s Death

Four years ago this month, the Museum of Television & Radio held a ‘Tribute to William Shatner’ at their annual Paley Festival. Video for this 2004 event is now online at Fancast, where you can see The Shat on subjects ranging from meeting Spencer Tracy to the death of Kirk. Plus in videos for a separate MTR event for Boston Legal, Shatner declares which role is bigger: Kirk or Crane…see below



The Collective: Review – DST TOS Communicator

Just this week Diamond Select / Art Asylum has released the next item in their ‘Trek Tek’ line, the Kirk era version of the communicator. This joins the previously released TOS phasers and the forthcoming tricorder (announced at the recent Toy Fair). This is not the first TOS communicator made available, but for $29 it offers many features usually only available with high end replicas.



Nimoy Log: Is It Strange To Play Spock Again?

The third in our series of guest blogs from Leonard Nimoy. I’ve had a great time working on the movie. I expect to finish around the end of March. The level of production, the quality, the size and the talent continue to impress me. The people I’ve worked with have all been extremely enthusiastic and JJ Abrams impresses me as a very special talent and as a person.


Jeri Ryan Increases Her Collective

On Sunday Jeri Ryan, Voyager’s Seven of Nine, welcomed Gisele into the collective, her first child with restaurateur hubby Christophe Emé. A rep for Jeri tells People Magazine “Both parents are thrilled, Jeri is resting comfortably, and Christophe is playing the part of proud new papa quite well.” Gisele Emé weighs in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces and is Ryan’s second child, joining Alex (13), from her first marriage. Congrats Jeri!


Burton and Nichols Compare Baird And Abrams

The last director to go to the final frontier was Stuart Baird for Star Trek Nemesis. Baird (who is an Oscar nominated editor) only got the Trek gig as payback for help he provided re-cutting Paramount’s M:I:II and Tomb Raider movies. After Nemesis bombed, the TNG cast have made no secret about how they feel about their final director. The latest example is in a new SciFi Pulse interview with LeVar Burton and TOS star Nichelle Nichols.


Shatner To Direct New Comedy Film

Late last month we reported that William Shatner had signed a multi-project deal with Big Screen Entertainment. The first project for that deal is the already announced "Gonzo Ballet" documentary centering on the Milwaukee Ballet’s performance based on Shatner’s Album "Has Been." TrekMovie.com now has the exclusive scoop on the second project, a new comedy feature film to be produced, directed (and possibly starring) William Shatner.



Shatner Gets With The Program On Oprah [UPDATE: Video]

Today, William Shatner boldly went where he’d never been before, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shatner was featured as one of Oprah’s ‘TV icons’ series. The show also included Happy Days’ Fonzie, Henry Winkler and soap opera singing sensation Rick Springfield (who was also Zac on the original Battlestar Galactica). No big news (besides seeing Shatner using a cane) and no questions about the new movie, but was still interesting to see Shatner in this environment.