This week, the Watch has more news on big news for Scott Bukula. We also have the low-down on new projects for Kate Mulgrew and Whoopi Goldberg, Malcolm McDowell taking pride in killing Kirk, William Shatner talking seal violations, LeVar Burton showing his ink, UK fame for George Takei, the latest Jeri Ryan sighting, and and much more below.
Bakula gets new series + to appear in ‘Chuck’ arc
This is a good week for Scott Bakula (Capt. Jonathan Archer). In last week’s CelebWatch, we mentioned that TNT would be making “an imminent decision” on what to do with Men of a Certain Age, a pilot starring Bakula. That decision has been made. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on Monday that TNT has picked up Men of a Certain Age as a series and have placed an order for ten episodes. The drama, which marks both Bakula’s and comedian Ray Romano’s return to series television, is slated to premiere this fall. It was also just announced that Bakula will be doing a three episode arc on NBC’s Chuck. Bakula will play Chuck’s estranged father.
Mulgrew has ‘Class’
And another one of Trek’s last Captains has a new gig. It was announced on Monday that Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway) will star as Maria Callas in an upcoming production of Terrence McNally’s Tony Award-winning play Master Class. According to BroadwayWorld.com, the production will be staged at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey, from March 4 through April 5, 2009. Visit the provided link for the performance schedule and ticket information.
LeVar shows off his tat + gets Spiner on Twitter
Actor/director LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge) got himself a cool tattoo, which he showed off to his followers on Twitter (see image below). The tat, designed by Mark Palmer, is what’s called an Ambigram – that is, it’s two words in one. In Burton’s case, the tatoo reads “LeVar” one way and “Kunta” the other way, referring to his iconic, star-making role of Kunta Kinte from Roots. Check it out below!
LeVar’s awesome tat…now where is the one that reads “Burton”/”Geordi”?
In more Twitterific news, LeVar has convinced his friend and TNG co-star Brent Spiner (Data) to also start Twittering. According to Burton, he and Spiner had a long conversation on January 13th which began with Spiner saying, “Tell me about Twitter.” Today, Spiner joined the likes of Burton, Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), and William Shatner (Jim Kirk) to become part of the Twitter phenomenon. If you want to follow Spiner on Twitter, then head on over to his Twitter page.
McDowell proud of killing Kirk
In an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos on The Hour, actor Malcolm McDowell discussed his career and many of his films. Among the roles he discussed was that of Dr. Tolian Soran, the mad scientist who killed Captain Kirk in Star Trek Generations. McDowell offered a humorous recollection of this role, as follows:
Oh, yes, I killed him alright. … I go down in history for that… I’m actually quite proud of it. Even though [William] Shatner says to me, “Yeah, you shot me in the back!” And I’m like, “Well, I’m sorry about that, Bill. I would have taken your head off, but it was in the script.” And I said to the producers at the time, “If you want me to do Picard, as well, just bring him up here.”
For the record, McDowell is speaking about the original ending of Generations, which had Soran kill Kirk by shooting him in the back. McDowell talked more about his thoughts on Shatner, saying:
…He’s a very charismatic guy. … I said to Patrick [Stewart], ‘You should get down on your knees and thank Shatner and those guys, because they made it possible for you to earn $10 million doing this thing.’ Shatner, was, he’s got… there’s a twinkle in the eye, you know, whatever he’s doing, singing Beatles or whatever he’s doing … I like to say I freed him up to go be brilliant on Boston Legal.
For the full 18 minute interview, click here.
No regrets for McDowell
Whoopi returning to sci-fi
Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan) is heading back to science fiction… on the web. The actress, comedienne, and The View host is producing and starring in a sci-fi series called Stream which premiered today on FEARNet.com. Goldberg talked about the project in an interview with Reuters, explaining that she took on the project because it offered her a new challenge with which to reinvent her acting. She also talked about the project with the LA Times, in which she brings up her gig on Star Trek when explaining her reasons for doing the new web series.
I like the idea of doing lots of work in different genres. Whether it’s stage performances or doing films or voiceovers. I love the idea that there are lots of different ways to act. When we first talked about it, I said, “You have to let me do this.” No one will let me do sci-fi anymore — I did my “Star Trek” thing, and I really love it. And it’s close to being in a horror movie, and no one will ever let me be in a horror movie anymore either.
Shatner survives seal attack (really)
William Shatner (he who is Kirk and wants to stay Kirk but won’t be Kirk in the new movie) appeared on the CBS Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson last week. He was there to pimp Raw Nerve, but told a funny story (with full demonstration) of how he was ‘violated’ by a seal during Christmas vacation in Hawaii. The full episode is available to view at at CBS.com. The Shatner Project has just uploaded a behind the scenes video.
Shat shows Ferguson a good time
Shat still wants to do Trek + the curious case of ‘Shatner money’
In other Shatner news, ABC News has an interview with the Shat-man in which he discusses his new talk show, Shatner’s Raw Nerve. He also took a minute to again address his lack of involvement with the new Star Trek film, but that he would still like to be involved in the franchise’s
revitalization. He explains:
Good for them, bringing it to a new generation. I don’t think I will be involved. But I would love to play the lead in it. And I talk to [director/producer] J.J. [Abrams] all the time, but it’s over the net, so you talk to him for me, OK? Tell him to call. Tell him Shatner says, ‘J.J., call me.’
In the meantime, the town of Riverside, Iowa, is wondering what the heck to do with the money it received for being part of Shatner’s Invasion Iowa project back in 2004. According to ZWire.com, the Invasion Iowa production company gave Riverside $100,000, which the residents refer to as “Shatner money” due to Shatner’s involvement. Now the town is trying to decide what to use the money for, saying they were unsure where Shatner meant for it to go. Now, I’m no expert on city politics, but if they wanted to know what Shatner intended the money to be used for, couldn’t they just, um… ask him?
George v Bill Round 121 & Takei big in the UK
Remember how the feud between Shatner and George Takei (the original Hikaru Sulu) was all going to end when George came on Bill’s new show Raw Nerve? Well it appears they can’t even get that sorted and cue the next flare-up. Contact Music reports Takei has yet to receive the invitation to appear on Raw Nerve, despite Shat’s promise to do so and now it appears Takei doesn’t want to go, being quoted saying “He’s trying to create controversy again. Well, I’m not going to bite the bait!”
George is also continuing to be big news in the UK, after his popular appearence on the show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here. Takei was in the UK again last week and his new BFF (soap star Joe Swash) surprised George during an appearance on GMTV. Swash proclaimed his love for Takei, and said, “If he was a bird I think I’d be all over him. I just felt I could kiss him. Not in a gay way.” Ooookay, moving on. Also WENN is reporting that George wants to star on stage in London’s West End, quoting the actor saying “I’ve done theatre all over Britain, but never the West End…that’s my dream. I’d love to work in London; I’ve always been a complete anglophile." And finally George was spotted attending the gala UK premiere of the new movie Clubbed on January 7th.
George is all over the UK
De Longis has ‘Leverage’ with Frakes
Anthony De Longis (Culluh on Voyager) was seen in tonight’s episode of TNT’s Leverage, which was directed by Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker). De Longis discusses his role in the episode in an exclusive interview with iFMagazine. The episode aired on TNT at 10pm EST.
JJ and Jack
This week FOX has been promoting its winter shows at the TCAs, including JJ Abrams’ Fringe. The Star Trek director was spotted on Tuesday night at the Fox All-Star party, along with Jack Bauer himself, Kiefer Sutherland
Shot taken shortly before Sutherland tortured Abrams for Star Trek secrets
CeleBits
- Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) voices the role of Ted Kord, a.k.a. Blue Beetle, in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode “Fall of the Blue Beatle,” which airs on January 23rd at 8pm on Cartoon Network. (WWdN)
- Zoe Saldana (Uhura in 2009’s Star Trek) is among the people which the Observer wants to see more of and whom they believe will become household names in the coming year. (Observer.com)
- Donna Murphy (Anij in Star Trek: Insurrection) has landed a recurring role on the new TNT drama series Trust Me. (Variety)
- GateWorld has an interview with Robert Picardo (The Doctor), in which the actor talks a bit about his upcoming films and the new Star Trek film; you can read it here.
- DIRECTV has started airing the critically acclaimed but highly controversial TV series Wonderland, which starred Michelle Forbes (Ro Laren). (DirectTV.com)
- The Informers, an upcoming film starring Winona Ryder (Amanda Grayson in 2009’s Star Trek), has received a new, unrated, NSFW trailer, as well as a New York/Los Angeles release date: April 10th. (RopeOfSilicon.com)
- Jeri Ryan attended the BooM BooM RooM’s Children’s Gifting Wonderland at the Century Plaza Hotel on January 10th. (WireImage)
Jeri Ryan rocks the BooM BooM RooM’s Children’s Gifting Wonderland.
Trek Birthdays
TrekMovie.com wishes a very happy birthday to all Trek alumni turning an extra digit this coming week, including:
- Harry Basch (83), Dr. Brown in TOS’s “What Are Little Girls Made Of?;”
- Seymour Cassel (74), Lt. Cmdr. Hester Dealt in TNG’s “The Child;”
- Olivia d’Abo (40), Amanda Rogers in TNG’s “True Q;”
- Andrea Martin (62), Ishka/”Moogie” in DS9’s “Family Business;”
- Larry Nemecek, writer/consultant;
- Dave Rossi (44), producer/production associate/production coordinator; and
- Fritz Weaver (83), Kovat in DS9’s “Tribunal”
Jeri Ryan rocks any room. :)
As much as I loath Kirk’s demise on Veridian lll, Malcolm McDowell played the perfect villain for the hatchet job. McDowell’s comments about shooting Kirk in the back make me wonder though if he realizes which version of Kirk’s death he’s accountable for.
Comment deleted by administrator.
2. Crewman Darnell — Well, he’s accountable for both. In one, he shot Kirk in the back; in the other, he blew out the bridge Kirk was on. :)
Y’know, she went to my high school. Graduated 10 years before I did!
Man, could you imagine Keifer as Capt. Kirk? That would have been fantastic.
I’m so sick of George Takei, he’s such an attention whore…
If you take a little time reading Shatners Up Till Now, you’ll see that Shatner has had a long career of doing all kinds of things… keeping him self busy.
George is a bitter old man who’s just envious of Shatner who’s tried so many things in his life. Also, the bitch in this story is clearly Takei for constantly ripping on Shatner. I saw him on the UK TV show, and he’s pathetic…
Also, I’m getting tired of him acting like a hurt ex lover…
4. Charles Trotter
Yep, it was only a year or so ago, I first viewed the shot-in-the-back version of Kirk’s death on Youtube. Until then I wasn’t aware it had been rethought. Too bad they (the writers) had to go that route at all….
– William Shatner (he who is Kirk and wants to stay Kirk but won’t be Kirk in the new movie) –
Not half bad, Charles. ;-)
– William Shatner (Jim Kirk) –
Ah, good things come to those who wait.
You’ve finally managed to get it right, Charles. :)
Ah, and thanks for the seal story; it’s un.sur.pass.able. :)
Olie olie olie!!! Takei was great on I’m a Celeb… He shoud’ve won.
7. True Blood
He might as well be an attention whore, but at least he’s mildly entertaining at it (:
I loved Scott Bukula back on “Quantum Loop.”
I think Kiefer would make a cool trek baddie … just got the voice for it.
.
The CBS.com video does not open to me… It says:
“The video you have required has expired. Please visit http://www.cbs.com for current videos.”
…but the same messagem appeard to ANY video I try to open… Really, I don’t understant… :oP
.
Capt. Bauer would kick-klingon ass.
George… aren’t you still on your honeymoon? Lighten up.
Hmm… wonder what LeVar’s tat would look like if he worked in Geordi and Reading Rainbow guy, too. Probably just look like a bruise. :-(
Jeri Ryan. mmmmmmmm….
Donna Murphy. mmmmmmmm….
They left out the picture where Jeri models that dress.
żbik?
Wow, Scott Bukula?
Olivia D’abo is 40? Wow. I remember seeing her in “True Q” and thinking she was the most delicious, beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
Take it all off, Jeri.
I can’t wait to see Scott Bakula on ‘Chuck’ which is one of my favorites!
I know it’s wrong to want Bakula never to work again, but…
Amazing to think how the divorce of Jeri Ryan led to the Obama Presidency.
Before Captain Robau goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Captain Bauer.
Yes, Shatner’s successful, but the downside is his overly-inflated ego to go with his success. Just watch some of his interview clips on the Special Edition DVDs and you’ll see what I mean.
Kiefer Sutherland as Captain Kirk:
Kirk: WHERE’S THE ROMULAN BOMB!?
Spock: Captain, don’t you think you’re being emotional and illogical?
Kirk: DAMMIT, SPOCK!! WE’RE OUT OF TIME!!
So much information… No wonder it took you 5 hours to write this.. Thanks Chuck.
“Jeri Ryan rocks any room” { Big grin!
#26 … Successful due to his talent. And large amounts of talent often go hand in hand with equally large egos. I don’t think anyone would argue that Bill has learned to take most things a lot less seriously in recent years.
Watching Bakula on TV is the best sleeping pill available.
Re: 30
I saw a bio on Shatner that portrayed his personal self as being quite self-conscious with low self esteem. His professional self seemed to overcompensate and overachieve, often at the expense of his co-stars.
#32
Who did the bio? Takei? :D
I don’t recall, but it featured Shatner talking on a train through Canada and he seemed a very sad and depressed man. It also featured a scene with him and Kate Mulgrew at a convention where he is asking her something along the lines of, “Don’t you worry that some day the fans will decide you’re not that good?” He tells her this is his fear, that one day the audience will “see through him”. This prompts Mulgrew to spend the next couple of minutes trying to convince him that the work he’s done and characters he brought to life – no one is going to take that away from him. It was really bizarre.
Does anyone else think Mr Sutherland would make a great Joker?
#34 … I saw that same conversation (on TV Land’s “Living in TV Land: William Shatner”; naturally, they chose Big Bill to kick off the series) and read it totally differently. Bill didn’t come off as “sad & depressed” at all. He was merely talking shop w/ Mulgrew about the trappings of fame.
The Shatner episode itself made the other subjects chosen for the series look sad by comparison. A lot of those old actors had far too little to do, but in the Shatner episode, the tv crew was having a hard time keeping up with him, as he flew back and forth between conventions, horse shows, filming Boston Legal, and doing a live rock concert (!) in LA with Ben Folds. The Shat is many things to many people, but I don’t think “sad & depressed” qualify.
#34
Thanks. Well, I didn’t see that one, but bizarre – don’t know. After all, it shows that Shatner is capable of self-reflection and self-doubt; features a lot of people didn’t think he had them in him. And Mulgrew’s right, of course. :)
#36
That’s more like it. ;)
Re:36 To me it seemed that he really didn’t feel like he deserved the fame, but thanks for letting me know it was “Living in TV Land” because I had no idea whaere I had seen it. To me his reflections on the train (and I can’t tell you what he said, just my feelings at the time) made him seem like someone with real deep seated insecurities, and that it is those feelings (much like the anorexic that always sees a fat person in the mirror) that continue to drive him to prove that he is not a failure (or a Has-Been) even to this day.
In the movie “Free Enterprise”, the writers were uncomfortable as to how Shatner would react to a negative portrayal of him in the film. To their surprise, he encouraged them to go farther; to show him as a guy with no real friends, who drinks too much, and is unlucky with the ladies
So Much News , Chuck ! Big Thanks , Mate ! Well , I see Scott Bakula and Bill Shatner in much the same mold , both have confident personalities , which is probably why they’re both Leads ! And I think it’s true what is the general perception in the media of good actors – that in private , they are sad and lonely persons ?!
Go Whoopi ! Let’s hope she gets to do this scifi series ‘Stream’ . I just hope she isn’t dull and dreary in it . She always suits alive and eccentric !
In regards to Jeri Ryan and Katie Mulgrew , Star Trek has always been my bizarro world – All the women are perfect and close to the ideal ! Has anyone seen Jeri in ‘Shark’ ? What was she like in this ? Was she a lead ?
And is anyone going to see Kate in Master World ?
I’ve always liked George Takei ! I think it’s great he’s getting exposure in the winter !
Wow! Great bunch of goodies in this thread. I particularly loved Roddy M.’s great comment about Shatner and the twinkle in his eye!
Chuck is rocking with their guest star announcements the past few days!
Scott Backula as Chuck’s dad!
Chevy Chase as the man who stole Chuck’s dad’s ideas!
Robert Picardo as an evil compatriot of the the two above who blames his failure on Chuck’s dad.
Tricia Helfer as a possible replacement for Chuck’s handler – Sarah Walker.
Woohoo! Bring on the back half of season 2 for the most underwatched and under appreciated show on the air.
….and the adventure continues….
41 – Krikzil, do you mean Malcolm M[cDowell]’s twinkle in his eye?
Our beloved Roddy M[cDowall] passed away a decade ago.
#s 41, 43 … I too appreciated Malcolm’s “twinkle” comment. Even other famous actors recognize that special Shat magic! ;-)
Chuck:
Great job, as usual.
Can we get Malcom McDowell to do Archer?
#40. Darfyn — Whoopi Goldberg is already doing ‘Stream;’ it debuted a day or two ago. As for Jeri on ‘Shark,’ I only saw a few episodes, and she did a really good job. She wasn’t the star of the show (that was James Woods), but she was a regular. However, she had to take maternity leave before the second season ended, so she did not appear in the show’s last four episodes. CBS canceled the series before she could return.
#41. krikzil (aka Lixy) — LOL! You got your Mc’s confused, I’m afraid. Roddy McDowall passed away many years ago and never did any Trek. The actor talking about Shatner is named Malcolm McDowell.
#6, that’s what I’ve been thinking all along too! Captain Bauer would have been great, but I do understand that they were looking for younger actors…on the same note, I’m really starting to like Chris Pine, can’t wait for the movie in May!!!
Thanks Charles ! I took the link and went to Fear.net , but I don’t live in the US , and got the ‘unavailable in your country’ message ! Interestingly , I noticed Whoopi is producing Stream !
Thanks for the info on Jeri and Shark . I saw the trailer on this when the series was premiering , and it looked quite good . James Woods is one of those interesting actors ! And Jeri besides being the babe , has developed into a sharp actress ! The series did look interesting , but there are a lot of ‘law and order’ shows , and the competition is very fierce !