A couple of weeks ago TrekMovie previewed upcoming non-fiction Star Trek books, and now the list is getting longer with newly announced titles covering the history of the franchise, Trek fashion and even Trek ‘travel books.’ More details below.
San Diego Comic-con kicks off this week. With the next Star Trek movie two years away and still in scripting, we don’t expect to have any formal presentation from Paramount, however there are tons of Star Trek-related panels and booths to check out. TrekMovie has compiled an all-inclusive list of every Trek related item on the agenda for this year’s big con – get it all below.
George Takei was on HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday night and his feud with Star Trek co-star William Shatner came up with Takei taking a few shots at Bill. He also talked about his attempt to get Gene Roddenberry to tackle LGBT issues. Watch the segment below.
Just in time for the film’s 35th Anniversary, a new book detailing the production of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is coming this fall, and TrekMovie has a first look at the details. Find out more and how you can pre-order below.
Zachary Quinto has talked much about how he and Leonard Nimoy bonded during the making of the 2009 Star Trek movie, however he doesn’t appear ready to follow the original Spock to Trek director’s chair. Details below, plus Quinto’s comments on the future of the franchise following the third Star Trek for the new crew in 2016.
This October, IDW Publishing will release a double helping of John Byrne’s Star Trek photo tales, the conclusion of Harlan Ellison’s original teleplay for The City on the Edge of Forever, and part four of the ongoing story arc featuring Q and the NuCrew. Read on for the details from the good folks at IDW.
George Takei has revealed that he tried to convince Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry to add a gay character to the TOS movies. More details below.
Following up from our look forward to all the Star Trek fiction coming in the next year, today we take a look at the non-fiction, both scholarly and fun. See what is coming below.
Dreamed of converting your basement into a Star Trek mancave (or womanlcave). Well one Trek fan has sunk half a million dollars into that endeavor. See the results below, plus find out how you can buy a mansion with yet another Star Trek bridge replica and more built in.
A television station found a novel way to adhere to FCC "public interest" regulations by claiming that airing certain episodes of Star Trek and some other re-runs are "matters of importance" to their local community. Find out how Star Trek is informing the citizens of Wilmington, Delaware below.
The next Star Trek film is due in 2016, but fans want to know exactly when. Could it be on the 50th anniversary? And what about competing with JJ Abrams’ Star Wars movie which was just put on production hold – might Star Wars slip into 2016 and go head-to-head with Trek? TrekMovie has invited Hollywood writer/producer (and release date bingo aficionado) Kay Reindl to take a look at the 2016 landscape. Read the full analysis.
Though the idea of webcasters analyzing old episodes of Star Trek is one that’s relatively new, some people have been at it since before it could qualify as nostalgia. Indeed, while our friends at Mission Log – whom we looked at yesterday – started in 2012, Chuck Sonnenberg was reviewing episodes of Voyager while the ship was still stuck in the Delta Quadrant. In the last article in our Remember Me series, we explore yet another way to look back at Star Trek’s run; and, this time we’ve got statistics! Hit the jump for Part Three.
Today there is an update on the previously reported Reading Rainbow Kickstarter campaign from Star Trek TNG star LeVar Burton. The campaign has now broken a Kickstarter record. There are only 2 days left so you still have a chance to help (and they have lowered pricing on some get some Star Trek event rewards too). Plus is Burton hinting he wants to return for the just announced Community Season 6?
In Part Two of our three part series, Remember Me, TrekMovie takes another look back at Star Trek nostalgia. The Mission Log podcast, which you can now find on TrekMovie.com, has taken on the immense challenge of picking apart Star Trek one episode at a time. What does this perspective teach us about Trek’s past, present, and future? What makes Trek good, how do different incarnations of Trek appeal to different kinds of fans, and how might a look at Trek’s past help us figure out what’s coming next? Hit the jump for Part Two.
The documentary “To Be Takei” about Star Trek star George Takei comes out in August and features interviews with the new Sulu John Cho along with George’s original Trek co-stars Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, and even William Shatner. Watch the brand new trailer below, plus the latest episode of George’s webseries "Takei’s Take" where he talks Trek and social media.
Today we start our look at a look back: Star Trek nostalgia in all its forms. Why is it that nostalgia for all things Trek (even for those who weren’t alive during Trek’s original run) has become a common thread in online forums? And how has the fandom changed since the 1960’s? In Part One of the three part series Remember Me, Trekmovie’s Jared Whitley sat down with J.D. Payne (co-writer of the 2016 Star Trek movie), Mission Log Podcast’s John Champion, SF Debri’s Chuck Sonnenberg, and more to discuss how the changing TV landscape and our ever increasing connectivity with other fans has changed the way we watch new TV and discuss classic shows. Hit the jump for Part One.
A new article from Forbes is sparking some debate on how much Hollywood studios value franchise fans, including Star Trek fans. The article even caught the interest of Star Trek writer/producer (and soon to be director) Roberto Orci, who was mentioned in it. More below.
This week has Star Trek celebrity news with Mulgrew winning an award, Quinto hanging with ‘Girls,’ Sir Pat hanging with Yoda, Saldana going green, Takei as Grand marshal and Pegg seeking happiness. Get all the latest below.
It is the beginning of spring here in the Western Hemisphere, which means it’s time to celebrate the birthdays of Trek royalty. Today is the 83rd birthday of Spock Prime himself, Leonard Nimoy. Mr. Nimoy, who recently disclosed that he has a smoking-related illness called COPD isn’t letting anything slow him down. It was announced recently that he will be hosting two special “space-themed” performances by the Boston Pops in May, featuring music from many science fiction classics, including, of course, Star Trek. More information, including ticket prices, can be found at The Boston Pops website. Mr. Nimoy took to Twitter to mark the day and to thank everyone for their good wishes: Living long and prospering. Great family and friends and 100’s of honorary grandchildren. Many. Many thanks. LN — Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) March 26, 2014 He also received a message from an old friend of his: Happy Birthday to my dear friend @TheRealNimoy — William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) March 26, 2014
The web site Digital Spy recently caught up with Ron D. Moore to interview him about his new SyFy Channel show Helix, they couldn’t help but talk a little Trek with him. I think its home and its heart is really in television. That’s really what Star Trek is – the core concept is really a TV show. I think the features are good and I really admire what JJ Abrams has done with the last two films – I think it’s great – but the heart and soul of that franchise demands a return to television. The kinds of stories that you’ll tell in the features space are not the kinds of stories that made that show so popular. The features all have to be action-oriented. The TV shows were morality plays, they were more thematic, they were examining society in different ways. Sometimes the stakes were just one crew member’s life, sometimes the stakes were just one alien world or the Enterprise. On bringing Trek back to TV: The TV show is really what Star Trek is to me. I think the features are great, but I think it has to return to TV if it’s going to remain an ongoing franchise. On being the one to re-launch Trek on TV: I’d love to do Star Trek again, in all honesty, but I also don’t have a great new Star Trek idea. I’m not saying I know exactly how to do a new [Star Trek] TV show – I don’t. Maybe I shouldn’t do it until I have that great epiphany! –Source: Digital Spy
While we don’t have much new on the Star Trek front as far as new movies or TV series, Trek stars and alumni were represented in this year’s Super Bowl commercials. The most obviously Trek influenced commercial was the Comcast XFINITY commercial titled “Bold Explorers.” It highlights Comcast’s upcoming next generation X1 platform technologies. Zachary Quinto as Spock and Anton Yelchin as Chekov beam in to see all the advanced tech details. The other Trek connected commercial was the teaser for the re-launch of Carl Sagan’s beloved edutainment series Cosmos on Fox. Trek alumni Brannon Braga along with Seth MacFarlane are producers, with astrophysicist, and pretty cool guy who makes science fun and interesting, Neil deGrasse Tyson as host. Were there more Trek connections in the Super Bowl adverts? If so let us know in the comments.
January wasn’t a great month for Trek alumni, we’ve had a number of people associated with Trek, especially the original Trek series, pass on recently. We also want to remember DeForest Kelley who was born in January, some rare very old photos of a young DeForest Kelly recently turned up online.
A Trek fan turns her basement into a TOS recreation. A new fan film production appears Star Trek: Axanar about the missions of Captain Garth (later in life “Garth of Izar”). TV vet actor Joseph Ruskin passes on, and see the new TOS Ortiz prints for January.
A new radio interview with Gene Roddenberry has surfaced on YouTube. Texas Radio Hall of Famer Scott Arthur was cleaning out some boxes of old interviews from his illustrious career when he came across this lost interview he did with Gene Roddenberry from 1973. Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek spent almost a half hour talking with Arthur about Star Trek, pushing boundaries and the future of humanity. Listen below:
New Takei cologne “Eau My” George Takei has joined the long list of celebs who have released their own fragrance. The name of the cologne is of course a take on his catchphrase “oh myyyyy” It is described thusly: Set Phasers to Stunning. George Takei’s Eau My is a clean, refreshing fragrance for Men and Women. Subtle and charming, with top notes of mandarin zest, Italian bergamot and fresh ozone transitioning to night-blooming jasmine, white freesia petals and grated ginger. Sensual woods, crystalized amber, soft skin musk, and vetiver will delight you when dry. It will be released December 15th, it is available for pre-order at Amazon.
Trekland’s Larry Nemecek (aka Dr. Star Trek) has just released his second CD in the On Speaker series in which Nemecek has digitally preserved hours and hours of anecdotes and stories from Trek legends such as Michael Piller, Mark “Sarek” Lenard, Bob Justman, and more. All of the content is never-before-released material that has been sitting on cassette tapes in a box in some forgotten corner for decades. In the newly released VOL. 2: “ ‘All Good Things…’: Words and Deeds”, you’ll hear stories from Ron D. Moore, Brannon Braga, and others in their own voices in Spring 1994. Hit the jump for more and info on how to snag yourself this little piece of Star Trek history.
Trek alum Bryan Fuller was out doing press interviews for the second season of his show Hannibal when his love for Star Trek came up with Crave Online. Fuller worked on the writing staff of Deep Space Nine and Voyager before creating critically acclaimed shows such as Dead Like Me and Pushing Daises. Click on for more.
In The Icarus Factor, Riker is offered his own ship and we meet his father for the first (and only) time. But the episode is better remembered for the subplot, where Worf is in a particularly grouchy mood. He yells “Enough!” at Wesley and “Be gone!” to Data, who – with his trademark gentleness – describes the Klingon as “out of sorts.” Worf’s friends determine that the only solution to his foul spirits is to hit him repeatedly with pain sticks: I have been reminded of this episode as I’ve followed the recent furor over Star Trek Into Darkness. Just as Worf wasn’t really mad at his crewmates, I believe that much of the anger toward STID has nothing to do with the film: fans are angry because they have to wait four years to see a new movie when what they really want is new episodes every week.
Imagine this scenario: A massive ship rests in its dock as the crew prepares for departure. Orders are given and acknowledged. A course is laid. Whistles echo through the decks. Dock lines fall to the side, and the ship clears the last mooring. What happens next? Is this a warship cutting through ocean waves headed for the Mediterranean? Or is this a starship disappearing in a warp speed flash of light headed for strange new worlds? Their missions may be entirely different but similarities between today’s military and Star Trek’s Starfleet remain evident. On the program of Creation Entertainment’s Star Trek Convention Las Vegas last month, a panel of veterans presented and discussed military aspects of Star Trek and similarities between Starfleet and the armed forces.
Joseph Dickerson’s “Star Trek is Broken” editorial has caused quite a stir among the Trek community. One person who had a response to this was TrekBBS member “The Stig”, his clear, concise, and level-headed post got a lot of kudos. He contacted us at TrekMovie and said he’d be happy to flesh it out a little bit more and have us run it as a counter-point. So we present it here as an ongoing dialog about the future of the franchise we all love so much. — The TrekMovie Staff