2010 will mark the 10th year for the popular Star Trek Ships of the Line Calendar series. Today TrekMovie has an exclusive first look at four months from the new wall calendar, including the first ever look at the USS Aventine.
Last night was the annual Radio and TV Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington DC. Traditionally it is a light-hearted evening attended by the current President with comic entertainment. The Daily Show’s John Hodgman was the entertainment who focused on President Obama’s ‘nerdcore’, including Star Trek credentials. We have video below, plus an infographic analyzing how Star Trek is ‘cool again’.
New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. a candidate for mayor for the largest city in America and, as revealed in an article to day in the New York Times, he is also a Trekkie. The article also reveals that he has the support of none other than the original Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy. Thompson joins what seems to be a growing list of Trekkie politicians.
Paramount Pictures, which holds the exclusive rights to produce Star Trek feature films, could be merging with another major studio, possibly Sony or Universal. The news comes from the latest issue of Barron’s, where a major fund manager (and one of Viacom’s big shareholders) talks about what he is hearing going on with a possible ‘studio consolidation.’
Another great science fiction phenomenon which has featured the talents of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner is about to get a new life. 20th Century Fox has announced it will produce 26 new episodes of the animated comedy Futurama, to air on Comedy Central (or possibly FOX). Details below, plus a look at some Trek/Futurama connections.
Hallmark Star Trek items have been, well, a hallmark of collecting and family fun since the first USS Enterprise ornament in 1991. This year, Hallmark has many surprises for fans and TrekMovie has been given all the exclusive details and first photos for two new 2009 ornaments.
All Star Trek fans are familiar with the ‘Prime Directive’, which mandates that Starfleet is to not interfere with the natural development of other species, especially primitive ones. For years NASA has been studying Mars and searching for life forms, but a new scientific study suggests they may have actually destroying signs of life…oops.
For decades there has been much discussion and debate about Star Wars and Star Trek, and that has only increased with the new Star Trek movie and all the talk about bringing a little Star Wars into Star Trek. This has even risen to the level that StarWars.com has interviewed Star Trek co-writer. We have that plus some more new Trek/Wars links.
To coincide with the release of the new Star Trek movie Paramount has released the six original cast movies on Blu-ray for the first time in the ‘Star Trek Original Motion Picture Collection.’ Each film comes loaded with extras. There is a lot to cover, so read on to see how Paramount did with the original crew Trek movies in 1080p HD.
Today is the 10th Anniversary of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which is still the 6th best grossing film in US history. Star Trek and Star Wars have always had a symbiotic relationship (from Lucas’ ILM providing effects to George Takei’s voice in Clone Wars). So today TrekMovie provides some recent SW/ST links and references, including a new interview with Star Wars (and Star Trek) sound designer Ben Burtt.
We have news of yet another sign that Trek is returning to the heydays of the franchise. Trekkies who were fans in the 1990s might remember the QVC (home shopping channel) Star Trek shows which were a sure sign of the popularity of the franchise. Today, TrekMovie confirms that there will be a Star Trek QVC hour with products from Dynamic Forces this May 17th/18th, the first in almost 12 years.
A couple of days ago we pointed to a funny parody news clip at The Onion which poked some good-natured fun at Trek and Trek fans, and how we were up in arms over how the film was ‘fun’ and ‘watchable.’ Trek fans are self-aware and most seemed to get the joke, but in the last day I have noticed a more disturbing Trend from some in the mainstream media trying to to perpetuate the most negative stereotypes of Trek fans, and what is worse they are trying to get me to help them. More below.
Star Trek The Experience closed down at the Las Vegas Hilton last September, but since October we have been reporting that it may have new life at a new location in Vegas. According to the best info we can gather, it looks like a new STTE will be back in 2010 at Neonopolis in downtown Las Vegas. More details below plus a new entry Vernon Wilmer’s STTE Documentary.
In yesterday’s Tidbits it was noted that the mainstream media was again paying attention to Star Trek, with many stories about the return of the venerable franchise. And this week we will see what is likely the biggest example yet in the form of a cover story in the new Newsweek all about “How Star Trek taught us how to dream big.” Details below.
As the new Star Trek film looms ever closer, more and more events celebrating Star Trek, from museum talks to Fed Con, are being announced. Here is a list of some of the best events for fans as they wait to see ST09 and in the days after the film, from now until May. The good news is that many of the events are free!
Today Paramount has released two cool digital tools for Star Trek fans. Firstly there is a brand new StarTrekFanKit site with all sorts of ways for you to customize your online life with Star Trek movie stuff. Also there is a brand new free "Star Trek Phaser" iPhone application for you to play with. Details below.
For the first time ever, Monopoly is being customized to cover the entire Star Trek franchise. This month USAopoly releases The Star Trek Monopoly Continuum Edition, and TrekMovie got an early version. See below for our early review of the latest Star Trek board game.
Computers and technology have always been a big part of Star Trek, and now two new licensees are offering Trekkies the chance to customize their own technology with Star Trek. Firstly Hyperdesk is offering a new Original Series theme for your Windows PC. And Coveroo is offers a series of laser etched backs for your cell phones and mobile devices. TrekMovie takes a closer look with reviews both below.
One of our favorite Trek websites, TrekCore.com, is holding its annual fundraising event this month. As part of the fundraiser, the essential online multimedia resource for Star Trek is offering a number of genuine tribbles from Deep Space Nine as well as some photographs. See below for more info.
There are many events, big and small, from now until May to help fans celebrate in preparation of the premiere of the Star Trek feature film. Organizations as diverse as the United States Library of Congress to local libraries are holding a variety of Star Trek themed events as "the day of reckoning" approaches. Conventional Wisdom provides this guide to Star Trek events from March until May.
Wondercon 2009 began yesterday in San Franciso and one of the first events was the “The Once & Future Trek!” panel, which is a sort of regular feature of Comic Con with various ‘Treksperts’. This time the panel turned out to just be just Daren Dochterman and myself, but that ended up to work out as it became an interesting Star Trek film focused Q&A with info-starved Trekkies.
Announced just a couple of weeks ago by CBS, this week USAopoly revealed the first look inside the new Monopoly Star Trek Continuum Edition at the New York Toy Fair. See below to check it out, plus some new images of the Playmates toys based on the new Star Trek movie.
Today Star Trek is getting (re)animated, and this time you are the one calling the shots. CBS has hooked up with GoAnimate.com, a site with the motto ‘anyone can animate,’ to give fans the ability to create their own Star Trek animated stories, based on the classic Original Series. TrekMovie.com got an early look at the GoAnimate Trek site which went live this morning, see what we came up with below
On Friday, after a long wait, the geeky comedy Fanboys finally hits theaters. The road trip film about Star Wars fans traveling across country to Skywalker Ranch also has some Star Trek elements, not the least of which is a cameo from William Shatner. So TrekMovie decided to check in with director Kyle Newman to find out why Trekkies should see Fanboys. We also have an exclusive image of the Trekkies in Fanboys.
Apparently the economy is so bad, that a Trekkie has turned to crime. According to multiple reports from the Colorado press, a man wielding a Klingon Bat’leth sword robbed two different 7-11 stores in Colorado Springs, CO this morning. So far no one was injured, but the crook has not yet been caught. More details and a video TV report below. [UPDATE: Image of Bat’leth Bandit released]
At the Memorial for Majel Barrett Roddenberry earlier this month it was first announced that portions of the ashes of both Gene and Majel Roddenberry would be sent into deep space. Today Celestis, the memorial spaceflight company, has provided TrekMovie with more details on their final voyage, along with information on how fans can send a message along with them. We also have the video shown at the memorial.
As reported by TrekMovie (and elsewhere) Barack Obama is the first Trekkie President, having made several references to Star Trek in the past. And it just so happens that Star Trek worked its way into an event on his inauguration day today, unfortunately it was another Star Wars/Star Trek conflation.
Today is Martin Luther King Day, a day when Americans celebrate the life of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And today TrekMovie takes a look at how the man and his message impacted the world of Star Trek.
Not everyone can afford to own DVD sets (especially for every series and every season), so cable reruns are where you can get your Trek fix. This winter season brings changes to Trek’s cable line-up with the big news being WGN America adding Star Trek The Next Generation. See below for a full breakdown of the Trek on cable schedule.
On Sunday the family, friends and fans of Majel Barrett Roddenberry came to Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills to pay their final respects to the First Lady of Star Trek. A large crowd, including many Star Trek luminaries gathered to for the official memorial. Details and photos below.