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.
Over the last week TrekMovie.com has been looking back at 2008 and and picking the highs (and some of the lows of the year). Today in the last installment of our 2008 retrospective, we pick the ‘Trekkies of the Year.’
Today TrekMovie continues our ‘Best of Trek 2008’ series with our picks for the biggest real world news stories of the year, with a Star Trek twist. In 2008 Trek continued to show that it is a cultural touchstone in the world’s of politics, science, media and even gossip and celebrity news. See below for our picks of the best.
The Roddenberry family has announced the details for the memorial service for Majel Barrett Roddenberry, which will be at Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills on January 4th. The public are invited to attend, but are asked to add their name to an online list at Roddenberry.com so they can make appropriate plans. More details and info below.
The mourning of Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who passed away yesterday has just begun. Some of those who knew and worked with Star Trek’s ‘First Lady’ have already sent in their condolences for us to share with the fans, including William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Marina Sirtis, Robert Picardo and more. [3 UPDATES: w/ Wil Wheaton, JJ Abrams, Nichelle Nichols + more]
Today is another sad day for Trek fans, TrekMovie was just informed by the Roddenberry family that Majel Barrett Roddenberry passed away this morning at the age of 76. The first lady of Star Trek’ died of leukemia at her home in Bel Air. At her side were her son Eugene ‘Rod’ Roddenberry along with family and friends.
It has been a month since Paramount released a full image of their new USS Enterprise, sparking much discussion. But for the last two years there have been numerous sightings of a ‘new Enterprise’ which usually turned out to be mistaken reports based on designs from Gabriel Koerner, a Trek fan featured in Trekkies and professional CGI artist. Today Koerner has decided to weigh in on the new ‘real’ Enterprise.
Cryptic Studios has made another one of their ‘Path to 2409’ which tells the story of the Star Trek universe from Star Trek Nemesis (in 2379) to the 25th Century setting of the Massive Multiplayer game and its war between the Federation and the Klingons. They are now up to 2382 and starting to branch away from the history set forward in the books.
If you want to bring some honor to your holiday season and you live near the Twin Cities, then this coming week you can check out "A Christmas Carol", in the original Klingon. And the same troupe will be filming a special feature in Klingon for an upcoming Star Trek DVD. Also for fans in New York, the Start Trekkin improv group are performing two shows this upcoming week.
Star Trek continues its return to popular culture consciousness this year with everything from magazine covers to movie trailers in anticipation of the new feature film. Yet another example is seen at the 72nd Annual Sun Bowl Parade in El Paso, Texas this Thanksgiving Day.
Today, Star Trek: The Exhibition opened its second engagement in the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix, Arizona to plenty of eager fans. TrekMovie got an exclusive first look at the impressive traveling Trek exhibit, including being shown around by Mike and Denise Okuda. With tons of original costumes, prop replicas, and set recreations, fans and non-fans alike are sure to be engaged by this very well put together show.
The new USS Enterprise released yesterday has spawned dozens if not hundreds of articles across the globe in the mainstream press and the geekosphere. Reaction here at TrekMovie has been running at one comment every 49 seconds for 24 hours straight. In that deluge are a few notables, including former Star Trek designer Rick Sternbach and the designer of the new ship, Ryan Church.
The night before last, Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th President of the United States. At 47 years of age, Obama will be the first president born in the same decade as Star Trek, so is he our first Trekkie President? There certainly are indications that he is. TrekMovie takes a look at the case and at other Trek/Presidential connections from the past.
Over the summer Star Trek The Tour (which opened and closed in Long Beach in the Spring), was re-born as Star Trek The Exhibition with the first stop opened in San Diego in June. At the time we reported that there would actually be two concurrent exhibitions going and now the second one has been announced, kicking off in Phoenix, Arizona in November.