As reported from the Licensing Expo last week, Radica Games (a division of Mattel) is working on a Star Trek version of their popular hand-held “mind reading” game 20Q. But you don’t have to wait until the game is in stores. You can play a version of the game online at a new website launched today, and you will help make the programed AI for the hand held version even smarter.
It was June 11, 1999, that DeForest Kelley passed away. As the first loss of the main Original Series cast, Kelley’s death showed us that Star Trek (and its fans) was aging. Yet, DeForest Kelley’s legacy continues to inspire fans, actors and medical professionals to this day. Today, we celebrate his contributions to acting, animal rights, volunteerism, and being a role model for many with a series of personal memories.
Trek back with Mattel and many more big names As reported yesterday, CBS Products is at the New York Licensing Expo this week talking up the Trek brand. Today CBS has officially announced over a dozen new Trek licenses with partners like Mattel, Fortune Fashions, Pez many more. The licenses cover things from toys, to electronic devices, to clothes, to food, to bedding, so the next year is shaping up to be a Trek collectors dream.
This week is the annual Licensing Expo at the Jacob Javitts Convention center in New York City, and Star Trek is there. The show is for companies to show off their brands and strike deals with merchandisers. CBS Consumer Products (who handles Trek licensing) has a large booth and list Star Trek as one of their key brands.
TrekMovie.com has got new details on the September release of the sixth Fan Collective DVD set: “Star Trek Fan Collective: Alternate Realities,” which we first reported on last week. We have the full list of twenty ‘alternate reality’ episodes, pricing, box art and details on a free action figure give-away promotion for the set.
CBS and Paramount Home Entertainment have finally officially announced a release date and some details for the sixth ‘Star Trek Fan Collective’ DVD set. This time the theme is ‘Alternate Realities.’ The set will have 20 episodes (from all five Trek series) and is due out September 16th. More details below.
On Sunday TrekMovie.com shared some exclusive preview pics of a Star Trek themed cake to be featured in an upcoming episode of the Food Network show “Ace of Cakes.” The article spawned many comments here and some sites and blogs picked up the story (as per usual). But then some other sites decided to focus on the comments and took one in particular way too seriously.
Today is Memorial Day, which is the day the US sets aside to reflect on the sacrifices of those who wore the uniform to protect their nation. Although at its heart Star Trek has been a show about exploration, it also has many elements of the military and so on this Memorial Day we reflect on Star Trek and the military.
Today is Mother’s Day. Many fans have their Moms to thank for either introducing them to Star Trek or supporting them when no one else would. TrekMovie.com would like to thank all the moms who help make the world a better place each day by presenting this list of Star Trek’s Greatest Moms. Each character was selected because she represents an archetypal quality we appreciate in the very best of moms.
Since opening in early 1998, Star Trek The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton has been the premiere live Star Trek attraction in the world. With its Trek-themed restaurant, museum, shops and rides, it plays hosts to thousands of tourists and Trekkies every year. However, the current contract is up and it looks like 2008 may be the last year for Star Trek The Experience.
Over two months after being the last studio to announce support for Blu-ray, Paramount has finally announced titles, but so far no Trek. The initial five Blu-ray releases (coming out between May 20th and June 3rd) are catching up on previous films released on DVD like There Will Be Blood, and Cloverfield. Then, starting on June 24th Paramount will issue its first Blu-ray title on the same day as the DVD, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” with ‘more to follow.’
Just before this Passover week began, a new Shatner CD called “Exodus: An Oratorio in Three Parts” hit the stores. The recording is from a live performance of Shatner, accompanied by The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, dramatically reading the story of the Hebrew Exodus both from the Haggadah (text used on Passover) and the bible.
“Judging by the pollution content of the atmosphere, I believe we have arrived at the late 20th century” – Spock, STIV On this Earth Day, TrekMovie.com takes a look at Star Trek’s best environmentally-themed episodes and films.
If you have HBO or Showtime and were hoping to see JJ Abrams Star Trek film on either, you are out of luck. Today Viacom (parent company of Paramount Pictures) announced a joint venture with MGM, UA and Lionsgate forming a new premium cable channel with exclusive rights for all four studios. The not-yet-named channel launches in the Fall of 2009 and the official press release names the new Trek movie as one of the ‘exclusives.’
In an interview with Logo networks After Elton blog, Star Trek Voyager writer/producer revealed that two gay characters were considered for the series, which would have been a Trek first. However Fuller, who is openly gay, actually didn’t support the idea because he felt the characters were ‘two dimensional.’
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.
Star Trek mash-ups on YouTube are ubiquitous and one sub-genre is alternative opening credit sequences (and a sub-sub-genre is credits made to mimic another show). In some cases it is a bit of fun, but in other cases they could be considered an improvement or at least a compelling possibility. So check out some of these ‘two great shows that taste great together’ mash-ups below.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” – Scotty, Friday’s Child Practical jokes are a serious concern for the crew of the Enterprise in the animated episode “The Practical Joker.” Luckily, practical jokes involving Star Trek on the internet are much less worrisome. Here are the Star Trek April Fool’s Day virtual pranks for April 1, 2008.
Today is St. Patrick’s Day, traditionally a day to celebrate that inner Irish person in every one of us…often with a drink in your hand. The staff at TrekMovie.com got to wondering, who in the world of Star Trek would we want with us as we hop down to the pub on St. Patty’s day. See below for TrekMovie.com’s ‘Top O’ The Irish.’
Last week we reported that Paramount was the last studio to announce support for the Blu-ray HD standard. At the time Paramount still had a number of planned HD DVD titles and even just announced two new ones. However today comes news from Video Business, HiDef Digest and The Hollywood Reporter that the two Paramount titles coming out next week (Into the Wild and Things We Lost) would be their last. All future announced HD DVD titles have been cancelled. Paramount has still not announced any Blu-ray titles or any plans for Trek.
The 80th Annual Academy Awards were held tonight at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. As TrekMovie.com reported last month, nine Star Trek alumni (present and future) were nominated for an Oscar this year including Michael Giacchino, the composer for the new Star Trek film. Of the nine ‘Trek’ nominees only two left with trophies and Giacchino wasn’t one of them. See below for our full coverage including photos from the show and Trek celebs spotted at Oscar weekend events.
Actors often have to sing for their supper, yet Star Trek actors have a tendency go above and beyond that. There is something about being on Trek that brings their inner Dion and Sinatra. While easy to mock these actors for "trying" to be singers, many have extensive singing and Broadway musical experiences. The latest effort is a new album, Dreamland, from TNG’s Brent Spiner. This has inspired this special Sunday edition of ‘The Collective,’ where we take a listen to some of the more memorable efforts offered from the Trek stars turned singers.
Several months ago we reported that the tiny town of Vulcan, Alberta was hoping to hold the world premiere of the new Star Trek movie. Paramount have yet to book the corporate jet for a trip to Canada next May, but that hasn’t stopped the Vulcanians who have now upped the ante by bringing in two more ‘Trek cities’ to bid on three global Star Trek premieres.
It’s Valentine’s Day and even though Paramount took our Christmas away, love is still in their air. Throughout the decades of Trek there have been many romantic moments and so the staff of TrekMovie.com thought we would pick some of our favorites.
In a new interview with Metro Weekly George Takei (TOS: Sulu) talks in depth about the diversity in Star Trek. Takei said that he he was proud to be part of the production with the first interracial kiss calling it “a real breakthrough.” But Takei also defended the series for not having a gay character saying that it would have pushed the envelope too far. Also in an unrelated bit, Takei revealed a bit about what we may see with John Cho’s Sulu in the new Star Trek.
Listen for the Trek ref in this excerpt from Bill Gates CES 2008 Keynote.
As the year wraps up, TrekMovie.com takes a look back and picks the best and worst Trek had to offer over the last year.
Last night one of the categories on the game show Jeopardy! was “Star Trek Jargon.” All of the clues were answered on the show correctly, with three being answered by the overall winner Max Zarou. See the questions below…the first TrekMovie.com reader to answer them all correctly wins a 2008 Star Trek Calendar.
On Friday in a surprise announcement, the entire staff for StarTrek.com team was laid off as part of a larger series of cost cuts at CBS Interactive. The layoffs have put the future of the official site for Star Trek in doubt. Now TrekMovie.com has been sent an official statement from CBS, see below
OK this just came out of nowhere. The last news item for the week at StarTrek.com, the official site for Star Trek, is titled “Goodbye from the STARTREK.COM Team” In short it states that CBS Interactive is restructuring and that the entire StarTrek.com team “has been eliminated. Effective immediately.” It also states “We don’t know the ultimate fate of this site, which has served millions of Star Trek fans for the last thirteen years.” There is also a big banner on the homepage that says ‘FAREWELL.’