Dream On Spiner Fans — Brent Spiner’s newest CD, Dreamland, was released on March 11th, to much deserved acclaimed. There are many words that could describe Dreamland, yet, like dreams, the most appropriate is pastiche. Trekmovie.com talks with Spiner about the CD and provides a look at this unique musical journey of the imagination.
FedCon, Europe’s biggest Star Trek and Sci Fi convention took place over the last weekend in Bonn, Germany and over 5000 EuroFans came out to see the sci-fi stars. Among the many guests were TNG stars Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Marina Sirtis and John de Lancie. Of particular interest were comments from Burton about hopes for another TNG move.
As reported before, John Cho (Sulu in the new Star Trek) is out promoting his new Harold and Kumar comedy, and usually saying the same stuff about Trek, but he did drop a new factoid in an interview with Canda’s Jam Movies. Apparently Jonathan Frakes (TNG’s Riker and director of two TNG films) came by the set for a visit.
Star Trek veteran writer/producer (and Battlestar Galactica co-creator) Ron Moore may be bringing space-based science fiction back to network TV. According to the trades Fox has greenlit Virtuality, a two hour ‘back-door pilot’ written by Ron Moore (and fellow Trek vet Michael Taylor). The show is set on a space ship equipped with a virtual reality system (cough, Holodeck, cough).
Brent Spiner, Star Trek The Next Generations’ Data, took the stage Saturday at Creation’s Sci-Fi Grand Slam and entertained the large crowd with jokes and stories from his career in and out of Trek. He talked a lot about his new CD Dreamland, and also covered typecasting and gave his assessment of the TNG era films. See below for pics, quotes and also an exclusive video interview.
This week Library Computer takes a look at a number of ‘making of’ books for specific Star Trek episodes, including a review of the latest one about making the classic TNG episode "Yesterday’s Enterprise." We also have an interview with the author Eric Stillwell (who co-wrote the story for the episode) where he discusses both the episode and his time working on the TNG staff.
Tonight Patrick Stewart opens on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre for a seven week run of MacBeth. Rupert Goold’s Stalinist interpretation of the Shakespeare classic originated with Stewart on the London stage in 2007. In a new interview promoting the show, Stewart also talked a little Trek and how Jean Luc Picard influences his MacBeth.
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.
Back in February we reported that Patrick Stewart (TNG’s Capt. Picard) had to ask fans not to come to his plays dressed in Starfleet uniforms. In a new interview with Newsweek, however, the actor gets a bit testy (much like Simon Pegg did recently) and shows his love for Trekkies, assuring that we are not, as Newsweek calls us, “weird.” He still doesn’t like those damn uniforms, though.
Last week Ron Moore talked about his visit to the new Star Trek set and today there is more at Sci-Fi Wire. The TNG/DS9 vet writer/producer says after seeing Trek at Paramount again, “all that kind of really hardcore, Trekkie geek stuff came flying back.” Moore (who has not read the Trek script, but has experience rebooting the Battlestar franchise) opined on Abrams’ plan to bring Trek back.
Today brings lots of news on the future of Trek vet Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica franchise. The BSG co-creator tells The Hollywood Reporter that he doesn’t expect the show to follow in the footsteps of Trek to the big screen. However, the show will be finally getting the TV prequel announced two years, ago as Sci-Fi have given the greenlight fo the pilot of Moore’s Caprica.
The last director to go to the final frontier was Stuart Baird for Star Trek Nemesis. Baird (who is an Oscar nominated editor) only got the Trek gig as payback for help he provided re-cutting Paramount’s M:I:II and Tomb Raider movies. After Nemesis bombed, the TNG cast have made no secret about how they feel about their final director. The latest example is in a new SciFi Pulse interview with LeVar Burton and TOS star Nichelle Nichols.
This week Patrick Stewart hit the new York Stage in the title role of “Macbeth” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. In a couple of new interviews the actor talked about the show and of course a bit about Star Trek. Stewart said that he would consider playing Picard again, talked about his friendship with William Shatner, how he is glad to be back on the stage and even about his Trek collection. See below
More TOS & TNG + New Frontier, Mirror Universe & Gary Seven! In 2007 IDW ended a six year drought in Star Trek comic books. Last week IDW announced a new TNG comic series to debut in January and today the company announced an aggressive slate of four additional series to premiere over the following 5 months. These include a TOS ‘Year 4’ series written by D.C. Fontana, a New Frontier series written by Peter David, a Gary Seven ‘Assignment Earth’ series by comic legend John Byrne plus a series set in the mirror universe. There are also plans afoot for an adaptation for the new Star Trek movie later in the year.
In a new video interview with nuts.tv, Marina Sirtis (TNG: Troi) says that her job was not secure in the early days of Star Trek The Next Generation so she decided to become “the convention queen” to build up her fanbase and ensure her job. She also talks about her role as the sex symbol on the show, revealing a rather risqué nickname given to her by Michael Dorn (TNG: Worf). See below for video.
Nearly three years since Jonathan Frakes last stepped foot on a Star Trek set, the actor who portrayed Commander William T. Riker recently sat down with Dreamwatch Total Sci-Fi to discuss The Next Generation. When asked if he and his castmates expected TNG to play such a huge part in their lives, Frakes replied:
On Thursday the annual Jules Verne Film Festival kicks off in Los Angeles and Star Trek is very much a part of this year’s event. Presiding will be Captain Picard himself, Patrick Stewart, who is the festival’s “President of the Jury.” Malcolm McDowell, William Shatner and other Trek celebrities will also be showing up. Details below
Captain Picard to the podium! Today Patrick Stewart was named the Best Actor of 2007 at the Evening Standard Theater Awards. Stewart has been playing the title role in Mac Beth to sell out crowds at the Gielgud Theatre in London. At the awards Stewart stated “it’s wonderful, we’re all aglow. All of us who believe the best possible theatre should be in London are thrilled.” Stewart told the Telegraph “”I’ve never won an award like this, so it’s brilliant. It is like a fantasy to be in such a wonderful production with an outstanding company and then to find that we are such a box office hit as well as a critical hit.” More info at ThisIsLondon.co.uk
Two weeks ago TNG and DS9 writer (and Battlestar Galactica co creator) Ronald D. Moore set up his own blog mostly focusing on issues related to the WGA strike. However, yesterday Moore delved into his time as a cub writer for TNG in a post titled “The Trek Journals — One in an Occasional Series.” Moore recalls a particularly amusing anecdote about how the writers would spy on meetings between executive producer Rick Berman and show runner Michael Piller:
Patrick Stewart is currently having his second go in life as a Shakespearean actor on the London stage. His current performances of Macbeth are getting him rave reviews. In a new interview with the London Times, TNG’s Picard talks about how he never expected the job commanding the starship Enterprise he took in 1987 to become such a big part of his life and his career: It came to a point where I had no idea where Picard began and I ended. We completely overlapped. His voice became my voice, and there were other elements of him that became me
For many years, the enigmatic Q has been a recurring companion (or should that read nuisance?) to Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise. For the better part of two decades we have witnessed his exploits on the Federation’s flagship, as well as in other parts of the universe. But now, the ultimate riddler prepares to deliver the ultimate answer in Keith R. A. DeCandido’s new Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, "Q&A". Right off the top, "Q&A" sets itself apart from the recent batch of Next Generation novels, opening with quite possibly the most unique prologues of any Star Trek work I have ever picked up. To be honest, it felt more like the work of Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide series) than anything else.
This weekend TNG stars Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis beamed into the Sacramento Creation Sci-Fi Convention to the delight of Northern California Trek fans. The pair spoke with a great deal of enthusiasm and frankness about their time with the franchise. more detail and pix below
Earlier this month the annual Dragon*Con was held in Atlanta, Georgia with many Trek events from costume contests, Klingon beauty pageants, and Nichelle Nichols screening her new film (Lady Magdelene’s). The cornerstone of the event was the presence of actors Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and Gates McFadden, who were on hand to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation. During one of their appearances the subjects of the new Star Trek movie came up. According to a report on StarTrek.com, after feigning ignorance of the new feature, Frakes (director of Star Trek First Contact) praised the selection of Zachary Quinto as Spock and went on the praise the new Trek director as well, saying…
The new Star Trek film may be a return to TOS, but the creative team behind the film are also fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation. TrekMovie.com asked the producer and the writers of the film to each share a quick thought on the show. Damon Lindelof – producer We aspire to do for Trek what Next Generation did twenty years ago — reinvigorate a timeless franchise for a brand new audience. See below for what Orci and Kurtzman had to say about TNG.
On Sept 28, 1987 many people turned on their television sets and saw something like this …Trek was back in the form of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
It seems strange now to think that Star Trek: The Next Generation first debuted some 20 years ago, but there it is – there’s no denying it. I was in college at Wisconsin when the first episode, "Encounter at Farpoint," appeared on the air. I’d been watching reruns of The Original Series for as long as I could remember, so at the time it was a thrill just to have Trek back on the air. The sets, the ships, the technology – it all seemed so sleek and futuristic back in 1987. So it’s somewhat shocking, all these years later, to realize just how dated The Next Generation seems today. Unfortunately, of all the Trek TV series – including The Original Series – this is the one that’s suffered most the passage of time.
Star Trek The Next Generation’s Patrick Stewart may be ‘done with Hollywood’ but he is still open to doing some sci-fi. Stewart tells This Is North Scotland that not only is he a fan of the BBC’s Doctor Who, but he is "deeply dismayed" that he has not yet been asked to guest star on the show. Stewart has kept busy as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company since his time playing TNG’s Picard and X-Men’s Professor Xavier and is currently playing the title role in MacBeth on the London stage. Even if Stewart doesn’t end up on Doctor Who he will get a chance to act with Doctor Who. It was recently reported that David Tennant will be playing the title role in Hamlet along with Stewart in an upcoming production.
There is a great feature article at EW today called "Star Trek: TNG: An oral history." It covers the development of the series and the pilot and has quotes from Robert Justman, Rick Berman, DC Fontana, Herman Zimmerman, Andrew Probert, Mike Okuda, Denise Crosby, LeVar Burton, and John DeLancie. There is too much in the article to just pull out the good stuff, so just go read the whole thing.
Our friends at VoicesFromKrypton have an audio clip from a 1987 John DeLancie (Q) interview discussing the differences between the new Star Trek and the original. DeLancie said that when they were shooting the pilot there was no mention of the Original Series and that he felt that Patrick Stewart brought a ‘weight’ to TNG that the Original did not have. (Listen to the rest at VOK)