Star Trek News

In Sci-Fi TV this week we have lots of news coming from Syfy with renewal news from Eureka, special X-Mas episodes for Eureka and Warehouse 13, and a new show from Syfy too. There are also new tidbits for the upcoming seasons of Smallville and Fringe. All that plus the latest television ratings, casting bites [...] 46

The last time we saw Ensign Sue, Spock had put her into a red uniform and sent her on an away mission…with the usual result. Find out what happens next, in the 24th strip of Ensign Sue Must Die the comic strip inspired by the new Star Trek movie.     Ensign Sue Must Die 24: Ensign Sue [...] 42

Star Trek T-Shirts have been a staple of licensed Trek products for decades and this week at the fashion industries MAGIC Marketplace trade show the latest Star Trek licensee was announced. Hybrid Apparel will begin selling new Star Trek T-shirts in September. More details below and a first look at Hybrid’s first Trek T-shirts below. [...] 39

At seventy-nine, most successful actors might want to kick back and enjoy retirement in some pleasant locale, but that’s not the case for William Shatner, who is busier than ever with his established and new television shows.

Shatner spoke recently about his most recent show, Aftermath with William Shatner; a new show to debut this fall, $#*! My Dad Says; and his experience with Twitter.

In Aftermath, Shatner interviews people who became famous in the news, some of whom did things which landed them in prison. Why do such people want to talk to Shatner for his show? “They’re anxious to tell their story,” said Shatner. “They’ve had their fifteen minutes [of fame] and here’s an opportunity to present that story once again from their side. It may also be they know me in some manner and want to talk to me.”

His subjects soon find out that they’re talking to a regular human being, not just an actor. “…they get past [Shatner being an actor] and see that it’s not an actor, but a human being who is vitally interested in them.” Shatner has an “innate interest in them and what they’re thinking and feeling as a result of the experience they went through.”

Shatner’s new show $#*! My Dad Says, which debuts this fall, has already stirred up controversy due to the word “shit.” “We call it ’shit,” said Shatner. “I urge you to look at the word ’shit.’ It’s the vernacular, not the act of defecation. All you’re arguing is should the word ’shit’ be allowed in the English language in nice company. If you’re talking to a jazz musician and he says, ‘I’ve got to get my shit together,’ are you appalled, or do you say, ‘Yeah, I understand?’”

The modern age of communication has not passed Shatner by, although he needs a little help from those a little more technologically-savvy to participate. Shatner has his own Twitter account. “I’m quite active in it,” he said of the account. “I don’t know how to technically do it, but I have some young people who do it for me. I try to be a little informative, but mostly I try to instigate.”

How does Shatner keep up with so many projects? “I’ve discovered the answer,” he said, “which is to get up a couple of hours earlier. You can get anything done if you’re up early. That and Omega-3s.”

Bruce Greenwood, who played Captain Christopher Pike in Star Trek XI, would like to see more of Pike in future Trek.

Greenwood would love to return to Trek, and he couldn’t resist giving his tongue-in-cheek opinion of Pike’s importance to the Star Trek franchise in a recent interview. “I think Captain Pike is an essential component to the whole franchise,” he said. “I think there should be a whole offshoot of Pike’s adventures.”

But what about Pike’s physical impairment? Would that make a difference? Not according to Greenwood. “There’s nothing that says Pike can’t get up and out of that wheelchair, get his own ship and go off on some adventures of his own. I’m now an admiral, but I want to get out of the wheelchair.”

It is not known if Pike will be back in Star Trek XII, but fans, as well as Greenwood, can only hope.

For George Takei, being able to say that he is legally married has influenced how others perceive his relationship.

Takei, a strong proponent of gay marriage who opposes California’s Proposition 8, which would only recognize marriage in California as being between a man and a woman, spoke about the controversial proposition and what legal marriage has done for himself and his husband Brad Altman.

Being legally married, aside from any legal rights, made a difference when it came to something so simple as being introduced to new people. “What it did,” explained Takei, “I think it affected the people we know, acquaintances, more when introducing us, there was some awkwardness in introducing us as a couple. Now they introduce Brad as my husband or me as Brad’s husband because it’s legal. I think legality adds a whole different standard to our relationship.”

Takei has received warm support from the Trek community when he’s spoken to them in person, such as at conventions, which contrasts with some emails that people have sent to him that are not supportive. “Last week, I did a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas,” he said, “and when I talked about our marriage — thunderous applause! … None [of the negative feedback e-mails] stick out. They’re all very alike, very similar. It’s all, ‘The Bible this,’ and, ‘tradition that.’ …  It’s not worth responding to. They will pay attention to current events, and ultimately they will be educated. Because that’s the same kind of letters that my aunt got when she got married to my uncle.’”

In September, Takei and Altman will celebrate their second wedding anniversary.

John Billingsley recently answered fan questions regarding his time on Star Trek: Enterprise, including what he considered to be the best and worst episodes of the series, his attempt to provide story material for Phlox and more.

Playing the cheerful and amiable Dr. Phlox was a nice change from the actor’s usual roles and reflected more of Billingsley himself. “Because I’d played so many psychopaths and sociopaths and serial killers and tormented souls and drug addicts and lunatics,” said Billingsley, “Dr. Phlox is perhaps my favorite part if only because it was a chance to be giddy and delightful for four years. I rarely have the opportunity to be that kind of guy.”

Billingsley had a favorite and a least favorite episode of Enterprise. His favorite episode was one that featured Trip, Similitude. “I thought that was the best episode for a lot of reasons,” he said. “Everyone in the cast was involved and everyone had an emotional through-line. Some episodes, of any show, actors are used to convey information or they’re shunted aside. That episode, I thought it was the best of our ensemble pieces and it did what Star Trek does best, which is to deal with a topical question that has some sociological significance in a way that brings humanist values into play. And I got to handle a baby.”

The worst episode, in his opinion, was Precious Cargo. “[Padma Lakshmi as an alien princess] and Trip were on the run from whoever was pursuing her,” Billingsley explained. “I don’t remember all the details. I thought that was an unfortunate episode all around. It just didn’t work. Again, no fault of the actors. It just didn’t come together. And it was at a touchy point in our second season. We were holding on to not-great, but adequate audience numbers and after that episode our numbers just plummeted and we never got the audience back again.”

Unlike Bob Picardo (EMH) on Star Trek: Voyager, Billingsley didn’t really get the chance to have his story ideas incorporated into Enterprise, but had he been able to do that, he had definite ideas on what he would have liked to have seen for his character. “Bob Picardo, I think, did a wonderful job on Voyager of asking them for stories and suggesting plot ideas,” said Billingsley. “I did a little of that in the first couple of years, but didn’t make any headway, so I let that go. But for me it would’ve had to do with the Denobulan culture. I would have been interested in finding out more about Phlox’s species and his people and what their belief systems were. Any time I got a little information about Denobula, that was wonderful. It helped me flesh the guy out. Any story that moved in that world would have been great.”

Bruce Greenwood is out promoting his latest project, Mao’s Last Dancer, but in a new interview he again expressed himself strongly on his views about appearing in the 2012 Star Trek sequel, and he also revealed how he got some changes to character of Pike for the 2009 Star Trek movie. Excerpts below.   Greenwood: Pike is [...] 138

Would you like to keep your love of Star Trek even closer? How about in your back pocket? Well Mighty Wallets are introducing a line of three brand new Star Trek wallets next month. We have more details including video of these interesting new Trek products below.     Star Trek Mighty Wallets Mighty Wallets from Dynomighty are thin, [...] 29

A rumor from last month that Karl Urban would play the lead role in Judge Dredd has turned out to be confirmed.

Judge Dredd producers Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich confirmed that Urban had been cast for the role in the film, which will begin shooting soon in South Africa.

Macdonald spoke about making the movie based on the Judge Dredd comic and what he and Reich had in mind for the story based on a comic that appeared thirty years ago. “The main thing about Dredd is that it’s a fantastic comic that was completely messed up twenty years ago,” he said. “Our idea is to make a very hard, R-rated, gritty, realistic movie of Dredd in Megacity, so we’ve got to get the tone right. He’s not going to take off his helmet. His bike is going to feel real. He’s going to hit people and it’s going to feel real.”

According to Macdonald, movies based on comic books have changed. “They were treated unseriously and now they’re treated seriously,” said Macdonald. “We’ve cast a guy called Karl Urban to play Dredd. We’ll be shooting in Johannesburg; it’s being directed by Pete Travis; we’re shooting with the people who did District 9, and if we get it right, Alex has a couple of ideas for other stories as well. It’s not based on any one comic, and John Wagner is involved in every decision.”

Judge Dredd is expected out in 2012.