Star Trek

If you're wondering about the next Star Trek movie, the only thing you need to know is you're going to have to wait a while. They're still working on a script, but the writers say they are making significant progress. Word is they probably won't start filming until next year so it's going to be a while before you see Star Trek 2 (or is that Star Trek XII?) in theatres. At this point, the official release date is June 29, 2012, but I'm sure that could change.

William Shatner may still be sore that he wasn't in the last film, but he's moved on to another project since and that's a TV series based on the Twitter feed Shit My Dad Says. If you've ever read any of those Tweets, you know that Shatner's the perfect choice for the role. As for a Twitter feed called Shit Shat says, forget about it, he says he's got problems with electronics.

If you can't wait until the new Trek movie and are tired of watching old episodes on DVD, try seeing some Star Trek in person. They've got a Trek gimmick at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex down in Florida, but this review argued that it's not so good.

To wrap things up, here's a link to 14 things you didn't know about Star Trek. Unless you're a true Star Trek fan, then I'm guessing you already know a lot of them already.

Is the time right for another Star Trek television series?

This blogger makes a compelling case for its return and offers up some suggested scenarios for a new series. Of course, the big question is when should it be set? Should it pick up where Voyager or Enterprise left off or should it be part of the alternate time line created by the latest film?

I've always thought that an anthology approach would be a good one, something along the lines of the Outer Limits or Twilight Zone. I'm not saying that the stories need to be horror-tinged and weird like those stories, but merely have each episode be a standalone story with new characters each time. The Federation is a big place and it would be easy to come up with new stories and characters to populate each episode.

Other fans are pining for Star Trek and it's not the usual suspects. Here's a philosopher who explains why he finds the show so compelling.

Star Trek certainly has its admirers. You won't be surprised to learn that three of the different Trek series make it on to Crave Online's list of top 10 sci-fi TV shows. You may be surprised, though, to learn that the highest any of them ranks is third.

You can click on the link above to look at a pretty picture for each series and generate 10 page views for Crave's advertisers, or you can read this list:

10. stargate SG-1
9. Blake's 7
8. Firefly
7. Star Trek: The Next Generation
6. Star Trek: Deep Space 8
5. Battlestar Galactica
4. Babylon 5
3. Star Trek
2. Farscape
1. Doctor Who

Farscape at the number 2 spot? How about the X-Files?

A new documentary is on the way that explore Star Trek fandom which is called Trek Nation. By the sounds of it, it is not a freak show like Trekkies was, but a more studied look at what makes Trek endure after four decades.

If you would consider using this Star Trek communicator case to hold your mobile phone, then you'll surely want to watch the documentary.

In the lean years between the end of the original Star Trek series and the first movie, fans turned to tie-in novels. Trek novels were among the earliest media tie-in books, but there were several others. This fascinating essay from IO9 looks at the history of this phenomenon which is more popular than ever before.

Whenever I watch Star Trek, my favourite episodes are the ones that feature gigantic space battles with fleets of spacecraft ranged against each other or even the one-on-one fights that would pit the Enterprise against some alien foe.

Sadly, the reality of space battles is a lot different than what would happen in Star Trek. This scientist explains the physics of space battles for you.

I can't decide which record is more impressive. The one that was set by 99 Star Trek fans who established a new mark for the most costumed fans in one place at one time or the record set by another fan who was able to correctly name each TOS episode in order in under two minutes. Here's a video of his record-setting performance:

Considering the amounts of ums and pauses in his speech, I think there's the opportunity to shatter the record. Maybe it could be you who does it.

And frankly, the 99-fans-in-one-place record doesn't sound like such a big deal. I've seen bigger flash mobs like the crazy Star Wars light saber duel in a British shopping centre.

If record-setting isn't your thing, but you do like Star Trek, then how about the new Trek MMORPG? Here's the New York Times review.

It's going to be a while before the next Star Trek movie makes it to the big screen. Zachary Quinto, the man who played Spock in the last film, has said that he's swearing off all things Trek for the next two years. No more movies, no more conventions, no more games. Nada. His last turn in the Trek universe was to do some voiceover work for the new online game. He doesn't even play the role of everyone's favourite Vulcan in the game.

If you can't wait for the next film and need a Star Trek fix, consider listening to the audio episodes of Star Trek: The Continuing Mission. They are very well done and I think that audio is a better format for amateur productions than video because you can't compete with the big-budget effects of the real thing. I'm not the only one that thinks they're good, judging from this review.

If that's not geeky enough for your inner Trekkie, how about this project to modify a toy communicator into a bluetooth-enabled handset?

Does the thought of having your own working Star Trek phaser interest you? Check out this link for the instructions and gaze upon this video to give you inspiration. Just don't point it at anyone's eyes!

A science fiction film has never won the Academy Award for best motion picture, but this year they are expanding the number of nominees from the usual five to ten. That may increase the odds that a genre film gets nominated, but I doubt that any will win.

Hollywood trade magazine Variety wrote recently about the possiblity of a science fiction film taking the top honour this year. In the end, they concluded that the odds were long.

That didn't stop a bevy of commentators from weighing in on which sci-fi films they thought would merit the nomination. Movies like Moon, District 9, Avatar, The Road and even Star Trek are being bandied about as potential nominees.

Some believe the snub of The Dark Knight last year for the award will prompt Hollywood to add crowd-pleasing genre films to its best-picture list this year. As if.

I predict the genre movies will win the usual technical achievement awards, but few, if any, will be nominated for major awards. I can see some of them being nominated for best original or best adapted screenplay and maybe Sam Rockwell for actor, but the only SF movie that I can see making the cut for best picture is The Road because it's the most mainstream of the lot.

My gut instinct tells me the George Clooney movie Up in the Air will win best picture this year because it perfectly captures the zeitgeist.

Do you think a science fiction movie can win the best picture award this year, or even be nominated?

Even science fiction fans like to take the time to celebrate Christmas. According to reports, Hallmark's Robby the Robot ornament is flying off the shelves this year. It's not the only sci-fi ornament they are selling this holiday season. They've got a complete line of Star Wars and Star Trek ornaments.

Probably the oddest of the lot is this one from the Trek episode The Menagerie which depicts Capt. Pike in his iron lung, or whatever the heck that box is that he lives in. They've also got a bunch of other genre-related ornaments like this Twilight Zone TV and even an old arcade box from the 80s.

None of this is new. Hallmark has been doing this for years and there is a long line of scif-fi ornaments out there, many of which have become valuable to collectors.

I must confess that I have some Star Wars ornaments on my tree, but I bought them for my kids. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. They aren't the pricey Hallmark ones, though, but some other random characters that I picked up at a Canadian Tire store, of all places.

I don't remember Christmas ever having been mentioned in the Star Trek universe, although some fan with a long memory can probably tell me if it was. Do fans of the show celebrate Trekmas? Or how about Star Wars fans? Is their seasonal holiday Sithmas?

So Harlan Ellison has publicly offered his services to write the script for the next Star Trek movie. I'm sure the folks at Paramount, who he just sued, are going to be glad to hand over the keys to the franchise. That was sarcasm, in case you didn't notice. Maybe Ellison would be better off contacting Disney who want to film a remake of The Black Hole.

More interesting Star Trek news is the story that they recently discovered an early pilot of the series that was believed to be lost. A German collector offered the film to Paramount and they plan to release it in a future Blu-ray release.

An incarnation of Star Trek that I always thought was unjustly vilified was Enterprise. It took some time to find its legs, but I thought by the time the last season rolled around, it was pretty good stuff. I even didn't mind the non-bombastic theme song. Scott Bakula, who played the captain in that series, recently spoke about his role and his affinity for science fiction.

So what happens when a well-respected travel writer books passage on a Star Trek-themed cruise? He actually writes a decent report that doesn't trot out the usal Trekkie clichés that you read in mainstream news reports about fandom.

I wonder if anyone on the cruise told him about their black velvet paintings of Captain Kirk. Don't believe they exist? Check out this gallery and admit you want one.

Don't mock Trek fans. There are other popular franchises which exhibit equal levels of obsessive behaviour. What else would explain the motivation to buy replica boots from the Star Wars universe or learn how to write your name in Tolkien's version of the Elvish language?