After directing six original series episodes, Director Ralph Senensky lost his job after the seventh due to something beyond his control.

The trouble for Senensky came in the third season of Star Trek, while working on the Third Season’s The Tholian Web.

“Monday morning I arrive at the studio to do the sequence with the four men – Kirk, Spock, Doc and Chekov,” said Senensky. “They’re in silver lamé spacesuits, going over to another spaceship, which was going to be the Enterprise doubling, where they discover that the whole crew is dead. They go through the ship section by section and they just find dead bodies and dead bodies in very strange, violent positions.

“We got to the studio and the problem was that the camera crew was there at 8 o’clock, and we were ready to shoot, but there was nothing to shoot because there were no spacesuits. I discovered that the four guys had been called to the studio on Sunday for the first fitting of the suits. As of Monday morning, they were still putting them together.”

That was the first delay, but more unavoidable delays were to slow shooting down. “…we had another problem, from 1 o’clock until the end of the day,” said Senensky. “The guys had to go to the restroom. When they went to the restroom that meant they had to be un-sewn from their spacesuits, go do their business, come back, be re-sewn into the spacesuits. That’s the way we muddled through the day and, at the end of the day, I was a half a day behind.”

But that half-day delay ended up being a real problem. Later in the week, Senensky was called into Fred Freiberger‘s office. “[I] was told that I was being replaced because I’d not caught up my half day,” said Senensky. “The following day, The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety had news articles telling about my being fired. It was issued by Doug Cramer‘s office. He was saying that these schedules had to be met and he was making a point that he was going to see that they were met, and I was the point.”

Gene Roddenberry had not been part of that decision to let go Senensky, and he called Senensky to apologize. “I was aware that Gene was not involved in the decision,” said Senensky. “I also knew that Gene, by this point, was not that thrilled with the way things were running. And I think before the end of the year, he too sort of abdicated.”

Senensky did not work again for months due to those two articles, but eventually was hired for The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. Other shows on which he eventually worked included: The Bill Cosby Show, The Partridge Family, The F.B.I., The Waltons, Hart to Hart and The Paper Chase.

Now eighty-nine, Senensky is “living a wonderful retired life” in Carmel-by-the Sea, California. His official website can be found here.

Amazon Prime members will soon be able to see Star Trek and other Paramount movies after a deal was struck with Paramount.

The agreement with Paramount Home Media Distribution will last for three years, and give Amazon Prime access to hundreds of titles, including Star Trek XI, Mission: Impossible 3, Braveheart, Forrest Gump, Mean Girls, Top Gun and Breakfast at Tiffany‘s.

“We are continuing to invest in building a vast selection for Prime Instant Video and are excited to bring Prime customers some of the most renowned and popular films in cinema history under this new agreement with Paramount,” said Brad Beale, director of digital video content acquisition for Amazon. “This deal will bring Prime Instant Video customers hundreds of new movies to enjoy on their Kindle Fire or any device connected to Amazon Instant Video, including titles such as Star Trek, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Top Gun, The Italian Job and The Truman Show, and we will remain committed to adding even more great movies and TV shows to Prime Instant Video in the future.”

Amazon Prime customers are able to use Prime Instant Video on Kindle Fire or other compatible Amazon Instant Video devices, including internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players, Roku and videogame consoles such as PlayStation 3. Prime members are charged $79.00 a year for the service, which includes unlimited free two-day shipping on millions of items including books and other merchandise offered through Amazon.

Star Trek 2‘s Simon Pegg has signed to appear in Hector and the Search for Happiness.

Hector and the Search for Happiness is the story of an “eccentric yet irresistible London psychiatrist in crisis” who is in crisis because his patients are “not getting any happier.”

The movie is based on François Lelord‘s best-selling novel of the same name.

Pegg will begin work on Hector and the Search for Happiness once he is finished with The World’s End, which is currently in pre-production.

“I’ve been searching long and hard for a film that would bring me back to my European sensibilities,” said Director Peter Chelsom. “Not unlike Being There and Forrest Gump, Hector is a contemporary love story, a fable wrapped around a very human hero’s journey. Nobody does the innocent abroad better than Simon Pegg; he is not only a brilliant comedian but a very touching actor. He is the Hector that you want to follow to the ends of the earth.”

Yesterday, Star Trek‘s Leonard Nimoy delivered the convocation address at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts.

Nimoy shared his memories of growing up in Boston, where he sold newspapers on a “windy Arlington Street in the winter.”

One story that fans may not have heard is that in his early acting days, Nimoy met up with a future president while driving a cab.

“I drove a taxi at night, so I could be available for auditions in the day,” said Nimoy. “One night, I picked up Jack Kennedy at [a] hotel. Yes, that Jack Kennedy.”

“We chatted about careers, politics and show business,” said Nimoy. “And we agreed that both had a lot in common. Maybe too much in common. He said, ‘Lots of competition in your business, just like mine.’ And then he gave me this. ‘Just remember, there’s always room for one more good one.’ Words to live by, and I tried to do that.”

Will the third time be the charm for the attempt to launch James Doohan‘s ashes into space?

Before he passed away in 2005, Star Trek‘s Doohan requested that his ashes be launched into space. Two years later, it seemed that his wishes would be fulfilled, but the capsule with his ashes ended up in the desert of New Mexico.

Then in 2008, SpaceX tried again, but this time the rocket exploded and ended up in the Pacific Ocean.

Tomorrow, SpaceX will try for the third time to fulfill Doohan’s dream, when it launches another rocket into orbit. The remains of three hundred and eight people will be launched into space if all goes well. Families paid $3,000 for the privilege of having the remains of their loved ones sent into space.

This latest mission has already been rescheduled several times, with the latest launch attempt on Saturday scrubbed due to a malfunction.

“Today’s launch was aborted when the flight computer detected slightly high pressure in the engine 5 combustion chamber,” said SpaceX. “We have discovered root cause and repairs are underway.

“During rigorous inspections of the engine, SpaceX engineers discovered a faulty check valve on the Merlin engine. We are now in the process of replacing the failed valve. Those repairs should be complete tonight. We will continue to review data on Sunday.”

Nine minutes after launch, a capsule containing the ashes will separate from the main rocket and orbit Earth for a year, before finally disintegrating upon re-entry.

Here’s hoping that this latest attempt finally gets the job done.

As of 4 AM EST on May 22nd,  it looks like Falcon 9 launched. Godspeed, James Doohan.

Some scenery for Star Trek 2 will be filmed in Iceland, according to TrekMovie.com.

The filming crew, Star Trek‘s 2nd unit, which is headed up by ILM’s visual effects supervisor Roger Guyette, will be filming visual effects shots, not action scenes.

News on the Iceland shoot had appeared in Frettabladid, the local newspaper, which speculated that filming could be for the planet Vulcan. Vulcan, however, met its end in Star Trek XI.

This will be the first time that a Star Trek production has filmed outside of the U.S.

Voice actor Nolan North has a role in Star Trek 2 and it’s due to his voice work on a video game which caught the attention of J.J. Abrams and son.

North first mentioned the role on Twitter when a sharp-eyed fan asked about seeing his name in the credits for Star Trek 2. “Nolan_north is listed on IMDB as being in the new Star Trek, could this be true?” asked the fan.

“Tis True,” replied North. “Don’t get too ‘buzzed!’ Very small role! Still, a blast to work with JJ Abrams and the cast!”

According to North, his work on the video game Uncharted caught the attention of Abrams. “The reason I did that movie – it’s a very small role – but it’s because he and his son are huge fans of Uncharted,” said North. “I met him doing some work on Super 8 and he said ‘We’re doing Star Trek, you wanna do it?’ And I said I’d love to.

“He’s a huge fan of gaming and he was telling me how people just don’t understand [the medium] yet, but they’re going to catch up. They don’t understand how amazing this technology is and it doesn’t get the respect it deserves, but if it keeps making the money it makes you’re going to see more and more people converted.”

Plot Summary: While Odo is taunting Quark about a shady business deal, they are interrupted by Dr. Mora Pel, the Bajoran scientist who first realized that he was a sentient being. Mora has found DNA samples that resemble Odo’s and believes that he can now find Odo’s origins, but Odo, who resented being a prisoner in Mora’s lab, is not fully enthusiastic about having to work with Mora again, though he asks Sisko to borrow a runabout so that he and Mora can be taken by Dax to the Gamma Quadrant for further study. On the planet where the DNA was discovered, the group finds a small life form with similar DNA to Odo’s. As they prepare to leave with a carved stone among the ruins, an earthquake hits and volcanic gas knocks out the humanoids, who Odo rescues. Back on the station, O’Brien has trouble pinning down the life form’s patterns, and later, an intruder destroys nearly everything in the science lab, leaving no trace of the alien. O’Brien suspects the life form itself must have broken out of the lab and a search begins. O’Brien finds the dead remains of the life form, but while performing a necroscopy, Bashir is attacked by a creature he can’t identify. Dax realizes that the being from the planet is not the same being affecting the station’s people and power, and Mora determines that the attacker’s DNA is in fact Odo’s. He warns Odo, who says that he was regenerating during the attacks and is furious at Mora’s interference, believing that Mora is once again infringing on his own right to determine his destiny. Though Mora believes the volcanic gas and not Odo’s psyche is to blame for the attacks, he insists that Odo return to the lab with him, which makes Odo so angry that he becomes the violent creature that attacked Bashir. With Mora’s help, Sisko lures Odo to the Promenade, where the crew is able to capture him and restore him to his usual form. Once Bashir has purged the gas from Odo’s cellular structure, Mora apologizes for his meddling and Odo agrees that they can remain in touch as equals.

Analysis: I’m a bit ambivalent about “The Alternate,” which provides some much-needed and much-appreciated information about Odo’s background and introduces us to the fascinating, flawed character who raised him, but which doesn’t seem to know what to do with the rest of the crew as it becomes ever more obvious just how different Odo really is from the humanoids with whom he works and lives. The speed with which Sisko decides to use lethal force before looking for other alternatives – beaming the violent Odo into a containment field, setting up stasis chambers, or some medical solution – is troubling, and I find it impossible to swallow that Kira would voice a single “Commander!” in objection, then go along with setting phasers to kill. It’s equally strange that Mora really never talks to Kira, considering that she’s Odo’s best friend on the station, and that Dax is so out of the loop scientifically, letting O’Brien fill her shoes as a researcher while she’s in sickbay, then failing to see what Mora sees at once about the link between the attacks and Odo’s DNA. I really dislike it when regular characters are used as plot devices rather than behaving like the people we know and care about, which happens quite a bit in this episode to bring Odo and Mora’s relationship to the forefront, with the result that it starts to seem like after two years of working together, perhaps his colleagues really don’t know or trust Odo, nor he them, as Mora keeps insisting. There’s enough scientific and Oedipal drama going on that we don’t need Sisko abruptly giving orders to fire away.

Now that I have that off my chest, let me acknowledge the many things “The Alternate” does well. The relationship between Odo and Mora is poignant and nuanced. We’ve mostly heard nightmare tales about Odo’s past – the fact that he was made to perform neck tricks for the Cardassians, for instance – so we’re inclined to distrust Mora from the start, and Odo’s hostile reaction reinforces that impression. Yet Mora seems at first to be an affable father figure sort, someone who believes his mistakes were made in love rather than stemming from some niggling jealousy or lack of boundaries. Mora lets Odo start to tell Dax how he first proved his sentience, only to interrupt and finish the story himself, with joking references at Odo’s expense. He is condescending, overly involved, even downright creepy when he starts shouting about how he gave Odo education, attention, more time than he ever devoted to anyone else in his life. Is it any wonder that Odo fled, even if he hadn’t been imprisoned in a laboratory and subjected to experiments? Yet Odo is at the core so completely alone that when Mora arrives with the possibility of finding other shapeshifters on offer, Odo can’t resist following him. He’s willing to risk exposing his history to Dax, to Sisko, even to Quark, because it’s the only way to find out where he really came from. In some ways it’s like watching an adopted child with a domineering adoptive parent from whom the child wants distance yet on whom the child is dependent if he wants to be able to track his biological family. Mora’s surprise that Odo is good at his job is rather sad, like a parent or teacher who was always too critical to see a child’s ultimate potential.

Considering that it’s a horror story of sorts, director David Carson wisely focuses on the normalcy of the station rather than shock effects and alien goo. We see only flashes of Odo transforming into his monstrous self, not an extended awful morphing sequence, and our view of the results of the first attack in a damaged lab is more unnerving than watching a pillar of goo breaking things could have been. The early shapeshifting scenes on DS9 were often in danger of becoming cartoonish – arms turned into swords, legs into slingshots – but what happens here is more reminiscent of The Incredible Hulk, a transformation utterly out of Odo’s control, painfully reminding him that he isn’t humanoid no matter how hard he practices to get the ears right. To be fair to Dr. Pol, he’s looking in the right place for Odo’s origins…that monolith on the planet with what may be a baby shapeshifter looks just like the one on the Founders’ planet, which Odo doesn’t know about yet. This is a character with humor and a broad view of the foibles of others, not only because he does detective work but because he’s exposed to so many cultures (his mocking of the Ferengi tradition of selling body parts becomes hilarious when we learn that Quark is selling “parts” of a living Ferengi). It’s poignant to see the violence of his monsters from the id, and the structural similarities to Oedipus Rex – a man investigating a crisis for which he himself turned out to be responsible – reinforce the psychological complexity of the shapeshifter. Yet he proves, in the end, that he truly has matured beyond his mentor.

A new line of Star Trek insignia bracelets has been released.

The bracelets, designed and created by Jennifer Bunt of Magic Dog Studios, are available from Vulcan Tourism of Vulcan, Alberta, Canada.

The Star Trek insignia part of the bracelet is made from one hundred percent recycled sterling silver, and the suede wristbands come in three colors to match the insignias; red, blue and gold.

“It was very exciting to create the Star Trek Insignia Bracelets,” said Bunt. “Having my work out there, representing Star Trek, a show that has become a global icon, a show that I remember watching as a child, has been an honor.”

The bracelets, which sell for $55 each, can be ordered here.

The list of IDW Publishing Star Trek comic titles for August 2012 has been released.

Three comics will hit newsstands this August; Star Trek 100-Page Spectacular Summer 2012, Star Trek TNG/Doctor Who: Assimilation 2: #4, and Star Trek #12.

Star Trek 100-Page Spectacular Summer 2012 will feature two Star Trek adventures: Embrace the Wolf and False Colors. In Embrace the Wolf, “Captain Picard and his Enterprise crew find themselves in a particularly unusual setting, while in False Colors, Captain Janeway leads the Voyager and her crew through a very close encounter with the Borg.”

Written by Nathan Archer, Christopher Golder and Tom Sniegoski, with art by Dave Hoover and Jeff Moy, and cover by Travis Charest, Star Trek 100-Page Spectacular Summer 2012 will sell for $7.99.

Next up is Star Trek TNG/Doctor Who: Assimilation 2: #4, which continues the Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover. In this latest issue, “with the CyberBorg wreaking more havoc on the galaxy, the Federation must consider making an unholy alliance in order to prevail.”

Written by Scott and David Tipton and Tony Lee, with art by J.K. Woodward and covers by Woodward and Francesco Francavilla, Star Trek TNG/Doctor Who: Assimilation 2: #4 is thirty-two pages in length and will sell for $3.99.

Finally, Star Trek #12 will conclude the re-imagined The Trouble with Tribbles. Written by Mike Johnson, with art by Claudia Balboni and a cover by Tim Bradstreet, Star Trek #12 has been overseen by Star Trek 2‘s Roberto Orci. The thirty-two page issue will sell for $3.99.