Franchise Scoops 10 Saturn Nominations

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films yesterday announced the nominations for the 29th Annual Saturn Awards, with the Trek franchise recognised in 10 categories.

Enterprise scored four nods, including Best Network Television Series, according to the Saturn Awards web site. The series will face competition from Alias, Angel, Smallville, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and its Wednesday-night lead-out, The Twilight Zone, to take home the gong.

Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer) was nominated in the category of Best Actor in a Television Series with the likes of Farscape's Ben Browder and Stargate SG-1's Richard D. Anderson, while Connor Trinneer (Charles 'Trip' Tucker) will face off with Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville) and Victor Garber (Alias), among others, for Best Supporting Actor. Both actors were nominated in the same categories last year, but lost to Browder and Rosenbaum, respectively.

While her co-stars are competing for their first Saturn, Jolene Blalock (T'Pol) will be looking for her third, having taken home the Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series and Female Face of the Future awards last year. Blalock is once again nominated in the supporting actress category, with her competition including Buffy's Alyson Hannigan and Michelle Trachtenberg.

The franchise's latest silver screen adventure didn't go unnoticed either, with Star Trek Nemesis scoring a nod in the category of Best Science Fiction Film. The other nominees were Men In Black 2, Minority Report, Signs, Solaris and Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

Tom Hardy (Shinzon) was recognised for his performance in the Best Supporting Actor category, with the young thespian up against Max Von Sydow for Minority Report and Andy Serkis for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, among others. Trek's behind-the-scenes wizards didn't go unrecognised, with Bob Ringwood nominated for Best Costume and Michael Westmore honoured in the Best Make-up category.

Trek's resurgence on the DVD scene was also noticed by the academy, with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan nominated for Best DVD Classic Film Release, and all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation competing with Babylon 5, The X-Files and others for Best DVD TV Programming Release.

On the alumni front, Michael Piller's The Dead Zone was nominated in the category of Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series, while the Carrie telefilm, written by former Voyager scribe Bryan Fuller, is up for Best Single Television Presentation. John Dykstra, who worked on the special effects for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, was recognised for his effects work on Spider-Man.

Fantasy epic The Two Towers and futuristic thriller Minority Report led the film nominations with ten nods each, followed by Attack of the Clones with six. The most-nominated television series were Buffy and Smallville, both recognised in five categories, followed by Enterprise, Angel and Taken with four nods.

Trek has won several Saturn Awards since their inception in 1973, with past winners including William Shatner (James T. Kirk), Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway) and Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine). The awards seek to honour the very best in genre entertainment, as science fiction and fantasy films and television series are often overlooked by major awards bodies.

The winners will be announced on May 18. The full list of nominations can be found here at the Saturn Awards web site. Thanks to Edward Curtis for this!

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