TREKTODAY.COM - View Archives: March 1999
News headlines from March 1999:
| Wednesday March 31, 1999 |
Christian (12:19 pm CST)
The Star Trek Universe has just posted the final ratings for Voyager's 'The Fight,' with some very sad news:
The final rating for "The Fight" is in, and it is now official that it is the lowest rated [first-run] Voyager episode ever. It got a 2.9 and was nr. 96.
It was the 4th season episode "Vis á Vis" that had the record before "The Fight"
The full update goes on with news on UPN's Voyager-hacking, and mentions that yesterday was the first day this year the Universe got more than a thousand hits. Congratulations!
Tim Russ Chat Announced
Christian (11:35 am CST)
The Continuum has just announced they'll be hosting a live chat with Tim Russ (Tuvok) on Thursday the 8th of April. In the chat, he'll talk about 'about life as a Vulcan on Star Trek:Voyager,' but I suppose he'll also answer questions about his personal life and his career in music. As of now, advance questions can be submitted here.
DS9 Finale Script Finished
Also on Monday, Ain't It Cool News reported the following:
[...]
It is entirely possible that one of several things has happened here: the ending exists but is being held back for some sort of retooling; the ending was...simply...still being constructed at the time my source sent me the information; the ending of the script wasn't finished as of early weekend, and had been hammered out over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and is now ready to go; the ending just ain't done yet no matter how you look at it.
Christian (11:14 am CST)
TrekWeb is reporting that the DS9 finale has began filming:
The grand two-hour finale of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine began filming yesterday, March 29th, 1999. The episode, at this time thought to be titled "What You Leave Behind," is sure to end the seven year run of the Star Trek franchise's most daring series with lots of action, excitement, and character intrigue. [...] I'm told that the show has lots of surprises in store for DS9 fans and that we can expect a brilliant finish to our beloved series.
Over the past few days, some rumours showed up saying that the episode would begin shooting without a finished script. On his Q&A Board, Pocket Books editor John Ordover noted that, as of Friday, he still hadn't received a final script. Later on, this Q&A session was wiped, but the reason for this is still unknown.
I am told that as of early weekend (late Friday, early Saturday), the script for the last half of the finale episode had yet to be completed. Which means, in theory, it is conceivable the series finale may have begun begun filming today without...well....a series finale.
However, according to TrekWeb the shooting script is now completely finished, with just a few minor details still being worked on. TrekWeb's report can be found here, while the report from Ain't It Cool News is also still available.
Trek CCG Ambassadors Announced
Christian (10:50 am CST)
Decipher, the publisher of the Star Trek Customizable Card Game, has just announced the CCG Ambassadors for this tournament season:
Each Star Trek CCG Ambassadors is listed by sanctioned tournament area, so you can contact the Ambassador nearest you for news about special Star Trek CCG events happening near you, including tournaments, demos, retail and Con appearances. If you would like to know more about what the Ambassadors do and how you might become one, follow this link.
Ambassadors are responsible for running tournaments in their area, supporting Decipher at conventions, and promote the game. If you have questions about the current tournament, you can find your local ambassadors by going here, while a list of the Ambassadors' responsibilities can be found here.
E-Greetings Named No.1 E-Cards Service
``This No. 1 ranking by TopTenLinks voters proves that people think E-greetings are the best digital greetings available on the Internet,'' said E-greetings Network Chief Executive Officer Gordon Tucker. ``More than three million people have registered as E-greetings customers over the past few months and 30,000 new people sign up every day. We expect that number will continue to grow as more and people experience our unparalleled content and quality of service.''
Christian (9:55 am CST)
A company press release from E-Greetings, a service which allows you to send digital cards to your friends, mentions that the service has been chosen as the world's best 'Virtual Card' service by TopTenLinks:
TopTenLinks (http://www.toptenlinks.com) is a collection of more than 700 ``top ten'' lists of Websites divided into 22 categories. Sites are evaluated by a team of reviewers, who consider such factors as quality of content, site speed, ease of navigation and artistic design before listing a site and submitting it to an ongoing public vote.
Undoubtedly, one of the reasons for their success is that they also offer more than a dozen free Star Trek cards, including the ever-popular 'Live Long and Prosper' greeting card. Read the full press release for more on the TopTenLinks choice, or just click here to start sending some cards!
Today on TV -Tonight, the Sci-Fi Channel is airing the third-season episode 'For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky,' remarkable for title alone. The episode airs at 7:00pm and at 11:00pm Eastern Time, still in a cut-down version (Boo! Hiss!)
-In the UK, Sky One is showing Voyager's 'Coda' at 17:00 CET and at 23:30 CET.
-In Germany, Sat.1 will be repeating TNG's 'Gefahr aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, Teil 2' (Time's Arrow, Part Two) tomorrow morning at 02:00
CET. At 15:00 CET tomorrow, they're showing TNG's 'Todesangst beim Beamen' (Realm of Fear).
Christian (9:46 am CST)
-Tonight at 9:00pm ET/PT, UPN will be showing a new Voyager episode - 'Think Tank,' the episode on which Seinfield's Jason Alexander is guest-starring. Take a look at the official Paramount description of the episode:
In the midst of a clash with the Hazari bounty hunters, Janeway is offered assistance from a "think tank," a small yet exotic alien ship containing disparate life forms, each able to communicate telepathically. Their spokesperson, Kurros, offers to help solve the dilemma with the Hazari, only in exchange for Seven of Nine as payment. When Seven declines their "offer," the think tank focuses on taking her by force.
Hopefully this episode will have better ratings than last week's disastrous 'The Fight,' though I doubt that'll be a problem, now Jason Alexander is guest-starring. Thanks go out to Mr. Video Productions for the above picture, which is, of course, copyrighted by Paramount.
New at Trekseek.com
-The Star Trek Universal Database contains news , rumors, pictures and episode info for Deep Space Nine and Voyager.
As usual, all the other new sites can be found by going here.
Christian (9:39 am CST)
After five new site submissions yesterday, TrekSeek has just one more site to go before reaching the 900 links barrier. Look for a little celebration tomorrow, but for now, let's just check out some of those new sites:
-Allied Electronic Simulations, located at its own www.aesim.com domain, is one of the 'of the biggest and best RPG groups out there.'
-The USS Continental is a general Star Trek page. It has a ST picture gallery, a growing ship gallery, animations, and more.
Hello World!
Christian (9:35 am CST)
The sun is shining! Woohoo! For the first time this year, I could actually walk outside without a wintercoat and sweater - isn't it great?
| Tuesday March 30, 1999 |
Christian (12:38 pm CST)
WebTrek has just updated again, giving us a round-up of the most important Trek news of the past two weeks. What it also has, however, is some news on Rick Sternbach's *possible* involvement with a new Trek series, as mentioned by the man himself on the startrek.expertforum.ricksternbach newsgroup:
We in the Voyager Art Department have not even the briefest whisper of a smidgin of a hint of a clue about what happens after Voyager closes down, rumors of a new series notwithstanding. I don't even know what we're doing in season six or whether we get the ship home early or if we go the full seven seasons. Do we slide into a new series as we did from TNG to Voyager? Beats me, but if we're asked to stick around, we're ready to assist.
The "Official" POV from atop Stage 8:
What he's basically saying is that he knows nothing about a new series besides the standard rumours, but I thought it was interesting to include anyways.
Leonard Nimoy Hosts Y2K Survival Video
Christian (12:30 pm CST)
The Continuum is reporting that Leonard Nimoy (Spock) hosts a new video called 'The Y2K Family Survival Guide.' Take a look at how Amazon describes the video:
Leonard Nimoy hosts Y2K Family Survival Guide, a 48-minute program that, depending on your particular point of view, either provides a solid grounding in how to prepare for mass-computer failure or hypes the panic and incites fear about something that may not transpire. This slickly produced video includes interviews with government and computer-industry figures to gain an understanding of how the problem originated and what is being done to rectify the situation.
With an average Amazon customer rating of five stars, the book is apparently loved by all who've seen it. The news report at the Continuum has more about the video and Nimoy's involvement with it.
12" Toys Spotted In Stores
Christian (12:14 pm CST)
The Raving Toy Maniac is reporting that the new 12" figures have begun showing up at retail:
Andorian Ambassador Shras, Captain Kathryn Janeway, Lt. Cmdr. Geordi LaForge from "Insurrection, and Mr. Spock have been spotted at numerous Wal-Marts over the past few days at a retail price of $24.97
This year should see the arrival of many more 12" figures, news on that will of course be posted here as soon as it becomes available. Read more in the full update, or click here to see photos of the new toys.
Win An Autographed Scotty Picture
Christian (11:44 am CST)
TrekWeb has just launched a 'James Doohan Autograph Giveaway' where you can win a very special merchandise item:
TrekWeb.COM presents your opportunity to own a piece of original Star Trek memorabilia: an autographed photo of James "Scotty" Doohan, the future's most prolific starship engineer! This 11 X 8 1/2 color photo shows Scotty playing the bagpipes as he appeared in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
The only thing you'll have to do is download a special trial version of @Backup, a new computer backup program. Undoubtedly Trekweb will get paid a certain amount of money for every download, so you'll also be supporting the site when participating. Find the full detailes by going here.
Daily Sci-Fi Previews Season Finales
Christian (11:35 am CST)
The Den's Daily Sci-Fi has published a preview of Trek's season finales, basically summing up all the rumours that have been floating around the net for sometime. First up is their DS9 preview:
As they say, all good things must come to an end. And even the not so good things. When it comes to Star Trek, it's a little of both. Deep Space Nine, which was the Next Generation's underrated cousin, finally ends after seven seasons on May 29th, and in tying off seven years worth of storylines (they're not going to the movies, after all), a lot of things are going to happen, and happen in ways you might not like.
The full preview has more, though none of it is really new if you've been following the news over the past few weeks.
Continuum Chat Transcripts Up
Steve Oster:
NFLD Canada asks:
Steve Oster:
Michael303 asks:
Steve Oster:
Meanwhile, the Continuum *still* hasn't published the transcript of their chat with Gary Hutzel, which took place several weeks ago. I wonder what he said at that chat that cannot be revealed to the public yet...
Christian (11:24 am CST)
It's almost unbelievable, but the folks at the Continuum have finally put up the transcript of last Thursday's chat with DS9 Supervising Producer Steve Oster. Take a look at some of the highlights:
Emma asks:
Lots and lots more can be found in the full transcript, in which we also hear that the final episode will take no less than 4 weeks to shoot! It should turn out to be an absolutely wonderful episode, then.
Hi Steve, I've heard rumours that Odo is going to meet his maker by the end of the season (I hope not), do you have any light to shed on the subject?, thanks:-)
Odo has always been drawn to explore where he came from. And certainly that has been a continuing motivation for his character and I would expect that he would continue on that exploration through the end of the season. To clarify I am not part of the writing staff but take whatever the writing staff has written and oversee getting it from the page to what you see on television.
Are there plans to begin a new series to replace DS9? If so how about a little insight. Thanks
At this time there are not firm plans for another series though certainly there's a lot of talk about it.
What are the current plans to do with the sets? We'll they tear them? Any plans for movie or miniseries?
Some of them will go on display in museums and the traveling Star Trek exhibits. Others are being inherited by Voyager. Some will be stored for potential use on upcoming features.
'Star Trek Junkie' Invents Personal VCR
``Up to now, we've all been slaves to television schedules, but with personal television, viewers are now in control,'' said Wood, the Star Trek junkie who is now CEO of Replay Networks Inc., one of two companies offering the systems. Similar to the established WebTV, ReplayTV and TiVo, a device made by a company also named TiVo, store programs on an internal hard disk for viewers to watch when they're ready. In addition, the systems give viewers the power to pause, rewind and ``instant replay'' live television.
Christian (10:36 am CST)
According to a report written by AP Business Writer Martha Mendoza we've got Star Trek to thank for a new development in the world of high-tech gadgets:
San Jose, Calif. (AP) - Eight years ago, Anthony Wood decided that he didn't want to miss another second of Star Trek, so he set to work designing a digital VCR that could search for programs and record them on a computer disk. This week the first personal video recorder is rolling out for consumers. For $500 to $1,000, viewers get on-demand programming from a black box that sits on their television set and collects shows based on their individual taste.
For more info on the system, which will set you back at least $499, read the full article.
Vidiot Final Chapter Trailers Up
Christian (10:14 am CST)
Mr. Video Productions has put up the two new Final Chapter trailers. Even though they were available at Star Trek Interactive! yesterday, Vidiot's trailers are of a somewhat higher quality and are also available as MP3 audio clips. Vidiot's 'Penumbra' preview can be found here, while the six 'Final Chapter - Phase 2' trailers can be found here.
TV Land Showing Animated Series
Christian (9:57 am CST)
TV Land, a Viacom-owned sister station of Nickelodeon, will start showing the TOS 'Animated Series' starting April 3. The series will be shown as part of their 'Super Retrovison Saturdaze', and will air at 12:30pm Eastern Time. The first episode shown will be 'More Tribbles, More Troubles' followed by episodes such as 'Yesteryear' and 'The Terratin Incident' - definitely worth watching, even if you're not usually into 'Super Retrovison Saturdaze' :-). Thanks go out to C G Spender at the Sci-Fi Channel Forums for reporting this.
Today on TV
-In the UK, Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Alter Ego' at 17:00 CET and at 23:30 CET.
-Tomorrow at 03:05 CET, German television station Sat.1 will be repeating TNG's 'Gefahr aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, Teil 1' (Time's Arrow, Part One). At 15:00 tomorrow, they're airing the conclusion - 'Gefahr aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, Teil 2' (Time's Arrow, Part Two)
Christian (9:49 am CST)
-Tonight, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing the TOS third-season episode 'Day of the Dove' at 7:00pm and 11:00pm Eastern Time. Also, they've now modified their web site, removing the 'Special Edition' tag and the Leonard Nimoy blurb - all that's left is a statement 'See all 80 episodes of the original Star Trek series in their Digitally Remastered Format!'
New at Trekseek.com
-Meet the United Peoples Nation's Special Forces Group. They go on the away missions too risky for normal forces, from undercover missions on enemy ships, to controling riots on different planets, UPNSF is all adventure!
To take a look at this week's other new sites, take a look here.
Christian (9:38 am CST)
Fortunately we were able to fix yesterday's problem, and we even managed to restore all the new sites! We're now up to 893 Star Trek links, including yesterday's two new sites:
-Will's Star Trek Page has everything about Star Trek: TNG, including personnel profile, cast biographies, news, and much, much more!
Hello World!
Meanwhile, in case you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, you might want to re-read yesterday's news and get up to date again...
Christian (9:36 am CST)
This morning, several people sent me feedback on some of yesterday's headlines. First up, Robert Spottiswood reacted to yesterday's 'Hello World!', informing me that Virgin's 'Galactic Airways' plan might actually NOT be an April fools gag:
If this is the
plan I am thinking of, it involves a hypersonic (Mach 5+) aircraft cruising
at the limits of the atmosphere. And if you think that's ambitious, that's
the short-range plan. The companies looking into space tourism are aiming
for quick and easy Moon visits. Apparently, rich people will pay good money
to experience space, so space tourism is worth investing in. That, and the
commercial benefits from exploitation of the Moon's resources and the
benefits of weightlessness in production of high-purity materials.
After that, Psi Phi's David Henderson responded to yesterday's post about the DS9 finale novelization, saying the following:
John Ordover's Q&A has been wiped. I *suspect* that's because
either (A) he got the script, rendering the speculation moot, or (B)
the decision came down to cancel the book... but I don't know that
for sure.
I certainly hope Ordover got the script - I'm really looking forward to that novelization. Lastly, several people (including Robert and David) commented on the 'Final Chapter Trailers' update, noting that the picture of DS9 exploding came from the third-season episode 'Visionary.'
Thanks to all who mailed me for clearing this up.
| Monday March 29, 1999 |
Christian (12:27 pm CST)
Thanks to Saleel Majeed, here are this week's headlines from the Star Trek teletext page of British stations Sky and Channel 5:
Keep in mind that these headlines are either fabricated or blown completely out of proportion - their main goal is to have viewers call an expensive pay phone number.
More 'The Fight' Reviews Available
Christian (12:11 pm CST)
Two new reviews of Voyager's 'The Fight' were just made available on the internet, namely David E. Sluss' Cynics Corner Review and Jim Wright's Delta Blues review. For once, Jim Wright didn't have much to say about the episode:
Like I said, I don't have much to comment on. It was an enjoyable episode, rich in mood and in character portrayal.
Call it (* * 1/2).
Out of a possible 5 stars, this certainly isn't to be called extremely bad. David E. Sluss, meanwhile, also awarded the episode a 2.5, but that was out of a possible 10, making it one of the most 'cynical' reviews ever. If you want to see it all for yourself, the Cynics Corner review can be found here, while the Delta Blues review can be found here.
Final Chapter Trailers
The other trailer has a preview of Phase 2 of the Final chapter (the last 5 episodes), and STI has a short description of this trailer:
-Bashir - For seven years one doctor has saved countless lives, Now saving one more will seal the fate of millions!
Christian (11:43 am CST)
NOTE: This update contains (minor) spoilers for DS9's finale. To avoid them, click here, you will then be transported to the next article.
Star Trek Interactive! has put up two new trailers of DS9's Final Chapter.
One of these trailers (which can be found by going here gives us a first look at 'Penumbra,' the first episode of the Final Chapter.
Paramount has also released a first look in the Phase 2 of the Final Chapter with five short videos: History, Sisko, Odo, Kira, and Bashir. Star Trek Interactive has the videos online for you viewing, they are located in the new Final Chapter page-check this page often as everything that I can find on the that last episodes will be archived on that page. The character videos deal with each cast members roll in the final outcome of DS9, they are as follows
-Kira - For seven years she fought in the name of peace, now her greatest battle is in the name of love.
-Odo - For seven years a shape-shifter has sought his destiny now his fate will colloid with the fate of the galaxy.
-Sisko - How will a page from one mans past close the book on a seven year legacy -" Your greatest trial is about to begin".
-History - Seven Years ago history was made, a legend was born! Now it's time to make history one last time 
Rather interesting is that the Phase 2 Trailer contains this picture, which seems to show a runabout leaving an exploding station! Even though this has already been rumoured to happen, I doubt Paramount would give this away in a preview trailer. Star Trek Interactive also found a short clip of Odo exloding, but I think this might actually be Mirror Odo. In any case, check out the rest of STI's speculations on the trailer by going here, or just see the actual Phase 2 trailer itself by going here.
Robert Beltran 'Latino' Self Portrait Up
The Sandinista government allowed us to use their soldiers as extras to play both Sandinistasa and Contras. A troop would film with us for a few weeks and then march off to the front to kill or be killed for real! Needless to say this made for a highly complex, emotional experience. After all, I was portraying an American soldier sent to train Contras (played by Sandinistas) to kill Sandinistas in a war that was really happening just miles away from the movie set! Pirandello had keen insight! At the time the harbor had been mined by the U.S. government, and this blockade caused terrible privations in the country. My sympathies were entirely with the Sandinistas.
Christian (11:01 am CST)
The Official Robert Beltran Site has a new 'Self Portrait' up, written by Robert Beltran himself. In this installment, he talks about his 1984 movie 'Latino:'
Latino was filmed in 1984 at the height of the Contra-Sandinista war in Nicaragua. The Sandinista government was defending itself from the invasion of U.S.-backed guerrilla fighters who were trying to topple the legitimate Sandinista government.
For more on Robert Beltran's experiences shooting the movie, take a look at the actual self portrait.
Final Chapter Novelization Not Certain
Christian (10:09 am CST)
Pocket Books editor John Ordover just updated his Q&A page with some worrying news - they might not be able to publish a novelization of the DS9 finale in time. In one question, David Henderson asked why Pocket Books hadn't received a script of the final episode yet, considering Ron Moore recently mentioned the episode would start shooting today:
What Ron meant, of course, is that the finale is -scheduled- to start shooting today. All can I say If things -did- start on schedule, and there is a full script today, we can probably still make the date. If there is only a partial script, with the rest up in the air, I don't know if we can or not. We'll certaintly try. All I know is that as of Friday there was nothing they could send us. I'm already considering alternatives, and doing DOMININON WAR II is certainly one of them.:)
Later on he mentions that the deadline for the novelization's manuscript is Friday the 5th of April - a date which does not actually exist :-). I assume he means Friday the 2nd of April, which would mean writer Diane Carey would have to write astonishingly fast to finish the book in time. In any case, more can be found in the full Q&A update.
Happy Birthday Marina Sirtis
Christian (9:58 am CST)
Today is the fourtieth birthday of Marina Sirtis, the Greek / British actress best-known for her role as Deanna Troi. An interesting tidbit is that she originally auditioned for the role of Tasha Yar, while Denise Crosby originally wanted to play the part of the ship's counselor. In the end, Gene Roddenberry decided it would be better to switch the two around, and that is how Sirtis got the role of Troi. Sirtis' is currently wed to her own 'Imzadi,' namely rock guitarist Michael Lamper. In case you're interested, more on Marinia Sirtis can be found at SirtisUK, which is also where I got the info for the above mini-biography from.
Today on TV
-In the UK, Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Fair Trade' at 17:00 GMT, with a rerun at 23:30. At 20:00 GMT, they're showing a new DS9 episode - 'Profit and Lace' from the sixth season.
-In Germany, Sat.1 will be repeating TNG's 'Das zweite Leben' (The Inner Light) tomorrow morning at 00:15 CET. At 15:00 tomorrow, they'll be showing 'Gefahr aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, Teil 1' (Time's Arrow, Part One).
Christian (9:39 am CST)
-The Sci-Fi Channel is showing the TOS third-season episode 'Spectre of the Gun' tonight at 7:00pm Eastern Time, with a re-run at 11:00pm. Starting today, the Original Series' timeslot has been reduced to just one hour, probably meaning that all Leonard Nimoy's commentary and some parts of the episodes itself will be lost.
New at Trekseek.com
Fortunately we've got a back-up available, but it'll still take a few hours for the problem to be resolved and Trekseek to be back up as usual.
[UPDATE 20:43 CET - we're back up to 891 sites again, and everything is working correctly. Normal 'New at Trekseek.com' service will resume tomorrow.]
Christian (9:26 am CST)
There were indeed 4 new sites in the TrekSeek database yesterday - unfortunately, that's before the server Trekseek resides on experienced a minor crash, leading it to think there was no more disk space available. Unfortunately, when we were re-building our database this resulted in the search program accidentally wiping out 300 links, setting us back to 'just' 689 Trek links.
Hello World!
I wonder how much more such articles we'll hear about as Thursday (April 1) approaches...
Christian (9:06 am CST)
I read in my local newspaper that Richard Branson and his company Virgin want to set up a new touring company - 'Virgin Galactic Airways.' Within 8 years, *you* too could be making a pleasure trip through space for the modest sum of $200,000! However, the service would have benefits for businessmen as well - a trip from London to New York would only take 90 minutes!
| Sunday March 28, 1999 |
Christian (12:35 pm CST)
NOTE: This post contains spoilers for DS9's final episode. If you do not want to be spoiled, click here to be transported to the next news item.
Again, this is a spoiler that could seriously lessen your enjoyment of the episode - click here to avoid it.
AURORA, the fan club of Robert O'Reilly (Gowron) is reporting the following:
Just got word from my spies that Robert's character, Gowron, is going to be killed off in the 2 episode series final of Deep Space 9. We hope to have more info for you as we get it.
Well, it appears that Kai Winn won't be the only one to die during 'What You Leave Behind,' though both of these rumours could still prove to be untrue. As this comes from Robert O'Reilly's official fan club, however, this might be somewhat more reliable than the usual rumours. I wonder who'll be the next leader of the High Council - Worf :-)?
April Cult Times Interviews Jeffrey Combs
Christian (12:04 pm CST)
The April issue of British magazine The Cult Times has an interview with Jeffrey Combs, who has guest starred on DS9 both as the Vorta Weyoun and the Ferengi Brunt. In the interview, he:
...explains what it's like to be two characters in the same series, and how he put Jonathan Frakes out of a job
The issue also has a preview of Voyager's fifth season, which will soon start airing on Sky One. Unfortunately, more on this can only be found by buying the actual magazine, though the Cult Times Homepage has a lovely picture of Seven of Nine and the Borg Queen.
Celebrate New Year Aboard The Enterprise
The organizers would have loved to have an Original Cast member aboard, but unfortunately they would have had to pay an astronomical price for that. Personally I think they could easily have afforded that, considering their own ticket price of DM 499 ($300) per person, but I guess that wasn't possible. More can be read in this (German) preview.
Christian (11:22 am CST)
The German Star Trek Index is reporting of a unique way to greet the new millennium - aboard the Enterprise! A German company is organising a millennium party aboard the 'M.S. Enterprise,' a touring boat on the Rhine. Included in the event are a look at the fireworks at Cologne, dinner, a 'DJ with music from outer space and party hits' and an Internet- connection with other Trek clubs.
Galileo 7 Convention Preview
Even if you don't care for charity, the convention should still be interesting for you, as the organizers have signed up a large number of guests. Amongst the stars that will appear are William Shatner (Kirk), Avery Brooks (Sisko), George Takei (Sulu), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), LeVar Burton (LaForge) and J.G. Hertzler (Martok), while the organizers are hoping to sign up at least two more guests.
More information can be found on the Official Galileo 7 site, or, of course, in the actual preview. Both sites are only avaible in German, though, so unless you intend to use Babelfish they probably won't be of much use to you.
Christian (11:13 am CST)
The German Star Trek Index has put up a preview of the third Galileo 7 convention, to be held on the 30th and 31st of October. The second Galileo 7 convention was held early this year, but due to its enourmous success they are already organising another one. This time around the convention will have a special goal, though, as DM 22 (about $12) of every ticket will go to UNICEF!
Trekkies Review
Since the original TV series first aired, it has spawned more series, nine movies and millions of dollars worth of merchandise. With more than 30 million people watching some form of Star Trek every week, the movie should have a built-in audience.
But if you've been only an occasional viewer or even a non-viewer, don't let the Trekkies and Trekkers have all the fun.
Trekkies is a hoot, the biggest laugh generator since There's Something About Mary.
Not because the filmmakers set out to mock and ridicule these dedicated fans. The opposite is true. They went for balance, letting the film's subjects tell their own stories, in their own words, without the filmmakers intruding with snide comments or cutting judgments.
Christian (10:56 am CST)
This is actually (very) old news, but as I only heard about this today, I thought I'd still mention it. Circle City has put up a review of the new documentary 'Trekkies,' starring Denise Crosby. Reviewer Bonnie Britton gave the documentary 3.5 stars out of a possible five:
Trekkies goes where no full-length documentary has gone before: Into the often uproariously funny world of Star Trek fans. It's been 30 years since the first episode of Star Trek beamed into living rooms, turning Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock into household names, and offering a hopeful vision of the future.
For a more detailed description of the film, check out the full review.
February Ratings Report Voyager Is Up
In the timeslot competition, things have been fairly stable. Voyager and "Charmed" commonly fight for the 5th place spot in households and lag far below CBS' and NBC's reworked schedules. In key demographics, the show is doing much better, finishing 5th or higher every week in every male segment. "Dark Frontier" brought the demographic numbers for February even higher, finishing 3rd and 4th in key adult male breakdowns.
Christian (9:56 am CST)
The Voyager Nielsen Ratings Information Database has finally put up the ratings report for February, one of the sweeps month. This February was actually pretty good for Voyager - it had nearly as good ratings as as last year, for the first time. Unfortunately, some episodes prevented the show from scoring better than last year:
This month, it was "The Disease" which played spoiler. Airing against the Grammy Awards, the show was hit very hard and brought down an otherwise excellent sweeps average. It is of note, however, that despite its low standing, the episode in November that aired in a very similar position, "Infinite Regress," finished with a slightly lower rating than this show. That shows some growth in strength for the series -- even the worst-rated episodes are doing better than they did previously.
Some other good news is that February's average rating was marginally higher than November's, showing in-season growth for one of the first times ever. Of course, the full report has even more, including a breakdown per episode and a look at the coming months. The DS9 ratings report should be up soon, we'll be informing you about that when that happens.
Today on TV -In the United Kingdom, Sky One is showing DS9's 'Rules Of Engagement' at 4:00pm, followed an hour later by Voyager's 'Macrocosm.'
-In Germany, Sat.1 will be showing TNG's 'Das zweite Leben' (The Inner Light) tomorrow afternoon at 15:00 CET. See this one, it's fantastic!
Christian (9:42 am CST)
-Today at 03:20pm and 8:00pm, TNT will be showing 'Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan.' Thanks go out to the Leonard Nimoy Club Online for reporting this.
New at Trekseek.com
-The Trekminal-BBS Mailing List is a Star Trek Mailing List in Spanish.
-Star Trek: Voyager L-CARS has News, reviews, technology and more. There is also fan-fiction, press releases, schematics, aliens and episode guides.
A listing of last week's new sites can be found by going here.
Christian (9:38 am CST)
Yesterday TrekSeek reached 890 sites - just a few days to go before we get to 900! With the current tempo, that may still take a while though, the below two sites were the only ones to be added to TrekSeek yesterday:
Hello World!
The TrekFinger service will be keeping you up to date with the latest .plan updates by the creators of the upcoming 'Star Trek: Voyager' game, the people at Raven Software. Through this feature, you will be the first to learn about new statements made by the game developers, directly via the links on TrekToday. We're bringing you this service in association with the wonderful people at Webdog, to whose site you will be transported when you click on one of the .plan links. Meanwhile, more information on what .plan files actually are can be found by going here.
We hope you'll enjoy the new design - let us know what you think about it!
Christian (9:28 am CST)
Welcome to TrekToday version 1.1, or something to that extent. Thanks to Saleel Majeed we now have a wonderful new design at the top of the page, which will allow you to navigate much easier around the site. 'Today's Headlines' should be clear - click on one of the headlines to be transported to the appropriate update. The 'other options' part should be clear, too - we'd especially love it if you'd click on 'submit news' :-). The TrekFinger part, however, may require some additional explanation.
| Saturday March 27, 1999 |
Christian (1:44 pm CST)
After more than two months, DS9 producer Ronald D. Moore has answered some questions on his AOL forum again. Thanks to TrekWeb and its AOL correspondant Arman A., Ron Moore's answers are now also available for non-AOLers:
As for DS9, I can report that on Monday, March 26th (sic), we will begin production on the final episode of the series. Today is the last day of shooting on the final episode that I had a hand in writing, which is named "The Dogs of War" for now. Rene and I co-wrote the teleplay on this one and it is with a heavy heart that I watch the last few dailies of scenes that I helped to craft.
Hello, everyone! Life has been exceptionally busy for the last couple of months, so you'll forgive me for not coming here sooner. First and foremost, I am pleased and proud to announce the arrival of Robin Cooper Moore on January 26th and to say that both mother and son are doing very well. To say that Ruby and I are ecstatic would be an understatement and we would both like to extend our thanks and appreciation for the congratulatory e-mail messages we received from so many of you.
In the full update, Ron Moore talks about the final episodes, his son, Voyager and Majel Barret Roddenberry's recent letter to the Star Trek Communicator. Unfortunately, he also mentions that the DS9 sets will 'torn down and thrown into the trash' after the series ends, so I guess that means we won't be seeing any DS9 movies soon :-(. Lots and lots more can be found in the full transcript.
'Bring Back Kirk' Campaign Launched
We are asking Paramount to bring Captain James T. Kirk back into a Star Trek movie. "Paramount, if you must bring an end to our hero and the legend that helped make Star Trek the success that it is today, then please find a more appropriate way than dropping him off of a cliff and piling rocks on top of him."
Christian (1:26 pm CST)
A group of Star Trek and William Shatner fans, including the William Shatner Connection have just launched the http://www.bringbackkirk.com/ web site. The site is dedicated to one goal - the return of Captain James Tiberius Kirk:
We want Kirk, our beloved Captain who truly made Star Trek fun and exciting, brought back! After his sloppy death in "Generations" (when our hero was smashed on the side of a cliff), many fans were angered and it widened the chasm between TOS fans and the newer Trek fans. This is a situation that needs to be rectified!
The site currently has a Frequently Asked Questions document up, and it offers you the chance to send a protest letter online Find it all at the protest site. Thanks go out to TrekWeb for reporting this.
Marc Alaimo Weekend
Christian (1:10 pm CST)
In the weekend of June 11 - June 13, the Official Marc Alaimo Fan Club will be organising a 'Weekend with Marc Alaimo and friends,' attended by the man himself and his colleague Casey Biggs (Damar):
There will always be an Official Marc Alaimo Fan Club, but one of its primary functions will end with the last episode of Deep Space Nine. So this may be our last chance for the Big Blowout Bash to get together and celebrate our honoree. Marc is not hanging up his career, by any means, but with DS9 no longer calling him in at a moment's notice, the likelihood of him being tied up is lessened, and we can plan this event with a high degree of confidence in his ability to be in attendance. Besides which, we're sneakily holding it in a location just a few miles away from where he lives, so he can't get lost on the way, or plead it's too far to come.
Information on the event (including a sign-up form) can be found by going here. Thanks go out to Sci-Fi World for pointing me to this.
New Star Trek Toys coming soon
Christian (12:54 pm CST)
The Continuum has a report up on some of the upcoming 'Store Exclusives' toys:
In 1999, Target, Wal-Mart, and Toys-R-Us stores become a destination for Playmates' popular line of Star Trek toys. Numerous store exclusives will be offered throughout 1999, beginning with two 4.5" action figures of "Captain Jean-Luc Picard" and "Lt. Commander Worf" in their movie uniforms.
The report also has news on upcoming 9" and 12" figures, plus info on a special model kit of the U.S.S. Yamaguchi, an Ambassador-Class starship. Find it all by going here.
Daily Sci-Fi Looks At Weekly Sci-Fi
Christian (12:48 pm CST)
The Den's Daily Sci-Fi have posted their preview of what will be on next week in the world of SF television. Of course, they also have a short description of Voyager's upcoming 'Think Tank' episode:
Jason Alexander, late of Seinfeld fame, guest stars as a really, really smart guy who helps Voyager out of a jam. As a result, Alexander wants payment, and for payment, he'll accept Seven of Nine. Makes sense to us.
Teaser videos for both this episode and DS9's rerun of 'The Siege of AR-558' are available, plus previews for a bunch of other sci-fi shows. Check it out here.
Continuum Publishes J.G. Hertzler Interview
Christian (12:26 pm CST)
The Star Trek Continuum has just published an interview with J.G. Hertzler (Martok on DS9). In the interview, Hertzler talks about his past experiences on DS9, but also about the upcoming end of the show:
Of the end of ST:DS9, Hertzler says "I'm looking for a way to express the depth of my sadness. This has been so intense because you get to share so much of your life together during those 16-hour days. I've had a wonderful time and made a tremendous amount of friends. Bobby O'Reilly (Gowron) and I recently did a convention in Germany, for example, and we had a fabulous time. None of it would have been possible if Gene Roddenberry had not put fingers to keyboard years ago. I owe a profound debt to that writer and the others who have helped develop the Star Trek universe. I hope these writers and producers go on to do something else in the science fiction vein and I hope they come and get me!"
Take a look at the full article for more of Hertzler's thoughts on DS9, his acting techniques and how he got hired in the first place!
Starfleet Command Trailers Released
Christian (12:13 pm CST)
The people at Interplay have just released to trailers for their upcoming Starfleet Command game. The trailers, which can be found by going here, are available in a short 6 MB version and a somewhat longer 22 MB version. On the Starfleet Command forum, designer Erik Bethke said the following about the two movies:
We have not said much about these yet, because I do not like to over-hype. Also, the footage in the movies is from Feb, and now we have soo much more in the game...
Thanks go out to Sean at the FedCom forums for pointing me to this.
New Worlds for Dreamcast?
Christian (12:04 pm CST)
British online gaming magazine Future Gamer is reporting that Interplay's upcoming 'Star Trek: New Worlds' strategy game might be released on the Dreamcast as well:Star Trek: New Worlds, currently in development by UK coders Binary Asylum for PC, looks likely to be released on the Dreamcast. The game's a planet-based realtime strategy game featuring The Federation, Klingons and Romulans fighting each other for possession of planets in a Command and Conquer-style set-up.
The rest of the news item goes on to have several Interplay people, erm, *not* commenting on a Dreamcast move, so I've got no idea where the people at Future Gamer got their info from. They also mention that any possible Dreamcast version wouldn't appear before the year 2000 anyways, and considering Interplay's license ends this year, I'd say the chances of a Dreamcast version aren't very good.
Today on TV
-German television station Sat.1 will be repeating Voyager's 'Die Omega-Direktive' (The Omega Directive) tomorrow morning at 10:10 CET.
-Here in the Netherlands, the AVRO will be showing Voyager's 'Message in a bottle' at 18:39 CET on Channel One.
Christian (11:45 am CST)
-In the UK, Sky One showed DS9's 'Accession' at 4:00pm GMT and Voyager's 'Warlord' at 5:00pm GMT. Tomorrow at 4:00pm, they'll be showing DS9's 'Rules of Engagement,' followed an hour later by Voyager's 'The Q and the Grey.' Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective, and my apologies go out to all of you for not reporting this earlier.
New at Trekseek.com
-Hello There Fellow Trekkers!, which has pictures of vessels, technical information on DS9 and the Defiant.
Last week's new sites can still be found by going here.
Christian (11:39 am CST)
Disappointingly, just one site was added to TrekSeek yesterday, bringing us to a total of 889 Trek sites. This one new site is:
Hello World!
[UPDATE 20:17 CET:] It seems I was lucky - just today word got out of a new and very malicious computer virus that's spreading through the Internet. It has already led to Microsoft suspending all incoming and outgoing e-mail, so it's very serious indeed. Check out this article for more on the virus. Thanks go out to Treknews' Jason Ellis for warning me about this.
Christian (11:36 am CST)
I just completed my annual Windows '95 re-install. This time I was forced to do so after SimCity 3000 refused to run, and I absolutely *had* to play that game - I spent months on SimCity 2000. Fortunately I've got Windows itself up now, but I still can't receive e-mail - if you sent me mail, I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.
| Friday March 26, 1999 |
Christian (2:22 pm CST)
NOTE: This update contains spoilers for DS9's final episodes - they could seriously undermine your enjoyment of the episodes. If you want to avoid reading these spoilers, click here to be transported to the next article.
Two posts were made to the Trekweb Bulletin Board today which had some extra info on the final DS9 episodes. First of all Trekweb owner Steve Krutzler posted the following info, quite possibly dealing with 'The Dogs of War:'
The Defiant is going to be destroyed in an episode leading up to the finale.
Considering that other sources have reported that DS9 will be destroyed in the finale and Benjamin Sisko will join the Prophets, one has to wonder what will actually be left when the series ends. Another post made by Leonard R mentions the following, apparently confirming several of the rumours floating around:
Somewhere in the season finale, Worf decides to go back and serve onboard the Enterprise, following a particularly ugly scene between himself, Ezri and Julian (it is not known what happens, but it should occur in one of the last episodes). That is how the Enterprise comes to be in the finale. Apparently it cost over $100,000 to rework the Enterprise E onto the small screen. It is not known if any other TNG crew member will be in it, but expect the Enterprise to make-up for the movie by blasting her phasers. At a recent convention, Marc Alaimo is proported to have mentioned how he is involved in Kai Winn's death.
Quite possibly the 'ugly scene with Ezri and Julian' involves the romance between those two, which we reported on a few days ago. In any case, check out the Trekweb Bulletin Board for a discussion on this.
As usual, these are all just rumours, and haven't been confirmed. It could very well be that none of this is true, so don't get your hopes up about the Enterprise yet...
Dateline Issue 102 Appears
Christian (1:36 pm CST)
A few days late, Bill Mason has sent out issue 102 of Starfleet: Dateline, one of the longest-running Trek newsletters around:
Apologies to everyone for a late issue this month. Unfortunately, first Miriam then I both fell prey to a stomach bug that laid us out over the weekend. All are feeling better, including Mom and Baby. :)
On the baby subject, I have tentatively scheduled the next issue (#103) for April 18th. With our due date on April 4th however, I may delay or cancel issue #103 entirely depending on what baby has done. I will endeavor to keep you informed.
The new issue contains a round-up of all the important Trek news that happened last month (including some all-new news), an article about the future of Trek and a look at the most popular books in the Dateline bookstore. The full issue can be read by going here.
The Observation Lounge Opens
Christian (1:26 pm CST)
Besides the Trekweb Bulletin Board, the Psi Phi Forums and the Solarflare Forums, another set Trek chat forums has now opened in the form of the Observation Lounge. The Observation Lounge offers you a set of forums based around the popular Ultimate Bulletin Board system, and is operated by several major Star Trek sites (including Section 31). As they've only started a few days ago, they're not very popular yet, but they should become a lot better as everyone gets to know about them - go check out the forums!
New Sev Trek Competition Online
Christian (1:23 pm CST)
The latest edition of the Write Your Own Star Trek Competition is now online:
Why Pickhard hates kids. He's defeated the Bored, Klingoffs, Wrongulans and all manner of omnipotent beings. However, Pickhard still seems most uncomfortable around children. Still, it's understandable if his only experience is Measly Cruncher!
Submit your punchlines here - if you're really good, you might be listed with the week's funniest entries.
News On Target Exclusive Toys
Christian (1:14 pm CST)
The Raving Toy Maniac has posted some new info on the 4.5" and 9" Target Exclusives' production runs:
Playmates Customer Service has confirmed that Target ordered 10,000 units of each 4.5" Exclusive. It's not clear at this time why figures are being found as high up as the 13,000s, but Playmates is checking into it and will let us know. Future 4.5" Exclusives should be available in the same quantities.
The production run on the Target 9" Exclusives is 7,500 units of each figure.
The Maniac also has news on the 'The Tholian Web' twin pack (the contents of which has changed) and the 9" Kay-Bee exclusives - for news on that, take a look at the full update.
The Great Link Moves
Christian (1:01 pm CST)
As of today, Trek news site the Great Link has moved to its new location at http://www.greatlink.org. The move was necessary because of the imminent closure of the STZone, the legendary collection of Trek sites. Fortunately, the Founders have now settled in at their new location:
Hi, and welcome to the new home of the Founders. Solids with 4th Generation browsers will notice some font changes, due to TGL now using Cascading style sheets. Users of older browsers will still be able to notice a minor font change (the site now uses Arial instead of Helvetica).
Terry Farrell Interview At The Lubbock Online
Christian (12:57 pm CST)
The Lubbock Avalanche- Journal, a local paper from somewhere in the US, has posted an interview with Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax) at their web site. The interview mostly talks about their role on the CBS sitcom 'Becker,' though DS9 is also mentioned:
When her "Star Trek" run ended, she was open to all sorts of work, Farrell said, but she wanted to pursue a sitcom because "everybody talks about it being the cush life." So far, the talk has held true, she said.
"And when it ended up being with Ted," she said, about landing on a sitcom built around the "Cheers" star, "it was like the icing on the cake."
Check out the full interview for more. Thanks go out to Trekfan at the Trekweb Bulletin Board for pointing me to this.
Vidiot News Bits
First of all, it appears UPN is still hacking away at their Voyager episodes - even the new ones:
Christian (12:27 pm CST)
For the first time in three days, I was able to connect to Mr. Video Productions' server, so here are some assorted news bits for you.
They are still &^%*&^ at it. The Fight has about two minutes cut from the episode. Because it is a new episode, I do not know where the cuts are. I can only provide the length of each segment.
This certainly is worrying - is UPN really doing so bad they even need to cut down first-run episodes? Take a look at the full report to see how long each Act lasted, and to read about their previous two hack jobs. Meanwhile, if you'd like to know what episodes they'll be hacking next, take a look at Vidiot's updated Voyager air schedule, which itself also has a few surprises.
Lastly, and most importantly, Vidiot has a second preview up of next week's Voyager episode, 'Think Tank,' the episode guest-starring Seinfield's Jason Alexander. Possibly to coincide with this, the Continuum has published the official 'Think Tank' press release:
In the midst of a clash with the Hazari bounty hunters, Janeway is offered assistance from a "think tank," a small yet exotic alien ship containing disparate life forms, each able to communicate telepathically. Their spokesperson, Kurros, offers to help solve the dilemma with the Hazari, only in exchange for Seven of Nine as payment. When Seven declines their "offer," the think tank focuses on taking her by force.
More of the official press release can be found by going here, while Vidiot's new preview (including zipped images, a video clip and an audio clip) can be found here.
Daily Sci-Fi Reviews 'The Fight'
Christian (11:55 am CST)
Or, more accurately, "Daily Sci-Fi Trashes 'The Fight' ," as reviewer Sarah Kuhn absolutely hated the latest Voyager episode:
This episode, much like the voices in Chakotay's head, has no focus. Is it about Chakotay's fear of ending up like his grandfather, who had a similar, repressed gene problem? Is it about Chakotay's fear of leadership? Is it about...boxing? Hell if I know, but it sure is sloppily thrown together. The mood is all over the place and the scenes seem to be placed in a random order. (Aspiring filmmakers, try cutting up the segments of this episode and putting them back together in a totally different order -- voila, five new episodes of Voyager. Like magic!)
Did I already mention Sarah Kuhn did not like the episode? The full (one-star) review can be found by going here.
Jeri Ryan To Appear In TV Guide
Furthermore, two of the JLR Homepage's staff members are now off to tomorrow's Sci-Fi Expo convention, which will also feature a call-in Q&A session with Jeri Ryan. Expect full coverage of that in a few days, when they get back.
Christian (11:14 am CST)
The official Jeri Lynn Ryan Homepage that a photo shoot featuring Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) and Lucy Lawless (from 'Xena: Warrior Princess') will be appearing in the April 10 issue of TV Guide. However, if you can't wait that long, the JLR Homepage also has more than 20 pictures available from the 'Entertainment Tonight' edition which covered the photo shoot - certainly worth checking out!
Mad Magazine Does Insurrection
Christian (10:56 am CST)
The April 1999 issue of Mad Magazine features a parody of Star Trek IX: Insurrection. Unfortunately, no further details or a preview are yet available, but the magazine can now be found at local newsstands in the US for $40. Major thanks go out to Evay for reporting this.
'Star Trek - The Magazine' To Launch Soon
Christian (10:46 am CST)
The Continuum has announced that 'Star Trek: The Magazine' will soon be coming. More details will be posted at the Continuum as they become available, but I assume it'll be something like the British 'Star Trek: Monthly' magazine. This is also good news for Star Trek itself, incidentally, as I doubt Paramount would be launching a Star Trek magazine if they saw no future for Trek. Of course, I'll be reporting more on this as I hear about it.
Happy Birthday Leonard Nimoy!
We at the Trekzone Network wish him a happy birthday, and we hope that he may truly live long and prosper! (The above picture, by the way, is copyrighted by Paramount and E-Greetings, the Internet Postcard company.)
Christian (10:19 am CST)
Today is the 68th birthday of Leonard Nimoy, who probably needs no introduction. For 33 years now he has been known as Mr. Spock, the half-Vulcan / half-Human serving under Captain James T. Kirk. However, Leonard Nimoy also played an important role behind the scenes of Star Trek, as he directed 'Star Trek III: The Search For Spock' and 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,' and he co-wrote the story for 'Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.' Currently Leonard Nimoy is producing radio adaptations of science-fiction classics at his Alien Voices company, the production house he co-founded with John DeLancie (Q).
Today on TV
-At 19:15 CET, German television station Sat.1 will be showing the new Voyager episode 'Die Omega-Direktive' (The Omega Directive). Tomorrow morning at 03:55, they'll be repeating TNG's 'So nah und doch so fern' (The Next Phase)
Christian (10:18 am CST)
-In the UK, Sky One will be showing 'Future's End, Part II' at 5:00pm GMT, with a rerun at 11:30pm. As usual, thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
New at Trekseek.com
-The Captain Janeway E-mail Service offers you the chance to have a Star Trek e-mail address in the form of yourname@captainjaneway.znn.com. Come and join, it's completely free!
-Infinitely Imzadi is a website dedicated to the Imzadi relationship between Commander William T Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi. Pics, fan fics, wavs, and more. This looks like a pretty good site, I must say. Certainly recommended!
If you really want to see more new sites, I suggest you check out the listing of last week's new sites.
Christian (10:18 am CST)
Just two sites were added to TrekSeek yesterday, still bringing us to a respectable 888 Star Trek sites. Take a look at those two sites:
Hello World!
Happy birthday, Saleel!
Christian (10:15 am CST)
Not only is today the birthday of Leonard Nimoy, it's also the birthday of the Trekzone Network's own Saleel Majeed! Naturally, we all wish him to 'live long and prosper,' so why not send a greeting card to his saleel@trekzone.net address? I'm sure he'd appreciate it, and surely he deserves some recognition for creating the Trekzone Network? I know that without him, there wouldn't be a TrekToday today...
| Thursday March 25, 1999 |
Christian (10:37 am CST)
Cinescape Online has a report up on the future of Star Trek, quoting a recent story in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. The paper reports that producer Rick Berman will be ready to launch another Trek series when Voyager ends:
UPN network exec Tom Nunan is pretty high on the future of the Trek TV franchise telling the paper that the finish of Babylon 5 will only increase the public's appetite for Trek. "Next season, we could be the only prime-time sci-fi show on the air. I think there will be a renaissance next year.''
Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine on Voyager) is quoted as saying, "If Rick Berman said Voyager was the last one, I wouldn't believe him for a million dollars. It's an absolute cash cow."'
Especially this last factor could be very important - now that Babylon 5 spin-off Crusade has failed and Deep Space Nine is ending, people will get hungry for new Trek. Take a look at the full report for more, including a quote from Majel Barret Roddenberry, who doesn't seem to believe in a new Trek series.
The Doctor To Explode In Warhead?
Leonard Schuurmans at Warp 11 just received new info on the upcoming 'Warhead' episode from someone who heard Robert Picardo (The Doctor) speak at a NASA conference:
Picardo commented that while the episode was fun, he would rather hold off playing a bomb again, as it tends to lead to lines like "Do this or I will blow up!"
Christian (2:06 pm CST)
NOTE: This post contains spoilers for the upcoming Voyager episode 'Warhead' (presumably). If you want to avoid reading these spoilers, click here to scroll down to the next news item.
Apparently, Voyager encounters two societies in war. When one sends a "smart bomb" in the direction of the other "by accident" it is left to Voyager to stop it before the other society is destroyed. Complicating issues is the bomb, which is "sentient" and feels it can only be satisfied if it blows up. Through some discovery, Voyager learns they can implant the personality of the bomb into the Doctor's subroutine's. The Doctor becomes the voice of the bomb.
Take a look at the full update for more on this. Do remember, though, that these are just rumours and they haven't been confirmed yet.
S.P.O.C.K. To Perform In Germany
Christian (2:21 pm CST)
The German Star Trek Index has an article up about Swedish rock group S.P.O.C.K. , which will be performing in the German town of Krefeld on Friday the 9th of April. With the band's name, and song titles such as 'Dr. McCoy,' it's really not too hard to guess what they'll be singing about. For info on how to see them, read this article at the German Star Trek Index.
'The Fight' Ratings Lowest Ever
[...]
This is, quite simply, terrible. The episode has a very, very good shot at becoming the lowest-rated Voyager episode ever, falling below the 3.1 mark set by "Vis a Vis" last year. There are no circumstances out of the norm that would go towards explaining a performance like this -- the interest level simply must not have been high. Next week should perform much better. Final ratings will be out when I recieve them.
Christian (1:52 pm CST)
Gulp. Yesterday's new Voyager episode, 'The Fight,' scored absolutely disastrous on the ratings front, according to the report of the Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database:
Ladies and Gentlemen, this one is going to be very ugly. "The Fight" only managed a downright awful 3.7 overnight rating, 6 share. That is not only the lowest overnight rating of the year for a firstrun, it's lower than all but one of the rerun overnight ratings, down from last week's rerun of "In the Flesh."
Unfortunately, DS9's 'Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges,' which aired on the 1st of March, didn't do that well either:
"Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges," while still remaining the #1 syndicated drama, continued a troubling trend, finishing with a 4.1, ranking 18th. That's flat from last week's "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang," and down 25% from last year's "Change of Heart" (5.5).
More on Voyager's miserable failure can be found in the Overnight Ratings Report, while info on the DS9 episode can be found here.
German Insurrection News
Christian (2:00 pm CST)
The Flagship has received some new info about Insurrection release dates for Germany:
The update also mentions that Germany is now officially the biggest Star Trek market in the world behind the USA, so I certainly feel justified in reporting all this German info :-). For more on this, plus info on some airlines that are playing Insurrection in-flight, take a look at the full update.
Jeri Ryan To Phone In At Convention
Christian (1:42 pm CST)
The Official Jeri Lynn Ryan Homepage is reporting that Jeri Ryan will be doing a call-in session at this Saturday's Sci-Fi Expo convention, which she can't attend in person due to movie obligations:
Ben Stevens has graciously provided us with more details about the call-in question and answer session with Jeri that will be part of the SciFi Expo this Saturday. Jeri intends to call during a break in the filming of her movie to answer questions over the PA in the Windhaven room. This part of the convention will take place at approximately 2:00 p.m. CST.
For details on the actual convention, which will be held in Plano, Texas, check out the official convention page.
Trek Photographic Screen Savers Available
[...]
The program includes a wallpaper manager and screen saver, and requires Windows 95, 98 or NT 4. It supports all video displays. Users can purchase approximately 100 pictures for US $22.95. The images can be downloaded and purchased directly from http://www.screenthemes.com/startrek/. A Macintosh version is planned for fall, 1999.
Christian (1:30 pm CST)
Soon you will be able to replace those boring Windows screensavers with some really cool Star Trek photographs, thanks to a new set of pictures Vision X Software will be publishing. You'll be able to use the pictures with Screen Themes, Vision X' screen saver project, though they'll also function as wallpapers if you so desire:
The well-researched collection includes individually selected and digitally remastered full-screen photos of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock of Star Trek, Federation and alien space ships, the alluring Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager, and the most memorable scenes from the popular series' history. Many of these have never been seen before as photographs.
Currently, images from the Original Star Trek are already available, while images from the other three series will become avaible over the next two months. If you want to know more about this, check out the official article at the Star Trek Continuum.
Fright X Interviews Mr. Homn
Christian (1:21 pm CST)
The Continuum is reporting that the current issue of Fright X, the 'magazine for the culturally progressive,' has an interview with Carel Struycken, better known as Lwaxana Troi's servant Mr. Homn:
Struycken speaks of his lifelong career, beginning with film work in his native Holland, and on to some surprising virtual-reality projects -- and his closet admiration of the Amiga computer. Fright X is on sale nationwide at Borders Books, Barnes and Noble, Hastings, Hot Topic, Tower Books, and others.
You all really should buy it - any interview that talks about Holland should be bought and read :-). More on this can be found by going here.
Steve Oster Chat At The Continuum
Christian (1:16 pm CST)
Sorry for not reporting this earlier, but the Continuum will be hosting a chat with DS9 Supervising Producer Steve Oster today:
Thursday , March 25th, 1999 06:30 PM (PT)
Of course, info on how to participate is available, while you can also submit advance questions. On top of that, the Continuum has just announced that it'll be hosting a chat with Jonathan Frakes on the 15th of April, when he will chat about his Star Trek experiences and his upcoming UPN project 'Dying to Live.'
Chat with Steve Oster (Supervising Producer on ST:DS9) about what we can expect from the final months of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
PC Action 'Birth of the Federation' Preview
Jeff Holzhauer: We're currently dealing with bug fixing, only the AI will probably never be finished. Well, one can always improve on the artificial intelligence algorithms and since all parts of the game are now 99% complete, we can concentrate on optimizing the AI. Also, we are commencing work on the localized versions of BotF. Our official master-date is April 15th and the shipping date depends primarily on our marketing guys. We don't have specific date but it will probably be three to four weeks after April 15th. Birth of the Federation will be simultaneously released in the U.S. and in Germany - today (February 19th) is incidentally the date for our first German version.
Christian (1:11 pm CST)
Paul Weaver at FedCom has put up my scans of the PC Action preview of 'Birth of the Federation,' which I told you about a few days ago. Besides that, FedCom also has a translation of of the PC Action interview with Jeff Holzhauer, the game's producer and designer:
The full interview, translated for FedCom by Tobi Bonthrone talks about some of the game's features and about Jeff Holzhauer's background - check it out here.
PC Action: What is the team currently still working on and when are you expecting to have the game completely finished?
Continuum Interviews Max Grodenchik
Grodenchik: It's an interesting phrase, "signing on," but I never thought of it that way. Only the series regulars sign the original six-season contract; this seventh season was added on much later. You have to know that I came in to read for the role of Quark. That's how Armin (Shimerman) and I met. We talked about the possibilities of playing Quark's brother. We were each interested in doing that. But once Armin was cast, the first call I got from ST:DS9 was to play the "Pit Boss" -- the guy running the Dabo game in Quark's Bar in the pilot. They did this big master shot, I believe it's the very first time we ever see Quark's bar, and needed to make it look like it was the hub of all activity on the station, and populated the place with lots of characters, and I played the Pit Boss. I think it was the very next episode where I was given the name "Rom," but I was contracted for one episode at a time -- and I still am to this day.
Christian (10:54 am CST)
The Continuum has put up a new interview with Max Grodenchik, who plays Rom on DS9. A short excerpt:
STC: When you first signed on to play Rom, did anyone have any idea to the extent he would become involved in the ST:DS9 universe?
In the full interview Grodenchik talks about his future, his experiences with the Internet, and his fan interactions. Thanks go out to Warp 11 for pointing me to this.
Mania Looks At Animated Trek
Christian (10:50 am CST)
Michelle Erica Green has been rather busy today, as she's also put up a guide to the Animated Series for AnotherUniverse's Mania Magazine. The guide looks at all the episodes from the Animated Series' two seasons, and can be found by going here.
Mania Reviews 'The Fight'
Christian (10:48 am CST)
AnotherUniverse's Mania Magazine has put up a review of yesterday's Voyager episode, 'The Fight.' Except for the last few minutes, reviewer Michelle Erica Green rather liked the episode:
The temptation is strong to say, "This episode hit hard through the first five rounds, but KOed itself in the final minutes." I think, however, that I have had enough boxing metaphors for awhile. I know nothing about boxing, but I recognize cliches from Rocky when I hear them...moreover, I suspect that no one training an opponent of Mike Tyson really tries to convince the poor man that his real goal is to take as many hits as possible in order to see whether he has the heart of a boxer. I understand that the point of "The Fight" was to hammer home the theme of not letting one's own fears become debilitating, but I got hit over the head once too often with that message.
The full review and a lengthy synopsis can be found by going here.
Today on TV
-In the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing the third-season Voyager episode 'Future's End, Part I' at 5:00pm GMT, with a rerun at 11:30pm GMT. BBC Two will be showing the 1st-season DS9 episode 'The Passenger' at 6:00pm GMT. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-In Germany, Sat.1 will be repeating TNG's 'Ich bin Hugh' (I, Borg) at 01:45 CET tomorrow morning. Tomorrow afternoon, at 15:00 CET, they'll be showing TNG's 'So nah und doch so fern' (The Next Phase).
Christian (10:29 am CST)
-In the US, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing two Star Trek movies tonight. At 7:00pm Eastern Time, they're showing Shatner's 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,' followed two hours later by 'Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.' The movies are repeated at 11:00pm tonight and 3:00am tomorrow morning, respectively.
New at Trekseek.com
-Starfleet Command Mail is a free webbased email site powered by ZZN.
As usual, a listing of other new sites is also available.
Christian (10:29 am CST)
Yesterday another four sites were added to TrekSeek, our Star Trek search engine, bringing us to a total of 885 Star Trek sites. Take a look at some of those new sites:
-The Star Trek Singularity provides, news and information on all the current Star Trek series and movies, with associated downloads, episode guides and reviews, votes, chats, message board, regular ST news update service and much, much more.
Hello World!
Of course, we'd also like to thank all you who clicked on the TrekToday link and visited us -
I hope you enjoyed the site, and I also hope we'll be able to welcome you to TrekToday many more times in the future.
Christian (10:28 am CST)
I nearly had a heart attack this morning when I looked at our site statistics and saw we had *five* times as many visitors as usual! I didn't have a clue as to why this happened, until I looked at the referrer logs and noticed that most of the new visitors were coming from Netscape. When I checked, I saw that TrekToday was one of the four 'New to the Net' sites at Netscape yesterday! This is of course a great honour for us, and we'd like to thank the Netscape people for choosing us.
| Wednesday March 24, 1999 |
Christian (1:10 pm CST)
NOTE: The below post contains massive spoilers of DS9's final episode - and I mean massive. If you do *not* want to be spoiled, click here to scroll down to the next article and avoid these spoilers.
Still here? Remember - these are major spoilers! Click here to avoid them and still be able to enjoy the full episode!
Sid City, the official fan site of Alexander Siddig (Julian Bashir), has received new info on DS9's finale:
THE LOVERS: Two evil heads are better than one....Gul Dukat and Kai Winn get cozy before the four-part arc ends. But since Dukat is disguised as a Bajoran, Kai Winn is in for a big surprise.
THE DATERS: My source says TPTB are heading towards a romance between Ezri and Julian. If you know it's coming, you can see the signs. This is not official as yet, but a path is being cleared. I, personally, suspect that when Ezri and Worf come to terms with each other in "Eclipse" this will allow Julian to move in.
THE WEDDING: You are cordially invited to attend the wedding of Benjamin Sisko and Kassidy Yates the week of April 10, 1999, when they tie the knot on "Umbra."
Dukat will probably turn into a Bajoran in episode 20, the fourth episode of the Final Chapter, which is called 'The Changing Face of Evil' (hence the name). Sid City also gives us an explanation for all the different finale titles - apparently Ron Moore was upset with how quickly some titles leaked, so he's leaking bogus titles. As an example, 'The Changing Face of Evil' was never called 'Emergence.'
Lastly, the spoiler page confirms a couple of rumours - Sisko will indeed join the prophets, the episode will be called 'What You Leave Behind,' and Keiko, Molly, Kai Winn, Dukat and Garak will be showing up as well. Find the full spoiler page by going here.
Note - as usual, these are also just rumours. Sid City's source could easily be wrong, so we could well be hearing conflicting reports in the future.
'Think Tank' Preview Online
(That is - if you are able to. I myself wasn't able to connect to the site, so I grabbed the above image from Warp 11. Hopefully you'll have more luck...)
Christian (2:24 pm CST)
Mr. Video Productions has added a preview for 'Think Tank,' next week's Voyager episode, the one where Seinfield star Jason Alexander will be making an appearance. As usual, Vidiot has an MP3-audio file, an MPEG-video and more than two dozen images online, so check out the preview!
'11:59' Spoilers
The Star Trek Universe has received extra info on '11:59,' the fourth-to-last episode of Voyager's fifth season:
And it should also be about Janeway on Earth in some way.
Christian (2:17 pm CST)
Note: The below post has spoilers for Voyager's '11:59' episode. If you want to avoid them, click here.
Said to be based in the ALPHA QUADRANT, an Experimental Warship'Excalibur' discovers voyager in a nebula, damaged and 75% of the crew killed, then the captain of that ship is kidnapped by a strange woman, who is found to be janeway, and she tells the captain that 'Annorax's' time ship is on its way to erase Earth...
As the full report is also saying, these are just rumours, and could very well turn out to be false.
Pre-Order Insurrection Now
Christian (12:51 pm CST)
The Flagship is reporting that several on-line stores are now taking pre-orders for Insurrection:
Various on-line stores have started taking preorders for Star Trek: Insurrection. Gustavo Leao wrote me to say that Amazon.com is taking orders, and Roger Lay brought my attention to the fact that Laser Visions Direct is offering preorders of both the DVD and the Laserdisc.
The full update is also saying that Insurrection will be released in Germany on the 1st of July.
Jeri Ryan Filming Movie, Skips Convention
Christian (12:35 pm CST)
Ben Stevens, organizer of the Sci-Fi Expo conventions, has announced that Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) will not be able to attend this weekend's convention in Plano, Texas:
Jeri Ryan notified us at 3:30pm today (March 23th) that she has accepted a role as a replacement for an actress in a new movie. Filming for this movie continues through this weekend. Therefore, she must postpone her convention appearance with us until July 10.
Fortunately, Jeri Ryan arranged for co-star Roxanne Dawson (B'Elanna Torres) to take her place this Saturday. Also, all 'GOLD VIP' ticket holders will receive free autographs of *both* Ryan and Dawson. More news on the change, plus extra info on the convention, can be found by going here.
Star Trek Game Licenses Still Separate?
Christian (12:18 pm CST)
As you may know, game publisher Activision recently obtained the Star Trek game license from Paramount, making it the only company able to publish Trek games for a long time to come. Many people welcomed this as a good move, as this would allow Activision to develop games that would be based on all four series, and not just on one. However, now it appears that Activision might not actually be able to do that, after Raven Games published an interview with several Raven staff members in which they also talk about their upcoming Voyager game:
Kenn Hoekstra: Activision acquired the rights to Star Trek and Raven was given the opportunity to make one of the first titles under the license. The Star Trek license is not all encompassing... There are separate licenses for the Original Series, Next Generation, Voyager and DS9. The Voyager license was available, we like the show so we decided to make the game. Star Trek could be the largest cultural phenomenon of all time! I certainly think that there are more than enough fans to support Star Trek games...especially this one. =)
This certainly sounds like bad news - I would have loved a game based on all four series, and I really hope Activision will still be able to do that. Meanwhile, read the full interview for more, although this was the only quote dealing with the Voyager game.
Decipher Awards Announced In other CCG news, Decipher has just announced a minor change in the Trek CCG rules - find the updated rules here. These new rules will already be used during this year's CCG World Tournament, which has also undergone some changes. The regional tournaments will now be held in 21 specific regions, while people from countries not in those regions have been put in a special 'Neutral Zone.' More on this can be found in the official announcement.
Christian (12:11 pm CST)
Decipher, the company publishing the Star Trek and Star Wars Customizable Card Games, has announced the winners of this year's 'Deciphers:'
Here are the winners of "The Deciphers Awards" for outstanding achievement in CCG design and performance.
You may agree with the award winners. You may not. But remember, they've been chosen by the experts - You!
The awards were presented for expansion sets, cards and conventions, and a listing of all the winners can be found here.
IGN PC Previews 'Birth of the Federation'
Christian (11:58 am CST)
IGN PC has posted a new preview of Microprose's upcoming turn-based strategy game, 'Birth of the Federation:'
Okay, we've had a little time to look at the latest build of Microprose's latest strategy title, and we have to admit, things are looking a lot better than they did a few months ago. Although the basic game functions are the same, the design team has added a lot of flash and control to their combat system and have fleshed out the research tree a good bit as well.
The rest of the preview talks about the game's resources and its research options, and promises a new preview in April which will look at combat. There are also tens of new screenshots, so it's well worth a look. Thanks go out to BotF news site FedCom for pointing me to this.
Today on TV
-Tonight, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing the third-season TOS episode 'Is There In Truth No Beauty?' at 7:30pm Eastern Time, with a rerun at 11:30pm.
-In the UK, Sky One is showing Voyager's 'Remember' at 5:00pm GMT. If you missed it (possibly because I posted this 20 minutes too late), the episode repeats at 11:30pm. Also, at 6:00pm, the BBC is showing TNG's 'The Next Phase.' Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-Sat.1 is also showing Trek today (no pun intended, honestly!), but as I can't connect to their server I'll report on that later.
Christian (11:18 am CST)
-In the US, UPN is showing the new Voyager episode 'The Fight' at 9:00pm Eastern / Pacific Time. Take a look at this short blurb from the official press release:
While the ship is caught in Chaotic Space, a zone where the laws of physics are in a state of flux, Commander Chakotay believes he's a 24th century boxer, The Maquis Mauler. Before long, he's going head to head with the Delta Quadrant's champion, Kid Chaos.
This episode is either going to be absolutely great, or the worst thing Voyager ever thought of. Let's hope they manage to pull it off - the idiotic premise certainly isn't helping them.
New at Trekseek.com
-Star Trek: Hypertext is the official web site for "Jammer's Reviews" of Star Trek. Currently, this site covers all episodes of Deep Space Nine and Voyager, as well as short reviews for all episodes of The Original Series.
More new sites can be found by going here.
Christian (11:01 am CST)
TrekSeek is now up to 881 Star Trek sites, after another 5 sites were submitted to our database yesterday. Take a look at some of those new sites:
-Doc Mojo's Sickbay allows you to download meshes (*.max), view an art gallery, and enjoy movies. It's also the first site I've ever seen that has *two* pop-up ads, not exactly making it a joy to visit...
-Star Trek Costumes teaches you how to make your own Sarfleet uniform.
Hello World!
Christian (10:54 am CST)
For once I'm not to blame for the late start - the server TrekToday resides on was down for the past 30 minutes, so I wasn't able to update. It did finally give me the time to answer some of my waiting e-mails, though, so I suppose I should actually be grateful for the downtime...
| Tuesday March 23, 1999 |
Christian (2:52 pm CST)
Something very surprising happened at the Psi Phi - actor René Auberjonois (Odo) has started posting on their DS9 message board! His first post was in reaction to an earlier post that talked about a picture of him and his wife. In response, René Auberjonois posted the following:
Well, she warned me...but I couldn't resist. To a certain degree I have to admit you're correct about "my ego"...after all -- I'm an actor.
So, I may regret it, but I've touched "the tar baby"; I've opened the Pandora's Box...I've read every word posted and I can't resist the impulse to respond. It's my first time, so please be bear with me.
Our fearless Webmeister, Carolyn Fulton, mentioned the brouhaha caused by your comments on this discussion board.
My immediate reaction was something along the lines of: "Oh! I'd love to eavesdrop on people "trashing" me (and defending me)...sort of like Huck and Tom attending their own funeral!"
Naturally, a whole debate followed, with lots of people questioning his identity. Personally I believe this is actually René Auberjonois posting, as later on Carolyn R. Fulton, webmaster of the René Auberjonois Internet Link posted the following confirmation:
I can also verify that "it's really, truly him". However, it doesn't sound like that will be enough proof for you.
All I can say is that he copied me this message verbatim in a private e-mail yesterday, and that if you go to his web page and e-mail the webmaster, I'll verify it through that address as well.
Although there are many more posts to be found at the Psi Phi boards, there is one other which is very interesting, as it appears to confirm some of the rumours that have been floating around:
Have you heard the rumours re: DS9 MOW's [Movies of the Week] ? Do you know who's directing this week's episode? How does Nana look in her StarFleet uniform? Who's the new Nagus? Who gets to finish off Dukat? What major character doesn't survive?
This is all extremely interesting, and I could go on quoting posts all day, but instead I'll just direct you to the DS9 forum so you can see for yourself. It certainly is a unique opportunity to actually hear from one of the actors in a highly personal way - my only fear is the forums will soon be filled with people spamming and insulting René A, forcing him to leave again. I certainly hope everyone will be polite to him - it's absolutely wonderful of him to do this! Thanks go out to Hunter for pointing me to this.
'Christmas Carol' Wrapped
Christian (12:10 pm CST)
Cinescape has a very short report up on Patrick Stewart's upcoming 'Christmas Carol' telefilm, which is based on his one-man theatre show:
Last night, while entering the Academy Awards circus, Patrick Stewart was stopped by Joan Rivers for questions. While making the usual celeb talk, Stewart revealed that he had just flown into town from London after shooting had wrapped on his Christmas Carol TV film, most likely to be premiere on the USA Network.
Insurrection Drops To 47th Place
Christian (12:00 pm CST)
In North America, 'Star Trek: Insurrection' has fallen to the 47th place in the Daily Variety Box Office Chart for the past weekend. Over the weekend, Insurrection grossed $92,335 , which is 60% less than last week. As the number of screens on which the movie was shown dropped from 411 to 135, this isn't all too surprising. In all probability, this was the movie's last week in the top 60, after having accumulated a total domestic gross of $70,118,044.
Easter Seals To Air In California
[Update 19:23 CET:] More on this can also be found at the Continuum, which si reporting in this article about the actual event, where Majel Barrett Roddenberry was presented the award by James Doohan, Jeri Ryan en Avery Brooks.
Christian (11:53 am CST)
Next weekend, some syndicated stations in Southern California will be airing the two-hour 'Hollywood Salutes Easter Seals' ceremony. The show airs Sunday, March 28, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., on KCAL Channel 9 in Los Angeles and Orange counties, and Saturday, March 27, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on XETV (Fox) in San Diego County. Some more info on the Easter Seals:
``Hollywood Salutes Easter Seals'' is not a fundraiser. With no phone banks or check presentations, it aims to increase public awareness of disability issues by giving viewers an entertaining behind-the-scenes look at how their favorite television shows incorporate disability themes into their story lines.
This year, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was posthumously honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award, presumably in recognition of the great job Trek did with disabled characters (Geordi LaForge, for instance). For more, check out this article at Yahoo!
Voyager Home Writers' Movie Starts Filming This was actually a rather difficult issue back when the movie was produced, as producer Harve Bennett and scriptwriter Nicholas Meyer claimed that Meeson/Kirkes were only responsible for a very small part of the script, and Bennett and Meyer deserved the main credit. In the end, after arbitration by the Writer's Guild, all 4 writers were credited for the movie. (Source: Edward Gross' 'The Making of the Trek Films')
I'm sure, though, that this time around there weren't any concerns, and 'Anna' will turn out to be an absolutely great movie. For more, check out this press release.
Christian (11:25 am CST)
'Anna,' a new movie starrin Jodie Foster, has just begun production in Malaysia. The screenplay for the movie was written by Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes, who were also co-credited for writing the script of 'Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home.'
Today on TV
-In the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'The Swarm' at 5:00pm GMT, with a rerun at 11:30pm. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is repeating TNG's 'Eine hoffnungslose Romanze'(The Perfect Mate) at 02:05 CET. At 15:00 CET, they're showing 'Die imaginäre Freundin' (Imaginary Friend).
Christian (11:08 am CST)
-At 7:30pm Eastern Time, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing the third-season TOS episode 'And The Children Shall Leas.' The episode repeats at 11:30pm, in case you miss it.
New at Trekseek.com
-The Breen System provides you with more than you ever wanted to know about the "coolest" customers in the Alpha Quadrant - the Breen.
More new sites can be found by going here.
Christian (10:42 am CST)
Incredibly for a Monday, we received no less than 7 site submissions at TrekSeek yesterday, bringing us to a total of 873 Star Trek sites. Take a look at some of the highlights:
-TrekCollect.com has Star Trek and Sci Fi collectibles for below book price. Many hard to find and one of a kind items.
-The Star Trek Archive has ships and planets, technical FAQ lists, and more.
Hello World!
Hot on the heels of Trek news site Warp 11 joining us as our first hosted site, comes the news of our second hosted site! Star Trek: Hypertext is the site of Jamahl Epsicokhan, author of Jammer's reviews. Saleel and I are very happy to welcome Jamahl to the Trekzone Network - his reviews always provide us with a good read, and I'm sure you'll enjoy them as well!
Christian (10:38 am CST)
Yesterday I completely forgot this, but it was the 1st-month anniversary of TrekToday. It sure seems like much longer, though. In the past month, we've already seen the hit figures double - thanks to all of you who visit us regularly!
| Monday March 22, 1999 |
Saleel (4:05 pm CST)
As usual, here's the screen grab from Sky/Channel 5 text page 192 which can be viewed in the UK:
Remember, all these are just rumors; check TrekToday often for confirmation of these rumors!
More Final Chapter Info
Christian (1:29 pm CST)
Warp 11 just received extra info from its Number One source on the final chapter:
The full update also contains surprising info on the fate of the Cardassians - go check it out!
What Gene Would Have Wanted
Christian (1:26 pm CST)
Warp 11 has just posted transcripts of two letters that appeared in the Star Trek Communicators Issues 120 and 121. In the first letter, a fan talks about the possibility of Star Trek exploring a continuing war. In the next letter, Majel Barrett Roddenberry responds to this, saying that:
Gene would never now or then create a series around an on-going, all-out intergalactic war.
Gene knew absolutely nothing about science or technology. He wrote about people and humanity because that's what he did know. All great drama always comes from people -- humanity. He had comments on society to make and censorship was so strong that anything controversial would not be allowed. So he dressed his people strangely and put them in space and spoke about what he wanted to. Gene loved humanity and certainly did not love war. There are quotes that would fill a book on his anti-war policies.
Take a look at the full transcripts for more - very interesting considering DS9's upcoming war arc.
Picard Is A Wizard!
Christian (1:00 pm CST)
I thought this might be fun - Cinescape Online have just launched a new live poll:
Spell Casting
One of the people you can vote for is Patrick Stewart, who has received 28% of the votes as I'm writing this. He's being beaten by Sean Connery, though, so go vote and make sure that doesn't happen ;-)!
Which actor should play the wizard Gandalf in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings adaptations?
See The DS9 Finale Early
Christian (12:50 pm CST)
Outpost Gallifrey is reporting that some people will be able to see the DS9 finale early:
On Thursday, May 27th, from 6:30-9:00 pm, the Museum of Television and Radio will premiere the two-hour finale of Deep Space Nine. Rick Berman and Ira Steven Behr, and members of the cast, will be on hand. Call (310) 786-1091 for more information.
Thanks go out to the Great Link for pointing me to this.
DS9 Final Episode Title
Note that I still wouldn't be 100% certain that 'What You Leave Behind' is the actual episode title - it's the fourth already, and we could very well be hearing about other titles soon.
Christian (12:42 pm CST)
Jose Gonzalez at the Trekweb Message Board has confirmed that 'What You Leave Behind' is the title for the DS9 finale:
Someone down below noted that Richard Arnold let slip that "What You Leave Behind" is the title for the finale.
That, folks, *is* the title (unless they change it later, which is always possible). Somehow I don't think Arnold is going to be too popular among the DS9 staff for letting that out.
Yesterday Josh Brandon reported the same thing in this post, after Richard Arnold had mentioned the title at an Australian convention. Maybe this means the 'Rom becomes Grand Nagus' rumour is actually true as well...
Get A Life Videos Online
Christian (12:33 pm CST)
Amazingly, the SCIFI Headquarters have put up a video clip of the 'Get A Life' skit I talked about a few minutes ago (see below):
Currently two video are up. His monologue and the "Get a Life" skit. That is over 6 minutes of video. Look for the Khan skit from SNL to be up later this week.
The videos are available in Real G2 format at the SCIFI HQ Humor section.
New Sev Trek Cartoon Online
Christian (12:01 pm CST)
Happy Birthday William Shatner!
Christian (11:45 am CST)
Today is the 68th birthday of William Shatner, known to fans around the world as Captain James Tiberius Kirk. Over the past 33 years, Shatner has established himself as probably the most recognized face in the world of Trek - both through his role as Kirk and his rather unique way of looking at things (can you say 'Get a Life'?). More info on the man can be found at his own web site, or at his official fan club.
Today on TV
-In the UK, Sky One will be showing the third-season Voyager episode 'The Chute' at 5:00pm GMT, with a rerun at 11:30pm. At 8:00pm, they're showing the (new) DS9 episode 'Valiant.' Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-Tomorrow morning at 00:15 CET, German television station Sat.1 will be repeating TNG's 'Hochzeit mit Hindernissen' (Cost of Living). Tomorrow at 15:00 CET, they're showing 'Eine hoffnungslose Romanze' (The Perfect Mate).
Christian (11:28 am CST)
-Tonight at 7:30pm Eastern Time, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing the third-season TOS episode 'The Paradise Syndrome.' The episode also repeats at 11:30pm.
New at Trekseek.com
-Brentwatch is a site dedicated to following the career of actor Brent Spiner. Current news, informative reports, exclusive pictures, tons of fun links.
More new sites can be found by going here.
Christian (11:00 am CST)
Yesterday another three sites were added to Trekseek, our Star Trek search engine. Take a look at some of those new sites:
-T'Plana-Hath Starbase is the HQ for the Thunder Fleet which is part of the Federation Division of the Alpha Quadrant Sim Group.
Hello World!
Christian (10:57 am CST)
Regular visitors of TrekToday will know about my passionate hatred of Mondays. However, today is actually a great day, as we welcome Leonard Schuurmans' Warp 11 into the Trekzone Network as our first hosted site! We here are great fans of this wonderful Trek news site, and I've been using it a lot as a source for TrekToday. Naturally, we are very happy to welcome Warp 11, and we thank Leonard for joining us. Go take a look at the site, I can guarantee you you won't be disappointed!
| Sunday March 21, 1999 |
Christian (12:50 pm CST)
Daryus Aden just sent out the latest edition of the Secured Channel, the bi-weekly Trek newsletter:
Hi folks,
I know I've been away for awhile, but certain real life circumstances
have kept me away - however I am sitting down right now and putting this issue
together. From the information and spoilers I have in my mailbox and from
friends...well let me say I think all the fans are in for a shock. DS9 is
going
to end with an unexpected twist. (Yes, I have been crystal ball gazing! LOL).
The issue also contains an announcement of TrekToday, so how could we not love it :-)? Besides that, there is the usual collection of Trek news, news on major Trek sites, and unfortunately the last edition of the STZone news (see below). Subscribe now and never miss another issue again!
STZone Closing Down
[...]
When we first signed up for the simplenet account, the policies stated "Unlimited Traffic".
However within a month of us moving there, they changed this to Unlimited traffic*
Where the star meant read the section below. Any site within the Top 5% of site traffic would get a nice $200 bill each month that they stayed there. I was annoyed however we managed the get the traffic down to an acceptable level. 6 Gig a month in transfers from 8 Gig. Simplenet told us we were close to the top 5%.
[...]
So, here we are - I am facing a $200 bill, the renewal on the site and a great many headaches I could do without.
The only option is to close the STZ. Utopia I and II have, as you read this - gone. The site has been taken down for many reasons - the primary one is Bandwidth saving - if everyone rushed to the site and started to download everything, I will get that bill...
Christian (12:38 pm CST)
Sad news for online Trek fans, as the Behaviour Group's STZone will be closing its doors on the 1st of April (and no, this is not a joke). For years now, the STZone has been providing some great sites, including the Utopia Planitia Fleetyards and the Great Link. Unfortunately, the STZone's owner Chris Gough has now announced the site will be closing down:
After Viewing the STZ statistics over the last month I have made every effort to maintain the site to the best possible standards, however ultimately the result is final. You people have been visiting the site WAY too much.
Over Popularity killed the cat. Don't feel bad - it was inevitable.
More on this can be found in the full announcement. Also, in light of the STZone's closure, two of its hosted sites have already announced they will be moving. News site The Great Link will be moving to its own GreatLink.Org domain as soon as its new account has been set up, while newsletter The Secured Channel has already moved to its new location at http://solareclipse.net/Channel/.
More Final Chapter Info
In Another post, Josh Brandon talks about a convention in Australia where William Shatner and Richard Arnold appeared. I have my doubts about the reliability of this, but in this post it is said that the finale is titled 'What You Leave Behind.' The post also mentions that *Rom*, of all people, will become the Grand Nagus, and also mentions that Shatner said he has been approached for Star Trek X. Once again, I wouldn't believe this until it is confirmed elsewhere.
Christian (12:04 pm CST)
The Great Link has received extra info on the last three episodes of DS9's Final Chapter. Apparently Paramount has launched a massive misinformation campaign, as the series finale has now received yet another title - 'Kingdom Come.' A short summary of the most important news items:
More on this can be found at the Great Link. Other Final Chapter news was posted today to the Trekweb message board. In ome post Jose Gonzalez mentions that, as of last Wednesday, 'Kingdom Come' was not the title for the finale.
PC Action Previews Birth of the Federation
A teaser version of the preview should be available here, but unfortunately it isn't yet. However, once I myself get the magazine, I'll scan the article in again and report on what it actually says. Meanwhile, the PC Action site is where more info will appear soon.
Christian (11:44 am CST)
Paul Weaver at FedCom is reporting that the German gaming magazine PC Action has done a massive preview of 'Birth of the Federation,' the upcoming strategy game. The preview is the month's main highlight, as you can see from the cover image to the left. In the preview, there is also an interview with lead designer Jeff Holzhauer, in which he confirms the game will go gold on the 15th of April, so the game should be in the shops a few weeks later.
Today on TV
-Tomorrow at 15:00 CET, Sat.1 will be showing TNG's 'Hochzeit mit Hindernissen' (Cost of Living).
Christian (11:29 am CST)
-In the UK, Sky One will be showing DS9's 'The Bar Association' at 16:00 GMT, followed an hour later by Voyager's 'Sacred Ground.'
New at Trekseek.com
-Star Trek: The Animated Series is loaded with pictures, animations, RealMedia, greeting cards, and games.
More new sites can be found by going here.
Christian (11:24 am CST)
No less than 6 sites were added to Trekseek yesterday, bringing us to a total of 866 Trek sites! Take a look at some of those new sites:
-The Klingon Virtual Post Office allows you to send subspace postcards in several languages. You can also use your own graphics and music files.
-If you're in a for a good read, check out the stories of Captain MacDermott and the crew of the USS Missouri in the Alpha Quadrant.
Hello World!
Christian (10:46 am CST)
Sorry to all of you who don't run in the same screen resolution as I do. I just saw yesterday's update on a computer with a lower resolution, and I noticed that yesterday's Lego picture really messed up the site's lay-out. I'll try to avoid that in the future.
| Saturday March 20, 1999 |
Christian (2:47 pm CST)
The Ultimate Borg Collective's new newsletter has a report on Voyager going into syndication. When this happens, the Voyager episodes will be shortened by a few minutes in order to get more room for commercials, and the report investigates this:
[...]
He said that Voyager is not going from 43 to 41 minutes, but from 46 to 44. He said that DS9, as it is made to go directly to syndication, is more likely to be 41 or 42 minutes long, and that possibly the Paramount person who gave me the information mixed up the 2 shows.
He explained that the show's makers had two choices: lessen the length of the show by filming two minutes less (or cutting), or use a method he called "time compression." I had never heard of this. He said it consists of very slightly speeding up the whole show so that it takes up two minutes less. They chose the first option.
Mark Altman, of Broadcast Operations at UPN, returned my call. I think we spoke for more than an hour. He is very nice, patient, understanding, and caring. And he has been a Trekker (his word), so he relates to our concerns.
Although the full report mentions that protests will probably be useless, it does contain the address of people to write to in protest.
Insurrection Video Release Date
Christian (2:20 pm CST)
The Flagship is reporting that the Insurrection video release date has changed for the better:
Paramount has changed the dates for Star Trek: Insurrection, which originally had an order cut off date of May 7, 1999 and a street date of May 25, 1999. Star Trek: Insurrection will now street on May 11, 1999 with an order cut off of April 23, 1999.
Furthermore, the Flagship is reporting that Insurrection is now being shown on hotel pay-per-view systems as well. Take a look at the full report for more.
The Flagship Launches Trek X Info Site
Christian (1:54 pm CST)
The Flagship, the First Contact and Insurrection news site, has just launched a new Star Trek 10 information site:
The newest section of this site, The Flagship: Star Trek X, is now ready. The Flagship has been around since mid-1995, and I'm certainly glad to keep it going--I get great pleasure from doing so. I suspect many of you have been around here for a little while, so let me just say that this site will follow the example put forth in the First Contact and Insurrection sites.
Currently the only thing available at the STX Information Site is a short FAQ (mainly because the film hasn't even gone beyond the first exploratory steps yet), but I'm sure more info will become available over the next few months/years.
Voyager Still Hacked To Bits
Christian (1:30 pm CST)
Mr. Video Productions is reporting that Wednesday's repeat of 'In the Flesh' was hacked to pieces by UPN again in order to get more commercial time:
Well, they've gone and done it again. Tonight's repeat of In The Flesh has 2:01 cut from the episode. I will have a chart up indicating where the differences are shortly.
The full chart will probably be appearing here later on.
Stewart Hopes For Fellow Brits
Christian (1:29 pm CST)
As we reported yesterday, Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard) will be one of the presenters at this weekend's Oscar ceremonies. Stewart, who is currently finishing a television movie of Charles Dicken's 'Christmas Carol,' has said he was hoping that two British actros might win:
Stewart, a veteran English theater actor before becoming Capt. Jean-Luc Picard on ``Star Trek: The Next Generation,'' said he is hoping this year's Oscar recipients will include British theater legends Ian McKellen (``Gods and Monsters'') and Judi Dench (``Shakespeare In Love'').``My wish is that I see both of them up there on the stage,'' he said.
Take a look at the full report for more on this and on his 'Christmas Carol' film.
Daily Sci-Fi Looks At Next Week's Sci-Fi
Christian (1:23 pm CST)
The Den's Daily Sci-Fi has put up its preview of next week's SF television series. Apparently all series are running repeats next week, except for Voyager, of which the new episode 'The Fight' is shown on Wednesday:
Voyager dives into yet another type of space -- chaotic space. Chakotay must then battle an alien that is keeping them there in a boxing ring. Clearly symbolic, but what a cheap way to save on special effects!
Take a look at the full preview for descriptions of the other shows, accompanied by some video teasers.
Happy Birthday John DeLancie!
Christian (1:22 pm CST)
Today is the 51st birthday of John DeLancie, who is probably best known for his role as the omnipotent Q. DeLancie has guest starred as Q in all three Trek series, but unfortunately the last time he appeared on Voyager is already three years ago. Meanwhile, DeLancie isn't sitting around doing nothing. Together with Leonard Nimoy (Spock), he formed Alien Voices, which is performing classic science fiction stories the way they used to be done on the radio. More on DeLancie can be found on the John DeLancie Tribute page, which is also where I found the above picture.
Today on TV
-German television station Sat.1 will be repeating Voyager's 'Vis à vis' tomorrow morning at 10:05 CET.
-Here in the Netherlands, the AVRO is (or was) showing Voyager's 'Waking Moments' at 18:37 CET.
Christian (1:21 pm CST)
-In the UK, Sky One will be showing the 4th-season DS9 episode 'The Sons Of Mogh ' at 4:00pm GMT. At 5:00pm, they're showing the third-season Voyager episode 'False Profits.'
New at Trekseek.com
-Stanley's Star Trek Page is a site dedicated entirely to Star Trek, containing links to the best Trek sites. Trekseek is listed! Woohoo!
Other new sites can be found by going here.
Christian (1:16 pm CST)
Yesterday Trekseek.com welcomed its 860th site after we received another four site submissions. Let's take a look at some of those sites:
-The USS StarBlazer is a Trek simming group. 'In a distant galaxy, a crew of 36 speeds home in an alien craft, encountering new worlds, new races, and new obstacles. Little does the StarBlazer crew know that they have a more important purpose, one that matters more than if they get home... Will the StarBlazer get home? Only time will tell. Join the crew today. '
Hello World!
Christian (1:16 pm CST)
Aaah! I absolutely *hate* the Dutch railway system. This afternoon, I arrived at a station somewhere in the middle of nowhere, only to learn that my train had just left. 25 minutes later, the next train arrived. I got on the train, for about three minutes, and then got off when we arrived at Utrecht Central Station (sort of like the hub of the Dutch railway system.) There I learned that I had to wait *another* 25 minutes, because the only train to my hometown had just left. Anyways, that's why I'm beginning my update now, and not several hours ago. Sorry.
In other, completely unrelated news, take a look at this news report at the Den's Daily Sci-Fi. In the report, you'll get to see pictures of the new Star Wars lego line! How I wish there'd also be a lego U.S.S. Enterprise... :-)
| Friday March 19, 1999 |
Christian (1:37 pm CST)
Yesterday Warp 11 reported that Voyager would probably not be encountering a Federation ship in the season finale, after a source provided Warp 11 with some new information:
My number 2 source had some interesting news late last night. According to him executive producer Brannon Braga has absolutely no intention in bringing anymore AQ species to the Delta Quadrant. And as far as he is concerned we'll not see Voyager return at all! Also off-topic are Kes and the Kazon. So in this light it seems that the initial reports are incorrect!
In response to that, the webmaster of the Vulcan Cafe sent a mail to Warp 11, informing the site that:
The season finale is still Warhead and Equinox as described. I don't know what "warp 11" is so concerned about, since nobody here mentioned bring other AQ races into Voyager anyway...
Before I give you the wrong impression, the full e-mail isn't quite as hostile as this excerpt makes it sound. In the mail, some things about the last two episodes and Voyager's future are clarified, as you can see in the Warp 11 report where this mail is printed.
Bradley Thompson Chat Transcript Up
[SteveKrutzler] From BrerMike: Does the tenacity of the fans and their sometimes obsessive opinions on yours or the other writers work, ever offend you or affect your creativity? BTW - Kudos on an excellent television show!
Christian (1:21 pm CST)
Trekweb has put up a transcript of yesterday's chat with Bradley Thompson, who is writer and executive story editor on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Some of the highlights:
[SteveKrutzler] From The_Tom: So far this year we've had no O'Brien A-stories and only a pair or so of O'Brien B-stories. Please tell us the chief gets the spotlight at some point in the Final Chapter.
The full transcript, only available in a TXT-format to ensure maximum readability, can be found here. In the chat, we also learn that 'Umbra' and 'Eclipse,' two of the upcoming Final Chapter episodes, have actually been given new names. This was reported by several sites a few days ago, but later on the official Paramount press releases still called the episodes by their old names. Now 'Umbra' will presumably be called 'Till Death Do Us Part,' while 'Eclipse' will be called 'Strange Bedfellows.'
[BradleyThompson] O'Brien and Bashir will have a turn in these last ten. Saw the dailies and it looks wonderful.
[BradleyThompson] Thanks for the Kudos and of course we get horribly offended when someone doesn't like our stuff. David has been known to go into a psychotic rage and punch refrigerators when angered. :-) Regarding creativity -- actually, the worst critics of our work are our fellow writers on the show. But they're all trying to make the show better, so when they hate your work, you just suck it up and move on. And plan revenge.
New Target Playmate Exclusives Info
The basic 4.5" Target Exclusives will have production runs between 10,000 and 12,000.
Each Target Exclusive Transporter Series figures will have a production run of 8,000.
Christian (1:05 pm CST)
The Raving Toy Maniac has posted some new info on the production runs of the Target Exclusives
Playmates has released a few pieces of information regarding the Target Exclusives.
Take a look at the full update for more, including the news that some of the Target Exclusive 'Twin Packs' will actually contain three characters! And no, I don't know why they're still calling it a 'twin' pack, either.
New Sev Trek Competition Online
Christian (12:54 pm CST)
The latest edition of the Write Your Own Star Trek Competition is now online:
The many faces of Lieutenant Saavik!
You can submit your punchlines here, while the funniest punchlines will be posted here.
Poor Spock must have been confused to have died with Kirstie Alley playing Saavik, only to return to life with Robin Curtis replacing her. This week's comic strip helps explain the mystery (note - I haven't decided a sevname for Saavik yet - feel free to make your suggestions on the Ideas Board)
Cinescape Interviews Behr
Behr: We're going to be meeting tomorrow with Paramount to discuss the last show because we have some rather interesting ideas we have to run by them....I don't know how you can 'wrap up' the Prophets, really -- after all, they're gods or monsters or wormhole aliens. But they'll certainly factor into the end of the series.
Christian (12:35 pm CST)
Cinescape Online has a new '3 questions with Ira Steven Behr,' in which they talk to the DS9 producer about the upcoming end of the show:
Cinescape: Will the series finale wrap up the story of Sisko and the Prophets?
More can be found in the full feature, written by Cinescape editor Steve Hockensmith. Thanks go out to Warp 11 for pointing me to this.
Decipher 1999 CCG Championships Announced
Christian (12:15 pm CST)
Decipher, the manufacturer of the Star Trek Customizable Card Game, has announced the 1999 Trek CCG World Championships:
November 11-14, a single major event will be the setting for Decipher's 1999 World Championship events for Star Wars and Star Trek CCGs. The mega-event will be a single mindblowing weekend - a Decipher Homecoming - and the two World Final events are just two important, exciting components of a celebration for everyone in our CCG community. That's all we can say about the weekend. Stay with us as the story unfolds.
The Championship Page tells about the new qualification system, which now involves three separate rounds. In other Decipher news, they have just launched a web survey in which you can tell Decipher what their new web site should look like.
New Trek Ratings Info Available
DS9 was first on the week by quite a bit, seeing Xena fall to a 3.7 and Hercules to a 3.6. Both Xena and Herc looked like they were gaining ground in recent weeks, but with this fall off and DS9's coming final nine episodes on the way, DS9 has all but wrapped up a season as the number one weekly syndicated drama on TV.
Christian (11:36 am CST)
The Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Infomation Database has two new ratings reports online, one for Voyager and for DS9. First, the Overnight Ratings Report for Wednesday's rerun of Voyager's 'In the Flesh' has appeared:
"In the Flesh" took a dip from "Extreme Risk"'s numbers of last week, falling to a 3.8 rating, 6 share. That's off a bit from last week's "Extreme Risk" (4.1/7) and should finish down from last year.
Unfortunately, DS9's 'Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang,' which aired on the 22nd of February, didn't do too well either:
"Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang" is probably the most bittersweet moment this season, more bitter or sweet depending on your perspective. The episode fell to a 4.1 rating, ranking 19th and tying it with several episodes for lowest-rated ever DS9 episode honors. However, the same 4.1 rating secured DS9's second straight sweeps month as the syndicated drama king.
More on this can be found in the full Voyager report and the full DS9 report.
Future Previews 'Birth of the Federation'
Oh well. They're still fun. What's the game called and what's it all about?
Christian (11:30 am CST)
British gaming e-zine Future Gamer has put up a preview of the upcoming turn-based strategy game 'Birth of the Federation.' The preview is written in an extremely funny (ahem, ahem) Q&A format, and begins as follows:
Star Trek. Hurrah! James T, Spock, jokes about 'Canny do it Cap'n' and all that?
The preview doesn't provide us any new info, and is sometimes simply incorrect, but they do give us a lot of new screenshots. Take a look at the full preview for more. Thanks go out to FedCom for pointing me to this.
Calm down. You won't be finding James Tiberius Kirk in here. This particular licensed property is Star Trek: The Next Generation. The new ones. With the bald bloke and a Klingon.
Stand by. The game's full title is Star Trek: The Next Generation Birth Of The Federation. It's a turn-based strategy game.
Patrick Stewart To Present At Academy Awards
Christian (11:21 am CST)
The Continuum has a short report up mentioning that Patrick Stewart will be a presenter at this weekend's Academy Awards ceremony:
Patrick Stewart (ST:TNG's "Picard") is one of three presenters for the Academy Awards' best motion picture award. Patrick will be presenting Shakespeare In Love and Elizabeth.
The Academy Awards will be broadcast live this weekend on ABC. The telecast begins at 5:30PM Pacific/ 8:30PM Eastern.
Eon Reviews Enterprise-C Toy
Christian (11:13 am CST)
The latest issue of Eon Magazine (issue 14.2) has a review of the new Enterprise-C model kit, 'Scale 1/1400.' According to reviewer Jeff Bond it's a pretty good model, as it should be:
STAR TREK modelers are advised to enjoy this release and the upcoming companion piece Enterprise 3-Piece Set, which includes the Enterprises B, C and E in a smaller scale. With ERTL gearing up for an all-out PHANTOM MENACE merchandising bliss, these two kits (and some later variations thereof) may be the only TREK model kits we see on the legal side of the aisle for the next year or so.
In the full review Jeff Bond awards the Enterprise-C model with an 'A' grade - go check it out!
Today on TV
-In the United Kingdom, Sky One is showing 'Basics, Part 2,' the conclusion to yesterday's Part 1, at 5:00pm GMT (i.e. now). The episode also repeats at 11:30pm. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is showing Voyager's 'Vis à vis' (called the same in English) at 19:15 CET. Tomorrow morning at 03:15 CET they're repeating TNG's 'Ein mißglücktes Manöver' (The First Duty).
Christian (10:59 am CST)
-As a reminder in case you missed it, the Sci-Fi Channel will not be showing a new TOS episode tonight. Today they're beginning with the new Friday night program, which does not include the Original Series. Soon they'll also reduce the TOS timeslot from 90 to 60 minutes, removing the commentary and some parts of the actual episodes.
New at Trekseek.com
-Star Trek: Into the Void has the first story written exclusively by an online list. According to them, 'the Trekkers list has created one of the greatest stories in the Star Trek universe. '
To take a look at some of the other sites in our database of 858 Trek sites, go here.
Christian (10:55 am CST)
Yesterday three new sites were submitted to Trekseek, our Star Trek search engine. Take a look at some of those new sites:
-In other fanfic news, Star Trek Helix presents us with a completely new crew. Orginally from a reality where the Borg conquered the Alpha Quadrant after Wolf 359, Team Helix was able to alter the timeline to give the Federation another chance. Now, Team Helix works for Section 31 on 'special' assignments.
Hello World!
Christian (10:42 am CST)
As I'll be away for most of the day tomorrow, I don't know when I'll be able to do tomorrow's update. It'll probably be 1 to 2 hours later, so don't be worried if you arrive here tomorrow without seeing an update - it will appear as usual, just a little bit later.
| Thursday March 18, 1999 |
Christian (1:29 pm CST)
Marco Palmieri, Associate Trade Book Eidtor at Pocket Books recently posted the updated trade books & hardcover schedule for 1999. The new schedule, which can be found here, lists all the upcoming trade books, and also provides info on a new non-fiction book called 'New Worlds, New Civilizations:'
[It's] the 1999 coffee-table book
Margaret and I are co-editing. Think of
it as National Geographic for the 24th
century. It's written by Andre Bormanis,
with loads of all-new painted and CG
artwork by a number of artists.
Guess what I'm putting on my Christmas wish list this year ;-)?
No Encounter With Fed Ship On Voyager?
Christian (12:53 pm CST)
According to recent reports from the Vulcan Cafe and other sources, the last two Voyager episodes of this season were going to deal with the USS Equinox, a Federation ship that was also transported to the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker. However, today Warp 11 is reporting that this may not actually be true:
My number 2 source had some interesting news late last night. According to him executive producer Brannon Braga has absolutely no intention in bringing anymore AQ species to the Delta Quadrant. And as far as he is concerned we'll not see Voyager return at all! Also off-topic are Kes and the Kazon.
So in this light it seems that the initial reports are incorrect! I know this is strange, because I believe that the guys at The Vulcan Cafe claim their spoilers were confirmed by Brannon Braga himself!
If I recall correctly, Brannon Braga only confirmed the Doctor story from those two episodes, but this news is certainly very strange! Personally I don't find it very surprising Braga doesn't want Voyager to return - I recently heard a story from someone who had done a pitch session for Voyager. This person was told that Voyager wouldn't be coming home next season, and there wouldn't be any cast changes. Also, the writers did not want to go back to anything that happened before the fourth season, which would indeed rule out Kes and the Kazon. More on all this will be presented to you as soon as I hear about it.
DS9 Finale Title Not Certain Yet
[Update: 20:34 CET/ 1:34pm CST] On the rec.arts.startrek.tech newsgroup Voyager's Senior Illustrator Rick Sternbach just said the following:
Christian (12:43 pm CST)
Yesterday, Trek news site Warp 11 was reporting that the DS9 finale would be called 'Fin de Siècle,' and would have a very surprising guest cast (including Vedek Bareil and Jennifer Sisko). Now, however, it seems that the finale title isn't certain yet, as the Sci-Fi World is reporting the finale will be called 'Eleventh Hour.' Both sites are claiming to have heard this from their own, reliable, sources, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the episode ends up being called.
I don't know where that title came from, but it sure isn't on my copy of
the script.
Thanks go out to Berserker at the Trekweb message board for pointing me to this.
Optical Data Network Issue 82 Appears [...] Getting back on track, there's a full compliment of schedules,
from the US (updated through the end of both series, although we're
missing the titles of both season finales), to the UK. [...] Rounding out this issue is an updated book listing from David
Henderson at Psi Phi, a new site in the Spotlight, and a couple of
Letters (Transmissions).
Anyways, check out the new ODN issue for a comprehensive round-up of all the Trek news that's fit to print!
Christian (12:35 pm CST)
I just noticed that the latest issue of the Optical Data Network, the bi-weekly Trek newsletter, has been published. Take a look at what this issue has in stock for you:
This issue of Optical Data Network features a couple news
articles, one about Nicole DeBoer and the end of DS9, and the other
about a new game being developed for Activision. Beyond that is the
standard variety of NewsBits.
The Spotlight site is actually TrekToday, while ODN is also carrying the announcement of the new PBeM Steven Hartzog is currently developing here at the Trekzone Network, and for which he needs VB, VC++, Java or XML programmers. Our thanks go out to ODN for this!
Bradley Thompson Chat Tonight
Christian (11:29 am CST)
Trekweb is organising a chat with Bradley Thompson, who is writer and executive story editor for Deep Space Nine. With his background, there should certainly be enough questions to ask him during the chat, according to the Trekweb info page:
Bradley Thompson has been a staff writer on Deep Space Nine with his writing partner David Weddle since the departing Robert Hewitt Wolfe left a vacancy in the writing staff after the end of the fifth season. This season, Bradley and David have written the teleplays for such episodes as "Treachery, Faith and the Great River" and "Prodigal Daughter," and have been promoted to Executive Story Editors. Upcoming shows include the secretive and yet-to-be-retitled "Umbra," part of the finale episode chain.
The chat begins at 7:00pm PST, but advance questions can already be submitted by going here.
Continuum Improves
[...]
We also removed the "news ticker" from the top of the Headquarters, Academy, Communication and other pages.
Finally, our Web chat program has been improved. You can now chat in color and "whisper" to other chat guests.
Christian (11:19 am CST)
The Star Trek Continuum is reporting that it has improved its web site, making it much faster for fans to visit the site:
Visitors to the STAR TREK: CONTINUUM site can now surf through the information much faster. Pages that once played sounds are now silent, thereby speeding up the loading process and reducing the time you have to wait to see the information. This change only affects visitors to the LITE version of the site.
Take a look at the full news report for more on this, including info on how to keep hearing sounds, and a feedback address for your comments.
'The Fight' Preview Available
Christian (11:04 am CST)
Mr. Video Productions has added a preview for Voyager's 'The Fight,' the episode in which Chakotay is boxing. As usual, Vidiot has an MP3-audio file, an MPEG-video and more than two dozen images online, so check out the preview!
Activision Developing More Trek Games
Christian (10:41 am CST)
Since a week, we already know that Raven Software is developing a Star Trek: Voyager game for publishers Activision. However, now it seems that this isn't the only title in development for Activision, as a company press release from 'Intergraph Computer Systems' mentions a Star Trek: Armada game. The press release talks about a new super-fast workstation that can be used for developing 3D graphics, a workstation that is apparently being put to good use:
Tim Miller, CEO of Blur Studios: ''Creating animation for cutting-edge game titles such as the new Star Trek Armada from Activision takes massive amounts of CPU power, so a performance increase like we've seen with these new machines lets us go where `no one has gone before' a lot faster. The lightning-fast performance of Intergraph's new TDZ 2000 GX1 with Pentium III Xeon processors let's us render and model at warp speed.''
You can find the full press release here, though it doesn't contain more information on Armada. I'll let you know as soon as I hear more about this new title.
Today on TV
-In the UK, Sky One is showing Voyager's 'Basics, Part 1' at 5:00pm and at 11:30pm GMT. The BBC, meanwhile, is showing DS9's 'Dax' at 6:00pm. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is repeating TNG's wonderful 'Déjà vu' (Cause and Effect) tomorrow morning at 01:45 CET. At 15:00 tomorrow, they're showing 'Ein mißglücktes Manöver' (The First Duty).
Christian (10:35 am CST)
-Tonight, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing the third-season TOS episode 'The Enterprise Incident,' one of the few good episodes from that season. 'The Enterprise Incident' airs at 7:30pm Eastern Time, with a rerun at 11:30pm.
New at Trekseek.com
-Desktop Starships has hHundreds of high quality, 3D science fiction pictures for use as desktop wallpaper. The site has over 200 Star Trek images alone!
Lots of other new sites can be found by going here.
Christian (10:26 am CST)
No less than 6 new sites were added to Trekseek yesterday, bringing us to a total of 855 Trek sites. Check out some of the highlights:
-The Klingon Imperial Diplomatic Corps has the largest existing Klingon reference database, with over 225 pages on Klingon culture, society, traditions, rituals and weaponry.
Hello World!
Christian (10:20 am CST)
And a belated 'Happy Saint Patrick's Day!' Yesterday, I had actually changed the date bar to read 'Wednesday March 17,1999 - Saint Patrick's Day,' but unfortunately our news script couldn't handle that and decided to wipe out all my posts. I fixed it, but that also meant I had too loose the lovely 'Saint Patrick's Day' text :-(. Better luck next time, I suppose.
| Wednesday March 17, 1999 |
Christian (12:54 pm CST)
The Star Trek Universe has a new promotion picture from the upcoming Voyager episode 'Think Thank.' The picture shows guest star Jason Alexander (from Seinfield) in full alien make-up. Check out the picture by going here.
Final Episode Name Available
Warp 11 has received extra info from its source 'Number One.' The source is reporting that the final episode will be called 'Fin de Siècle,' and also has some info on guest appearances for the episode:
Christian (12:36 pm CST)
This update contains major spoilers for DS9's Final Chapter. Click here to avoid them.
To my knowledge Fin de Siècle is French for "End of the century" or "End of an era".
A somewhat cryptic description he/she had on the plot - "Expect all those Alamo references to pay off!"
And....expect to see ALL of the semi-regulars to show up, EXCEPT Kai Winn, Keiko and the kids and Kassidy Yates, for reasons that will soon become clear.
In the full update, Warp 11 has the full list of guest stars available, including Philip Anglim as Vedek Bareil and Kenneth Marshall as Eddington!! I suppose the Prophets will be showing Benjamin Sisko his recent history, which should prove very interesting indeed. Check out the full update for more surprising guest appearances!
'Extreme Risk' Ratings Report "Extreme Risk" performed right on the season average for reruns so far this year, earning a 2.7, 5 share. That rating actually ties it with last year's rerun performance of "Random Thoughts." Obviously the show was down quite a bit from last week's firstrun episode.
In other good rerun news, "Extreme Risk" clobbered the WB's hour-long special presentation of "Zoe, Duncan, Jack, and Jane," (2.45 average), finishing 5th in its timeslot on the night -- fairly good for a Voyager rerun. Moesha barely defeated "Extreme Risk" with a 2.7, putting Voyager in UPN's #2 spot for only the second or third time this year.
Christian (12:10 pm CST)
The Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has put up the final ratings report for last Wednesday's Voyager episode, a rerun of 'Extreme Risk.' The episode did okay:
Sci-Fi Channel To Start Web Broadcasts
Christian (11:10 am CST)
Sci-Fi Wire, the Sci-Fi Channel's news service, is repoting that the station will start showing some of its programmes via the Net starting this Friday, March 19. Initially, the Sci-Fi Channel will only show the four new Friday night shows, but let's hope they'll start doing webcasts of their Star Trek episodes, too. Read the full article for more.
Mania Examines New Trek RPG Books
Christian (11:05 am CST)
Mania Magazine has published a new edition of Kenneth Hite's 'Out of the Box' column, in which the co-creator of the Star Trek TNG RPG takes a look at the latest happenings in the RPG world. In the column, Hite looks at the latest RPG books, including a new expansion set for the TNG game:
Well, my sugar daddies at Last Unicorn Games have got things underway at last; a flotilla of new releases for the STTNG RPG makes its way to shelves of finer local game stores even as you read these words. And, the specifics of my agreement with LUG being what they are, I've had something to do with most of them in one way or another. The Way of Kolinahr (94 pages, $15), in fact, I developed all of and wrote a chunk of, and drafted the sketch from which our talented graphics team did the map of Vulcan inside. I was a busy fellow, and methinks it turned out pretty well.
Check out the full column for more info on this exciting add-on, which will provide info on Vulcan's 'philosophies, history, geography, flora and fauna' and lots of new Vulcan stats.
Jerry Rules, But Voyager Pretty Cool, Too! Although 'Jerry Springer' was unanimously hailed as the best television show by the participants, one of the other 23 shows they liked a lot was 'Star Trek: Voyager,' showing that not all hope is lost for modern youth ;-).
Christian (10:51 am CST)
This news article at Yahoo! talks about a conference on children's programme at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The attendants were twelve local schoolkids who gave the researchers their opinion on television programmes, during a freewheeling Q&A session moderated by LeVar Burton (Geordi LaForge).
Today on TV
-Also in the US, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing the, ahem, 'interesting' TOS episode 'Spock's Brain' tonight at 7:30pm Eastern Time. In the unlikely event you want to see it twice, the episode repeats at 11:30pm.
-In the UK, Sky One is showing Voyager's 'Resolutions' tonight at 17:00 GMT, with a rerun at 23:30. At 18:00, the BBC is showing TNG's 'I, Borg.' Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is repeating TNG's 'Verbotene Liebe' (The Outcast) tomorrow morning at 02:05 CET. Tomorrow afternoon, at 15:00, they're showing the brilliant 'Déjà vu' (Cause and Effect), which you really shouldn't miss.
Christian (10:37 am CST)
-In the US, UPN is repeating Voyager's 'In the Flesh' tonight at 9:00pm Eastern/Pacific Time.
New at Trekseek.com
-Captain Janeway's Crew is a Star Trek: Voyager Fan club for fans of Captain Janeway and crew. It has 140 members and is still growing, making it the second largest Yahoo! Voyager fan club. You must be a Yahoo! Member to join, though.
The other new sites that were added yesterday can be found by going here.
Christian (10:20 am CST)
Trekseek, our Star Trek search engine, received four site submissions yesterday, bringing us to a total of 850 Star Trek sites. Take a look at some of those new sites:
-Omega Features the latest Star Trek news and happenings, including articles, episode schedules/spoilers, convention dates, and more.
Hello World!
Christian (10:12 am CST)
A few minutes ago, I signed up for Yahoo! Chat, hoping that that would be were I'd be able to find a transcript of yesterday's chat with Ethan Phillips. I haven't yet been able to find the transcript, but it did make me wonder - why does Yahoo! need my birthdate ('in case you forget your password') when I've already given a 'secret question?' Or the city, occupation and industry I'm in? Since when is that Yahoo!'s business? I can't wait until the first spam message from Yahoo! comes in...
| Tuesday March 16, 1999 |
Christian (1:14 pm CST)
John Ordover, editor at Pocket Books, has updated his Q&A Forum again with some interesting info:
Query from: Bob
Response from: John Ordover
[On the DS9 Finale Novelization:]
The full update can be found by going here, including answers on editing problems and the new 'The 34th Rule' novel.
No photo inserts are planned, and the novelization will be in standard paperback.
Is your fiance a Star Trek fan? If so, does she like Captain Sulu? If yes, how can I contact her? :)
More than a fan -- she's Carol Greenburg, the freelance editor on the Star Trek novels. She isn't a particularly big Sulu fan.:)
Official Info From Paramount Available
Furthermore, Vidiot also has the updated official air schedules available for both Deep Space Nine and Voyager. In the DS9 schedule we learn that the Final Chapter will start on the 3rd of March, and end on the 29th of May with a double episode. Note that these are the dates when the episodes are transmitted to television stations, viewers will be able to see the episodes in the following week. Take a look at the DS9 schedule or the Voyager schedule for more. Thanks go out to Leonard Schuurmans at Warp 11 for pointing me to this.
Christian (12:44 pm CST)
Mr. Video Productions has a bunch of official info up on upcoming Trek episodes. First of all, Paramount has issued official press releases for Penumbra, Umbra and Eclipse. And, yes, you heard that correctly - those last two episodes have regained their old names, and won't be called 'Till Death Do Us Part' and 'Strange Bedfellows' anymore, as was previously reported.
Jammer Reviews Trek
Christian (12:18 pm CST)
Jamahl Epsicokhan, also known as 'Jammer,' has posted reviews for three of the most recent Trek episodes. First up is a 3.5 star review of DS9'sInter Arma Enim Silent Leges, the latest episode featuring Section 31.After that come reviews for Voyager's Course: Oblivion (1.5 stars) and oldie Bliss (3 stars). Go check them out!
Ethan Phillips Chat Today
Christian (12:05 pm CST)
As a short reminder, TV Guide will be hosting a chat with Ethan Phillips (Neelix) tonight at 8:00pm Eastern Time:On Star Trek: Voyager Ethan Phillips stars as the Talaxian Neelix, a charming yet scraggly scavenger who acts as the ship's mess officer and ambassador. In the Star Trek Cookbook Ethan (in the persona of Neelix) reveals for the first time the secret preparation techniques behind all the favorite foods from every Star Trek series and movie, all adapted for easy use in twentieth-century kitchens! Join TV Guide Online as we chat with Ethan on Tuesday, March 16, 8pET/5pPT about Voyager's fifth season and Neelix's favorite 24th century dishes!
More info can be found at the Yahoo! Chat Events Calendar, which is also where the chat will be taking place.
New Sev Trek Cartoon Online
Christian (11:59 am CST)
DC Comics Obtains Trek License
Christian (11:20 am CST)
The Comic Shop News is reporting that WildStorm (a division of DC Comics) will start publishing Trek comics this year:
WildStorm will venture more deeply into licensed
territory in 1999. Star Trek has found a comic bok
home; new Star Trek stories will be published by
WildStorm. "We'll be doing miniseries and prestige
oneshots such as a Seven of Nine oneshot, "editor Scott Dunbier said.
WildStorm was purchased by DC Comics in October, but still has a separate editorial staff. Hopefully they'll be able to keep up a high level of quality. More on DC Comics' 1999 plans can be found in the full article, thanks go out to Section 31 for pointing me to this.
Malcom McDowell Stars In New Irish Movie
Christian (11:02 am CST)
Malcom McDowell, who starred as Dr. Soran in 'Star Trek: Generations,' has a major role in the upcoming Fox telefilm 'Saint Patrick, The Irish Legend:'
Set in the 5th century A.D., the two-hour story of adventure, intrigue, miracles and discovery is based upon St. Patrick's own writings and those of his 7th century biographer, Miurchu. Patrick (Bergin) is born a Briton, the son of nobility, but at the age of 16, the spoiled and rebellious youth is kidnapped by Irish raiders and enslaved by a cruel Druid chieftain. While in the depths of his captivity and despair, Patrick rediscovers his faith in God. Six years later, after many dreams and visions, a voice guides Patrick's escape from slavery and his return home. Back in England, Patrick attempts to return to his former life, but becomes troubled by new visions -- the voices of the Irish pleading with him to return and to lead them to God. He travels to Gaul to become a priest, returning to Ireland years later as its first Bishop. His mission is jeopardized by British Bishop Quentin (McDowell), who believes that the Irish are warlike heathens, and that Patrick is establishing his own cult church in Ireland.
More on this can be found in the official press release, which would have been a lot more fitting tomorrow (when it actually is Saint Patrick's Day).
Today on TV
-British television station Sky One is showing Voyager's 'Tuvix' tonight, even though Sky prefers to call it 'Symbiogenesis' for some unknown reason. The episode airs at 17:00 GMT, and is repeated at 23:30 . Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is repeating TNG's 'Die Operation' (Ethics) at 02:20 CET tomorrow morning. Tomorrow at 15:00 , they're showing TNG's 'Verbotene Liebe' (The Outcast).
Christian (10:55 am CST)
-In the US, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing 'Assignment: Earth,' the TOS-episode that also served as pilot for a possible new Gene Roddenberry-series. The episode, which I myself like a lot, airs at 7:30pm Eastern Time, with a rerun at 11:30pm.
New at Trekseek.com
-Books, Music, and more... has, well, books, music, and more.
The other four new sites can be found by going here.
Christian (10:40 am CST)
The good old times seem to have returned, with no less than 7 site submission to Trekseek yesterday, bringing us to a total of 847 Trek sites. Let's take a short look at some of those new sites:
-The United Federation Organization is A Star Trek simming group with the purpose of expanding the Star Trek universe and to have fun. The group is always looking for new members, so come and join today!
-Star Trek-A Discussion Group is a group dedicated to Star Trek. Anybody's welcome, though membership in Deja News is required.
Hello World!
Christian (10:35 am CST)
One of the most hilarious things imaginable is looking at the Trekseek search log. I have already lost count of the people looking for 'Nude Deanna Pics' (no matches found, before you try), but, for some strange reason, there are actually people who don't know how to spell the most basic Trek words. I can understand that when you're looking for 'B'Elanna Torres', but some people don't even know how to spell 'Trek' - pretty amazing when you consider they're searching on *Trek*Seek... :-)
| Monday March 15, 1999 |
Saleel (3:53 pm CST)
Bradley Thompson, Star Trek DS9's writer and executive story editor, will be participating in a live chat on Thursday, March 18th at 10 PM EST (7 PM PST) at TrekWeb.COM. For more information, follow this link. Thanks to Steve Krutzler for reporting this.
Unreliable Rumours Department
Christian (3:41 pm CST)
Thanks to the Trekzone Network's own Saleel Majeed, here is this week's Star Trek teletext page from British stations Sky One and Channel 5:
As usual, the only goal of this teletext page is to lure people into calling their expensive phone number, which is why all the headlines are, erm, 'slightly exaggerated.' Most of these news items already made it to the net, in a more understated form, and the news items that are completely new I wouldn't believe at all until confirmation appears somewhere else.
Ethan Phillips Chat Tomorrow
Christian (1:27 pm CST)
Sorry for not reporting this earlier, but I just stumbled across the news that TV Guide will be hosting a live chat with Ethan Phillips tomorrow at 8:00 pm Eastern Time. The chat will take place at Yahoo! Chat, which also has some extra info available on the chat:
On Star Trek: Voyager Ethan Phillips stars as the Talaxian Neelix, a charming yet scraggly scavenger who acts as the ship's mess officer and ambassador. In the Star Trek Cookbook Ethan (in the persona of Neelix) reveals for the first time the secret preparation techniques behind all the favorite foods from every Star Trek series and movie, all adapted for easy use in twentieth-century kitchens! Join TV Guide Online as we chat with Ethan on Tuesday, March 16, 8pET/5pPT about Voyager's fifth season and Neelix's favorite 24th century dishes!
Take a look at the Yahoo! Chat event calendar for more.
Raven Programmer Needs Trek Models
-The Enterprise - original, A, B, C, D & E would be great.
Christian (12:46 pm CST)
Jake Simpson has updated his .plan (a personal information file), making a request to all readers:
For once, I have a request. This is a purely for personal reasons and has nothing
to do with Raven or any professional project done by them. I'm looking for textured
.3ds max models of star ships. Between 5000 and 10000 poly's each. I won't go into
why, just say its a personal learning project and hope that there are some modellers
out there that are reading this that are up to the challenge.
The ships in particular I am looking for :-
The full update can be found here, in which Jake Simpson also mentions the end result might be found in 'a little freeware program, if I ever get interested.' Or maybe we'll be seeing it in a certain 'Voyager' game, hmmmm? ;-)
-Voyager.
-Any and all Shuttle craft.
-[Several non-Trek ships]
More Final Chapter Info
Christian (12:16 pm CST)
The Great Link has news of some major guest appearances in DS9's Final Chapter:
More news on this can be found at the Great Link. In other Final Chapter news, the Star Trek Universe is reporting that the series final will air on Saturday, May 29. Or at least, that is the downlink date, when Paramount sends out the episode to television stations, meaning that home viewers will be able to see the episode the following week.
This is a Klingon based episode, featuring General Martok AND the return of Gowron (last seen in Season 5's "By Inferno's Light")
An episode featuring a whole bunch of Ferengi in it, including the Nagus, Moogie, Rom and Leeta.
Insurrection Featured In Sci-Fi Wire Poll
Christian (11:32 am CST)
Sci-Fi Wire, the news service of the Sci-Fi Channel, has a a new poll up which asks visitors 'which SF film should win this year's Saturn award.' One of the candidates is 'Star Trek: Insurrection,' and at the moment the movie is still at the top of the poll with 38% of the votes - go vote and make sure it stays that way! The Sci-Fi Wire also has a report on the Saturn Awards, listing all the nominees in all the various categories.
Trek Shows Are TV Favorites
To celebrate its launch, TV Favorites.com will unveil a Fan Site Frenzy awards competition later this week, in which visitors can nominate and vote for their favorite fan sites corresponding to each of the site's featured shows. Each month, webmasters of winning sites will be awarded $500 apiece.
Christian (10:57 am CST)
Gist Communications, Inc. has just launched a new independent tv site, offering info on several popular television series, including 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' and 'Star Trek: Voyager.' Their press release provides more information about this:
TV Favorites.com is currently focusing on 22 top TV shows, with more to be added in the months ahead. (A complete list of current shows is at the end of this release.) For each of the 22 series, fans can access previews of the upcoming week's episode; hot topics, articles and interviews about the show; photos of the show's stars; cast listings; and links not only to each show's official Web sites but to an expanding list of fan sites. Through an association with Amazon.com, users can also shop online for books and videos related to that particular series.
Hmmm, interesting. Perhaps Saleel and I should consider submitting Trekseek or TrekToday for this award - especially the '$500' bit sounds very interesting ;-)! In any case, take a look at the actual site, or at the official press release.
Today on TV
-In the United Kingdom, Sky One is showing Voyager's 'The Thaw' at 17:00 GMT, with a rerun at 23:30.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is repeating TNG's 'Ungebetene Gäste' (Power Play) tomorrow morning at 00:15 CET. Tomorrow at 15:00 CET, they're showing TNG's 'Die Operation' (Ethics).
Christian (10:44 am CST)
-At 7:30 pm Eastern Time, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing the TOS second-season episode 'Bread and Circuses.' They're also repeating the episode at 11:30pm, in case you miss it.
New at Trekseek.com
-The USS Legacy is an International Federation of Trekkers chapter located in Rindge, New Hampshire. Contains Star Trek information from the four series and movies, current and up-to-date news and rumors, and a lot more.
For a look at the other sites that were added yesterday, take a look here.
Christian (10:35 am CST)
Yesterday another three sites were submitted to Trekseek, bringing us to a respectable 840 Star Trek links. A look at those of new sites:
-Trekzone is a new Trek news site that should not be confused with the Trekzone Network, the group of Star Trek sites Trekseek and TrekToday are part of. This 'other Trekzone' is a Star Trek News site with special UK content including Video Releases. The site also Includes Starship Creator Characters.
Hello World!
Christian (10:25 am CST)
Just a short update today - it's Monday, and as is usual on Mondays I haven't really got much to say. Expect my usual insightful comments tomorrow again, when the Day of Hell is over for another week...
| Sunday March 14, 1999 |
Christian (1:57 pm CST)
Starbase Prometheus, the Starship Creator fan site, will be hosting a chat with Pocket Books editor John Ordover tomorrow at 9:00pm GMT / 4:00pm Eastern Time:
You all are cordially invited to take part in a chat with John Ordover Senior
Star Trek Editor, Pocket Books and ask the questions you want answered the
most.
This will be a moderated chat, with FADM Michael Frisbee, moderating. You
will post your questions to one of our designated Channel Ops, and they will
be posted to Mr Ordover in the order received.
The chat will begin promptly at 10 minutes after the hour, please do not be
late.Location: IRC Server gadsden.xworld.org:6667
Starbase Prometheus has also announced that it'll soon be hosting a chat with the 'Empress of Star Trek,' Majel Barrett-Roddenberry soon, more news on that will be reported here as soon as it becomes available.
Channel #starbase-prometheus
DS9 Final Chapter Info
There's a load of new Final Chapter info online as well, beginning with news from the American television station UPN44/KBHK, that has info on the first three episodes of the Final Chapter:
In other title info, Sci-Fi World is reporting that episode #23 (the 7th episode in the Final Chapter) is now called 'Night Tremors.' Finally, Sci-Fi World is reporting that Odo, too, has contracted the disease the Founders are infected with - making the possibility of his death at the end of the series a lot more likely.
Thanks go out to Warp 11 and the Great Link for pointing me to this.
Christian (1:54 pm CST)
Note that this update contains massive spoilers for the final DS9 episodes. If you want to avoid that, click here to skip over both the DS9 and Voyager spoilers.
The titles of those last two episode have now been changed to 'Till Death Do Us Part' and 'Strange Bedfellows,' I suppose UPN44 didn't know about this yet.
While Ezri searches for a missing Worf, Sisko makes plans to marry Kasidy Yates.
As Sisko agonizes over his broken engagement, Dukat's latest evil plan is revealed.
While Worf and Ezri face execution, an alliance between enemies threatens to turn the tide of the war against the Federation.
New Voyager Info
First up, the Vulcan Cafe has some info on 'Warhead,' the penultimate episode of the season:
More news on all of this will, of course, be reported as I get it. Thanks go out to the above sites, plus Warp 11 and The Great Link for most of the above.
Christian (1:32 pm CST)
Note that this update contains massive spoilers for the last two Voyager episodes. If you want to avoid that, click here to skip over them.
Voyager runs into another federation ship that was also pulled to the Delta quad by the Caretaker. However, it is a science vessel with far fewer people on board, and they have basically thrown the Prime Directive out the window in order to find any way possible to get home. Supposedly, they have learned some way to harness energy from a previously unseen alien race to power their ship to speed them home, however the process kills the aliens - but the science vessel crew doesn't care. The crew apparently removed the docs ethical sub-routines so that he would figure out a way to suck the juice out of the aliens. At some point the evil doc gets switched with the good doc, but nobody knows it, and that is the basis of episode #25, Warhead.
This story was later confirmed by Brannon Braga himself. Thanks to Sci-Fi World there even is some more info available on this episode:
The [Nova-Class] Equinox is on the run from the aliens who are appearing on the ship through fissures. The Equinox encountered the Kazon at one point. Max Burke, the First Officer, used to be B'Elanna's boyfriend at the academy and gave her the nickname BLT. Tom becomes jealous of Burke.
Moving on, it appears that 'Warhead' is connected with the final episode of the season, which might be called 'Equinox' (after the science vessel,) acoording to Sci-Fi World. It is now confirmed that Species 8472 will not be appearing in this episode. Star Trek News recently reported that the episode had something to do with the theft of Voyager's holo-emitters, which in turn should be connected to the holodoc story mentioned above. Some info on the final episode from the Vulcan Cafe:
Then, in the finale, the aliens which had been talked about in the previous episode aliens show up, rather pissed off, and lead us into the cliffhanger for the season. [...] Brannon Braga wants the new aliens to "give 9 year old audience members nightmares".
'Equinox' will be a cliffhanger, to be concluded next season. This probably also means that the 'Voyager Returns Home' rumour is just that - a rumour. Voyager staff writers have actually been telling this to people coming in to pitch stories for a while now - Voyager won't be going home, and there will be no cast changes.
New Sat.1 Airdates Available
Christian (12:39 pm CST)
The German Star Trek Index has another report up on Sat.1's plans for Star Trek: Voyager. In a surprise move, Sat.1 will not only be broadcasting new fourth-season episodes on Fridays, but starting April 4 they'll also be showing old third-season episodes on Sundays! For more on this, take a look at the full article.
Solarflare Forums Open
...It's been a while, eh?
Things are pretty much finished here. There's a nasty bug that doesn't display the user's ICQ UIN on new topics, but I'm working on that...
Report any other bugs to me ASAP! Thanks! :-)
Meanwhile, things aren't going that well on the SFCR. Only a few posts have been made to the forums in the past few weeks, while just 27 people are still registered on the forums. Hopefully the SFCR owners will get the site working soon again, but for now I'd advice you to visit the Solarflare Forums instead.
In case you're interested, I'd like to remind you that we published an article examining the SFCR split-up two weeks ago, which can still be found by clicking here.
Christian (10:05 am CST)
Charles Capps sends word that his new Star Trek forums, the Solarflare Forums have officially opened. As you may recall, Charles Capps used to run the Starfleet Communications Relay (SFCR), one of the more popular Star Trek forums out there, but abandoned the site after a conflict with the owners of the SFCR, the people at the Treknews Network. Fortunately, Charles was able to get his new forums up rather quickly, as they are now officially open:
Topic: Welcome Back...
As the above quote shows, some work still needs to be done on the forums, but they are now officially open for business. Go check them out!.
AGN3D Previews Starfleet Command
Christian (9:33 am CST)
AGN3D has published a preview of Interplay's upcoming 'Starfleet Command' game. Take a look at the preview's introduction:
Were you ever watching a Star Trek flick or television episode and felt the overwhelming desire to take command of a Federation starship and kick some Klingon or Romulan butt? Or perhaps you have longed to uncloak a Klingon Bird of Prey right behind that pesky Enterprise and pummel it with plasma torpedoes? For those of you out there with obsessive-compulsive Star Trek disorder, Interplay's Starfleet Command wants to satisfy that urge. There have been Star Trek games before in which you were able to command a single starship in a 3D space combat mode ala Wing Commander. However, this really never fulfilled the need to completely command a fleet of starships. Starfleet Command puts you in the Captain's and Admiral's chair for real-time tactical combat between those well known and powerful warships of the Star Trek universe.
More info on the game, including a look at its story, gameplay, graphics and multiplayer capabilities, can be found in the full preview. Thanks go out to Star Trek Gaming Central for pointing me to this.
Today on TV
-In Germany, Sat.1 will be showing TNG's 'Ungebetene Gäste' (Power Play) tomorrow afternoon at 15:00 CET.
-Interesting perhaps for fans of Jeri Ryan is the info that her first 'Dark Skies' episode will be shown on the Sci-Fi Channel tonight at 8:00pm Eastern Time. Thanks go out to the Official Jeri Lynn Ryan Homepage for this.
Christian (9:27 am CST)
-In the UK, Sky One is showing Deep Space Nine's 'Return to Grace' at 16:00 GMT, followed an hour later by Voyager's 'Innocence.'
New at Trekseek.com
-The USS Pacific, NCC-324235, is an RPG group belonging to the Bravo Fleet.
More new sites can be found here.
Christian (9:21 am CST)
Three sites, all of them gaming-related, were added to TREKSEEK.COM yesterday, bringing us to a total of 838 Star Trek sites. As usual, here's a look at some of those new sites:
-The U.S.S. Monarch, or 'Mugsy's Star Trek Web Site,' is A general information area for Star Trek gaming, where you can explore the decks of the Defiant Class variant U.S.S. Monarch.
Hello World!
Christian (9:16 am CST)
Due to time constraints I'll be splitting today's update into two parts - one part I'm starting on now, and the other one I'll be doing in about four hours from now. Of course, this means that if you get here and are greeted with almost no news at all, just come back a few hours later, and I can assure you that you won't be disappointed...
| Saturday March 13, 1999 |
Christian (12:41 pm CST)
Starbase Prometheus, the Starship Creator fan site, will be hosting a chat with Pocket Books editor John Ordover tomorrow at 9:00pm GMT / 4:00pm Eastern Time:
You all are cordially invited to take part in a chat with John Ordover Senior
Star Trek Editor, Pocket Books and ask the questions you want answered the
most.
This will be a moderated chat, with FADM Michael Frisbee, moderating. You
will post your questions to one of our designated Channel Ops, and they will
be posted to Mr Ordover in the order received.
The chat will begin promptly at 10 minutes after the hour, please do not be
late.Location: IRC Server gadsden.xworld.org:6667
Starbase Prometheus has also announced that it'll soon be hosting a chat with the 'Empress of Star Trek,' Majel Barrett-Roddenberry soon, more news on that will be reported here as soon as it becomes available.
Channel #starbase-prometheus
[Update Sunday Morning, 08:26 CET - As you may have noticed, the chat wasn't scheduled for Saturday, but for today, Sunday. Unfortunately I misread the date. The chat will be taking place today at 9:00pm GMT / 4:00PM Eastern Time. Sorry!]
12" Figures To Arrive Soon
Characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation will ship in the same packaging as the 12" Star Trek: Insurrection line. Voyager characters will have aqua-colored boxes with the U.S.S. Voyager on the side. Characters from The Original Series will ship in orange-colored boxes with the original U.S.S. Enterprise on them.
Christian (1:01 pm CST)
The Raving Toy Maniac is reporting that new 12" Trek figures will be arriving soon at retailers:
In a couple of weeks (or less), the first regular assortment of 12" Collector Series figures will begin arriving at many retailers. Each figure will come in TV series specific packaging as one of four on-going subsets.
The four figures that will be released now are an Andorian Ambassador, Captain Kathryn Janeway, Commander Geordi LaForge and Mister Spock. For more on this, check out the full update, while the Toy Maniac also has pictures available.
New Trek Video Clips Available
As usual, the videos were created by the Sci-Fi Headquarters, and they're in Real Video format. Speaking of the Sci-Fi Headquarters, they just issued their 'Summer of Media' press release, which you might find interesting:
Christian (11:59 am CST)
The Star Trek Universe has posted two new sets of video clips, offering you the chance to relive some of the best scenes from recent Trek episodes. Available on the site are clips for DS9's Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges and Voyager's Course: Oblivion. Especially interesting should be the teaser clip of 'Course: Oblivion,' which is where Torres and Paris get married.
After the month of May Trek will go into reruns, but not at SCIFI Headquarters. We will have exclusive interviews, behind the scenes and other never seen Trek media. Download the promo below for a greart sample. Please view it. I sent 3 hours making this 1 minute video.
The summer should prove interesting as well, then, and of course we at TrekToday will keep you informed about this.
Insurrection Video Release Date
Christian (11:49 am CST)
Planet Riker is reporting that the North American release date for the 'Insurrection' home video is May 18. This isn't exactly smart timing, as 'Star Wars: Episode One' will be released a day later, but I'm sure the people at Paramount have their reasons...
Final DS9 Episode Novelization Not Certain
Response from: John Ordover
Christian (11:15 am CST)
On his Q&A Board, Pocket Books editor John Ordover made a rather disturbing post about the possibility of a novelization of DS9's 'Final Chapter:'
Query from: Sven
The last nine episodes of DS9 will be closely connected and form "The Final Chapter" - is there any chance there will be a "The Final Chapter" series instead of just one book for the final episode - I think you owe DS9 at least that.
It's not a matter of what we owe, it's a matter of what can be produced in the limited time we have. At the moment, it's nit-and-tuck whether we'll be able to novelize even the final episode.
DS9 Episode Ratings Available
[...]
It is good to see that last week was more of a fluke than anything else, but other than that, "Chimera" does little other than hold the line. DS9 is still in very good shape to take firstrun syndicated weekly honors for the second sweeps month in a row, but that depends entirely on next week. With "Chimera," DS9 also maintains its lead over Hercules and Xena on the season. Next week is the last show which doesn't lead up to the finale.
Christian (11:06 am CST)
The Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has posted reports for the two most recent DS9 episodes, namely 'Field of Fire' and 'Chimera.' Unfortunately, 'Field of Fire' ratings weren't great at all:
"Field of Fire" took a heavy dip in the second week of sweeps, falling to a season-low 4.1, ranking 21st. With that 4.1, "Field of Fire" also ties "Tears of the Prophets" and "The Sound of Her Voice" with DS9 all-time low "honors." That rating places DS9 down 15% from last year's "Far Beyond the Stars" (4.8) and off 11% from last week's "The Emperor's New Cloak" (4.6).
Fortunately, 'Chimera' did slightly better:
"Chimera" recovered the ground lost by "Field of Fire," returing to DS9's average mark this season, earning a 4.3, ranking 21st. With that rating, this episode increased 5% over last week's "Field of Fire" (4.1), but as usual fell from last year's "One Little Ship" (5.1) by 16%.
Take a look at the 'Field of Fire' report and the 'Chimera' report for more.
Scarlett Pomers Interviews Available
How do you feel, being so young, about the opportunity to appear on a series that has such a strong following?
Christian (10:54 am CST)
The Official Scarlett Pomers Homepage, dedicated to the actress playing young Naomi Wildman aboard Voyager, has just put up a new 'interviews and articles' section. The section contains one interview, one AOL chat transcript and one article dealing with Scarlett. Take a look at part of the chat transcript:
What was it like being on the set of Star Trek: Voyager?
More answers from Scarlett can be found by going here.
It was very exciting especially when I saw the inside of their soundstages for the first time. I sat in Captain Janeway's chair on the bridge and I read all the little labels on the different control displays. They write funny things on them and then make them look like real controls.
It's really cool to be on a show that has so many fans who really know the characters so well. My brother taught me about the show before I ever auditioned for it (he's a big fan too), and I was really excited when I found out I got the part. I hope people will like Naomi, because she is so much fun to play.
Today on TV
-Tomorrow morning at 09:55 CET, German television station Sat.1 is repeating Voyager's 'Im Rückblick' (Retrospect), which originally aired on Friday.
-Here in the Netherlands, the AVRO is showing a new Voyager episode at 18:40 CET on Channel One. Rather embarassingly, I haven't got a clue which episode they're actually showing - Sorry!
Christian (10:34 am CST)
-In the UK, Sky One is showing the 2nd-season Voyager episode 'Deadlock' at 5:00pm GMT, with a rerun at 11:30pm. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
New at Trekseek.com
-Far Beyond the Stars has Star Trek commentary; articles (serious and humorous) such as Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5: Cosmic Similarities.
As usual, a listing of the other new sites is also available.
Christian (10:18 am CST)
Yesterday we added 3 new sites to the Trekseek database, bringing us to a total of 837 Star Trek links. Some of those new sites are really interesting:
-The Delta Flyer only site on the internet completely devoted to Delta Flyer, the 24th century 'hot-rod'.
Hello World! As you know, as it is now the site just starts with the current date, which isn't something we're very happy with. We want to change this, but we're wondering, what would you want to see at the top of this page? The most important headlines? Links to the archives? Something else entirely? I'd very much appreciate it if you'd tell me about your ideas, so we can work to make this site even better!
Christian (10:13 am CST)
As you may recall, we're working on a special project related to Raven's upcoming 'Star Trek: Voyager' game. Even though I can't tell you yet what exactly it is (we first need to test it and make sure it actually works), I can assure you it'll be very cool indeed. Together with the project, we'll also be introducing a slightly changed look for TrekToday - nothing major, but we want to add something to the top of the page.
| Friday March 12, 1999 |
Christian (1:28 pm CST)
Both the Great Link and Warp 11 have posted extra info on DS9's Final Chapter. First of all, the Great Link is reporting that DS9 staff writer Bradley Thompson has confirmed Director Sloan and Section 31 will be returning at least once. On the tenth of March, Thompson posted the following to the alt.tv.star-trek.ds9 newsgroup:
Sloan does have a first name,
If the scene survives the shooting,
and the editing,
and the other stuff,
you will hear it later this season.
After this, Warp 11 put up a Special Rumours section for the Final Chapter, in which all the news on DS9's final episodes will be compiled. There are some major spoilers there, only visit if you really want to know about them.
Sat.1 Showing Voyager Again
Of course, one wonders why Sat.1 would be acting so strangely. Why would they first alienate all the fans from them with their shocking decision, and then simply come back from that decision? This (German) article at the German Star Trek Index talks about exactly that, I'd advice you to read it if you're interested in the matter.
Christian (1:06 pm CST)
The people at German television station Sat.1 must be very confused - first they announced that last week's episode 'Beute' would be the last Voyager episode they'd broadcast, while today they're actually showing another new Voyager episode, 'Im Rückblick.' The only difference is that the episode is now shown somewhat earlier, at 19:15 CET.
New Sev Trek Competition Online
Christian (12:58 pm CST)
The latest edition of the Write Your Own Star Trek Competition is now online:
Forager's bumper sticker!If Forager had a bumper sticker, what would it be? Here's your chance to decide!
You can submit your punchlines here, while the funniest punchlines will be posted here.
New Trek Nielsen Ratings News
Christian (12:47 pm CST)
The Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has posted info on the ratings for both DS9 and Voyager. Let's first take a look at the (very temporary) report for DS9:
I've got the "Chimera" ratings, but I've been so swamped I haven't been able to post them. The episode earned a 4.3, behind Xena and Hercules. The report for that episode and the chart data will be up tommorrow when I've got the time. Also, the "Field of Fire" ratings were either reprocessed or finished out of the top 20. At present, it'll just go onto the chart as unavailable and won't be counted into any averages.
Besides that, the overnight ratings report for Voyager's 'Extreme Risk' rerun has been added, looking at last Wednesday's episode.
Trek Stars Present Award
Christian (12:43 pm CST)
The Official Jeri Lynn Ryan Homepage is reporting about an award that was recently presented posthumously to Trek creator Gene Roddenberry:
This past Saturday, March 6, Jeri Ryan joined Avery Brooks and James Doohan to present the Easter Seals Hollywood Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously to "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry during the taping of "Hollywood Salutes Easter Seals." This two-hour nationally syndicated special will air in most markets nationwide on March 27 and March 28. (Some newspapers are apparently running a picture of Jeri from the taping -- if anyone can provide us with a scan, please e-mail Greg.)
'Trekkies' Sneak Preview Today
Christian (12:37 pm CST)
Today, Paramount will release the new documentary 'Trekkies,' starring Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar), in Portland, Oregon and Indianapolis, Indiana. The 87-minute film takes a look at the Trek fans, and also has appearances by many famous Star Trek stars. Specific information on where to see 'Trekkies' can be found by going here.
Decipher Awards Announced
Christian (12:32 pm CST)
Decipher, the creators of the Star Trek Customizable Card Game, have just announced the 1999 'Deciphers' awards:
Hail "The Deciphers," the new honors in which you, the fans and players, decide which Decipher CCG products and cards are best. Nominations have been set by Decipher's art, marketing and game design teams. We think you'll agree with their choices. The rest is up to you.
Categories in the Star Trek awards section include 'Best Star Trek CCG Expansion Set,' 'Best personnel - Star Trek CCG card' and 'Best Con Experience of 1998,' so if you're a CCG fan this might be worth checking out.
Rihannsu To Return To Trek Novels
Christian (12:28 pm CST)
Great news for fans of the Rihannsu, as Pocket Books editor John Ordover just posted the following message to the Star Trek Books Forum:
I am very pleased to announce that Diane Duane will be writing two new
RIHANNSU books for us, to be published in the fall of 2000.
As you may know, 'Rihannsu' is how the Romulans called themselves in several Classic Trek novels by Diane Duane. Although the Romulans received a great backstory in these novels, Paramount decided not to go with that backstory when they developed TNG, and the Rihannsu slipped away to non-continuity hell. However, now there'll finally be more Rihannsu books:
They will be TOS books, pretty much picking up where the others left off. All liscensing asked is that we put in a note explainain where the Rihannsu
concept comes from that it's off-continuity now.
More news will be posted here as it becomes available, of course. However, Irish fans of Diane Duane might want to ask her exactly what she's planning to put in the two new novels during 'MeCon 2,' a science-fiction convention taking place this weekend in the Queen's University in Belfast. Take a look at the convention page of the Owl Springs Partnership (Diane Duane's homepage) for more on this convention.
'The 34th Rule' Chat Transcript Available
Christian (12:18 pm CST)
Trekweb's chat with the authors of the new DS9 novel 'The 34th Rule' actually took place yesterday, even though author David R. George III was only able to type two sentences before technical difficulties knocked his connection out. Fortunately co-authors Armin Shimerman (Quark) and Eric A. Stillwell were available, and they were able to answer a lot of questions. Take a look at some of the highlights:
A lot more can, of course, be found in the full transcript, which is also available as a TXT-file.
FedCom Birth of the Federation News
This makes it impossible to cheat for advantage in a multiplayer game. On the other hand, if somebody did hack the resource file and thendistributed the same file to everyone in the game, there would be no problems. As long as everyone uses the same values there won't be any problems.
Christian (12:03 pm CST)
FedCom has some new info up on Microprose's upcoming turn-based strategy game. First up is a new screenshot which was mailed to FedCom by project leader Jeff Holzhauer:
There's also some new multiplayer news, as BotF Multiplayer received extra info from Jeff Holzhauer concerning multiplayer procedures:
This is from early in a game as the federation, with a low tech start.
This shows the labor allocation in Sol system.
I am concentrating on research and building new colony ships to expand.
Since I have not yet encountered any other empires, I do not need to generate any intelligence.
We only propagate orders between players in a multiplayer game. All results are generated on each individual PC.
If one person has different stats than another, different battle results might occur. Eventually, the results on different machines will become so different that the whole game will die.
More multiplayer news, including info on how to actually play the game with multiple people, can be found here. That is also where you'll find news of the BotF Continuum, the 'Birth of the Federation' tournament that is currently being organised.
IGN Previews 'New Worlds'
But what about these mysterious colonies in the Star Trek universe? Why don't we ever get to see one of them in detail? Are they all just one dimensional sets for Kirk, Spock and the rest to say a few lines in front of before roaring off to the next subsector, Romulan ale in hand?
Christian (11:19 am CST)
Star Trek Gaming Central is reporting about a 'New Worlds' preview that IGN just published. The preview, dealing with Interplay's upcoming real-time strategy game, begins as follows:
So the Enterprise is rushing here, there, everywhere, across the Galaxy, delivering medical supplies to Rigel X, shuttling important ambassadors to Procyon IX, heading off Tholian incursions into the fabled Neutral Zone.
Apparently not, and the full preview goes on to tell you exactly what new worlds 'New Worlds' has to offer. The preview is accompanied by a huge load of screenshots, so it'll keep you busy for a while.
TV Guide Sci-Fi Section Shuts Down
Christian (11:13 am CST)
I'd been wondering what had happened to it for a few weeks now, but apparently TV Guide's Sci-Fi section has shut down. The link now auto-forwards to the main TV Guide page, so I suppose they simply removed the entire section. It's a pity, as they often had interesting articles that also looked at the world of Trek. I've mailed the people at TV Guide asking them for their reasons for this, I'll post their response as soon as I get it.
Eon Reviews 'The Quotables of Star Trek'
Christian (11:02 am CST)
Issue 14.1 of Eon Magazine has a review up of the new 'Quotable Star Trek' book. Reviewer Jeff Bond begins by wondering what the purpose of this book actually is:
Most serious STAR TREK fans will have no need of this book -- they've already set aside a substantial portion of their available neurons for storing and cataloguing dialogue from their favorite TREK TV shows and movies. On the other hand, anyone NOT obsessed with STAR TREK will find this tome tough going. Frankly, it just made me feel old. As I skimmed through each of its 32 chapters, I was depressed to discover that each consisted of about 10 per cent quotes from the original STAR TREK, my personal favorite, and 90 percent quotes from the movies, THE NEXT GENERATION, DEEP SPACE NINE and STAR TREK VOYAGER. Most of this stuff I haven't even BEGUN committing to memory, so clearly my work is cut out for me.
In the end, Jeff Bond awards the book a 'B,' his reasons for that can be found in the full review.
UPN Hacks 'Extreme Risk' For Extra Money
Well, you can't do that in the normally scheduled slots, as it would mean no income at all. So, what happens? Exactly, they cut program length to make room for the spots they have to run for free. We the viewers have to suffer because of their mistakes.
Christian (10:49 am CST)
Mr. Video Productions has a fascinating article up about Wednesday's repeat of Voyager's 'Extreme Risk.' In the repeat, UPN hacked away nearly two full minutes from the episode, mostly removing B'elanna Torres' scenes. Apparently UPN is doing this to put in some extra commercials:
Right now it is being assumed that UPN is having to do what is known in the industry as "make goods." Networks normally guarantee a minimum rating for the show the commercial is show in. If the show doesn't make that rating, the network has to show the commercial a certain number of times, for free.
The full article has a detailed run-down of all the cut scenes, and also includes the address of someone to send protest letters to.
Today on TV
-In the United Kingdom, Sky One is broadcasting Voyager's second-season episode 'Investigations' at 5:00pm, with a rerun at 11:30pm. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-In Germany, Sat.1 never ceases to amaze me. As if they didn't announce a few weeks ago they'd be cancelling Voyager, they're showing 'Im Rückblick' (Retrospect) tonight at 19:15 CET! Tomorrow morning, at 02:50, they're showing TNG's 'Mission ohne Gedächtnis' (Conundrum). More on the Voyager surprise later...
Christian (10:42 am CST)
-For the last time on a Friday evening, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing the TOS 2nd-season episode 'The Ultimate Computer' at 7:30pm Eastern Time. The episode repeats at 11:30pm.
New at Trekseek.com
-The USS Genesis is part of the New Federation. The Genesis class starship is also new and in the experimental stages. To find out more about this sim group go to their web-page.
To take a look at all the new sites, go here.
Christian (10:30 am CST)
Yesterday two sites were submitted to Trekseek.com, bringing us a to a total of 832 sites. Take a look at one of those sites:
Hello World!
Christian (10:16 am CST)
Plus Hello Weekend!, and even Hello Sun! Isn't life great?
| Thursday March 11, 1999 |
Christian (1:59 pm CST)
The issue hasn't yet been put up at the Official Transwarp Page, but issue 59 of the weekly Trek newsletter has been published. As usual, the newsletter offers a round-up of all the latest Trek news, upcoming episode schedules, and the 'Star Trek:F un' section.
Of course, the latest Transwarp also includes its weekly opinion poll again. Last week's question was 'Do you think that Voyager will reach Earth before Janeway departs?', which was generally agreed with. 26 people answered 'Yes,' while 16 people answered 'No.' This week's question is 'Did you think that Voyager's "Dark Frontier" delivered all that it said it would?' , so send in your answers to Transwarp. More can be found in the actual newsletter itself, thanks go out to my mailbox for pointing me to this.
'Extreme Risk' Overnight Ratings
Christian (12:49 pm CST)
The Star Trek Universe has a small report up dealing with the ratings for yesterday's 'Extreme Risk:'
A rerun of "Extreme Risk" aired last night, it got a 4.1/6. Thats down 1.1 from last week, but since its a rerun then its okay. My guess for a final rating is 2.5 - 3.0.
Also, this isn't directly Trek-related, but the Universe just launched a Save Crusade Petition, which you might want to sign if you're a Babylon 5 fan.
No Species 8472 For Voyager?
Christian (12:45 pm CST)
The Great Link has put up a report of a convention that Jeri Ryan also attended. First of all, Jeri Ryan said we won't be seeing Species 8472 again, even though it is rumoured that they will be appearing in the final Voyager episode of the season. Secondly, Jeri revealed that in the upcoming 'Someone to Watch Over Me' episode, Seven of Nine and the Doctor will be singing 'You are my Sunshine!' together - that should be interesting! For more, take a look at the full update.
DS9 Final Chapter News
Christian (12:36 pm CST)
Lots of 'Final Chapter' news has appeared over the past 24 hours, giving us info on changed episode titles, guest appearances and character deaths. First of all, Warp 11 posted the following news item:
Number 3 just tipped me that Paramount and the producers have been hiding a possible guest appearance of considerable size.
Later on at the Trekweb forums, Warp 11 webmaster Leonard Schuurmans stated that this guest would not be Spock, contrary to the rumour we published yesterday. Another rumour which surfaced a while ago was that Odo would be killed off at the end of DS9, but Warp 11 is saying that probably won't be happening, either:
Number 1 says to take the possible death of a certain main character with a grain of salt.
In other 'Final Chapter' news, Psi Phi has info on some of the Final Chapter episode titles:
Lastly, the Great Link also has some info on the Final Chapter. The first piece of news actually also comes from Psi Phi, but I couldn't find the info there myself:
More news will be posted here as soon as it becomes available, of course.
Gary Hutzel Chat Today
Christian (11:22 am CST)
Tonight, the Continuum is hosting a live chat with Gary Hutzel, Visual Effects Supervisor on Deep Space Nine. This chat begins just 90 minutes after the Trekweb chat, at 06:30pm PT. Naturally, the Continuum also offers you the chance to submit advance questions, while info on how to participate is also available.
'The 34th Rule' Chat Today
Christian (11:17 am CST)
If we're lucky, Trekweb will finally be hosting their 'The 34th Rule' chat this evening. In the chat, you'll have the chance to get your questions answered by Armin Shimerman (Quark), David R. George III and Eric A. Stillwell, the three authors of the new DS9 novel. Advance questions can still be submitted here, and details on how to participate can be found on this page. The chat begins at 5:00pm PST, 'subject to change based on the availability of our guests.'
Costanza Treks With Hair
Christian (11:04 am CST)
Besides ten thousand 'Star Wars - Episode 1' reports, Cinescape Online has just published a small Trek news tidbit dealing with Jason Alexander's upcoming Trek appearance:
When Jason Alexander, best known as loser extraordinaire George Costanza on Seinfeld, suits up to play the alien baddie Kurros for an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the audience will see him in a new way -- with hair. A Voyager producer told the New York Daily News recently that Alexander would slip into his alien likeness by donning "Albert Einstein hair and a funny forehead."
Gamefan Previews Interplay Games
We didn't get much else in the way of plot, but one thing we did see was one hell of an engine. This game looked hot, and is easily the best looking space combat game we have seen on the PC to date, eclipsing even the latest efforts in the Wing Commander series. From effects to enemy ships, the game looked great, even in it's early stages.
Christian (10:56 am CST)
Gamefan Online has just put up a special preview of the tree Star Trek titles Interplay is currently developing:
Recently, GameFan online was invited to check out Interplay's latest crop of Star Trek titles from their newly-created 14 Degrees East, where we were lucky enough to get a sneak peak at three Trek titles: Starfleet Command, Klingon Academy, and New Worlds, as well as take a tour of the actual Star Trek sets at Paramount Studios, and of course, we had to bring you the goods, straight from the event.
The preview then goes on to talk about Klingon Academy, the upcoming space simulator, and this is accompanied by several screenshots and five MPEG-video clips showing the game in action. The Gamefan guys were pretty impressed with 'Klingon Academy:'
The story of Klingon Academy is actually a prequel to the film Star Trek VI: Undiscovered Country, and will include several well-known Trekkies as part of the cast. General Chang, the baddest mofo in the empire has started a school for all the wanna-be Klingon conquerors, and if you think you have what it takes, you can sign up to get yourself an edumacation, Klingon style.
The preview then goes on to talk about 'Starfleet Command' and 'New Worlds,' once again accompanied with several video clips of the actual games. As the people at Gamefan also received playable demos of some of these titles, expect to see even more Trek gaming coverage up soon! For now, though, check out the full preview for more. Thanks go out to Evil Avatar for pointing me to this.
Happy Birthday Star Trek! On the 11th of March, he presented MGM with a 16-page booklet detailing the adventures of Captain Robert T. April, 'Number One' and José Ortegas aboard the S.S. Yorktown. Unfortunately for them, MGM turned down the series idea, and Roddenberry approached Desilu Studios instead. There his idea was greeted a lot more enthusiastically, and Roddenberry started developing his new series. Of course, that was the beginning of a science-fiction epic that is still going strong today, in a bigger way than Roddenberry could ever have imagined when he started it all. Happy birthday, Star Trek, and thank you, Gene.
Christian (10:32 am CST)
Happy Birthday Star Trek? Well, yes. In a way, today is the 35th anniversary of the series we all love, as on the 11th of March, 1964, Gene Roddenberyy sent the first Star Trek proposal to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. According to Allan Asherman's Star Trek Compendium, Roddenberry was asked by MGM to come up with an idea for a new series to replace his short-lived 'The Lieutenant' series.
Today on TV
-In the UK, Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Lifesigns' at 5:00pm GMT, with a rerun at 11:30pm. At 6:00pm, the BBC will be showing DS9's 'Q-Less.' Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-German viewers will be able to see TNG's 'Das künstliche Paradies' (The Masterpiece Society) tomorrow morning at 01:45 CET, when Sat.1 is repeating this episode. Later on, at 15:00 CET, they're showing TNG's 'Mission ohne Gedächtnis' (Conundrum).
Christian (10:22 am CST)
-In the US, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing the second-season TOS episode 'The Omega Glory,' which was actually once considered as the TOS pilot episode, at 7:30pm Eastern Time. In case you miss it, the episode is repeated at 11:30pm.
New at Trekseek.com
-Starfleet International is a world wide Star Trek based fan club. It is dedicated to the memory and ideas of Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek.
To take a look at some of the other new entries in our database of 830 Trek sites, the full listing can be found here.
Christian (10:13 am CST)
Yesterday three sites were submitted to TrekSeek, our Star Trek search engine. As usual, let's take a look at some of those sites:
-The Rogue Phoenix Sci-Fi Fantasy Club is dedicated to fans in all categories of sci-fi and fantasy, and is located in Georgia, USA.
Hello World!
Over the past seven years, Deep Space Nine has proven itself as a wonderful television series that many consider the best Trek ever made. They accomplished this by giving us intelligent stories and wonderful character arcs. Shouldn't the final episode reflect that as well, then? Personally I'd much rather see the final episode focusing on the 'Emissary' plot instead of on, say, a surprise appearance by Spock. DS9 deserves a meaningful ending, and I'm not sure if a major guest appearance would really serve to accomplish that. br>
Christian (10:00 am CST)
More and more reports are coming in that the final DS9 episode will have a 'guest appearance of considerable size' (quote taken from Warp 11.) Although that would undoubtedly attract a lot of viewers to the final episode, I'm not sure if such a guest appearance should really be made the highlight of the final episode.
| Wednesday March 10, 1999 |
Christian (2:17 pm CST)
Luca Sambucci's Best of Trek has returned after an extented hiatus, handing out the prestigious award to Star Trek Women:
Back from the extended hiatus. Let's start with a site dedicated to
the Star Trek actresses: "Star Trek Women" contains much information,
many pictures and some sound files (esp. from The Original Series).
From now on, Best of Trek will be handing out its weekly awards again, so go ahead and submit your site!
'Starfleet: Year One' To Start In August
Christian (2:08 pm CST)
In his latest batch of Q&A answers, Pocket Books editor John Ordover announced the final starting date for Michael Jan Friedman's 'Starfleet: Year One' serial:
It'll start running in the last two Double Helix books in August.
The rest of the Q&A Update talks about some of the new Trek novels, the DS9 Milennium Trilogy, and has the news that John's wedding will take place on the 1st of August.
Leonard Nimoy To Appear In DS9 Finale?
Christian (2:01 pm CST)
WebTrek has a small news tidbit up, saying that there is a chance Leonard Nimoy (Spock) might be making a small appearance in the DS9 series finale. According to WebTrek, his involvement might have something to do with the Romulans, which would also mark a welcome return for them. Note that this is just a rumour, it certainly hasn't been confirmed yet, but it is extremely interesting.
Jay Chattaway Transcript Available
CaptMusic I have written specific motives for character development and I try to use them wherever possible. Chakotay has his unique sound as does the Doc on Voyager. The time constraints are such that the musical styles of each composer, i'm sure are readily identifiable.
SteveKrutzler From AndrewR: do you know who is slated to compose for the DS9 finale?
CaptMusic Dennis will be scoring the two hour finale on DS9. I will be doing the season ender on Voyager.
Christian (1:53 pm CST)
Trekweb has put up the chat log of yesterday's chat with composer Jay Chattaway. Let's take a look at some of the highlights:
SteveKrutzlerFrom Rafael Scholl: I admire your work for VOY und DS9.
I'm curious: How do you tackle to
task of scoring an episode? Do you intentionally
use some motives throughout the
seasons or is this, honestly, just a
by-product of the fact that you can't
be expected to come up with new ideas
all the time?
The full transcript can be found as a txt-file here, an HTML version is also supposed to be up, but I wasn't able to access it.
'Course: Oblivion' National Ratings
[...]
Indeed, this show did drop Voyager's February mark to a 3.93, down slightly from last February's 4.03, squandering a very good shot for Voyager to beat its year-ago mark. On the good news side, this episode did keep Voyager above November's mark, becoming the first time Voyager's February mark for a season was higher than the November mark. On an individual episode note, this show again proved that the brief drop-off last week was a fluke, contining Voyager's level ratings performance this year. The ratings report will go more deeply into these issues. It'll be posted fairly soon.
Christian (1:45 pm CST)
The Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has a report up on the national ratings for Voyager's 'Course: Oblivion:'
"Course: Oblivion" recovered much of "The Disease"'s lost audience, providing a fairly strong 3.7 rating, 6 share up against the Monica Lewinsky interview. That's up 8% from last week's "Disease" (3.4) but down 12% from last year's two-hour show, "The Killing Game" (4.2).
Of course we'll also be informing you when the Database's February report comes online. For now, a bunch of info was also added to its Insurrection Box Office Page, go take a look!
Trek Target Toys Available
Christian (1:42 pm CST)
The Raving Toy Maniac is reporting that the Target Exclusive 9" Figures have started arriving:
The Target Exclusive 9" Captain Kirk in Environmental Suit from "The Tholian Web" and Seven of Nine in her brown outfit are now available. They retail for $27.99 each and are evenly packed in 6-piece cases. The DPCI number for these is 087061280.
More news on these toys can also be found in this update at the Continuum, which not only talks about the above 9" figures, but also reports about several 12" figures:
Also hitting toy stores across the country in the next week is a new line of 12", fully poseable deluxe action figures. The first items are "Captain Kathryn Janeway" from Star Trek: Voyager, "Lt. Geordi LaForge" from Star Trek: Insurrection, "Mr. Spock" from Star Trek, and "Andorian Ambassador Shras" from Star Trek.
Trek Nominated For Saturn Awards
Christian (1:36 pm CST)
Cinescape is reporting that Star Trek has been nominated twice for the Saturn Awards:
The best in sci-fi, horror and fantasy cinema for 1998 will be honored with Saturn Awards on June 9th in Los Angeles. Today the nominees for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Sci-Fi Film, and Best New TV Series for the 25th installment of the awards were announced by Variety. You know it wasn't a hot year for sci-fi at the movies when a number of the nominees could just as easily be (and in some cases are) up for a Razzie.
'Star Trek: Insurrection' was nominated for the Best Film award, while Voyager was nominated for the Best TV Series award. Check out the full listing here.
'Mission: Impossible 2' Delayed
Christian (1:32 pm CST)
Cinescape Online has just put up two reports talking about the upcoming 'Mission: Impossible 2' movie, which will face a considerable delay, since no shooting script is yet available. As two of the writers attached to the project are Trek writers Ron Moore and Brannon Braga, I thought it might be nice to post it here, too. Take a look at the article by going here.
Gamespot Previews Voyager Game
Christian (1:28 pm CST)
Just a day after the initial announcement, Gamespot has already put up a small preview of the upcoming 'Star Trek: Voyager' game:
While other companies have gone where no man has gone before - and come up with some of the worst Star Trek games imaginable - Raven is taking a slightly different approach than its failed competitors. When the license was given to the team, Brian says the group sat down and decided, "First of all, let's put Star Trek aside and make a first-person shooter." Raven took the idea to Paramount (who is aware that Star Trek titles up to this point haven't been all that great) and said, "All we want to do is make a great game." The team took this attitude with them when they approached Paramount. When Raven finally laid down some of its early plans with Raven's proven track record, Paramount gave its approval.
The full preview also provides the info that there'll probably be a short playable demo for this may's 'E3' show, and tells us how Raven actually began developing the title.
Voyager Rates At No. 88
Christian (1:23 pm CST)
In this Nielsen Media Research Report that looks at the 20 prime-time television programs for the week beginning March 1, Voyager comes out as the top-rated UPN show again. As usual, the show wasn't in the actual top-20, but it arrived a fairly standard no. 88.
Today on TV
-Tonight, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing the second-season TOS episode 'By Any Other Name,' the episode where the "it's green" drink first makes an appearance. The episode airs at 7:30pm Eastern Time, and is repeated at 11:30pm.
-In the UK, Sky One is showing the second-season Voyager episode 'Death Wish at 5:00pm GMT, with a rerun at 11:30pm. At 6:00pm GMT, the BBC is showing TNG's 'Imaginary Friend.' Thanks go out (again) to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective, to which we have returned again.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is repeating TNG's 'Geistige Gewalt' tomorrow morning at 02:05 CET, and is showing TNG's 'Das künstliche Paradies' (The Masterpiece Society) tomorrow at 15:00 CET.
More news will be presented to you in about two hours, when I get back from dinner.
Christian (10:48 am CST)
-In the US, UPN is showing a rerun of Voyager's 'Extreme Risk' tonight at 9:00pm Eastern/Pacific Time.
New at Trekseek.com
-The USS Bounty/ Fleet 357 is a Trek/Sci-Fi Fan club in Canada, and home of Canada's Fleet 357.
The other new sites in our database can be found by going here.
Christian (10:39 am CST)
Yesterday three sites were added to TREKSEEK.COM, bringing us to a total of 827 sites. Take a look at some of those new sites:
-The Ultimate Star Trek Info Page covers the background to the development of every Star Trek Series, plus Movies.
Hello World!
Christian (10:31 am CST)
Unfortunately I'm not sure if I will be able to do a full update today, as it's my mother's birthday and we're taking her out for dinner. I was originally planning to start doing this update somewhat earlier, but I was meeting with two Isrealis today who turned out to be really nice people, so that took a bit longer than I expected. If I'm not able to cover all the news today, I'll of course include it in tomorrow's update, but at least you'll know the reason for the delay. Sorry!
| Tuesday March 9, 1999 |
Christian (1:26 pm CST)
A company press release from Simon & Schuster is reporting that Judith M. Curr has been appointed as the President of Pocket Books, the Simon & Schuster division that is also publishing the Star Trek line of novels:
In her new position, Ms. Curr will be responsible for all the editorial, marketing, and sales functions of Pocket Books, one of America's leading publishers of hardcover, trade paperback, and mass market books. She will also be a member of Simon and Schuster's Executive Committee. Pocket Books and its imprints include MTV Books, Pocket Star, Archway and Minstrel Paperbacks for young readers, Star Trek, Washington Square Press and Sonnet Books.
The appointment will become effective on April the 12th, when she will assume her position as 'President and Publisher.' Take a look at the full press release for more info on Ms Curr's background, and why precisely she was chosen for the job.
Sci-Fi Wire Reviews Trek Soundtrack
The second "bonus" disc offers an expanded version of the classic album Inside Star Trek. This primarily spoken-word collection, which was originally created in 1976, spotlights Roddenberry interviewing luminaries such as William Shatner, DeForest Kelley and Isaac Asimov. Among the 18 selections are three vintage passages that were not on the vinyl version and two newly recorded segments featuring Nichelle Nichols.
Christian (1:07 pm CST)
The Sci-Fi Wire has just put up a review of the recently released ''Star Trek: The Motion Picture Original Soundtrack - 20th Anniversary Collectors' Edition.'' This new release of the soundtrack truly is a Collectors' edition, as it features a lot of things not present on the original soundtrack:
A new two-CD set, issued to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of that influential production, presents 18 cues from the movie's soundtrack. Cuts like "The Enterprise," "Leaving Drydock" and "The Meld" were initially heard on the LP released along with the film in 1979, but eight tunes, including "Spock's Arrival," "The Force Field," "Inner Workings" and "Vejur Speaks," were previously unavailable.
Reviewer Jeff Berkwits then goes on to tell us how much he likes the new release, and he recommends the soundtrack to all Trek fans. More can be read in the full review, and my thanks go out to Warp 11 for pointing me to this.
Sci-Fi Channel Relaunches
Christian (12:58 pm CST)
The Den's Daily Sci-Fi has just published a new report about the Sci-Fi Channel, which will be launching 'Sci-Fi 2.0' on Friday, March 19. As we have already reported twice on TrekToday, this will also be the day when the (Star Trek) Original Series is scrapped from the Friday night line-up. A week later, the timeslot reserved for the Original Series will be cut down from 90 to 60 minutes, leaving it out all the commentary and a few minutes of the actual episodes. The report at the Daily Sci-Fi now brings us info on the four new series that will now be shown on Friday evenings, instead of TOS. Go check it out!
Visual Effects Supervisor Chats at the Continuum
Christian (12:48 pm CST)
As a reminder, this Thursday, the Continuum will be hosting a live chat with Gary Hutzel, Visual Effects Supervisor on DS9. The chat begins at 06:30pm PT, just 90 minutes after the Trekweb chat with Armin Shimerman (see below). Of course, the Continuum also offers you the chance to submit advance questions, and provides info on how to participate.
Colm Meany Takes to the Stage
Playing Dr. Larch, Meaney joins Josh Hamilton and Jillian Armenante, who reprise their acclaimed roles as Homer Wells and his fellow orphan Melony from the Mark Taper production this past summer in Los Angeles.
Christian (12:44 pm CST)
The Continuum is reporting that Colm Meaney (O'Brien) won't be wasting any time after DS9 wraps, as he will soon be playing a role in the play 'The Cider House Rules, Part I: Here in St. Cloud's,' which premiers in New York on May 6:
Spanning decades and generations in rural Maine, the play looks into the world of Dr. Wilbur Larch, a kindly orphanage director and physician, and his beloved protegee, Homer Wells. Adapted by Peter Parnell from John Irving's best-selling novel, the play is conceived and directed by Tom Hulce and Jane Jones and ranges on topics from reproductive choice to family and parenthood.
The full update includes some info on Colm Meaney's career, and also has info on obtaining tickets for the play.
'The 34th Rule' Chat Postponed Again
There is also a good side to this, as it might mean there is more time for the Trekweb chat with composer Jay Chattaway, who's chatting tonight at Trekweb. His chat begins at 4:00pm PST, and advance questions can still be submitted. General info on how to participate in any of the chats can be found here.
Christian (12:31 pm CST)
You're not going to believe this , but Trekweb's chat with the authors of the new DS9 novel 'The 34th Rule' has been moved yet again. This time, co-author Eric A. Stillwell was called out of town for business. The chat has now been re-scheduled for Thursday, March 11th, at 5:00pm PST. Advance questions to Eric and his co-authors Armin Shimerman (Quark) and David R. George III can still be submitted by going here.
Interplay Announces New Strategy Division
``Our mission is to reinvent this genre by developing new technology and game design that will present the gamer with a fresh entertainment experience,'' stated Christian. ``Our games are proof of our commitment to this mission.''
Christian (12:07 pm CST)
Interplay, the computer games company currently holding the TOS license, announced today the creation of a new division for strategy games called '14 Degrees East:'
Headed by Brian Christian, an entertainment industry veteran, the new division will be releasing several games this year including three Star Trek® games: Star Trek®: Starfleet Command(TM), Star Trek®: New Worlds(TM) and Star Trek®: Klingon Academy(TM).
Unfortunately, still no mention is made of the 'Secret of Vulcan Fury' game, whose future seems more and more uncertain. In any case, more on this new Interplay division can be found in this press release.
The new division has brought together a remarkable team of producers, designers, artists and technical engineers dedicated to creating strategy games. This select group of hard-core gamers turned game makers will continue to be on the cutting edge when it comes to design and execution of every product released by 14 Degrees East.
Insurrection Still Gowing Strong
Also, 'Insurrection' is still running in several other countries besides the US, and that is what this report talks about:
Christian (11:35 am CST)
This weekend, 'Star Trek: Insurrection' continued its run in budget theatres, still doing very well there. The movie dropped on place to number 23, taking in $412,886. Even though this was a 27% decrease, it still took the movie to a total cumulative gross of 69,567,327 - there is still a good chance of the movie reaching the $70 million mark. More info on this can be found in this report at Yahoo!
In France, 'Star Trek: Insurrection' (foreign total: $36.8 million) grossed 15% less than 'Star Trek: First Contact,' with $450,916, but it was livelier in Singapore, with $107,632.
Raven Games Developing Voyager Game
Look for us showing this title at E3 in May!
In the past, Raven has been responsible for the 'Heretic' and 'Hexen' series of games, which were all first-person shooters. All these games were based on the 'Doom' and 'Quake' engines created by id Software, and it is reasonable to assume that the Voyager game will be based on an id engine as well. As a matter of fact, considering the symbiotic relationship Raven and id have had over the past years, I wouldn't be at all surprised if 'Voyager' is based around the engine of the upcoming 'Quake: Arena' engine. If that is indeed the case, this will guarantee great graphics, and wonderful multiplayer capabilities.
The project is being headed by experienced Raven man Brian Pelletier, but so far I haven't seen any statements from him. Of course, we'll be presenting you with more news on all of this as it becomes available. I myself am rather excited about this - maybe now there'll finally be an absolutely perfect Trek game. Also, as I already mentioned in 'Hello World!' we'll be launching a special project related to this near the weekend. Watch this space!
Christian (11:28 am CST)
Noted game developer Raven announced yesterday that the company will be developing a 'Star Trek: Voyager' game for Activision, the publisher that recently obtained a ten-year license to publish Star Trek games. Take a look at the official announcement by Raven Project Director Brian Raffel:
I am pleased to announce that Raven Software will be developing a
Star Trek: Voyager game for Activision. The title will encompass the
attributes of both intense first-person shooter action and team oriented
combat, as you play the role of a security officer fighting alongside
your fellow security team members.
Drawing from the rich Star Trek universe, we will be focusing
our efforts into creating the most amazing first-person shooter yet,
with new and intriguing gameplay elements. We are developing new AI
and Scripting systems so that the NPC's and enemies will intelligently
react to their surroundings and situation.
At this time we are in the early stages of development and more
information will be forthcoming.
After this announcement, several Raven programmers, designers and artists also commented on this, making several enthusiastic statements such as 'Booyah!! Booyah!! Booyah!!' (I kid you not) In any case, this certainly is good news for Star Trek game fans. Although a lot of Trek games have been quite good, ('Starfleet Academy,' for instance) none of them ever really made their way to the general public in the way other games did. With Raven developing the game, this could actually become an absolutely great Trek game!
Today on TV
-Straight from the horse's mouth comes the info that British station Sky One will be broadcasting Voyager's 'Dreadnought' at 17:00 GMT. The episode repeats at 23:30 GMT.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is showing TNG's 'Der einzige Überlebende' (Hero Worship) tomorrow morning at 02:05 CET. Tomorrow at 15:00, they're showing 'Geistige Gewalt' (Violations).
Christian (11:04 am CST)
-The Sci-Fi Channel is showing the 2nd-season TOS episode 'Patterns of Force' tonight at 7:30pm Eastern Time, with a rerun at 11:30pm.
New at Trekseek.com
-The Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database probably sounds familiar to you, as I've been using it a lot for TrekToday. . This is where you'll find the most in-depth and up-to-date Nielsen ratings on the internet.
To see some of the other new sites that were added to our database of 824 sites, go take a look at the listing of last week's new sites.
Christian (10:49 am CST)
As is usual on Mondays, only one site was added to Trekseek yesterday, and I added that one myself so that I could at least do this update :-). Take a look at the new site:
Hello World!
However, as Saleel and I already strongly suspected this would be happening, we've been working on a special project related to this. Unfortunately I can't tell you exactly what it is, but I can promise you it will be something completely new for the world of online Trek, and it'll greatly enhance TrekToday. Hopefully we'll be able to get it up next weekend - we're really excited about it, and I'm absolutely sure you'll all love it, too!
Christian (10:34 am CST)
Well, the official news is finally out. As many people already thought, Raven Software has just announced it is developing a 'Star Trek: Voyager' game. I'll be posting an extensive update about this in about 30 minutes, so you'll be able to read detailed news about the actual game then.
| Monday March 8, 1999 |
Christian (1:38 pm CST)
This isn't really Star Trek related, and presumably everyone has heard about it already, but yesterday morning Stanley Kubrick died at the age of 70. Kubrick was one of the world's most famous directors, having directed 'The Clockwork Orange.' For me, he was one of my personal heroes after he created the 1968 movie '2001 - A Space Odyssey,' still one of the best SF movies ever made. Gary Lockwood, who played Gary Mitchell on the Original Series, actually had a major role in 2001, so in a way this update is still Trek-related. In any case, I will miss him. The world has just lost a modern genius.
New Sev Trek Cartoon Online
Christian (1:25 pm CST)
Major embarrasment prevailed in the Trekzone Headquarters last week when I realized that I hadn't actually put up the most recent cartoon, but had instead gone with the cartoon of the week before. Thanks go out to Steven Hall for telling me about this - otherwise I might have put up the wrong cartoon again! Anyways, without further ado:
Unreliable Rumours Department
Christian (1:17 pm CST)
Thanks to the Trekzone Network's own Saleel Majeed, here is this week's Star Trek teletext page from British stations Sky One and Channel 5:
As usual, the only goal of this teletext page is to lure people into calling their expensive phone number, which is why all the headlines are, erm, 'slightly exaggerated.' Most of these news items already made it to the net, in a more understated form, and the news items that are completely new I wouldn't believe at all until confirmation appears somewhere else.
Also, teletext page 193, which deals with general science-fiction, has a healdine 'Top Star Trek Actor For X-Files Role' - I don't know who they mean with this, but I'll let you know if I hear something more about this.
Final Voyager Episodes of the Season
Season Finale
Christian (1:03 pm CST)
Jason Davidson's Star Trek News has posted some info on the 2 last episodes of Voyager's fifth season:
Warhead
The Malon return again. An away team consisting of Neelix, Chakotay and Torres have to divert a Malon freighter in to a star before it spills it's waste.
The main Malon in this episode is named Dremck. (Maybe he's the cousin of Emck from "Night".)
Not to be confused with Juggernaut, which seems to have a similar plot.
A cliffhanger that starts filming Wednesday, March 10.
Rumored to deal with Species 8472.
Joe Carey Returns To Voyager
Christian (12:56 pm CST)
Josh Clark, the actor who portrayed Lieutenant Joe Carey during the first season of Voyager, will finally be returning to the series! Take a look at this piece of news from the Maniacal Admirers of Josh Clark:
Yes, you read that right! On Thursday, February 18th, our own Josh Clark was back in uniform, back on the set and back to playing Lt. Joe Carey! At present, the return was just for this episode, but, hey, it's a start!
The Star Trek Universe, which is where I heard about this, adds to this that Clark's episode *might* be 'Relativity,' but this isn't certain yet.
New 'Radio Trek' Available
Christian (12:41 pm CST)
The people at the German Star Trek Index have just put up the second edition of their Internet radio show, 'Radio Trek.' The latest edition of their two-weekly 'Opinions' show just got online, talking about German television station Sat.1's plan to cancel Voyager. You can listen to the show by clicking here.
Section 31 Changes Servers
Christian (12:25 pm CST)
Regular visitors of Section 31, the Star Trek multimedia and news site, may have noticed that the site. Today, the people at Section 31 posted an explanation of what happened - their previous hosting company got into financial difficulties, and Section 31 decided to move to a different server. At the moment, the move is still being completed, but Section 31 has some exciting news of what is ahead:
More news on this can be found in the full update.
Scarlett Pomers Wins Young Artist Awards
She might actually soon be receiving even more awards, as the official homepage also reports Scarlett will soon be making a guest appearance on the UPN drama show 'Seven Days,' which airs on Wednesdays just before Voyager. More news on all of this, including the address you can write to to congratulate Scarlett, can be found by going here.
Christian (12:03 pm CST)
The Official Scarlett Pomers Homepage is reporting that Scarlett Pomers (Naomi Wildman) has recently won two Young Artists awards. Scarlett received the 'Best Performance in a Drama Series, Supporting Young Actress,' award for her role on Voyager, and together with her co-stars she also won the 'Best Performance in a Feature Film, Young Ensamble' award for her role in 'Slappy and the Stinkers.'
Patrick Stewart Coins Trek X Plot Idea
"Brent Spiner and I have a very simple idea for plot of the next movie. It is a good idea. I can describe it to you in three sentences. Rick Berman actually knows about it".
Christian (11:55 am CST)
Leonard Schuurmans at Warp 11 just put up the following very interesting update:
In a recent interview with Brazilian reporter Wladimir Weltman to the Brazilian Sci-Fi News Magazine Insurrection Special Patrick Stewart has some interesting news.
Unfortunately the update does not provide us with more detailed information on the plot idea. Presumably, though, it's the same idea Patrick Stewart coined a few months ago, in which he suggested 'Star Trek X' could be a direct follow-up to 'Insurrection,' in which he would like to explore the corruption at the heart of the Federation:
[Look at] Anthony Zerbe's character and how he's been corrupted. And Picard's act of conscience is stated clearly in his last line where he says he has 300 odd days of leave, but before that he has to go back and deal with this rot in the Federation. Zerbe's character says that these are perilous times. I think the times are even more perilous than he's imagined. With all that in mind, I think it could be very exciting to revisit this in the next movie."
Patrick Stewart's full idea can be found in this article at Planet Riker, but please do keep in mind that all of this certainly isn't final yet - none of it will probably make the final movie.
Today on TV
-In the UK, Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Meld' at 5:00pm GMT. Later on, at 8:00pm, they're showing a new DS9 episode - the sixth-season 'His Way.' It was just pointed out to me that the Sky episodes I have been talking about, ahem, weren't actually the right ones. From now on, I'll be getting the episode listings directly from the Sky web site, hopefully that should improve their accuracy. My apologies for this.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is repeating TNG's 'Die Soliton-Welle' (New Ground) tomorrow morning at 00:15 CET. Tomorrow afternoon, at 15:00 CET they're showing 'Der einzige Überlebende' (Hero Worship).
Christian (10:51 am CST)
Sci-Fi Channel is showing the second-season TOS episode 'Return to Tomorrow' tonight at 7:30pm Eastern Time, with a rerun at 11:30pm.
New at Trekseek.com
-As I mentioned in yesterday's update, the Starfleet Academy Tournament is an upcoming Starfleet Academy Tournament that is being sponsored by Interplay and Kali. Rules and details on how to appply can be found on this site.
More new sites can be found in the listing of last week's new sites.
Christian (10:48 am CST)
Probably because our servers were down for nearly half of the day yesterday, only two sites were added to Trekseek.com yesterday, still bringing us to a respectable 823 sites. Take a look at the two new sites that were added to Trekseek yesterday:
-'Star Trek vs Star Wars' is, erm, a Star Trek and Star Wars Site with many downloads and lots of information.
Hello World!
To make sure that you'd still be able to see the awards, we put up an awards page listing all our awards. Check them out, and then go visit the award sites. Saleel and I would like to thank everyone who presented us with an award, we truly love it.
Christian (10:42 am CST)
Yesterday, while the sites were down, I figured it might be a nice idea to submit the site for some awards. After all, wouldn't it be great if we could display a few extra awards on the page? This morning, I unsuspectingly checked my mail, and discovered we had won no less than 7 awards! They're all really great - we even became site of the week/month for a few sites! Normally I'd list the awards here on the main page right after receiving them, but in this case there are simply too many awards to do that - not that I'm complaining, of course :-)!
| Sunday March 7, 1999 |
Christian (12:54 pm CST)
Jim Wright at Delta Blues has posted another review of Voyager's 'Course: Oblivion.' Apparently the temporary review he posted a few days ago met with a lot of bad reactions, so now he has posted a guest review by Heather Jarman. I suppose this means Jim himself won't be writing a final review for the episode, so go check out the guest review!
Robert Beltran Signs in London
Christian (12:45 pm CST)
'Alexandra', representative of the London-based 'The Who Shop,' just posted the following announcement to the rec.arts.startrek.fandom newsgroup:
Robert Beltran will be appearing at The Who Shop International on Monday
29th March 1999 from 4:00 in the afternoon. Mr Beltran will ONLY be signing photographs purchased from the Who Shop on
the day.(there will be no autograph charge)
To be fair to all customers we reserve the right to limit the number of
autographs per person.
Find us opposite East Ham Tube Station - District/Hammersmith & City Lines
Now all you British people will finally have the chance to meet Robert Beltran - if you see him, be sure to greet him for me :-).
Starfleet Academy Tournament
The Finals of the Tournament will be web-cast LIVE thru NAC and Broadcast.com... The Live web-cast will be carried over a huge medium and has the distinction of being the first of it's kind.... All Captain's who make it to the Finals will have profiles posted for others to follow and cheer you on...(or hate you in some cases...lol)
The Tournament will be the SFA multiplayer option "Assault" Any ship class is usable but once a ship class is chosen by a registrant that will be the ship he or she uses for the duration of the tournament..
Christian (12:31 pm CST)
YnrohKeeg at Star Trek Gaming Central just posted some info on an upcoming Starfleet Academy Tournament that is being sponsored by Interplay and Kali. The official page of the tournament, which can be found at http://www.academychallenge.com/ officially opened a few days ago, and has already posted info on the tournament:
The Tournament is being sponsored by Interplay,Kali, Net Access Corporation, and C&C Business Solutions.. The tentative dates are may 7th and 8th for the semi-finals and finals respectively... The prizes are Interplay titles such as Klingon Academy and other popular multi-player titles from their catalogue as well as Official Award Titles and Rankings.. There will also be other "Trek" related prizes as well...
Prizes include an official award presentation for the winning team, and an assortment of Interplay software titles for the runners-up. All you game fanatics, go take a look!
Great Link Updates
Christian (11:33 am CST)
The Great Link, one of the better Star Trek news sources out there, has updated again. Although there isn't much completely new news in there (at least, not if you're regularly visiting TrekToday ;-), the page does offer you a good round-up of the most important Trek news stories. You can check out the update by going here.
TV Week Interviews Jeri Ryan
A I can't imagine they're going to let this franchise end with Voyager after 30 years. Come on. Come on! [laughing] If for no other reason than it's an absolute cash cow. That's a very crass way of putting it but this franchise is not going to just die. And that's OK as long as they take care to maintain quality, but if they're just going to do spin-off after spin-off and not care who's writing it or creating it or making sure the quality stays up there then, no, they're not doing anybody any favors, the fans included. But I can't imagine they'll do that.
[...]
Q What does he [Jeri Ryan's son - TT] think of the characters on Star Trek?
A He's completely unfazed and he knows who they all are, which is a little scary. He knows who's a Borg, who's a Ferengi. His teachers at preschool were a little disconcerted for the first couple of days until they realized I was on Star Trek They thought he was a little weird, because he was talking about all these aliens he knows.
Christian (11:21 am CST)
The Official Jeri Lynn Ryan Homepage has re-printed an interview with Jeri Ryan from TV Week, and even presented us with a scan from the cover of the magazine. In the article, she answers a few of the usual questions:
Q What do you think of the future of the Star Trek franchise. Could you ever foresee a time when it would end?
A lot more answers, dealing with everything from sitcoms to conventions, can be found in the full article.
Trekweb Chat Reminder
An hour later, at 5:00pm PST, Trekweb is hoping to finally host their 'The 34th Rule' chat. This chat has been postponed twice already, but hopefully this time all three authors of the novel will be able to make it. To submit questions to Armin Shimerman (Quark), David R. George III and Eric A. Stillwell, you can go here. Participating in the chats should be easy:
-Click Here for the JAVA version
Christian (11:11 am CST)
This Tuesday, Trekweb will be hosting two Star Trek celebrity chats. At 4:00pm PST, Trekweb will be welcoming composer Jay Chattaway, who has been scoring Trek episodes for years now. Advance questions can now be submitted by going here.
You can access the chat using the JAVA chat applet if you are using a JAVA capable browser. If not, you can use an IRC-based chat program, such as MIRC to access the appropriate chat server and channel.
-Or in a chat program connect to irc.webmaster.com, irc2.webmaster.com, or greennet.ma.us.webchat.org and join channel #TrekWeb.COM.
New 'Birth of the Federation' Info Online
Well, now the full ship list is known (for the major empires anyway). There are similar ships in each empire. For instance, all empires have a Colony Ship (the Klingons is armed however), but there are emprie specific functions. Teh only Warbird is the Romulan D'Deridex class. The Federation have a Science Vessel, no one else does, but the Ferengi have Raiders, for their trade route prowess.
All the empires have 7 models, 8 ships (except for the Federation with 8 models, 9 ships). The Utility ships will be different, a Colony Ship Can't be changed to a Troop transport for example, although they look similar.
Christian (11:03 am CST)
FedCom, the 'Birth of the Federation' fan site, has just posted an enourmous amount of new info on this upcoming strategy game from Microprose. First of all, the full ship list has now been posted at FedCom, showing the ships of all the five major empires:
The update then goes on to provide info the ships of the minor empires (such as the Bajorans or the Ktarians), and the starbases of the various empires. Then the update goes on to mention that it'll soon be a lot easier to access information on the game, as the 'BotF Database' project is nearing completion! The first early alpha version has just been finished, and a few screenshots of this unique program can also be found at FedCom.
Lastly, FedCom has just put up scans of a new preview that appeared in the German gaming magazine PC Action, and the 'page-shots' plus some specific screenshots can be found at the site. In case you're disappointed about the somewhat lower quality about the screenshots, you should probably direct your complaints to me, as I was actually the one who provided Paul with the scans. Take a look at FedCom to see how they turned out.
Gamecenter Previews Starfleet Command
Christian (10:34 am CST)
Gamecenter has just published a preview of Interplay's upcoming strategy came 'Starfleet Command.' The preview, which spans several pages, begins as follows:
Trekker purists rejoice! Star Trek: Starfleet Command, Interplay's latest Star Trek strategy game, is aimed directly at you. Based on Amarillo Design Bureau's ridiculously detailed board game Star Fleet Battles, Starfleet Command puts you in command of a star fleet task force of up to six ships--you'll manage every vessel imaginable, down to the smallest frigate. But not to worry: the game isn't some sleepy turn-based affair. Prepare to command countless ships in highly tactical real-time battles. Don't ask us; we don't know why they trust you with all that equipment.
The preview then goes on to provide us with a bit of info on the races you can play as, and talks about the game's graphics:
The game is played on a 2D map, but each ship is a true 3D object, which can be rotated 360 degrees and inspected up close. Every ship is painstakingly detailed, sporting unique markings. For instance, zoom in on a Federation starship and you'll notice a NCC-1701A on its round top. Moreover, any worries we had about lackluster special effects have been quelled. The game's real-time lighting during explosions is out of this world.
Of course, more on this can be found in the full preview, including some screenshots, info on how your career will progress in the game, and even an interview with lead designer Erik Bethke! The 16-minute interview can be accessed directly by clicking here, which will take you to 'CNET Radio.'
Thanks go out to Evil Avatar for pointing me to this.
Today on TV
-Also in the UK, the BBC is showing no less than two Voyager episodes tonight! At 6:00pm GMT they're showing 'Year of Hell, Part Two,' while at 6:45pm they're showing 'Random Thoughts.'
-In Germany, Sat.1 is showing TNG's 'Die Soliton-Welle' (New Ground) tomorrow at 15:00 CET.
Christian (10:23 am CST)
- In the UK, Sky One is showing DS9's 'Return to Grace' at 4:00pm GMT, and Voyager's 'Meld' at 5:00pm, as I already reported yesterday. Tomorrow, they're showing the DS9 4th-season episode 'Sons of Mogh' at 4:00pm, and the 2nd-season Voyager episode 'Dreadnaught' at 5:00pm. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
New at Trekseek.com
Anyways, yesterday was the most popular day for Trekseek ever. We had twice as many hits as we usually get, and also twice as many site submissions. I don't have a specific explanation for this sudden surge in popularity, but I sure hope we will be able to maintain this. The fact that we've now got 821 sites in our database should certainly help with that - take a look at some of the 14 new sites that were added yesterday:
-The Trek Gaming Alliance is actually hosted by the same company as the Trekzone Network, so that site was down today as well. The Trek Gaming Alliance (or TGA for short) is a new Star Trek gaming site. In the comming months it will offer everything a trek gamer could want in a web site.
To see all the other new sites that were added yesterday, take a look at the full listing.
Christian (12:19 pm CST)
Fortunately Trekseek.com just got back online, so I can now bring you today's 'New at Trekseek.com.' I also got confirmation that, indeed, all the mails that were sent to us while the sites were down, did not get through, so if you sent us a mail, please re-send it.
-The new owner of the Trek Portal has re-opened the site, a few weeks after the previous webmaster (Leonard Schuurmans at Warp 11) was forced to shut it down. The intention of this site is to make it your Star Trek portal to the WWW.
-The Official Tim Russ Homepage is the official page for Tim Russ (Tuvok), offering information on his various activities.
Hello World!
This means that today's edition of 'New at Trekseek.com' won't be making an appearance until Trekseek actually is up again - which is a pity, as we had no less than 14 site submissions yesterday. Another unfortunate consequence is that, if you send mail to our @trekzone.net-addresses, we won't be receiving it right now. Hopefully the mail will simply be stored until the sites get back up, but if you want to reach us right now, you can contact me at christian@trektoday.com and Saleel at saleel@trektoday.com. Meanwhile, our apologies for all of this; hopefully the sites are back up soon.
[update 19:48 CET / 12:48pm CST - Trekseek & Trekzone are back up now, but unfortunately all our mail was lost. Please resend any mails you sent to us while the sites were down, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.]
Christian (10:14 am CST)
I've got some good news, and I've got some bad news. The good news is that, as you see, TrekToday survived the server re-location. The site was down for about two hours around 5:00am CST, but came back up again. The bad news is that Trekseek and Trekzone still aren't up at the moment - they're located on another server, and presumably something went wrong as the servers were being moved.
| Saturday March 6, 1999 |
Christian (2:36 pm CST)
As I reported last week saturday, starting the 29th of March, the Sci-Fi Channel will stop airing the full 90 minutes versions of the TOS episodes. In their place, they'll be showing cut-down episodes, eliminating all the commentary and removing some scenes, bringing the the broadcast time down to just 60 minutes.
The Alliance Online News Network has just posted a confirmation of this news:
Star Trek: The Special Edition will air it's final ninety minute episode on Thursday, March 25th. Beginning March 29th, the series will be cut to sixty minutes with almost all commentary being eliminated. Only the digitally remastered episodes themselves will still be shown. The show itself will also move and appear every evening at 7:00pm and 11:00pm (ET) Monday through Thursday, with a new Friday night lineup taking effect on March 19th that will eliminate the show altogether. The above comes after poor ratings and a recent change in the upper management of the Sci-Fi Channel.
This looks even more serious - especially the fact that TOS will be completely gone on friday evenings. I still urge you all to send a mail to the Sci-Fi Channel's Programming Department, though I'm not sure if that would have any effect at all anymore. In any case, major thanks go out to Fred Shedian at the Alliance Online News Network for submitting this news to us.
New Trek Reviews
-Sorry for not reporting this earlier, but Jim Wright at Delta Blues has posted a temporary review of 'Course: Oblivion.' Why temporary? Well, he had to go out of town this weekend so he didn't have time to write a detailed synopsis. Instead, he posted this preliminary review of the episode which includes a rough synopsis and analysis. Go read it now, and then return later for the full review!
Christian (2:22 pm CST)
-David E. Sluss at the Cynics Corner has just uploaded his reviews of Voyager's 'Course: Oblivion' and DS9's 'Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges.' He's mildly positive about Voyager's latest offering, awarding it a 7,7. His reasons for that can be found in the actual review. The Cynic liked DS9's latest episode a lot more, though, awarding it a 9.0. Check out the DS9 review here.
Voyager Returns To Sat.1 In May
However, today the German Star Trek Index posted the announcement that Voyager would already be returning to Sat.1 in May! More news on this isn't yet available, but of course we'll keep you informed when more news arrives.
Christian (12:42 pm CST)
Good news for German Voyager fans! As you may know, the Voyager episode Sat.1 broadcasted on friday ('Beute') was also the last one for a certain period of time. A few weeks ago, Sat.1 announced that they wouldn't be showing any more new Voyager episodes on friday night, as the series didn't achieve high enough ratings. Of course, German fans immediately protested and wanted to know more about this, as can be read in this (German) article on the German Star Trek Index.
Richard Kiley, DS9 Guest Star, Dies At 76
Christian (11:45 am CST)
Richard Kiley, who was Broadway's original 'Man of La Mancha' and had great success in dozens of other roles in movies and television, recently passed away at the age of 76. Star Trek viewers may remember him from his performance as 'Seyetik' in the second-season DS9 episode 'Second Sight,' but he was best known for playing Don Quixote in the 1965 musical 'Man of La Mancha.' In case you're interested, this report at CNN provides some more details about Richard Kiley's life. Thanks go out to Treknews for pointing me to this.
Daily Sci-Fi Examines Next Week's Sci-Fi
Christian (11:26 am CST)
The Den's Daily Sci-Fi has put up its look at next week's Sci-Fi television shows. Unfortunately, as the sweeps month is over, both Voyager and DS9 are repeats, but if you missed them first time around the feature may still be interesting for you. DS9's 'Chrysalis' and Voyager's 'Extreme Risk' are both given a short description, and you can download the teasers for the episodes. Also, the episode takes a look at next week's 'Earth: Final Conflict' episode, which *is* a new one. You can find the full article here.
Robert Beltran Chat Transcript
Robert Beltran:
[...]
Peter Northwood asks:
Robert Beltran:
Robert Beltran:
He's one of the happiest guys on the ship.
Christian (11:11 am CST)
The Continuum has just posted the transcript of thursday's chat with Robert Beltram (Chakotay). The chat was hosted by Guy Vardaman, Senior Producer for the Star Trek Continuum. Take a look at a few snippets from the transcript:
Linda asks:
Homosexual? That would certainly be a ground-breaking development for Voyager, but it's also the first I've heard of it. Either I missed a few episodes, or Beltran is joking. This last option is made all the more likely by the following answer, where it looks as if Beltran used the secondary meaning of the word 'gay:'
Do you think the show is going in the right direction?
When I find out what that direction is, I will tell you. Let me expand on that... I don't see the obvious advantage of going back to the Alpha Quadrant. We're still going to be dealing with aliens, just with different noses.
In 5 single words, how would you describe Chakotay AND yourself ( I mean 5 for each!!)?
Chakotay:
Limp...
Weasely...
Cowardly...
Homosexual...
Charming...
Karen asks:
Anyways, if the above didn't make you want to read the full transcript, I don't know what would. More answers can be found in the full transcript.
What exactly are you saying? Is Chakotay gay? I didn't think Star Trek had a gay character.
Yes, Chakotay is gay.
TNG RPG Author Looks At Gaming Industry
The article compares the market shares of the big RPG companies, and TNG RPG pubisher Last Unicorn occupies the seventh spot, with a market share of less than 5 %. The top-5 is filled with heavyweights such as TSR (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) and FASA (the company that published a Trek RPG years ago). However, Kenneth Hite is hopeful that Last Unicorn will surge ahead in 1999, as they will be releasing both DS9 and TOS game books in the summer. Take a look at the full column for more.
Christian (10:59 am CST)
Kenneth Hite, author of Last Unicorn's Star Trek: The Next Generation RPG, has just written a column for Mania Magazine looking back at how (role-playing) game companies did in 1998. Unfortunately for fans of 'adventure gaming,' the size of the market shrunk from $300 million in 1997 to $260 million in 1998, mostly due to the fact that a third of the retail outlets stopped selling RPGs.
Today on TV
-In Germany, Sat.1 is repeating Voyager's 'Beute' (Prey) tonight at 23:30 CET.
-Here in the Netherlands, the AVRO is showing a new Voyager episode tonight at 18:38 CET, I *think* it's 'Concerning Flight,' but I'm not completely sure about that.
Christian (10:36 am CST)
-In the UK, Sky One started showing the 4th-season DS9 episode 'Crossfire' at 4:00pm GMT - 30 minutes ago. I never seem to be on time for that during the weekend :-(. However, at 5:00pm they're showing the 2nd-season Voyager episode 'Treshold,' so you may still be able to catch that. Tomorrow, Sky One is showing DS9's 'Return To Grace' at 4:00pm and Voyager's 'Meld' at 5:00pm. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
New at Trekseek.com
- The Nicole DeBoer Appreciation Page is dedicated to Nicole Deboer and her role as Ezri Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as well as her many other TV and movie roles.
As usual, you can go here to see all the other new sites that were added to Trekseek yesterday.
Christian (10:20 am CST)
Did I say anything about submission figures going down? Yesterday TREKSEEK.COM had no less than six site submissions, bringing us to a total of 810 Star Trek links. Check out some of those new sites:
-Explore the decks of the U.S.S. Monarch, learn how to code for the Staship Creator and generally have a nice time.
-'Kamar Sutra: A Twisted Tribute to Elim Garak' isn't actually a new site, but it is the site whose Trekseek listing has changed the most. The most recent change is that Kamar Sutra has just moved to its own domain name at http://www.elimgarak.com/, while the site still offers you a ton of images plus caption galleries, Cardassian symbols, stories and love letters, monthly survey, and the Panache! website award.
Hello World! The sites shouldn't be down for more than an hour, so if you get online tomorrow and aren't able to access the sites, just try an hour later. This server move will also mean that we won't be able to receive during the time the sites are offline, at least not via our @trekzone.net addresses. If you want to send any of us mail, it might be a good idea not to do that between 2:00am and 7:00am CST. Let's hope we survive it all :-).
Christian (10:05 am CST)
Sigh. Remember I told you yesterday our sites would not be accessible at some point this morning, as our hosting company would be moving its servers? Well, they postponed the server move tomorrow morning, as they still needed some extra time to test out their connection to the Internet. This new time should be final, so both Trekseek and TrekToday will go down sometime tomorrow between 2:00am and 7:00am CST.
| Friday March 5, 1999 |
Christian (2:02 pm CST)
Two British students are looking (independently of each other) for Trek fans that can help them with their projects.
Firstly, psychology and informatics lecturer Andy Sutton just posted the following to rec.arts.startrek.misc:
http://ess.ntu.ac.uk/~eb601950/trekform.htm
He does not have access to news and chat groups from his university
account (nor indeed do I), so he asked me to post this request on his
behalf from my home account. All responses are confidential (you do not need to supply any personal
data).
I am a psychology and informatics lecturer at Nottingham Trent
University, UK. We have a current student doing a research project
concerning Star Trek fans and the extent of their (your!) dedication
and committment. This is for his final year dissertation. He would
like your help. He has a survey page on our web server at:
Then, a few hours later, an anonymous student from the University of Central Lancashire posted the following to the same newsgroup:
As of 12 noon GMT, the files for my degree multimedia project will be
download able from my
web site. The project is about warp theory, according to Star Trek.
I tell you this because, I need some volunteers to test it on their
systems, as I don't have
access to many variations in hardware.
The software doesn't alter any settings, install any of its own files
etc. The only files
installed are the files that you decide to unpack. Further details are
available from the
web site, along with installation instructions.
The site is http://www.psychonet.freeserve.co.uk.
If you have the spare time, why not go help them out? Let's show them we Trekkers are very nice and helpful people :-)!
'Quirk And Trubbles' In New Sev Trek Competition
Christian (1:37 pm CST)
At Sev Trek the new weekly 'Write Your Own Sev Trek Competition' has started again with the below cartoon:
As is probably clear from the above cartoon, this week's competition deals with 'Quirk' as he is being bombarded with Trubbles:
Quirk and Trubbles! Here's a one of the more popular Trekkie scenes, as evidence by the fact that the idea has been suggested about half a dozen times over the last year!
As usual, Sev Trek readers can submit their own punchlines, and the best punchline will be used next week in the actual cartoon. You can submit your ideas here, while the funniest suggestions will be posted here.
Everyone Hide! Shatner Sings Again!
Christian (1:29 pm CST)
Planet Riker has re-posted a report by Mark Scheerer, CNN Showbiz Correspondent. According to the report, William Shatner (James T. Kirk) has collaborated with recording artist Ben Folds to create the CD 'Fear of Pop:'
Star Trekkies and music fans across the galaxies, take note: Capt. James T. Kirk and recording artist Ben Folds have teamed up to beam up "Fear of Pop."
Music is a place where the real-life Kirk, William Shatner, has gone before, but never before with Folds.
"He'd written me a letter and I didn't recognize the name until my children clapped and said, 'You've got to do this,'" Shatner told CNN.
The report also talks about Shatner's career in music, which started in 1968 when he released the, erm, slightly unusual album 'The Transformed Man.' However, according to Shatner most people didn't really understand what the album was about:
Shatner's album, in which he ventured into the realm of music and poetry, has been mocked by late-night talk show hosts and disc jockeys over the years. That's because the prose that preceded the melodramatic voice-overs that went with the songs was always overlooked, Shatner told CNN.
"When it got radio play, they didn't want a six-minute cut, they wanted a three-minute cut, so they chose the song," Shatner explained.
"I guess the disc jockey thought I was trying to sing or something so ... they had fun with it. But the reality was that it was something, there was a concept behind it."
The rest of the report has Ben Folds talking about how he loved 'The Transformed Man' when it first came out, and also includes a short audio clip from the new CD. Go take a look here.
'Course: Oblivion' Overnight Ratings Report Up
[...]
This episode will most certainly fall to its competition from last year, the two-hour "The Killing Game." With its timeslot-damaged rating, "Oblivion" will probably destroy Voyager's bid to increase over last year's February sweeps mark as well. Again, my apologies for being late in informing you that "Course: Oblivion" was indeed a sweeps episode. Final ratings will be out when I get them.
Christian (1:13 pm CST)
The Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has just posted the overnight ratings report for Voyager's 'Course: Oblivion.' Even though the ratings are slightly higher than last week's, the overall news isn't good:
"Course: Oblivion" slightly increased over "The Disease" in the overnights, capping sweeps with a 5.1/7 rating, up 4% over last week's 4.9/7. Unfortunately, that's quite a bit off from the first two sweeps weeks, and should probably drag the entire month below last year's February mark, marring Voyager's shot at a year-to-year increase.
The full report also takes a look at the reason behind Voyager's disappointing ratings - ABC's 'Monica Lewinsky' interview. Just think - if it weren't for Bill Clinton and his Oval Office escapades, Voyager might have actually had higher ratings. Why didn't they decide to impeach him four years ago :-)?
New 'Inside Trek' Online
``The cookbook came about from my going to so many conventions and having so many people ask me, `When are you going to write a cookbook?''' Phillips says by telephone from his home in Los Angeles. ``I thought, `Gee, maybe I should write one.'
``But it wasn't until Bill Birnes, who's the co-writer with me and had done `The Day After Roswell' (Pocket Books, 1997) and `The Riverman' (Pocket Books, 1995), called and suggested we do it that it actually became a reality. I looked through my notes, and I'd saved a lot of little funny ideas, so Bill and I got together and it took us about a year to do.
Christian (1:04 pm CST)
Entertainment News Daily has just posted the latest edition of Ian Spelling's 'Inside Trek' column, entitled 'Ethan Phillips Gets Cooking.' The main story in the colum looks at Ethan Phillips' new book, the 'Star Trek Cookbook:'
Just published from Pocket Books, the $20 paperback serves up amusing morsels of ``Trek'' history as they relate to food, as well as genuine recipes passed down by the likes of Kate Mulgrew, Leonard Nimoy, Jonathan Frakes and Alexander Siddig.
The rest of the column has Phillips talking about his cookbook, his experiences with his character 'Neelix' on Voyager, and also provides some other Trek news. You can find the column by going here and scrolling down.
Daily Sci-Fi Reviews Trek
Christian (12:44 pm CST)
The Den's Daily Sci-Fi has just posted reviews for the two latest Trek episodes - Voyager's 'Course: Oblivion' and Deep Space Nine's 'Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges.' First up is 'Course: Oblivion,' which reviewer Sarah Kuhn was actually pretty satisfied with, for a while:
A strong beginning. An good 'n' twisty plot-turn. Can we have a nice, satisfying follow-through, please? Sorry, friends, this episode is like trying to eat a bag of peanut butter M&Ms as if it were a meal -- the first half of the bag is quite tasty, but, by the time you reach the end, you're unsatisfied, malnourished and just a little bit nauseated. Pity.
In the end, 'Course: Oblivion' is awarded three stars out of five, but you can read the full review here, in case you want to know more. Three stars is also what DS9's latest offering scores:
This one falls just short of great...and I must admit, I'm not sure why. As a critic, I know I am supposed to be all-seeing and all-knowing, but I'm no Bashir-esque, genetically-enhanced superhuman. I will, however, take a guess, thereby increasing my chances of always being right, and likewise, my chances of someday being an omnipotent, ever-correct, worldly-wise and altogether awesome entity with my own infomercial.
The full review of 'Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges' can be found by going here.
Ordover Q&A Updated
Christian (12:26 pm CST)
John Ordover, editor at Pocket Books, has answered some extra questions on his Q&A forum. First up, there's the news that the Upcoming Titles page has been updated to include the covers of some up the upcoming books. Related to one of these covers, someone asked John Ordover if Diane Muldaur (Pulaski) would get payed for having her likeness used on the cover of one of these books:
In the rest of his Q&A update, Ordover answers some other questions about upcoming books, including the 'Double Helix' series and the 'Vulcan's Heart' novel. On top of all this, there's now also a special page up for the upcoming 'Strange New Worlds' contest, which includes the list of winners, the official rules and a FAQ. One of the things mentioned in this FAQ is especially interesting for non-Americans like me:
I know that we don't pay for the use of Trek character's likenesses. I don't know the exact details of each actor's contract, but in general in recent years everyone signs a contract that gives Paramount the rights to their likeness in a Star Trek context. It was different in the TOS days, but again, that not something I deal with.
We will be talking to our British and Austrailian publishers about running contests of their own.
Of course, I realize the chance of there actually being a special contest here in the Netherlands is practically non-existent, but at least British and Australian Trek fans will be able to take part in such a contest. More 'Strange New Worlds' info can be found here on the information site.
'The 34th Rule' Chat Postponed Again
The chat will now be taking place next Tuesday, the 9th of March, at 5:00pm PST. Advance questions can still be submitted by going here, which is also where you will find extra details on the chat.
On Tuesday, Trekweb will also be organising another Trek chat, namely with composer Jay Chattaway. This chat will begin at 4:00pm PST, which means that that chat will only be able to last for an hour until the next chat begins. Advance questions for this chat can be submitted here.
Christian (12:02 pm CST)
Unfortunately, Trekweb's chat with Armin Shimerman (Quark), David R. George III and Eric A. Stillwell, which was supposed to have taken place has been yesterday, has been postponed again. In the chat, there would have been the opportunity to ask questions to the three authors of the new DS9 novel 'The 34th Rule,' but unfortunately Armin Shimerman had to attend an afternoon shoot for 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer' yesterday, and couldn't make it in time.
Mania Reviews 'Inter Arma Enim...'
Christian (11:49 am CST)
AnotherUniverse.com's Mania Magazine has published its review of DS9's 'Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges,' the episode in which Bashir starts working for Section 31. One of the things reviewer Michelle Erica Green didn't like about the episode was the way it betrayed most of Star Trek's history:
I am deeply ambivalent about the idea of Starfleet being associated with something like Section 31. It goes against everything the Star Trek myth has always stood for - cooperation, honesty, high ideals. Sure, Kirk had his share of Evil Admirals, but they were always shown to be crackpots acting on their own. Section 31 and Sloan have become Deep Space Nine's equivalent of the Syndicate and Cancer Man, and even though there is a war arc going on, I just don't think it adds anything to the series. At best, it provides the pretext for a couple of spy shows, but at worst it turns the franchise into something profoundly different - something dark and bitter, something perhaps more realistic but hardly distinguishable from The X-Files or Babylon 5 or Earth: Final Conflict or any other sci-fi series centering on a war between human(oid)s and aliens. It takes away what has made Star Trek original and fascinating for decades, all for a cheaply derivative storyline.
Although I haven't yet been able to see any Section 31 episodes myself, I do find myself strongly agreeing with this. The Federation should not have its own Obsidian Order - they're the good guys, after all.
In any case, the full review, which contains a detailed synopsis of the episode and the rest of Michelle Erica Green's analysis can be found by going here.
Eon Interviews Nicole DeBoer
"I'm going to be sad at the end, I know it," says DeBoer. "I can already tell the other cast, the crew… sometimes someone will say it's near the end and someone else will say, 'Don't start, don't start. I don't want to talk about it right now because I'll cry.' I'm sure it's harder on them because it's been a lot longer, but I think I'm going to be upset because I really bonded with everybody."
Christian (11:16 am CST)
In this week's issue of Eon Magazine (issue 14.0), there's an interview with Nicole DeBoer (Ezri Dax), entitled 'Dax All Folks.' In the article, written by Christopher Allan Smith, DeBoer talks about the upcoming end of DS9:
Cast last fall as Ezri Dax on STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, DeBoer landed a plum role on the premier show of science fiction's premiere franchise just as the crew, cast, and studio was preparing DS9 for its last season.
The rest of the (rather long) article talks about DeBoer's experiences on the show, and also has DS9 writers Ron D. Moore and Ira Steven Behr talking about how much they like the character. Another interesting bit is where DeBoer talks about the evolution of her character:
"In the beginning they wanted her to be so different from Jadzia," DeBoer explains. "They wanted her to be much more youthful and much more unsure of herself. Then we realized, well, I watched a couple of the episodes that came out and thought 'That was fun and everything and I like doing the humor and confusion of who she is, but you can only do that for so long.' I thought I hope they're going to start having her be more together and mature a bit. I came into work the other day, and Ira and Hans said the same thing to me. I thought that was good; we're on the same track."
The full article features even more wise words from Nicole DeBoer, and even has several nice pictures of DeBoer and her fellow cast members. Go check it out!
Eon Reviews 'Music Of Trek'
Christian (11:02 am CST)
Major surprise for me here - this week's issue of Eon Magazine reviews a new book by Jeff Bond called 'The Music Of Star Trek.' I didn't even know such a book existed! The book's been published by the 'Lone Eagle Publishing Company,' and will set you back $17.95. However, according to Eon, this is well worth it:
The best thing about Jeff Bond's THE MUSIC OF STAR TREK is, in an area of publishing (books on STAR TREK) where every conceivable inch of territory has been documented in every conceivable way, he's pulled off no small feat. He's written a clear, readable and exhaustively researched book on an aspect of TREK almost no one has touched. Given the fame and instant recognizability of the themes (which is second to what musical theme in pop culture? I can't think of anything.) it's a hole that fans should be thankful is filled.
In the rest of the review, reviewer Christopher Allan Smith goes on to talk about the book, in the end awarding it a 'B' grade. The full review can be found by going here.
Tim Russ Touring Brazil
Christian (10:47 am CST)
In this colum by Daily Variety Senior Columnist Army Archerd, there's a short news item on what Tim Russ (Tuvok) is currently doing:
Neil Norman, who has produced more than 20 'Star Trek' soundtrack albums for GNP Crescendo Records, is touring Brazil with his Cosmic Orchestras featuring vocalist Tim Russ, star of the 'Star Trek Voyager' series.
A strange question, maybe, but - shouldn't Tim Russ be working on Voyager at the moment? Are they maybe taking a short holiday?
Today on TV
-In the UK, Sky One is showing the second-season Voyager episode 'Alliances' at 5:00pm GMT, with a rerun at 11:30pm. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is showing Voyager's 'Beute' tonight at 20:15 CET, which also marks the last new Voyager episode on Sat.1 until at least the early summer. More on this can be found in this (German) article at the German Star Trek Index.
Christian (10:42 am CST)
-The Sci-Fi Channel is broadcasting the second-season TOS episode 'A Private Little War' tonight at 7:30pm Eastern Time. In case you miss it, the episode is also repeated at 11:30pm.
Of course, Sat.1 will still continue broadcasting TNG episodes - tomorrow morning at 03:10 CET they're repeating TNG's 'Der zeitreisende Historiker' (A Matter Of Time).
New at Trekseek.com
-The U.S.S. Saratoga has information about Voyager, DS9, and Next Generation. It also has a games page and a book page.
In case you still feel the urgent need to look at some new sites, why not explore the listing of last week's new sites?
Christian (10:32 am CST)
Well, I suppose the enourmous submission figures had to go down eventually, but I was hoping it wouldn't be this soon. Yesterday, just one site was added to TREKSEEK.COM, bringing us to a total of 804 sites. Let's look at the sole new site in our database:
Hello World!
Christian (10:28 am CST)
As you see, I've survived my ISP's server move - they moved so quickly I never even noticed it! However, server transport problems aren't over yet, as tomorrow morning our host will be moving its servers, causing all the sites in the Trekzone Network to be down for about an hour or so. If all goes as planned, they will be moving all webservers and network equipment
between the hours of 2:00 am and 7:00 am CST, one server at a time. The sites shouldn't be down for more than an hour, so if you get online tomorrow and aren't able to access the sites, just try an hour later.
| Thursday March 4, 1999 |
Christian (12:46 pm CST)
Warp 11, the Trek news site run by fellow Dutchman Leonard Schuurmans has posted several interesting news tidbits on DS9's 'The Final Chapter' - the last 9 episodes of the series. Take a look at these news items:
More info on the last episodes can be found in Warp 11's Season 7 Episode Guide. I haven't got a clue where Leonard gets all these information tidbits, but they're still extremely interesting - go take a look!
Voyager FX House To Create 'Starship Troopers 2'
Christian (12:33 pm CST)
The Den's Daily Sci-Fi has a rather interesting report up about the new 'Starship Troopers 2' television series. Apparently, Foundation Imaging, one of the companies responsible for many of Voyager's computer-generated special effects, has secured the rights to produce the new 'Starship Troopers' television series.' One of the things with which Foundation proved itself for Voyager fans was the creation of 'Species 8472,' and presumably it's work such as this that allowed them to obtain the license. Take a look at part of the Daily Sci-Fi's report:
While some of you weren't pleased about the idea of a Starship Troopers computer-animated series, it's in progress, and you're going to like it, dammit! Since the computer animation industry's been growing in leaps and bounds, a lot of competitors were going for the license, including Mainframe Entertainment (Beast Wars, War Planets), but it seems a few relative unknowns will be producing the series: Foundation Imaging and Flat Earth. Well, actually, pseudo-unknowns. Foundation Imaging did work for Babylon 5 and is the company responsible for a lot of Voyager's computer animated effects and creatures (including Species 8472) and Flat Earth does work for Hercules and Xena.
The full report goes on to provide some info on the new television series, and also gives us a few images to look at.
'Course: Oblivion' Overnight Ratings
Voyagers was 5th in its hour along with WBs "Charmed". But Voyager was closs to CBS's "60 Minutes II" that only got a 5.5/8. (Because of the Lewinsky interview"
My guess for a final rating would be around 3.4 to 4.0.
Christian (12:18 pm CST)
The Star Trek Universe has posted the overnight ratings for yesterday's new Voyager episode 'Course: Oblivion,' which scored a 5.1 rating. Hopefully that'll be enough to keep February's ratings up (see below). Take a look at the Universe's report:
It was a big night for ABC that got around 33.0 for its Lewinsky interview from 9 to 11, so Voyagers rating was not as good as you could have hoped. Voyager got a 5.1/7, thats up 0.3 from last weeks episode.
Ratings Correction - Sweeps Not Over!
Christian (12:07 pm CST)
The Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has posted an addendum to yesterday's ratings report for the Voyager episode 'The Disease:'
My apologies for the confusion, but as I just realized, February sweeps are not over yet. In fact, the last night is tonight, counting the performance of "Course: Oblivion." Unfortunately, this means that Voyager now has the opportunity to drop its increase over last year, an increase I have already posted in error. Those pages have been updated and I'll keep you posted as to "Course: Oblivion"'s performance, which now carries the burden of holding the February average to date.
Meanwhile, the (updated) report for 'The Disease' can still be found here, and let's all hope yesterday's 'Course: Oblivion' did well.
Jeri Ryan Comedy Central Images Online
Christian (12:00 pm CST)
The Official Jeri Lynn Ryan Homepage has a batch of images up from yesterday's appearance by Jeri Ryan on 'The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.' Of course, those who missed it can also catch the rerun today, but if that's also not possible for you, 17 screencaps can be found by going here.
Robert Beltran Chat At The Continuum
On top of that, the Continuum has also just announced two new chats with members of the Deep Space Nine production crew:
Chat will Gary Hutzel (Visual Effects Supervisor ST:DS9) about his role in creating out-of-this-world visual effects.
Steve Oster
Chat with Steve Oster (Supervising Producer on ST:DS9) about what we can expect from the final months of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
'The 34th Rule' Chat At Trekweb
If not, you can use an IRC-based chat program, such as MIRC to access the appropriate chat server and channel.
Mania Reviews 'Course: Oblivion'
Voyager Remains Top-Rated UPN Show
Today on TV
-In the UK, Sky One is showing Voyager's second-season episode 'Prototype' at 5:00pm GMT, with a rerun at 11:30pm. Also, the BBC is showing DS9's 'Captive Pursuit' tonight at 6:00pm GMT. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is repeating 'Wiedervereinigung, Teil 2' (Unification, Part 2) at 01:45 CET tomorrow morning. Tomorrow afternoon, at 15:00 CET, they're showing 'Der zeitreisende Historiker' (A Matter of Time).
New at Trekseek.com
-The Great Escape Studio's & Compu-Comics Interactive are the makers of the only full length animated movies based in the Trek universe! A series called "Starfleet Missions" and Episode II is in production, and many other movies are also!
To see the other two sites that were added to the database yesterday, take a look at the full listing.
Hello World!
In other, happier news, I am very proud to announce that TrekToday has won Caz's Best of the Best Website Award, scoring no less than five out of five stars. Obviously, Saleel and I are very excited about this, and we'd like to thank Caz for taking the time to look at the site.
Christian (11:46 am CST)
Just 90 minutes after Trekweb's 'The 34th Rule' chat (see below), the Continuum is organising a chat with Robert Beltran (Chakotay). The chat begins at 06:30pm PT, and advance questions can be submitted here.
Gary Hutzel
Thursday , March 11th, 1999 06:30 PM (PT)
Thursday , March 25th, 1999 06:30 PM (PT)
Christian (11:39 am CST)
Today, Trekweb is organising a chat with the three people behind the new DS9 novel 'The 34th Rule' - Armin Shimerman (Quark), David R. George III and Eric A. Stillwell. The chat begins at 5:00pm PST, but questions can already be submitted by going here. A few details on how to participate:
You can access the chat using the JAVA chat applet if you are using a JAVA capable browser.
Christian (11:05 am CST)
Quick as usual, the people at AnotherUniverse.com's Mania Magazine have posted their review of Voyager's 'Course: Oblivion.' Something which also seems to be getting more and more normal is that reviewer Michelle Erica Green didn't like the episode:
The theme for "Course: Oblivion" could be described as: "Why are you people wasting your time on Voyager when you could be watching Barbara Walters' interview with Monica Lewinsky?" Seriously, I did not think ANYTHING, could make me want to hear one more word about that...but fifteen minutes into Voyager I was thinking that the interview could not possibly be more drippy, manipulative, or predictable. The fact that the previews showed the entire crew dying was a pretty good indicator that we were in an alternate universe or at least on an alternate Voyager, and Tom's being a lieutenant immediately indicated that it split off from the present series several months ago. Seven's presence meant that it couldn't have been more than two years ago, however, even if she was wearing an anachronistic red catsuit which she didn't have back then. The acting was quite fine, particularly Paris' bitterness and grief over Torres, but who cares? He's right: this isn't the real crew. I didn't feel sorry for them, I felt relieved when they were finally all gone. At least I know that Janeway's smashing the Prime Directive to leave clones in the Delta Quadrant won't have any lasting effects.
More of this analysis, plus a synopsis of the episode, can be found in the full review.
Christian (10:57 am CST)
This article which I found at Yahoo, talks about the 20 top-rated Prime Time TV Programs for the week beginning Feb. 22. Not surprisingly, Voyager didn't make it into the top 20, but it was the top-rated UPN show at No.89, which is also not a great surprise.
Christian (10:52 am CST)
-Tonight, the Sci-Fi Channel is showing the second-season TOS episode 'The Immunity Syndrome.' The episode airs at 7:30pm Eastern Time, and is repeated at 11:30pm.
Christian (10:42 am CST)
Yesterday another 3 sites were submitted to TREKSEEK.COM, bringing us to a total of 803 Star Trek sites. One of the sites that were added yesterday is:
Christian (10:27 am CST)
Let me begin by a piece of worrying news - I'm afraid a slight chance exists I won't be able to do an update tomorrow. My ISP is moving its servers to a different location, and, while they expect their service to be down for only a few hours, a slight chance exists I won't be able to go online at all tomorrow. In the unlikely event that happens, I'll of course put in an extra update saturday morning, but at least you'll know what has happened...
| Wednesday March 3, 1999 |
Christian (1:59 pm CST)
Starbase Prometheus, the Starship Creator fan site, has just announced several new features designed to help the site find extra funding. First up is the news of the Promenade, Starbase Prometheus' online shop, where you'll be able to buy several strategy games, host your web site and, erm, get a date in their dating service. All this does support the site, though, so it's for a good cause.
Secondly, and more importantly, they've just announced their 'Crewman Membership' feature:
The site itself will remain accessible and free, with all the
downloads of crew, starships, and missions that you can get now. Any and
all submissions will continue to be free to all visitors to the site.
This a dues membership, the cost of which is only $9.00(US) a year now.
Those of you that have already joined at $15 prior, will be credited an
additional year to their membership. The price was reduced to allow for
those of you that wanted to join, but couldn't afford the $15 a year.
To help cover our growing costs to maintain the Prometheus site, we have
started a Crewman Membership. This is a membership that ADDS to all the
great benefits that you already enjoy free.
Some of the benefits members will have include a special mail address, special download areas and 4 extra VIP chats per year. Speaking of these VIP chats, the site is expecting to publish the chat log of sunday's chat with John Vornholt later tonight - expect a report on that tomorrow.
Tim Lynch Reviews 'Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang'
Christian (12:20 pm CST)
Psi Phi has just put up Tim Lynch's review of DS9's 'Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang.' Tim apparently doesn't think the episode is more than so-so:
A completely dumb premise with one shockingly inappropriate bit of characterization, but not without its occasional goofy charms.
The full review can be found here.
Jammer Reviews New Trek
Christian (12:16 pm CST)
Jamahl Epsicokhan, also known as 'Jammer', has just posted two new reviews at Star Trek Hypertext. First up is review of DS9's 'Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang,' which receices just 2,5 stars. After that comes his review of 'The Disease,' which Jammer absolutely hated - the episode receives just one star.
Unreliable Rumours Department
Christian (12:05 pm CST)
The Star Trek Teletext page on British television stations Channel 5 and Sky One has updated once again, offering us a look at several new unreliable rumours. Unfortunately we can't bring you the screenshot this week, as Channel 5 hasn't yet updated its teletext listing, but take a look at the headlines we copied down from Sky:
Please note that this 'news' is about as unreliable as you can get - it is printed on a teletext page that has as its sole to entice viewers into dialing a pay-per-minute phone number. Obviously, that means they're trying as hard as possible to print exciting news, but I wouldn't trust any of these headlines until they are confirmed elsewhere. Major thanks go out to the Trekzone Network's own Saleel Majeed for providing these headlines.
Strange New Worlds III Officially Announced
Christian (11:23 am CST)
As I mentioned yesterday, Pocket Books editor John Ordover has now officially announced the Strange New Worlds III contest. The rules don't seem to have changed since last year - the contest is still only open to Americans, entries should be no longer than 7,500 words, and all your submissions still become the property of Pocket and Paramount. The official announcement can be found at the Star Trek Books Forum, or they can be directly accessed by reading John Ordover's announcement at the Trekweb forums.
Hear Ben Sisko Sing
Christian (11:14 am CST)
The Singularity has uploaded and audio clip of Vic Fontana and Benjamin Sisko singing 'The Best is Yet to Come!' in 'Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang.' If you missed the episode, or if you simply want to relive their song, here's your chance! Thanks go out to WebTrek for pointing me to this.
National Ratings For 'The Disease'
The timeslot competition was extraordinarily strong this week with CBS's Grammy Awards earning a 16.6, "Law and Order" getting a 9.9, and Fox's "The Nutty Professor" gathering an 8.3. Voyager was squashed by all of the above, finishing 6th just behind the equally damaged "Charmed," which managed a 3.5.
Christian (11:02 am CST)
The Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has a report up on the National Ratings for last week's Voyager episode, 'The Disease.' Unfortunately the ratings could have been a lot better:
"The Disease" capped sweeps with a less-than-stellar outing, only mustering a 3.4 rating, 5 share, tying with "Counterpoint" as the second-lowest rated episode of the year. That rating is down 27% from last week's "Dark Frontier" (4.7) and 19% from last year's "Retrospect" (4.2).
However, the full report also has some positive news, as the entire month of February ended up being the highest-rated sweeps month since last season's November, which also marks the first time in the post-TNG area that ratings actually increased since the previous sweeps month. Take a look at the full report for more.
Jeri Ryan On Comedy Central
Christian (10:55 am CST)
The Official Jeri Lynn Ryan Homepage is reporting that Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) will be making an appearance today on 'The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.' The Daily Show airs at 11:00 PM Eastern/Pacific Time on Comedy Central.
Happy Birthday James Doohan!
Christian (10:36 am CST)
Today is the 69th birthday of James Doohan, best known as 'Scotty' in the Original Series. One of his special talents is his ability to 'do' accents, which is also how he got the role on Star Trek. Later he also used this talent on the Animated Series, where he created the voices of some of the more bizarre series regulars. I'd direct you to a dedicated fan site if I knew of one, but unfortunately none seem to exist. Still, a happy birthday to James Doohan from us here at the Trekzone Network!
Today On TV
-The Sci-Fi Channel is broadcasting the hilarious second-season TOS episode 'A Piece Of The Action' tonight at 7:30pm Eastern Time, with a re-run at 11:30pm.
- In the UK, Sky One is showing Voyager's 'Resistance' at 5:00pm GMT, with a re-run at 11:30pm. Also, the BBC is broadcasting TNG's 'The Perfect Mate,' which actually has a Dutch actress guest-starring, at 6:00pm GMT. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-Tomorrow morning at 02:05 CET, German television station Sat.1 is repeating 'Wiedervereinigung, Teil 1' (Unification, Part 1). It stands to reason, then, that tomorrow at 15:00 CET they're airing the conclusion, 'Wiedervereinigung, Teil 2' (Unification, Part 2).
Christian (10:29 am CST)
-In the US, UPN is showing a new Voyager episode at 9:00pm Eastern/ Pacific Time, a follow-up to last year's 'Demon' called 'Course: Oblivion.' Take a look at part of the official press release:
Lieutenants Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres tie the knot but their holographic honeymoon is cut short by a phenomenon that breaks down the U.S.S. Voyager's infrastructure and disintegrates not only the ship but the crew.
Note that the above picture is, of course, copyrighted by Paramount.
New at Trekseek.com
-Star Trek: Kennedy has stories (in German) about the USS Costeau and USS Kennedy for download. There is also information available about the ships and the crew (with pictures).
As usual, a full listing of yesterday's new sites is also available.
Christian (10:11 am CST)
Yesterday TREKSEEK.COM welcomed the 800th site into its database, re-affirming its position as the 'largest, most accessible Star Trek search engine on the net.' We've now got nearly twice as much sites in our database as any other Trek search engine, and we're not done yet! At the rate we're currently progressing, expect the 1000th site to be added to Trekseek before the end of April. For now, though, let's take a short look at some of the sites that were added yesterday to TrekSeek:
-Marine HQ is a reference archive for Star Trek Federation Marines. The Archive documents and illustrates, weapons, training, vehicles, ranks as well as many other subjects.
Hello World!
Christian (10:11 am CST)
Well, I haven't got much to say at the moment, mostly because I'm currently listening to one of the greatest CDs to appear in a long time - Roxette's new album 'Have A Nice Day.' I've been a fan of them for a long time, even longer than I've been a Trek fan, and I still love all their CDs. If you've got the time, take a look at the Official Have A Nice Site to listen to some sound clips from their new album, and then rush out to the stores to get it :-). Have a nice day!
| Tuesday March 2, 1999 |
Christian (12:53 pm CST)
The Star Trek Universe has just published a report from a convention where Robert Picardo (EMH Program, Voyager) appeared. He provided some interesting info, including the news that there is actually a possibility Voyager might be returning to Earth in Season 6:
According to Picardo there is talk of bringing Voyager home in season 6, but nothing is for certain. He said Kate Mulgrew will not leave the show before her contract is completed, but season 7 is hardly etched in stone for her. Possibly that's all the more reason to bring the ship home, so a reasonable replacement for Janeway could be found.
At the convention, Picardo also provided some info on the upcoming episode 'Someone To Watch Over Me':
The absence of Kes has left a void for the Doctor when it comes to having a confidant, and Seven has been used to fill that gap. This episode, where the Doctor helps Seven of Nine prepare for an upcoming first date, sees his character start to develop real feelings for Seven. One scene to look out for is a slow dance between the two characters.
Picardo says the episode's ending is touching and one the fans will enjoy.
Robert Picardo (The Doctor) stated that "Someone..." was a Higgins/Eliza type story derived from independent ideas from both the actor and the producers.
The full report also has some info on another upcoming episode in which 'a villain will tamper with his program, making the Docter the bad guy for a change,'
and the info that Picardo would very much like DeForest Kelley (Leonard 'Bones' McCoy, TOS) to guest star on Voyager. Go take a look!
Patrick Stewart Nominated For Newsweek Award
Anyways, this article on Yahoo! talks about a poll called 'Beyond Oscar', which will be launched sometime today at the Newsweek web site. One of the categories and its nominees are:
Christian (12:46 pm CST)
(Rant mode on) I wonder - why does Newsweek insist on publishing articles that are only understandable for Americans? (Rant mode off)
Best Performance by an Actor in Need of Rogaine -- Ed Harris in "The Truman Show," Robert Duvall in "A Civil Action," Patrick Stewart in "Star Trek: Insurrection," Bruce Willis in "Armaggedon," and Roberto Benigni in "Life in Beautiful."
Rogaine, for all you fellow non-Americans, is a drug that treats hair loss - check out their web site here.
Nuketown Reviews Trek Sites
Christian (12:18 pm CST)
Nuketown, the web site focusing on online reviews, has posted reviews of 3 Star Trek web sites, namely the Daystrom Institute Technical Library, Star Trek Excelsior and, lastly, a certain Trek news site named 'TrekToday'! Nuketown gave us four stars out of a possible five, which is something we're very proud of. Unfortunately, the review is currently not actually linking to TrekToday, but to Treknews.com, an oversight that I'm sure will be corrected shortly :-).The full review of TrekToday can be found here, while the other two reviews can be accessed via the Nuketown Main Page.
Ordover Speaks Out
In other Trek novel news, John Ordover just mentioned on his Q&A page that he will be officially announcing Strange New Worlds III later today. As you may know, the previous Strange New Worlds contests gave fans the chance to have their own Trek stories published, after editor Dean Wesley Smith selected the best stories from the submissions. Now you'll have the chance to submit your stories again (if you're living in the US, that is :-( ), so good luck to all of you!
Christian (11:34 am CST)
Good news for DS9 novel fans, as a few days ago John Ordover (editor at Pocket Books) posted the below info to the Star Trek Books Forum:
34th Rule is shaping up to be our best-selling stand alone book ever;
however, the Rebels books (each of them) is selling about twice as much as
34th is.
At the moment, the DS9 novel series is getting the least sales of all the various Trek novel series, and several months ago John Ordover already announced Pocket Books would be publishing less DS9 books. However, now that these new novels are selling so extremely well, maybe there is another chance for the series...
Robert Beltran Chat On Thursday
Christian (11:12 am CST)
On thursday, the Continuum will be hosting a chat with Robert Beltran ('Chakotay' on Voyager). According to the official description, he 'will be answering questions about his experiences during five years on the series and his aspirations for the future,' though I suspect you'll be able to ask him other questions as well :-). The chat begins at 06:30 PM Pacific Time, and detailed instructions on how to participate can be found here. Also, the Continuum offers you the chance to submit Advance Questions, that can be done here.
Insurrection Box Office Rank Climbs Again
Christian (11:12 am CST)
Over the past weekend, 'Star Trek: Insurrection' climbed from the 40th place to the 20th, presumably after the movie began its run in budget theatres. From the 26th to the 28th of last month, 'Insurrection' made $567,144 , which is a 400% increase from last week. The movie has now grossed $68,958,778 domestically, after having been released for 80 days. I found this news item in this article at Yahoo!, giving the final data for the top 60 movies at the North American box office during the Feb. 26-28 weekend.
Today on TV
- In the UK, Sky One is showing Voyager's 'Maneuvers' at 5:00pm GMT. In case you miss it, the episode is repeated at 11:30pm GMT. As usual, thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.
-In Germany, Sat.1 is repeating 'Gefährliche Spielsucht' (The Game) tomorrow morning at 02:00 CET. Later that day, at 15:00 CEt they're showing 'Wiedervereinigung, Teil 1' (Unification, Part 1), which you really shouldn't miss - it's the episode where Picard meets not only Sarek, but also his son Spock.
Christian (10:43 am CST)
-The Sci-Fi Channel is showing the 2nd-season TOS episode 'The Gamesters of Triskelion' tonight at 7:30pm Eastern Time, with a rerun at 11:30pm.
New at Trekseek.com
-The Star Trek Character Gallery has all your favorite Star Trek actors in one place, from all four series.
If you'd like to see the other new sites at Trekseek, it might be a good idea to look at the full listing of yesterday's new sites.
Christian (10:35 am CST)
Rather amazingly for a monday, we received no less than five site submissions for TREKSEEK.COM yesterday, bringing us to a total of 798 sites! Let's take a look at some of these new sites:
-Rhea's World of Odds'n'Ends has Chekov fanfiction, links and a weekly star trek riddle. This site is based on the original series.
Hello World!
Christian (10:28 am CST)
Just a few minutes ago, I was looking through my 'Favorites' folder. My bookmarks seem to have a nasty habit of growing exponentially, so I thought I'd remove the sites I never visit anymore. While clearing up my bookmarks, I did come across a great site you really should visit - this one. It's a really great site, but be sure to have your speakers turned on when you visit...
| Monday March 1, 1999 |
Christian (1:20 pm CST)
-Jim Wright at the Delta Blues has just posted his review of Voyager's 'The Disease.' As usual, there is a *huge* synopsis of the episode, followed by Jim's analysis. The review can be found here.
-Jamahl Epsicokhan, also known as 'Jammer', has just posted his review of Voyager's 'Dark Frontier' at Star Trek Hypertext. The review can be found here.
Optical Data Network Issue 81 Appears
This issue also has an updated convention listing. Things seem to
be picking up in March and April, after being a bit slow lately. I
notice there's a convention coming up here in town, I'll have to
decide if it's time to dust off my walking shoes and attend one
after a long hiatus. In this case, it doesn't look too tempting, I'm
afraid. But we'll see.
Christian (1:14 pm CST)
Adam Bailey just sent out Issue 81 of the Optical Data Network. As usual, the newsletter contains a lot of interesting info:
This issue continues in the recent trend of things being a little
slower than usual, but stands above the last two in content, I think.
We've got a decent set of NewsBits, including lots of "On Screen"
items. Note that the "Trekkies" documentary, which we've talked
about extensively here, is about to start airing. We've also got a
full set of airdates in the US, the UK, and the Sci-Fi Channel
special edition. ODN United Kingdom's launch seems to have gone
well, getting a large number of subscribers, and an update went out
just days after the last issue of ODN. Thanks, David, for doing such
a great job with this extended feature, which is helping to make ODN
the best place for people in the UK to go to for local news.
If you didn't already receive the issue via e-mail, it can also be found online by going here. Major thanks go out to my mailbox for this, I'd never have known about this news item without it.
Starfleet Journal March Issue Appears
I was born and raised in Brasil. When I was a kid I dreamed about being a Science Officer on board a Starship. Now that I'm bigger I'm a Science lecturer on board Cruise ships. I'm here, but I'm getting there. Because I am able to speak and write English fluently, I do have a better chance than my friends of following Trek at a distance. Because, you see, it's not easy being a Trek fan in Brasil.
Of course, this issue of the Starfleet Journal also has a lot of other original columns, and later this month they'll be announcing Starfleet Journal Fanfic Awards 1999. Once they do, you'll of course be able to read about it here at TrekToday, but for now, just go check out the magazine!
Christian (1:06 pm CST)
The people at the Starfleet Journal have just published their March 1999 issue, offering book reviews, original colums, and new fanfic stories. This month also sees the launch of a brand new column, 'Alien Point of View,' by Claudia Roedel. Take a look at a short snippet from the beginning of the column:
Since it's my first official column I believe I must introduce myself. I'm an Alien. A genuine, bona fide, certified Alien. It says so right here in my bank statement, in the place where my Social Security Number should be (I don't have one): "Non-resident Alien." As the Alien Point of View has became a standard feature of all Trek Shows, I believe that this journal could benefit from it as well.
To find out why this is not easy, check out the full column. This would especially be a good idea for all you Americans out there, as now you'll finally understand how blessed you are living in the United States.
'The 34th Rule' Chat At Trekweb Rescheduled
Christian (12:39 pm CST)
Trekweb.com has postponed its chat with the authors of the new DS9 novel 'The 34th Rule' to thursday, the 4th of March. The reason for this is that Armin Shimerman's schedule suddenly changed, making it impossible for him to appear tonight. However, on thursday he should now be available to answer all your questions, together with his co-authors:
Armin Shimerman has played "Quark" for seven seasons on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and now joins David R. George III, author, and Eric A. Stillwell, script coordinator and assistant for creative consultant Michael Piller, to bring Quark's biggest deal into print!
The chat will take place at 5:00pm PST, and more info on the chat, including info on how to submit questions, can be found by going here. It should be a pretty busy day for fans of Trek chats on Thursday, as that is also when The Continuum has scheduled its chat with Robert Beltran (Chakotay).
'First Contact' In Birth Of The Federation?
[...]
I will be working on a new site which some of you may have heard of. It is called Trek Gaming Alliance and will be located at http://www.trekgaming.com. I hope you will visit the new site I am working on once it is finished.
Thanks and farewell,
Dark Commander
Christian (12:28 pm CST)
FedCom, the longest-running news site for Microprose's up-coming 'Birth of the Federation' game, has posted some interesting info new info on the game. First of all, FedCom's 'ship of the day' program is progressing steadily with info on two ships that will appear in the game - one Romulan, and the other one Cardassian. However, the really interesting news is that FedCom received a new screenshot from the game, showing a Borg cube:
In other Birth of the Federation news, yesterday Dark Commander made his last update at the Federation Outpost:
I have also received a screenshot from Alex. It is apparently what happens if you attempt to access information on the borg at this present time in development. It appear to be genuine, and clearly shows an opening for a Borg Sphere. Now I do not know whether a sphere will be in the Borg fleet, but this cetainly looks like it could very well be. Dont take my word for it, but it is a distinct possibility.
First off, I want to thank everyone who came to my site over the last year it has been opened. Without all of you visiting this site would not have lasted very long. Second, I will not be reopening The Federation Outpost. I thank everyone who made offers to run the site but I decided against it. Third, I want to wish anyone who opens up a Star Trek: Birth of The Federation luck in there venture.
The Federation Outpost is still up at the moment, however, if its host decides to shut down the site, Paul Weaver at FedCom has already announced he will put up an archive of the site. We here at the Trekzone Network wish Dark Commander luck with the Trek Gaming Alliance, news on which we will of course be reporting as soon as we get it.
Mania Reports On Trek Guides
Christian (12:06 pm CST)
AnotherUniverse.Com's Mania Magazine has a new feature up called 'Between the Covers: Television Guidebooks', in which Michelle Erica Green takes a look at the best guides to various genre series:
It's time for our semi-annual roundup of TV between the covers. No - sorry, I don't mean coverage of the sex lives of our favorite television characters, especially considering that many of our favorite television characters are on Star Trek and therefore only get to have sex when the Captain gives them permission, which is about once in a blue moon. But this is as good a time as any to take a look at guides to our favorite shows, and decide which books are worth our hard-earned money.
After a look at guides for Babylon 5 and the X-Files, Star Trek guides are also examined in detail. Let's look at one of Mania's recommendations:
If you want an innovative guide to Trek, however, the newly published Star Trek Cookbook by Ethan Phillips (Voyager's Neelix) and William J. Birnes covers all four series and many of their stars as well. Want to know what to serve at a Klingon feast attended by Vulcans (who are vegetarian) and Bolians (whose digestive systems differ radically from our own)? Would you know what beverages to serve Picard (tea, Earl Grey, hot) and Janeway (coffee, black, VERY hot)? There are delectable photos of the characters in the kitchen, as well as some terrifying photos of the food (even fake gagh can make one gag). If you're interested in whipping up Quark's drinks or Kate Mulgrew's pork tenderloins, you must have this guide to cooking among the stars...and the stars.
The full article also takes a look at books such as Stephen Poe's 'A Vision of the Future', and, of course, then provides us with the chance to actually buy these books. However, there's also a look at some Star Trek fan sites, so this article is certainly worth a look.
Today on TV
-In the UK, Sky One will be broadcasting Voyager's 'Cold Fire' at 5:00pm GMT, with a rerun at 11:30pm. Tonight at 8:00pm they'll also be broadcasting a new DS9 episode, namely 'In The Pale Moonlight' - make sure you don't miss it!
-In Germany, Sat.1 will be repeating 'Katastrophe auf der Enterprise' (Disaster) tomorrow morning at 00:15 CET. Tomorrow, they're broadcasting 'Gefährliche Spielsucht' (The Game) at 15:00 CET.
Christian (11:51 am CST)
- Tonight, the Sci-Fi Channel will be broadcasting 'The Trouble With Tribbles,' the hilarious episode I never get tired of watching. The episode airs at 7:30pm Eastern Time, with a rerun at 11:30pm.
New at Trekzone.net
Some of the features we will be developing in a client-side app that runs on multiple platforms:
Interested? If you are selected to become a member of our team you will be extended the following benefits:
Salivating? So are we. Please contact Steven Hartzog for more info.
Christian (11:45 am CST)
Are you bored? Need something to program? Are you a VB, VC++, Java or XML programmer? I can tell you already like Star Trek or you wouldn't be here. But do you like the idea of contributing something back to the ST community? Perhaps you've played the online SIM/RPG's or Fan-Fiction games out there based on ST. Well, this is a general call to bring together a few like-minded people to develop the Next Generation Star Trek online Play By eMail (PBeM) type game.
New at Trekseek.com
-Holodeck 3 is one the first LCARS designed site on the Internet, containing all sorts of content.
This Trek Writers Guild itself is also a very special site, as they have just been selected as TREKSEEK.COM's 'Site of the Month,' the prestigious award we hand out at the beginning of each month. Take a look at part of the review by Steven Hartzog:
The Trek Writers Guild is another oustanding site. It's full of ideas... if you're looking. Sure, the crux of this site is it's motherlode of fan fiction... but it doesn't stop there. By the same people, there is even a Treknopedia. Yep, it is what it sounds like: a ST encyclopedia. I wouldn't say it was all encompassing, but I think the purpose was more sedentary. For the many burgeoning writers that are a part of this guild... it helps cure the insane timing of writers block. A quick dose of facts, and your back to writing your story. Hmm, cool.
Christian (11:15 am CST)
People seem to really start noticing TREKSEEK.COM, it seems. We're getting more site submissions than ever! Yesterday we added another six sites to our database of 792 sites, once again re-affirming our position as the 'largest, most accessible Star Trek search engine on the net.' The full listing can be found here, but for now, let's take a look at some of the highlights:
-The Treknopedia is an encyclopedia service on Star Trek, provided by the Trek Writer's Guild.
If you can remember last weeks article, I hinted that you might want to start your own online SIM/RPG. I suggested the Daystrom Institute Technical Library. Well this month I bring you the next step in creating an online SIM/RPG - adding DEPTH. After all, you have to have a great story to draw the characters in... (and the players, of course)
Go take a look at the full review for more on this site, including Steven's analysis of the site's content, technical qualities, organization and look.
Hello World!
Christian (11:05 am CST)
And a good day to you, even though it's monday and it seems to be raining constantly. Just two weeks ago, I was still sitting outside, enjoying the sun, while I was taking a holiday in Spain. Now I'm back in Holland, and it's nearly dark outside already... why isn't this country located somewhat closer to the sun?
