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Yesterday I watched the Showtime 20-minute preview for their production of The Lion In Winter (see Trek Two Years Ago, below, for more information). The preview was narrated by one of the made-for-TV movie's stars, one of my very favorite actresses, Glenn Close. The remake will probably be of more interest to readers here, however, because it also showcases an actor with whom everyone here is familiar: Patrick Stewart.

At the risk of sounding very shallow, my first reaction to seeing Stewart in costume as King Henry II was "Ohh, HAIR!" In fact, I think I was so distracted by seeing Stewart with long, lovely hair that I couldn't really get a sense of him as Henry II. His voice is strong, and he plays Henry as a younger man than did Peter O'Toole in the acclaimed original film, but it was hard to tell what kind of a king he'd be. Henry is a strange character...not terribly sympathetic to my mind, manipulating his family and his kingdom with all his powers while trying to keep his scheming wife a prisoner and play his sons against one another. One of them later becomes Richard the Lionhearted while the other becomes the loathed King John, so his successes and failures as a father must perhaps be seen in the balance.

In truth, much as I love the cast of the remake -- Jonathan Rhys-Meyers plays King Philip of France, and he looks great in the preview, as does John Light, the lesser-known actor playing Geoffrey -- I really feel that The Lion in Winter is not a movie that in any way needed to be remade. I would watch Close in anything, but Katharine Hepburn's Eleanor of Aquitaine is iconic; Kate Mulgrew often cites it as her best-remembered Hepburn role when she's talking about playing Hepburn in Tea at Five. And Timothy Dalton and Nigel Terry in the original...rawrr. I'm sure I'll watch the remake but why mess with such a definitive classic?

Trek BBS Today

Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Would letting Enterprise die be good or bad for the franchise in the long run?

-Are you impressed or let down by T'Pol's character arc?

-Wow, "The Omega Glory" is bad!

More topics can be found at the Trek BBS!

Trek Two Years Ago

These were some of the major news items from April 2002:

• 'Two Days And Two Nights' Details Released
  While the NX-01 crew let their hair down on Risa, Dr. Phlox went into hibernation in the penultimate Enterprise episode of the season as Kellie Waymire made her third guest appearance.

• 'Detained' Fails To Impress Critics
  "Detained", according to online reviewers, was overly simplistic in its allegorical approach to the treatment of suspected dissidents.

• Stewart Dons Crown For 'Lion' Remake
  Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard) announced plans to star in and executive produce a remake of the 1968 film The Lion in Winter for the Showtime network, co-starring five time Academy Award-nominee Glenn Close.

More news can be found in the archives.

Poll Results

Below are the results of the most recent TrekToday poll:

Would you watch a non-Trek series created by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga? It would depend what the premise was 47.6% - (827 Votes) No 38% - (660 Votes) Undecided 8.1% - (142 Votes) Definitely! 6.1% - (106 Votes) Total Votes: 1735

Please vote in our new poll after you have seen "The Forgotten" and rate the episode!

Happy Birthday!

On April 29th, our Captain Janeway, Kate Mulgrew, turns 49.

Today's Television Listings

Tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, UPN will show a new episode of Enterprise, "The Forgotten". Here's the official synopsis of the episode:

Two high-ranking Xindi offer to stop the launch of their superweapon if Archer can prove they've been manipulated. Meanwhile, the crew mourns their lost mates.

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