News headlines from October 1999:

'Alice' Final Ratings
Christian (7:44 pm CST)
Greg Fuller at the Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has uploaded the final ratings report for 'Alice', last week's new Voyager episode. News is rather boring:

"Alice" saw no improvement or drop from last week's "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy," remaining flat at a 3.5 rating, 5 share. That's flat from last week and slightly down from last season's "Extreme Risk," which tallied a 3.6/6.

In the timeslot, Voyager remained in a tie for 5th place, sharing the spot with the WB's "Roswell," which also earned its second straight 3.5/5. Fox's "Get Real" returned to more poor ratings, finishing a very close 4th in the timeslot with a 3.6. "WWF Smackdown!" remained on top of UPN with a whopping 4.8 rating. Voyager's lead-in, "Seven Days" rose slightly to a 2.8.

Terry Farrell National Enquirer Story
Christian (7:40 pm CST)
BORG just sent in the below rather amusing news item dealing with Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax):

According to the syndicated National Enquirer TV program, Terry Farrell was trying on clothes in a posh store somwhere in California. She heard the unmistakable raspy voice of Lauren Becal(sp?), her personal idle, speaking to the sales clerk. She rushed out to meet her but was only wearing her underwear. Apparently she didn't realize it until she prepared to walk out of the store. And Lauren Becal didn't address the issue when she was speaking with Terry.

Okuda Q&A Coming Up
Christian (7:36 pm CST)
Sean P. Stevenson at the LCARS: Federation Databank sends along word of a Q&A session with Michael and Denise Okuda, which they'll be holding during the month of November. Michael and Denise Okuda are the Scenic Art Supervisor and Video Playback Coordinator for Voyager, respectively, so they should be able to answer lots of interesting Trek questions. Here's some more info:

Send in a question for the Okudas to answer and you could win an autographed copy of the Star Trek Sticker Book *PLUS* an original prop decal donated by the Okudas! After answering the questions, they will pick the question they thought was the best and it's author will win the autographed copy of the autographed Star Trek Sticker Book and the prop decal.

All questions are to be submitted during the month of November and the answers will be posted early December, along with the winner of the autographed Star Trek Sticker Book and the prop decal in the "Ask the Okudas" section.

ODN Issue 94 Appears
Christian (7:27 pm CST)
Yesterday, editor Adam Bailey sent out Volume 4, Issue 18 of the Optical Data Network, the bi-weekly Trek newsletter. Take a look at what you'll be able to find in this issue:

This issue is *full* of news. We've got everything from people to articles to games games games. This issue also has the standard US and UK episode schedules, for those trying to stay current. And rounding things out are a couple of letters.

New Voyager Episode Title
Christian (7:27 pm CST)
Michelle Erica Green over at AnotherUniverse's Mania Magazine has put up a new edition of her weekly 'Hailing Frequencies' column, providing us with the latest news from the world of Star Trek and other sci-fi. Besides a round-up of this week's most important Trek news and a series of coordinated attacks on Voyager, the column also contains a short news item about a Holodoc episode which is apparently filming this week, called 'Virtuoso'. Unfortunately, no plot details are provided in the full column.

Rules of Acquisition CCG Rules
Christian (7:27 pm CST)
Decipher, the publisher of the official Star Trek Customizable Card Game, has put up the official rules of the upcoming CCG expansion pack 'Rules of Acquisition', plus a preview of 12 of the cards from the expansion pack. These are the same 12 cards which will be provided to players taking part in the upcoming World Championships, which should have a rather major effect:

You can bet these cards are going to have a major impact on the Championship. Many of them have been chosen for their powerful "countering" effects; these cards are designed to stop some of the strongest and most often abused strategies in the current play environment. They provide strong responses to decks built around Black Hole, Q-Bypass, bonus points, Computer Crash, Anti-Time Anomaly, Red Alert, Rogue Borg Mercenaries, Visit Cochrane Memorial, and more. If you thought you knew what sort of deck would dominate the World Championship, you'd better think again!

Alien Voices On RealNetworks
Christian (7:27 pm CST)
The official Continuum has put up an article about Alien Voices, the production company of Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and John deLancie (Q). Apparently, they have just signed a deal with RealNetworks to broadcast six classic science-fiction radio shows over the internet, completely for free. RealNetworks will be broadcasting the stories (amounting to more than 11 hours of programming) in a serial format, with the titles of the stories hopefully being announced later. More can be found in the full article.

Five Days Of Seven Of Nine
Christian (7:26 pm CST)
David Henderson at Psi Phi has uploaded the Voyager syndication schedule for the ninth week of syndication, called 'Five Days of Seven of Nine'. In this week local stations running the Voyager episodes will be showing episodes such as 'One', 'Someone To Watch Over Me' and 'Relativity', all centered around Voyager's resident Borg. Find the full schedule here.

Overnight Ratings 'Dark Frontier'
Christian (7:26 pm CST)
Greg Fuller at the Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has posted the overnight ratings report for 'Dark Frontier', the Voyager telefilm which UPN repeated yesterday. For a rerun, the news is actually pretty good:

Amusingly, Voyager's best ratings news in a few weeks comes on the heels of its first rerun of the 6th season. "Dark Frontier" earned an adequate 3.9 rating, 6 share during its first half, but managed a very strong 4.7/7 in its second hour, remaining flat from Voyager's last three first-run shows.

UPN Sweeps Plans
Christian (7:26 pm CST)
UltimateTV has put up a new article about the plans by the six national networks for November, one of the three ratings sweeps months. Included in the feature is of course also a section on UPN's sweeps slate, which also includes new info on Voyager's 'One Small Step' and 'Pathfinder' episodes. Thanks go out to Jose for this.

'Spock Vs Q' Hits Stores
Christian (7:26 pm CST)
The Continuum is reporting that 'Spock vs Q', the new audio book by Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and John deLancie (Q), is now available in bookstores. Take a look at what the audio book is about:

Alien Voices Inc. has created a unique audio-only program featuring an intellectual showdown between Spock and Q in "Star Trek: Spock vs. Q." In what has been touted as a first-ever fully dramatized Star Trek audiobook the two characters will go head to head over whether the earth and humanity is worth saving from an impending asteroid. The two actors use their great talents to create a drama that is at time hilarious, intense and above all compelling.

Today On TV
Christian (7:25 pm CST)
-On Friday in the United States, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the first-season TOS episode 'Space Seed' at 5:00pm Eastern Time.

-On Friday in the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing DS9's 'Second Skin' at 17:00 and at 23:30 BST, according to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective.

-On Friday in Germany, Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Quarks Schicksal' (Body Parts) at 15:00 CET.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (7:25 pm CST)
Here's a short look at some of the current Trek BBS discussions:

-What is your opinion of UPN's Voyager promos?

-Did Dark Frontier rip of 'Crusade'?

Find more at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (7:25 pm CST)
Does anyone know something about Internet Explorer 5? I just installed it to replace version 4, but ever since I've been having this annoying problem while opening new browser windows (something I do all the time while collecting news for the site) - for some reason, the new browser window then only takes up about a quarter of the screen. Does anyone know if this can be fixed? If so, please do let me know.

'Insurrection: Hidden Evil' Interview
Christian (6:18 pm CST)
Over at the official Continuum, they've put up an interview with Laird Malamed, Activision's brand manager for their Star Trek games. In the interview, he mostly talks about their 'Star Trek: Hidden Evil' game, which is currently scheduled for release on the 11th of November. One of the most interesting parts in the interview is where Malamed talks about the background of the game's main character:

Malamed feels that the story of Star Trek: Hidden Evil is as strong as any great Star Trek: The Next Generation episode or film. In the game the character Sovok is a human who has been raised on the planet Vulcan after his scientist parents are killed in a warp experiment. "Sovok could never reach the Vulcan state of logic and so he turned to Starfleet. At the start of the game he is working on a space station that is in orbit around Ba'ku. We had a lot of fun writing the back story." When asked whether or not the story is set in stone before the game is built Malamed laughed, "Yes, the story is set. We have to have a strong three act structure. Still that story is affected by the demands of the game design and the spontaneous discoveries that take place while we created the product."

Voyager 'Riddles' Promo
Christian (6:17 pm CST)
Mr. Video Productions has uploaded the promo for next week's new Voyager episode, 'Riddles'. As is usual for UPN Voyager promos, the preview is incredibly bad, undoubtedly providing a very wrong look at the actual episode. If you still want to see the promo, you can find it at Vidiot's site, while there's of course also the usual TrekToday mirror, which probably is a bit faster.

Jennifer Lien At Galaxy Ball
Christian (6:17 pm CST)
The official web site of the 2nd Annual Galaxy Ball, hosted by Robert Beltran to benefit the Down Syndrome Association, has announced that Jennifer Lien has been added to the official guest list. She will only be appearing at the ball itself, and not at the day activities. The full guest list can be found here. Thanks go out to Jeff 'Koganuts' Koga for pointing me to this!

'Voyager: Elite Force' Team Info
Christian (6:17 pm CST)
Apache at GameFan has just put up a letter from Michael Gummelt, in which he provides a detailed rundown of who does what on the game. You can find the listing here.

Four New DS9 Videos Released
Christian (6:16 pm CST)
In a news article at the official Continuum, Paramount just announced they've released four new DS9 videos:

Grab your keys and hit the hardware store, it's time to build more shelves for your Star Trek video collection. Adding to the extensive Star Trek library, Paramount Home Video has just released four more episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The episodes, which come from the Third Season of the long-running series are "Past Tense - Part I" (Episode 57), "Past Tense Part II" (Episode 58), "Life Support" (Episode 59) and "Heart of Stone" (Episode 60).

Continuum J.G. Hertzler Article
Christian (6:16 pm CST)
The official Star Trek Continuum has put up an article about the two Deep Space Nine books which J.G. Hertzler (General Martok) will be writing for Pocket Books. Take a look at what Herztler himself has to say about the books:

"Every great character has secrets buried in the past," says Hertzler in a press release. "Klingons, I have found, are no different. And the demons that haunt Martok are proving to be the blood and bone of a very unusual and, I hope, defining tale of this richly complex people."

Jammer Reviews 'Alice'
Christian (6:16 pm CST)
Over at Star Trek: Hypertext, Jamahl Epsicokhan has finally managed to catch up with the actual episodes, having just put up his review of Voyager's 'Alice'. Almost as miraculously, Jammer doesn't seem to hate the episode as much as most of his fellow reviewers did:

I don't have much interesting to say about our friend "Alice." It's the sort of middling plot-based story that just doesn't demand a great deal of discussion. There aren't many themes that are sufficiently interesting to dissect; there are no real insights or implications to ponder; there are no real surprises; and unlike the previous four episodes, I didn't get the sense that the characters were the important aspect of the story, because it's the plot that's piloting this ship.

"Alice" is, however, a competent, watchable hour-long exercise with a few interesting moments as well as some questionable ones. This sort of story might best fall into the genre of "sci-fi procedural." It's not quite engaging enough to be labeled a mystery. Not boring enough to be labeled a failure. "Alice" so much tempts me to offer up a non-reaction reaction.

Playstation Klingon Academy Dead
Christian (6:16 pm CST)
GameSpot has a report up announcing that Interplay has officially canned the Playstation version of their upcoming 'Klingon Academy' game. The announcement contains the following rather amusing paragraph, making one wonder what kind of geniuses actually work at Interplay:

Interestingly enough, this is the second Interplay Star Trek title to have been given the ax. In March of 1998, Interplay put its Starfleet Academy PlayStation project to rest, calling the PlayStation's 2MB system memory insufficient. One month later, Interplay announced the development of Klingon Academy.

Happy Birthday!
Christian (6:15 pm CST)
Today is the 46th birthday of Robert Picardo, best known for his role as the Holodoc on 'Star Trek: Voyager'.

Today On TV
Christian (6:15 pm CST)
-Tonight at 8:00pm in the United States, UPN will be rerunning last year's special Voyager telemovie, 'Dark Frontier'. Take a look at how the official Continuum describes the film:

After defeating a Borg vessel, Janeway launches an ambitious plan to steal a piece of Borg technology that could get the U.S.S. Voyager home. When the Borg detect her plan, they swiftly access Seven of Nine's neural transceiver and make her an "offer" she can't refuse -- rejoin the Borg collective or the U.S.S. Voyager and it's crew will be assimilated. Janeway must confront the Borg in their own vessel in order to rescue Seven, risking a possibly devastating confrontation with the Borg Queen!

-On Thursday in Germany, Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Hoffnung' at 15:00 CET.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (6:15 pm CST)
Here are a couple of interesting topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Was the Crystalline Entity stolen from 'The Avengers'?

-If Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres had children, what would they be like?

Find more at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (6:14 pm CST)
As I don't have anything insightful to write today myself, I figured I'd use this space to try to help two TrekToday readers who recently each asked me a Trek question which I unfortunately couldn't answer. If you are able to help these people, please send me an email at christian@trektoday.com and I'll forward your responses.

First off, George Czender recently received a Star Trek 3D Chess Set, but didn't receive any detailed instructions with it. He'd very much like to be able to play the game with his friends, so he'd appreciate it if someone would send along an instruction file.

Secondly, Julia Houston at About.com's Star Trek Fans is looking for the text of the poem about Star Trek which DeForest Kelley wrote years ago. If you know the text of this poem, please send it in.

Again, if you are able to help these fellow Trek fans, please send mail to christian@trektoday.com - it'll earn you their eternal gratitude.

Bormanis On 'Demon'
Christian (5:38 pm CST)
After a long debate on the TrekWeb Message Boards about the lack of scientific accuracy in the truly awful Voyager episode 'Demon', regular poster and man-with-sources MikeJonas just posted a letter by Voyager's science advisor Andre Bormanis, who was also responsible for 'Demon':

In my original story Voyager was down to its last dilithium crystal, and the only source within sensor range was the Demon planet. The producers wanted to have Voyager searching for deuterium because, I suppose, it fuels the ship and the consequences of the ship running out of "gas" seemed clearer to them (and led to some funnier dialog) than losing its last dilithium crystal. I pointed out more than once that deuterium is abundant in interstellar space, and could readily be swept up by the ship's Bussard collectors, but they wanted to stick with the idea of the ship desperately running out of fuel. I suppose one could argue that there are regions of space devoid of deuterium, but that wasn't my first choice. Other elements of the story were changed from the original as well, which is just a fact of life in the television world.

Jeri Ryan TV Guide Article
Christian (5:38 pm CST)
Today's edition of TV Guide's Daily Dish features an interesting article about Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), and her new film 'Men Cry Bullets'. In the article, she talks about meeting a fan of hers who had never seen her as Seven, the film itself, and, of course, Star Trek fans:

"They are somewhat passionate," Ryan says winkingly of her fans. "But, my God, you have to love them. You have to love Star Trek fans because there is no more loyal or more passionate group of fans anywhere. They'll go to the ends of earth for you. They're very sweet and very dedicated."

New Voyager Episode Revealed
Christian (5:38 pm CST)
NOTE: Below you will find spoilers for a completely new Voyager episode. Click here to avoid them.

Again, this is where you need to click to avoid being spoiled.

Backstage Pass just published the below info about an all-new Voyager episode, which is scheduled to start filming on the 4th of November:

In much the same way that Star Trek: The Next Generation cashed in on the Klingons (they rarely went wrong doing a Klingon story), Voyager is banking on the Borg. In an episode slated to begin production November 4th, the Voyager crew run into "The Collective", a set of Borgified children that have been separated from the collective (notice that separation seems to be recurring theme for Voyager?). Determined to rejoin the Collective at any cost, these little demon seeds hold the Voyager crew hostage until things turn really ugly. Unbeknownst to the would be Borg babies, they're "flawed" and the Collective would rather destroy them than let them interface. Look for a lot of 7 of 9 angst scenes as some of the Borg children start to question returning to the collective.

Buy A Trek Cheque
Christian (5:37 pm CST)
The Anthony Grandio Company has just announced it will soon be launching a set of bank cheques based around popular entertainment properties such as 'The Wizard of Oz', 'Xena', and, of course, 'Star Trek'. Take a look at what you'll be able to expect from the Star Trek cheques:

The Star Trek line features four series, each with five to eight scenes: Classic, Next Generation, United Federation of Planets, and Ships of StarFleet Command.

Today On TV
Christian (5:37 pm CST)
-On Wednesday in the United States, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the first-season TOS episode 'Court Martial' at 5:00pm Eastern Time.

-On Wednesday in the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing DS9's 'The House of Quark' at 17:00 and at 23:30 BST. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.

-Sat.1's web site appears to be down at the moment, so unfortunately there's no German TV data today.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:37 pm CST)
Take a look at a few of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Whatever happened to the hundreds of other little Changelings the Founders sent out?

-In 'Phage', Neelix was donated a lung by Kes. Does this mean that this lung will also only have a nine-year life span.

More topics can be found at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:36 pm CST)
After yesterday's incredibly huge update, it only seems fitting that today's update is somewhat on the small side - hopefully tomorrow I'll manage to even things out and get a regularly sized update again :-).

Trek Stars In 'Eye of the Beholder'
Christian (6:19 pm CST)
Dark Horizons is reporting that Destination Films has just opened the official web site for their new movie Eye of the Beholder. The two female stars in the movie should be familiar to Trek fans - Ashley Judd appeared in two episodes of TNG as Ensign Robin Lefler, while Geneviève Bujold was originally cast as Kathryn Janeway until, one day after starting production on 'Caretaker', she decided she didn't want to do series television after all. Thanks go out to Jeff 'Koganuts' Koga for the link!

Cult Times 'ST: TMP' Issue
Christian (6:18 pm CST)
Visual Imaginations Publications has just published issue 50 of Cult Times, the monthly 'telefantasy guide'. Besides a massive celebration of their 50th issue, the magazine also contains a special feature about the Star Trek movies, in order to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture'. You can find a preview of this article by going here - the full version can of course be found in the actual magazine. Thanks go out to Gustavo Leao for this.

'Insurrection: Hidden Evil' Shots
Christian (6:18 pm CST)
The Adrenaline Vault has posted a dozen new screenshots of 'Insurrection: Hidden Evil', Activision's upcoming first Star Trek release. One of the shots gives us the first close-up look at Picard and Data, who, to put it mildly, don't look very impressive, but maybe I've just been spoiled by the many 'DS9: The Fallen' and 'Voyager: Elite Force' shots. In any case, you can find the screenshots here - thanks go out to Blue for the link.

Voyager Fan Wishlist
Christian (6:18 pm CST)
Julia Houston at About.com's Star Trek Fans has put up a new feature article, consisting almost completely of several of her readers' wishes for the new Voyager season:

A few weeks ago I made up my own Voyager Wishlist. I asked back then for people to send in their own wishes and responses and promised to publish them if they did. To my surprise and pleasure, several people sent their wishes in! I'm publishing them this week, in honor of the season's first rerun.

New Sev Trek Cartoon
Christian (6:18 pm CST)

'Perchance to Dream' Comics Review
Christian (6:17 pm CST)
Randy Lander and Don MacPherson at PsyComic! have put up an advance review of the first issue of the TNG comic 'Perchance to Dream', written by Keith R.A. DeCandido and containing art by Pete Pachoumis and Lucian Rizzo. The reviewers seem pretty impressed:

I am a casual Star Trek viewer, but I'm not the world's biggest fan, so I wasn't really that excited about the announcement of yet another shot at the Trek license. However, Wildstorm seems to be doing it right, grabbing writers and artists that non-Trek fans like me will be interested in. In this case, it's writer (and former editor of the Marvel line of novels) Keith R.A. DeCandido, and he turns in a story every bit as good as the ones I've read from him in other places.

Upcoming Trek Novel Covers
Christian (6:17 pm CST)
David Henderson at Psi Phi has put up scans of the front cover images of the same four upcoming Trek novels for which he recently already provided the back cover text, namely the Captain's Table omnibus, two DS9: Millennium novels, and a trivia book. Especially interesting should be the cover of 'Millenium Book Two: The War of the Prophets', as it provides a first look at (wait for it...) Kai Weyoun! You can find the cover images via Psi Phi's What's New page.

'Klingon Academy' Development Log
Christian (6:17 pm CST)
I noticed over on Klingon Academy News that Interplay have put up a special development page for their upcoming space simulation, 'Klingon Academy'. On the page, the game's developers provide an inside look at how things are progressing with the game, which is scheduled to go gold in just a few weeks. Take a look at a status report from Mark Murakami, programmer on the game:

Bugs, bugs, bugs. Most of our efforts lately have been in bug fixing. We have a great quality assurance team, and they have been a valuable tool in helping us track down bugs. Some examples of daily bugs that we might encounter are: Minor code errors, minor logic errors or design flaws that come up from game testing, minor additions we feel need to be added to the game, etc. Its amazing how many little things come up during playtesting.

Aside from bug fixing, we have also been working a lot with the scriptors lately. We have been working together to get all of the mission details into the game and working. Also, we have started working on a lot of game optimizing. Sections of the 3D engine, 2D overlays, AI, and sound engine, have been much improved, and we plan to continuing to optimize the game even more. Music has been another recent addition. We have a great system that allows the scriptors to change music themes seamlessly during a mission.

'Mark of Gideon' Article
Christian (6:16 pm CST)
Over at the Trek Nation, we've put up a new article by Joe Beaudoin. In it, he looks at a situation depicted in the Original Series episode 'The Mark of Gideon' which Earth itself is facing right now - overpopulation:

In The Original Series third-season, which wasn't as bad as some people said it was, the episode "The Mark of Gideon" is pretty much the only episode ever done within the Trek realm that concentrates on the problems of overpopulation. It is the only episode of Star Trek that makes us think of how humanity - or humanoids in this case - are hurting their planet, as well as hurting themselves, by overpopulation. It tells of the Gideons' want for privacy, even if it only lasted for one second, and what extreme measures they will do to get it. One of the best episodes of any Star Trek ever that deals with a subject matter that can be applied today, despite being told nearly three-and-a-half decades ago.

German DS9 Ratings
Christian (6:16 pm CST)
Martin Seebacher at the German Corona WebBEAT has put up a report about the latest Trek ratings in Germany and Austria. Here's a summary:

• The daily DS9 repeats have been attracting between 560,000 (for 'Hard Time') and 720,000 (for 'Shattered Mirror') viewers, translating to a market share of between 7.8% and 9.7%.

• The new episode 'The Siege of AR-558' was watched by 860,000 viewers, achieving a market share of just 7.7%.

• In Austria, the daily TNG reruns have been achieving market shares between the 11% (for 'Lower Decks') and 16% (for 'The Pegasus'), over the past week.

The original report can be found here.

Scarlett Pomers News
Christian (6:16 pm CST)
The official Scarlett Pomers Homepage, a fan site for Scarlett Pomers (Naomi Wildman), has put up a set of news items about upcoming appearances by the young actress. First of all, the site is reporting that on the 25th of October PAX-tv will rerun Pomers' 'Touched by an Angel' episode, 'The Sky is Falling'. In addition, she'll of course also feature in Wednesday's 'Dark Frontier' rerun, and in the upcoming episode 'Dragon's Teeth'. Secondly, Pomers has two public appearances scheduled in Los Angeles and in Orlando. Take a look:

On Halloween, Scarlett will be signing autographs at Universal Studios Hollywood at a benefit for the Ronald McDonald Kids Cancer Camp. Then, on November 13-14, she will travel to Orlando, Fl to appear at Vulkon (sci-fi convention). She will be signing autographs, speaking on stage, and even peforming a few songs! For more information, visit vulkon.com.

Jammer 'Tinker Tenor' Review
Christian (6:16 pm CST)
Over at Star Trek: Hypertext, Jamahl Epsicokhan has uploaded his review of 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy', last week's Voyager Doctor comedy. Here's a snippet:

Voyager is off to a very good start this season--its best start ever, I'm inclined to say. At 4-for-4 on the season, Voyager is reminding me why I watch it. The latest entry to season six, "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy," is a refreshingly funny comic piece that ranks among the better Trek comedies, and probably the best-executed since DS9's "In the Cards."

More Voyager Cast Photos
Christian (6:16 pm CST)
As you may recall, a few weeks ago two great publicity stills appeared on the net, showing the Voyager cast out of costume, dressed in stylish black outfits. Now, RanDoM Flight, the official fan club of Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), has put up the rest of the photos from this photo session, consisting of individual photos of the cast members. You can find the photos by visiting RanDoM Flight's Season 6 Gallery. Sorry for not reporting on this earlier - apparently sometime in the past few months the site moved from its old AOL address to Geocities, and I hadn't noticed. Thanks go out to Terry at the Coffee Nebula for pointing me to this.

New Starfleet Command Review
Christian (6:15 pm CST)
You'd think everyone would have played the game by now, but apparently the people at Game Forces felt otherwise, as they've just put up a review of Interplay's 'Starfleet Command'. In the review, the game is awarded 4 stars:

Starfleet Command shows all the signs of an excellent game, there are just some things that got left out. Regardless, this title is bound to keep you in for a long time -- exploring the many races, spacecraft, and missions available. Multiplayer just adds more to the re-playability.

Send Picardo A Birthday Wish
Christian (6:15 pm CST)
Two days from now, it will be the 46th birthday of Robert Picardo (the Holodoc) and, as usual, his official fan club is offering you the chance to send him a birthday greeting. To do so, you should visit the site's guestbook and fill in a birthday greeting there - in the end they will all be forwarded to Picardo himself, who usually really appreciates his fans' birthday wishes.

'Insurrection: Hidden Evil' Interview
Christian (6:15 pm CST)
German Trek site Star Trek: Creative has put up an interview with Jamey Scott, composer and sound designer for Activision's upcoming 'Insurrection: Hidden Evil' game. Here's a snippet:

1) Can you give a short description what you are doing at Presto?

I am the head of audio production at Presto Studios. I've been here for over 3 years and have been the sole audio designer on all of their products since. My tasks include overseeing the complete audio production including voice over production and editing. Designing sound effects, mixing, processing and compose all of the music for the games.

TrekWeb 'Alice' Review
Christian (6:15 pm CST)
Ouch. Like most other reviewers, Steve Perry at TrekWeb doesn't exactly appear to be in love with 'Alice', Voyager's latest new episode. Take a look at how he starts his review:

Thank God "Alice" doesn't air here any more. I'd hate to see her show up again, and I seriously doubt any follow up would be as good as the excellent "Course: Oblivion" was to the awful "Demon."

That's because "Alice" was devoid of all idea content, completely paint by numbers and badly done even by that. We've seen these episodes before. Usually they try to ask a question, like maybe is the ship really sentient, but here Alice was quickly made into an unredeemable baddie, with no clear motivation besides "I want to get to the particle fountain." What in the world were they thinking?

Fairfield Con Report
Christian (6:14 pm CST)
NikkiDeBoer.com has posted a report of Fanfest 99, a convention held in Fairfield, California last Sunday. Being written for a fan site for Nicole deBoer (Ezri Dax), the report mostly deals with deBoer's appearance. According to the report, deBoer told the usual convention stories about her casting and about her first meeting with William Shatner (James T. Kirk), but apparently she also provided some info about her upcoming wedding:

Okay that's really all the stories I can remember, but a couple of other interesting points: She's getting married on December 18th! Sounds like she's heavy into wedding plans right now!. Most of you know her mom's from Glasgow. Came to Canada with her sister, and parents too of course, when she was 7. Nicole recently got to go there and meet up with family she had never seen before. Her parents are divorced and her mother is remarried. Her father is Dutch/German. Um… sounds like she had a close nit family, although there are very few of them. But happily it's about to get bigger, as John comes from a large family. She told a funny story of how she went to see his mom one day, and had some of her Star Trek pictures with her. And has her mother-in-law to be was going through them, she was pulling them out say 'I'll take this one… and that one.' She than proceeded to remove John's pictures from the family gallery wall and replace them with Nicole's. She figures she's just one of the gang now!

Trek Game Release Dates
Christian (6:14 pm CST)
A poster at the Observation Lounge (the discussion forums of Section 31 is reporting about the November issue of PC Gamer, which apparently lists the following 2 Trek game release dates:

Star Trek - Hidden Evil (11/5)
Star Trek - Klingon Academy (11/19)

[Update:] And 'Insurrection: Hidden Evil' won't - Activision's Star Trek brand manager Laird Malamed just told me the game's ship date is scheduled for the 11th of November.

German Final Chapter Titles
Christian (6:14 pm CST)
The German Corona WebBEAT has a report up about the German titles of the last 8 episodes of Deep Space Nine, which are currently being shown on the pay channel 'Premiere World'. Take a look:

'Eine sonderbare Kombination' ('Strange Bedfellows')
'Im Angesicht des Bösen' ('The Changing Face Of Evil')
'Ein Unglück kommt selten allein' ('When It Rains')
'Kampf mit allen Mitteln' ('Tacking Into The Wind')
'Extreme Maßnahmen' ('Extreme Measures')
'In den Wirren des Krieges' ('The Dogs Of War')
'Das, was Du zurücklässt ' ('What You Leave Behind ')

'Voyager: Elite Force' Impressions
Christian (6:14 pm CST)
Evil Avatar has posted a short article by Raven's Pat Lipo, in which the Project Leader (not working on 'Elite Force') tells us about his impressions of the Voyager game. Obviously, this preview is written from a somewhat biased perspective, but it still makes the game sound incredibly great:

Usually when you see an in-game cinematic while playing a PC game, it involves static shots, awkward timing, and stilted dialogue. In contrast, what I saw [programmer Mike Gummelt] working on really surprised me. He showed a scene that started with the main character and other members of his team working on the holodeck. Without going into detail as to the plot of the scene, the camera is set well to convey the emotion of the moment as the other team members walk past him and leave the holodeck. Tuvok begins a conversation with him and the camera moved extremely well, framing the scene and moving with the two actors as they continued down the hallway, while another crew member in the background starts a new program on the holodeck and enters. The two enter the turbolift and continue their conversation, just like a scene might occur in the show.

Today On TV
Christian (6:13 pm CST)
-On Tuesday in the United States, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the first-season TOS episode 'Tomorrow Is Yesterday' at 5:00pm Eastern Time.

-On Tuesday in the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing DS9's 'The Search, Part Two' at 17:00 and at 23:30 BST, according to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective.

-On Tuesday in Germany, Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'In eigener Sache' at 15:00 CET.

-On Tuesday in Australia, Channel Nine will be showing DS9's 'The Begotten' at 11:05pm. Thanks go out to Jamie McGregor for this!

Trek BBS Today
Christian (6:13 pm CST)
Below you'll find the usual look at the most interesting topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Do you agree with Mark Altman that a ship-based Series V would be the end of the Star Trek franchise?

-How do you like Seven Days, the sci-fi show airing before 'Voyager'?

Find more topics at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (6:13 pm CST)
Phew. It's been quite a while since we had an update this huge. How can one sci-fi series possibly generate so much news in a single day?

Armin Shimerman Interview
Christian (5:51 pm CST)
The Great Link has put up an interview with Armin Shimerman (Quark), which first appeared in the British Star Trek Monthly. In the interview, Shimerman looks back at DS9's final season, talks about the Ferengi episodes and his Ferengi novel 'The 34th Rule', and criticises the fact that Ezri Dax was featured so prominently in the seventh season:

"Also, I must say that as much as I'm a big fan of Nicole deBoer, the first part of the season was really the Nicole deBoer show. I know we had to set that character up, but there was just a tremendous amount of focus on that, so much so that I think even Nicole would have said, 'Enough already. I've got too much.' And she did have some hard times when she realised that she was going to be the lead in every single episode in the first part of the last season."

'Dark Frontier' Repeat Promo Online
Christian (5:50 pm CST)
Mr. Video Productions has put up the promo for next week's rerun of the Voyager telemovie 'Dark Frontier'. The trailer is 32 seconds long, has a file size of 5.7 MB. I'm not sure if the actual promo itself is different from the original one from last year, but at least the voice-over is different, so completists will want to get this. You can download it by going here.

Cynics Corner Reviews 'Alice'
Christian (5:50 pm CST)
There's only one good side to bad Voyager episodes - the reviews at the Cynics Corner get a lot more entertaining. Cynic David E. Sluss just uploaded his review of 'Alice', providing a rather complete look at all the episode's bad points. Here are his two first criticisms:

VOYAGER CLICHE OF THE WEEK:
"There's an unauthorized shuttle launch!" "Close the door!" "Too late!" In the history of Voyager (and Star Trek in general), has an unauthorized shuttle launch ever been stopped in the shuttle bay?

VOYAGER CLICHE OF THE WEEK RUNNER-UP:
A couple more mentions of the hated deuterium appear in this episode. By now, Braga and company must have heard of the problem with Voyager's treatment of the real-world substance; it's as if they are deliberately ignoring it and/or giving the middle finger to those who like a little science in their science fiction. In any case, it seems to be turning into an idiotic running gag, like DS9's Alamo and waste extraction comments.

New Sev Trek Cartoon Online
Christian (5:50 pm CST)

Fed HQ 'Klingon Academy' Interview
Christian (5:49 pm CST)
Jean van Gemert at Federation HQ sends along word that they've put up an interview with Ron Hodge, one of the designers working on Interplay's upcoming 'Klingon Academy' game. The interview contains the exciting news that, unlike in most of 'Starfleet Academy', you will actually be able to graduate and fly some real missions in the game:

Federation HQ: And the missions will presumably follow a storyline? Or will they be stand-alone with some mini-campaigns like in SFA?

Ron Hodge: The missions follow two story lines. The first is a simulated war with the Federation, and the missions follow the progression of that war. The second is a real life Klingon civil war, and the missions follow the progression of the civil war.

Federation HQ: Will you be able to graduate from the academy and go on some real missions to kick Federation butt?

Ron Hodge: You graduate from the academy about halfway through the game, and the second half is a real civil war.

CIC Box Sets Announced
Christian (5:48 pm CST)
The Great Link is reporting about two new box sets which CIC UK will be releasing in December 1999. The first set is called the 'Seven of Nine Box Set', consisting of three tapes featuring the episodes : 'Revulsion', 'Retrospect', 'One', 'Hope and Fear', 'Night', 'Drone', 'Infinite Regress' and 'Bliss'. Together with four picture cards of Voyager's resident Borg, the set will retail for £19.99. Considering there have been so many episodes dealing with Seven, CIC is apparently planning to release another box set with more Seven of Nine episodes sometime in the future.

The second box set scheduled to be released in December is a new movie box set, consisting of all the nine Trek feature films in widescreen format. You'll have to pay £59.99 to obtain this one. Thanks go out to the Great Link's Vorta's Video Vault for this.

UPN 44 Spoil Voyager Episodes
Christian (5:47 pm CST)
NOTE: Below you will find spoilers for 'Dragon's Teeth' and 'One Small Step', two Voyager episodes which will be airing in November. Click here to avoid these spoilers.

Again, this is where you need to click to avoid being spoiled.

UPN 44, which as far as I can tell is located in San Francisco, has put up summaries of 'Dragon's Teeth' and 'One Small Step', which will air on the 10th and the 17th of November, respectively. Take a look:

DRAGON'S TEETH (episode #607)
To avoid a surprise attack, our crew lands on a planet where they encounter a species that has been in stasis for almost 900 years. In order to escape, Janeway solicits the help of this species. In return, she promises to find a suitable planet for this species to take over. Later, Janeway learns that this species is quite violent and is bent on using Voyager's technology to create and expand their violent culture. In the end, Janeway is able to negotiate with the attackers to defeat this violent species.

ONE SMALL STEP (episode #608)
Our crew encounters a strange energy field out in space that has collected all sorts of space matter. Included in the space craft that was used for the first manned mission to Mars in 2032. In the process of trying to retrieve it, the away team's craft is damaged. Seven is sent aboard the old Mars craft for parts. On this ship, Seven finds the preserved remains of the captain of that Mars mission. Seven beams him aboard the ship and he is given a proper burial.

SFX Series V Article
Christian (5:47 pm CST)
Christopher Howell at the Great Link has re-printed a very interesting article about Series V, which first appeared in the December 1999 issue of SFX Magazine. In it, they talk to Trek historian and 'Free Enterprise' producer Mark Altman, and an unnamed inside source at Paramount. The article contains a few interesting quotes which I thought I'd also put up here:

What the next series will be seems to be the key question at this moment, and there have been a wide variety of rumours floating around, among them a show dealing with the Klingons, another that resurrects Captain Kirk, and most of which surround Starfleet Academy and a Top Gun-like setting. The most recent, however involves a crew of cadets on a vessel named "Excellent". One source dose to the situation who wishes to remain anonymous told SFX, "They keep denying the Flight Academy idea, but that's the leading contender right now. The studio wants to see something on a ship. In fact, they want the next movie on a ship with a new crew. Nothing's been firmed up. The one thing that is firm is that it'll be Rick Berman and Brannon Braga who will create it."

[...]

Of the rumours surrounding the new series, Altman adds, "I've heard everything from the Time Police to the 28th Century after the Federation has collapsed which was a pet idea of Robert Wolfe and Ira Behr. I think they'll probably be conservative and go with either another ship or another Enterprise. I'm in the minority when I say I like the Starfleet Academy idea. I think it's a way to get back to what appealed to me about the original Star Trek the idea of a bunch of people who are optimistic about the future trying to make changes. People who were inspired into public service. It sort of taps into the Kennedy New Frontier-ism that inspired Classic Trek's Final Frontier. I think you can deal with a lot of contemporary issues like interracial dating, which would be interspecies dating through metaphor. It would also attract a younger demographic to the show. Ship shows in Star Trek have been done to death."

Activision Launch Party
Christian (5:46 pm CST)
Marc Dultz at Gamecenter has put up a report about a recent Activision launch party in Manhattan, organised to promote the company's upcoming releases for the holiday season. Of course, 'Insurrection: Hidden Evil' was also shown there:

Set nine months after the events portrayed in the feature film Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek: Hidden Evil takes players back to the mystical planet of Ba'ku. Without giving away too much of the plot, players are initially charged with thwarting a Romulan plot to harness the planet's strange powers of immortality. Hidden Evil boasts the voice acting talents of Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard) and Brent Spiner (Data), and also features the voices of several of the supporting cast members. Developed for the PC, Hidden Evil should be appearing in stores soon, accompanying the release of the Insurrectionhome video.

Poll Results
Christian (5:46 pm CST)
Below are the results of the most recent TrekToday poll, in which you gave your opinion on 'Alice', Voyager's most recent episode. Judging by both the low amount of votes and the rather bad grades, 'Alice' doesn't appear to have been as successful as the previous four Voyager episodes:

How would you grade 'Alice'? 7-8 28.6% - (85 Votes) 5-6 22.2% - (66 Votes) 9-10 20.8% - (62 Votes) Wasn't able to see it 12.7% - (38 Votes) 3-4 7% - (21 Votes) 1-2 6.7% - (20 Votes) Didn't want to see it 1.6% - (5 Votes) Total Votes: 297

Happy Birthday!
Christian (5:45 pm CST)
Today is the 60th birthday of F. Murray Abraham, who starred as Ad'har Ru'afo in 'Star Trek: Insurrection'.

Today On TV
Christian (5:45 pm CST)
-On Monday in the United States, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the Original Series episode 'Arena' at 5:00pm Eastern Time.

-On Monday in the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing DS9's 'The Search, Part One' at 17:00 and at 23:30 BST, and the new DS9 episode 'Treachery, Faith and the Great River' at 20:00. Thanks go out to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective for this.

-On Monday in Germany, Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Die Muse' (The Muse) at 15:00 CET.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:45 pm CST)
Here's a look at some of the discussions currently going on at the Trek BBS:

-Today is the 8th anniversary of the death of Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek's creator. Share your thoughts in this thread.

-Who elects the Federation President?

Find more at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:44 pm CST)
Okay, let's quickly get this update out - I'm about to fall asleep over my keyboard. I can only fear how I'll feel tomorrow morning, when it's Monday again.

New Sev Trek Competition
Christian (5:55 pm CST)
John Cook at Sev Trek has uploaded a new edition of the 'Write Your Own Sev Trek' competition:

'Dragon's Teeth' Spoilers
Christian (5:51 pm CST)
NOTE: Below you will find spoilers for the upcoming Voyager episode 'Dragon's Teeth'. Click here to avoid them.

Again, click here to avoid being spoiled for 'Dragon's Teeth'.

In the new edition of his 'Trailer Park' column for AnotherUniverse's Mania Magazine, Rob Allstetter has posted a rather detailed synopsis of 'Dragon's Teeth', an episode about which very little was yet known. Take a look at how Allstetter summarises the episode, which will air on the 10th of November:

Voyager accidentally drifts into a sub-space corridor and is attacked by the Turei, a territorial race whose armada forces Janeway and her crew to take shelter on a ravaged planet, where they encounter another warlike species whose survivors are encased in bio-pods awaiting re-animation. Escaping from the superior force of the Turei, Janeway makes repairs while on a planet whose civilization lies in ruins save for a few hundred stasis chambers holding the slumbering remnants of the Vaadwaur, an ancient culture thought to be extinct. While the captain seeks to form an alliance with the Vaadwaur against the persistent Turei, and promises to find them a new home - she soon senses that her new allies within might pose a greater threat than the enemy she knows is circling above.

Comics Q&A Updated
Christian (5:51 pm CST)
Over at the Trek Nation, Wildstorm editor Jeff Mariotte has posted a new set of answers to fan questions about his upcoming Star Trek comics line. Take a look at two highlights:

Query From: Mike Urvand
Have you given any more thought about a New Frontier series?

Response From: Jeff Mariotte
Thinking about it all the time. I'm confident that there will be a series or at least a one-shot.

Query From: ben meyers
Hi. The artwork previews I've seen do look cool, and the plot outlines sound intriguing. I can hardly wait for new ST comics! Will there be any Wildstorm ST preview / ashcan comics produced? And how can I get one? Thanks.

Response From: Jeff Mariotte
There was a preview book released at Comic Con International: San Diego. It was black and white, just stapled, and contained art from "False Colors" and "Perchance to Dream." It was very limited, and long gone. But you don't have to wait much longer for the books themselves!

Official UPN 'Riddles' Synopsis
Christian (5:50 pm CST)
NOTE: As the title of this post already suggested, below you will find spoilers for the upcoming Voyager episode 'Riddles'. To stay unaware of what is to come, please click here.

Again, this is where you need to click to avoid being spoiled.

UPN has updated its Voyager page to include the official synopsis for 'Riddles', the Voyager episode which will air on the 3rd of November. Take a look:

During negotiations with the Kesat government, Tuvok is zapped by a powerful energy force, suffers severe neurological trauma and emerges as a mere shell of his former self. Meanwhile Janeway searches for the mythical species responsible for the attack hopes of finding a cure.

More On Straczynski On Trek
Christian (5:49 pm CST)
Following yesterday's news report about the October issue of the British Dreamwatch Magazine, in which Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski was reported to have said that he had been approached to work on Star Trek, Gustavo Leao sent in the actual quote from the magazine:

"There are some folks over at Paramount who thought it would have been nice for me to come and take over the television aspect of it, while others go off and do the film division, but I thought about it for all of about three seconds, then said no." JMS told reporter Paul Simpson "Naturally, it was a good oportunity, but a) I don't want to go and do somebody else's show and b) the shit fight over's Claudia [Christian] and the Trek fans to whom I am anathema, I didn't want to begin to deal with that. So I said 'Don't even begin to start investigating this, trying to push this. It ain't going to happen. You don't have enough money'. Its never been about the money for with me. I've got to have fun. It's too damn hard to do it if you are not enjoying it".

Back Cover Text 4 Trek Books
Christian (5:49 pm CST)
David Henderson at Psi Phi has uploaded the back cover text for 4 upcoming Star Trek books, namely the Captain's Table Omnibus, Millennium 1: The Fall of Terok Nor, Millennium 2: The War of the Prophets and the Definitive Star Trek Trivia Book. All these books will be available in March 2000, except for the last one, which will be available in April.

'Voyager: Elite Force' Video
Christian (5:49 pm CST)
The Adrenaline Vault has posted a 33 second AVI-file contain cinematic as well as in-game footage from Raven's upcoming Trek game, 'Voyager: Elite Force'. The movie has a file size of 7.8 MB, and can be found here. Thanks go out to Evil Avatar for the link.

Roddenberry Remembered In Ad
Christian (5:48 pm CST)
SARGON just sent in a scan of an ad which appeared on page 2 of Friday's edition of the Hollywood Reporter. The ad features a photo of Gene Roddenberry, the quote "A Kinder, Better and More Gentle World", and then "His Vision Lives - Gene Roddenberry, 8/19/21 - 10/24/91". Unfortunately the ad apparently didn't say who placed it, but presumably it's either Paramount, or Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, or both. A full-sized version of the ad can be found by following this link.

'Insurrection: Hidden Evil' Pictures
Christian (5:48 pm CST)
For the third day in a row, Well-Rounded Entertainment has put up an article related to the Star Trek games. This time around, they've posted three new screenshots of 'Star Trek: Hidden Evil', Activision's adventure game based on the the ninth Trek movie. One of the screenshots gives us a first look at the Romulans, who will apparently also be featured in the game, though they don't look very impressive in the pictures. In any case, you can find the screenshots by going here.

Continuum Posts Strange News Item
Christian (5:47 pm CST)
Over at the Star Trek Continuum, they've posted a news item which I just can't figure out. Take a look at the first two paragraphs from the report:

Travelers and cargo freighters heading through the Bryson System will need to readjust their flight plans, as Federation Scientists have detected the first stages of a full collapse. "Fortunately there are no inhabited worlds in this system," noted Constantine Kukahiko, Federation Stellar Cartography, "(There are) several barren planetoids and an abandoned research station, nothing much."

Following standard procedure, Starfleet is currently sweeping the system with sensors and establishing a network of warning beacons. "While we all know the ultimate fate of Bryson, a collapsing star is unpredictable," notes Kukahiko, "We'd hate for anyone to get caught in the devastation. Of course they'd die instantly."

Happy Birthday
Christian (5:47 pm CST)
Unfortunately I forgot to mention this yesterday, but it was actually the birthday of Ira Steven Behr, who served as Executive Producer on 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'.

Today On TV
Christian (5:47 pm CST)
Thanks for all the suggestions regarding the 'Today On TV' column - I'll try to implement all of them.

-In the United States, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the first-season Original Series episode 'The Squire of Gothos' on Sunday at 12:00pm Eastern Time.

-According to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective, British Sky One will be showing Deep Space Nine's 'Shadowplay' at 4:00pm on Sunday, and Voyager's 'Hope and Fear' at 5:00pm.

-In the Netherlands, RTL 5 will be showing Deep Space Nine's 'Little Green Men' on Sunday at 18:05 CET.

-And in Belgium, Kanaal 2 will be showing Deep Space Nine's 'Things Past' on Sunday at 18:10 CET. Thanks go out to the Star Trek TV Guide for these last few news items.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:46 pm CST)
Here are a few interesting discussions currently going on at the Trek BBS:

-Why doesn't Star Trek have any truly evil bad guys?

-What do you think about B'Elanna Torres?

Find more at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:46 pm CST)
After a rather long hiatus, we're finally re-launching the Trek Nation article section! Today we've already put up a play review by Karen Comer and a new edition of Jeff Mariotte's comics Q&A, and over the next few days we'll be putting up things such as an interview with Trek RPG designer Kenneth Hite, articles about things such as Trek hate sites and the effects of the original series, and lots, lots more! As always, if you also have ideas for Trek Nation articles, please do send them in to articles@treknation.com, as we'd love to publish your thoughts on anything Trek-related!

Buy A Signed 'I,Q'
Christian (5:48 pm CST)
Psi Phi's David Henderson sends along word that MystGalaxy is currently selling signed copies of John deLancie's first Star Trek novel, 'I,Q', for the price of $22,95. You can find the offer by clicking here.

'Alice' Tube Review
Christian (5:48 pm CST)
Voyager's great season start definitely seems to have ended with 'Alice', as almost all the rveiewers we've seen so far truly hate the episode. Reviewer Jeff Bond at Eon's Tube Reviews is no excepting, deeming the episode unworthy of receiving more than a D. Here's a snippet:

The final, melodramatic face-offs between Paris and Alice have to be seen to be believed--it's really laughable stuff, and it's a pity because this is one of the few VOYAGER episodes to try and match the pacing and intensity of one of the original series episodes. But melodrama worked on the old show because of the theatricality of the actors and scripts that were compelling--here it just seems like much blustering about nothing, and how many times do we have to see Paris go off half-cocked and endanger the ship for his own moronic reasons? Pretty much a complete waste of time for all concerned.

Voyager Schedule Updated
Christian (5:48 pm CST)
David Henderson at Psi Phi has updated the Voyager air schedule for both the 'regular' and the syndicated episodes. The info includes the confirmed Voyager air schedule for November and December, up to the Troi/Barclay episode 'Pathfinder', and info on the 8th week of syndication, 'Borg on Board', including episodes such as 'Unity' and 'Scorpion'. The full schedule can be found here.

Mania Looks At Fan Fiction
Christian (5:47 pm CST)
In the new edition of her Hailing Frequencies column (confusingly titled the same way as Julia Houston's weekly newsletter at About.com), Michelle Erica Green takes a look at the phenomenon of fan fiction on the net, both for Trek and other sci-fi shows. Here's what you'll be able to find in her article:

I was reading an article in a San Francisco newspaper a couple of weeks ago with the irresistible headline "Mulder Kisses Picard," and I realized what's wrong with all these articles and books: none of them comes with a list of addresses! Some of them mention the really big newsgroups, but none of them tell fans how to find the BLTs (Better Living Through Trek Smut), nor which slash archive contains crossover material like Xander from Buffy meeting Michael from La Femme Nikita and...oh, you get the idea.

So here is a by-no-means-complete listing of fan fiction I've stumbled across that I think is worth reading. Just as no one under 18 should be buying some of the anime tapes carried by Another Universe, so no one under 18 should be reading the sites on this list which warn you away. (Note: I don't swear that all or any of these links are current or will work at any given time; these are the ones I have bookmarked and refer to when I have spare time, which is not often.)

IGN Sci-Fi 'Alice' Review
Christian (5:47 pm CST)
And it seems reviewer Blake Fischer didn't exactly enjoy the episode. Awarding it precisely 1 out of 5 stars, he delivers his most negative review since the start of the season:

Besides being the worst-paced episode in recent memory, the plot was so trite and predictable we didn't even want to stay to watch the whole show (of course, we had to because, who knows, something good might have happened.) Even the acting was of lower quality than usual with cast members just strolling around the ship casually as if this were the Quaaludes episode.

If you missed this, lucky you. If not, trust us, the show is usually much better than this one.

Q-Continuum Not Massively Multiplayer
Christian (5:46 pm CST)
Well-Rounded Entertainment yesterday posted a report day about a new 'massively multiplayer' Trek game which was supposed to be in developed by Activision, called 'The Q-Continuum'. In a new report, they correct their earlier info, and also provide some more news on Activision's future plans for the Star Trek games:

An Activision executive involved with the projects told us a little more about the intersection of the company's Internet plans and Star Trek license. And while Star Trek: Q Continuum will be an online game, it won't be something along the lines of EverQuest or Ultima Online. Activision is planning one of those, but has yet to sign a developer. [...] At best, the game (currently envisioned as an ongoing adventure) is two or three years down the road.

Star Trek: Q Continuum, though, is still on track. The game, which WRE has learned is being developed by Genetic Anomalies, is expected to be released in Activision's next fiscal year (meaning at least six months from now - probably more). When it comes out, expect a product similar to Genetic Anomalies' Chron-X. An insider described the game as a "Star Trek Risk" with a heavy dash of Magic thrown in.

Eon Reviews Trek DVDs 3&4
Christian (5:46 pm CST)
The new edition of Eon Magazine features a review of Volumes 3 and 4 of the Classic Trek DVDs, which were just released by Paramount Home Video. Awarding the discs a solid A, the (unnamed) reviewers at Eon still love the DVDs:

The second set of Classic STAR TREK DVDs has warped into orbit, and Volumes 3 and 4 are just as big a treat for Trekkers as the first set was. Maybe the thrill of owning TREK on DVD has worn off just a little bit, but this set still offers four pretty great episodes that showcase the series in its hard-edged, early stages of development. You can say one thing about the original series in comparison to its three sequels: it hit the ground running, with fully-developed characters, a dynamic visual style and strong, hard-hitting drama while shows like THE NEXT GENERATION and VOYAGER took several years to find their spacelegs, if they found them at all.

CCG Second Anthology Card Preview
Christian (5:46 pm CST)
In a short new article, Evan Lorentz at Decipher offers a preview of one of the six new cards which fans of the Star Trek Customizable Card Game will be able to find in the upcoming 'Second Anthology' project. The card which is revealed is the 'Bashir Founder' card for the Dominion affiliation, which, erm, is undoubtedly very powerful. To find out more about the card from someone who actually knows something about the game, follow this link/A>.

Alexander To Host Trek Greatest Moments
Christian (5:46 pm CST)
UPN have just released detailed info on 'Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments', the one-hour television special they'll be airing on the 1st of December at 8:00pm, right before Voyager's 'Pathfinder'. The special will be hosted by Seinfield's Jason Alexander, who also guest-starred in last year's Voyager episode 'Think Tank'. Take a look at what we'll be able to expect from the special:

In "Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments," viewers will be treated to a remarkable assortment of "Star Trek" moments - both lighthearted and thought-provoking -- from the four "Star Trek" series, scenes that reflect the far-reaching effect "Star Trek" has had on popular culture.

Among the segments to be presented will be: "Most Beautiful Guest Stars," "Sexiest Moments," "Most Memorable Villains," "Best Dialogue and One Liners," "Those Last Minute Heroics" and a touching salute to the late DeForest Kelley, "Our Man Bones."

Experience Halloween Costume Contest
Christian (5:45 pm CST)
Best Fares Online, presumably an online travel agent, has an article about about the 'Second Annual Alien Bash and Costume Contest', which will be held in Quark's Bar in the Las Vegas 'Star Trek: Experience' on the 30th of November. The event will be held from 8:00pm to midnight, and is expected to be a yearly tradition following last year's appearance of more than 500 aliens. Take a look at what you'll be able to expect from the event:

The festivities feature a live DJ with music and dancing and food and drinks specials all night long. On the judging panel are award-winning make-up artist and Star Trek veteran, Michael Westmore, and Mark Allen Shepherd, "Morn" from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

The ante has been upped at this one-of-a-kind costume party to offer even bigger rewards. First place carries a $1,500 cash prize; second $750; third $500; and a $350 Star Trek: The Experience leather bomber jacket for fourth place. There is a $25 entrance fee to the extraterrestrial event, which includes two drinks. Admission to the attraction, comprising a museum and ride, is an additional $15.95.

Stewart Biographer's New Book Suspended
Christian (5:45 pm CST)
According to an article by Reuters' Patrick Rizzo, the New York publishing company St. Martin's Press has suspended selling and promoting the book 'Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and The Making of an American President', written by James H. Hartfield. This was done after the Dallas Morning News said on Thursday that Dallas court records showed Hartfield was a convicted felon, currently on parole for trying to have his ex-boss killed. Hartfield's book was already a controversial one, as it alleged that presidential candidate George W. Bush was arrested for cocaine possession in 1972, but had the matter cleared from his criminal record after his father intervened, a claim which both Bushes strongly deny. Star Trek fans will know Hatfield from his apparently pretty good previous book, Patrick Stewart: The Unauthorized Biography. For the full story on his new book's suspension, go here.

Garrett Wang Chat Postponed
Christian (5:45 pm CST)
Fortunately, I'd almost say, as I forgot to report on this yesterday. The people at the official Star Trek Continuum have postponed their live chat with Garrett Wang (Harry Kim) by one week to Thursday the 28th of October. You can still submit advance questions or find info on how to participate.

Insurrection Out On Video
Christian (5:45 pm CST)
Besides the Garrett Wang chat, it appears I also forget to mention that 'Star Trek: Insurrection' is now actually out as a home video. Both the regular-sized and the widescreen VHS tapes went on sale on Tuesday the 19th of October, for a price of $14.95. Thanks go out to RAMA at the TrekWeb Message Boards for this.

Straczynski Asked For Trek
Christian (5:44 pm CST)
In the latest edition of her 'Hailing Frequencies' newsletter, Julia Houston at About.com's Star Trek Fans has some interesting news about Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski. Apparently, in a recent interview in Dreamwatch Magazine, he said that he had been asked to work on Star Trek (presumably after the end of the 'Crusade' project), but he, not surprisingly, turned them down.

Speaking of Dreamwatch, the new edition of their magazine, which went on sale yesterday, features interviews with both Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) and Rick Berman. If anyone in the UK bought the mag, please drop me a line - I'd love to get a summary of the Berman interview.

Today On TV
Christian (5:44 pm CST)
-At 8:00pm, UPN will be showing the movie 'Safehouse', starring Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard). Here's how UPN describes the film:

Patrick Stewart ("Star Trek: The Next Generation") and Hector Elizondo ("Chicago Hope") star in a psychological thriller depicting a retired government official who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and believes that a presidential candidate is trying to kill him. Gripped with paranoia, he surrounds himself with state-of-the-art weaponry and hi-tech surveillance equipment and arranges "practice drills" to keep his military skills razor sharp.

-The Dutch Star Trek TV Guide is reporting that the KRO on Nederland 1 will be showing Voyager's 'The Disease' at 18:38 CET tomorrow.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:44 pm CST)
Here are a couple of interesting threads currently active at the Trek BBS:

-Is there anyone who would like to swap British sci-fi magazines such as 'TV Zone' and 'Starburst' for their American counterparts?

-Would you like to explore the final frontier as a tourist?

Find more topics at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:43 pm CST)
The 'Today on TV' section of TrekToday does appear to be growing exponentially in size as time progresses. For months, all we were reporting on was US, UK and German TV data, but, as you probably noticed, we're now also reporting on Australian, Dutch and Belgian TV dates. Starting tomorrow, we'll probably also have French airtimes. What I'm curious about, though - does anyone actually find the column useful? And, if so, would you have any suggestions on how to improve it? Please let me know at christian@trektoday.com if you have anything to say about the 'Today On TV' column, or even if you live in a country which we aren't yet reporting on and you want to help us provide date on even more countries. Thanks!

Jeri Ryan Movie Premieres Today
Christian (6:24 pm CST)
Just on time, the official Jeri Lynn Ryan Homepage is reporting that today, Thursday, is the world premiere of 'The Last Man', another independent film starring Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine). Ryan herself will actually be attending the premiere, so Trek fans in New York (where the premiere is held) will certainly want to attend. According to the JLR Homepage, the film is a 'comedy about the last three people on earth and their terrible relationship problems.' Info on the New York premiere, plus news of an LA premiere in November which Ryan will also be attending, can be found at the JLR Homepage's news page.

Julia Houston 'Alice' Review
Christian (6:22 pm CST)
As the first reviewer on the net, Julia Houston at About.com's Star Trek Fans has put up her review of yesterday's 'Alice'. Here's the ultra-condensed version of what she thought about the episode:

This is a really encouraging season so far. Once again we get an episode that continues to show character growth along pre-established lines for satisfying results. [...] Overall, it's a good, solid adventure episode with Paris in fine form and the crew working together to pull it all off with style. More, more, more!

Goldberg To Advertise Flooz
Christian (6:21 pm CST)
In their new News Dispatches article, the people at the official Star Trek Continuum are reporting that Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan) has committed to being the celebrity advertiser for Flooz. Flooz is an 'online gift currency' project which allows you to send gift certificates for 36 online stores via email. Part of Flooz's new advertising campaign ia apparently the Whoopi's Fun with Flooz Sweepstakes, where you can win no less than $1000 in 'Flooz'.

Bormanis To Present Space Conference
Christian (6:21 pm CST)
A press release from the Space Foundation announces they'll be organising a 'Teaching With Space' conference in late Janurary, which will provide interactive training for educators to use across their classroom curricula. One of the presenters at the conference will be Andre Bormanis, Voyager's Science Advisor:

Special conference presenter is Star Trek Science Advisor Andre Bormanis, along with other invited space science experts, astronauts and educators. At the conference, participants will select one breakout session each from three tracks: ``Living and Working In Space,'' ``Traveling to Space'' and ``The Science of Space.'' The one-day conference also includes exhibits, a reception, book signing, photo/autograph opportunities and a museum tour.

New Trek Persistent Universe Game
Christian (6:21 pm CST)
Well-Rounded Entertainment just posted an interesting news report about an upcoming Star Trek game from Activision - 'Q Continuum', the first massively multiplayer game set in the Star Trek universe. The game is currently set for release sometime between 6 and 18 months from now, and very little is yet known about it:

The company didn't release details about the game's plot, nor name the developer, though it did mention that it had recently entered into a relationship with Totally Games, the company that developed X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance for LucasArts. The developer, it added, would be creating a Star Trek game.

Activision estimates there are at least 500,000 gaming enthusiasts who are also Star Trek fans. It hopes to capture a substantial percentage of those using a subscription-themed model, like the one found in EverQuest and Ultima Online.

'Alice' Overnight Ratings
Christian (6:21 pm CST)
Greg Fuller at the Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has posted his overnight ratings report for 'Alice', yesterday's new Voyager episode. News wasn't that exciting:

"Alice" performed on par with the last few weeks, earning Voyager's third straight 4.7 rating, 7 share. That's level from "Barge of the Dead" and last week's "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy." This kind of rating is growing more common this season, not necessarily indicating that an episode will perform poorly in the end.

Viacom Announces Third-Quarter Results
Christian (6:20 pm CST)
Viacom, Paramount Pictures' parent company, just announced its financial results for the third quarter of 1999. Though operating profit rose by 60% per share, the company's net profit was sharply down, due to a one-time charge related to the acquisition of Spelling Entertainment:

Viacom, owner of MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures, said Thursday third-quarter net profits dropped 22 percent after a charge related to the purchase of Spelling Entertainment. Net profits at Viacom, which plans to buy media group CBS Corp, declined to $96.7 million, or 14 cents a diluted share, compared with $123.4 million, or 17 cents, in last year's third quarter.

Operating profit, excluding the $81.1 million restructuring charge from merging Spelling into its Paramount TV operation, was $159.6 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with $86.4 million, or 10 cents, in the year-ago third quarter. Wall Street expected 16 cents, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. Revenues for the three months ended September 30 grew to $3.33 billion from $3.28 billion in the same 1998 period.

Poll Results
Christian (6:20 pm CST)
Below are the results of the previous TrekToday poll, in which you were asked what you thought of the Voyager Doctor comedy 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy'. As you can see below, most of you apparently enjoyed the episode rather a lot:

How would you grade 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy'? 9-10 54.6% - (237 Votes) 7-8 19.1% - (83 Votes) Wasn't able to see it 12.2% - (53 Votes) 5-6 5% - (22 Votes) Didn't want to see it 3.6% - (16 Votes) 1-2 2.9% - (13 Votes) 3-4 2.3% - (10 Votes) Total Votes: 434

Please also participate in the new TrekToday poll, which asks what you thought about last Wednesday's Voyager episode 'Alice'. You can find the poll at the top right-hand side of the page.

Happy Birthday!
Christian (6:19 pm CST)
Today would have been the 66th birthday of Georgia Brown, who appeared as Worf's mother Helena Rozhenko in the TNG episodes 'Family' and 'New Ground', had she not sadly passed away 7 years ago.

Today On TV
Christian (6:18 pm CST)
-At 5:00pm Eastern Time, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the first-season TOS episode 'Shore Leave'.

-According to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective, British Sky One will be showing the truly horrendous Voyager episode 'Demon'.

-And in Germany, Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Der zerbrochene Spiegel' (Shattered Mirror) tomorrow at 15:00 CET.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (6:18 pm CST)
As expected, several threads are up at the Trek BBS now dealing with yesterday's new Voyager episode 'Alice':

-Read da Woim's review of the episode. Do you also think that this was Voyager's first bad episode of the season?

-In other news, how do you Brits (and Dutchmen like me) feel about DS9 Season Six premiering on the BBC?

Find more topics at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (6:17 pm CST)
Somehow we seem to have skipped autumn here in the Netherlands. First we had the hottest September since the second World War, and now it appears we're headed for the coldest October ever. Or at least it feels that way. Temperatures are below zero during the night, but even during the day I feel like my nose is freezing off. Fortunately I bought a few (very) warm sweaters today, but I doubt even with those I'll be much inclined to spend my days outside.

New CD German LaForge
Christian (5:11 pm CST)
The German Star Trek Index is reporting that Charles Rettinghaus, the German voice actor who did the voice of Geordi LaForge for the German version of TNG, has just released his first CD. The CD, which ties in with a German anti-drugs campaign, describes the fear of a father that his daughter might become addicted to drugs. The name of the CD is 'Ich krieg Dich', German for 'I'll catch you'. Info on how to buy the CD, plus a chance to win a copy, can be found here.

Lower Voyager Still Beats 'Roswell'
Christian (5:11 pm CST)
Greg Fuller at the Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has uploaded his final ratings report for 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy', last week's Voyager episode. The report contains both very good and very bad news:

Seeing a good portion of its ratings disappear to the AL Championship Series, "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" managed only a 3.5 rating, 5 share. That's down 8% from "Barge of the Dead"'s 3.8/6 last week and 5% from last year's comparable episode, "Drone," which earned a 3.7/6. "Tinker" turned in the lowest ratings of the season to date and was the only episode not to best its year-ago mark.

[...]

Voyager did manage a tie for 5th place in its timeslot despite the dip from last week, tying with the surprisingly weak "Roswell," which dropped a whopping 29% in its second week to a 3.5/5 (down from a 4.9/7).

Jammer Reviews 'Barge'
Christian (5:11 pm CST)
Jamahl Epsicokhan at Star Trek: Hypertext, still somewhat behind with his reviews, has put up his analysis of 'Barge of the Dead', the third episode of the season. Awarding it the maximum four stars, Jamahl absolutely loved the episode:

"Barge" comes together as the best overall episode of Voyager in nearly a year, if not longer--and one of the series' best. It's a story that understands its central character and puts her through a wringer where she learns and grows, all the while remaining true to who the character overall has been (excluding some of the fifth-season schizophrenia, of course).

AVault Previews 'DS9: The Fallen'
Christian (5:10 pm CST)
David Laprad at the Adrenaline Vault has written a new preview of 'Deep Space Nine: The Fallen', the Collective's upcoming third-person shooter. The preview contains an interesting paragraph of the game's third-person perspective, which many people felt severely limited the game's chance of succeeding:

In recent times, there has been some interesting debate among gamers about the potential of the third-person perspective, since a number of over-the-shoulder titles have not sold well, but for The Collective, it was never an issue. According to Hare, one of the appealing aspects of a licensed property is its characters, which the designers wanted to place front and center in order to further immerse gamers. In addition, a third-person viewpoint was critical to allowing the intricate navigational acrobatics the team is implementing, such as tumbling, hanging off ledges, swinging on ropes and chains, clambering over obstacles and more -- things not possible with the first-person perspective.

As I mentioned above, the accomplishments of the programmers in this respect are unheralded to date. Sure, it is the standard behind-the-shoulders perspective, with the mouse being used to pitch the camera up and down to view the surroundings, but some mindful adjustments hacve been made. There is a bit of lag built in so that mouse-turning is smoother and less visually disruptive than other titles, for example, and when a character retreats into a wall, he or she fades so the player can see through them. Essentially, the camera remains in the same orientation at all times, but can get closer or farther away depending on obstacles. I have never seen a third-person title with this great of a feel, and it should silence critics.

Trek Stars' Millennium Predictions
Christian (5:10 pm CST)
The official Continuum is reporting that Andrews McMeel Publishing has just published a new book by David Kristol and Todd W. Nickerson, called 'Predictions for the Next Millennium'. The book consists of interviews with celebrities, asking them for their predictions for the upcoming Millennium. Two of the stars featured in this book are LeVar Burton (Geordi LaForge) and Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), who both share Star Trek's positive outlook on the future. Of the two, Nichols' prediction is certainly the most colourful:

[Nichelle Nichols] envisions fusion energy plants and robotic laboroers by 2020, colonization of the Moon and Mars by 2050 and by the year 3000, "Earth's politicians are taking interplanetary economic lessons from alien beings in (an) attempt to learn how to operate a covernment without taxing people to death."

TrekWeb 'Tinker Tenor' Review
Christian (5:10 pm CST)
Steve Perry at TrekWeb has put up his review of 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy', the Voyager Holodoc comedy. Awarding the episode an A, Perry is just as enthusiastic as most of the other reviewers:

ROTFL. Doesn't that say it all? Ok, it's now pure science fiction, it doesn't deal with the human condition, but if Trek can get away with a comedy about anybody, it should be able to do it with one of its Pinocchio characters. It seems more likely to me that the question of sentience and what is life is better dealt with by showing the Doctor deal with real concerns through fanciful means within his mind than it is by a straightforward and dry moral dilemma.

Just a clever, clever episode. The teaser alone is worth the price of admission. Taking "La Donna Mobile" - and oh how innocently did the Doctor set the scene up - and making it into a song about Pon Farr was just brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. So brilliant it wouldn't have been overkill to do a whole episode of these things.

Happy Birthday!
Christian (5:09 pm CST)
Today would have been the 65th birthday of Michael Dunn, who starred in the third-season TOS episode 'Plato's Stepchildren' as Alexander, had he not sadly passed away in 1973. Dunn was best known for his role as Dr. Loveless in the 'Wild Wild West' television series.

Today On TV
Christian (5:09 pm CST)
-At 9:00pm, UPN will be showing the new Voyager episode 'Alice'. Take a look at how UPN describes the episode:

During a stopover at a space junkyard, Tom Paris convinces Chakotay to purchase a sporty space shuttle which Paris then constantly labors over to repair. But, he's oblivious that the craft has assumed a sexy female persona that influences his mind to suit her own dangerous agenda.

-Tomorrow in Germany, Sat.1 will be showing DS9's superb 'Strafzyklen' (Hard Time).

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:09 pm CST)
In a few hours there'll of course be lots of 'Alice' discussions going on at the Trek BBS, but for now you might already want to visit the following interesting threads:

-The Trek BBS achieves a new visitor record!

-Why are characters always killed off in Star Trek when the actor decides to leave?

Find more topics at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:08 pm CST)
As you may have noticed, this week Fred Shedian wasn't able to put up a new edition of his regular column A Take On Trek. Fred asked me to inform you all that he wasn't able to write a column for this week, due to circumstances involving Hurricane Irene. Expect Fred's column to reappear next week again!

'A Christmas Carol' Preview
Christian (5:42 pm CST)
The Museum of Television and Radio is hosting a Members-Only Event -- a preview screening of Patrick Stewart Jean-Luc Picard in 'A Christmas Carol' (a TNT Original Film). It's on Friday, December 3, 1999, with a wine & cheese reception at 6:30 p.m. and the actual screening at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are free to members of the museum.

Museum member Jeff 'Koganuts' Koga called the museum to find out more information. No V.I.P.'s are scheduled to show up, not even Patrick Stewart himself. And there is a limit of two tickets in addition to one for yourself. Still, the tickets are free to museum members and it's something Patrick Stewart fans as well as fans of Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol will want to check out.

Star Trek Timeline
Christian (5:39 pm CST)
Julia Houston at About.com's Star Trek Fans has put up a nice new feature called the 'Star Trek Timeline'. In it, she lists the most important things which happened in both the Star Trek universe and the real world, including such events as the cancellation of the original Star Trek series, the American Declaration of Independence, and the destruction of the Enterprise-C. Strangely enough, the Eugenics Wars aren't mentioned, though I suppose they're a bit hard to combine with mention of the DS9 series premiere. In any case, you can find the timeline here.

Garrett Wang Chat On Thursday
Christian (5:35 pm CST)
This Thursday, the official Continuum will be hosting a live chat with Garrett Wang, who stars as Harry Kim on Voyager. As usual, you can already submit questions or find info on how to paticipate.

Trek Movies Score For Sci-Fi
Christian (5:35 pm CST)
'BORG' sends along word that for the week of 9/27/99-10/03/99, 'Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country' topped the list of the Sci-Fi Channel's highest rated programs with a rating of 1.4. Following at nr. 3 was 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home', which scored a 1.2. This information was first published at the Sci-Fi Channel's Sci-Fi Wire.

Hertzler To Write DS9 Books
Christian (5:35 pm CST)
Marco Palmieri, one of the Star Trek editors at Pocket Books, just announced the following:

As part of Pocket's post-finale Star Trek: Deep Space Nine publishing program, I'm pleased to announce that J.G. Hertzler (the actor well known for his masterful portrayal of Chancellor--formerly General--Martok in numerous episodes of DS9) has been signed up to pen a two-book Klingon Empire saga.

In broad strokes, this intensely character-driven, suspenseful, action-packed tale chronicles Martok's return to the Empire following the end of the Dominion War, where he finds treachery, unpheaval, and ancient mysteries waiting to destroy him. Sins of the past collide with hopes for the future as Martok must fight for the right to lead the Empire.

The books will feature an all-star Klingon supporting cast, including Worf, plus no shortage of exciting surprises.

Okuda Chat Transcript
Christian (5:35 pm CST)
The folks at the Continuum have finally put up the transcript of their live chat with Michael and Denise Okuda, Scenic Art Supervisor and Video Coordinator for Voyager, respectively. Take a look at some of the highlights from the transcript:

Saahra asks:
What do you think first contact will be like for the human race?

The Okudas:
I don't think it will be like any of the science fiction films or television shows, but it will be the most important event in human history. I hope to be around when it happens. Maybe if enough fans participate in SETI at home -- who knows?

HoloDarlin' asks:
How many bathrooms are there on Voyager?

The Okudas:
Not enough. That's what the transporters are for.

Captain MM Huber asks:
Greetings Denise and Michael, Denise a question for you, what exactly is a Video Coordinator?

The Okudas:
Basically it's my responsibility to make sure video elements are translated from script to stage. Jim Van Over designs most of the animation seen on our on-set video monitors. My job is to make sure all the ship's readout screens are displaying information appropriate to the story at each given moment. I should mention Ben Betts, our video operator, on Star Trek: Voyager who works his tail off .

Trek Experience Millennium Event
Christian (5:34 pm CST)
In a new article about millennium bashes, Gail Appleson at Reuters describes a few of the more unusual ways in which to celebrate the end of 1999, including touring Elvis Presley's Graceland or spending $100,000 on a three-night luxurious hotel package. Fortunately for Star Trek fans, they will also be able to celebrate in style:

But for a real out-of-this-world party, revelers can stay at the Las Vegas Hilton and visit ``Star Trek: The Experience'' in the hotel. ``The Experience'' includes a replica of the Starship Enterprise, a simulated journey on a shuttlecraft through the Star Trek universe and, for New Year's Eve, a special party at Quark's Bar and Restaurant.

A three-night stay at the hotel for $1,999 does not include the ``Experience,'' which is owned by the Paramount unit of Viacom, but for an extra $300 to $350 guests can spend this special evening with their favorite aliens sipping blood wine or exotic cocktails like James Tea Kirk or Warp Core Breach.

Celebrate New Year With Gowron
Christian (5:34 pm CST)
The official Star Trek Continuum has posted a new article about the 'Millenium Trekk' event, which, as previously announced, will be hosted by Robert O'Reilly (Gowron). In the article, they provide a few more details on the event:

Millenium Trekk, a New Year's Eve bash with a Star Trek theme, will take place in Tampa, Florida at the end of the year. The evening will feature live entertainment, Star Trek prizes and a charity auction to benefit the Epilepsy Foundation. O'Reilly will be emceeing the midnight countdown to the New Year, while some of the entertainment will be provided by "alien rock band" WarBand.

'Elite Force' Fun Stuff
Christian (5:33 pm CST)
The people at Raven Software have added some new 'fun stuff' to their official 'Voyager: Elite Force' web site. This fun stuff includes the first galleries of fan art which were submitted to them, a short mailbag, plus a development team profile:

This profile is of James Monroe. James is the Lead Programmer of Elite Force and has been working at Raven Software for 3.5 years. James' background is in Computer Science, and has worked at three game companies and has shipped three games so far. What does a Lead Programmer do anyway? James is the person responsible for the integrity of code and supervises the work of the other programmers.

Entertainment Weekly Roddenberry Tribute
Christian (5:33 pm CST)
The current issue of Entertaiment Weekly, Issue #508, features a tribute to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. The tribute is part of their weekly column 'encore', which flashes back to key dates in entertainment history. This week, they look back at Roddenberry's death, on the 24th of October 1991. The article is accompanied by a colour photo of the Great Bird sitting in a director's chair on the TNG transporter pad, with the camera situated low and close to the ground, looking up. This photo unfortunately isn't available on the Entertainment Weekly site, though the article itself can be found there - it's written by Will Lee, and offers a pretty balanced look at Roddenberry's life. The article can be read by following this link. Thanks go out to Jeff 'Koganuts' Koga for pointing me to this.

Trek Needs You... Again
Christian (5:33 pm CST)
Okay, this isn't really news, but Cinescape has put up a new poll, asking which genre season opener started the '99 fall season with the biggest bang. Currently the 'Buffy' spin-off 'Angel' is leading the poll with 32% out of the 1750 votes, but Voyager is following closely behind with 28% of the votes. Go over to Cinescape and vote!

Today On TV
Christian (5:32 pm CST)
-At 5:00pm Eastern Time, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the first-season TOS episode 'The Menagerie, Part Two'.

-Tomorrow at 17:00 and at 23:30 BST, British Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Unforgettable', according to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective.

-In Germany, Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Das Gefecht' (Rules of Engagement) tomorrow at 15:00 CET.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:32 pm CST)
Here's the usual look at what is hot and happening at the Trek BBS:

-Precisely how does the Vulcan life/death cycle work, and what is a katra?

-Was Jake Sisko as bad as Wesley Crusher, or was he actually a valuable addition to the DS9 cast?

More topics can be found at the Trek BBS.

Hello World!
Christian (5:32 pm CST)
Has anyone else noticed the net being awfully slow today? I've been spending the past 45 minutes mostly by silently cursing the screen as it was displaying five Internet Explorer windows which were all very slowly displaying nothing at all. I really hope I'll at least be able to post what I've assembled so far...

Pomers Seven Days Episode To Air
Christian (5:39 pm CST)
The official Scarlett Pomers Homepage is reporting that this Wednesday at 8:00pm, UPN will be airing the 'Seven Days' episode starring Scarlett Pomers (Naomi Wildman). The episode was originally scheduled to be shown last year, but was pulled at the last minute - presumably the episode has been re-edited since its filming. The episode is said to be "Scarlett's best dramatic work to date," so you might all want to watch the episode.

Atlanta CCG Tournament Program
Christian (5:39 pm CST)
Decipher, the publisher of the official Star Trek Customizable Card Game, has published the program for next weekend's Atlanta Open Championships, the final such tournament before the World Championships. As usual, the event will be covered by Decipher's Evan Lorentz, so we'll be able to read a full report of the proceedings once the tournament is over. You can find the program by going here.

Julia Houston 'Tinker Tenor' Review
Christian (5:39 pm CST)
Over at About.com's Star Trek Fans, Julia Houston has put up her review of 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy', the recent Doctor comedy. The review starts in a perhaps even more unusual manner than the actual episode:

Julia Houston stands before the entire About.com staff, addressing their attentive faces. "Imagine if you will," she begins, "that the Internet is a vast sea of opera-loving, adoring fans."

::cue music::

I write such great reviews
Readers all, I promise you
If you read my Website
I'll give you great insight.
CharacteriZAtions!
Great interpreTAtions!
I'm so amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing,
Paramount should pay -- HEY!

What are all you people doing here???!!!

'Deep Space Nine' RPG To Printers
Christian (5:38 pm CST)
TrekRPGNet, a fan site for the Last Unicorn Star Trek role-playing games, is reporting that the 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' RPG is now off to the printers! Printing, binding and shipping will take about 4 to 5 weeks, but after that RPG players will be able to set their adventures aboard the Bajoran space station for the first time ever. A PDF preview will soon be published on the official Last Unicorn web site.

Gaming Mag To Run Ads During Trek
Christian (5:38 pm CST)
Computeg Media U.S.A., publisher of the new 'lifestyle gaming publication' "incite" has just announced that it will be running the first-ever TV advertising campaign for a gaming magazine. With their campaign they're targetting 16 to 34 year old males, and to achieve this goal they'll be running the following ads:

The new incite TV commercials are directly aimed at the casual gamers at large -- 16 to 34-year old males who play games as a part of their everyday lives. Each humorous spot features the incite mailman to show that gamers are everywhere -- in far-off remote communes, in the office and in your apartment building. In total, incite mailman TV commercials celebrate how important and prevalent games are in people's lives as part of their entertainment matrix for both the serious and casual gamer.

Today On TV
Christian (5:38 pm CST)
-At 5:00pm Eastern Time, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the first-season TOS episode 'The Menagerie, Part One'.

-According to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective, British Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'The Omega Directive' tomorrow at 17:00 and at 23:30 BST.

-Tomorrow at 15:00 German Sat.1 will be showing Deep Space Nine's 'Die Übernahme'.

-On Tuesday in Australia, Channel Nine will be showing DS9's 'The Darkness and the Light' at 11:05pm. Thanks go out to Jamie McGregor for this!

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:37 pm CST)
Here are a few interesting Trek BBS topics:

-How would Sisko handle being Captain of the Voyager, and how would Janeway fare as the Captain/Commander of Deep Space Nine?

-Did the TNG and DS9 finales also disappoint you?

Find more at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:37 pm CST)
Nearly done answering email.... nearly... done..... n..e..a..r..l..y d....o....n....e.

Link of the Day: WWF Online Show Confirms WWF Wrestling Episode February Air Date - Is anyone still keeping track of how many confirmations we've now had :-)?

Cynics Corner 'Tinker Tenor' Review
Christian (5:30 pm CST)
As the first fan reviewer on the net, David E. Sluss at the Cynics Corner has put up his review of 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy'. Awarding it a 7,5, Sluss appears to be a bit more positive about this episode than usual:

THE BOTTOM LINE: Decent, as "Star Trek comedies" go, but not funny enough to completely justify the suspension of belief required to buy it.

CYNICS CORNER RATING: 7.5

deBoer At Page's Bar Report
Christian (5:30 pm CST)
Over on the message board of the Official Nicole deBoer Fan Club, 'smeehee' has put up a report of the recent appearance by Nicole deBoer (Ezri Dax) at Page's Bar in Brittain. Take a look at how he starts his report:

Well this it. The night after. I am so full of mixed emotions at the moment.
I spent one of the most memorable nights of my life in the company of the most beautiful actress ever to grace the screen. The venue : Pages Bar in Westminster - an excellent place by any account. The walls adorned with screens, a huge Enterprise - D glittering above everyones head. The pub was packed when i arrived at about 6pm having travelled 4 hours from Manchester. The trip really didnt seem to be as long as it was; so excited was I to be meeting Nicole deBoer for the second time.

IGN Sci-Fi Love 'Tinker Tenor'
Christian (5:30 pm CST)
Blake Fischer at IGN Sci-Fi has uploaded his review of 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy', Voyager's doctor comedy which aired last Wednesday. Fischer is more positive than he has ever been, awarding the episode 5 out of 5 stars:

We'll go out on a (fairly short) limb here and say that this is one of the most refreshing and creative episodes of Voyager we've ever seen. Through the humor of the doctor's daydreaming (which flows seamlessly from reality) we get a unique insight into his program and -- dare we say it -- his soul.

In fact, what begins as a mass of confusion ultimately is a touching trip into the redemption of the Doctor, as well as the crew. Even the ending, which is often a weak point of most episodes, features a great surprise that is as believable and plausible as the trick ending in The Sixth Sense.

Robert Picardo Chat Transcript
Christian (5:30 pm CST)
Even though they still haven't put up the transcript of their live chat with the Okudas, the people at the Star Trek Continuum have already uploaded the log of their Robert Picardo (Holodoc) live chat, which took place last Thursday. Take a look at a few highlights from the chat:

Regina from Germany asks:
If you could write a script for a Doctor based Voyager Episode, what would you make him say and do (what would the story be like)?

Robert Picardo:
I have always wanted to do an episode in which a medical emergency demands that the doctor have a qualified co-surgeon for a delicate procedure. And the doctor's program is installed twice. The doctor assists himself in surgery. However, the season 1 doctor -- arrogant, self-rightous, terrible bedside manner -- is assisting our new, improved, adapted doctor who knows all of the crew by name. And our current doctor is humiliated by the behavior of his early self. And the new doctor thinks the current doctor is foolish and basically a waste of time for having such trivial concerns as people's feelings.

Gene asks:
How did you film the scene when you sketched Seven of Nine nude? Was it a dummy? Scantily clad?

Robert Picardo:
I was nude myself and then they digitally added my clothing. I'm kidding, of course. I must first of all blow my own horn and say that that was my own idea. The writers asked what some of the doctor's fantasies might be and I think that was the first one out of my mouth. Of course it was shot with great dignity and Jeri was completely covered up, much to my dismay, so to my mind, she'll owe me the complete nude sometime in the future. Just kidding! Besides, I would lie to protect her dignity, no matter what actually happened. But what actually happened was completely uneventful. But it sure looked great on film.

Vulcan Regional CCG Report
Christian (5:29 pm CST)
Evan Lorentz at Decipher, the publisher of the official Star Trek Customizable Card Game, has put up a report of the recent 'Vulcan Regional Championships', held in Denver, Colorado. In total, 20 players took part in the event, and competition was said to be 'extremely difficult'. Take a look at a short description of the strategies used during the championships:

There were plenty of head games to accompany the games of Star Trek being played. Although the region is well known for an abundance of strong Borg decks, not one player chose the affiliation on this occasion. Longtime Romulan players switched to Federation, Cardassian fans were running Klingons, and many of the game's most popular strategies including Q-bypass and Space-Time Portal drop were nowhere to be seen.

Today On TV
Christian (5:29 pm CST)
-Today at 5:00pm Eastern Time, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the first-season TOS episode 'The Conscience of the King'.

-According to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective, British Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Vis-a-Vis' tomorrow at 17:00 and at 23:30 BST. At 20:00, they'll be showing the new DS9 episode 'Chrysalis'. In related news, special thanks go out to the geniuses at BBC Two, who decided to show Voyager's 'Hope and Fear' ten minutes earlier than advertised. There truly is nothing I love more than missing the first part of a season finale.

-Tomorrow at 15:00 CET, German Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Der Streik'.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:29 pm CST)
Here's a small selection of the incredible 89 discussions going on today at the Trek BBS:

-Why does Star Trek only ever focus on Starfleet officers, instead of regular crewmen?

-Are recurring characters on Voyager not being respected?

More can be found at the Trek BBS, unusually active for a Sunday.

Hello World!
Christian (5:29 pm CST)
It truly is amazing. I spent practically all day working on site stuff and answering email, and I'm still not completely finished. There goes my free evening tomorrow :-(.

Besides that, the new issue also contains a group interview with the Voyager cast and Executive Producer Brannon Braga, in which they talk about Voyager's sixth season and its new role as the only Trek show on air. This article is accompanied by new photos of the cast members out of costume, which look like they came from the same photo shoot as the recently published pictures of the 'Cast In Black'.

Rules of Acquisition CCG Preview
Christian (6:24 pm CST)
Evan Lorentz at Decipher has written an article about 'Rules of Acquisition', the upcoming expansion set for their Star Trek Customizable Card Game. Here's how the article starts:

Get ready for Rules of Acquisition! Hot on the heels of Blaze of Glory, this new expansion for the Star Trek CCG is going to once again revolutionize the game with 130 cards, including the long-awaited addition of a fully playable Ferengi affiliation.

It's a bit early for us to confirm a release date, but Rules of Acquisition is still figuring heavily into our plans for Decipher Con. It will figure very heavily into the plans of the competitors coming to the 1999 World Championships.

'New Worlds' News Bits
Christian (6:19 pm CST)
Jad just sent in a news report about the New Worlds Network, his new news site providing all the latest info on Interplay's upcoming 'Star Trek: New Worlds' game. The site itself is pretty good, providing things such as a beta testing report and official concept art, so if you're a fan of the game you might definitely want to check out the site!

Star Trek Author Update
Christian (6:18 pm CST)
Over at his Q&A Board, Pocket Books Trek fiction editor John Ordover recently answered a few questions from readers about a few classic Trek authors. Take a look:

Query from: Mike
John, In looking at my ST book collection, there are some authors who have been absent from the world of ST for awhile. I was wondering if they would be writing any more ST novels soon. The authors are A.C. Crispin, J.M. Dillard, Jean Lorrah, Howard Weinstein and Carmen Carter.

Response from: John Ordover
I'm speaking with Crispin about a possible future project; Dillard still does our hardcover movie novelizations but is busy with her original fiction under the name Kalogridis. Jean Lorrah and Carmen Carter are similarly busy, Howie has a proposal in.

Query from: Amy
[...] Last but not least, here are a few more names for the list of great ST authors who haven't had a ST novel published in a while: John M. "The Final Reflection" Ford (I'd love to see what he could do with the newer developments in Klingon culture), Robert Vardeman, and Vonda McIntire. Also, if memory serves me right, it's been a few years since John Vornholt has published a ST novel.

Response from: John Ordover
[...] John Ford and Mcintire and Vardeman are busy with other projects. John V. has had a number of Trek novels in the last year or two, including MIND MELD and the two TNG Dominion war books. He has a two-book TNG series, GEMWORLD, coming out next Feb.

Entertainment Weekly Trek Article
Christian (6:18 pm CST)
John Witzig at the Flagship just reprinted a new Entertainment Weekly article by Marc Bernardin, in which he talks about how to revive Star Trek:

MEMORANDUM
To: Rick Berman, Executive Producer (Star Trek: Voyager)
From: Marc Bernardin
RE: How to Revive "Star Trek"

Yes, we've all heard the Federation's party line: "Star Trek doesn't need saving. Voyager is a UPN ratings powerhouse." But taking solace in the fact that a 33-year-old, billion-dollar franchise routinely outranks the likes of Shasta McNasty (while getting smacked down by the WWF) isn't going to change the reality on the final frontier: Voyager viewership is down from last year, even though it's now the only Star Trek show in town. So allow us to help you chart a new course.

New Starfleet Journal
Christian (6:18 pm CST)
Slightly delayed, the people at the TrekNews Network have put up volume 2, issue 9 of their monthly Trek e-zine. As the site just premiered a new design, and is currently in a period of online beta testing, there are a bit less articles than usual, though the SFJ still features its usual set of great columns. This month, the site has new colums by Heather Jarman, looking at the upcoming Janeway love affair, Jim Wright, looking back at DS9, and Claudia Roedel, talking about Trek in Brazil. More features will undoubtedly appear soon at the Starfleet Journal.

New Sev Trek Competition
Christian (6:17 pm CST)
John Cook at Sev Trek, still celebrating the birth of his first daughter, just put up a new edition of the 'Write Your Own Sev Trek' Competition:

1999 Roddenberry Awards Results
Christian (6:17 pm CST)
I just noticed that Jason Davidson at Star Trek News has put up the results for this year's Roddenberry Awards, his site's annual survey of the best of Trek. The biggest winner this year was the episode 'The Siege Of AR-558', which won no less than three awards in categories such as 'Outstanding Dramatic Presentation' and 'Social Significance'. You can find the full results here.

Brent Spiner Benefit Concert Report
Christian (6:17 pm CST)
Welcome, Brent Spiner Fans! has word of two reviews of the recent benefit concert organised by the L.A. Philharmonic, which also featured a theatre reading of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', starring Brent Spiner (Data) as Nick Bottom. The first review is a professional one, written by Variety's Alan Rich, who felt the event gave the L.A. Philharmonic a dream start of the new concert season. The second review is written by Brent Spiner fan Okie, who of course mostly talks about Spiner's performance in his/her report.

Rules Of Acquisition Inspire Scam
Christian (6:16 pm CST)
Yahoo! TV has put up a rather funny news item, mentioning that DS9's Rules of Acquisition may have influenced a teenager to engage in a cyberscam:

The New York Post reports that the high-school senior took to heart such Ferengi rules as "Laws are made to be broken, especially by businessmen" and "Businessmen are predators, customers are prey" by offering losing eBay bidders software to get the same products for lower prices. The teen collected money from bidders all over the world but failed to provide them with the software. Police found $50,000 in the boy's room along with posters of the "Ferengi Rules of Acquisition."

Picardo At Planetfest
Christian (6:16 pm CST)
CARPE, the official Robert Picardo (the Holodoc) fan club, is reporting that Picardo will be a featured guest speaker at Planetfest '99, which will be held from the 3rd to the 5th of December. The Planetfest is a three-day international festival and exhibition center at the Pasadena Convention Center in California, which is organised by the Planetary Society, of whose Advisory Council Picardo is a member. Here's what will be happening during the event, according to the official web site:

Planetfest '99, a three-day, international festival and exhibition at the Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, California, celebrates a milestone in international planetary exploration with thousands of attendees witnessing the arrival of the Mars Polar Lander on Mars. On a giant screen, the Red Planet's south pole will spread out before us as new images of this unexplored domain are sent back to Earth, 35 million miles away

Today On TV
Christian (6:15 pm CST)
-No Sky UK data today, as the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective still needs to be updated. I do know that tomorrow at 18:45 BST, BBC Two will be showing Voyager's 'Hope and Fear'.

-Tomorrow here in the Netherlands, RTL 5 will be showing DS9's 'Rejoined' at 18:05 CET.

-And in Belgium, Kanaal 2 will be showing DS9's 'Let He Who Is Without Sin' at 18:10 CET. Thanks go out to the Benelux TV Guide for this.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (6:15 pm CST)
Take a look at what's currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Has anyone ever read the Horatio Hornblower novels, which had a great influence on Star Trek?

-What do you think about the official Star Trek magazine?

Find more at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (6:15 pm CST)
Phew. Spent pretty much the whole day working on 'behind-the-scenes' site stuff and answering email - hopefully by the time the weekend is over I won't be so incredibly behind anymore.

Link of the Day: Westwood Announces First 'Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun' Expansion - I'll have to hurry up finishing the actual game, then.

Cinescape Reviews 'Tinker Tenor'
Christian (6:13 pm CST)
The folks at Cinescape have put up Michael Marek's review of 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy', the latest new Voyager episode. Here's how Marek sums up his thoughts on the episode:

"Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" fairly deftly dovetails two interesting story concepts. If you are looking for serious drama or action-adventure, this is not the episode for you. Taken as a light episode following a few weeks of heavier subjects, it works pretty well.

Robert Picardo Chat Report
Christian (6:11 pm CST)
NOTE: Below you will find spoilers for the upcoming Voyager episode 'Blink of an Eye'. Click here to avoid them.

Again, this is where you need to click to avoid being spoiled.

Yesterday, Robert Picardo (the Holodoc) attended a live chat at the official Star Trek Continuum. Though they have not yet put up a transcript, below you will find a summary of the most important things said in the chat. This includes a whole bunch of new info on 'Blink of an Eye', the episode in which Voyager will be visiting a planet in which civilisations rise and fall in a time period of just a few days. Take a look at the info from the chat:

• The chat started a bit late, as Picardo was still shooting a scene of 'Blink of an Eye'. When he arrived, he said the following: "I'm sorry that I'm still shooting. I'm speaking with the first prostetic applied to my face that I've ever had since starting Voyager. (We're doing this on the phone from his trailer)"
  
• The last shot of the day was shot in the corridor set, outside of sickbay. In the scene, Picardo is not in his Starfleet uniform, but rather 'undercover' disguised as an alien. That is also why he was wearing he prosthetic nose/headpiece and a strange outfit. The shot also included Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway) and Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres).
  
• 'One Small Step', the Mars episode directed by Picardo, will air the 17th of November.
  
• The Doctor and Deanna Troi will not meet in the upcoming episode 'Pathfinder'.
  

Mania Reviews 'Tinker Tenor'
Christian (6:10 pm CST)
Michelle Erica Green at AnotherUniverse's Mania Magazine has put up her review of 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy', the Voyager comedy centered around the Doctor. In general, Green thought the episode to be enjoyable:

While this episode had a lot in common with some of the original Trek episodes where Kirk had to deceive aliens - "The Corbomite Maneuver," "A Piece of the Action" - it was just as much fun as those classics. I especially liked the balance between the Doctor's humiliation and that of the aliens...he may have been caught with his pants down (in a manner of speaking) in front of a lot of the crew, but that very fact enabled him to live out a number of his daydreams in a way Walter Mitty never would have imagined.

Rick Berman Talks To USA Today
Christian (6:10 pm CST)
NOTE: Below you will find spoilers for 'Arena', the upcoming wrestling episode. This is where you need to click to avoid those.

Again, click here to avoid being spoiled.

Today's USA Today edition apparently features a short article entitled 'Voyager' beams up WWF guest star', featuring a few quotes from Star Trek's Executive Producer Rick Berman. Here's the article:

UPN's Star Trek: Voyager wrestles for ratings with a February episode guest-starring World Wrestling Federation champ The Rock. The story: Hunter/warrior aliens called the Hirogens kidnap sexy ex-Borg Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and force her to battle a Pendari alien (The Rock) to entertain them. "The fighters will have sensors and targets on their bodies," says Trek executive producer Rick Berman, "and when they make contact, there will be some very interesting fireworks." The Rock (real name Duane Johnson) performs 225 nights a year and doesn't get to watch much TV. So he's not a huge Trekker - but his wife is. "She's even more excited than I am." In other Trek news: Paramount is putting finishing touches on another series, "dramatically different from the last two," Berman says. It will premiere in fall 2000 or early 2001.

'Tinker Tenor' Tube Review
Christian (6:09 pm CST)
Reviewer Jeff Bond at Tube Reviews has uploaded his look at 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy', Wednesday's new Voyager episode. Awarding it a B-, Bond doesn't seem altogether positive about the episode:

While the Doctor's daydreams are funny, a little of them goes a long way and they really do start getting repetitive very quickly. And the toothless alien threat doesn't help matters. I know this is a comedy, but it's extremely difficult to take these aliens seriously -- these are the least threatening ET's since TNG's Pakleds. With obviously chubby and cherubic actors cast under the heavy makeups, these twinkly-eyed doofuses are just too human, and the combination of the comic predicament of the Doctor, the overly familiar premise and these overly cute aliens ultimately makes "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy" too lightweight.

'Armada' Designer Interview
Christian (6:09 pm CST)
Over at the Strategy Planet, a new interview with Trey Watkins, lead designer on Activision's 'Star Trek: Armada', has just gone up. Take a look at this short blurb from the interview, dealing with the difference between the Activision title and Interplay's 'New Worlds' game:

So, what are the differences between Star Trek: Armada and the upcoming New Worlds?

Star Trek New Worlds does fall more inline with the RTS genre; however, it is entirely ground based and uses units that have not existed in the Star Trek universe outside of their game.

Armada on the other hand is focused around space combat using the latest ships all of the players will recognize from the TV shows and movies. While we have developed new ships they are all to help fill out the sides with different strategic options and are heavily based on the existing art direction.

Eon 'Men Cry Bullets' Article
Christian (6:08 pm CST)
The new edition of Eon Magazine features an article about Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), dealing with her recent feature film debut 'Men Cry Bullets'. Here's how the article starts:

Seven of Nine is going soft. Kind of.

In her new, very independent movie, MEN CRY BULLETS, Jeri Ryan plays Lydia, the… relative… voice of reason in a wildly satiric not-quite-comedy, not-quite-tragedy about guns, dead pig children, and the harrowing impact of domestic violence.

'Starfleet Command' Strategy Guide
Christian (6:08 pm CST)
Tom Chick at GameProWorld has written a strategy guide for 'Starfleet Command', Interplay's new real-time strategy game. Take a look at what this strategy guide consists of:

[You] could say Interplay's game of tactical starship combat has been in development for 20 years. (It's based on Task Force Games' Starfleet Battles--a board game that has been evolving since its debut in 1979.) And any game system that's weathered two decades years of poking and prodding by hard-core war gamers and devoted Trekkies is bound to have more complexity and balance than your average computer game.

So once you've used the manual to learn to actually play the game, this guide can serve as a primer on how to play it well. The tips below will help you play better both against the computer and in multiplayer contests

TNG & DS9 Companion CD-ROMs Ship
Christian (6:07 pm CST)
Simon & Shuster Interactive have announced that they've just shipped the official CD-ROM companions to TNG and DS9. Selling for no more than $19.95, the CDs are excellent value for money, judging from the contents:

Every Script - For the first time ever, the scripts from every Star Trek: The Next Generation episode (all 178) have been digitized and placed in a database for easy searching, reading and printing.

Every Episode - The Companion details each and every one of the 178 episodes for Star Trek: The Next Generation's seven year run with original video trailers, hundreds of photos, behind the scenes stories and plot summaries.

One comprehensive resource - Exhaustively researched, Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion is the perfect momento of the series' seven ground breaking seasons. A vital reference work no Star Trek: The Next Generation fan should be without.

Poll Results
Christian (6:07 pm CST)
Below you'll find the results of the previous TrekToday poll, asking you about your favourite Voyager reviewer. The results seem quite clear, with Jim Wright at Delta Blues having received more than half of the votes:

Who is your favourite Voyager reviewer? Jim Wright, Delta Blues 52.9% - (151 Votes) Jamahl Episcokhan, ST-Hypertext 25.9% - (74 Votes) David E. Sluss, Cynics Corner 6.3% - (18 Votes) Other 6.3% - (18 Votes) Steve Perry, TrekWeb 5.6% - (16 Votes) Michelle Erica Green, Mania 2.1% - (6 Votes) Blake Fischer, IGN Sci-Fi 0.7% - (2 Votes) Total Votes: 285

As usual, please also take part in the new poll, asking you what you thought about 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy'. You can vote at the top right-hand side of the page.

Happy Birthday!
Christian (6:06 pm CST)
Unfortunately I missed this yesterday, but it was actually the 75th birthday of Mark Lenard, who brought great dignity to the Star Trek universe as Spock's father Sarek. Sadly, Lenard passed away three years ago.

Today On TV
Christian (6:06 pm CST)
-At 5:00pm Eastern Time, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the first regular TOS episode ever produced, 'The Corbomite Maneuver'.

-According to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective, British Sky One will be showing DS9's 'Rules of Acquisition' tomorrow at 16:00 BST, followed an hour later by Voyager's 'Retrospect'. At 4:40, BBC Two will be showing Voyager's 'One'.

-The Sat.1 site appears to be acting up at the moment, so there won't be any German TV data today.

-In Australia, Foxtel's TV1 will be showing TNG's 'Heart of Glory' at 8:30pm on Saturday. The episode will be repeated on 10:30am on Sunday. Thanks go out to Jamie McGregor for this.

-And here in the Netherlands, the AVRO on Nederland 1 will be showing Voyager's 'Dark Frontier, Part Two' at 18:38. Thanks go out to the Star Trek TV Guide for this.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (6:06 pm CST)
After being absent for a day, here's the usual look at what's hot and happening at the Trek BBS:

-Lots of 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy' posts, of course. As usual, there are the reviews of Richard Rafter and Da Woim, but there's also a thread talking about the episode's comedic qualities.

-Do you think that Commander Sela is still alive, even after her failures in 'Unification' and 'Redemption'?

The Trek BBS is where you'll be able to find lots more Star Trek discussions!

Hello World!
Christian (6:06 pm CST)
Good news for all of you who are still waiting for me to do something for you, have still not received a response email from me or simply want several parts of the Trek Nation to finally be updated - this weekend I'll be locking myself in and doing absolutely nothing besides web site stuff. If you're still waiting for me to do something which you thought I'd already forgotten about, now's the time to send me mail so I can work on it tomorrow morning.

Robert Picardo Chat Today
Christian (6:53 pm CST)
At 06:30pm Pacific Time, the official Star Trek Continuum will be hosting a live chat with Robert Picardo (the Holodoc). Advance questions can be submitted here, while info on how to participate can be found here.

Shatner On Canadian TV
Christian (6:49 pm CST)
TrekWeb is reporting that William Shatner (James T. Kirk) will be on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's 'Life & Times' on November 2nd from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST. 'Life & Times' is a show featuring the lives of famous Canadians, which Shatner of course also is. The official web site of the program has a bit more info on this.

Jammer Reviews 'Survival Instinct'
Christian (6:47 pm CST)
Somewhat belated due to lack of a UPN station in his area, reviewer Jamahl Epsicokhan at Star Trek: Hypertext has uploaded his review of 'Survival Instinct', Ron Moore's farewell episode. Awarding it three stars, Jamahl is pretty positive about it:

"Survival Instinct" is a definite winner. I think I'll put this in the upper ranks of three stars. Since Seven has come onto this series we've seen a lot of stories with similar themes concerning individuality ("The Raven," "One," "Drone," "Infinite Regress," "Dark Frontier," possibly others). This is one of the better-done examples (although not quite on the level of "Drone"), but it doesn't venture all that far off the previously explored path.

Jake Simpson On 'Elite Force'
Christian (6:47 pm CST)
Programmer Jake Simpson at Raven has updated his .plan with a status report on 'Voyager: Elite Force', their upcoming first-person shooter. Here's what he had to say about how they're progressing:

Star Trek is coming along, almost done with all the level design. Then its content time. The revised Quake III engine is about done - obviously some tweaks and additions required, but we are 90% there with new technology I would judge. Our Glorious leader(tm) Brian Pelletier took a demo of Voyager to Activision recently, and then on to Paramount, so they could judge our work, and returned home covered in gold, metaphorically speaking. This is always a good thing for a team to hear, to revitalise commitment and enthusiasm for the product.

'Tinker Tenor' Overnight Ratings
Christian (6:47 pm CST)
Greg Fuller at the Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has put up his Overnight Ratings report for 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy', yesterday's new Voyager episode. The episode did about as well as 'Barge of the Dead' last week:

"Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" remained surprisingly flat from last week, earning Voyager's second 4.7 rating, 7 share. I had expected some improvement, but as demonstrated last week by "Barge of the Dead," an overnight at this level doesn't neccessarily translate into final ratings doom.

Voyager finished in 6th in its timeslot, coming in just below 5th place "Roswell" which saw a huge dip from last week. The sci-fi/teen angst drama dropped from its 6.5/10 premiere to a 5.0/7 in its second week. As has usually been the case in past years, the baseball playoffs hurt Voyager by drawing its strong male audience. Fox won the slot and the night with a 12.4/20 from the American League Championship Series.

More Shots From... You Guessed It
Christian (6:46 pm CST)
Yes, another set of 'Deep Space Nine: The Fallen' screenshots. The folks at MacCentral have put up a new preview of the game, hilariously starting as follows:

This is the first new look folks have had at the game in a month, and the screenshots are real stunners.

Hello World!
Christian (6:46 pm CST)
Sorry for both being incredibly late and then providing only a short side - it is all due to my recent encounter with the Dark Side. Yes, I just returned from seeing Episode One for the first time, after the whole rest of the civilised world. Of course my first impressions of films I see are almost always very positive, so I'm not sure how much this opinion is worth, but I liked the movie very much - I'll probably be seeing it again sometime soon.

Delta Blues Reviews 'Barge'
Christian (5:33 pm CST)
Jim Wright at Delta Blues has upoaded his review of 'Barge of the Dead', last week's Voyager episode. After his usual lengthy synopsis, he also includes an analysis of the episode, which he ends as follows:

Verdict: I'm giving it (* * * *). It looked great, I enjoyed the pacing, and it made me think.

Some folks wonder how I come about my scores; there's no real science to it, but it boils down to this. If I hate it, one star. If I'm disappointed, two stars. If I like it, three stars. If I love it, four stars. The half stars split the difference.

I liked last week's episode, but it didn't have me jumping up and down. This episode did.

'Hidden Evil' Chat Tonight
Christian (5:33 pm CST)
The Omega Project is holding a chat tonight for the upcoming adventure game 'Insurrection: Hidden Evil'. Mike Webster, Associate Brand Manager from Activision will be on hand as well as at least one developer from the Hidden Evil team. The chat will start at 23:00 GMT (7pm EST - 3pm PST). The chat will be held on The Omega Project's own IRC Server, which can be access by typing /server omegaproject.net in any IRC Client. The chat is being held on channel #hiddenevil.

Cynics Corner Reviews 'Barge'
Christian (5:33 pm CST)
David E. Sluss at the Cynics Corner has uploaded his review of 'Barge of the Dead', last week's new Voyager episode. Here's his ultra-short look at the episode in general:

THE BOTTOM LINE: Klingon Klaptrap in the Delta Quadrant proves to be a bit less eye-rolling than expected. While heavy recycling is in evidence (think "The Inner Light" meets "Coda"), the episode does not foul up too horribly.
CYNICS CORNER RATING: 7.5

'Alice' Promo Online
Christian (5:32 pm CST)
Mr. Video Productions seems to have finally gotten back in full swing, as he has not only put up the 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy' promo, but also the promo for 'Alice', next week's Voyager episode. As is usual for Vidiot, the trailer is of a very high quality, and provides a good preview of next week's episode. You can download the trailer via Vidiot himself, while there is also a TrekToday mirror available.

'Barge' Does Well In Final Ratings
Christian (5:32 pm CST)
Greg Fuller at the Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has posted the final ratings report for 'Barge of the Dead', last week's new Voyager episode. Contrary to what was expected, the episode actually did pretty well:

Despite some early indicators that this episode would perform poorly, "Barge of the Dead" earned a third strong rating for Voyager's 6th season, tallying a 3.8 rating, 6 share. That's down from last week's 3.9/6, but level with "Equinox, Part II." The episode also rose from last season's comparable episode, "Extreme Risk," which grabbed a 3.6/6. With that, the first three episodes this season have rose from their comparable episodes last season, something that has only been done once since TNG left the air.

'Star Trash' On Local German TV
Christian (5:32 pm CST)
DSi Weekly, the weekly Trek newsletter of the German Star Trek Index, has a report about a Star Trek parody which has started showing on local German television. The series, which is to be called 'Star Trash', is described as a daily soap comedy consisting of 13 episodes, and starring 'Captain Jean Luc Goddard', 'Helmsman Takahasi' and 'Dr. Pelle Erickson'. The 'Offenen Kanal Kassel' (a public television channel in the city of Kassel, presumably) apparently started showing the series this Monday, at 18:00 CET.

Even More 'DS9: The Fallen' Shots
Christian (5:32 pm CST)
Is anyone else getting a bit tired of this constant barrage of 'Deep Space Nine: The Fallen' screenshots? I know the game is looking great, but surely they don't need to put out hundreds of screenshots to convince us of that? Gamespot apparently don't agree with this, as they've posted no less than 18 new shots, divided over this page and that one. Thanks go out to Robert Spottiswood for this!

Today On TV
Christian (5:31 pm CST)
-Tonight at 9:00pm, UPN will be showing the fourth episode of Voyager's sixth season, 'Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy.' Judging from the promo and the official UPN description, this looks set to be a pretty funny episode:

The Doctor's idle daydreams - vignettes that feature him as a romantic hero who defeats hostile forces - backfire when a real alien war party intercepts his fantasies and believes them to be reality, prompting them to plan a stealth raid on Voyager.

-Tomorrow at 15:00 CET, German Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Zu neuer Würde'.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:30 pm CST)
Check back in a few hours for a whole bunch of 'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy' discussions, but for now a few other interesting topics are also being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-For the next movie, should Rick Berman hand over to someone more experienced in writing for the big screen.

-In 'Future's End', Captain Braxton mentioned that Janeway was responsible for three temporal incursions that Braxton had to repair. Besides the one in 'Future's End', what were the other two?

Find more at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:30 pm CST)
'Groundhog Day!' Great movie! It just aired on Dutch television, and I still loved it. Does anyone know if any SF novels or short stories exist dealing with the same kind of theme?

'Alice' Set Report
Christian (5:13 pm CST)
Not surprisingly, this update contains spoilers for the upcoming Voyager episode 'Alice.' To avoid reading those, click here.

Again, this is where you need to click to avoid being spoiled.

Timothy Verheecke at WebTrek has reprinted an article by Ian Spelling, which first appeared in his 'Inside Trek' column in various newspapers. One of the things included in the report is a short summary of the episode:

"Alice" involves an alien ship so desperate to get home that its id, in the form of a beautiful woman named Alice (Rankin), takes possession of Tom Paris OMcNeill) and forces him to pilot the ship back to its own world. No one but Paris can actually see Alice, making his increasingly combative conversations with her seem like the ramblings of a madman to those around him, particularly Torres (Dawson).

A Take On Human Trek
Christian (5:08 pm CST)
Over at the Trek Nation, Fred Shedian just uploaded a new edition of his popular 'A Take On Trek' column. This week, he looks at the reasons for Trek's focus on humans:

Recently, people have been raising a question as to why "Star Trek is human centered?" It is an interesting question, possibly creating a situation dealing with a prejudice on the behalf of the writers and producers. However, would a series completely dedicated to another species, such as the Romulans, be successful in a television market? For a moment, let's review this hot issue.

'Men Cry Bullets' Trailer
Christian (5:08 pm CST)
A few days ago, 'Men Cry Bullets', the feature film debut of Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), premiered in Los Angeles. To celebrate this event, the official Jeri Lynn Ryan Homepage has put up the official theatrical trailer for the movie, which they received directly from the 'Men Cry Bullets' production company ID Films. The trailer, which is available in RealMedia, QuickTime and MPEG-format, can be found by visiting the JLR Homepage's guide page for 'Men Cry Bullets'.

Interplay Release 'New Worlds' MP3s
Christian (5:08 pm CST)
Over at Interplay's official 'Star Trek: New Worlds' site, three MP3s with samples of the game's soundtrack have just gone up. All three sound files come in at 2.4 MB, and feature either Federation, Klingon or Romulan music. You can find the files here.

Two Great TV Character Lists
Christian (5:07 pm CST)
This is quite a coincidence! The new TV Guide features a listing of TV's greatest characters ever, and at the sixth place we find Star Trek's very own Mr. Spock, between Archie Bunker and Lt. Colombo. This is accompanied by a short article on the half-Vulcan, which can be found here. Thanks go out to Gustavo Leao for pointing me to this.

At the same time, Mr. Showbiz's Centurama site, which looks at the past hundred years of film and television, has put up its list of the 50 most memorable TV characters of all time. In this list, Captain Kirk is number 3, Spock is 10, and Captain Picard is 32. Previously, for the 60s, Captain Kirk came out number 1 and Spock at 4, while for the 80s, Captain Picard came in number 3 and Data at 13. The full list can be found here - thanks go out to Spica for this!

German DS9 Ratings
Christian (5:07 pm CST)
'Daily Trek,' the daily German-language newsletter of our partner site TrekZone.de, has posted the following ratings for the first four episodes of DS9's 7th season, which recently premiered on Sat.1:

151. Image in the Sand (September 4)
0.76 Million / 10,2 % Share
0.63 Million / 17,4 % Share (Age 14-49)

152. Shadows and Symbols (September 11)
0,84 Million / 10,3 % Share
0,66 Million / 16,0 % Share (Age 14-49)

153. Afterimage (September 18)
1,05 Million / 11,7 % Share
0,83 Million / 18,2 % Share (Age 14-49)

154. Take me out to the Holosuite (September 25)
0,82 Million / 8,4 % Share
0,62 Million / 13,8 % Share (Age 14-49)

James Darren TV Appearances
Christian (5:07 pm CST)
Bernie Seilhamer just sent in a report about two upcoming televison appearances by James Darren (Vic Fontaine). Tomorrow (Wednesday), he will be appearing on the Regis & Kathie Lee Show, while on Thursday he'll be on the morning news show of the Fox News Channel. Apparently this was mentioned by Darren himself at Saturday's Farpoint convention.

Article On Trek's Klingon Obsession
Christian (5:07 pm CST)
In the new edition of his 'Zippy's SF Loft' column at TV Barn, John Zipperer has included a look at Star Trek's long-running love affair with the Klingon culture. Take a look at how he starts his article:

This past week, "Star Trek: Voyager" gave us "Barge of the Dead," a much-touted episode in which we get to see B'Elanna Torres do some Klingon heavy-lifting. Her mother, apparently condemned to the Klingon death barge, is discovered by Torres during a near-death experience, and the Starfleet engineer must struggle with herself -- but mostly with her shipmates --over whether or not she should welcome her violent Klingon side and accept the horror that the Klingon mythology about death and dishonor promises. Knowing what we do about Klingons, one would have to wonder why any sane person would want to be Klingon. More important, we have to wonder why "Trek" writers keep returning to this very un-"Trek" theme of an alien race that stands for every regressive tendency in life.

Patrick Stewart X-Men Article
Christian (5:06 pm CST)
The San José Mercury News has put up a short article about Patrick Stewart's involvement with the upcoming 'X-Men' film. In the article, the actor best known for his portrayal of Captain Jean-Luc Picard talks about how he at first wasn't sure if he wanted to participate in the film:

``X-Men'' has ``a following almost as fanatical as `Star Trek,' '' notes the actor best-known to many as Captain Jean-Luc Picard of ``Star Trek: The Next Generation.'' ``I have to confess, although `X-Men' falls into the genre of fantasy rather than science fiction, I wasn't sure I should put my toe into that particular water again. Being so closely associated with a genre, it's sometimes difficult to break away.'' He says talking to director Bryan Singer and reading the script swayed him.

More On Sirtis E:FC Role
Christian (5:06 pm CST)
At Roddenberry.com, the official web site of Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (Nurse Chape, Lwaxana Troi, the Computer), Majel maintains a regular column in which she tells her fans about the latest news concerning both herself and the 'Earth: Final Conflict' series. In the September 1 edition of her column, which I only just found out about, she provided the following info about the guest-starring role of Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) on 'Earth: Final Conflict':

I also have some exciting news! Marina Sirtis -- who as most of you know -- played my daughter Deana Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation, was recently on the EFC set in Toronto guest starring in an episode titled "The Cloisters." This time, Marina won't be playing Deana. Her character in the story is the founder of one of the most influential spiritual organizations on Earth called The Cloister. The group is made up entirely of women and seeks that special spiritual connection with the Taelons that will bring them to an enlightened state. Intrigued to see how Marina fares with Da'an and Zo'or? You'll have to stay tuned!

Klingon Academy Chat Today
Christian (5:06 pm CST)
IPlayGames, a fan site for Interplay's computer games, just just posted the following official Interplay press release:

Please join Klingon Academy producer Raphael Hernandez, designer Ron Hodge and other members of the Klingon development team.

WHAT: Klingon Academy CHAT
WHEN: Tuesday, October 12, 1999 at 5 p.m. PST/ 8 p.m. EST
WHERE: /server pc065.ed.bmc.org (in any irc client) (room #starfleet)

Today On TV
Christian (5:06 pm CST)
-At 5:00pm Eastern Time, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the first-season TOS episode 'What Are Little Girls Made Of?'.

-According to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective, British Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Waking Moments' tomorrow at 17:00 and at 23:30 BST. At 18:45, BBC Two will be showing TNG's 'Descent, Part One.'

-And in Germany, Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Emotionen' tomorrow at 15:00 CET.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:05 pm CST)
Here's what's currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Does anyone know anything about Starfleet's Peregrine-Class vessels?

-What's your favourite sickbay?

Find more at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:05 pm CST)
Thanks to Amazon, I received Vangelis' 'Blade Runner' soundtrack today. The music is still every bit as good as I remember it from the film, but there was one thing which incredibly annoyed me - instead of the booming sounds from the film's introduction, we get thirty seconds of film dialogue! Isn't the whole point of buying a soundtrack that you get to enjoy the music without having the dialogue? But still, for the rest the CD is rather enjoyable, especially "Rachel's Song", which I'm not sure even was in the actual film. It almost makes up for the various additions of film dialogue everywhere.

Auberjonois On 'Chicago Hope'
Christian (5:08 pm CST)
Last Thursday, the 7th of October, René Auberjonois appeared on the CBS television show 'Chicago Hope' in an episode entitled 'Oh What a Piece of Work is Man'. Auberjonois played a brilliant surgeon who also had Tourette's Syndrome, and apparently anyone who enjoyed his work as Odo would find a lot of similaries in the characterizations. Thanks go out to Bella for telling me about this!

Nicole De Boer Survey
Christian (5:05 pm CST)
NikkiDeBoer.com, a fan site for Nicole de Boer (Ezri Dax) is reporting that deBoer has agreed to participate in an 'About-Myself Survey,' organised by her official fan club. Any questions you want to ask deBoer can be sent to the following email: leafs778@aol.com. Presumably the answers will be posted to the official site at www.nicoledeboerfanclub.com, once that site is launched.

Star Trek Smorgasbord
Christian (5:05 pm CST)
I'm not quite certain why they called it this way, but the Australian gaming news site Play Now has put up a feature looking at the Star Trek action computer games due for release in the next year. There's one game which Play Now think looks especially promising:

Of the non strategy games Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force is without doubt the most promising in the pipeline. This 3D action shooter features stunning visuals, lots of heart stopping gunplay, and a number of great looking foes. You play a member of a special security team, and you have to stop enemy boarding parties, visit hostile planets, and infiltrate enemy bases. Elite Force looks like doing for Star Trek what Jedi Knight did for Star Wars, as it is an amazing looking action title with lots of atmosphere, superb weapon effects, and some incredibly realistic (and interactive) environments.

Highest UPN Thursday Ever
Christian (5:04 pm CST)
TV Guide is reporting that last Thursday's showing of 'WWF Smackdown!' turned out to be even more successful for UPN than usual - the show gave the network its highest number of total viewers on a Thursday, ever! Of course, for Voyager this is also just good news - UPN's survival seems a lot more likely now, and maybe some of the WWF viewers will be lured over to Voyager.

Poll Results
Christian (5:04 pm CST)
Here are the results of the last TrekToday poll, asking you what you thought about Voyager's 'Barge of the Dead.' Voyager really seems to be doing well this year - all three episodes that have aired so far have scored really well.

How would you grade 'Barge of the Dead'? 9-10 31.2% (116 Votes) 7-8 27.7% (103 Votes) Wasn't able to see it 14.2% (53 Votes) 5-6 13.7% (51 Votes) 3-4 5.1% (19 Votes) Saw 'Roswell' instead 3.5% (13 Votes) 1-2 2.9% (11 Votes) Didn't want to see it 1.3% (5 Votes) Total Votes: 371

Today On TV
Christian (5:04 pm CST)
-According to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective (back online again, though I still have to use the more current data from the ODN update), British Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Message In A Bottle' at 17:00 and at 23:30 BST.

-Tomorrow at 15:00 CET, German Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Das verlorene Paradies' (Paradise Lost).

-On Tuesday the 12th of October, the Australian Channel Nine will be showing DS9's 5th season episode 'Rapture' at 11:05pm.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:03 pm CST)
Here's what's currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-What are some of DS9's most underrated episodes?

-Do you think Data deserves a promotion?

More threads can be found at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:03 pm CST)
The lack of news is truly stunning - I don't think we've had this few news items for at least the past three months or so. It did give me the chance to finally start catching up on email again - I've again got unanswered mail dating back close to a month now :-(. If you're still waiting for a response, hang on - you're not being ignored!

Playstation Trek Article
Christian (4:39 pm CST)
Captain Proton at the Energizer sends along word that he has reprinted an article which first appeared in the UK Playstation Magazine, looking at the upcoming Star Trek game for the Playstation. In the article, Haydn Dalton at game developer Warthog provides us with the first basic info on the game:

For the uninitiated, tell us about Star Trek.
You play one of the best of the best cadets from Starfleet Academy. You have been chosen for your skill and ability. You will play an ensign within the squad and it's up to you to save the universe from a deadly and unknown threat.

We understand that many of the ships in the game will be unfamiliar to fans of the series. What's that all about?
In the game, the player engages enemies in a newly-designed Valkyrie class fighter (based on Data's ship from the last movie and as well as the Defiant.) It didn't seem feasible that you would only meet traditional Star Trek ships like the Romulan Warbird or the Klingon Bird Of prey due to their size and power. We knew Trek fans would say, "Yeah right, a fighter against two Warbird's, that's illogical Captain!" I think Star Trek fans will be very pleased with what we have created here. There are plenty of traditional favourites in there too, so everybody wins.

Casey Biggs News
Christian (4:34 pm CST)
Holly Kim Wilson just sent in two news items about Casey Biggs (DS9, Damar), who will soon be guest starring on several television shows.

First, Biggs' first episode of the new series "Snoops" will air on Sunday, Oct. 17th, and is called "Higher Calling" . On Oct. 15th, Biggs will begin taping a second episode of the show, details will follow.

Second, Biggs' episode of "Touched by an Angel" will air on Halloween night, Oct. 31st. It's entitled "The Occupation" and is about demonic possession.

Major thanks go out to HollY Kim Wilson for this!

New Sev Trek Cartoon
Christian (4:34 pm CST)

Of course, congratulations go out to Sev Trek's John Cook, whose wife Wendy gave birth to a baby girl at 11:40 on Sunday morning! Congratulations to the proud father of Gabrielle Wendy Cook can be posted to this thread at the Sev Discussion Board.

'Elite Force' Mac Version Article
Christian (4:34 pm CST)
Peter Cohen at MacCentral has written an article about the Mac version of Raven's upcoming first-person shooter 'Voyager: Elite Force.' For a while, a Mac version seemed unlikely, as Apple didn't seem willing to provide Raven with any equipment or support. After Raven's Jake Simpson first announced this in his .plan file, a minor storm erupted, with fans and even other Mac developers protesting against the lack of a Mac version. In the end, Raven did get a few machines from Apple, and now it looks like there will probably still be a Mac version of their Voyager game. A full history of the Raven Apple story can be found in the full article. Thanks go out to Jeff 'Koganuts' Koga for pointing me to this.

BBC To Start Showing New DS9
Christian (4:34 pm CST)
I should have reported on this a few days ago already, but according to a post in the uk.media.tv.sf.startrek newsgroup, the BBC recently announced the following:

Season six of 'DS9' begins its run on Thursday 21 October and continues on Wednesday 27 October where it will stay until future notice.

'DS9: The Fallen' Interview
Christian (4:33 pm CST)
GA-Source has put up an interview with 4 people involved with the upcoming 'Deep Space Nine: The Fallen' game in development at the Collective - Gary Priest (VP of Development), Doug Hare (VP of Production), Kevin Deadrick (Lead Designer) and T. Elliot Cannon ('Myscha,' Level Design Director). In the interview, they talk about such things as the game's new animation system, the rendered station locations, and the new alien race, the Grigari:

The Grigari are basically a race of biomechanical scavengers. Now, I don't want spoil the game by divulging too much but essentially they have been hired by one of the characters in the game in exchange for "pirating" rights to any technology they acquire during the operation. Early in the game the player will be faced with the terrifying realization that standard Federation weaponry has little or no effect on all but the weakest class of Grigari. So in the early missions where the player encounters this foe they will be forced to use stealth and their wits to get around this problem and still accomplish their mission goals in one piece. Later, once more effective weaponry is discovered the player will finally have the opportunity to face these creatures head on and take them out....but there are still a few surprises beyond that!

Happy Birthday!
Christian (4:33 pm CST)
Precisely 80 years ago, Janos Prohaska was born. Prohaska was one of the people providing alien costumes for Star Trek, including the memorable Horta from 'Devil in the Dark' and the Mugato from 'A Private Little War.' Sadly, Prohaska passed away 25 years ago at the age of 54.

Today On TV
Christian (4:33 pm CST)
-According to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective (the web site of which is again down, I got this from ODN), British Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Mortal Coil' tomorrow at 17:00 and at 23:30 BST. At 20:00, they'll be showing the new episode 'Take Me Out To The Holosuite.'

-Tomorrow in Germany, Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Die Front' at 15:00 CET.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (4:32 pm CST)
With over 60 posts today, the Trek BBS is a lot more active than you'd expect for a Sunday. Take a look at a few of the interesting topics currently being discussed:

-In the later seasons of Deep Space Nine, did the series lose some of the feeling of family it had in the first three seasons?

-Which space strategy game is better - Masters of Orion 2 or Star Trek: Birth of the Federation?

Find more at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (4:32 pm CST)
I just saw Voyager's 'Demon' for the very first time this evening when it aired on the BBC, and I was truly stunned by how extremely bad that episode was. The laughable science, the sudden changes in several characters, and the completely idiotic premise of the Voyager crew being unable to anticipate running out of gas combined into what I thought was the worst Voyager episode since 'Threshold.' After that I had great fun reading some of the episode reviews on the net, though. I particularly recommend Jammer's Review of the episode - that one was so hilarious it almost made the experience of having watched the episode worthwhile :-).

New Trek Minds Show
Christian (5:13 pm CST)
I just saw on the German Star Trek Index that the people at Radio Trek have put up edition #14 of 'TrekMinds,' their bi-weekly radio show. This week, the show of course has its regular features such as a book column and a column on forgotten Trek scripts, but it also has a web site review and a new question of the week. The show can be downloaded here.

Dean Wesley Smith Writing Tips
Christian (5:13 pm CST)
David Henderson at Psi Phi sends along word that he has posted a list of hints by Dean Wesley Smith to prospective writers on what it takes to make a good short story, and some common traps to avoid. Smith is the editor of the annual Strange New Worlds amateur Trek fiction contest, the third of which ended last month, so his advice should be very useful for anyone aspiring to see his Trek story published. Most of the hints deal with writing SF stories in general, but there is also a set of 15 hints dealing more specifically with Strange New Worlds. You can find the full set of hints by going here.

D.W. "Prof" Smith Interview
Christian (5:13 pm CST)
The official Amazing Stories web site has posted an interview with Dean Wesley Smith, who as 'D.W. "Prof" Smith' contributed a story dealing with Captain Proton, Voyager's parody on old sci-fi serials, to the latest issue of the monthly magazine. In the interview, he talks a bit about the upcoming Captain Proton book which Pocket Books will be publishing:

Amazing: Tell us more about the Captain Proton book that features this installment….
Smith: Yes, there's going to be a "mock pulp magazine" from Pocket Books coming out in October.

Amazing: Did other writers contribute to this book, too?
Smith: Chris McKittrick did the "nonfiction" in the Pocket book -- he did some science articles, "1935 looking at 1999," "Seattle of the Future." They're just hysterical. There's also a letters column in the mock pulp.

Encyclopedia CD-Rom Update
Christian (5:13 pm CST)
On her Q&A Board, Pocket Books' non-fiction Trek editor Margaret Clark just announced that an updated version of the 'Star Trek Encyclopedia' CD-Rom should be in stores this month! Fans of the encyclopedia should defnitely consider getting this, maybe even instead of the regular book version - the new data from the update is probably fully integrated on the CD-Rom, while the actual book consists of the old encyclopedia and an added supplement. A few more answers from Clark can be found in the full update, which also contains a lengthy explanation of why the Voyager Technical Manual is a project which might be difficult to actually get done.

Star Trek CCG News
Christian (5:12 pm CST)
Over at the Decipher, the official web site of the Star Trek Customizable Card Game, several news items have appeared related to the Trek CCG.

First of all, people who are planning to travel to the November DecipherCon might not have to pay as much as they originally thought - Decipher is teaming up with travel agency Garris Travel to provide CCG fans with a 5 to 10% discount on flight tickets. Details on this discount, which only applies for people who place reservations before the 28th of October, can be found here.

Secondly, they've put up a rather funny article by Evan Lorentz, looking back at the 'good old times' when the Trek Customizable Card Game had just started and existed of a mere three affiliations. The article is interesting to read even if (like me) you have never actually played the game.

Thirdly, there's a news report on the third annual Star Trek CCG World Championships, taking place on the 12th and 13th of November in Virginia Beach, VA. The Decipher web site will be providing live updates on the event.

Finally, there's a new edition of Radio Free Decipher, in which Marcus Certa and Ryan Morris talk about all of Decipher's CCGs and DecipherCon.

'Voyager: Elite Force' Interview
Christian (5:12 pm CST)
Over at the 3D-Nexus, there's an interview with Micheal Gummelt, a programmer at Raven working on the upcoming 'Voyager: Elite Force' game. In the interview, he talks about the high realism of the game (apparently you will be thrown into the brig if you shoot at the warp core, for instance), the environments you'll be able to explore (including space itself) and the game's special Artificial Intelligence:

What is the biggest code change from the Q3A engine to VOY:EF?

I might be a bit biased here since this is something I've been involved in programming, but I'd have to say scripting and AI. Quake 3 had DM bots when we got it, but no traditional "monster" or NPC AI and, of course, no scripting. Josh Weier (programmer) and myself have developed the scripting and AI systems (called ICARUS) from scratch , and it's worked out very well for us. Those that have seen the game so far seem to be impressed. Our goal is to have intelligent squad and enemy AI and mix that with interactive scripted events that allow us to have enemies and NPCs behave in a huge variety of ways, even specific to every event, like Half-Life. But unlike Half-Life, you will be able to interact with the scripts and affect their outcome. If a guy is crawling on the ground and a medic goes to drag him to safety while enemies are shooting at them, you can do a variety of different things. You could wait and see what happens- if the medic is killed, the injured guy will sit there and be dogmeat, if the injured guy is killed, the medic will run to cover. If you shoot the enemy, the medic could successfully drag the injured man to cover and treat him then keep fighting.

Ryan At 'Men Cry Bullets' Screening
Christian (5:12 pm CST)
Following yesterday's regular premiere in Los Angeles, today Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) will be attending a screening of her feature film debut, 'Men Cry Bullets.' According to the official Jeri Lynn Ryan Homepage, the movie is currently showing at Laemmles Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd, which is also where Ryan will be from 10:00pm to midnight. More on the movie can be found on the guide page of the JLR Homepage.

'Insurrection: Hidden Evil' Beta Test
Christian (5:11 pm CST)
The official Star Trek Continuum has just launched a special contest, where you can win a place on the beta-testing team of 'Insurrection: Hidden Evil.' Take a look at how the Continuum described the contest:

Do you dream of joining Starfleet and working to the benefit of the Federation? Now you can with STAR TREK: CONTINUUM and Activision. Be the first to play Activision's exciting new title Star Trek: Hidden Evil and send feedback on the game's performance. If you have the right system requirements you may be chosen to participate in a Beta test of this hot new software. If you are selected and assist in the Beta Test process you will also receive a complimentary copy of Star Trek: Hidden Evil and a mention in either the game credits or instruction booklet.

Here's how it works: Activision is one of the hottest international publishers, designers and distributors of interactive software. They need Beta Testers for their upcoming release Star Trek: Hidden Evil. This new game simulation offers the latest in gaming technologies and now you can be the first to try the game and send Activision your comments.

Today On TV
Christian (5:11 pm CST)
-According to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective, British Sky One will be showing DS9's 'Melora' tomorrow at 16:00 BST, followed an hour later by Voyager's 'Concerning Flight.' At 18:45, BBC Two will be showing Voyager's 'Demon.'

-On Sunday at 10:30am in Australia, Foxtel's TV1 will be showing TNG's 'Coming of Age.'

-I've always been wanting to also include television data for the Netherlands, where I live, but unfortunately the lack of a good source has always prevented me from doing that. Fortunately, I just discovered the Dutch Star Trek TV Guide, which includes just that! Thanks to them, we will now also have television data for the entire Benelux (or at least, I think so - Trek doesn't air on a separate channel in Luxemburg, does it?) Anyway, tomorrow the Belgian Channel 2 will be showing DS9's 'Trials and Tribble-Ations' at 18:10 CET, while the Dutch RTL 5 will be showing DS9's 'Indiscretion' at exactly the same time.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:11 pm CST)
Here are a few interesting topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-What is the difference between a gul and a legate?

-Talk about the Ambassador-class starship, the most underused ship in the Next Generation.

Find more at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:10 pm CST)
Truly no 'Hello World!' inspiration today. Go check out this site if you really wouldn't be able to live without a daily dosis of wisdom :-).

'Survival Instinct' Credits
Christian (5:37 pm CST)
David Henderson at Psi Phi has just put up the credits listing for 'Survival Instinct,' last week's Voyager episode. As usual, this includes full info on the regular cast, guest cast, creative and productive staff. You can find the credits here.

Starlog Kate Mulgrew Interview
Christian (5:33 pm CST)
Jason Davidson at Star Trek News has reprinted an interview with Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway), which first appeared in Starlog magazine. In it, she talks about the character of Janeway, the sixth season, and reports a few months ago that she wanted to leave the series:

Mulgrew swears that her controversial words derived not only from her desire to begin, in earnest, her life with Hagan, but also her fears that she was missing far too many important moments in the lives of her two young sons. The actress took her concerns to Berman and Braga, stressing that she yearned for some flexibility in her schedule. She could handle long hours when she worked, but she coveted the occasional day off so she could be by Hagan's side at some political reception if necessary or at her sons' school for sporting events. In other words, Mulgrew wanted to reduce the frequency of times that she would be sitting at home for hours, unable to go anywhere or do anything, waiting for production to call her in. And she didn't want too many more instances in which she shot only a single, non-essential scene.

Berman and company heard Mulgrew out, and ultimately they came to an agreement that satisfied everyone. Janeway wouldn't be pulling a vanishing act this year or next. Just how close, though, did we come to losing Mulgrew? "If they had said to me, 'We really don't care,' I may have considered leaving," she responds. "I was under contract already for the sixth year and I intended to honor that contract. I'm only talking about conversations and negotiations for the seventh season. It really involved my happiness quotient. In many ways, I set the tone on the set. My mood and my approach are very important, and I think there's nothing worse than a professional actress who is unhappy because she misses her husband and children. But [Berman and Braga] realized that. And if I may say so, they were not only gentlemen about it, but very gracious. I am much, much happier now."

New Sev Trek Competition
Christian (5:25 pm CST)
John Cook at Sev Trek has uploaded a new edition of the 'Write Your Own Sev Trek' Competition:

Space.com Critiques 'Barge'
Christian (5:19 pm CST)
And their reviewer Kenneth Silber certainly is not very positive about the episode. Here's what he had to say in the analysis portion of his review:

Like its titular slow boat, the "Barge of the Dead" carries viewers into a half-baked mishmash of New Age religious sentiment and self-actualization flapdoodle.The Klingon netherworld jibes poorly with the complex but comprehensible universe that's generally been posited in Star Trek. The barge and its destination are reminiscent of classical and Christian visions of the afterlife, reflecting a lack of scriptwriting imagination.

B'Elanna's descent, in any event, turns out to be merely an opportunity for her to feel better about herself. No hard choices must be made. Eternal damnation lasts about 60 seconds. Don't suffer through this one.

More On 'Galaxy Ball'
Christian (5:18 pm CST)
At the Continuum, Voyager's Robert Beltran (Chakotay) just shared some more information on this year's Galaxy Ball, which he will be hosting. The ball is organised to benefit the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles, which Beltran is a supporter of. Here's what attendees will be able to expect from the event, according to Beltran:

"I hope this will be an opportunity for people to have a lot of fun while participating in an event that will bring much needed help to so many people with Downs Syndrome. We've put together an entertaining day and evening event and I hope people will come, enjoy themselves and perhaps even become more aware of what Downs Syndrome is and what they can do to help. Some of the cast members will join me for autographs and Q&A. In the evening there we'll have a dinner and cabaret, featuring performances by Ethan Phillips, Robbie McNeil, Tim Russ and myself, with Neil Norman and his Cosmic Orchestra. This will be followed by a dance with Louie Beltran and The West Coast Players. We had a great time last year and hope to have an even greater time this year."

Canadian 'Free Enterprise' Review
Christian (5:18 pm CST)
Canadian entertainment news site Jam! Showbiz has reprinted a 'Free Enterprise' review by Liz Braun, which first appeared in the Toronto Sun. The independent comedy 'Free Enterprise' has just started showing in a few places in Canada, and Braun strongly recommends seeing it:

A serial killer who only murders members of the Brady Bunch, a rap verison of Julius Caesar that stars William Shatner, an obsession with X-Men, the gestalt of Star Trek. If any of this means anything to you, Free Enterprise is a must-see proposition. Actually, even if it doesn't mean anything to you ... ditto.

[Update:] I see they've also put up a review of the film by Steve Tilley, writer for the Express. You can find that one here.

New Wil Wheaton Play
Christian (5:18 pm CST)
In a new Star Trek News Dispatches column, the official Continuum is reporting that Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) will be performing in Los Angeles at the Matrix Theatre in a play called "Marmalade Skies." The play is set to open about two weeks from now, on the 21st of October.

SMPTAD To Honour Zimmerman
Christian (5:18 pm CST)
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Art Directors (SMPTAD) has organised a special screening of 'Star Trek: First Contact,' in order to honour the work of long-time Trek production designer Herman Zimmerman. The screening will take place on Sunday the 17th of October at the Directors Guild Theatre, 7920 Sunset Blvd, in Los Angeles. Take a look at why First Contact was chosen for this screening:

SMPTAD Vice President, Gregory Bolton, suggested "Star Trek: First Contact" to Zimmerman for the special screening because it was one of the most widely watched "Star Trek" films. The story centers around the earth as opposed to being primarily concerned with outer space and aliens.

"This film," Zimmerman explained, "is perfect for those who are not familiar with the premise of `Star Trek' and it offers a virgin audience the opportunity to appreciate the story." "Star Trek" movies, television specials and series are seen over and over again worldwide. The two "Star Trek" series have reached an enormous worldwide audience due to their hit status in syndication.

Continuum 'The Fallen' Preview
Christian (5:17 pm CST)
Over at the official Star Trek Continuum, a new preview of the upcoming action game 'DS9: The Fallen' has just gone up. In the preview, they reveal that there will actually be a different campaign for each of the three officers you can play as:

Players can choose between three different campaigns that are dictated by their choice of character. The first person characters are Kira Nerys, Benjamin Sisko and Worf. The campaigns will be signifigantly different as each of the three characters will have dissimilar attributes that help or complicate the success of their mission. Worf is more aggressive in his approach, Kira more covert and Sisko's strengths and weaknesses fall somewhere between the two. Making the play more realistic all the character voices are supplied by the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actors Nana Visitor, Avery Brooks and Michael Dorn.

IGN Sci-Fi Reviews 'Barge'
Christian (5:17 pm CST)
Blake Fischer at IGN Sci-Fi has uploaded his review of 'Barge of the Dead,' the recent Klingon hell episode. Original as ever, Fischer awarded the episode a rating of 3 out of 5, the same as the previous two episodes. Still, he did have a few words of preaise for 'Barge of the Dead':

Honestly, this is one of the most interesting episodes of Voyager in a long time, simply because of a Matrix-like quality of never knowing what's really real that keeps the audience guessing. Surreal moments like Tuvok and B'Elanna's spirited sparring clue the audience in, but when the reality shifts again we're never quite sure if it's the final jump. Dreams within dreams can be confusing but when they are done right they're fun, and they're done quite well here. Unfortunately, when she gets back to reality it's disappointing, since the whole sequence is casually explained as visions from her coma. At that point, the episode becomes a bit more traditional and our interest wanes.

'Chimp Channel' Voyager Parody
Christian (5:17 pm CST)
Yesterday, the TBS program The Chimp Channel, which specialises in creating spoofs of network shows using chimps, apparently had a Voyager parody. A short report of the spoof can be found in this post by Carol to the Coffee Nebula's discussion board.

'Barge Of The Dead' Tube Review
Christian (5:16 pm CST)
Eon Magazine spin-off Tube Reviews has put up its review of 'Barge of the Dead,' Wednesday's new Voyager episode. Awarding it just a C+, reviewer Jeff Bond isn't exactly wildly enthusiastic about the episode:

The bottom line is that it was more interesting to see episodes like this made about Spock or Worf, characters who couldn't give voice to their inner feelings. Torres gripes about her Klingon heritage constantly, so while "Barge of the Dead" does fill in some of her past, it doesn't make her any more intriguing as a character.

Paramount Confirms New Voyager Writer
Christian (5:16 pm CST)
In the latest edition of her Hailing Frequencies column for Mania, Michelle Erica Green is reporting that Paramount has confirmed the addition of Robin Bernheim to the Voyager staff:

Paramount has confirmed the hiring of a new writer, Robin Bernheim, on Star Trek Voyager. Rumors were rampant this week that the series had finally hired a female writer - the first woman on the staff since Lisa Klink departed along with former executive producer Jeri Taylor. Because she has considerable production experience, Bernheim is apparently expected to work as a production supervisor as well as on scripts.

3 Trek Stars In LOTR
Christian (5:16 pm CST)
And how grateful I am for that, as it gives me a great excuse to do an update on what might well turn out to be the best movie series of all time. New Line Cinema has just announced that filming has started for 'Lord of the Rings,' the movie trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novels. They have also realised the official cast list, which turns out to include three Trek alumni, two of which are mentioned in the press release:

Brad Dourif [Voyager, Lon Suder] stars as Wormtongue, the manipulative adviser to King Theodon and a pawn of the evil wizard Saruman. Since making his film debut in ``One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,'' for which he earned an Academy Award® nomination, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award, Dourif has appeared in over 40 films. Among these are ``Ragtime,'' ``Wise Blood,'' ``Blue Velvet,'' ``Alien Resurrection'' and all four of the ``Chucky'' movies, in which he provided the voice of Chucky.

John Rhys-Davies [Voyager, Leonardo Da Vinci] stars as Gimli, who represents the dwarves in the Fellowship of the Ring. One of the busiest actors, Rhys-Davis has been seen in television productions ranging from ``Shogun'' to ``Sliders'' and in films ranging from the three ``Indiana Jones'' films to ``The Great White Hype.'' A few of his other credits include the miniseries ``War and Remembrance,'' ``Noble House'' and ``Reilly: Ace of Spies,'' and the films ``The Living Daylights'' and ``Victor/Victoria.''

Poll Results
Christian (5:15 pm CST)
Of course these were also supposed to appear yesterday, but below you will find the results of the previous TrekToday poll, asking how much Seven you thought we should be seeing next year. The results seem clear:

Do you think Seven of Nine should be used more or less next year? The line must be drawn here! Less Seven! 66.6% - (196 Votes) More Seven! Resistance is Futile! 33.3% - (98 Votes) Total Votes: 294

Please do participate in the new TrekToday poll, asking what you thought about 'Barge of the Dead.' You can vote at the top right-hand side of the page.

Today On TV
Christian (5:15 pm CST)
-For the first time in a long while on Friday, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the Original Series episode 'The Enemy Within' at 5:00pm Eastern Time.

-According to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective, British Sky One will be showing DS9's 'Cardassians' tomorrow at 16:00 BST, followed an hour later by Voyager's 'Random Thoughts.'

-Tomorrow at 16:05, German Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Verrat, Glaube und gewaltiger Fluß' (Treacher, Faith and the Great River).

-And here in the Netherlands, the AVRO on Nederland 1 will be showing 'Dark Frontier, Part One' tomorrow at 18:40 CET.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:15 pm CST)
Our report on what is hot and happening at the Trek BBS returns again, after I wasn't able to include it yesterday. As was to be expected, Voyager's latest and upcoming episode are actively talked about:

-Read and comment on the 'Barge of the Dead' reviews by Richard Rafter and da Woim, or just give your own thoughts on the episode.

-Did you see the rather interesting Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy promo?

Find more discussion topics at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:14 pm CST)
Thanks to my brother, today I got my first-ever Trek actor autograph! Out of personal interest, he was attending the 50th Astronautical Congress Federation, and while the event itself didn't turn out to be that interesting, he did run across Jennifer Lien (Kes) who was being interviewed together with the Dutch astronaut-to-be Arnold Kuiper. After that, she was chatting with a few people when Thomas walked up to her and asked her for an autograph for me. Now I'm the proud owner of a leaflet of the Dutch Star Trek fan club with on top of that the text 'To: Christian - Jennifer Lien.' I'm probably going to frame it and hang it on the wall behind my computer, joining a charcoal painting of Picard and Riker and an autograph of Ira Steven Behr which Jeff 'Koganuts' Koga was kind enough to get for me at the DS9 finale premiere. That wall is really turning into a rather interesting little Trek shrine - I wonder what it'll look like a few years from now.

New Playstation Trek Screenshots
Christian (5:06 pm CST)
GameSpot UK Videogames has posted a set of five new screenshots from the upcoming Playstation Star Trek game being developed by Warthog for Activision. You can find the screenshots by going here. Thanks go out to TrekWeb for pointing me to this.

'Animal Farm' Ratings
Christian (5:06 pm CST)
Ultimate TV is reporting that 'Animal Farm,' the TNT telefilm starring Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard) as the pig Napoleon and Kelsey Grammer (Captain Morgan Batheson) as his opponent Snowball, was seen by 16.1 million viewers and achieved a 7.3 rating. The full report on this can be found here.

Three Trek Stars In Concert
Christian (5:05 pm CST)
Welcome, Brent Spiner Fans! is reporting on a benefit concert of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, taking place this Saturday, October 9. Besides a performance of Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' there will also be actors doing readings of the Shakespeare play from the stage, and amongst the actors doing this are three people who have appeared on Star Trek before. Here's a short list of their names and which roles they will be reading:

Rosalind Chao [Keiko O'Brien], Helena

Brent Spiner [Data], Nick Bottom/Pyramus

Alfre Woodard [Lily Sloane], Titania

Kenneth Biller Chat Report
Christian (5:05 pm CST)
"What Kenneth Biller Chat?", you're probably thinking. Well, yesterday at 7:30pm PDT the new sci-fi 'virtual community' Cybertown hosted a live chat with Kenneth Biller, co-executive producer on 'Voyager.' Unfortunately, they apparently didn't think it was necessary to announce that a few days in advance, and so I myself only learned about a few hours before it started. Though Biller didn't provide any shocking new info, here's a short report on what he said in the chat:

Voyager's budget is currently about $2 million per episode, making it one of the most expensive shows on television.

When asked if there was a new Star Trek series in development, he answered: "YES.... I can't elaborate on the specifics. Maybe Jan 2001." This might be the first time someone involved with Trek has officially mentioned a possible date, though I'm certainly not sure about this.

Biller is currently developing a non-SF show for another network.

There will probably be no Doctor/Seven of Nine romance this year, though Janeway will have 'an unusual romance' this season. (Probably referring to the episode 'Safe Harbour,' where Janeway will apparently fall in love with an Irish barkeeper on the holodeck.

'Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy' Promo
Christian (5:05 pm CST)
SCIFI Headquarters has just put up the promo trailer for 'Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy,' next week's new Voyager episode. Judging from the trailer, this is going to be one of the strangest shows Voyager has ever done, but perhaps also one of the funniest. As usual, the trailer is available as a 24 fps MPG-file, 3.5 MB in size. You can download the promo here. (Yes, I was actually planning to mirror the file again, but time constraints prevented me from doing that this week. Sorry!)

'Roswell' Beats 'Barge Of The Dead'
Christian (5:05 pm CST)
Greg Fuller at the Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database has posted his overnight ratings report for 'Barge of the Dead,' yesterday's new Voyager episode. As was to be expected, the premiere of 'Roswell' didn't have a very positive effect on Voyager's performance:

"Barge of the Dead" was hurt more than I had anticipated by the premiere of the WB's "Roswell," taking a 15 percent hit from last week, falling to a 4.7 rating, 7 share. That's down from last week, last year's average, and "Extreme Risk," the comparable episode from last year.

That performance places Voyager in a very distant 6th in its timeslot, behind 5th place "Roswell"'s 6.5/10 and 4th place CBS's 6.6/10. "Seven Days" fell back down to its usual minimal performance, only tallying a 3.4/5. "Seven Days" earned the only overnight lower than Voyager's for Wednesday as a whole.

Hello World!
Christian (5:04 pm CST)
No 'Trek BBS Today,' 'Today On TV' or 'Poll Results' today, unfortunately, due to a severe lack of time on my side. There also won't be as many news as usual, probably - I'll make up for that tomorrow again.

'Vertical Limit' Co-Star Info
Christian (6:08 pm CST)
Sid City, the official fan site of Alexander Siddig (Julian Bashir) has just put up some new info on 'Vertical Limit,' the upcoming film starring Siddig as the mountain guide for a rescue team. The update consists of pictures and short descriptive blurbs about each of Siddig's co-stars, and a bit of info about each of their roles. Click here to find the bios.

Official 'Klingon Academy' Site
Christian (6:08 pm CST)
Gustavo Leao sends along word that Interplay has just opened its official Klingon Academy website. The site features info on all six major races in the game, has downloads and art available, and opens with a special introductory message from General Chang. You can find the site here.

TrekWeb 'Survival Instinct' Review
Christian (6:07 pm CST)
Steve Perry at TrekWeb has put up his review of 'Survival Instinct,' last week's new Voyager episode. Perry appears very fond of Ron Moore's final Trek episode:

So overall, a nice episode. Most importantly it was smart, not just with its ideas, but its presentation, using flashbacks and setting up Seven's character for a strong finish. [...]Losing Moore was a mistake. He's a great writer. This could have been a bland copy of a Borg episode, but it got to be much more, because of Moore.

Okuda On Encyclopedia
Christian (6:03 pm CST)
Michael Okuda, scenic artist on 'Voyager' and co-author of the 'Star Trek Encyclopedia' recently posted a message to the rec.arts.startrek.current newsgroup, talking about the new Encyclopedia version. In it, he talks about the somewhat awkward design of the new edition, consisting of the 'old' data from the 1997 hardcover edition and an added supplement. Here's a short quote from Okuda's post:

Reducing the price was a major driving force behind the 1999 edition. The original plan was for the low-cost trade paperback edition only, which was a straight reprint of the color hardcover edition. (The hardcover was only added at the request of some of the chain bookstores. For anyone on a budget, we strongly urge them to consider the trade paperback edition.)

By keeping the original 1997 page layouts unchanged, Pocket's production costs for the new edition were dramatically lower, bringing the cost of the book down quite a bit for the new trade paperback edition. Ironically, because of the weird way in which the book business works, it turns out that adding a small number of additional pages brought the price down even further. This is because the sales projections were higher if we added some new material, enabling Pocket to charge an even lower price.

First 'Dominion Wars' Shots
Christian (6:03 pm CST)
Benjamin E. Sones at Computer Games Online, still featuring the most annoying site design ever, has put up a preview of the recently announced 'DS9: Dominion Wars' game. Besides the first three screenshots ever seen of the game, the preview also contains the following info:

Dominion Wars is a real-time game of tactical starship combat based on the Deep Space Nine setting. The project is being developed by Gizmo Industries, a newcomer that features a number of staff members with strong roots in the game business (most of them are Activision alumni). President Gary Wagner describes Dominion Wars as a "tactical strategy game," a little bit like Myth in space. Eschewing resource management and building features, the game focuses on the basics—the player will control up to 6 different ships from any of four different races (Federation, Klingon, Cardassian, and Jem`Hadar) in real-time combat. Players will be able to "purchase" a range of different ships and captains through the use of a point system and engage in both single and multi-player battles.

Ashley Judd Interview
Christian (6:02 pm CST)
Over at Yahoo!, a new Associated Press article by Douglas J. Rowe has appeared, consisting of an interview with 'Double Jeopardy' star Ashley Judd. Judd is already well-known to Star Trek fans for her role as Robin Lefler on two TNG episodes 8 years ago. In the interview, she talks about her family and her recent career in film. Click here to read it.

'Latent Image' Overnight Ratings
Christian (6:02 pm CST)
UltimateTV is reporting that yesterday's rerun of Voyager's 'Latent Image' (which I again forgot to mention in 'Today On TV' yesterday) scored a 2.4 rating / 4 share, following a 3 rating / 4-5 share for the new comedy 'Shasta McNasty' an hour earlier.

Today On TV
Christian (6:02 pm CST)
-At 9:00pm, UPN will be showing the new Voyager episode 'Barge of the Dead,' featuring the Klingon hell. Here's how the official press release (found at Psi Phi) describes the episode:

Torres confronts a dark side of her Klingon ancestry when she asks a skeptical Janeway to allow doctors to induce a coma-like experience that will allow her to aid her condemned mother who is held aboard a mythic Klingon death barge.

-And at 9:00pm, the new sci-fi teen series 'Roswell' will premiere on the WB, co-produced by Jonathan Frakes (William T. Riker). This is definitely going to be a major competitor for Voyager.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (6:01 pm CST)
In a few hours the inevitable 'Barge of the Dead' discussions will of course start again, but for now there are already a few very interesting other discussions going on at the Trek BBS:

-Should the Holodoc finally be getting a rank?

-The Enterprise-D had its saucer separation, and Voyager can land on planets. What do you think will be the special capability of future Trek starships?

Find more at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (6:01 pm CST)
For those of you who saw today's Cinescape article linking to TrekToday, you may have noticed the following line in the article:

... 'Christian' of the TrekToday website ...

Of course, this doesn't mean that I'm not very happy with Cinescape linking to TrekToday - certainly I'm noticing it on the it counter :-).

This background article also contains an exclusive mini-interview, in which Wolfe reveals several very intriguing parts of the series, such as the 'love triangle' behind the Sorbo character, his first officer and... his ship! To read the full interview, please go check out the full article - I promise you won't regret it!

Sternbach On 'One Small Step'
Christian (5:16 pm CST)
NOTE: Below you will find spoilers for the upcoming Voyager episode 'One Small Step.' This is where you need to click to avoid those.

Again, click here to avoid being spoiled.

In his newsgroup on the official Continuum, Voyager's Production Designer Rick Sternbach has posted the following:

"One Small Step" looks like it'll be a keeper. We got to design a complete Mars orbiter ship inside and out, right down to the null-g handrails. Can't tell you any more (wink-wink, nudge-nudge), but we've seen a first pass minus visual effects and music, and I'm excited. On the techy side, the ship doesn't jibe with NASA's current plans for a crewed Mars mission (which doesn't include an orbiter as such), but enough mission studies over the last fifty years have been done to allow us to cobble one together. Imagine all the parts necessary to get you there, fly around, talk with home, do some science, and get back. The producers are very thumbs-up about letting us get the details right. I *can* tell you that Dr. Bruce Murray, long associated with JPL and having managed projects like Viking and Mariner and such (and a founding force behind The Planetary Society with Dr. Carl Sagan and Dr. Louis Friedman), looked over the blueprints on a recent visit to the art department and gave his blessings. Made my day, as you might imagine!

'Star Trek Fans' Equinox Review
Christian (5:15 pm CST)
Julia Houston at Star Trek Fans, back online again, has put up her review of 'Equinox, Part Two,' the Voyager season premiere. The review consists of a short summary and a rather long analysis, and can be found by following his link.

'Sexual Generations' Trek Book
Christian (5:15 pm CST)
This title really hasn't been getting any press at all. Apparently, last month the University of Illinois Press published a new non-fiction book by Robin Roberts, entitled 'Sexual Generations : 'Star Trek, the Next Generation' and Gender.' Unfortunately I don't know what precisely the book deals with in its 224 pages, but if I were to guess I'd say it probably deals with how Star Trek has been depicting women over the past few decades. The paperback edition is now available Amazon for $15.95 - if you do actually decide to buy it, I would very much appreciate hearing what exactly the book deals with. Thanks go out to Locus for this.

'Know Your Role'
Christian (5:14 pm CST)
Which, I'm informed, is apparently one of The Rock's famous phrases. I know this must be beginning to be awfully boring for you, but we've got yet another confirmation and additional bit of info on the upcoming Voyager wrestling episode, for which a title is still not known. ShowStoppas, a 'pro wrestling news site,' has posted a report of an online web chat which WWF wrestler The Rock attended, organised by the UK online tabloid Megastar. Two items he mentioned in the chat were of special interest for Trek fans:

When asked if the people's eyebrow is insured, The Rock informs us that it is not as the people's eyebrow is owned by the people.

The Rock is serious about acting. He is going to be a vulcan on Star Trek and will have a cameo role in the movie "Jack Of All Trades".

Cynics Corner Reviews 'Survival Instinct'
Christian (5:14 pm CST)
David E. Sluss at the Cynics Corner has uploaded his review of 'Survival Instinct,' last week's new Voyager episode. Here's one of the main criticisms he directed at the episode:

UPN SCAM OF THE WEEK:
The preview of this week's show featured a scene with Seven of Nine saying "I will return to the Borg," a scene which obviously didn't appear here, but was apparently culled from another episode ("The Raven?" "Dark Frontier?"). It's nothing compared to UPN's ongoing scam of pretending to run a national television network, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Continuum 'Tinker Tenor' Article
Christian (5:13 pm CST)
NOTE: Below you'll find some very minor spoilers for 'Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy,' next week's new Voyager episode. Click here to avoid them.

Again, this is where you need to click to avoid being spoiled.

If I didn't know better I'd almost say the official Continuum has also joined the spoiler business. Following their recent 'One Small Step' report, they've now put up an article looking at the upcoming comedy episode 'Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy.' Here's a short quote from the article:

When we asked Robert Picardo ("The Doctor" Star Trek: Voyager) about the upcoming episode "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy" he was very enthusiastic, calling it the most successful Star Trek: Voyager comedy to date. "I'm completely delighted with how it turned out. To my knowledge it's the only Star Trek: Voyager episode directed by an Academy Award winner!" Episode director John Bruno won an Oscar award for his work as Visual Effects Supervisor on "The Abyss" in 1989. He has also been nominated seven times since 1985 in the same category.

Famke Janssen Talks X-Men
Christian (5:12 pm CST)
Cinescape has just put up a short mini-interview with Famke Janssen, who guest-starred on the TNG episode 'Perfect Mate' and will now be appearing opposite Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard) in the upcoming 'X-Men' film.

On 'Voyager: Elite Force' Models
Christian (5:12 pm CST)
Over on the official Voyager: Elite Force forums at Raven, the company just announced the following regarding the use of 'Quake III: Arena' models in their upcoming Voyager game:

We are going to attempt that Q3A and Star Trek models be interchangeable and compatable between each program. That is to say when it comes to multiplayer deathmatch there shouldn't be a problem. Single player is a different matter altogether and Voyager will require many additional animations from Q3A models.

Happy Birthday!
Christian (5:11 pm CST)
Today is the 47th birthday of Duncan Regehr, who appeared on DS9 several times as the Bajoran First Minister Shakaar. It's also the birthday of my father, who, even though he is not at all a Star Trek fan, still visits the site almost every day. Happy birthday, dad :-)!

Today On TV
Christian (5:10 pm CST)
-At 5:00pm Eastern Time, the Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the first-season TOS episode 'Charlie X.'

-According to the Television Observation Unit of the Star Trek Collective (by way of the new ODN issue), British Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Scientific Method' at 17:00 and at 23:30 BST.

-Tomorrow in Germany, Sat.1 will be showing DS9's 'Das Wagnis' at 15:00 CET.

Trek BBS Today
Christian (5:09 pm CST)
Here's a small sample of what's currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Now that we've had a black Captain and a female Captain, what do you think the next Starfleet Captain is going to be?

-Did you ever see Dark Skies, the mystery series also starring Jeri Ryan?

More topics can be found at the Trek BBS!

Hello World!
Christian (5:08 pm CST)
The spam I get is getting weirder and weirder. For some reason, I appear to have been added to the spam list of a company from Finland! This easily ranks very high in my list of most annoying spams ever - what in heaven's name am I supposed to do when I get a mail informing me that 'Tietokeskuksestamme voit nyt ostaa E-postiluettelon,' and telling me to 'sisältää 50.000 sekä yksityishenkilöiden että yritysten osoitetta Suomessa?'

A Take On Trek
Christian (4:47 pm CST)
Fred Shedian, columnist at the Trek Nation, has uploaded a new edition of his 'A Take On Trek' column. This week, he looks at the interesting questions why we are very fond of some 'Alien Species of the Week,' and simply forget others:

Throughout the history of Star Trek, different types of aliens and lifeforms have made their way into our imaginations. Yet, there are several which can be remembered in a flash...with others fading into an existence laced with reruns and syndication. What makes a quality alien? Let's review this concept for a moment.

Those popular aliens we have remembered throughout the history of the franchise held common characteristics that we fell in love with. Although there are the popular ones, such as the Romulans, Cardassians, and Borg, there are many more we have only seen once or twice yet have an attachment to. For example, who could forget the Mudd Androids, the Gorn, the Tholians, or the Andorians?

Voyager VHS Release Date
Christian (4:46 pm CST)
According to Amazon.com, Paramount Home Video will start releasing Voyager episodes on video starting the 1st of Janurary, 2000. If the info Amazon has is correct, at this date all the episodes from the first three Voyager seasons will be released at the same time, at an official price of $14.95 per tape carrying just one episode. A sample Amazon page for 'Caretaker' can be found here - it contains info on the video's format and such things. Thanks go out to Gustavo Leao for this.

Jeri Ryan 'Politically Incorrect' Images
Christian (4:46 pm CST)
The official Jeri Lynn Ryan Homepage has put up no less than 24 screencaps of the recent appearance by Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) on the 'Politically Incorrect' show. Most shots show Ryan sitting next to violinist Joshua Bell, and Seven of Nine fans will certainly want to take a look. You can find the screencaps here.

Shatner On Video Watchdog Cover
Christian (4:46 pm CST)
The official William Shatner Connection is reporting that the September issue (#53) of Video Watchdog features William Shatner (James T. Kirk) on the cover. The reason is that the magazine features an interview with Anthony M. Taylor, the producer of the Esperanto feature film 'Incubus,' starring Shatner. The film was recently rediscovered, and to celebrate that Watchdog has two new feature articles on the game. A copy of the cover can be found here.

Delta Blues 'Survival Instinct' Review
Christian (4:46 pm CST)
Jim Wright at Delta Blues has uploaded his review of 'Survival Instinct,' last Wednesday's new Voyager episode. As usual, his huge synopsis is also followed by a short analysis, in which he tells us he rather liked the episode:

The script jumps effectively between the light and serious moments. The scene with Tom and Harry in Janeway's ready room was nicely amusing--she chews them out for getting in a fight, but she doesn't moralize on them. Standard discipline, followed by a wink and a nudge. Shame on you for fighting, but kudos on winning. She managed to dress them down and cheer them up in one fell swoop.

I liked all the performances, the guest stars included. I liked the writing. I thought the direction worked fine. It was a thoroughly watchable hour of television.

Feist Interviews George Takei
Christian (4:45 pm CST)
Feist News Net, a news site for Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, has just put up a new interview with George Takei, who starred on the Original Series as Hikaru Sulu. As was to be expected, most of the interview deals with Takei's campaign for more ethnic minorities on television: