Boldly going where no Star Trek fan has gone before

This summer, Trekkers across the country can ‘boldly go where no one has gone before’ with “Star Trek: The Next Generation 25th Anniversary Event,” a one night in-theater celebration on Monday, July 23 at 7:00 p.m. local time, with an additional 10:15 p.m. showing in select theaters. Painstakingly retransferred from the original source material during its ongoing multimillion dollar restoration, this special anniversary event celebrating the debut of “Star Trek: The Next Generation – The First Season” Blu-ray on July 24 will feature two of the most popular episodes from the storied first season, “Where No One Has Gone Before” (Ep. 106) and “Datalore” (Ep. 114). The episodes were handpicked by well-known “Star Trek” experts and restoration consultants, Mike and Denise Okuda, who chose “Where No One Has Gone Before” for its beautiful space imagery and the Data-centric “Datalore” because the character played by Brent Spiner has long been a fan favorite.

In addition to the two episodes, which will be introduced by the Okudas, fans will also be among the first to get a glimpse of the brand-new special features including interviews with the team behind the restoration as they discuss the process and countless man-hours dedicated to the upgrade of “The Next Generation.” The evening will conclude with an extended preview of the Season 2 Blu-Ray, which will be released later this year.

Tickets for “Star Trek: The Next Generation 25^th Anniversary Event” will be available beginning Friday, June 8 at presenting theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of presenting theater locations and prices, please visit the web site (theaters and participants may be subject to change).

“We’re thrilled to be able to introduce ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ to a new generation,” said Ken Ross, executive vice president and general manager of CBS Home Entertainment. “Seeing the episodes in a theater setting is the perfect way to show off the pristine picture that high definition allows and launch the first season on Blu-Ray.”

Presented by NCM Fathom Events, CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Media Distribution, this event will be broadcast to nearly 500 select movie theaters across the country through NCM’s exclusive Digital Broadcast Network.

“‘The Next Generation’ series is timeless. It’s hard to believe 25 years have gone by since this iconic show premiered on television,” said Shelly Maxwell, executive vice president of NCM Fathom Events. “This special event celebrates the magic that made this beloved series so memorable.”

Created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the “Star Trek” franchise, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was produced 21 years after the debut of the original “Star Trek” series. Featuring one of the most endearing ensemble casts in television history, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” took fans on the remarkable continuing voyages of the Starship Enterprise set in the 24^th century from the year 2364 through 2370. With 178 episodes spread over seven seasons, it ran longer than any other “Star Trek” series. In addition to “Next Generation,” the “Star Trek” franchise includes “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993-1999), “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995-2001), “Star Trek: Enterprise” (2001-2005), and “Star Trek: The Animated Series” (1973-1974), as well as 11 feature films.

Star Trek Deep Space 9: Season 2

Season two starts off with a high intensity episode that sets a pace that they rest of the season will struggle to keep up with. "Homecoming" shows us how the Cardassians have been keeping prisons from the occupation of Bejor despite claiming that they are doing no such thing.

The second episode manages to keep up the pace, further the story of political strife for the season. "The Circle" remains one of the best pieces of Star Trek lore ever written. It's got fantastic dialogue and truly great cinematography, something not usually seen in Star Trek's TV incarnations.

The Siege breaks the streak of great episodes, which was going on for quite a while dating back to last season. It's not that it's a bad episode, it just doesn't live up to the past few episodes. Also it wraps up just a bit too nicely in the end. This story line could have benefited from being extended out another episode or two.

The next episode was just terrible, and it makes absolutely no sense within the characteristics we have some to know of the main protagonists of the show. It's just plain bad.

Julian Bashir begins to shine with the episode "Cardassians." His interactions with Garack are truly outstanding, and the political scheming going on it enough to placate the biggest of political junkies. It's a gem in a patch of turds to be honest, the next episode goes back to the 'blah' that the last few were.

This is one of the worst episodes of the entire series. Melora basically makes fun of cripples, and provides us with a bunch of things that just flat out don't make sense withing what a space travel show should be about. I wish I would have skipped this one all together it was so bad. This along with the next episode "Rules of Acquisition" are nothing more than fillers, and it shows.

"Necessary Evil" is another superb showing, one of the episodes that makes a person want to keep watching despite the majority of the issues the rest of season two has had so far. "Second Sight" the next episode is slightly better, but once again not a great episode. It does however get the season moving back into the right direction though.

The next three episodes are all slightly above average at best, but at least none of them moved on back into bad situations, nor did they present issues that make the viewer question the actions of the characters involved.

"Armageddon Game" while again another filler episode allows us greater access into the character of Mules O'Brien and Dr. Julien Bashir and how they are able to work together despite their differences.

"Whispers" is another O'Brien episode, and a fine one at that. It's one of the best episodes of the season so far, and holds onto that title as the rest of the season unfolds. It's a slight take on Bladerunner, which is a great movie, yet it's entirely unique. It's a wonderful episode top to bottom.

As is a trend though, the next four episodes take a step or two back from "Whispers." It's not entirely a bad thing, but it is a slight bit disappointing. Minus the penultimate episode the rest of the season is very good. That's a run of seven of eight, and really saves the season from being a disappointment.

Starting with "Blood Oath" which is a great episode to learn a bit more about both Klingons and Dax. We get to see Terry Farrell give a great performance and a lot of exposition on how the symbiote process works. In the next two-part episode we learned all about the Maquis, who would go on to play a huge part in the spin-off series Voyager.

"Crossover" while technically a filler episode is the series' 'mirror world' showing, and it stands up to the other series showing, and let's be honest here, Nana Visitor is fantastic playing her mirror self. After yet another politically charged episode in "The Collaborator" we move on to the second to last show, which is a fine episode on it's own, but has no business being this late in a season.

The final episode of the season is part of a 3-part arc that starts to set up the Dominion War that will dominate the next few seasons of the show. It's a fantastic performance from all involved. I can't wait to see how this wraps itself up in the season three premiere.

Star Trek Deep Space 9: Season 1

The series kicks off with a two part episode that is one of the best pilot's in the Star Trek franchise. The premiere sets up show nicely and doesn't leave a lot needed to fall into the week to week of the series. DS9 is the series I've seen the least, so many of these episodes are being seen by me for the first time as I'm working through the seasons on Netflix.

The second episode, while generally quite strong, leaves a few things to be wondered. Odo is a great security chief, yet someone gets an antimatter converter past him. That doesn't add up to me. I also don't like that they were testing characters loyalties so early on in the show. This plot would have worked better 8-10 episodes later.

The third ep was one of the worst in the season, but it was followed up by a personal favorite that helped to build the relationship between Odo and Quark. One of the best lines in the series pops up here as well. "You claimed Rom fixed your replicators." "So?" "Rom's an idiot. He couldn't fix a straw if it was bent."


Moving on to Captive Pursuit, chief Miles O'Brien gets to show off his stuff as a character much more than we ever got to see him do in The Next Generation. Basically just an action episode though. In the next episode we get to see Q in his first appearance on the series, but the episode itself is a dud.

Continuing a trend, the next episode, basically a courtroom drama is excellent, but is followed by another dud in The Passenger, it's so bad I won't go any further in explanation.

Breaking a trend the next episode is neither great nor terrible, but it appears better than it would have simply from coming after that previous stinker. It's a very interesting concept for a first contact situation, and really a shame that they never explored this further in later episodes.

The next two episodes were also average, but not falling into the loop of having a bad one. I've long been a fan of Star Trek, so average Trek is still better than a lot of shows.

Battle Lines is another excellent episode, and takes place mostly off the station, something that few episodes of this show did. Much of that was for budgetary reasons, but when they step off the station it's normally excellent, this is no exception.

The storyteller is an average episode at best, as are most of the rest of the season, but after that we get Progress which was one of my personal favorite eps of the season. It's basically a sequel in theme to battle lines as the characters are learning to deal with their past, but it has a few more fun elements that help to take the edge off when needed. It's a near perfect episode.

The next three eps were all average to below average, but the penultimate episode of the season is currently my favorite of the series. (Remember the preface that I haven't seen the entire series yet, so that may change.) It's head and shoulders above the rest of the season, as Major Kira learns to deal with her hate of the Cardassians and that not all of them are guilty of the crimes against her race. It ends with a bit of a surprise that I won't spoil for anyone.

The season finale, which starts slow concludes with a bang and is another great episode in the end. It's exactly what a season finale should be. It wraps up the important stuff, yet leaves you wanting for more.

2011 Gift Guides: Gifts for Geek

Unsure of what to buy for your favorite geek this Christmas? Well here is an inside look at some of the best gift ideas for geeks and nerds alike.

10. Star Trek: The Original Series 365. Sort of like a word a day calendar, though it's in a full length book form, with photos and stories from the cast and crew of the series that started the phenomena that has stretched more than 45 years through films, TV, books and more. The only problem with this book is that it's too short, every true Trekker knows that the Klingon calendar has 284.2 standard earth days.

9. Hi-Tec Art U.S. Map. Well what can I say, it's a light up map, complete with light up push pins. With this large size wall map, every geek in the house can pretend that they are going to take over the world, complete with battle plans and all.

8. The Star Wars Franchise on Blu-Ray: Sure you're average geek already owns probably two different versions of each film on DVD, and depending on their age they may own a VHS copy or three as well. However, the Blu-Ray version was just released in October, and can be purchased in one of three versions. The versions include the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy or a version with all six films. Whether you buy the two sets separately or the combined larger version the extra features are the same. Bonus gift for the Star Wars fan, a 22 minute short film called Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace was recently released to very little fanfare and your favorite geek may not even be aware of it's existence yet.

7. An Arcade Game. It could be your nerd's favorite game, but any arcade game will suffice. Word of warning here though, this gift is best for people with the space to enjoy it properly.

6. Nerf Stampede Gun. This gun is not your father's Nerf gun. The stampede comes with a shield to hide behind in case your friends also have one, this is the gatling gun of foam dart guns.

5. Star Wars Chop Sabers. Ok so Star Wars gets two entries on the list, I may be biased, but what is cooler than eating Chinese food with chop sticks that are designed to look like miniature light sabers? The answer to that will come quicker than one would think, just look down to the next gift idea.

4. Star Trek Enterprise Pizza Cutter. The twin warp nacelles serve as a handle, and the saucer section serves as the cutting blade, complete with the call letters of the Enterprise engraved. Your favorite geek will enjoy a five year mission to explore pizzas and to discover strange new toppings while seeking out new cheeses.

3. Kindle Fire. E-Books have recently overtaken the sale of print books for the first time in history, and the Kindle Fire is the best e-reader on the market at the moment. It does everything that the older models of the Kindle did, but also has Internet access, and the capability to do hand held gaming, stream videos and do all manner of other cool things.

2. Kuru Toga Pencil. Sure, some might think it's just a pencil, but it's a highly engineered mechanical pencil that actually rotates the tip as you are using it so that the lead never never forms a chisel point.

1. RockPaperRobot Float Table. Just as it sounds, it's a table that levitates, no batteries required. Using advanced engineering and natural forces of magnetism this table is fully customizable, and just downright cool. Beware the price on this one, the simple designs start our at $2,000 before shipping is factored in.

“My name is William Shatner and I was a Starship Captain. But I wasn’t the only one.”

The Captains, minus Chris Pine from the 2011 Star Trek movie.

Last night I had a chance to sit down and watch "The Captains" which is a documentary about all of the actors that played captains in Star Trek throughout the years. My biggest complaint is that I wish that William Shatner would have just been one of the interviews, not the one conducting the interviews with each actor.

The movie is filled with excellent interviews that shows many insights into the careers and lives of the actors beyond just the shows and movies they were in. That's what I'm into, yes I love a good performance, but more than that I love the behind the scenes stuff, seeing the human side of the actors and actresses behind the facade they toss onto the screen.

My other complaint with the film, is that I would have rather seen each interview in it's entirety, not have it split up and switch back and forth in several pieces the way it was shown. It's understandable to see them like this, the pieces are longer than can be expected, in today's TV the scene normally cuts away every few seconds because no one can focus on a static shot anymore. and I'm just as guilty as the next person.

The movie would have been much better with less Shatner, I'm not dissing the man, he deserves anything he wants to do, the man is a legend, but in this format it just doesn't work. I'd rather have a professional interviewer on screen all the time asking the questions, Shatner makes this more about him than about all of the actors.

Overall I enjoyed the interviews, but it could have been oh so much better with just a few tweeks.