It was the TV show that made many of us want to buy a telescope, so it’s only fitting that the cast of Star Trek celebrate their DVD release of the new movie at the famous Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
Director J.J. Abrams was joined by stars Zachary Quinto (“Spock”), Leonard Nimoy (“Spock Prime”), Zoe Saldana (“Uhura”), Karl Urban (“Bones”), John Cho (“Sulu”), Bruce Greenwood (“Capt. Christopher Pike”), Jennifer Morrison (“Winona Kirk”), Clifton Collins (“Ayel”), Faran Tahir (“Captain Robau”), Jacob Kogan (“Young Spock”) and Jimmy Bennett (“Young Kirk”).

Thanks to a kindly film collector in Germany, Star Trek fans will now get to experience the third pilot that was made to pitch the original 60’s series. Everyone knows about “The Cage.” This pilot had Jeffrey Hunter as the first Enterprise Captain, and much of the footage was used in the  flashback episode “The Menagerie.”
When that pilot was deemed to serious for TV audiences, a second pilot was made with William Shatner in the lead. That is called “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
According to The Live Feed, an alternate version of this pilot was made and up until …read more

Like many Americans these days, Joss Whedon is having a hard time keeping up with the mortgage payments on his house — his Dollhouse, that is, and Fox has decided to foreclose on the property.
Though they never said the ugly “C” word, Fox has officially stated that the show will not be given an order for new episodes but they will allow Joss to complete the order for 13, giving him time to wrap up the series in a satisfactory manner.
So 13 episodes will be produced for this season, but it doesn’t mean Fox will air them all. They’ve already …read more

In the cooking competition series Hell’s Kitchen, Gordon Ramsey fills a restaurant kitchen with wannabe chefs then proceeds to tear each of them a new one when they screw up time and time again. It’s a tough way to learn a lesson, but you can bet that those who survive will keep their cool under pressure in the future.
That’s kind of the idea behind Ghost Hunters Academy, the latest spin-off series from the popular Ghost Hunters franchise. Spirit-chasing wannabes are shoved head-long into a ghost hunt and only the strong will survive.
In this case, strong doesn’t mean brave or even …read more

CBS and Mad Science, an educational company that runs science camps for kids, are teaming up to produce Star Trek Live.
This interactive stage show due to run at theme parks and performing arts centers across the country, takes the audience through Starfleet Academy training combining the entertainment value of Star Trek with real educational materials aimed at upping scientific literacy.
The show is said to have “cutting-edge special effects, unmatched audience interaction and an exploration of real space-age technology.” And Kirk and Spock are supposed to be there, too.
Mad Science’s Managing Director and producer Leonard Lipes says, “So much of the …read more

Tonight, on the The Big Bang Theory, it’s a geek on geek smackdown as Sheldon (Jim Parsons, left) tries to settle a score with his nemesis, Wil Wheaton (right) in “The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary.”
It happens tonight, October 19, at 9:30 on CBS.

Photo: Robert Voets//CBS
©2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Star Trek: Enterprise star Jolene Blalock has been cast in a recurring role on the upcoming second season of the series Legend of the Seeker.
The series is an adaptation of  best-selling author Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth book series.  Blalock, who begins filming in New Zealand this week, will portray a mysterious Sister of the Dark who possesses very powerful magic — she not only threatens Richard’s (Craig Horner) quest to defeat evil forces, but her ultimate goal is to destroy Kahlan (Bridget Regan).
The second season of the series will premiere the weekend of November 7th.  Check your local …read more

Yesterday, the marvelous Mr. Leonard Nimoy spent part of his afternoon with a group of reporters to talk about his role in tonight’s episode of Fringe. But since he couldn’t reveal too many details about the mysterious William Bell, we got him to talk about other things like the state of science fiction on TV, the difference in TV production from Star Trek to now and his love of photography.
As someone who’s watched Star Trek most of her life, it was a real thrill to talk with an actor whose voice carries so many memories. He was warm and thoughtful …read more

Though they were born in the sci fi niche, these five quotes have soared into the annals of pop culture history. They’ve been repeated, parodied and I’ll bet at least one of them was used to sell something on TV.
Here are my candidates for the top five scifi quotes to make it into the pop culture vernacular.
5. “The Truth is Out There”
Ever since Mulder and Scully gave us a glimpse into The X-Files, we’ve been determined to find the real truth about aliens, Bigfoot, Elvis and Lady Gaga. That single phrase has inspired millions to look beyond what is presented …read more

“It reaches the limits of one’s patience with Grade D fodder. This show is designed to scare an audience too old for Godzilla but too unsophisticated for Twilight Zone. That is obviously too big of an order for such a silly series.”
What classic scifi show do you think this Time magazine reviewer was referring to? You’ll find the answer when you read Mark Phillips’ blog covering what the critics had to say about early scifi TV.
Mark and I “met” virtually when we both began pitching stories about Irwin Allen’s TV shows to magazines such as Starlog in the early 90’s. …read more