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The latest issue of SFX Magazine (#231) features Star Trek, both Star Trek into Darkness and a look back at Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and five lucky UK fans will win a copy.

SFX interviewed Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Director J.J. Abrams for this issue.

Abrams spoke about the difficulty of making something new and fresh today. “The problem with movies that my friend Steven [Spielberg] has made, and people like George [Lucas] have made, is that they’ve done friggin’ everything,” he said. “It’s so hard to do anything and not be like ‘Oh, that’s sort of like Poltergeist,’ or ‘That’s Munich.’ It’s very hard to do something where you don’t feel like any number of seminal classic genre films are being nodded to. This movie is definitely an action-adventure thriller that’s as romantic and as scary and as funny and as unexpected as any movie I love. It’s the cocktail of all the stuff that made me want to make movies when I was a kid. Certainly with the opening of this movie, we were aware of the nod to the opening of Raiders, but the spirit of the movie is a group of characters that I hope you like that make you want to laugh, that you root for.”

Not thrilled about making Star Trek into Darkness in 3D, Abrams came around to the studio’s viewpoint after seeing how it could work for a movie. “The studio said you have to make it in 3D if you’re going to make it, for economic reasons,” Abrams explained. “But my feeling was I didn’t like 3D. So the idea of doing Star Trek in 3D was ridiculous.

“But that was very helpful in some ways, because it let us work with sterographers and the 3D crew in a way that didn’t assume we just loved 3D. I have trouble with 3D sometimes. I can’t see it quite right; I get a headache; it annoys me; I hate the glasses; I hate the fact that things get so dim. So I approached it very cynically. And the fact is that we’ve been using techniques that haven’t been used before in 3D. They’ve figured out things. They’ve made enough movies now with this new process that they can understand ways to eliminate some of these problems. Things like breaking shots into zones, 3D zones, using multiple virtual cameras. A lot of this has made me a believer, whereas before I was really against it… There’s this myth that if you don’t shoot the movie in 3D it doesn’t look good. Actually the opposite can be true. Because we’re doing this in post, I got to shoot the movie with anamorphic lenses. You can’t shoot anamorphic lenses in 3D natively. We shot anamorphically so it had the same look and feel as the first movie. But because we’re converting it later, you have so much more creative opportunity and ability to push certain things and limit certain things, and fine tune it so the audience gets to see something really fun and dynamic. The key for me is I got to make my 2D movie that I wanted to make, just the way I wanted to; and it gets to be augmented in 3D but that doesn’t detract from the 2D.’

SFX #231 also takes a look back at Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Writer Alan Dean Foster explained how he envisioned James T. Kirk in the movie. “I painted Kirk darker,” he said. “Think of a typical sea captain stuck on land without a ship. Suddenly, he has the chance to regain command, but it means displacing those already in his position – very conflicting.”

A movie often thought of as being a bit humorless, Foster insists that The Motion Picture had humor, and would have had more had a certain line been kept in the script. “Yes, there’s humor, but it’s more subtle,” said Foster. “Actually, there was a wonderful line that Leonard Nimoy improvised as they were shooting. Spock is standing there and he asks Kirk if McCoy is going to remain onboard. Kirk says yes and Nimoy said something like ‘If Dr. McCoy is going to remain onboard, then my continued presence here is imperative.’ It’s a great, funny line and I wish they’d kept it in.”

TrekToday and SFX are giving away five copies of SFX #231. To enter (UK residents only), send your name and email address to TBonz@Trekbbs.com, putting “magazine contest” in the title or body of the email. All entries must be received by Tuesday, January 15 11:59 PM EST. Winners will be announced on Friday, January 18.

SFX #231 is available on newsstands or from My Favourite Magazines. An iPad version is available via Newsstand, and SFX is now available on Google Play.

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A new item of merchandise will appeal to fans of Starfleet Academy; the Starfleet Academy Class Ring.

A screen-accurate replica of the actual prop worn in Star Trek will soon be available for pre-order.

The Starfleet Academy Class Ring is made from a “high-strength, scratch-resistant metal alloy that simulates the sheen and brilliance of polished sterling silver for a fraction of the cost.”

The ring will come in a “custom metal case with a clear topside window.”

Priced at $19.95, pre-ordering for the ring begins at some point in the first quarter of this year. Those interested can sign up for the waiting list by heading to the link located here.

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The voices of two familiar Star Trek actors will be heard in Tales From Beyond, a new paranormal audio drama series currently fundraising.

The Star Trek actors involved with Tales From Beyond are John de Lancie and Robert Picardo.

Tales From Beyond: Volume 1 will be the first in a series of “creepy audio drama CDs.” Each CD will feature three true stories “relating to hauntings, cryptozoology, UFOS and other paranormal activity (such as premonition of death, astral projection, and wildly improbable coincidence).

These paranormal tales are performed “in the style of the classic radio dramas from yesteryear.”

Other actors involved in Tales From Beyond include: Daniel Roebuck (Glee, The Walking Dead), Reggie Bannister (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep), Cerina Vincent (Mike & Molly), Jim O’Rear (Star Trek IV, Nashville), Kyle Hebert (Naruto, Resident Evil), and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Spiderman, Cowboy Bebop).

The following three stories will be included in Tales From Beyond: Volume 1:

• The Dead in the House: Following the accidental death of her mother, a young girl and her father move in with his mother-in-law. Before long, the girl makes friends with the ghosts of three entities who reside in an upstairs nursery; though the adults assume that her new “friends” are her three new dolls.
• Twelve Hours to Live: After her husband storms out of the house following an argument, the young woman begins having visions of him in terrible danger. She seeks help from his disbelieving business partner and the police before resolving to rescue him herself.
• Deadly Fortune: A skeptic has his fortune told at a party. As events begin to unfold exactly as the psychic has predicted, his disbelief turns to fear that the psychic’s final prediction, that he will be pursued by a knife-wielding woman, will also come to pass.

Tales From Beyond, produced by O’Rear and Kevin Herren, is currently raising funds needed to produce the series. Details on how to help can be found on their Indiegogo page.

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More Star Trek actors interact with astronaut Chris Hadfield and a famous astronaut joins in the fun.

If you’re not following Hadfield, a flight engineer from Expedition 34 on the International Space Station, on Twitter,  you’re not only missing fabulous pictures of Earth taken from high above, but you’re also missing Star Trek-related tweets.

It all began when William Shatner asked Hadfield if he was tweeting from outer space. “Yes, standard orbit, Captain,” replied Hadfield. “And we’re detecting signs of life on the surface.”

George Takei mentioned the exchange on Facebook and Hadfield said, “With @GeorgeTakei posting about our space comms, all we need is @TheRealNimoy to beam in and we’d have an away team!”

Nimoy did reply, with a short “LLAP” (Live Long and Prosper) and Hadfield said, “I am not Spock either, but living and working in this spaceship comes pretty close. Life mirrors art. LLAP.”

Wil Wheaton jumped in, telling Hadfield that “If you get into trouble with Nanites when you’re in orbit, I know a guy who can help you contain them. He has experience.”

“Wesley, we’ve talked about you being on the bridge,” replied Hadfield. “I believe you’re needed in Engineering.”

Evidently enjoying the exchange, the legendary Buzz Aldrin chimed in addressing Hadfield and Shatner. “Neil [Armstrong] & I would’ve tweeted from the moon if we could have but I would prefer to tweet from Mars,” he said. “Maybe by 2040.”

“And I would have delighted to tweet you back,” said Shatner. “So we are forty-plus years too late but it’s still a pleasure to Tweet with you.”

Hadfield’s Twitter account can be found here.

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The latest batch of Juan Ortiz original series art prints has been announced.

The four prints for January include: Mirror, Mirror, The Tholian Web, Miri and The Savage Curtain.

Ortiz spoke about his latest creations and what inspired them.

For Mirror, Mirror, his inspiration was “boxing match flyers.” “I don’t usually lean towards bold colors, but this time it works to reflect the excitement that a boxing match usually evokes,” said Ortiz. “I chose the two Spocks because of the way ‘evil’ Spock’s iconic goatee strongly contradicts good/regular Spock.”

The Tholian Web was inspired by “Russian film posters of the mid 1920′s to early 1930′s,” said Ortiz. “What I like about those posters is their mix of photos along with illustrations. Which is perfect for me, because I don’t want to be bogged down with just one style. Since I went with a black and white image, I went with the red on the title so that it would pop. I think the font mirrors the style of the spacesuit, a bit.”

Ortiz’s favorite of these four posters is Mirror, Mirror. “It’s a great episode and the bold colors will make it a focal point,” he said.

The set of four prints, which sells for $34.95, can be ordered here.

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Good news for fans of Star Trek: Enterprise; the release date for the Blu-ray version of the first season has been announced.

And fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine andVoyager find out why Enterprise will be released ahead of those series.

The six-disc set will feature the twenty-five episodes for the first season, plus new special features, and will be released on March 26.

One of the new special features is a documentary called To Boldly Go: Launching Enterprise, which “gives fans an inside look at the development and production of the series.” Filmed as recently as last month, To Boldly Go includes:

• Part One: Countdown – Chronicles the challenges faced by the producers and creative staff as they attempt to launch a new chapter in the Star Trek saga by making the then-radical decision to create a prequel to the beloved original series. Features all new interviews with key personnel including creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, production designer Herman Zimmerman, technical consultants Michael and Denise Okuda, writers Andre Bormanis, Phyllis Strong and more.
• Part Two: Boarding the NX-01 – Follows the team as they begin the casting process and production on the series 2-hour pilot Broken Bow. Features all-new interviews with key cast and crew including series pilot director James L. Conway and series leads Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer), Connor Trinneer (Trip Tucker), and Dominic Keating (Malcolm Reed).
• Part Three: First Flight – Charts the course for the rest of the series’ first season including all-new interviews with key production and post-production personnel. The six-disc set also includes a candid conversation with the series’ creators, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, offering a glimpse into their creative process. In addition, the Blu-ray features brand new commentaries on select episodes from the season, along with a host of previously released special features such as deleted scenes and outtakes.
• Star Trek: Enterprise recounts the adventures of the pioneers of space travel who ventured into the universe 100 years before James T. Kirk helmed the starship of the same name. Set in the 22nd century, Enterprise takes place in an era when interstellar travel is still in its infancy. Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) has assembled a crew of brave explorers to chart the galaxy on a revolutionary spacecraft: Enterprise NX-01. As the first human beings to venture into deep space, these men and women will experience the wonder and mystery of the final frontier as they seek out new life and new civilizations.

Disc One includes: Broken Bow, Fight or Flight, Strange New World and the following special features: Audio Commentary with co-creator/executive producer Brannon Braga, director James L. Conway, visual effects producer Dan Curry and cast members Connor Trinneer (Trip Tucker) and Dominic Keating (Malcolm Reed) on Broken Bow, Audio Commentary with Brannon Braga and Rick Berman on Broken Bow, Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda on Broken Bow, Deleted Scenes from Broken Bow, Deleted Scenes from Fight or Flight, In Conversation: Rick Berman and Brannon Braga—NEW, Archival Mission Log: Creating Enterprise, Archival Mission Log: O Captain! My Captain! A Profile of Scott Bakula, Archival Mission Log: NX-01 File 02, Cast Introduction—NEW, Network Presentation—NEW,

Syndication Presentation—NEW.

Disc Two includes: Unexpected, Terra Nova, The Andorian Incident, Breaking the Ice, Civilization and the following special features: Deleted Scene from Unexpected, Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda on The Andorian Incident, Archival Mission Log: Cast Impressions: Season 1, Archival Mission Log: Enterprise Secrets.

Disc Three includes: Fortunate Son, Cold Front, Silent Enemy, Dear Doctor, Sleeping Dogs, and the following special features: Audio commentary with writer/story editor André Bormanis and visual effects producer Dan Curry on Silent Enemy—NEW, Deleted Scene from Sleeping Dogs, Archival Mission Log: Star Trek Time Travel: Temporal Cold Wars and Beyond, Archival Mission Log: Admiral Forrest Takes Center Stage.

Disc Four includes: Shadows of P’Jem, Shuttlepod One, Fusion, Rogue Planet, Acquisition, and the following special features: Audio Commentary with writers/executive story editors Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong on Shadows of P’Jem—NEW, Audio Commentary with co-creator/executive producer Brannon Braga, director David Livingston and cast members Connor Trinneer (Trip Tucker) and Dominic Keating, (Malcolm Reed) on Shuttlepod One—NEW, Deleted Scene from Shuttlepod One, Archival Mission Log: Inside Shuttlepod One, Archival Mission Log: NX-01 File 01, Archival Mission Log: NX-01 File 03.

Disc Five includes: Oasis, Detained, Vox Sola, Fallen Hero, Desert Crossing, and the following special features: Deleted Scenes from Oasis, Deleted Scenes from Fallen Hero, Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda on Vox Sola, Archival Mission Log: Enterprise Outtakes, On The Set —NEW.

Disc Six includes: Two Days and Two Nights, Shockwave, Part 1 and the following special features: Deleted Scene from Two Days and Two Nights, Deleted Scenes from Shockwave, Part 1, Documentary: To Boldly Go: Launching Enterprise—NEW (Part 1: Countdown, Part 2: Boarding the NX-01, Part 3: First Flight), Archival Mission Log: Celebrating Star Trek.

The suggested retail price for Star Trek: Enterprise Blu-Ray S1 will be $130.00 US and $150.00 Canada.

Fans of Deep Space Nine and Voyager got an answer as to why Enterprise is being released ahead of those series. “It’s a massive undertaking to go to in and meticulously rebuild DS9 or Voyager from scratch in high definition with the same process being employed on TNG,” said Ken Ross, Executive Vice President and General Manager, CBS Home Entertainment. “Enterprise was finished and broadcast in HD, so practically speaking, it is much easier for us to turn it around quickly and release it into the market, while we are still releasing seasons of The Next Generation. The fact that the show was HD-ready allows us to give fans an opportunity to revisit the series and also offer an in-depth exploration on the making of the series and its significance in the Star Trek canon by producing all-new special features along the lines of the material we’ve been producing for the TNG Blu-ray releases.”

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Bryan Burk, producer of Star Trek into Darkness, explains what fans can expect from the movie.

According to Burk, Star Trek is about humans and their problems and interactions. “What attracted us to Star Trek is that it’s not just about space and aliens and what you might think it is, it’s actually about humans and how they all interact with each other, particularly Gene Roddenberry‘s vision of the future, where all the problems on earth kind of go away and we all come together and all the problems are out there.”

“There was something interesting about that as a jumping off point,” said Burk. “I think what’s interesting about the world and what we’re trying to do with it is just exploring these characters and the journeys they are going on. If the last film was about the crew and family coming together, this film is about them learning who they are and starting to work together. We kind of left the last film with Kirk and Spock not hating each other, but they are by no means best of friends going into this film. So it feels like it’s a good progression in the series. But also people who have not seen the first film can jump right in and not feel like they’ve missed anything. It feels like a good step forward in the world of Star Trek, and a great way to bring in new audiences.”

Star Trek into Darkness will not be a light-hearted film, as some of the characters will be challenged in this sequel. “It goes to a place where it’s a heavier film, a bit like all of our favorite sequels,” said Burk. “Be it The Empire Strikes Back, which is a darker film emotionally than Star Wars. And Godfather 2 is significantly darker. I’m referencing the best movies ever made here, but the idea of making it weightier and heavier – that’s the stuff we love. Our intention going forward was not to make a fluffy sequel. It was to take a real step deeper with these characters.”

One of those characters who will face tough times is Kirk. “The characters – particularly Kirk – are going to a much darker place emotionally,” said Burk. “I feel like the experience the audience has going through it will be a much deeper emotional experience.”

Even though Star Trek into Darkness will not arrive in theaters until May, the creators are already thinking about a third movie. “There are elements of what the second film could be from what we originally talked about, but it’s a big journey from one to three,” said Burk.

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A new Star Trek into Darkness app will be released at the end of January.

The app will “deliver exclusive content and advanced real world game experiences,” and fans watching this year’s Superbowl will be able to unlock content during a Star Trek into Darkness Superbowl ad.

According to a press release, the app’s “cutting edge technologies are being showcased in a never before-seen way and will enable users to automatically engage with a wealth of movie related materials by utilizing their real-life surroundings to auto-complete integrated missions by employing audio scan, geo-location recognition, and image recognition functionality powered by Qualcomm Vuforia.”

During the second quarter of the big game, the app will allow users the ability to unlock the first of many surprises during the airing of the Star Trek into Darkness TV spot, making this one of the most unique and interactive apps ever created for a movie. As a bonus, users who register for the app will be automatically entered into a sweepstakes for the chance to win a VIP trip to the U.S. premiere.”

What users can expect from the app:

• An audio scan function that can be turned on to automatically recognize and reward users for watching Star Trek into Darkness content on TV and other media.
• An image scan function that enables users to interact with images printed or viewable in the real world.
• A geofencing function for location-based experiences.
• New Star Trek into Darkness content, such as videos, images and wallpapers delivered directly to users’ mobile devices.
• Exclusive opportunities and special offers only available to app users.
• One lucky sweepstakes winner will be rewarded with the grand prize of attending the Star Trek into Darkness U.S. premiere.

“We are excited about collaborating with Paramount on this app as it further brings to life Qualcomm’s vision of the digital sixth sense, where devices intelligently interact with the world around you,” said Dr. Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of Qualcomm. “By leveraging the Gimbal platform, this app harnesses the power of the smartphone to bridge the digital and physical world, allowing the studio to market the film in the real world and simultaneously bring users into the film’s story and world.”

To sign up for the app and enter the sweepstakes, head to the link located here.

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There will be eleven conventions, shows or appearances in January and February that feature actors of interest to Star Trek fans. This listing of conventions and shows features actors from all of the televised series and several of the Star Trek movies.

Now that the holidays are over, its time to think about Star Trek conventions again. Starting off the year will be The Hollywood Show, which be held January 11-13 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport. In attendance at The Hollywood Show will be Deep Space Nine‘s Louise Fletcher, Christopher McDonald (Lt. Richard Castillo – Yesterday’s Enterprise), William Schallert (Nilz Baris – The Trouble with Tribbles) and Celeste Yarnall (Yeoman Martha Landon – The Apple).

Next up is the Albuquerque Comic Con, which will be held January 12-13 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino of Albuquerque. In attendance at the Albuquerque Comic Con will be Denise Crosby.

On January 13, the L.A. Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention will be held at the Shine Auditorium Expo Center in Los Angeles. This Planet of the Apes convention will feature Lou Wagner (DaiMon Solok in Star Trek: The Next Generation: Chain of Command: Part 1, Krax in Deep Space Nine: The Nagus), France Nuyen (Elaan of Troyius), and Lee Delano (A Piece of the Action‘s Kalo).

On January 19, Czech fans can attend CzechTrek 2013, which will be held at the Kulturní centrum Novodvorská in Prague. Deep Space Nine‘s Nicole de Boer will be at CzechTech 2013.

February begins with OzTrek 9 which will take place February 2 at The Sebel Parramatta, NSW. In attendance at OzTrek 9 will be Terry Farrell and Nicole de Boer.

On February 7-10, GalaxyFest II: Wrath of the Con will be held at the Antlers Hilton in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Tony Todd will be in attendance.

The SFBall 19 will take place at The Carrington House Hotel in Bournemouth, UK on February 8-10. In attendance will be Armin Shimerman, Chase Masterson, Max Grodenchik, Lolita Fatjo, Diane Duane and David Gerrold.

On February 9-10, the Sci-Fi Expo will be held at the Irving Convention Center in Irving, Texas. Guests at Sci-Fi Expo include Avery Brooks and Christopher Lloyd.

The last three conventions all take place February 15-17. First up is Farpoint 2013, to be held at the Crown Plaza Baltimore North in Timonium, MD. In attendance at Farpoint will be John Billingsley, Bonita Friedericy, and several Trek authors.

The 24 Hours of Gallifrey One will be held at the Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel. In attendance will be Chase Masterson and Julie Caitlin Brown.

Wrapping up February will be the Grand Slam Star Trek and Sci-Fi Summit XVIII. Held at The Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel, this convention will feature: Sir Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Robert Picardo, Dominic Keating, Catherine Hicks, Connor Trinneer, Jeffrey Combs, Bobby Clark, Celeste Yarnall, Armin Shimerman, Rene Auberjonois and Natalija Nogulich (Alynna Nechayev).

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Back in 2010, Ensign Sue Must Die, one of the funniest Star Trek comics to ever be published, kept fans entertained for weeks, and now a sequel to the adventures of the annoying ensign is currently running.

The first webcomic series featured Ensign Sue (Mary Amethyst Star Enoby Aiko Archer Picard Janeway Sue to be exact), a young medical officer who arrived on the USS Enterprise and drove Kirk and crew (J.J. Abrams version) crazy.

Seemingly vanquished in the first series, the plucky young woman is back for more in Ensign Two: The Wrath of Sue, and this time, not only will Kirk and Spock have to deal with Sue, but so will Doctor Who!

Ensign Two: The Wrath of Sue can be seen here.

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For Star Trek fans who like to sew, a new line of Trek-themed products will be of interest.

The Trek-themed offerings include “cotton fabrics, fleece fabrics, flannel fabrics and no-sew throws that can be used to craft quilts, shirts.”

Most of the fabrics are original series-related, but one throw features The Next Generation’s USS Enterprise.

Costs for the fabrics and throws range from $8.99 a yard to $27.99 for one of the no-sew throws.

Jo-Ann Fabrics is currently having a sale on many of the fabrics.

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A Star Trek fan with terminal cancer who had been granted his wish to see Star Trek into Darkness has passed away.

Daniel Craft‘s wish to see the movie had been posted by his friend on Reddit, and the wish eventually made its way to J.J. Abrams, who made a rough cut of the movie available for Dan and his wife Paige to see.

“Of course, he loved the film,” said Grady Hendrix, a friend of the couple. “It was the last thing he got to do before he passed away.”

Hendrix thanked the Reddit community for their assistance in getting the word out and making his friend’s last wish come true. “At a time when he didn’t have a whole lot to look forward to, r/StarTrek, J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, and Bad Robot performed a simple act of kindness for a total stranger and gave Dan something to be excited about for a couple of days,” said Hendrix. “The movie did exactly what movies are supposed to do; it helped him forget about his problems for a couple of hours. It doesn’t sound like much, but in this case it was…it made a huge difference to Dan, his wife, and his friends.”

When asked about what he had done for Craft, Abrams said, “It was an honor to be asked. I’d rather not talk about it because it feels insensitive, but for that to have been a request was unbelievably touching.”

Zachary Quinto sent his condolences to Craft’s family via Twitter. “My heart is with the family of Dan Craft,” he said. “May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

Craft is survived by his wife Paige and a daughter.

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Sisko builds a version of an ancient Bajoran space vessel in an effort to prove that centuries earlier, Bajorans landed on Cardassia.

Plot Summary: Having read that ancient Bajorans built lightships propelled by solar pressure, Sisko decides to prove that it might have been possible for them to have reached Cardassia, as the Bajorans have always claimed. He builds a ship based on an ancient model and asks Jake to travel as far as the Denorios Belt to demonstrate that the propulsion system works. Though Jake initially resists, he decides to go, concluding that the trip will be a good opportunity to talk to his father about whether to accept a writing scholarship to a school in New Zealand. Dukat warns Sisko that the Bajoran legends of reaching Cardassia are ludicrous, which is O’Brien’s feeling as well, but Kira insists that the Cardassians’ only agenda is to prevent any proof of the idea that Bajor achieved spaceflight before they did. During the smooth early part of the trip, Jake confesses that he worries about leaving his father alone and asks whether he can introduce Sisko to a freighter captain who’s interested in dating him. Meanwhile, back on the station, Bashir’s flirtation with new Dabo girl Leeta is interrupted by the arrival of his medical school class valedictorian, whom Bashir desperately wants to impress, though she ignores him entirely when he approaches her. Bolstered by a drinking session with O’Brien, Bashir tries again and discovers that she had no idea what he looked like. Sisko’s ship encounters turbulence that damages the navigational equipment, then is bombarded by particles that propel it to warp speed. Unable to hail the station, the pair are astonished when Dukat arrives with three warships to congratulate them on reaching Cardassian space. Coincidentally, Dukat adds, the crash site of a centuries-old Bajoran lightship very like the one Sisko is piloting has just been discovered on Cardassia, whose government says that Sisko’s voyage is a testament to ancient Bajorans who first ventured out into space.

Analysis: “Explorers” is a deeply flawed episode, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good one. I had to shut off my brain for the “scientific” explanation of how solar sails trap tachyon particles that propel what looks like a Leonardo da Vinci design for a spaceship to faster-than-light speeds, but the shiny steampunk interiors of the lightship and the big butterfly sails make it fun to watch anyway. Similarly, I had to turn off my brain at the notion that Bashir and Elizabeth Lense went to medical school together, were considered the two brightest students in their year, competed with each other, were presumably nominated for the same awards and honors and invited to the same symposiums and demonstrations, yet managed never to be introduced to one another even at graduation where the one followed the other onto the stage to speak, but it’s a cute gimmick to set up the only redeeming aspect of the B storyline: the scene in which Bashir and O’Brien get drunk and sing “Jerusalem” together. I’d have an easier time believing that she doesn’t recognize him because 24th century contact lenses don’t work for her (that would explain why she went off looking for biological samples rather than being a surgeon) – or that she’s lying to save face after the terrible manners of blowing off Bashir, or perhaps because she knows he hits on Dabo girls. No matter, Elizabeth Lense is not important; what’s significant is that this is yet another reiteration of the preganglionic fiber-postganglionic nerve mistake that’s at the core of all of Bashir’s anxieties, which was feeling very over-used the first time I saw “Explorers” yet takes on a whole new significance rewatching with the understanding that Bashir was sabotaging himself (and, presumably, his relationships) all along.

I wonder what it means that Bashir feels most himself around Garak, another man who’s living a lie, and O’Brien, who’s the opposite – solid and predictable even if he seems rather out of character declaring that a Bajoran solar sailing ship can’t make it to Cardassia. That seems like just the sort of challenge that would appeal to O’Brien, not make him cynical, and Kira rightly tells him off for dismissing her people’s technological triumph much the way many Europeans spent centuries suppressing the scientific achievements of the Muslim world. (O’Brien retorts that Kira sounds like a Romulan, who always claim to have invented everything first.) Okay, it is ridiculous that Sisko gets the ship built so quickly, without seeking input from O’Brien, Dax, or any of the Bajoran engineers on the station, and I’d love to know why the celebration fireworks set off by Dukat don’t send the little ship spinning on its light-powered sails (which perhaps is Dukat’s true intention: to blast them back home). On a show whose serious themes don’t always allow laugh-aloud moments, the writers deserve full kudos for Dukat’s offhand revelation that oh, guess what, the Cardassians only just discovered that the Bajorans landed on their planet centuries earlier after all. But what’s up with a pairing of storylines that seems to parallel Julian’s personal history with early Bajoran spacefaring accomplishments? I refuse to believe that the writers used “Jerusalem” to equate Bajorans walking upon Cardassia’s mountains green with Blake’s fantasy of Jesus walking on England’s pleasant pastures. As the episode makes clear in the end, the Bajoran stories are not based in fantasy, but in history.

Which brings me to my major peeve about this episode, the fact that no Bajorans are invited to participate in any way in Sisko’s quest to prove their people’s early space accomplishments. I get that the writers wanted a père et fils bonding expedition, but how hard would it have been to show Sisko working with Bajoran builders on the craft, and how much more would the journey have meant to Kira or any Bajoran who got to look Dukat in the eye and force him to own up to Bajor’s independent early breakthrough? Sisko has been making small forays into discovering what it means to be the Emissary, like attending the reopening of the historic Bajoran library in which he discovers the plans for the ancient sky sails, so maybe he feels he owes it to Bajor to make such a contribution on his own. I never object when Sisko gets to spend a lot of time with Jake, since they have one of the most believable father-son relationships I’ve seen on television (I sometimes forget that Avery Brooks is not really Cirroc Lofton’s dad). Now that he’s getting used to the idea that his son doesn’t want to follow him into Starfleet, Sisko is more willing to share his feelings about Jake’s other options. It’s a pity that the writers keep chickening out on the father-son sex talk – when Sisko tells Jake that some parts of his story seem unrealistic, he hopes because Jake hasn’t actually experienced such things, we’re all guessing at first that he means intimate matters, not joining the Maquis – yet quite funny when Jake reveals that he wants to set his dad up on a blind date, leading Sisko to lament that he’s getting romantic advice from his son. At least it’s not with a Dabo girl who has to feign neediness to catch his attention and it’s not with someone who hated him before learning to love him.

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Someone on the crew of the International Space Station is a Star Trek fan.

Yesterday, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, flight engineer for Expedition 34, exchanged tweets with none other than James T. Kirk.

Hadfield has been active on Twitter, posting pictures from space and answering questions posted to him. The questions included one from William Shatner, Captain Kirk himself!

“Are you tweeting from space?” asked Shatner.

“Yes, standard orbit, Captain,” replied Hadfield. “And we’re detecting signs of life on the surface.”

Today, Hadfield realized that in view of the conversation, he might need to be careful about what he wears from now on. “I’m proud of being Canadian,” he said, referring to something he shares with Shatner, “but after yesterday’s Twitter conversation am starting to question wearing this red shirt.”

Hadfield’s Twitter feed can be found here. The astronaut will be on the ISS through mid-May.

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A holiday vacation in Florida turned out to be anything but relaxing for Star Trek author Peter David, who suffered a stroke while at Disney with his family.

Thankfully, David survived the stroke and is making progress in his recovery, but medical bills are piling up and fellow authors are getting the word out about how David’s fans can help.

“Peter had a stroke,” said his wife Kathleen. “So we are at the beginning of what is going to be a long road. We have a diagnosis, which is a small stroke in the pons section of his brain. Now we have to figure out where we go from here and how we get Peter back to what he was before the stroke. We know that a total recovery is slim because damage to the brain doesn’t go away but the brain can be trained to work around the damage and give Peter back what he has lost.”

While on vacation, “[Peter] told me that he had blurry vision in his right eye,” said Kathleen. “The way he described it to me sounded like an ocular migraine so we took him back to the hotel and went onto Animal Kingdom. We got back and he was working on his next novel. We decided to go to dinner but he was still having a slight vision problem so I drove.

“While at dinner I thought his speech was a bit slurred. He put it down to fatigue and his face always looked like that. That morning he couldn’t get his right leg to move correctly. He told us later that he had gotten up because he couldn’t sleep and tried to type and couldn’t get his hand to work correctly but he didn’t want to wake me up and alarm me. I called my mom with the laundry list of things. My mother said get him to a hospital NOW. We loaded him into the car and took him to Celebration Hospital at the recommendation of some friends.”

Today, Trek author Bob Greenberger posted a message from Kathleen, which asked for help from David’s fans. “Even though we have health insurance we have co-pays and the like,” said Kathleen. “And since this stroke fell at the end of the year, we have all the new co-pays to deal with (I can honestly see those of you who have had to deal with this nodding your heads). And there are things that the insurance company just won’t cover (more head nodding). So we are at the beginning of what is going to be a very expensive year even though we are only four days in.”

Buying David’s books will help towards paying the inevitable bills. The best way is to buy his Star Trek or other books from Crazy 8 Press or from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Another way fans can help is by spreading the word, so that more are aware of what happened and can help.

“We do need your help to help him,” said Kathleen. “He is working very hard at getting back to all that he loves to do and we are trying to ease his mind about whatever we can ease his mind about so he can do it faster.”

Note that the Crazy 8 Press and the referring websites are loading slowly due to the volume of hits.

TrekToday joins in wishing Peter David a speedy recovery.

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Twenty years ago, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine debuted on television.

Deep Space Nine was the third televised series, but unlike the first two, it took place on a space station, not a starship, and that was deliberate, according to Co-creator Michael Piller. “Coming with the wind at our backs, it really felt as if we had figured out what made Star Trek work, and that we could bring all the vision that Gene Roddenberry had about space and the future to a different kind of franchise,” he said. “We didn’t want to have another series of shows about space travel.”

The pilot Emissary did well, ranking first in five major markets; New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and Washington D.C.

Deep Space Nine not only featured a strong ensemble cast, but some of the best recurring guest characters in Star Trek, including Garak, Gul Dukat, Weyoun and Damar. Viewers were also introduced to the Vorta, the Changelings, and the Jem’Hadar.

Unlike the original series and The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine had continuing story arcs, especially in the later series with the advent of the Dominion War.

Often considered a darker, grittier Trek, Deep Space Nine was either loved or hated by Trek fans, but the show did well enough to run a full seven seasons.

For this Star Trek fan (dating back to 1971), Deep Space Nine was the second best televised Trek series, coming in just behind the original series in quality. Rich characters and interesting stories made Deep Space Nine a must-see, with comedy episodes such as The Magnificent Ferengi, In the Cards and Take Me Out to the Holosuite, and dramas such as In the Pale Moonlight, The Visitor and Far Beyond the Stars.

Happy Anniversary, Deep Space Nine!

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A new publication due out this spring will allow young readers to visually explore the Star Trek universe.

Star Trek The Visual Dictionary will cover all five of the television series and the first ten Star Trek films.

Published by DK Children, the ninety-six page book will debut in mid-March, and will feature color photos, some of which have rarely been seen before.

John de Lancie, seen as Q in three of the five televised series, has provided the foreword to Star Trek The Visual Dictionary.

Star Trek The Visual Dictionary can be pre-ordered at Amazon, where it will sell for $11.74 (list price $20.00).

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William Shatner is making another Star Trek documentary but this one is not about the original series.

The documentary, titled Wacky Doodle, will document the first two years of production on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

“It’s about how crazy it was; how difficult it was to get it started and do it right,” said Shatner.

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Paramount has released high quality versions of photos from Star Trek into Darkness.

In addition to the photos, Zoë Saldana and Benedict Cumberbatch spoke guardedly about their respective roles in the movie.

Almost a dozen high resolution photos were released, featuring Pike, Kirk, Spock, Pegg, Uhura, Carol Marcus and John Harrison.

Click on the thumbnails to see larger-sized photos. More photos can be found here.

Two of the subjects of the photos, Saldana and Cumberbatch, spoke about their roles in the movie, and Saldana was asked about the Spock-Uhura romance and if it would be seen in Star Trek into Darkness. “Whether they are together or not that will remain to be seen,” she said. “But come on, I’m not going to ruin the element of surprise! I signed papers, trust me! I will lose a kidney if I say too much!”

Cumberbatch described his character, John Harrison. [He] is an extraordinary terrorist of sorts,” said Cumberbatch. “He uses himself as a warrior with weapons and close hand combat to just reap devastation and havoc wherever he goes and a trail of destruction follows him. What is interesting from an acting point of view — beyond doing the stunts and choreographed fight sequences…was also the psychological warfare that he acts out. He has an incredible ability to control people’s minds to his bidding and make them – well confuse the radar of their loyalties and prerogatives, so that was great fun. So it was a great mixture of intense acting scenes and action scenes.”

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An attack on Garak’s shop sets off a chain of events that sends Garak back to the Obsidian Order as the Cardassians and Romulans launch an attack on the Founders.

Plot Summary: Shortly after lunching with Garak, Bashir witnesses an explosion in the tailor’s shop that leaves Garak injured. O’Brien and Odo conclude that the blast was a deliberate attack and suspect that a visiting Flaxian assassin was hired to kill Garak. Though the Flaxian claims innocence, Odo finds Garak even less forthcoming about why anyone would want to kill him. The shapeshifter releases the Flaxian so he can have him followed, only to find Garak waiting in his runabout. The two tail the Flaxian ship but it explodes just before going to warp speed. When the crew determines that a Romulan trigger set off the explosion, Odo concludes that the Romulans were likely behind the attack on Garak. A secret informant corroborates this information and tells him that five former Obsidian Order operatives all died on the same day. When Odo shows Garak the list of the dead operatives, Garak insists that they were friends, not former colleagues, which makes an enraged Odo accuse Garak of blowing up his own shop just to get Odo involved in learning who has been killing off onetime Obsidian Order elite. Garak explains that he and the dead Cardassians were all disciples of Order leader Enabran Tain, who has disappeared as well. Odo accompanies Garak to find Tain’s safe house, but before they can get there, a Romulan warbird captures them. They are greeted by Tain, who admits that he was behind the attempt to kill Garak but now he thinks Garak could be an asset in his current scheme: he has forged an alliance between the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar, hoping that the Cardassian and Romulan intelligence agencies can do what their governments have been too cowardly to do and neutralize the Dominion by wiping out the Founders. After his fleet of warships accomplishes this goal, Tain intends to take over the Order again, which is why he targeted all former colleagues who know his weaknesses. Garak accepts Tain’s offer to work together again.

Tain and Colonel Lovok of the Tal Shiar command a fleet of cloaked Romulan ships headed for the Gamma Quadrant. Their particle emissions alert Deep Space Nine to their presence, and though Sisko is ordered by Admiral Toddman to remain in the Alpha Quadrant and prepare for retaliatory Jem’Hadar attacks, he tells his senior staff that he intends to take the Defiant to search for Odo. Tain tests Garak’s resolve by asking that he interrogate Odo, saying that if Garak resists, he’ll leave Odo to the Romulans, even though Garak is certain that Odo has no information about the Founders that Starfleet hasn’t already shared. While Garak uses a prototype device to prevent Odo from shapeshifting, leaving Odo in agony when it is time for him to regenerate, Sisko follows the fleet through the wormhole, only to learn that Eddington has sabotaged the cloaking device under orders from Toddman to stop Sisko from interfering in the Gamma Quadrant. Anguished by the agony he is causing Odo, Garak begs him to reveal any secrets he’s hiding. When Odo confesses that he wants to go home to the Great Link to rejoin his people, Garak realizes that Odo truly has no useful strategic secrets and lets him regenerate. Tain orders Odo’s execution, but Lovok insists that the Romulans have the right to study the shapeshifter first. The fleet reaches the Founders’ planet in the Omarion Nebula and begins to destroy its core, but the surface life signs don’t change, and Garak realizes that they are looking at false sensor readings – the planet is deserted. The Founders’ trap closes as hundreds of Jem’Hadar ships surround the fleet. Garak rescues Odo with the help of Lovok, who reveals that he, too, is a shapeshifter who learned of Tain’s plan and supported it so that the Founders could eradicate the Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar. Refusing once again to join the Founders, Odo flees with Garak in the runabout, which is rescued by the Defiant during the Jem’Hadar attack that obliterates Tain’s fleet. Starfleet elects not to punish Sisko’s crew and Garak elects to keep Odo’s secret.

Analysis: We’ve been due a major Garak episode since “The Wire,” and “Improbable Cause” is clever enough to bring back Enabran Tain, Garak’s not-yet-acknowledged father and, as Odo surmises, worst enemy. Andrew Robinson is one of those actors who has chemistry with every single person with whom he shares the screen – like John de Lancie, he raises everybody’s game – and because Garak is in a combative relationship with pretty much all the characters, even his ostensible friend Bashir, his presence brings energy and excitement to all his episodes. I love that this two-parter kicks off with a domestic scene between Garak and Bashir, quarreling over whether the latter has been so busy that he’s been blowing off meals with Garak; Bashir gets there late, but Garak has to stall to keep him there anyway so that everyone knows where he’s been spotted right before his shop blows up. Meanwhile, they’re arguing about whether Julius Caesar is more of a boring farce than a tragedy, since it’s obvious to Garak from the beginning that Brutus is going to kill his friend and mentor. Both the humor and the action remain at the same high level throughout “Improbable Cause,” as Garak fumbles to enlist Odo’s help in figuring out who’s trying to kill him – and while Bashir tries to keep things friendly, telling Garak the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf (which Garak thinks is a warning not about telling too many lies, but about telling the same lie twice), Odo has no reason to be amiable and gets to unleash the sort of anger he usually reserves for violent criminals or meddling Ferengi. There’s really not a dull moment, and that’s even before we know the story’s actually about a planned invasion of the Gamma Quadrant by the Cardassian and Romulan intelligence agencies.

The second half of the two-parter isn’t as strong as the first, partly because “The Die Is Cast” tries to pack so much into a single installment – a brief onscreen battle, and we’re supposed to believe that the entire combined Cardassian-Romulan fleet has been wiped out? – and partly because the regular characters aren’t at their best. Sure, it’s funny when Sisko all but orders Kira to pretend that a message from Starfleet is garbled, but Sisko’s really not very impressive. He’s already been quite liberal about loaning runabouts to whoever is asking, without demanding to know things like how Odo knows his secret source can be trusted and what debt that guy owes Odo anyway. But the always troublesome wild card Eddington sabotages the Defiant right under Sisko’s nose, and instead of giving him the lecture about loyalty and incarceration that Eddington so richly deserves, Sisko decides to trust him and puts him right back at his post! Kira is hardly in these episodes except as a joke when Odo asks Garak who would want to kill him – sure, we think of her when Garak asks Odo whether he really cares about anyone and again when Garak demands to know Odo’s deepest secrets, but neither she nor by extension the Bajorans are given much of a role in the story in which the Cardassians may bring a Dominion attack force to Bajor’s doorstep. Dax and O’Brien do their jobs efficiently, but all we really learn about either is that Bashir considers O’Brien a poor substitute for Garak as a lunch date and O’Brien can’t tell when a guy from security has been meddling with the precious cloaking device. On the other hand, “The Die Is Cast” is more interesting visually than “Improbable Cause,” which almost seems like a low-budget episode – the post-bomb shop doesn’t have enough wreckage (which I guess makes sense once we realize Garak himself blew it up), the room in which Odo questions the Flaxian doesn’t seem like a security cell, the Romulan ship pops out rather cheesily. In the sequel episode, the visuals of Odo’s disintegration under torture – a visual precursor to the Founders’ disease which will be so important in later seasons – are superb all by themselves.

When I first saw these episodes, I was troubled by various inconsistencies – the fact that the Romulans, who at first personally guarded the Defiant’s cloaking device, had no plan for tracking the ship or disabling the device if it was used against them, the fact that Sisko let his entire command crew go along on a renegade mission to rescue Odo that could have gotten them all court-martialed and left the station defenseless during a potential Jem’Hadar attack, the fact that Sisko stuck his neck so far out for Odo in the first place when at the start of the season he refused to do just that and debated with Kira about precisely how important Odo’s role was. Eddington reappears just long enough to betray everyone (and stand up for Starfleet, which he will dramatically betray later). And why do the Cardassians need a stasis field to pick off individual Founders if they intend to wipe all of them out in a single attack — did they use the Bajoran studies of Odo to construct it? Odo, at least, is in terrific form, reminding me of how much his character has developed since “Necessary Evil” – he can play the good cop without forgetting that he has allied himself with darkness, and his deepest secrets are entirely of an intimate nature, apolitical and outside justice. I thought when these episodes first aired that it would turn out Tain was Garak’s father, though slating his own son to die along with all the others who know too much about him (and putting the loyal Mila on the same list, though that might just have been to test Garak) seems cruel even by the standards of, say, Dukat, whose rise to power becomes much easier to explain with so much of the Obsidian Order wiped out. The Cardassian and Romulan governments come off looking pretty pathetic, as does a timid, unprepared Starfleet Command. One admiral gets to make the call that the station, Bajor, and the wormhole should be left to the mercy of the Dominion? At least Sisko can think for himself, even if he goes running off unnecessarily on a mission probably best deputized to Kira and Dax so he can prepare the defense forces back home.

Odo’s confession that he wants to go home is the emotional high point of these episodes, even more than Garak’s realization that he truly can never go home again. For both these men, “home” clearly is not where it used to be. I dislike the fact that it took a torture sequence for Odo to realize how much he and Garak have in common, it feels a bit too much like Stockholm Syndrome, but the characters and actors play so beautifully off each other that I still want to see them have those lunches where Odo won’t eat and Garak will suggest that he’s hacked the station security files, which would be an entertaining counterpoint to Garak’s books-and-food-porn breakfasts with Bashir (eat my isolinear rod if I don’t come back, hahaha). Tain’s motto may be “Always burn your bridges behind you,” but it’s clearly not Garak’s. He’s obviously not happy about having to torture Odo even before it starts, while Odo is mocking him, “Oh nooo, you’re going to torture me, pleeeease have mercy.” He clearly despises himself during the interrogation, even pleading with Odo to lie to make it stop. The Romulan colonel who’s really a shapeshifter makes no sense to me here; if he’d demanded to carry out the interrogation himself, he could have put into practice the refrain that no changeling has ever harmed another, but he lets Garak do it, then demands to know why Garak was protecting Odo through the torture and afterward. Has Garak made a friend among the Founders? Is this why the Founders will later decide that perhaps the Cardassians can be trusted as allies, despite how they treat their own?

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Four more of the Mighty Fine Star Trek shirts featuring art by Juan Ortiz are available this month.

The new additions include shirts based on The Naked Time, A Taste of Armageddon, Spectre of the Gun, and Arena.

In this first release, the shirts, which come in two (A Taste of Armageddon, The Naked Time) or three colors (Arena, Spectre of the Gun), are only offered in men’s sizes, but within a short time after this first release, shirts are usually released in women’s sizes too.

The shirts formerly announced include: Dagger of the Mind, The City on the Edge of Forever, The Ultimate Computer, The Way to Eden, Charlie X, The Balance of Terror, And the Children Shall Lead, Wink of an Eye, The Alternative Factor, Catspaw, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield and The Trouble With Tribbles.

The Mighty Fine Star Trek t-shirts sell for $25.00 each and can be ordered here.

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The release date for the Star Trek video game has been announced.

Although players will have to wait until springtime to get their copy of the game, pre-orders for Star Trek have already begun.

NAMCO Bandai Games and Paramount Pictures have announced an April 23, 2013 release date for the Star Trek game for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and digital download for both PC and PlayStation 3.

Star Trek features a story written by Marianne Krawczyk, in collaboration with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, in which “players control both Kirk and Spock in a sweeping journey of epic proportions across unexplored planets and enemy battleships with the latest 23rd century weapons and gear.”

In Star Trek, Kirk and crew will face the Gorn, seen in the original series’ Arena.

Actors Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, John Cho and Anton Yelchin voiced the characters which they played in 2009′s Star Trek movie.

Those pre-ordering the game will be able to access an “Elite Officer Pack” which features “unique uniforms and exclusive items for Kirk and Spock.” The Elite Officer Pack consists of five packs: The Brawler Pack (Kirk leather jacket costume and Spock Vulcan Science Academy costume), The Academy Pack (Kirk Academy Uniform and Spock Officer Dress Uniform, plus an Academy Phaser), the Kobayashi Maru Pack (Kirk and Spock Kobayashi Maru uniforms), the Stealth Pack (Kirk and Spock stealth uniforms, plus Starfleet Type IV Stealth Sniper Rifle and extra ammo), and the Kelvin Pack (Kirk and Spock U.S.S. Kelvin uniforms and a U.S.S. Kelvin Hand Phaser).

Star Trek can be pre-ordered here.

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Alice Eve was nervous at first when it came to joining a cast that knew each other from a previous film, but she was soon put at ease.

“It was nerve wracking,” she said. “Literally, I had to rock up in a room full of those people – Chris Pine, Simon Pegg, J.J. Abrams – and they all had this great rapport, and I had to walk in like the new girl.”

But it was a welcoming set and Eve credits that to Abrams. “J.J. Abrams is a democratic and fair individual – he’s like a patriarch, and doesn’t want problems,” said Eve. “He engenders this environment where everybody does their best to make everyone else feel comfortable, which is why we can all genuinely wax lyrical about those six months.”

Is Eve ready for the public attention and scrutiny that will surely come after Star Trek into Darkness debuts? “Being interested in the personal side of things is exactly the same as my favorite thing to do, which is sitting in a cafe watching people,” she said. “We’re thrusting ourselves in your faces by making these pieces of entertainment, so it’s not really our right to say, ‘Don’t look.’”

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Chip Chalmers is known to Star Trek fans for his work on four The Next Generation episodes as well as two of the better Deep Space Nine episodes.

The episodes Chalmers directed include: Captain’s Holiday, The Loss, The Wounded, Ethics, The Magnificent Ferengi and Take Me Out to the Holosuite.

Chalmers came to Star Trek fresh from his assistant director work on Miami Vice, courtesy of Rick Berman. “…I sent Rick Berman a copy of the episode of [Miami] Vice that I directed and he watched it,” said Chalmers. “Rick was the person who said ‘yes’ to me directing my first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

Captain’s Holiday, the first episode directed by Chalmers, remains his favorite. [Captain's Holiday was] so much fun, so unique and so many interesting characters,” he said. “We all truly had a great time.”

Chalmers “got lucky” when it came to working on the episode. “This script was brilliant.”

After The Next Generation, Chalmers moved on to other projects until a 1997 call brought him back to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where he directed The Magnificent Ferengi and Take Me Out to the Holosuite. Chalmers knew that both episodes were good, partly because “they didn’t take themselves seriously.”

“It was just fun,” he said about the two Deep Space Nine episodes. “I think that’s why they are fan favorites. The series is much like a dramatic play. Every once in awhile you need to have a beat of comic relief or the show just doesn’t hold up. Let the audiences breathe a little bit. The scripts were self-explanatory.

“How is it possible that I get two DS9‘s that are fun to make and involve so many interesting actors? I smiled all the way through every read.”

Chalmers moved to Florida ten years ago and taught film directing at Florida State University, but is now back in Los Angeles where he plans on directing theater productions.

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Paramount has released a new synopsis giving more details about Star Trek into Darkness.

As always, potential spoilers are behind the cut.

“In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek into Darkness,” said the Paramount release. ” When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.”

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