DaboGirl

The phaser and tricorder i'm a little dissapointed in, but they might grow on me = C-

The toy Enterprise looks great = A+!

I'm excited about Mattel producing that Barbie's Romulan Dream House.

Star Trek Merchandise Reaches for Kid Market

Paramount let J.J. Abrams remake Star Trek largely to get it back on the pop culture radar. Sure, they also want to be buried in box office cash, Tribble-style. But, when most of the toys sold by your biggest franchise are bought by and for adults, you got trouble.

So, Abrams' new Trek is hyped up and action-packed for kids. He even cast kids in the film's lead roles. That opens the door for every studios' favorite kind of merchandising -- toys that appeal to perky, movie-loving kids who won't shut up about them until they're purchased.

It wouldn't be a sci-fi blockbuster without action figures, and Playmates is introducing a full series of new Trek designs, complete with prerequisite play sets (above).

For the girls, there are Star Trek Barbies coming. Featuring Kirk, Uhura and Spock (right), the figures include phaser and communicator accessories. There's no word yet on whether Mattel is planning a version of Barbie's Romulan Dream House.

Finally, there is a little merchandising news for adult Trek fans. According to the Indianapolis Star, a Norwegian report has Paramount releasing the first three Star Trek films on Blu-ray in 2009.

I will confess that I am completly unfamiliar with Samantha Carter, but I have seen all of B-5 and Susan Ivanova, while a decent character, doesn't really crack my top 10 list for 'The Ultimate Scifi Heroine', but to each his or her own.

Peace,

Bishop T.D. Jakes mixes up 'Star Trek' with 'Star Wars'

Jan. 21, 2009, 4:13AM

WASHINGTON — Bishop T.D. Jakes, who preached at a private church service that President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle attended before the inauguration, got his "Stars" crossed.

The Dallas Morning News reports Jakes, the pastor of a megachurch in Dallas, mixed up "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" while making a point during the service at St. John's Church across from the White House.

He said his 14-year-old son Dexter would reference "Star Trek" instead of scripture by saying 'May the force be with you' which actually is from "Star Wars."

Later in a telephone interview, Jakes laughed saying he'd heard from Dexter, who was with him, about the miscue.

And, he said the large amount of diversity and camaraderie at the inauguration of the nation's first black president was unlike anything he'd seen before.

Link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6222334.html

Worf & Jadzia for sure!

I'm sad that he is gone.

He was the best Trek movie villian ever!!!

I'm really looking forward to seeing the Phaser as well.

They look retro and yet not. I think they are too cool for school.

Vegas electronics show offers sneak peek at new Star Trek movie goodies.

January 9, 2009 - Who'd a thunk that the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada would be the first place in the world to reveal three popular props from the J.J. Abrams theatrical reboot Star Trek. But sure enough while walking back from a dinner between the Venetian and The Palazzo hotels, this reporter spotted an Intel display running the film's trailer. Even more exciting was the contents of a little Plexiglas case just to the right of the monitor.

Inside were three of the actual movie props used during shooting of the film. They were Dr. McCoy's Medical Tricorder, Kirk's Communicator, and Uhura's Communication's Unit. The look of the brushed metal pieces remained true to their original series counterparts, yet had a modern flare about them.

But don't take my word for it -- see for yourself!

You should be able to purchase the premium without getting the kids meal.

Actually, that is exactely what I did with the Star Wars: The Clone Wars toys at McDonald's last year. You end up paying about half the price of the meal and just get the toy.

YEY! So when is it out?

May 8, 2009

In February 2008, Paramount announced they would move Star Trek from its December 25, 2008 release date to May 8, 2009. The move was not due to the end of the WGA strike, but because the studio felt more audiences would see the film during summer rather than winter. The film will still be practically finished by the end of 2008.[102] Paramount's decision came about after visiting the set and watching dailies, as they realized the film could appeal to a much broader audience. Even though the filmmakers liked the Christmas release date, Damon Lindelof acknowledged it would allow more time to perfect the visual effects.

Star Trek Post Production Complete + Oscar-winner Ben Burtt Provided Sound Design

January 5, 2009

JJ Abrams’ Star Trek film is officially complete. According to sources, post production on the summer 2009 film was actually completed Christmas week, shortly after JJ Abrams posted his Holiday greeting on Facebook. The final step of the post production was sound editing, and to help out they brought in Academy Award winner Ben Burtt.

Star Trek’s Post - March to December 2008

The post production for this Star Trek movie took just under nine months, which makes it the second longest in the franchise behind Star Trek The Motion Picture in 1979. Even though Paramount moved the released during production, JJ Abrams and his team decided not to make any significant changes to their delivery schedule (they have other projects to move on to and didn’t want to spend any more money than was needed). Once the first cut of the edit was completed over the summer, the major work to be done was with the visual effects by ILM and the recording of the score by Michael Giacchino. The last task in the post-production was the sound editing, including sound designing and recording. According to a trusted source, all of the recording of Majel Barrett Roddenberry’s voice work as the Enterprise computer was completed well before she passed away in late December, with the source noting "she is all over the movie."

Burtt gets heard in Trek

According to a studio insiders, one of the last people to join the Star Trek movie team was Academy Award winning sound designer Ben Burtt, best known for his work on the Star Wars franchise. Burtt worked on all six Star Wars films and created most of the iconic sounds, including Chewbacca’s roar, light sabers and the droids. Burtt also worked as a sound designer on all of the Indiana Jones films, E.T., and last year’s Pixar hit Wall-E. Burtt is working alongside Mark Stoeckinger who was the sound editor for JJ Abrams Mission: Impossible: III. According to the source, they needed all the help they could get for the sheer number of new sounds that had to be created for this new Star Trek. Even though the film re-uses some iconic TOS sounds (like the Red Alert klaxon), all the sounds still need to be recreated, and then there are many more new sounds as well. Apparently Burtt is a huge Trek fan and was thrilled to get a chance to be involved.

Next steps - it’s all marketing

The new Star Trek movie is now four months away. All the activity between now and then will be in the hands of the marketers. Expect to see more images released and clips as well as the full theatrical poster and possibly another theatrical trailer. There will also be a significant amount of merchandising closer to the film as well as additional promotional tie-ins, like the one with Intel. The big push will begin in the Spring with advertising, lots of interviews, a likely Paramount junket and all the stuff that goes along with a summer tent pole.

Another Star Trek milestone

What a long strange road its been. News of this Star Trek movie first arrived in the Spring of 2006, after months of behind the scenes discussions. In the end the film took a bit over three years from the first phone between Paramount and the new team, all the way to finalizing the film. Here are the major milestones along the way:

late ‘05 First discussions initiate between Paramount and Abrams/Orci/Kurtzman about a new Star Trek movie

4/20/06 Variety first reports JJ Abrams in talks to produce Star Trek film

7/15/06 Paramount announce multi-pic production deal with JJ Abrams / Bad Robot (to include new Star Trek movie)

7/22/06 Comic Con: Paramount release first teaser poster (showing blue & gold uniforms, hinting TOS era), indicated ‘2008′ release

1/07 Script completed / Paramount gives green light, begin discussions on director

2/24/07 Paramount announce green light, Abrams as director, Christmas ‘08 release date

4/07 Abrams first confirms Kirk-era storyline for Star Trek

7/27/07 Comic Con: Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy announced as ‘two Spocks’, release new teaser poster showing "Star Trek" as title

8/07-10/07 Casting rest of main ‘crew’ and cast

11/11/07 Principal photography begins

1/18/08 First teaser trailer released (w/ Cloverfield) + official movie site & ‘viral’ ncc-1701.com site launched

2/13/08 Release date changed to May 8th, 2009

3/27/08 Principal photography wraps, post-production begins

7/18/08 Comic Con poster with cast photos revealed + official site updated

8/1/08 First cut completed, shown to Paramount execs

10/14/08 First official images released (online & in Entertainment Weekly)

11/14/08 Theatrical trailer released with Quantum of Solace (official site updated following Monday)

12/23/08 Post-production completed

Link: http://trekmovie.com/2009/01/05/star-trek-...d-sound-design/

The Enterprise D was holds more of a special place to me than the Enterprise E.

The Enterprise D was home to a lot of wonderful adventures, the E not so much.

LA funeral held for Majel Roddenberry

HOLLYWOOD , Jan. 5 (UPI) -- About 300 people, some in "Star Trek" costumes, attended the Los Angeles funeral of Majel Barrett Roddenberry on Sunday, E! News reported.

The woman known as the First Lady of "Star Trek" died Dec. 18, reportedly from leukemia, at the age of 76. She was married to late "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry from 1969 until he died in 1991 at the age of 70. She played Nurse Christina Chapel on the original "Star Trek" TV series and also lent her voice to the USS Enterprise's computer in various other "Trek" projects.

Majel Barrett Roddenberry was buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills cemetery during a public service attended by family, friends and "Star Trek" fans. Among the mourners were original "Trek" stars Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols and George Takei, E! News said.

Link: http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2009...13491231164477/

The First Lady of Star Trek was sent off into the final frontier Sunday by family, friends and fellow Trekkers.

Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who died Dec. 18 at age 76, was laid to rest today at Los Angeles' Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills cemetery.

The service, open to fans (yes, a handful did show up in Trek gear), drew close to 300 mourners, including costars Walter Koenig (Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Uhuru) and George Takei (Sulu).

Roddenberry, the widow of Trek mastermind Gene Roddenberry, played Nurse Christina Chapel on the original Trek series and supplied the voice of the USS Enterprise's computer through the franchise's various offshoots, including J.J. Abrams' upcoming big-screen reboot.

link: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b77378_sta..._laid_rest.html

Burger King Confirms Star Trek Movie Promotion For 2009

In a welcome sign for a new expanded audience for the franchise, Star Trek is headed back to fast food. Back in February TrekMovie reported that one of the components of the merchandising for the new Star Trek movie would be at a major fast food outlet, noting ‘probably Burger King.’ And Burger King has just officially confirmed they will be doing a promotional tie-in for the new Trek film.

Paramount giving new Star Trek the tentpole treatment

Burger King made the Trek announcement in their quarterly investor conference call yesterday. In discussing various partner campaigns planned for next year, CEO John Chidsey stated "we believe our movie lineup with The Pink Panther, Star Trek, and Transformers will resonate with super fans and super families globally." TrekMovie has also independently confirmed the Star Trek/Burger King merchandising deal. Paramount and Burger King have worked together on a number of recent promotions, including this year’s Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as well as last year’s Transformers movie. However this will be the first Star Trek promotion with Burger King. Burger King has also worked with the other major studios, including Fox for the recent Star Wars prequels.

Link: http://trekmovie.com/2008/10/31/burger-kin...otion-for-2009/

Fast-food tie-ins are fun. I’m all about fun!

Much better.

Now I can toss out my Capt. Midnight/Voyager Pairings Decoder Ring.

By the way, you should put the whole names on the poll intsead of just the abbreviations.

 

It's a bit confusing.

QFT

Also I notice you omitted Neelix/Kes relationship altogether.

Whether you like the characters or not I'd say the Nellix/Kes relationship got more screentime than many of the other choices you have listed.

Peace out,

Nerdiness comes naturally to Dawson

LOS ANGELES -- Because we don't know Klingon, we'll spell it out in English: Rosario Dawson is a comics-adoring, Star Trek-worshipping geek.

This may not come as a revelation if you've followed Dawson's choices in recent years -- co-creating the 2006 comic series Occult Crimes Taskforce, signing on for Frank Miller's Sin City -- but what may is the depth of her, well, nerdiness.

Whether she's articulating how each cinematic Batman through the decades has reflected the comics as well as the political climate of the time, or raving about the trailer for May's Trek reboot, she's the real deal.

"As a kid, I was always around comics; my uncle is a comic-book artist. He would keep them in plastic; there was this sacred ritual of reading comics that was so important.

"I can't believe that now that's translated to a compliment about my persona. I'm like, 'Really?' It's something I bond with my brother about. There's definitely something in the blood

"My grandmother used to collect comics when she was younger, actually, and her mother threw out all her originals which is awful because she had the first Superman. I still cry about that sometimes. That's so messed up. That could've put me through college."

Link: http://www.winnipegsun.com/entertainment/2...898076-sun.html

Rosario Dawson was born in New York City, the daughter of Isabel, a plumber of Puerto Rican and African descent, and Greg Dawson, a construction worker of Native American and Irish descent. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films Sin City, Rent, Men in Black II, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Josie and the Pussycats, and Death Proof.

‘Star Trek XI’ Barbie And Ken Boldly Go…

To coincide with the release of the new Star Trek film, Mattel will be producing a set for their Barbie line featuring the likenesses of Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock and Zoe Saldana as Uhuru (pictures below, though not the finalized figures or packaging). The head sculpts are very well done and the costumes are very accurately detailed, so these should be highly sought collectors items. It should also be noted that 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the Barbie doll. The Trek figures will be available in April and will retail for around $45 each. There are several places that are already taking pre-orders, so you might want to go ahead and reserves yours now.

link: http://popculturezoo.com/archives/1608

More Obama is a Trekkie quotes:

According to the actor Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock in the series, Obama flashed him the split four-fingered Vulcan salute when the two crossed paths last year. In May in Des Moines, Newsweek caught Obama teasing wife Michelle about her belt buckle, saying it was studded with Star Trek-powering dilithium crystals and adding, "Beam me up, Scotty!" As he laughed at his own joke, Michelle Obama rolled her eyes, as geek wives often do.

As a youngster, Obama collected Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comic books. His Senate website used to have a photo of him posing in front of a Superman statue, and in October at New York's Alfred Smith dinner he joked: "I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father Jor-El to save the planet Earth." Jor-El was the father of Superman, born on the planet Krypton.

Link to entire story: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/ga...nt-1215625.html

Billy Dee Williams wasn't too bad either.

I met her in Jacksonville Florida at a Trek convention in the mid 90s she seemed like a very nice woman and a class act who really cared about meeting you.

She will be missed. :biggrin:

Nitpick: At the end of the episode Spock wears his Red Visor to Transport Ambassador Carlos. Kirk is right next to him the entire time with no visor. Humans that see a Medusan are supposed to go Mad. Vulcans are somewhat protected if they wear the protective visor. Kirk should not even be in the tranporter room with the Medusan Ambassador and that was a HUGE mistake.

I still give it a B - good episode. Most fans really beat up on the 3rd season of TOS, however there were several fairly strong episodes like this one that balance out a few clunkers.

The Medusan ship wasn't shown in the original (although it was mentioned in the dialog), so this is the only time we get to see it. This was my favorite new effect from the remastered episode.

Barack Obama is a big fan of Star Trek. He said himself: "I grew up on Star Trek. I believe in the final frontier." And, when Leonard Nimoy was the guest on NPR's "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" in September, he said that he had run into "one of the presidential candidates" and that that candidate had, upon seeing Nimoy, given him the Vulcan salute. He refused to name the candidate, but said he "was not John McCain." (Ed. Note: not to mention, he is the best example of the strength of IDIC we've seen in a long time)

Link: http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2008/11/5-signs-preside.html

Last Friday, at a campaign event in Wyoming, presidential hopeful Barack Obama said the following: "I grew up on Star Trek. I believe in the final frontier."

Link: http://trekmovie.com/2008/03/09/the-next-space-frontier/