STV: Jonathan Frakes—one busy guy

I just found a batch of recent video I thought had been lost...!

So yay--here's an always-welcome vid-chat with Number One himself, shot near the end of the 10th annual Lightspeed Fine Art Charity Event in December in the OC. It was the first time to appear there for both of us, as we realized, and a good time to catch up. He's up to his eyeballs with directing jobs, and on some of the top one-hours on the networks... a busy life since he moved back to L.A. from his teaching turn. This chat will get you ready for his airings and reruns ... plus, Jonathan's first acting gig since Nemesis.

His adorable wife Genie Francis, a celeb in her own right of course, came along and had copies of her Christmas carol CD benefiting The Children's Mission in Cuernavaca, Mexico, getting 100% of her profit share—and still available on Amazon and iTunes.

If you're a Castle fan—and you should be!—I got a very catty anecdote out of him from his episode. Now we just need to get him on Chuck next season... Campaign, anyone?



And if you're not a Lightspeed customer, doing so makes you eligible to attend these annual, cozy little clambakes with guests, parties, and direct-bid auctions for their charities. I'd meant to go for years, so thanks to Gary Hasson and his staff who finally got me down.

Oh, and that Frakes, guy, too. Better catch when while you can--he's one bolt of lightning.

Trek2Chuck IV: Comic*Con edition

One of the guilty pleasures this old cynic still allows himself is NBC's Chuck, whose fans just helped fight for a third season (midyear premiere). And that attraction is not just due to the many Treklanders who work there now, as I have shared here—including Robbie McNeill.

At the Comic*Con Chuck panel, though, producer-director Robbie was content to just chat from the sideline ...("Hi to all," he tells me, "and watch CHUCK!")

...while his cast and bosses crowded the stage (he's done his share of these things before, you see, from some old show or another).

Anxious Chuck fans should know: the Chuck panel had 4500+ SRO crammed into Balltoom 20 and hundreds turned away, the cast and head writers overflowed their stage table main panel, and their press post-room was literally crammed with print, video and bloggers coming to an interface point near you already. NBC has the panel video up.

We've got video of the chaotic press room scene to post as soon as we can... Meanwhile, cast and crew report back to film the new season Aug. 6.

Beyond the Trek connection, it really is a fun, adorable and deceptively complex show—check out the official fan site Chuck Me Out or the best real fan site, ChuckTV.net.

STV/Trek2Chuck III: Touring BuyMore with David Trotti

The Chuck season is winding down, but our Trek2Chuck link is still very much alive. And with the Scott Bakula (and Chevy Chase) trilogy closing out the season with a bang the next two Mondays, March 20 and 27 (8 p.m./NBC!) I'm posting this tour of the BuyMore set with David Trotti, a colleague and longtime assistant director (from trainee to 2nd to 1st) through the Trek series from later TNG to ST VI to Voyager and then Enterprise...and true to form, he drops some Trek behind-the-scenes info even here.

Once again, David's just one of many Treklanders working on this fun dramedy: a nerdy but promising hero biding time in low-level retail until his brain is accidentally jammed with the nation's classified secrets. If you missed our prior vlogs, check out Robbie McNeill as producer/director, and Bob Picardo as guest star; fan fave Adam Baldwin of Firefly fame is here too, as is Bonnie Friedericy, John Billingsley's wife.

Hopefully, if you give it a try and sound off by petition or Facebook, and the numbers stay good, Chuck will be back for Season 3 next fall—along with our Trek2Chuck visits...

STV: Trek2Chuck II — Bob Picardo on CHUCK March 9 ... and more!

The second in our series on the ex-Trekland family working on NBC's Monday-night hit Chuck:



Back in December we were able to grab our own Bob "The Doctor" Picardo—he of many roles, including the last commander of the late, great Stargate: Atlantis—during his nighttime location shoot for a guest spot on NBC's great Chuck series, with its plethora of former Trek veterans off-camera.

Bob's episode, "Chuck Vs. The Ultimate Weapon," airs Monday, March 9 on your NBC channel at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central (as they say back home) ... or 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific (as they say out here)...

Bob is also full of other project news, too—so take a listen. Let's translate that "fan favorite" status into even more real-world turnout.

STV: Trek2Chuck 3-D—with Robbie McNeill

You're hearing all the hype about NBC's follow-up to the 3-D Super Bowl: its 3-D episode of Chuck?

Funny how our catch-up chat with Robbie "Tom Paris" McNeill as part of the big Trekland alumni chapter on Chuck—he's a supervising producer and oft-time director—just happened to fall on a December day when he was trying to wrap up the very segments for "Chuck Versus the Third Dimension" that are being ballyhooed on that trailer.

You should try Chuck—like Trek, it has its own universe, just not on a starship!—but you Robbie die-hards out there will enjoy our chat in any case. In fact, Robbie and I make a 3-D moment...sorta kinda. At least, we have the soundtrack for it. I just hope we made Dr. Tounge proud.

Trek2Chuck Again: And now Dr./Captain/Dad Scott!

No sooner do I jump on the Trek/Chuck people connection and barely get started posting some video chats, than the colony of ex-patriates from Paramount now gathered there grows by yet another body—a very "big" one.

The trades are announcing that Scott Bakula will be appearing in a few (three?) episodes late this season as Chuck's mysterious dad. See what Trekland networking can do for you?

More on this fun turn as we can get it to you ... but having Dr. Beckett/Captain Archer as a father sure explains a lot—if nothing else, Chuck's inherited geekdom gene! (BTW--Chevy Chase has signed on the same 3 shows to play his adversary...)

STV: John and Bonnie, Part 2

Finally, here's the rest of our chat from Dallas last summer with John Billingsley and wife Bonita Friedericy—you can also still catch the goofy Part I chat as well as their shout-out for donors to their AIDS Service Center charity events.



Bonnie talks much about her work on Chuck, which premiered its new NBC Mondays season this month and of course co-stars Tony "Kurn" Todd in a recurring role as well, as she mentions. There's also some frank talk and affection for how they view Star Trek and fandom ... good folks, there.