STV: Happy 50th from Star Trek crews past

YES! Finally, new Trekland video—and a brand-new intro! But the 50th celebration has only just begun ... for a whole year, yes?
 
So here's some faces and voices I've been holding back for the Happy 50th party—just the kind of behind-the-scenes insight that I love recording and revealing... from the TNG Companion where I met many of them, to our deep-diving Portal 47 today. Some you know; most you will not. (A few have been P47 guests; many others will be, too.)

For all or part of 18+ years, various teams of skilled show-biz folk brought us 737 hours of TV and films from Gene Roddenberry's universe...and could not help but form their own bonds of workaday friendship as well as professional pride.

With social media to help, the group held its third reunion in six years on May 22 in LA's Griffin Park—and it seemed natural to record for posterity some shoutouts for the 50th. I only regret that this was the smallest turnout of the three, and I did not get more folks on camera—to represent even more of the older series, or more of the various departments that go into getting an episode made.

Of course they have all gone on to other shows, other projects or even other careers now... but you can tell how most would agree that their working Star Trek years were something special, if not the highlights of their resume.

And that they are all fans, too.

STV: Mike McMahan, author of TNG's Season 8 'WARPED'

So many great book ideas for Trek fans this holiday, and with the 50th just around the corner next year.

Here's a great fun read I hope you heard about—WARPED,

the Lost Eighth Season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the latest creation born wholly of a Twitter account!—and my chat with the tweeter/author (and TV comedy writer!) who accidentally stumbled across me at San Diego Comic-Con, Mike McMahan!  What I wasn't expecting was the, uh, iconic praise for the TNG Companion…



FYI: Portal 47 members got to view this video up to 72 hours early before it went public—one feature of their deep-dive Trekland access. 

Admiral on the bridge!: TNG's Clyde 'Nakamura' Kusatsu

It's amazing the number of creative folks—chiefly actors, but also writers, producers, designers, and crew—who can call themselves part of the Trek family...or Treklanders, as we call them around these parts.

As every year passes, I try to make it a point to meet and hopefully interview many of them, especially the recurring guest stars whose faces are a tad more familiar. That said, I am still struck by how many of even they we have yet to see at some of the larger conventions—I'm lookin' at you, Creation Vegas!

...Such as Clyde Kusatsu, whose long career has included several stints as the first real "recurring admiral" on TNG, a spot in its finale, and a bit of distinction vis a vis none other than Jean-Luc Picard—as we discuss, amid tales from his other work of note, in this vidchat from a recent Courts Signing Show in Burbank.

I mean, he was a finalist for WHAT on Deep Space Nine? And in a sitcom pilot with Brent and WHO?

No, it never truly 'ended': Happy 20th, 'All Good Things'

Well, here's a benchmark everyone is talking about feeling "old" over.

For those of you who didn't get your TNG through a Blu-ray or Netflix binge-watch, today marks the 20th anniversary of the week-long birthday of the airing of TNG's celebrated finale, "All Good Things...".*

Yep, TWENTY.


I could only cram in so much for this wonderful and complex show in the TNG Companion show notes... still available on Kindle or the occasional rare paperback that pops up... Which is why I love doing the Trekland: On Speaker CD series now. Funny how we chose "All Good Things..." for our Vol. 2, this year!

Enjoy updates with Ron D. Moore and Brannon Braga for AGT all over the web this year, but if you want to actually hear them... much less showrunner Michael Piller, or director Rick Kolbe, both of whom have passed now... you might check out our great disk of their voices ...from 1994 ... and the liner notes.

Time has been very kind to Ron and Brannon's career milestone, but it only took a year or so before everyone (including the writers) realized, ironically, that the rushed, 24/7 writing job they cranked out on this series-ender was a far more powerful piece than the Generations feature film they'd slaved over for more than a year... for various reasons.

Filming was still mostly secreted to little ol' me, recent;y arrived in LA to write the TNG Companion update, but in my two-month stay I got an awful lot of sneak-peeks, and a look at the script as well, to be able to ask about it in time. I remember standing outside Stage 8-9 the day they shot the "full crew" scene of Past Picard's arrival address to his "new" crew, and seeing buddy and Trek extra Guy Vardeman emerge among the mob after it wrapped—wearing his "Darien Wallace" command red uniform, noticing he was wearing lieutenant commander pips, and getting shushed before I opened my big mouth too loud. Such was the mood and vibe and the way of things, back in the day.

Lots of folks will be hauling it out to watch, today, I'll bet. Just don't forget: you can legally party on this topic for six more days.* Just sayin.'





*I say week-long because, as you should recall, TNG was syndicated, with various markets seeing it on various days of the week... and May 23 was merely the first available date in the week for aiting: a Monday, as the LA and many other affiliates had it. We at the time in Oklahoma City, of course, had to wait til Sunday night as usual... 10:30 p.m. On May 29.

RIP Cliff Bole: Modern Trek's prolific, hard-working director—and blue-guys namesake

I've been meaning to share a few thoughts these past busy weeks about prolific director Cliff Bole, 76, who passed away Feb. 15 and may well go down in history amid a long career best known as the most prolific TNG director of all (25 hours)—with 42 hours of Trek in toto, with 7 more on DS9 and 10 on Voyager. Cliff died at his home in Palm Desert, Calif., after a long battle with cancer. 

As a sign of his impact, no other Trek director is also the namesake for a species (the Bolians, debuted in the episode "Conspiracy" he directed) or a landmark (the Cliffs of Bole, from DS9's "Invasive Procedure" that he did not direct).

Atop that long list of Trek credits, of course, will always and forever be "The Best of Both Worlds"—both parts. When I first met Cliff during my second trip to L.A. in 1993 (above), settling in to do research over two weeks as a "tourist" and not under the gun of a cruelly close deadline, Cliff eagerly returned my call for an interview—Trek had not been done to death by then, and no Internet yet!—and he invited me out to his house in the Valley. As I recall now, that was actually my first "trip" there, outside the Glendale/Hollywood "axis" my two annual book research trips had revolved around so far.

Car-crazy Cliff and the '41 Mercury
he showed off to me in 1993

That's where we snapped the shots I share here, including his then-current car project ... and all in Cliff's no-nonsense, plain-spoken, gruff-around-the-edges language that didn't hold back on the honesty or the fun memories at all. He was upfront about his resume, called a dog a dog as well as a hit a hit, and took the blame or credit as much as anyone in TV directing can do. He threw a lot of insights at me that I was only then beginning to appreciate, and going back through that first, long interview I'm reminded of how much Treklanders like him taught me about not only the well-oiled Trek machine, but Hollywood in general.

Along with the "BOBW"s, too, he also admits to the "Aquiel"s of the bunch, as well. For TV directors, it's always a mixed bag and a bit of the "luck of the draw" when scripts are being cranked out in a long season. Here's some of what he told me about that upon our first meeting back in March 1993:
“There were a couple I thought might be my last! The crew works so damn hard and you try, but you just can‘t come to bat every time and hit a home run. You try to at least get on base, first."

"It was one helluva ride!"

He began all the way back with only the series’ seventh show, "Lonely Among Us": "I managed to survive the first year—which in itself I’m proud of! The most dangerous thing about episodic directors: if you stay around too long you‘re going to fall through some of the cracks. I don’t care how good the writers are, there’s going to be one episode that doesn‘t have it all. But you’re going to fall through the cracks and the chances are that they’re going to say, ‘Well, get rid of this bum!’ It’s going to happen and it‘s happened to me on a lot of series, and it’s dangerous. The best thing to do is hit a couple of episodes and get out.”

But not so with TNG, and he praised onetime Warner Brothers contact Rick Berman for the stability he brought to the production—even the "regular irregulars" like himself were made part of the family. Flight enthusiast Michael Dorn convinced him to get his own license again after a 20-year lapse in the air; special effects man Wil Thoms once towed Bole’s restored 1940 pickup truck to a friend who bought it in Seattle, using a trailer loaned by one of the set grips.

“We had so much fun. We had some uptightness, but God, this was a family; we had marriages, divorces—I got divorced in the middle of it; people had kids and family. More than anything I’ve ever experienced, there’s major family stuff going on here.”
Cliff had thoughts on all his TNG shows for me, but of course everyone wants to hear about BOBW—as he told me, in 1994:  “Mike Westmore (makeup designer) called me up one night and he said, ‘I‘ve got this idea for a laser’ and I said ‘Jesus Christ, that sounds great! Do it! Do it! Do it!’ He said, ‘where do you want to put it?’ And I said, ‘Right here, man, on the side of the head—and every time he looks in the camera it’s there.’ I went to grammar school with Mike; we started out in kindergarten together! 

And then this, about the pre-sir Patrick Stewart: “I remember once I said ‘OK, we’re finished for the night—I don’t think I need this close-up of Patrick’...And he looked down at me—we’re all dead tired—and gave me one of those great English eye looks, from up on his pedestal in the lab. And then I said,  ‘Well, I guess I’ll shoot a close-up of Patrick here!’ ” 
 
According to his full obituary biography as submitted by family—where you can leave your own thoughts on his work, online—Clifford John Bole was born in San Francisco on Nov. 9, 1937, but grew up in the San Fernando Valley of north L.A., turning his interest in the biz into a life as a "set rat," sneaking in with friends to watch productions in progress on location or the nearby studios.

Bole (left) consults on-set on DS9
with script supervisor Judi Brown
and Rene Auberjonois

"I've been here since I was 4; my dad in vaudeville, ran theaters in San Francisco, and he always said 'Don't get into this end of the business!' In the old Valley, we had studio backlots bigger than Burbank—Universal, Warners, Republic...9, 10, 15 streets. They used to shoot on Saturdays, and at 6 o'clock Saturdays we were on our bikes, crossing the LA River on a raft to watch 'em." Breaking in as a script clerk and starting out as the on-set script supervisor for McHale's Navy, Cliff has credits as a director on Baywatch, Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island, MacGyver, M.A.N.T.I.S., Matt Houston, Mission: Impossible, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Spencer for Hire, Strike Force, The Six Million Dollar Man, The X Files, T.J. Hooker, and Vega$. 

In 2005, Cliff was recognized with a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, and turned to his car crush to complete Cars Under the Stars, a documentary showcasing the popular El Paseo Cruise Night event there. He was also an avid pilot, boater, golfer and dirt bike rider, where he shared close ties with the stunt community and counted Ronnie Rondell, Roy "Snuffy" Harrison and the late Hal Needham as close friends. He was also an Army vet and was stationed in Korea; survivors are his wife, son, daughter, and two grandchildren.

The family suggests that friends wishing to honor his memory contribute to a cancer research organization of their choice, or visit his star in Palm Springs. A celebration of life will be held later in the year; I hope to be able to go, and share some of the mentions from the day with Trekland.
 
Official startrek.com had a memorial post with reflections on Cliff and his work by many of his Trek colleagues.

Recalling a real Treklander: prop master Joe Longo, 74

This past Wednesday, I joined a few Trek folks (and many family and friends) to bid goodbye to a Treklander who ended up his long Hollywood career in Starfleet: prop master Joe Longo, who died Jan. 5 at age 73. As a sweet memento, the family had even reproduced Joe's trading card (from the 1993 Skybox "TNG behind the scenes" set) for all attendees at the mausoleum service. I took it, but I actually already had one—from the original set. Maybe you have one, too.

Now, this is not a case of a long shared personal history: When I met him, Joe had just moved from alternating episodes on TNG for five years to go over full-time on the new DS9. We had a good sit-down to cover those years in 1993, when I came out to work on the first TNG Companion edition, and I snapped this photo (at right) up in his office in the "Dreier Building" row of offices over Stages 8-9.  (How many first-season DS9 props can you identify on his walls?) Our chat is one of the famous 400+ hours on those cassette tapes I have.

But he was indeed on DS9 by the time I got to L.A. full-time, and I wouldn't really get to come back around to deal with his newer show until the Fact Files partwork and Communicator magazine took off a few years later. Long story short, as gruff as he always looked, Joe was a no-nonsense guy but was great to share his TNG memories with me, as fellow prop master Alan Sims had … and Joe helped out whenever I needed it after that. And I always loved to hear another Golden Age of Hollywood story about a movie, series, or an actor, when he had a sec. But, unfortunately, that was not too common. 

So check out some memories from co-workers like John Eaves, Mike Okuda, Doug Drexler and Rick Sternbach in this memorial post from Jan. 29 at star trek.com; those of you with the Okudas' Encyclopedia, note how Doug clevely worked Joe in as some of the uniform illustration "models" (with his bushy 'stach.).  For my part, let me simply share the photo above, and the memorial program below—with his career and some fun parting insights about a name you'll now now a little bit about, every time you see it forever on 12 total seasons of classic Star Trek TV, plus two films—ST II and III.

Over the last few years there have been times when I had to be away and miss a final memorial to one of our Trek family, and I always regret it. It reminds me I do have a few more to catch up on after Joe.

As for Joe, check out an another extra: look for that card below, too.

"It All Started With a Big... Borg?"

Did today's Geek Revolution really all stem from Locutus and "Fire!"?



This was my most recent guest blog over at startrek.com, on June 20 — (with new mashup art!) and I just wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to see it. It elaborates on a thread I got into on a podcast brainstorm recently... and really stuck with me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

All right— I have a theory to propose. See what you think. It’s pretty deep, so hang with me:

Ahem.

For the current “geek revolution” that permeates our culture and brought all things “genre” to the mainstream of America ….

... we can thank Next Generation showrunner Michael Piller. And his insecurities.

Yep, I think it was the late, great executive producer of TNG (left) who set in motion events that led to all the fan-love that’s sweeping the country (and a lot of corporate board rooms to boot).  After the last round of CBS’s incredible TNG Blu-ray remasters and their Fathom Events theater showcase, well… my mind started to put 2 and 2 together one night while I was yakking away as a guest on a Trek podcast.

And it hit me like a ton of thermoconcrete. Here, just follow along:

It’s obvious that we live amidst a “Geeks Rule the World” vibe these days, right? For a lot of us over a certain age, it’s incredible that Star Trek fans and every other nerd nirvanist of all ages are allowed—nay, encouraged—to wear their con badge of honor openly, their heart on their sleeve, as it were…in full uncloseted view of everyone! The “geek girl” explosion, the cool-kids cosplay club… football Trekkies... the designers of cell phones, iPads, even a Vulcan-loving President —yep, it’s an amazing time, when you think about it.

What lit the fuse on such an explosion? Well, network TV can play a big role in changing the culture, reaching millions easily and putting new memes and ideas into play almost overnight —and there’s the clue. We have more than anecdotal evidence of this, of course: What better old-guard metric to check than your friendly A.C. Nielsens, the same TV audience ratings that ironically once doomed the original Star Trek (using, by the way, only raw numbers, not targeted demographics). Yes, check out the runaway No. 1 comedy on the list for forever, and—duh— you’ll come up with The Big Bang Theory. (For that matter, you could also check out the top syndicated-rerun package in every local TV market, and just about get the same answer. TBBT rules.)

Sheldon and Leonard’s excellent adventures (with constant Trek references and guest stars in the mix) have been a hit ever since their debut, and come from the great comedy bloodline of creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. But there are never guarantees in show biz, and TV series are an expensive gamble for a network —which is why few survive the process to be written, green-lit, filmed as a pilot episode, and then picked up to be risked in a high-pressure prime-time slot to deliver ratings and pay back the investment, with dividends. Now, what might have helped convinced CBS to take such a chance on an offbeat premise back in the spring of 2007?

(Okay, stay with me— it’s about to get thick and fast:)

I remember it well: 2007 was the year that everything melted down at San Diego Comic-Con, the granddaddy of what we now know as the new generation of megacons . This and every other “comic con” are hardly about just comics, writers and artists anymore, right?  It’s the stars who have the magnetism, and those tens of thousands of fans who swelled attendance numbers in the Aughts were there because of stars brought in by Hollywood—the Hollywood  that had begun to put those blockbusters on the big screens in a big way never seen before. The “day trip” vibe down to San Diego, for one thing, and the fertile audience of hard-core fantasy, sci-fi and comics fans just ripe to test-market: it was too much for studios to resist, and the mutual love affair bloomed big-time. That shockwave of numbers and the pop-culture headlines couldn’t help but put an obvious “new” hot audience on the radar of any network savvy enough to jump on it in a smart way.

But what had happened to Hollywood in the first place, going all-out on summer blockbusters and epic franchise flicks? I mean, comics-borne movies and fantasy epics have always been around, but this many? And with this attitude? And with this much respect—usually!—for the source material? (Oh, and cue the return of even the Star Wars saga by the late 1990s.) And—why the merger of studios and comics lines landing front-page in the Wall Street Journal as well as Variety?

Probably, in turn, because the small screen just couldn’t hold it all anymore. Yes, in many ways those big genre movies of the Nineties and Aughts were a no-brainer after all the sci-fi, swords and superheroes making inroads on network TV—like Buffy, Angel, Firefly… Lois and Clark, that begat Smallville … not to mention X-Files and the new quirk of humorous paranoia, plus Voyager and Enterprise, of course. It was also a time when, with the coming of CSI and all it inspired, a typical police procedural drama suddenly had more CGI “real science” visual effects each week than any ol’ space opera ever dreamed of.

The Big 4 networks, in turn, were just passing along the spillover from the genre explosion they saw on lower-risk cable nets, and even non-network syndication—like Babylon 5, Hercules, Xena, Farscape, Andromeda: Where did they and the wanna-bes suddenly come from? In fact, where the heck did syndication come up with anything but talk shows and game shows, anyway ?

You got it—you can “blame” it all on the riskiest gamble of all, The Next Generation (with Deep Space Nine the original second-wave series). As executive producer Rick Berman has noted, the TV world of 1986 gave TNG little chance to survive its triple knock as sci-fi, as a sequel and as a syndicated show.  The first two seasons were rocky—but eventually the show not only settled, but skyrocketed in quality and viewers ... and did, indeed, set off that sci-fi boom of the Nineties. All of which, of course, became competition for the Trek franchise itself.

So where did TNG’s turnaround occur? Remember—the show was budgeted to last seven years, yes, but a full yet mediocre run would never have sparked a revolution in anyone’s entertainment universe. In the long run, we can all pretty much agree it was that amazing, rags-to-riches third season when Piller came aboard —with “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” “Sins of the Father,” “The Offspring,” “The Defector,” “The Price,” “Hollow Pursuits,” “Captain’s Holiday”… But even with that list, we know what really put TNG on the map with the masses in one fell swoop.

That amazing cliffhanger, “The Best of Both Worlds,” the Borgification of Picard… Riker’s one word, “Fire!”… and then a blackout, a slamming music cue, and the simple but excruciating words “To Be Continued."

That epic moment, borne of head writer Piller’s angst about returning to the series or not, was his way of painting the conclusion writer into a horrible corner—before he knew that writer would be himself, after all.  

Of course, you could argue there’d be no TNG at all without the original Star Trek… and no Star Trek without Gene Roddenberry’s inspiration from The Twilight Zone, Have Gun Will Travel and Forbidden Planet, for starters. Yes, you could take this back even further, if you wanted.

But for now, I like this cause and effect. Without Michael, Locutus and “The Best of Both Worlds”… there’d be no Evil Wil Wheaton,  snark, and the verbification of “cosplay.”  We owe today’s sweeping freedom of geek pride to a Borg wash-out and a last-minute red laser unit.

I mean, isn’t it obvious to you?

TNG Movie Night S3: Sights, sounds & tales from L.A. to E.P.

We'll keep collecting anecdotes here, but it's safe to say Thursday night's "Best of Both Worlds" TNG Bluray movie night from CBS and Fathom Events was easily the biggest Trek blowout event in this series. And kudos to TrekRadio for having podcasters and others (like moi) call in from theaters around the country for a little live flavor of Collective fun.

TREKLAND had our ticket-giveaway winners among the hordes of non-drones heading to cinemas nationwide, and Canada too. As promised here's a round-up of what we got in—including a wedding proposal, thanks to Locutus (or at least thanks to his timing of return).

Of course, the fact that the newly HD'd show in question was "The Best of Both Worlds"—and an all-new cinematic edit to boot—didn't hurt the turnout.

The fact that the flick in question not only packs its own punch, but evokes for all who were around in 1990 that long-ago innocence of witnessing a breakout hit in the process, your reward for  standing by in the lean early years... before all the movies and sequels and had-to-get-a-job worldweariness. It calls to you, back to the days when you really could obsess over the world's best cliffhanger... all. summer. long.

Which, as @SirPatStew recounts in the new documentary, applied to parents as well as kids. (And I won't spoil his story, if you haven't seen it elsewhere yet.)
 
Still, I heard that some goers were confused with that Other Star Trek Movie coming next month ...

"There were five people (looked like a family) who got up and left at the beginning as soon as the Fathom trailers finished and the documentary came on. They apparently thought they had bought tickets for the new J.J. Abrams film-—you know, the one that hasn't even come out in the U.S. yet. Pretty amusing!"—Frank Gruber, Paramus, NJ screening

"Guy came out of the theater, saw an Into Darkness poster, said to his friend: 'That's what I THOUGHT we were coming to see!'—@gregharbin (Seattle)

Unofficial ground central for TNG movie night may have been at the Century City Arclight in L.A., where goers got to hear remarks from TNG staffers and Blu-ray project consultant Mike and Denise Okuda, LeVar "Geordi" Burton, onetime TNG S3 writer Ira Steven Behr, and even Elizabeth "Shelby" Dennehy herself, plus Blu-ray doc producers Robert Meyer Burnett and Roger Lay Jr. The Westmores Michael and Michael Jr, who did the Borg electronics, were also in the house—and thanks to my Vegas Vanna, Mary "Televixen" Czerwinski, for these photos while I was "on location" in El Paso:

Listening to Ira wax historic are (from left) Rob, Roger, Denise, Mike, and LeVar ...

...plus a zinger from Elizabeth!

And friend/photog Mary snags those Westmore boys

But meanwhile, in Charleston, S.C.:

"As the director of Carolina Alliance of Star Trek Fans... last night at a local Regal theater we hosted an event. I've worked with NCM Fathom Events since Season 1 and last night was our largest attendance yet!!! We even had a couple get ENGAGEd!"—Erika Y. Figueroa

Our ticket winner in Philly sent this:

"I attended the showing at the Rave 6 University City... It seats about 200 and was a sellout. As I waited for my friend Amy, I talked with members of the Philadelphia Star Trek Meetup Group and the Southeastern PA Nerd Herd.  I ended up missing the pre-show trivia questions and the [documentaries] and instead spent my time talking with my new friends! (Even more members of these 2 groups showed up after this photo was taken.)—Loretta Painter (in TNG T-shirt), Philadelphia

From our Cleveland-area winner, too, in North Canton:
"The theater was almost sold out, and I bought the tickets for our others there; I was going to help the less fortunate anyway."—Roger Scritchfield, Akron


We also heard from the USS Ticonderoga crew in Salt Lake City:
"We had more than the previous two showings"— @TardisCaptain_p

And the USS Atlantis in Idaho, too:

And yes, here in El Paso, where I was in town for Sun City SciFi con, the small but rowdy group at the "overflow" Tinseltown Cinemark theater stood up for my camera to yell out for TrekRadio, and then racked up a few raffle prizes from the con promoters:

Family night!: "Not a great shot, but here's me and my daughter, @ConeErica in Provo, UT"—@cone_is










We also got some thoughts from Treklanders who simply pinged me:

"Modern me got hit almost as hard in the gut as the 1990 me: Fleet graveyard scene hits me right in the feels every time. —@thejoncon, Phoenix area

"That was fun! Loads of #TNG fans, Trek t-shirts everywhere & even a few costumes. Too bad about tech issues tho."—@wetodded, San Diego

"Unfortunately, here at the Orem, UT event, nobody was in costume. Except me."—Scott Armstrong

"I wonder how many Miley Cyrus fans were disappointed last night?"—@doubleofive, Bedford, IN

"Yes [ennoyed],  but thanks to technical difficulties we lost 30 minutes of the episode #dontgotoAugustaGA —@The_Don_Burrito


"Awesome big sceen show, almost full theater, lots of fun, laughing, clapping, true ST fans." —@laura_leclair8, Revere, MA


The event has not dropped off, the numbers keep growing, and a TNG Season 4 promo night seems a sure thing—especially with that trailer for the set on view as well.  I have it on good authority that plans are well along for a repeat of this special edition and documenatry, so we'll see you in a few months back at the theater—even after that other Trek movie... and hopefully glitch free and with cheer to spare.

TNG S3 movie night is here! Share your pics and stories

Are you one of the Treklanders heading to theaters tomorrow night in drones... er, droves... to catch TNG's "The Best of Both Worlds" in HD and an all-new cinematic-length edit?

Well, you're not alone! It's become a huge night for CBS Home Entertainment and its sparkling TNG Blu-ray remastered series —with Season 3 next out on April 30, and up for pre-order now. There's also a single disc on sale of what you'll see Thursday, the specially-edited "film" of BOBW and a documentary.

Here at Trekland, do you remember what we did for the inaugural S1 movie night and the  S2 followup? Fans took pics of the evening and shared them—so let's do that again. And drop me a note about the night as well. Just use larry@larrynemecek.com, even if you post them elsewhere—and don't forget a note about your experience.

For instance, many of the theaters are sold out! So what does your crowd look like? Much less your own party group? Share, and we'll run as many as we can—along with the stories of our five Trekland ticket winners for two passes in Phoenix, Kansas City, Cleveland, Philly and Boston.

Tell me what you think of not only the night, but the feature edit—and the documentary that will be shown. Roger Lay and Rob Burnett have done another great and unvarnished job on the docs, and I just watched Season 3's full-season set where Michael Piller's stabilizing of the scripts and the upset writing staff is a highlight—and the subject of a special tribute. Any reader of my TNG Companion knows I long ago called him "the man who saved TNG," and thus perhaps all future Star Trek—and Ira Steven Behr is particularly honest about painting a complete picture of Michael. You'll want to watch ALL FOUR of the new docs when you get the S3 set right off the bat—and yes, all the DVD-era features are here as well. Plus, an all-new assembled blooper reel, too... or "gag reel," as they say in the biz.

TrekRadio has planned to have 12 movie sites nationwide covered by popular podcasters with live reports Thursday, so be listening there if you can't make it ... As for me, I'll be at the Tinseltown Theatre in El Paso with fans there, on the eve of Sun City SciFi con this weekend—and of course sharing a shot or two.

And an FYI: CBS is being modest about it, but each of these TNG movie nights truly is a promotion for each new Blu-ray set. In order to keep it that way and avoid higher costs from add-on fees to original actors and crew, any actual profit CBS makes is being donated once again to the American Red Cross. So you can even feel even better while you're rescuing Picard... and TV history.

And getting in training for that OTHER movie next month ...

Our winners and pics! TNG's movie night is Thursday

So, here they are!

For the second time, I'm excited to be able to partner with Fathom Events, CBS and Allied-THA marketing to get 10 winning fans to the next TNG Blu-ray movie event night this Thursday, April 25. It's all to mark another remastered TNG season set release in Blu-ray, of course—this time, a special re-edited "movie" version of "The Best of Both Worlds" —and that solo disc plus the regular S3 set are coming April 30.

After our first group of winners last fall, I went with an all-new group of cities—except for Boston, where I wanted to bring a little smile to the fandom end of that hard-pressed area liast week. Our other cities for the free pair of passes this round were Phoenix, Kansas City, Cleveland and Philadelphia.

All of them promise to send along pics and a note from Thursday night—as I hope all y'all will do, so we have a great round-up of costumes and crowds at Trekland as we've done in the past.

So congrats to our Treklanders who knew the answer "Admiral Hansen," with actor George Murdock having played Galactica's Dr. Salik on the original BSG, and then were lucky enough to get drawn out of the pile (with help from another TNG vet, at left)

Nathaniel Bennett, Boston 
     Roger H. Scritchfield, Cleveland
          Travis Pflanz, Kansas City
               Loretta Painter,  Philadelphia
                     and David Williams, Phoenix.

Thank you winners, and everyone who pitched in from those five markets, for taking part.

It's a festive week as the TNG event kicks off with the overwhelming favorite TNG episode seen in an all-new refined light ...  and the ramp-up for Star Trek Into Darkness bombards us with trailers, leaks, and sneekpeaks daily until its US debut May 17 ... while going up down-under already.

So send us your group shots and even the movie house, if things get Fleet Festive where you are—feel free to send us a note too—to larry@larrynemecek.com, and we'll run them as we did for S1 and S2. That goes for you too, Canada!

And if you need a reason to think about getting the new season ...

Big Bend fans: Meet us at Sun City SciFi in El Paso!

Hey, all you fan-folks  through the Rio Grande region of West Texas and southern New Mexico—

Let me remind you about a new sci-fi con in El Paso next weekend—where I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of new fan-buds myself ... and playing Mad Science to boot, for the first time since 2003!

Well, maybe more Fun than Mad... because Sun City SciFi is the latest start-up convention in El Paso—the birthplace of Gene Roddenberry— and has been nice enough to have me back out. Marina, Tony Amendola, Robin Cruz,  and a host of comics, anime and other sci-fi guests are there too ...

I'll be in El Paso a day early for Thursday, the night of the nationwide TNG "Best of Both Worlds" High-Def Movie Night from CBS and Fathom Events, so come out and we'll see the show together, after a con PRE-preview at 5 p.m. at the theater.

The entire convention is at the El Paso Airport Marriott, so fans and events are all on one site for maximum fan logistical awesomeness ... and the hotel lounge has been good enough to host our next version of the "Con of Wrath" meetup/fundraiser party.

... Plus, with the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium in his birthplace town, we will stage a return of a "Trek Stars/Real Stars" astro-smackdown on Sunday!

So here's my scoop:

THURSDAY:

—TNG MOVIE NIGHT: 5 p.m. Meet/greet Trekland table, convention giveaways...7 p.m. "Best of Both Worlds" movie: Tinseltown Cinemark, 11855 Gateway West, 79936

FRIDAY:

—PREVIEW NIGHT, 6-9 p.m., Exhibitor Room: A laid-back night for weekend passholders to come by and check out all that is TREKLAND and "The Con of Wrath."


SATURDAY:

—TREKLAND'S "BETWEEEN THE CRACKS" SHOW, 12 noon, Main Stage:  Our trademark "slideshow" of Trek in-jokes, news, behind the scenes...from all 47 years of Trek. Plus our traditional audience poll start-up: do you know you own Trek profile?

—WAK-A-BLOOPER: 5 p.m., Main Stage: Can you get your snark on? Here's a new one—be in the crowd and help decide the best shout-out caption for some very offbeat Trek clips across all the series. And yes, for prizes ....courtesy Sun City Scifi!

—CON OF WRATH Meetup, El Paso Edition!: 9-11 p.m., right in the Marriott lounge: our patented BONUS off-grid road show of prize trivia, rare Trek video, and exclusive raw celeb clips from our own doc about this infamous event from heroic Trek pop culture meltdown history!

SUNDAY:

—TREK STARS/ REAL STARS, 12 noon, Main Stage: With co-guest Cory Stone, director of the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium, in which we lovingly "debate" just how many of Star Trek's real-life star homes really do work out for harboring native life—blue, furry, or otherwise. No really—we have a list and everything. The same panel I've only done twice before: at NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, AL in 2003 and at Muenster Planetarium in Germany in 1998!

 —RAPID-FIRE TREK TRIVIA, 1:30 p.m., Game Room: Better not be late! This is a half-hour of unfancy Q/As, just you (and the rest of the crowd) and me for a cool prize. If you've ever seen me do this at the Vegas Khaaann!, this is how we roll! With prizes courtesy of Sun City SCifi!


And the rest of the time... come visit at my table where I'll have the latest in Trekland goodies and gossip.

Just another week from now—I hope the Borderlands do us proud. I'll be sending EP's own pics for Thursday's TNG movie night from our trivia ticket winners and everyone else in for our Trekland photo roundup the next day, too!

Win tickets to TNG's "Best of Both Worlds Movie" night from Trekland !

UPDATE: The contest is officially closed, but it will be 3-4 hours until I start sorting entries. If you want to take the chance, I will consider entries that come in during that time, until 10 pm EDT/ 7 pm PDT.

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So here we go again!

Are you ready to shoot for a pair of free tickets to see TNG's remastered "The Best of Both Worlds—The Movie" next Thursday, April 25? At a Fathom Events theater near you?

Near you, that is, IF you live in or near Phoenix, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Cleveland ... or Boston. Those are our Big Five this time around.

Once again, I'm thrilled that Fathom and Allied-THA have been gracious enough to let TREKLAND sponsor 10 lucky winners to this event in five cities around the country. The night, of course, is to promote the sale of the much-anticipated 3rd season set of the ongoing TNG Blu-ray remastered project by CBS that has been such a hot seller and godsend to Prime-starved Trekfen the past year. And this special "movie" version of BOBW will be available as well! More on that below the fold, but first:

Entering Trekland's "Best of Both Worlds Movie" ticket contest, as with our Season 2  theater event last winter, is simple—but do it fast!

The only caveat is you have to be situated and able to attend the screening in one of those cities, of course: all are new this time around except for Boston—I just couldn't resist a little nod to their city this week.  You need only send your email, your mailing address for the ticket delivery from Fathom, and your answer to this question:

In "The Best of Both Worlds" (parts 1 and/or 2), what is the character name of the actor/actress who also played a senior member of the crew of the original Battlestar Galactica?

HOW TO ENTER:

Once again, we're doing this simply—so pay attention to this quickie entry process and its quirks:


—Go to my website, larrynemecek.com, and click on the yellow Newsletter box at left.

— In the "First Name" box, ignore that label and write your FULL NAME and complete mailing address: street, city, state, zip code.

— In the "Last Name" box, ignore that label as well and type one of the five "TICKET CITY" listed that is proximate to you—Phoenix, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Cleveland, or Boston ... followed by the two-word answer to the above question. (Example:  "Boston — Wil Wheaton". (Sample only:Wil was many things but he was NOT Boxey. Or even Muffet.)

Again, fair warning: Unless you want to spring for a plane/train ticket or long-haul it, please do not enter unless you are in or near one of the five metro areas listed. Sorry, Rest of America (including my native and adopted homes)—We went into new cities, and we'll get even more of you next time.)

That's it!

ONE entry per person—thanks!

ENTRY DEADLINE is 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time/ 3 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, April 21!


Five winners will be announced by Monday night, April 22—after I draw from among all those submitting both the correct answer AND a complete, useable email and mailing address; both are required in order to win. Fathom Events will be provided the five winners' addresses, and will supply the prize tickets directly to them. Also, Fathom will award the specific theater passes as close as possible based on geography.

NOTE: Aside from the five winners, all email and address data is seen and retained only by me and does not go on to Fathom or any other corporate entity.  If you wish to opt-out of my list, write "opt-out" after your trivia answer. Otherwise, I hope you stay in for my low-key monthly contact through the year of rare goodies, sneak peeks, front-row insights, con travels and project updates from all over Trekland.

Meanwhile, if you want a sure thing for "TNG 'Best of Both Worlds' Movie Night" tickets next Thursday, April 25, go here to go ahead and order yours. Ever since the Fathom/CBS hookup began for TNG, people have been looking forward to THIS one—and some theaters are already a sellout. But just call first: tickets are still available in dozens of sceening theaters across the country that will actually be beamed the program as part of the exclusive National CineMedia Digital Broadcast Network —check out the theater list HERE.  And if you do come across a sell-out, let us know ASAP here, or on Trekland Facebook or Twitter, will you?

Last DVD generation (above); remastered clip (below)

Of course, the movie hoopla calls attention to the latest amazing season of Blu-ray return-to-film HD remastering (see at right), added footage, and all-new bonus documentaries from CBS (plus all those  released before) that goes on sale everywhere Tuesday, April 30 —or in advance now.  The movie night this time spotlights a special special "polish" version of the classic cliffhanger and conclusion that changed Star Trek forever—and even U.S. television!



For truly, if you are a Trek fan, you should indeed know how "The Best of Both Worlds" changed Star Trek—and not just TNG ("Cliffhangers and sweeps-event two-parters for everyone!") ... AND that the astronomic reaction to the summer-long wait for the conclusion to "Mr. Worf—fire!" generated so much heat across the industry that season-finale cliffhangers came back into vogue across all genres, including network shows. "Who Shot J.R?" may have been the question of the summer in 1980, but it took Locutus of Borg to make it stick 10 years later. I'm just sayin.'

And once again—send us your pics of the April 25 crowd and/or cosplayers from TNG movie night wherever you see it (to larry@larrynemecek.com), and we'll share them with everyone!

See the entire press release for the night below...but first:


CANADIAN FANS: No ticket giveaway for you here, but you do have the chance to also catch the movie version of this classic on a big screen. As my onetime ST Communicator writer James Careless tells Trekland:

Fortunately for Canadian Star Trek fans, April 25 is springtime in the Great White North. This is why Canadian Trekkies will flock to theaters to see the one-day-only showing of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation: Best of Both Worlds ’ at any of 50 movie houses nationwide. It is being hosted by Cineplex Entertainment as part of the company’s Front Row Centre Events (FRPC) package.

“FRPC is designed to really utilize our theatres on quiet days with unique events,” explains Brad LaDoucer, Cineplex’s VP of alternative programming. “We did a 25th anniversary event last year to mark the original launch of Star Trek: The Next Generation, featuring some of the series’ most-loved episodes, and it was very well received.” Cineplex also enjoyed similar success when it screened Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

As for fans wearing costumes on the big night? “We encourage our guests to come in their favorite Star Trek regalia,” says Mike Langdon, Cineplex’s director of communications. However, phasers and Klingon bat’leths should be kept at home – and fans are asked to turn off their communicators for the duration of the movie.

Tickets for the Canadian April 25 screening of "Best of Both Worlds" can be bought online now at www.cineplex.com.

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And meanwhile back in the States, here's the full press release on the event—where profits, by the way, as a promotional event, will be donated to the American Red Cross:

“Star Trek: The Next Generation® – The Best of Both Worlds” Event Transports into Cinemas on April 25 

NCM® Fathom Events, CBS Home Entertainment and IGN Present a One-Night Event Featuring the Classic Series’ Third Season Finale and Fourth Season Premiere Remastered into a Feature-Length Presentation

Special Event Will Precede “Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Best of Both Worlds” Blu-ray Releases on April 30

Centennial, Colo. – Feb. 27, 2013 – “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.” Trekkers nationwide will soon heed those commands as NCM® Fathom Events, CBS Home Entertainment and IGN present “Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Best of Both Worlds,” which beams into select cinemas on Thursday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. local time. The fan-favorite two-part episode – "The Best of Both Worlds" – is comprised of the third season finale and the fourth season premiere, with Part 1 making TV Guide's list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time.” The episodes have been remastered into a feature-length presentation and will be presented on the big screen.

Tickets for “Star Trek: The Next Generation® – The Best of Both Worlds” are available at presenting theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. The event will be broadcast to more than 550 select movie theaters across the country through NCM’s exclusive Digital Broadcast Network. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, visit the NCM Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).

Fans will enjoy this digitally restored and gloriously remastered presentation in high definition. The fascinating storyline follows the cybernetic alien race, the Borg, as they abduct and transform Capt. Picard into a half-Borg, half-human called Locutus.  Meanwhile, the Enterprise crew must race against time to intercept the nefarious Borg cube before it reaches Earth to enslave humanity.

“Fans have been discussing these historic episodes since they first aired, and we’re excited to present them like never before, newly improved and on the big screen,” said Ken Ross, executive vice president and general manager of CBS Home Entertainment.  “This special event will ensure that ‘The Best of Both Worlds’ will remain a classic throughout the 21st Century — and beyond.”

Created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the “Star Trek” franchise, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” premiered 21 years after the debut of the original “Star Trek” series. Featuring one of the most endearing ensemble casts in television history, with seven seasons and 176 episodes, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” took fans on the remarkable continuing voyages of the Starship Enterprise, set in the 24th century.

“After the success of the first two ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ events, we couldn’t wait to bring additional seasons back to the big screen for fans to enjoy,” said Shelly Maxwell, executive vice president of NCM Fathom Events. “Fans will be absolutely thrilled with the presentation of these ‘Next Generation’ classics.”

“Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3” and “The Best of Both Worlds” will be released on Blu-ray on April 30.

CBS is a proud and long-standing supporter of the American Red Cross and will continue to show its support through this event. CBS will make a financial donation to support the Red Cross which shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families.


About National CineMedia (NCM)
National CineMedia (NCM) operates NCM Media Networks, a leading integrated media company reaching U.S. consumers in movie theaters, online and through mobile technology. The NCM Cinema Network and NCM Fathom Events present cinema advertising and events across the nation’s largest digital in-theater network, comprised of theaters owned by AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK), Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) and other leading regional theater circuits. NCM’s theater advertising network covers 183 Designated Market Areas® (49 of the top 50) and includes over 19,300 screens (approximately 18,500 digital). During 2012, approximately 710 million patrons attended movies shown in theaters in which NCM currently has exclusive, cinema advertising agreements in place.  The NCM Fathom Events live digital broadcast network (“DBN”) is comprised of over 740 locations in 172 Designated Market Areas® (including all of the top 50). The NCM Interactive Network offers 360-degree integrated marketing opportunities in combination with cinema, encompassing 41 entertainment-related websites, online widgets and mobile applications.  National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) owns a 48.6% interest in and is the managing member of National CineMedia LLC. For more information, visit www.ncm.com or www.FathomEvents.com. (NCMI-E)

About CBS Home Entertainment
CBS Home Entertainment manages the worldwide DVD and Blu-ray businesses for the CBS Corporation across all lines of content including current hits and classic series from the vast CBS library, as well as new releases from Showtime Networks. CBS Home Entertainment products are released on the CBS DVD and CBS Blu-ray labels.  

About IGN Entertainment
IGN Entertainment is the leading Internet media and services provider focused on the video game and entertainment enthusiast markets. Collectively, IGN's properties reach more than 57 million unique users worldwide, according to Internet audience measurement firm comScore.  IGN's network of video game-related properties (IGN.com, 1UP.com, GameSpy and others) is the Web's #1 video game information destination. IGN also owns the world's largest men's lifestyle website, AskMen.com, and men's entertainment site UGO.com. IGN is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices across North America, Europe and Australia.

- 30 -


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Note: This story's initial post did include one difference in the cities covered, but now reflects the final list of those involved.

It's APRIL FIFTH: Make First Contact with #StarTrekDay & share your pics!

WE WANT YOUR PICS! Of what? See below...

So, first the cool news:

In this, the FORTY-SEVENTH year of aired Star Trek .... we have exactly FIFTY YEARS until first contact with the Vulcans.

In Bozeman, Montana*.

On April 5, 2063.

Sparked by Zephram Cochrane's test warp flight of the Phoenix that day, a landmark in human history.

(Since the Vulcans, Romulans and Klingons, for starters, had all already been there/done that.)

Meanwhile, back in our time ... the boom in social media has led to the cutesy mainstream appearance of memes and trivia in posts and tweets that geeks formerly had to pass amongst themselves, like secret handshakes. Such as the launch of the Jupiter II (Oct. 16, 1997), or the day the Moon was blasted out of its Earth orbit (Sept. 13,1999)—did you miss them both? (And if I have to explain either one of those non-Trek references, you need to go back to Go and not collect 200 quatloos.)

But thus was how Star Trek's birthday on Sept. 8 (1966, first airing of TOS on NBC), and May 4th over in SWarsville  (May the Fourth/ "May the Force...",  get it?) got even more note among the mundanes .... and were soon to be joined by 4/5/63 as just as key a date in Trekland—The Day Everything Changed. Finally.—when humanity not only got a faster-than-light engine but a Galactic Consciousness as well (according to First Contact, of course.)

And in typical Twitter  "hashtags" or trending label protocol, that begat  #firstcontactday or #starwarsday or #maythefourth. #Startrekbirthday seemed a little long for Sept. 6 every year, though.

Now, this year and this week, I'm being told, via TrekRadio and others, that there's a movement afoot to unify behind "Star Trek Day" as a sole hastag/moniker for April 5—only to enlarge the outreach and the viral factor for those mundanes who see it and recognize more easily the franchise, not just an event.

Now, as usual, it's not a lockstep monolith of ideas on this. Some folks resent not saving Sept. 8 for #startrekday, and want to keep April 5 as #firstcontactday. I can see both sides, but I also see that #firstcontactday has limited recognition to a wider audience... nay, even the vast armchair fandom out there who merely sit and watch and enjoy Trek, and not much more beyond their living rooms and dens.

So, I'm all in for the unified #startrekday hastag. Call it #firstcontactday to your Alpha Beta Trekka frat brothers and sisters if you will, too—for it is. But let's think big.

Celebrate in your own burg and check out all the Facebook events—which, of course, touch on Star Trek's greater message of IDIC and world peace and understanding or even reveling in the Other—not fearing it, as our dark sides (and recent politics) would have you do.

In fact, are you having a Star Trek Day event for First Contact? If so, send us your pics at  larry@larrynemecek.com and we'll share them with all.

But don't ever underestimate the power of marketing to keep your passion bigger than a cult.

Look what #ST2009 did for that!



*Thus becoming the second immense event in history ever to happen in that burg. Along with the birth of Brannon Braga.