STV: Dan Curry on TNG's Season 2 Blu-ray—and the baby poop planet

As promised, here's the next segment of our recent extended chat with Star Trek's longtime master of visual effects, Dan Curry—this one targeted at his consulting work on the new remastered TNG Season 2 Blu-ray set.

As with Season 1, this CBS Home Entertainment set got a big nationwide boost from the Fathom Events screenings nationwide, including documentaries about how the remastering work was located, assembled and just done. Not to mention the big roundtable cast reunion. In all, it's 120 minutes  of NEW bonus footage—including Robert Burnett and Roger Lay's ongoing massive new TNG doc, an ALL NEW BLOOPER REEL of newly assembled outtakes put together fresh from the re-opened "dailies" of raw footage ... plus all the prior DVD-era  docs carried over as well.

This new 5-disc set (left) includes an incredible and rare longer version of the Data-Picard classic "The Measure of a Man" with footage filmed but originally cut for timing—preserved by then-writer Melinda Snodgrass, off the courtesy rough-edit VHS given her as a private gift!

But back to Dan—and yes, I finally do get the "baby poop planet" story on the record.   But that's not all—we'll have even more Trek tales with Dan in Part 3. And after that, Dan's very own "Trek2Chuck", whatever that might be. I never thought we'd have another installment in our Chuck series ... but you just never know, do you? Just like "remastering" TNG—who'da thunk it?  

Awwwww. We lost our (admiral's) good hands

I had no idea he was still with us. But today comes word that Ed Rheimers, for Treklanders another of those flag-rank viewscreen guys—but one of the best known due to lucking out by drawing "The Trouble With Tribbles"—has passed away at the age of 96.

Rheimers is probably better known for what he didn't do on the air—but instead on scratchy faded film (check the 0:28 mark) ...



...that happened to be squirreled away and preserved as part of Star Trek's rebirth. I'm talking about the infamous blooper reels—back in the day when you didn't have to preface that with an acronym, especially "TOS"—and his seconds of fame when he mocked his own reassuring "good hands" Allstate persona of 22 years.

Will Dennis Haysbert ever top that record? We'll see. Maybe J.J. can get him into the gold cuffs, too.

But for now, Starbase Allstate will miss those mellifluous tones of Ed's.