She was one of the best aliens introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation, a friend of Captain Jean-Luc Picard with a past never to be revealed. She saved the galaxy from a bad timeline through Picard’s loyalty to her instincts alone in “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” In Star Trek: Generations she’s one of the only links to the meaning of the Nexus, thereby putting together an unlikely team of Picard and Captain James T. Kirk. Her past on Earth goes back as least as far as run-ins with the likes of Mark Twain. She knows how to wear a cool hat, and the last we saw her was as a guest at the marriage of Will Riker and Deanna Troi. The wait is over. Oscar-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg returns as Guinan next month in the second season of Star Trek: Picard.
When we last saw Patrick Stewart′s good Captain Jean-Luc Picard, he seemingly died and came back to life as something new. In the first season of CBS All Access’s latest live-action Star Trek incarnation, Star Trek: Picard, audiences met a primarily new crew of characters supporting the efforts of Picard–and a range of good villains. Stewart has said he decided to bring his character back to the screen because of the role he performed for even more years than Picard–Charles Xavier in the X-Men series–specifically the strong finish he was able to give the character in James Mangold’s Oscar-nominated finale Logan. Stewart succeeded, as Star Trek: Picard showcased the beloved character as Old Man Picard and wrapped far better fans’ last meeting with not only Picard, but Data, Riker, and Troi, too. And surprisingly it did that for Star Trek Voyager, specifically for Jeri Ryan′s Seven of Nine, who also had a rather anticlimactic finale in the last episode of that series.
Now audiences have a first look at Season 2, and an official poster with hints at a voyage back to an era closer to our own time as seen in Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek IV–and echoes of the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Check it out below.
For the new Star Trek: Picardseries, a sequel to not only Star Trek: The Next Generation and its films–and now apparently to Star Trek Voyager, also, the hints from the production that the series was going to be something entirely new weren’t altogether accurate. Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Star Trek Voyager’s Seven of Nine actor Jeri Ryan, and Jonathan Del Arco, who played Hugh, all will be joining Patrick Stewart as Picard, appearing in the continued journey of the Federation. But executive producer Akiva Goldsman insisted that this isn’t a sequel at a panel today at San Diego Comic-Con, appearing along with showrunner Michael Chabon and co-executive producer Alex Kurtzman. The direction for the series that the members of the production are stressing is that the series will be new, yet the trailer for the series is all throwback goodness.
As the saying goes: The old is new again.
Some nostalgia from the ghosts of Star Treks past includes Picard in similar TNG civilian shirt and First Contact jacket and combadge, he’s right where fans would expect him in the future: at his vineyard a la All Good Things… readying to be called upon to go off-world on some special mission a la the Unification, Gambit, Preemptive Strike, Chain of Command, Birthright, and Endgame stories, with scenes evoking Kirk’s final days from Star Trek Generations. Spiner’s character is in a box (literally), appearing to be B9 (and not the exploded bits of the actual Data?)–not that it matters. Seven of Nine is back (looking like she never left) with an only slightly updated cybernetic prosthetic on her forehead and more human than before. Although they didn’t make the first trailer, other blasts from the past include the return of Riker and Troi. And expect lots of the Federations’ original enemies, as Romulans return as one of the show’s key antagonists.
This appears to be exactly what fans have been after since the IDW Publishing comic book series prequel to the movie Star Trek 2009 (discussed here) put Picard back on the bridge with B9, and then Brannon Braga teamed up Picard and Seven of Nine in his IDW series (discussed here back in 2012). New cast members for the series include a diverse group of new faces, including Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, Evan Evagora, Michelle Hurd, Alison Pill, and Harry Treadaway.
The wait is over. Check out the first trailer for Star Trek: Picard:
The Witching Hour of All Hallow’s Eve has just passed. It is time to pick your poison, so to speak.
It is time to listen to the many readings by celebrities of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic poem, “The Raven.” The poem actually takes place in December, so there’s no wrong time to listen to the poem again and again. Thanks to a new audio version uploaded this weekend by Sean Astin, we were prompted to search for other famous voices, and we found many interesting celebrities to choose from, many from long ago. Oddly, we found no famous actresses voicing the creepy story–if you know of any please add them to the comments above.
So which do you want to hear first? Why not give an ear to all? As you listen try thinking of the actor, or of that actor’s many roles, from Samwise Gamgee to Gomez Addams, from Saruman to Dracula or Sherlock Holmes, the Headless Horseman or Johnny Smith, Max Schreck or Lucius Fox, and from Darth Vader to Captain Kirk or the alien known simply as Q…
Have a listen to one or all. Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”
Planet Comicon 2014 wrapped today, bringing to close the region’s biggest and best comic book and pop culture convention ever. The best was saved for last with the TREKtacular reunion of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members hosted by William Shatner, including a surprise visit by John deLancie. Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner did not disappoint a sold out crowd in the giant ballroom of the Kansas City Convention Center. For those attending this once-in-a-lifetime event that did not purchase one of the 100 limited edition exclusive artist signed TREKtacular prints, a few may still be available. Contact Reinke Arts on Facebook for more information.
We talked with Michael Dorn about his real-life jet fighter flying experience and Marina Sirtis said she loved today’s borg.com editor’s cosplay choice (so did Return of the Jedi’s Femi Taylor!).
Lee Majors was a superb storyteller, catching up panel attendees on his recent TV series work, and delving into his stunt work on The Fall Guy (where he performed 80% of his stunts) and The Big Valley. He also discussed the success and appeal of The Six Million Dollar Man to fans.
We resurrected last year’s Convention costume of The Six Million Dollar Man action figure, which we wore meeting The Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner, at Planet Comicon 2013, complete with jumpsuit, patch, plastic hair, data chip arm tattoo, bionic eye, and trademark Adidas Dragons.
A kid’s fantasy come true–meeting your childhood hero, Lee Majors, who called me his “double” and said he thought the outfit and plastic hair was cool. He also autographed the photo that was sent out to kids in the original fan club set in 1974, signed then by “Col. Steve Austin.”
With Zoie Palmer from the Toronto-based TV series Lost Girl, the great Syfy Channel series we have reviewed previously here at borg.com.
With Margot Kidder, Lois Lane from the 1970s Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve.
Planet Comicon 2014 got off to a great start Friday, with vendors filling the venue at Bartle Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, and many celebrities appearing on the first day. Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who, The Hobbit), Jewel Staite (Firefly), Zoie Palmer (Lost Girl), and Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13) all were greeting fans with plenty of opportunities for everyone to get photos and autographs.
In my day one garb as the knight who guarded the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, I and Elizabeth C. Bunce had a great time catching up with friends and having some fun with the celebrities from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Gates McFadden, who played Dr. Beverly Crusher on the Enterprise-D, was a great sport, jumping right in to try to get me to drink from the wrong grail.
“Choosing poorly”, but also good sports, were Jonathan Frakes, who played Commander Will Riker…
… and a surprise, unannounced guest at the Con, John de Lancie, who played Q on the series, also “chose poorly,” but got it right on the second try. Happily for all, we were using a prop grail and not dabbling in any face-withering magical elements.
The first professional make-up artist workshop at Planet Comicon was held Friday afternoon, sponsored by borg.com, and dozens of attendees learned several pointers about how Hollywood applies prosthetics, and how to make life masks, negative casts, and how to use–and not use–latex, make-up and other materials for optimal cosplay creations. Speaker Gene Flaharty drew several questions from the crowd and everyone had a great time learning more about this exciting art form.
Come back for more from Planet Comicon all weekend. Or better yet, come on out and experience it in person!
After a long wait the Starz 10-episode mini-series Torchwood: Miracle Day has been picked up by BBC America beginning with the first episode last Saturday, September 14, 2013. Originally airing on pay-cable channel Starz in 2011, it received a lukewarm reaction from some, a hostile reaction from others. Maybe it’s just the absence of any Torchwood for most of the country since 2008, but finding old friends Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and Torchwood agent Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) and even hubby Rhys (Kai Owen) back in a “new” series is a welcome sight.
More than that, actor Bill Pullman (Independence Day, Deceived) is a series regular, and we quickly learn he is a serial killer getting the death penalty carried out in the series’ first scene. True to Torchwood’s roots as a spinoff of Doctor Who, the focus of the new series is a world where only the strange is the norm. Ripped from the files of The Twilight Zone (specifically the Jason Alexander episode “One Night at Mercy”), it is no longer possible for anyone on Earth to die.
Torchwood, the agency, is no more, thanks to Torchwood: Children of Men, except for Gwen and Captain Jack. Gwen and Rhys and baby are living the quiet life away from all the X-Files-esque world. But the Americans see the word “Torchwood” pop up on their secure networks then it vanishes, prompting a hunt by CIA analyst Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins) and partner Rex Matheson (Mekhi Phifer)–one of the dead that is still alive, and he’s not happy he needs to go all the way to Wales to extradite Jack and Gwen to the U.S. Two Brits and two Yankees in a buddy cop team-up? Good idea! On top of that, the immortality of humans translates to mortality for Jack.
