Not too long ago, AICN reported that Directors Bryan Fuller and Singer — conveniently, also named Bryan with a ‘y,’ — were considering pooling their resources in an attempt to sell CBS and Paramount on a new Star Trek series. Since both directors are currently busy with their reboot of The Munsters, and the Trek film franchise still in full swing, it might be a while before the project sees any momentum. So how would you want to see it? A new franchise in the Abramsverse? A return to the prime universe with the history we all know and love?

There really are endless possibilities, and while I’m sure there are pros and cons to each, one thing I’m certain of is that it’ll be watched. Our fellow fanboys at TrekMovie seem convinced such a project would be a risky investment for any studio, and while I don’t doubt that, I’m positive that Star Trek would continue to find its audience, making it, at the very least, a worthwhile one. Case and point; Enterprise. The show was hardly the fresh take they tried so hard to sell us on, but throughout its 4th season the ratings were on the rise, and it could easily be argued that the network pulled the plug too soon. Even Star Trek Voyager, which I’m still convinced was easily the worst series to date, found its audience of diehard fans who kept it on the air for seven straight years.

Perhaps the only concern I have is that Abrams’ Star Trek did too well. The film shattered expectations and the studio reaped some hefty profits as a result. I would hate for them to expect that of anyone else, let alone someone producing a television series with a fraction of the budget. Having set that bar might be what prevents a television series from staying on the air, and as Enterprise demonstrates, even a growing audience may not be enough to keep a series from the chopping block. Let’s just hope that if another television series were to air, that executives would be willing to give it a real chance.

I know it’s a few months off, but Calgary Expo made a huge announcement yesterday. This April, the entire principal cast will be appearing at Calgary Expo in Alberta, Canada. It’s a bit of a huge deal for fans, as its been over two decades since the cast appeared together at such an event. I imagine the impending release of Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Next Level, and the show’s 25th Anniversary might be the reason they’ve agreed to it.

Nevertheless, this may be a once in a lifetime opportunity for some of you, and if anyone is hoping to be attend from abroad, I suggest getting your passport in order as soon as possible. Depending on where you are, the approval process can be lengthy and its always better safe than sorry. For more information on the event, check out the Calgary Expo website. Star Trek: The Next Genertaion – The Next Level hits stores this week and for those of you who ordered your copy through Amazon, it should already be in the mail, so expect your packages as early as Monday or Tuesday.

I’ve got to admit that I’ve never seen this shot before! It’s a photo from the set of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan featuring Ricardo Montalbán reacting to a small blow up doll that has the face of his Fantasy Island co-star Hervé Villechaize. For you younger Trek fans Fantasy Island was super popular in the 70s and from time to time veered into supernatural themes.

Found via riotclitshave.livejournal.com.

This Star Trek inspired card case/credit card sleeve is the handy work of CbSew. They also make quite a few other geek friendly items including a vintage Nintendo inspired iPad case and a Dr. Who inspired Kindle case.

As many of you are already aware,  Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Next Level is set for release later this month. The Blu-ray sampler includes three recently remastered HD episodes from the series, including the full feature length version of the series premiere “Encounter at Farpoint.” If you’re wondering what to expect, check out this sweet side-by-side comparison of the original and remastered version. The colors really pop, and you can tell they spent some time polishing those special effects. I’d like to believe the changes could make that entire first season bearable, but short of inventing a time machine and rewriting the scripts, its not likely. Nevertheless, they’ll also be including “Sins of the Father,” as well as the critically acclaimed “The Inner Light,” both of which are exponentially better both in terms of writing and pacing. The disc goes on sale January 31st, and will retail for just $21.99.

It might not be the same quality you’d expect from a major studio like Pixar, but this is worth checking out. Using a mix of CG and footage from the original film, YouTube user Mylex67 recently tried his hand at recreating some of the battle sequences from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. While it’s my instinct to complain about the lack of accuracy, he notes that the clip is not meant to be a shot for shot recreation, but rather just an alternate take on the battle in the Mutara nebula from the film. Needless to say, I’m a bit impressed, and I hope there’s more to come.

It’ll break William Shatner’s heart to hear, but J.J. Abrams confirmed this week that none of the Original Series cast members would be making an appearance in the upcoming sequel to 2009’s Star Trek.

After Leonard Nimoy managed to secure a role in the last film, Shatner openly expressed his desire for a cameo. While it’s hardly a surprise, its nice to know that Abrams plans on moving forward with the series instead of relying on its former stars to connect with the audience. I love Bill Shatner as much as anyone, but at this point, letting go of the role is best for everyone, himself included.

In other news, Abrams also mentioned that the film is slated to be shot in 2D, or possibly for IMAX, which would be great news if not for the fact that they plan on converting the film to 3D in post. I don’t mind 3D films, but I really hate it when studios treat the format like an afterthought. Abrams claims they’ll be able to take their time with the conversion, instead of having to rush it for release, but I’m still not sold on the post-conversion process. Thankfully, we’ll still have a choice when the film hits theaters late next year.

[news via collider]

This very silly British commercial for National Power must date from at least the early 90s judging by the C+C Music Factory track at the very end. The spot features William Shatner and James Doohan in a transporter mishap:

Granted that most of us mere mortals who weren’t born in the future can only dream of serving on board the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, but if you want to get one step closer here’s a 24 hour sound loop of the ambient background sound effect for the Enterprise used in Star Trek: The Next Generation:

Truth be told, it wasn’t a very good year for Trek novels. It seemed as though the license would meet its demise, after Simon & Schuster made the decision to restructure their Pocket Books operation following the layoff of editor Margaret Clarke, and the subsequent cancellation of several planned novels. However, the recent release of the Star Trek: Typhon Pact e-novella, The Struggle Within, looked to provide the momentum needed to push the series forward. With a new year around the corner, Simon & Schuster hope to keep that ball rolling with the release of two new Typhon Pact novels for 2012, both by author David R. George III.

While we really don’t know much beyond their titles, Plagues of Night and Raise the Dawn, George posted a few hints via facebook. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very specific. The books may include Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and/or Voyager characters, Cardassians, and may or may not take place in the Gamma or Delta quadrant. I dare someone to ask him if it could also include a kitchen sink, but something tells me he’d just argue that Kitchen sinks no longer exist and that food is either replicated, or washed with a “sonic faucet.”

Today, Vulture published a report stating that Benicio Del Toro will not be appearing in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Trek sequel after negotiations between the actor and studio broke down last Wednesday. However, it seems Peter Weller will be joining the cast — that’s right, Robocop in space. While it’s possible, albeit unlikely, that he had been cast in Del Toro’s place, Weller will probably play the role of the villain’s older companion, mentioned in previous reports. Of course, it wasn’t long before someone brought up the fact that Del Toro’s decision to walk happened to coincide with Abram’s recent affirmation that Khan wouldn’t be returning. I’m not sure why anyone would want to spark that rumor again, but sure, why not. We’ll play along.

With Del Toro out of the picture, who would play Khan?

That’s a great question and, assuming there’s a kernel of truth to the rumor, one worth asking. Del Toro certainly would have brought an aura of intense calm to the role, something Ricardo Montalbán had in spades. However, if I had to cast Khan, the last thing I’d want to do is run down my list of favorite Latin actors. Khan is supposed to Indian, so why not turn to Bollywood? Someone like Saif Ali Khan. Not only does he speak fluent English, but looks the part and even shares his namesake.

If not Khan, what’s this mean for the film?

Well, if they were looking for someone who could play a sly, and conniving Harry Mudd, the possibilities are endless. Especially if they had previously wanted Del Toro for the role. I’m convinced he would have made a great Harry Mudd, but then again, I find Del Toro to be one of the most versatile actors out there. If on the other hand, they were looking for a Klingon, well, I hear Michael Dorn never turns down the offer. I have to admit, your guess is probably as good as mine on this one. Who knows, maybe Abrams might surprise us after all. The Doctor, anyone? Yeah, I wish.

The details are starting to come into place on the new rebooted Star Trek II film — according to Variety Peter Weller of Robocop fame will be a co-star. Who he’ll be playing is still under wraps, but we’ll have to see how things shape out.

So what did fanboys do to collect their favorite shows before the advent of videotape? Believe it or not collecting actual films was a passion of a select few fans back in the day — the hardcore fans would actually purchase 16mm prints, however you could buy on the market a wide range of 8mm film prints which featured clips from many of the popular TV shows of the day. By the 70s this faded, however in 1978 this very cute Pocket Flix viewer from Ideal toys shows the very last gasp of that era. This toy was aimed at kids and one could buy a variety of “easy to snap-in movie cassettes” to recapture a few precious seconds of a show like Star Trek or the Hardy Boys:

The Hardy Boys cassette:

A Laurel and Hardy cassette:

Found via John Tenuto.

How incredible would it be to have had a father who had been the creator of Star Trek? There’s no doubting that Star Trek has influenced peoples’ lives throughout the years. Perhaps the person who can speak best about this fact is Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s son Rod, who is the narrator and guide in the Science Channel’s recent documentary, Trek Nation:

This film features interviews and tidbits from the cast and crew from the Star Trek TV shows. Also weighing in are celebrities and fans speaking about the influence Star Trek has had in their lives. But most prominently, the documentary shows the more personal side of Gene from the perspective of Rod. The first airing already happened on November 30th, but if you missed it you can catch it when it airs again.

See what I did there? There’s been a few developments relating to the upcoming Star Trek sequel, so I thought it might be a fun time to speculate a bit. It was recently announced that Alice Eve would be joining the cast in what’s reported to be a “major role.” They’re also saying that Benicio Del Toro is extremely close to signing on to play a villain that fans of the original series would be familiar with — and no, they don’t mean Khan. Finally, there’s now a rumor that one other major role has yet to be cast and is described as being “someone slightly older but related to Del Toro’s character,” or something along those lines. So who could these characters be? I have a few guesses.

When I look at Alice Eve, one character certainly comes to mind — Janice Rand. Yeoman Rand, played by Grace Lee Whitney had a bit of recurring role throughout the first season of Star Trek. Two other less likely characters would be the role of Carol Marcus, originally portrayed by Bibi Besch in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, or Nurse Chapel, played by the late Majel Barrett. Again, all speculation, but you have to admit she would easily fit the role of Yeoman Rand.

It’s a bit premature for me to speculate as to who Del Toro’s co-star would be, but given his some of the roles he’s been cast in over the years, and taking into account the rumor that Klingons may be returning for the film, I could see him maybe taking on the role of Kang, who first appeared in the original series episode “Day of the Dove,” or maybe even Kor from the episode “Errand of Mercy.” There’s also the rumor that his character may be Harry Mudd, but with the script still going through drafts, there’s really no way to know if that’s even a possibility. Anyone else willing to venture a guess?

I admit, Simon &Schuster’s Trek novels are one my many guilty pleasures. They’re not quite as terrible as my obsession with Koei’s Dynasty Warriors, or Japanese television dramas, but I wouldn’t strike up a conversation on the topic. Still, there are those of us who crave all things Star Trek, and with the next film over a year away, we’ll need something to ease that pain. Enter Rise Like Lions, the latest novel by seasoned-Trek author David Mack. This latest novel takes place in the infamous Mirror Universe.

Originally introduced in the original series episode “Mirror Mirror,” the Mirror Universe provided an alternative history for the series based on a policy of aggression and militaristic expansion as opposed to exploration and peace. This latest novel continues the Pocket Book series centered around the Mirror Universe, which sees freedom fighters, and Terran remnants operating from the recently reclaimed Terok Nor, battling the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance in a series of border skirmishes, culminating in a last stand, while tensions threaten to tear the Alliance apart from within. Meanwhile, Spock sees his plans reshape the very nature of the universe come to fruition ahead of schedule, forcing him to act with haste, or lose everything he’s accomplished so far.

The premise sounds sufficiently epic, so given David Mack’s history, I expect we won’t be disappointed. Rise Like Lions hits stores on November 29th and will be available in both trade paperback and e-book formats.

What I like about these Kirk and Spock Christmas Tree Ornaments is that they have a nice sense of style — they almost look art deco, yet are very cartoony and almost toy like. These ornaments are hand crafted by Lisa Penney who is based out of Phoenix, Arizona.

I also enjoyed Lisa’s Uhura painting:

This humorously done Star Trek/Reservoir Dogs mashup screen print brought a smile this fanboy’s face. The print is illustrated by LA based artist Brent Cheshire.

It looks as though Star Trek 2, as it’s still tentatively titled, finally has a firm release date. Unfortunately for us, it’s over a year away. While I had been holding out hope, I’m not really surprised, seeing as they’ve taken so long to get under way. On the bright side, the film will be shot in 3D, so those of you who aren’t already over that fad, or who’ve recently purchased one of those over-priced 3DTVs are in for a treat. (Protip:  Black Friday deals are great, but Cyber Monday is where its at. I recommend scouring Amazon for one if you’re interested.) Some other juicy details leaked out this weekend. Abrams confirmed the rumor that he’s been in talks with Benicio Del Toro for a role in the new film, and announced that composer Michael Giacchino will be returning for the sequel. The script is “finished,” but is currently going through its third draft of revisions. Star Trek 2 will hit theaters May 17, 2013.

With filming just weeks away, new rumors are starting to surface regarding J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek sequel. Early rumors claimed the film would focus more on crew itself rather than pitting them against as single adversary, while others seemed to suggest that the Kirk and company could match wits with a classic villain like Harry Mudd or Trelane. Sources recently claimed that Abrams had approached Benicio Del Toro to fill that void, but we’ve yet to hear anything further regarding his involvement, if it’s indeed happening. This latest rumor, however, seems to suggest that we might even see the return of the Klingons.

If you recall, they were originally part of the 2009 reboot, but were ultimately cut from the final film. A shame really, but it was probably for the best. The scenes they originally shot seemed a bit out of place and their inclusion might have ruined the film’s pacing. Those Klingon prison costumes also seemed kind of silly to me. If the Klingons end up making their official Abramsverse debut in the next film, I have to wonder if they’ll go through another redesign. I’m not even sure how they would improve on the last one.

Tired of waiting for Lego to officially license your favorite films like Star Trek or Back to the Future? Me too. I had my hopes up when Lego started releasing those awesome Star Wars kits a few years back, but nothing ever came of it. Fortunately for us, the guys at Ichiban Toys have decided to release few custom kits to fill the void. There’s just a catch or two — the sets are incredibly small and extremely expensive for what you get. Don’t get me wrong, they look awesome, but judging by the size of some of these kits, $15 for a Klingon Bird of Prey that only uses around fifty small pieces can seem a bit steep. That said, they’re all official Lego pieces, so anyone with access to the right ones could probably build it themselves after giving it a close enough look.

If you’d rather go the cheap route, you can see all their models up close by checking out their Flickr stream. If, on the other hand, you’re just a fan or a collector, head on over to their official site and order yourself a kit. If Sci-Fi’s not your thing, they also have model sports cars and even a plane or two. Each set comes with everything you need to piece it together. Given what Lego usually charges for their sets, you probably wouldn’t be paying that much more.

Shown below is a fan video which features the crew of the Enterprise from the Next Generation enjoying a Star Wars marathon:

And if you can’t get enough here’s a theatrical trailer for Star Trek vs. Star Wars:

Here’s the latest trailer for the upcoming Star Trek: the Next Generation – The Next Level Blu-ray sampler set to be released on January 31st. The trailer starts with the teaser footage released a few months back, and the new content starts around a minute and seventeen seconds in, detailing the restoration process, and showing clips from the episodes included on the disc. You’ll probably notice that the episodes are still in 4:3 format, rather than 16:9, but that’s actually intended. They haven’t really said why, but there could really be any number of reasons, such as unintended crew or equipment being present in the shots, etc. That said, the show is still being completely recomposited from scratch using the original negatives and transferred to 1080p, so it’ll still look amazing.  Once again, the sampler will retail for $21.99 and should include five full episodes. It’s been confirmed that the rest of 178 episodes will eventually follow.

[via trekcore]

An average bunny can live for over ten years — however sadly a Star Trek red shirt bunny might not last more than ten seconds if beamed down to the wrong planet! This cute creature is the handy work of Jennifer Hugon who has a shop on Etsy called Woolykins. Logically her collection also includes a Spock bunny as well:

And that’s the end of our tale — or is it tail?

If you haven’t heard by now, Cryptic’s  Star Trek Online will be making its transition from a traditional subscription-based format to a Free-to-Play platform by the end f the year. The massive multiplayer title launched in February of last year to less-than-favorable reviews. Tragically, everyone found the space combat to be fresh and entertaining, but were quick to dismiss every other aspect of the game. I can’t really blame, though. Away team missions often featured randomly generated worlds that just seemed dull to begin with. Many of the alien species barely resembled their television counterparts, and the scripted encounters seemed hastily written, and poorly executed. Despite its flaws, the game seems to have persevered. Since its launch, Star Trek Online has grown considerably, kept alive through a series of free updates that serve as episodic expansions. While this has managed to keep fans happy so far, the upcoming transition might have a few of you concerned. So, what changes should you expect?

There will be a few changes here and there, but overall, the game should remain very much the same. Access to the Klingon faction has been restricted to level 25 and up, which means that encounters for that faction will be scaled accordingly once the Free-to-Play conversion is completed. If you already have a Klingon character, you’ll still be able to access them once the change takes place — they’ll be scaled as well. The in-game currency will also be going through a change. Rather than requiring badges, or marks, everything will is being converted into Dilithium. Why Dilithium and not Latinum? Beats me. All I know is that it’ll be a single currency used across the board and every in-game vendor will use it.

Subscriptions will still exist for those who wish to pay the monthly fee, and life-time subscribers will retain the benefits they’ve had in the past. That said, there should be a new influx of Free-to-Play users who actually get a pretty good deal. While they’ll get to experience most of the features in full, free users will be limited in a number of areas, while other features can be upgraded for a one-time fee, or microtransaction. They’ll be limited to two character slots, locked out of accessing the foundry, and forced to deal with less inventory space. They’ll also have limited access to customer service, in-game chat, and mail while only being able to post in designated fourms. The limits on chat and mail are lifted after 20 hours of gameplay, or if the user was once a subscriber.

That doesn’t sound like much in terms of restrictions, so what does a subscription grant us? Well, to begin with, you’ll gain access to priority log-in. If the servers are impacted for whatever reason, free users will just have to wait. You’ll also be given a month stipend of in-game credits as well as access to the veteran rewards program. As before, you’ll given two additional bridge officers per rank while free users will be forced to purchase theirs. There’s probably a few more benefits here and there, but nothing too major. If you’d like to see a full list of the services being offered, Cryptic has provided a helpful features-matrix complete with a side-by-side comparison. If you have any other questions, you can check out the official Free-to-Play FAQ, located here.