Doug Jones Cast in Star Trek: Discovery

Actor Doug Jones has been cast in Star Trek: Discovery.

Check out my Twitter Poll - and vote!

Snacks of The Stars

Good food and essential snacking isn't just something we leave behind on planet Earth.  When we finally travel out to play and work among the awesome majesty of the stars, we'll need some good old fashioned sustenance.  Star Trek and Star Wars has had some pretty nifty ways to tie on the old feedbag.  Klingon Gagh?  Vulcan Plomeek Soup?  Yummy!

Read about star spawned cuisine in my new OMNI article.

These Are Those That Never Boarded The Enterprise

These are the voyages of the men and women who never got to board the starship Enterprise.  They got close, but close is no Vulcan cigar.

Read about these almost cast actors in my new OMNI article

Netflix Brings The Sci-Fi

Netflix is doing Sci-Fi right.  From the 80's tribute Stranger Things to the upcoming Lost In Space, the streaming service is giving science fiction fans what they want most - solid, awe inspiring and fun sci-fi programs.

Check out my new OMNI article about Netflix and Sci-Fi:

Booze In Space

Everybody needs a good, stiff drink now and then, however, the crew of the Enterprise seemed always to be drinking.  The folks over at Deep Space Nine also imbibed quite a bit.  Romulan Ale.  Saurian Brandy.  What is it about space travel that has everyone boozing it up?  

Read about it in my new OMNI article.

Artificial Intelligence - The Sci-Fi Version

Scientists tell us - A.I. is coming to our world.  We keep talking about A.I. - artificial intelligence.  We're not there yet. Despite major advances in 'machine learning' or expert systems, computers are still pretty dumb.  What will happen when A.I. becomes a reality, and the machines start talking back to us and make sense?  

Read about science fiction's depiction of A.I. in my new OMNI article.

Woody Allen - Sci-Fi Intellectual

Think Woody Allen and you think science fiction?  No?  Yes!  You should!  Read all about it in my new OMNI article.

The Romulans Are Coming

Take my Twitter poll on the coming of the big bad Romulans on Star Trek: Discovery.

Discovery Pushed Back Till May 2017

Star Trek: Discovery, the new TV incarnation of Gene Roddenberry's 'Wagon Train To The Stars', has been postponed till May of 2017.  Share your opinion on my Twitter poll.

My Confessions

I'm coming clean.  Confession is healthy, right? Here are my confessions about Star Trek for the 50h Anniversary.  LLAP!

First Captain - First Adventure - First DVD

Where it all began - The Cage - both the original and restored version. This is the first Star Trek DVD of the original series. 

Carol Burnett Captain Of The Enterprise

Comedy has always played a big, even vital part in Gene Roddenberry's Wagon Train To The Stars.  So, there's not much surprise to find many great spoofs focusing on Star Trek.  One of the best, but unfortunately, least seen of them all is Carol Burnett strutting around as a decidedly changed James T. Kirk.  Set phasers on fun!

My new OMNI article explains.

Celebrate 50 Years Of Enterprise

How will you celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek?  Starfleet Parties? Klingon Warrior Orgies?  Vulcan Mind Melds?  Take my Twitter Poll and lend your voice to the celebration!

Vulcan or Romulan? Ferengi or Klingon?

Which Star Trek race would you live your life out as?  Take my Twitter Poll and declare your alien love!

Rio 2016 - The Olympic Games meet The Science Fiction Games

Science Fiction runs the gamut as a fun peek into the future, a frightening look at how our tech and know how can negatively transform our lives, to exploring important social and cultural highlights into just how different or extreme our lives can get - by simply asking What If? Every four years, our world puts on The Olympics.  How does sci-fi like The Hunger Games, Star Trek and Star Wars reflect athleticism?  Read about it in my new OMNI article.

Sarah Silverman - Almost A Crew Member Of Starship Voyager

Comedian Sarah Silverman as a member of Captain Janeway's crew? It almost happened.  After Silverman guested on the UPN show, producer Brannon Braga toyed with the idea of bringing the comic onto Star Trek as a full fledged member of the cast.

Read about it in my new OMNI article.

Election 2016 - Starship Captains and Presidential Candidates

A certain Vulcan science officer might say, 'America's Presidential Election 2016 isn't logical.' But even Spock may concede that it's downright wacky fun.  Take a read here, and see just who matches up in an election season that's simply out of this world.

Those Other Crew Members

Not keen on including Riker or Spock on your best of crew list?  Tired of all those Kirk Vs Picard memes and polls?  Here's the Twitter poll for you!  Who do you like out of those 'honorary crew' members?

Pon Farr Gone Too Far?

The Vulcan time of mating and sexual play, Pon Farr, may go a bit too far for some.  In 1984, Leonard Nimoy directed the 3rd big Trek feature film, Search For Spock, and though it's more remembered as the quest to find Spock and his soul or katra, it's also a search for a Vulcan's lost libido.  

Check out my new OMNI article to learn more.

Winona Ryder - Spock's Mom Does Stranger Things

Spock's mom can now be found in a new TV show.  Winona Ryder, who played mother to Zachary Quinto's Spock in J.J. Abrams' big feature film of Star Trek, is now a mom amid a bunch of really weird things in the Netflix original series, Stranger Things. 

Jayla Joining The Enterprise Crew?

Take my Jayla Star Trek: Beyond Twitter poll.  Should she join the crew of Enterprise?

The Game of Pokemon Go According To Wesley Crusher

I'm excited to announce that I've joined forces with OMNI - here is my first article.

As a kid, I wouldn't miss an issue on the newsstand.  OMNI informed me, entertained me and most importantly of all, as a burgeoning writer, it fired my imagination more than any other magazine at the time or probably since.  

The Man From Earth

For those who are looking for intelligent and compelling sci-fi drama - touching on just about practically everything - please check out the wonderful movie, The Man From Earth.  Written by Star Trek and The Twilight Zone scribe, Jerome Bixby, the film is a highly engaging look at the mythological notion of the Immortal Man.

Romantic Partners and Starships

Could you live with a boyfriend or girlfriend, a husband or wife who didn't like Star Trek?  Take my poll and lend your voice to the chorus.

Wonderful Toys - Mega Bloks

Star Trek's 50th is bringing out some truly wonderful toys - check em out, and click em for more details.

Star Trek: Discovery

The new Star Trek show has an official name - Discovery.

Are You Alone As A Trekker or Trekkie In Your Family?

Do you feel alone loving Captain Kirk?  Is it lonely when you watch Lt. Commander Data babble on about the most inane tech statistics? Does your family groan when you tell them about Capt. Janeway's love of strong coffee?

Take my Twitter Poll and perhaps you won't be so lonely!

Trek Movie Review

Rich Schepis over at Trek Movie reviews my book - check it out:

http://trekmovie.com/2016/06/29/star-trek-sex-provides-a-doorway-to-more-thoughtful-discussion/

Creepy Space Tales

Take my Creepy Trek poll

https://twitter.com/WillStape/status/746911414430871556

Sci-Fi Stage: Trek's Broadway Theater Connection

Trek Article Flashback - this was first published online in 2009

Star Trek stars don't only act on TV or in movies. Big actors like William Shatner, Patrick Stewart & Kate Mulgrew not only command Starships in the deepest regions of space, but also act on the stages on Broadway's great white way.

The iconic sci-fi TV show and feature film series is light years away from New York City's Broadway theater in time and space, but there's a creative connection between the two entertainment worlds. Many of its biggest actors have graced Broadway's stage on the great white way. With J.J. Abram's new Star Trek movie starring Chris Pine as a youthful Captain Kirk coming out in May 2009, moviegoers will see a new cast of actors playing familiar roles. Much as Broadway's stage actors have assumed great roles of Shakespeare to Sondheim to Andrew Lloyd Webber over the years, we'll soon see new faces play classic characters.

From Captain James T. Kirk William Shatner to Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) to Voyager's own Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), these daring and adventurous starship commanders dazzle us by piloting spaceships amongst the stars, and also wow earthbound Broadway theater audiences for many years.

William Shatner

Before William Shatner became the most famous TV spaceman of all, he commanded audience attention on stage, instead of on television.

The Canadian born actor was classically trained as an actor and performed in the Statford Festival of Canada. He made his Broadway debut in Tamburlaine The Great (1956). In 1958, he appeared in The World of Suzie Wong, opposite France Nuyen, who would later guest star on original Star Trek opposite Shatner in the episode Elaan of Troyius. Finally in 1961, Shatner appeared on Broadway in A Shot In The Dark, a comedy along with Walter Matthau (The Odd Couple) who won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor.

Patrick Stewart

This classy and classically trained British actor performed in theater before he was chosen to play Star Trek: The Next Generation's Captain Jean-Luc Picard and later as Professor Xavier in the X-Men feature films.

Stewart's first Broadway role was in 1971 as Tom Snout in A Midsummer's Night Dream.  In 1991, four years after his Star Trek series premiered in television syndication, Stewart began the first of four revivals of Dicken's A Christmas Carol, as a one man play and snagged a 1992 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance/One Person Show for his acting efforts. Most recently, Stewart earned a 2008 Tony Award nomination for his electric performance in the acclaimed rival of Macbeth.

Avery Brooks

Captain Benjamin Sisko of Deep Space Nine has worked extensively in live theater.

In 1979, Brooks appeared on Broadway in Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? Brooks played actor and social activist Paul Robeson in Paul Robeson in 1988, and it was a role which he'd reprise often. Brooks played Robeson at the Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles, and also at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Brooks played Othello in various Shakespeare productions, including the Folger Shakespeare Festival (1985) and at the Washington Shakespeare Theater in 1990.

Kate Mulgrew

Star Trek: Voyager's Kate Mulgrew is best known to daytime TV watchers as Mary Ryan in Ryan's Hope, this actress made history by being the first woman to head a Star Trek show as commanding officer.

In 1993, before leading her lost starship safely through the Delta Quadrant, Mulgrew appeared in the Broadway comedy White Liars & Black Comedians as Clea. Mulgrew then played Hesther Saloman on Broadway in Equus - with boy wizard Harry Potter (actor Daniel Radcliffe) playing the fragile Alan Strang.

Scott Bakula

Bakula stars in Star Trek: Enterprise as Captain Jonathan Archer in this prequel series - chronicling a time before Kirk, Spock, the birth of the Federation of Planets and the early days of the space faring Starfleet itself.

Scott Bakula first came to Broadway theater when he understudied in Is There Life After High School? in 1982. In 1983, he played joltin Joe DiMaggio in the musical Marilyn, then finally in 1988 he played two roles in the musical Romance/Romance.

Nana Visitor

In Deep Space Nine, Nana Visitor played Kira Nerys, the tough, but emotionally sensitive Bajoran officer.

Visitor comes from a prominent stage and dancing family - her aunt was the legendary Cyd Charisse. In 1983, she appeared in the smash hit show My One And Only, starring Tommy Tune and Twiggy. Visitor then starred in the revival of the musical Chicago, as Roxie Hart.

Leonard Nimoy

Logical Mr. Spock of Vulcan is also an accomplished Broadway actor and director.

Nimoy's first appearance on the Broadway stage was in Full Circle (1973) - four years after Star Trek finished its original NBC network television run. In 1974 Nimoy appeared in Equus. Finally in 1996, Nimoy worked behind the scenes as director of the play The Apple Doesn't Fall.

Brent Spiner

Android Data is a marvel of technology mixed with the human equation. Actor Brent Spiner brought the mechanical man to life, though before he wore thick pancake make-up and sported blinking circuits, he acted on Broadway.

Spiner first appeared on Broadway in A History Of The American Film as Hank in 1978. He then played Franz in Sunday In The Park With George, starring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters. In 1997, Spiner earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for his role as John Adams in the musical 1776.

The Bronze Review

Had a great chat about my book with Rich over at The Bronze Review. Check it out.

Time Travel Is Sexy

Star Trek loves going back and forth through time.  What time travel themed movie do you love?  Take my TTT - Twitter Time Travel Poll.

A First Officer Is Always Number One

Number One!  Which one is your number one?  Captain Pike's? Captain Picard's?  What about Captain Janeway's Chakotay?  Take the Twitter poll!

Transporter Poll

Take my Transporter Twitter poll.

Khan - Who's Your Daddy?

My Twitter poll brings together two of the galaxy's most popular villains. Take the poll, Luke!

My Omni Interview

Natasha Sydor over at OMNI interviewed me.  This was a really fun interview.  Check it out.

A Romantic Ghost

Those ghost chasing reality shows are still quite popular.  If they last and are still the rage until the Enterprise D's launch and space faring era, maybe Dr. Crusher could be a consultant for them in both the romantic arena and the paranormal.

In the seventh season episode, Sub Rosa, Crusher (Gates McFadden) gets quite the ghostly encounter. Writer Jeri Taylor, a producer on TNG, and writer for the tale calls it a 'romance novel in space.'  It certainly qualifies as such, but it also ranks as the most direct parallel to a ghost story ever to appear in Star Trek.  Dr. Crusher gives the eulogy at her grandmother's funeral, only to later be obsessed with quitting Starfleet and taking up residence in her Nana's house.  Is this the end of Dr. Crusher's tenure on Captain Picard's starship?

Captain Picard must approve his Chief Medical Officer's resignation, but he still worries for her, and for good reason. A mystery man known as Ronin, who romanced Crusher's Nana, has now set his romantic sights on Dr. Crusher. Turns out Ronin is a creature composed of 'anaphasic energy' - yet another parasitic lifeform who feeds on humans; here, by possessing a person's body and using them as a host and feeding vessel. In the end, Crusher is forced to destroy the charismatic creature, but realizes its romantic embrace brought great happiness to much of her family - including herself.

A Bionic Voyager Connection

After the role of Captain Janeway was given to actress Genevieve Bujold, it would only be 2 days before the actress quit - deciding that the schedule demands of a weekly TV show was something she didn't want to pursue.  Before she was cast, however, actresses like Erin Grey from Buck Rogers In The 25th Century were considered.  Also Lindsay Wagner - most famous for her turn as Jamie Sommers, the bionic powered tennis pro/teacher - almost sat in the Captain's chair on the bridge of Starship Voyager.

Troi - The Goddess Of Empathy

I am The Goddess of Empathy.  Cast off your inhibitions and embrace love, truth, joy.   Empathy Goddess Troi

Lt. Barclay programmed the Enterprise holodeck to create a version of Counselor Troi, which was shall we say, heavenly.  The Greek idealized counselor wouldn't only preach to anyone ill advised to listen to preachy sermons on being one with your emotions, but would carry on romantically with Master Barclay of the holodeck.

Barclay, played by Dwight Schultz, would have to finally admit the extent of his holodeck addiction.  In coming clean, he would gain more strength and control of his real life, by setting aside his fantasy life of playing in his holographic dream world.  While it lasted though, for Barclay anyway, it was one hell of a good time.

Those Uniforms

Starfleet defines elegance, simplicity and effectiveness.  It prowls the galaxy in enormous warp powered Starships which boast a clean, economical look combined with spectacular performance.  After all, the crew of the Enterprise may work hard, but they are known to play even harder.  Of course, all that work and play demands the best possible uniform.

With the dawning of The Next Generation on syndicated TV in 1987, we saw the return of Starfleeet's finest strutting around in one piece uniforms. Yeah, sure, they looked great, but the form fitting numbers weren't exactly forgiving for those Enterprise foodies who over indulged at the replicator.  That fat fashion faux pas plus no pockets - yup, pockets will be obsolete in a few hundred years, you'll see - made for actors who weren't very fond of their costumes.  By third season, we got a two piece, snazzy version of the uniforms, and Patrick Stewart's legendary 'Picard Maneuver' shirt straightening ritual was born.

Power Couple - Khan and Borg Queen

Khan led his band of genetically enhanced humans in his thirst for power and conquest.  The Borg Queen led her tech enhanced collective for conquest and perfection.  What a power couple they'd make! 

But with gigantic egos like that, could this Trek power couple ever last?

Battle Bridge - Mood Lighting

Starships have lots of places to go to for a little privacy.  You can take your honey to the holodeck.  Bring your man to the sonic showers. Maybe even sneak a little play in a cargo hold.  When all those places get boring, how about the Battle Bridge?

It may be off limits for most occasions, but you can't beat the mood lighting.  Set phasers on fun!

Holodeck Vs Holosuites

Science fiction fans may argue about which they like better - Star Trek or Star Wars.  Vulcan neck pinch trumps a Jedi Force push?  Does a lightsaber get more love and respect than a Klingon Bat'leth? One thing in common with both sci-fi powerhouses, they love using holograms.

The holodeck on a starship is a place to relax and play. If you find yourself at Deep Space Nine, however, you'll have to use a holosuite - run by the Ferengi Quark. What's the difference?  Well, for one, those Galaxy class starships are enormous - big enough to devote an entire deck of space to holographic fun.  On DS9, space is a premium, so your holo adventures may be a wee bit curtailed owing to the cramped space. One thing is clear:  Quark's notion of what is permissible - involving sexuality of all kinds and ways - can't be as conservative as Starfleet's.  Anything goes.  

In purely practical terms, the crew on Picard's Enterprise and on other Starfleet vessels are always being interrupted by fellow crew mates strolling into the holographic fantasies.  It's a sure bet that if Quark's customers had strangers barging into his holosuites - or relationship partners wanting to know their secret sexual desires - his reputation and profit margin would go south faster than the warp drive on the U.S.S. Defiant. 

Changeling Sex

Deep Space Nine is the Trek spin-off which broke all the rules.  And along the way, it made up an entire new galaxy of them.  The show's primary action was based on a space station - which wasn't even of Starfleet design nor controlled by the UFP - United Federation of Planets.  A myriad of cool and bizarre alien races all met on the always breaking down DS9 or by its Cardassian name, Terok Nor.  Here, they laughed, cried, fought and loved in every way imaginable.  Among them was Constable Odo - the Changeling or one of the Founders.

Played by actor Rene Auberjonois, Odo could shift his jelly like form into anything imaginable.  When he encountered another changeling, they'd merge together into a smaller version of what they called The Great Link - or the gathering of all of their people into one great lake like body of oozing, gelatinous matter.  This linking with one another wasn't simply comfortable, the experience wrapped the participants into an erotic joining so powerful, it nearly made Odo forget his friends and the cause he fought for - that of liberation from his own race, who had subjugated the residents of DS9.