We lost De Kelley 25 years ago today

I can’t believe it’s been 25 years ago today that we lost De. I mean DeForest Kelley, of course— the humble working actor who parlayed a resume of playing the heavy during the boom era of the Westerns into galactic fame as Dr. Leonard McCoy, the heart of Star Trek. (That’s the one that created its own paradigm, and the …

Happy 100! Join the Gene Roddenberry Centennial birthday bash now—and later

  Well, here it is at last:  COVID couldn’t dim it and revisionists couldn’t dent it. It’s the day, and the kickoff of reflections and celebrations, to mark the birth centennial of The Great Bird of the Galaxy, Gene Roddenberry: Aug. 19, 1921, one hundred years ago. For all you lurker mundanes out there, Gene is of course — quite …

Happy birthday, Jonathan, Diana — and, via 2020 eyes, Gene Roddenberry

It’s that day again — August 19 — when we celebrate Star Trek birthdays for Jonathan Frakes and Gene Roddenberry, as well as Trek threepeat actor Diana Muldaur too! (Above: The guys in early 1989, backstage for TNG S2’s “Up the Long Ladder.”) Of all of them, we’re getting to congratulate Jonathan on his years of Rikering AND the fresh …

Hey, it’s the DeForest Kelley Centennial — De is 100, but there’s no stamp

Happy birthday, Jackson DeForest Kelley ! Treklanders of any tenure know that I call out De’s birthday every year—he’s my guy in Trek, among the icons. But lo and behold, 2020 marks De’s 100th birthday. A century! His centennial! And while there’s no postage stamp, or no historical marker anywhere — either in Hollywood, or in Georgia — there is …

Voyager at 25: The first Trek I saw in the birthing room, and it still affects me

Happy birthday, Voyager! Twenty-five years ago this week, (25 ?!?!) the “third spin-off series” of Trek debuted on Jan. 16, leading off the opening night of rookie new network UPN itself… and this very-90s billboard proclaimed it across the street from Paramount Studios (“TV” and “Pictures” back then, thankyouverymuch—as God intended). So glad I thought to snap it at the …

Happy birthday, Gene — and Jonathan: What karma the way their paths crossed

It’s come that time of year again — not unlike mid-March — when Trekland enjoys a double whammy celebration— otherwise known as August 19. That’s the birthday of not only The Great Bird of the Galaxy, Gene Roddenberry … but also that of, increasingly, another major player in creating fresh Treks— Jonathan Frakes! Gene would have been 98 today — …

Happy First Contact Day! Here’s a “golden oldie”—and a thought for today

Aside from “Star Trek (Birth)Day” every Sept. 8, our favorite stellar storytelling playground’s other main holiday is of course today — April 5, the day from 2063 that every schoolchild knows as First Contact Day! Sitting here in 2019 it’s fun for me to direct newer fans to my interview a couple years back (below) with Noelle Hannibal, the “first …

TODAY IS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF “THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE” DEBUT, Y’ALL

Drama, pathos, sister ships, most visual effects ever, a bittersweet tragic hero of such gravitas in a bravura ballsy performance rivaled only by Ricardo Montalban’s Khan, a Top Five (Top Two?) Best McCoy Scene Ever in the series, and best score ever and Jaws’ ripoff, er, inspiration. And THAT is why “The Doomsday Machine” by Norman Spinrad, guest starring William …

Happy birthday TNG—A look back at 30, just as the new kid on the block takes off

It’s officially The Next Generation‘s 30th birthday today, counting its on-air premiere—even as, we always say, it actually “premiered” across a whole week until Oct. 4, Monday through Sunday, in various markets. And later to the rest of the world, of course.  I said as much on TNG‘s 25th anniversary —and wow, look: we’ve been in the Blog Era that …

STV: Noelle Hannibal, 1st Vulcan woman on Earth*, says Happy First Contact Day!

Happy “First Contact Day!” Want to hear from a witness? I mean, it’s only 46 years until the T’Plana-Hath catches Zefram Cochrane’s pioneering warp trail while passing nearby to Sol, and its Vulcan crew decide they better check it out… and humanity’s first First Contact (on the record!) makes history. So here‘s a celebration today you weren’t expecting, (below the …