STAR TREK Roundup – 2.29.12

ROCK PAPER SCISSORS LIZARD…. SPOCK!

“The Big Bang Theory” has finally done it… sort of.

Leonard Nimoy will be part of the March 29th episode, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The article says Nimoy will be doing a voice-over only, speaking to Sheldon (Jim Parsons) in a dream sequence.

“For years, we thought it would be fantastic to have Leonard Nimoy appear on the show and we think we’ve found a really different and fun way to make that happen,” executive producer Steve Molaro tells THR.

Since Penny gave Sheldon the Nimoy-DNA-laced napkin in the show’s 100th episode, and with the seemingly endless stream of Trek alumni making appearances (even some of the writers!), the clamor has only gotten louder for both Nimoy and William Shatner to have some kind of guest shot on the show.

Maybe the Shat drops in for episode 200?

[via TV Line, full story at THR]

OK. Now, on to movie news.

SPY TREK

MTV was the first to have the spy photos of Zachary Quinto and Benedict Cumberbatch locked in combat on what has been described as a “space barge” of some sort – not the official set description, mind you. Since then, the Internet has blown up over the photos, the subsequent video that leaked, and J.J. Abrams’ reaction to same.

Speculation has run rampant since fans got their first glimpse of Cumberbatch, who is rumored to be the main(?) villain. In these photos, he’s dressed in a Starfleet uniform very similar to what Chris Pine wore for most of the 2009 film. It’s been said to be a cadet uniform, but I’m going out on a limb and saying it could be an “officer without assignment” uniform.

If Cumberbatch is indeed playing the villain, and since he looks to be impervious to the Vulcan neck pinch, many are wondering if he could be either Gary Mitchell or Garth of Izar, or even one of Khan’s Augments. Over at TrekMovie, it’s even been suggested he could somehow be playing Colonel Green, although it’s less likely, given that Green was before Kirk’s time.

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MTV spoke with Zoe Saldana at the Independent Spirit Awards, and she reported that Abrams is very upset about the leaked imagery. Screenwriter Bob Orci piped up over at TrekMovie, saying the photos were not “planted” shots as part of a sneaky marketing campaign, but were taken by somebody equipped with a telephoto lens. Of course, many fans have just as quickly rejected that comment, saying the angle of the photos would suggest a photographer on-set took them. It’s all speculation at this point.

In the meantime, Saldana says Cumberbatch is “another yummy male in Star Trek“.

And Zachary Quinto had this reaction at the Oscars. [via MTV]

Geeks of Doom has collected the leaked photos in one gallery, where you can see the stunt people, Saldana with a phaser, the fisticuffs, and an IMAX camera. Thus confirming that at least part of the film will be shot in IMAX, but most likely not IMAX 3D.

LOST TREK

Not many knew that Norman Spinrad, writer of “The Doomsday Machine” for TOS, wrote a second script in 1967 for the second season. “He Walked Among Us” was written specifically for actor Milton Berle, who was also a talented dramatic actor as well as a comedian, and had expressed an interest in appearing on “Star Trek”. Unfortunately, according to Spinrad, producer Gene Coon re-worked the script into a comedy. Spinrad finally convinced Gene Roddenberry to kill the episode before it was produced. And he thought the script was gone, lost.

Not so fast. Spinrad was signing autographs at a convention and a fan turned up with a copy. Spinrad now has it back in his hands, and it’s available as an e-book (which you can get through our store).

As soon as word got out that a copy of the script existed, many fans jumped to the assumption that James Cawley and the “Star Trek: Phase II” gang to get involved. And they have. TrekMovie reports that Cawley & Co. will produce the script, and have given Spinrad the opportunity to direct for the first time in his career.  [full story at TrekMovie]

POP TREK

Today marks the launch of the web site Bye Bye Robot – a source for fine art in the science fiction mold. The company is offering licensed “Star Trek” art that features the USS Enterprise(NCC-1701, no bloody A, B, C, or D) along with Tribbles and a Gorn. Expect more products to be available as the site gains more attention. [via TrekWeb]

And we got a chance to talk with actor Robert Picardo when he spent a weekend at the St. Louis Science Center as part of their events connected with the Star Trek Exhibition. Picardo, now on the board of advisors for the Planetary Society, talked about the lack of space-borne shows, the demise of NASA, and working in movies that start with M.

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TREK TECH

From cell phones to tablet computers, “Star Trek” technology is quickly becoming a thing of the present. Very soon, you may be able to add a tricorder to that list.

Researchers at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore, and Imperial College London have published a groundbreaking advancement which miniaturizes the size of a T-ray generator. T-rays are less harmful than X-rays, and are currently used in airport scanners. The new generator uses nano-antennae to scan a patient. It’s still in the very early design stages, but there’s plenty of incentive to get it right – the $10 million Tricorder X-Prize. [full story at tech.li]

And Geordi’s VISOR might soon be a reality as well. According to the Huffington Post, Israeli scientists have developed a “sensory substitution device” (SSD) that they say lets congenitally blind people “see” for the first time ever. The device doesn’t actually help a person see, but instead uses a tiny camera to translate light into sound, and the wearer can then interpret the sounds to “see” in a way.

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In other Star Trek movie news, Daren Dochterman has undertaken to restore the TV spots for Star Trek: The Motion Picture in HD. Dochterman, a visual effects artist, supervised the FX update on the Director’s Cut of the movie. These spots feature Orson Welles providing the voice-over. [via Geeks of Doom]

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You can see more at Daren’s YouTube channel.

And we’ll just leave this here:

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