The 10th anniversary of the year's biggest Star Trek convention continued last weekend with fans from all over the world renewing acquaintances, showing off their costumes, collecting autographs and perusing new wares from dealers. They also got a few sneak peeks into what's ahead in the Star Trek universe, including the future direction of Enterprise, the movie "Star Trek: Nemesis," and an upcoming Star Trek-themed episode of Futurama. Plus, there was a future Star Trek celebrity incognito amongst the crowd... Read on...

Brannon Braga

What a difference a year makes. At last year's Grand Slam, Enterprise co-creator and executive producer Brannon Braga wasn't able to reveal even the smallest of details concerning the fifth Star Trek series. In contrast, this year he was brimming with information about all things Enterprise, and eager to share it with the enthusiastic crowd. Braga spoke a bit about the upcoming season finale, revealing that it will be a cliffhanger revolving around the mysterious Temporal Cold War. "The final episode will deal a lot with that, as will the first episode of next year, and you'll learn a lot more about it," he said.

Braga also spoke to some of the larger themes of Enterprise, such as the early evolution of the Federation. "Over the course of the seasons, we definitely want to get into, how did it all come to be? How did this thing called the Federation happen? How did they become part of the intergalactic neighborhood? How did they earn respect?" he said. "That's all going to be part of the show, for sure. We will be hinting at it early next season."

And what about popular, well-established alien races, such as the Romulans? Any chance we'll be seeing them on the show? "I don't think you're going to be seeing the Romulans this season," said Braga. "In the Original Series, it was established that no one had actually seen the Romulans. So, it's tricky, because you want to see them. You don't want to just see a bunch of ships and not know what's going on. But we're thinking about ways we might do it."

As for the Romulans' logical distant cousins, Braga acknowledged that the Vulcans on Enterprise are a bit different than the ones we've seen before. He explained that because the show takes place in an era where humans are still very flawed, the writers thought it would be interesting if the Vulcans were also less than perfect. "Though they are light-years beyond humanity, they've got their own problems," he said. "They're a paradoxical species in that they're incredibly intelligent, but they're also somewhat insulated and provincial in their attitudes toward other species, and somewhat judgmental. We thought that would be good conflict in the show, that T'Pol and Archer could be a microcosm of that conflict and we could see how these two species came to be so close."

As for the much-requested storyline of T'Pol experiencing the Vulcan mating ritual known as pon farr, Braga commented wryly, "We have talked about it. We want to wait until the time is right — when we really need the ratings!"

Jonathan Frakes

Saturday afternoon, the debonair Jonathan Frakes ("William Riker") took to the stage. Frakes kicked things off by remembering his experiences at a convention back in the early days of The Next Generation. He recalled seeing a dealer table selling Star Trek action figures with a particularly ego-deflating sign on display: "Buy any action figure, get Riker free!"

"It's all been downhill since then," Frakes mock grumbled.

Frakes spoke enthusiastically of "Star Trek: Nemesis," the 10th motion picture which has wrapped principal photography and is currently in post-production. "We have wisely gone back to the classic action-adventure where the galaxy is in jeopardy, and old Baldie and his friends come to the rescue," he joked. "A tried and true technique!"

Frakes confirmed that after years of flirting, Commander Riker finally ties the knot with Marina Sirtis' Deanna Troi. "At the reception, Captain Pecan, the wackiest nut in the galaxy, makes one of his 'surprisingly' long-winded speeches," Frakes said. "And our favorite android, Mr. Data, does grace us with a song." Later, Frakes revealed that the wedding will also have its share of fan favorite guests. "Wesley Crusher not only returns — he crashes the wedding! And you know who else is there? Whoopi!"

Though Frakes did fill the crowd in on the reception, there is one aspect of the newlyweds' life he declined to discuss. "I won't tell you about the honeymoon," he said, grinning smugly. "It makes me smile, though. Let me just have a moment to think about it..."

Now that the popular lovebirds have tied the knot, Frakes has a suggestion for yet another Trek spin-off. "Now that Troi and Riker are married, is it time for the half-hour sitcom?" he conjectured. "The Rikers: their little dog Worf and their wacky Uncle Data!"

Besides "Nemesis," Frakes was also at the convention to promote his upcoming Paramount/Nickelodeon movie "Clockstoppers," which opens Friday. To that end, the director showed clips from the film and then was joined on stage by one of his stars, Michael Biehn, and his producer, Gale Ann Hurd.

Getting a taste of things to come

Speaking of "Nemesis," there was another dignitary present on Saturday — undercover. Actor Tom Hardy, who plays the villain "Shinzon" in the movie, spent several hours at the convention, presumably getting a taste of things to come. Viewing the merchandise, he wandered the floor virtually unnoticed — a feat that undoubtedly will be much harder to get away with at future events once his face becomes intimately familiar to Star Trek fans after the film's release late in 2002.

"Where No Fan Has Gone Before"

This year's convention crowd got an extra-special treat: A screening of the season finale of the animated sci-fi comedy Futurama, titled "Where No Fan Has Gone Before," featuring the voices of Original Series cast members William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei and Walter Koenig, with a cameo by Jonathan Frakes. The actors play themselves, who are revived in the year 3002 by a sentient cloud creature. The episode was a smash with the audience, being jam-packed with Trek references, trivia and inside jokes.

"We made the Star Trek cast go to our own personal Star Trek convention by coming into the studio and recording and making them perform our fan script," said Futurama writer David Goodman during a panel of the show's creative staff after the screening. "It was just a dream come true." The episode airs April 21 on Fox.

Michael Piller

Another TV show involving Star Trek talent that fans were exposed to over the weekend was USA Network's The Dead Zone, created by TNG, DS9 and Voyager executive producer Michael Piller. Piller took the stage to chat about the project, which is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, and to present a clip reel featuring the show's stars, Anthony Michael Hall and former Trill beauty Nicole deBoer ("Ezri Dax").

Nana Visitor

On a weekend filled with talk about the upcoming TNG movie, the future of Enterprise and Original Series parodies, there sadly doesn't appear to be anything new on the horizon for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, according to Nana Visitor ("Kira Nerys"). "We would make a hot movie, I know that, but I don't believe it's going to happen," she said. "I'd be so happy to be proven wrong, because I'd love to be Kira one more time."

Though Visitor is generally happy with the way DS9 came to an end, she does have one very Kira-like quibble. "Why didn't I kill Dukat?" she lamented. "That was mine to do, and I didn't get to do it. And if there is a movie, that's what I want to do. After all, we saw him going into the fire pit, but we didn't actually see him 'burn.' I still have a chance!"

The warm and energetic Visitor, clad in a brightly colored top and lime green skirt which drew compliments from the audience, took the stage Friday afternoon expressing her affection for the fans here. "I miss California, and I miss the life," she said, adding that she plans on moving back to Los Angeles after two years doing Broadway in New York. "I'm ready to do TV again."

Visitor also shared an amusing story about her young son, Django — and how the legend of Star Trek continues to influence his life. "Django's now five years old, and I overheard someone asking him, 'Where were you born, Django?' And he said, 'Star Trek, Los Angeles!' And it's true! I was in labor on the set."

Coming up: William Shatner, Joan Collins and the cast of Enterprise. Stay tuned!

Story by Sarah Kuhn
Photos by Sandy Stone

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