While fans wait patiently for the Star Trek franchise to be revived in some form, William Shatner has formed a DVD club to help the community discover some science fiction films that he feels have not received the attention they deserve.

"As a lifelong and passionate movie fan, I have often thought it unfortunate that some of the very best movies go unnoticed by the fans who would appreciate those films the most. I created this DVD club so that people who share my love of sci-fi and fantasy can discover these unheralded gems," Shatner said.

Shatner has personally selected a collection of "great films with unique, original stories, well-written and acted scripts, and the intangible qualities that separate a memorable film from the pack." The first selection is "Immortal" based on the French graphic novel by Enki Bilal, an epic fantasy about Egyptian gods, mutants, mortals and aliens.

Subscribers to the William Shatner DVD Club will receive a new movie every month at a cost of $4 each. The first DVD is free. For more information, visit www.ShatnerDVDClub.com.

Campaign Underway to Save Burton's Reading Rainbow

The Just for Mom Foundation has established a website and petition drive devoted to preventing the PBS series Reading Rainbow, hosted and produced by LeVar Burton, from ceasing production.

"Every week, over 4.3 million children, teachers, parents and grandparents enjoy and learn from Reading Rainbow," states SaveReadingRainbow.org. "Unfortunately, we are at risk of losing this national treasure."

The site hopes to gather 10,000 online signatures on their petition by the end of the year, to demonstrate to potential corporate sponsors the amount of support the show has. Visit the link above for more information.

Trek Stars to Greet Military Personnel

Garrett Wang and Chase Masterson are slated to participate in a "meet 'n greet" with 250 Marines today (Dec. 13) at the Bob Hope USO facility at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). This is part of an outreach project called "Trek to the Troops" organized by Army National Guard member Christopher Mulrooney, who recently spent a year in Iraq.

"While I was deployed to Iraq, I found that there are many other Star Trek fans in the military," Mulrooney said. His goal is to organize an entire tour comprised of Trek personalities to entertain troops domestically and abroad. Today's LAX event is a precursor to future plans. For more about this program, visit www.TrekToTheTroops.com.

Westmore to Judge U.K. Makeup Competition

Michael Westmore, the Oscar and Emmy Award-winning head of makeup for Star Trek for the last 18 years, will be a keynote speaker at the International Make-Up Artist Trade Show (IMATS) in London the weekend of January 28-29. This is his first formal appearance in the U.K.

Aside from his keynote speech, Westmore will also be judging a student competition sponsored by Make-Up Artist Magazine. It is a prosthetic character contest, with a specific theme of Star Trek aliens. For more information, visit www.makeupshow.co.uk.

Did You See... Shatner as Satan??

If you were watching Comedy Central's "Last Laugh '05" in recent days, you may have seen something that'll give you nightmares. The opening number of the retrospective special had our mighty captain, William Shatner, come out dressed as the Prince of Darkness — in a red suit, horns, a Fu Manchu, and an extremely long upright tail. Playing the character of "Lucifer," he said, "I had one hell of a year." He then went into a spoken-word version of "It Was a Very Good Year," saying, "It was a very good year for hot desert wars, and the winds and the rains — I'm talking hurricanes."

He was joined by a bevy of dancing girls dressed as sexy demons, and continued with lyrics reflecting on the year's events, including: "Nick and Jessica fold; Shatner wins Emmy gold!" Cheesy as hell, you might say ... but that's our Bill!

Sarah Silverman ("Rain Robinson" in "Future's End") was the closing act of the show. The special will repeat several times on Comedy Central through the end of the year. Check your local listings.