Watching the big game this Sunday? Be sure to stick around for the commercials, at least in the first half. Leonard Nimoy is going to be getting relief for his arthritis in a 30-second spot expected to air in the first or second quarter of the game.

Playing himself, Nimoy will be on a theatrical set for an acting gig, and apparently pain in his hand is getting in the way. So he turns to pain reliever Aleve. "Fortunately, Aleve allows Leonard Nimoy to be his best self," said an executive at the drug company. Though the topic is arthritis, the executive said the tone of the commercial will be "spirited and fun" to fit the Super Bowl milieu.

Doohan Launch Date Should Be Set Soon

As earlier reported, the spaceflight which will take a portion of James Doohan's cremated remains into Earth orbit is expected to take place in February or March, and a public memorial service for Doohan will be held in conjunction with the launch. Before a date can be set, however, the first flight of the new Falcon 1 rocket (the same vehicle carrying the ashes) must successfully lift off, and that launch is currently scheduled for February 10.

If that flight goes well, we will inform you of the Doohan launch date as soon as we get word. You can also get the latest information from "The Explorers Flight" page at Space Services, Inc.

Oscar Nominees

Among the Academy Award nominations announced this morning, several names listed in technical categories have Star Trek connections.

In the category Best Achievement in Sound, Terry Porter is nominated on behalf of "The Chronicles of Narnia." Porter was an Oscar nominee in 1987 for similar work on "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." Competing with him is Doug Hemphill, nominated for "Walk the Line," and Greg P. Russell, for "Memoirs of a Geisha." Hemphill, a previous Oscar winner, also did sound work on "ST IV," as well as "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier." Russell worked on "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country."

In the Visual Effects category, previous winner Scott Farrar was nominated for "Narnia." Farrar did visual effects work on "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and "Star Trek VI." Competing with him is another past winner, Joe Letteri, for "King Kong." Letteri also worked on "ST VI."

In Cinematography, Robert Elswit is nominated for his work on "Good Night, and Good Luck." Elswit was a visual effects photographer for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." In Editing, Michael McCusker is nominated for "Walk the Line." McCusker was assistant to Nicholas Meyer on "ST VI."

Good luck to all of these fine craftsmen. The Academy Awards will be handed out Sunday evening, March 5, airing on ABC.

Congrats to SAG Award Winners

Sadly, William Shatner didn't walk home with a trophy this time (oh well, his Golden Globe and two Emmys take up plenty of room already). But several other Star Trek alumni did garner accolades as part of ensemble casts at last Sunday's 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Terry O'Quinn ("Admiral Pressman" in "The Pegasus") and Daniel Dae Kim ("Gotana-Retz" in "Blink of an Eye" and "Corporal Chang" in the third season of Enterprise) were part of the cast of Lost winning Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Winning the similar award for Comedy Series was the cast of Desperate Housewives, which includes Teri Hatcher ("Lt. B.G. Robinson" in "The Outrageous Okona"), Alfre Woodard ("Lily Sloane" in "Star Trek: First Contact"), Steven Culp ("Major Hayes" in the third season of Enterprise), Mark Moses ("Henry Archer" in "Broken Bow" and "Naroq" in "Riddles") and Brenda Strong ("Rashella" in "When the Bough Breaks").

In the Motion Picture categories, the big winner of the night was the cast of "Crash." That cast includes Marina Sirtis ("Deanna Troi") and Daniel Dae Kim.

Shatner — nominated for Boston Legal — lost in the Male Actor-Comedy Series category to Sean Hayes of Will and Grace. Christopher Plummer ("General Chang") was nominated for Male Actor-Television Movie or Miniseries, but he lost to Paul Newman for "Empire Falls." The cast of Boston Legal, including Rene Auberjonois (who was caught on camera several times during the broadcast), lost their ensemble nod to Housewives.

The "In Memoriam" portion of the SAG Awards ceremony included tributes to James Doohan, John Fiedler, Brock Peters, Frank Gorshin and Vincent Schiavelli.

CBS to Sell Paramount Parks

CBS Corp. has announced plans to sell off its Paramount Parks division, which came under CBS ownership in the Viacom-CBS corporate split. Paramount Parks operates Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton, as well as Paramount's Carowinds in North Carolina which has the Borg Assimilator roller coaster, and several other parks and attractions.

Leslie Moonves, CBS chief executive, said the Parks business does not fit with the company's content-driven business, according to The New York Times. Numerous parties have reportedly already expressed interest in acquiring the operation.

The company expects to complete the sale in the second half of 2006, and Paramount Parks will remain in full operation throughout the divestiture process, according to a CBS press release.

The Times article notes that Simon & Schuster — which publishes Star Trek books through its Pocket Books label — will remain in the CBS fold, despite having little apparent synergy with CBS' other content businesses. "To tell the truth, it is not the most synergistic group, but it is a content provider and we are working on different ways of using the books," Moonves said.

How the sale of Paramount Parks will affect The Experience — probably the single most popular destination for Trek fans — remains to be seen.