A program to bring Star Trek stars overseas to entertain U.S. armed forces, USO-style, has set the dates of its first tour. "Trek to the Troops" will depart July 23 for a three-and-a-half week excursion, returning August 17 to Las Vegas in time for the Creation 40th Anniversary Star Trek convention there.

Confirmed entertainers include Chase Masterson ("Leeta") and Geoffrey Mutch (the Riker double in "Second Chances" and frequent background performer). Several other Trek stars are tentatively signed on pending other professional commitments. Trek to the Troops organizer Christopher Mulrooney is still seeking out further Trek cast members to join the tour.

Mulrooney is also soliciting financial and other support for the tour. To that end, Paramount Parks is donating 32 passes to its Star Trek: The Experience attraction in Vegas to be given as prizes to military personnel during the tour.

For continuing updates, or to offer support, visit TrekToTheTroops.com.

Shatner Watch: "Wild" Man

As earlier reported, William Shatner took part in the Pro/Celebrity Race at the Toyota Grand Prix in Long Beach last Saturday. He went in very confident he could win in the Celebrity category, but he ended up placing right down the middle — 7th out of 14, with a qualifying time of 1:51.419.

Shatner did manage to beat fellow TV stars William Fichtner (Invasion), Bo Bice (American Idol), rapper Xzibit, and others including Roger Cross, who played "Tret" in Star Trek: Enterprise's "Extinction." Those placing ahead of him included tennis great Martina Navratilova, football great John Elway, and soap actor Antonio Sabato Jr.; pro skateboarder Bucky Lasek took the pole position (i.e., finished first). Full race results can be found at this link.

If you head out to the movies this weekend, listen for the captain's voice in the CG-animated Disney film "The Wild." In the tale of zoo animals displaced to the jungle, Shatner plays "Kazar," a dancing wildebeest who leads a fanatical cult. Reviews in both Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter say Shatner performs the role with "gusto" (Variety adds the modifier "sinister"). "The Wild" opens in theaters nationwide Friday, April 14.

Science Brief: "Synthehol" on Drawing Board

There is no reason why "synthehol" — a synthetic alcohol introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation — could not be made now, says an expert in England. Professor David Nutt of the University of Bristol will publish his idea next month in the Journal of Psychopharmacology for a beverage that will provide the enjoyable aspects of alcohol consumption without the deleterious side-effects, such as hangovers and liver disease.

"The trick pharmacologists need to pull off is to make a mixture of molecules that deliver alcohol's pleasurable effects, notably relaxation and sociability, without the aggression, nausea, loss of coordination and amnesia that can cause drinkers and those around them so much grief. Long-term problems such as cirrhosis of the liver could also be eliminated, says Nutt," according to New Scientist magazine.

The scientific basis of the "synthehol" idea is explained in this NewScientist.com article, as well as this Technovelgy.com page.

Moore Looking at TV/Gaming Crossovers

"Ronald D. Moore knows a thing or two about reinventing old intellectual property for a new audience," begins a Tech column in The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week about the impact of gaming on television and vice-versa. It continues that the Battlestar Galactica executive producer — and former Star Trek writer/producer — "now is looking to delve deeper into video games as a further extension" of the Galactica franchise.

"It's been a bit of a surprise to people involved in studios and networks, the idea that people will soak up that type of detail and depth" available in video games, Moore says. "The audience is willing to immerse themselves in these environments."

Moore notes that the influence of video games is evident today in the way Hollywood makes TV shows and movies, because "a whole generation of gamers [is] now behind the cameras," states the column by John Gaudiosi.

A compelling, must-play TV/game hybrid has not been created yet, Moore contends, so there is an opportunity to be a pioneer in that area. "I've thought about doing something where you start a property across mediums, with Internet participation and role-playing video games," he says. "Not every show or property will lend itself to that type of hybrid environment, but if you set it up from the get-go to design it that way, I think that's a really rich and interesting place for the business to go."

The full story can be seen at this Reuters link.

Sensor Sweep: Goldberg, Alexander, Boehmer, Slater, etc.

If you visit Universal Studios Hollywood later this year, be sure to partake in the famed studio tour of the Universal backlot, because Whoopi Goldberg ("Guinan") will be part of it. New videotaped segments narrated by Goldberg will be played on screens during the ride on the trams, supplementing live commentary by the tour guides. It's part of an extensive makeover this spring of the backlot tour which includes a new "King Kong" attraction.

Jason Alexander ("Kurros" in "Think Tank") has been tapped — along with John Cleese and Bill Cosby — to headline "Just for Laughs," the International Comedy Festival in Montreal running July 13-23. Alexander will host two galas for the festival, both on July 21.

J. Paul Boehmer — who has played several parts in Star Trek including "Mestral" in "Carbon Creek," "One" in "Drone," and two separate Nazis — co-stars in the 1926 comedy "The Constant Wife," being staged at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Boehmer plays Bernard Kersal, an old flame of the play's heroine, Constance Middleton, whose husband is cheating on her. The show runs through May 7. Visit www.TheOldGlobe.org for more info.

Christian Slater, who made a cameo appearance in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," stars again as Randle P. McMurphy in a London revival of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." The show was a critical and box office hit two years ago in London, and most of the cast — including Slater in the role made famous by Jack Nicholson — has returned. Alex Kingston of ER has stepped into the role of Nurse Ratched (played by Louise Fletcher ["Kai Winn"] in the 1975 movie), and critics are impressed with the antagonistic sparks between her and Slater. "Cuckoo's Nest" runs through June 3 at the Garrick Theatre on the West End.

Popular Australian actress Maggie Millar has painted a portrait of Patrick Stewart that she is offering for sale through her Web site, MaggieMillar.net. Millar and Stewart are friends who trained as actors together. To see the painting and to make inquiries, visit this page.

Teri Hatcher ("Lt. B.G. Robinson" in "The Outrageous Okona") continues to make showbiz news, this time as the highest-paid television actress. According to a Celebrity News item on IMDB.com earlier this week, Hatcher's earnings are set to rocket to at least $6 million after she won a deal to promote numerous products linked to Desperate Housewives. Sources reportedly say that Disney, which produces the hit show, "is desperate to keep her happy so has come up with a deal that gives her a cut of profits from the video game, board game and a planned online clothing store. There are also plans for a cookbook, music DVD and a fragrance. This is going to be a huge, lucrative franchise and Teri has made sure she's getting a cut of every deal."