Just a few days before the news that J.J. Abrams will produce the 11th Star Trek movie, The New York Times published a personal profile of the famed TV and movie writer-producer-director. The article basically consists of short answers to topics such as "Favorite item of clothing," "Superstition," "Procrastination technique" and the like. Abrams says his personal hero is Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, because "he did my favorite thing — he took outlandish situations and told them through emotional characterization." He reveals that he wrote and recorded the theme songs to his TV shows Felicity, Alias and Lost in a closet adjacent to his office that he set up as a recording area. Plus, he really loves robots — "I love the idea of anthropomorphizing machines" — and he absolutely cannot live without his Macintosh computer: "I use it all day to a wildly unhealthy degree," he says.

Visit this NYTimes.com link for the full article.

Abrams will be in New York for the Tribeca Film Festival this coming Tuesday evening, May 2. He will be part of the "Tribeca Talks" program of special guest speakers throughout the week. Apparently the topic will be gaming, because the event description calls Abrams "a self-professed fan of the gaming industry," and says he will talk about "taking on the Mission Impossible franchise and why his success just might make him the poster boy for allowing your kids a little more time with their Xbox." No doubt, though, someone will raise questions about "Star Trek XI." Admission is $20. For more info, phone the box office at 1-866-941-FEST (3378), or visit www.TribecaFilmFestival.org, click on "Films & Events" and select "Tribeca Talks Panels."

Goldberg, Langella at Tribeca

Speaking of Robert De Niro's film festival, there are some other Star Trek connections at the event now in progress at several locations in downtown Manhattan. As previously mentioned, on Saturday Whoopi Goldberg ("Guinan") will host a special screening of films by young local directors. In addition, it was announced on Monday that Goldberg will be one of the festival's jurors, which means she will be judging films in competition, according to Daily Variety.

The Tribeca fest opened Tuesday night with a very emotional world premiere screening of "United 93," which made a lot of press because it was attended by relatives of the passengers on that ill-fated 9/11 flight, and took place very near Ground Zero. Frank Langella ("Minister Jaro Essa" in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) was among the handful of celebrities present at that historic premiere, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Trek Writers in the News: Moore, Whelpley, Espenson, Matheson

Several writers who cut their teeth in part on Star Trek have made news this week with new projects. Ronald D. Moore, writer/producer on Star Trek: The Next Generation and DS9, is creating a spinoff of his hit Sci-Fi Channel remake of Battlestar Galactica. It's called Caprica, and it will be a prequel set 50 years prior to the current series. According to various news reports, Caprica will depict the origins of the Cylons during a time of peace for humanity's Twelve Colonies. Moore will be executive producer.

Caprica was part of a whole slate of new projects announced Wednesday by the Sci-Fi Channel. Another was "Chariots of the Gods," a six-hour mini-series based on the bestselling book by Erich von Daniken. It will be scripted by John Whelpley, who co-wrote "Suddenly Human" and "Invasive Procedures," and also wrote for Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda and Earth: Final Conflict. "Chariots" will be about a soldier who discovers an artifact containing the earthshaking secret that aliens have been manipulating human genetics since ancient times.

In another announcement on Wednesday, Jane Espenson — who wrote "Accession" but is most known for her work as writer/producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer — has signed a two-year overall deal with NBC Universal Television. What that means is, she will develop new projects for the studio as well as join an existing, but unspecified, TV series. She will develop both one-hour and half-hour projects, and she'll make seven figures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Sci-fi master Richard Matheson — who penned "The Enemy Within" and countless other seminal works — also made the news this week. His novel "I Am Legend" will be adapted by Warner Bros. into a movie with Will Smith in the starring role, according to Daily Variety. "Legend" is about the last healthy man after a virus decimates the population, who battles mutants in post-apocalyptic New York. Matheson's tale previously formed the basis for "The Last Man on Earth" and "The Omega Man."

Reviews Coming In for Stewart's "Antony"

Patrick Stewart ("Picard") is currently back home in the U.K. performing with his beloved Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in "The Complete Works Festival," a year-long presentation of every single Shakespearean play. Since April 12 Stewart has been performing the male lead in "Antony and Cleopatra" opposite RSC veteran Harriet Walter. The numerous reviews of the production laud both the individual performers and their pairing. The Telegraph says Stewart and Walter "are in superb form, finding all the comedy of love in middle age, as well as the ache of passion." The Evening Standard says, "Antony in Patrick Stewart's remarkable performance speaks a helpless and despairing commentary on his decline and fall from ageing, distracted general to the status of enthralled playmate for a queen. I cannot remember seeing an Antony so deep in melancholia or self-disgust."

"Antony" will run in repertoire at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon through October 14. For more information, visit the RSC Web site. For a list of reviews, visit this Patrick Stewart Network (ThePSN.org) link. To see photos of Stewart as Antony, visit this broadwayworld.com link.

Starting in July, Stewart will pull double-duty at the RSC festival. Alternating with "Antony" will be his performances as "Prospero" in "The Tempest." That play will run in repertoire at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, also in Stratford-Upon-Avon, from July 28 through October 12.

TiVo Alerts: Mulgrew on Law & Order: SVU, Ryan in Boston Legal

The women of Voyager are getting some long-overdue exposure in upcoming guest roles during May sweeps. Kate Mulgrew ("Janeway") will make an appearance on the May 9 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The episode, titled "Web," deals with a child molestation case. TVGuide.com identifies Mulgrew's character as "AUSA Donna Geysen." That's Tuesday, May 9, at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT (9:00 Central) on NBC.

And the following Tuesday, May 16, Jeri Ryan ("Seven of Nine") joins William Shatner and Rene Auberjonois in the two-hour season finale of Boston Legal. She will play "Courtney Rae," the sexy host of a fictional reality TV series called The Phoenix who is charged with attempted murder after shooting a member of the paparazzi who was stalking her. Again, that's Tuesday, May 16, from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. ET/PT (8:00-10:00 Central) on ABC.