The dude never slows down. The Television Academy Hall-of-Famer (related story) and future Comedy Central roastee (related story) is adding yet another title to his curriculum vitae: Celebrity Guest Conductor of the Boston Pops.

On Sunday, August 6, William Shatner will take up the baton at Cape Cod, Massachusetts for the 21st Annual "TD Banknorth Pops by the Sea" concert. This will be his first time conducting a live orchestra, according to the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.

The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra concert will take place that Sunday at Hyannis Village Green from 5-7 p.m., with pre-concert entertainment starting at 2:00. General admission lawn tickets are $15 for adults if purchased in advance, $20 on the day of the show. For more information visit www.artsfoundation.org.

Frakes to Direct Ellison Script

According to a post by Harlan Ellison on his Web site, Jonathan Frakes has been tapped to direct one of his stories for ABC's new anthology series Masters of Science Fiction. The episode is titled "The Discarded," and is based on Ellison's short story of the same name. The TV adaptation was scripted by Ellison and Josh Olson, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of "A History of Violence."

Ellison, one of the most prominent living science-fiction authors, wrote the award-winning Original Series episode "The City on the Edge of Forever." Frakes, of course, played "Riker," but also directed "Star Trek: First Contact," "Star Trek: Insurrection," and many episodes of TNG, DS9 and Voyager.

"The Discarded" is about a ship of mutants who have been exiled from Earth due to their ugliness. An Earth representative seeks their cooperation when they are the only hope of curing a disease on the home planet. The story was originally published in 1959.

According to Ellison's message board post, the episode will shoot in Vancouver in late July to early August, and he will likely be present on the set.

ABC gave the greenlight to Masters of Science Fiction in February with plans to present the works of the genre's seminal writers such as Ray Bradbury and the late Isaac Asimov. The show is targeted to air in the 2006-07 season, but could launch as early as this summer, according to the original announcement (related story).

ILM Sells Off Miniatures Unit

Marking the end of an era in special effects, Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic is selling off its physical production unit, thus shedding the last vestiges of its origins as a models-and-miniatures effects house.

That models unit was responsible for the ship shots in several of the "Star Trek" films, such as the Enterprise-D crash sequence in "Generations." The shop built the Enterprise-D in the first place for "Encounter at Farpoint," as well as the Reliant for "Star Trek II," the Excelsior for "Star Trek III," the Enterprise-E for "Star Trek: First Contact," and many other physical models of ships and space stations.

The unit is being purchased by Mark Anderson, a model maker who has worked at ILM for more than 15 years, and will be renamed Kerner Optical after its location on Kerner Avenue in San Rafael, Calif. According to Daily Variety, with the shift to digital effects, Lucasfilm has found it difficult to keep that portion of the company fully employed. At one time, however, the unit defined ILM, having grown from the team that created the space battles and other movie magic for "Star Wars" in 1977.

Star Trek 2.0 Boosts G4

A profile of G4 TV president Neal Tiles in Broadcasting & Cable credits the rebranding of Star Trek with lifting the cable network out of relative obscurity.

When Tiles took the reins of G4 last September, one of the first things he set out to do was figure out how to market a 40-year-old TV show to the network's target audience of men 18-34. The result was the interactive Website promotion known as Star Trek 2.0 with the tagline "Tune In and Prosper." That has led to steady gains in viewership beyond that of videogamers.

"The problem with G4 was that it was a very limited-appeal channel with no ratings," said Jeff Shell, president of Comcast Content, whose parent company holds a majority stake in G4. "Obviously, there is still a long way to go, but we've had very strong success in kick-starting the ratings [and] getting people to watch the channel.”

Part of G4's success stems from its promotional spots, released on the popular video-sharing site YouTube, featuring Trek action figures in unlikely settings such as a coffee shop, poolside and even a karaoke bar. To see the complete article, see this broadcastingcable.com link.

The Rock Suffers Football Injury

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson — who played the "Champion" in Voyager's "Tsunkatse" — was to undergo surgery Friday in Miami after suffering a serious injury during a football practice related to a new movie role. Johnson stars as a pro quarterback in "The Game Plan" from Walt Disney Pictures, and during training on Monday he ruptured his Achilles tendon. Disney has postponed filming until he heals.

Johnson is no stranger to the football field. He played on a Miami Hurricanes team that won the National Championship, and did a brief stint in the Canadian Football League before turning to pro wrestling.

Frank Langella as Perry White

As if you needed any encouragement to go see it, "Superman Returns" opens next Wednesday and features Deep Space Nine veteran Frank Langella in a coveted role: that of Daily Planet editor Perry White. Langella was "Minister Jaro Essa" in a three-episode Bajoran story arc. The movie is directed by Bryan Singer, the original "X-Men" director who made a cameo appearance in "Star Trek Nemesis."