A new opening title graphic adding the words "Star Trek" to "Enterprise" will be seen for the first time in the season's third episode, "Extinction." UPN has recently run promos using "Star Trek" above the title to reinforce the show's association with the franchise.
Also, the theme song for Enterprise is still the lyrical "Where My Heart Will Take Me" sung by Russell Watson, but the music has been rerecorded. The new, more up-tempo version debuts during the Season 3 premiere, "The Xindi."
Bakula Shows Off New Sets
In a live feed from Stage 18 at Paramount Studios on Tuesday, Scott Bakula showed off some of the new sets that will be seen in the new season of Enterprise to the syndicated morning show Good Day Live. Viewers got a glimpse of the Command Center, which will feature prominently in tonight's season premiere, and the Brig, which will be seen in later episodes. "Some of these bad guys that we're capturing we drop in here," Bakula said about the small prison cell. "Actually, the last bad guy we had in here was a beautiful blonde woman who was kind of a Mata Hari type," he added, referring to the upcoming "Rajiin."
The very light-hearted interview by the show's three hosts was mostly silly banter laced with sexual innuendo. Jillian Barberie questioned what form the ramped-up "action" this season will take. "I wanna see you make it with a Martian chick. I don't care if she's green or purple, as long as she's got a tail and some flippers," she commented. "Okay, I'm good with that," Bakula laughed. When the camera followed Bakula into the Command Center set, he ran into Dominic Keating, who had just arrived with a cup of coffee in his hand. "I have some good news and bad news, sir," Keating remarked. "The hull plating is down 25 percent. But I found a Starbuck's."
"The Fans Are On Board"
This morning's edition of trade paper The Hollywood Reporter ran a full-page ad from fans of Enterprise letting the industry know that support for the show is strong. The ad was paid for by donations collected by The Enterprise Project, a fan-based organization devoted to proactive efforts to help keep the series on the air. The ad reads in part, "Still boldly going after 37 years... The fans are on board. Thanks to all the cast and crew and Warp Speed in Season 3!" Visit www.enterpriseproject.org for more information.
Enterprise-B Novel Hits Bestseller List
The first novel about Captain John Harriman and the U.S.S. Enterprise-B (introduced in "Star Trek Generations") has landed on the New York Times bestseller list, debuting at #34. "Serpents Among the Ruins" by David R. George III is the second book in the "Star Trek: The Lost Era" series. It tells the story of the mysterious Tomed Incident between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire, first mentioned in "The Neutral Zone" in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The book is available through the Books & eBooks section of the Store.
Trek Movie Writers on New Assignments
John Logan, the screenwriter of "Star Trek Nemesis," is reportedly in talks to pen the script for a new Tom Cruise movie called "The Few," according to Daily Variety. "The Few," to be directed by Michael Mann, is the true story about Billy Fiske, the first American pilot killed fighting the Germans in World War II. If the deal goes through, it would not be the first time Logan has written dialog for Tom Cruise -- he also scripted "The Last Samurai," due out this December. Logan is expected to begin work on "The Few" after completing "Gladiator 2," the sequel to the 2001 Oscar champ which he also co-wrote.
Nicholas Meyer, who co-wrote three Trek movies (and directed two of them) is also receiving attention for a movie he wrote which recently screened at several international film festivals. That movie is called "The Human Stain," starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman, directed by Robert Benton. It has been shown at prominent film festivals in Venice, Toronto and Chicago, and is due in U.S. theaters on September 26. A review in Daily Variety states, "Destined to provoke controversy, 'The Human Stain' is an intelligent adaptation of Philip Roth's arguably unfilmable novel."
Billingsley, McDowell Get Good Reviews
Speaking of reviews, John Billingsley ("Dr. Phlox") is getting noticed by critics for his eye-catching performance in the Denzel Washington movie "Out of Time," which is due out October 3. The Hollywood Reporter raves, "John Billingsley is wonderful as a slacker medical examiner who becomes Matt's (Washington's) sidekick in crime and serves as the film's comic relief." Daily Variety was somewhat more reserved, saying, "As Matt's increasingly indispensable sidekick, John Billingsley delivers variable comic relief."
Also getting attention this week is Malcolm McDowell ("Tolian Soran" in "Star Trek Generations") for his part in the Robert Altman-directed "The Company," a movie about the world of ballet starring Neve Campbell. McDowell plays the autocratic director of Campbell's ballet company. THR says he "commands the screen," and Variety calls him "excellent," adding, "McDowell excels as the fair-minded dictator," but that review did criticize him for letting his English accent creep in on the Italian-American character.
Casting News
Turnabout is fair play: Patrick Stewart ("Jean-Luc Picard") was on the Paramount lot last night to make a guest appearance in NBC's Frasier. (Perhaps he was returning the favor from Kelsey Grammer for "Cause and Effect.") We have no official confirmation yet of the air date for this Frasier episode, but the Patrick Stewart Network Web site is reporting it will run on September 30.
Avery Brooks ("Benjamin Sisko") is playing the title character in a Greek tragedy in the myth's own homeland. Brooks is playing Oedipus literally under the Acropolis, in a new version of the play that was conceived in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, on the second anniversary of that event. He is part of a Washington, D.C.-based company of Shakespearean actors who will give open-air performances on Wednesday and Thursday in Athens. "I think we have achieved a very clear and powerful story, and I don't really doubt that we'll be able to communicate that," Brooks said in an Associated Press story.
Stewart's and Brooks' castmate Colm Meaney ("Miles O'Brien") has been cast as one of the leads in the TNT original movie "Bad Apple," a cop drama based on novels by Anthony Bruno set in New York. Meaney will play Cuthbert Gibbons, an FBI agent working undercover to investigate a crime family. "Bad Apple" will start filming this month for completion in early 2004, and may be the first installment of a potential franchise based on Bruno's books, according to Variety. Other stars include Mercedes Ruehl, Robert Patrick and Elliot Gould.
Sensor Sweep
If you didn't catch the premiere of "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis" on Sunday, the cable movie will rerun at least twice over the next couple of days. Be sure to see it not only for its value as a historical document, but for the performances of George Takei ("Sulu") as Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, and Penny Johnson Jerald ("Kasidy Yates") as National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Check your local listings for airtimes.
And in case you haven't already noticed, Tuesday night on NBC has become Star Trek alumni night. Primetime begins with the controversial Whoopi starring Whoopi Goldberg ("Guinan"), followed by Happy Family starring John Larrouquette ("Maltz") and Susan Gibney ("Leah Brahms," "Erika Benteen"), followed by Frasier, starring our favorite cameo guest, Kelsey Grammer ("Captain Morgan Bateson"). And when Patrick Stewart shows up on the latter, it'll be quite a party.
