Although it's still billed as the "Grand Slam," this year's Los Angeles-based Star Trek convention is subheaded "The Sci fi Summit" for good reason — now in its 15th year, the event has slowly morphed into an overall science fiction show and no longer focuses primarily on Trek. That distinction of course now belongs to the Las Vegas event, which takes place on August 9-12 at the Hilton. Yet, even with its slightly diminshed size and changed location (now in Burbank), the Grand Slam's stature remains intact and the fans are treated to a more up close and personal look at their favorite genre actors.

On Friday afternoon, the Trek portion kicked off with Gene Roddenberry's former assistant Richard Arnold giving a slide show of rarely seen photos documenting the genesis of The Next Generation. From the title treatment, to on-set goofs, to the familiar images the fans so intimately know, the presentation kept the crowd's curiosity throughout.

On Saturday Arnold read out a special e-mail message to the attendees from the director of the next Star Trek film, J.J. Abrams. Here is an actual copy of the e-mail from J.J.:

Dear Grandslammers

We are currently in pre-pre-pre-production, and are all beyond excited -- and honored -- to bring you the next chapter in the Star Trek saga. There will be much more to say at next year's convention -- but for now, know that we are working hard to do you proud. Thank you for your support, and for keeping Mr. Roddenberry's vision alive.

Best,

JJ Abrams

Robert O'Reilly ("Gowron") followed on stage and wowed the crowd with his trademark eyes, much to the fans' delight (see photo gallery). "I was an original fan of the original show," said O'Reilly. "And strangely enough, I had never seen a Next Gen until I actually did one." He later related the story of how he met basketball star James Worthy on a plane flight and convinced him to become a guest Klingon in the TNG episode "Gambit, Part II." We did not know that!

John Billingsley came to the convention to preview a film he recently completed called "The Man from Earth," which was the final script written by the late Jerome Bixby, author of some of the most popular episodes of the Original Series including "Mirror, Mirror" and "Requiem for Methuselah," the latter which this movie is thematically related to. Billingsley was joined by the movie's director Richard Schenkman and the executive producer, Bixby's son Emerson Bixby. They showed various clips and talked about the film.

"One of the things this movie is about is the difference between religion and morality, between what's codified and what is truly spiritual, and that's what attracted me to the project," said Billingsley. "I thought it had some very, very interesting things to say about the nature of organized religion and the nature of the religious impulse." Right now the producers hope to get a theatrical release before it comes out on DVD, but hopefully fans will be able to see it later this year in some form. "The Man from Earth" also features Trek guest stars Tony Todd ("Kurn," etc.), Richard Riehle ("Jeremy Lucas," etc.) and David Lee Smith ("Zahir"). You can learn more at www.manfromearth.com.

Walter Koenig ("Chekov") was on later in the afternoon and was, as ever, affable, slightly cynical, but always humorous. Even after being interrupted by talking in the audience Walter was honest with the crowd, but saw the lighter side: "The older I get, the grumpier I get. See, I'm not such a nice guy."

Speaking of his characters (specifically "Bester" from Babylon 5), and acting in general, "You need to bond with the character. You cannot stand apart from the character and say, 'well, he's a bad guy.' You have find what it is that you respond to, relate to, and embrace it." Great advice Walter!

Original Series regular — and Howard Stern cohort — George Takei ("Sulu") rounded out Friday's main stage entertainment. Takei mentioned his upcoming appearance in NBC's improvisational show Thank God You're Here and what a challenge that was. (See his quotes in the accompanying article here.) He also spoke about his recent recurring role in Heroes as the stern father of "Hiro Nakamura," and how he tried to learn as much as he could from the producers about the character, but was restrained from doing so. "As it turned out, they want to keep the actors in ignorance, because they know that we do Star Trek conventions! And some of us have loose lips! Not me, of course!"

Takei used his trademark expression "Oh my!" to describe the process of discovery he had whenever a new Heroes script would come in regarding his character. And he urged fans to stay tuned for episode 22, on which he discovered muscles he didn't know he had. "It was an action sequence, and for two days following I was sore all over," Takei said. "It's a spectacular scene, and I had great fun while doing it, and there was a very good stuntman too ... Uh, maybe I shouldn't be so transparent — yeah, believe what you see on screen. It was me doing everything! HA HA HA HA HA..."

For Creation's "Gold Weekend" patrons there was a cabaret later that night featuring Takei and Koenig, along with DS9's Nana Visitor ("Kira") and Marc Alaimo ("Gul Dukat"). We didn't actually attend this portion, but we hear a good time was had by all.

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