With four nominations on the line at the 30th annual Saturn Awards, the Star Trek franchise came up empty at the ceremony held Wednesday night in Universal City. But several former Trek writers and producers walked away with trophies for other shows.

You can hold Joss Whedon responsible for keeping Trek off the winners' list this year. For starters, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was up for Best DVD Television Release, but Whedon took that award for "The Complete Firefly." Whedon's outgoing WB show Angel stole the Saturns from Star Trek: Enterprise, with David Boreanaz beating Scott Bakula for Best Television Actor (as he did last year), and Amy Acker besting Jolene Blalock for Best Television Supporting Actress.

In the category Best Network Television Series, which Enterprise was nominated for, there was actually a tie between Angel and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The trophy for CSI was accepted by co-executive producer Naren Shankar, who was a science consultant, writer and story editor on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Among other Trek alumni, Ronald D. Moore, writer/producer on TNG, DS9 and two movies, received the award for Best Television Presentation on behalf of the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries "Battlestar Galactica." Ralph Winter, producer of four Trek movies from "III" to "VI," accepted the trophy for Best Science Fiction Film on behalf of "X2: X-Men United."

In the Special Effects category, Trek veterans Jim Rygiel and Joe Letteri were among the honorees for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which was the biggest winner of the night overall. For a complete list of winners, visit SaturnAwards.org or this Cinescape.com link.

Cattrall Goes from Hot to Cold

Kim Cattrall, who played Valeris in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" but is perhaps best known as the sexually rapacious "Samantha" of Sex and the City, has signed on to play a former Olympic ice skating hopeful who has since turned her attentions to help coach a potential young star. The up and coming ice skating star will be played by Michelle Trachtenberg of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. [Again with the Joss Whedon thing! - Ed.] 

The film, "Ice Princess," is produced by Disney and will most likely be released in 2005.

Plummer Heads for "The New World" 

Christopher Plummer, who also co-starred in "The Undiscovered Country" as General Chang, has been signed to feature in New Line Cinema's "The New World,"  a Terrence Malick-helmed take on the classic Pocahontas tale. The movie is billed as an historical epic crossed with a timeless love story, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Plummer will play Capt. Christopher Newport. Also starring will be Dublin-born Colin Farrell as John Smith.

Andy Dick Seeks Assistant

Andy Dick (EMH-2 in "Message in a Bottle") is looking to trump other established reality series with his new MTV-produced laugher, "The Assistant." Set to parody the trend of reality shows, including The Apprentice, Survivor and The Bachelor, The Assistant will offer the winner a new car and a gig at a Hollywood production company provided the contestant completes some wacky challenges and survives the inevitable elimination ceremonies. No word yet on the airdates for The Assistant. 

Star Trek Alums Nab Drama Desk Nominations

The 49th Annual Drama Desk Award nominations have been announced, and a number of Star Trek alumni who have trod the boards onstage in New York this past year are up for honors.

In the category of Outstanding Actor in a Play, Frank Langella is nominated for the play "Match." Langella played the Bajoran Minister Jaro Essa on DS9 beginning in the Second Season episode "The Homecoming."

Langella is up against another Star Trek alum in the same category, the aforementioned Christopher Plummer (see above), who is nominated for his performance in Shakespeare's "King Lear."

In the Outstanding Actress in a Play category, multiple Star Trek alum Shannon Cochran is nominated for the play "Bug." Cochran first appeared on Star Trek as Kalita in the TNG episode "Preemptive Strike" and reprised the role in DS9's "Defiant." She appeared later in DS9 as Martok's wife Sirella in "You Are Cordially Invited..." and more recently as the Romulan Senator Tal'aura in "Star Trek Nemesis."

For her performance in "Wonderful Town," Donna Murphy is nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Murphy appeared in "Star Trek: Insurrection" as Picard's love interest Anij.

The 49th Annual Drama Desk Awards ceremony will be held Sunday May 16 at the F.H. LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center. The ceremony will be webcast live on TheaterMania.com.  The Drama Desk Awards honor Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off Broadway and not-for-profit theater productions and are voted on by over 140 voting theater critics, reporters and editors. For more information, visit the Drama Desk site at www.dramadesk.org.

STARTREK.COM wishes luck to all Star Trek alumni up for awards.