The 4400, a new USA Network summer series from Paramount Television which TV Guide's Matt Roush called a "compulsively watchable thriller" can credit a share of that compulsive watchability to a number of Star Trek's creative alums working behind the scenes.

Two of the shows Executive Producers and writers, Rene Echevarria and Ira Steven Behr were also writers and producers on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Behr was also a producer on Star Trek: The Next Generation). Also Executive Producing The 4400 are Francis Ford Coppola, Brent-Karl Clackson and Maira Suro-Castles. Another writer of The 4400 is DS9 writer-producer and TNG writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe.

The 4400 is a show about a gigantic mystery facing humanity. Over the last century, thousands of people have strangely disappeared, but now 4,400 people return all at once, and a federal agency is created to investigate, driving the mystery and story of the series.

The 4400 debuts on the USA Network on July 11 at 9:00 PM ET/PT, check your local listings for more information and visit the show's official site at Paramount.com via the link below.

Takei Joins Nielsen Task Force

Nielsen Media Research, the company behind the television ratings system that informs such sweeping decisions as the survival of shows and the cost of advertising time on television, recently launched a new service in major markets called the "Local People Meter," resulting in criticism that the new service might undercount the viewing habits of minority groups.

Responding to the criticism, the company has created a task force to study the service, and one of the new appointees to the task force is George Takei ("Hikaru Sulu"). The legendary Japanese-American actor is no stranger to public activism, having been involved in public issues most of his off-screen life. Takei joins a panel of 15 members, and will investigate the issue and present the company with a report by October 1.

Trek Veteran Shankar Moves Up CSI Ladder

Naren Shankar, former Story Editor and Writer on TNG, DS9 and Voyager (not mention Science Consultant for the DS9 premiere "Emissary") has been promoted to Executive Producer on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Shankar has been a writer and producer on the hit CBS show for several seasons and his new deal, according to Daily Variety, is a seven-figure, multi-year deal aimed at keeping him with the show through May of 2007. Shankar has also written and produced on other series, such as Farscape, UC: Undercover, The Chronicle and Shadow Realm.