Captain Nicole Janeway

Nicole vs. Kathryn

You may know her as the powerful inmate Galina "Red" Reznikov on the Netflix original series, Orange is the New Black, but to me, Kate Mulgrew will always be Captain Kathryn Janeway, the bold and decisive intra-galactic spacefarer from Star Trek: Voyager (and also that evil bitch from Throw Momma From the Train). Mulgrew made headlines at the time of Voyager's premiere as the first female captain to head a Star Trek series. But it almost wasn't so. Despite the fact that Kate nailed the part in her audition and subsequently went on to become a fan-favorite, the part had originally been cast with another actress, Geneviève Bujold, as Captain Nicole Janeway.  However, the Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the film Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), was not up to the rigorous production schedule of a weekly television series, and promptly left the show after shooting only a handful of scenes for the first episode. Lucky for us, Kate was waiting in the wings to take the helm, literally, and the rest is Trek history. Thanks to the tireless video-editing efforts of a fan known only as "aobadge," we can now get a glimpse of how Geneviève might have performed in the lead role had she chosen to stay on board with the crew of the Voyager back in 1994. Check out the video below for a look at what might have been, at the time, the future of Star Trek.

BONUS VIDEOS: NICOLE JANEWAY VS. KATHRYN JANEWAY - PARTS 1 & 2

Retro Round-Up

Lordy have we got a lot of retro-geekin' news for you on this lovely Tuesday! Today's Retro Round-Up includes Amiga computers, acquitted murderers, new Star Wars and old Star Trek, what more could you ask for? Check out the links below before you get any older, gramps.

Lando Calrissian Returns in Star Wars: Rebels Animated Series
Dissed by Abrams but still loved by Disney, our favorite space-scoundrel-turned-malt-liquor-pimp strikes back!




The City on the Edge of Forever #1 Out This Wednesday
The classic Harlan Ellison-penned original series Star Trek episode gets its own graphic novel this week.




Turn Your Old Mac Into a New Amiga
Got some old Amiga software? Got a PowerPC computer you're not using? Well then, you're probably the only person you know who'll enjoy this.




It Was 20 Years Ago Today: The OJ. Chase
Relive the excitement of television's first combination live celebrity car chase and Ford Bronco commercial!

Star Trek Continues

Star Trek: The Re-Reboot

Who needs big budget reboots when you've got fans? While J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot of the original Star Trek breathed new life into this venerable 60s television property, fan remakes, created with arguably more authenticity and unquestionably more love, have have been circulating the internet for years now. For hardcore Trekkers and casual fans alike, these independent remakes, such as Starship Exeter and Star Trek: New Voyages (later renamed Star Trek: Phase II), have provided new windows into creator Gene Roddenberry's futuristic world, which franchise-owner, Paramount Studios, would never consider producing due to their potentially limited appeal. The more successful of these fan-made series nearly always hark back to the original 1960s incarnation of the show, closely mimicking its style by employing more subtle special effects and exploring social, political and philosophical themes.

The latest entry into this sci-fi sub-genre is titled Star Trek Continues, an off-Hollywood but fairly professional attempt to continue the original five-year mission of the starship Enterprise and her loyal crew. Featuring one of James Doohan's own sons, Christopher, reprising his father's role as Scotty, the ship's hard-drinking, fist-throwing engineer, Star Trek Continues does an admirable job of emulating the Crayola-color lighting, the oddball camera angles and the quirky TV dialogue of those late-1960s Desilu productions and even manages to make you forget you're watching a fan-flick, most of the time. Although I'd say the casting could use some tweaking, and some of the acting is, well, bad, the impressive attention to detail and the bonus inclusion of original series guest star, Michael Forest, who played Apollo in the episode Who Mourns for Adonais?, makes the whole affair a worthy homage to an American science fiction classic. Check the video below for a look at the very first episode, Pilgrim of Eternity -- and to you mega-geeks out there, make sure to watch (and listen) for some quick but notable cameos by some space-opera royalty including Marina Sirtis from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Go ahead, watch it. What else you doing on a cold-ass Saturday afternoon?

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE HOME OF STAR TREK CONTINUES


Star Trek Continues E01 "Pilgrim of Eternity" from Star Trek Continues on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Mac!

It's the Mac's 30th birthday today and in true Apple style, I'm celebrating minimalistically. Now watch this video from 1986's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which features my favorite on-screen appearance by today's birthday-box, second only to that scene from Zoolander where Wilson throws the iMac over the balcony. Here's to another 30 years.

Does Spock Amuse You?

Back in 1998, video game publisher, Interplay, was working on what would have been the final Star Trek game to feature voice work by the original cast called, Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury. While development eventually stalled, Paramount Studios, owners of the franchise, saw the potential of Vulcan Fury's impressive CG animation and for a time, seriously considered producing a computer-animated Star Trek TV series with the original crew. Alas, due to various financial issues, neither the animated series nor the game were ever released and so now in 2013 we're stuck with these assh*les. Trailers of the game do exist and reveal that the graphics still hold up well even by today's standards. Thanks to a fellow fan, I found this somewhat rare test clip that claims to be taken from the un-produced Trek series, however since it's assumed that Paramount never actually got past the planning stages, the clip is most likely a test of the game itself. Watch it and witness a virtual Mr. Spock performing a classic scene from the Martin Scorsese's 1990 super-hit, Goodfellas. Enjoy!

Original print ad for Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury. Click for larger view.

BONUS VIDEOS: FIRST AND SECOND TRAILERS FOR STAR TREK: SECRET OF VULCAN FURY

8-Bit Star Trek Reboot

Actual scene from J.J. Abrams' 2009 hit, Star Trek.

Ever wonder what J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie would look like as an 8-bit game?
Me neither. Watch this...

Star Trek: Into Whatever

So I went to see Star Trek: Into Dark Knight Darkness last weekend and as a lifelong Trekker all I can say is meh. I'd say the movie was 20% Star Trek (pointy ears) and 80% generic fill-in-any-action-hero-you-like-and-it'll-still-be-the-same-flick kind of stuff (Tom Cruise). Don't get me wrong, the effects were great, the action was non-stop, Alice Eve stripped down to her underwear, etc. but still...meh...they should have called it Star Trek: The Search for Plot. Anyway, one of the (many) things missing from this flick was some genuine humor. Oh there were a few attempts here and there, but I honestly can't remember any of them right now, which means they must not have been that good. So in celebration of the fact that Star Trek still exists in any form and the fact that it's Friday and we all could all use some laughs, I present to you: What's In Spock's Scanner Parts 1 & 2. Have a great weekend and live long and, you know...

WHAT'S IN SPOCK'S SCANNER PART 1

WHAT'S IN SPOCK'S SCANNER PART 2

Star Trek: The Television Series

J.J. Abrams, the creator of such excrement films as Cloverfield and Super 8 as well as the brains behind the recent Star Trek movies, has, as many of you already know, been charged with the task of finishing off George Lucas' zillion-dollar space-baby, Star Wars, with episodes 7, 8 and 9 starting in 2015 or something like that. (Whew! That's a lot of links!) Well lately, Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, American Dad) has been showing a lot of love for the classic 80s/90s TV show, Star Trek: The Next Generation (ST:TNG). He's made no secret of his fan status and has repeatedly stated that he would enjoy taking a shot at rebooting the classic sci-fi show for television. Most recently, Seth appeared in one of the documentaries included on the new TNG Blu-ray releases, and a few years back, he actually managed to reassemble the entire main cast for a special episode of Family Guy, in which Stewie builds a transporter and kidnaps Picard and company, which was a wet dream for any classic Trek fan. Check out this video featuring a montage of clips from the show and Seth himself talking about the possibility of his vision of Trek coming to the small screen.

ThinkGeek Blowout Sale

Happy Boxing Day everyone! Every so often, people stop and ask me where I get all of my gnarly retro and non-retro geek gear (total lie). While there are a number of places online where you can get your geek on quite successfully, no other single outlet seems to be able to match the sheer vastness of the ThinkGeek.com inventories. And with Christmas having just passed us, now's the time to take advantage of some fantastic deals at this legendary cyber-store with up to 75% off anything geeky, which is everything they sell. "Be more specific!" shout the masses. Well here's a (very) partial list of some of the goodies currently on sale at ThinkGeek:

• "My First Bacon" Talking Plush Doll - originally $19.99 now $14.99!
• Star Trek Starfleet iPhone Case - originally $14.99 now $3.99!
• iCade Jr. Mini Arcade Cabinet - originally $49.99 now $9.99!
• Android Fridge Magnet - originally $3.99 now $0.99!
• Scrolling LED Belt Buckle II - originally $29.99 now $19.99!
• HTTPanties - originally $7.99 now $6.99!

CLICK HERE TO BLOW YOUR WAD AT THINKGEEK.COM

First Peek at Star Trek 12

With the massive success of the first outside-produced Star Trek film in 2009, Paramount has finally got a Star Wars-type property on their hands and far be it from the bean counters to stop a charging juggernaut while it's dropping bags of gold out of it's butt. Hence, here comes Trek outing # 12 titled: STAR TREK: Into Darkness, because nothing's worth watching anymore unless it's sufficiently dark. Coming to theaters in May of 2013, here is the first peek at the next J.J Abrams-directed adventure featuring Kirk and company. Personally I thought the new movie should be titled "Star Trek 90210" but I think I'm just being bitter about Vulcan blowing up in that last flick. Enjoy.

Beam Me Up, Portland!

Leave it to Portland, Oregon to keep feeding us white, geeky, hipster news. The land espoused by SNL alum, Fred Armisen, to be the place where "the 90s never died" and "the tattoo ink never runs dry," has dipped a little further back into pop-culture's history to bring us a new summer pastime: Trek in the Park. Check out the video below - my apologies for the ad - for a glimpse of the Oregonian brother-sister duo, Adam and Amy Rosko, staging dramatic recreations of some of the original Star Trek's most-loved episodes to an audience of folks who are too hip to have cable.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE AND GALLERY ON CBS NEWS