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Nov 23 | Chuck returns to NBC with a special two-hour show on Sunday, Jan 10, 2010, before returning to its regular time slot, Mondays at 8pm on the following night. It's return to prime time television can be attributed to a successful fan renewnal campaign last year. CHUCK is a one-hour, action-comedy series that follows Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi, "Less Than Perfect") -- a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government's most vital secret agent. This upcoming season will include some special guest stars, including Brandon Routh of "Superman Returns" who will play CIA agent Daniel Shaw in an episode, and the addition of SUBWAY restaurant as a major advertiser to the show. Chuck averaged a 4.0/6 rating last season, about eight percent better than the recently cancelled "Trauma". Ratings-challenged Heroes moves back an hour when Chuck returns on Monday nights. STAR TREK VOYAGER's Robert Duncan McNeill serves Chuck as a supervising producer and director.
Nov 17 | Originally hired as co-executive producer to help with the second half of the show's first season, Kevin Murphy has now taken the reins of Caprica, the Battlestar Galactica prequel on Syfy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He now serves as an executive producer along with Ronald D. Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson and oversees the day-to-day functions of the show.
Nov 12 | Star Trek star Zachary Quinto is loosely attached to star in the romantic dramedy Whirligig, reports Risky Business.Quinto would play the lead role in the independent Canadian film, which is aiming to shoot early next year. The movie centers on a man who, in a misguided attempt to woo an older woman, befriends the woman's adopted son.Chaz Thorne is directing the pic, based on a screenplay by Michael Amo, creator of the Canadian supernatural series "The Listener."
Nov 11 | The CNS Foundation, is hosting an on-line charity auction at www.charitybuzz.com. One of the items they are auctioning is a signed movie poster of the new Star Trek movie which has all the cast members and writers. The president of our organization is Carol Abrams, JJ's mother, and she arranged for the donation from Bad Robot Production Company. J.J. Abrams is also a major donor to their organization. The funds raised will go to help find a cure to neurological disorders in children. The auction link is here.
Nov 10 | Candice Bergen, Charles Lisanby, Don Pardo, Gene Roddenberry, Tom and Dick Smothers and Bob Stewart have been selected as the next inductees into the Television Academy's Hall of Fame. They will be honored at a Jan. 20 ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel. "This year's inductees have challenged and shaped popular culture, changed television for the better and entertained us royally while doing so," TV Academy Chairman-CEO John Shaffner said. More info at the Hollywood Reporter
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By GustavoLeao / 03:54, 4 July 2008 / Trek Books
Star Trek: New Frontier #4
Review by Patrick Hayes aka PatBorg
The cover: Stephen Thompson provides the sole cover this time and it's a classic bit of layout: dueling Mackenzie Calhouns. "But which one is the real one?!" Should the "Not the" Mackenzie be more attractive than the "real" Mackenzie? I don't think so. The crosshatching and the coloring remind me of a Rob Zombie CD more than a Trek cover. I like the layout, but don't like the job done. Overall grade: C+
The story: Nice recap on the inside cover catches up anyone who's new to this Peter David saga. You get some big action, surprise appearances, and the humor that you can always expect from David. That said, this issue is pretty much a confrontation episode with no solutions. The real Edward Jellico has a much bigger part this time, and, dare I say, he's much more likable here than he was on television. The "Not the" Mackenzie is a good character, but his villainy doesn't really exist yet, or, perhaps, it won't at all. Is he really evil? Don't know yet since motivations aren't really known. He's bad, but the really ee-vil character is shown on page 10. This is going to be tremendously confusing for anyone who hasn't read any (all?) of the New Frontier novels. I knew how serious this character's appearance was going to complicate the plot, but I can't begin to think what a reader of just this comic series will make of it. I am also hoping that what happens on pages 12 and 13 will be important to the "A" plot of this series, while so far it's just been interesting, but not necessary. Now David has more than once had me worried in a novel, only to pull it out of a nose dive by proving that there was a reason for everything that's happened. But it's getting late, Peter. There's only one more issue to go. The last page is a good cliffhanger, but "You got some splainning to do!" My fingers are crossed. Overall grade: A
The art: Stephen Thompson is improving, or maybe he's just growing on me...Page 1: good. Page 2, good as well. Page 3, Jellico's face (that I've complained of in the past) is very good! Page 4, panel 1 doesn't work for me. All I can think of is someone from Fox News is punching Bill Clinton. Rest of the page is fine. Page 5, panel 3 has the real Jellico aging about 15 years since he hit the floor. He looks like Mr. Drummond from Different Strokes. The rest of the book is fine, though Captain Mueller looks as though she has Mackenzie's scar and page 12's "Lady Cwan" was attacked by a cat in the second panel. I really think that Thompson's artwork would be a lot better if he eased up on the shading/crosshatching he's putting on people's faces. It's really hurting his work. Look at page 11: fantastic. Perfect layout and pencils. It could have been a fiasco, but Thompson pulls it off well. Maybe he shouldn't ink his own work, I don't know. I do know that the art has been improving and I'll raise my grade again. Overall grade: B
The colors: Leonard O'Grady is back on his own and he makes some pretty dramatic choices this time when someone gets hit. Page 4 has the backgrounds going a vibrant purple when a character is punched or kicked. It's almost a little too shocking compared to the other panels on the page, or even when looking at it with page 5. It works better on 14, since it is a bloody moment, and on page 21 -- Boy, this was a bloody issue, wasn't it? I really liked pages 9 though 11. 10 could have been tricky to pull off with that "giant head" but it's done really well. I'm always a sucker for Tron blue. The two pages which are just electric (no pun on previous comment meant) are 12 and 13. They just really stand out. Maybe it's because the characters seem to glow against the holosuite background, or it's the pinks of Kalinda, but these two pages just seemed really bright. Overall grade: A
The lettering: Robbie Robbins doesn't have to much to do, as there's only one sound effect (page 21), with the rest of the book being dialogue. Part of the fun of a comic book is in the sounds, and without them something just seems missing to me. Page 1 put me in the Serenity universe, rather than that of Star Trek. Some humor could have been had with an effect in panel 4 of page 6. Page 10 could have been amped up with a sound. I've written about this before, but I like sound effects in my comics. It doesn't need to be Don Martin presents Star Trek, but some would be better. I can't blame Robbins if he's not instructed to put some in. Overall grade: A
The final line: Things have improved since the first issue, which is always good. There's some story that I'm looking forward to hearing explained. Always leave them wanting more is working here. Overall grade: B+
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