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Sep 01 | George Takei will have a cameo in the new season of The Big Bang Theory. TV Squad reports that the former Star Trek actor will appear in an episode alongside guest star Katee Sackhoff. The show's executive producer Bill Prady suggested that Takei and Sackhoff will play different sides of Wolowitz's conscience as he considers reuniting with his ex-girlfriend Bernadette (Melissa Rauchberg).He explained: "George Takei plays himself, and he's the other person guiding Wolowitz in his thoughts as he tries to figure out what to do about Bernadette."
Aug 24 | Vulture has learned that Joe Hill's comic Locke & Key will no longer be coming to theaters, but instead will be adapted for television by Steven Spielberg, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Josh Friedman. Distributed by IDW Publishing, Locke & Key tells of Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them... and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all. Friedman ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") will write and produce. Kurtzman and Orci recently signed a deal with 20th Century Fox TV, so the studio will end up producing with Spielberg's DreamWorks TV.
Aug 18 | Jack Bender has signed on direct 7 Minutes in Heaven for Paramount, reports Heat Vision.The film, based on an original idea from Bender, tells the story of two teenagers who, upon returning from a round of the titular game, find all of their friends dead. J.J. Abrams will produce through Bad Robot, now at the stage of finding a writer to move the idea towards a full script.
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By GustavoLeao / 07:25, 24 October 2009 / General Genre/SciFi
THE WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION: GENESIS II (1973) / PLANET EARTH (1974)
Released by Warner Home Entertainment
Reviewed for TrekWeb.com by Bill Williams
GENESIS II (1973)
1 disc / Running time: 74 minutes
MSRP $19.95
ISBN # 883316203392
Date of release: September 22, 2009
PLANET EARTH (1974)
1 disc / Running time: 74 minutes
MSRP $19.95
ISBN # 883316204078
Date of release: September 22, 2009
In the 1970's there was a time where there was no STAR TREK beyond reruns of the series and a collection of animated episodes. Novels and comics sporadically appeared, and the first fan conventions had just begun to occur. There were also rumblings of bringing STAR TREK back either as a feature film or a second television series. Still, Gene Roddenberry had other ideas in mind, other concepts he wanted to explore both in film and on television.
One of Roddenberry's first post-TREK projects he came up with was GENESIS II, which explored the human condition on Earth in the not-too-distant future. Written and produced by Roddenberry, and directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, GENESIS II follows the story of Dylan Hunt (played here by Alex Cord), a NASA research scientist who volunteers in 1979 to undergo an experimental procedure of suspended animation that, if successful, would allow astronauts to endure long trips in space without dealing with the aging process. After an unfortunate cave-in, miners find Hunt still alive after 154 years and return him to life. As Hunt adjusts to living on a transformed Earth, he discovers himself in the middle of a conflict between the peace-loving citizens of Pax and the militaristic Tyranians, the latter of whom is led by an attractive, duplicitous mutant (Mariette Hartley) with two hearts (and two navels!), both of which are ice cold - and Hunt must uncover the secret plot at heart.
GENESIS II has a number of lofty ideas that Roddenberry attempts to present within the 74-minute movie, among them the then-near future of Earth in 1979, peace at all costs, war, reverse sexuality where women dominate and men are the slaves, torture devices called stims (which apparently mirror our own modern-day drug stimulants), and nuclear technology gone awry. In bringing this story to life, Roddenberry relied on a number of well-known actors from TREK to flesh out key supporting roles - including Hartley, Ted Cassidy (Ruk from "What are Little Girls Made Of?"), Percy Rodriguez (Commodore Stone from "Court Martial"), and even Majel Barrett Roddenberry. As Dylan Hunt, Alex Cord brings an understated performance to his character, attempting to adjust to his new surroundings while attempting to uncover what's happening within the Tyranian realm. He does fairly well with the material he's given, but in my mind he just isn't believable in the lead role.
When GENESIS II failed to sell, Roddenberry tried again, revisiting his concept and renaming it PLANET EARTH. Produced in 1974 by Robert Justman, written by Roddenberry and Juanita Bartlett, and directed by veteran TREK director Marc Daniels, PLANET EARTH finds Dylan Hunt (now played by John Saxon) leading a Pax science team against a team of Confederacy marauders who attack Hunt's team for some unknown purpose. As Hunt and his team investigates the mystery, it takes them to an Amazon-like society where women rule, and where its leader (Diana Muldaur) wants Hunt - but for what purpose?
I have to admit, while still cheesy PLANET EARTH plays much stronger than its predecessor. Saxon is much more believable than Alex Cord, possessing a more natural leadership quality in the role. Roddenberry integrates numerous concepts, including the religious and the psychic (both of which would play integral parts in later TREK series), palm-sized computers (which are not too far separated from our PDAs and iPhones), a reverse take on women's liberation and male enslavement (later revisited in the NEXT GENERATION episode "Angel One"), slave auctions, and more. While Roddenberry and Bartlett have a number of good concepts in hand, it still cannot dismiss the fact that there's a cheesiness about it. As with GENESIS II, PLANET EARTH also failed to sell. Roddenberry would visit the concept once more, under the title STRANGE NEW WORLD - but in this case, as in baseball, three strikes and he's out.
Now, both pilots have been recently released for the first time on DVD from Warner Home Video as part of its Archive Collection of memorable movies and television series. Both GENESIS II and PLANET EARTH have been released in single-disc volumes, struck from the master print negatives and presented in their original 1.37:1 broadcast aspect ratio and Dolby 2.0 sound. Each pilot is divided into chapters that occur every ten minutes, similar to what is utilized on DVD+R recorders. Colors are rich, and the attention to detail is very good for both releases. There are no other features on either disc - no bonus features, no audio commentary, no subtitles.
Having GENESIS II and PLANET EARTH on DVD for the first time is quite interesting, because we get to see more of Gene Roddenberry's thoughts on mankind in the future. And if the Dylan Hunt character sounds familiar to all of you ANDROMEDA fans, it should! I only hope that Warner Home Video gets a chance to release more of Roddenberry's pilots and forgotten TV work on DVD down the road, among them STRANGE NEW WORLD, POLICE STORY, THE LONG HUNT OF APRIL SAVAGE, and THE QUESTOR TAPES.
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