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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.

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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."

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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.

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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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Nov 08 | Unreality-SF.net has interviewed Star Trerk author James Swallow about some of his upcoming projects. He talks about Titan: Synthesis and Seven Deadly Sins: The Slow Knife, as well as some forthcoming Doctor Who and Stargate stories.

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News Story

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Babylon 5 Producer J. Michael Straczynski on His Unproduced Star Trek Reboot

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By GustavoLeao / 15:10, 13 October 2008 / Star Trek: Nemesis

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Sci Fi Scanner posted a new interview with Babylon 5 producer J. Michael Straczynski, in which he talks about his proposed Star Trek reboot TV Series which was rejected by Paramount. Here are few excerpts.

Q: You once wrote a treatment for a Star Trek reboot very similar to the one J.J. Abrams is now completing.


A: Yeah Bryce Zabel and I -- another television writer -- were huge fans of the original Star Trek, and felt that it had gotten sort of diminished over the years. And we thought, "How would we do it if it was our option to do it?" So we wrote out a treatment similar to how you would reboot characters in the Marvel universe and we got it to Paramount, but at that point Paramount wasn't even williing to talk about Star Trek. Now that J.J. is doing his thing, that'll push everything further back. We just wanted to show a way to break free some of the log jam of thinking about how you do a Star Trek series.


Q: Did doing Babylon 5 foster that perspective?


A: It certainly didn't hurt, because it does take you outside the box, and lets you approach a Science Fiction concept with a more realistic perspective, which B5 was. It hewed pretty closely to what real science is, which made it a favorite of NASA astronauts and scientists and engineers. In fact there was a bulletin board at NASA that for many years had a big sign on it that said, "Never apply a Star Trek solution to a Babylon 5 problem."


Q: Did it feel like J.J. Abrams had stolen your wind?


A: My wind doesn't move that easily... I don't know J.J. personally, but I know his talent. And I have every confidence that he can pull this off. So I'm just very content to sit back and see what he does.

The full interview is here.



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mixed feeling | Report this post to moderator
By: b5b4think 1st (Odo's file, contact) @ 15:15:03 on Jan 10, 2009

I agree and both disagree that J. Michael Straczynski could do a wonderful job on a new Star Trek show. What he did on Babylon 5 was great. He was one of the first writers to say, “On the day we go to the stars we are not going there with perfection in our hearts, we will go there as flawed people. We will stay flawed as long as we are out there, and we will bring those flaws with us for every one to see. Our flaws will shine as bright as any star we touch and we are not going to stop hustling, killing, hating, rapping, cheating, or generally praying on each other just because we now have others to do all the evil things we do now, it will only give us more victims.

Rick Berman I believed did not see this, and I feel it showed in his work on Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. I feel for that reason that maybe a new vision is needed on Star Trek that is completely different then anything based on Mr. Berman’s work

Theo some might think me a traitor to the Sci. Fi. world for saying this, I was never a fan of Bryce Zabel’s Dark Skies or the shows The X- files or Millennium. So it’s just my opinion but I feel bringing in someone who wrote for any of those shows would be a mistake.

Now why I feel J. Michael Straczynski may not work on Star Trek. It is his lack of commitment. I must admit I did not watch his first work “The Real Ghostbusters” I did watch and was a fan of Crusade, and I like thousands of fans of the show have asked him to fight as hard as he can to finish what he started because we feel it died an untimely death. Instead all we hear from him is new projects and B. 5.

One of the things that kept Star Trek alive all the years between the show and the first movie, was Gene Roddenberry kept talking about it. He kept working on it wrote stories to go along with it and was committed to his work on Star Trek.

If things would have been deferent and the powers that be had seen fit to let Star Trek run it course and it had been on the air for five or seven or even ten years. Then some where down the line Roddenberry had decided it was time for “A Next Generation but that had failed, and not by his doing but because some pencil pushers had decided that thy wanted him to change things he felt were wrong and didn’t follow his dream of what Star Trek was. If Roddenberry in stead of fighting for it decided to bring back the original crew and ship, I believe Star Trek might be dead today. Not because of the lack of good shows but a lack of commitment. A commitment to go were it is hard to walk and instead take the ease way, the path of least resistance

For this reason I have mixed feeling on letting J. Michael Straczynski work on Star Trek. If things get tuff, if people don’t agree with what his vision of what Star Trek can be will he just walk away and possibly let a legend die.











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I Wouldn't trust the NASA engineer with my engines | Report this post to moderator
By: lostshaker (Odo's file, contact) @ 01:09:37 on Oct 16, 2008

"Never apply a Star Trek solution to a Babylon 5 problem"

Yes! Star Trek has its prime directive that forbids it from interfering in other's disasters.


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LOTR | Report this post to moderator
By: dark_mr_fripperton (Odo's file, contact) @ 13:55:13 on Oct 15, 2008

What amazes me and what no one ever seems to admit is just how much of B5 was ripped off from The Lord Of The Rings.

If you sit down and compare them, it's mind blowing...amazed the Tolkein estate never tried to sue HIM.


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The Chase | Report this post to moderator
By: Captain's Blog (Odo's file, contact) @ 07:46:07 on Oct 15, 2008

What he doesn't mention is that his reboot idea was basically a five year version of TNG's "The Chase". But then he probably had the idea first... :)

B5 more realistic than Trek? Barely. B5 was similar in approach on the whole. And Enterprise was slightly more real (in some ways) than B5.

--------

"I would be happy for Star Trek to come along decades later with a new group of minds. I'd love someone to say, 'Besides this one, Gene Roddenberry's was nothing!'" - Gene Roddenberry

"...I think it would be wonderful years from now to see Star Trek come back with an equally talented new cast playing Spock and Kirk and Bones and Scotty and all the rest, as they say tomorrow's things to tomorrow's generations..." - Gene Roddenberry


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How long until his lawsuit? | Report this post to moderator
By: tomba1701 (Odo's file, contact) @ 08:09:49 on Oct 14, 2008

JMS was noticably restrained in his response to the question of whether or not JJ "stole" his idea. Did he learn from his laughable accusations that DS9 ripped of his B5 ideas, or is he just keeping his powder dry to see what the movie grosses before he jumps in with a frivilous lawsuit?

--------

"Commander, laws change, depending on who's making them. But justice, is justice" - Odo, "A Man Alone"


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  • RE: How long until his lawsuit? | Report this post to moderator
    By: prometheus 59650 (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 11:06:04 on Oct 14, 2008

    I doubt he's learned much.

    To this day he's still pretty rabid on the notion that DS9 ripped him off.

    As for jumping in with a lawsuit? Entirely possible for the man. Problem is for him that his ego and appreciation for his own work far outstrips his actual ability.

    B5 has a few good lines and a few good elements, but seasons 1 and 5 were pretty horrid. And throughout he'd build to this big, apex moments in the show, then prove himself unable to write anything that did them justice.

    --------

    "We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of our culture." ---Pastor Ray Mummert speaking of those who favor Darwinian Evolution over Intelligent Design.

    "If this is your God, he's not very impressive. He has so many psychological problems; he's so insecure. He demands worship every seven days. He goes out and creates faulty Humans and then blames them for his own mistakes. He's a pretty poor excuse for a Supreme Being." ---Gene Roddenberry


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ugh | Report this post to moderator
By: Terry212 (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 06:42:53 on Oct 14, 2008

What a great bag of wind. Ugh. MJS can't write dialogue and his 5 season epic was just "Who Mourns for Adonais?" stretched out. If brevity is the soul of wit, what is stretching 45 minutes out into 5 years?

Trek in the Marvel Universe. What a fantastic was to kill it. Gimmie a break. I know there was a comic book tie-in or something, but I do not need to see Spock sneaking up and neck pinching Wolverine or Dr. McCoy telling Professor X he can walk again with the aid of 23d Century medicine. Blech.

I bet the sign at NASA was posted by some sychophant in his cubicle.

--------

Click here to check out my band, ego tree , and the Ego Tree site at myspace. Listen to/buy the CD for $9.99! ALSO AVAILABLE ON iTUNES!!


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  • RE: ugh | Report this post to moderator
    By: OV-101 (Odo's file, contact) @ 08:46:15 on Oct 14, 2008

    I actually liked B5 when it was on TV. I enjoyed it even more when I watched the reruns and on DVD. So, I tend to be a fan of the show. Having said that, I agree with your comments. I find JMS a gusty fellow myself. I am glad that he was not given the opportunity to be involved with the show. It would have been the real Titanic. "Just ignore the ice".

    Can't speak for the NASA folks but I did work for NASA, as a contractor, for several years. Most of the scifi geeks would have agreed with you, even the B5 fans. But, that is just my experience.



    --------

    "Life's tough. It's tougher if you're stupid."
    -- John Wayne

    "Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence."
    --Dr. Leonard McCoy

    "I'm a politician, which means I am a cheat and a liar, and when I am not kissing babies I am stealing their lollipops."
    -- Jeffrey Pelt, The Hunt for Red October

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  • Trek in the Marvel Universe | Report this post to moderator
    By: GustavoLeao (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 06:59:43 on Oct 14, 2008

    Hey Terry, didnt you read Marvel's STAR TREK X-MEN crossover comic books ? They are hilarious ! LOL

    Gustavo

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    • RE: Trek in the Marvel Universe | Report this post to moderator
      By: Terry212 (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 07:37:55 on Oct 14, 2008

      Quote:
      Hey Terry, didnt you read Marvel's STAR TREK X-MEN crossover comic books ? They are hilarious ! LOL

      Gustavo

      I recall seeing them and, as in my post, I know they existed...but they strike me as a terrible idea for a comic. That said, comic book publishers are a bit whorish when it comes to crossovers to get people interested in a comic book. To reboot the Star Trek universe and wipe the canon clean in order to redo Trek in the Marvel Universe, though, is such a bad idea I don't know what to say.

      I see that JMS wrote the script for the new Clint Eastwood drama, the Changeling, a period piece based on a true story in the 1920s. I simply can't fathom it. If JMS could write ANYTHING, though, it would be mock Humphrey Bogart 1920s dialogue where he didn't have to think up a plot because it was based on a true story. And he's got real actors to try and make it work.

      --------

      Click here to check out my band, ego tree , and the Ego Tree site at myspace. Listen to/buy the CD for $9.99! ALSO AVAILABLE ON iTUNES!!


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      • The Ultimates Reboot | Report this post to moderator
        By: GustavoLeao (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 09:00:59 on Oct 14, 2008

        Well, maybe is my bad english, but I dont think JMS was saying that he would reboot Star Trek and to redo Trek in the Marvel Universe, but he was saying that his reboot would be similar to the Marvel Universe reboot called The Ultimates. Doing to Kirk and Spock what Marvel did to Captain America and the Avengers and so forth. Just my two cents, of course.

        Gustavo

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        gl2000@uol.com.br


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        • RE: The Ultimates Reboot | Report this post to moderator
          By: Terry212 (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 09:03:04 on Oct 14, 2008

          Quote:
          Well, maybe is my bad english, but I dont think JMS was saying that he would reboot Star Trek and to redo Trek in the Marvel Universe, but he was saying that his reboot would be similar to the Marvel Universe reboot called The Ultimates. Doing to Kirk and Spock what Marvel did to Captain America and the Avengers and so forth. Just my two cents, of course.

          Gustavo

          oh, god. You're right. I read too fast. I just never thought of the Marvel movies as reboots, really.

          --------

          Click here to check out my band, ego tree , and the Ego Tree site at myspace. Listen to/buy the CD for $9.99! ALSO AVAILABLE ON iTUNES!!


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          • RE: The Ultimates Reboot | Report this post to moderator
            By: Captain's Blog (Odo's file, contact) @ 07:42:19 on Oct 15, 2008

            Changeling? Is he finally acknowledging DS9's greatness? :)

            --------

            "I would be happy for Star Trek to come along decades later with a new group of minds. I'd love someone to say, 'Besides this one, Gene Roddenberry's was nothing!'" - Gene Roddenberry

            "...I think it would be wonderful years from now to see Star Trek come back with an equally talented new cast playing Spock and Kirk and Bones and Scotty and all the rest, as they say tomorrow's things to tomorrow's generations..." - Gene Roddenberry


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