Your Daily Dose

Yes, you read that right: Spocks.

And StarTrek.com brings you the logical conclusion.

Zachary Quinto has been making the awards show rounds on behalf of his film Margin Call, which he starred in and co-produced, and which just received an Oscar nomination in the Best Original Screenplay category.

E! caught up with him the other day at the Producers Guild Awards in Beverly Hills and got him to talk about the sequel to Star Trek (2009) for a few moments. “It’s been really great,” he said. “We’ve been shooting for a week and a half, and it’s been an incredible return to that world.” And, speaking of his new co-stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Weller and Alice Eve, Quinto stated, “All of them have folded in so beautifully and brought a whole new level of intelligence and sensitivity.”

As for the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy tweeted the following message this morning: “I’ve been invited to visit the set of the new Star Trek film. Hope to do that next week. LLAP.”

What do you think? Will J.J. Abrams and Quinto convince Nimoy to don Vulcan ears and make a cameo?

To read our recent interview with Quinto, click HERE and HERE, and to read our recent interview with Nimoy, click HERE, HERE and HERE.

I am a Star Trek nerd. I collect Star Trek stuff, I jumped from a perfectly good helicopter in my Command Gold Star Trek shirt flashing the live long and prosper hand sign (the best gang sign in the universe), I actually feel the urge to (and have at times) stood up when the Star Trek theme plays on TV or at the movies, I have several Star Trek ring tones for my phone – some of which I have spent much of my own time crafting.

Years a go a friend gave me the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek. And ya know…the book speaks the truth!

Each person or each species, no matter how alien, has the right to live their lives as they wish. (As long as they’re not trying to take over the galaxy or eat you or something.)

Everyone has a role in life. Sulu is the navigator. Uhura is the communications specialist. Do your own job and the ship will function more smoothly.

Whatever you are doing, answer a distress call. The most important time to help someone is when they need it.

If you mess something up, it’s your responsibility to make things right again. (Say you disrupt history and cause the Nazis to win World War II. To correct matters, you have to let Joan Collins walk in front of a car even though you’re in love with her.)

The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.

If you can keep your head in a crisis you’ve got a fighting chance.

The unknown is not to be feared. It is to be examined, understood and accepted.
Close friends become family and family is the true center of the universe.

End every episode with a smile.

And lastly, with time and patience you can even learn something from The Next Generation.

Recently David Borgenicht, President of Quirk Books reminded me that you CAN learn a lot from Star Trek.

Damn it, Jim, read on

Lady Magdalene’s, a new film starring Nichelle Nichols, is available… for free. Granted it’s just ok – I mean it’s being released on YouTube.

But if you’re a Trekkie like me…you kinda like to pass along projects by TOS stars no matter how lame they are.

Here’s the synopsis of the film, provided by the film’s production company, Jesulu: Nichelle Nichols plays Maggie, the colorful and determined madam of a legal Nevada brothel — relocated from New Orleans after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — and in tax default to the IRS. However the talented but disgraced federal agent, Jack Goldwater (Ethan Keogh), sent as the federal receiver to manage the brothel, soon uncovers evidence that Lady Magdalene’s is being used by al-Qaeda operatives as a meetup for a plot leading to the tunnels under Hoover Dam. But Agent Goldwater and a female federal agent he soon meets up with (Susan Smythe) can’t figure out what al-Qaeda is really doing until they seek help from Lady Magdalene and the working women at the brothel.

See the free YouTube version

Zachary Quinto, in part one of Star Trek.com‘s exclusive interview, talked about his first experience playing Spock in Star Trek (2009), about his decision to come out as a gay man, and about his latest film, the thriller Margin Call, which will open on Friday.

Today, in the second half of our conversation, Quinto chats more about Margin Call, fills us in on his other upcoming projects, which include a recurring guest role on the series American Horror Story, as well as several films, shows and graphic novels in the works from his production company, Before the Door. He also shared his thoughts on the Spock-Uhura relationship as seen in Star Trek (2009) and expressed his desire to get started on the next Trek feature.

Read long and prosper

Zachary Quinto has been in the news the past few days. Perhaps you’ve heard: Star Trek (2009)’s Mr. Spock has a new movie coming out, called Margin Call, and, very quietly, he just came out, announcing to the world that he is a gay man. StarTrek.com caught up with Quinto for an interview a couple of days after the big announcement. Over the course of the conversation, he shared his thoughts on Spock and his hopes for the next feature, as well as whether or not now is the time for a gay character on Star Trek. He also talked about Margin Call, which will open on Friday, his upcoming stint on the series American Horror Story, and previewed other projects in the works from his production company, Before the Door. Below is part one of our exclusive conversation, and visit here again tomorrow to read part two.

Read Long and Prosper

Star Trek officially debuted 45 years ago this week, with the episode “The Man Trap.” No one quite realized it at the time — how could they? — but life would never be the same after that. Gene Roddenberry’s so-called “Wagon Train to the Stars” went on to become iconic, one of the most important and influential entertainment franchises in history.

Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei and Walter Koenig have graciously agreed to help StarTrek.com commemorate Star Trek’s 45th anniversary by each answering several questions in person, by phone or via email.

And here’s question number five:

What’s your most cherished Star Trek keepsake?

Nimoy: I cherish the pair of Spock ears which are encased in a frame and sit on my desk. They’re last pair I wore on The Original Series.

Nichols: Uhura’s original earpiece… so lovingly presented to me on the last day of shooting in 1969 by Prop Master Supreme Irving Feinberg. Subsequently, I was presented with a second earpiece in 2009 under a display globe that reads “Nichelle Nichols – Uhura – Thank you for communicating your special message of love and peace.”

Koenig: The only thing I have, really, is the leather outfit from The Voyage Home. And I’m trying to sell that! But that’s the only I have. I have the full outfit — the pants, the jacket.

Takei: The Captain Sulu uniform from Star Trek IV. They gave me the uniform. I thought, “I should not keep this in my closet. I need to share it with a larger public.” I’m a board member and former chairman of the board of the Japanese-American National Museum. So I donated the uniform to the museum, and we got a lot of Star Trek traffic. They may not have been interested in Japanese-American history, but they came to see the Captain Sulu uniform.

Shatner: You know, I don’t have any. I’ve been remiss on any of that kind of thing.

Star Trek officially debuted 45 years ago today, on September 8, 1966, with the episode “The Man Trap.” No one quite realized it at the time — how could they? — but life would never be the same after that. Gene Roddenberry’s so-called “Wagon Train to the Stars” went on to become iconic, one of the most important and influential entertainment franchises in history.

Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei and Walter Koenig have graciously agreed to help StarTrek.com commemorate Star Trek’s 45th anniversary by each answering several questions in person, by phone or via email.

And here’s today’s question:

When did it truly hit you that Star Trek had become a cultural icon?

Shatner: I was skiing at Mammoth, a ski area up here (in California). Somebody schussed up to me and asked if I’d seen this funny series of shots from the show that was playing at a local bar. I went to see it and they were the bloopers, the things where we make idiots of ourselves on film. It was a blooper reel, and I thought, “What is this doing out there three or four years later?” That’s when I knew.

Koenig: I’d heard the stories about the picketing between the first year and second year of TOS and then I saw it between the second year and the third year. I thought that was really quite amazing. But when I heard we were cancelled I was pretty well convinced that was the end of it. The resurrection of Star Trek was insidious, almost. It was a slow, growing thing that happened over time. So it was hard to say there was any one thing that made me think we were back and going to be doing more shows and movies, etc. But if I had to say there one was one moment, it’d be that big New York City convention, which I did not appear at, but every other actor did, as did writers and wardrobe people and others. That was the late 70’s, and over 30,000 people showed up at a hotel for it. The crowds were around the block. When you start to hear about those kinds of massive numbers, you have to believe something is afoot, and that’s when I started to think maybe we weren’t done. But that’s pretty much in hindsight.

Nichols: The first time that NASA sent a scientist/representative, Dr. Jesco von Puttkamer, to attend a Star Trek convention, which became the first time that over 5,000 fans descended upon Chicago’s Hilton Hotel to celebrate the Wonderment and Promise of a Star Trek Universe in our lifetime.

Nimoy: Within the first two months after we went on the air the mail for Spock was arriving in special delivery sacks. I knew something magical was happening.

Takei: I guess that would be when I saw that Star Trek conventions were going international. The first convention I did in England was in Leicester. Then there was that huge convention in Germany, FedCon. When it started going international like that, that’s when I knew there was more ahead for us.

Star Trek officially debuted on September 8, 1966, with the episode “The Man Trap.” No one quite realized it at the time — how could they? — but life would never be the same after that. Gene Roddenberry’s so-called “Wagon Train to the Stars” went on to become iconic, one of the most important and influential entertainment franchises in history.

Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei and Walter Koenig have graciously agreed to help StarTrek.com commemorate Star Trek’s 45th anniversary by each answering several questions in person, by phone or via email.

And here’s question number two:

What’s your most enduring Gene Roddenberry anecdote?

Koenig: My most enduring memory of Gene is just when he would appear on the set with a big smile. We always thought it was a special moment because he wasn’t there every day. He always came on the set, it seemed to me, with some ebullience and some good feelings. It seemed to me to always be a positive feeling.

Takei: Right after he was divorced from his wife, Evelyn, Gene had a house in the Hollywood Hills with a pool. And he threw a party. He went in for a swim, as did a few other people, and as did I. Most of the people were gathered at one end of the pool, talking poolside, and Gene was at the other end, the quiet end of the pool. I swam up to him and started chatting. I didn’t come out to him, but I talked to him about some of the conversations I’d been having with fans, who’d said that we were dealing with diversity – racial diversity, ancestral diversity – but not the diversity of sexual orientation. So I didn’t speak personally, but I spoke in terms of the issue. And he said, yes, he was well aware of that, but that he was dealing with issues that were pretty controversial, as they were, and he said that the episode in which Bill and Nichelle kissed was blacked out in the southern parts of the country. His point was that he needed to keep Star Trek on and that the parameters of what he could get away with were known, and that if he crossed that too far over that threshold, that the opportunities to make the statements he was making would be lost. So he was making a practical decision and basically taking his shots.

Nichols: That’s a tough one for me to answer because what he meant to me is very personal. He was a giant among men and yet so humble with his friends. An incredible GIANT of a man who changed the universe and continues to do so with his dream of what we should, could, and WILL continue to become… the best that we can possibly be. He will always be missed and always loved by those who KNOW! Gene Roddenberry Jr. (Rod Roddenberry), Gene & Majel’s gift to the world, carries on the Dream… As I loved his parents, I love him as a son… It’s okay, Kyle… I know you’re my one and only!

Shatner: Gene trying to make me wear what became known as the IDIC.

Nimoy: Mr. Roddenberry could take a troubled script handed in by a writer and do wonderful rewrite work.

Star Trek officially debuted on September 8, 1966, with the episode “The Man Trap.” No one quite realized it at the time — how could they? — but life would never be the same after that. Gene Roddenberry’s so-called “Wagon Train to the Stars” went on to become iconic, one of the most important and influential entertainment franchises in history.

Sadly, DeForest Kelley and James Doohan — and, of course, Roddenberry — are no longer with us, but Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei and Walter Koenig are, and they’ve graciously agreed to help StarTrek.com commemorate Star Trek’s 45th anniversary by each answering several questions in person, by phone or via email.

Who was Star Trek’s unsung hero, the person who rarely gets his or her due for helping to make Star Trek a legendary franchise?

Nichols: Jerry Finnerman – Cinematographer who with his meticulous and sensitive lighting created the Uhura “Look.”

Nimoy: Bob Justman and Gene Coon were unsung heroes. They worked as producers to get the shows done, and Gene Coon did some great writing. You never hear them mentioned. Also, Fred Phillips, who did the Spock ears and makeup so brilliantly.

Shatner: Gene Coon. He was definitely unsung.

Takei: I think that would be Bob Justman. He was always in the shadows, but he was always there. And I think his presence is indelibly woven into Star Trek.

Koenig: I think Nick Meyer’s writing was superb, and I think the most quality we achieved was when he was in control of the writing. I’m not sure we’d be talking now if The Wrath of Khan wasn’t as successful as it was.