Review: World Enough And Time

Star Trek: New Voyages, after having technical issues during the scheduled premiere, and subsequent loss of the feeds, finally was able to release the latest episode of the series World Enough and Time.

World enough and Time Starring George Takei as the Alumni guest, along with a cameo by Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand is an episode based around the memories of now Captain Sulu on board the USS Excelsior remembering a mission, and a life...

During a rescue mission, The Enterprise proceeds into the neutral zone, and is met by three Romulan vessels who triangulate, and destroy the ship Kirk and crew try to rescue, and are discovered to be in the neutral zone, and the Romulan Warbirds turn to pursue. Enterprise destroys the warbirds, but end up in a multi-layered time shift, where upon Sulu is commissioned by Kirk to take a shuttle, and retrieve the data one of the warbird's computer cores.

Sulu, and a Computer tech named Lisa shoot across the area to the disabled Warbird, and gain the information, only to encounter major problems, and Kirk calls for Scotty to beam them both back, even though the conditions are dicey at best. Scotty locks on, but is only to bring back Sulu Fully, and he's aged 30 years, but was only gone 30 seconds! But, there my be hope for a second person to be saved! And Scotty locks on to a signal, and beams aboard Alana...Sulu and Lisa's adult daughter. Alana is also not fully materialized, so she's being held in suspension between real world, and the pattern buffer that is keeping her live.

As the story unfolds, Alana seems to be tied to the anomaly, and to save the ship, they must try to retrieve the data Sulu recorded, but Sulu just can't remember even with the aid of Dr. McCoy, and some "medical cocktails" he mixed to jog the memory. Spock and Scotty work on a way to release the ship that fails, and end up with 32 minutes to find out that Alana is wholly tied to the anomaly, and could never be freed. The only way to get the ship out of danger is to use an old copy of Sulu's pattern, taken just before he was beamed back to the ship during the beginning of the episode. We'll leave the rest for you to see...

This was one of the best episodes produced to date, and seems to only get better with each new show coming down the pipe. Kudo's to James Cawley, and the gang for a great action packed, well told story, and an ending that was WELL WORTH the wait!

To catch World Enough and time, you can see it either via video stream (Max 300 users at a time) or download as a bit torrent file for viewing!

BSG Split?!?!?!?

Written by: Michael Hickerson (SoSF Staff Journalist)

First “Flash Gordon” now this….

According to reports from the “Battlestar Galactica” panels at DragonCon, it appears SCI FI is considering splitting the final season of the hit show into two halves…with a long wait in between. If the rumor is true, SCI FI would air the first ten episodes of season four in Febuary of 2008 and then take a hiatus until February of 2009 to air the final ten episodes, according to a report at Buddy TV.

Before you come completely unglued and go Cylon on your co-workers and friends, remember this is just a rumor coming out of DragonCon. We’ve had no official confirmation from The SCI FI Channel that they would do this or wouldn’t do this.

Hopefully, if SCI FI is considering this move, the swell of fan protest might cause them to reconsider the position or realize that ten episodes a year just isn’t enough for the fandom. And how they could easily destroy the momentum and goodwill the fans and critics have given them for “Battlestar Galactica.”

Awww Frack! NBC Pulling Offerings From iTunes...

In a report posted on TV Guide.com, NBC-Universal is said to "not be renewing its fall contract" to release shows like Battlestar Galatica, 30 Rock, and USA Network's Psych along with the rest of their digital offerings, which total 40% of all sales on iTunes.

Though negotiations are continuing, the primary issue is said to be pricing-iTunes wanting to keep the .99 and 1.99 pricing currently listed, NBCU wants to offer different packages, at different price points.

A VP at iTunes has said "We are disappointed to see NBC leave iTunes because we would not agree to their dramatic price increase," then revealed that all NBC-Universal shows would be removed from the library at the onset of the current fall season.

We'll keep you updated as the story unfolds...

Billingsley to Join 24...

John Billingsley (Phlox-ENT) has been reported to be joining the cast of 24, Fox's action thriller starring Keifer Sutherland. Billingsley's character, called "Latham" will be a recurring role for the trek actor, although the rest of the details are being kept tightly under wraps until the 7th season premiere in January '08.

Look for 24 on you local Fox stations!

Holodeck Comming Soon?

Source: Slice of Sci-Fi
Written by: Sam

A technology dubbed “autostereoscopic light field display” makes the claim it is able to present interactive 3D graphics to multiple simultaneous viewers 360 degrees around the display.

The USC developers of the device — Andrew Jones, Ian McDowall, Hideshi Yamada, Mark Bolas and Paul Debevec — describe it this way in their abstract:

The display consists of a high-speed video projector, a spinning mirror covered by a holographic diffuser, and FPGA circuitry to decode specially rendered DVI video signals. The display uses a standard programmable graphics card to render over 5,000 images per second of interactive 3D graphics, projecting 360-degree views with 1.25 degree separation up to 20 updates per second.

We describe the system’s projection geometry and its calibration process, and we present a multiple-center-of-projection rendering technique for creating perspective-correct images from arbitrary viewpoints around the display. Our projection technique allows correct vertical perspective and parallax to be rendered for any height and distance when these parameters are known, and we demonstrate this effect with interactive raster graphics using a tracking system to measure the viewer’s height and distance. We further apply our projection technique to the display of photographed light fields with accurate horizontal and vertical parallax.

The display was highlighted at the opening of the new USC Stevens Institute for Innovation.

Zoë Saldana May Be The Next Uhura...

According to TrekMovie.com, Sources close to the J.J. Abrams Production team for Star Trek 11, Zoë Saldana (”Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl”) has been offered the role of Natoya Uhura, the communications officer portrayed for 40+ years by Nichelle Nichols.

If the offer pans out, that gives us three of the bridge crew...But we're still wondering who's gonna play Kirk!

'The Helena Cronicles' Announced

Areakt Productions, has announced a second new series to debt in 2008!

Star Trek: The Helena Chronicles will be a sister series to Odyssey and based around a ship seen in the 6th and 7th seasons based out of Hidden Frontier's DS12.

Starring Sharon Savene as Captain Theresa Faisal, and Adam Browne as Commander Jorian Dao, the series has a fall 2007 production start, with the release of the first of 3 episodes for season one in 2008.

Keep an eye out for the new series at the Hidden Frontier website, or keep your browser pointed here for future updates!

The 'Odyssey' Begins!

Areakt Pictures, in association with Hidden Frontier Productions is in deep production of the first season of the new series Star Trek: Odyssey starring Bobby Rice as Lt. Ro Nevin, and a host of cast members from the now final Hidden Frontier series which ended in May of this year.

Odyssey will pick up where HF left off, exploring the Andromeda Galaxy.

Look for updates on Odyssey here, or at the Hidden Frontier website!

New Voyages to air "Blood and Fire"

Back on June 10, David Gerrold called "It's a Wrap" to the latest episode that's now in post-production for the new voyages crew titled Blood and Fire, which totaled 100+ pages, and was shot in 12 days of principal photography.

Guesting on this episode are Bobby Rice, who was part of the Star Trek: Hidden Frontier series, and now starring in Star Trek: Odyssey and very special guest star Denise Crosby, playing the role of Dr. Jenna Yar!

The teaser from the site says "Pursued and damaged by repeated Klingon attacks, the crew of the Enterprise must respond to the distress call from a Federation research ship. In a matter of hours the ship and crew will be consumed by a nearby star and the crew of the Enterprise will be consumed by an mysterious horror that threatens both ships as the Klingons watch and wait."

Watch for a fall release of this episode!

World Enough and Time Now Available!

Star Trek: New Voyages has announced the release of their latest episode to the public!

In an article on the site, it states that " Scotty's been working double-shifts to restore the video stream for the newest Star Trek: New Voyages episode, World Enough and Time, starring George Takei."

After having a mass influx of over 100,000 + visitors to their site during the announced release, the team at New Voyages has spent the last 10 days re-establishing the feed, and with the help of the DAVE school, and Newtek, Scotty's worked his magic again.

While the limit now is only 300 viewers at a time on the feed, The episode is now available for streaming on the site.

Look for our review to be comming soon!

Star Trek Movie News

This year's ComicCon was ripe with news for Trek fans the world over...

JJ Abrams, along with Alex Kurtzman Roberto Orci The production team for the newest movie in the franchise, have announced casting for the Role of Spock.

Zachary Quinto, famous for his role as "Sylar" in Heroes will take the role as young Spock in the movie, and Leonard Nimoy will reprise the role he'd made famous 40 years ago as the "older" Spock.

Nimoy, who joined Abrams, and Quinto at the panel at ComicCon said that it was only "Logical" that he was part of the cast, and the production for the film...

Mr. Abrams also did talk about the reason for William Shatner's absence form the film briefly before the wrap-up, saying farewell for now, and that more would be coming in the future.

We'll keep you posted as more information arives...

Fan Film Anyone?

Here around the studio/hacienda of late, we’ve been watching a lot of Star Trek… More specifically fan based productions.

Star Trek: New Voyages, and Star Trek: Hidden Frontier are just the top of the list of what we’ve been catching up on of late. And while they’re may be some clunkiness to the CGI, or the rest of the production, the premise of Gene’s vision is there. to create thought-inducing story lines, and create memorable Television for the world to see.

There’s a question that needs to be asked here… Has Paramount, and now Paramount/CBS dropped the ball when it comes to one of the most popular franchise story lines in Television and movie history? Here’s a definite case in point:

New Voyages is receiving help en masse from some major players within the Star Trek Family. Help with production from Ronald B. Moore, to stars George Takei, Walter Koenig, and Grace Lee Whitney, along with writers D.C. Fontana, and David Gerrold who are donating their time and money to help further the continuing voyages of the original series story lines produced by James Cawley’s production company. Cawley Entertainment.

A long with New Voyages, Cawley is also helping to produce a 3 part webisode series called Star Trek: Of God’s And Men conceived and directed by Tim Russ, and Starring himself along with a host of Trek Family to include Nichelle Nichols, Water Koenig, Chase Masterson, Garret Wang, J.G. Hertzler, and many more.

It’s highly recommended to check these productions out!

New Voyages Announces Premire...

August 23rd of this year is the date to catch the latest installment of the fan based Webisode series, according to the website.

"World Enough and Time" will not only be released to the public for download, but will have a gala premiere event with Executive Producer James Cawley, special guest star George Takei, along with Marc Zicree, Michael Reaves, and many others that are behind the scenes for this anticipated episode. Cawley has announced that during the premiere event, the episode will be presented in LIVE streaming video format for all to see, at the shows website!

We'll keep this story updated as new information comes to us, but until then, here's a few shots...












The graceful Presence of Excelsior...












And her crew...

A Change In Plans...

Back in April of 2006, We here at Sci-Fi News decided to make some changes. We left Blogger, and moved on to other places, and did other things.

Here we are now in July of 2007, looking to return home to the place where things all started, with not only a change in name, but a fresh new look at all things Sci-Fi, and fantasy here on the Sci-Fi Side!

Look for us to begin operations here as soon as possible to bring you the best in Sci-Fi, Fantasy, other geeky things!

George Takei Chats Up 'First Person'

George Takei recently did an interview with Star Trek.com's First Person interview series which is gearing up to host a new line of interviews with the various stars of the shows.

George talks about his life, his public announcement of his sexual status, and about Trek, in a 29 minute interview that was taped at the CBS Television City in Hollywood.

To see the interview, click the link above, and look for George on the front page.

Russain Company Maps Out Moon Missions

Russia's leading space cpmpany, the state controlled RKK Enterprises took time Tuesday to lay out it's plans that would send out a manned mission to the moon by 2015, along with the construction of a permanant moon base, and dispatch of a crew to Mars between 2020-2030.

The ambitious vision presented by Nikolai Sevastyanov, is relying heavily on outside investment, but has been called into question because of little to no government funds to help invest in the feasibillity of the plan.

"We believe that we can fly a manned mission landing before 2015 funded by sources outside the state budget" Stevastyanov commented in a news conference, but wouldn't release te names of private funders for the project.

Russian officials have spoken of support for lunar, and Mars missions, but have made no definate commitments as of yet towards funding.

Sevastyanov also stated that Energiya, the company responsable for production of the Soyuz, and Progress spacecraft which ferry crews and supplies to the International Space Station would rely on those vechiles exclusively during the first phase of the program. This phase, would offer commercial space flights around the moon using a Soyuz capsule which could be built as early as 2009.

The next phase, plans on employing a reusable craft now under development called the "Clipper" The Clipper would have 6 seats, compared to three on the Soyuz capsule, would ferry cew to the I.S.S. and possibly become the basis for future lunar missions.

The Clipper design could be commissioned as early as somewhere between 2012-2015 Sevastyanov said.

Vulkon Sets Guests for Orlando Con...

Suzie Plakson (K'ehelyr-TNG) has been named along with Kate Mulgrew (Janeway-VOY), Rene Auberjonois (Odo-DS9), Armin Shimerman (Quark-DS9), Denise Crosby (Yar/Selar-TNG), Walter Koenig(Checkov-TNG/Bester-B5), and Andrew Probert(Illustrator-TMP) for the upcomming Orlando Vulkon Event to Be held on October 27-29 of this year.

Vulkon now also has online ordering of tickets, and upgrades. However at this time, nothing has yet been released for the Orlando event to the site. Just as soon as the information is released, We'll be sure to update you all!

To check out the offerings for Vulkon's other stops this year, along with Seatrek 2007, you can reach Vulkon's site by clicking here Rremeber, guests are subject to change due to scheduling!

We'd still love to See Chase here in all her glory! hint, hint...

Battlestar Returning in October '06

Battlestar Galactica, the Sci-Fi Channel's hit series is looking to return in October instead of it's usual July return to give Ronald.D. Moore, and his prudcution team a little more time in pre-production, and to build a little more anticipation for the season premire.

Recently, Mr. Moore made a suprise appearance at the Grand Slam Convention and took questions on the show. The 2nd part of the season finale had recently aired, and the biggest question was, "Have You Lost Your Mind?!?!?!"

Ron stated that recent designs of the reative directions of the show were designed as "an interesting way to change up the relationships, to sort of subvert your ideas on what the show is about, to take a lot of risks with the characters, and, y'know, piss off the audience, which is always a fun thing to do."

to watch the final minutes of the season finale, and the season 3 teaser, head over to the Battlestar Galactica website by clicking here and look for the icon on the top right of the page.

P.S. We still can't believe they did that either!!!!!

In2TV debut on AOL...

In an impressive paring, AOL, and Waner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution have created In2TV a FREE service to watch on demand video of some 14,000 episodes from 400 different TV Series' all viewable with a brodband connection, Internet Exploroer, and Windows Media Player 10.

For Sci-Fi and horror fans, the Heros and Horros Channel brings up an impressive list of shows with the fist 5 episodes of Babylon 5, along with DVD content form the disc set, also included are shows from The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Freddy's Nightmares, and V(The Visitors).

In an interview, Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President, AOL Media Networks stated that "At this point in time there's no access to Mac users due to the distrbution, and copyright issues. However, we are working on a model to make the contenet available to as many people as possible, including Mac users."

Other shows included in the In2TV line up are Growing Pains, Welcome Back Kotter, Chico and The Man, and Perfect Strangers just to name a few

"With In2TV, we are enabling Web users to experience and interact with television programming in an entirely new way, and creating a new distribution platform for TV content," said Mr Conroy."This is an exciting new way to experience these shows, allowing Web users to enjoy what they want, when they want it. We view this collaboration as truly transformational and yet another demonstration of our commitment to making our next-generation AOL.com portal the best destination for video on the Web.”

to check out the offerings, click here to go to In2TV's Site!

Hidden Fontier Begins Final Season

Rob Caves, And the team of Hidden Frontier have just released episode 7.01 “ Heavy Losses” To the newsletter subscribers, with full release coming soon to the general public on their website.

Heavy Losses, continues the story from the season finale of Her Battle Lantern’s Lit, the season finale of the 6th season, and pushes into the seventh with most of the cast and crew returning to see the fate of the grey race, Deep Space 12, Starfleet, its allies, and the Tholians.

To learn more about Hidden Frontier, or to watch prior episodes, you can visit the Hidden frontier website at http://www.hiddenfrontier.org

Stay tuned to Sci-Fi News For more updates!

(image courtesy of Rob Caves/Hidden Frontier Website)