SciFi Friday

The newly remastered version of Journey to Babel airs tomorrow, and those who have seen the new portions say they are impressive. A list of affiliates carrying the remastered episodes of Star Trek is available here. The episode schedule is available here. The enhanced versions are scheduled for release on HD-DVD at the end of this year.

Chris Doohan, son of James Doohan has a suggestion for the casting of his father’s old character Scotty in Star Trek XI–himself. On his Myspace page he writes:

I just found out that they are going to make a new Star Trek Movie and are currently looking for a 30 something actor to play the role of , Scotty (yes, I’m a bit older :). They already signed Matt Damon for the role of Capt. Kirk and are considering James McAvoy as Scotty, but have not made the final decision yet.

They are not looking to fill ALL the spots with known actors, so I thought that maybe I would give it a try. Here’s why. 1.I kind of look like my Dad. 2. I can do a great scottish accent. 3. We share the last name. 4. I like money. 🙂 I didn’t know how to try out for this, or get an audition, so a friend in the business said that someone should start a write-in campaign and get a bunch of my friends to write to Paramount studios and J.J. Abrams (the producer) to try and persuade him/them to give me a try. Even if the role of Scotty has been taken, a small walk-on role would be fun.

Daybreak was pulled from ABC’s schedule before concluding the series. Four unaired episodes, in addition to the previous episodes, have been placed on line at ABC’s web site. Click here, and then click on Launch Now for a listing of ABC shows available.

Tim Kring has provided some information on Heroes at SciFi Wire. The current story arc involving predictions of a nuclear detonation in New York will be resolved and the season will end with a cliff hanger to set up season two. “Save the cheerleader, save the word” remains one of the top searches to reach here. I suspect that the new tag line, “are you on the list” might not catch on as well. There’s just something about both cheerleaders and the fate of the world that made the tag line for the first half of the season more compelling.

Trek Today reports on a TV Guide interview with George Takai about his work on Heroes, which includes information on the plans for the second season:

“I’m a big fan of Heroes,” Takei said. “I like to think we blazed a trail for it. Like Gene Roddenberry’s vision for Star Trek, Heroes tackles the big themes with a very diverse, multiethnic cast of characters.” But unlike Star Trek, which was cancelled after three years on NBC in the 1960s, “Heroes does something we never did — it gets great ratings!”

Takei explains that his character is extremely wealthy and wants Hiro to return to Japan to work as the industrial leader that his father has become. “Hiro has mysteriously vanished to the United States, and that is intolerable!” Takei explained. “My character is very old school and believes in learning the business from the bottom up. He was brought up that way by his father, and he wants his son raised that way, too.” This is why Hiro worked in a cubicle before he discovered his time-bending powers, even though he will likely inherit a fortune.

Heroes creator Tim Kring told Logan that the elder Nakamura opened a major story arc for the series’ next season, which will explore Hiro’s family background. “Isn’t that tantalizing?” asked Takei, noting that the Nakamura dynasty stretches far into the past: “In ancient times we were in the shogun class…only samurai were allowed to carry swords, and the upper echelon had the best of the swords, so therefore they became heirlooms.” Takei believes it is possible that the legendary sword for which Hiro is seeking may connect to his family, which pleases Takei, who has a “legendary samurai” in his own family tree.

As noted yesterday, the final installment in the Harry Potter series has been announced for release on July 21.

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