Star Trek

I’m stealing this idea from my friend Warren, who does it better than I do. My name is Wil Wheaton. I’m an actor, writer, champion of geek culture, and a guy who makes things on the Internet. This is my blog, but … Here’s my Twitter. Here’s my Tumblr. Here’s my Facebook. Here’s my new show, Tabletop. Here’s Radio Free Burrito. Here’s WIL WHEATON BOOKS dot COM. Here’s the Memories of the Futurecast. Thanks for stopping by.

With the release of Star Trek Into Darkness in North America, a few people have wanted to get the perspective of TrekMovie.com. This afternoon and evening TrekMovie’s Anthony Pascale will be participating in a Hollywood.com Google Hangout and the MovieByte Podcast. TrekMovie contributors have also discussed or quoted by Yahoo, Buzzfeed, Moviefone and Wired. Get the details below. TREKMOVIE ON WED. HOLLYWOOD.COM HANGOUNT + MOVIEBYTE PODCAST Tonight at 3:30 PT (6:30 ET, 5:30 CT) I will be a guest on a Hollywood.com "Get Thee to the Geek" Google Hangout talking about Star Trek Into Darkness and the future of Star Wars. I will be joined by Hollywood.com’s Christian Blauvelt with TheForce.Net’s Eric Geller and author of the "Star Wars Craft Book" Bonnie Burton. You can watch the hangout at Google.com or via embed below. Immediately following the Hollywood.com Hangout I will be a guest on the MovieByte Podcast which starts at 4:30 Pacific (7:30 ET, 6:30 CT). You can listen to that live at moviebyte.com/live. LISTEN: Anthony on MovieByte cast at 4:30 PT MORE TREKMOVIE CONTRIBUTORS IN THE NEWS… Kurtzman reveals my Into Darkness contribution… BuzzFeed has a spoilery article on their favorite classic Trek moments in Star Trek Into Darkness which includes some comments from the writers Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, including Alex revealing how a suggestion I made worked its way into the movie… 9. Scotty, the "miracle worker" There’s a quick moment after Scotty (Simon Pegg) saves the day in Into Darkness when Kirk calls him a “miracle worker” — an honor bestowed upon Scotty many times in the original series and films. Turns out, the moment was due to a superfan request. “To be honest, one of our friends who runs trekmovie.com, Anthony Pascale, said, ‘You gotta have that line in there somewhere,’” says Kurtzman. “He reminded us that that was a classic thing, and we found the perfect place for it right there.” Tenuto on San Francisco and Star Trek Wired takes a look at the connection between Star Trek and San Francisoc which once again plays out in Into Darkness. TrekMovie helped Wired with some background on the article and our own contributor (and Star Trek historian) Professor John Tenuto is also quoted in the piece. Perhaps the most attractive thing about San Francisco from Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s point of view was its significance to the U.S. Navy. Roddenberry himself was a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and was ferried from California to the Pacific theater by Navy vessels, so he was well aware of San Francisco’s shipyards. “The reason the Enterprise looks so realistic, even though it’s futuristic, is that there’s certainly these trappings of the Navy,” said John Tenuto, a sociology professor at Illinois’ College of Lake County who studies the production of Star Trek. “Although Roddenberry has a sort of progressive view of the future, those military experiences certainly appeared in Star Trek and shaped it.” Pascale on the politics of Into Darkness Yahoo Movies takes a look at the real world’s 9/11 connection to Star Trek Into Darkness. The piece opens with a quote from myself about how the post-destruction of Vulcan Federation is an allegory for our real-world post-9/11 society: ""I think it’s fairly obvious it’s a commentary," says TrekMovie editor-in-chief Anthony Pascale. The piece goes on to explore those themes and possible controversies, but the article ends with this context for Trek history: Taking on the now, if not the news, is "something that ‘Star Trek’ has done before," Pascale says, "…and it’s welcome that it sparks a debate. It makes you think." TrekMovie looks to future with Moviefone Moviefone is also working on an article (not yet live) about what is next for the Star Trek film franchise. They asked for a quote from myself on what I think will happen in the next film, here is what I said: Fir

With the release of Star Trek Into Darkness in North America, a few people have wanted to get the perspective of TrekMovie.com. This afternoon and evening TrekMovie’s Anthony Pascale will be participating in a Hollywood.com Google Hangout and the MovieByte Podcast. TrekMovie contributors have also discussed or quoted by Yahoo, Buzzfeed, Moviefone and Wired. Get the details below. TREKMOVIE ON WED. HOLLYWOOD.COM HANGOUNT + MOVIEBYTE PODCAST Tonight at 3:30 PT (6:30 ET, 5:30 CT) I will be a guest on a Hollywood.com "Get Thee to the Geek" Google Hangout talking about Star Trek Into Darkness and the future of Star Wars. I will be joined by Hollywood.com’s Christian Blauvelt with TheForce.Net’s Eric Geller and author of the "Star Wars Craft Book" Bonnie Burton. You can watch the hangout at Google.com or via embed below. Immediately following the Hollywood.com Hangout I will be a guest on the MovieByte Podcast which starts at 4:30 Pacific (7:30 ET, 6:30 CT). You can listen to that live at moviebyte.com/live. LISTEN: Anthony on MovieByte cast at 4:30 PT MORE TREKMOVIE CONTRIBUTORS IN THE NEWS… Kurtzman reveals my Into Darkness contribution… BuzzFeed has a spoilery article on their favorite classic Trek moments in Star Trek Into Darkness which includes some comments from the writers Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, including Alex revealing how a suggestion I made worked its way into the movie… 9. Scotty, the "miracle worker" There’s a quick moment after Scotty (Simon Pegg) saves the day in Into Darkness when Kirk calls him a “miracle worker” — an honor bestowed upon Scotty many times in the original series and films. Turns out, the moment was due to a superfan request. “To be honest, one of our friends who runs trekmovie.com, Anthony Pascale, said, ‘You gotta have that line in there somewhere,’” says Kurtzman. “He reminded us that that was a classic thing, and we found the perfect place for it right there.” Tenuto on San Francisco and Star Trek Wired takes a look at the connection between Star Trek and San Francisoc which once again plays out in Into Darkness. TrekMovie helped Wired with some background on the article and our own contributor (and Star Trek historian) Professor John Tenuto is also quoted in the piece. Perhaps the most attractive thing about San Francisco from Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s point of view was its significance to the U.S. Navy. Roddenberry himself was a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and was ferried from California to the Pacific theater by Navy vessels, so he was well aware of San Francisco’s shipyards. “The reason the Enterprise looks so realistic, even though it’s futuristic, is that there’s certainly these trappings of the Navy,” said John Tenuto, a sociology professor at Illinois’ College of Lake County who studies the production of Star Trek. “Although Roddenberry has a sort of progressive view of the future, those military experiences certainly appeared in Star Trek and shaped it.” Pascale on the politics of Into Darkness Yahoo Movies takes a look at the real world’s 9/11 connection to Star Trek Into Darkness. The piece opens with a quote from myself about how the post-destruction of Vulcan Federation is an allegory for our real-world post-9/11 society: ""I think it’s fairly obvious it’s a commentary," says TrekMovie editor-in-chief Anthony Pascale. The piece goes on to explore those themes and possible controversies, but the article ends with this context for Trek history: Taking on the now, if not the news, is "something that ‘Star Trek’ has done before," Pascale says, "…and it’s welcome that it sparks a debate. It makes you think." TrekMovie looks to future with Moviefone Moviefone is also working on an article (not yet live) about what is next for the Star Trek film franchise. They asked for a quote from myself on what I think will happen in the next film, here is what I said: Fir

With the release of Star Trek Into Darkness in North America, a few people have wanted to get the perspective of TrekMovie.com. This afternoon and evening TrekMovie’s Anthony Pascale will be participating in a Hollywood.com Google Hangout and the MovieByte Podcast. TrekMovie contributors have also discussed or quoted by Yahoo, Buzzfeed, Moviefone and Wired. Get the details below. TREKMOVIE ON WED. HOLLYWOOD.COM HANGOUNT + MOVIEBYTE PODCAST Tonight at 3:30 PT (6:30 ET, 5:30 CT) I will be a guest on a Hollywood.com "Get Thee to the Geek" Google Hangout talking about Star Trek Into Darkness and the future of Star Wars. I will be joined by Hollywood.com’s Christian Blauvelt with TheForce.Net’s Eric Geller and author of the "Star Wars Craft Book" Bonnie Burton. You can watch the hangout at Google.com or via embed below. Shortly before broadcast EMBED will be added here Immediately following the Hollywood.com Hangout I will be a guest on the MovieByte Podcast which starts at 4:30 Pacific (7:30 ET, 6:30 CT). You can listen to that live at moviebyte.com/live. LISTEN: Anthony on MovieByte cast at 4:30 PT MORE TREKMOVIE CONTRIBUTORS IN THE NEWS… Kurtzman reveals my contribution… BuzzFeed has a spoilery article on their favorite classic Trek moments in Star Trek Into Darkness which includes some comments from the writers Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, including Alex revealing how a suggestion I made worked its way into the movie… 9. Scotty, the "miracle worker" There’s a quick moment after Scotty (Simon Pegg) saves the day in Into Darkness when Kirk calls him a “miracle worker” — an honor bestowed upon Scotty many times in the original series and films. Turns out, the moment was due to a superfan request. “To be honest, one of our friends who runs trekmovie.com, Anthony Pascale, said, ‘You gotta have that line in there somewhere,’” says Kurtzman. “He reminded us that that was a classic thing, and we found the perfect place for it right there.” Tenuto on San Francisco and Star Trek Wired takes a look at the connection between Star Trek and San Francisoc which once again plays out in Into Darkness. TrekMovie helped Wired with some background on the article and our own contributor (and Star Trek historian) Professor John Tenuto is also quoted in the piece. Perhaps the most attractive thing about San Francisco from Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s point of view was its significance to the U.S. Navy. Roddenberry himself was a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and was ferried from California to the Pacific theater by Navy vessels, so he was well aware of San Francisco’s shipyards. “The reason the Enterprise looks so realistic, even though it’s futuristic, is that there’s certainly these trappings of the Navy,” said John Tenuto, a sociology professor at Illinois’ College of Lake County who studies the production of Star Trek. “Although Roddenberry has a sort of progressive view of the future, those military experiences certainly appeared in Star Trek and shaped it.” Pascale on the politics of Into Darkness Yahoo Movies takes a look at the real world’s 9/11 connection to Star Trek Into Darkness. The piece opens with a quote from myself about how the post-destruction of Vulcan Federation is an allegory for our real-world post-9/11 society: ""I think it’s fairly obvious it’s a commentary," says TrekMovie editor-in-chief Anthony Pascale. The piece goes on to explore those themes and possible controversies, but the article ends with this context for Trek history: Taking on the now, if not the news, is "something that ‘Star Trek’ has done before," Pascale says, "…and it’s welcome that it sparks a debate. It makes you think." TrekMovie looks to future with Moviefone Moviefone is also working on an article (not yet live) about what is next for the Star Trek film franchise. They asked for a quote from myself on what I think will happen in the n

For Star Trek writer/producers Ronald D. Moore and Ira Steven Behr, there was no honeymoon period when it came to writing for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Both joined the show during its third season and had to hit the ground running. Moore came on board after his story was found in the slush pile by Michael Piller. “Piller came aboard in the beginning of the third season, and started going through the slush pile, and found my script and bought it,” said Moore. “I got a really lucky break and I had the right script at the right time; he was looking for something like that… that started my whole career, basically.” Being on staff for Moore meant working hard and working quickly. “Once I was on the staff, here’s the work, and you either did it or you didn’t,” he said. “There was a certain pace that the show went at. I remember very clearly, my first full day on the show. Michael gave me a memo, or a story outline that they couldn’t make work, and he said, ‘Here, go try to make this work.’ I sat down and just wrote up a new version and sent it downstairs; an hour or so later he sent it back up with a bunch of notes on it. Then I wrote up another version and sent it downstairs; the same then happened like twice more. I started putting the time up in the corner; I was literally putting the time of this draft… Michael, at some point, just laughed. ‘You don’t have to do it this fast!’ “I didn’t know what the pace was! I just assumed that when it was given to me, I had to write it as quickly as possible, and fortunately, that was a really important strength to have on a television series, to be able to do it quickly and get it out.” Behr was hesitant to join The Next Generation because “they were cutting off writers’ heads left and right and it was a bloodbath every week,” he said. “…it sounded like a complete and utter horror show. They were firing writers left and right; the one that killed me was you’re not allowed to go down to the set as a writer/producer, because it’s not allowed. I said that I’d never heard that anywhere before! And there’s a lawyer who goes around looking through desks at night to find things that they wrote about Gene Roddenberry, because he was Gene’s lawyer, and it was like, “Is this serious?!” Behr had said “no” to Maurice Hurley, but a year later, Piller convinced him to come on board. He was handed a script for The Hunted and told to “rewrite act 3.” Behr was on his own and he had to quickly brush up on Trek technology. Richard Danus, who was on his way out, “explained what a Jefferies Tube was, and I went back and literally banged out by hand on a yellow pad, Act 3, scared out of my mind,” said Behr. “There was some dialogue obviously in there, but I was just like throwing it up in the air and hoping there was a parachute attached.” But both men managed to survive their initial experiences and both went on to Deep Space Nine.

I’ve been very busy working on a project that I can’t talk about, so I haven’t had time to make a proper post here. I feel like I’m neglecting my blog, and I would hate for it to feel left out, so here’s a picture I colorized with my magic coloring skills: Life is best when you’re easily amused, kids.

The first expansion for Star Trek: Online, The Legacy of Romulus is now available. In Legacy of Romulus, players can now play as either a Romulan or a Reman, with story-driven missions written “exclusively from the Romulan Republic’s point-of-view.” In Legacy of Romulus, Romulus and Remus are gone, and the survivors of the two planets are “struggling to survive in the aftermath of unspeakable destruction. “These are dark and dangerous times for your people, as the Tal Shiar crack down on any dissent and mysterious beings unleash terror throughout the far-flung colony worlds. “You will be the one to reshape an empire. Gather allies, go undercover and find the proof that will rally your people to revolt. “Together, you will rise up against an oppressive regime and demand freedom. You will fight for your people.” Denise Crosby has returned as [Empress] Sela in Legacy of Romulus.

Two new Her Universe clothing items will be of interest to female Star Trek fans. The items are a Command Gold tank dress, and a shirt featuring a quote from The Wrath of Khan. The tank dress is made of 95% cotton and 5% spandex, and runs from small to 4X in size (it’s recommended to buy a size larger than normal as this item runs small). The Command Gold tank dress will sell for $35 and can be purchased here. The Khan v-neck t-shirt features a Federation symbol and the KHAAAAAN! quote (which runs along the bottom of the shirt and continues on the back of the shirt). Selling for $28, the t-shirt comes in sizes from small to 2X. As with the Command Gold tank dress, it’s recommended to go up one size unless a close-fitting shirt is desired. The t-shirt can be purchased here.

When it comes to writing a novelization of a movie, for author Alan Dean Foster, it’s about “filling in the blanks.” Foster is no stranger to Star Trek novels, having written the Animated Series Star Trek Log novelizations as well as the story for what became the first Star Trek movie, but after thirty years, he had thought that his Trek days were behind him. When asked to pen the novelization for Star Trek (2009), Foster was “was surprised because it had been so long. I was not surprised because I’d been doing book versions of movies all through those decades right up and through to films like The Chronicles of Riddick,” he said. ” So it’s not like I’d been away from the work, but I’d just been away from Star Trek.” Foster explained what he felt was the core of Star Trek into Darkness. “It’s all about personality conflicts,” he said. “There are people who love science fiction who will say it’s insufficiently science fiction, and there are people who will say that’s what makes Star Trek great, and always has. For me, good writing and good story has always been centered on characters and everything else, however well developed, is window dressing. Certainly, Star Trek Into Darkness, if anything, is even more character-centric than the previous film.” Being able to add to the story, showing more of the characters’ thought processes during events is enjoyable for the author. “People think that one of the main things that novelizations do is to expand existing scenes,” he said. “That’s true to a certain extent, but the fun part of it, and the important people of it, I feel, is to fill in the blanks. One of the biggest blanks in any existing film, assuming it isn’t fifteen hours long, is to show what the characters are actually thinking. When they’re doing something on screen it’s just, well, ‘Sulu moved the lever forward.’ That’s about as short a sentence as you can come up with. But I get to show what he’s thinking, why he’s moving the lever, what’s going on in his head while he’s moving the lever, what the possible consequences might be for moving that lever, and on and on and on. To me, that’s one of the joys of doing it. I get to make my own director’s cut, in other words.” The Star Trek into Darkness novelization came out yesterday.

Last night, Alice Eve was on Conan and two short clips featuring the actress on the show have been released. In the clips, Eve reveals that she was attracted to performing from a young age, had a teacher whose negative comments made her determined to succeed in school, and was initially a bit confused during a call from J.J. Abrams to her regarding Star Trek into Darkness.