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No, don't go rushing to Wikipedia to double-check how Rod Serling died — it wasn't from jumping out of a plane. By the same token, don't bother trying to find if Serling suffered from depression surrounding the cancellation of the series that would become his lifelong legacy and beyond, the original 1959-64 version of "The Twilight Zone." Sure, the series was Serling's baby, a program that broke a lot of new ground on broadcast television and led to the creation of subsequent milestone programs like "Star Trek," "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," and Serling's own "Night Gallery." And yes, Serling was passionate about "The Twilight Zone," as he was often fighting for the integrity of the show during the series' run, as well as for the integrity of television itself as a creative medium.

So while one wouldn't be surprised to learn that Serling was distraught upon receiving the news that "The TwilightZone...

Ever since he moved into the public eye with "Star Trek" in 1966, famed /Film contributor William Shatner has gained a reputation for his "large" acting style. This reputation wasn't wholly earned, as Shatner rarely overacted on the original "Star Trek," usually playing Captain Kirk as buttoned-down, judicious, and in control. More recent depictions of Kirk have been incorrect, presenting him as a reckless cowboy and relentless horndog. While Kirk did get into his share of fistfights on "Star Trek" and snogged his share of pretty female guest stars, he wasn't ever careless or distractibly horny. Shatner's "overacting" reputation is extrapolated from only a few carefully selected moments throughout the series. 

As such, when someone does an impersonation of William Shatner, they. Tend. To. Say. Every. Word. As. If. It's. Its. Own. Sentence. Jim Carrey spoofed Shatner on "In Living Color" in this way, and Seth MacFarlane, on his animated show "Family Guy,...

When you consider the fact that Johnny Galecki starred as experimental physicist Leonard Hofstadter for 12 seasons and the same number of years on "The Big Bang Theory," it's probably not a huge surprise that the guy prefers some episodes to others. So which episodes did Galecki particularly love? In an interview with TBS, which airs "The Big Bang Theory" in syndication — helping the main cast rake in a solid income even though the show ended in 2019 — he specifically mentioned five episodes that occupy a special place in his heart, in no particular order.

Galecki begins with the season 3 episode "The Wheaton Recurrence," which features real-life "Star Trek" veteran Wil Wheaton (who almost turned down the opportunity to appear in the role as himself) as an antagonist to Leonard's on-screen best friend and roommate Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). While the whole gang, including Wheaton, is out bowling, Leonard tells his...

Frasier‘s return has hit a major bump. Paramount+ has opted not to renew the Kelsey Grammer-led comedy for a third season. Producer CBS Studios remains committed to the series and plans to shop it to other outlets.

Those are not expected to include the most logical home for a multi-camera sitcom that originated on broadcast — CBS Studios’ sibling CBS. The network, which is eying a planted spinoff of The Neighborhood among other comedies in development, has no current shelf space available. Possibilities include Prime Video and Hulu, which both carry the library of Frasier‘s original run. Seasons 1 and 2 of the revival, along with the original library episodes, will remain available on Paramount+.

Paramount+ ordered Frasier to series in 2022 with James Burrows directing the first episode. Season 1 premiered a year later and Season 2 dropped in September.

Despite its well known title and Grammer reprising his popular title role,...

It's been thirty years since Star Trek: Voyager debuted on Upn. A unique version of Star Trek, this bridge was led by a female captain whose authority was unquestionable. Captain Kathryn Janeway [Kate Mulgrew] owned that bridge, and the crew that helped Voyager make its way across the Delta Quadrant were some of the best on a Star Trek show.

Unfortunately, Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation didn't give the female officers much to do. Voyager corrected that, makihng, the women integral to the ship's journey, more so when Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine came aboard. They worked in tandem with the rest of the crew, never backing down from a challenge or a fight.

Though Star Trek: Deep Space Nine put Major Kira [Nana Visitor] in a position of authority, she was still under Commander/Captain Sisko's [Avery Brooks] command. With Voyager,...

The Daily Show and correspondent Dulcé Sloan have parted ways.

Sloan has left Comedy Central’s late-night show after seven years as a correspondent, contributor and sometime host. Sources say the parting was an amicable one, as Sloan was at the end of her deal and is pursuing other work (she also recently relocated from New York, where The Daily Show is based, to Los Angeles).

“There is work that I’ve done over the past seven years with The Daily Show that I couldn’t be prouder of” Sloan wrote on Instagram. “I collaborated with some incredibly talented people who I look forward to continuing to work with and I know our paths will continue to cross. I am now free to pursue my dream job of being a live action Klingon on Star Trek.”

A Daily Show spokesperson said, “Dulcé Sloan is an exceptional comedic force and we...

The Daily Show is saying goodbye to correspondent and contributor Dulcé Sloan after seven years on the Comedy Central series. Her final appearance aired in December.

“There is work that I’ve done over the past seven years with The Daily Show that I couldn’t be prouder of,” Sloan says in a statement. “I collaborated with some incredibly talented people who I look forward to continuing to work with. I know our paths will continue to cross. I am now free to pursue my dream job of being a live action Klingon on Star Trek.”

More from TVLineLate-Night Hosts...

While the many spinoffs of Star Trek had multiple showrunners, it was the word of Gene Roddenberry that they all tried to follow. Roddenberry was the creator of the franchise and he intended to portray a future that was hopeful, scientific, and full of exploration. He also emphasized his rules of how each aspect should be, even if he was not the showrunner.

He had his rules about everything, including the design of the Enterprise ship that housed the Starfleet crew. When designing the USS Enterprise-d for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Roddenberry reportedly laid down four rules that had to be followed. However, one of them reportedly made the chief crew extremely vulnerable to attacks.

Gene Roddenberry’s rules for the Enterprise design had a serious flaw A still from Star Trek: Picard | Credits: Paramount

One of the key differences between the ships on Star Trek and Star Wars...

Dulce Sloan is moving on from The Daily Show.

The 41-year-old comedian has been a member of the late-night show’s cast for seven years. However, on Friday (January 17) it was reported that she had exited the role.

A source opened up about the terms of her departure, why she left and what is next for her.

Keep reading to find out more…

Deadline broke the news of Dulce‘s exit, writing that it was “an amicable parting of ways” that came at the end of her current contract.

The outlet reported that she will be moving to Los Angeles and shifting her professional focus to acting. The star currently voices the character Honeybee Shaw on the Fox sitcom The Great North.

Dulce is also gearing up for a tour and has a comedy special in the works. It’s not clear what network or platform the special is for.

Exclusive: Following an award-winning seven-year run on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, correspondent and contributor Dulcé Sloan has exited the late-night political news satire.

This was an amicable parting of ways, sources said, as Sloan’s deal was up and she’s relocated from New York to L.A. to focus more on her acting and stand-up. Her last episode aired in December. Currently, Sloan is working on a new comedy special and launching a new tour which will include a week-long stint at The Soho Theatre in London in March. She will also continue her work on Fox’s hit animated series The Great North, which just premiered its fifth season.

Sloan’s is the first big departure from The Daily Show since that of Roy Wood Jr., who exited as correspondent after eight years in October 2023. Host Trevor Noah stepped down the year prior, after a seven-year tenure,...

The acclaimed medical drama starring Zachary Quinto recently concluded its first season earlier this month.

It’s a wrap on the first season of NBC’s “Brilliant Minds,” its brainy new medical drama starring Zachary Quinto, which following a brief December hiatus recently aired its two-episode finale. Inspired by the works of Oliver Sacks, “Brilliant Minds” stars Quinto in his first main live-action TV series role since “Nosferatu” by another name, AMC’s “NOS4A2.”

The “Star Trek” star plays Dr. Oliver Wolf, an eccentric and gifted neurologist with facial blindness whose condition gives him a unique perspective on care. Alongside his brilliant team of interns at Bronx General and through unconventional methods, he takes on some of the world’s most puzzling psychological and neurological cases.

It’s still uncertain if there will be a second season of “Brilliant Minds,” but the first season of the series has been a hit for the network.

David Lynch, who recently passed away at age 78, had been one of the most visionary filmmakers in all of Hollywood, having brought to the table smash hit pieces like Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive. He has also been credited for trying to kickstart Frank Herbert’s Dune universe in live-action through his own 1984 original film, though the results weren’t exactly all encouraging.

David Lynch. | Credits: Image by Sasha Kargaltsev / Licensed under Cc-by-2.0 / Wikimedia Commons.

But while he did try his best to bring Paul Atreides’ world to the big screens, some of the choices involved also had the mastermind reportedly developing a feud with one of the stars. This star was none other than Sir Patrick Stewart, whom Lynch ostensibly hated for a really long time following his last-minute casting in the movie, and the reason behind it was a bit too unbelievable.

Why David Lynch hated Sir Patrick...

Fans have clamored for a Captain Worf series for decades. It would've been a fun series, how could it not have been? Imagine Worf, the Captain of a Federation ship, commanding with his iron-Klingon fist. It would have been a treat. Yet, with Worf's actor, Michael Dorn, now into his 70s, it's hard to argue for a show featuring him as a series lead.

That's a lot of money and time to invest in a show where your lead actor is a senior citizen. By no means should this be taken to dismiss Dorn or his considerable skills still as an actor. No, this is just reality. Dorn himself has contemplated retirement due to the grind that traveling and acting takes. If your lead actor is heading to retirement, how can you hope to build a show around someone?

Instead of asking Dorn to carry a franchise at his age,...

I recently watched the 2022 director’s cut of Star Trek: The Motion Picture to compare it to the original 1979 release, which was based on Tos. It reminded me of an ongoing rumor and speculation in Star Trek fandom that V'Ger and the Borg may have a shared ancestry or common origin. The Motion Picture is set in the 23rd Century, and the crew of the USS Enterprise is on a mission to investigate a mysterious energy cloud.

As the story progresses, we learn an alien craft is enveloped inside the energy cloud. The cloud is expansive the size of 2 AUs (Astronomical Units). Regarding the massiveness of this energy cloud, 1Au is the distance between the Earth and the Sun, which is a staggering 92.9K miles.

When considering if V’Ger and the Borg had some common ancestry or if one created the other, we must first look at where they...

Let's be very clear about something to start if you have a multi-million dollar toy line, a coveted show that's watched nationally, and constant praise from fans and critics alike, almost from the jump, of how good your show is; you don't get to call yourself an outcast.

Nor should anyone else. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for years has been called the "outcast" of Star Trek. A laughable idea that in no way shape or form actually captures the actual reality that the show carries. Its success as a syndicated show was part of the reason that Paramount felt so emboldened to launch their United Paramount Network (Upn) and have Star Trek: Voyager be its flagship show.

If Deep Space Nine was this "outcast" or hidden little gem that no one watched, Voyager likely wouldn't have been given the slot of flagship show for a brand new television network.

Star Trek can't escape the 'other guys', can they? Even after all these years, the only true rival to Star Trek's dominance across the decades with regard to the sci-fi realm is Star Wars. The Disney-owned property may have more casual fans and stronger support for their film releases, but the quality is constantly in dispute. Both brands offer up some exciting and fresh stories regardless of the decade and both have some flops we wish didn't exist.

Yet, these are not just two brands bound together due to decades of existence next to one another. No, not at all. They share more than just the first name of their franchise. They share an interwoven fate that seems to have affected one another on a regular basis.

In one of the more noteworthy moments, comes the story of how Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi caused Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan...

Every so often a site will decide to rank the Star Trek series in worst to best order. With more series having been added to the franchise, we have more to take into consideration now, and Entertainment Weekly's Chris Snellgrove took on the task of a new ranking order recently, calling it "our definitive take on every show in the sci-fi franchise." And the choices are bound to cause some disagreements, some of them vehement. In fact, the opposition has even started in the comments section.

Entertainment Weekly chose Star Trek: Picard as the worst of the series, and that set many fans off. Though the series wasn't everyone's cup of tea, the third season of Picard was an epic success and gave the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast a much better send-off than they'd gotten in their final movie together, Star Trek: Nemesis.

While the entertainment site...

Actor Avery Brooks is best known for his portrayal of Captain Benjamin Sisko in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The casting was revolutionary at the time because a Black actor had never led a mainstream TV series like Star Trek and the move was appreciated at the time. However, it was not as progressive behind the scenes as it made itself out to be.

Much like William Shatner, Brooks was an experienced actor before being selected to lead Deep Space Nine. Hence, his look was drastically different in the pilot of the spinoff series than what fans came to know him for. The reason behind the look change was apparently borderline racist but with Brooks’ insistence, it dodged that bullet.

Avery Brooks’ look as Benjamin Sisko was different in the pilot for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Avery Brooks in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | Credits: Paramount Network

Avery Brooks...

Tawny Newsome was already a huge fan of Star Trek before she was cast as Beckett Mariner on Star Trek: Lower Decks, the animated comedy which came to a close after five seasons last month. Newsome believes it was her love of the franchise that helped her get the job on Lower Decks. In an interview with Television Academy, Newsome talked about how series creator, Mike McMahan, asked her to "riff about Star Trek" during her audition. Newsome ended up talking about Deanna Troi's [Marina Sirtis] ball gowns on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

But as much as she knew about Star Trek and all of its iterations, when it came to the Easter eggs in Lower Decks, she didn't know all about them. But her lack of knowledge only pushed her to know more, and she was constantly looking up information. Sometimes, that involved calling McMahan or doing some research on her own,...

Star Trek has returned to epic crossover stories, a stable of the 90s. You couldn't go a season without seeing someone, from another show, popping up in another series. Jean-Luc Picard cameoed in Deep Space Nine's pilot, as did Quark for Voyager's. We saw William Riker (or his clone) in nearly every show he could find time to appear in. Q was everywhere but in very limited quantities.

It was a fun time to be a fan. Yet, as the Nu Trek Era began, crossovers became a thing of the past. Sure, Seven of Nine was a major player in Star Trek: Picard but she wasn't seen as a cameo or guest star, she was part of the main cast. So she didn't really feel like a 'crossover' character.

Star Trek: Lower Decks would start doing cameos, a trend we'd see go into Star Trek: Prodigy, but as neither...

Let's disregard quality. When it comes to the quality of Star Trek programming, it's entirely subjective. You can make your arguments for or against but in the end there is no viable way to determine if something is definitively good or bad. Let's ignore quality for that reason. When we talk about 2024 as far as the Star Trek brand is concerned, it's undoubtedly a bad year for the brand.

We saw Playmates end their toy line with Star Trek at the end of 2023/start of 2024, taking Star Trek off of toy shelves after only being back on them for a short while. We saw the delay of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the revival of Star Trek: Prodigy on Netflix, the end of Discovery, the cancellation and end of Lower Decks, and nearly 10 years later, still no movement on Star

It's hard to say that 2024 was the worst year in...

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"The Big Bang Theory" is one giant ode to nerddom, so it makes sense that over the years the show featured guest stars from the biggest geeky franchises in movies and television. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" star Wil Wheaton even ended up playing a villainous version of himself for a number of episodes, and plenty of other actors also joined in on the fun. No, seriously, there are a ton of "Star Trek" actors that have guest starred on "The Big Bang Theory." But in season 7, it was time for the stars of another big sci-fi franchise to shine when superfan Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) tried to create his own Comic-Con.

In "The Convention Conundrum," Sheldon manages to find the voice of Darth Vader himself: the late, great James Earl Jones, playing himself, as he dines in a local sushi restaurant.

In the "Star Trek" episode "The Empath", Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) are on an away mission when they are abruptly kidnapped by off-screen aliens and deposited in a mysterious, blackened chamber somewhere beneath the planet's surface. While trapped, they encounter a mute woman in purple whom McCoy names Gem (Kathryn Hays). Gem, they find, has an extraordinary superpower. When someone is injured, Gem can heal them by absorbing their wounds into herself. She feels an equal amount of pain. The wound is then healed rapidly.

Gem ends up having plenty of opportunities to use her superpowers as the four characters are repeatedly tortured by evil, large-skulled aliens called Vians (played by Alan Bergmann and Willard Sage). The Vians spend the bulk of the episode tormenting and injuring the Enterprise crew members, sometimes while Gem watches. Gem, meanwhile, offers to heal them each time,...

Actor Faran Tahir is set to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the upcoming Disney+ series ‘Vision Quest,’ a spinoff from WandaVision. Tahir will reprise his role as Raza, the leader of the Ten Rings terrorist organization, a character he first played in 2008’s Iron Man. This marks Tahir’s first MCU appearance in nearly two decades, making his return a noteworthy moment for fans of the franchise.

Raza’s story was last seen in Iron Man, where he orchestrated Tony Stark’s kidnapping to force the creation of a Jericho missile. Although the character appeared to meet his end in the film, the MCU has shown time and again that death isn’t always permanent.

The series will follow Vision, played by Paul Bettany, as he attempts to regain his memories and redefine his purpose after the events of Avengers: Infinity War and WandaVision.

In addition to Bettany and Tahir,...

Marvel Studios is set to bring back a villain from the very first MCU movie for the upcoming Disney+ Vision series - but probably not the one you're expecting.

Deadline reports that Faran Tahir will return as Raza, the ruthless leader of the 10 Rings terrorist group who targetted Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in 2008's Iron Man. Raza appeared to meet his end at the hands of Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), but it's worth noting that we didn't actually see him die when Stane sent his men into the tent to finish off his former ally.

We have no idea why Marvel is utilizing this particular character for the WandaVision spin-off, but it might have something to do with Stark's involvement in Vision's creation. It's also entirely possible that Raza is dead, and will only appear in flashbacks or as some kind of illusion or construct.

The untitled...

The Vision (Paul Bettany) was last seen flying off near the end of "WandaVision," but he will be headlining his own Disney+ series in 2026. Time will tell if "Vision" (the final title has not been confirmed at this time) can recapture the success of last year's "WandaVision" spin-off, "Agatha All Along."

It was previously confirmed that the Vision TV series would be bringing back the titular android's creator, the also robotic Ultron (James Spader). Now, Deadline reports that another Iron Man foe will be returning from (seeming) death. Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane? Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko? Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian? Nope! Instead, Faran Tahir is playing Raza Hamidmi al-Wazar, last seen in the very first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie: "Iron Man."

To quote the Vision's late brother-in-law Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), "You didn't see that coming?" Well, Pietro, I did not!

Raza is simultaneously an obscure yet pivotal character — without him,...

Amongst the thousands of people who have lost their homes during the devastating Los Angeles wildfires this January, there are many familiar faces. This includes Carel Struycken, whose iconic presence has featured in numerous films and TV shows over the past several decades, including Barry Sonnenfeld’s Addams Family films and Twin Peaks, in which he played first The Giant, and then (in The Return) The Fireman.

Struycken may also be familiar from key roles in Men in Black, Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, The Witches of Eastwick, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. The 76-year-old actor and his wife, who resided in Altadena, lost everything after the Eaton Fire burned through their neighborhood. Their son-in-law, Michael Anspach, has launched a GoFundMe to help support the family. “We’re so very thankful they were able to safely escape the oncoming blaze, but like so many others, they lost everything to the Eaton Fire.

Marvel Studios’ upcoming Vision series with Paul Bettany is going back to the source code: Faran Tahir is joining the show as Raza, the role he originated in the studio’s first feature film, 2008’s “Iron Man.”

Bettany is returning as the ghostly white version of the synthezoid he first played in the 2015 film “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” and James Spader is reprising his role from “Age of Ultron” as the titular villainous AI. Todd Stashwick (“Star Trek: Picard”) is also playing an unspecified character.

Resurrecting Tahir’s character nearly 20 years after he first appeared will mark the longest gap between appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date. That’s an even more impressive feat considering that Raza — best known for kidnapping Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, the inciting incident that leads Start to become Iron Man — was seemingly killed halfway through “Iron Man” by the film’s main villain,...

Disney+’s Vision series is bringing back another familiar face from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Faran Tahir will reprise his role as villain Raza in the upcoming Marvel TV show, a role he played in the original 2008 Iron Man movie, our sister site Deadline reports. In that film, Raza was the leader of the terrorist group known as Ten Rings who imprisoned Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. Raza was betrayed and seemingly killed by Jeff Bridges’ Obadiah Stane — but we all know death is merely a state of mind when it comes to comic books.

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Deadline reports that Faran Tahir is set to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Marvel’s upcoming Vision series. He will reprise the role of Raza, the leader of the Ten Rings who kidnapped Tony Stark in the original Iron Man movie. I think this might set a new MCU record for the longest stretch between appearances.

Not much is known about the Vision series at this time. Paul Bettany will naturally be returning as Vision, but the series will also include James Spader as Ultron. Beyond brief mentions, we haven’t seen Ultron in any live-action MCU project since his introduction in Avengers: Age of Ultron ten years ago. Todd Stashwick has also joined the cast, and while it’s not known who he will be playing, previous reports have stated that he will be “an assassin who is on the trail of the android and the technology he possesses.

Exclusive: Faran Tahir will appear in the Paul Bettany-led series Vision Quest, a WandaVision spinoff series for Disney+, sources confirm to Deadline.

Tahir will reprise the role of the villainous Raza, leader of the terrorist organization the 10 Rings who tried to kill Tony Stark in Iron Man.

Details are scarce on the new project, but as we previously reported, the Marvel Vision spinoff has been in development at Disney+ since 2022 and was picked up to series in May. It is believed to be centered on Vision (Bettany) as he tries to regain his memory and humanity. After Thanos killed him in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, Vision returned in 2021’s WandaVision.

In addition to Bettany returning to the role he has played in three Marvel films and in WandaVision, James Spader will reprise his MCU role of Ultron. Todd Stashwick will also appear in an undisclosed role.

Star Trek: Section 31 launches soon. On Jan. 24, 2025 to be exact. The film will star Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou, in what may very likely be the last role of her career with Star Trek. Yeoh is more in-demand than ever before and it's very likely that Section 31 brings an end to her Trekking ways. Especially since they made this film off of the back of a canceled television idea that Yeoh was set to star in.

Same premise, just less expensive to make a film than 10-mini films.

This may work out well for Paramount+, as fans have not received the new film with the warmest of expectations. That doesn't mean the film will fail, though. It has some stuff going for it that may cater to more casual fans of Star Trek, or sci-fi as a whole. So with that, here are three reasons we think Section 31 will be a hit.

Actor Harrison Ford has been pretty picky about his roles over the years, carefully choosing roles that suit his cocky charm, but he hasn't always made perfect choices. While the actor has dozens of truly great movies under his belt, he also has a few stinkers, like historical submarine thriller "K-19: The Widowmaker" and utopia-building drama "The Mosquito Coast," though Ford has rather thoroughly defended both. There's one box office bomb that he hasn't been as effusive about, however, in large part because he was admittedly never on the film's wavelength. 

The 2011 sci-fi action western "Cowboys & Aliens" had all of the ingredients for major blockbuster box office success. Based on Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's 2006 Platinum Studios graphic novel of the same name, "Cowboys & Aliens" was directed by Jon Favreau, fresh off the success of the first two "Iron Man" films. It starred Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde,...

In case it wasn't obvious from his sci-fi comedy show "The Orville," TV guru Seth MacFarlane is a huge, huge Trekkie. "The Orville," in its construct, lighting, and character types, very much resembles "Star Trek: The Next Generation," just with a few crass jokes and flippant commentary added throughout. MacFarlane also once presented William Shatner, in character as Captain Kirk, on a big screen at the Academy Awards. Some might even know about the "Star Trek" fan film that MacFarlane made back in high school, wherein he cast himself as Captain Kirk. 

His Trekkie credentials don't end there. On one of the "Next Generation" Blu-rays, MacFarlane hosted a commentary track for the episode "Cause and Effect," talking to the episode's writer, Brannon Braga. He was also in the documentary "Trek Nation," and has included myriad "Star Trek" references in his animated sitcoms "Family Guy," "American Dad!," and "The Cleveland Show.

When Starfield came out in September 2023, Bethesda promised a big spacefaring adventure with endless exploration. But one feature which was a Bethesda staple was noticeably missing. Unlike Bethesda’s previous titles, such as Fallout, Starfield does not feature detailed gore or dismemberment.

This ex dev makes a great point regarding the exclusion of gore. | Image Credit: Bethesda

According to Dennis Mejillones, a former senior character artist at Bethesda, the decision to omit gore wasn’t just about technical challenges but also thematic coherence. It was part of a design decision that shaped Starfield into a more grounded, “lo-fi” experience.

Starfield didn’t include gore because it wasn’t meant to be violent thematically It was a technical and thematic decision. | Image Credit: Bethesda

Originally, Starfield included plans for a gore and dismemberment system akin to Fallout’s visceral combat. However, the complexity of implementing such a feature in a game...

When it comes to "The Big Bang Theory," there are a whole bunch of stories about the wild casting process. Even though Simon Helberg ultimately earned the main role of Howard Wolowitz, Kevin Sussman very nearly booked it ... and wound up playing comic book owner Stuart Bloom on the show anyway. Kunal Nayyar, who plays Raj Koothrappali for the entire series, was nearly fired before filming even began, and Kaley Cuoco replaced the show's original female lead with her character, Penny. Johnny Galecki ended up playing Leonard Hofstadter for the show's entire 12 season (and 12-year) run, but before he came on board, John Ross Bowie auditioned for the part. Like Sussman, he ended up scoring a recurring role ... with a twist.

In a 2017 interview with The Spectrum, Bowie told the outlet that he did audition for Leonard but understood why Galecki got it. "They were seeing pretty much every nerd...

With the Paramount+ streaming movie Star Trek: Section 31 premiering on January 24th, anticipation for an exciting new addition to the Star Trek universe is high. Academy award-winning actress Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou heads the cast as leader of the Terran Empire from the Mirror Universe. Yeoh is reprising her role as the complicated, battle-ready leader who was introduced in the series Star Trek: Discovery. Section 31 refers to a covert intelligence organization that carries out shadow missions outside the jurisdiction of the United Federation of Planets, that has been in existence since the beginning of Starfleet in the 22nd Century.

According to Inverse, Section 31 will occur in the 24th Century. It will reveal where the intrepid mirror Georgiou ended up after stepping through the Guardian of Forever in Season 3 of Discovery. This standalone movie was originally slated to be produced as a television series, but it’s my bet...

One of the core tenets of "Star Trek" is an undercurrent of pacifism. The ships we see in any given "Star Trek" series are usually research vessels devoted to missions of exploration and study. Just as often, they do repair work on distant worlds, help planets in severe environmental trouble, or taxi diplomats to important peace talks. And while the U.S.S. Enterprise is equipped with weapons like phasers and photon torpedoes, they are only very rarely assigned a mission of combat. More often, the crew of the Enterprise will threaten a potential battlefield foe while still doing everything they can to avoid war.

The core tenets of pacifism, however, are typically ignored in many of the "Star Trek" feature films. Because of their medium, the "Star Trek" movies typically demand larger-scale stories and easily consumed conflicts that can be satisfactorily wrapped in about 100 to 120 minutes. This demand often...

Colm Meaney became known to the Star Trek community as Chief Miles O'Brien, first serving aboard the Enterprise on Star Trek: The Next Generation before his character moved to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Meaney played the character from 1987-1999, appearing in 225 episodes. Since then, the Irish-born actor has gone on to appear in popular series like Hell on Wheels alongside another Star Trek actor, Anson Mount, who is now playing Captain Christopher Pike on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

The prolific actor has maintained a busy schedule since his time on Star Trek came to an end, and now, he's being honored for his fifty-year career by being awarded the Irish Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award. Dame Judi Dench and Gabriel Byrne have been two of the other recipients of the award, and Meaney was quite surprised when he was announced as 2025's recipient.

In a report by Irish Star,...

We're still not over the end of "Star Trek: Lower Decks," and to be quite honest, we might never be. Every "Star Trek" fan loves "Lower Decks." Well, at least all of us here at /Film do -- I can't speak for any of the contrarian weirdos out there who hate fun or are somehow allergic to animation. Fans have become extremely attached to the cast, and their voices now rattle around in the dark recesses of our brains. Whenever I do a rewatch of "Craig of the Creek" (another show coming to an end too soon), I feel my heart break a little whenever Noël Wells' voice as Kelsey creeps into sounding like her "Lower Decks" character, Ensign D'Vana Tendi. I'm just not ready to admit that it's really over.

Fortunately, it's not like all of these beloved performers are being launched out of an airlock and forced to...

For my money, there's one easy answer to the question of the best television show of all time: it's "The Twilight Zone," obviously. Rod Serling's influential series, which originally premiered in 1959, offers something for everybody. There are scary episodes and thought-provoking ones, episodes with aliens and episodes with murder, and episodes that fall into the Western genre, science fiction, horror, and even comedy. That iconic theme music gives everything an air of the surreal, letting us know that we're watching a show where just about anything can happen.

Serling didn't like that the show reran in syndication, but that's part of what made it so enduring. From SyFy marathons to the series' ubiquity on various streaming services, audiences have been discovering "The Twilight Zone" for decades, sinking into its impressive back catalog in an effort to be scared, spooked, or simply entertained.

One of the joys of rewatching "The Twilight Zone...

It remains to be seen what Rotten Tomatoes score the upcoming Paramount+ movie Star Trek: Section 31 will wind up with, but it may surprise people that of all the franchise features, the one with the highest Rotten Tomatoes score is... Star Trek (2009), directed by J.J. Abrams. Everyone tends to forget how much they liked the first Kelvin big-screen adventure. It actually boasts a better score than either of the highest-rated movies featuring the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series or Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek (2009) maintains a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The best-regarded and most financially successful of the Next Generation movies, the Jonathan Frakes-directed Star Trek: First Contact, comes in at 93%. As for the original cast features, Nicholas Meyer’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan tops the list with a 86% rating, a number that might strike some fans as surprisingly low.

Intriguingly,...

As the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires rage on nearly a week after they began, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — four governors and a former CEO of which lost their homes to the flames, The Hollywood Reporter has learned — has decided to reconfigure its Oscar season timetable for a second time out of sensitivity to the SoCal community, which is home to some 60 percent of its roughly 10,000 members.

Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang shared in a statement on Monday that the 97th Academy Awards has not moved from its date of Sunday, March 2, 2025, which is 48 days from today. However …

• The Oscar nominations voting window, which began at 9 a.m. Pt on Wednesday, Jan. 8, and was to have ended at 5 p.m. Pt on Sunday, Jan. 12, and then was extended until 5 p.m. Pt on Tuesday, Jan. 14, has now been extended to 5 p.m. Pt on Friday,...

Hollywood doesn’t serve up lineups like this every day — a Marvel star rocking a baby bump, two Star Wars icons getting the Oscar nod, and Julia Roberts smack dab in the middle of her prime. This movie had it all: excellent performances, major star power, and a sprinkle of behind-the-scenes chaos to make it legendary.

Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman | Credits: Touchstone Pictures

Roberts called it luck, but when the stars align this perfectly, you know it’s something special.

Julia Roberts’ lucky streak: Pregnancy surprises, oscar nods, and missed roles Julia Roberts in a still from Closer | Credits: Columbia Pictures

Julia Roberts might be Hollywood royalty, but even icons have near-misses. The Oscar-winning actress revealed that she turned down the lead in Nora Ephron’s 1998 rom-com You’ve Got Mail.

The role, made famous by Meg Ryan (who also appeared in the 2012 Star Trek TV episode as Captain Cole...

Everyone has their favorite "Star Trek" captain. Ever since the '90s, debates have raged as to whether Kirk could beat Picard, and once Sisko came along, all bets were off. Just as every Klingon warrior needs a cha'Dich, even the best captain needs a solid second behind them. Over the years, many have tried to follow in the footsteps of Starfleet greatness, sometimes even exceeding it. As great as the limelight is, however, the position of reliable backup can be even harder. 

It's time for the first officers to shine. Who are the greatest seconds-in-command? Like asking what makes a great vice president, that can be tough. Do we want someone who can and will take over or just the very best at carrying out their orders?

For the purposes of equal ranking, we haven't included absolutely every main crew in the franchise -- the musical chairs of the...

Many Trekkies might find it curious that someone like Jeff Bezos (who admittedly gave bad advice to the "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" showrunners) would be a Trekkie. "Star Trek," after all, takes place in a post-capitalist society wherein humanity is no longer motivated by the accumulation of wealth. Class has essentially been erased, and technology allows everyone to live comfortably, without want. Jeff Bezos, meanwhile, is one of the richest people on the planet, said to be worth over $237 billion. He owns Amazon and the Washington Post, and has, in recent years, been spreading his money around the American Right Wing, showing financial support for the country's most unsavory politicians. He also prevented the Post from endorsing Kamala Harris for president. Bezos has been described as an oligarch and is certainly one of Earth's most insidious supra-capitalists. These are not the philosophical viewpoints of Gene Roddenberry's futuristic utopia.

Star Trek: Lower Decks will always have a special place in my heart for their decision to bring back the little-discussed but incredibly charming side character from Star Trek: First Contact, Lily Sloane. Lily, played by Alfre Woodard in both the film and the Lower Decks cameo, was a standout new character at the time. The film was all the rage, and it stands as the best example of filmmaking during The Next Generation era of films.

Woodard's performance in the film was part of the reason why. Essentially paired with Jean-Luc Picard for most of the film, we got to see what the universe of Star Trek is like through someone who has seen nothing but war and death for years. It made her voice carry all the more weight when she urged Picard to stop his war against The Borg and choose to live instead.

Woodard was incredible...

Star Trek is a brand that has influenced the world of science fiction for decades. They've helped create and influence other franchises for years. Due to this, some franchises and films have popped up that took the Star Trek formula and gave it their own twist. The most recent iteration of this trend is The Orville, a show some of you may be quick to tie to Star Trek.

Yet, before there was the Orville, there was Galaxy Quest. If The Orville is a show that is telling untold stories from within the Star Trek universe, but with a comedic twist, then Galaxy Quest is about the lives of those actors.

Starring Tim Allen as Jason Nesmith, a William Shatner stand-in, the movie follows the cast of Galaxy Quest, a show that ended its run some 20 years before the start of the film. The show is still beloved all this time later,...

As a franchise spanning multiple television series since 1966, Star Trek has brought countless memorable guest stars over the decades. However, not all guest stars are created equal, with several standing as clear highlights in their respective episodes. Whether it's one-and-done appearances or informal recurring roles, effective guest stars quickly are embraced as fan-favorites. In fact, some connect with the cast, crew, and audience so well, they've inadvertently steered the course of the franchise.

A great guest star gels seamlessly with the main cast and naturally elevates the story that they're appearing in. Rather than simply feeling like stunt casting, a guest role feels like an organic addition to the Star Trek franchise. For the purposes of this article, stars appearing on this list do not include actors who have appeared as series regulars on other Star Trek shows. Here are the 15 best guest stars on Star Trek, ranked in descending order.

The current spate of California blazes has made the memorable Star Trek Generations line of dialogue, “They say time is the fire in which we burn” truer than ever. The line, spoken by Malcolm McDowell’s villainous character Soran and inspired by the Delmore Schwartz poem “Calmly We Walk through This April’s Day,” hits home now as Star Trek actors, including Denise Crosby and Kate Mulgrew, share the real-life toll of the disasters on them and their loved ones.

Crosby, who played Tasha Yar and Sela on Star Trek: The Next Generation, took to X, formerly Twitter, on January 8 to reveal that her Spanish cottage in Pacific Palisades, California, fell victim to the fires. “Yesterday morning I had a beautiful Spanish cottage that gave me endless joy, where I met my husband and raised my son,” she wrote. “The only house I’ve ever owned, with fruit trees I grew,...