Star Trek

[William]

Another bit of sad news to report tonight, folks...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081218/ap_ ... oddenberry

Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, the widow of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, passed away of leukemia this morning (12/18/08) at age 76.

Roddenberry, while more known as "Nurse Chapel" in the original Star Trek television series and "Lwaxana Troi" on Star Trek: The Next Generation, amassed some pretty impressive voice credits.

Some of her animated and/or voice-over work include:

"Nurse Chapel" and "Lieutenant M'Ress" on the 1973-75 animated Star Trek series...

"Anna Watson" on the 1994-1998 Spider-Man animated series...

the voice of "Stewie's Ship Computer" in the Family Guy episode "Emission Impossible"...

...and, of course, her work as the Federation Computer voice in all six Star Trek television series and last five (counting the one coming out in May, which she just completed two weeks ago) Star Trek motion pictures.

In fact, here's a YouTube video montage of her Computer work...



First Maddie, then Majel... WHO'S NEXT, GOD?!?!

[GeorgeC]

I had no idea she was sick!

I knew she was in her 70s, but my goodness, I never expected this!

I feel for her son, Rod. Now he's without his parents and is sole heir to his father's legacy. I hope he's with friends and surviving extended family and doesn't get overwhelmed.

This is not a great way to enter the holiday season.

RIP, Majel, and best to Rod Roddenberry. You'll get through this with friends and faith.

[GeorgeC]

Saw this and posted about it in headlines.

Too bad for her son.

He's in an unenviable position of having lost both parents now.

I feel tremendous sympathy for him.

It's not something I'm looking forward to, either having gotten a preview of it after my Dad's brother recently passed away.

The world can be very, very cold when your closest family passes away.

[Randall]

That's a shame. Being in your 70s isn't really all that old these days. I see lots of people at my clinic who are in their 80s and 90s and still very active.

Majel was announced to be the computer voice again in the new Trek film, so I hope she got all of her lines done already.

[James]

Merged the obit with the Star Trek thread where it was already mentioned.

[GeorgeC]

BTW,

The latest Trek death is NOT the end of Classic Trek/TOS.

That happened in December 1999 when DeForest Kelley (aka Dr. "Bones" McCoy) passed away. I knew then that a classic cast reunion was out of the cards and it was the first death of a cast member that really hit me. Heck of a nice guy, and one of the major persons in front of the cameras who held Star Trek together. It's just not the same without him and his humanist wisecracking.

I expected Gene Roddenberry's death back in 1991 given his past substance abuse problems and poor health, but by then he really wasn't involved in day-to-day management of anything Star Trek.

The first major cast death in Trek was really Mark Lenard (Sarek) way back in 1996 or 1997. Another sorely missed talent.

[William]

The first major cast death in Trek was really Mark Lenard (Sarek) way back in 1996 or 1997. Another sorely missed talent.

In '96, GeorgeC, specifically on Nov. 22, 1996-the very day "Star Trek: First Contact" was released, IMSMR [if memory serves me right]...

[James]

Get a load of these beauties!

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/01/22/st ... lu-ray-bo/

[Randall]

Ack!


Me likey!!!!!!

Though, I'll likely skip TOS box for now.

[Ben]

The Motion Picture Trilogy!?

I, II and III only? WTF!? They should <I>at least</I> bung in IV, which completes the stories set up at the end of III.

I'll wait for a full set. As for TOS...just got that eBay set of the first releases...and it's only the remastered hubbub that I have absolutely no interest in other than catching on TV out of curiosity. But I like my Trek to be authentic, and I don't thik I would ever plonk money down on those versions of the shows, despite how enticing the box art looks!

[GeorgeC]

Remember, that's the European release The Digital Bits broke news about. (That's where I saw the Trek BD release announcement at any rate...)

This also may not be final although the TOS BD announcement isn't that big a surprise. That will definitely happen as announced with Season Two in BD probably hitting later in the year, a year later tops.

I'm thinking they'll still do a release of all six films with the intact original cast, or split into it two 3-film sets (which doesn't make sense).

At any rate, if they follow their usual procedures, Paramount Home Video will charge out the whazoo for these films because that's what they always do with Star Trek releases on optical disc!

It's silly -- and unnecessary -- but that's what they'll do.

How much you wanna bet the Blu-Ray set of TOS will be AT LEAST $200 MSRP (best you'll find online will probably be $150 then) and $120 MSRP for the three film set (IF they release that way in the States), $99 at discount in-store?

Uh-huh... That's why I waited for the prices to comes down on the TOS TV DVD sets in the first place!

I barely managed to find the last set (Season Three) of TOS on DVD, btw, because of the insane pricing scheme.

Forty-year-old shows that have paid for themselves many times over shouldn't be gouged the way Paramount does to Trek fans....

I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners sure weren't overpriced the way Trek is!

It's puzzling Star Trek V wasn't mentioned. It's far from the worst in the original series, IMHO.

Star Trek I: The (E)Motionless Picture is far, far worse!


Wonder what the deal is with Trek V? A new cut, or just mistakenly left off the list?

[James]

The link I mentioned notes that the individual films II, III, IV & VI will also be available in standalone editions on BD & DVD.

[GeorgeC]

Newest bit of Trek news --

The Trek TOS releases on Blu-Ray are currently programmed to include BOTH the original broadcast and remastered versions of each TV episode!

Supposedly, there will be a Kirk/Spock collection that will include all 6 films. (Sounds like a slash collection if you get my drift... That was one of the things Roddenberry was unsuccessful at killing while he was still alive.)






Doesn't this news make you wanna smash your head against a brick wall?

Oh well, at least the tricorder casing's neat!

At least I can put my favorite episodes on the old iPod! Not impossible to do that with Blu-Ray, yes, but the extra compression time would be a killer!

[Ben]

Think I'll wait until after the home video release of the new movie on disc. That's when all the sets'll go large and we'll have a better idea of what's in what, etc.

I'm basically happy with my SD Trek sets of TOS for the amount of time I'm really going to spend going over them, though I will hold out for a set of all ten original movies in a Blu box.

[GeorgeC]

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocent ... ekannounce


HUGE announcement on the Star Trek Blu-Ray releases and the upcoming Star Trek Motion Picture trilogy.

The re-releases are going to the original theatrical cuts of the first 6 films since it will take time to redo the extra scenes added to Star Trek II and IV. Star Trek: The Motion Picture is also the original theatrical version since the Director's Edition on DVD had new SFX rendered for 480i/p quality and those shots will NOT upscan nicely!

I'm kind of excited about the 6 film set. These are my favorites in the Trek saga. I just never bought into the Generation cast and it never had the chemistry of the original series.

There can only be hope the Reboot movie coming in May isn't a big disappointment. Those who crow about it being the "big Trek epic" forget that Star Trek hasn't survived on big action scenes and expensive budgets for over 40 years. The show survived because at its heart it's about the relationships of these characters and how they deal with the unknown.

At least the Reboot will bring some needed attention back to the original show. If that's the only positive thing it does, then great!

Oh, and the prices on the new Blu-Rays are very reasonable. It should be possible to get the sets of BOTH the original 6-film release and Season 1 (on Blu-Ray) in the $80-range with discounts online and at some stores. Paramount seems to have gotten the hint about how outrageously overpriced the HD-DVD set of Trek Season 1 was and how people skimmed over the DVD releases of Trek Remastered...