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So you’ve decided to start watching Star Trek! Congratulations on your choice, as this enduring sci-fi series has had a profound effect on pop culture and the growth/development of much of today’s technology.

With numerous Star Trek series available on streaming services, starting with this venerable franchise may seem confusing at first. Where do you begin? Does each series stand alone, or is the entire universe connected? If you’re unsure about taking your first steps into where no one has gone before, Redshirts Always Die is ready to help you with this guide to watching Star Trek in chronological order!

Some Star Trek series have little connection to others, while others take place within the same timeline. The events of Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, for example, occur simultaneously, but in different parts of the galaxy. They also each reference episodes of...

William Shatner's 1989 space epic "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" is still, to this day, cited as one of the worst "Star Trek" movies. The film's hefty $30 million budget likely went mostly to its cast, as its visual effects are severely lacking and the sets look shoddy and cheap. Likewise, the scenes featuring the planet Nimbus III and its Paradise City were very clearly just shot out in the Mojave Desert, and there was compositing for the film's many viewscreen shots, forcing Shatner to shoot actual projection screens. (It doesn't look good.)

"The Final Frontier" was beset with myriad production problems as well. Right when shooting began, there was a strike by the Teamsters Union, forcing Paramount to seek out non-union drivers in a move that was, of course, meant to invite Teamsters retaliation. Also, the studio couldn't afford its usual team of effects wizards at Industrial Light & Magic,...

The main crew of the original "Star Trek" are not, by most stretches of the imagination, anti-heroes. They're the good guys, traveling through space in the service of exploration and peace. They're a diverse bunch who all get along...usually. If Starfleet were real, James Tiberius Kirk and his crew would be in its heroes hall of fame. Nobody, however, is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, and when those mistakes are made at the helm of a starship with energy weapons and torpedoes, things can go really bad.

All the main characters of "Star Trek" have made terrible mistakes. Often, it was the result of possession or madness. Other times, it was a severe lapse in judgment, or a miscalculation about where exactly the needs of the many and the needs of the one fall on the scale of probabilities. Hikaru Sulu, Pavel Chekov, Nyota Uhura, Montgomery Scott, Leonard McCoy, Spock son of Sarek,...

William Shatner will turn 94 years young on March 22, while George Takei will hit 88 on April 20, Walter Koenig will reach the 89-year mark in September, and Patrick Stewart will celebrate his 85th birthday on July 13. Those imminent birthdays got us wondering: Who is the oldest living Star Trek actor? This can be any performer from any series or movie.

We scoured the internet, cross-referencing Star Trek, actors and actresses, and birth years. Laurence Luckinbill, who played Sybok in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, is 90. James Cromwell, who guest-starred in several episodes of several shows across the franchise and co-starred in Star Trek: First Contact, will turn 86 next January. Marsha Hunt, who guest starred as Anne Jameson in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Too Short a Season,” was 104 when she died in 2022. Norman Lloyd, who portrayed Galen in the Next Generation episode “The Chase,” was 106 when he passed away in 2021. Olaf Pooley,...

What makes a good movie villain? That's hard to say, which is why if you look up the worst and best Star Trek villains of all time, you're going to have a wildly different list depending on where you go. That's no different here. We have our list of the Star Trek movie villains from worst to best, but how did we come up with the list?

Well, there are several criteria that I took into effect.

First, was the villain effective? Did he do his plan well? Villains who suck at completing their missions aren't going to be held in high regard. Secondly, was the villain a problem for the heroes? You'll notice that a lot of times the villain of the film doesn't actually do anything. It's actually a little surprising.

Thirdly, is the villain a threat to the greater good? Star Trek films are about a larger narrative than just good vs.

Star Trek's Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard) was not always a great father to his son, Spock (Leonard Nimoy), but he became one of the most influential Vulcans of all time. Despite Sarek's rigid adherence to Vulcan logic, he fell in love with and married a human woman named Amanda Grayson (Jane Wyatt). With a Vulcan father and a human mother, Spock felt caught between two worlds on Star Trek: The Original Series. Ambassador Sarek wanted his son to embrace his Vulcan side and reject human emotion, but this did not come naturally to Spock.

Sarek and Amanda first appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 10, "Journey to Babel," when they traveled to a conference aboard the USS Enterprise of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Throughout his long career as a Vulcan Ambassador, Sarek helped negotiate numerous treaties and aided in the initial peace talks between the...

Airing as part of ABC’s Wide World of Mystery in 1973, five-part horror series The Classic Ghosts has been rescued from obscurity for a Blu-ray release on October 29.

Bloody Disgusting is teaming up with Kino Lorber to give away three copies of the Blu-ray set.

Click here to enter!

This contest is open to US residents only. One entry permitted per address. Three winners will be drawn on October 29.

Produced by broadcast pioneer Jacqueline Babbin, The Classic Ghosts has been preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

“The Haunting of Rosalind” (65 min) is directed by Lela Swift, based on a story by Henry James. Pamela Payton-Wright, Susan Sarandon, Beatrice Straight, and Frank Converse star.

“The Screaming Skull” (67 min) is directed by Gloria Monty, based on a story by Francis Marion Crawford. David McCallum, Vince Gardenia, and Carrie Nye star.

“The Deadly Visitor” (66 min) is directed by Lela Swift, based...

Late-night horror series The Classic Ghosts has rarely been seen since airing on ABC’s Wide World of Mystery in 1973, but that’s about to change.

The UCLA Film & Television Archive has preserved all five installments, coming to Blu-ray on October 29 via Kino Lorber’s Kino Cult line. Watch the exclusive trailer below.

Produced by broadcast pioneer Jacqueline Babbin, The Classic Ghosts was celebrated upon its debut for being made by a predominantly female crew, including trailblazing television directors Gloria Monty (General Hospital) and Lela Swift (Studio One).

Shot on videotape in the style of a soap opera, with expressive and colorful production design, The Classic Ghosts has an immediacy and otherworldliness akin to Dark Shadows — not surprising since two of the directors (Swift and Henry Kaplan) directed hundreds of episodes of the classic horror TV series.

The two-disc set includes interviews with Mark Quigley (John H. Mitchell Television...

Going back to 1966, "Star Trek" co-stars William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy had what was called a "favored nations clause" in their contracts. The clause ensured that whenever one actor got a raise, or perhaps input into a script, the other one would get the same. This was done to comfort two actors who were constantly butting heads as to who the real "star" of "Star Trek" was. The favored nations clause made sure that neither actor could "pull ahead" of the other.

The clauses were still in place by the 1980s, so when Nimoy was hired to direct "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984) and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986), Shatner was able to pull rank. Thanks to a pay dispute on "Star Trek IV," Shatner could contractually elbow his way into the director's chair for 1989's "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier." Not only that, but Shatner...

Although Tom Cruise mainly focuses on action movies these days, his career was also filled with several acclaimed dramatic performances. Long before Cruise started to scale the sides of buildings or jump from planes in franchises like Mission: Impossible, he made a name for himself balancing action-heavy movies with more nuanced roles in dramas, legal thrillers, rom-coms, and more. As a four-time Academy Award nominee, Cruise was no stranger to complex and challenging characters in intensely dramatic movies.

The best Tom Cruise movies also included some of his strongest dramatic performances, as he embodied all types of characters, from an idealistic Harvard graduate to a seedy pickup artist. Cruises' filmography boasts works from iconic filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, and even Stanley Kubrick. As a true titan of modern cinema, Cruise has plenty to offer as a dramatic performer, and its a real shame he hasnt been taking...

In a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live, actress Gina Gershon shared an amusing yet unexpected anecdote about her first love scene ever from the 1988 film Cocktail, in which she starred alongside Tom Cruise. Gershon recalled how the scene took an unexpected turn and she nearly broke Cruises nose. However, despite the mishap, she praised Cruise for being a complete gentleman and making her feel comfortable throughout the experience.

During the interview, Gershon vividly described the scene in the romantic comedy-drama directed by Roger Donaldson. She told host Andy Cohen:

At one point, he starts off under the covers, and I told him I was very ticklish. I said, No, no, dont ever do that. And in one take I think he wanted a reaction and he grabbed my stomach, and I kneed him right in the nose I was like, Oh, my God, I just broke Tom Cruises nose.

The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, now streaming on Netflix.

Will Wheaton had to keep a lot of people in the dark about his surprise Star Trek: Prodigy return.

In a conversation with Screen Rant, Wheaton talked about his return as Starfleet prodigy-turned-Traveler Wesley Crusher and maintaining secrecy about Wesley's season 2 role over the past few years. "Not a lot of people [knew]. I mean, the folks who worked on the show, obviously. Most of my [Star Trek: The Next Generation] cast didn't know. My space mom [Gates McFadden] knows. [Jonathan] Frakes knew. Kate [Mulgrew] knew because we had scenes together. But nobody else knew. It was a gigantic secret," he said.

Related Star Trek: Voyager's Robert Picardo Reveals the Challenges of Prodigy Return

Robert Picardo discusses the challenges he faced playing his live-action Star Trek: Voyager character in the animated Star Trek: Prodigy.

This secrecy extended to Wheaton's...

Laurence Luckinbill's memoir, Affective Memories, delves into his life as an actor and father, providing insights and lessons learned along the way. Luckinbil portrayed Sybok, the villainous brother of Spock, in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, directed by William Shatner Luckinbill shares personal stories from his time on the set of Star Trek V, highlighting the camaraderie and challenges of filming the movie.

Laurence Luckibill is best known for playing Sybok, the brother of Spock (Leonard Nimoy), in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Luckinbill has written his memoir detailing his remarkable life and career on stage and screen, his travels, and the hard lessons and happiness he found along the way.

Affective Memories: How Chance and the Theater Saved My LIfe by Laurence Luckinbill can be ordered on Amazon and wherever books are sold. Luckinbill decided to write his memoir after years of telling stories of his...

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has added some young blood to its cast. Kerrice Brooks, Bella Shepard, and George Hawkins have all boarded the upcoming Paramount+ series as cadets attending the titular educational facility.

According to Variety, Brooks, Shepard, and Hawkins have all been cast as currently unnamed cadets in Starfleet Academy. The trio are the latest additions to the show's cast after award-winning actors Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti, who are set to portray the captain/chancellor of Starfleet Academy and the season's main villain, respectively. Brooks has previously appeared in projects like The Prom and On My Block at Netflix and How We Roll on CBS. She will next be seen in the comedy films My Old Ass, opposite Aubrey Plaza, and Feeling Randy.

Related Star Trek V's Sybok Actor Shares Advice for Strange New Worlds Successor

Laurence Luckinbill, who originated the role of Sybok, gave his thoughts on...

When Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was still in development, reports suggested that Leonard Nimoy, who reprised his role as Spock in the film, also wanted to play his character's half-brother Sybok. Laurence Luckinbill, the actor who eventually landed the role, believes these rumors are what led him to get the part.

In an interview with Screen Rant, Luckinbill offered some insight into his relationship with Nimoy and opened up about what it was like behind the scenes of Star Trek V. "It was just business on the set, yes. And there is this thing that's been said that Leonard wanted to play both parts. I don't know if it's true. But Bill [Shatner] wasn't gonna have that," the actor said. "So that's how I got the part. And Sean Connery didn't. He was busy already."

Related Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Is a Better Movie Than Fans Remember...

Walter Koenig is not impressed with how Star Trek Generations handled Captain James T. Kirk's death. The actor best known for portraying Pavel Chavek in several Star Trek shows and movies slammed the decision to give Captain Kirk an unheroic death in the 1994 sci-fi movie.

Koenig recently appeared on the Star Trek podcast, The 7th Rule (via Screen Rant), to review the Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2 episode, "The Doomsday Machine," with hosts Cirroc Lofton and Ryan T. Husk. During the conversation, Koenig touched on how Commodore Matt Decker (portrayed by guest star William Windom) received a more heroic death than William Shatner's Captain Kirk did in Generations. "It makes me think [of] Star Trek: The Next Generations first movie the way they wrote off Captain Kirk was, I think, just unforgivable," the actor stated. "He should have died trying to save the ship He dies on a bridge or something,...

Leonard Nimoy's alleged desire to play both Spock and Sybok in Star Trek V led to a chilly on-set relationship with Laurence Luckinbill. Luckinbill got the part of Sybok after William Shatner rejected the idea of Nimoy playing both roles. The two actors became friends after the movie wrapped, with Nimoy inviting Luckinbill to his home for dinners.

Leonard Nimoy wanting to play both Spock and Sybok in William Shatner's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a rumor that Laurence Luckinbill thinks contributed to his getting the part as Spock's nefarious Vulcan brother. Luckinbill's lone appearance as Sybok in Star Trek V continues to be memorable, and a younger version of Spock's emotional half-brother has even appeared in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. However, Nimoy was far from brotherly towards Luckinbill on set, perhaps because Leonard wanted to the challenge of playing Spock and Sybok.

In an upcoming...

House of the Dragon has been off to a stellar start in the first three episodes of their sophomore season, the last of which sees Rhaenyra send her children and some dragon eggs away to The Vale under the care of Rhaena Targaryen. The sighting of these dragon eggs had fans abuzz, as three out of the four seemed awfully familiar, resembling the emerald green, dark red, and pale gold eggs that Daenerys Targaryen receives in the pilot for Game of Thrones.

In an interview with Mashable, Geeta Vasant Patel, who directed episode 3, confirmed that those three eggs are the very same that find their way to Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) in Game of Thrones. "Those are Daenerys' eggs," Patel confirmed. "All of us who work on this show are big Game of Thrones fans, so it was very exciting to shoot that scene." This confirmation, as exciting as it has been for fans,...

House of the Dragon is off to a fiery start with the release of the first three episodes of Season 2. George R.R. Martin, without whom there would be no Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, offered his thoughts on the first two episodes, praising the work of the cast and crew.

In the July 5 entry of his online publication Not a Blog, the A Song of Ice and Fire author complimented the start of House of the Dragons second season, from the set and costume design, the acting, and the direction. Martin first described his visit to London last November, where he saw the sets for the Red Keep and Dragonstone. "That part was spectacular. I have visited real castles that did not look half as imposing as the Red Keep and Dragonstone did. And they were Huge. I could easily have gotten lost, just like Blood and Cheese did,...

Sybok, Spocks Vulcan half-brother, appeared in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier as the films antagonist, however, he made no further appearances in the franchise. That is, until Star Trek: Strange New Worlds re-introduced him in Season 1 Episode 7.

Now, Laurence Luckinbill, who first played the character, has offered some words of advice to whoever may take up the mantle next. In an interview with Screen Rant to promote his new memoir, Affective Memories: How Chance and the Theater Saved My Life, Luckinbill talked about what is at the core of Syboks character, and what the next actor to play the Vulcan who forwent logic for emotion should focus on.

Related 'Here Comes Captain Kirk!': William Shatner Open to Star Trek Return

William Shatner admits he's open to a Star Trek return and pitches a possible scenario to make it happen.

"Hold on very hard to the idea that this...

Laurence Luckinbill advises future Sybok actor to focus on the character's good intentions and not see him as a villain. Luckinbill shared his experience working with William Shatner on Star Trek V and his interpretation of Sybok's role. His memoir, "Affective Memories: How Chance and the Theater Saved My Life," is available for purchase.

Laurence Luckinbill, who played Sybok in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, has important advice for the next actor to play Spock's Vulcan half-brother in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Sybok made a shocking comeback in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 7, "The Serene Squall" - 33 years after Luckinbill originated the role of Sybok in Star Trek V. Sybok did not appear in Strange New Worlds season 2, but it's possible Spock's older half-brother who eschewed logic for emotion could return in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3.

In an upcoming exclusive interview with Screen Rant to discuss his memoir,...

Laurence Luckinbill saw his character, Sybok, as a complex figure searching for God, resembling Lenin's transformation into a dictator. Luckinbill refused to have Sybok armed with weapons, wanting to portray him as a peaceful seeker, which director William Shatner supported. Despite mixed reviews, Luckinbill praised Shatner's directing, valuing the opportunity to play the tragic and Shakespearean role of Sybok.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier's Laurence Luckinbill shares how he sees Sybok and credits director William Shatner for helping him realize his vision. Shatner cast Luckinbill as the villain of the fifth Star Trek movie after seeing the lauded stage actor's performance as President Lyndon B. Johnson in Lyndon. As Sybok, Luckinbill played a holy man who was the Vulcan half-brother of Spock (Leonard Nimoy). However, Sybok was no mere heavy, and the emotional Vulcan was unlike previous Star Trek movie villains.

Laurence Luckinbill appeared on All Access Star Trek - A TrekMovie.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a flawed but endearing character study of three eternal friends. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy's camping trip reflects the unbreakable friendship between the Big Three. Sybok is Star Trek's most underrated movie villain who acts nobly in the end.

William Shatner's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is great comfort food. Regularly referred to as one of, if not the worst Star Trek movie, director William Shatner's Star Trek V was a noble effort that suffered from numerous issues. Shatner set out to follow the back-to-back successes of Leonard Nimoy's Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and the blockbuster Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home by taking over the director's chair to tell the cosmic tale of the USS Enterprise meeting God. But what Star Trek V actually delivered is a flawed but endearing character study of three eternal...

One of the great ironies about Star Trek, the science-fiction universe created by Gene Roddenberry in 1964, is the excessive importance put on its visual effects, which were called "opticals" back in those days. The artists whose job it was to make ships fly, planets spin or "beam" people up and down via transporter had to do the impossible with their time period's very limited effects technology. Despite their Herculean efforts, these artists' hard work was almost always taken for granted. When met with viewers' critical eyes, the special effects' subjective quality often and unfairly overshadowed even the best and most daring stories. With that in mind, it's ironic that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is thought of as a bad film because, with its admittedly weak visual effects and rich character work, it's as good as Roddenberry's beloved universe gets.

For decades, Star Trek fans joked about the "cheap" cardboard sets,...

In his vast career, William Shatner has directed five features. Three of them were documentaries about the making of "Star Trek" including "The Captains" in 2011, "Get a Life!" in 2012, and "Chaos on the Bridge" in 2014. Prior to these, Shatner also helmed a 2002 sci-fi film called "Groom Lake," which he co-wrote with the notorious "Star Trek" producer Maurice Hurley.

Shatner's highest-profile directing gig, however, came in 1989 with the release of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier." To this day, "Star Trek V" is considered the least of the "Star Trek" movies, lambasted for its clunky script, weird central conceit, and cheap special effects. In the film, the U.S.S. Enterprise is hijacked by Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), the half-brother of Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Sybok flies the ship to the very center of the galaxy where he hopes to meet God face-to-face. Along the way, Sybok converts several Enterprise crew members to...

In William Shatner's film "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier," the U.S.S. Enterprise is hijacked by a hippie Vulcan cult leader named Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) and flown to the very center of the Milky Way. In reality, the galaxy's center is the site of a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*. In "Frontier," Sybok believes it's where God lives. Not a spiritual conduit to God, mind you, but the actual physical body of God Himself. Kirk (Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) think Sybok is mad, but are dragged along in his mad scheme. 

When the Enterprise arrives at its destination, however, it seems for a few moments that Sybok is right. He and the Enterprise crew encounter and land on a mysterious planet, and God Himself (George Murdock) appears. Everyone is awestruck ... except for Kirk. When God asks the mortal characters for a starship to spread His Word,...

The Star Trek franchise has introduced many powerful and remarkable female characters throughout its movies. These female characters come from various backgrounds and professions, showcasing their commitment, trust, and intelligence. From Persis Khambatta's Lieutenant Ilia to Sofia Boutella's Jaylah, these female characters leave a lasting impact on the Star Trek universe.

With 13 bold and adventurous space-faring movies (so far), the Star Trek franchise has introduced many new, exciting, daring, and interesting female characters. Most of the franchise's feature films have anchored, warped, or enriched the central stories with a balance of gendered characters, from allies to enemies to old flames to mentored cadets. With Persis Khambatta's Lieutenant Ilia establishing the precedent in the franchise's cinematic premiere, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, most Star Trek movies have seen plot and character developments with a wide-ranging wealth of powerful and remarkable women.

Bridging the gaps between the crews of Star Trek: The Original Series,...

Pavel Chekov's career in Starfleet was characterized by his ability to serve in various positions as needed, without a clear career trajectory. Chekov's dream of becoming a starship captain was never confirmed, but he did briefly act as Captain of the Enterprise-a in one instance. Chekov's legacy in Starfleet is that of an enthusiastic and versatile officer, with his descendant Anton eventually becoming President of the United Federation of Planets.

J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies continued a running joke that began in Star Trek: The Original Series in regard to Pavel Chekov's Starfleet career path. Chekov joined the cast of Tos in season 2 as an Ensign fresh out of Starfleet Academy. As is customary with junior officers, Chekov performed various tasks aboard the USS Enterprise as part of his duty shift rotations. Under the command of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Chekov would be assigned to...

The Galactic Barrier in Star Trek is a negative energy field at the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy that disrupts starships and human bodies. Captain Kirk encountered the Galactic Barrier multiple times in Star Trek: The Original Series but never crossed to the other side. In Star Trek: Discovery, Captain Burnham and her crew crossed through the Galactic Barrier to make contact with Species 10-c.

The starships of Star Trek set out to explore the farthest reaches of the galaxy, and there are two different barriers they have come up against. While there are, of course, no literal walls or edges in space, there is a Galactic Barrier that surrounds the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew encountered this Barrier on multiple occasions in Star Trek: The Original Series with various results. In the 32nd century of Star Trek: Discovery,...

Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a box office success, starting a franchise that has seen ups and downs but continues to thrill fans. Star Trek films featuring the original cast and Captain Picard were generally well-received, but Star Trek: Nemesis is regarded as a flop. J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek reboot was a critical and commercial success, introducing a new generation to the franchise and inspiring the visual style of later TV series.

Although Star Trek began as a television franchise and has produced far more television than films, thirteen Star Trek films hit the big screen since the end of Star Trek: The Original Series. After the syndication success of Tos, Paramount had plans for another Star Trek television project, titled Star Trek: Phase II. However, after the successes of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Paramount saw the opportunity to achieve box office success with a Star Trek feature.

Sybok's return in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been teased, but certain things cannot happen with his character due to his role in Star Trek V. Spock cannot capture Sybok in the new series, as established in Star Trek V, where he mentions not having seen his half-brother in a long time. Captain Kirk cannot be present in any Sybok episodes, as he has no knowledge of Spock's half-brother prior to the events of Star Trek V.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has teased the official return of Sybok, the Vulcan half-brother of Spock (Ethan Peck), but Sybok's role in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier means two things can't happen. Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 7, "The Serene Squall" reveals that Sybok is currently being housed at a Vulcan rehabilitation facility under the assumed name Xaverius. Sybok is only briefly glimpsed in "The Serene Squall," and he has not made another appearance since.

Rose Gregorio, who received a Tony nomination for her performance as the browbeaten daughter of Geraldine Fitzgerald’s declining old woman in the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama The Shadow Box, has died. She was 97.

Gregorio died Aug. 17 of natural causes in her Greenwich Village home, her nephew Robert Grosbard told The Hollywood Reporter.

Gregorio was married to Belgium-born stage and film director Ulu Grosbard from 1965 until his death in 2012, and she appeared for him as the ex-wife of Dustin Hoffman’s character in Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971); as a local madam in True Confessions (1981); and as the mother of Treat Williams’ character in The Deep End of the Ocean (1999).

On television, she had a recurring role on NBC’s ER as Nurse Carol Hathaway’s (Julianna Margulies) mom from 1996-99.

Gregorio also landed a Drama Desk nom and a Clarence Derwent...

Put down the marshmallows and stop singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” It’s time to gather ’round the campfire and listen to the contract squabble that led to one of the strangest movies in the Star Trek franchise. Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek III: The Search For Spock certainly have their fans, but it was Star Trek V: The Final Frontier that cemented the adage that “only the even-numbered Star Trek movies are good.” How in the world did the franchise follow its most successful movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home with a film about Spock’s long-lost brother and God needing a starship?

As with most things in Trek, the answer leads back to Kirk and Spock. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy had a strange, complex relationship on-screen and off, resulting in contract negotiations that changed the course of the franchise.

Shatner and Nimoy...

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 looks to continue the affinity Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) has for the Starship Enterprise's engineers. Uhura has been a fixture of Star Trek since the show began in 1966 when Nichelle Nichols portrayed the later version of the character, Lt. Uhura. Though Uhura is usually stationed at the Communications station on the bridge of the USS Enterprise, she seems to have a particular interest in engineering.

In the Star Trek films that followed The Original Series, Uhura and Scotty (James Doohan) grew close. She even appeared to show some romantic interest in Scotty in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, though she was being influenced by the Vulcan, Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), at the time. In Strange New Worlds season 1, Uhura came under the tutelage of Chief Engineer Hemmer (Bruce Horak), and she looked up to him as a mentor. Though it is a...

Although it started out as a prequel series, Star Trek: Discovery is now set in the Star Trek universe's far future, allowing it to address some unanswered franchise questions. Since they arrived in the 32nd century, the crew of the USS Discovery have assisted in rebuilding the Federation in the aftermath of the Burn, and averted a galactic catastrophe by establishing common ground with Species 10-c from a neighboring galaxy. As Discovery continues to expand on what life is like Star Trek's 32nd century, it can also update viewers on historic events and characters from elsewhere in the franchise.

For example, Star Trek: Discovery has already shown that Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) Romulan unification mission ultimately paid off in Discovery season 3, episode 7, "Unification III" with the introduction of the joint Vulcan-Romulan home world Ni'Var, once known as Vulcan. However, there are several other loose threads and tantalizing Star Trek events...

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 can fix one of the franchise's biggest mistakes by revisiting Sybok, Spock's half-brother who was introduced in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Played by noted stage actor Laurence Luckinbill, Sybok was a Vulcan revolutionary, rejecting the teachings of logic in favor of embracing emotion. He was exiled from Vulcan and never mentioned by Spock before the events of The Final Frontier.

Sybok had enhanced telepathic abilities that he could have used to force people to relive traumatic events, ostensibly to relieve them of their pain. In actuality, Sybok used these powers to recruit followers on his quest to find Sha Ka Ree, a location from Vulcan mythology where all of existence was said to have begun. Sybok was able to convert most of Kirk's crew to his cause and commandeered the USS Enterprise-a before he eventually realized he was pursuing a false god.

The Star Trek film series starring the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series saw the crew of the USS Enterprise undergo some jarring changes. The story of Star Trek's resurrection is the stuff of pop culture legend at this point. A ratings failure during its initial run, Tos became a phenomenon in syndication in the 1970s. While there were tentative plans to revive the television series, the success of Star Wars prompted Paramount to change their minds and shift Star Trek toward a feature film instead.

That film would ultimately become Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which was met with a mixed critical response and thin profit margins at the box office. Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan fared much better, and a new film franchise was born. Over six films, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his trusted first officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) evolved in significant,...

The rejected plan for Star Trek 4 for Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) to team up with his father, Lt. George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), would have made the same mistakes as J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies. Writers Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, who now serve as showrunners for Amazon Prime Video's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, recently discussed their scrapped concept for Star Trek 4, which they developed with director S.J. Clarkson. Pitched as an Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade-like father/son team-up, Captain Kirk would have learned his father miraculously survived Nero's (Eric Bana) destruction of the USS Kelvin in Star Trek 2009.

Payne and McCay's idea to resurrect George Kirk in Star Trek 4 involved the Starship Enterprise finding Chris Hemsworth's hero still alive inside the USS Kelvin's transporter pattern buffer. The Enterprise crew would have been able to retrieve Lt. Kirk from the pattern buffer intact,...

Julie Messinger—accent on the “mess”—discovers her husband is a serial cheater whose conquests happen to be most of Julie’s best friends. Joan Didion and Joan Micklin Silver took their turns writing the script till Elaine May stepped in to finish the screenplay under a pseudonym. Dyan Cannon stars as Julie and Laurence Luckinbill plays her scheming husband.

The post Such Good Friends appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Robert Allan Ackerman, the director whose television work scored five Emmy nominations and who directed acclaimed Broadway productions including Bent and Extremities, died Jan. 10 of kidney failure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. He was 77.

His death was announced by family through a spokesman.

“I love Bob. I loved being around him, his aurora, his steady peace,” said actor Al Pacino, who starred in Ackerman’s 1992 Broadway staging of Oscar Wilde’s Salome. “To work with him was joyous. He understood the language of theater art and communicated it with such ease. His gift was intangible and there’s no way of understanding how he created. When an artist has that special gift it is unexplainable, it just happens. When he stopped directing, he started writing again and his writing also had that same magic. He will be missed.”

In 2016, Pacino would re-team with Ackerman in a Pasadena Playhouse production of God Looked Away,...

Welcome Dan, aka Comic Concierge, back to Nerdly with his new YouTube channel dedicated to all things comics. From weekly new releases to graphic novels. Comics are for everyone but the key is finding the right one. Comic Concierge is here to help with that journey, with a range of videos discussing everything from weekly pick-ups, dollar-bin dives, comic book theory, analysis and more!

Graphic Thoughts #10: Teddy, Run Home If You Don’t Want to Be Killed, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

On this week’s edition of Graphic Thoughts, it is all about history, This week’s books include Teddy, Run Home If You Don’t Want to Be Killed, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. One of which is a contender for book of the year

Time Stamps:

00:00 – Opening

00:40 – Teddy

12:18 – Run Home If You Don’t Want to Be Killed: The...

“Will and Grace” pays tribute to “I Love Lucy” on April 9. In “We Love Lucy,” Grace (Debra Messing), Jack (Sean Hayes) and Karen (Megan Mullally) each imagine themselves as Lucy Ricardo opposite Will (Eric McCormack) as her hubby Ricky. Part of the fun is seeing this trio of talent also play Fred and Ethel in various combinations.

In black-and-white fantasy sequences, Grace gets tipsy when Lucy does a TV commercial for the alcohol-laced Vitameatavegamin; Karen is in her element stomping grapes to make wine; and Jack is wrapped up in making candy. Lucie Arnaz, daughter of the show’s stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, appears in that last segment drawn from the classic episode “Job Switching.” She plays the factory forewoman who warns the girls that this is their last stop; if one piece of candy gets past them they will be canned.

In the video above, Lucie, relates...

Veteran television writer James Schmerer, whose credits encompass some of the most popular series of the 1970s and ’80s including MacGyver, CHiPs, Vega$, Fantasy Island and Starsky & Hutch, died Oct. 4 at his home in Eugene, Oregon, following a stroke. He was 81.

Schmerer’s death was announced by Writers Guild of America West.

A native of Flushing, New York, Schmerer launched his television writing career in the 1960s (he became a Wgaw member in 1965), and by the ’70s was a sought-after scripter for action series of all types, with the occasional family series – Eight is Enough – and sci-fi show – Star Trek: The Animated Series – tossed in for good measure.

Just a few of the other series that carried a Schmerer “Written by” credit: Hawaii Five-0, The Six Million Dollar Man, The High Chaparral, T.J. Hooker, and The Fall Guy.

Schmerer also wrote scripts for The Rookies, The Streets of San Francisco,...

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was judged pretty harshly by critics and audiences alike when it was released on June 9th, 1989. This was the follow-up to The Voyage Home, one of the most successful Star Trek movies in franchise history, it opened two weeks before Batman took over the box office, and even though The Final Frontier concludes on a meeting with “God,” the finale never quite feels as epic as earlier installments.

But, the passage of time is a funny thing. And Star Trek IV, which was such a favorite of mine back in the day, now feels dated. In contrast, I’ve come to appreciate The Final Frontier more and more with every viewing. And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned just how magical and wonderfully flawed moviemaking really is. Even though Star Trek V may not live up to its predecessors, namely Wrath of Khan,...

Emmy-winning television mastermind Ryan Murphy recently announced that he is set to turn one of this year’s potential Tony contenders, “The Boys in the Band,” into a movie for Netflix. The stage production (which Murphy produced) ran a successful limited run on Broadway last summer. As the nominations announcement approaches, what could this mean for its chances in Best Play Revival?

“The Boys in the Band” centers on a group of gay men who gather in an NYC apartment for a friend’s birthday party. After the drinks are poured and the music is turned up the fault lines beneath their friendships are exposed, as well as the self-inflicted heartache that threatens their solidarity. When Mart Crowley’s play originally premiered Off-Broadway in 1968, it helped spark a revolution by putting gay men’s lives onstage unapologetically and without judgement in a world that was not yet willing to fully accept them.

1980: Dallas' Sue Ellen remembered Kristin shot J.R.

1988: Santa Barbra's Julia stopped her wedding to "Mason".

1989: Another World's Sharlene and John married.

1995: One Life to Live's Todd was shot in Ireland."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1938: Radio soap opera Central City premiered on NBC Blue. The Blackett-Sample-Hummert serial told the story of a blue-collar manufacturing hub of 50,000 denizens. Elspeth Eric starred as Emily Olson with Van Heflin as Bob Shellenberger. Heflin was eventually replaced by Myron McCormick.

1957: On The Edge of Night, Billy Harper (Pud Flanagan) accidentally overheard Mary's (Anne Sargeant) confession...

Review by Mark Longden

The Boys In The Band screens Wednesday, Mar. 29 at 9:00pm at the .Zack (3224 Locust St., St. Louis, Mo 63103) as part of this year’s QFest St. Louis. Ticket information can be found Here

As well as new movies, St Louis’ wonderful Qfest (now in its tenth year) also shows classics of queer cinema that blazed a trail and inspire all sorts of different reactions today. “The Boys In The Band”, an off-Broadway play that was transplanted with the entirety of its cast to the screen, is one such. A review from a revival in 1999 said that, even at the time of its release, it had “the stain of Uncle Tomism”, and it’s been called a minstrel show. But it’s much more than that.

Despite occasionally wonderful direction from William Friedkin (who made “The French Connection” the next year) , its origins as a stage play are very evident,...

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The War On Terror meets The Final Frontier and asks the most important question of all time. What does God need with a starship?

Shatner fights God. That’s about all anyone remembers from the infamous Final Frontier. Over the years, the tale has grown in the telling. Some called it one of the worst films of all time, others call it a box office catastrophe. It killed the careers of the director, producer, the entire special effects company, and nearly ended the entire franchise right there and then. It is remembered merely as a vanity project gone horribly wrong.

But ask yourself this. What does God need with a starship? Can you answer it? Can you understand the question? To dismiss it out of hand is to dismiss the opportunity to think. Do not turn your brain off.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is the ultimate question.

We recently reviewed the popular 1972 TV movie The Dephi Bureau, which is the pilot for the short-lived espionage TV series starring Laurence Luckinbill. Some of our readers made us aware of the fact that the Warner Archive DVD release is actually an edited version of the broadcast version. We wrote to the Archive and received this prompt response from Matthew Patterson:

"Thanks for the heads up. It's actually good to know that this TV movie still has such fans. Unfortunately, this was a known issue going into the production process. All of the 35mm original negative and intermediate elements were all cut to the current (shorter) length. This was a very unusual case, and the only longer version we could track down that survived was in faded 16mm reference prints. Of course all this was done 40 yrs ago, and no one back then anticipated future distribution such as home video,...

By Aaron Pruner

"Star Trek Into Darkness" hits theaters Friday, making it the 12th film in the "Star Trek" movie franchise. With Benedict Cumberbatch filling the "bad guy" shoes here, it seems only fair that we take a look back and rank all of the Star Trek movie villains that have graced the big screen over the past three decades. You're welcome.

11. The Whale Probe From Space - "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986)

This is probably the weirdest villain on the list because, well, it's a whale-loving space monster looking to reunite with its Humpback brethren by emptying all of Earth's oceans.

10. Sybok - "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (1989)

The half-brother of Spock, Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) is pretty much a backwards Vulcan. Emotions are more important than logic to him. Here, he brainwashes everyone so he can get to the middle of space to meet God...who turns...