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The Vorta were genetically engineered by the Changelings to serve as administrators and loyal servants in the Dominion. Weyoun, played by Jeffrey Combs, was a notable Vorta character who oversaw Dominion operations. Some actors, like Combs and Christopher Shea, played multiple clones or different Vorta characters throughout the series.

The Vorta played a vital role within the Dominion during Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. First introduced in DS9 season 2, episode 26, "The Jem'Hadar", the Vorta encountered by Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Quark (Armin Shimerman) was the devious Eris (Molly Hagan) who masqueraded as a fellow prisoner to gain information about Starfleet and the Federation. After this first encounter, the Vorta would feature heavily in DS9, with various members of their species making life difficult for Sisko and the crew.

Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs) was the loyal aide to the Female Changeling (Salome Jens) and played an integral role in overseeing the Dominion's military efforts.

The Vorta, part of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's villainous Dominion, were more interesting than the Changelings because of their subservience and unwavering loyalty to the Founders. Jeffrey Combs' performances as Weyoun and other Vorta clones added depth and complexity to their characters, ranging from menacing to gregarious. The Vorta's genetically mandated worship of the Changelings highlighted the contrast between faith and science, making them intriguing foils for the Bajorans and the Federation in the series.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's villains, the Dominion, were comprised of three alien species, but the Vorta were more compelling than the Dominion's Founders, the Changelings. DS9's macro story was about the Dominion War fought between the Federation and their allies versus the mighty Dominion, who hailed from the Gamma Quadrant on the other side of the Bajoran wormhole. The Dominion was led by the Changelings, also called the Founders,...

2020 has been a brutal and depressing year, with a raging pandemic affecting every corner of the globe and massive civil unrest arising in righteous response to long-ignored systemic inequities stateside. It makes sense, then, that film fans have opted to prioritize comedy in their home video streaming, away from the tragedy that is real life.

Per Owen Harris at JustWatch, it appears that comedy has been, by far, the most popular genre across the globe. Based on data gathered for 60 countries collated from July through September, comedy films and TV shows rank at the top in popularity among 28 countries — especially in Europe and North America.

Action films rank second in genre popularity, topping streams across 17 countries tracked. Romance and Animation are the preferred genres in Southeast Asian countries for the same time period.

(Graph courtesy of JustWatch)

Based on this information, I asked Owen if he might mind doing a bit more digging for me.

Creepy kids, am I right? The horror landscape has been littered with them as far back as The Bad Seed (1956). Every once in awhile TV too would trot out the killer tots in hopes of alluring viewers with no-good imps and smiling, murderous waifs. One such early effort is A Little Game (1971), an ABC Movie of the Week thriller that leans heavily on the psychology behind stepparent-child relations.

Originally broadcast on Saturday, October 30th, A Little Game faced off against the Top Ten rated The Mary Tyler Moore Show on CBS and the NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, but held its own due to the already strong ABC brand. The TV movie at this point was a staple of their network, and A Little Game adds the luster it was accumulating.

Let’s open our faux TV Guide and see what mischief the little brat is up to:

A Little Game (Sat,...

By Rachel Bennett

Television Editor & Columnist

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Happy Halloween, readers!

It’s my favorite day of the year, so I couldn’t neglect it in this week’s list. Because All Hallows Eve is so fun, below are the top 10 best Halloween comedy episodes.

Sadly, dramas are not on this list (I never would’ve been able to cut it to 10 if there had been), but feel free to leave your picks in the comments —”Home” from Fox’s The X-Files, anyone?

For me, though, I’ll leave it to laughs. So put on your best TV-themed costume, grab that bowl of fun-sized candy and check out my choices!

10. ABC’s Boy Meets World, “And Then There Was Shawn” (Season 5, Episode 17)

Fun fact: This episode aired Feb. 27, 1998. Nevertheless, I consider it one of the best Halloween episodes because “And Then There Was Shawn” left quite an impression on me as a...

Nonesuch The cover of Steve Reich’s “Wtc 9/11,” performed by Kronos Quartet.

The Nonesuch record label is releasing a recording of Steve Reich’s commemorative piece “Wtc 9/11″ on September 6, 2011. The piece is written for three string quartets, and is performed on the recording by the Kronos Quartet (making use of multiple tracking). It also features recorded voices—of air-traffic controllers, witnesses, mourners, and others.

But what’s making waves in the classical community is the album’s cover art, which...

The most wonderful time of the year is once again upon us. The Christmas season is here and with that comes Christmas TV episodes!

For the 25 days leading up til Christmas Day this month, we’ll be spotlighting some of the best Christmas-themed episodes from some of Geek culture’s greatest shows. Each day we’ll cover different shows and episodes and encourage you to watch along with us. So come one, come all, to the 25 Days of Geek TV Christmas!

Saturday, December 18th, 2010 - Day 18: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Directed by: Bill Melendez

Written by: Charles M. Schulz

Starring: Ann Altieri, Chris Doran, Sally Dryer, Bill Melendez, Karen Mendelson, Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, Kathy Steinberg, and Tracy Stratford

Original Air Date: December 9, 1965

You can stream the episode over at Hulu or watch it right here below! You can also purchase a copy of the episode at Amazon or...

Of all the Christmas specials produced in the 1960s that have gone on to become part of the national vernacular, A Charlie Brown Christmas probably holds up the best. It’s about as much fun to watch parodies of those Rankin-Bass Christmas specials (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Coming To Town) as it is to actually watch them, and the Grinch, however awesome it remains, will forever be somewhat tainted by the awful film version. In stark contrast, Brown seems in almost pristine condition, untouched by the technological and cultural shifts that have taken place in the forty years since it was first aired. Some of that can be attributed to how well crafted it is (it doesn’t waste a second of its exceedingly short running time), but more specifically, it remains one of the only pieces of modern media to impart a ‘very important message...

Release Date: Sept. 2

Director: Bill Melendez

Writer: Charles M. Schulz

Starring: Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, Sally Dryer

Studio/Run Time: Warner Home Video, 25 mins.

It’s the best Halloween cartoon ever, Charlie Brown!

CBS demanded another blockbuster Peanuts cartoon following the success of A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965, so Charles M. Schulz, director Bill Melendez and executive producer Lee Mendelson came up with It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, in which Linus and Sally spend Halloween waiting for the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown gets nothing but rocks while trick-or-treating, and Snoopy’s Wwi flying ace is shot down behind enemy lines. Even four decades after its original airing, Great Pumpkin feels as ageless as the Peanuts kids, thanks to Melendez’s inventive art work, Vince Guaraldi’s evocative score, the use of child actors to voice the characters, and some surprisingly sophisticated punchlines: When Linus defends the Great Pumpkin,...