Star Trek in the News - January 14, 2011

Linda Park and John Billingsley have lined up their next projects. A Brit has morphed his home into a bachelor pad with a Voyager feel. And we remember Bill Erwin and Grant McClure, both of whom made memorable contributions to the Star Trek franchise. It's all in Trek in the News.

John Billingsley, Dr. Phlox from Enterprise, is set to tread the boards again. The veteran character actor will return to the stage in a production of the Richard Greenberg drama, The Violet Hour. The show will preview on Feb. 11 at the Lillian Theatre in Hollywood in advance of a Feb. 12 official opening night and a run slated to last through March 13. For additional information, visit: www.plays411.com/violethour.

Enterprise fans know that Billingsley recently guest starred on an episode of the hit series The Mentalist, appearing in the episode “Red Moon” alongside his Enterprise pal Connor Trinneer. And now another Enterprise star is about to appear on The Mentalist. We just got this email from Linda Park: “I play Dr. Montague, a decision science consultant sent in to work with Jane and his people on a case,” Park said. “Jane and I have very different ways of working and butt heads as we work to solve the case.” Park’s episode, entitled “Bloodhounds,” will air on Jan. 20.

Have you met Tony Alleyne or been to his house? Both could be, well, memorable experiences. Alleyne, you see, is an interior designer who’s transformed his British flat/bachelor pad into a space modeled after the U.S.S. Voyager, complete with control panels, a transporter room and a voice-activated lighting system. The place isn’t new, actually, but it and Alleyne are in the news again, as he’s vying to win a prize on the ITV1 show May the Best House Win. For some current information, read here.

TOS star George Takei continues his quest to be the hardest working man in show business. The actor just landed a major role on an upcoming Nickelodeon series called Supah Ninjas. The half-hour live-action program will follow the exploits of three crime-fighting high school students, among them Mike (Ryan Potter), who only just learned that he hails from a long line of Ninjas. Takei is set to co-star as Mike’s recently deceased grandpa, who pops up via interactive hologram to train the would-be Ninja boys. Look for a Supah Ninjas preview to air on Jan. 18.

And, lastly, StarTrek.com pays our respects to two men who made very different contributions to the Star Trek universe, Grant McCune and Bill Erwin. We send our condolences to their families, friends and fans:

Oscar-winning special effects artist Grant McCune passed away on December 27, 2010, at the age of 67. Among his credits were Star Wars, Lifeforce (with Patrick Stewart), Die Hard, Speed, Executive Decision (directed by Nemesis helmer Stuart Baird), Red Planet, Spider-Man, Serenity and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. McCune won his Oscar for Star Wars and was nominated for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Bill Erwin, meanwhile, was a veteran character actor whose film and television credits spanned from 1941 to 2008. Among his credits were Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Lassie, The Twilight Zone, Somewhere in Time, Home Alone, Growing Pains, Seinfeld, The West Wing, Everwood and My Name Is Earl. Star Trek fans will remember that he played Dalen Quaice, Dr. Crusher’s mentor and dear friend, who seems to vanish inexplicably in the TNG episode, “Remember Me.” Erwin passed away on December 29, 2010, at the age of 96.