AS OF November 5, 1999
AS OF November 5, 1999
According to pre-production supervisor Lolita Fatjo, the 7th Season of Voyager is a "certainty", despite rumors that the merger with CBS would interfere with, and possibly end, the beleaguered series. Also according to Fatjo, don't expect to see a new Trek film until at least September, 2002.
Expect to see the return of Q later this season. According to production sources, an episode involving Q is being planned for the spring.
NEW AS OF October 4, 1999
Word has it that a new staff writer has been added to Voyager's beleagured writing staff. Robin Burnheim reportedly got the job after pitching and selling a script to the show which was very well received. Ms. Burnheim apparently has alot of production experience, and has been brought on as a production supervisor as well as a writer.
NEW AS OF September 20, 1999
VIACOM AND CBS MERGE: It was announced today that CBS and Viacom have agreed to merge companies. This will have a profound effect on UPN programming, since FCC rules do not allow any one company to own more than one network. Given the timing of the sale, UPN will probably be allowed to complete the upcoming season of all of its shows. While no official word has been given from CBS, it is highly unlikely that they will continue to air any of UPN's line-up, including Voyager. It is believed that WWF will be rescheduled on CBS (possibly on Saturday nights), and all of the other shows will not be picked up. This would mean that Voyager will air until the end of this season, and then will probably be replaced, possibly by a new Trek series starting in the middle of the 2000-2001 TV season.
Paramount released a press statement this week confirming that Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi, ST:TNG) and Dwight Schultz (Reginald Barclay, ST:TnG) will guest star on an episode of Voyager this season called "Pathfinder".
NEW AS OF September 2, 1999
Congratulations to Star Trek Voyager for winning the Emmy for Outstanding Visual Effects for a Series, for the episode "Dark Frontier". This was the only win for a Trek series, which was awarded this week at the Emmy's Technical Awards banquet.
Rumors are begining to circulate that Brannon Braga may leave Voyager either mid-season or at the end of this season to work full-time on developing the new Trek series. There is also speculation that Joe Menosky, Braga's writing partner, may also be leaving to work on the new series. There has been no official word on either of these rumors, or other rumors speculating that Ken Biller, who returned to fill the gap left when Ron Moore departed, is planning on leaving to develope a series for the WB network. If any of this does happen, there will be a shortage of experienced writers for Voyager, so we will have to wait and see what developes.
Voyager's season premier is set for September 22, with "Equinox, Part II". Air dates for other episodes, however, has been difficult to come by. It is known that "The Barge of the Dead" has been delayed because of re-writes and re-shoots, apparently because of dissatisfaction with the final cut of the episode, so the order of airing is somewhat confused right now. I will have more as the information becomes available.
NEW AS OF August 11, 1999
As most of you probably already know, William Shatner's third wife, Nerine Kidd Shatner, was found dead in their swimming pool Monday night. Upon returning home after spending time with his children, Shatner found the body floating in the pool, called 911 and started administering CPR. Unfortunately, paramedics were unable to revive her once they had arrived and pronounced her dead at the scene. Shatner married Nerine, a former model, in a civil ceremony in November 1997. An autopsy is scheduled to determine the exact cause of death, although foul play is not suspected.
A production problem on UPN's new fall series Secret Agent Man has delayed its scheduled release this fall. In its place, UPN plans to air re-runs of Voyager in its prime time schedule, Tuesdays at 9pm (EST), as well as new episodes in its regularly scheduled time slot on Wednesdays at 8pm.
Jeri Ryan's film debut will be in a film called Men Cry Bullets, which will be in theaters on August 27th.
NEW AS OF July 26, 1999
Despite the rumors about Voyager being cancelled at the end of the next season, Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan have both signed contracts for the seventh season of Voyager. Kate Mulgrew stated that she has re-signed in a number of interviews (and this has been previously reported here). Jeri Ryan announced that she has re-signed at a convention in Plano, Texas on July 10. Also in Jeri Ryan news, contrary to rumors, the actress will not be involved in the X-Men Movie.
More on the changes to Voyager's writing staff: With the quick and sudden departure of Ron Moore, Robert J. Doherty has joined the writing staff full time. He has previously penned three episodes for the show, "Vis a Vis", "Infinite Regress", and "Bliss". Also, Ken Biller has re-joined the staff. Rumors about friction between Moore and the other writers, and problems with Moore's scripts, has been denied. "They really weren’t creatively based at all," says Fuller of Moore’s decision to leave. "It’s that Brannon has a very specific show running style and Ron was used to a different type of show running style with DEEP SPACE NINE with Ira Behr. Ira is a very specific type of show runner and Brannon is a different kind of show runner, so they tried to work things out to Ron’s satisfaction, and Brannon tried to accommodate Ron’s requests as far as changing [Brannon’s] style, and it was easier said than done. Ron wasn’t happy with the changes, so he didn’t want to work under that style of management."
This years Emmy Nominations have been announced, and there have been several of interest to Star Trek fans. First of all, Voyager has been nominated for three, but all in the same category. They were nominated for Outstanding Visual Effects for a Series for "Dark Frontier", "Timeless", and "Thirty Days". DS9 received four nominations, including Outstanding Art Direction for a Series for "Prodigal Daughter", Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series for "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang", Outstanding Makeup for a Series for "Dogs of War", and Outstanding Visual Effects for a Series for "What You Leave Behind". Also, William Shatner received a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy for his appearance as The Big Giant Head on 3rd Rock from the Sun. Congratulations to everyone nominated, and good luck!
NEW AS OF June 28, 1999
Ron Moore, who joined the Voyager writing team only a few months ago, has left the show. While there hasn't been an official explanation for his leaving, rumors have been circulating that Moore and the senior writers had significant disagreements, especially over Moore's first script, "The Barge of the Dead".
Word has it that Jeri Ryan is very close to signing a contract for a seventh season. She is the last cast member to sign on.
Both Kate Mulgrew and TPTB have agreed that Janeway's "bun of steel" should make a comeback. Kate has said that she feels that Janeway lost something when her hair went down, and TPTB at Paramount like her look better with her hair up. Expect to see a style similar to Seven's sometime this season.
Expect the Christmas break to be a bit longer this year. Apparently, to avoid the possibility of a Y2K virus problem, UPN plans on extending the Christmas break from new episodes from December 15, 1999 to February 2, 2000. While Voyager probably won't have any problems, the worry is that some camera and broadcast equipment may be vunerable, so UPN is giving themselves a buffer to iron out any glitches.
NEW AS OF June 22, 1999
UPN's ratings have been consistently down over the past season, and the same is expected next year. This is not the fault of Voyager, however. UPN has continued to lose affiliates, even though they've added a few as well. As of now, the network can only be seen in @73% if the U.S., maybe even less. While UPN continued to struggle, some of the affiliates also pre-empted their programming line-up for local baseball coverage. The result was that Voyager didn't always run in its usual timeslot, or not at all in some markets. There is some questions being raised as to the future of the network. Some speculation has begun that UPN may not last more than three or four more years. We will have to wait and see.
Jeri Ryan will lend her voice to UPN's Dilbert next season as the voice of Dilbert's Seven of Nine alarm clock. It isn't clear yet whether this will be an on-going thing or just in one episode.
According to Bryan Fuller, Voyager will definately not be coming home this year. He says that Voyager has hit its stride and would become a knock-off of the Next Generation if it returned to the Alpha Quadrant. Although other producers and writers have yet to confirm this, it sounds like a good bet, despite all of the rumors circulating to the contrary
NEW AS OF June 13, 1999
DeForest Kelley, who was beloved by millions of Star Trek fans for his portrayal of Dr. Leonard McCoy in the original Star Trek series died Friday, June 11 at 12:15 PM of lung cancer. He was 79 years old. Kelley died after an extended illness, said Carol Pfannkuche, spokeswoman for the Motion Picture and Television Country Home and Hospital, a retirement facility, in suburban Woodland Hills. “He represented humanity and it fitted him well,” said Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock on the science fiction series. “He was a decent, loving, caring partner and will be deeply missed.” Kelley is survived by his wife of nearly 55 years, Carolyn, who has also been hospitalized for the past 15 months after breaking her leg (and complications). Carolyn was with her husband when he died.
Voyager will be released in syndication starting this September. UPN aired the promo for this during DS9's finale. Voyager will air 5 nights a week in those markets who receive it.
According to the Scarlet Pomers' Homepage, we will be seeing Naomi Wildman agian this season, though there isn't any word yet on specific episodes.
Rick Berman has confirmed (in a Chicago Tribune article) that plans are underway to develop a new Trek series, probably to air in the fall of 2001, but maybe as early as the fall of 2000. While he did not say anything specific about the plot, he did say it would probably be set 15 years after Voyager.
NEW AS OF June 8, 1999
At least one UPN affiliate has reported that Kate Mulgrew has signed for a seventh season of Voyager, despite all of the previous rumors that she wanted to leave the show. I haven't heard if Jeri Ryan has signed yet, but all of the other cast members have already done so.
Shooting for the new season begins June 8th, with the second part of the year-ending cliffhanger, "The Equinox, Part II". Despite previous reports, Voyager's EMH is not gone for good. The Doctor will help neutralize the evil EMH in Part II. Also, a new rumor has been circulating that at least one of the Equinox's crew will become a recurring character on Voyager. It isn't clear whether it will be Ensign Marla Gilmore (Olivia Birkelund) or Noah Lessing (Rick Worthy), but the character will come aboard Voyager and be confined to the Brig, and will be seen occasionally throughout the season.
Roxann Dawson is slated to direct either the 3rd or 4th episode this season. Ms. Dawson has been in training to direct since Season 3, and she will become only the second female Trek star to direct (the first being Gates McFadden).
Voyager will premier in September this fall instead of mid-October. Apparently, Paramount changed its stategy because the mid-fall start hurt Voyager's already sluggish ratings.
Plans are in the works for another two-hour Voyager movie this season, though there is no word yet on the plot. Last season's movie, "Dark Frontier", didn't get the ratings Paramount hoped for, so this movie will air during the November sweeps instead of February. There are tons or rumors that Voyager will return home in this movie, but nothing has been confirmed, and Paramount has said it does not want to see Voyager return home just yet. We will have to wait and see.
Speaking of unconfirmed rumors, there is alot of speculation on the direction Voyager will take in the new year. With the addition of Ron Moore to the writing staff, it has been said that there will be more emphasis on B'Elanna Torres this season, and that the character will return to her 1st season Klingon roots. A rumor which has been going around at the studio is that the 'hunks' of Voyager will be 'sexed up' in order to improve the ratings with young females - especially Tom Paris and Harry Kim. Look for several Kim romances next season, and perhaps even the end of the Paris/Torres relationship (in order to free him up). Also, it has been said that Seven will be seen less, because it is felt that her character has been over-used and written into a corner. Some rumors have said we will see more Chakotay stories, and some have said we will see less. Like I said, these are all unconfirmed, at least so far. Stay tuned!
NEW AS OF June 2, 1999
The rumors about Season 6 have begun! According to Trektodays insider Lord Spock, the writers have begun with the first couple of episodes, including the second half of the 5th season cliffhanger. While there is no confirmation of this, Lord Spock said that Voyager's EMH will be gone for good, and possibly replaced with the "evil" EMH as seen during "Equinox". Also rumored is the second episode, which may involve Voyager being taken apart by aliens. Of course, there are (once again) rumors about Voyager returning to the Alpha Quadrant. At this point, speculation has been made that Voyager will return home this season, possibly as early as the first part of Season 6, possibly during November sweeps. Again, none of this has been confirmed, and, as far as I can tell, none of Voyager's cast has discussed these rumors at any conventions thus far. Filming will begin on June 21.
Well, that's all I have for now. Keep checking back for the latest info. If you have any information, please e-mail it to me at JGBrowning@aol.com
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