Not only is The Newlywed Game hosting its first ever gay couple. It's hosting its first ever gay celebrity couple. At least, one of them is a pretty well-known celebrity. George "Mr. Sulu" Takei and his partner Brad Altman will be appearing on the program. Although they've been together for over 20 years, they were only legally married last year (before all that Proposition 8 hoopla nullified gay marriage in California).
In case nobody remembers the rules to game: each partner is given a question about the relationship without the other partner present. If each member of the couple give the same answer, they win points. Considering that they've been together for 20 years, somebody is going to be pretty pissed off if one or the other gives a different answer to the same question. Hopefully it won't lead to a divorce. The most interesting answers in the game will come from any question about "making whoopee".
We may be witnessing some history here. I'm not talking about the Obama presidency, though that is very historic. Nor am I speaking about my recent advancement into my 40s, which isn't really historic bur rather another nail in my coffin. What I speak about here is a merging of two science fiction universes.
George Takei, the calm and cool Sulu from the original Star Trek series, will be providing a voice to a character on Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Takei will be providing words to the corpulent Lok Durd, a separatist Neimoidian general. Unlike the peaceful Sulu on Star Trek, Durd is somewhat overzealous (aka -- crazy like a loon) and has developed a weapon that will wipe out all living matter save for his battle droids.
Jon Stewart kicked off the night with some anger fueled by Mets love. Mets manager Willie Randolph was fired in a rather unceremonious manner. He was all the way on the other side of the country, contacted at 3:00 a.m. and fired by Mr. Met. Sick burn.
"The Gay After": In other news, same-sex marriage is now legal in California, and, somehow, the state is still attached to the rest of the country and it hasn't been engulfed in flames. Hmm, interesting. Some newsworthy couples have tied the knot since this announcement, including George Takei, who married his long-time partner. I just started one of my Summer mini-projects, watching the entire original Star Trek series in preparation for its TV Squad's Retro Squad week, and while I know I'm a newbie Trekkie, I'm pretty sure Takei's name is pronounced "Tek-ayy." It allows for maximum fun in rhyming, "George Takei is gay."
Now that California's gay marriage ban has been lifted, George Takei is getting married. The 71-year-old Star Trek actor recently announced that he would wed Brad Altman, his partner of 21 years.
Takei broke the news on his official website just one day after the California Supreme Court ruling. The couple has yet to set a date; Takei wrote that he and Altman, a business manager, were "enjoying the delicious dilemma of deciding where, when, and how [they] will be married." This news follows Ellen DeGeneres' announcement that she and girlfriend Portia de Rossi planned to marry in California.
Well, we didn't think Secret Talents of the Stars was so bad. We were in the minority. The network has had second thoughts. After just one showing, CBS has canceled Secret Talents of the Stars. The reason stated is poor ratings. The airing on Wednesday was only watched by 4.6 million viewers, with fewer and fewer keeping the channel on CBS as the hour progressed. That's a bad sign. Bad enough to warrant the chopping block.
I had no plans to watch CBS' Secret Talents of the Stars last night. When I heard about this competition show, I thought it would be tacky. George Takei singing country music? Come on! I may be a Trekkie but I can admit this match up is a tad weird (more on him later). Plus, 10 p.m. on Tuesdays for me right now is devoted to watching the Dancing with the Stars results show (I tape it and fast forward through it) and then Hell's Kitchen (I tape it as well). So why did I end up watching it? Simple, I watch Big Brother at 9 p.m. and was waiting for 10:05 because DwtS always finishes late. I didn't want to flip channels so not to hear who was voted off the dance competition, so I ended up watching the beginning of STotS where figure skater Sasha Cohen admitted her secret: she's highly flexible and wanted to do a contortionist routine. Since curiosity got the best of me, I decided to watch the entire segment and ended up being impressed.
I write the introductions to my articles after I write the articles themselves. This is because I find the introductions the hardest part and, remembering the advice I got from the introduction to the S.A.T.s, when I run into a problem I can't easily solve, it's a good idea for me to go to the next question and return later.
This introduction, however, was easy to write. That's because my wife wrote it for me. She read the column and then turned to me and said, "Wow, you're gonna get crucified for this." I asked her, "Worse than my Simpsons essay?" She said, "The reaction to this will make the Simpsons essay look like a fawning Office review. I agree with it, and I'm sure a lot of other people will as well, but the ones that don't... Wow, they are just gonna hate you!" So, uh, thanks honey. Now, on to the crucifying...
The second season's of NBC's hit show Heroes may only begin in a month but that doesn't prevent the nice people behind the show for giving us hints about what is to come. The series just launched YamagatoFellowship.org, a new website linked to the show's mythology. This site is dedicated to the Yagamato Fellowship, founded by Kaito Nakamura (played by George Takei) and the famous samurai Takezo Kensei (who will be played by Alias' David Anders).
To boldly go where other Star Trek actors have gone before: Heroes! A few days ago, TrekMovie.com revealed that Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura in the original Star Trek series, was cast in a recurring role on NBC's hit show Heroes. The actress joins George Takei, Sulu from the original Trek, and Dominic Keating, Malcolm Reed from Enterprise, who are already on Heroes' pay roll (Keating was cast in a recurring role earlier this summer). To add to the Star Trek-Heroes links, Zachary Quinto, who plays Sylar, was cast as Spock in the upcoming movie. Slight spoilers after the jump!
I have to say that of everyone I've interviewed, George Takei (for the record it's pronounced "Tah-kay" ... like "okay") has to be one of the most gracious, kind, accommodating, and honest people I've ever met. Not just in the entertainment industry either. He's definitely from the old school of politeness, etiquette and speaking well, yet he has a sharp sense of humor and is always quick to hand out thanks and give kudos where necessary. Just check out Joel Keller's TV Squad interview with him from a year ago (with bonus audio) and you'll see what I mean.
He has no qualms about the fact that his continued success in his acting career is due directly to Star Trek, which made him a fan favorite, and a household name. This past year he's been riding a wave of renewed popularity, thanks in part to his many appearances on The Howard Stern Show, and it has culminated, at least for now, with a recurring role as Hiro Nakamura's father Kaito on NBC's Heroes. It couldn't be happening to a nicer guy.
(S01E14) Before the heroes can eliminate troublesome distractions they must discover what their own true distractions are.
Claude is a kick, and Peter finds out the hard way that he is also quite the hands-on teacher. The invisible Claude might be cynical and a misanthrope, but he does get results. Being thrown off a thirty-story building quickly clarifies things for Peter, though his subsequent revelation is exactly the opposite of Claude's philosophy. And Peter's breakthrough makes him more clearly a kind of anti-Sylar. Each absorbs powers, Sylar does it while killing, Peter does it by allowing himself to feel a life-affirming connection to the other heroes he has caught an ability from. It starts with a memory of Claire, who we now know ...
(S01E13) One of the things I enjoy almost every episode is how the the creative team of Heroes manages to juggle so many characters reasonably well. The majority of the dozen-or-so major players in the half-dozen-or-so major plot threads have important and relevant scenes each time out, quite an accomplishment for just under forty-three minutes of television a week. But, nah, I didn't miss the Artist this time out.
Tonight's episode saw a number of broken relationships on the mend. On the way to the mend, anyhow. There is no longer any question that egocentric politician Nathan Petrelli is now more concerned with helping little bro' Pete than he is on his congressional run. He has certainly given up pretending that things like genetic mutations and human nuclear explosions are inconvenient distractions that can be argued away. That's a relief. Skeptical characters in the face of overwhelming evidence that weird crap is happening start to get tedious after a while, and I'm happy Nathan hasn't turned stuck it out as one of these.
It seems like George Takei has become quite the popular actor lately, hasn't he? Since he came out of the closet last year, then joined Howard Stern and crew on Sirius, he's been in high demand. We at TVS have a soft spot for the guy because he was nice enough to give us an in-depth interview, complete with his trademark halting laugh (if you don't believe me, listen to the attached audio of the interview. That laugh is infectious).
Anyway, he'll be guest-starring on the new Disney Channel sitcom Cory in the House, a spin-off of the Disney show That's So Raven. This show takes Raven's brother Cory and father Victor to the White House, where Victor has been hired to be the personal chef of the new President. Takei will play the head steward on Air Force One, who I'm sure will not take kindly to Cory's wacky schemes. Also guesting in the episode is Don Stark, who played Bob Pinciotti on That '70s Show.
Well, kind of.Star Trek: New Voyages aims to pick up where the original Star Trek left off by filming new adventures for Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew of the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701. This is not your ordinary fan film project though. Now a couple years into the project, the producers of New Voyages have been able to attract a lot of talent from the Trek family to work on the show. They have writers that have worked on various Trek incarnations writing the episodes, and now are getting actors with Trek experience as well.
Joel interviewed George Takei earlier this year, and they talked about the New Voyages episode he is doing. That episode, titled "World Enough And Time", begins filming this month. It will follow "To Serve All My Days", which stars Walter Koenig, reprising his role as Pavel Chekov. Other notable casting announcements include Michael Mack, who played Commander Sirol in "The Pegasus" episode of ST:TNG, and Leslie Silva. You may remember Leslie from Showtime's short lived Odyssey 5 where she played Sarah Forbes.
Not only is The Newlywed Game hosting its first ever gay couple. It's hosting its first ever gay celebrity couple. At least, one of them is a pretty well-known celebrity. George "Mr. Sulu" Takei and his partner Brad Altman will be appearing on the program. Although they've been together for over 20 years, they were only legally married last year (before all that Proposition 8 hoopla nullified gay marriage in California).
We may be witnessing some history here. I'm not talking about the Obama presidency, though that is very historic. Nor am I speaking about my recent advancement into my 40s, which isn't really historic bur rather another nail in my coffin. What I speak about here is a merging of two science fiction universes.
Jon Stewart kicked off the night with some anger fueled by Mets love. Mets manager 
Now that California's gay marriage ban has been lifted, 
Well, we didn't think 
I had no plans to watch CBS' Secret Talents of the Stars last night. When I heard about this competition show, I thought it would be tacky. 
I write the introductions to my articles after I write the articles themselves. This is because I find the introductions the hardest part and, remembering the advice I got from the introduction to the S.A.T.s, when I run into a problem I can't easily solve, it's a good idea for me to go to the next question and return later. 
The second season's of NBC's hit show 
To boldly go where other 
I have to say that of everyone I've interviewed, George Takei (for the record it's pronounced "Tah-kay" ... like "okay") has to be one of the most gracious, kind, accommodating, and honest people I've ever met. Not just in the entertainment industry either. He's definitely from the old school of politeness, etiquette and speaking well, yet he has a sharp sense of humor and is always quick to hand out thanks and give kudos where necessary. Just check out Joel Keller's TV Squad 
(S01E13) One of the things I enjoy almost every episode is how the the creative team of Heroes manages to juggle so many characters reasonably well. The majority of the dozen-or-so major players in the half-dozen-or-so major plot threads have important and relevant scenes each time out, quite an accomplishment for just under forty-three minutes of television a week. But, nah, I didn't miss the Artist this time out. 
It seems like George Takei has become quite the popular actor lately, hasn't he? Since he came out of the closet last year, then joined Howard Stern and crew on Sirius, he's been in high demand. We at TVS have a soft spot for the guy because he was nice enough to give us an 
Well, kind of. Star Trek: New Voyages aims to pick up where the original Star Trek left off by filming new adventures for Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew of the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701. This is not your ordinary fan film project though. Now a couple years into the project, the producers of New Voyages have been able to attract a lot of talent from the Trek family to work on the show. They have writers that have worked on various Trek incarnations writing the episodes, and now are getting actors with Trek experience as well. 
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
