The latest Star Trek New Voyages episode, "To Serve All My Days", is now available for download.

If you're not familiar with Star Trek New Voyages, it's a fan-driven effort to make new episodes of the original Star Trek series: Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and crew. Their goal is to convince Paramount to go back to the roots of the story and continue with "Seasons 4 and 5", with new actors. After all, as they point out, Superman and Batman and James Bond and Sherlock Holmes have all been portrayed by numerous actors. Why should the Star Trek franchise be different?

So these fans have built sets, made costumes, and created digital special effects. And the results are far better technically than anything possible in the 60s. And as for quality... Well, their work has drawn the attention of some Star Trek notables, who are actually contributing to the project.

Now Paramount hasn't overlooked this blatant trademark violation. There's a quasi-official policy: as long as no one makes any money from Star Trek New Voyages, Paramount will turn a blind eye; but if there's any profit, it's over. And of course, Paramount has the right to change their mind and shut the operation down at any moment. So the New Voyages crew are actually funding the effort out of their own pockets and from donations, all the while knowing the whims of some studio exec could take it all away.

So about those Star Trek notables: in this episode, we get a script from the original series script supervisor and also screenwriter of several episodes, D.C. Fontana; and in the role of Pavel Chekov, we have none other than Walter Koenig himself! And the next episode (in production now) will have guest star George Takei as Sulu.

I thought this episode was a great story, a very human drama about Chekov's ambitions and dreams vs. a frustrating reality. Just one thing: if you're a continuity cop, just don't watch the ending. Just. Don't. Do not watch the ending. It's a great ending, absolutely the only possible ending for Chekov's story; but you'll sit there thinking, "But how...? But what...? But...? But how can he...?"

TNT has announced that The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines premiers on Dec. 3 at 8:00 p.m. I loved the first Librarian film, so I've added this one to my appointment calendar.

As a bonus, they've also announced the graphic novel adaptation. Frankly, though, I doubt that any graphic novel can do justice to Noah Wyle's and Bob Newhart's comic genius.

UPDATE: "Don't miss the further adventures of Flynn Carsen, whose latest quest uncovers ancient secrets and those of his own family’s past." Well, that preview makes my prediction a little less prescient (if I'm right); but I'm going to make the prediction anyway, just so I'm on record if I'm right. In the first film, Flynn's mother was a bit on the flighty side, and his father was never seen nor scarcely mentioned. He had been out of the picture for a long time. So my prediction: in the new film, we'll find that she actually knows an awful lot about the Library, because Flynn's absent father was himself a Librarian -- Judson. Bonus prediction: she was in fact Judson's bodyguard; and we'll get to see Olympia Dukakis (or her stunt double) kicking the stuffing out of some baddies.

If I'm wrong, oh, well. But if I'm right, you read it here first!

Goose goo all over the place...

So once the salt vampire was on the Enterprise, why did it have to keep killing people? Couldn't it get all the salt it needed from the replicators? Or the food dispensers? Or the blooming kitchen?