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There was a time when TV guest stars were pure magic, popping up like hidden gems in your favorite shows.

Long before social media spoiled every surprise, guest appearances felt like little events that brought something extra to our screens.

You’d be watching a familiar show, and out of nowhere, a face you knew and loved would walk on, adding an unexpected thrill to the episode.

Mark Harmon on The Love Boat (ABC/Screenshot)

These weren’t ratings gimmicks or social media stunts; they were genuine surprises that made TV feel alive and unpredictable.

For me, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island were cozy weekend rituals, especially when I watched with my grandma.

It wasn’t about knowing every guest star — it was about the fun of seeing who would pop up next, making each episode feel like a surprise package.

You’d sit down, and suddenly there was...

Star Trek: The Original Series debuted a challenging foe for Captain Kirk [William Shatner] in the episode "Space Seed." Ricardo Montalban played the part of the augmented Khan Noonien Singh who, like most villains, want world domination....or space domination. Of course, Khan was defeated by Kirk and sent to Ceti Alpha V to live out the rest of his life with his team of soliders and new wife. But then the planet became a wasteland, which cost Khan his wife, and he and his team were forced to eke out an existence. We all know how that worked out when Khan returned in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Khan dies at the end of the movie, but a spec script for Star Trek: The Next Generation had the idea to bring him into Captain Picard's [Patrick Stewart] world. Supposedly, according to writer and director Marc Bernardin, who...

When he first appeared in the "Star Trek" episode "Space Seed", Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) was merely a villain-of-the-week. Khan was a remnant of the long-ago Eugenics Wars, a conflict that broke out on Earth in the late 1990s, and which contributed to the near-destruction of the planet several decades later. Khan, genetically enhanced, managed to escape Earth in cryogenic stasis, only to be found and revived by the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise nearly 200 years later. As one might predict, Khan, still thirsty for power, attempted to take over the Enterprise. 

It wouldn't be until the release of Nicholas Meyer's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" in 1982 that the character would become mythic. Montalbán returned to play a Khan that was miffed after having been abandoned, and who goes on a mad quest to find and kill Admiral Kirk (William Shatner). In "Space Seed,...

Homicide: Life on the Street is streaming on Peacock, bringing joy to fans of its original ’90s run, fans of Andre Braugher, and those who will become fans after their first viewing.

This popular and critically beloved show has been available on DVD for years but was Mia on any streaming service until now.

Homicide: Life on the Street joins two other classic shows, Moonlighting and Northern Exposure, that were lost to streaming until recently.

(NBC/Youtube screenshot)

Like Homicide: Life on the Street, these two shows had at least been available for purchase on DVD, whereas many other shows from that era weren’t so lucky.

Since streaming is how most people access visual media these days, just how many other forgotten gems of TV history are we missing out on?

A Priority Shift

Streaming services first established themselves by offering as many popular TV shows as they could get,...

One of the best bits of advice any writer will give you is to make yourself familiar with as many tropes, cliches and conventions as possible. That way, you can understand how they work while also knowing just when to ignore them. One convention seen in just about all of fiction is the idea that the protagonist and antagonist must share at least one, if not many, moments together, culminating in a final altercation in which the hero emerges victorious over the villain. It's a trope so common that not only is it not questioned, it's routinely expected, so much so that when it's missing, it seems initially like it could be a mistake. Of course, there are many examples of novels, TV shows, and films where this convention is subverted or even ignored, yet it becomes more difficult to do so when an artist is working within the confines of genre.

For some of us, there are few things in this world more comforting than classic television. Back before "prestige TV" was really a thing and getting people to tune in was sometimes just a matter of hiring the biggest guest stars possible, things were a little different. There's just something about turning on the TV and settling in for a an episode of "Star Trek: The Original Series" or "Columbo" and knowing that matters will be resolved by the end of the show's runtime and that Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) always get the bad guy. Both are also pretty progressive; Columbo (an idealized lawman) routinely takes down the rich and powerful of Los Angeles, while "Star Trek" has always been socially conscious, aiming for a utopian society.

Columbo ran for a long time and then extended its life through a series of TV movies, meaning it filmed throughout the 1970s,...

Nicholas Meyer's 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is generally regarded as the best of the 13 extant "Star Trek" movies, at least according to any Trekkies you may ask. At the very least, "The Wrath of Khan" became the popular model on which multiple other "Star Trek" movies would be based; several "Star Trek" films feature a charismatic, revenge-bent "villain" character at its center.

At least one person, however, really hated "The Wrath of Khan" -- "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.

Roddenberry had spent the bulk of the 1970s attending "Star Trek" conventions and refining his thoughts on his creation. He and Trekkies, during the conventions, began to zero in on the pacifist, diplomatic nature of the show, coming to the conclusion that "Star Trek" isn't about dominance or military power. Instead, it redefines power as being connected to intelligence, professionalism, and one's ability to solve problems in a group.

"Star Trek" is a workplace drama first and foremost, and it took place on board the well-organized U.S.S. Enterprise, a space vessel carefully divided into necessary departments, offices, and workstations. The main characters were, by necessity, deeply professional, and tended to keep their upper lips stiff as they faced unusual spatial phenomenon or aggressive alien visitors. Very occasionally, one of the main characters would lose their cool, make a foolish decision, or have an unexpected freakout, but for the most part, level heads prevailed. Many love the central cast of "Star Trek" for their ability to remain capable under pressure, and it's hard to hate someone when we understand they're so good at their job. 

There were many characters throughout "Star Trek," though, that never had their wits about them. Indeed, there were whimsical agents of chaos, whiny incompetents, and corrupt captains that felt counter to the egalitarian spirit of "Star Trek,...

"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is why people remember Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) as the greatest enemy of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Previously, Khan was only in one episode of the original "Star Trek" — "Space Seed." It's a memorable episode, but still just an episode. Indeed, part of the impetus in "Wrath of Khan" is how what became a defining event in Khan's life was just another day on the job for Kirk.

Khan is a genetically-engineered superhuman from the 20th Century who, in the 1990s, ruled a quarter of the world beside his fellow Augments. ("Star Trek" was created in the 1960s; later shows like "Strange New Worlds" have had to revise this timeline.) When they were overthrown, they fled into space, never to be seen until the year 2266 when the Enterprise discovered their ship, the SS Botany Bay.

In "Space Seed," Khan is...

For every great moment in "Star Trek" history, there seems to be a story of behind-the-scenes turmoil, and for every great "Star Trek" movie, there's one that, based on production stories, seems as if it was always on the verge of falling off the rails entirely. Those that did make it to us arrived thanks to several push-pull partnerships, including a fruitful working relationship between star turned writer-director Leonard Nimoy and producer and writer Harve Bennett.

Though he wasn't involved in the original series, Bennett greatly shaped three "Star Trek" movies, beginning with "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." The late writer-producer came up with early drafts of the script after spotting Ricardo Montalbán's Khan Noonien Singh in the Tos episode "Space Seed." He also worked as an executive producer on the film, and according to both Nimoy's memoir "I Am Spock" and William Shatner's book "Leonard,...

Can you ever forget the thrilling adventure & charming wit of the Spy Kids franchise, which whisked families away on a fantastical journey with the Cortez clan, a family with espionage in their DNA?

Though we all fondly recall Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino as the dashing spy parents (Gregorio and Ingrid), some of the franchise’s star-studded appearances might just catch you off guard upon rewatching. From Selena Gomez’s early cameo to Sylvester Stallone’s haunting villain, Spy Kids hid a treasure trove of talents in plain sight.

Sylvester Stallone in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over | Dimension Films

Okay, so imagine this: did you know that Oscar-winning actor George Clooney graced the Spy Kids universe with his debonair allure? Yes, he did. Well, that’s just a glimpse of what you’ll uncover as we dig into the faces you probably forgot were part of the Spy Kids’ breathtaking escapades.

Scarlett Johansson ranks among one of the highest-grossing actors in Hollywood, thanks to her performance as Black Widow in the Avengers films and the wider MCU. Despite achieving critical and commercial success, her casting in the 2017 sci-fi film Ghost in the Shell, which sparked a controversy over whitewashing, remains one of the lowest points in Johansson’s career.

Avengers star Scarlett Johansson was criticized for Ghost in the Shell role (Credit: Marvel Studios).

However, long before Johansson’s whitewashing controversy, another Avengers star found himself in a similar situation. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch appeared in 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness but was also embroiled in a whitewashing controversy. He was cast to play the role of iconic villain Khan Noonien Singh and here is how Cumberbatch emerged from the gig.

Avengers Star Benedict Cumberbatch Was Cast as a Whitewashed Character in Star Trek

Benedict Cumberbatch is known for essaying iconic characters...

Armando Silvestre, a busy actor in the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema who appeared with Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine in Two Mules for Sister Sara, with Yul Brynner in Kings of the Sun and with Burt Lancaster in The Scalphunters, has died. He was 98.

Silvestre died June 2 in Coronado, California, a representative from the Aztlan Mortuary in nearby La Mesa told The Hollywood Reporter.

The powerfully built Silvestre made scores of films in Mexico, among them Here Comes Martin Corona (1952), Rossana (1953), Story of a Mink Coat (1955) with Silvia Pinal, La Sombra Vengadora (1956), The Miracle Roses (1960), Neutrón Contra el Dr. Caronte (1963), La Choca (1974) and Faith, Hope and Charity (1974).

He excelled in Westerns and action adventure movies early in his career en route to compiling more than 200 credits on IMDb.

Armando Silvestre Carrascosa was born in San Diego on Jan. 28, 1926, and raised in Tijuana. His younger brother was Eduardo Silvestre, winner of the Mr.

Neptune’s Daughter Image: MGM “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” has a well-deserved bad reputation. It’s a song about, as our Britt Hayes put it, “a woman being held hostage by some guy who may or may not have drugged her adult beverage.” But it didn’t simply spring, fully formed,...

Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán in Neptune’s DaughterImage: MGM

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” has a well-deserved bad reputation. It’s a song about, as our Britt Hayes put it, “a woman being held hostage by some guy who may or may not have drugged her adult beverage.” But it didn’t simply spring,...

Christina Chong has several notable projects on her portfolio with her ongoing work being Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The Paramount+ series stars her as La’an Noonien Singh who is relatively new but shares a great connection with the Star Trek saga due to her notorious ancestor, Khan Noonien-Singh, one of the franchise’s infamous villains.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds [Credit: Paramount Network]As the character quickly gained its spot in the fan-favorites characters list, the actress subtly reflected on one thing that made this show better than Discovery and The Next Generation.

Christina Chong Reflects on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Role

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is surely making a grave impact in the sci-fi franchise that continues to leave fans hooked on its new adventures. First premiered two years ago, it is already extending to a third and fourth season.

Suggested“The first answer was, ‘No…...

It was announced today in the Hollywood Reporter that Simon Kinberg is taking over the development of the new "Star Trek" feature film, currently working its way through pre-production at Paramount. This new film will be the fourth to be connected to the Kelvin timeline of "Star Trek," a timeline which started with the events of J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" film. As of this writing, Toby Haynes ("Andor") is slated to direct, while Seth Grahame-Smith has signed on to write. Kinberg is a notable Hollywood player who wrote "X-Men: The Last Stand," "X-Men: Days of Future Past," "X-Men: Apocalypse," and "Dark Phoenix" (among many others) and who produced "The New Mutants," "Deadpool," "Logan," "X-Men: First Class," "Cinderella," "The Martian," and "Elysium" (among many others). He is a franchise guy through-and-through, and Paramount likely wanted a new producer with high-profile experience.

It has been reported that the new "Star Trek" movie will,...

After years of rumors and speculation, Liam Neeson’s Naked Gun reboot looks like it is finally heading into production. Set to be directed by The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer, and written by Dan Gregor and Doug Man, fans expect a lot from this reboot. While many have tried (and failed) to update the franchise, and it’s hard to imagine anyone stepping into Leslie Nielsen’s iconic shoes at Lt. Frank Drebin, it’s pretty interesting that the team pairing on this is the same one that teamed on Disney’s much better than expected reboot of Chip n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers. All involved are really funny, so if anyone could make this work, it’s them. With a release date tentatively set for July 18th, 2025, here’s everything we know about the Naked Gun reboot.

Liam Neeson will be the star.

While some may wonder why Liam Neeson,...

Following his 2015 Emmy win for the final season of “Mad Men,” Jon Hamm took a large step back from TV stardom in order to beef up his film resume with titles such as “Baby Driver,” “Richard Jewell,” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” Now that he has made a splashy return to the small screen by playing new roles on “Fargo” and “The Morning Show” and reprising one on “Good Omens,” his Emmy nominations total could instantly rise from 16 to 19. If all of his possible 2024 bids come to fruition, he will be only the fourth person and second man to ever compete for three acting Emmys at once.

Hamm’s string of recent TV acting gigs began last July when he returned for season two Prime Video’s “Good Omens” as supporting character Gabriel – a humanoid version of the biblical archangel. He then fulfilled the new role of ambitious tech billionaire Paul Marks...

The days are getting longer everywhere, except Palm Springs, where darkness is on the ascent each May. That’s when the city plays host to the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary May 9-12 with a program of a dozen classic films from the 1940s and ’50s. Great directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Rossen, Andre de Toth and Anthony Mann and stars like Humphrey Bogart, John Garfield, Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan will have desert dwellers and visitors alike eager to blot out the sun for four days, culminating in the festival’s customary Mother’s Day crime spree.

As always, the festival is curated and hosted by a face familiar to any serious modern-day noir aficionado, Alan K. Rode, one of the principals of the Film Noir Foundation and a co-host of the Noir City festival every April in Hollywood. Rode’s Noir City cohort,...

J.J. Abrams' 2013 film "Star Trek Into Darkness" was a parallel universe retread of Nicholas Meyer's 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." In Abrams' movie, the central villain, Khan Noonien Singh, was played by Benedict Cumberbatch, while in Meyer's film, Khan was played by Ricardo Montalbán. Both films feature the death of Kirk and/or Spock, and both films feature the survivor yelling "Khaaaaan!" The plots of the films differ, however, as Khan remains the central villain of the 1982 film, while he was supplanted by a vengeful Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) in "Into Darkness."

Both films also feature Dr. Carol Marcus, a paramour of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine in "Into Darkness" and William Shatner in "Wrath of Khan"). In "Star Trek Into Darkness," Dr. Marcus was played by Alice Eve, taking over for Bibi Besch in "Wrath of Khan." Because the characters in "Into Darkness" are...

Reader, you have been lied to! Film history is littered with unfairly maligned classics, whether critics were too eager to review the making of rather than the finished product, or they suffered from underwhelming ad campaigns or general disinterest. Let’s revise our takes on some of these films from the wrongheaded to the correct opinion.

Earlier this year, the Criterion Channel launched a series devoted to films that have won Golden Raspberry Awards, or “Razzies,” prizes ostensibly created to recognize the worst that cinema has to offer. The idea of streaming’s most respected curator of film art showcasing a selection of Razzie winners was one whose time was long overdue, given the Razzies’ astonishingly reliable tendency to be on the wrong side of history; the list of nominations from any given year is typically more useful as a guide for suggested viewing than as an indication of what to avoid.

"Star Trek" is one of the most iconic and enduring science fiction franchises of all time, following the adventures of Starfleet in the far-future as they explore space, the final frontier. To bring strange new worlds and civilizations to life, "Star Trek" leans heavily into visual effects, many of them cutting edge for technology available at the time. These special effects did everything from showcasing the starship Enterprise to making the ship's memorable transporter look seamlessly functional. Simply put, "Star Trek" wouldn't be what it is without its meticulously realized visual effects.

It takes a whole team and a whole process to bring these futuristic sights to the screen and these behind-the-scenes photographs offer a look at how it was all made. From extensive use of models and bluescreen to modern digital projection, "Star Trek" uses every visual effect trick in the book to thrill audiences. Here is what "Star Trek...

The Screen Actors Guild has been presenting its annual life achievement award for many decades. The most recent recipient for 2024 was double Oscar winner Barbra Streisand.

For the 2023 event, Sally Field was the latest veteran performer to receive the Screen Actor’s Guild life achievement award. Starting in 1995, audiences around the world have been able to enjoy this celebration of a beloved thespian’s work, crammed right in the middle of a nail-biting awards telecast. In honor of De Niro’s accomplishment, let’s take a look back at every person to be given this prize since the event was first televised. Our gallery includes Helen Mirren, Robert De Niro, Alan Alda, Morgan Freeman, Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Betty White, Shirley Temple and more.

SAG began handing out a career achievement prize to actors who left their mark on both the big screen and small in 1962. It wasn’t until...

Don Murray, who received an Oscar nomination for his performance opposite Marilyn Monroe in the 1956 film adaptation of William Inge’s play “Bus Stop,” has died. He was 94.

His son Christopher confirmed his death to the New York Times.

In the 2017 reboot of “Twin Peaks,” he played Bushnell Mullins, the chief executive of Lucky 7 Insurance.

Murray also starred in the fourth entry in the “Planet of the Apes” franchise, “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes”; played Brooke Shield’s father in “Endless Love”; and recurred on prime-time soap “Knots Landing” as Sid Fairgate.

Reviewing “Bus Stop,” directed by Joshua Logan, the New York Times said: “With a wondrous new actor named Don Murray playing the stupid, stubborn poke and with the clutter of broncos, blondes and busters beautifully tangled, Mr. Logan has a booming comedy going before he gets to the romance. A great deal is owed to Mr.

"Star Trek" has always loved a deep-cut starship name. In the original series, the U.S.S. Farragut borrowed a name from a Civil War-era Union Navy officer. In "Star Trek: Lower Decks," every California Class ship is named after a different city in the West Coast state, from Redding to Riverside. Figures ranging from Ursula K. Le Guin to Thomas Edison to Elmer Fudd have all gotten the starship name treatment, but one of the earliest named starships in the series had a much less admirable origin story.

The S.S. Botany Bay made its first appearance in the "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "Space Seed," which introduced viewers to the infamous villain Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban). Viewers with a keen sense of geography may have realized they were due to meet a baddie before Khan ever appeared, though, because Botany Bay holds a uniquely horrifying place in history.

The general consensus among sci-fi fans is that Nicholas Meyer's 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is the best of the 13 extant "Star Trek" movies. Watching the film, it's easy to see why it has this reputation; it's a corker of a thriller. It's a film that deals with Kirk getting older and having to face the consequences of his reckless younger days as a captain, facing the fact that he may not be the hero he thought he was. Moreso, though, the film features a very non-Trek villain in Khan (Ricardo Montalbán), a vicious ultra-human hellbent on revenge. Khan was such a powerful villain that he kind of altered the way "Star Trek" movies were perceived, and many of the more recent Trek flicks eschewed the show's typical bent toward diplomacy and science in favor of morally simplistic, violence-ready hero-vs.-villain stories. 

Trekkies have a wonderful...

Most Trekkies will be able to tell you that Robert Wise's 1979 film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" wasn't as big a success as Paramount had hoped. The film is famously slow-moving, aiming for cosmic grandeur and hefty evolutionary themes over the then-popular whizzbang action of "Star Wars." "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry oversaw the production of "Motion Picture," and the overall tepid response left him in Paramount's bad graces. This was in addition to multiple delays in filming, the production going over budget, and those common studio spats so often classified as "creative differences." According to William Shatner (as he wrote in his autobiography "Star Trek Movie Memories"), Roddenberry was essentially fired from the production of any potential sequel for "Motion Picture" as a result of all the drama, and the Great Bird of the Galaxy was given the faraway and somewhat demeaning title of "executive consultant" on any future productions.

Dashing, magnetic superstar Ricardo Montalbán got his start in the 1940s, appearing in numerous notable hit films in his native Mexico, playing a variety of roles in romantic dramas, historical comedies, and other swashbuckling adventures. His natural dazzle and ineffable "it" qualities caught the eye of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1947, and he shot the English-language film "Fiesta" with Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse, and Mary Astor. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Montalbán became incredibly busy, starring in romances, dramas, and an enormous amount of American TV, including one-shot TV movies and multiple notable hit shows. He was in "Dr. Kildare," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "Gunsmoke," "Hawaii Five-o," and, of course, "Star Trek," playing the charismatic tyrant Khan Noonien Singh. 

A new generation of Montalbán fans was born with the debut of "Fantasy Island" in 1978. On "Fantasy Island," Montalbán played the mysterious Mr. Roarke, the manager of Devil's Island, a remote, hard-to-get-to tropical paradise...

Khan Noonien Singh's trajectory as a fictional character is the opposite of his in-universe life story. He was once a superhuman tyrant who ruled much of the Earth — after being overthrown, he fled to space aboard the SS Botany Bay. Upon reawakening, he was bested twice by James T. Kirk and died failing to avenge himself. For audiences though, Khan went from a villain of the week (in the "Star Trek" episode "Space Seed") to the greatest of all "Trek" villains thanks to his reappearance in the film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."

Before "The Wrath of Khan," however, "Star Trek" was in trouble. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" underwhelmed, Paramount was hesitant about a sequel, and Leonard Nimoy had to be convinced to return as Spock. That's why the film famously ends with his character dying — except, during shooting, Nimoy changed his mind about exiting. Thus, when...

Two years ago, the hashtag #EmmysSoWhite began trending when the Television Academy failed to award any major acting trophies to people of color. The pendulum has swung, with this year’s ceremony awarding a record-breaking number of people of color across all major categories: drama, comedy, limited, reality and variety series — a first in the TV Academy’s history.

That said, there were some stark reminders of historical shortcomings throughout the evening, such as a “Martin” cast reunion. The beloved show failed to score a single Emmy nod during its five-season run.

One year after making history as the second Black woman to win for comedy writing, Quinta Brunson took the stage again for her performance as the lovable teacher Janine Teagues in “Abbott Elementary.” She became the second Black woman to win the category, following Isabel Sanford for “The Jeffersons” in 1981.

Ayo Edebiri was part of the historic night for FX’s “The Bear,...

More than 40 years ago, in 1982, director Nicholas Meyer's "The Wrath of Khan" revitalized "Star Trek," overcoming its low budget to be the shot in the arm that "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" failed to be.

This was the second time that the "Star Trek: The Original Series" cast reunited on the silver screen. With how long it has been, it's sadly unsurprising that most of the original "Star Trek" main cast is no longer with us. Spock's sacrifice and emotional last exchange with Kirk in "The Wrath of Khan" are even sadder and more poignant now with Leonard Nimoy's real-life passing in 2015.

Even most of the film's own supporting cast have passed on. Ricardo Montalbán, who delivered the performance of a lifetime as Khan Noonien Singh himself, died in 2009 at age 88. However, a select few of the movie's cast are still with us.

Read more: Celebrities You...

Riggs and Murtagh. Tango and Cash. Starsky and Hutch. John McClane. Frank Bullitt. Dirty Harry Callahan. While those are all tough movie cops, none of them are as hard as nails was perhaps the toughest, most dangerous movie cop of all time… Frank Drebin as played by Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

Jump back to 1980. Leslie Nielsen was a character actor known for playing deadpan, ultra-serious roles. He was typically the bad guy of the week on TV shows and TV movies, and his biggest claim to fame was playing the captain in 1956s Forbidden Planet. His career was middling; David Zucker, Jim Abrams and Jerry Zucker, aka Zaz – Zucker-Abrams-Zucker – wanted to cast him in their movie Airplane. He would play the third lead, a deadpan doctor who would perfectly ape similar roles he played in movies like The Poseidon Adventure. While the studio initially balked,...

It's most popularly accepted by Trekkies and by general audiences that, of the 13 "Star Trek" movies to date, Nicholas Meyer's 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is the best. It's certainly the most celebrated, and one might find "The Wrath of Khan" the most commonly programmed Trek flick at repertory movie theaters. It's easy to understand why it's so beloved; "Khan" is, compared to its 1979 predecessor, a straight-up action picture. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was a deliberately paced psychedelic light show akin to Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," and ended with a character evolving into light. "Khan," meanwhile, was a juicy revenge film starring Ricardo Montalbán as an overacting supervillain, hellbent on destruction, and climaxing with a battleship-like, weapons-forward faceoff in a nebula. "Motion Picture" is for meditating. "Khan" is outright thrilling.

When a follow-up to "Motion Picture" was still in development, "Star Trek...

It's pretty well known among Trekkies that Robert Wise's 1979 feature film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" came about after the proposed 1977 TV series "Star Trek: Phase II" never quite made it off the ground. "Phase II" was meant to be the initial "Star Trek" spinoff series, but various behind-the-scenes decisions eventually saw the project mutating to fit the big screen. "Phase II" characters were changed to be part of "The Motion Picture," and several ideas for "Phase II" scripts made their way into future episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," which debuted in 1987.

Trekkies will also tell you that Paramount was unimpressed by the box office numbers for "Motion Picture," a film that "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry was heavily involved in. Harold Livingston is the credited screenwriter, but Roddenberry aided in the story and served as producer. Because "Motion Picture" was a relative dud, Roddenberry was pushed out of the sequel.

The "Star Trek" episode "Space Seed" may be, to modern audiences, a little fraught. "Space Seed" introduced the character of Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán), a former Earth despot who was found cryogenically frozen on board a drifting space vessel. Khan had been frozen for 200 years, having fled Earth after the vicious Eugenics Wars of the 1990s. Khan, you see, was a genetically enhanced soldier who conquered more than a quarter of Earth from 1992 to 1996, then was ousted and deposed and forced to flee into space. He was "the last of the tyrants to be overthrown."

When revived, Khan proves to be charming and confident, to a degree that the Enterprise crew finds appealing. Although a despot, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) notes that Khan was "the best of the tyrants," explaining to Spock (Leonard Nimoy) that admiring dictators, however gross, is a natural human impulse. Scotty (James Doohan) admits out loud that he admires Khan.

Turning a short-lived parody TV series into a feature film was always going to involve taking a chance, but as the team behind the Naked Gun franchise learned, it wasn’t quite on the level of sticking your face in a fan.

Following the breakout success of the 1980 smash hit Airplane!, that film’s writer-director team — David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker — found themselves grounded when ABC promptly canceled their police-spoofing show Police Squad! in 1982. But the series’ co-creators refused to let the concept die and went on to adapt it for The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, which Paramount Pictures released theatrically on Dec. 2, 1988. The movie, featuring Leslie Nielsen reprising his Police Squad! lead role as accident-prone police lieutenant Frank Drebin, also starred Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalbán, George Kennedy and O. J. Simpson.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original Naked Gun film that...

Here's a fun piece of trivia: when Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch) proposes the Genesis Device in her proposal video in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," is it accompanied by an animated simulation showing a dead moon being magically terraformed within a matter of seconds. The animated simulation, rendered by Industrial Light and Magic, was the first instance of a fully rendered CGI sequence in a feature film. According to the October 1982 issue of American Cinematographer Magazine, the Genesis simulation was originally envisioned as a more traditionally realized sequence wherein a character turns a rock into a flower. Special effects supervisor Jim Veilleux felt that something more impressive was required to capture the scope of the Genesis Device's power, and the CGI sequence was developed instead. 

The Genesis Device is one of the more magical objects to have emerged from "Star Trek." Introduced in "Star Trek II," it...

Liam Neeson’s Frank Drebin may have found his foil in the upcoming reboot of The Naked Gun, as reports have come out that former Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen may be close to signing on.

As reported by Daniel Richtman, “Mads Mikkelsen is in talks to play the villain Cane.” While no details have come out about Cane and Mikkelsen has not officially inked a deal for the upcoming Naked Gun installment, I would personally love to see him take on the role.

If confirmed, Mads Mikkelsen will join Ricardo Montalbán’s Victor Ludwig from the first Naked Gun, Robert Goulet’s Quentin Hapsburg from The Smell of Fear and Fred Ward’s Rocco Dillon from The Final Insult. Considering that lineup, we would absolutely welcome Mads Mikkelsen to the list of heels trying to outsmart (well…) Frank Drebin. And hey, let’s keep tradition and get “Weird Al” Yankovic...

It was five decades ago long distance swimmer Diana Nyad became part of the cultural landscape with her feats including a recording-setting circling of Manhattan and a 102-mile swim from the Bahamas to Florida she accomplished that in 27 hours. In 1978, Nyad made her first attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida but ended the quest after 40 hours. After segueing to a successful career as a sports journalist on ABC’s “Wild World of Sports” for over two decades, she decided at 60 to try again. She made three attempts felled by asthma, muscle fatigue, jellyfish and a tropical storm.

Nyad’s attempts at the swim were the subject of the 2013 documentary “The Other Shore.” When I talked to her for the L.A. Times a decade ago the then 64-year-old was preparing for her final attempt. “When I first started this in my 20s and when I started again when I turned...

Carmen, Juni, and the rest of the Cortez family are back for another butt-kicking spy adventure. In April, Netflix announced that Robert Rodriguez, the original director of the 2000s action films, signed on to write and direct an upcoming "Spy Kids" reboot movie. Skydance Media optioned the film rights to Netflix with the intention of reimagining the spy thriller for a modern audience, according to Variety.

Officially titled "Spy Kids: Armageddon," the new project will be the fifth installment in the "Spy Kids" franchise, following the original 2001 "Spy Kids" and it's three sequels: "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams," "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over," and "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World." If you've ever stared off into the distance pondering the complexities of Steve Buscemi's deeply existential quote in "Spy Kids 2," or if you're still waiting on that instant Happy Meal microwave to hit the market,...

It's a longstanding joke — and reality — that non-fans frequently confuse the franchise titles "Star Wars" and "Star Trek." This seems preposterous to devotees of either, many of whom will go on at great length about how completely different they are in terms of themes, outlook, technology, and tone. They may argue that "Star Wars" is a science fantasy with mystical knights who have laser swords and magic powers that leans heavily into destiny and predestination. Or that "Star Trek" is science fiction with extrapolated future technology and humans driving their own destiny. In the broadest strokes, that's true, but as a wise old Force Ghost once said, "You're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

A closer examination reveals that as both franchises have grown and sprawled they've increasingly rubbed up against one another and exchanged some cinematic and narrative DNA,...

Betta St. John, who portrayed the lovely island girl Liat in the original Broadway production of South Pacific and starred as a princess alongside Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in the MGM romantic comedy Dream Wife, has died. She was 93.

St. John died June 23 of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Brighton, England, her son, TV producer Roger Grant, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The California native played one of the survivors of an airline crash, who is chased by a crocodile in Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957) — the first Tarzan film in 15 years and the first one in color — and then returned for Tarzan the Magnificent (1960). Both films starred Gordon Scott as the King of the Jungle.

St. John also starred with Stewart Granger, Ann Blyth and Robert Taylor in All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953); with Victor Mature, Piper Laurie and Vincent Price in the 3-D adventure Dangerous...

This Star Trek: Strange New Worlds article contains spoilers.

At the end of the latest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, La’an Noonien-Singh makes a shocking discovery. Hurled back to 21st-century Toronto, alongside James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), to stop a history-changing attack by Romulans, La’an finds the holding area of her infamous ancestor, the genocidal warlord Khan Noonien Singh.

Tempted by the opportunity to not only destroy a vicious warlord but to also shake off the hatred for her name that still exists in her reality, La’an enters the room, gun drawn. However, she finds not the glowering madman played by Ricardo Montalbán in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan nor the simmering terror played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Instead, she finds a small child, whom she immediately comforts.

As sweet as this moment is, even more notable is who is playing Khan in the scene.

Liz Craft and Sarah Fain have been working and writing together since they were fifteen. In television, they have partnered as writers and producers on several major network shows like The Fix, Lie To Me, and Dollhouse.

They are the dynamic duo behind the Fox hit revival of Fantasy Island, which has just finished its second season with an emotional and satisfying finale.

Speaking with TV Fanatic over Zoom (Days before the unfortunate news of the show's cancellation), the pair are as in sync discussing their show as they are in producing the whimsical yet thought-provoking series.

While the Fantasy Island IP has undergone a couple of revivals/reboots since the original series concluded in 1984, this is the first that truly builds on the legacy of Ricardo Montalban and his wish-granting domain.

Fain and Craft are honest about how they were fortunate to have several key pieces fall into place first,...

Fox has opted not to renew drama series “Fantasy Island” for a third season, the network announced on Tuesday, one day after airing its second season finale.

It’s the same strategy they took with the Mayim Bialik-led sitcom “Call Me Kat,” after its third season finale failed to draw sufficient numbers. The last episode of “Fantasy Island,” titled “Mj Akuda & The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Wives Club,” earned 1.8 million viewers and a 0.2 rating in the demo.

“We were very pleased with ‘Fantasy Island’s’ fun and escapist creative, which we had hoped would gain strong traction among viewers,” the network said in a statement shared with TheWrap. “Sony Pictures Television is an important partner of ours, and we look forward to continuing to work with them on ‘Accused,’ ‘Alert: Missing Persons Unit,’ ‘Doc’ and the upcoming animated series ‘Universal Basic Guys/Hoagie Bros.'”

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‘Call Me Kat...

No more tropical island escapes for Fox: the network is not renewing Fantasy Island for a third season.

Fox greenlit the contemporary version of the classic drama series in 2021. The series, which takes place at a luxury resort, starred Roselyn Sanchez stars as Elena Roarke, a descendant of the original series’ enigmatic Mr. Roarke.

The series was done under a low-cost business model, so its threshold for success was lower. But Fox still decided to have the sun set on its summer series.

Related: 2023 Fox Pilots & Series Orders

“We were very pleased with Fantasy Island’s fun and escapist creative, which we had hoped would gain strong traction among viewers,” according to a network statement. “Sony Pictures Television is an important partner of ours, and we look forward to continuing to work with them on Accused, Alert: Missing Persons Unit, Doc and the upcoming animated series Universal Basic Guys/Hoagie Bros.

Fox won’t be making any more trips to Fantasy Island.

The network has canceled its drama series after two seasons and 23 episodes. The end for the series comes a day after its second-season finale aired.

Created and run by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, Fantasy Island is a sequel to and update of the 1977-84 ABC series that starred Ricardo Montalban. Roselyn Sánchez stars as Elena Roarke, a descendant of Montalban’s character who runs a resort that offers to fulfill its guests’ dreams and desires. Kiara Barnes and John Gabriel Rodriquez also star.

The series, a co-production of Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment, premiered in summer 2021 and drew a relatively modest audience — though large enough that, combined with the show’s relatively low cost compared to other hour-long dramas, earned it a second season. Season two averaged 2.74 million viewers and a 0.27 rating among adults 18-49 after seven...

Guest star Jason Priestley in ‘Fantasy Island’ season 2 episode 13 (Photo by Laura Magruder © 2023 Fox Media LLC)

Jason Priestley guest stars on Fox’s Fantasy Island season two episode 13. “Mj Akuda & The 1st, 2nd, And 3rd Wives Club” – the season finale – will air on Monday, May 8, 2023 at 9pm Et/Pt.

Roselyn Sanchez leads the cast as Elena Roarke, a descendant of the iconic Mr. Roarke played by Ricardo Montalban in the original ’70s series. Kiara Barnes (The Bold and the Beautiful) plays Ruby Akuda and John Gabriel Rodriguez (Rosewood) stars as Javier.

Gabrielle Byndloss (Ordinary Joe), Gillian Vigman (Sons & Daughters), and Camille Guaty (Scorpion) also guest star in episode 13.

“Mj Akuda & The 1st, 2nd, And 3rd Wives Club” Plot: Sue, Jenna and Brooklyn are the first, second and third wives of Gavin, a charming doctor who’s made a fortune selling all-natural vitamins — and broken all of their hearts along the way.

Nine years after he won his fourth and final acting Emmy for playing Walter White on “Breaking Bad,” Bryan Cranston has a solid shot at triumphing in the corresponding Best Drama Guest Actor category for reprising the role on the prequel series “Better Call Saul” on AMC. In fact, he has three chances to win at least his fifth acting Emmy this year since he could also earn notices for Best Movie/Limited Actor for Paramount Plus’ “Jerry and Marge Go Large” and for Best Drama Actor for Showtime’s “Your Honor.” If all three nominations come to fruition, he will be only the fourth person and second man to ever compete for three acting Emmys at once.

Cranston’s highly anticipated “Better Call Saul” appearance consists of several flashback scenes in which he reunites with his “Breaking Bad” cast mates Bob Odenkirk and Aaron Paul. His two episodes aired...