Site offers possible glimpse at new 'Star Trek' cast

By Jamie Allen
CNN.com Senior Writer

(CNN) -- Be on the lookout for a guy who can play a Starfleet captain, and a woman who can play a Vulcan.

Essentially, that's one message officials at Paramount Television allegedly sent to talent agents recently in their search for cast members on the new "Star Trek" series, according to the Web site TrekToday.

The site posted a story Sunday detailing the new characters, with brief biographies, for the upcoming series, which is apparently slated for fall release on UPN. It would be the fifth "Star Trek" series to hit television airwaves.

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The original "Star Trek," featuring Captain James T. Kirk, Spock, et al., aired in the late 1960s. Along with its sequel television series, it has spawned 10 movies. The latest one is scheduled for a 2002 release.

Paramount has barely acknowledged publicly that it's creating a new TV series for the fall season. But TrekToday says it was able to get its hands on a character breakdown sent to agents by Paramount.

The new show, according to the site, will be set before the original series, in the 22nd century, "at a time when starship travel was a relatively new endeavour ... and the universe really was still filled with strange new worlds, new life, and new civilizations."

According to the site, the cast will include characters that obviously play off the originals, including:

• Captain Jackson Archer, a middle-aged, "physical" guy with a "bold personality" who's a "bit of a renegade." William Shatner, anyone?



• Subcommander T'Pau, a female Vulcan who is "austere yet sensual." Like Spock in the original series, she's there to monitor humans and no doubt make them feel primitive in her presence. She becomes a "loyal and trusted" crew member.



• Doctor Phlox, an alien medical officer who, unlike the conservative, crotchety Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the original, practices a bizarre brand of new age "Intergalactic medicine" with an "eccentric sense of humor."



• Lieutenant Commander Malcolm Reed, a British guy who shares the same title as Montgomery "Scottie" Scott in the original. Unlike Scottie, who struggled to keep the Enterprise -- and himself -- together, Reed will be "spit and polish and by-the-book," as well as "soft-spoken, shy and awkward around women."

For good measure, the creators are throwing in an African-American helmsman, a Japanese communications expert and translator, and a Southerner who's not familiar with new civilizations.

Paramount Television's publicity department refused to comment on the TrekToday story.

TrekToday editor Christian Sparborth says he's waiting for a call or e-mail from the series' creators.

"I assume that they haven't been able to respond yet over the weekend," says Sparborth. "I would expect them to react to it today, but of course I have no knowledge if they actually will."

Report: New 'Star Trek' TV show in development
February 19, 2001
Review: Voyage of discovery in Shatner's latest trek
July 8, 1999
DeForest Kelley, 'Bones' on 'Star Trek,' dies at 79
June 11, 1999
Splashy effects, original vision in 'Star Trek: Insurrection'
December 9, 1998

TrekToday
Paramount Television

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