Citizens' Voice from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania • 55

2 I fa renorsi Sf rek returns to television CD 3 o' CD By MARKSCHWED UPI TV Editor Spiner) is a walking computer an android with gold skin and green eyes possessing superior strength and a phenomenal memory. Gates McFadden is chief medical officer Dr. Beverly Crusher and Marina Sirtis is the serene Deanna Troi, the half-human half-Betazoid Starfleet counselor who possesses a special talent. Wil Wheaton plays Wesley "Wes" Crusher, 15-year-old son of the ship's medical officer and a genius who occasionally helps out the command crew. Also aboard, in spirit only, is Gene Roddenberry, creator of the original series and executive producer-writer of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Roddenberry has always used the future to tell us about our present, whether the subject is race relations, drug abuse or nuclear war.

But Roddenberry's Earth has solved all its problems. There's no more hunger, no more greed. "With things the way they are today AIDS, nuclear war some people are worried whether we have a future," said Wheaton. Trek' says, yes, there is a future and you can tune in every night to find out how it goes." a. 03 TI 03 C3 CD 1 that grows every day.

Gone is the old crystal-powered U.S.S. Enterprise, replaced by the fifth generation Galaxy Class starship constructed at Utopia Planitia, Fleet Yards, Mars. The new Enterprise is twice as long with eight times the interior space. Perhaps the biggest change on Enterprise is that families are now aboard. Because the mission to explore new worlds was expanded from five years to 50 years, children and spouses were allowed on the voyage.

In the 24th century, it's good to know that people still need people. Thus the Enterprise must be more than a warship and peacekeeper and explorer. It now boasts a shopping mall, schools and special play areas holodecks that can be transformed into ski slopes or ocean waves or used for mid-air low gravity games. In addition to the redesigned ship, state-of-the-art special effects will be provided by George Lucas's Oscar and. Emmy winning Industrial Light and Magic, which did the "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" feature films.

If the Enterprise as party ship shocks true Trekkies the name adopted by members of more than 450 fanclubs acrossThe nation then they'll be even more surprised at what's happened to the command crew. The familiar faces are gone. Capt. James T. Kirk, Mr.

Spock, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Lt. Uhura, and Chekov are dead. The uniforms, including those sexist mini-skirts worn by the women, are replaced by unisex jump suits with black boots. Even the mission has been revised from "to boldly go where no man has gone before" to "to boldly go where no one has gone before." The war-mongering Klingons, the arch-enemies of Capt.

Kirk's Starfleet Federation, are now allies and some work aboard the Enterprise, but they don't like the fact that women and children are aboard. There are no pointy-eared green-blooded half-breed Vulcans on the command crew, but their are other half-breeds and aliens, even a green one, and one man-machine. Some things don't change. Capt. Picard, played by British stage and screen star Patrick Stewart, is absolutely rigid about the "prime directive" protecting his star-ship and crew.

He is a passionate, yet remote man who, unlike Kirk, delegates much of the authority to his first officer, Commander William "Number One" Riker (Jonathan Frakes). LeVar Burton plays blind Lt. "J.G." Geordi La Forge, a hotshot starship pilot who "sees" 1)yheTKebfTprosffieTIc device worn over his eyes. Denise Cosby plays Rambo-like Lt. Tasha Yar, the ship's security chief who comes from a failed colony, a brutal ghetto planet.

Lt. Commander Data (Brent NEW YORK Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock are dead. It is the 24th century Stardate 41254.7 and the new master of the redesigned U.S.S.

Enterprise, Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, faces his greatest challenge. The 1,012 crewmembers have been captured by a highly-advanced alien civilization and put on trial by a judge known as for the collective crimes of the human race. Guilty or innocent? Beam me up, Scotty. "Star Trek" is reborn and the future is now.

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" warps into the picture with a two-hour premiere on more than 200 television stations across the country. It has a special two-hour premiere Monday, Sept. 28, on WBRE, Channel 28, at 7 p.m. It will air in its regular time slot on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 5 p.m.

The network shows, "ALF" and "Valerie's Family," which will be pre-empted on that date will air Saturday, Oct. 3 at 5 and 5:30 p.m., respectively. The new 24-show series revives one of the most legendaryanden during television success stories of all time, "Star Trek." Since being canceled by NBC after a three-year run ending in 1969, "Star Trek" has generated more than $500 million for Paramount and sparked a feverish cult following 15 ,1 4J. jmm The redesigned U.S.S. Enterprise Stars are gone, but their work will live on TV Geri Anne Kaikcwski Tube Talk Funny how time flies when you're watching TV.

With this column, I celebrate my second year as a "TV critic." Ever since Sept. 28, 1985, the date of my first column, I have reserved the column space around this time to remember those in TV who have died during the past year. As the time drew near for another anniversary column, I thought, perhaps, this year, I'd write about something different. But, then two real giants in the TV industry died within a week of each year and since both shows they starred in represent fond memories of TV for me as a child and because their work was so instrumental in developing the industry, I felt I just couldn't ignore their deaths. Lorne Greene, Ben Cartwright on "Bonanza," and comedian Dan Rowan, of "Rowan Martin's Laugh-In," recently died within a week of each other.

Looking back, TV lost many shining stars this past year, such as Jackie Gleason, who played Ralph Kramden on "The Cathryn Damon, whose roles included Mary Dallas Campbell on "Soap" and Cassie Parker on "Webster" and veteran actors James Coco and Danny Kaye. Coco guest-starred on "Who's the Boss?" and won an Emmy for "St. Elsewhere." Kaye played a dentist on "The Cosby Show." That episode was rerun after his death as a tribute. Other noteworthy TV people who died arc Clara Peller, who inadvertently lent her Wendy's TV ad slogan "Where's the beef?" synonymous with the early 1970s, such as "Sock it to me," "Blow in my ear and I'll follow you anywhere," Look it up in your Funk and Wagnalls" "Here comes de judge" and "You bet your bippy." The innovative comedy show, which utilized blackouts, sketches, one-liners and cameo appearances, was number one in the Nielsen ratings and won Emmy Awards in 1968 and 1969. Even then-President Nixon guest-starred to say "Sock it to me." "Laugh-In," with its large cast who literally came out of the wall at the end of the show shouting out a never-ending barrage of jokes, aired on NBC from 1968 to 1973.

Rowan signed off the show each night with "Say goodnight, Dick." Of course, Martin responded with "Goodnight, Dick." And even though that scenario was played out week after week, as much of the humor on the show was, it was still funny. Reruns of the show will begin airing in October on Nickelodeon. Thank goodness for reruns and syndication for they won't let us forget these TV legends and pioneers. And it provides the younger generation with an opportunity to view the stars who may have died either before they were born or when they were much too young to remember them. Thank you Lorne, Dan, Jackie, Cathryn, James, Danny, Clara and David for some really great moment? on TV.

Some of us will never forget you, ana you catr 'bet your bippy" on that. Geri Anne Kaikowski is the TV writer iw the Citizens' Voice. mooners," which aired on CBS from 1955 to 1971. Reruns air on WVIA, Channel 44. The show was filmed live using an advanced filming system called the elec-tronicam which is the basis for the live audience, single-set sitcom so prevalent today.

Gleason, whose TV career spanned some 20 years, also starred in a self-titled variety show, which used portions of "The Honeymooners," and later, he developed a talk show and a quiz show. Greene played his role of the father on "Bonanza" so well that he became part of my family. He later tried to reprise a patriarchal type role on the ill-fated "Battlestar Galactica." Greene also appeared in Alpo dog food commercials. "Bonanza" finishes second, only to "Gunsmoke," as the longest-running most successful western in the history of TV. "Bonanza" was also the first western to be televised in color.

But, it wasn't just a western, it was a warm family saga. Who didn't love Pa, Hoss, Adam (who was later written out of the show when Pernell Roberts left) and Little Joe on the Ponder osa? I really looked forward to a "Bonanza" reunion movie this fall, but, unfortunately, it won't be. It was scheduled to begin filming next month, at the suggestion of Greene himself. The successful NBC show ran from 1959 to 1973. Another show I grew up with was "Rowan Martin' Laugh-In." That show, with Rowan as straight man to Dick Martin gave us those phrases that have since become to 1984 presidential hopeful Walter Mondale on a televised debate, and TV talk show host and producer David Susskind.

One reason I started writing about the deaths of TV stars was because I was outraged that more wasn't being done by the industry itself to remember these stars. Last weekend, the Emmy Awards featured a tribute to Gleason which was the most touching part of the show. Audrey Meadows, who played Alice to his Ralph Kramden on "The Honeymooners," was featured in a set of their home in a fond farewell to him. I was afraid that faithful viewers and fans of stars would forget them once they have died. But, I need not have worried because every year while writing this "in memoriam," I realize how significant the roles of TV stars who have died were and what an impact they had upon the medium, not to mention us viewers Gleason really is "Tht! Great One" as ev idenced by his portrayal os Kramden, the Brooklyn bus driver in search of an easy money-making scheme on "The Honey.