Our Star Trek Webisode Garners an Award & I'm Too Busy on the Strike Line to Say So

As I write this, I'm watching Craig Ferguson's show. I don't usually watch talk shows, except in very rare occasions when I have nothing to do and one of my favorite actors is the guest. Not that I have anything against them, it's just that there's never enough time for me to do all the stuff I need to do, so I'm usually catching up on prime time shows this late at night.

Except that now that David Letterman and World Wide Pants respected writers enough to negotiate a deal with the WGA before coming back to work and they cared enough about all workers to be brave enough to break away from the pack, I'm going to show my support of their shows from now on. I love that both Letterman and Ferguson used the time to showcase the strike. And even more I'm happy to hear that their writers are planning to donate a portion of their salaries to the strike fund dedicated to help those in need due to the strike.

I especially enjoyed when Ferguson was composing a letter to his boss, David Letterman, complaining about bringing him back to work. He went on to say that if any of their writers didn't see the irony in what he was saying, then perhaps they were in the wrong profession... they should try the profession without humor or soul, and become a producer.

The one criticism I have is that he said he spent his strike 'vacation' learning to ski. Craig, you should be on the picket line. This is serious business, not a time to have fun.

However, this post was not intended to be about the strike, but about my life interruptus due to all the strike writing I'm doing and all the walking back and forth on the sidewalk carrying a sign like a street urchin. With pride I'd like to mention that our online webisode of Star Trek: New Voyages, "World Enough and Time", starring George Takei, which I've written about on this site, TVGuide.com and WordPress.com recently won an Online Video Award from TVGuide.

Well, when the nominations first came out and I was linked to vote on the awards, it was our episode "World Enough and Time" that was nominated and it was up against series like Battlestar Galactica, and I can't remember what else. It did seem odd to have a webisode up against series, but we were very proud that our little web episode was up against actual TV episodes which cost around $5 million each. A few weeks later, and I'm sure after many protests, the category was changed so it was the online series Star Trek: New Voyages up against the other series. No doubt that was the right and consistent thing to do, but my objection was that it was done midstream and not everyone who voted for the episode would have voted for the whole series. Many would, but you can't assume all would. You can view all the winners here: http://www.tvguide.com/Special/OnlineVideoAwards/default.aspx

Kudos to everyone who has worked on any of the Star Trek: New Voyages webisodes. You all deserve it for your consummate dedication, love and hard work. And I was very excited to be a part of it. I'm also excited and gratified that our webisode has garnered so much love and support. It's exciting to be part of a winning episode and a winning series. You can see the webisode I and my friends worked so hard on here: http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/

Also, our director, Marc Scott Zicree, wrote a guest column for TVGuide which I suppose serves as an acceptance speech for the award. You can read his thoughts here: http://www.tvguide.com/news/star-trek-voyages/071214-04

Exciting times to be part of an Internet adventure. Especially with the writers strike on. Many writers are looking for new avenues to reach audiences with the storytelling they love rather than submit to the stranglehold the studios would like to have on them. Star Trek: New Voyages and our webisode "World Enough and Time" demonstrates what can be done and how good it can look.

And if we could only get this strike over with, with a fair deal for the writers, then we can all go back to doing what we do best and what we love, and I can be more timely with my posting of these adventures.