From the Eugenics Wars to the Orions to Vulcans stressing peace, "Star Trek: Enterprise" is boldly going back to the roots planted by "Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.

At least, that's the intention of Manny Coto, the show's new executive producer.

And Scott Bakula said he expects his character, Capt. Jonathan Archer, to become more like Capt. Kirk.

"The theme this season is a 'Star Trek' fan's dream as we concentrate on building and deepening the 'Star Trek' universe with stories that connect with the original series and the 'Next Generation,' " Coto said.

"Enterprise" began filming in mid-July; the season premiere, in the new 8 p.m. Friday time slot on UPN, airs Oct. 8.

Brent Spiner, who played the android Data on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," will appear in a three-episode arc beginning in late October or early November. Spiner plays the great-great-grandfather of Dr. Noonien Soong, the inventor of Data, and Coto said Spiner's character will be connected with the Eugenics War, an event mentioned in the original series.

William Shatner, forever known as Capt. Kirk, may also be a guest star this season, but Shatner, who has a starring role in the "Practice" spinoff "Boston Legal" on ABC, said he is still in negotiations.

Other "Enterprise" stories will involve the Orions, another species from the original series, and the Vulcan Reformation, taking the series to the planet Vulcan, Coto said.

Jolene Blalock, who plays Vulcan officer T'Pol, said she is impressed with Coto's stories, which resolve last season's cliffhanger.

"This year is going to be the best year," Blalock said.

She said the scripts she has seen show the presence of bigger concepts in the writing. "We have Hitler in Times Square," she said.

This season Coto plans several short, multiple-episode story arcs instead of one season-long arc.

UPN entertainment president Dawn Ostroff defended moving the series to 8 p.m. Fridays from its Wednesday time slot.

"It was important to the studio [to get enough episodes for future syndication for the reruns]," she said, explaining the series' renewal for a fourth season, "but we thought it was an exciting opportunity to move it to Friday nights, where 'The X-Files' thrived."

When the original, low-rated "Star Trek" series aired in the 1960s, a move to 10 p.m. Fridays sealed its fate for cancellation. It later did well in syndication in the early weekday evenings.

(Dave Mason, Scripps Howard News Service)

Gay network sets slate

Logo, the new television network aimed at gays and lesbians, is working with Cher, Alan Cumming and Margaret Cho on new shows and plans two wedding programs.

The Viacom network plans a Feb. 17, 2005, launch. Brian Graden, MTV/VH1 Entertainment president who's also working on Logo, said the outpouring of support has been thrilling.

Cher and her daughter, Chastity Bono, are working on "Family Outing," a series telling the stories of celebrities who came out as gay and lesbian.

Cumming has signed on for a musical cabaret series, and Cho is expected to star in her own series, for which few details were available.

Kathy Griffin will be cruise director for "Fantastic Voyage," a real-life "Love Boat" played out on an ocean liner in the Caribbean.

The two wedding-themed series play off a newsmaking topic. "My Fabulous Gay Wedding," with actor Scott Thompson as host, follows about-to-be-married gay couples as they plan their wedding. "Do I?" brings gay and lesbian couples contemplating marriage before a relationship expert.

Graden will also bring a familiar MTV Networks idea to Logo with "The Big Gay 100," a countdown show of the greatest people, places and things in gay culture.

Logo has also acquired more than 150 documentaries and movies popular with gay audiences, including "Mommie Dearest," "Philadelphia" and "Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story."

(Associated Press)

Nick encourages play time

Turn off the TV and go outside! Kids hear that from their parents all the time. Now, improbably, they'll hear it from a TV network.

This fall, the Nickelodeon network will go off the air for three hours one Saturday and urge its young viewers to play instead.

The turn-off is planned for noon Oct. 2, when Nickelodeon usually has about 1.5 million viewers ages 6 to 11. During those hours, Nick will show a graphic saying it's time to go outside.

"They're not doing as much after-school play as they used to," network president Cyma Zarghami said, "so we wanted to make sure they know it's important."

She's certainly aware of the grand irony of this coming from a network that made it possible for kids to spend hours on end staring vacantly at the tube. But she said studies have shown that children aren't watching much more television than they did 15 years ago.

"We don't have control over how much they watch television," she said.

Nick probably won't lose much advertising revenue during the stunt; companies will be compensated by having commercials run at different times, she said. Nick estimates that it's spending some $10 million on its "Let's just play" campaign.

When Nick comes back on the air at 3 p.m. that day, it will air a live music and sports special that encourages viewers to stay healthy and active.

If it's a success, might a couple of hours off per week become a regular part of Nickelodeon's schedule?

"Our cable operators and our advertisers might have a little trouble with that," Zarghami said.

(AP)

WPXI blocks footage

Channel 11 blocked out WTAE's exclusive footage of the Teresa Heinz Kerry "shove it" comment to a newspaper reporter during "NBC Nightly News" on Monday night. The question is, why?

WTAE general manager Rick Henry said the footage had an embargo that prevented other local newscasts from using the tape, but that there was no embargo from it appearing on rival stations during national news programs.

Turns out it was a communications glitch over the interpretation of the agreements. Channel 11 news director Pat Maday said WPXI was informed by its affiliate relations contact at NBC just before 6 p.m. that as part of NBC's agreement to air the footage nationally, Channel 11 would have to block it out locally on "NBC Nightly News."

"I knew that in giving it to NBC [WTAE would not want it] to be put on the local newscast, but it's certainly odd that it would extend to the network programming airing in the local market, but I suppose it's not unheard of," Maday said.

After "NBC Nightly News," Maday sought further clarification from NBC, and ultimately the miscommunication was resolved. The footage has since aired on national NBC news programs, including "Today," broadcast locally.

(Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor)