Star Trek: Next Generation cast ready to teleport to Calgary Comic Expo

Who could have guessed that southern Alberta would become such a Trekkie hub?

In the past four years, Star Trek heroes Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock and Mr. Sulu have been through town, special guests of the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo.

This year, though, the popular event has topped itself, pulling together the first reunion of the principal cast of Star Trek: The Next Gen

eration, the hit CBS series.

Expect to see Sir Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Levar Burton, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates Mcfadden and Denise Crosby at a special ticketed event on April 28 at the Stampede Corral as part of the three-day Expo festivities in Stampede Park.

Dubbed Star Trek TNG EXPOSED, the show, which marks the 25th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next

Generation’s debut, will include a special video tribute to the cast, collectables for Next Generation fans, a commemorative program guide and an open mic Q&A with the stars, among other surprises.

Booking such an event was a major coup for Kandrix Foong, founder of the Calgary Comic Expo.

“We can’t compete with something like the San Diego Comic-con because we don’t have a built in entertainment industry here,” Foong says. “The movie studios only identify with the biggest shows, like San Diego and New York. They won’t send us anything substantial because, to them, we’re the unheard of guy. … Calgary is not an entertainment hotbed by any means.”

But with exclusive events like the Next Generation reunion, Foong feels he’s changing that perception. “A lot of guys in the entertainment industry are looking at (the Calgary Comic Expo) now and thinking ‘How the hell did they pull that off?’ It’s like the little engine that could, right?”

That’s a valid analogy given the fact that the first Calgary Comic Expo, held just six years ago, was a money-losing venture that attracted about 3,400 fans. This year, Foong is expecting about 35,000 fans to visit the fantasy land that is the Calgary Comic Expo from April 27-29. Attracting Leonard Nimoy, Star

Trek’s Spock, to the 2010 Expo was a turning point, Foong says. Nimoy also visited Vulcan, between Calgary and Lethbridge, which has made the most of the name it shares with Spock’s alien planet, turning itself into a Startrek- themed tourist site.

Then, Foong built on that momentum last year, bringing in William Shatner, the original Captain Kirk.

“Who’s after Shatner in terms of Star Trek?” says Foong. “It’s Patrick Stewart, really. There’s no other option.”

Stewart played Capt. Jean-luc Picard on Next Generation, which premiered in 1987 as a continuation of the iconic 1960s TV series.