Live long and prosper, straight or gay. (Photo: wikipedia.org)

Ever since “The Newlywed Game” debuted in prime time on ABC television back in 1967, the game show has prided itself on realistically depicting how marriage mates relate to one another. In asking all of those juicy “making whoopee” questions and getting some wacky answers, the creators hoped that couples viewing across America would find something that struck a chord, something to which they could relate.

The years rolled on and social norms changed in America. Now, gay and lesbian marriages are legal in some states and jurisdictions. “The Newlywed Game” took a while, but they’ve finally taken the plunge. Former “Star Trek” and “Heroes” star George Takei and his partner Brad Altman will appear as contestants on the game show, which currently runs on the Game Show Network (check your cable or satellite listings, call payday lenders if you can’t afford to add the channel to your package). Mr. Sulu and Brad will beam into homes this October.

Yes, that Mr. Sulu. He’s a homosexual rights activist

Yahoo! News reports that even though Takei and Altman have been together for 22 years, they qualify for the show because they are legally married. Having lived together first isn’t foreign territory for “The Newlywed Game,” as show experts indicate that couples who lived together first have appeared on the show before. Older couples and interracial couples have also been a part of this show that has tried to accurately depict the times when it comes to marriage mores.

“What we want is to display the normality and the joy of having a happy union,” Takei told the Associated Press.

Why hadn’t gay couples been included before?

Kelly Goode, the programming chief of the Game Show Network, claims she could not speculate as to why past producers hadn’t gone in that direction. GSN has only had the program for two years. It is in the rules of “The Newlywed Game” that couples must be legally married, but gender requirements are not specified. Goode did recognize that booking George Takei and Brad Altman was “good” for GSN and reflected the times in which we live.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: We live in an age of payday lenders, too. Make sure to tell Mr. Obama)

Current host Carnie Wilson is excited. The AP indicates she’d been campaigning behind the scenes for it to happen. It is what she considers a “necessary step.”

“To me, this is not anything political. This is not a political statement. This show has always been about couples and how well they know each other,” she said.

Of course there are marriage Klingons out there

Dan Gainor of the Culture and Media Institute claims it’s all a publicity stunt to get people watching. Really, Dan? What a shocker this is: a television show promoting itself! And completely within the bounds of the laws of the land and the show’s own rules, no less. Oh, the humanity!

On an interesting note, “The Newlywed Game” is produced in California, a state that banned same-sex marriage just months after the George Takei-Brad Altman wedding. Proposition 8 passed in a recent election, upholding the gay marriage ban. Gainor is certain that Takei and Altman’s appearance is politically motivated.

“They’re trying to use TV and the movies to set the gay agenda and make it mainstream,” he said.

Know what else is interesting about the Prop 8 vote?

Next to contributions from anti-gay marriage groups in California – the state where the election was held – Utah contributed the most money to the Prop 8 support vote. And not by a little – by far. According to the Salt Lake City Tribune, Utah contributed $2.7 million in support of maintaining a gay marriage ban… in California. $1.1 million in contributions came in from Utah against Prop 8, incidentally.

It is widely believed (if not concretely proven as yet) that the National Organization for Marriage which spearheaded Prop 8 support was formed by members of the LDS Church, which is based primarily in Utah. As a result, the California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating the LDS Church’s financial involvement in the matter. There are allegations of the church underreporting campaign contributions, which they deny.

This is a game show, not your own bedroom

Mr. Gainor’s allegation that Mr. Sulu is going to make some kind of gay “agenda” mainstream by appearing on a game show is ridiculous and betrays illogical, child-like thought patterns. Spock would be able to spot that kind of thing a mile away. Religion’s view of homosexuality ranges from outright brutality/bestiality to a “you do what you do, but keep it away from me” view. Precious few are openly accepting (sophisticated enough to understand that ANY kind of sexuality is a private matter that doesn’t require someone else’s approval). By becoming the first gay couple on “The Newlywed Game,” George Takei and Brad Altman aren’t forwarding an agenda. They’re having fun on a game show like any other couple that has participated over the years.

I wonder how many people who boiled over with hate during the Proposition 8 debacle actually enjoy happy unions in their own lives? Heterosexual and homosexual alike, I’d guess that the number is relatively low.

Related Video:

Image from media.npr.org.

When I first heard that “Reading Rainbow” would stop airing today, my first thought was “That show is still on the air?” My second thought was that, given that it is, or was, still on the air, I can’t remember a time before “Reading Rainbow.”

Turns out, that’s because the show started airing the year after I was born. Perhaps if LeVar Burton had continued to produce “Reading Rainbow” until I had children I’d rediscover the inspirational show that taught children to love reading. But, alas, future children will have to develop fond memories of different shows.

Award-winning ‘Reading Rainbow’

“Reading Rainbow” got plenty of appreciation. It won 26 Emmy Awards, the same number of years it was on the air. But PBS has run out of guaranteed loans, so “Reading Rainbow” will be no more.

After 26 years, “Reading Rainbow” was the third-longest-running children’s television show, after “Sesame Street” and “Mister Rogers.” Can you imagine “Sesame Street” being canceled? It’s a crazy thought.

Comments from the peanut gallery

Here are a few quotations floating around in the blogosphere about “Reading Rainbow.”

From the Zeray Gazette: Linda Simensky, vice president for children’s programming at PBS, says that when Reading Rainbow was developed in the early 1980s, it was an era when the question was: “How do we get kids to read books?” Since then, she explains, research has shown that teaching the mechanics of reading should be the network’s priority.

From Read Street: After 26 years, LeVar Burton’s no longer going to dress up like a Medieval knight, introduce elementary schoolers to sushi or give kids their first 15 seconds of fame proclaiming their love of books.

From NPR: “The series resonates with so many people,” says John Grant, who is in charge of content at WNED Buffalo, Reading Rainbow’s home station. The show’s run is ending, Grant explains, because no one — not the station, not PBS, not the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — will put up the several hundred thousand dollars needed to renew the show’s broadcast rights.

More about LeVar Burton

One very vivid “Reading “Rainbow” related memory I have is the first time I watched “Star Trek” with my dad. I think was about 7. The instant Geordi La Forge’s face appeared on screen, gold visor and all, I instantly shouted “That’s the guy from Reading Rainbow!”

LeVar Burton began hosting and producing “Reading Rainbow” in 1983, when he was 26 years old. His official stint on “Star Trek” lasted from 1987-1994, but he appeared in movies and a few scattered episodes after that. So he was a busy man then, but nowadays he mostly does voice work, bit parts and “Reading Rainbow.”

LeVar Burton, 52, was born in Germany because his father, a photographer for the U.S. Army, was stationed there. He grew up in California. I wonder what he will do now? If you want to keep up with LeVar Burton, follow him on Twitter.

“Reading Rainbow” song video

Oh, come on, you didn’t really think I’d leaving you hanging, did you?

Chris Pine plays Captain Kirk in "Star Trek."

The internet has been abuzz with Trekkies anticipating, reviewing and planning viewings of “Star Trek” the movie, which opened Friday. Paramount expected the movie to pull in about $50 million on opening weekend. However, “Star Trek” sold $76.5 million worth of movie tickets over the weekend.

Midnight at the IMAX

“Star Trek” made $4 million just from midnight showings Friday morning. It also made $8.2 million from IMAX showings.

That figure beats the previous record for IMAX sales, which belonged to “The Dark Knight.” Last year’s release, the latest in the “Batman” series, “The Dark Knight,” pulled in $6.3 million from IMAX tickets.

Turning a profit

“Star Trek” had a budget of $140 million, but Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore believes that the movie will make $200 million over the summer. So any short term loans taken out to produce this film should be repaid in short order.

Considering that ticket sales are more than halfway to paying back the cost of the film, I’m sure the filmmakers won’t be seeking debt relief any time soon.

Golden tomatoes

Much of the “Star Trek” movie’s opening-weekend success could be thanks to overall glowing reviews of the film. On popular movie review web site Rotten Tomatoes, “Star Trek” got 96 percent good reviews — amazingly high marks at a site known more for its criticism than its raves.

Abrams got it right, Moore said, by appealing to both hardcore “Star Trek” fans as well as moviegoers who may not have been familiar with the 1960s television series and the many movies and TV spin-offs it spawned, says the Associated Press.

Back to the future

“Star Trek,” which is the 11th movie based on the cult classic TV show started in the 1960s, tells the back stories of Captain Kirk (played by Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of the original crew.

More moneymakers

Last week’s top box office blockbuster, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” came in second place for ticket sales this weekend with $27 million. That brings to total for box office sales for “Wolverine” to nearly $130 million.

“We think we withstood the attack of ‘Star Trek,’ if you will, and will settle into a long, successful run.” said Chris Aronson, senior vice president of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox.

Lazy movie, lazy sales

The weekend’s other wide release, “Next Day Air,” made only $4 million over the weekend, the same amount “Star Trek” made from midnight showings only. The Associated Press classifies “Next Day Air” as a “stoner comedy,” so perhaps it’ll pull in some more ticket sales as its target audience gradually gets around to making it to the theater.

Projected earnings

Other summer movies expected to make big bucks at the box office include “Terminator: Salvation” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” However, “Star Trek” is still expected to continue to pull in a healthy amount of cash over the summer.

Ricardo Montalban and Patrick McGoohan R.I.P

Although both McGoohan and Montalban had successful film careers, both in cult films that have stood the test of time and box office smashes, it is their television roles that many people remember them the most for. Patrick McGoohan starred in the worldwide TV smash hit Danger Man, billed outside of the UK and other countries as Secret Agent, a forerunner to the Bond movies, which was brought back from a lengthy hiatus to capitalize on Bond’s popularity.

McGoohan had been approached for the role, but turned it down because he didn’t like the character, but after the end of the series he immediately launched into his next series, the short lived series The Prisoner. The Prisoner, which ran for only 17 episodes, about a man, a former British secret agent that is being held captive on a small island, who is perpetually trying to escape from his prison called “the village”, like a lot of people try to escape from overdraft fees through payday loans. The show became a cult phenomenon, which many remember him for.

McGoohan also starred in some serious Hollywood hits, such as Ice Station Zebra, A Time to Kill, and also as the treacherous English king in the Mel Gibson film Braveheart, as well as portraying the prison warden in Escape From Alcatraz, alongside Clint Eastwood. He had numerous other roles which he is remembered for, such as in the underground classic Scanners.

From Fantasy Island to space villain

Ricardo Montalban, perhaps the best known Mexican American actor of all time, started off in the late 40s and early fifties, playing character roles in film and television, including one appearance in a hit science fiction TV series that would later boost his career into overdrive. He made his big break in the late 1970s, as the star of the TV show Fantasy Island, which ran for six years.

His most well known film role came when a largely unknown writer decided to bring back a character he played for one episode in the late 60s for the smash hit sci-fi film Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Kahn. Montalban had been Kahn for one episode during the original series’ run, and the writers wanted a profound villain, resurrecting the character, and also the franchise, as it is the most successful film of all Star Treks. He would also go on to star in the Naked Gun series, and also in the Spy Kids franchise. His TV ads for the Chrysler Cordoba also made his legendary screen presence endeared to the public.

Long and illustrious careers

Both men will surely be missed. Along with long bodies of work, a lot of which was very good and well known, both were known as men of principle and rigorous ethics. Though they weren’t perhaps the best known names on the A List, they were certainly amongst its elite. So if you need to sort out a villainous expense that is about to put your finances out to sea, payday loans can get you the freedom you need.