We know Scotty will be beaming
James Doohan‘s remains are headed into space – finally.
Doohan, who played chief engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in “Star Trek,” will have a few grams of his ashes blasted 70 miles into space this fall from southern New Mexico.
Houston-based Space Services Inc. plans to have the ashes of 100 others aboard the Oct. 21 launch – among them, Gordon Cooper, one of the original seven Mercury astronauts.
“Everybody wants to be on the same rocket as James Doohan,” a Space Services spokeswoman says. “He was so beloved.”
Doohan died last July at age 85. His ashes had been scheduled for the trip this spring, but that launch was delayed.
Aluminum capsules containing the ashes will be carried about 70 miles up before parachutes deploy to bring them back to Earth.
Another rocket carrying more of Doohan’s ashes is slated for an orbital launch in December or January. Those will fall back to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere.
They nipped it in the bud
An effort to honor the late Don Knotts has ended with the destruction of an unfinished sculpture of his most famous character, Deputy Barney Fife from “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Tom Hellebrand, who commissioned the statue, had intended for it to stand in Mount Airy, N.C., Griffith’s hometown and the model for the show’s fictional Mayberry.
Work was halted after Paramount/CBS, which owns the rights to the TV show, said it didn’t have the authority to grant permission.
A dejected Hellebrand also is selling his house and Mayberry Kountry Kitchen restaurant in Mount Airy.
The boy in the band
‘N Sync band member Lance Bass has announced he’s gay and in a “very stable” relationship with Reichen Lehmkuhl, a former winner of CBS’ “Amazing Race.”
Bass, recently known for a failed attempt to raise money for a trip into outer space, says he didn’t disclose his sexuality earlier because he didn’t want to affect the boy band’s popularity.
Stealing from Steely?
Veteran rock band Steely Dan is seeking an apology from Owen Wilson, saying his house-crashing character in the movie “You, Me and Dupree” was lifted from the group’s Grammy-winning tune “Cousin Dupree.”
Band leaders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen asked Wilson to appear at a concert and apologize, adding that he’d get Steely Dan merchandise and a chance to party with them.
What is .. a sense of humor?
“Jeopardy!” ace Ken Jennings says a posting on his Web site satirizing the show and host Alex Trebek was simply a “humor piece.”
“Making goofy jokes about TV shows isn’t ‘bashing,’ ” Jennings says. “I believe it’s the whole reason Al Gore invented the Internet.”
Among other things, Jennings had joked that Trebek was killed in a car accident and replaced by a robot.
The birthday bunch
TV producer Norman Lear is 84. Actor Jerry Van Dyke (“Coach”) is 75. Singer Bobbie Gentry is 62. Actress-director Betty Thomas (“Hill Street Blues”) is 58. Singer Maureen McGovern is 57. Singer Juliana Hatfield is 39. Actor Julian McMahon is 38. Comedian Maya Rudolph (“Saturday Night Live”) is 34.