Takei Chats with Tyson on New Talk Show

On April 20, the Nat Geo channel will debut StarTalk, a talk show hosted by telegenic astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. The first show will feature none other than George Takei, Star Trek’s inimitable Mr. Sulu. There’s a clip from the show making the rounds online that’s a pretty tasty preview of things to come.

The highlight of the 3-minute clip comes when Takei recalls the first time he met the show’s creator Gene Roddenberry and that the TV legend mispronounced his name. He said “Tak-Eye,” when the name is actually pronounced with a long A at the end. He said he would let the slip slide, though, because in Japanese the way Roddenberry said it means “expensive,” and that was just fine with him.

Tyson, however, gets in an almost equally funny zinger, pointing out that the Kardashians show has been on longer than the original Star Trek was (just 79 episodes from 1966-69). One could argue, however, that both were explorations of far out worlds.