Daily Planet is kicking off a new theme week called Boldly Go Week from August 29th to September 2nd. The week will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek and feature stories about scientific breakthroughs from exploring the deepest oceans to the farthest reaches of space. Ziya Tong and Dan Riskin will bring their expertise to explore never-before-seen stories like a concert in a volcano and seeing the actor who plays The Mountain train for Iceland's Strongest Man competition. The week will lead into a Star Trek special about efforts to preserve artifacts from the original 1966 series.

1. Feature Story
‘Bold’ science
‘Daily Planet’ kicks off a new theme week
ByCassieDresch
TVMedia
It’ssaidthatifyoulookhard
enoughatpicturesofSpock,
youcanseeheactuallyhas
threeears—theleftear,the
rightearandthefinalfrontier.
OK,OK,thatwasagroanerofa
joke,butithelpssetthestagefor
“DailyPlanet’s”newesttheme
week.Co-hostsZiyaTongand
DanRiskinaretakingviewersof
Discovery’sflagshipserieson
somegrandnewadventures
withBoldlyGoWeek,premier-
ingMonday,Aug.29,andwrap-
pingupFriday,Sept.2.
Parttributetothe50thanni-
versaryoftheStarTrekfranchise
andpartcelebrationofscientific
gamechangers,BoldlyGoWeek
kicksoffthe22ndseasonof
“DailyPlanet,”andpromisesto
beanepicfive-dayexpeditionof
never-before-seenmarvels,from
thedeepestpartsoftheocean
totheouter-mostreachesof
space.
“ThegreatthingaboutBoldly
Goiswe’regettingtojoinpeo-
pleandseepeopledothings
thathaveneverbeendonebe-
fore,”Tongsaidinaninterview
withTVMedia.“Thisisreally
newterrain,newlandscape.
ThesearethingsthatevenI’ve
neverseenbefore.”
Aconcertheadlinedby
Radioheadinthemagmacham-
berofavolcano.Anactorvying
tobenamedIceland’sStrongest
Manforthesixth-straightyear.A
Smithsonianmuseumcurator
whoisinchargeofaniconic
pieceofStarTrekhistory.These
areonlyahandfulofthemany
interestingstories“Daily
Planet”delvesintoduring
BoldlyGoWeek,withTongand
Riskin—heranaccomplished
televisionhostandhimawell-
travelledevolutionarybiologist
—bringingtheirexpertiseto
thestudio.
Of course,with a theme-
week name inspired by the title
sequence from one of the most
influential sci-fi franchises ever,
it makes sense that there will
be a StarTrek element to the
proceedings,and Boldly Go
Week leads into Discovery’s
original 50th anniversary Star
Trek special —“Building Star
Trek”— which is set to air
Sunday,Sept.4.
Overthecourseoftwohours,
“BuildingStarTrek”willhigh-
lighttheeffortsoftwoAmerican
museumteamsthatareworking
topreserveartifactsfromthe
original1966“StarTrek”series.
Beforethespecial’spremiere,
though,TongandRiskinplanon
checkinginwithonewoman
fromthoseteams:
SmithsonianNationalAir
andSpaceMuseumcura-
torMargaretWeitekamp.
“Sheloves‘StarTrek,’
she’satotalTrekkie,”said
Tong.“She’sgot
herhandson
theoriginal
U.S.S.
Enterprise
[model],and
she’sin
chargeof
gettingit
backin
shapebefore
publicview-
ings.It’sbeen
alongtime
sincethatthinghasbeen
viewedbythepublic,sowe’re
goingtogobehindthescenes
andseehowshegetsitbackin
tip-topshape.”
However,thestoriesaren’tall
StarTrek-related.ActorHafthor
Björnsson,knownforplaying
TheMountaininHBO’s“Game
ofThrones,”ismorefamousin
hishomecountryofIcelandfor
beingastrongman.“Daily
Planet”visitsBjörnssoninthe
NordiccountryaspartofBoldly
GoWeektoseeifhecouldwina
remarkablesixth-straight
Iceland’sStrongestMantitle.
“It’sincredibletoseehim
trainforthis,”Tongsaidof
Björnsson,whotopsoutatsix-
foot-nine,weighs397pounds
andeatsabout10,000calories
perday.“It’sincredibletoseeif
hecanactuallymasterthefeat
[ofwinninganothertitle],and
we’retheoneswhogettogo
behindthescenesbecausewe
travelledallthewaytoIceland
tocheckitout.”
Dan Riskin and Ziya
Tong host “Daily
Planet’s”
Boldly Go
Week
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