The new Star Trek movie that hits theaters on Friday (May 8) includes a cameo appearance by Randy Pausch. Filmed in the fall of 2007 at the invitation of director J.J. Abrams, the brief scene shows Randy's character on the bridge of a starship called the U.S.S. Kelvin. Randy even had a line: "Captain, we have visual."

"Being Captain Kirk," of course, was one of the childhood dreams that Randy discussed in his Sept. 18, 2007, "Last Lecture," and in his subsequent book. Being asked to appear in the new film, he noted on his blog http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/index.html, was "by far, the coolest thing."

"Don't blink or you'll miss me," Randy added.

On May 12, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" will include a segment on Randy. He originally appeared with Dr. Mehmet Oz on "Oprah" in October 2007 as his fame from the Last Lecture was beginning to grow. The May 12 show serves as a sendoff for Dr. Oz, a frequent "Oprah" contributor who will host his own daily TV show starting this September, and features some of his memorable interviews with inspirational people such as Randy. Jai Pausch also was interviewed for this latest program, providing an update on how she and her family are doing today. Locally, Oprah airs at 4 p.m. daily on WTAE-TV.