BY EVAN HENERSON >LA.COM

And once you've finished up that beaming, how about directing me across two football fields' worth of costumes and props to that life-size Enterprise Bridge. I'm looking to drop myself into the action right next to Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock and take home a DVD as a keepsake.

Beginning this weekend, you too can browse, gawk and take your personal flight (simulator) of fancy.

"Star Trek The Tour," a traveling interactive exhibition opening its North American tour at Long Beach's Queen Mary Dome, offers everything a hard-core Trekkie could desire. Billed as the largest and most comprehensive exhibition ever assembled, "The Tour" contains items from all five TV series and 10 films, spanning more than 40 years.

With that much to see and do, "The Tour" figures to keep show devotees of all ages browsing for...

Well, let's just ask an expert, shall we?

"Two to three hours," estimates William Shatner, who played U.S.S. Enterprise Capt. James Kirk throughout the original series and over several movies. "But there are so many things to see. Depending on the length of your ability to stay focused and your interest level, it could take a lot longer."

"Star Trek The Tour" is the latest incarnation of a exhibition that launched in Germany in 1998. The second version, "Star Trek Adventure," toured the United Kingdom in 2002.

Interspersed among the props and set pieces are four full motion flight simulators; the Encounter Theater, designed to transport visitors into the "Star Trek" action; and set re-creations of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard's quarters, Beverly Crusher's sick bay and the NCC-1701-D Bridge.

"I wanted to make sure this is not just a museum exhibit but actually like a traveling theme park," says Martin Biallas, CEO of SEE Touring Productions, "The Tour's" producer. "It's very interactive, but we also have over 650 original costumes, sets and props."

As the tour's celebrity ambassador, Shatner will film promotional spots and show up at various tour stops during the tour, including an appearance at tonight's opening. An event like "Star Trek The Tour" is also an opportune time to remind fans that Shatner has a new book out, "Collision Course (Star Trek: Academy)."

Shatner's link to the "Star Trek" franchise has brought him in contact with earlier versions of the Tour. Although the 76-year-old star of TV's "Boston Legal" (in which he plays eccentric lawyer Denny Crane) professes that he clicks away from original series reruns when they come on TV, seeing all the "Trek" stuff assembled in one place easily triggers pangs of "Trek" nostalgia.

And, in case you're wondering, not a single item found in "Star Trek The Tour" has come from Shatner's personal collection.

"I've kept nothing," he says. "Given the choice at the time of having a `Star Trek' shirt or a Denny Crane suit, I would have taken the suit. But in retrospect, given the amount of money being paid for original equipment, I guess I should have known better."

Evan Henerson (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson@dailynews.com

For more information, please visit the event website